Long After Midnight

by Iris Johansen

  “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He smiled. “I’m Caleb Brunwick. You’re Dr. Denby?”

  She felt foolish. No one could look less frightening. Caleb Brunwick was a heavyset man, with gray-flecked dark hair and a lined face. She nodded. “You weren’t the one on duty last night.”

  “No. I just got back from vacation. I took my grandkids to the Grand Tetons. Beautiful country, Wyoming. I’ve been thinking of retiring there.” He squatted beside her and took the tire gauge. “I’ll finish this for you.”

  “Thank you.” She stood up and wiped her hands on her jeans. “That’s very kind of you. May I see your ID?”

  “Oh, sure.” He handed her his badge. “Here’s my shield. Smart of you to check.”

  “I’ll return this to you after I call the precinct.”

  “No problem.” He moved to the next tire. “Sorry I’m late. There’s a little girl missing from the Eagle Rock subdivision about ten miles from here. Since I was going to pass it on the way here, they asked me to stop and make out the report.”

  “A little girl?”

  He nodded. “She missed the school bus.”

  My God, what a terrible world when a child could be put in danger because she missed a bus. It came too close to home. Joshua took a bus from school every day. “Why didn’t one of the teachers take her home?”

  “She didn’t ask. The subdivision where she lives is right over the hill from the school.” He glanced at her. “I know how you feel, but they’re searching for her now. She might have just gone to a friend’s house. You know how kids are.”

  Yes, she knew how kids were. Thoughtless. Trusting. Impulsive. Defenseless.

  “You taking a trip?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Tomorrow morning.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I haven’t decided.”

  “You ought to try Wyoming.” He bent his head over the tire. “Great country . . .”

  “Maybe I will.” She smiled and held up his badge. “I’ll bring this back in a minute.”

  It took more like ten minutes to check with the precinct and return his badge to him.

  Joshua was in his pajamas and looking extremely disgusted when she entered his room. “I need my tennis racquet.”

  “You’re taking enough equipment to open up a sports store.”

  “My tennis racquet goes wherever I go.”

  “I’ll make you a deal. Leave your baseball glove and you can take the tennis racquet.”

  Joshua’s eyes widened in horror. “Mom!”

  She had known he would never leave that treasured beat-up glove. “No? Then give it up, kid.”

  He studied her and then nodded. “Okay, now I’ll make a deal with you. If I need a tennis racquet, we’ll go to a store and you can buy—”

  She threw a pillow at him. “Brat.”

  He grinned. “I had to give it a try.” He hopped into bed. “Grandma says we have to get up at five.”

  “Grandma’s right . . . as usual.” She drew the covers over him and brushed her lips on his forehead before straightening. “Joshua, what would you do if you missed the school bus that brings you home?”

  “Go back in the school and call Grandma.”

  “You know we wouldn’t be mad at you. You would call us?”

  He frowned. “Sure, I told you I would. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She prayed for the sake of that little girl’s parents that she spoke the truth. “Good night, Joshua.”

  “Mom?”

  She turned back to him.

  “Will you stick around for a while?”

  “You can’t put off—” She broke off as she saw his expression. “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know—I feel—Will you stick around for a while?”

  “Why not?” She sat down on the edge of the bed. “You’ve been through a lot. It’s natural to be a little nervous.”

  “I’m not nervous.”

  “Okay, sorry.” She took his hand. “Do you mind if I say that I’m nervous?”

  “Not if it’s true.”

  “It’s true.”

  “It’s not that I’m scared. I just feel kind of . . . creepy.”

  “Do you want to talk about the funeral now?”

  His brow immediately furrowed. “I told you I wasn’t thinking about that anymore.”

  She backed off. It was clearly still too soon to approach him. It was just as well. She was probably too raw herself to maintain any degree of control. All he needed was to see her break down. “I was only asking.”

  “Just stick around for a while. Okay?”

  “As long as you want me.”

  She didn’t look like a warrior, sitting there on the boy’s bed, Ishmaru thought in disappointment. She looked soft and womanly, without spirit or worth.

  He peered through the narrow slit afforded by the venetian blinds covering the window of the boy’s room.

  Look at me. Let me see your spirit.

  She didn’t look at him. Didn’t she know he was there, or was she scorning his threat to her?

  Yes, that must be it. His power was so great tonight, he felt as if the stars themselves must feel it. Coup always brought added strength and exultation in its wake. The little girl had felt his power even before his hands had closed around her throat. The woman must be taunting him by pretending she was not aware he was watching her.

  His hands tightened on the glass cutter in his hand. He could cut through the glass and show her he could not be ignored.

  No, that was what she wanted. Even though he was quick, he would be at a disadvantage. She sought to lure him to his destruction as a clever warrior should do.

  But he could be clever too. He would wait for the moment and then strike boldly in full view of these sheep with whom she surrounded herself.

  And before she died, she would admit how great was his power.

  Joshua remained awake for almost an hour, and even after his eyes finally closed, he slept fitfully.

  It was just as well they were going away, Kate thought. Joshua wasn’t a high-strung child, but what he’d gone through was enough to unsettle anyone.

  Phyliss’s door was closed, Kate noted when she reached the hall. She should probably get to bed too. Not that she’d be able to sleep. She hadn’t lied to Joshua; she was nervous and uneasy . . . and bitterly resentful. This was her home, it was supposed to be a haven. She didn’t like to think of it as a fortress.

  But, like it or not, it was a fortress at the moment and she’d better make sure the soldiers were on the battlements. She checked the lock on the front door before she moved quickly toward the living room. She would see the black-and-white from the picture window.

  Phyliss, as usual, had drawn the drapes over the window before she went to bed. The cave instinct, Kate thought as she reached for the cord. Close out the outside world and make your own. She and Phyliss were in complete agree—

  He was standing outside the window, so close they were separated only by a quarter of an inch of glass.

  Oh God. High cheekbones, long, straight black hair drawn back in a queue, beaded necklace. It was him . . . Todd Campbell . . . Ishmaru . . .

  And he was smiling at her.

  His lips moved and he was so near she could hear the words through the glass. “You weren’t supposed to see me before I got in, Kate.” He held her gaze as he showed her the glass cutter in his hand. “But it’s all right. I’m almost finished and I like it better this way.”

  She couldn’t move. She stared at him, mesmerized.

  “You might as well let me in. You can’t stop me.”

  She jerked the drapes shut, closing him out.

  Barricading herself inside with only a fragment of glass, a scrap of material . . .

  She heard the sound of blade on glass.

  She backed away from the window, stumbled on the hassock, almost fell, righted herself.

  Oh God. Where was that policeman? The porch light was out, but
surely he could see Ishmaru.

  Maybe the policeman wasn’t there.

  And your husband never mentioned bribery in the ranks?

  The drapes were moving.

  He’d cut the window.

  “Phyliss!” She ran down the hall. “Wake up.” She threw open Joshua’s door, flew across the room, and jerked him out of bed.

  “Mom?”

  “Shh, be very quiet. Just do what I tell you, okay?”

  “What’s wrong?” Phyliss was standing in the doorway. “Is Joshua sick?”

  “I want you to leave here.” She pushed Joshua toward her. “There’s someone outside.” She hoped he was still outside. Christ, he could be in the living room by now. “I want you to take Joshua out the back door and over to the Brocklemans’.”

  Phyliss instantly took Joshua’s hand and moved toward the kitchen door. “What about you?”

  She heard a sound in the living room. “Go. I’ll be right behind you.”

  Phyliss and Joshua flew out the back door.

  “Are you waiting for me, Kate?”

  He sounded so close, too close. Phyliss and Joshua could not have reached the fence yet. No time to run. Stop him.

  She saw him, a shadow in the doorway leading to the hall.

  Where was the gun?

  In her handbag on the living room table. She couldn’t get past him. She backed toward the stove. Phyliss usually left a frying pan out to cook breakfast in the morning. . . .

  “I told you I was coming in. No one can stop me tonight. I had a sign.”

  She didn’t see a weapon but the darkness was lit only by moonlight streaming through the window.

  “Give up, Kate.”

  Her hand closed on the handle of the frying pan. “Leave me alone.” She leaped forward and struck out at his head with all her strength.

  He moved too fast but she connected with a glancing blow.

  He was falling. . . .

  She streaked past him down the hall. Get to the purse, the gun.

  She heard him behind her.

  She snatched up the handbag, lunged for the door, and threw the bolt.

  Get to the policeman in the black-and-white.

  She fumbled with the catch on her purse as she streaked down the driveway toward the black-and-white. Her hand closed on the gun and she threw the purse aside.

  “He’s not there, Kate,” Ishmaru said behind her. “It’s just the two of us.”

  No one was in the driver’s seat of the police car.

  She whirled and raised the gun.

  Too late.

  He was on her, knocking the gun from her grip, sending it flying. How had he moved so quickly?

  She was on the ground, struggling wildly.

  She couldn’t breathe. His thumbs were digging into her throat.

  “Mom!” Joshua’s agonized scream pierced the night.

  What was Joshua doing here? He was supposed to be—“Go away, Josh—” Ishmaru’s hands tightened, cut off speech. She was dying. She had to move. The gun. She had dropped it. On the ground . . .

  She reached out blindly. The metal of the gun hilt was cool and wet from the grass.

  She wasn’t going to make it. Everything was going black.

  She tried to knee him in the groin.

  “Stop fighting,” he whispered. “I’ve gone to a great deal of trouble to give you a warrior’s death.”

  Crazy bastard. The hell she’d stop fighting.

  She raised the gun and pressed the trigger.

  She could feel the impact ripple through his body as the bullet struck him.

  His grip loosened around her throat. She heaved upward, slid out from under him and struggled to her knees.

  He was lying on his back on the ground. Had she killed him? she wondered numbly.

  “He hurt you.” Joshua was beside her, tears running down his face. “I was too far away. I couldn’t stop him. I couldn’t—”

  “Shh.” She slid an arm around him. “I know.” She started coughing. “Where’s Phyliss?”

  “She’s using the Brocklemans’ phone. I ran out of the house—”

  “You shouldn’t have done that.”

  “And you should have come with us,” Joshua said fiercely. “He hurt you.”

  She could hardly deny that when she couldn’t muster more than a croak. “It’s not as bad as it—”

  “It’s bad enough.” She turned at the voice to see a lean, dark-haired man running up the driveway.

  She instinctively raised the gun and pointed it at him.

  “Easy.” He held up his hands. “Noah Smith sent me.”

  “How do I know that?” How could she believe anything? she wondered dazedly.

  “You don’t. Just keep the gun pointed at me and you’ll feel better. I’m Seth Drakin.”

  Seth. Noah had mentioned a Seth. “What are you doing here?”

  “I told you, Noah thought you might need some help. I was protecting you.” He added, “Though I seem to be a little late.” He turned Ishmaru’s body over with his foot. “This is the same man who was here last night?”

  She nodded.

  “I don’t think there’s any doubt it’s Ishmaru.”

  “Is he dead?”

  He bent down and examined the wound. “No. Nasty flesh wound in the right side. It doesn’t look like you’ve cut an artery. Extremely painful but not serious. Pity. Do you want me to finish him?”

  “What?” she asked, shocked.

  “Just a thought.” He turned to Joshua. “Go get your grandmother, son.”

  Joshua looked at Kate.

  She nodded. “Tell her to call an ambulance.”

  Joshua streaked across the lawn.

  “An ambulance for a man who just tried to kill you?” Drakin asked.

  “No, for me. I don’t want to be responsible for killing a man if I can help it.”

  “Noble,” he said. “I’m afraid I wouldn’t be as generous.” He glanced away, his gaze raking the dark houses along the block. “Nice supportive neighbors you have. Someone must have heard that shot.”

  “Most of them know how Michael died, and they’ve seen a police car here for the last two nights. Naturally they’re afraid.” She shuddered. “I would be too.”

  He studied her and then smiled. “But I don’t think you’d be hiding behind closed doors if you thought a neighbor was in trouble. I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the house and returned with a length of drapery cord. He swiftly tied Ishmaru’s hands behind him.

  “What are you doing? He’s helpless.”

  “You won’t let me kill him. I need to make sure of him. Ishmaru has the reputation of being always more than expected.” He pulled her to her feet. “Come on, we have to get out of here before the police and ambulance come.”

  “Run away?” She shook her head.

  “You just shot a man.”

  “It was self-defense. They won’t hold me.”

  “Maybe not for an extended time, but do you want to leave your son alone and unprotected while you make explanations down at the police department?”

  “He’s safe now.”

  “Really? And where’s the officer who was supposed to be protecting you?”

  She glanced at the black-and-white. “I don’t know.”

  “Probably somewhere spending Ogden’s money. Suppose the police send your officer to protect Joshua while they’re holding you?”

  “Stop it. I’m not going anywhere with you. You could be lying. I don’t even know you.” She ran her fingers through her hair. She couldn’t think. “And you’re confusing me.”

  “You don’t have to go with me. Go to Noah at the motel. Now’s not the time to make a mistake. You wouldn’t be the one to pay for it.”

  Joshua would pay. Joshua must be protected. Maybe Drakin was right. At any rate, she needed time to sort things out. She nodded jerkily. “I’ll go to the motel.”

  “Good. I’ll phone Noah and tell him you’re coming. Do you n
eed anything from the house?”

  “No.”

  “Don’t change your mind.” His gaze searched her face. “Don’t get halfway there and decide to take off. You need all the help you can get.”

  “I’ll go to the motel,” she repeated. She turned and watched Joshua and Phyliss coming across the lawn toward her. She was still clutching the gun, she realized. She picked up her purse and stuffed the weapon inside. “That’s all I’ll promise.”

  “Hurry. You’ve got to move fast.” He glanced at Ishmaru. “And don’t untie him. I have a hunch he’s playing possum. Are you sure you don’t want me to send him to the happy hunting grounds?”

  So casual. So cool. What kind of a man was he? She shivered. “I told you no.”

  “Just asking.” He hesitated. “I don’t want to leave you alone. Suppose I wait until you take off before I go.”

  “And what will you do to him after I leave? Kill him? You go first. I don’t trust you.”

  He nodded approvingly. “Good, you shouldn’t.”

  “Leave.”

  “Promise you won’t untie him.”

  “I promise,” she said through clenched teeth.

  “Then I’m on my way.” He strode down the driveway.

  She stared after him. The appearance of this stranger had been as bewildering as everything else this evening. Bewildering and terrifying. He had seemed to know just what buttons to push to get her to do what he wanted.

  “Emily . . .”

  At the whisper she went rigid and then swung around to look at the man on the ground.

  His eyes were open and he was staring directly at her. How long had he been conscious?

  “I knew it was you, Emily.”

  “My name is Kate.”

  “Yes, that too.” He smiled. “You’re . . . wonderful, Kate. You did . . . well.”

  A chill went through her. He was lying there with a wound she’d inflicted and there was genuine admiration in his voice. Noah was right, the man had to be insane. “Why did you do this?” she whispered.

  “Coup . . . I will have three when you are all dead.” He closed his eyes. “But you alone will bring me great honor, Kate. I can hardly . . . wait.”