Hawk walked to Nikki, bent down, and gently kissed her lips. “Nikki, all I'm sure of is that I love you.”
Nikki felt her heart reach out for Hawk. She gently touched his caring face. “Okay, my knight in shining armor, hypnotize me.”
Hawk smiled. “Mind if I hypnotize you to love me forever?” he asked.
“I already do,” Nikki promised and drew in a deep breath. “I'm ready.”
Hawk grew silent. He listened to the ice hit the office window for a few seconds. “Okay, Nikki, here we go,” he said in a low whisper and dropped the gold pocket watch down in front of Nikki's eyes.
11
Oliver Bates became furious when Nikki knocked on the front door of the house his wife had grown up in. “May I come in?” Nikki asked, standing on the small, ice-covered front porch as the winds howled all around her.
“You're a very sneaky person, now aren't you?” Oliver growled. Looking past Nikki into the dark night, he searched for any sign that Nikki had arrived with back-up. Instead, he saw her SUV parked in the driveway next to the rental car. “Inside,” he commanded.
Nikki stepped into a small, warm foyer covered with pale yellow wallpaper. “I have some news for you,” she told Oliver, shaking the ice off her coat. “I've found the killer.”
“Have you now?”
Nikki studied the old man. He was wearing a gray jogging outfit and thick, wool socks. Suddenly he appeared very old and very weak in Nikki's eyes. But, Nikki quickly warned herself, the body may look old, yet the mind was still extremely deadly. “I won't take too much of your time tonight,” Nikki told Oliver. “I need to get home as soon as possible.”
“Yes, the weather is much worse,” he stated, forcing his voice to sound firm and under control. “How did you find out my location? First, answer me that.”
“You didn't hide yourself very well,” Nikki replied, a hint of mock disappointment in her voice. “Any amateur sleuth could have found you, Mr. Bates.”
Nikki's response slapped Oliver across his face. “Do not test me, Ms. Bates, do you understand me?” he snarled.
“Listen,” Nikki said, sidestepping the threat, “I've located a man who lived in Atlanta at the time your wife was murdered. He has to be the killer. I'm going to speak with him tomorrow. I need you to come with me.”
Oliver locked eyes with Nikki and attempted to reach into her mind. “Is that so?”
“Yes,” Nikki answered. “Mr. Bates, you twisted my arm and forced me to track down the person who killed your wife. I have completed my duty as you asked, assuming Mr. Purry is our man, that is. I am taking a blind leap of faith here. I assume you are not playing games with me and that you really want to find the killer.”
“And the killer could be this…Mr. Purry?” Oliver asked.
“Charlie Purry,” Nikki explained, repeating the false name. “The man lived in Atlanta and ran an antique shop. He left Atlanta soon after your wife was killed. Before Mr. Purry left Atlanta, he drew the attention of the police, who began investigating him for selling stolen goods. My guess is this man somehow knew your wife, Mr. Bates, and your wife knew about his crooked business. He must have killed Jane to keep her silent.”
“I see,” Oliver said coldly. “Well, perhaps we should pay this Mr. Purry a visit.”
“Good. Meet me at my store at noon tomorrow. The weatherman isn't forecasting good weather anytime soon, so dress warmly.”
“Of course,” Oliver assured her. “Now, hurry home.”
“I'll be driving very slowly and very carefully,” Nikki replied and opened the front door. “Tomorrow at noon. And please, Mr. Bates, I request that you refrain from violence. We're just going to speak with Mr. Purry and ask some questions.”
“Of course,” Oliver replied and bid Nikki a safe trip home. “Tomorrow, Nikki Bates, you will find out who Mrs. Grove’s real killer is. I'm pleased that you're playing my game, but the time has come to end it.” He slammed the front door shut then grumbled, “Tomorrow I will help you remember what I programmed you to forget. You will remember all the agony you caused me. When I am finished, you will be begging me for mercy. Oh yes, tomorrow you will know the truth, Nikki Bates.”
Nikki hurried to her SUV, slipping and sliding on the ice. She carefully climbed up into the driver's seat. “The stage is set,” she whispered to Hawk.
Keeping his head down in the back seat, Hawk waited until Nikki maneuvered away from the house and then crawled into the front seat and buckled up. “Are you sure that snake will take the bait?”
“Right now,” Nikki told Hawk as she drove slowly back toward town, “Oliver Bates’ mind is running in a hundred different directions. The one fact he is sure of is that I am lying to him. Tomorrow, he'll come at me with full force.”
“How do you know this?” Hawk asked.
Nikki eased her SUV up to a stop sign. “Hawk, I saw the man kill his wife. I saw the man inject me with some kind of hypnotic serum. I saw the man inject me again with the same serum before I left Atlanta. He programmed me to relocate to Maple Hills, Vermont. Why? Because he intended to kill me. But first, he wanted to play his sick little game.”
“Because you told Oliver Bates’ wife you were smarter than her husband before he killed the poor woman, and he overheard you,” Hawk said.
Nikki nodded. “I was young and full of myself back then, Hawk. I thought for sure I could take down Oliver Bates with one single hit. When Jane Bates called me on the night of August 2nd, she was very scared. She told me Oliver had threatened to kill her, and she needed my help.” Nikki said. “Jane Bates was going to make a deal with me—my help in exchange for information that could destroy Oliver.”
“But he got to his wife first.”
“Yes,” Nikki said, remembering a stormy night in Atlanta. “I remember driving to their house, a large, two-story Victorian home in a wealthy neighborhood. It was dark, and a horrible storm was lashing the city. I parked my car a few houses down and jogged up to Jane's house.”
“You two were friends at this point?”
“Kinda,” Nikki explained. “I remember Oliver always being a cold fish and Jane being a shy and timid woman. I really didn't know them very well. Honestly, I can't remember how I even met Jane. Anyway, I made my way to the house, sneaked around to the back door, and found the spare key Jane had told me about.” Nikki leaned forward on the steering wheel in order to see the road more clearly.
“What then?” Hawk asked.
“I remember I was wearing a green dress and tennis shoes. I was soaking wet by the time I unlocked the kitchen door and entered. My shoes squeaked on the tile floor...a white tile floor. I took them off and set them down beside the back door.” Nikki lowered her voice. “The house was so silent...ominous. I knew something was wrong.”
“Keep going,” Hawk pressed Nikki.
“The kitchen was dark and full of shadows. Lightning was flashing outside, and then it thundered. That's when I heard Jane scream. I had a small pistol hidden in a green backpack I was carrying on my shoulders. The backpack had my notebooks, pens, a tape recorder...also a bottle of water and some candy bars. I took out the pistol and ran up the back stairs. I remember how the carpet felt under my bare feet.”
Nikki drove her SUV into town and stopped in front of her chocolate store. “I made my way down a lovely hallway filled with antiques and beautiful paintings to a door that was pushed halfway open, and then...”
“And then what?”
“I eased the door open and saw Oliver Bates standing over his wife with a knife.”
“That's when the woman began calling out to you for help.”
“Yes,” Nikki said, staring through the storm at her shop. “Hawk, I froze...I didn't know what to do. All I remember is running, running back down the hallway, and then I felt a horrible pain strike the side of my neck, and everything went dark.”
“While Oliver Bates was dealing with you, his wife managed to scribble a few lipstick letters on her bedroom floor,�
�� Hawk continued the narrative. “But before Oliver could erase them, the police arrived. A neighbor reported seeing a suspicious person sneaking around outside the house and called the police. That sneaky person was you.”
Nikki closed her eyes. “Years later, my memory of that night began to make an appearance in my mind,” Nikki said, keeping her eyes closed. “I wasn't certain what storm was brewing in my mind...I kept seeing flashes of Jane Bates lying dead on her bedroom floor, the silver watch Oliver used to hypnotize me, and the needle...awful images. But Hawk, I didn't remember that Oliver was the killer. I made a horrible mistake and phoned him one day and explained to him what was happening to me. Like a fool, I asked for his help. After all, the man was my daddy's adopted brother.”
“Oliver Bates met you in your home,” Hawk said in a low voice as his eyes studied the dark storm, “and injected you with the same serum he injected you with the night he killed his wife. He programmed you to move to Maple Hills.”
“To put me on ice, so to speak,” Nikki whispered. “I remember him telling me that he would play a final game with me and prove that he was the chess master, and I was nothing more than a mere pawn.”
“So he kills Mrs. Grove and pushes you into a tight corner while sending you out to find a false killer.”
“Waiting until I figured out that he was the real killer, and when I did, he would be waiting for me...but not to kill me,” Nikki finished. “Oliver Bates has a design for me. In the end, he wants me to rot in prison...and have plenty of time to torture myself about how he outsmarted me.”
“The evidence he promised to give you concerning Mrs. Grove is evidence that he will send to the State Police,” Hawk said and shook his head. “Evidence that will lead to your conviction.”
“I'm afraid so,” Nikki agreed. “Hawk, I believe Oliver Bates hypnotized Mrs. Grove before he killed her and programmed her to make a fake accusation, claiming that I threatened to kill her.”
“I was thinking something along those lines,” Hawk replied. “What's important is that you remember now.”
“I wish I didn't,” Nikki said. Turning to face him, she looked into his worried face. “You did a wonderful job hypnotizing me, Hawk. I'm very grateful, even though I will have to live with these horrible memories now. But we have bullets to fire at Oliver Bates, and that's more important than losing a few nights of sleep.”
“We're banking on this psycho believing that you're lying to him,” Hawk said and shook his head again.
“I have to make Oliver think I'm playing his game. The man is mentally disturbed, Hawk. He believes he's controlling me and that he's in charge of the game. Tomorrow it'll all be over.”
Hawk nodded toward the street. “Let's get back to your cabin and continue the game,” he said.
“Okay.” Nikki got her SUV moving through the ice and wind. Hawk grew silent and didn't speak again until Nikki had safely pulled the SUV into the driveway leading up to her cabin. “Hawk, what are you thinking?” Nikki asked.
“Will you leave Maple Hills now?” he asked in a low whisper. “Now that you know the truth?”
Nikki leaned over and kissed him. “Out of every rock comes a diamond.” She smiled into his eyes. “You're my home, Lidia and Tori are my home, Maple Hills is my home. I'm not going anywhere, tiger.”
Hawk smiled and kissed her. “Good, because if you ever try to leave, I will handcuff you to my office door. Come on, let's get inside.”
12
Tori and Lidia were sitting at the kitchen table. When they saw Nikki and Hawk rush through the back door, they both let out sighs of relief. “We were thinking the worst.”
“We're all safe, and that's what matters,” Nikki said, shaking the ice off her coat. “Did Mr. Purry call?”
“No,” Tori said in a convincing voice.
From across town, Oliver was watching every move Nikki made and listening to her every word. “Perhaps you did find someone whom you actually think is the killer?” Oliver mused, staring at his laptop with a cup of honey water in his hand.
“It's vital that Mr. Purry shows up,” Nikki told Tori. She took off her coat and handed it to Hawk.
“Should we be talking about this...with you-know-who listening?” Lidia asked, jumping into character.
“I've already paid Oliver Bates a visit and told him about Mr. Purry,” Nikki answered and walked to the kitchen counter. “I'll make some coffee.”
Hawk took off his coat. “I don't approve of your method, Nikki. I'm a cop, after all,” he said and hung up his and Nikki's coats on the wooden coat rack standing next to the back door.
“It's the only way to find the person who killed Mrs. Grove,” Nikki told Hawk in a stern voice. “Listen, Hawk, you're a great guy and all, but don't stand in my way, okay? My son's life is in jeopardy. I'll do what Oliver Bates asked me to do and then get rid of him.”
“Are you sure he'll go away?” Lidia asked worriedly.
Nikki worked on making the coffee. “I have my memory back,” Nikki informed Lidia. “I know Oliver Bates killed his wife. I know he hypnotized me. If he refuses to hold up his end of the bargain, then I'll toss this case into Hawk's lap and let him arrest the man and—” Nikki stopped talking and threw her hands over her mouth. Hawk, Lidia, and Tori all stared at her, stunned. “I didn't mean...it slipped...I...”
Oliver slowly set down the cup of honey water he was holding and grinned. “So you remember, do you?”
“Maybe he didn't hear?” Lidia murmured, terrified.
Nikki lowered her hands. “He heard...he will be calling me any minute now,” she whispered.
“Yes, I shall,” Oliver smiled deviously and picked up his cell phone and dialed Nikki's home number.
The phone rang on cue. Nikki answered the call with shaky hands. “You heard me, didn't you?”
“So, you remember?”
“Listen to me,” Nikki said in a terrified voice, “I found someone on whom you can pin Jane’s murder, Oliver. Please, take him and leave Maple Hills. Do whatever you want with the man, I don't care. Just give me the evidence I need to clear my name and leave me and my son alone.”
“What do you remember, Nikki?” Oliver asked in a creepy whisper. “Do you remember telling my wife that you were a brilliant woman who was going to outsmart the fox? Oh yes, you told Jane those very words. I remember hearing them. I was standing outside the bedroom door when you spoke those words. But even worse, you caused my wife to turn on me. I loved my wife, Nikki, and you transformed her into my enemy.”
“I'm sorry,” Nikki told Oliver and began allowing a fake cry to leave her lips. “Oliver, I was young and stupid. I swear I will not tell the police anything. Please...”
Oliver stared at Nikki’s face on his laptop screen. “Please, what?”
“Play my game,” Nikki begged. “Hawk and I created a false killer for you. You can have Mr. Purry in exchange for the evidence I need. I know you killed your wife, but...who is going to believe me? Even if Hawk arrested you, what charges could he hold you on? Everything is merely circumstantial. I didn't mean to betray you, but it was the only way.”
“I see,” Oliver said in a sick, pleased voice. “I'm impressed, Nikki. You played the game I created very well in the short time frame I allowed. For a minute, I was concerned that you were going to be no challenge to me.”
“Oliver...what will...what I mean is, will you make a bargain with me?” Nikki pleaded.
“Of course,” Oliver lied, “as long as you admit that the fox just ate the last chicken.”
“Yes, yes, okay,” Nikki nearly screamed, “you outsmarted me! Is that what you want to hear? You are the chess master, and I'm merely a pawn!”
Oliver grinned. “What sweet words, Ms. Bates. I appreciate your honesty. Now, bring this Mr. Purry tomorrow at our set time, and I will exchange him for the evidence you need.”
“No games?” Nikki asked.
“The game is over,” Oliver lied. “I won. But let me give you a warning
, Nikki.”
“A warning?”
“I will retain certain evidence. If you ever try to speak to the police—the real police, and not the cowboy standing next to the back door—I will send the evidence forward. You may threaten to make my face known on your pathetic social media platforms, but I assure you, you will be the one gracing the ‘Most Wanted’ posters across this country.”
“No games, I promise,” Nikki said. “I'll be at my store at noon with Mr. Purry.”
“I look forward to our meeting,” Oliver replied and ended the call.
Nikki quickly pretended to dial a number and slammed the phone up against her ear. “Pick up...pick up,” she said in a nervous, loud voice. “Mr. Purry, thank goodness, I was afraid you might not be home... Oh yes, where would you be on a night like this? Listen, Mr. Purry, I need to confirm that you are still going to meet me at my store tomorrow at noon... Yes, I know the weather is bad, and the roads are hazardous...Yes, I know your back hurts, but Mr. Purry, I have some very important information regarding your past that you need to know about...No, this isn't blackmail; please, just meet me at my store...Yes, at noon...Okay, I'll see you then.” Nikki hung up the phone and looked at Hawk. “Make sure no cops are around my store at noon, Hawk.”
“I could lose my job and my pension,” Hawk fussed. “I should have never agreed to this.”
“You're in too deep now,” Tori snapped at him. “You have to help Nikki.”
“Please,” Lidia begged Hawk. “Help her.”
“Okay, okay,” Hawk surrendered, “I'll keep the local boys busy.” He rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head. “I'm going for a shower.”
Nikki watched Hawk leave the kitchen. She looked at Lidia and Tori. “Coffee anyone?” They both raised their hands.
13
The following morning, Nikki pretended to sneak out of her cabin without anyone seeing. Wearing a thick white coat over a brown wool turtleneck dress, she hoped her appearance showed a certain style and confidence. Of course, the heavy boots on her feet and the white ski cap made her feel clumsy and silly, but that didn't matter, Nikki thought. She slipped and slid across the icy driveway to her SUV as powerful winds howled into her face. The world was white with ice, but at least the storm had passed during the night, leaving only the winds as an afterthought. Still, the ice was dangerous, and she had to drive with extreme caution.
Maple Hills Mystery Box Set Page 22
