“Why?” I asked, smiling so hard I was going to knock the small oxygen mask off my nose.
“Because I’m a forensic pathologist,” he said. “I only deal with the dead.”
“Thanks to you,” I said, “I am far from dead.”
“Good. Because I only really date the living.”
I just sat there smiling, trying not to laugh because my chest hurt too much. It seemed that those larger breasts really had helped me get a man.
Seattle detectives Craig and Bonnie Frakes wanted nothing more but to enjoy each other’s company and their golf vacation in Scottsdale. They needed the rest.
Their vacation plans take a sudden turn when they overhear a conversation plotting a murder.
A fast-paced thriller that I first published years ago under another title and under a pen name. The publishing company died just as this book came out, so I figured it would be fun to bring the book back and give it a second life here.
AN EASY SHOT
Part 1 of 8
For KKR, always the love of my life
PROLOGUE
Monday, April 3rd
11:12 p.m.
CHARLES ROBINS IGNORED the crisp desert air and the star-filled Arizona night as he stepped onto the stone patio of his Scottsdale mansion. His entire focus was on the dark-suited man who leaned against a rock wall, smoking.
Beyond the wall, the lights of Phoenix stretched out across the valley floor. Often, on spring nights like this, Charles would have his after-dinner brandy served on this patio. He loved the view, the lights, the feeling of being above all the masses below.
But not tonight.
At the moment there was much more important business to attend to. There would always be other warm nights and brandy on the patio.
The man dropped the red-tipped cigarette and ground it under his foot as Charles closed the patio door and turned.
The man would fit into most crowds. His dark suit wasn’t expensive, but it wasn’t cheap either. His face was clean shaven and had nothing really distinctive about it. His hair was short and he was going slightly bald. Charles doubted he would even recognize the man if they passed on the street. Yet the man was one of Charles’s most trusted and valued employees.
The man waited, making Charles come to him. No one else could do that. Charles controlled businesses worth a billion dollars, had twenty servants and six body guards in this house alone, and was considered one of the most eligible bachelors in the country. Yet this man just didn’t seem to care.
Charles asked him to do special tasks, paid him well, and that was all the man did. He scared Charles by his very coldness. No one else in this world did that to Charles.
In the three years the man had worked for Charles, this was only their fourth meeting. All four meetings had been on this patio, and always alone. Charles didn’t even know the man’s real name and had no desire to learn it. Charles just called him Bill when he had to call him anything at all, and the man didn’t seem to care. Yet Charles knew to the penny how many hundreds of thousands of dollars this man, under a false company name, had been paid for “consulting.”
And every penny had been worth it.
The man spoke little, and Charles liked that about him. Tonight there were no greetings. The man, his dark eyes hidden in the faint light, simply stood and waited, his hands behind his back, as if he were in control.
That attitude made Charles feel even less sure about what he was about to do, but at this point he could see no other choice.
“Senator Knight from California will be playing in a pro-am golf tournament here in Scottsdale this weekend,” Charles said, keeping his voice low so that it wouldn’t carry in the desert air. “Then he will be flying to Washington for a vote Monday morning.”
The man said nothing.
Charles went on. “I want you to make sure he doesn’t make that trip.”
“Never make the trip?” the man asked, his voice very low and deep. “Or delayed?”
“I don’t honestly care,” Charles said. And he didn’t. Senator Kelly had been after him for years. Having the man permanently out of the picture would not be a bad thing. But it was critical Kelly didn’t make that vote.
“Understood,” the man said, nodding once. “Is that all?”
“Make it look like an accident if you can,” Charles said. “But if you can’t just make sure it’s done. He cannot be allowed to be in Washington on Monday. Understood?”
Again the man nodded once. “This is a United States Senator you are talking about. It will cost you more.”
“Of course,” Charles said. “Just get it done.”
Without even a nod the man turned and started down the rock path beside the garage wall. The night seemed to swallow him. One moment there, the next gone. How the man got past Grant and his men, and in and out of the estate’s security system was another question Charles just didn’t want to know the answer to.
Charles stared after the man for a moment, feeling uncertain, and very worried, just as he had felt every other time he had talked to him. Yet the man always got the task done.
Charles turned to look out over the lights of the valley below. This mansion, all his property, everything he owned and controlled, was being threatened and he couldn’t let that happen. Senator Kelly was the push behind legislation that would cripple two of Charles’s main companies, and lead to investigations that Charles knew he couldn’t withstand. If Senator Kelly’s legislation passed, Charles would be broke and fighting to stay out of jail in less than a year.
Most of his waking hours—and many of his nightmares—over the last few months had been to fight this bill. He had wrapped up enough votes in Kelly’s committee to tie and kill the bill if Kelly didn’t vote. But Chairman Kelly’s vote would put the bill on the floor of the Senate and from there it couldn’t be stopped.
The key to it all was making sure Senator Kelly didn’t make that vote.
Charles glanced down the dark path where the man he called Bill had disappeared. He could see nothing.
With a deep breath of the fresh, crisp night air, Charles turned and headed back inside. He had a lot of work to do and work was always the best thing to take his mind off of what he had just ordered done.
If that was even possible.
Friday, April 7th
8:02 a.m.
THE THREE GUNMEN walked into the small apartment of Steph and Danny Baines without knocking. Two wore masks, the third, who was in charge, didn’t seem to care who saw him. But he knew that the residents of the nearby apartments had all left for work. Only twenty-four-year-old Steph Barnes was at home.
The small apartment hugged against the back of a large red rock just above the small valley that held Sedona, Arizona. It had one bedroom, a small living room and kitchen, and a fantastic view of the red-rock country around Sedona from a balcony.
Danny worked as the assistant golf pro for the local country club and Steph taught sixth grade. They were both from Phoenix, had met in college, and were hoping that Danny would get a job this next fall on one of the bigger Scottsdale clubs so they could move back. They both loved Sedona, but it was just too cold in the winter for both of them.
Danny stood just under six feet tall, had sun-bleached brown hair and a smooth-as-silk golf swing. Steph was almost as tall, with light auburn hair and a smile that could melt a sixth-grader. Everyone said they looked more like brother and sister than husband and wife.
Steph had taken the morning off from school to help Danny get ready for the charity tournament in Phoenix. They both had figured that it would be a wonderful opportunity to meet some people who might help them get back into the Phoenix area. And when he learned he was playing with Senator Knight, Danny got even more excited. Steph was going to come down by bus on Saturday and join the group on Sunday. Not only was it going to be a good chance for Danny to make contacts, it was going to be fun as well.
Steph had just dropped a fifth golf shirt into Danny’s suitcase w
hen the front door opened. For a moment she thought it was Danny coming back from the course early. Then she heard a strange voice from the doorway.
“Don’t scream or nothin’” the voice said. “Just finish packin’ for your husband and everything will be just fine.”
She spun around to face three men. All were holding machine-gun-like weapons on her.
Somehow she managed to not scream.
Somehow.
CHAPTER ONE
Friday, April 7th
9:20 p.m.
THE WARM DESERT breeze wrapped around Craig Frakes as he stopped to look back up the hill at the lights of the Canyon Hotel nestled into the rocks. After the long winter in Seattle, he couldn’t believe he was here in Scottsdale, Arizona, getting ready to play an entire weekend of golf. This had to be a dream. He was sure he would wake up any moment to the sound of rain pounding against the bedroom window.
His wife, Bonnie, stopped beside him and took his hand, also staring up at the resort they were staying in for the next three nights. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
Beautiful didn’t really begin to describe it. The Canyon Hotel had been built using the massive brown rocks and the desert hillside as a frame. The architect had nestled the rooms into the canyon walls, mixing large timbers and massive boulders throughout. The main area was a combination of stone, wood, and soft carpets that felt more like a warm cave and a living room than a hotel lobby.
And the fantastic architecture didn’t stop at the lobby. Their room—as the hotel called it—was more like a suite, with a light brown leather couch and chair, a massive bed, and a bathroom larger than some apartments he had rented in college. A switch inside the bathroom door sent a waterfall cascading over rocks and down into a large tub. Craig couldn’t imagine how every room in the hotel could be as plush as theirs, but he had a hunch every room was.
From where they stood on the path near the first tee of the Canyon Resort Golf Club, the hotel lights filled the night with a soft glow that felt welcoming and warm, barely pushing back the light from the stars and the small crescent moon.
“You know what’s really great about being here?” he asked, looking over at his beautiful wife. Her hair seemed to shimmer in the glow from the hotel and she looked almost waif-like in the white shorts and light blouse.
“What?” she asked, smiling at him.
“It’s warm,” he said, “it’s not raining, and my lips are already chapping from the dryness. What more can a guy ask for?”
She laughed, the sound carrying out over the open fairway and lush grass. “Oh, I can think of a few more things.”
She squeezed his hand and pulled him away from staring at the hotel and down the dark, paved golf path that led along the right side of the first hole of the course. “Come on, let’s go for a walk.”
Now that she mentioned it, Craig could think of a few other things he could ask for. And knowing Bonnie, he just might be lucky enough tonight to get one of those wishes.
“Going to be tough to see what the golf course is like in the dark,” he said.
“I wasn’t thinking of looking at the golf course,” she said.
“Oh, I like the sound of that,” he said, as they topped over a small rise and headed down a shallow hill that slowly blocked the lights of the hotel.
After the last six months of hard work, they had been looking forward to this vacation. They both worked for the Seattle police department. He was a homicide detective, while she had moved off the streets and now worked special services dealing in domestic violence and runaway children.
Everyone said they made the perfect couple. He was six-one and had just turned thirty-one. She was five-two and thirty. Both of them had dark brown hair, but Bonnie’s eyes were a deep brown while his were green.
They had met in college and lived together for years before finally getting married. At some point they both wanted children, but so far their jobs kept them too busy.
He stayed in shape by running and lifting weights, while Bonnie liked swimming more. But they were both avid golfers. Bonnie’s handicap was three shots lower than Craig’s, and she beat him three out of their four outings, something Craig very seldom let her forget. They loved the game and the good-natured rivalry, and when the opportunity to represent the Seattle Police Department in this charity golf tournament came along, they jumped at the chance to get out of the Seattle spring weather and actually play a round of golf without wearing rain gear.
On top of that, this weekend was going to be the first real vacation they had had in over a year. Craig couldn’t believe it had been that long. Being a detective never seemed to allow for much free time. And Bonnie’s job wasn’t any better. At one point earlier this spring she had had over one hundred active cases of children needing homes, abused spouses, and missing children. He marveled at her strength under that heavy a load.
Now here they were, walking on what seemed to be a perfect-temperature evening in Arizona, the cares of police work a long plane ride behind them.
“You’re sure being quiet,” Bonnie said as they strolled along the dark path, hand in hand.
They were walking slower than he remembered walking in a long time. It felt great. He could feel the tension draining from his back and shoulders.
“Just relaxing and watching the lights of the valley. And enjoying the company.”
“How about enjoying the company a little more closely?” she asked, her voice low and sultry and very suggestive. She pulled him and they bumped hips.
Craig could barely see her smile in the dim light. She was teasing him and he was enjoying it.
“This far from the hotel room?” he asked, teasing back. “I’m afraid I just don’t know what you have in mind?”
She laughed. “Six years of marriage and you’ve forgotten what we used to do on the muni course?”
He would never forget those nights, but instead he said, “Hmmm, how about a reminder?”
As the path crested a small rise near a massive boulder, she pulled him off the pavement and around the rock that towered over the edge of the fairway.
The grass on the other side was lush and soft as she pulled him down beside her. He expected it to be damp and cold, like the grass in the Pacific Northwest always was at night, but instead the fairway was dry and slightly warm from the heat of the day. He was starting to like the desert more and more.
The lights from the valley below gave them just enough light to see what they were doing, yet not enough for Craig to worry about being seen from any distance. And the boulder blocked the view to the path.
“This feels wonderful,” Bonnie said, rubbing her hands over the ground as she kicked off her shoes.
“I couldn’t agree more,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close for a long, passionate kiss.
His heart was racing and he was short of breath. For some reason he felt too old to be kissing out under the stars. That seemed like a young person’s thing. When had he gotten so old?
He pushed the thought away and let the excitement of the moment take him. After a moment, he started to unbutton her blouse, slowly, carefully, not breaking the kiss.
He could feel her skin under his fingers, getting him even more excited than he already was. But he forced himself to try to take his time. In this kind of situation, that was going to be difficult, at best. It had been a long time since they had done something like this.
Too long.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of bumbling, he got the last button undone. It felt like a victory, the same as it had with his first girlfriend back in high school.
Bonnie pulled back. “I see you are remembering just fine.”
He ran his hand over her breast, enjoying the soft feel of her skin and the silky feel of the bra. She shivered slightly and leaned into his touch.
“I think it’s coming back to me,” he said, “but I’m still not sure.”
She laughed. “Let’s be sure.”
She pulled off her blouse and tossed it toward the base of the rock, then as he watched, she lay back, lifted her hips, and slipped off her white shorts, tossing them on top of the blouse.
Just the movement of her body in the faint light made him excited.
And the fear of getting caught. That was exciting him even more.
He glanced around, trying to listen over the sounds of his beating heart to see if anyone was coming. As far as he could tell, they were alone.
At least for the moment.
“No grass stains this time,” she said.
He laughed. Back on one of their early college dates, they had ended up on the golf course, kissing and touching and having a great time late one night. Bonnie had been wearing white shorts like the ones she had just taken off, and they had gotten ruined from grass stains. And since she had been living at home at the time, it had been very embarrassing to explain to her mother.
“You got to admit, getting those grass stains was fun.”
“And this isn’t?” she asked, smiling.
“I didn’t say that.”
They kissed, long and hard, a kiss like they hadn’t done in some time. Work had just been so much for both of them that sex had often taken a back seat. His hope, and it seemed to be Bonnie’s as well, was that this weekend that would change. Sex would become something they focused on and enjoyed. And this was getting the weekend off to a great start as far as he was concerned.
In the faint light, she was fantastically beautiful. The white of her bra and thin panties was like a light beckoning him to come closer. And he obeyed.
Hell, he wanted to obey.
He let his hands brush up her legs, over her flat stomach, to her breasts.
She pulled back. “Wait just a minute. You have too many clothes on now.”
With that she sat up and pulled on the bottom of his shirt, helping him take it over his head. It ended up in the pile with her clothes. Then she worked at his belt and unzipped his slacks as he took off his shoes.
Smith's Monthly #18 Page 6
