“That’s where you’re wrong.” Earl pulled out a five-inch blade.
Sara gasped and moved in tighter to Sean’s side.
“Sara, why don’t you come over here with me?” Earl gestured for her to go to him. “See, plans change. Don’t be shy.”
Sara gave Sean a look as her hand filtered out of his.
When she was within a few feet of Earl, he wrapped his arm around her neck, the knife held inches away from her throat.
“See, now I know who you guys really are, and there’s a lot more than fifty thousand, I realized I was thinking small. After all, the women were taken care of, but what about poor Earl? If you want your wife to live, Mr. McKinley, you’ll wire one million dollars to the account I will give you.”
Sara bucked against Earl’s hold. “You’re never going to get away with this.”
“Aw, but see, I already have.” He put his attention back to Sean. “I will forward the information to your phone. Now you’re going to watch us walk away, and if you follow us, I will kill her.”
“You’re going to kill her in a sacred ruin site? You are insane,” Sean said.
“Am I? I guess we’ll find out, but don’t test me, Sean. After all, we barely know each other.”
Earl took a few steps back, dragging Sara with him. “You wait here for two minutes before leaving.” Earl rubbed his forehead against his upper arm.
Sean caught a glimpse of movement in the long grass.
“Here, Earl, you wanted fifty thousand. Take it. Let her go.” He tossed the money bag.
Earl lost his grip on Sara as he struggled to fetch it.
She went to run to Sean, but Daren caught her arm.
“Now, now, what a little party we have going.”
Four’s A Crowd
DAREN KEPT HIS GUN AIMED on Sean and Earl, his hold tight on Sara. “We can’t fault Earl. He was being an opportunist.”
“Surprised you know the word. Although, I suppose you are one as well,” Sean said, his thoughts on the fact that Daren had managed to get a gun past security.
“Tisk, Mr. McKinley. You should be kinder to the man who holds your wife’s life in his hands.”
He pulled Sara to him, despite her struggle to retain distance, burrowing his face into the groove of her neck.
In this time, Sean gestured toward Earl, directing him to do something, and then nodded toward Sara. He had a plan.
“She even smells nice after spending the night in a motel. People like you wouldn’t be used to those types of accommodations.”
“Let her go. You can have the fifty thousand.” Sean nodded his head toward the bag in Earl’s hands.
Earl scowled.
“That’s a great start, but I’ve realized I have more expenses to cover. The one million that Earl requested would work out perfectly for me.”
He took a few steps back with Sara.
Sean and Earl stepped in sync with them.
“You should be more careful, Daren,” Sean said.
“So impressed. You know who I am. I’m flattered.”
“You’re going to prison for the man you murdered.”
“Ah, see, but that’s where you’re wrong. No one is going to prison. I’ve always found my own justice and I’ve always gotten away with it.”
“Not according to your record.”
Daren didn’t comment, but kept stepping back.
He must have been leery of being so far into the jungle. Like Sean’s thinking, why tempt Mother Nature?
With each step Sara took, Sean controlled his impulse to wince. Without her being able to watch where her feet fell, she placed herself at risk.
“Earl, put the money on the ground in front of you. Let Daren take it,” Sean said.
Daren grinned as he motioned for Sara to retrieve the bag, his gun trained on her.
“Not one stray move from any of you. Stay back.”
Sara returned to him.
“Very good. Now you hold on to the bag, sweetheart. And, Mr. McKinley, we’ll be leaving now. Your wife will send you the necessary account information once we’re in a safe spot. Stay here for three minutes before coming out, or your wife will die.”
Sara made eye contact with Sean. There was a hint of fear in her retinas, but there was also the ignited fire of a detective who would stop her man. She blinked deliberately. Her eyes opening with the silent communication that she would be all right.
“You better put the gun away or you’ll be in a lot of crap when we hit the clearing,” Sara said.
Her heart beat rapidly as she waited for the opportune moment to act on Sean’s silent directions. She prayed she had understood him correctly.
Daren ran a hand down the length of her hair. “Beautiful and smart. We’ll have to spend some time getting to know each other.”
“I respectfully decline.”
“Oh, you like to play hard to get.”
The way he took her in, eyeing her rapaciously, sent spikes of adrenaline crackling through her body. She was trained to protect herself, and if it meant killing this man, she wouldn’t hesitate.
“You’ll hold my hand,” he said.
His touch roiled her stomach. She had to figure out the perfect time to strike—and she had to ensure no one was around when she did.
Sean pressed his finger into Earl’s chest. It took all of his self-control not to drill his fist into Earl’s face. “Sara’s life is in danger because of you. If she’s hurt—even gets so much as a scratch—I will repay the favor tenfold.”
Earl wouldn’t make eye contact. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think—”
“That’s right. You didn’t think. You have money problems? Big deal. Going back a month I lived paycheck to paycheck.”
Sean took large strides toward the clearing.
“It hasn’t been three minutes.” Earl’s voice was filled with panic.
“No, it hasn’t, but there’s a difference between us, Earl. I love my wife and I’m not going to let her die.”
“I love my wife too.” Earl sputtered the words.
“We’ll see how she feels after she finds everything out.”
“I didn’t mean for all of this to happen. If only I had money in the first place. I was thinking of Cathy. She’ll never forgive me, will she?”
“I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t. This is all happening because you got greedy. And, you said you did all of this for Cathy and Amelia. Well Amelia’s dead.” Sean pointed ahead to the clearing. “Daren, the man who has my wife, shot her.”
Earl buckled to his knees. “She’s dead?”
“Yes, Earl, and it’s probably because she warned you and you went missing.”
“Oh God.”
Sean kept walking. He didn’t care about the sadness emanating from the man. The only thing he could think about was Sara. Did she get his message?
Look, Don’t Touch
SWEAT POURED DOWN SARA’S BACK and her throat felt stitched shut with dryness. Daren was leading her around the perimeter of the ruins and it made her thankful for the privacy. It would make it easier to act when the time came, and that would be soon.
“Y’ouch. Oh, I have to stop,” she said.
“No, we keep moving.”
“I promise I’ll walk, but my sandals are—” Sara slowed her pace, struggling to reach her feet, as she kept moving.
Daren jerked on her arm. “Keep moving.”
“They are bunching on my toes.” She hobbled along, balancing herself on Daren’s shoulder, the opposite leg lifted and bent. “Maybe if you support me, I can make it back like this.”
She was hoping that he was as uncomfortable from the heat as she was—she had never been this hot in her life.
“You have two seconds.”
“Oh. Thank you. Thank you.”
Daren rolled his eyes as he let her go.
She bent down, placing the money bag on the ground beside her, quickly looking around. There were a few tourists, but they were far enough
away. She glanced up at Daren. He wasn’t looking at her but staring somewhere off in the distance. She reached into the bag and searched around. Her fingertips grazed the handle.
“That’s long enough, lady. Time to go.” He yanked up on her, pulling her arm from the bag.
She came out with the knife held firmly, the blade glistening in the sun. Its reflection must have hit him in the eyes. He squinted and his stance faltered.
She didn’t have time to look behind them, but she heard the footfalls—Sean was coming.
Sean saw them, not more than twenty feet ahead. He closed the distance quickly, happy that he was in good physical shape. He tackled Daren from behind, pulling him to the ground, but Daren landed on top.
They rolled on the grass, teasing the edge of the jungle but they righted themselves to stay in the clearing.
Daren straddled Sean. “This is the second time in twenty hours, but this time I’m going to kill you.” Daren reached for his gun.
“Sean,” Sara yelled.
He got a blurry view of his surroundings as he tussled with Daren. Earl was standing beside Sara—no longer a threat. They were mere feet away from a cordoned-off ruin.
He found strength and landed a hard blow to Daren’s jaw that had the man howling like a wounded animal.
Daren retreated, swaying back, still over Sean.
Punching his kidneys, Sean alternated left and right until the man toppled off him, then shot to his feet. “Run, darling,” he said to Sara.
She took off, with Earl following behind her.
Sean turned around to face Daren, who was coming at him like a raging football player. He grounded his stance, bent in the knee, ready to receive the tackle.
Daren made contact, shoving his body into Sean’s torso, but he hunched farther down and lifted, causing Daren to fly over Sean’s head and come to land on the other side of the rope.
Militia came out of the jungle, yelling in Spanish, waving around AK47s, all of them trained on Daren.
In Hot Water
THE THREE OF THEM STOOD outside of the Spencers’ room back at the resort.
“She’s not going to want to see me,” Earl said.
“Give her a chance. You never know.” Sara spoke the words but she didn’t hold out much optimism in this case. The man had cheated on his wife, set up his disappearance, was going to fake his death. Some things were unforgivable, even to Sara.
“You promised you’d come in with me,” Earl said.
Sara nodded and passed a glance to Sean.
They had spent hours explaining everything to the militia. They’d filled them in on Amelia’s murder and how they were detectives from the United States. They made the call to Voigt who confirmed their cover.
They definitely owed the man a large bottle of fine cognac.
The three of them were free to go, but Daren Wolfe would never see the light of day again. It turned out that when he fell he broke a piece off of the monument. Now there was a territorial war between the US government, the militia, and the Mexican police. Either way, Daren would live the rest of his life behind bars.
Sara took a deep breath and turned the handle. Sean followed behind her and Earl trailed in last.
Catherine Spencer was sitting on the couch, her expression devoid of emotion until she saw her husband’s face. Tears fell down her cheeks.
He ran to her and got to his knees. “I’m so, so sorry.”
The Spencers hugged and both were crying.
Catherine pulled back first. Teary-eyed she looked from Sara to Sean. “Thank you so much for bringing him back to me.”
“You’re welcome,” Sean said as he put his arm around Sara.
In the hallway, Sean smiled at Sara, thankful that both of them were still in one piece. He kissed the top of her head. “I guess all’s well that ends well. At least, that’s what they say.”
She lifted the bag of money. “It seems to me, someone promised me a shopping trip when this was all over. I’m thinking this should about cover it. At least I’ll be able to get a few new things.” She laughed, and as always, the sound was as music to his ears.
“Whatever you want, darling.” His eyes softened in response to hers. “I guess we’re going to have to go on another honeymoon to make up for this one.” He said the words, feeling her out.
“Really? I thought it’s been wonderful.” Sara paused. “I’ve also been thinking.”
“That’s dangerous.”
“Hey. I don’t think I’m ready to retire any time soon.”
“But we’ve already given our notice.”
“I’m not talking in reference to Albany PD.”
“Now I’m listening.”
“Why don’t we solve mysteries on our own? Let’s face it, we have the talent.” She winked at him.
“You mean become private investigators?”
“Yeah, something like that.” She tucked her chin into her shoulder. “Or maybe something more off the books? How does that sound to you?”
“Sounds like fun, but first, there’s another adventure I’m ready for.”
“And what’s that, darling?”
“Since you love a good mystery, I’ll leave it up to you to interpret the first clue.”
Sean pulled her in tight and kissed her.
Hope you loved this installment in the McKinley Mystery Series.
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Carolyn Arnold - McKinley 02 - Vacation is Murder Page 9
