by Lisa Boone
She stifled a groan. She knew the detective was just doing his job, but after saying the same things to five other officers including the detective in front of her more than once since they arrived, she was growing a little weary. Praying for patience, she started her story once more. “Phoebe, Kristen and I took the horses—”
He held up his hand, stopping her. “No, I got all that. I want to talk to you about Holly O’Malley.”
“Well, I wasn’t here when she was murdered, but it must have been Fletcher.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, who else could it be?”
“That’s what I’m going to find out. Now, I understand you fought with Holly last night.” he said in a friendly sounding tone.
Warning bells went off in Sarah’s mind. “I wouldn’t call it a fight—”
“Okay, then, what would you call it?”
She thought for a second. “A misunderstanding. What does this have to do with Holly’s death? I certainly didn’t kill her. I was outside when she was murdered.”
“How do you know when she was murdered?”
“Well, I don’t, but it had to have been after I left.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because she was still alive when we left,” Sarah said slowly.
“According to Kristen Blake, you left the stable while they were readying the horses for the ride, supposedly to use the restroom. She says you were gone for ten minutes.”
Sarah’s eyebrows went up. “Supposedly? Do you seriously believe I came up here and killed all these people in under ten minutes?”
“No, I do not. I’m just pointing out that we don’t know what happened here yet. We don’t know who killed Ms. O’Malley or when or why. So, until we do, I need to know everything that happened to Ms. O’Malley in the last few days. Now, I’ve been told that you too had some type of argument last night and I would like to know why.”
Sarah sighed. “She was being cruel.”
“To you?”
“No,” Sarah said slowly.
“Then she was being cruel to someone else.” Sarah’s teeth ground together at the condescension in his voice. “So, who was she being cruel to?”
“Why are you questioning me? Why aren’t you questioning Nathan? Better yet, Danny Dwyer? He seems to think Holly and Nathan were having an affair. He probably knows more about what Holly’s been up to in the last few days than I do.”
“I spoke to Mr. Dwyer a few minutes ago. He told me that Nathan Blake, Mickey Mullins—otherwise known as Moose—and he were together all day. They left around three and when they returned at about five o’clock, Mr. Murphy was here in the house, all alone, surrounded by dead bodies. Now, who was Ms. O’Malley being cruel to?”
“Danny lied to you. The first thing Nathan said when Danny showed up was, ‘Where have you been?’ There are security cameras all around, why don’t you check—”
“We’ve checked. The recordings have been deleted,” he said shortly. “Now, Ms. O’Malley threatened to kill Mr. Murphy at his sentencing hearing several years ago. She swore that she would make him pay for killing Robin O’Malley. Was that who she was being cruel to last night?”
Sarah narrowed her eyes. “Jamie didn’t kill Holly,” she said sharply. “Fletcher did. I saw him kill George and Sam and then he tried to kill Kristen and me, and he may have killed Phoebe. I don’t know when or why Holly died, but I’m pretty certain Fletcher took them out before he ambushed us out at the gorge.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Oh? Just how did he do all that and beat you there?”
“He could have taken the shortcut through the woods while we were having a picnic out there. Trust me; he had plenty of time. We weren’t exactly racing to the gorge.”
The detective frowned. “A shortcut?”
“Yeah, a shortcut. Remember I told you I took the shortcut on the way back. It’s a straight shot from here to the gorge. He could have killed Holly and the other men and then hiked to the gorge with plenty of time to spare.”
There was a shout outside drawing their attention to the window. Jamie was outside, holding Phoebe tightly to his chest.
*
“I thought for sure everyone was dead,” Phoebe said an hour later after the police had taken her statement. She had refused to go to the hospital or even let the EMTs see her, preferring to stay in the guesthouse with Sarah and wait for Brian to tend to her.
Brian kneeled at her feet, cleaning the deep cuts and scratches on her legs and arms as she described everything that had happened since Fletcher’s ambush. “I don’t know why you wouldn’t let the ambulance take you to the hospital,” he said gruffly when she paused in the middle of her story for breath.
“I’m fine,” Phoebe said. “You know how I hate hospitals.”
“Kristen’s there,” Sarah pointed out.
“Not for long I bet. Kristen hates hospitals as much as I do.” She twisted her ankle, revealing a particularly nasty cut. “Do you think I need stitches?”
“No, it’s fine,” Brian said.
“Good,” she said fidgeting.
Brian held her ankles still. “Would you please sit still for a minute?”
“I’m too wound up,” Phoebe said as he tended to her. “It’s not everyday someone tries to kill you.”
Sarah raised her eyebrows. Well, the girl certainly recovered quickly, she thought, as she handed Brian the bottle of antiseptic. She also bounced back from her cousin’s murder pretty quickly as well. Kristen too for that matter. When informed of Holly’s death, Kristen’s response had been a cool, “that’s a shame.”
Phoebe scratched at her cheek, smearing dirt and blood against her skin. “I’m just so relieved to be alive.”
“How did you survive?” Sarah asked.
“As soon as the reins slipped out of my hands, I knew I was going over the edge. I immediately started clutching at branches and rocks, anything I could get my hands on.”
Sarah glanced down at Phoebe’s hands, which were still red and raw, and winced.
“I thought for sure I was dead but I hit that ledge below and hung on for dear life. It took me forever to climb back up. I’m so relieved you and Kristen are okay. I was scared to death. I thought for sure you two were dead. When I saw Sam and George’s bodies I almost had a heart attack,” she said pressing her hand to her chest. “I just panicked and started running. I was too afraid to take the trail. I kept thinking Fletcher was hiding behind every tree waiting for me so I took off into the woods. I probably would still be out there if Jamie hadn’t found me. That’s now the fourth time he’s saved my life. Where is he anyway?”
“The police are still interviewing him,” Brian said reaching for a bandage.
“Cross-examining him is more like it,” Sarah said bitterly. “I wish Jamie had let me call my sister.”
“Why?” Phoebe said kicking her feet. “They’ll let him go. He didn’t kill anyone.”
“They seem to think otherwise,” Sarah said.
Phoebe threw up her hands. “They’re morons then. Obviously, Fletcher killed her.”
“But why did he kill Holly?” Sarah asked. “I didn’t even think she was a target.”
“Fletcher’s a monster,” Brian said in disgust. “He’s never had any qualms about killing innocent people. I think he enjoys it. Holly was probably just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Phoebe lowered her voice to a whisper, looking over each shoulder. “I bet Danny’s behind it all.”
Brian looked up sharply. “Danny been giving you trouble again?”
“Ever since Christmas,” Phoebe said with a sigh. “I don’t know what we could have done to him, but he acts like he absolutely hates us. Personally, I think he has a problem with women in general and has now snapped. I can see him being a serial killer. He’s got dead eyes.” She shuddered again. “There’s just something about him that creeps me out.”
“Guys like that don’t usually hire a hitman to do th
eir killing for them,” Brian pointed out. “Serial killers like to be personally involved. They get a thrill from killing. Danny’s probably mad because Nathan’s not paying him enough. I heard him complaining at the Valentine’s Day party that he barely has enough money to pay rent.”
“That’s not the reason,” Sarah said. “He’s angry because of something that happened the night Robin died.”
Brian went still. “What happened?” he asked resuming his work.
“He overheard Kristen and Phoebe talking about the phone call Robin made to home that night.”
Phoebe gasped. “I knew it. I told Kristen there was someone at the door.” She scowled. “Danny’s always sticking his nose in things. Snooping on people. He just loves to cause trouble. Kristen and I have been trying to get Nathan to fire him for years but Nathan won’t do it. He’ll send Danny away for a few months when we get real mad but then a few months later he’s back again.” She shuddered. “I think—”
“What about the phone call?” Brian interrupted. “What did Robin say?”
“Kristen doesn’t want anyone to know,” Phoebe said. “She thinks it’ll make us look bad.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Because we didn’t help Robin,” Phoebe said softly. “Robin called a few hours after she ran away. She was crying and begging me to pick her up.”
“Did she say why or what happened?” Sarah asked.
Phoebe lifted her blonde hair off the back of her neck and tossed it over her shoulder. She started plucking leaves out of her hair and throwing them on the table. “She only said that she changed her mind and wanted to come home. Kristen told her that she should start walking and then hung up.” She hissed in pain and glanced down at Brian. “Ow, that hurt.”
“Sorry,” Brian said.
“Anyway, Robin called again a few minutes later and I answered the phone. I told her that I would pick her up if she would promise me that she would put the money she stole from the safe back. Kristen took the phone away from me and told me to go to bed.” Her eyes began to water. “I should have gone. I knew how to drive. I could have picked her up.”
“You can’t blame yourself,” Sarah said gently. “How did you know she’d be murdered?”
Phoebe’s gaze lost focus. “I think … I think Robin somehow knew she was going to die. I think she knew someone was after her.”
“What makes you say that?” Brian asked.
“Why else was she so desperate to run?” Phoebe responded with a shrug.
“She was running because she was being forced to marry a man she didn’t love,” Brian said. “That was all it was. If she thought someone was going to kill her, she would have told us.”
“Robin wouldn’t have confided in us. She was angry with everyone. She accused us of taking Dad’s side against her. She was miserable, and the closer the wedding came, the more unbearable she became. She and Kristen were at each other’s throats constantly. It wasn’t Kristen’s fault. I felt like killing her myself several times that last week. Ow.” She glared at Brian. “Do you have to be so rough?”
“Sorry.”
Sarah glanced at Brian out of the side of her eye. “Robin was very beautiful. I bet all the boys loved her.”
Phoebe giggled. “Not everyone.” She lightly kicked Brian with the side of her foot. “Right?” She glanced over at Sarah and whispered teasingly, “Brian hated her.”
Brian frowned. “I didn’t hate her.”
“Oh come on,” Phoebe said. “You two were constantly fighting. I remember she called you a name at her last birthday party and then you threw her into the pool—ruined her favorite dress—I had never seen her so mad. I thought she was going to kill you. Ow! Brian!”
“All done.” He sat down on the nearest chair. “I’m surprised Danny is mad at you just because you didn’t pick her up that night. If you had gone, you would probably have died with her.”
Phoebe pulled another leaf from her hair. “I’m not surprised. He always liked her better than anyone else.” She rolled her eyes. “He had some fantasy that Robin was going to fall in love with him someday.”
“That wasn’t going to happen,” Brian said with a snort. “Jamie just got off with a beating for touching Robin. Patrick would have killed Danny outright if he even thought that Danny was getting ideas about his pride and joy.”
“It wasn’t exactly Danny’s fault though,” Phoebe said.
“What do you mean?” Sarah asked.
“Robin encouraged Danny’s obsession with her,” Phoebe said. “Anytime she snapped her fingers, Danny would come running.”
“No,” Brian said with a shake of his head. “Robin was very firm with Danny. I was there when she told him in no uncertain terms that she didn’t mind being friends with him but that was as far as it went.”
“How did Danny take that?” Sarah asked.
“Pretty well,” Brian said. “He seemed content to love her from afar.”
“There’s a thin line between love and hate,” Phoebe said. “I don’t care what you said about him being content to love her from afar. With people like him, there’s always a point where they will want more than that. I think he found out she was running away with Jamie and exploded. He had always been jealous of Jamie.”
“I guess it’s possible,” Brian said, “but how would he have known what they were up to. Only a few people knew that she was running away and where she was that night.”
“Did you know?” Sarah asked the doctor.
He looked at her in surprise. “Me?”
“Brian didn’t know,” Phoebe said. “Kristen and I didn’t even know what she was up to until she called us to pick her up, but I bet Danny knew. He lives in the apartments across the street from the pub. Has a great view of the place.” She dropped her voice to a whisper again. “I think he saw Robin over there that night, realized she was about to run off with Jamie and became so angry he couldn’t control himself. Here was the girl he loved more than anyone else about to run off with his rival. He lost his mind.”
“Let’s say you’re right,” Brian said, “and Danny did kill Robin because he was obsessed with her. Why would he be angry with you and Kristen? If he’s the murderer, why would he care whether you picked her up that night?”
“Haven’t you noticed how nothing is ever his fault?” Phoebe asked. “He probably blames her death on everyone else. If Jamie hadn’t convinced her to go out that night, she’d still be alive. If Kristen and I had picked her up, she’d still be alive. In his mind, it’s all our fault, not his.”
“That still doesn’t explain why he’d go after Sarah,” Brian said.
Phoebe shrugged. “Sarah is the new Robin.”
Sarah felt a shiver go down her back. “He does watch me when I’m at work. Occasionally, I’ll catch his reflection in the window or the mirror.”
“See?” Phoebe leaned forward conspiratorially. “There’s another reason I suspect Danny. I’ve never told anyone else.” She checked over her shoulders again, before whispering, “My dad didn’t believe Jamie was guilty.”
“I was there when Jamie was arraigned,” Brian said, “and if Patrick had a gun on him right then he would have shot him right there.”
Phoebe patted his arm. “That was at the beginning. He changed his mind a few weeks later. On the night he died, we were in his study talking about Robin’s murder when suddenly he blurted out that Jamie was innocent and that he knew who really murdered Robin.”
Brian and Sarah exchanged a look.
“Did he say who he thought had killed her?” Sarah asked.
“He didn’t get a chance,” Phoebe said, “Danny walked in a few seconds later and interrupted us. You know, there was just something about the way the two were acting. I couldn’t put my finger on it but it’s always bothered me. Dad told me to go to bed and that we’d talk in the morning, but I never saw him again. Someone killed him while we were sleeping.”
Brian’s brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you ev
er say anything to me?”
“I was scared to death. I was convinced that Robin’s killer had murdered him and that I was next because he had confided in me. Then everyone started saying Wade Hogan killed Dad, and I thought that if he had, maybe he had killed Robin too. Then the cops hauled him off to jail for some other reason.” She threw up her hands. “I just didn’t know what to think so I just kept quiet. But I never forgot the way Dad was looking at Danny that night.”
The door opened and Jamie walked in.
“Well,” Brian said, “what did the police say?”
“They don’t want me to leave town.”
They glanced to the window as thunder rumbled outside.
“It’s been threatening to rain for hours now. I hope it holds off for a bit longer.” Phoebe pushed back her hair as she rose to her feet. “Are the police still at the main house? I want to talk to them. I think it’s about time I told them about Danny.”
Jamie gestured to the window. “They’re talking to Nathan in the driveway right now. They should be leaving soon though. What did you want to talk to them about Danny for?”
“I think he’s a creep,” Phoebe said with a definitive nod.
“If that were a crime,” Jamie said, “he would have been arrested a long time ago.”
Sarah stood. She touched Jamie’s sleeve. “I was afraid they were going to arrest you.”
“So was I. They still might.” Jamie’s gaze softened as a vulnerable and frightened look passed over her pretty face. He sighed as he reached out and took her into his arms. “Are you okay?”
She nodded into his chest. “Just tired.”
“Me too,” Phoebe said. “I feel like I could sleep for a week.”
“Come on, Phoebe,” Brian said. “I’ll help you up the stairs.”
Phoebe shook her head. “I have to make sure the horses are all right.”
“You need to stay off that foot,” Brian said. “You can barely walk as it is.”
“Go on to bed, Phoebe,” Jamie said finally dropping his arms from around Sarah only to reach for her waist a second later. “Sarah and I’ll take care of them tonight.”
