Number Seventy-Five Read Online Free PDF

never told him about my divorce settlement, so why did he choose me?”
    He stopped shoveling for the last time. The hole was dug. My grave prepared. He leaned against the shovel, his eyes full of sadness as he wiped his sweaty brow with a bandana he had pulled from his back pocket. Then, to my horror, he noticed my purse and stepped over to it. In one swift movement, he tossed it down into the hole.
    My heart sank when I didn’t hear a thud, which meant he already found my gun and disposed of it.
    “Mandy, really, you don’t wanna know. Please, drop it. Go to the next life without that answer. It will only hurt you more. And I don’t want to be the one to tell you. It’s hard enough on me, knowing I am the one killin’ you.” I heard the hitch in his voice. A small crack as the emotional weight of what he was about to do hit him. “I have loved you my whole life, and this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But, business is business, and I ain’t got no choice. I don’t plan on spendin’ my remainin’ years behind bars, not even for the woman I love. Cops behind bars don’t last long.”
    My mind spun out of control--my hopes dashed. While I watched his face contort with emotion, I dug through my memories of the last three years. My divorce records with Scott were sealed. The last two hundred and fifty thousand had been deposited less than a week ago into my account. When Scott caught me in the break room at work and informed me he didn’t owe me “a fucking dime” anymore, the conversation had not been a pleasant one. He had complained about his finances and the fact that he couldn’t afford to get his newest squeeze anything nice or take her on vacation for her upcoming birthday. I remembered laughing at him, telling him that if he had kept his dick in his pants, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. That, of course, pissed him off even more.
    Not even my mother knew of the massive settlement I received since it was rolled directly into a trust. No one knew except my best friend. Sam’s sister, Shawna.
    My childhood comrade. Maid of honor at my wedding and the woman whose shoulder I cried on for weeks after my divorce. The girl that I held tight while she sobbed at the loss of both of her parents less than one year apart. My friend that I moved into my spare room for two months while I nursed her back to health after a horrible car accident because she didn’t have insurance to cover home health care. A car accident that happened three years ago—the same time that Sam and Jacob began their game. The bouncy, effervescent creature who could make me laugh at life, no matter how grim the situation seemed.
    Shawna was dating a man that she refused to tell me much about, preferring to keep things secret, which was completely out of character for her. A hush-hush sort of thing because she said he was a divorced man who insisted upon keeping his identity a secret while he dealt with an overbearing, money hungry ex-wife. She kept that promise to her new mate and only fed me scraps of information about him for the past two months.
    Oh God, why did I not see it before? How did I miss that she was screwing Scott…
    Which made her the third member of the deadly trio. Dear God…
    My head spun as all the pieces finally came together. Betrayed by the person I was closest to in the entire world. Hot, fresh tears followed the dirtied tracks of the previous ones, and this time, I let them flow without restraint.
    “Shawna?” I said, my voice choked with pain.
    “Dammit Mandy, you never could accept no for an answer, could you? Yeah, Shawna set the whole thing up. I’m sorry I lied to you earlier. I did know before I got to the Chancery Court that you were Russell’s date, but I swear I didn’t find out until two hours before.
    “You see, Shawna and Russell always orchestrated the game. She found them online, befriended them and learned their secrets. Social media—it’s a place that people seem to