Lethal Lineage

by Charlotte Hinger

  Caught off guard, when Deal came to the door he glared at me like I had engineered the search instead of the KBI. He stomped off to his pickup.

  We searched the entire day without finding the weapon. By evening we were exhausted, and after looking through Talebury’s car, Brooks clearly felt like a fool. I did too. No doubt, she had trusted my information about Talesbury’s owning a stiletto. She dropped me off at the office and headed for the motel.

  “You know what you have to do,” she said. “Tell Sam to get that man out of there before we all get sued for something.”

  I went inside and told Sam we didn’t find the stiletto. His guest had to leave. Then I went back to Talesbury’s cell, but of course he was already on his feet, having heard everything that said in the dispatch office including my comments about the botched search.

  “You are free to leave. But I suggest you don’t take leaving too seriously. It’s best if you stay around here.”

  A strange look came over came over his face. “You didn’t find what you were looking for?”

  “No. Go. We can’t keep you here.”

  “Were you careful with my things?”

  “Yes. Despite what you’ve seen on TV, the police don’t delight in destroying property when they do a search.” What things? I thought. I’d never seen a man with so few things.

  “My sacred items. My vestments, my cross. The items in my satchel. They were all in the car. You’ve touched them.”

  I froze. Was he implying that his so-called sacred items had somehow been soiled by contact with mere mortals? A man had been murdered, and he hadn’t volunteered one whit of information and all he cared about was our having touched his precious things?

  I spun around. “We left everything in perfect shape.” I wished we hadn’t. Then I looked at him hard.

  He was no longer afraid.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  “Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell you about my day,” I said when Josie pulled in the next evening.

  “Does that mean you’re not going to let me tell you about my drive across Kansas?”

  “Better not.” We laughed and Tosca yelped and threw herself into Keith’s arms.

  “I told Sam I would make the rounds this evening,” Keith said. “I think our fiddling session can wait.”

  I looked at him gratefully. “And take the mutt with you.”

  He laughed and rubbed behind Tosca’s ears. “How about it, pooch? You want to be a police dog tonight?”

  They left. I fed Josie leftover stew and told her about my perfectly horrible, very bad day. When we were kids, we used to compete with each other to see whose was worse.

  After she settled in, I read and she took her fiddle out and looked at the sheet music Keith had left on the stand.

  “So. ‘Limerock,’ huh? Looks like he’s trying to get a head start here.”

  “You’d be better off listening to the CD he bought,” I said. “It’s very well done.”

  She listened and hummed and concentrated. “I’m still not following something right here. I’m going to give him a ring. Let him know he can’t get the jump on me.”

  She went out to the kitchen and used the landline and came back in a few minutes.

  “Bastard,” she said cheerfully, “he’s going to keep everything to himself. Didn’t help me a bit. Just said he would be a while and to start Tosca without him.”

  “Tosca?” We weren’t planning to watch Tosca. He was making rounds so we could go to bed early. And he didn’t like that opera.

  The hair rose on the back of my neck. “He said Tosca, Josie?”

  “Yes. He’ll be back in time for his favorite part, the last scene.”

  “He hates that scene,” I said slowly. “Betrayal. It’s all about betrayal.” My skin prickled. “What number did you call?”

  “Oh damn. I forgot and called his cell phone. That’s funny, it worked.”

  “You didn’t use his OnStar number? ”

  “No, I don’t even have his OnStar number.”

  “Did you hear your dog?”

  “No.”

  I went to the kitchen. Josie followed. I looked at the call list and hit “redial.” The number that came up was Keith’s cell phone. If she’d have called OnStar, the call would have gone through the speakers and Tosca would have started barking like crazy.

  “Something is wrong,” I said. “His cell phone shouldn’t have worked out in the country.”

  “But it did.”

  “The only place with good reception right now is along the county line. By St. Helena.”

  We looked at each other. I called Sam and screamed out four words when he answered, not waiting for his reply. “Keith, trouble, St. Helena.” We ran for the car.

  I couldn’t talk, could barely think. I concentrated on keeping the Tahoe in the middle of the road. The radio crackled. “Pick up the mike, Josie, tell Sam we’re almost there.”

  “I’m on my way,” he said. “Don’t take any chances.”

  I kept my eyes focused on the road. “Tell him to call Brooks, too. She’s staying at the motel. EMTs. Everyone.” I choked back a sob. Brooks’ men might still be there too. We would have all kinds of manpower if we weren’t too late.

  I topped the final rise and saw St. Helena in the distance. The moon reflected the sheen from the white car parked at the far edge of the lot in front of the church.

  Talesbury’s Camry.

  Keith’s Suburban was beside it.

  I pulled over onto the shoulder about two hundred yards away from the church. I was not in uniform, but I had my Smith and Wesson Airweight in my purse. I would have liked a more powerful weapon, but the little 642 would do.

  “We can’t take a chance on Talesbury hearing us. Let Sam know what we’re doing. Tell him to hurry.”

  I opened the car door and let it close soundlessly then ran toward the church in a crouch knowing Josie would follow.

  None of the main lights were on. There was a faint glow coming from the windows at the back of the church.

  There was no foyer. The front door simply opened into the main room. Shielding my eyes, I peered through the arched window to the left of the entrance, thankful that we had not been able to afford stained glass yet.

  Jolted by the sudden rush of blood to my head, I reached to steady myself. Not Talesbury. Deal.

  He was waving Talesbury’s stiletto back and forth like a drum major’s baton.

  Josie came up beside me. I could not swallow. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. Keith was at the very front of the church, directly in front of the communion railing. Deal had spread his arms and bound his hands to the rungs.

  Keith was bent at the waist into a semi-sitting position with his cord-tied feet jutting down the center aisle. Christlike, his head sagged forward and blood streamed down his face. Barking continuously, Tosca circled him, trying to get him to stand.

  She made little pounces toward Deal with low growls.

  “Goddamn dog,” he said. “You’re next.” He turned and scooped up Tosca and grabbed the rope and started wrapping it around her neck. Tosca twisted and bit Deal’s hand and immediately leaped to the floor when he lessened his grip.

  She ran down one of the exterior aisles. Deal plunged after her. He dropped the stiletto beside Keith and pulled his revolver from his holster and took aim.

  The little Shih-Tzu was an impossible target. She dashed in and out under the pews. Furious, Deal stared at the last place he had seen her, then suddenly gave up his prey, and turned back to Keith.

  He picked up the stiletto. Terrified that it had been tipped with the same poison, used to kill Chip Ferguson we watched Deal move toward Keith.

  Keith stirred and raised his head.

  Tosca came out from hiding and began a whimpering crawl down the aisle on her stomach as though she were offering herself as a little doggy sacrifice. Deal snorted and watched her edge toward
him.

  “Come here, you worthless piece of shit.”

  I couldn’t think. Could barely breathe.

  Tosca would run to us if we stepped inside. The distance from the door to where my husband lay prevented me from entering and running down the aisle, because Deal would kill Keith. Or me.

  The glass would deflect my bullet if I fired through it with my Airweight and Deal would hear the glass if I tried to break it.

  I had to burst through the door and shoot Deal in seconds before he could react and prick Keith with the stiletto. Kill him in cold blood.

  “Take your time, Tosca, baby.” I whispered. “He loves little animals. Keep him distracted.”

  I closed my eyes for a second and calculated the moves. Fixed the sequence in my mind.

  Run, door, aim, fire.

  Run, door, aim, fire.

  No warning, my entry had to be lightning fast. No wild shots, I had to aim well.

  I turned toward Josie and tears stung my eyes. My little Smith and Wesson Airweight was no match for Deal’s .375 Magnum if I was too slow. She knew that.

  Someone would die. I or Keith or Deal.

  I stooped into a runner’s stance then raced from the window to the steps, slammed through the door, crouched, and took aim.

  Tosca was faster. Josie was one step behind me and the little Shih-Tzu leapt ecstatically, sailing toward my sister. She jarred my arm as I fired.

  Deal recovered immediately and called on training as sheriff of Copeland County. He whipped out his .357 and trained it on us instantly.

  “Drop it, bitch.”

  I did.

  “Kick it down here.”

  I did that, too.

  Tosca whimpered in Josie’s arms. “There’s nothing in this for you, Deal,” Keith said. “Nothing to gain. Let us go before you’re in any more trouble.”

  “Shut up, Fiene. Do you think I’m stupid?” His round face, drenched with sweat, quivered with self-pity. “There’s nothing I can do anymore that will help. Do you think I’ll get a break if I let you go?”

  He was right. There is absolutely no one more dangerous than a person at wit’s end. He had nothing to lose. I thought he had nothing to gain either. Then I realized he did.

  He would have the ultimate satisfaction.

  Sam was on the way, but it didn’t make any difference. Like other cornered killers, this evil man was going to take as many of us with him as possible. He planned to kill us all.

  Deal had to know we’d called up the cavalry before we came and that somehow Keith had alerted us when Josie phoned.

  Then Tosca rallied. Gathering courage from the sanctuary of Josie’s arms, she lifted her head and yelped at Deal like he was an errant rabbit she’d decided to vanquish. Deal bounded down the aisle and ripped Tosca from Josie’s arms. Dangling her by the hind legs, he went back up to where Keith lay.

  I knew then that he planned to drag this out until the very moment he heard Sam approach. Then we would die. Josie was right. He was into psychological torture.

  I started talking although Josie caught my eye signaling that buying time wouldn’t do us a bit of good. We all knew when we heard the sirens we were doomed.

  I eyed the gleaming stiletto. “You killed Chip, didn’t you? Not Talesbury.”

  “Goddamn right. He was going to give money for buildings. A whole goddamn school. He was trying to talk my uncle into putting that land into a trust for a worthless foundation just to help a ragged little bunch of foreigners. Just so I couldn’t have it. My uncle was crazy. I was willing to pay him good money for that land. Before Chip started messing things up, I was going to inherit.”

  Keith took over. “You came here to plant that stiletto, didn’t you Deal? Hoping to frame your uncle. Still old Dumb Deal. Still a little short of brain power, aren’t you? Penis short too?”

  Irwin’s face flushed. Horrified I stared at Keith, then realized he was trying to taunt Deal into lunging at him. Giving me a chance to go for my gun. “No,” I mouthed. “Please, no.” Just a touch of the stiletto meant instant death. I couldn’t let Keith do it.

  Deal didn’t take the bait. “I didn’t have time to hide it at the house,” he volunteered sullenly, as though it made him sound smarter. Our fault that he was forced into this situation. He glared at me. “Your goddamn whore of a wife is screwing Judge Clawson. That’s why she got the warrant so fast.”

  “Boo, hoo,” Keith jeered.

  I stared at the black sky visible through the still open door. There were no stars. A sudden breeze scattered some papers on a table in back of the room. Moths clicked against the light fixture. My throat dried, shrank. I couldn’t even swallow when I heard the sirens.

  Still holding Tosca’s back legs, Deal raised her in front of him, stretched out like a pullet hanging from a hook. He turned her stomach toward him and held out the stiletto, and looked at Josie, then me.

  A totally worthless little dog. Good for nothing. Her pink ribbons hanging down from her fine silky ears.

  Our hearts broke as one.

  “You goddamn evil son-a-bitch,” Keith said. “I hope you rot in hell.”

  Josie reached for my hand.

  Then Deal looked past Josie and gave a strangled cry.

  “You,” he gasped. He clutched his throat.

  He pitched forward.

  Tosca landed on top of him. We turned toward the back of the church and looked into the cold eyes of Bishop Talesbury.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  He stood in the open doorway with his arms folded and his hands tucked into the sleeves of his cassock.

  “Do you have your phone with you, Miss Albright?”

  Stunned, I could only nod.

  “Call the EMTs. Tell them to get here immediately.”

  I stared at Deal’s body lying at Keith’s feet with the tiny arrow extending from his chest.

  “Now,” he repeated.

  I doubted there was any need for speed. “They are already on the way.” My voice shook.

  Relief swept across his face. “This was curare, Miss Albright. A paralyzing mixture and not lethal. I save people. I do not kill them. But they need to hurry.”

  I ran to Keith, knelt, and my hands shook as I clumsily fumbled with the knots.

  Josie went to the door. “Sam’s here,” she yelled. She waved at Sam and Brooks. Talesbury stood in the doorway, waiting for the EMT’s.

  Sam took one look at Keith, and ran down the aisle toward him, his Swiss Army knife out before he even crouched down next to him.

  The last cord cut, Keith rose to his feet. We hugged, clung to each other. “Son-of-a-bitch was behind the door,” he said with disgust. “I walked into it like I was a seven year old playing cops and robbers and let Tosca out of the car. I didn’t know what hit me. When I came to, I was trussed up like a turkey.”

  “Josie must have called right after that.”

  “He held my cell phone to my mouth when Josie called. I told him you’d know something was wrong if it didn’t go to voice mail after the first ring or if he let it ring and I didn’t answer at all.”

  His heart raced. I couldn’t bear to turn him loose. “All it would have taken was a touch of that damn stiletto. Deal kept waving it at my neck. I counted on you knowing something was wrong. Then I worried I was leading you and Josie into a trap. Which I did. I’ll never forgive myself.”

  “Don’t think that way,” I whispered. “Put it out of your mind.”

  He pushed away and walked over to Sam. “Did Deal park around back?” Sam nodded. “I didn’t see his car when I drove up. I just noticed a light in the church.”

  “Josie and I saw only your Suburban and Talesbury’s Camry.”

  “Talesbury wasn’t here when I drove up. He must have gotten here after Deal and me, and before you two came.”

  “I’m going to find out the answer to a lot of things,” Sam said.

  The three of us went to t
he front of the church where Talesbury anxiously waited for the EMTs.

  “Where were you?” I asked.

  “I was still in my car when I saw you approach. Then when you immediately started sneaking up to the church and looked through the windows, I knew all my suspicions about my nephew were well founded.”

  “I mean when we were fighting for our lives. Where the hell were you?”

  He whirled around. “I would like to remind you that I saved you, Miss Albright. All of you.” He glanced at his watch. “I looked through the window, as you did. I saw what was going on. The door was still open after your explosive…arrival. I stood right outside it and listened. Your entry was perfect.” He gave a weak smile. “I tried to duplicate it.”

  “Why did you come here in the first place?” Brooks edged in front of him, so she could face him squarely.

  “When you released me from jail I stayed the night in a motel and figured it all out. When the KBI couldn’t find the stiletto, I knew Irwin had killed Mr. Ferguson. It was not hidden. My nephew was the only one who could have taken it out of my satchel.”

  “We jumped the gun on the warrant,” Brooks said. “We should have included this church in our search.”

  “Of course Irwin thought I was still in voluntary confinement and he would have a chance to hide it here to frame me. He wanted it to be found. The KBI would think I had done it. I drove to Irwin’s house this evening to beg him to ask God’s mercy and turn himself in.”

  “Fat chance of that,” I said.

  Talesbury glanced at Deal lying on the floor and checked his watch again. “Irwin wasn’t at the house. I retrieved my satchel, and indeed, the stiletto was missing. I knew the logical place for him to hide an object that would implicate me would be at St. Helena.”

  Sam stepped forward. “What did you use on Irwin Deal and where is it? I need to take your weapon.”

  Talesbury pulled a short slender hollow tube from the left sleeve of his cassock. “A blow dart gun. I’m never without it. Where I come from, there are always children’s lives at stake.” He flipped a cap secured with jeweler’s hinges back over the top of the tube. He reached into his pocket and took out a pointed tip that screwed in the other end. It looked like a pen.