Cain motioned with her cigar. “Tell me where she is, and I’ll drive over and sit for a visit. If she can pull the trigger, I’ll give her a free shot, but she can’t. Isn’t that right?”

“Shut up before I fucking shoot you for being such a smug asshole.”

“Then do it. Kill me, and all your problems go away. If I’m dead, those kids and Abigail will be so out of your reach, it’ll make Nicola kill you a thousand times. Go ahead,” she said loudly.

The gun sounded like a canon even though it had a silencer, and the shot pierced her left arm this time. She cursed under her breath as the pain made her nauseous. Nina’s body hit the ground with a thud, a red flower spreading from the center of her back. Finley lowered the gun she was holding and stepped over Nina’s body.

“Were you waiting for her to shoot me somewhere more vital?” she asked Finley.

“I’ll go get Abigail,” Finley said, handing her a napkin. “Sorry, but I didn’t want to take any chances until I knew I had a clear shot. She must have been about to pull the trigger.”

Cain waited, keeping pressure on the wound and thinking about final puzzle pieces. Abigail glanced at Nina before turning all her attention to Cain. Emma sat on her uninjured side. “Lou, take care of that, but check to see if she’s got anything on her to get us somewhere. And make sure there are no sidekicks lurking anywhere.” Cain sat and took deep breaths as the anesthetic Abigail had injected around her wound took effect.

“You got it, boss.” Lou pointed to some guys who picked Nina up and carried her off.

“When did you know she was here?” Abigail asked as she dug the bullet out and stitched her up.

“Toward the end of the reception, a few of the catering crew went out to get some stuff out of the van parked on the street. Three went out and four came back in. All the guards were hypervigilant to anything out of the ordinary, and someone let me know right away. I recognized her from your file when one of them pointed her out.”

“What did she say about Nicola?” Finley asked. “I couldn’t hear what she was saying.”

“She’s alive, but I doubt she’s doing well.” She told them her theory of why Nina had come, and Abigail was the only one who nodded. “Think about it. Nicola isn’t in any shape to give the order to kill Nina for what she’ll see as a betrayal, but Nina thought she’d eventually get there. Nina came here to do what Nicola couldn’t. Showing up with your children and telling Nicola you were dead, along with me, was the only way to save her life.”