Shadow of Vengeance

by Kristine Mason

  She let go, slammed on the breaks and threw the SUV into PARK. Breathing hard, she pulled a butcher’s knife from inside her coat and stabbed him in the thigh. Not about to let the others fall into Melissa’s trap, he swung the baton and connected with her shoulder. She let out a furious cry, then thrust the knife up, slicing through his coat and penetrating his forearm. As he tried to hit her again, he reached for her throat, made contact and squeezed.

  An eerie smile tilted her lips as she grunted and dragged the knife. Excruciating pain radiated from his arm as she sliced. He fought to hold the baton, fought to choke her until she lost consciousness. But she twisted the knife, dug deeper into his flesh. Wave after wave of dizziness exploded in his head. His grip on the baton loosened. Terrified of losing consciousness, he dropped it, let go of her neck and went for the knife.

  She punched him in the throat. Wheezing, his eyes watering, blood soaking his coat, he clutched his neck. She ripped the knife from his arm, grabbed the baton, then swung. Hard.

  The instant the weapon slammed against the side of his head, he fell against the seat. Caught between fading into a black oblivion and consciousness, he struggled to keep his eyes open.

  “Give it up,” she said, her voice tinny and distant over the buzzing in his head. “You’ve been invited to Hell Week, and as you can tell…I won’t take no for an answer.”

  As his eyes drifted shut, the engine revved and the SUV lurched forward. Then everything went black.

  *

  Rachel parked Joy’s car outside of the Sheriff’s Department, climbed out, then sprinted toward the town square. Pushing her way through the crowd, she didn’t slow down until she spotted Jake. She rushed to his side, and gripped his arm.

  He pulled her aside to where there were fewer people. “What the hell happened?” he asked, his voice and face filled with alarm.

  “I tried calling you and Owen,” she panted. “I couldn’t get an answer.” She inhaled and tried to catch her breath. “Owen…I need to find him.”

  “He’s over there somewhere.” Jake pointed over her shoulder, then pulled out his cell phone from his coat pocket. “Sorry. Looks like I missed your call. What’s going on?”

  “I think Kaylie Gallagher might be the woman we’re looking for.”

  He looked up from his phone and frowned. “The grad student Bill liked? What makes you think—?”

  “I watched the footage from the security camera again,” she began, then told him what she’d seen, or rather what she hadn’t. “Plus she lied about that last time she was with Bill.”

  He pulled off his knit cap, then scratched his head. “Look, I’m not saying we shouldn’t question her again, but that’s a pretty big leap.”

  “Yes, but—”

  “So she lied to you, or maybe she got her days confused. Either way, that doesn’t make her an accomplice to kidnapping and murder.”

  Frustrated that his reasoning made sense, she looked away. Her already elevated heart rate took another jump. “Well, she’s right over there. Why don’t we ask her?”

  Jake raised a brow, then replaced his knit cap. “Why don’t we?”

  Kaylie stood with a couple of girls Rachel recognized from the interviews they’d conducted at Stanley Hall. As Kaylie raised a Styrofoam cup to her mouth, her eyes widened when she saw them. “Sheriff, Ms. Davis, how are you?”

  “Good,” Jake said. “Mind if we talk to you for a sec?”

  “You guys go ahead,” Kaylie said to the girls. “I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”

  As the girls walked off, Rachel searched the crowd for Owen. She didn’t find him, but she did find Walter, and waved him over.

  “What’s going on, Sheriff?” Kaylie asked.

  Refocusing, Rachel turned her attention on Kaylie. “Were you at Stanley Hall the night Josh Conway and my brother were kidnapped?”

  The steam emanating from Kaylie’s cup caught on the breeze. She nodded. “I was there, tutoring Melissa.”

  “When did you leave?” Rachel asked.

  “Around eight. I needed to get back to my apartment before eight-thirty. It was my dad’s birthday and my mom wanted me to Skype them. Everyone but me was going to be there, but at least I could help sing Happy Birthday and watch my dad blow out the candles.” Her hands shook as she raised the cup to her lips. “He’s sick and we’re not sure how many more birthdays he has left. I wanted to be there, but Professor Stronach wouldn’t give me the time off from my TA job.”

  “TA?” Jake asked.

  Kaylie sent him a tired smile. “Teaching Assistant. I work about twenty hours a week as Stronach’s TA. Between my scholarship and the TA job, next semester’s tuition is covered. I only have one more year left, but I won’t be applying to be a TA again. It’s too much work and takes away from my courses.”

  “As Stronach’s TA,” Rachel began, “shouldn’t you have been at the library for his study session? You know, the one Josh and Sean were supposed to make?”

  “I…ah…yeah.” She nodded. “But I lied to him and told him I was sick. If I couldn’t go home, I wasn’t about to miss seeing my dad blow out the candles for a study session Stronach could run on his own. Look, he can’t know that I lied or I could lose my job. That’s…that’s why I lied to you.”

  Kaylie could lose more than that if she’d helped with the kidnappings and had murdered Bill. Rachel shoved her gloved hands in her pocket and fingered the tip of a pencil. “Okay, I can see why you lied about being at Stanley Hall, but your timeline doesn’t work.”

  “How so?” Kaylie tilted her chin and narrowed her eyes. “I got there at around a quarter to four, worked with Melissa until six, then another girl until eight. If you don’t believe me, just ask her. Her name’s Emma and she was one of the girls I was with a few minutes ago.”

  “We will,” Rachel said. “Before we do that…I watched the security camera footage from last Saturday. You said you and Bill weren’t in a relationship, but you looked…friendly. Plus, another source said you invited Bill to lunch on Sunday.”

  Kaylie pressed her lips together. Her chin trembled as she nodded. “I did. Bill is…was a sweet guy. I really liked him. Wexman has a strict policy about university employees dating students. I wouldn’t get in much trouble considering I’m the student, but I didn’t want Bill losing his job over me.” She looked to the ground. “Being away from home, especially with what’s going on with my dad…Bill lost his mom and he knew what I was going through. Being with him…” She shook her head. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll introduce you to Emma and she can verify the time I left Stanley Hall.”

  “I didn’t realize how much you liked Bill,” Rachel said with sympathy. Although still suspicious, she began to wonder if she’d pegged Kaylie wrong. If Kaylie had left the hall at eight, then she couldn’t have helped kidnap Sean and Josh. “It was really thoughtful of you to send his family flowers.”

  Kaylie wrinkled her brow. “I…didn’t send flowers. I wanted to, but I just don’t have the extra money. But I am going to the funeral on Monday, whether Stronach likes it or not.”

  “Kaylie, I know you sent flowers. I personally pulled the card from the bouquet, which was an odd one, by the way. Rhododendrons must’ve been hard to get at this time of year. Expensive, too.”

  “I told you, I didn’t send any flowers and I certainly couldn’t afford to special order a bouquet even if I did. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and check with the florist or check my bank account.”

  Rachel smiled, even though disappointment settled in the pit of her stomach. “We will,” she said, although she knew in her gut they probably wouldn’t find anything. Kaylie had tried to keep her relationship with Bill secret, and for good reason. But that didn’t make her a murderer or kidnapper. Add on the fact she’d left the dorms after the boys had been taken…damn, they were back to zero suspects. “In the meantime, let’s go meet Emma.”

  With a curt nod, Kaylie led them through the crowd. When she spotted the
girls they saw her with earlier, she quickened her pace. “Emma,” she called. “Can you come here?”

  The young girl’s eyes grew round as she came over to them. “What’s up?”

  “Did I tutor you last Saturday night?” Kaylie asked, her tone strong and angry.

  “Yes.”

  “Can you please tell them what time we worked together?”

  Emma nodded. “Kaylie came to my room when she was finished tutoring Melissa. It was around six.”

  “And when did I leave?”

  “Around eight.”

  “Thanks. I’ll be with you in a sec.” After Emma went back to the other girls, Kaylie turned on them. “Happy? If not, I’ll give you my bank information. I don’t have any credit cards, but you can go ahead and waste your time checking to see if I’m lying about that, too.” Tears filled her eyes. “You know, I really liked Bill. He was the one person in this crappy little town that I could talk to. And now he’s gone.” She wiped a tear with a gloved finger. “Can I go now?”

  Although Rachel empathized with Kaylie, and no longer suspected her, she would check her bank account and whether or not she had any credit cards just to be certain. “One more minute, please.” Kaylie might not be a suspect, but she might be able to answer a few lingering questions. “Did you see Bill before you left the dorms?”

  “No, which surprised me. He knew I was going to leave at eight and always walked me to my car…even if he wasn’t supposed to leave the building during his shift.”

  “On Monday, did he tell you that my partner and I asked him to go to the lab to get blood work?”

  “I didn’t talk to him on Monday.” More tears streamed down her cheeks. “I was…hurt and mad when he didn’t answer my calls on Sunday. Now I’ll never know why he blew off our lunch.”

  Rachel knew, but wasn’t going to disclose that information at this point in the investigation.

  Kaylie pulled a tissue from her pocket, then wiped her nose. “Like I said, I’ll give you whatever information you need to get you to believe me. But…no one except Melissa knows about Bill and me. Even though he’s gone, I’d like to keep it that way. I don’t want Bill to look bad and I don’t want Stronach to know I lied.”

  “We’ll be discreet,” Jake said and touched Rachel’s arm. “Right?”

  Rachel fought to mask her frustration. “Right. Thanks for being cooperative,” she said, then turned away. She took a few steps, then stopped.

  “What?” Jake asked.

  “Hang on,” she said, then quickly caught up with Kaylie.

  “What is it now?” Kaylie asked.

  “Melissa…you tutored her until six so she could make the study session.”

  “That’s right.”

  Rachel smiled, while her stomach jumped with excitement. “Thanks,” she said, then rushed back to Jake.

  “That went well,” he said with disgust. “Poor kid is mourning the guy she liked and you drilled her as if—”

  She waved her hand. “I’ll apologize later. Right now, we need to find Melissa.”

  “Melissa?”

  “Yeah, she needs to explain why she lied about going to the study session.”

  “You’re reaching, Rachel. I know Melissa. She’s been working for me for over a year.”

  “Okay, then if she went to the study session, why didn’t I see her leaving the building before the camera was moved?”

  He puckered his brow. “Maybe she left after.”

  “The session started at seven. The camera was moved at ten after.” She shoved her hand in her pocket and accidentally pricked her finger with the tip of the pencil. “I can’t believe I missed it.”

  “Missed what? I’m not a mind reader. What in the hell are you talking about?”

  “Stronach gave us a list of the students who went to the study session. We questioned all the kids on that list. Melissa wasn’t one of them.” She pulled out her cell phone, just as Walter finally approached them. “Hey, Walt. I’m looking for Owen.”

  Walter looked from Jake to her, his eyes holding the hint of concern. “Jake, you look ticked. Everything okay?”

  “I’m not sure.” Jake dialed a number on his phone. “But I’m going to find out.”

  “Owen?” she reminded Walter.

  “Oh, yeah. I saw him about fifteen or twenty minutes ago over there.” Walter pointed to the vacant street flanking the town square. “He was talking to someone in a SUV.”

  The phone went slack in Jake’s hand. “What color?”

  “Hard to say…maybe dark blue or black.”

  “Melissa drives a dark green Chevy Blazer.” Jake ended the call. “And she’s not picking up.” He shook his head and winced. “Shit, Rachel. She’s the first person who found that photo of Josh. She’d told me the picture had been slipped under the door, but she could have easily—”

  “Who gives a shit?” Rachel dialed Owen’s number again and started moving. At this point, none of that mattered. Not now. If Melissa was the accomplice they’d been looking for, she was dangerous and…damn it. Why wasn’t he answering his cell?

  Jake grabbed her arm when she reached the street. “Where are you going?”

  “He’s not picking up.” Panic crawled from her belly to her chest, and squeezed. “I’ve got to find him and—”

  Jake’s phone rang in his hand. He quickly glanced at the screen.

  “Owen?” she asked.

  Please let him be okay.

  While he shook his head and answered, Walter touched her shoulder. “What do you need me to do, Shorty? I ran into a couple of the state policemen earlier. Want me to get them?”

  “Hang tight.” She dialed Marty’s number. “Let me call their boss. He could get to them faster.”

  As she stepped away from the two men and waited for Marty to answer, her panic morphed into absolute dread and fear. The streetlamp Jake stood near created eerie shadows across his ashen face. When Marty answered she quickly told them about Melissa and then asked him to have his men do a quick search for Owen. After telling Marty to meet them at Jake’s office in ten minutes, she pocketed the phone, just as Jake ended his call. “Who was it?” she asked.

  “A detective from Detroit.” He tapped against his smart phone. “Short version…he’s looking for the daughter of two victims. One was the girl’s adoptive father, the other, her mother. The dad’s dead, the mom should have been.” The light from his phone glowed as he gave the screen another tap. “The daughter allegedly did it and this detective thinks she might head here if she already hasn’t.”

  They didn’t need this right now. If Melissa did something to Owen…she couldn’t think about it. She had to keep her emotions intact and her focus on finding him and Melissa. “Deal with this detective’s case later.” She started toward the sidewalk leading to the Sheriff’s Department. “We need to concentrate on finding Melissa.” And Owen.

  “I think we just did,” Jake called.

  She stopped and turned, then rushed back to Jake. When he handed her his phone, her stomach dropped. “Oh my God,” she whispered and stared at the driver’s license photo of Holly Saunders. “That’s her.” She looked up at Jake and caught the guilt in his eyes. “How could you know?”

  “I’m a fucking sheriff, I should know who works for me.” He started to move. “She’s been playing me for a year. I trusted her.”

  She lengthened her steps and kept pace with him, leaving Walter behind. “Let it go for now. Why did this detective think she’d come here?”

  They reached the Sheriff’s Department, and Jake whipped open the door. “For her real father.”

  Rachel’s throat tightened with fear. “Her real…who is he?”

  “Xavier Preston.”

  Chapter 22

  Where the hell is Junior?

  He stopped pacing the living room and checked his watch. The little bitch was supposed to have been here twenty minutes ago. Of course she would choose tonight of all nights to be late.

  �
�How many times have I told her?” He punched his palm as he moved back and forth in front of the bay window. “No more deviating. No more—” He moved the curtain aside when headlights suddenly glistened off the icy patches coating the driveway.

  Finally. Now he could move on with the regularly scheduled program. He smiled at his reflection in the window. No. What he had planned for tonight wasn’t exactly part of his normal Hell Week, but it would be superbly satisfying. And busy. He had to initiate the pledge. His smile fell as he envisioned the heinous, violating act he had no desire to perform on the boy. Unfortunately, it must be done to come full circle. Afterward, the pledge would die, and so would Junior. Yes. He had a busy night ahead of him. As to which order their deaths would come?

  His pledge had asked him to kill Junior first. And he’d loved the idea, had loved the bloodlust in the boy’s voice when he’d made the request. Junior had showed utter disrespect to Hell Week the night she’d smashed his pledge’s toes. Considering what the boy would endure before being killed, he’d honor his final wish. He would…

  “Son of a bitch.” Uncontrollable rage tore through him as he quickly moved away from the bay window and whipped open the front door. “Fucking bitch,” he muttered as he rushed to the SUV.

  “Hi, Dad.” Junior said with a smile as she opened the passenger door. “Look who I brought to the party?”

  The interior light revealed one of the buffoons from Chicago. Now he had to kill three people tonight. He scrubbed a hand down his face, and masked his temper. He needed to keep her at ease and in his circle of trust. If he showed any indication that he hated her, that just looking at her disgusted him, she might grow wary and run. He had no time for that particular nonsensical stuff. Not if he wanted to keep an agenda. Not if he wanted her dead.

  “Junior,” he said as he approached the passenger side of the SUV. “What is the purpose of bringing him here tonight?”

  She opened her coat and craned her neck. “Not sure if you can see it, but he choked the crap out of me when he was trying to…” Turning away, she drew in a ragged breath. “He tried to rape me.”