Jake stared at Langdon, waiting for his next question – he never gave away more information than he was asked for. Langdon held up his hands in frustration. “So who did you kill?”
Some scumbag drug dealer, actually.” He let this hang in the air, then continued. “During a raid, the gangster boss shot me in the hip, then he ran off so I shot one of his cronies. What a big fucking mistake that was.”
“Why?”
“I got kicked off the police force.”
Worry flickered across Langdon’s face. “You’re a cop?”
“I was. But like I said, I got kicked off for killing a drug dealer. No compensation for my injury – in fact they said I was lucky not to be charged for killing the bastard.”
Mr. Langdon inspected Jake for a moment. Jake held his gaze. Langdon looked away, then he ambled over the window and surveyed his ranch. “Have you ever killed a woman?”
“No, sir.”
“Hmm… I have. And I would’ve done again.” He threw Jake a challenging stare over his shoulder. “Funny what we’ll do for money, isn’t it? When we’re desperate. Don’t let this beautiful ranch fool you, Jake. I owe some bad men a huge debt.”
“I’m not sure I follow, sir. What’s this got to do with me?”
He spun to face Jake, looking desperate. “I can split it with you. The money. If you do it.”
Dread squeezed in on Jake. “Do what exactly?”
“Need I spell it out? I want her dead.”
“Mrs. Langdon? You want Mrs. Langdon dead?”
“Precisely.”
“And you want me to do it?”
“You’ll be set up for life.”
Jake clasped the armrests. Yeah, set up for a very short life in the run-up to frying in the electric chair...
Jake realized he needed to get out of here right now. It was true, he wasn’t a saint, but he also wasn’t a killer. He tensed his muscles to stand up, but then he realized he probably should get some more information on what Langdon planned to do to Samira…She was after all his sister-in-law.
“May I ask why you want your wife dead?”
“There’s an insurance pay-out I’m waiting on. I can split it with you. If you find out where she’s gone and take care of her.”
“Take care of her?”
“Yeah. And I don’t mean take her out to dinner and show her a good time. She’s worth a lot of money to me… if she has a fatal accident.”
Jake stood up slowly. Realization dawned on him like a gong of doom striking in a churchyard. Suddenly it all made sense – Langdon had killed his first wife and disposed of her body, but now he needed Samira to die ‘accidentally’ so he could claim the real Mrs. Langdon’s insurance – pretending Samira was the true Mrs. Langdon.
But where did he come into it? Oh god…
“You asshole,” Jake muttered. “You wanted me to witness her ‘accidental’ death and testify, so you could get the money. That’s why you wanted me to follow her around… To witness her death.”
Langdon’s lips curled into a sinister smile. “Very perceptive. You’re not as stupid as I hoped.”
“This is insane. You’re a fucking madman.”
“Correct. But a clever one, eh?”
“That’s why you’re so reluctant for her leave. Now you’ve got to start again with some other poor girl.”