“Perhaps. But somebody would have looked into it. You know how the media operates. Ever since the evening news began to get ratings, they’re on the lookout for good, juicy stories, the more scandalous, the better.” The frozen smile on his face as he moved forward was chilling.
Keep him talking! her mind told her, and Hannah knew that it was good advice. If she were lucky, Ross or Howie or Michelle would check on the Worthington Law reunion and discover that it wasn’t being held tonight. Ask him a question, her mind prodded. Hurry!
“You were afraid Judge Colfax would slip and tell the secret about your son?” she asked, rising another step.
“You’ve done your homework.” He took a step forward. “Too bad it won’t do you any good.”
“What do you mean?” Hannah took another step up. She was almost halfway up to the second floor.
“It’s a pity, but now that you know, I’ll have to kill you. And I’ll do it personally this time. You see, my dear, you know too much. Contrary to most teachings, too much knowledge is a very dangerous thing.”
Hannah wondered if she could whirl and run. But he still had the body of an athlete and she had no doubt that he could take the marble staircase with a speed that would far exceed hers. She had to climb a bit higher to give herself an advantage. “I haven’t told anyone,” she said, moving up another step.
“I’m glad to hear that. And I’m very glad that Ross didn’t come with you. I wouldn’t have liked getting rid of that boy. He was a good friend to Clay.”
“I won’t say anything,” Hannah said, gaining another step upward. “No one’s found out about it and no one needs to.”
“Oh, my dear,” he said in mock sympathy. “It’s very generous of you to offer to protect me, but I can’t take that chance. I’m declaring my candidacy for governor next Monday. If the press finds out that I influenced the autopsy and toxicology reports, it could keep me from winning the election. You see how that could happen, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.”
“The local papers compared it to Chappaquiddick at the time, but they backed down when the case was dismissed for lack of evidence.”
“And now everyone’s forgotten about it,” Hannah said in a way she hoped would he would find reassuring.
“But you could change all that.”
Hannah knew she had to keep him engrossed in telling her the story. “I don’t understand. How could you have influenced the autopsy and toxicology reports when they’re done by outside labs?”
“Everyone has a price. It was simple. My father was the governor. He could help their careers. He bribed them all with promises and they did whatever he asked. That’s how politics works.”
“Did your father keep those promises?” Hannah asked, taking another step toward the landing on the second floor.
“Of course he did. My father was an honorable man.”
It would have been funny in any other context, but this situation had no humor in it. Hannah rose another step and asked another question. “I still don’t understand why you had to kill Judge Colfax.”
“Of course you do. I just told you.”
“Tell me again. I guess I didn’t understand.”
“My father bought him for me, just like he bought the medical examiner and the head of the police lab. He bribed them with political favors because he had big plans for me. My father knew that if they learned that Raymond was drunk and he left that girl in the car to drown, it could be the death of his dream and my political career.”
“But how about Judge Colfax? Did your father bribe him, too?”
“Of course he did. There was a judgeship available and he promised to give it to Geoffrey.”
“And did he?” Hannah asked, even though she already knew the answer to her question.
“Of course he did. My father always kept his word. That’s the reason I was forced to silence Geoffrey. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, but it was necessary. He knew and his judgment was becoming impaired.”
“I understand now,” Hannah said, gaining another step up.
“I have to govern this state. My father knew that. It’s why he made sure that there were no impediments to my rise in politics. The governorship is my legacy. I must fulfill it!” He took another step forward in tandem with her step upward and the dying rays of sunlight spilling from the high windows built into the rotunda illuminated his features. His eyes were glittering with a consuming zeal and Hannah realized that Senator Eric Worthington was completely mad. He would kill her. There was no doubt in her mind. The time for talking was over. She had to escape now!
Without hesitation, Hannah hurled her heavy purse at the man who was advancing toward her. Then she whirled and took the last steps at a run. She dashed down the hallway and through a door at random. It was the courtroom where her bail hearing had been held. She had to hide before Senator Worthington saw her!
She headed for the raised judge’s bench and that’s when she saw it, the hidden door in the paneled wall behind the bench. She was in the courtroom with the handicapped elevator and she could use it to escape!
Where was the call button for the elevator? It stopped her for a brief moment, but she realized that it had to be within easy reach. She dashed behind the bench and found it almost immediately, under the center of the bench. Hannah pressed it and the hidden door in the wall slid silently and smoothly open.
The elevator it revealed was small and reminded Hannah of a cage. Even though she’d never liked tight, closed spaces, she forced herself to get inside. She had no other choice and there was no time to waste. She wanted to go down to the garage, but the outside gates would be locked and closed. She couldn’t get out of the building that way and there would be nowhere to hide in the deserted concrete space. He would expect her to go down so she would go up to the third floor. As she pressed the third-floor button, she heard Senator Worthington running down the hallway in her direction. A door slammed in the adjacent courtroom and she held her breath as the door in the wall slid closed and the elevator began to rise.
Text someone! her frenzied mind gave her instructions. Do it now, before it’s too late. They have to know where you are!
Thank goodness her phone was in her pocket! Hannah pulled it out and pressed the button that Tracey had shown her. It was something her niece had called broadcast and Tracey had explained that it sent a group text message to everyone on Hannah’s contact list.
For one panicked moment, Hannah wondered if Tracey had gotten around to entering the cell phone numbers on the list she’d made. But there was no way to ask and all she could do was hope that Tracey had done it. With shaking fingers, Hannah typed in a terse message.
Help! Worthington killer. In courthouse elevator. Hurry!
She hit the send button and sent up a silent prayer that she’d done everything right.
The elevator opened on the third floor and Hannah gasped as she stepped out and realized it had taken her to Judge Colfax’s chambers. Senator Worthington was responsible for one murder that had taken place in this very spot. Would he find her there and accomplish another murder with her as his victim? Would he guess that she used the handicapped elevator to come up here? Howie had told her that the elevator had been installed less than a year ago. Perhaps Senator Worthington didn’t know that the elevator existed and she would be safe.
He’s a state senator, Hannah’s mind vetoed that possibility. He’s bound to know. He probably voted on the proposal. But there wasn’t time to consider that. She could hear him running up the stairs to the third floor. She had to find a safe hiding place!
There was nowhere to hide. He would find her and kill her! Hannah’s frantic eyes searched the room and focused on the elevator door. That was it! She’d seen the emergency button that would stop it between floors. She’d be inside and he couldn’t get to her. She’d be safe!
Hannah made a lunge for the elevator and threw herself inside. The hidden door slid closed and just as she pressed the but
ton to go down, she heard the door to Judge Colfax’s chambers bang open. He was there! But she was no longer within reach. She was traveling downward, away from Senator Worthington and danger.
The indicator dial showed the second floor, and she held her breath as the elevator continued to descend. She was almost down to the garage when the light for the second floor began to glow and the elevator slowed. He must have realized that she was in the elevator and he’d pressed the call button. Senator Worthington was attempting to bring his victim back up to him for the kill!
There was only one thing to do and Hannah did it. She hit the emergency stop button. It took a heart-stopping second or two, but the elevator halted just short of the garage. She sent a silent thank you to Mr. Otis and everyone else who’d developed the first elevator and breathed a big sigh of relief.
The emergency bell began to ring loudly, pushing all other thoughts from her mind. Had anyone received her cry for help? Was there anyone coming who would hear it?
There was another sound, a high-pitched wail that she heard over the noise of the clanging emergency bell. A police siren!
Hannah looked down at her phone and saw a text message appear on the screen.
Stay put. I’ll text you when it’s safe.
The return cell phone number was Mike’s.
She realized that her knees were trembling and would no longer hold her upright. She sank to the floor of the elevator and relieved tears filled her eyes. She was still there when the clanging bell ceased and Big Ben chimed with another text message from Mike.
Ross tackled him in parking garage. We got him. Come down now. It’s over.
Somehow she managed to get to her feet and push in the emergency button. The elevator descended, the door opened, and she went straight into Ross’s arms.
Chapter Thirty-one
It was late Sunday morning and Hannah and Ross were standing in front of the security checkpoint at the Minneapolis airport. Their arms were around each other and Hannah couldn’t decide if she was sad or happy. The employment director at KCOW had offered Ross the job and Ross had accepted. He would become the head of original programming at KCOW Television next Monday. That meant he had only a week to pack up his things in California and arrange for a moving company to bring them to Lake Eden.
Ross was holding her like he never wanted to let her go, but at last he released her. “I almost forgot to tell you that some of your detective skills must have rubbed off on me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I solved the mystery of the cat burglar.”
Hannah was shocked. “You discovered how Moishe was getting out?”
“Not exactly. I discovered how Moishe was getting in. He’s not going out anywhere, not really. I put it all together this morning when I was sitting at your kitchen table and you went back to your room to get your jacket. I saw Moishe jump down to the top of the refrigerator.”
“Down? Don’t you mean he jumped up to the top of the refrigerator?”
Ross shook his head. “No, he jumped down. There’s a hole in your ceiling, and I think it goes into the attic.”
“That’s exactly where it goes! They had to cut a hole when they installed my refrigerator. It was too big for the space and there was no other way to vent it. But there’s a grate over the hole.”
“Not anymore. The cat burglar managed to claw it loose and it’s laying there on the top of your refrigerator. I used your stepstool to look. Do you know that the attic covers the entire length and width of the building? The people with upstairs units in your building use it for storage.”
“I know that, but I don’t have that many things and I’ve never needed to use it. The access is through the master bedroom closet, but Moishe obviously found another way. I may have to rename him Houdini! He escaped and none of us knew how he did it . . . except for you. Please don’t tell anybody about it. It has to be our secret for now.”
“Why?”
“Because Lisa, Aunt Nancy, and Grandma Knudson are so excited about holding the yard sale that isn’t really a yard sale on Saturday at The Cookie Jar. There’s no way I want to spoil their fun and if I let the cat burglar get into the attic for another week, we’ll have even more stolen items to display.”
Ross laughed and pulled her into his arms again for another hug. “That’s one of the things I love about you, Hannah.”
“I let my cat steal things?”
“No, you think of other people’s feelings first. And speaking of others’ feelings, please tell Doc and your mother that I’m sorry I can’t come to their party tonight.”
“I’ll tell them,” Hannah promised.
“And tell Mike thanks for letting me tackle that . . .”
Hannah didn’t let him finish. She just pulled him down for a kiss. “I will,” she promised.
“And tell Norman I’ll invite him out to the station as soon as I get settled in. He was really interested in post-production.”
“I’ll tell him.”
“And tell Hannah Swensen that I’ll miss her very much.”
“I think she already knows that.”
“And does she also know how much I love her?”
“She knows.”
Ross pulled her into his arms again and after a minute or two, Hannah was aware of someone clearing his throat. She looked over at the TSA agent who was manning the first podium, and saw him beckoning to Ross. “You’d better go,” she told Ross. “It’s almost time for your plane to board.”
“Right.”
Ross gave her one last hug and went up to the podium. He showed his identification and boarding pass and he was waved on. Hannah watched with tears in her eyes as he put his carry-on and shoes in a bin and placed them on the conveyor belt that led to the X-ray machine. Then he turned to wave as he went through the screening device.
He stopped to talk to an agent on the other side as he waited for his bins to come off the belt, and Hannah saw the agent grin and nod. Ross slipped on his shoes, not bothering to tie them, picked up his carry-on, and then he was gone.
Hannah turned away. She’d never felt so alone. She knew he was coming back in a week, but that didn’t really help right now. Ross was gone and she felt desolate.
“Excuse me, miss.” One of the TSA agents, the one Ross had talked to while he was waiting for his shoes and carry-on, approached her. “Please come with me.”
“Come with you . . . where?”
“To the scanner.”
“But . . . I’m not flying anywhere. I just came here to see someone . . .” Hannah paused as she spotted Ross on the other side of the scanner. “There he is, the man I brought to the airport. What’s happening?”
“It’ll be fine,” the agent said, smiling at her. “Just follow me, please.”
Ross was beckoning to her. If he wanted her to follow the TSA agent, she would.
The agent led her to the scanner and he motioned for Ross to come through. “You’d better ask her in a hurry,” he said to Ross. “Your flight leaves in ten minutes.”
Ross hurried through the scanner and folded his arms around Hannah. “I couldn’t leave without asking you.”
“Without asking me what?”
Ross took both of her hands in his and dropped to one knee. “Hannah Louise Swensen . . . will you marry me?”
“Oh!” Hannah gasped. Suddenly, her knees began to shake and then she was kneeling by him on the floor. His arms closed around her, his lips met hers, and she knew she’d never felt so happy in her whole life.
The kiss seemed to last for eons, but then they heard the sound of applause. They looked up to see a circle of TSA agents surrounding them and clapping.
“You’d better go, sir.” One of the agents helped Ross to his feet and another extended a hand to Hannah. “We called, but we can’t hold the plane for more than five more minutes.”
“I’ll call you after the party tonight,” Ross said, turning quickly and heading back through the scanner. He ran toward the
corridor that led to the gate, stopped to blow her a kiss, and then he was gone.
“Ma’am?” The TSA agent took Hannah’s arm. “You’d better go now. I wasn’t supposed to let you in this far without a boarding pass, but . . . well . . . my wife would have killed me if I hadn’t. She still believes in love. And that’s after thirty years of marriage to me.”
“She’s right to keep believing,” Hannah said. “Please tell her thank you for me.”
Hannah turned. And then she floated all the way down the corridor, out of the airport, and into her cookie truck for the drive back to Lake Eden.
It’s been a great party so far, Hannah thought.
Doc looked happy and proud, and her mother looked radiant as they accepted the congratulations of their friends. Dinner had been superb, everything was beautifully decorated, and Sally had outdone herself with the Butterscotch Champagne Cocktail she’d made for the toast to the newlyweds.
“Hi, Hannah.” Norman came up to her with a smile on his face. “I didn’t get a chance to ask you at the courthouse last night. How many responses did you get to your text?”
“Sixty-seven,” Hannah said. “I had to send out another broadcast telling everyone that I was okay.”
“You have sixty-seven people on your contact list?”
“I do now. Tracey went a little overboard. She put in the ten numbers I had on my list and then she transferred fifty-seven of her own. I really had no idea what I was doing when I sent out that emergency text. I even sent it to Tracey’s classmate, Calvin Janowski!”
Norman laughed. “I saw the Janowskis at the courthouse. There were a whole lot of people who drove out there to help you.”
“I know. I was really embarrassed, but it’s great to know that I have that many friends.”
“Especially Calvin Janowski?”
“Especially Calvin,” Hannah said with a smile.
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