Price of a Bounty (Reliance on Citizens Makes Us Great!) Read Online Free Page B

and handed me his gun. He knew I’d
never use it, but Keira didn’t know that.
    After
he left, I placed the gun on the table in front of me and answered
Keira’s question with a half truth. “Scott is one of my
clients.”
    She
narrowed her eyes. “Maybe, but there’s more. How do you
really know him?”
    This
was not where I’d expected the conversation to go when I’d suggested
the lie dectect. How much had Scott told her?
    “I
met Scott when I first moved to Tkaron. We were in somewhat similar
situations. He worried about you and your sister and wanted you to
be safe and happy. Are you?”
    “As
much as can be expected. I can take care of myself if that’s what
you’re really asking.”
    “Scott
believes in the Motto of the Realm. Do you?”
    “Reliance
on citizens makes us great,” she said bitterly. “That
used to mean all of us, working together, to better the whole.”
    “Not
a few at the top relying on the rest,” I completed her thought.
“Yes Keira, I prefer the original meaning too. Earlier you
implied that you didn’t think it was a coincidence the money
disappeared last night. Who do you suspect?”
    “Eberhardt
appears to have the know-how,” she began, but then hesitated.
    “No.”
I shook my head. “Some of this money was earmarked for his
family. Any other ideas?”
    “How
well do you know Rose? Don’t you think it’s interesting that she
asked you for a large sum of money when I was in the very next room?
Maybe she wanted you to suspect me.”
    I
thought about that. “Possibly. She’s greedy, but she’s also a
terrible liar, and had she known you were here, I think she would
have been jealous of another woman in my bed.”
    I
continued to think about it. Had Rose ever been near me when I’d
opened the safe? Yes, she had been standing behind me when I put her
mother’s pendant in there for safekeeping. Why did she ask me to
keep it? I hadn’t kept a close eye on her every time she’d
visited because everything important was locked up or hidden away.
    “She’s
had the opportunity,” I shared, “but she’s not cunning
enough to have planned something like this.”
    “I
know someone who is. I think Elaine Ramsey has already retrieved her
money, and I believe she hired Rose to do that.”
    “She
hired you to do that,” I said.
    “I
think she wanted me to believe that.”
    “But
why would Rose turn on me?” I wondered aloud.
    “You
already answered that. ‘Rose is greedy,’ you said. And she was
dating a lowly gardener. Why?”
    “I
met her when I was working undercover at her father’s estate. I
decided she would be a more valuable asset than what I’d been
planning to steal.”
    “You
misunderstood my question. Why would a rich girl date a gardener,
and how did you ever convince her that Oren could afford a place like
this anyway?”
    “I
told her I’d recently received a large inheritance from my uncle.”
    “You’ve
only told her lies. She doesn’t even know your real name.”
She nodded. “That was good thinking. If Ramsey has been in
contact with Rose, your lies will probably end up saving you.”
    Keira
was right – I’d never trusted Rose. We’d been
doomed from the start. She had every reason to turn on me.
    “Richard,
retrieving the money was only part of the job, and there is no way
Ramsey would have convinced Rose to kill you, not someone like her –
that’s my job. We need to make it look like I killed Oren Johnson.
It’s the only way you’ll be safe.”
    I
narrowed my eyes. “No, we’re talking about your safety.
However, I believe we can come to an agreement. If Elaine Ramsey
believes Oren Johnson is dead, she may leave us both alone.”

-Scott-
    Introducing
Elaine Ramsey

    I
was 16, the age of Eligibility, when I joined the military. It
didn’t matter that I hadn’t completed my traditional schooling. The
military took care of its own, and all training would be provided. I
knew it would be a lifelong commitment to a Gov I