The Novels of Nora Roberts, Volume 4

by Nora Roberts

“Thanks. State cops aren’t here yet?”

  “On their way. Might as well go in and sit down.”

  “You said you didn’t want to get into details over the phone.”

  “Complicated business. Touchy business.” Rick stirred in the sugar and cream Brody took in his coffee, then rubbed the back of his neck. “I hardly know where to start, what to think.”

  He led the way to the living room, sat in the wingback chair as Brody settled on the rusty red-and-gray checks of the sofa. “I appreciate you coming out here like this, so we can keep this quiet for now.”

  “No problem. I should tell you that we’re pretty confident we’ve identified the victim. Deena Black, out of Jackson.”

  Leaning forward in his chair, Rick narrowed his eyes. “How’d you come by that?”

  “So,” Brody murmured as he drank his coffee, “we were right. We followed a tip, on the sketch, tracked her name down in Jackson.”

  “Lowering to have to admit a couple of civilians got there about the same time I did.” Rick shook his head, laid his hands on his knees. “First off, I’m going to say I owe Reece a big apology. I never did believe her, not really. Not in the gut where it counts. Maybe I didn’t follow through as much as I should have because I didn’t. I’ve got to take the weight of that.”

  “But you believe her now.”

  Rick sat back. “I do. I did think she might’ve seen something when I got that wire alert on the Jane Doe. But she wouldn’t identify her, and…”

  “Was it Deena Black?”

  “No, turns out it was a runaway from Tucson. They got the two men who picked her up, hitching for Christ’s sake. Did that to her. That’s something anyway.”

  “So, Reece was right about that, too.”

  “I’d say she was right about a lot of things. Took me out at the knees when the state boys got in touch with me. I talked to them about what Reece said she saw, Brody. I did that. Checked with Missing Persons. But…well, I didn’t push through like I should have.”

  “And now?”

  “Well…” Rick looked off. “Lot I should’ve done, could’ve done, would’ve done. I asked you to come out here and talk about this, Brody, because I felt you should know first. You stuck by Reece through this. A lot of us didn’t.”

  “She knew what she saw.” His vision blurred briefly.

  “Yeah, she did.” Rick rose, walked to the window. “Couldn’t shake her off it. Damn shame.”

  “She ought to be here, too.” Brody took another swallow of coffee to reach for the buzz. Fatigue was falling over him like a fog.

  “She will be.”

  “Give me some details before…” Was that his voice, slurred like a drunk’s? When the room spun, he tried to push to his feet. A quick spurt of knowledge had him stumbling toward Rick. “Son of a bitch.”

  “Nothing else I can do.” When Brody fell, Rick looked down at him with sincere regret. “Not a damn thing I can do but this.”

  REECE CALLED BRODY’S home phone and his cell half a dozen times each. It was getting dark now. She wanted to hear his voice, wanted to tell him what she knew.

  She knew.

  And knowing, she just couldn’t slice more baked chicken or make another mountain of mashed potatoes.

  “I have to go, Joanie.”

  “This here’s what we call the dinner rush. You’re what we call the cook.”

  “I can’t reach Brody. It’s important.”

  “And I’ve had about enough of romance inconveniencing me.”

  “This isn’t about romance.” This time she took off her apron. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I have to find him.”

  “This place doesn’t have a revolving door. You go out it, you keep going.”

  “I have to.” She bolted out with Joanie’s curses racing behind her. The sun was already behind the peaks; the lake had gone gray with twilight.

  She cursed herself because Brody’s insistence she not drive herself to and from work alone now meant she had to hike to the cabin. She did the first mile at a steady jog, searching through the gloom for the light he should switch on at dusk.

  He went out for some beer, she told herself. Or for a drive to clear his head. Or he was in the shower, or taking a walk.

  He was fine, wherever he was. Just fine.

  She was panicking over nothing.

  But who did you call when you knew the top cop in town was a killer?

  She’d call the state police, that’s what she’d do. As soon as she’d talked to Brody.

  Sunshine and the dark side of the moon. Rick Mardson had bought both those necklaces, one for his wife, one for his lover. He’d been the one having an affair with Deena Black, sneaking around, taking precautions so no one would see him with her.

  And he killed her. It had to be.

  He could have slipped in and out of the apartment over Joanie’s easier than anyone else. Wasn’t everyone used to seeing the sheriff strolling around town? He’d know how to get keys, get duplicates. Or to hide the fact that he’d broken in.

  To cover his trail.

  She slowed, catching her breath, struggling against another spurt of panic. Something plopped in the waters of the lake, rustled in the long grass beside it. And she ran again with her heart stumbling in her chest.

  She had to get inside, lock the doors.

  Find Brody.

  Her breath snagged when she saw the shadows by the lake, then she forced back the scream when she saw the trio of elk taking their evening drink.

  She veered away from them, raced by the willows, the cottonwoods and finally hit the hard pack of Brody’s short drive.

  His car wasn’t parked beside hers. And the cabin was dark.

  She fumbled out the key he’d given her, then had to stand with her head pressed against the door. It was harder, so much harder, to enter the dark than to leave it behind.

  “Six times one is six,” she began, fighting the key into the lock. “Six times two is twelve.” Stepped in, slapped her hand on the wall for the switch.

  “Six times three is eighteen.” Breathe in, breathe out. “Six times four is twenty-four.”

  She locked the door behind her, then leaned back against it until the worse weight of anxiety eased.

  “Not here. But he’ll be back in just a minute. Maybe he left a note. Except he never leaves notes. It’s not his way. But maybe this time.”

  The kitchen first, she decided. She’d check the kitchen first. She turned on lights as she went, chasing the dark away. There were dregs of coffee in the pot, an open bag of pretzels on the counter.

  She checked the pot; found it cold. She looked in the refrigerator, saw he had a supply of beer, of Cokes.

  “So he went out for something else, that’s all. And he’s probably going to swing by and pick me up on the way back. I’m stupid. Just stupid.”

  She grabbed the kitchen phone to try his cell again.

  And heard a car pull up.

  “Oh God, thank God.” After slamming down the phone, she ran out of the kitchen to the front door. “Brody.” She yanked the door open, and there was his big, burly SUV. “Brody?” she called again, nearly moaned in frustration. “Where the hell did you go that fast? I need to talk to you.”

  At the sound behind her, she whirled in relief. She saw the blur of a fist, felt a burst of pain, then was back in the dark.

  When she came to, her jaw ached like a bad tooth. On a moan, she tried to lift a hand to it and found her arms pinned behind her.

  “Only tapped you,” Rick said. “Didn’t give me any pleasure to hit you. Quickest way, that’s all.”

  She struggled, a mad moment of wild panic and denial.

  “You’re cuffed,” he said calmly, and continued to look straight ahead as he drove. “Padded your wrists good. Shouldn’t hurt, and it’ll keep any marks off your skin, most likely. That’d be best. You’ll have a bruise on your jaw there, but, well, there’d have been a struggle so that’s all right.”

 
“Where’s Brody? Where are you taking me?”

  “You wanted to talk to Brody. I’m taking you to Brody.”

  “Is he…”

  “He’s all right. I kept a supply of those sleeping pills of yours. Gave him enough of them to put him out for a couple hours. Maybe three. Plenty of time. He’s a friend of mine, Reece. It didn’t have to be this way.”

  “People think I’m crazy.” Even knowing it was useless, she strained her wrists against the handcuffs. “Butyou have to be if you think you can just cuff me, kidnap me and drive me out of town this way.”

  “In Brody’s car. In the dark. Anybody saw us go by, they’d see a couple of people in Brody’s car. You and Brody. That’s what they’d see, ’cause that’s what they’d expect to. That’s the way it’ll work. I’m going to make this simple as I can, quick as I can. It’s the best I can do.”

  “You killed Deena Black.”

  “Did what I had to, not what I wanted. Same as now.” He looked over, met her eyes. “I tried other ways. Tried everything I knew. She wouldn’t back off. Neither would you.”

  He trained his gaze straight ahead again, and made the turn toward his cabin. “I want you to be quiet, and to do what I tell you. You want to yell and scream and kick, you go ahead. It won’t make any difference. But the more you do, the more I’ll hurt Brody. Is that what you want?”

  “No.”

  “Then you do what I say, and it’ll be easier all around.” He stopped the car, got out and came around for her. “I can hurt you, too, if I have to,” he warned her. “It’s your choice.”

  “I want to see Brody.”

  “All right then.” Rick took her arm, quick-stepped her to the cabin.

  He gave her a light shove inside before locking the door, turning on the light.

  Brody was tied to a kitchen chair, his chin slumped on his chest. On a muffled cry, Reece stumbled toward him to fall on her knees beside the chair. “Brody. Oh God, Brody.”

  “He’s not dead. A little drugged is all.” Rick checked his watch. “Should be coming out of it soon enough. When he does, we’re taking a hike, and we’re getting this done.”

  “Done?” She shoved herself around, and hated that she was on her knees in front of him. “Do you think because you got away with killing once, you can kill both of us and no one will know? It won’t work, not this time.”

  “Murder/suicide’s what it’ll be. That’s how it’s going to look. You talked him into driving out this way, hiking down to where you said you saw the killing. You drugged him. Got his thermos right over there.” He nodded to the end table by the couch. “Coffee in it’s spiked with pills from one of your bottles. Bottle’s going to be in your pocket when we find you.”

  “Why would I hurt Brody? Why would anyone believe I’d hurt Brody?”

  “You snapped, that’s what you did. You snapped, drugged him so he wouldn’t see it coming. You shot him, then you shot yourself. You took the gun Joanie keeps in her desk drawer to do it. Your prints’ll be on the gun, gunshot residue on your hand when it’s done. That’s the physical evidence, and your behavior gives it plausibility.”

  “That’s bullshit. It’s just bullshit. I’ve already called the state police and told them about Deena Black.”

  “No, you didn’t. I’m going to take those cuffs off you. If you try to run, I’ll hurt you. And I’ll put a bullet in Brody where he sits. You want that?”

  “No. I won’t run. Do you think I’d just leave him?”

  He rose, a patient, cautious man. Taking out his key, he uncuffed her. “You sit right there.” He touched the gun in his holster as warning. “I don’t want any trouble. And I don’t want any bruises or signs on your wrists showing some M.E. you’ve been restrained. Rub the circulation back into them. Do it now.”

  Her arms ached like a fever, and trembled with it as she rubbed her wrists. “I said we called and reported to the state police.”

  “You’d’ve done that, Brody would’ve said so when he came out here. Told him I found out information on the killing from the state police myself. Asked him to come out here and meet me, and them, to get the details before we made an arrest.”

  Going to the table, he picked up the plastic cup of water and the pill he’d set out. “Want you to take this.”

  “No.”

  “It’s one of yours, said it was for anxiety. Might help a little, and I want them to find drugs in your system. You’re going to take it, Reece, or I’m going to force it down your throat.”

  She took the glass, the pill.

  Satisfied, he sat, rested his hands on his knees. “We’ll give that a few minutes to work for you, then we’ll get started. I’m sorry it’s come to this, that’s the truth. Brody’s been a friend of mine, and I’ve got nothing against you. But I’ve got to protect my family.”

  “Were you protecting them when you screwed Deena Black?”

  His face tightened, but he nodded. “I made a mistake. A human mistake. I love my wife, my kids. Nothing’s more important. But there are needs, that’s all. Two, three times a year I took care of those needs. None of it ever touched my family. I’d say I was a better husband, better daddy, better man for taking care of them.”

  He believed it, Reece realized. How many people deluded themselves into believing cheating was somehow honorable?

  “You took care of them with Deena.”

  “One night. It was supposed to be just one night. What difference could it make to anyone but me? Just sex, that’s all. Things a man needs but doesn’t want his wife doing. One night out of so many others. But I couldn’t stop. Something about her got into me. Like a sickness. I couldn’t leave her alone, and for a while I thought, I guess I thought it was love. And that I could have them both.”

  “The dark and the light,” Reece said.

  “That’s right.” He smiled with terrible sadness. “I gave Deena all I could. She kept wanting more. The kind of more I couldn’t give. She wanted me to leave Debbie, leave my kids behind. I was never going to do that, never going to lose my wife and kids. We had a fight, terrible fight, and I woke up. You could say I woke up from a long, dark dream. I broke it off then and there.”

  “But she wouldn’t let it stay broken off.” Wake up, Brody, she thought desperately. Wake up and tell me what to do.

  “She kept calling me. She wanted money, ten thousand or she’d tell my wife. I didn’t have that kind of money, and I told her. She said I’d better find it if I wanted to keep my happy home. How you feeling? Calmer?”

  “I saw you, by the river. I saw you kill her.”

  “I was just going to reason with her. I told her to come here. I used to bring her here, here to the cabin when I was in that long, dark dream. But when she came, I couldn’t talk to her here, not here, not again. Maybe you should have two of those pills.”

  “You took her down to the river.”

  “Wanted to walk, that’s all. Never planned it. We just walked, we kept walking until we came to the river. I told her maybe I could scrape together a couple thousand, stake her, if she left Wyoming. Even when I said it I knew it wouldn’t work. Once you pay, you never stop. Said she wasn’t settling for crumbs. Wanted the whole cake. I could take it out of the money we had for the kids. I don’t know why I told her we’ve put by money for our kids, for their college. She wanted it. Not ten now, she said, but twenty-five. Twenty-five or I’d end up with nothing. No wife, no kids, no reputation.

  “I called her a whore, because that’s what she was, what she’d always been. And she came at me. And when I pushed her down and told her it was done, she came at me again, screaming.

  “You saw how it was.”

  “Yes, I saw how it was.”

  “She was going to ruin me, she swore it. No matter what I paid now, she was taking it all. She was going to tell Debbie every dirty little thing we’d ever done together. I couldn’t even hear her anymore. It was like wasps buzzing in my head. But she was on the ground, under me, and my hands were
around her throat. I kept squeezing, squeezing, until the buzzing stopped.”

  “You didn’t have any choice.” Reece’s voice was absolutely calm. “She pushed you to it. She attacked you, threatened you. You had to protect yourself, your family.”

  “I did. Yes, I did. She wasn’t even real. She was only a dream.”

  “I understand. My God, she was literally holding a gun to your head. You haven’t done anything wrong yet, Rick. You haven’t hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it, done anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary. If I’d understood all this before, I’d have let it go.”

  “But you didn’t let it go. No matter what I did. All I wanted was for you to leave town. Just go away and get on with your life so I could get on with mine.”

  “I know that now. I’m on your side now. You can just let me and Brody go, and this all disappears.”

  “I wish I could, Reece. That’s the God’s truth. But you can’t change what is. You’ve just got to work with it, and protect what you have. Guess one of those pills was enough, after all. Now, I want you to move away from him. It’s time I woke him up.”

  “If you do this, you don’t deserve your wife and your children.”

  “Once it’s done, they’ll never have to know.” He crossed to her, grabbed her by the back of the shirt and dragged her away from Brody.

  As he turned back, Brody pumped his legs, rising up, chair and all. He swung his body hard into Rick’s and sent them both sprawling.

  “Run!” Brody shouted. “Run now.”

  She ran, terrified and blind with it, following the order as if a switch had been flicked inside her. Spitting out the pill she’d cheeked, she yanked open the front door. She heard the crash, the curses, the crack of wood as she flew outside.

  And she ran with a scream shrieking in her head when she heard the gunshot.

  “DID YOU HEAR THAT?” Linda-gail pushed up on her elbow in bed. “I heard a shot.”

  “I heard the angels sing.”

  She laughed and poked Lo in the side. “That, too. But I heard somebody shooting.”

  “Now who’d think you’d ever hear somebody shooting in the backwoods of Wyoming?” He pulled her back down, digging his hands into her ribs to make her laugh.