by Steele, Dawn
The door opened. Lance Howard strode in with Geraldine Brickford and the guard in tow. Lance held up his badge.
“Rust O’Brien, do you remember me?”
Rust hesitated. “No.”
“It doesn’t matter. You are under arrest for the murder of Theodore Mitchell.”
20
Rust had to spend an entire night in prison before bail was posted the next morning – at the sum of one million dollars. Connor and Moira were good for it, of course, and Kate waited on tenterhooks with them for Rust to be released from jail.
When Rust came out, she immediately went into his arms. He hugged her and buried his nose in her hair.
“I’m OK,” he whispered.
Was he truly? she wondered.
“Let’s go home,” Connor said. “We’ve secured a great defense lawyer who is coming in about two hours. We need to prepare your case.”
*
When they reached home, a rabble of press awaited them outside the gates. Kate suspected it had more to do with Teddy Mitchell than Rust himself. Teddy was a celebrity in the ‘eligible bachelor’ tabloid sweepstakes, and people would naturally be interested in the man who allegedly murdered him in cold blood.
At the same time, Rust was just fresh off his university scandal, and the fact he was extremely handsome and prepossessing made for good tabloid fodder. The whole case was an explosion waiting to happen.
Connor had to ease the car through the gathered throng.
“Don’t wind down your window,” he cautioned everyone. “Lock the doors.”
As the electronic gates opened, the reporters and photographers pressed closely around the car, but did not shatter the glass or impede its passage. They wouldn’t dare to. The lawsuit Rust would take out on their newspapers would far supersede any mileage they could get out of this.
They got into the house without incident. There was so much Kate wanted to talk to Rust about, but there wasn’t time. The shifter lawyer, Derek Buchanan, was already there, and he whisked Rust away into the study to talk things over.
“He will want to talk to you about that night’s events, Kate, so stick around,” Connor said.
“Of course. Anything to help Rust.” Kate was aware that she was not above suspicion either.
The lawyer meeting looked like it would take a long time. So Kate went to her bedroom – which was Rust’s old bedroom – to text Michaela, who would be in lectures now. It was then that she saw a text from a number she had never seen before.
The text said:
I HAVE INFORMATION WHICH MIGHT HELP ABSOLVE RUST O’BRIEN OF THE MURDER. MEET ME IN FINNEGAN’S, HYDE CORNER, AT 3 P.M. TODAY.
A BENEFACTOR.
Kate was stunned.
She read the text again. Was this a joke? Was this one of the press just trying to get an inside scoop ahead of everyone else?
Call the number.
She dialed the number, but it went straight to Voice Mail. This Voice Mail thing was getting to be the story of her life. It was probably a prepaid number too, bought off Verizon for this purpose alone.
It was probably a prank. Definitely a prank text from someone who managed to wrangle her number from someone, which wasn’t terribly hard to do in today’s circumstances.
But what if it wasn’t? What if it was genuinely someone who had information that could get Rust off the Murder One hook? Things weren’t looking terribly bright for Rust now and he needed all the help he could get.
There was only one thing she could do.
21
At three p.m., Kate showed up at the appointed spot. Finnegan’s was an Irish pub which also served sandwiches and potatoes and other similar entrees, and so it was open at three, though not to a bustling crowd.
She was nervous when she entered the dimly lighted pub. There were not many patrons around, and she did not know what to expect. Rust was still in his marathon session with the lawyer, going over possible defenses and possible witnesses, of which she was going to be one.
She didn’t tell him she was meeting this person, if this ‘benefactor’ would even show up in the first place. She didn’t tell Connor or Moira. Only Hector knew, and she hoped he was discreet.
Kate looked around, adjusting her eyes to the relative darkness. A bartender was cleaning beer mugs at the bar, and a couple of old geezers were talking to him and to each other. A man was nursing a shot glass of some clear liquid at a high table in a corner, but that was about it for the pub’s patrons.
Was it the man in the corner? He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts and he was oblivious to her entrance.
Kate took a seat, feeling discomfited. She had the sense that this encounter was about to turn everything on its head, and not in a way any of them anticipated.
A waitress came up. “Can I get you something?”
“Yes, please,” Kate said. It was too early to drink. “Do you have a mocktail?”
“This ain’t that kind of place, love. You want a beer or not?”
“OK, I’ll have a beer.”
The waitress went off.
Kate looked up as the front door opened again. A pretty redheaded woman entered. Her hair was so red that it had to come out of a bottle, and her curls were wound up tight in corkscrews. Her sharp eyes immediately roamed to Kate.
So this was the benefactor!
The redheaded woman made a beeline for Kate’s table.
“Hi,” she said, sticking out her hand. “I’m Rita Cunningham.”
“Hi,” Kate said cautiously.
They shook hands. Rita’s flesh was cold.
The waitress returned with Kate’s beer.
“Give me the same,” Rita said. She studied Kate. “You’re prettier than your photos.”
“You have photos of me?” Kate was very sure her photos had been kept out of the press on both occasions.
“Of course. A good journalist gathers as many facts as she can before making her case.” Rita sat down. “I can imagine what he sees in you. You’re that all-innocent, barely legal, forbidden fruit. And you’re not the typical blonde bombshell either. I must say my respect for Rust O’Brien has just upped a few notches.”
“What is this all about?”
Rita smiled. “I think we can help each other.”
She leaned back and took her iPad out of her purse.
“This contains a video which captured a scene from that night which would absolve your boyfriend of guilt.”
Kate’s eyes went round. “Are you going to play it for the police? Why haven’t you come forward? It has been days! And Rust has been arrested for a murder he did not commit!”
“I haven’t come forward yet because I’m weighing my options.” Rita favored her with a knowing look. “I have a lot to weigh with what I know now.”
Suddenly, Kate realized that Rita knew about the shifters.
She had to be very careful about this.
“Are you going to show me the video?” she said.
“I’ll show you parts of it.”
Rita pressed ‘PLAY’. Kate watched, her dread mounting, as the footage of the tiger transforming into Rust was bared.
At the end of it, Kate said, “So you know.”
“As you have known. How long have you known, Kate? Since he first fucked you?”
This woman was not a friend, Kate decided. No wonder Rita was mulling it over about going to the police. What she had was potentially very explosive and very damaging to the entire shifter community.
Kate said, “This footage will not absolve Rust of the murder. Are you going to show me something else?”
“Yes. As a teaser.”
Rita pressed ‘PLAY’ again. Kate peered closely.
It was very dark, but Rita had obviously doctored the video so that it was set to the brightest intensity. Kate could see what was going on in the scene. The video was also taken from a higher vantage, as though the cameraman was perched upon a promontory and recording the proceedings down below with a zoom
lens.
It was in another part of the woods. Teddy Mitchell was naked, in his human form, and slumped against a tree. He appeared to be in a drunken torpor. He looked up at something approaching off camera.
“Well, hello,” he said, smiling.
The captured sound was obviously magnified as well.
Teddy’s cock was limp, and he was still smiling as he stroked it.
“Come for a taste of this?” he said.
Rita pressed ‘PAUSE’. As Kate stared, stunned, Rita withdrew her iPad.
“Why did you do that?” Kate demanded.
“Like I said, it was a teaser.”
“The video reveals the murderer, doesn’t it?”
“The video has footage of the entire murder. It isn’t pretty,” Rita said.
“What do you want from us? What do you want from me?”
The waitress came back with another beer for Rita, and Kate was forced to helplessly wait until she went away. Imagine that – she and possibly Rust were now being blackmailed! There was no other way to look at this.
Once the waitress was out of earshot, Rita said, “I could give this footage to the police anonymously, but there would be nothing in it for me. They could even declare the whole thing fake.”
“I don’t think so. I think they have ways of determining what is real or fake.”
“But this thing deserves more attention than what the NYPD would give it. In fact, I think the NYPD would give it to the FBI, and the government would take over and shove it under some X-File or other to be studied and experimented upon. Of course that would happen anyway, but the public deserves to know.”
Kate was uneasy. “I don’t know about that. You have no way of predicting what would happen if the public knew.”
“Nor do you. It can go any way. These shapeshifters can be celebrated. Treated like gods. Or treated as curiosities.” Rita’s eyes narrowed. “Whatever the outcome, the world would be in for an interesting time.”
“I’ve never entertained the thought of exposing them. Not even once.”
“Of course not. You’re in love with Rust O’Brien. I am not, though I can clearly see his appeal.”
There was no way out of this.
Kate said, “So why come to me? What do you want from me?”
Either way, she knew the shifters would be exposed. Rita was right. To exonerate Rust, the shifter secret would have to come out. And Rita was going to make sure as many people in the world knew about it as possible.
God, what a quandary!
“Why come to me?” she repeated. “Why not go to Rust directly?”
“I thought about that too.” Rita paused. “It will be up to you, Kate Penney, to tell him of this meeting. Or not. It’s your call. You see, the footage I took of your Rust transforming from his tiger aspect into his human one is enough to send the world into shockwaves. The second one . . . involving Teddy Mitchell’s murder . . . is merely more evidence. I can or not – ” She paused significantly again “ – opt to use the second video.”
Kate swallowed. She felt like a fly being lured into a trap.
Rita went on, “Either way, I’m going to expose the first video. But you can do something for me.”
Here it comes.
“What?”
“I want you to persuade Rust O’Brien to be my informer in this world of tigers, wolves and bears. I assume there are bears, am I correct?” Rita’s cheeks dimpled.
Kate breathed. “Yes.”
“My job would be made a lot easier if he were to grant me exclusives on the details of this world. And I do want to know every detail. I want to know how they came about, what they feed upon, how often they transform, what happens if they mate with a human female – ”
Kate’s stomach turned.
“ – what Connor O’Brien was experimenting with when he killed all those inmates in Belluvue,” Rita finished.
Kate’s eyes went round.
Rita smiled. “Ah, you didn’t know about that. I see I still have the capacity to surprise you after all these revelations. In return for Rust’s lengthy cooperation and full disclosure, I will release the second video to the police. His world is about to be exposed, but he doesn’t have to spend the rest of his soon-to-be very famous life on a murder charge.”
A veil of dread closed around Kate’s heart. She knew Rita was right.
“I’ll have to talk this over with Rust,” she said.
“You do that,” Rita said. “Then get back to me. You have forty-eight hours, starting . . . now. And Kate . . . if you or Rust or anyone else in his world should think of eliminating me in any capacity, I have left strict instructions with my lawyers and seven different people in seven different locations to let the video footage leak, along with a letter implicating your involvement in my disappearance. So think again if anyone convinces you otherwise.”
22
As soon as she exited Finnegan’s, Kate had to go for a walk. Her mind was a whirlwind. She walked briskly down the street, ignoring everything and everyone around her. The chilly wind swept her hair back along with the dried leaves and other debris scattered on the sidewalk.
The shifter world she had come to know and love would be exposed. It was only a matter of time.
How would Rust fare in this?
She had to talk it over with him. She had no choice. The decision was his to make – and maybe not even his to make alone. This thing was too monumental, too much beyond her and anyone else.
Her skin went numb with the cold.
What were they in for now?
*
Back at the O’Brien manor, Rust had just wrapped up with the lawyer. He was just coming out of the study when Kate walked in through the front doors.
She went to his arms, and he kissed her lightly on the forehead.
“Is it my turn now?” she asked.
“No. It’s too much even for him today.” Rust managed a wan smile. “Where did you go?”
Derek Buchanan, Rust’s lawyer, nodded at her. “Ms. Penney? The trial won’t go to court for a few months. I’ll call on you when I need to. You’re free to go back to college.”
What could she tell anyone here? That she didn’t plan on going back to college? That was something she hadn’t told Rust yet. Hadn’t discussed it with him. Wasn’t that what real lovers did – discuss things?
“Thank you,” she said to Derek.
“Rust,” Connor called from the study, “we need to talk.”
By ‘talk’, he meant ‘alone’, Kate knew from the pointed stare he gave her.
There was nothing Kate could do but wait for dinner to be over so that she could be alone with Rust.
Once they were alone, she ushered him to their room.
“How do you feel?” she asked.
He groaned. “Like I’ve been blitzkrieged by an army tank.”
He had a very rough day, she knew, and probably a rougher night in prison.
“Did you sleep last night?” she said.
“No.” There were dark circles under his eyes.
“I’ll draw you a bath,” she said.
“That would be nice.”
She went into the cavernous bathroom with its sunken marble bath and turned on both the hot and cold water taps. As an afterthought, she turned on the Jacuzzi as well. Her mind was still churning with information overload. Did she want to burden this on him tonight when he had such a rough week already?
She stared at the bubbling water, swirling around in the rounded bathtub. So much to tell, and she didn’t know where to begin.
A pair of arms gently circled her upper body. She almost jumped.
“What are you thinking of?” came Rust’s low voice from behind her.
“Oh . . . nothing. Just – ” She shook her head helplessly.
“Don’t worry, Kate. It will all turn all right.” He didn’t sound as confident as he should.
But it won’t, she knew. Nothing was going to turn out all right in some way or
another.
“Do you remember more of what happened?” She turned towards him.
His face was tired, but he was as beautiful as ever. His green eyes regarded her with complex emotions that she could not decipher.
“I’m remembering more and more about what happened up to the day I decided to take the ECT,” he replied. “But nothing from the night of the murder, except what happened at the party.” He wrapped his arms around her again. His voice was hoarse. “But I remember that you were there for me, even when I pushed you away. I remember having dreams about you when I was in my fugue.”
Her throat constricted. “Do you remember what I said to you?”
He smiled softly.
He remembers, she thought.
She said, “It’s OK for us to be together now, Rust. You’ve burned it out of you.”
“I don’t know that.” His face darkened again. “I don’t know how many times I would have to go through the ECT for it to be completely burned out of me.”
“You won’t hurt me. You can’t hurt me.” She reached for his face. “You don’t have to push me away just because you’re afraid of hurting me.”
He was silent for a long time.
Then he said, “I know that now.”
She didn’t care if what she said next would push him away. They had been through too much.
She said, locking eyes with him. “I love you, Rust. That was what I told you over and over again when you were . . . asleep. I love you.”
He said, “I know. I remember that.”
He leaned over to kiss her on the lips. Her pulse leaped.
He murmured against her lips, “And maybe I love you too.”
The pain that speared her chest was so sharp that she almost cried out. He said it! Her soul soared with elation. He loves me! Please, please let this be real and not something borne out of his vulnerability.
The water in the bathtub was brimming. Their lips were still sealed over each other’s as they both undressed, swiftly discarding their clothes onto the cool marble floor. Once they were both naked, Rust carried her into the bathtub.
