by Mary Stone
Making sure he only looked as if he was sleeping, I peered down the hall, then inside to make sure I wasn’t observed. No.
I took another step inside. It was a surprise to see she wasn’t alone.
In fact, a very nice surprise. She was there with Kylie Hatfield Coulter.
My day just got better. I suppose this was what you would call killing two birds with one stone.
28
The drive to Leda Butler’s house was a tense one.
They took Jacob’s police truck, and he kept the lights going. As they drove, Linc pulled up information on Leda Butler on his phone. He frowned as he read.
“Listen to this. Leda Butler has been a staple in the Asheville area children’s welfare community for over half a century. She has been decorated with numerous honors and has won multiple awards for her tireless championing of children’s rights in Western North Carolina and the surrounding areas.” He looked up at Jacob. “How can this be the right woman?”
“Well, we’ll see,” he said as Linc continued to scroll through the search results.
There was a picture of Leda Butler receiving some award from the mayor of Asheville. She was small and portly, with chipmunk cheeks. Yes, she looked like anyone’s loving grandmother. But she did have almost white-blonde hair, and she was well-dressed.
Could this woman be a baby-smuggler? And if so, how had she been doing it so long without having been caught?
“This doesn’t seem right,” he said to Jacob when they reached the house, a small, brick row home with bright blue violets in the windows. Jacob parallel parked on the street in front as Linc looked up at the door, which had a “Welcome Friends” plaque on the front. The curtains in the front windows were some kind of lace, and there was a cat peering out at them from one of the ledges. “It doesn’t seem like the house of a baby smuggler.”
Jacob threw open the door. “You know what, man? In my experience, that’s what makes a criminal so successful. No one suspects them. Let’s stop jumping to conclusions and check this woman out.”
Linc went to straighten his shirt and realized he wasn’t wearing his blazer or tie. What had he done with them? Had he left them at the restaurant? Probably. Not that it mattered. He’d get them later. He scratched his head as they approached the front door.
Jacob put out his finger to ring the doorbell and Linc winced. “It’s nearly midnight. What if she’s sleeping?”
He shrugged. “Then we wake her ass up.”
He banged on the door with his fist, for effect.
“Hey,” Linc said. “Cool it. If she’s an old lady, it’s going to take her a while to get down the stairs.”
Jacob looked over at his friend, disappointed. “She also could be a criminal. So why should I be nice, again?”
“So you really do believe what Kylie’s saying?”
“Yeah. Well, you have to admit. She’s got a nose for this business. Her intuition of late has been pretty spot-on. She hasn’t really led us wrong before.”
He had to admit, Jacob was right. And as much as he didn’t like hearing it, it was true. It was like the business had found her. Like she was meant to be in it. And things that were meant to be couldn’t be stopped. Why had he even tried?
“She’s not answering,” Jacob muttered after a minute. He banged on the door again.
“Okay. What does that mean? You going to bust down the door, or what?”
“No. It means I’m going to file for a warrant so that I can search the offices of the Southern Hills Child Welfare Society. So that we won’t be breaking any of the laws I’m supposed to be upholding and anything we find will be admissible in court. Sound good?”
Linc nodded. “Where do you think she is, this late at night?”
Jacob started to go back to his truck, and Linc followed. “Hell if I know. Bingo party? Visiting family?”
Linc got in the vehicle and sat there, a sick feeling slowly overcoming him. He’d gone with Jacob hoping to confront this person, ready for action. And now, they were just cooling their jets, with nothing to do. Not to mention, the killer who’d shot Elise was still on the loose, and he’d gone off, willy-nilly, leaving Kylie.
He’d left his wife. And babies.
What the hell had he been thinking? If that killer was still out there, he might come after her.
He lifted his phone and put in a text. U ok?
He really would’ve liked to get an answer right away. She was good at replying quickly to his texts, since she was a slave to her phone. But nothing came in. He punched in a call to her and lifted the phone to his ear.
“Can we get back to the hospital?” he asked when Jacob turned the ignition.
The phone rang, again and again. A moment later, his call went to voicemail.
“As fast as we can?” he added.
Jacob looked over at him. “Where’s the fire?”
“I’m just…my whole family’s back there. I shouldn’t have left her.”
“Gotcha, man,” he said, and pressed harder on the gas.
29
After a few minutes of quiet conversation, Elise finally nodded back off to sleep with the help of a sedative a nurse had given her only a few minutes ago. Kylie checked her phone, hoping that Linc would let her know how things were going. But he hadn’t sent her anything.
She had to wait for Linc to come back, so she spent a few minutes almost nodding off, trying to watch an episode of Friends she’s seen a thousand times.
Then she got up and paced around, but her feet hurt too much because of the heels she was wearing, and because her legs and feet had just recently begun to retain water, another delightful pregnancy side effect. She slipped off her shoes and inspected her red toes. They looked like little sausages.
She yawned, wondering if the guard outside would be interested in conversation. She needed someone, anyone to talk to. Even if that officer looked young and his only interests were NASCAR, beer, and chicks, it was better than twiddling her thumbs.
As she was preparing to peel herself up off the pleather chair and strike up a conversation with him, a nurse walked in.
“Well, good evening,” the woman said brightly, glancing at Kylie as she went to check Elise’s IV. “I didn’t think it was visiting hours.”
“Oh, it’s not. I’m just friends with the detective and the patient, so he told me I could stay here with her. She’s had a rough time.”
“Yes, yes. It’s such a shame.”
Happy to have someone to talk to, Kylie said, “She’s a really nice person. And it’s sad that she was shot in the arm. I hope she can get better soon because she’s a waitress. She needs both arms.”
“Hmm,” the woman said. “We’ll treat her like a princess here. She’ll be right as rain before you know it.”
“I hope,” Kylie said, inhaling sharply. As she did, she caught a whiff of strong perfume. At first, Kylie thought nothing of it, but then she remembered where she was. Nurses didn’t often wear perfume, as it sometimes interfered with their patients. At least, she thought that was correct.
She craned her neck to look more closely at the nurse, who was still working on the IV drip. The first thing she saw was blonde hair, pulled back in a tight bun.
And then she noticed the woman’s hands, complete with pretty, long fingernails. Pink, shiny, and definitely shaped like claws.
Kylie’s blood went cold.
She tried to be nonchalant, but her hand instinctively went to her stomach, protecting her babies. She had to protect them. As she glanced around the room, she knew it was up to her.
The guard.
Her eyes slowly flitted to the door.
There, she saw the man slumped in the chair, his chin resting on his chest. Was he asleep? Or had this woman harmed him? Killed him?
Kylie stiffened, her heart a locomotive in her chest. She’s killed the guard. She’s going to kill Elise. And then she’ll kill me. And my babies.
When she looked back, the woman dressed
as a nurse was facing her. A small black gun was in her hand. It might be small, but at this distance, it was as lethal as a nuclear bomb.
Kylie raised her hands. “What are you doing?”
The gun raised by several degrees, now pointing between Kylie’s eyes. Leda Butler laughed. “Well, I hadn’t expected to see you here. You threw a little wrench into my plans, but that’s okay. Obstacles can be overcome.”
There was a call button on the bedside table, but it was between them and a couple feet away. Could Kylie move faster than a bullet and summon help? No. A few months ago, she might have tried, but now she had her babies to think of. She needed to be smart.
Kylie splayed her hands out and said, “I’m pregnant. Please, don’t—”
“Oh, I know. I know all about you, Kylie Coulter, and not just the lies you told us when you came to visit the agency. I know that you’re pregnant with twins. I know that you haven’t had the easiest of pregnancies. I know about that husband of yours. But don’t worry. I don’t plan on killing you.”
“Y-you don’t?” Kylie stammered, disbelief in her voice.
The woman reached into her purse and pulled out a clear vial. “No. Once I get done with Elise, you and I are going to take a little walk.” She smiled, pleased with herself. “I’ve never actually kidnapped an adult before, but I don’t see it as being a problem.”
Kidnapping. At first, Kylie didn’t understand, but then her hands went down to her belly, and she gasped. She wasn’t being kidnapped out of mercy.
This horrible woman was kidnapping her for her babies. “You can’t do that. I’ll—”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take very good care of your babies. I’ll give them the best homes that money can buy.”
Kylie shook her head slowly, speechless, as a cruel smile spread over the woman’s face.
“I can’t kill you, dear. You understand that each one of your babies is worth five-hundred thousand dollars? You’re worth a million dollars to someone. Or at least, your babies are,” she said.
Kylie’s stomach roiled. Her morning sickness came back with a vengeance. She doubled over, nearly retching. Where she’d been researching Leda Butler, it was clear Leda Butler had been researching her too. More than just researching.
Had she tapped into her phone calls? Had her followed? What resources did this woman have available that allowed her to get away with these heinous acts for nearly fifty years?
But, how else would she have known that she was pregnant with twins? They hadn’t told anyone except their family and friends. “You can’t do this,” she pleaded.
“Oh, sweetheart. I’ve been reconnecting precious bundles of joy to proper families for fifty years. It’s my calling. My mission. And no one has caught me yet.”
Kylie laughed, a bark of sound that echoed through the room. “Your mission? You’re delusional to think what you’ve been doing is in any way altruistic. You’re in this for the money, you selfish and psychotic bitch.”
Leda’s mouth tightened. “Think what you will. Your opinion changes nothing.”
“You can’t kidnap me,” Kylie said, her voice tight with determination. “We’ll never make it out of this hospital. I’ll scream these walls down. I will.”
Leda lowered the gun until it was pointing right at Kylie’s stomach. “The second you do is the second you and your babies die. If I go down, it’s because of you. And I promise you, I won’t be going down alone,” she snarled, her face twisted in a way that was anything but grandmotherly. “If you move or make a sound, I will shoot you. Do you understand? The staff know me here. They know my kind heart. I’ll make them believe that you pulled a gun on me and that I was able to defend myself, take the gun away, and…” the woman’s eyes filled with tears, her face a sudden mask of pure grief, “I was forced to shoot you. I had no choice, officer. She attacked me.”
The act was so believable that, when Leda laughed, Kylie could only stand there in continued horror. That was how this woman had managed to do these horrible things for so long. Not only was she psychotic, she was quite the fine actor to boot.
It had to stop here, but how? She had her babies to think of. Linc. Oh, Linc. This would kill him too. She had to stop this somehow.
Kylie watched in horror as Leda pulled out a syringe and used it to take out the contents of a vial, then insert it into the port of Elise’s IV bag. Kylie willed the woman to wake up, but Elise continued to sleep through this entire hellish scene, looking like an angel.
When Leda was finished, she wiped her hand on her uniform and smiled at Kylie. She motioned her to the door. “Shall we?”
Kylie swallowed and took a step toward the door. As she did, she saw the guard’s body more clearly. His chest wasn’t moving.
“Come along,” she said, thrusting the gun into her back. “And if you want your babies to live, you’ll not call attention to yourself. If I don’t get out of here in one piece, neither do you and your babies.”
30
Lights flashing and siren wailing, the police truck pulled up at the front of the hospital, smoke pouring from the squealing tires. Linc jumped out of the car and barreled through the front doors, looking for Kylie. The lobby was largely empty, except for a few solitary people in chairs, noses buried in their phones. The receptionist at the front tried to stop him, but Jacob came through a moment later, telling her to let him go.
He pressed the UP button a number of times in quick succession, as if that would get the elevator to come faster. When it didn’t, he bounded for the stairs, taking them two at a time.
On the ICU floor, Linc exploded out of the stairwell, Jacob on his heels. He spotted a nurse sitting at a computer. “Is Elise Kirby okay?”
The nurse gave him a shocked look, leaping to her feet and backing away. When Jacob held up his badge, she stammered, “Y-yes. She’s sleeping. Why wouldn’t she be?”
Linc let out a momentary sigh of relief and inhaled a lungful of air as he hurried down the corridor to Elise’s room. He needed to see for himself.
“What the hell?” Jacob said from beside him.
Linc knew exactly what he was referring to. The young guard was asleep, his chin resting on his chest.
Jacob shook his shoulder. Nothing. When he shook him again, the officer fell to the floor.
As Jacob called for help and crouched to check for a pulse, Linc rushed into the hospital room. Elise was lying there, resting peacefully, but…no Kylie.
Fuck, Linc thought, tearing out of the room, just as a herd of nurses came running down the hall.
“Get this man looked at right now,” Jacob barked. “He’s been drugged.”
Linc froze. Maybe Elise wasn’t resting so peacefully after all. “Check Elise Kirby too. Now!” He glanced frantically around. “Kylie’s gone. Where do you—” He saw the door at the end of the corridor with the bright red EXIT sign and lunged for it, shoving it open with all his force and racing down the stairs.
He flew down the staircase, not thinking of anything else but Kylie and their babies. He pushed the door to the emergency exit open, and as he was taking a second to collect his bearings and figure out where he was, a bullet whizzed past his ear, burrowing in the wall behind him.
Instinctively, he dove behind some bushes, out of sight, as he heard Kylie’s high-pitched shriek. As he strained to see between the branches, Kylie’s captor fired another round.
The exit had let him out at the front of the hospital, about a hundred feet away from the main entrance. Linc could see Jacob’s truck parked out front, where he’d left it. The woman was in the parking lot. She was only seconds from getting into her car and leaving with Kylie.
He needed to do something, and quick.
“Leda Butler!” he called. “We know it’s you. We know everything. Let Kylie go and we’ll talk this through.”
There was no response. Linc slowly peered up over the edge of the bushes and gnashed his teeth.
The woman was standing in the parking lot, holding a
gun to Kylie’s temple. Kylie’s face looked as white as the moon, but she wasn’t trembling, and she didn’t look scared. Maybe she’d been through things like this enough that nothing scared her anymore. Whatever it was, she seemed strangely accepting of this. The woman, however, clearly looked upset.
Leda nudged her toward a silver Mercedes. “I’m leaving with her. Don’t try to stop me,” she called out.
“Leda Butler,” a voice rang out over a loudspeaker. It was Jacob, speaking from the bullhorn in his truck. “It’s over. Let the girl go.”
“No. I’ll kill her first.”
Jacob glanced Linc’s way and gave him the signal to sweep wide. Linc understood, but he needed a distraction. Like an answered prayer, the answer came in the form of Faith and her cousin, Sky Stryker.
From the other side of the lot, Linc could see Faith rushing from vehicle to vehicle, keeping low. Thinking through the situation, Linc frowned as Sky jumped up from behind a car and began screaming at the top of her lungs. “Gun! Gun! That woman’s got a gun!”
When Leda moved the gun away from Kylie and toward the screaming woman, Linc advanced, crouching below the line of bushes. It was chaos, meant to confuse and disorient the suspect. It seemed to be working, and Linc picked up speed.
In his periphery, he noticed Faith only a few yards away as he closed the distance—Faith Dean now, Jacob’s wife, who looked completely at home readying herself for a takedown. It shocked him all over again that the Faith he’d known in college was now his best friend’s wife and an FBI agent. Faith held up three fingers, then counted them down.
Three.
Two.
One.
Faith popped up, distracting Leda. The second the gun was pointed away from Kylie, Linc lunged, tackling the woman from behind.
Faith advanced, kicking the gun from the woman’s hand as Kylie moved forward and punched the old woman in the throat.
Any struggle left in the psychotic bitch drained away as she gulped for air. As Jacob and Faith detained the woman, Linc went to his wife, pulling her and their children into his arms.
