“Story? What story? You’re going to try to make the police believe I shot your boyfriend?”

I chuckled. “I have no doubt I could sell any story to the cops at this point. It’s all the other details that take concentration.” There was a long silence as Brennan thought things over.

He finally said with a cry, “What are you doing? I don’t understand.”

“Well, Brennan, dear. This was my backup plan. I admit I had another one in the works for quite some time, almost from the day I met Marty, who I recognized as being very nice and extremely easy to manipulate. I knew if my legal challenges to your ridiculous prenuptial agreement failed, I’d need an alternative. This is it.

“I knew I wanted to go through with the plan the day you crushed me in court just because you could.” I let him think about that and how he had abused me. “Yesterday, Marty shot his ex-wife. You might’ve seen it on the news. He got away with it, too. At least he thought he’d gotten away with it. I told him I had backed up his alibi”—I leaned in close to Brennan and whispered in his ear—“but I didn’t.”

Now I pulled the gun from my pocket and held it in my right hand. The other was loose in my left, hanging by my side. I slowly strolled around in front of Brennan until I was standing near Marty’s body. “Marty was crazy for Teal and everyone knew it. She even got a restraining order on him. I told the cops we left the racetrack early and I didn’t know where Marty was most of the afternoon until I met him at the Palm Beach Grill.” Now I could enjoy Brennan’s expression as I laid out my story.

“That’s why I’ll say I broke up with him earlier tonight at the Palm Beach Grill and why I told my friend Allie, at the Brazilian Court, that I had already broken up with him and I was a little scared. I also told her Marty went crazy when he heard you were interested in reconciling with me. It’s also why I’m sure the police are at Marty’s apartment waiting for him right now.”

I held the gun steady in front of me. “The best part, the one thing that just fell into place, was when Marty found your pistol. I may have moved it so he’d notice it, but he thought it was all his idea.” I saw that Brennan was confused. “That’s right, he found it in your closet one day when we came to visit. I didn’t say a word when he stole the pistol. Because I knew the cops could tie the gun that killed Teal to the gun used here tonight, I had to switch them on poor, simple Marty. Wild, huh? He used my gun to shoot Teal and I used your gun to shoot him. All I have to say is that Marty stole my gun from the nightstand in my hotel room. It will work out perfectly. Brilliant, right?”