Katie glanced over at me and our eyes met. The pain in them conveyed the truth—it was her mom. Winnie Pang killed Rob Thompson.
I shook my head. No, there was no way she’d do something like that. I was reading too much into her distress. Although . . . if it had something to do with Katie . . .
I put my hand on her arm. “Katie, are you sure? Why do you—”
“There you are, Katie! I’ve been looking all over for you.”
Winnie Pang’s voice, as well as the sharp jab of something hard in my ribs, cut me off. Winnie linked arms with me and pulled me close, her right hand buried in her purse to conceal the gun pressed into my side.
“Katie, hold on to Joy. She and Lila are going to walk us to the parking lot. Nice and slow, no drawing attention our way. You just had to come after my daughter, didn’t you?” she added under her breath, so only I could hear. “You know what’ll happen if you don’t cooperate, right?”
Katie hadn’t seen the gun or heard her mother’s threat, but there was no mistaking the tightness in her voice. Katie knew. Had probably known for a long time. “Mom. Let’s just go, OK? It doesn’t have to be like this.”
“We are going. Now.”
“But Mom—”
“Katherine Marie Pang. Everything I’ve done has been for you. Everything. We are not going to throw it all away, especially over the girl who stole your crown. Now let’s go!” Winnie’s voice rose higher and higher as she spoke, the last sentence almost a scream. A few people glanced our way, but most were focused on the band and paid us no mind.
Katie flinched. “I’m so sorry, Joy. Just . . . just walk with us and everything will be fine.”
Joy turned frightened eyes toward me. “Ate? What’s going on?”
Winnie jerked her head toward the exit, signaling them to go first. “Just follow us and keep your mouth shut. You’re a sweet girl and I don’t want to hurt you. But I will if I have to. Now move!”
The steel in Winnie’s voice let Joy know she wasn’t messing around. Katie pulled her arm through Joy’s and tugged her through the crowd. The parking lot was at the opposite end of the festival, but everyone was too busy stuffing their faces and getting drunk to notice our odd procession down the thoroughfare. Detective Park was nowhere to be seen and the Shady Palms Police Department seemed to be solely congregated around the beer garden, so they were useless as always.
I had to rely on the old villain standby: get her talking. “Katie is Rob’s daughter, isn’t she?”
Katie’s head whipped around at that. “What? That can’t be true.” When Winnie didn’t say anything, Katie said, “Mom? Please tell me that’s not what started this all.”
“So when did Rob figure it out? Joy told me Rob put the moves on both of them the night of the potluck, so he couldn’t have known before then.”
That finally got Winnie’s attention. “That pig! I confronted him after Katie told me. I lost my chance at the crown all those years ago because of him and he didn’t even remember me. Had no idea that his family had given me money to ‘take care of the problem’ as they’d put it. I took their hush money, but that was it. I had no plans to force my way into their lives or try to claim Katie’s inheritance. All he had to do was keep his hands to himself, but he couldn’t. I wasn’t going to let him ruin another girl’s future the way he did mine.”
“Did you tell him who she was?”
“Of course I did. I needed him to know how disgusting he was. And do you know what he did?”
“Laugh at you?”
The hand gripping me shook, but not with fear at what she was doing. “You think my ego is so easily bruised I’d kill over that? No, he threatened to take her away. He’d been trying for an heir for years, but Beth kept miscarrying. So he saw Katie as a way to continue his legacy. He was going to pay me to just hand over my daughter. When I said no . . .”
Her slackened hold caused me to stumble—she’d pulled me away without my cane and I needed her support to move forward. Not only was I out a possible way to defend myself, but the fact I needed her assistance made her death grip on me look natural—friendly, even. Just a kind person helping her injured pal navigate the town festival.
She tightened her hold on me and I knew I had to keep her talking. “Could he do that? I mean, she’s almost an adult. There’s no way he could force her to stay after she turned eighteen.”