by D. B. Henson
And then he heard a noise. It seemed to come from a few flights below. He hurried down the stairs careful not to outrun the beam from his flashlight. He was almost to the ninth floor when he heard another noise. A familiar clicking sound. He shone the light into the corner of the landing.
Toni sat on the floor, a gun aimed at his head.
“Toni, don’t shoot. It’s me, Brian.”
She seemed not to hear him at first. For a second, he was afraid she would pull the trigger. But then she smiled and lowered the gun.
“The police are on the way,” he said.
She slumped in the corner, her head down. He knelt beside her. “Toni?”
She had passed out. Blood soaked her shirt. She’d been shot. He cradled her in his arms and tried to wake her. How much blood had she lost?
He was thankful he’d had the foresight to place a GPS tracking device on Mark’s car. Otherwise, he never would have known she was at the hotel site. When his friend, Sam, had called to say he’d discovered Mark’s name linked to AlquilaCorp, Brian hadn’t been the least bit surprised. Even though his initial suspicions about Toni had proved wrong, he still had never trusted the attorney.
He only wished he’d shared his uneasy feelings about Mark with Toni. Maybe then she wouldn’t have run straight to the enemy. He hoped his omission wouldn’t prove to be a fatal mistake.
He had no family left. No real connection to anyone. But in the short time he had known her, Brian had begun to feel a sort of kinship with his brother’s fiancée. They shared a common bond. They had loved and been loved by the same person.
If Toni didn’t make it, he would always blame himself.
He was good at that. He’d had years of practice.
When his sister, Caitlin, died Brian knew he was at fault. She had depended on him for help, and he had let her down. Her blood was on his hands, the same as if he himself had wielded the abortionist’s scalpel.
And then there was the death of his parents. Losing their only daughter had taken a huge toll on his father’s heart. Brian still had nightmares of his parents’ car soaring over the cliff. If he hadn’t taken Caitlin to that quack of a doctor, they would all still be alive. He had caused so much pain for his family. He had become a poison in their lives.
After his parents’ funeral, Brian decided it would be best if he left town. If he stayed, somehow he knew, he would only end up hurting his brother even more. He staged an argument. He pushed Scott away. In his then eighteen-year-old mind, putting distance between them was the only way he could ensure his brother’s safety.
Now he wished more than anything, he had stayed. He had lost so much time. Years he could never get back. Ironically, it seemed he had done his brother more harm by leaving. Scott’s death may have been partially his fault too. If he had been here, maybe he could have prevented it.
Brian scooped Toni up and carried her toward the elevator.
He prayed it wasn’t too late.
The scream of sirens grew closer.
Nico recognized the wail of an ambulance and two, maybe three, police cars. There must have been a wreck on the nearby interstate. At this hour, the majority of streets running throughout Blanton Hills were deserted.
He glanced at the dashboard clock as he turned onto the gravel road leading to the hotel. Everything was going as planned. Right on schedule.
Jill was waiting for him just up ahead. Earlier, he had bound Toni’s hands and feet and stuffed her into the trunk of his sister’s car. He hoped the real estate agent was still out. If she woke up, she’d try to get free. He didn’t want any bruises detectable on her wrists. Of course, as dumb as the cops on the Blanton Hills PD were, they probably wouldn’t notice.
If she was conscious, he’d knock her over the head again. Then untie her and help Jill change her clothes. It wouldn’t take long to carry Toni up to the penthouse and throw her over the balcony. Then he could call Gloria.
The two taxi companies in town closed up shop at one AM. To try to make sure all their cars were back in the garage by then, they refused to take any calls after twelve-thirty. It was now three minutes past midnight. He had plenty of time.
The squeal of emergency sirens continued to grow louder. Too loud. Like they were right on top of him.
And then he knew.
Something had gone terribly wrong.
Nico checked his rearview mirror. Blue lights streaked down the highway toward the hotel. He started to make a u-turn, but it was too late. A police cruiser was already turning onto the access road.
He took out his cell phone.
Gloria answered on the first ring. Nico had only one word to say.
“Run.”
CHAPTER 43
She felt a presence. Someone standing over her.
Toni opened her eyes. Detective Lewis was beside her hospital bed. She wondered how long he’d been there. Waiting for her to wake up. She managed a smile. “So, you still think I’m crazy?”
The cop shrugged his shoulders and chuckled. “Okay, I admit it. I was wrong.” He turned serious. “And I’m sorry. I really regret that I didn’t believe you.”
Toni thought about everything that had happened that week. She thought about Dana Dawson and her family. If Detective Lewis had listened, if he had investigated Scott’s death further, would the real estate agent still be alive? There was no way to know for sure. But Toni could tell, the detective was wondering the same thing. She could see the pain of guilt in his eyes.
There was really nothing she could say to soothe him. “Have you already arrested Jill and Mark?”
“Not yet. All three of you were in surgery when I got here last night. And the Feds are involved now. They’ll be doing the honors. As of this morning, my part in the investigation is pretty much over.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I wanted to thank you.”
“Thank me?”
His smile was back. “For not listening to me.”
“My father always said I was hard-headed.”
“Sometimes that’s not such a bad thing. Especially in this case. I don’t know if you realize it or not, but thanks to your stubbornness, the lid’s been blown off what looks to be the largest known money laundering operation in the south. Maybe even the whole country.”
“Scott’s the one who figured it all out. I was just trying to find the person who killed him. That’s all that mattered to me.”
“Well, you’ve got a hell of a lot of determination. Most people would have given up once they realized it might cost them their life.”
“I couldn’t give up. Scott was murdered. No one else could see it. I was the only person left to prove it.”
The detective shuffled his feet. “That’s my fault. After you came to see me, I should have taken another look at the evidence. Asked more questions. But I didn’t. When you’ve been in law enforcement as long as I have, you start to compare each new case to one you’ve had before. You pick out the similarities. You start to focus on them. You develop this need to categorize them into neat little piles. And ninety-nine percent of the time, you’re right. The cases end the same. What looks like a duck is usually just a duck. After a while, it becomes routine. But every once a decade or so, a case comes along that’s not what it seems. Everything points to the wrong conclusion. Like this case. I thought you were too close to the situation to see it clearly. The truth is, I was too detached. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“What about Nico and Gloria?”
“They’re both in jail. We caught Nico trying to run away from the construction site last night. And the Feds picked up Gloria at the airport early this morning. She was about to board a flight to Belize.”
There was a tap on Toni’s hospital room door. She looked up and saw Brian carrying a vase filled with peach-colored roses.
“Am I interrupting?” Brian asked.
“No, not at all,” Detective Lewis said. He shook Brian’s free hand. “I need to get going. I�
��ve got a week of paperwork waiting on my desk.” He turned back to Toni. “You take care of yourself, and from now on, leave the criminals to me.”
“I’d be happy to,” she said.
Brian found a spot for the flowers and then gave her a quick hug. “How’s your shoulder?” he asked.
“A little achy. The painkillers must be wearing off.”
“Do you need me to call a nurse?”
“No, that’s okay. It seems like they’re in here every five minutes. They keep checking my IV, my blood pressure, my temperature, and anything else they can think of.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Brian pulled a chair closer to her bed.
A memory flooded her mind. For the first time, she recalled waking up in the ambulance the night before. She remembered Brian beside her. Felt him holding her hand.
“You were at the hotel last night,” Toni said. “You found me.”
“That’s right.”
“You saved my life.”
“That’s not how I remember it. I seem to recall you almost shot me.”
“I did?”
“Yeah, you did. You were just waiting for someone to come down those stairs so you could blow them away.”
“Nico. I was waiting for Nico. I really think I would have killed him, even if he’d shot me first. I don’t think I would have given up until I knew he was dead.”
Brian didn’t say anything. He just looked down at the floor. She wondered if he was thinking about Scott.
“How did you find me?” she asked.
“I was tracking Mark. I figured you were together.”
“He killed Scott.”
“I know. You told me on the way to the hospital.”
“I don’t remember.”
“It’s because of all the sedatives. Once you came to in the ambulance, we couldn’t get you to shut up. You kept talking about a computer disk you had made and files locked in a safe.”
“They’re on a flash drive. You have to go to my house and get it. The complete spreadsheets are all there. It explains everything.” She tried to push herself up.
“Lay back down. The police don’t need those files.”
“Yes, they will.”
“No they don’t. Didn’t Detective Lewis tell you? Mark had records of every transaction they had ever made in the trunk of his car. Detailed accountings of all the money they had collected and paid out. They were disguising dirty money as rental income. They deposited it into Chadwick & Shore’s Property Management account. Once the funds were all nice and clean, they were transferred to accounts belonging to the dummy corporations. The majority of the money went right back to the owners of the corporations in Mexico. But they paid Mark and Jill millions of dollars for their services. Mark had set up numbered bank accounts in the Caymans for the two of them to hide their fortunes. It was all there. The names of all the people involved, the account numbers – everything. He planned to take the information with him when he ran.”
“He said last night he was going to leave the country.”
“And it would have been easy for him to do. They also found passports and credit cards for him under five other names.”
“Unbelievable. Now instead of living the good life on a tropical island somewhere, he’ll be spending the rest of his years in prison.”
A strange look crossed Brian’s face.
“What?” she asked.
“I thought you knew.”
“Knew what?”
“Mark died last night. During surgery.”
Toni’s stomach tightened. Even though she had realized Mark was seriously injured, somehow she had thought he’d be okay. That she’d see him again.
She reminded herself, he had murdered Scott. Mark deserved to die, didn’t he?
So why did she feel like crying?
She hated Mark for what he had done. But part of her heart still loved the person she had believed him to be. The man who had stood beside her. Had been her friend. If only that man had been real.
Toni rubbed her eyes. “The bullet that hit him,” she said. “It was meant for me. Jill was aiming at me, and Mark jumped in between us.”
“I wondered why she would shoot her partner.”
“He tried to talk her into leaving the country and letting me go. I guess she has fake passports too.”
“Probably. And I’d bet she has other bank accounts the Feds won’t ever find.”
Toni bit her lip. “Is she still …”
“Alive? Yes, and she’ll be fine. As long as she stays away from me.”
“I hope she never gets out of prison. Then it won’t matter how much money she has hidden away.”
A man wearing scrubs and a white coat came into the room. He had Toni’s chart in his hand. “Good morning,” he said. “I’m Doctor Brandon. I performed your surgery last night.”
“Hello,” Toni said.
“How are we feeling today?” he asked.
Toni wondered why doctors always used the term we. It wasn’t like he was lying in the bed with her sharing her pain. She wanted to say – I don’t know how you feel, but I feel like hell. Instead she said, “I’m doing okay.”
“Any pain?”
“A little.”
“We don’t want to give you anything too strong. Let the nurse know if it becomes too uncomfortable for you to rest.”
“Okay.”
“Your vitals are all good. And the surgery went very well. We were able to remove the bullet with no problems. You’re lucky. You’ll regain full use of your shoulder.”
“Does that mean I can go home soon?”
“I’d like to keep you at least another day. But you should heal nicely. And don’t worry about the baby. All the tests indicate everything is normal.”
“What are you talking about? What ba– Oh my!”
Tears streamed down Toni’s face.
This time, tears of joy.
CHAPTER 44
Toni placed her foot on the steel rung and pushed the For-Sale sign down into the lawn.
It was the first step.
One of many that were yet to come.
She brushed the hair from her face and stared up at the house. She remembered the first time she’d seen the five-acre lot. She and Scott had walked the perimeter, holding hands, talking about their dreams for the future. The day they finally moved into the home he had so lovingly designed, she felt they were well on their way to making all those dreams come true.
With Scott gone, her dreams had changed. Her future would be different from the one they had planned.
But now, as on that very first day here, her heart was again filled with hope.
Only three short weeks ago, her spirit had been broken. Desperate to find a way to hold onto the love she’d found with Scott, she had decided to stay in the huge family house he had built for her. Alone. Pretending he was still there. Just off somewhere in another one of the many empty rooms. It was only in the past few days that she’d come to understand, a love that strong would follow her wherever she went. She didn’t need to pretend.
Toni slid her hand across her stomach and smiled. Amazed by the tiny life growing within. The words Scott had spoken in the nightmare came back to her.
“I will always be with you.”
She realized now those words were true. Not just in spirit, but in flesh as well. A part of Scott would be with her. Would live on in their child.
Together, she and Scott had built something far more precious than a structure made of mere brick and wood. They had created a miracle. Another living soul. One she would protect and nurture and cherish all the rest of her days.
Even though she now had hope for the years ahead, the pain of her loss was still fresh. Like a jagged cut. She’d been told, acceptance would eventually come. But Toni knew the hurt would never completely go away. Still, for the sake of her child, she would be strong. She would go on.
One step at a time.
/> The blue Mustang convertible pulled into the drive. Brian got out and walked across the lawn toward her.
“I’m on my way to the airport,” he said. “I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.”
“Goodbye? I thought you were staying a few more days.”
“I was. But this morning I got a lead on a story. One I can’t pass up.”
Toni hated to see him go. He had come to feel like her own brother. They walked back to his car. “Can you at least stay for lunch?” she asked. “I actually have healthy food in the house.”
Brian laughed. “I wish I could, but the plane would take off without me.”
Toni sighed. “I’m going to miss you.”
He pulled her close and held her. In that moment she knew, Brian counted her as family.
“Oh, wait,” she said. “I have something for you.”
Toni ran into the house and then returned a few minutes later with the leather-bound album. “Scott would want you to have this. He put it together himself. I found it when I was going through his stuff.”
Brian placed the scrapbook on the trunk of the car and opened the cover. One by one, he flipped through the pages. By the time he reached the end, there were tears in his eyes. “I never imagined …”
“That he kept up with you all that time?”
Brian nodded. “He followed my career. From the very beginning.”
“He was proud of you.”
“I should have come back here earlier. Years ago. Things might be different now.”
“We can’t go back. And even if we could, there’s no guarantee things wouldn’t turn out exactly the same in the end.”
“I still wish I’d come home. But there were so many ghosts here. I haven’t told you this, but I even flew into Nashville a whole week before the rehearsal dinner. I visited my parents’ grave, and Caitlin’s. I walked through the neighborhood where we used to live. It all came back to me. All the pain. I still wasn’t sure I was ready to face Scott. I thought about backing out right up until the moment I saw him at the restaurant. Now I’m so glad I got to talk to him. Was able to be with him again. Even if it was only for an evening.”
