Fender rolled his eyes before slowly getting to his feet. His long ears dragged the ground as he sniffed at the sidewalk and began once again to slowly lope along.
Clyde lived in one of the historic restored brownstones behind Main Street. It was part of the first set of abandoned buildings to be restored and sold before the construction company had gone bankrupt. Another company had taken over only recently to start the process again, and Olivia had a feeling that they would sell well this time.
Maybe she and Andrew could consider getting one together—if she could ever convince him to move in with her again. That was assuming that they could even afford it. The renovated brownstones weren’t cheap.
Using the key Clyde’s owners had supplied, she unlocked the door. Most of her dog clients greeted her at the door, but Clyde was going both blind and deaf, so it was always a bit of a hunt to find him. Today, he was curled up in a patch of sunlight. He barked loudly when he saw Olivia.
“Every time.� Olivia reached down and scratched the top of the old pug’s head. “How are you feeling today, buddy? You ready to take your meds and go for a walk?�
Clyde slowly followed her to the kitchen. While she was stuffing the dog’s pills in pill pockets, Nick called. “We found a hotel suite that Wilbur was paying for, but it’s empty. The manager said that Wilbur continues to pay, but he hasn’t stayed in the room for several days. We’re still processing it and hoping that it’ll lead somewhere, but there’s no evidence that Hattie was ever there. I’m sending Derek to the bakery. If Wilbur stops by, Derek is going to follow him. Hopefully, he’ll lead us straight to her.�
Olivia shook her head. “What if it’s not enough? Mary said that he looked at his phone and left in anger. He had surveillance cameras on her, Nick. What if she tried to escape?�
“We’re going to find her, Olivia. I promise.� He hesitated. “I should have listened to you sooner. I’m sorry.�
“Your hands were tied, Nick. You didn’t know. I didn’t even know. Just find her.�
After hanging up, she gave Clyde his pill pockets and leashed him. He and Fender were already sniffing each other and wagging their tails. Pocketing her keys, she started out on her walk.
Clyde would have been fine with a fifteen-minute walk, but his family liked him to stay out for thirty minutes. On nice days like today, it wasn’t so bad. There was a slight chill in the air, and if it had been any normal day, Olivia would have enjoyed the sunshine and fresh air. Clyde and Fender walked slowly and barked at anything that moved, which meant they’d barely made it down the street when it was time to turn around and head back.
The street butted up to the back of End Game, and the back door to the bar and restaurant opened as one of the servers pulled a trashcan out to dump it.
Staring at the door, Olivia frowned. What had Mary said that the server had mentioned? Wilbur was a regular at End Game. He walked there almost every night.
Walked.
End Game wasn’t right in the middle of town. For most of the residents of Lexingburg, it would be quite a walk to get home from there. In fact, these brownstones were the only residences within a few blocks of the restaurant.
Most of them were still empty, from what Olivia remembered. The For Sale or Lease sign at the corner of the block of buildings shone with enthusiastic newness.
Following a hunch, Olivia pulled out her phone and texted Nick with the information. She knew that she should have headed straight back to Clyde’s house, but she wanted Hattie found as quickly as possible. Using the dogs as cover, she slowly started walking a little closer to the brownstones.
Most of them looked empty, as she’d thought, and Wilbur could have been hiding in any one of them if he’d rented one under yet another assumed name. Highly possible. He already had two names, Wilbur, Jeremy, so why not a third?
Nick texted back to let her know that he’d check it out, and that was when she saw it.
A small security camera sat almost completely hidden in one of the trees and was pointed at a shiny blue-painted door. Olivia snapped a quick picture of it, included the brass numbers on the side of the door, and sent the photo to Nick.
His response was instant. GET SOMEWHERE PUBLIC.
Pocketing the phone, she was turning to head back to End Game when she thought she saw movement from the corner of her eye. Turning around, she focused on the window to one side of the door and just managed to catch sight of two shadowy figures clasped in an apparent struggle before they moved out of view.
Her heart pounding in her chest, Olivia bent down to pick up Clyde and then, dragging Fender, ran to the door. She grabbed at the knob, and it turned in her hand. The deadbolt wasn’t engaged, and the door moved inward at Olivia’s slight pressure. The door wasn’t locked!
With her hand on the doorknob, she gently eased the door open, but then Clyde and Fender both started barking at the same time.
“Who’s there?� an unseen male yelled.
“Help! Someone help me!� Hattie, shouting desperately, came racing toward the door, the dogs, and Olivia. Her face was bruised, and she had dark circles under her eyes—but she was alive.
“Hurry!� Olivia urged as she held the door open with one hand. She needed another hand! —she put Clyde down and yanked on both leashes to haul the excited dogs away from the threshold. Wilbur was close on the frantic woman’s heels, and Olivia gasped when she saw a knife in his hand.
He managed to snag Hattie by the back of her shirt just before she could reach Olivia, and he yanked her back, away from the door—and freedom. In an instant, the knife was at Hattie’s neck.
“Get in here!� he hissed as he pressed the blade to Hattie’s throat.
Olivia dropped the leashes and mentally urged the dogs to make a break for it. “Jeremy,� she said slowly as she took a tentative step inside. The last thing that she was going to do was close the door. Somehow she had to keep him distracted and talking. “The sheriff already knows that you’re here. He’s on his way. You’ve lost. The only thing that you can do now is start running and get a head start.�
Olivia’s You’ve lost didn’t seem to make any impression on him. “I’m not going anywhere without my wife,� he snarled.
Hattie trembled, but there was a look of determination in her eyes. She spoke with some difficulty, but managed to force out, “I’m not your wife, Jeremy. We are not married. I would never marry someone like you!�
Though the knife did not move from Hattie’s throat, Jeremy’s expression changed eerily. He smiled down at her, his glittering eyes in stark contrast to his soft and loving voice. “Shh, don’t say that. We’ll be married soon. I’ve already got the license. You just need your medicine,� he cooed. He started to drag his captive backward.
Olivia had a firm conviction that she needed to keep them both near the door. Who knew what the man might do to Hattie if he got her out of Olivia’s sight? “Are you sure that you want to marry her, Jeremy?� she called out suddenly. “There isn’t some other pretty woman that you enjoyed flirting with after you moved in here, is there?�
He hesitated, forehead wrinkling, and then his eyes went wild with panic. “She’s lying!� he cried hoarsely to Hattie. “There’s no one but you, baby.�
Olivia stared at Hattie and tried to show her how much power she had. “That’s not what I heard,� she said slowly as she nodded her head in a silent message to the other woman. “I heard that you came in every day to see a pretty woman in the bakery.�
Hattie, gasping, lifted her chin away from the knife blade. “Is that true?�
she asked in a shaky voice. “Have you been cheating on me, Jeremy? You know that I have trust issues.�
The hand with the knife dropped, and Olivia inhaled sharply. That was a good start, but he still had his arm wrapped around Hattie’s waist.
The man had eyes only for Hattie. He pleaded with her, voice gentle and coaxing. “I was so conflicted when you left me. It took me years to find you, and I was so happy when my friend saw your picture in the spotlight for that new app that you developed. You were always so smart, and I was so proud. But you’d changed your name—and you dyed your hair. I wondered if you even wanted me back, and then Mary was so nice.� The words tumbled out at seeming random, reflecting his apparent mental confusion. “I just missed you, Morgan. I did tell her about you.�
Sudden sirens cut through the air, and the dogs started to howl. Wilbur jumped in surprise, and Hattie seized the opening. With a scream, she drove her elbow into her captor’s side. He grunted, and she scrambled away and fell into Olivia arms.
Grabbing the woman, Olivia whirled around and practically threw Hattie out the door. She’d barely slammed the door behind herself when she felt, from the vibration, Wilbur reach it. She hung onto the knob desperately as the door shook under the man’s blows, followed by his furious efforts to pull it open.
Two police cars pulled in front of the building so fast that dust flew up from their tires. The sirens pierced Olivia’s eardrums, but she was never happier to hear anything in her life.
“Olivia!� Nick shouted as he jumped from his car, pulling out his sidearm. Two deputies piled out of the other car, half-crouched behind the open doors, ready for action.
Wilbur yanked again at the other side of the door, ripping the latch free of the wood, and Olivia let go just in time and grabbed Hattie’s arm. Together, they tumbled down the steps with the two dogs yelping and scrambling at their heels. With an angry roar, Wilbur tried to follow them—and then he saw Nick’s gun, and those of the deputies, pointed unwavering right at him. He stopped immediately and raised his hands in the air.
“Morgan!� he yelled in anguished tones, eyes glued to the barrel of Nick’s gun. “Tell them that there’s been some mistake! Tell them that you love me, baby. Tell them!�
Olivia pulled Hattie to the side, securely out of Wilbur’s reach and out of the line of fire. With her arm wrapped tightly around Hattie, she turned the woman away so she wouldn’t have to watch.
“It’s okay,� she whispered in Hattie’s ear. “You’re safe now. I’ve got you.�
“You’re Olivia,� Hattie said slowly as she raised her head and stared at Olivia in wonder. “Andrew and Jackie both said you were a good investigator. I was hoping that you would find me.�
Smiling, Olivia reached up and tucked the woman’s hair behind her ear as she gently touched the bruise on her face, then eased them a little farther away from the tense confrontation at the door. “I just wish that it was sooner.� Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the deputies securely holster their guns and move forward, one of them pulling out a pair of handcuffs.
“That doesn’t matter. I’m free now. Jeremy can never touch me again.� Hattie closed her eyes and leaned against Olivia, shaking in reaction.
Jeremy had fallen silent, and they could hear Nick matter-of-factly reading him his rights.
Kidnapping, Olivia thought. That ought to put him away for a long time.
She gently hugged Hattie, mindful of possible bruises. The woman’s life as Hattie was finally over, and she could go back to being Morgan, only this time, she wouldn’t have to run and hide and disguise her identity. She could make friends and rejoin the world—and maybe find herself a good man.
Things didn’t get much better than that.
18
After escorting Hattie to the hospital to be checked out, Olivia texted Jackie to meet them, and then she took a deep breath before calling Andrew. She’d asked Nick not to call him and rat her out. Andrew wasn’t going to be happy, but it would be better if he heard the news from her.
“Hi, sweetheart. How’s your day?� she asked in a sugary voice when he answered.
There was a beat of silence. “What happened?�
“What? What makes you think something happened? All I did was ask how your day went!� she protested.
Andrew was no fool. “Because I saw you two hours ago.� She could almost see the wry twist to his mouth in her mind’s eye. “Are you calling me from Nick’s office?�
“No.� She paused. Okay, you can do this. “I’m actually calling you from the hospital—but it’s not for me!� she hastened to add. “I promise. There’s not a scratch on me.�
“You found Hattie? Is she okay?�
There was a note of stress in his voice, and she eased herself into one of the hard plastic chairs in the waiting room. Overhead, the loudspeaker called for a doctor, and she waited for it to finish before saying firmly, “We did. She has a few bruises, but she’s otherwise fine. And Wilbur’s in custody.�
“I’m coming to you. Are you in the emergency room?�
“I’m in the waiting room outside ER. Nick went with Hattie—I’m sorry, her real name is Morgan—but I promised that I’d stick around in case she got scared.�
“I’ll be there in a minute.� The line went dead, and Olivia grimaced. Andrew didn’t exactly sound angry, but he didn’t sound happy, either.
Also probably not a good time to talk about them moving in together.
Rotten luck.
Andrew must have known some secret passages in the hospital because he was there in record time.
Olivia stood, and Andrew wrapped his arms around her. “Tell me that you were never in any danger.�
“Wilbur—I’m sorry—Jeremy—was completely fixed on Hattie-Morgan the whole time.â€� Olivia blew out a breath and rubbed at her face. “She needs to let me know which name she’s sticking with because I’m getting confused.â€� She pulled back and stared at him. “I just—all I did was—I went to walk Clyde. You know—he lives in one of the renovated brownstones behind End Game. I picked him up, and we walked, and … Then I remembered that Mary said that Wilbur used to walk to End Game.â€�
“And you jumped to the conclusion that he was probably staying at one of those brownstones nearby,� he finished for her. “And instead of calling Nick, you wanted to check it out on your own?�
She shook her head earnestly. “Wrong. I knew that you didn’t want me to get involved, so I texted Nick right away. Then I saw the security camera outside one of the buildings. It looked like a recent addition. I took a picture of it to send to Nick, and that’s when I saw Hattie and Wilbur fighting through the window.�
“Ah.� Andrew nodded. “And you couldn’t walk away.�
“Could you?�
“I guess not,� he admitted. “Finish the story.�
Olivia told him everything, including how Fender and Clyde’s howling distracted Wilbur enough for Hattie to make her move. “She told us that he’d never dreamed that she’d reject him again, so he just locked her in the basement. When she managed to break the lock, he started drugging her. Yesterday, she managed to regain enough of her strength to break out of the basement again, but she only made it to the first floor before she passed out.� Upset all over again, Olivia took a shaky breath. “She almost made it to freedom, Andrew. She was fighting so hard to get away from him, and he still insisted that she wa
s in love with him.�
Andrew pulled her close again and rested his chin on Olivia’s hair. “Delusions can be a strong thing,� he murmured. His arms tightened around her, and he added, “I’m glad that everyone is safe, and I’m glad that you’re okay—even if you did almost get in trouble again.�
Tilting her head to stare up at him and seeing the love in his eyes, Olivia bit the bullet and just blurted it out in a tumble of words. “Andrew, I want us to move back in together. I know that we’re still not where we were, and I know that I’m not supposed to be rushing things, but I think that we’ve been doing really well with our communication, and I want to take the next step. If you’re ready, that is. I just want you to know that I’m ready.�
He chuckled. “Is that why you’ve been telling me about every detail of your day?�
“Not every detail. I want you know that things are different this time.�
“Okay.�
There was a pause as she stared at him. “Okay? Like, okay, you acknowledge what I just said. Okay, you’ll think about it. Or okay, you want the same thing?�
“The third one.�
Filled with joy, Olivia broke free so she could jump up and down in her excitement. She squealed, “Really? Oh, I’m so excited. I love you!�
“I love you, too,� he laughed, and then he pulled her into another hug that she enthusiastically returned. “Were you stressed about asking me?�
“Not stressed—but it never seemed like the right time.� She took a deep breath, changing the subject suddenly as she often did. “Now that you’ve seen me and verified that I’m okay, you should go back to work, or you’ll never get through that stack of paperwork.� Relieved and elated, she released him, stepped out of his arms, and pointed to the elevators.
Kept in the Bark (Happy Tails Dog Walking Mysteries Book 5) Page 16
