by Gina Dartt
Kate shivered in delight as she remembered the passionate kisses and caresses stolen in the stairwell at the end of their last abortive romantic evening. The tingle radiated through her limbs to settle pleasantly in her lower abdomen and succeeded in easing the tension she still felt over the day’s events.
The only problem was that it was going on half past seven, and she was still waiting. It wasn’t like Nikki to be late...at least not in Kate’s admittedly limited experience with her...and she was starting to worry. Calls to her apartment received no answer, and it suddenly occurred to Kate that she didn’t know any of Nikki’s friends, or her family’s phone number. The thought shamed her, regardless of the fact that she and Nikki had only been together for little more than a week. Agitated, she paced about the apartment, growing more concerned with every passing minute, along with becoming slightly angry in case Nikki had a previously unrevealed quirk, the habit of taking off without letting anyone know where she was.
The ringing of the phone nearly jolted Kate off her feet, and she stumbled as she hurried for the kitchen. Snatching up the receiver, she pressed it anxiously to her ear. “Hello?”
“Uh, Mrs. Shannon?”
“Yes,” Kate said, unable to identify the voice. “Who is this?”
“This is Kim, Nikki’s friend. I was wondering...is Nikki there?”
Kate felt a chill that stabbed her chest like a dagger. “No.” She controlled her voice with an effort. “I was expecting her for dinner at seven, but she hasn’t arrived.”
“Oh, boy, I don’t like the sound of that. This isn’t like Nikki at all.”
Kate felt her heart pounding unpleasantly. “What made you call?”
“Nikki stopped by the ‘Plex this afternoon and borrowed my car so she could go investigate some cabin out on the Gilles property...something to do with this Madison murder. I didn’t think too much about it at first and had my partner, Lynn, come pick me up, but now I’m starting to worry. Nikki left at one-thirty, and it’s only twenty minutes out there. There’s no answer at her place, so I guess I was hoping she was with you and...well, sort of forgot about things.”
“No,” Kate said, fear rising fast and thick as Kim talked. “You’re right, this doesn’t sound good. You said she went out to where? The Gilles property?”
“Yes. Nikki seemed to think that she could find some secret cabin there or something. It’s next to Edwards House, to the west.”
“Thanks very much for calling,” Kate said. “I’ll take care of it.”
Kim didn’t argue but simply said good-bye and hung up.
Kate picked up her address book, checked the number, and then phoned Rick Johnson at home. “Rick? I need your help.”
“Kate?” Rick sounded a bit apprehensive. “What’s going on?”
Quickly, she filled him in on what Kim had told her, and he muttered a curse.
“We don’t have time for that, Rick. I want you to go out with me to the area to search for her.”
“Kate, she’s an adult, and there’s a forty-eight hour rule with missing persons—”
“I know. That’s why I called you at home. I’m not asking you as a police officer, I’m asking you as my friend. Help me find her.”
After a pause he asked, “Where are you?” in a resigned tone.
“At home. I’m going to change clothes. I’ll be ready in ten minutes.”
“It’ll take me that long to get over there,” Rick grumbled. “Damn it, Kate, if this turns out to be some kind of stunt—”
“Just get over here.”
She hung up and hurried into the bedroom to change into some warmer clothes: a sweater, some ski pants, and the thick socks Nikki had given her the previous week. She pulled on her heaviest winter boots before retrieving her jacket, making sure she also had good gloves, a scarf, and her warmest hat. Grabbing a flashlight from a drawer in the kitchen, she flicked it on to check the batteries and shoved her keys and wallet into her pocket.
By the time she exited the back door into the alley, Rick had pulled up in the police force’s SUV. As she climbed in, Kate noticed a rifle holstered beneath the dash. Despite her general distaste for guns, she was a bit relieved to see it, though she wasn’t entirely sure why.
As he pulled out onto Prince and sped down the street, Rick asked, “So Nikki thought this cabin was out on the Gilles property?”
“According to what I’ve been hearing, Mosaic Estates owns everything, including the lake behind the farm,” Kate said, staring through the windshield.
Rick shook his head. “This is all I need.”
As they quickly headed out of town, Kate barely noticed that the moon was full, its glory becoming more apparent as they drove through the less populated area of Lower Truro. Hills rose on one side of the road while the other flattened out to the marsh leading to the river. The smooth whiteness was unblemished, providing a perfect reflection to the moonlight brightening the night.
“What possessed Nikki to go out to the lake?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her since Thursday morning. We talked on the phone a few times but haven’t had a chance to get together.”
Kate noticed Rick glance at her from the corner of his eye. “You and this girl, Kate…you’re really together?”
“You have a problem with that?” At the moment Kate had little patience and less amusement for such things.
“Hell, no,” Rick said. “You know me better than that, Kate. Robbie’s gay, after all. I just didn’t know you were. You have to admit, this is something out of left field for you.”
“I wish people would stop trying to put me in a box,” she said crankily, “just so they can feel justified in whatever course of action they think that little label entitles them to.”
“Bad day, Kate?”
“Bastard.”
He laughed. “How come you only show how foul-mouthed you really can be in my presence?”
“You’re one of the few people I truly call a friend,” she said honestly. “You always have been.”
“Well, I guess now is when you find out who your friends truly are,” he said after a moment, his eyes distant, obviously thinking of his little brother who now lived in the city with a construction worker named Mark. He paused, as if making a startling discovery. “Is this why you never went out with me after your divorce from David?”
“I never went out with you because it would unnecessarily complicate a perfectly good friendship. Besides, you didn’t really want to. Your mother pushed you into it, convinced you it would make me feel better.” She smiled. “It was a mercy date.”
“That’s not true. I’ve always liked you, Kate.” He glanced at her again. “Even if you are awfully puny and out of your depth when it comes to the finer things in life.”
Kate agreed, thinking of the buxom, brash, and predominately Junoesque type of women Rick generally dated, who usually shared his passion for powerboating, dirt biking, and skydiving. “Nikki likes camping,” Kate said suddenly, the worry for her lover once more descending upon her like a shroud.
“All the Harris kids do. Has she asked you to go camping with her?”
Kate managed a weak smile. “I’ll probably have to, won’t I? At least once.”
“Well, before you do anything, let me outfit you. You won’t do yourself or her any good by getting out in the middle of the woods and bitching about how cold you are.”
“You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?” Kate shot him a stony look as she was reminded of the weekend excursion she and her husband had taken to the shore with Rick and his then girlfriend.
“Kate, that wasn’t even close to camping. We were in a national park with electrical outlets. You and Dave rented an RV, for God’s sake. It had a satellite dish on the roof!”
“You seemed to enjoy it,” she said, remembering how Rick and David had watched six hours of football on Sunday while she and Rick’s girlfriend had eyed each other warily and made stilted conversation as the
y picked up shells on the beach. The wind had been wicked as it came off the water and had chilled her so thoroughly she didn’t feel warm for a week. “Whatever happened to Jennifer?”
“Married some guy from Upper Rawdon.” Rick shrugged.
Kate wondered if she was making small talk in order to ignore the tension radiating pain through her temples and the sense of things sliding rapidly out of her control. “Rick, did Katherine Rushton kill Sam Madison? No politically correct answer, please.”
He didn’t answer right away, his jaw moving slightly. “I don’t know,” he admitted finally. “But I don’t think so. There’s not enough evidence that says she did, and what little there is seems...manufactured somehow. It takes time to build a solid case, Kate. You know that.”
“I did see her car there that night.” She paused, remembering the conversation with Nikki...it seemed so long ago now. “But it’s possible she left and someone else visited the office. It might have been an entirely different car that I heard drive away.”
“I know. On the other hand, it was Rushton’s car that tried to run down Nikki.”
Kate tensed as he passed the driveway leading to the charred ruins of Edwards House and slowed, turning onto the next driveway a half-mile down the road at what had to be the Gilles farm. He turned left, shifting as the truck crunched over ice. There were no vehicles in the yard, but Kate and Rick spotted the cleared logging road at the same time.
“Up there.” She pointed.
“I expect so.” Rick guided his SUV to the narrow lane snaking into the woods and up the hill behind the farm. The road turned and twisted, going through terrain that undulated with hills and gullies, making the driving tricky. But nothing was too formidable until a few miles into the forest, where the headlights picked up the reflective glass from two vehicles.
Kate’s tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth as she identified Rushton’s car parked behind the small blue Honda. “Oh, Rick.”
“Take it easy, Kate,” he advised, parking the truck and getting out to examine the vehicles, leaving his running.
Kate sat frozen in the SUV, terrified of what he would find, watching as he shone his light into both cars and then aimed it down the road that seemed to suddenly disappear into darkness.
When he came back to the truck, his face was serious but not grim. “I don’t think they dared take their vehicles down the hill in case they couldn’t get them back up again. They must have walked wherever they were going. I think my truck can handle it, though.”
“All right.” Kate clutched the brace on the door as Rick navigated carefully down the steep incline that had a sharp left turn at the bottom, sighing in relief when they made it without incident. He accelerated slightly once they were driving beside the lake, and then Kate spotted something through the trees that made her heart pound and fear rise thick and strong in her chest once more. She clutched Rick’s arm. “Oh, my God,” she said, in utter horror as she saw the yellow flames and smoke through the trees. “There’s a fire.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
A roaring hurt her ears, and she could barely breathe. Coughing, Nikki opened her eyes, horrified to see flames flickering through the thick smoke surrounding her. Fortunately, she had been lying on the floor where there was still some oxygen. Trying to breathe shallowly, she felt the pain in her temples pound with a rhythm that echoed the beating of her heart. As she lifted her head, she looked around blearily, starting abruptly as she met the empty eyes of Katherine Rushton. There was a neat hole in the woman’s forehead, only a trickle of blood having oozed from it to pool on the polished surface of the hardwood floor.
Suddenly nauseous, Nikki tried to rise, then discovered that her hands were bound behind her back and her feet tied together with her bootlaces. In a daze, she understood that she had been left to die, and she forced back the panic rising within her. Flinching away from falling debris that showered her with sparks, she detected the strong smell of burning hair and knew she didn’t have much time. The blow to her head and the ache in her lungs made it hard to think clearly, but, twisting on the floor, she struggled to devise a plan of escape.
A bulge at her belly reminded her of her survival pack, and she scrabbled beneath her coat. Clumsily, she yanked at the band running around her waist, pulling it around until the pack was positioned in the small of her back and she was able to put her fingertips on the zipper tab. She managed to yank it open and find the hard lump she recognized as her jackknife. Despite the cramping in her fingers, she pried it open and sawed at the sticky, heavy tape securing her wrists.
She hissed in pain as the edge of the blade sliced across flesh. Biting her lip, her breath a sob in her chest, she continued to hack at the bindings until they finally weakened enough for her to pull her arms apart. Her glasses were hanging off one ear, and she fumbled to replace them on her nose, though she still couldn’t see much through the smoke and shadows. Not wanting to waste any more time by attempting to untie her laces, she sliced them apart and began to crawl in the general direction of the door. The constant roar and loud crackles made her feel as if she had fallen into one of the seven rings of Hell, and the crazy shadows thrown by the flames and smoke made it difficult to gain her bearings. Cringing, she shied away as more flaming debris cascaded to the floor. She discovered she was muttering a prayer of deliverance, an undirected plea for escape.
She bumped into the wall and felt along it until she found the door. Sparks fell steadily, and wood snapped alarmingly above her as she desperately twisted the handle. It took a few seconds for her to realize it wasn’t budging, that someone had locked it from the outside, undoubtedly with the same padlock.
The skin on her face was scorching, and it was even more difficult to draw in oxygen. She pulled herself up unsteadily, squinting at the window nearby. Picking up a small end table, she smashed at the glass, relieved and gratified when it shattered, leaving a hole to the outside. With rapidly ebbing strength, she pulled herself through the window, yanking desperately when she felt her jacket snag on the splinters of glass around the frame.
Heat blasted at her back, and she scrabbled for the colder air that greeted her. The creaking sound of an imminent collapse hastened her efforts, and she fell weakly to the porch, rolling across it and down the stairs onto the icy path. Struggling along it, slipping and sliding, she stumbled for the trees across the road away from the inferno, falling on her face in the blessed chill of the snow as she heard the roof of the cabin crash into the interior behind her and glanced over her shoulder to see it throw sparks and burning debris for meters.
Exhausted, her head aching with a sickening pain, her lungs straining to suck air into them, Nikki was only dimly aware of the embers hissing as they dropped into the snow around her. Ash drifted lightly through the air as more collapses within the structure threw up sparks, one of which landed on her hand. She felt a burning pain and rolled over the snow bank to extinguish the spark before crawling farther beneath the shelter of the bushes, deeper into the protective white. The melting ice and snow around the cabin sizzled behind her, and the strong smell of burning wood was permeated by something even stronger, that reminded her sharply that Katherine Rushton’s body was still inside.
Shaking, she vomited, losing what little remained in her stomach, and then scrambled away when she finished, trying to put more distance between her and the destruction. Gradually becoming aware that it was dark, Nikki wondered how long she had been in the cabin. The sun had been slanting low through the windows while she was searching the place, she decided disjointedly, giving her the impression of late afternoon. She looked at her watch in the light of the fire, astonished to discover it was still working and that it was 8:10. Was it the same evening?
Abruptly, she remembered she was supposed to meet Kate at seven, appalled to be late. She could think only of how disappointed Kate would be with her. Struggling to her feet, she found the going hard through the deep snow. As she staggered toward the road, she saw lights
approaching through the trees and tried to identify them.
Baffled, she stared as an SUV with police markings slid to a halt in front of the cabin and both doors flew open. Kate leapt from the passenger’s seat and lunged for the burning building, screaming something that Nikki couldn’t quite make out through the roar of the flames. Rick scrambled from the driver’s side and managed to intercept Kate before she reached it, wrapping his big arms around her to drag her back, kicking and thrashing mightily.
Nikki wondered what had upset her lover so, before she gradually realized Kate thought she was in that cabin. Feeling absurdly flattered by the depth of Kate’s reaction, she raised her hand and called out to them but could make only a croaking sound. Bemused, she tried again, doing her best to move toward them, only to collapse into the snow. She tried to get up, unable to get any purchase on the crusty surface that gave way beneath her hands, swallowing her arms up to the shoulder every time she tried to use them for leverage. Floundering helplessly, she cried out, an inarticulate growl of anger and frustration.
Nikki barely lifted her head in time as Kate leapt on her, hugging and kissing her like a crazy woman, forcing her deeper into the snow. Startled, Nikki wrapped her lover up in her arms, holding onto her tightly.
“Oh, god, Nikki,” Kate whispered, cupping her face in her hands, her eyes wide pools of terrified darkness. “Are you all right?”
“I think so.”
“Nikki, is anyone else in there?” Rick demanded, using his considerable strength to yank both women from the deep snow and back onto the road.
Nikki stood uncertainly on the icy surface, supported by Kate’s arm firmly wrapped around her waist.
“Katherine Rushton.” Then, as Rick took a step toward the cabin, horror twisting his features, she added in a louder voice, “She’s dead. Someone shot her.”
