by K. J. Dahlen
“You think you’re so clever, don’t you?” Oscar sneered. “I knew I should have killed you all those years ago.”
“You damn near did, you lousy bastard,” Sable spoke from her heart and wished she could send him to hell.
Oscar hesitated and then asked, “By the way, how is the Judge doing these days?”
Sable gripped the phone and told him in a low voice, “Gabriel Reardon is alive and in a few hours he’ll be able to talk to us. You really screwed up this time. Both he and Maggie will tell us what we need to know and both of them are safe from you.”
She heard Oscar hiss his displeasure. “But are you?”
Sable chuckled at his reaction and goaded him further. “What’s the matter, Oscar, or is it really Richard? It doesn’t matter what name your parents gave you, you’re finished. Your little game is over and you lost.”
“You seem different today, why?” Oscar asked finally.
“Because I’m not afraid of you anymore,” Sable informed him. “You finally have a face in my nightmares, and I’m going to enjoy putting a bullet in your hide when I catch you.”
Oscar laughed. “What makes you think you’ll ever catch me?”
“I’m the only thing that ever outsmarted you,” Sable told him. “I lived after you dumped me in that hole. You never expected that did you? As young as I was I got away from you then and I’ll track you down and put an end to you now.”
“You bitch, you’ll never find me,” Oscar said in a throaty growl.
“The hunter is now the hunted. Tell me something, how does that feel?” Sable asked. “How does it feel to know someone smarter than you is looking for you?”
“What makes you think you’re smarter than me?”
“I’m remembering everything about my life before you dumped me in that hole in the ground. The fear barrier is melting away and pretty soon I’ll remember more about you than you know, and that will be your downfall. That will be the way I stop your existence.”
“I’ll see you in hell first,” Oscar slammed down the phone.
Sable smiled for the first time in days as she placed the receiver back into its cradle. She looked up at Nick and found him frowning in displeasure. “That probably wasn’t the smartest move you’ve ever made. All you did was really piss him off.”
“Good. I was hoping to do just that.”
“Why?” Brandi asked.
“When you’re angry you lose control. All this time Oscar’s been in control. Now he’s going to make a huge mistake and that’s going to cost him big time,” Sable told them simply.
“You do realize that now he’s going to come after you, don’t you?” Nick pointed out.
Sable nodded. “I hope he does. He can’t hurt me anymore. I’ve taken back the power he’s had over me all these years, and I’ll be damned if I’ll give it back to him. I’ve got him on the edge now and I won’t give him an inch. He’s not going anywhere until he finishes what he started here.”
“How can you be so sure about that?” Brandi wanted to know.
“It’s in his nature. His diary pages tell me that much, and if he is a Reardon, he’s got an inherited overconfidence that will be his downfall.”
Nick smiled. “Just remember you have those same redeeming qualities. You happen to be a Reardon as well.”
Sable nodded. “Yeah, but I didn’t grow up in that household. I may have Reardon blood in me but I also have Quinn blood. Right now Oscar is mad and I’m not. That’s going to be to my benefit.”
Nick walked over to his desk and opened a drawer. Rummaging through it he pulled out a device and handed it to her. It was a small GPS disk. “I want you to wear this in case he does get to you. I want to be able to find your location.”
Sable smiled. She slipped the disk into her bra. “If I disappear, you’d better find me quick. I don’t think he’ll hesitate to finish what he started all those years ago.”
“Just remember he likes remote out of the way places.” Nick reminded her.
“I remember.”
The phone on Nick’s desk rang and he nodded as he listened to the message. When he hung up he looked at Brandi and Sable. “Maggie is ready to talk to us.”
Chapter Fourteen
When they got to the hospital Max met them in the hall. “Boss, she’s a mess.”
“Can she tell us anything?” Nick asked as he looked in the room behind them at Maggie.
Max shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s terrified right now.”
“Let me talk to her,” Sable volunteered. “She might tell me more than she would tell anyone else.”
“You can try,” Nick said.
Sable entered the room Maggie was in. She noted that Maggie avoided her gaze. As she sat down on the chair beside the bed, she grasped Maggie’s hand. Maggie tried to pull her hand away but Sable tightened her grasp.
“Maggie, I know this is going to be hard for you, but I need to ask you some questions.” Sable spoke in a low voice. “Did you see his face? Was it Richard that abducted you?”
Maggie closed her eyes tight and began to shake her head. “I don’t want to talk to you.” Her voice was nothing more than a terrified whisper.
Sable nodded. “I know you don’t but I need you to understand something. The man that put you down in that hole in the ground did the same thing to me. He left us both there to die. I was four years old when he left me there.”
Maggie turned horrified eyes to her. “Oh my God,” She whispered.
Sable nodded. “I didn’t want to die so I fought like hell to escape and I was able to do it. I was so young when it happened that my mind blocked out what he did to me. The nightmares I’ve had since then wouldn’t reveal what the man looked like. All I could remember was a faceless monster coming after me in the darkness.”
“How did you live through the horror?” Maggie finally asked.
Sable shrugged and moved a piece of hair from Maggie's face. “I guess I was stronger than the horror that gripped me. It took me years to come to terms with the fact that I couldn’t remember his face. I used to wake up at night screaming in terror.”
“Do you still have the nightmares?” Maggie asked her as a lone tear slipped from one eye.
Sable shook her head. “I faced my fears. I’m not going to tell you they’re all gone but I’ve learned to cope with them. What happened to me as a child was blocked out for so many years I didn’t ever want to remember. But he gave me no choice. When he told me he put you in the same place he put me all those years ago, I had to remember what happened. That was the only way we could find you.”
“Thank you for finding me, although I probably didn’t deserve it. I lied to you about so much.” Maggie fidgeted with the covers on the bed.
Sable smiled and patted her hand. “I know, but you gave us the biggest clue we have on this guy. You got us digging in places we never would have found without you.”
Maggie turned her head and looked at Sable. She was searching for something she needed to know. She found it in Sable’s eyes. Sable was telling the truth and that gave Maggie the courage she needed to tell her what she wanted to know. She grasped Sable’s hand a little harder and told her, “I don’t know who that man is. I don’t think its Richard, at least not the Richard I used to know. There was something in his eyes. They looked almost crazy.”
“Did he say anything to you?” Sable asked.
Maggie shook her head. “He was mumbling to himself mostly. After he stabbed Dan and the officer he lunged at me. He knocked me back against the wall and I hit my head. I was dizzy for a while and he had me tied up and gagged before I could even struggle. He threw me over his shoulder and carried me out to his car and put me in the trunk. When we got to the park, he had a knife in his hand. He told me that if I made a sound he would slice my throat and let me bleed to death.” She paused as she remembered what happened next.
“We got to the well and when he pushed the cover off, he flashed a light down in the hole. He s
eemed almost pleased at what he saw then he motioned me to get inside. I tried to run the other way but he grabbed me by the hair and threw me down inside. There was just enough light for me to see where I was. I felt something crack under me but I didn’t know what it was. Then he put the lid back on and I was left in the dark.
“He leaned down the peep hole and he whispered that I was with the man I loved again and this time we would be together forever.” Maggie looked down at the bed covers. “I didn’t know what he meant by that, and I tried to scream but I was gagged. I couldn’t make a sound. I watched as he just walked away. I didn’t think I’d ever be found.”
Sable nodded her heart going out to Maggie. “He was banking on that. On you never being found, I mean.”
Maggie looked at Sable and asked, “What else was down in that hole? Every time I moved something cracked.”
“There was another body down there. One he dumped at the same time he put me in there,” Sable admitted. “We don’t know if it was Richard’s body or that of his brother Micah.”
Maggie looked horrified. “He really was crazy.”
Sable assumed she meant the man who put her down the well but there was something about the look on Maggie’s face that made her pause. “What do you mean?”
“The last time I saw Richard all those years ago he was in a rage. He found out that I knew about Micah and his kid and he thought I was sweet on Micah. I wasn’t and I tried to tell him that but all he could think about was how women are drawn to kids. He threatened to kill me if I had anything more to do with you or Micah. I thought he was insane at the time. He beat the hell out of me and went looking for Micah. That was the day I found the box I gave you the other day. I took the box and I left. I just disappeared. I wasn’t going to let him near me again.” Maggie told her. “I wouldn’t let myself wonder about what happened to you. I couldn’t. I knew that if Richard ever found me again he’d more than likely kill me. I kept the box with me for insurance. It took me years to look inside the box and once I did I prayed he would never find me. He really was crazy.”
“And now he’s had twenty years to plan his revenge,” Sable told her. “He’s coming after the remaining members of his family. He wants to kill them all.”
Maggie nodded. “He used to talk about the wrong they did him. He raged about the injustice they forced on him when they took away his birthright. He was born a bastard because the old man didn’t think his mother was good enough. He convinced himself they deserved to die for their sins.” Maggie looked at Sable and told her, “He even talked about killing Micah because he was one of them. He hated you too, because you had at birth what he was denied.”
“I had the Reardon name,” Sable whispered. “But my last name was Quinn.
Maggie shook her head. “No it wasn’t. Not in Richard’s eye anyway.”
Sable frowned. “What are you saying?”
“Because when Micah found out you were his kid, he and Summer got married. Summer really didn’t want the marriage but Micah insisted. By that time, Summer was more afraid of him than anything, so she finally gave in. You were a little more than a baby but he gave you his last name.” Maggie told her.
Sable was stunned by the news. At least now she knew why Richard hated her. The pieces were falling into place now. She looked at Maggie and asked, “Is there anything else about the two men that was different? I mean how do we tell one from the other?”
Maggie thought about her question for a moment and suddenly she remembered something. “Yes, there was one thing. Micah had a tattoo on the back of his right hand. It was the letter S.”
Sable frowned. “Why only the letter S?”
“He always told Summer it was a reminder of her.” She tilted her head and looked at Sable. “You know, I really think that he fell in love with her that fall. They might have stood a chance if Richard hadn’t been around. Micah was a nice kid.”
Sable shook her head. “Nobody forced Micah to hang around Richard.”
“You don’t know Richard at all if you can say that. Richard could mesmerize a person into doing exactly what he wanted them to do. I think Micah was afraid of Richard on one level, yet he tried his damndest to copycat him too. Richard used to find it almost pathetic. He would laugh at Micah behind his back about the need Micah had to copy everything he did. He told me once that if he ever died, Micah could step right into his shoes and no one would ever know the difference.”
Sable found that interesting. It didn’t tell her who the killer was but it did give her something to think about. She could see Maggie was getting tired so she decided it was time to let her rest. She stood up. “I’d better go for now. If you can think of anything else please call. The officer outside the door will help you get through to me immediately.”
Maggie nodded. “Thank you for finding me. I’m not sure if I would have survived much longer.”
A few minutes later Sable joined the others waiting in the hall.
“What did you find out?” Nick asked.
“She didn’t recognize the man that took her as either Richard or Micah. It could have been either one. She did tell me Micah has the letter S tattooed on his right hand. She also told me why Richard hated me so much.” Sable shook her head.
“Why?” Brandi asked.
Sable looked at her and said, “When Micah found out I was his daughter he married Summer Quinn and gave me his last name. That would have driven Richard crazy.”
“What else did she say?” Nick asked.
“Only that Richard had some kind of hold over Micah. Micah tried to copy everything Richard did. Richard used to tell her that if something happened to him, Micah could take over and no one would know the difference.”
“That’s not really a lot to go on is it?” Max asked. “I mean it doesn’t tell us which one of them we’re dealing with now.”
“No it doesn’t,” Sable sighed. “We’re going to have to get up close and personal to figure out which one is which.”
“Unless the forensic team could get enough usable DNA from the bones we recovered this morning,” Brandi suggested.
Sable looked at Nick and he shook his head. “The bones were too far gone. Being exposed to the elements all this time took away any chance we had of determining who it was. Even in the hole he was stuffed in, the rats and other vermin got to him a long time ago.”
“Has anyone checked on the Reardons since we got here?” Sable asked.
“We were on our way when you showed up,” Brandi told her.
Sable nodded and turned to go down the hall. Gabriel’s room was around the corner from Maggie’s. When they got there Sable could see Gabriel lying on the hospital bed with tubes all over. He was hooked up to three different machines.
The officer standing in front of the door nodded at Nick. Sable didn’t want to go into the room. She felt nothing as she stared at the man lying on the bed. Glancing around the room she noted that Emma and Greg Reardon were sitting in the corner talking quietly.
She looked back at the officer and asked, “Has there been any change?”
The officer shook his head. “No ma’am. The Judge is still in a coma. The doctor was just here to check on him.” The officer glanced over his shoulder and commented, “The family is in there, if you wanted to speak to them.”
Sable looked into the room one more time. “That won’t be necessary. I don’t want to disturb them.”
They turned to leave when Sable heard someone behind her call her name. She whirled to find Greg Reardon standing in the door to his father’s room. He motioned for her to come in. Sable sighed and stepped into the room.
She glanced at Emma and the older woman patted the extra chair beside her. Sable reluctantly sat down.
“My dear, I know you have no reason to even speak to us, but I want you to know something. You are part of this family too. Regardless of the circumstances of your birth, you are a Reardon.”
Sable’s eyebrows shot up. She held up her hand to stop
Emma from saying anymore. “Mrs. Reardon, please don’t say anymore. My name has been and always will be Quinn. I can’t change the fact that my father is your grandson. This hasn’t been the most gracious family reunion or the most pleasant way of finding out about my family, so let’s just wait to exchange pleasantries until this is over.”
Emma looked crushed for a moment. She turned to look at her husband and then turned back to Sable. “I understand. There have been more than a few times when being a Reardon hasn’t been accommodating but for the most part it’s been a good name. Gabriel wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Greg frowned and fidgeted. “Maybe if he had been a little more lenient, none of this would have happened.”
“Do you know who your killer is yet? Is it Richard or Micah?” Emma asked.
“We aren’t sure yet, but it shouldn’t be long now before we find out.” She stood. “I have to get back to work now.”
“Please stop back.” Emma looked up at her. “The doctors say he can hear us, but the beating he took really did some damage.”
Sable nodded at her and looked at Greg. He just stared at her and turned away.
Sable stepped out of the room and closed the door. She shivered slightly and joined the group waiting for her. “That family needs help,” was all she said.
Sable looked at Nick and announced, “I don’t know about you guys but I need a shower and some clean clothes. I’ve been without both for a couple of days now and I can’t stand it.”
Nick nodded. “I guess we could all stand it.” He looked at everyone and said, “We all go in pairs. Nobody goes alone. I don’t want to give Oscar or Richard the opportunity to grab anyone else. We’ll meet back at the office in one hour.”
“Come on sunshine, I’ll be your escort.” Max offered his arm to Sable.
None of them paid any attention to the pair of cobalt blue eyes watching them from behind a newspaper in the visitor’s lounge. No one noticed when the man
stood and followed Greg Reardon a few minutes later when Greg left his father’s room to get a cup of coffee.
