“Then why haven’t you pulled the trigger already? Why are we still standing here talking?”
“Come with me. I have always liked you, Bill. A lot. You’re a real man in a world of beta males. You’re strong, dominant and sexy. I like that a lot.” Nicole licked her lips. “And it would be a real pity to have to kill you. I would much rather that you came with me on this heroic journey. Let’s save the world together. That’s all you have to do. Let’s save the world together.”
“You’re a murderer, Nicole. You’re a cold-blooded murderer.”
She sighed, looking away for a brief moment. “I must say I’m disappointed. I always thought we would make a great team. You and me. Together. Making the world a better place. I must admit that I have dreamt about it.”
“You’re a psychopath.”
She shook her head. “I’m a good person. I’m saving people. Nobody else is cleaning up the streets. Nobody else is doing the right thing.”
“Gerard was a good person,” Harvey stated solidly, buying time as he took a step towards his desk. “He didn’t deserve to die. He needed help.”
“He was beyond help. They all are. They’ve had their chances in life. Life was given to Gerard on a platter. He had every chance. His life was gold-plated, and he threw it away for the sake of a drink. He deserved to die. He had his chances in life.”
“I saw hope in his eyes, Nicole. I saw a future.” Another step towards the desk. “All he needed was help. Life had dealt him major blows, and all he needed was a chance. He needed someone to offer a hand to help him. Someone needed to give him a hand.”
“Major blows? Do you really want to talk to me about major blows? How about seeing your mother being beaten every week at the hands of a drunken father? How about seeing the same thing happen to your little sister? How about seeing your sister die at the hands of a drunk? Where was their help? Whose hands were there for them?”
“I’m sorry that there was nobody to help them, Nicole. I really am.” Closer to the desk. “But Gerard didn’t beat his wife. He didn’t hurt anyone. He—”
“Didn’t hurt anyone?! He had the potential to hurt everyone. That’s what drunks do. They hurt everyone in their wake.”
“No, they don’t.” Harvey was at the corner of his desk, still too far away to lunge for the top drawer. Another step. “They’re people who have turned to alcohol because of the stresses in their lives. They’re escaping their pain through alcohol. They need help, not punishment. They need help for their underlying mental issues. They need help to be able to deal with the pain.”
“But I saw it, Bill. I saw the future in his eyes. I saw the pain that he was going to give to the rest of the world. That man was evil. Evil.”
“What do you see in my eyes?”
Nicole walked slowly towards Harvey, around the chairs to the edge of his desk, gun still hovering around her hip height, pointed upwards towards his torso.
He stepped backward.
Closer to the drawer.
She seductively bit her bottom lip, staring at the man opposite her.
His heart felt like it was pounding on the walls of his chest, his skin tingling with anticipation.
He moved another step backward. Almost there.
She stopped in front of Harvey, only a few inches away, gun between them.
In a moment of tense seduction, in a moment of heightened reality, she heaved her knee into Harvey’s groin.
He buckled.
Falling to the floor, he was bent over in the intense pain of being smashed unexpectedly.
“Oh, Bill, I hoped for so much more than this for us.”
She cracked the handle of the gun against the back of Harvey’s head, and he struggled to keep his eyes open. The pain covered his entire skull, pulsating through his head.
Again.
This time she connected with the edge of his jaw.
His head fell to the floor, tasting blood in his mouth.
“I’m sorry I have to do this. I really am. I like spending time with your over-sexualized, strong character. You’re a man. In every sense of the word, you’re a man. I like that. I like that a lot.”
“You don’t have to do this,” Harvey uttered as blood dripped from his mouth.
The cold, harsh barrel of the gun pressed against the back of his head.
He took a slow breath, thinking it may be his last.
This was the finish.
The end of the road.
This was his day.
The day it ended…
Chapter 35
“No!”
“Penny?” Nicole turned to the door. “Caleb? I told you to wait in the car!”
“What’s happening here?” Caleb, the former Marine, stepped in front of Penny Pearson, standing at the door in shock.
“Nothing is happening. Go back to the car.”
“What? What are you doing to Bill?”
Penny looked at the gun resting on the back of Harvey’s skull, poised, ready to fire.
“Put the gun down, Nicole.” Caleb was firm. His muscles clenched. It reminded him of a forgotten war. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”
“What would you know!” Nicole snapped. “What would you know!”
“I know that this isn’t the right answer.” Caleb’s voice was measured. Controlled.
“Why did you have to ruin this, Penny,” Nicole whined. “Why? Why couldn’t you have waited in the car like I told you.”
“Because we found Gerard West’s wallet in your car. It was under the front seat. What was it doing there?”
Nicole shrugged, unable to answer.
“What was it doing there?” Penny pled.
She didn’t want the truth to be real. Even with the gun, even with the evidence, she didn’t want to believe.
“That’s none of your business, Penny. Now go. Both of you. Leave.”
“Not without that gun.” Caleb was firmer.
“Always the hero, eh? You, the big tough man. The hero.” Nicole moved the cold piece from the back of Harvey’s skull, lifting it towards Caleb.
Now was the time.
Harvey took his chance, crashing his shoulder into Nicole’s hip, driving her into the bookshelf. The impact was heavy, but the gun was firmly in her hand.
Quickly she pointed it down towards her attacker.
“No!”
Caleb charged.
Harvey’s hand moved for the gun.
Caleb dived.
Nicole moved.
Bang.
Chapter 36
The loud echoing of a gunshot rang in Harvey’s ears.
It was all he could hear.
Pain blurred his eyes, but it was the ringing that had his attention.
He didn’t feel the impact of a bullet.
He didn’t feel the pain of a gunshot wound.
Slowly, he began to move his body.
Nothing.
No entry wound.
No blood other than what he could taste in his mouth.
Slowly, his eyes looked up, scanning the room.
Nicole lay next to him, her head tilted to the side.
Her eyes were vacant.
Empty.
Soulless.
Her face didn’t move. Didn’t twitch.
Gradually, Harvey’s eyes began to drift down her body, scanning her clothes.
The fabric of her shirt absorbed a fast flow of red, quickly drenching it. The gun sat next to her hand, lying on its side, still pointing towards Harvey.
The smell of a gunshot overpowered his senses, and it started to bring Harvey’s mind back to reality.
Nicole was dead.
An act of self-defense killed her.
Her lifeless body was slumped on the floor of his office.
Blood started to drip onto his carpet.
He started to get his breath back, and then his head turned sharply at a noise over his desk.
She pulled the trigger.
She shot the gun.
&
nbsp; But with the impact of Caleb attacking them, he had moved Nicole’s hand in time, pointing it towards her chest.
One split second, one moment of life, was it all it took to take one.
“Are you ok?” Despite the terror, Caleb’s voice was calm.
He had seen this trouble before.
“I’m…” Harvey rubbed his head. “I’m fine.”
“Penny?” Caleb moved towards his girlfriend. “Penny?”
She didn’t respond.
Her face was white.
Her eyes were wide.
Shock had taken her.
Caleb placed his caring arm around her, holding her tight. “It’s ok. It’s ok. I’m here.”
He turned her away from the scene of blood and death.
“I…” Penny began to shake.
“Shhh, it’s ok. It’s ok.”
“I… I found Gerard West’s wallet in her car,” Penny stammered, her eyes still wide open. “I found it in her car… It was under the front seat…”
“It’s ok.” Caleb comforted her.
“There was blood on it. I thought… It just all made sense. I just… I just… I mean… I didn’t…”
“It’s ok. Everything is ok,” Caleb whispered. “Everything is going to be ok.”
Chapter 37
Four weeks later
“So what’s next for Penny Pearson?” Harvey asked as Penny sat opposite him in his office.
“Life just keeps going on, I suppose.”
“Did you talk to the services? The phone numbers the police provided?”
“I did.” Penny nodded. “I know that I haven’t had an easy run. I know that. But I’ve learned to get through these things by talking to the right people. There are always people willing to help. I have spoken with a lot of professionals, and they’ve all been amazing.”
“Help is always there if you ask for it.”
“That’s so true. But you have to be brave enough to ask for it. People don’t understand what you are going through just by looking at you. And we all have our demons to deal with at some point in life—all it takes is the bravery to ask for help. Life has taught me that. And people have helped me through some very hard times, and I want to be there to help others when they need it.”
Penny’s sweet, innocent exterior hid the pain that life had thrown at her. She had seen more agony than most, but her pretty appearance covered it all, washed it all under a cloak of beauty.
After Nicole’s death, Detective Pitt was able to link all the murders back to her DNA.
She left small traces of evidence at each scene; however, there was no way to connect them previously. Once Nicole was proven to be the murderer, the case against Jonathon Harvey was withdrawn.
And Lachlan Shaw, once convicted of murder, was to be released in the coming days. He sent Harvey a handwritten letter, thanking him for his assistance. He wrote that upon his release he ‘would spend the rest of his life preaching the good word of the Lord to the people.’ He was not bitter about his wrongful conviction, rather he was thankful that life had given him the opportunity to discover his authentic purpose.
“They’ve done a good job cleaning up the office,” Penny commented, looking around the room for any sign of blood or death. “You wouldn’t even know what happened here. You can’t even tell.” She sighed. “But I guess that’s like most things in life—from the exterior, you can’t tell what pain has happened behind the scenes. We give it a clean, a wash, and then keep going, never forgetting, but moving on from the past. It’s all hidden under the façade.”
Sitting in Harvey’s office for the first time since the shooting, Penny seemed remarkably calm about the situation.
Harvey looked across to the area of his office where Nicole’s body lay only four weeks ago. There was not a trace of the moment that Nicole Cowan lost her life.
“They’re very skilled at cleaning crime scenes.” He looked back to Penny. “Are you sure that you are ok?”
Penny nodded again. “She killed a lot of people, Bill. I always knew she was a little loose in the head, but she killed people just because they were alcoholics. She killed them. I started to blame myself, but the psychologist helped me understand that it had nothing to do with me. It was her choice. It was nothing to do with me.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that, Penny.”
“I’ve got a lot to deal with yet, but I’m coping. It feels strange losing someone you love, but it’s for the best that she’s no longer here. She was evil but nice to me. That’s very confusing. Very confusing. It’s going to be a long hard road dealing with this, but I think I can do it.”
“You’ve seen more bereavement in your life than most.”
“And I hope not to see that sort of death again. I have seen too much. It will affect me for a long time, but I’ll cope.” Penny shrugged. “What happens to your brother?”
“He’s been released. He’ll try and rebuild his life, and I’m going to be there to help him do that. My sister… she hasn’t been as forgiving, but she’ll come around one day. I’m sure of it.”
“Well, at least, this case has brought you two back together. That’s a positive, right?”
“It is.” Harvey nodded. “Life is a strange journey, but we have to be ready for the adventure.”
She shrugged. Life had a dealt her a lot of pain, a lot of suffering, but with the help of others, she had worked through it, accepted it, and kept going.
“I’ve decided to help out Caleb’s mother and volunteer at the Wells Community Center for Mental Health for a while. Valerie has been really great to me, and after all this, I’ve started to understand that people need help, not persecution. We all have different struggles, and people have always been there for me. I want to return that love. I’m going to volunteer to help them.” She twirled a strand of hair. “I was the only family Nicole had left, so she left me everything in the will, but I feel bad about that. I’ve received the proceeds of a serial killer. So I’ve donated most of it to the center. I’ll sell Nicole’s apartment, and that should keep me out of trouble for a few years.”
“You still want to help people after all that? At your core, you’re a good person, Penny. Despite all that you’ve been through, you’re a good person.”
“No, Bill. I’m not a good person despite what I have been through.” She paused, and smiled. “I’m a good person because of what I’ve been through.”
Chapter 38
The early morning sun sparkled off the grass in the spacious park.
Bill Harvey, dressed in a fitted Italian suit, sat on a swing, gently rocking back and forth. It was a place where he spent most of his childhood, just across the road, playing with his younger brother and sister.
“Need a push?” Ella asked with a smile as she walked up behind him.
“Not today,” Harvey replied, the childhood memories almost overwhelming him.
“We had a lot of good times here,” Ella sat on the swing next to him, brushing the hair from her face. “It almost feels like a different lifetime. I feel like I was a different person here.”
He hadn’t been back to the small farming community, three hours from L.A., for more than a decade. He thought this would be a pleasant trip, a chance to reconnect, but he didn’t expect to be overwhelmed by the feelings of melancholy.
“Do you remember our old next door neighbors?” Ella gently rocked on the swing.
“Thomas and Mary? The quiet couple?”
“That’s them.” She smiled. “Very strict religious people. They never liked us. We were too wild for them.”
“I remember that you used to sit outside their front fence and play the saxophone very loud, just to make them angry.”
“I was only twelve at the time.” She laughed at the memory. “And they would come out and tell me off, but I’d just keep playing. I’d say I was on public property and they couldn’t stop me.”
“You rebel,” Harvey laughed.
“I wonder if they�
��re still there? Maybe we could say hello.”
“Did you bring your saxophone?”
She smiled, leaning her head into the chain on the swing. “We did have a good childhood, didn’t we?”
“We did,” Harvey nodded. “Before it all fell apart; things were quite perfect.”
They sat on the swings early on a Sunday morning, the fresh gentle breeze filling their lungs.
“Thanks for organizing this out here.” Ella pulled her hair back over her ears. “I think it’s perfect.”
They heard the car before they saw it.
The old Ford clunked to the side of the park, a long trail of smoke following it.
As the front door creaked open, out stepped another Harvey man, dressed in a suit, although not as fine as his older brother’s. This suit had seen many owners, and had now made its way into the hands of a former drug addict who was determined to make amends in his life.
Jonathon Harvey drew a long breath, nerves filling his whole body. He held the large bouquet of flowers, the best he could afford, and began to walk towards the swings.
With tears building on each step, he tried to calm himself with deep breaths.
Ella Townsend, the youngest sibling, stood from the swing and began to walk towards her long-lost brother.
“Ella,” he said as she walked closer. “I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I-”
Before he could continue, she leapt and embraced him in a tight hug, squashing the flowers between them. The hug lasted a long time with tears flowing freely, turning Jonathon into a sobbing mess.
Eventually, Ella pulled away from the hug, staring up at her brother, the one she hadn’t seen for two decades. The tears rolled down her cheeks, but her smile was honest.
“I got you these,” Jonathon grinned as he looked down at the squashed bouquet between them.
“Thanks,” Ella wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. “Thanks, bro.”
As the elder statesman, Bill Harvey stood back, proud that his siblings had found each other again.
Jonathon looked to him, providing him a gentle nod.
Bill Harvey Collection Page 30
