A Woman with a Mystery

by B. J Daniels

  She saw something on the floor and knew before she reached down to touch the bright red spot what had been wrong with Chief Curtis. Blood. He’d been wounded. It made no sense, but she didn’t question it as she looked down the hallway for another drop of blood, then another. Better than a breadcrumb trail, she thought.

  She took off her boots, not wanting to make a sound, then began to follow the bloody trail back to the lab. As she drew closer, she began to run, fear and anger coursing through her veins like blood, a hot cauldron of fury. “Dammit, Rawlins, don’t you dare let that psychopath kill you!”

  “WHAT IS IT you want, Slade?” The way Curtis said it he could have been asking him what he wanted for lunch. The cop sounded tired and old and Slade found himself wondering how well he’d ever known him.

  “My baby and Holly.”

  Curtis cocked his head to the side. “Why don’t I believe that’s all you want?”

  “That’s it. I don’t give a damn about the rest of this.” It surprised him, but it was true.

  The cop grabbed a shelf on the wall next to him and flung its contents to the floor. “Not you, Slade. You have to have truth and justice. You couldn’t live with yourself otherwise.”

  “You might be surprised,” Slade said.

  Curtis wagged his bald head as he pulled a second gun from his coat.

  Slade recognized it as his own—the one he couldn’t find at Dr. Delaney’s. “Dr. Delaney was telling the truth. He wasn’t at the birth of Holly’s and my baby. It was you. You put the mask in Delaney’s closet to frame him.” He could reach the microscope now. All he needed was the right moment and a hell of a lot of luck. “There is one thing I don’t understand. Why not let Holly keep the baby? All Inez wanted was an heir for her brother—even a dead one. Why not let Inez have a live family heir? No one would be the wiser.”

  “Holly was too unstable,” Curtis said with a sigh. “I figured after her baby was born dead, she’d probably end up committing suicide.”

  He’d planned to kill Holly. No doubt still did. Sweet heaven. “What part did Dr. Delaney and Dr. O’Brien play in all this?”

  The question seemed to take Curtis by surprise. He frowned. “Dr. O’Brien has nothing to do with this. Why would you ask about him?”

  Slade spotted Holly out of the corner of his eye and couldn’t believe it for a moment. She peeked around the edge of the doorframe and winked at him. He’d never been so glad to see anyone in his life.

  “I saw O’Brien at Inez’s,” Slade said.

  The cop’s frown deepened. “Inez and Dr. O’Brien? She told me she was just trying to get Holly recommitted, and Dr. O’Brien had offered to help.”

  It was obvious Curtis wasn’t so sure about Inez now. “You know there is something that bothers me,” Slade said, motioning to the lab, actually motioning to the microscope on the lab table, hoping that Holly would see what he had planned. “You don’t give a damn about superbabies or changing the world to meet some master plan. What were you really doing here?”

  Holly nodded. She had her boots off. One in each hand. She motioned that she could throw them.

  “Haven’t you already guessed? At first, I was just angry that Norma and I couldn’t have children when all the wrong couples were having babies. Then I realized there was money to be made with the babies that didn’t quite stack up. Allan thought I…disposed of them. But babies, I found, are worth much more alive, either in hard cash or to pay off a debt.”

  Slade wanted to kill the man with his bare hands, but instead he nodded at Holly as if answering Curtis. “Was my baby cash or payment of a debt?”

  “A debt. I was shutting down. Wellington had needed someone to clean up his messes, so we had a pretty good thing going until he became too much of a liability. Your baby was going to be my last…deal. Had a good run, no reason to push my luck.”

  “But then Holly began to remember,” Slade said.

  The cop nodded. “Having your baby be stillborn, it’s really made you crazy. And when it all comes out about Dr. Wellington and his mind control…well, everyone involved will be dead. I think I’ll retire, too broken up about your death to continue law enforcement. Holly will commit suicide. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Once I get her back under my control again. My old method doesn’t work, thanks to Dr. Delaney. I knew the day would come when his conscience would get to him. But he’s gone now. All I have to worry about is Shelley. I’m sorry, Slade, but I think all of Norma’s children and grandchildren are going to have to die.”

  A thought lodged itself in Slade’s brain like a splinter. The three monsters in Holly’s painting. He’d thought they were Carolyn Gray, Lorraine Vogel and Dr. Delaney. Why hadn’t he remembered that the monsters didn’t seem to know what they were doing? Delaney had delivered thousands of babies. He wouldn’t have panicked. But Delaney hadn’t been there—Curtis had.

  “What went wrong during Holly’s delivery?” he asked the cop, positioning himself to grab the microscope the moment Holly threw the boots.

  “Nothing,” Curtis said, momentarily distracted by the question. “Just a little surprise. We were expecting one baby—not two!”

  “Twins?” Slade shot a look to Holly. Curtis caught the look and started to turn. “Now!” Slade yelled.

  Holly threw the boots and ducked back out of the doorway. Slade grabbed the microscope and lunged at the cop.

  But Curtis was in good shape and quick for a man of his age. He swung back around, realizing Slade was the greatest threat. The microscope hit the cop’s hand, the gun went clattering across the floor, and then Curtis was on him, the second gun, Slade’s own, in the big man’s hand.

  They fell to the floor, wrestling for the weapon.

  “Get the other gun!” Slade cried to Holly as he and Curtis fought, Slade’s pistol between them, Curtis strong as a bull.

  She ran into the lab. Curtis’s service revolver had slid under one of the cabinets near Carolyn’s body. Slade saw Holly cringe at the sight of the dead woman, then flatten herself to the floor to reach back under the cabinet. Everything was happening so fast, and yet it seemed in slow motion, each detail so clear. He could see that she’d cut her bare foot on some glass, blood soaking through her sock, but she seemed oblivious of the wound as she dug for the weapon, unable to reach it.

  Slade struggled for the gun between them, Curtis rolling so he was on top.

  The blast surprised Slade when the gun went off.

  For a moment he didn’t know which of them had been hit. Maybe neither. Then he felt something wet and hot across his chest. Curtis was still fighting for the gun, not appearing harmed in anyway.

  Slade didn’t think he’d been hit, but he knew gunshot victims often went into shock, unaware for a few minutes that they’d been injured. He got an elbow up to Curtis’s throat and with effort shoved the man off him. Curtis tumbled backwards, coming down hard, but the cop still had Slade’s gun in his hand.

  “I’ve got it!” Slade heard Holly yell. She sent the cop’s revolver skidding across the floor to Slade. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Curtis swing his arm up to fire, the barrel of the gun pointed at Holly.

  Slade grabbed the skidding revolver, knowing he wasn’t going to make it in time.

  Another gunshot echoed through the lab. Slade had the revolver and was bringing it up to fire at Curtis, but he didn’t get a shot off. He heard Holly gasp, heard someone enter the lab. He swung the barrel of the gun toward the door as Dr. O’Brien filled the doorway, a gun in his hand.

  “FBI, drop your weapon!” O’Brien yelled, just before Slade could squeeze off a shot.

  “FBI?” Slade dropped his gun.

  Holly was screaming at O’Brien. “You killed him! You killed him before he told us where our babies are!”

  Slade took her in his arms. “It’s okay, Hol, I think I know where our babies are,” he whispered. He looked over her shoulder at O’Brien. FBI? “Where the hell have you been?”

  “Right behind
you, following the trail of death and destruction you left in your wake,” the FBI agent snapped. He turned to Holly. “I tried to get you into protective custody by having you re-admit yourself to Evergreen, then I could have protected you.”

  “Could you have?” she challenged. “Then you knew it was Chief Curtis?”

  “No,” O’Brien admitted. “That I didn’t know. But I’ve been working this case undercover since Dr. Parris called me in on it. He’d discovered the Genesis Project and contacted my office.”

  “It would have helped if you’d told us who you were,” Slade said as he helped Holly to her feet, keeping his arm around her, never planning to let her go ever again.

  “I couldn’t be sure just what your involvement was,” O’Brien said. “From the information I was getting from Inez Wellington… That day I passed you on the road to her place, I’d just found out that she’d been leading me on a wild goose chase.” He shook his head. “Where do you think you’re going?” he said as Slade and Holly moved toward the door.

  “To see my pharmacist,” Slade said.

  “Jerry Dunn?” O’Brien asked. “We have a warrant for his arrest on interstate trafficking of drugs.”

  “Add kidnapping to the charge,” Slade said. “We’re going to go get our babies. I hope you aren’t going to try to stop us.”

  The FBI agent backed off. “I’ll need statements from both of you later.”

  Slade nodded, then he and Holly headed for town.

  “Rawlins, how can you be so sure Jerry Dunn has our babies?” Holly asked as they neared town.

  “Curtis said he used them to pay a debt. It dawned on me. Who else had to be involved? Someone who could supply the drugs. Patty Dunn was one of the names I saw on the list of Genesis Project patients. Jerry’s father was also a pharmacist. He did so well in a little town like Dry Creek that he retired and gave Jerry the drugstore.”

  “You think Jerry’s father was involved with Allan?”

  “Yeah.” Delaney had said this had been going on for more than thirty years. It just finally made sense.

  JERRY DUNN answered the door. Behind him, Slade could hear the sound of babies crying. He pushed his way in. “Chief Curtis is dead. The FBI are on their way.”

  Patty Dunn sat on the couch, rocking the two infants in the double baby carrier. “If one cries, the other one does,” she said and looked up, obviously surprised to see Slade and Holly.

  “That’s how my sister and I were,” Slade said as he moved to the carrier and looked down at the identical twins. They had the Rawlins’ dimples and Holly’s blue eyes.

  “Oh God,” Holly said and dropped to her knees beside the babies.

  Patty Dunn looked from her babies to her husband. “Jerry?” Jerry said nothing. Behind him, FBI agent O’Brien appeared in the doorway with several police officers.

  Slade picked up one of the babies and handed her to Holly. Holly began to cry as she held her baby for the first time. He picked up the other infant and cradled her in his arms. The one Holly held stopped crying, and a moment later the one in Slade’s arms did as well. He smiled down at the infant in his arms and couldn’t hold back his own tears.

  Behind him he could hear Jerry being arrested and read his rights along with his wife, Patty. A female officer said Patty’s other two children, the two boys Slade had seen in the photograph at the pharmacy, would be taken into police custody.

  Slade looked over at Holly. “I was just thinking. You know what you said about going someplace warm? I think we should head south. Someplace tropical, maybe. Someplace we could get married.”

  She had been gazing in awe back and forth at the two identical baby girls they held. Now she looked up with a start. “Rawlins, are you asking me to marry you?”

  “What do you think?” he asked, his heart in his throat.

  “I think it’s about time!”

  Epilogue

  The following Christmas Eve

  Holly sat on the couch smiling. Christmas music played on the stereo while Slade and Shelley and her new husband, John, helped the twins decorate the tree.

  “How are you feeling?” Norma asked as she came into the room and handed Holly a cup of hot cocoa.

  “Better.”

  Norma sat down beside her. “I never thought I’d see this day.”

  Holly reached over to take her hand and gave it a squeeze. The last year seemed like a blur now. She and Slade and the twins had flown to Tobago to join Shelley. They’d gotten married there, on a white sand beach, the sound of the turquoise surf in the background and the twins watching from the shade of the cabana.

  Back home, Jerry Dunn had told the FBI everything he knew, including how his father had worked with Dr. Allan Wellington and how he’d taken his father’s place. Jerry had been the bell-ringer outside on Christmas Eve. He’d called Carolyn Gray to warn her at that point. Curtis hadn’t known yet. Inez was arrested in the hospital, but didn’t live long enough to see jail. She took an overdose of Halcion. Jerry’s wife, Patty, cleared of charges, filed for divorce, took her sons and left town.

  It had taken the FBI a while to sort everything out. But following in the footsteps of egomaniac Dr. Allan Wellington, L. T. Curtis had kept a record not only of the births he’d “manipulated” but the lives he’d taken, starting with Roy Vogel’s twenty years ago. Dr. Wellington hadn’t been happy with his first son’s development and decided it was time to terminate that “experiment” and provide a killer for Marcella Rawlins murder.

  From there, Curtis had killed as needed, always able to cover it easily as police chief. His next victim had been Joe Rawlins when Joe discovered the truth about Marcella’s death.

  Along with the cop’s records of events were Wellington’s accounts of using mind control on Holly. It seemed the doctor had been taken with her and decided he should have a child with her, but was killed by Curtis before he could artificially inseminate Holly. Wellington had always been incapable of conceiving in any other way but through artificial insemination.

  Unfortunately for Curtis, Holly had seen him inject Dr. Wellington with the drug that caused his heart attack. The cop tried to control Holly through mind control and drugs with Inez’s help but he feared it was just a matter of time before Holly remembered Wellington’s death and told Inez. Curtis had tried to kill her the Christmas Eve she ran away from Evergreen Institute and into Slade’s headlights.

  For two months, the cop had searched for her. Then to his delight, she’d turned up with Slade. The cop reprogrammed her that evening on the phone and had her steal some files—including the one on Slade’s mother—and some money, hoping that would be the end of it.

  But of course it wasn’t.

  It all made sense now. Why Holly hadn’t wanted Slade to go to the police when he’d found her in the snowstorm. Why she’d been afraid for her life.

  After a few weeks in Tobago, waiting for everything to die down, Slade and Holly and the twins returned home to Montana.

  “You know we don’t have to stay in Dry Creek,” Slade had said.

  “No, Rawlins, we don’t. But we will,” she said smiling as she’d leaned over to kiss him. “Because it’s home.”

  His eyes had widened. “We’re going to have to buy a house!”

  She’d laughed. “One with an art studio and a big backyard.”

  They’d found a house—right next door to Shelley’s and closed on it the same day Shelley announced her engagement to John, the wonderful man she’d met while vacationing in Tobago.

  It had taken time for Slade to forgive Norma. Then, one day when Norma had stopped over, Holly heard him tell the twins, “This is your gramma.” Holly felt tears come to her eyes even now, just remembering the look on Norma’s face.

  Norma had been a part of their family ever since. The family was growing too; Shelley and John were expecting in March.

  “You’ve been through a lot,” Holly said now to Norma as the Christmas tree started taking shape to the sound of “Jingle B
ells” and laughter.

  “Pish,” Norma said. “I’ve been through nothing compared to you and Slade and the twins. No, I mean Slade. I never thought I’d see the day that he would actually be enjoying Christmas again.”

  Holly tried not to cry. She was so emotional these days. Just the sight of Slade and the twins made her close to tears of happiness. “I can’t tell you how thankful I am to have him and our little angels.”

  “You don’t have to,” Norma said. “Believe me, I know.”

  Courtney toddled over with one of the ornaments cradled in her small hands. “Oook,” she said smiling up at her grandmother.

  Carmen toddled over to take a look at her twin’s ornament, then showed her grandmother hers. “Look, angels, Gramma.”

  “They’re beautiful,” Norma said of the ornaments. “Just like the two of you!”

  “Are you ready?” Shelley called out. She nodded to John to do the honors. He plugged in the lights.

  The tree lit up, a warm glow of bright colored ornaments and twinkling lights.

  “It’s beautiful,” Holly breathed, unable this time to hold back the tears. The twins climbed up onto the couch, one on each side of her, their eyes huge with surprise and excitement.

  Slade sat down on the floor at her feet. “How are you feeling?” he asked, putting his hand on Holly’s swollen belly. He smiled up at her as he felt a small foot kick.

  “Rawlins, what would you think about having Christmas babies?” she asked as she felt another contraction coming.

  “Are you serious?” he cried getting onto his knees in front of her. “You don’t mean…now?”

  In an instant, he was on his feet. “She’s going to have the babies!”

  Shelley was at his side. “Take it easy. Go get her suitcase and start the pickup. Mom and I and Johnny can take care of Courtney and Carmen. But who’s going to take care of Slade?”

  Slade hadn’t moved. He was looking down at Holly, his eyes so filled with love Holly thought she would burst.