by Debra Webb
The panic she’d been certain wouldn’t strike suddenly did. It tightened her throat, made her skin crawl, as her heart kicked into overdrive and unneeded adrenaline rocketed through her veins.
“Walk it off,” she muttered, disgusted with her inability to control the reaction. Damn, she hated being vulnerable to her own traitorous body. And just when she thought she’d get through this without a problem.
She grabbed the phone and punched in the number for Gloria’s sister’s house. When she got no answer she tried her friend’s cell again.
Still no answer.
Still no word from Mac.
She couldn’t take it anymore.
She punched in another number and the answer came after the first ring. “Speak.”
Despite the pressure building inside her, she almost laughed at Boomer’s barked greeting. “Boomer, I need your help.”
Forty-five minutes later Elizabeth climbed into Boomer’s truck and shouted, “Go!”
He floored the accelerator and the vehicle lunged forward like a bullet. She buckled up and collapsed against the seat. She’d made it.
Duncan was watching her truck, so she’d waited until he was doing his perimeter search on the far side of the yard and slipped out. Boomer had waited for her three blocks away. Even now Duncan was probably knocking on her door, wanting to know if she was all right. But it was too late. She and Boomer were well out of sight. Mac would be angry. He didn’t want her leaving the house for any reason. But she had to know her friend was okay. She’d left Duncan a note on the coffee table. It wasn’t like she’d left him completely in the dark.
“Hurry, Boomer,” she pleaded. “I’m really worried about Gloria.”
Keeping an eye out for the cops, Boomer made Brooklyn in record time. Gloria’s sister lived in a cop neighborhood. Half the residents were on one force or the other, as her husband had been. When her husband died, Gloria had urged her to move to Manhattan with her but her sister had known she had to stay. Her neighbors were like family. She couldn’t possibly leave.
“Just let me make sure someone is there,” Elizabeth said when Boomer parked in front of the small, neat cottage. “I’ll wave so you can go on if all is well.”
“I can come in with you,” he offered, his face scrunched with worry. “I don’t like leaving you here.”
“As long as Gloria is here and safe and sound, everything’ll be fine. I’ll call Mac and let him know I’m here safely. He won’t like it, but it’s too late now. He’ll send Agent Duncan on over.” All of this could have been avoided if only Mac hadn’t told Duncan to make sure she stayed put. She could have asked the agent to bring her here.
Boomer nodded reluctantly. I’ll wait for your go-ahead.”
“Okay.” Elizabeth slung her purse on her shoulder, slid out of the truck and walked to the front stoop. She pressed the doorbell, but not sure if it worked, she followed with a couple of firm knocks. A moment later the door opened.
“Elizabeth?” Gloria frowned at her. “Are you all right?”
“Are you?” Elizabeth countered, quickly sensing the subtle differences in her friend’s voice and posture. Something wasn’t right.
Gloria started to say yes, but Elizabeth read the lie in her eyes a split second before she admitted defeat. “I can’t do this anymore.” She opened the door wider for Elizabeth to come in. “I have to tell you...”
Really worried now, Elizabeth waved at Boomer to send him on his way, then she went inside. Gloria quickly locked the door behind her.
“Where’s your sister?” Elizabeth asked. The silence in the house seemed to close in around them.
“I sent her and my niece away.”
“What do you mean, you sent them away?” Fear inched its way into Elizabeth’s heart. Things were definitely getting stranger by the second. Maybe she should have kept Boomer around a little longer. “Where are they?”
“I can’t tell you, but they’re safe from that madman.” Gloria moved about the room, peeping between the slats of the blinds at window after window. “It’s better if you don’t know. I don’t want him to find them.”
Elizabeth moved to stand beside her friend as she peered out the front window. “What is it you have to tell me?” she asked softly, not wanting to push, but Gloria had said she had to tell her something. She suddenly wondered why the police officer who was supposed to be watching Gloria wasn’t parked in front of the house. “Have the cops been by to see you?”
Gloria spun toward her. “No!” she practically shouted. “I haven’t seen anyone.”
This was too bizarre. “Gloria, tell me what’s going on.”
Her eyes glistened with emotion. “That bastard is after my niece. I had to save her. I don’t care if he kills me.”
Elizabeth had missed something here. This didn’t make sense. “I don’t understand.”
“Ned, the son of a bitch, took advantage of my niece, too,” Gloria cried.
At first Elizabeth wasn’t sure what she meant, then she understood. “Oh, my God. Not Carrie.”
Gloria nodded jerkily. “I couldn’t believe it” She swiped at the tears falling freely now. “I wasn’t really that surprised when he used us, but she’s just a kid. Barely eighteen.” Gloria shook with rage, her face turning beet-red. “She kept having all those problems after her father’s death. Ned was certain he could help.” She clenched her jaw, a muscle jerking in her cheek. “He helped all right. Carrie didn’t tell me how he took advantage of her until a couple of weeks ago.”
Elizabeth put her arms around her friend and hugged her stiff shoulders. “I’m so sorry. You’re right he was a bastard.”
Gloria went completely rigid. “That’s why I killed him.”
For a couple of seconds her words didn’t fully penetrate. When they did Elizabeth felt a jolt. “Gloria, you can’t mean that.”
She pulled out of Elizabeth’s arms and stared at her. “I did. I killed him.” Her eyes were glassy now. “I’m glad he’s dead.” She turned away.
Elizabeth tried to gather her wits. What the hell did this mean? Could Gloria be serious? “Tell me what happened.”
Gloria lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I didn’t actually mean to kill him. I went there to teach him a lesson. I screwed his damn brains out making him vulnerable, and then I pulled out my dead brother-in-law’s service revolver.” She laughed, the sound empty, so unlike her usual tinkling laughter. “He was scared shitless. I had him trussed up like a Christmas turkey in that chair, buck naked, and then I tortured him. Mentally mostly.”
She lapsed into silence for a time and Elizabeth struggled to be patient. Gloria needed her strength and her understanding. She had to allow her to get this out in her own time.
“He’d taken out that dagger you’d given him. Cleaning it or admiring it, who knows? Or maybe he intended to scare you with it when you showed up.” A laugh tore out of her again. “I was there when you came over mad as hell that he’d stood you up. I was hiding in the master bathroom, praying you didn’t find me. I couldn’t hear everything you said... just parts. But what you said made me even more certain I had to make him pay. Then you left and I tempted him into a game he couldn’t resist. He loved every minute of it as I tied him up. He even liked it when I stuffed those panties in his mouth. Then I picked up the dagger. That’s when he got worried. I taunted him with it, drew blood a couple of times just to hear him whimper.” She paused for so long Elizabeth wasn’t sure she intended to continue. “Then he laughed at me.”
Her voice had gone arctic cold.
“I didn’t mean to kill him... but I was so angry,” she said tightly. “The next thing I knew the dagger was in his chest. I don’t even remember doing it.” She pulled in a shaky breath and exhaled loudly. “I don’t remember anything after he started laughing except the look in his eyes when the blade sank into him. It made this... awful sound.”
Elizabeth fought back the images her friend’s words elicited. “Gloria, I know this is hard
, but why didn’t you call the police? You could have explained everything.”
She whipped around, pinning Elizabeth to the spot with a piercing glare. “And then what? Spend the rest of my life in prison? For killing a piece of scum like him?”
“Okay, okay.” Elizabeth held up her hands. “I understand. Hell, I would probably have done the same thing if it had been my niece.”
“You would’ve?” Gloria’s bravado wilted. “God, I can’t believe I did it.” She peered out the window again.
It was dark enough now that with only the dim slice of moon hanging in the sky there wasn’t much she could see. Just a streetlight struggling valiantly to send its glow across the small expanse of grass in the yard.
“It’s like a bad movie playing in my head,” Gloria said quietly. “I see myself doing it, but I still can’t believe I did. It’s like it really wasn’t me, just someone using my body. I took the videos he’d made of Carrie and me. I couldn’t find yours.” She looked at Elizabeth in earnest. “I swear I tried to find it but I was so upset...”
“It’s all right.” Elizabeth thought about how Gloria had urged her not to tell the police anything, not to give them any extra information. She’d been trying to protect Elizabeth, as well as herself and her niece. But everything had gone wrong.
“Now he wants her dead,” Gloria murmured. Her whole body seemed to quiver with a new, building emotion. “Well, I’ll see him in hell first,” she snarled. “Since it obviously wasn’t Brian, I may not know who he is, but I’ll be here waiting when he shows up.”
Ignoring her resistance, Elizabeth pulled her friend into an embrace once more. “And I’ll be here with you. If he comes, we’ll take him on together.”
Surrendering just a little, Gloria burrowed her face in Elizabeth’s shoulder. “We have to!” she cried. “If we don’t he’ll kill us all. I can’t let him hurt Carrie. This is all my fault.”
“No way,” Elizabeth argued. “We’re in this together and we’ll be right here waiting for him. We’ll get him.” She prayed Duncan would get here or get word to Mac quickly. Elizabeth would fight to the death for her friend, but they needed backup.
Gloria drew away, her face cluttered with worry. “I’m sorry I let the police suspect you. I should have come forward. I should have at least told you.” She blinked back a new surge of tears.
“It’s okay.” Elizabeth hugged her tightly. “It’ll be over soon.”
And it would be. Elizabeth could almost feel him coming. Whoever he was. Things had been building toward this moment since Ned’s death. The momentum had been unstoppable. She closed her eyes and prayed that God would keep an eye on them. And that Mac would swoop in and save the day.
Her courage shored up at the mere thought of him, Elizabeth looked at her friend. Why wait for Mac to get the word from Agent Duncan. She brushed away the tears glittering on her cheeks. “I think I’m going to stack the deck to our advantage.”
Gloria frowned wearily. “What do you mean?”
“I’m going to call us a hero.”
~*~
Mac was on the phone with forensics, pushing for a speedy analysis on the latest victim. He had a few last-minute details to handle and then he was going to Elizabeth. He didn’t want her in anyone else’s care tonight.
Of course her safety was of primary importance, but a major part of him wanted a repeat of last night. He wanted to make love to her over and over.
If he could just get these damned people to commit to a time.
The intercom buzzed, sending a fresh bolt of pain through his aching head.
“Agent MacBride, there’s a call from Mexico for you on line four. And that other call is still holding on three. When I asked her if she wanted to continue holding, she said it was extremely important that she speak, to you.”
She? “Who is she?” The receptionist hadn’t said a damned thing until now about the caller being a woman. His first thought was Elizabeth. But Duncan would have called if Elizabeth had needed anything.
“She wouldn’t give her name.”
Uneasiness sliding into his gut, he barked a thanks and stabbed the blinking button that represented line three. He could call forensics back. “MacBride.” Nothing. It was dead. The caller had hung up.
Mac swore and poked the final flashing light He’d been anticipating this call from Mexico all afternoon. He couldn’t risk missing it. He needed confirmation Harrison’s brother, his identical twin, was dead.
“MacBride.”
“We’ve got your body, MacBride,” Agent Hernandez who worked in Mexico as a liaison between the FBI and the CIA announced, “but I think you’re going to be a little startled.”
Why the hell not? Everything else about this case had been screwy. What was one more wacked out item on the list? “Let’s hear it, Hernandez.”
“Nigel Harrison may very well be dead, but he isn’t buried here. The corpse in the coffin at his gravesite is female, and in damn good condition, too. Incredibly well preserved.”
A woman. “Do you have any idea who she is and why she would have been buried in Harrison’s stead?”
“Sure do. I have a nice thick file on Nigel Harrison. He was a rather naughty boy when he lived down here. When the Harrison brothers were growing up, they became close friends with another foster kid. A girl. According the family who fostered the three, they were inseparable. Apparently they started planning their dastardly deeds way back then. Whenever they got caught in something underhanded, not one would admit who actually did the deed. Loyalty was the mainstay. The three stayed in contact when they went off to college. Nigel and the woman became lawyers, and Ned became a doctor. All three apparently rose well above their beginnings.”
Mac was becoming impatient. He knew some of that already. “So you don’t know where the hell Nigel Harrison is or even if he’s dead.”
“That’s right. He supposedly died in the jungle down here and his body was carried out by the cave dwellers his companion on the journey allegedly hired.”
Mac swore viciously. “I have to find this bastard,” he muttered. “Why would he have faked his death?”
“I can’t help you with where he’s at,” Hernandez admitted. “But I can speculate about why he faked his death. The corpse in the coffin belongs to a murder victim. Her throat had been slashed. She might have been well preserved, but the morticians down here aren’t so good at covering up the cause of death. I imagine Nigel Harrison faked his own demise to conceal his handiwork. From the looks of the wound, he all but decapitated her.”
Realization slammed Mac. “Do you have a positive ID on the woman?” Hell, she could be anybody, but he had a sneaking suspicion it was someone very close to the Harrison brothers.
“That I can give you. Since her practice was in California and they fingerprint everyone who applies for a driver’s license, her prints were on file.”
Mac wished he could reach into the phone line and give the man a shake. “Do you have a name?”
“Oh, yeah. She was the girl who became the Harrison brothers’ foster sister. Her name was Annabelle Ford.”
~*~
“It’s Annabelle,” Elizabeth whispered as she peered through the door’s peephole. “What do you want to do?” She’d have to try Mac again in a few minutes. She’d held on as long as she could. Maybe she should have given the receptionist her name, but she’d feared it would set off some sort of alarm, since Agent Duncan had no doubt already called in. She’d had a heck of a time convincing Gloria to agree to her calling Mac. She didn’t want anyone to know their whereabouts. Paranoia had set in but good.
“Let me see.” Gloria tiptoed to look for herself.
“I don’t know, Gloria.” Elizabeth tried to rationalize her hesitation. “I realize you trust Annabelle, but there’s something wrong about her. The longer I think about it, the stronger the feeling.”
Gloria wrung her hands as a fourth knock echoed, startling them both even though they’d known it was coming.
“I... I guess we should let her in. She’s a lawyer—she could help. She could have news.”
Elizabeth still hesitated. “How well do you really know her?”
Gloria cradled her face in her hands for a moment, then shrugged. “Not that well, but it seems like she’s tried to help us from the beginning.”
Maybe so. Pushing aside her nagging reservations, Elizabeth opened the door. “Hurry,” she urged the older woman. “We don’t want anyone to see us.”
Annabelle hurried inside, the same look of desperation on her face that Elizabeth no doubt wore.
“There’s been another murder,” Annabelle said quickly. “I’m really getting worried. I’m not sure the authorities are going to be able to stop this.”
Elizabeth hugged herself. “I’m wondering that myself.” She studied Annabelle, tried to pinpoint the rub. What was it about her that nagged at Elizabeth?
Annabelle looked from one to the other, a worried expression on her face. “Are you two all right?”
Elizabeth and Gloria exchanged a hopeless look. “Well,” Gloria began, “it’s...”
“It’s just that we’re sick about this latest victim,” Elizabeth said quickly. She suddenly didn’t want Annabelle to know the truth. “One of us is probably next.”
“That’s why I’m here. I was worried about the two of you. I couldn’t find you,” she said to Elizabeth, “and I couldn’t get either of you on the phone. This was the last place I knew to look. Thank God you’re safe.” She frowned. “But something isn’t right here,” she said slowly. “What’s going on?”
“I killed him!” Gloria blurted, a new gush of tears punctuating the admission. “It was me. I... I...” Her words faltered, replaced by a high-pitched keening sound.
“It was an accident,” Elizabeth hastened to add as she quickly enveloped her friend in her arms. “It’s okay, Gloria. We’ll explain everything to the police. There were extenuating circumstances.”
“You don’t get it,” she wailed as she drew away from Elizabeth. “I screwed up! And now he’s after my niece. She’s the last one before the two of us.”
