Life Flight

by Lynette Eason

  She pulled her phone from her pocket and sent a quick text to Holt.

  What was the book in the den at Rabor’s house?

  She turned to Sally. “Well, I guess I’ll leave you to have some time to yourself now that your children are occupied.” Penny set the book back on the end table. “I really am sorry for my role in Joel’s death.”

  Her phone buzzed.

  Holt

  Charlotte’s Web. Why?

  Penny sucked in a sharp breath and her gaze swung back to Sally, who had opened the drawer of the table next to the other end of the couch.

  When the woman turned, she pointed a small gun at Penny. “How did you figure it out?”

  CHAPTER

  THIRTY-TWO

  Holt checked his phone one more time and frowned. Tapped another message to Penny.

  I’m heading to the restaurant, but if you’re not ready, I can run a quick errand. How much longer do you think you’ll be?

  He set the phone aside and went back to his laptop. He had the crime scene pictures up from Rabor’s house, still looking for a clue that would tell him who the woman could have been who called Rabor while Penny was in his clutches.

  The phone records had pulled up nothing, which meant the number had probably been hidden on purpose.

  Naturally.

  He glanced at his phone. Penny still hadn’t answered him. If she didn’t answer within the next few minutes, he’d just call her.

  Penny froze. Then swallowed while a slow-burning anger started to build. She was getting really tired of people aiming guns at her.

  Her phone vibrated again and she glanced at the screen.

  Penny?

  “Ignore it,” Sally said. “Throw the phone on the couch.”

  Penny obeyed without taking her eyes from Sally. “I don’t know the details, but I’m guessing you had some kind of relationship with Rabor?”

  “Darius. Yes.” She lifted her chin. “I loved him. I would have done anything for him, because he was a real man.”

  “He was a killer.”

  “He wasn’t afraid of anything. He knew what he wanted and did everything necessary to make sure he got it.”

  “And that included plotting with you and Joel to get him out of prison by creating a pattern of women,” she said, her voice soft while her mind sorted through the information. “All of the women who wrote him letters and came to see him, those were all covering up your and Joel’s visits, weren’t they?”

  Sally’s eyes flicked to the hallway, where JoJo was still playing with his car. “Yes, it was clever, wasn’t it?”

  “So Joel dressed up as one of his girlfriends, helped break him out of the hospital, then you hid him from the cops when everything went wrong on the mountain?”

  “Of course.”

  Penny’s phone rang and Sally gave a low growl. “Seriously?” She jabbed the screen, and Penny could only assume she hung up on the person. Probably Holt.

  “I have plans today, Sally. Holding me at gunpoint is just going to end in tragedy for someone.”

  “Shut up.”

  Penny fell silent, but she was thinking. Holt would be wondering why she’d dropped off the radar. He might even come looking for her at Sally’s house if she didn’t respond to his texts or calls soon.

  Sally paced, worry dipping her brows down and crinkling her forehead.

  “So,” Penny finally said, “your whole story about the divorce and why Joel was doing the surgeries and even that he was staying in the outbuilding was the perfect cover for Rabor.”

  “I thought I did fairly well coming up with that on the spur of the moment,” Sally said, stopping opposite Penny. “As soon as I realized I had the FBI on my doorstep, I figured they’d want to search the buildings.” She glanced out the window. “I knew they’d find someone had been out there.”

  “How did Joel fit into your and Rabor’s plans?”

  “He was to play his part and then”—she shrugged—“he could die.”

  “How could you do that to your children’s father?”

  She scoffed. “Father? Some father. Wimp doesn’t even begin to describe Joel. I have no idea how he walked upright, because he definitely had no spine.”

  “That doesn’t fit with the man who attacked me, shot federal agents, and tried to kill another agent.”

  She lifted a brow. “Because I’d been training him.”

  Training him. Penny was so sick of that word. “Training him how?”

  “How to act like a real man. Before he went to prison, Darius trained the women. I trained Joel.” A small smile curved her lips as though she was replaying the training in her mind.

  Penny suppressed a small shudder, and for the first time, a niggle of real fear crept up her spine.

  “But Joel was going to Darius for advice on how to ensure that I wouldn’t leave him. As a result, he learned everything there was to know about Darius.”

  “Including what had happened between Darius and Holt.”

  “Oh yes, Darius took great pleasure in describing their interactions—especially their last one—in detail to Joel. And Joel would come home and act it out. I told him it was a good start to becoming a real man. In the last month or so, if you’d placed them side by side, you would have had a hard time telling them apart.” In essence, Joel had actually taken on Rabor’s identity. By the time he died, he probably thought he was Rabor.

  “How does a real man act?” Penny asked.

  “In control. He can make decisions and choices without the effort sending him to bed to hide, trembling, under the covers. Or worse, to the local bar, to drink away his ineptness. He takes care of his family and loves them.” She drew in a deep breath. “I had told Joel I wanted a divorce and he went into begging and pleading mode.” Her lip curled. “I told him he had to change. To become a man. He said to give him an example to live up to. That night, the documentary on Darius Rabor came on. I told Joel that Darius was a real man. He killed his wife because she disrespected him. That was impressive to me.”

  Penny blinked. “You wanted your husband to kill you?”

  She snorted. “Of course not. But I wanted him to stop being such a coward, to man up and take responsibility.”

  “So you told him to go to the prison to meet with Rabor?”

  “No, surprisingly enough, he did that on his own, and that intrigued me enough to make me stay. I wanted to see where he was going with it.”

  “And that’s when he started doing the surgeries?”

  Sally nodded and Penny gasped.

  “He wasn’t doing them because he was obsessed with Rabor, he was doing them because he thought if he actually became Rabor, you wouldn’t leave him.”

  “You’re smart.”

  JoJo came into the den, carrying his car. Sally’s gaze snapped to him. “Go stay with Mary, now.”

  Without hesitation, the little boy turned and ran down the hall, calling his sister’s name. Apparently she’d been training JoJo too.

  Penny’s phone went off again and Sally snatched the device from the couch, the weapon never wavering from Penny. “Holt wants to know if you’re all right and could you please answer him.”

  “If I don’t text him back, he’ll come looking for me.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “He knows you’re here?”

  “Yes.”

  Sally waved the gun toward the couch. “Sit.”

  Penny sat. “Now what?”

  The woman tapped the screen and held it in front of Penny’s face to open the device.

  “What are you planning, Sally?”

  The woman turned the phone back around and voice texted, “I’m leaving Sally’s now, but she asked me to do a little grocery shopping for her so she doesn’t have to get the kids out in the cold. I’m going to do that. Let’s talk tomorrow, okay?”

  Penny’s stomach tightened. Would Holt fall for it? “So you’re going to kill me?”

  “I don’t have a choice. I can’t go to prison. I can’t
lose my children.” She glanced in the direction of the bedrooms. “They’ll be fine while we walk out to the building.”

  The building? The one where Joel had killed his victims? Nausea swirled and Penny swallowed. No way was she walking in that place. She had nightmares every night about the victims there and the bodies in the barn. She’d rather be shot than step foot in that building.

  Sally motioned toward the kitchen door with the gun. “Let’s go. I’ve got a job lined up with new identities and everything. It’s time for me to get rid of you, leave this place, and start over.”

  Penny bit her lip. She wasn’t sure Sally would actually have the guts to pull the trigger. But she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t, either. “You turned your husband into a killer. You’re responsible for the death of every woman he killed.”

  “No. I finally turned him into a man.”

  “Put the gun down, Sally,” Holt said from the kitchen doorway.

  Sally gasped and Penny dove, catching the woman in the stomach. She went down and the weapon skittered across the floor to stop at Holt’s foot. With a screech, the woman lashed out at Penny, her fingers curved into claws. Penny drew back a fist and swung, catching Sally on the side of her head.

  She cried out once more and went limp.

  Holt hurried over, flipped the woman on her stomach, and cuffed her as other officers swarmed the home. Penny sat on the floor, catching her breath.

  Julianna met her gaze. “Glad I didn’t have to use my skills.”

  “Me too.” Penny pointed down the hallway. “The kids are in the back.”

  “I’ve got them,” Julianna said.

  She disappeared down the hall and Penny looked at Holt. “How’d you know?”

  “The book. The one at Rabor’s house on the table. All I could think of was Mary referring to her friend Dee.”

  “Glad we’re on the same page.” She glanced at the book on the end table. “So to speak.”

  “We’re definitely on the same page.” He looked at Sally, and Penny let her gaze follow his.

  The woman lay on the floor, eyes shut, tears dripping onto the hardwood. An officer pulled Sally to her feet while another bagged the gun.

  Penny stood.

  And fell into Holt’s arms. He hugged her close and kissed the top of her head. “I have a question for you,” he murmured.

  “Sure.”

  “Are you a secret football player? Because you have quite the righteous tackle.”

  She giggled. Then chuckled. “I have seven cousins. All male. If I wanted to have any fun during family holidays, I had to learn to play football. And I’m not talking about that wimpy flag football stuff.”

  “Well, I, for one, am glad you learned. It’s saved my life on more than one occasion.”

  “Holt?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I want to go home.”

  “Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER

  THIRTY-THREE

  A WEEK LATER

  Holt pulled to a stop at Penny’s home and climbed out of his SUV. He had another week of leave and had plans to put the time to good use.

  By spending it with Penny.

  And everyone else at her house, apparently.

  He recognized Grace’s and Julianna’s cars, and Frankie’s, but not the black Cadillac parked nearest the door. He glanced at the tag and noted it was a rental.

  Okay then. Someone visiting?

  Her mother. Had to be.

  Oh boy. He knocked and the door swung open. Penny launched herself into his arms and kissed him. Not one to argue, Holt reciprocated.

  When she stepped back, she laughed. “I’m happy to see you.”

  Her sheer joy sent his heart thumping. He could get used to coming home to that kind of greeting on a regular basis. He cleared his throat. “If you’ve got company, I can come back later.”

  “Not a chance. Get in here.”

  In her den, he found her mother entertaining Julianna, Grace, and Frankie with stories about her Hollywood life. Frankie had his recorder going, of course. When her mother saw Holt and Penny, she stood to glide over to them. “You must be Holt.”

  “Yes, ma’am, and you are?”

  The room went silent, jaws dropped—and Penny giggled.

  Penny’s mother’s eyes went wide, then she too dissolved into laughter. She threw her arms open and Holt leaned in for her hug. When she stepped back, she shook a finger at him. “You got me. Not many people manage that.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. . . . uh . . . what do I call you?”

  “Geneva is fine. It’s actually my birth name.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Geneva.”

  “Come have a seat. I was just telling this dear young man all about what Penny was like as a child.”

  Penny rolled her eyes at him. “Fascinating stuff.”

  She might disagree, but Holt wanted to hear those stories. He nodded to Frankie, Julianna, and Grace. “Good to see you all here. Penny said y’all helped her get the bathroom finished and one bedroom done. That was good of you.”

  “Her mom needed a place to sleep,” Grace said, with a soft smile.

  “I told her I’d be perfectly fine on the sofa,” Geneva said, “or at a hotel.”

  “Absolutely not,” Penny said. “If you were coming all this way to see me, you were staying here.”

  Holt leaned in. “So, about these childhood stories . . .”

  Penny stood. “Uh, first, I need to have a short chat with Holt. We’re just going to step out into the sunroom while you continue with . . . this.” She waved a hand, then tilted her head at him. “Please?”

  Curious, he stood. “Sure.” He looked at the others. “No more Penny stories until I get back.”

  They laughed and he followed Penny through the French doors and into her sunroom. She closed the doors behind them and shut the blinds. He smiled. “What are you doing?”

  “I need a moment to breathe. We’ve been talking nonstop for three hours and I just . . . need a moment.” Then she hugged him and settled her head just under his chin like it belonged there.

  A sigh of contentment slipped from her and he silently echoed it. “Glad to see you and your mom are getting along.”

  “She’s not a bad mother. She loves me. She’s just . . . Geneva. And I have to learn to accept and love her as she is. I think I can do that.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “I think you can too.”

  “Not to be a downer, but how was your friend’s funeral?”

  “Sad. But he was honored for the hero he was, and that helped. I know I’ll see him again one day—I’m just grieved at the way his life here on earth ended.”

  She lifted her head and looked him in the eye. “I’m sorry, Holt.”

  He kissed the tip of her nose. “Thank you.”

  “And Gus?”

  “He’ll probably go home from the hospital sometime next week. What else do you want to know?”

  “How’s Zoe? You haven’t said much in our conversations.”

  “I know.” He sighed. “She’s managing. Yvette and her son were picked up in Georgia. He worked for a television station and was the one who edited the video Yvette sent to Zoe.”

  “What did they hope to gain from that? What was the purpose?”

  “She finally confessed and that’s partly what’s been keeping me so busy. I’ve been in communication with Matt Nixon, the detective who had Zoe’s case, and Zoe’s lawyer, and so on. Between Yvette and Zoe and my nieces . . . anyway, the story is that with Zoe’s job at the bakery, she worked some long hours, which left Owen with the girls quite a bit. But he was nothing but happy for Zoe’s success and loved those girls so much. He didn’t mind taking care of them.”

  “What about when he and Zoe were both working? I know a detective works some seriously long hours too.”

  “Yeah. That’s where Yvette came in. She was part housekeeper, part nanny. Apparently, she was in love with Owen and started
scheming to break him and Zoe up. She started planting things in the house for Zoe to find. A tube of lipstick that didn’t belong to her. One of Owen’s shirts with a different perfume, strands of brown hair on Zoe’s pillow. You get the idea. She was also stealing from them. Little things. One place setting of the sterling silver. Some of Zoe’s jewelry. The money from the kids’ piggy banks. Stuff that would go unnoticed for a while. But Zoe figured it out and was going to fire Yvette. That was for the stealing, but she didn’t know Yvette was the one planting the ‘evidence’ that Owen was cheating. The night they fought, Zoe had found a pair of women’s underwear in one of Owen’s uniform pants pockets. She always went through his pockets before taking his stuff to the cleaners and . . . there they were.”

  “And Yvette would know that.”

  “Exactly.”

  “That night, Yvette knew the kids would be next door. She waited in Krissy’s closet for a long time, planning to pretend to be an intruder, kill Zoe, and run.” He pressed fingers to his eyes and shivered. “But when she heard them fighting, she snuck downstairs to record it all. She had her own gun but saw Owen’s on the coffee table, picked it up, and aimed it at Zoe, but just as she pulled the trigger, Owen gripped Zoe’s upper arms and moved in close—he never shoved her, by the way. That was edited to look like it—and the bullet hit him.”

  “So, in the ensuing chaos, Yvette simply slipped out of the house with her video and, with the help of her son, hatched the scheme to send your sister to prison.”

  “Yes.” He closed his eyes. “I don’t know that I’ll ever get over the shame of believing her guilty,” he whispered.

  Penny hugged him again. “You will. You’re an agent, Holt. You deal with criminals every day, and you had every reason to believe she was guilty. Like you keep telling me about Joel Allen’s death, you can’t blame yourself.”

  “Yeah. I know. Mentally.”

  They fell silent for a moment and she relished just being in his arms. Then she looked up. “I love you, Holt. Thank you for choosing me.”

  “We chose each other.” He tightened his hold on her. “I love you too, Penny. I think I loved you the moment I opened my eyes in the chopper and saw you flying it.”