“I want my money.”

“Let her go and we’ll talk.”

“No. You’re getting back in your SUV and driving away. You and your partner. You will transfer all the money to my account and then I’ll let Miss Barkley go.”

“Not gonna happen,” Tom said. “Besides, we know where Eden is now. By the time you got there, you wouldn’t have a home to return to.”

Liza’s eyes widened, her lips curving in a satisfied smile.

It wasn’t true—yet. But it would be soon. Minutes before they’d come upon this scene, Raeburn had informed them that they’d gotten the warrant for Daniel Park’s cell phone records and, sure enough, there were weekly calls from the same number, going back years. They were only interested in the calls over the last month. With any luck, Raeburn would be calling them with a triangulated location within minutes.

“You’re lying!” DJ spat.

“I told you. We have Pastor’s financial advisor. And his phone records.”

DJ paled.

Tom smiled. “I can see you understand where I’m going with this. So what’s it going to be? We can talk money, but I hold the cards. You’re not getting a penny until you let her go.”

He watched the riot of emotions cross DJ’s face, hoping he’d realize that it was time to fold. But, of course, he did not. He backed up a step, dragging Liza with him. She followed, her eyes locked on Tom’s, her hands clenched into fists. She was waiting for instruction.

DJ was not going quietly. Nor was he willing to negotiate.

Tom and Croft hadn’t really discussed this particular scenario, but Tom knew it would only end when DJ was locked away for the rest of his life. Or dead. Tom was okay with either.

Tom knew he should be a mess of nerves right now. But his mind, so accustomed to compartmentalizing, seemed to be doing okay.

From the corner of his eye, Tom saw Croft creeping around a shot-up Jeep. Presumably Kowalski’s. They might not have discussed this scenario, but Tom had confidence in Croft’s instincts. She’d do the right thing.

“Tell her to stop!” DJ shouted. “Your partner needs to back the fuck off.” He yanked Liza back another step and then another until he was at the tail end of a white Ford Explorer. Pastor lay dead on the ground beside it.

Kowalski had to be dead. Pastor was dead. DJ said he’d killed three people here. The third wouldn’t be Coleen, the healer. Her body had been found in her bed at Sunnyside. Best guess was asphyxiation. There was bruising on her neck in the pattern of the chain that held her locket. At some point, DJ had dragged her by it.

Like he was doing with the top of Liza’s scrubs right now. Her mouth was open, her fingers clutching at the fabric pulled tight around her throat. And Tom remembered his mother doing the same as his father dragged her for some imagined infraction. Fury rose, but instead of clouding his mind, it made his focus singularly clear.