“To ‘find’ Sara?”
“That’s right.”
“Even more reason to have cameras on all the floors and the stairwells, not just the front and rear entrances.”
She smiled. “From what I heard about Brad Cowl from Jerry, I don’t think he would have liked cameras everywhere.”
“And my security card being on the log the night Sara died? And my video?”
“I cloned your card while you were at the high school working out. It was easy.”
“It’s a one twenty-five piece of shit,” said Devine dully.
“Yes, it is.”
“And the video?”
“I took a film editing class in college. I had started thinking about doing something online, and I thought that skill would come in handy. And it did because I use it on Hummingbird. I took photos and video of you coming and going from the town house, Travis. And Jerry was your height and build. I took video of him going in and out of your building. Then I just digitally sliced and diced and put the appropriate clothes on you. Your head on his body. From a distance, it was close enough for the cops to nail you on it.”
“And Stamos?”
“After I found out who she was, I got her address, broke into her place, drugged her, and did what I went there to do.”
“Like carve bitch into her skin?”
“That was exactly what she was.”
“No, she was the woman that Sara loved. And you couldn’t live with that. And I was the one who told you about Fred and Ellen Ewes and her attitude toward Sara. So, in a way, I’m the reason they were killed. Stabbed through the heart because they, at least in your mind, had no hearts, or at least you implied that in your email to me. And then you manipulated the entry logs to show my card going in at the requisite time to kill Sara, and then you added a video image of me, too, like you just said. Only that didn’t jibe with what the night security guard saw. I guess you didn’t know when the guard made his rounds. And Jerry isn’t there at night, so he wouldn’t know, either. That one little oversight blew up your plan.”
Her face crinkled and she gave him a weak smile that showed a bit of the innocent, kindhearted woman he thought he knew. “You’re a smart person, Travis. And I do like you. I really do. You’ve always been so nice to me. You remind me a little of Dennis, actually.” She stared off for a moment and her look hardened once more. “But when I found out that witch had killed our baby and was now with another woman? Well, I had to do something.”
“But why send me the emails? Why set me up to take the fall, Jill?”
“You were the perfect choice, Travis. I did all the analysis. You’re an Army Ranger, so you know how to kill people. You slept with Sara. You wanted a relationship with her and she rejected you. No one could really be certain you weren’t the father. Those are motives to kill. I tried to be very logical in choosing you. But the main thing was you loved the woman I loved. In a way you took her away from me.”
“I didn’t even know you two were seeing each other.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she snapped. “Okay?” She aimed the gun more rigidly at him.
She glanced over at the large computer where the Hummingbird logo was prominently displayed. “Now Hummingbird is my baby.”
“Yeah, I remember you saying that to me. The only baby left to you.”
She said absently, “I liked Will, too. It was a shame.”
“What do you mean?” he said sharply. In the face of all this he had forgotten all about Valentine.
“When we got back from the bar? He came to my room later. He was really good at hacking. Better than I thought he was.”
Understanding filtered through Devine’s expression. “He finally traced the emails I got. And he traced them back to you. I found the information taped to your computer screen where you showed it was Will who sent them. But that was obviously all a lie.”
“He was good, despite being a pig. And I hated the way he always used the word dude. I mean, it was like a bad 1980s movie or something.”
“And when Will found out it was you?”
“He wanted an explanation. I told him I would give him one. At my office, where I told him I had documents that would explain all. I think I convinced him that you had killed those people and were trying to use both of us to cover up your crimes.”
“You told him I had asked you to track the emails as well?”
“I did. And I intimated that you were working with people that could set us both up as being involved in all this. He wasn’t a US citizen yet. So he was terrified of being deported. Before we left, I did as much as I could on the computer to turn the tables on him and show he was the source of the emails, and not me. I taped up that piece of paper on my computer for people to find.”