Another whispering sound that resembled the word “danger” came through.
Cop and danger?
“I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me,” Spider said in frustration.
“I tried to tell you to look at my mad slaying skills, but you got an attitude.” MMTT answered. “Never mind.”
Spider groaned and disconnected the game. “Kate? Are you still there?”
Silence was the only sound through the device now.
Ripping the headphones off, Spider looked around, uncertain what to do.
Cop. Danger.
Was Kate trying to warn her about Paul?
Chapter 20
Noah knelt in front of one of the boxes his mother had left him and hesitated before opening the flaps. Two medium-sized boxes. Whatever was inside was all his birth mother had owned. Pity stilled his movements; this seemed somehow intrusive all of a sudden. He felt no attachment to whatsoever was inside these boxes. He should, shouldn’t he? They held his meagre heritage.
Blowing out a breath, he ripped the tape off one lid.
He’d seen Emma’s note – “Animal potty break. Come over when you wake up.” – but he’d been drawn here to the garage instead, eager to see if these boxes held clues that could put an end to Kate’s restlessness.
He hadn’t been lying when he said he was ready to move past this. For the first time in his life, he was with a woman who inspired him to want better things. To believe he actually deserved them.
Yes, he should probably cut Emma loose, but he couldn’t bring himself to. He didn’t think she wanted him to either, and he was a selfish enough bastard to take advantage of the fact. If or when she wanted out, he’d let her go. But not until then.
Packaging paper crinkled as he drew it away, revealing a stack of framed photos. An eight by ten of Kate holding him as a baby revealed a happy, pretty woman and a smiling, toothless child. Mother and son.
Something stirred in his chest. He recognized the emotion. Regret – strong, heart-piercing regret.
“West.”
He sprang to his feet, turning at the sound of his name.
Emma’s officer friend Jack strolled toward him, hands clasping his belt-buckle on each side. “Just patrolling the neighbourhood. Saw you out here and thought I’d come see if there had been any more trouble.”
Noah glanced at the framed photo in his hand and lowered it to his side. “No. No trouble. Everything’s been quiet.” Noah considered the man. “Thank you for helping Emma with her ex yesterday. I’m sorry you had to get in the middle of that.”
He shifted uncomfortably. “She’s a sweet kid.” Wiping a hand over his mouth, he glanced toward the house across the street. “I heard what happened last night.” He turned back and stared at the framed photo. “How did y’all figure out there was a body there?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“You got any evidence pointing to who did it?”
Noah shook his head. “Not yet.” He glanced back at the boxes. “I’m working on it though.”
“Let me know if you do.” The officer’s narrow-eyed gaze dropped down to Noah’s hand before skimming over the boxes around his feet. “Cleaning out the garage today?”
“Just going through some old things. They belonged to, uh, my birth mother.”
Nodding, Jack frowned, his eyes again falling to Noah’s hand. “Cute picture.”
He forced a smile and lifted the photo. “Yeah. Guess I was a cute kid.”
Something strange flickered in the older man’s gaze as he scratched his neck. “Well, I’ll leave you be. You have a good evening.”
Noah watched Jack walk away before turning back to the boxes. Piling one on top of the other, he lifted and carried them inside, hitting close on the garage door as he did. Might be better to go through them with more privacy.
He looked through the various photos Kate had framed, not recognizing anyone other than her. Some other photos were piled inside an envelope. Lots of pictures of a baby – him, he presumed – and a few of Jennifer Abercrombie and Kate goofing off. He slipped through the pictures, stilling when he came to one from the bar. Wally’s. A neon sign stated the restaurant’s name in the background. Kate and a few people he didn’t recognize posed around a small Christmas tree set up at the bar. Customers crowded around in the background.
One man stood out, not because Noah recognized him, but because of the way his gaze was intensely focused on Kate. Kind of creepy, actually.
He lifted the photo for closer inspection.
Young. Early twenties, probably. Thick, dark hair with long sideburns.
There was something about the man’s profile that seemed … familiar. That’s when Noah realized the man was in uniform.
A cop. Holy hell.
Thud.
The sound drew Noah’s attention toward the stairs.
“Emma?” he called, wondering if she’d come back. He’d left the front door unlocked in case she got impatient and came looking for him.
A creak along the floorboard was his only response. He moved to his feet.
“Kate? That you?”
He slowly advanced toward the direction of the sound.
The feeling someone was behind him crept up his nerve endings before he could react. A dark blur moved in the corner of his eye, and he turned.
A slamming pain at the base of his skull robbed him of his eyesight. Stars burst through his vision seconds before his muscles crumbled beneath him.
And everything went black.
***
Glancing down the street, Spider didn’t see Jack’s patrol car anywhere. Well, that was odd. She’d peeked out the curtains and seen him walking around the side of Noah’s house and decided to come talk to him.
She didn’t know if Kate’s latest warning was about Paul or not, but Spider was tired of hiding her fear of her ex from the proper authorities. Jack was a friend. She trusted him to advise her about the right thing to do.
She started to head up the front porch, but a strange feeling gripped her gut.
Not safe.
Where had that thought come from?
Stepping back, lingering in the front yard, she glanced around. The neighbourhood was quiet. No signs of activity.
“Danger.”
Kate’s warning whispered through her ear again, and Spider wasn’t sure if it was a memory or a new sound.
Trusting that her instincts, at least, were spot on, she detoured the same way she’d seen Jack disappear. The back door looked pried open, and Spider’s stomach sank to her feet like an anchor.
Whipping out her phone, she tried Noah again. Voicemail. Kate must have zapped his battery, too.
Had Jack seen someone trying to break into Noah’s house? Had he gone inside to apprehend the suspect? Where was his backup? If anything had happened to Noah…
Ducking around the corner, she sank to her haunches and scrolled through her phone, quickly trying Kellan first. When she reached his voicemail, she considered dialing 9-1-1, but what if she was overreacting again?
Cop.
Danger.
Wait. Had Kate been warning her that a cop was somehow involved?
Jack?
Jack.
J.D.
Terror curdled in her stomach and threatened to force her lunch out.
That was crazy! She’d known Jack forever. He couldn’t be.
Pushing to her feet, she edged her way around the house, peeking through windows until she glimpsed movement.
Through a slit in one blind, she saw Jack bending over Noah, wrapping duct tape around his hands. He finished, placed a strip over Noah’s mouth, and then stood back, panting. He glanced toward the window where she was, and she ducked down and out of sight.
Oh. My. Gosh.
Jack was somehow involved in all of this.
Spider turned and clasped a hand over her mouth at the sight of the woman standing beside her. Kate Levine looked pale, her dark h
air a striking contrast to her skin. She reached out a hand, ice cold, and grabbed Spider’s arm, whispering, “You need to see.”
The area surrounding Spider blurred as the scenery changed.
Suddenly she was in a restaurant, sitting across from a much younger version of Jack Lanier in a suit and tie.
“You’re married?” The female voice sounded shocked and outraged at once. Spider stood, tossing her napkin onto the table. “I would have never come on this date if I’d known you were married, J.D.”
“Kate, wait a minute!” Jack jumped to his feet as Spider turned to walk away.
Suddenly, she was standing in a room, and her hand – Kate’s hand – held back curtains. Jack leaned against a streetlight on the sidewalk below, looking up at her. She let the curtains fall back into place as fear surged through her veins.
A sense of wooziness threatened to overtake Spider as she was back in Wally’s – not the newly updated restaurant, but the old bar. She leaned over the bar top, confiding in her co-workers.
“I think I’m in love. He treats me like … you wouldn’t believe.” A quick glance to her left showed that Jack was nearby, frowning as he eavesdropped. Good. The words were a lie made up to deter his attention. A hint of fear gripped her chest every time she looked at him. He’d been following … showing up places he had no right being.
In a flash of light, Spider was wiping down a table when Jack’s voice said, “Kate.”
She turned to find him smiling at her. “I’m glad you found somebody. I just wanted you to know that. I want you to be happy.”
Her clenched muscles relaxed a little. “Thank you, Jack.”
“If you ever need anything…”
She wouldn’t. Not from him. She was glad her white lie had had the proper effect. Maybe now she could concentrate on school, and Billy. Oh, how she loved her little boy.
The vision swam away again.
Suddenly, it was raining, and Spider’s clothes were beginning to cling to her body. The bus wouldn’t be there for another fifteen minutes. Glancing around for a place to get out of the downpour in the meantime, she saw a familiar car creeping up to the curb. The window rolled down, and Jack said, “Why don’t you get in? I can give you a lift.”
She shook her head. “No thank you. I’m waiting for the bus.”
“Come on. Get in.” When she didn’t move, he added, “You don’t want to catch a cold and give it to your kid, do you?”
Wavering, Spider felt the sting of heavier rain and moved toward the car. Maybe it would be okay. He hadn’t been following her for a few days. Maybe…
Suddenly, Spider was back in the yard, standing behind Noah’s house. She didn’t need more visions to know how the story had ended. Sinking down, Spider wanted to curl into a ball and weep at the loss of her trust in her father’s dear friend, her breathing loud and ragged, even to her own ears.
Noah!
She lifted her phone to check the time, uncertain how many minutes had passed. The experience had seemed to last several minutes, but according to the time, only one minute had gone by.
Surely Jack wouldn’t have bound his hands and mouth if Noah was dead. He had to still be alive. He needed her help.
Think!
Fingers trembling, Spider calmly dialed 9-1-1, told the dispatcher what was happening, and ended the call. Best case scenario, the cops would be here in about five minutes.
Who was she kidding?
This was Atlanta. She’d be lucky if they got here in ten.
Raising up, she peeked through the blinds and saw Jack dragging Noah’s body along the floor. Whatever he had planned probably wasn’t good.
Spider sank down and considered her options. Call her father? Sneak in and find a way to conk Jack on the head? Simply wait here and pray that help arrived soon?
Think. Think.
How was she going to get Noah out of this alive?
***
The familiar dream started as it always did, with Kate accepting a ride from the man she called J.D.
Only this time, Noah saw the young man’s face.
Younger, less weathered, about ten pounds slimmer, Officer Jack Lanier sat behind the wheel of the car, dressed in a plaid button-up shirt, the smell of alcohol strong on his breath as he leaned towards Noah – no, not to him – towards Kate.
The car doors clicked shut, only this time, the dream didn’t end.
“J.D., what are you doing?” Kate demanded, fear etched on her face.
“Just wanted to take you somewhere. Real quick. It’s pretty. You’ll like it. I just wanna talk.”
“J.D., I have to work! I’ll lose my job. I can’t afford to lose my job!”
“I’ll take care of you. Don’t worry.”
Time seemed to pass in a blur of highway signage indicating Lake Allatoona was their destination as fear swelled in the car around Noah. The car eased to a stop, Jack put it in park, and he released the locks on the door. Scrambling to get away, Kate immediately went running along the edges of the lake into the green and orange trees surrounding it, leaves crunching beneath her feet, betraying her location.
“Kate! Don’t be afraid! Come back!” Jack gave chase. Noah felt him not too far behind them. “I won’t hurt you. I just wanted to spend time with you!”
Kate fell to her knees, crying out in pain.
“Kate! Get back here!”
Back on her feet, she ran aimlessly into the growing darkness, her breathing ragged in Noah’s ears. Hands suddenly gripped her from behind. Screaming, Kate clawed at Jack’s face as she twisted around and fell backwards, stumbling over a fallen tree limb.
A loud crack accompanied her last breath as her skull connected with a boulder. She lay motionless on the forest floor as Jack stood over her.
“Kate?” Jack bent and touched her face, a trail of blood along his cheek. “Kate!”
A wailing moan tore from him as he fell back, crying, “No! Oh, God, no!”
Noah’s eyes slowly opened, heavy, drugged, reluctant to do his bidding. He struggled for consciousness as the interior of his car swam around him. He became just aware enough to realize his hands couldn’t move and something was blocking his mouth.
Panic seized his chest. No! He struggled to free himself, hating the sensation he was trapped. Memories of his father locking him inside the closet gave him a shot of adrenaline. He had to get free.
Jack reached in front of him, put the key in the ignition, and cranked the engine.
“I’m sorry about this,” Jack told him. “It was an accident – your mother. I panicked. Hid her body. I was married, you see? My wife had told me she was pregnant. She’d threatened to leave me if I chased other women. That’s why I wanted to talk to Kate that day. She was the one I wanted to be with, but I had a kid coming. You know?”
Wiping a hand over his face, Jack stumbled back. “If my wife had ever found out I was with Kate at the lake that day, she would have taken my kid and left me. Kate scratched me. My DNA was under her fingernails. If she hadn’t scratched me … no one would have believed it was an accident.” He shook his head. “I could have lost everything. My family. My job. Can you understand that?”
Noah groaned and struggled against the duct tape.
“I tried to make up for it. Made sure I was a good husband and father. Never did anything wrong after that. Never even looked at another woman.” Jack’s voice was pleading. “Please understand I don’t want to do this, but I don’t know what else to do. I love my family. They mean everything to me.”
Noah tried to yell “Then don’t do this!” and struggled to move. His foot connected with the gas pedal, revving the engine loudly.
“If my family ever learned what I did…” Jack shook his head, pulled his trembling hand out of the car and slammed the door. “I’m up for retirement in a year. I’ll lose my pension. I’ll lose everything. You won’t suffer this way. You’ll just go to sleep. I’ll come back and take off the tape. Everyone will assume it was suicide
. No one will know.” It was as if the older man was trying to convince himself more than anyone. He was too far gone to realize the holes in his plan.
If Noah could only talk to him, make him realize there was too much forensics evidence this time for Jack to get away with murder.
He tried again to scream for help, but the sound was too muffled.
Lethargy was beginning to seep in. He felt so drowsy…
Somewhere in the distance, he heard the screech of an alarm and thought of Emma. Lovely, feisty Emma. What would Jack do to her if she discovered his secret?
He struggled to stay awake, struggled to free himself, but sleep was too seductive. He felt himself sliding sideways. He’d think about it later … when he woke up.
***
Spider took a calming breath, knocked to be certain she made a ruckus – as if the alarm she’d activated at Zach and Hannah’s wasn’t loud enough – and squared her shoulders, her fingers slipping against the plastic casing she held behind her back. A trickle of sweat slid down her temple as she tried to slow her racing heartbeat. Glancing back at Zach’s house she lifted the remote to the alarm and pressed to deactivate it, offering a mental apology to the animals who were probably cowering somewhere right now.
If the cops hadn’t been on the way before, they would be now.
You. Can. Do. This.
Jack wouldn’t expect her to go on the offence. She had the advantage here.
The floorboard creaked on the other side of the door, and her grip tightened. Swallowing, she yelled out, “Jack! I know you’re in there. I know you killed Kate! It’s over!”
The door opened. Jack, his face pale and anguished, looked at her.
Not giving him any chance to react, Spider lunged forward, whipping her hand around and pressing the stun gun her father had given her years ago against Jack’s side. He shook uncontrollably as electricity zapped the air. When he bent over, she slammed her knee up and into his groin, sending him sprawling back onto the carpet in the entryway. He groaned in agony.
She grabbed the duct tape she’d seen him leave sitting out and quickly bound his hands and feet with it, the same as he’d done to Noah. Jack was nearly unconscious.
Spirited Away Page 23
