Deep Waters

well lately."
    "I'm glad someone has." Jennifer Pitt walked out of the darkened office. Light glinted evilly on the barrel of the gun in her hand. "Because I sure as hell haven't been doing well at all."
    Charity froze. So did Otis. They both had to look up to see Jennifer's eyes.
    Tall, with a figure that had been honed to perfection on her home gym, Jennifer looked as out of place as she always did here in Whispering Waters Cove. Her voluminous streaked hair was a mass of California-style blown-dry curls around her perfectly made-up face. She wore a snug red suede vest over a white silk shirt and silver-studded jeans. A pair of sunglasses perched on top of her head.
    The only thing that was different about her today was the raw fury in her eyes.
    "It's all so goddamned unfair," Jennifer whispered. "I worked so hard to make things come out right. I was going to leave this town with half a million dollars in my pocket. Half a million dollars. And they ruined everything. All my plans. Everything."
    Charity had to swallow several times before she could speak. "Jennifer, it's okay. Take it easy."
    "That bitch Gwen wanted revenge, you see?" Jennifer's eyes had a feverish glint. "Leighton kept telling me about the big deal he was going to pull off. I decided to stick around until he had the money. There would be so much of it, he said. The biggest deal of his life. I planned to leave him as soon as I knew I could count on the cash."
    "Put the gun down. It's over now, Jennifer."
    "But Rick told me the truth toward the end. He warned me that Gwen had other plans. She had set a trap, lured Leighton into it, so that she could have her revenge."
    "You confronted her the night the spaceships were supposed to arrive, didn't you?" Charity asked softly. "You found her in her motor home and shot her."
    "I didn't intend to kill her. But she laughed at me. Called me a fool. Told me that I would never get a single dime out of Leighton. Then she slapped me. The gun went off."
    "An accident," Charity said quickly, "Not murder."
    "I just wanted to scare her. Make her give me some of the money she had taken from Leighton. It was my money, you know. I sacrificed a year of my life to get it. You don't know what it was like having to put up with his grubby hands on me. I hated it. I hated every minute of it, but I had to pretend to like it."
    "Was Rick Swinton any better?"
    "Rick? That sleazy scumbag?" Jennifer bared her teeth in a feral smile. "I only went to bed with him because I had to find out what Gwen was doing here in Whispering Waters Cove. I knew when she arrived in town last month that she was up to something. Rick finally told me about the scam."
    "But by then it was too late to stop her."
    "Too late." Jennifer raised the barrel of the gun. "It's always too late in this damned town. All I wanted was to escape, but I was trapped."
    "I understand," Charity said gently. "I understand, Jennifer." The arm on which she supported Otis was trembling. She could not tell whether it was she or the parrot who was shivering so violently. Maybe both of them were having anxiety attacks. It seemed reasonable, given the circumstances.
    "After she was dead, that prick, Swinton, tried to blackmail me."
    "Blackmail? With what?" Something clicked in Charity's memory. "Oh, God. The missing tape."
    "Yes, the damned tape. That bitch, Gwen, had it running that night when I confronted her. I didn't know it at the time. Everything is recorded on that tape. Anyone who listens to it will know that I shot her."
    "And Rick found it when he found her body?"
    "He knew where to look. He grabbed it during the initial confusion. He knew she always taped everything that happened in that damn motor home." Jennifer's eyes narrowed. "At first he tried to make me think the demand for a payoff had come from Winters."
    Charity stared. "From Elias?"
    "He said Winters must have found the tape when he checked to see if Gwen was still alive. After all, he was right there beside the body for several minutes. He had plenty of time to notice the tape player and slip the tape into his pocket."
    "The only thing Elias noticed was that the tape player was empty. He mentioned it later."
    "As soon as I got the blackmail threat, I realized that it had come from Rick. I knew Winters was not involved."
    Charity cleared her throat. "I'm sure Elias would be flattered by your faith in his integrity."
    "Not his integrity, you stupid woman. Yours."
    "Mine?" Charity's voice rose. "What does my