Love in a Nutshell - Janet Evanovich [87]
She closed her eyes for a second, trying to push back the pain. “How?”
“He’s got all the business in town.”
“When you fired me, you’d let that keg of his beer go flat, hadn’t you?”
Harley paced back and forth. “It wasn’t about you. It was about messing with his reputation a little.”
“And after that you started messing with Matt, too.”
“Prove it,” he said.
“Not that it matters at this point, but I can. The morning you left all the taps open at Matt’s place, I found a replacement wick to one of your lighters on the floor. And I even know who gave you the keys to get in … Laila.”
“Wh—what do you mean, Laila?”
“I know you two are an item. She was using one of your vintage lighters before Shay VanAntwerp’s party. From what I’ve learned cruising around on my computer, that crystal number is far too valuable to toss to a buddy.”
“Well, it’s none of your business. But just so you know, she had nothing to do with this. I copied her keys without her knowing.”
“Do you love her?” If she softened him up, maybe he’d let her go.
Harley nodded. “We’ve been keepin’ it quiet-like, since she’s still collecting a pension from her last husband that’ll go away if we get married. All we want are winters in Florida and good food, but I spent my savings when business dropped.”
“That’s not Matt’s fault.”
The gun shook in his hand. “The hell it’s not. I’m the victim here, not him! All I wanted was Depot Brewing down for a while so people would come back to my place. But that boy is like that battery rabbit on television. No matter what I do, he just keeps on going and going and going. And then he’s got the nerve to ask me if I need a loan. I made him—not the other way around!”
Kate kept calm, figuring it was all she had left. “I’m sorry all of this has happened. But maybe it should all just stop now. Maybe we should just walk out of here.”
“I can’t. And don’t you see? I had no choice in any of this. I’m getting too far along in years. Laila and I shoulda stayed away from the casinos. All we were looking for was some money for retirement.”
She’d been nearly boiled and now kidnapped so Bonnie and Clyde could go to dog races and jai alai and eat grouper?
Hell, no!
Harley’s hand had stopped shaking. He had made a decision. “I’m not gonna go to jail. No way!”
Kate didn’t like the calm that had replaced his anger. “Serving even more time for murder doesn’t make much sense. Think you could put that thing away?”
“At my age, murder and arson are both life sentences. Why should I go to jail for either when if I finish you off, there’s no witness left?”
She wouldn’t have thought until today that Harley had a murder in him, but then again, she also would have said that arson was out of his range, and he had already tried to drown her in the brewhouse. “Don’t get carried away, Harley,” she said. “Relax and let’s decide what to do next. Why don’t you sit down?”
“No! Shut up and let me think!”
Kate realized Harley had crossed the line into crazy land. She was going to have to find a way to run.
* * *
MATT HAD ten miles of tight road before he reached Keene’s Harbor. That was ten miles too many with a slow-moving rusty red tractor in front of him. He needed to talk to Kate while he had all this love stuff straight in his head. It had taken him damn long enough to get it that way. He spotted a break, passed the farmer, and put his foot to the floor.
Another mile down the road, Matt’s cell phone rang.
“Matt, it’s Ella.”
He smiled. He liked Ella. Hell, he loved her for being Kate’s first friend in Keene’s Harbor.
“Hey, how are you doing?”
“Are you in town?”
Something about her usually cheerful tone was off, he thought. “No, I’m just outside it, on my way back from T.C. Why?”
She paused. “I want you to pull to the side of the road, okay?”
This wasn’t going to be good.
He put the truck in park and threw on his flashers. “What’s up?”
“I’ve got some bad news. There was a fire in the main room at your house. Kate called it in, and we got it under control with as little damage as you could expect, all things considered.