"I'm too selfish to say no."

"I'll be there in half an hour."

Emilie padded through the quiet house. It should have been full of the sounds of a happy family, but because of her, Sarah and the kids had been banished from their home.

Because of the Taker. He was the bad guy, not Emilie.

She stopped in front of a closed door. Jeremy had taken the news of Mollie's betrayal hard and shut himself in his private office. Everyone's lives were falling apart. How hadn't she seen Mollie for what she was?

She knocked on the heavy oak door and then pushed it open.

"Emilie." Jeremy sat in a worn armchair with a bottle of gin next to him. "I was just going to yell for you." He waved toward the sofa. "We need to talk."

She looked around the room. It was tidier than she'd ever seen it. Even Jeremy's desk was clear. "Why are you drinking? You never drink."

"Figured now was the time to start living it up." He poured a shot and thrust it toward her. Some of the liquor slopped onto the floor.

"I don't feel like celebrating." She set the gla.s.s on his desk. "Nathan's coming over."

"Good, that's good. You'll need him here."

A sheen of sweat covered Jeremy's face and dark circles ringed his eyes. "You've lost weight." She had been so preoccupied with her own problems she hadn't noticed until now.

"Stress has that benefit." He threw back another shot and coughed. "d.a.m.n, that's strong."

"I'm sorry." Emilie moved the bottle of gin out of his reach. "Your wife and kids had to leave, and you've been worrying about me. I never intended for you to become so involved in my screwed up life."

"I've been involved from the very friggin' beginning."

"Only because I leaned on you too much."

"For Christ's sakes, stop. Please." Jeremy lurched out of his chair and staggered over to the bookshelf. He shoved a stack of hardback books onto the floor, revealing a small bottle of Jack Daniels. Jeremy eagerly twisted off the cap and downed the whiskey.

"Jesus, Jeremy. You need to slow down. All that's going to be coming back up soon."

"Better not." He fell back into the chair. "We don't have much time."

"You'll be pa.s.sed out before Nathan gets here."

"Listen to me," he shouted. "I'm trying to tell you something important."

Emilie sat down across from her drunken boss. She'd never seen him like this. "All right, talk."

"You know we're almost broke?" Jeremy coughed. "Sarah has no clue. She thinks I pay the charge cards off every month, but we're living on them."

"What are you talking about? You make three times as much as me, and Sarah's a nurse."

Jeremy swayed in the chair. "I've got a gambling problem, Em. Started online about two years ago, then wound up at the casinos. It's such a rush. When you're winning, anyway."

"You-what?"

"Yep. 'Parently I've got addictive tendencies. Least that's what a shrink told me once. Figured she was right, 'cause I can't stop no matter how deep a hole I dig myself."

Nathan had said she would be surprised at the different masks people wore. Jeremy had just donned the ugliest one yet. "We'll get you some help. Gamblers Anonymous."

"It's too late for me now, but you need to know the truth."

"What truth?"

"I'd lost almost three thousand that night." Jeremy's speech slurred. He paused and rubbed his face with a chubby hand. "Sarah was working nights," he finally continued. "Kids were with friends. Was so depressed I sat at the bar and drank myself into a stupor. Guy comes up and starts talking like we're best buddies. Next thing I know I'm spilling my guts."

"It happens."

"Listen to me." Jeremy inhaled an unsteady breath. "I swore that night was the end of my gambling. I had to take out almost eight grand on my platinum card just to pay the mortgage. But I came back. So did he. He was there when I got on a sweet roll at the c.r.a.ps table. I was up thirty grand, Emilie. Thirty!"

"Who are you talking about?" Something prodded at her brain, a nagging voice she didn't want to hear.

Saliva pooled at the corner of Jeremy's mouth and trickled down his chin. He shook his head. "Understand, Em. I couldn't let..." He leaned toward her and almost slipped off his chair. "I...debt. Blackmailed me. Threatened..."

Jeremy closed his eyes. Emilie grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

"What? Threatened what? Who threatened you?"

"To tell...Sarah. I had to help."

Dread bubbled in Emilie's stomach. "Jeremy, please don't say it. Please."

"Was me." His eyes half opened. "I helped the Taker."

"No." Emilie pushed her chair away from Jeremy. "Mollie was his accomplice. She confessed."

"She was just his spy. I had to find the tunnel for him, make sure the door was unsealed. Supposed to get 20 percent of the cut."

"You knew?" All this time, the answer was right next to her, comforting her, protecting her.

"Not about you, I swear to G.o.d. I thought he just wanted the money. I was willing to sacrifice my dignity to save my marriage."

"We only had eighty thousand dollars that day, Jeremy," Emilie screamed. "You did all this for sixteen grand. Was it worth it?"

"Sixteen grand would have paid the bills for two months. His voice was slow, weak. He slumped forward. "I'd get help."

"And you got nothing, you idiot." She leapt to her feet. "Two people are dead because of you. My mother is dead because of you. And you've stood by like a coward the entire time."

"You're right."

"Who is he? What's his name?"

Jeremy gazed up at her with dull eyes. His breathing was labored. His face contorted every time he swallowed. Emilie hoped the alcohol left a hole in his esophagus when it came back up.

"I don't know. Thought if I could keep you safe...maybe I'd have a chance at getting out of this."

"You didn't say anything because you didn't want the whole world to know who you really are."

Jeremy blinked once as if to agree. "Fixed that. Followed him. Found some things out. I don't know his name, but I have information." His eyes closed again.

"What is it? You're going to tell me, and then Nathan and I are driving you to the station where you can give Ronson a full confession."

"Look for the letter," he mumbled. "In safest...place."

Jeremy fell out of the chair and began to convulse. Vomit erupted from his open mouth.

"Jeremy!" Emilie knelt down and lifted his head up. His body gave a final shudder, and then went limp. His breath stopped. She shoved him away from the mess and lunged for the phone.

"Please don't die, you selfish b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

Chapter Thirty-Five.

Fear seized Nathan when he saw the ambulance's flashing lights. He screeched to a halt behind the patrol car and leapt out of his Camry, waving his badge at the officers. "What happened? Who's the rig for?"

"Overdose of sleeping pills. Looks bad."

Nathan raced up the front walk. The door stood open. Paramedics blocked the hallway, hefting a figure onto a gurney.

"No." Guilt-laced pain gripped Nathan. If only he'd been here sooner. How had the Taker gotten inside the house to drug her? "How bad is she?"

"Nathan."

The ache stalled at the sound of her voice. Emilie squeezed past the paramedics and flung herself into his arms. "Thank G.o.d you're here. I didn't know he'd taken anything, or I would have dialed 911 right away."

Nathan kissed her temple. "Who?"

"Jeremy. He's the Taker's real informant," she cried. "He knew about the robbery but not that the Taker was going to kidnap me. I could tell he wasn't feeling well, but he'd already had gin. I thought it was the alcohol." Hard sobs wracked her small body. "He betrayed me, and now he's dying."

Nathan held her close as she cried. Shock rendered him speechless. Jeremy had never even been a blip on his radar. What could have provoked a family man to make such a horrendous partnership?

"Don't say it's going to be okay." Her tears saturated his shirt. "There's no way to fix this."

He tucked her head under his chin and let her cry. The Taker's reach was far deeper than anyone had suspected. He'd managed to shatter Emilie's trust and peace of mind without even making an appearance.

Paramedics wheeled Jeremy down the hall. Nathan shielded Emilie's eyes.

"Does he have a chance?" Nathan asked.

The woman securing the oxygen mask shook her head. "I doubt it. It may take a few days, but I don't expect him to make it."

Emilie reached for the gurney and grabbed Jeremy's hands. "Please don't die. I understand why you did it, and I forgive you. Don't leave your kids without a father."

"Let him go." Nathan wrenched her hands away, and she went limp in his arms.

"I've got to call Sarah. We should go to the hospital. Someone should be there for him."

How could she forgive Jeremy for practically handing her over to the Taker?

"I'll drive," Nathan said. "And you can tell me on the way exactly what Jeremy said."

Emilie had nothing left. She sat in the minimally decorated waiting room next to Nathan. They were on deathwatch. Jeremy was still hanging on.

Sarah had arrived only minutes ago. Emilie stammered through the story. There was no gentle way to tell her friend her husband was a gambler and accessory to bank robbery.

Emilie said nothing as Sarah cried. She couldn't. The walls were steadily closing in on Emilie. Jeremy's betrayal cut deeper than anything she'd ever experienced. Even as she entrusted Jeremy with her life he'd been at the beast's right hand.

Jeremy had never meant for Emilie to get hurt. He was only trying to save his family but he could have swallowed his pride and gone to the police. The Taker might be in jail, and Jeremy wouldn't be dying.

A warm hand closed over her trembling one. "Is there anything I can do to make it better?"

She laid her head on Nathan's shoulder. "You're making it better just by being here."

"Ronson just texted me." Detective Avery spoke from his position across the room. "So far the search of the house has come up empty. They've torn his study apart. No sign of any letter or information about the Taker."

"What about his computer?" Nathan asked.

"Clean so far."

"It's got to be there somewhere," Emilie insisted. "He said it was in the safest place."

"They'll find it," Nathan said.

So many questions would now go unanswered. Why was Jeremy still meeting with the Taker? Was he playing him in order to keep Emilie safe? Or was he still angling for a way to salvage his finances?

A tired-looking nurse appeared. "Emilie Davis?"

"Yes."

"Mrs. Vance is asking for you. She's sitting with her husband."

Emilie didn't want to see Sarah again. The woman didn't deserve the pain being inflicted on her.