"What about the security on the building?"
"I can disarm most security systems, and I can pick a lock if I have to. I just need to get to the server."
Nick couldn't hide his amazement. "What the hell is that?"
"It's the computer file that lists everybody's name and address who uses water in this town, and the list of new accounts. If I cross-check that list against Raoul's aliases, I bet we'd find him."
"Just like that?"
"I might have to figure out some employee's password to get in, but like I said before, I'm pretty handy with computers. I was a killer hacker once. I liked the challenge of it. Now I only do it if it's for a good cause."
Finding Billie was definitely a good cause. "Let's go," Nick said.
The two walked inside. Nick found Ferrell and Hawkins studying a map of Nick's property. "We're going to grab something to eat," he said.
"Mr. Kaharchek, we've found Arnie Bates."
Nick paused. "Yeah?"
"There's an old abandoned well on your property?"
Nick nodded. "It hasn't been used in years."
"One of the officers checked inside. Found Mr. Bates lying in the bottom. He's been dead several days."
Nick swallowed. "Hernandez?"
"We don't know for sure. Mr. Bates may have seen Hernandez skulking about the property. Since the well was boarded up we know it was no accident."
Nick's mind reeled. Had Bates come back on the property once he'd been fired? Could he have torched the stable out of spite, or had Hernandez been trying to punish him for what he saw as Nick taking Billie away from him? He no longer knew what to think. At least he didn't suspect Sheridan or her father anymore. She might wish he was dead and frying in hell, but she loved horses more than she hated him.
"So we're dealing with a cold-blooded murderer for certain," Nick said, thinking out loud. He started for the door, knowing he and Max had no other choice but to make their moves. "Keep me posted—I want to know the instant you've got something useful."
Ferrell nodded. "I have your cell phone number if I need you." He waited until they'd walked out the front door before motioning for a plainclothes detective. "Follow them."
* * * * *
Billie tried to keep her voice light as she finished wiping the kitchen counters down. She had found a bottle of pine cleaner—the label was so faded it was obvious it hadn't been used in years—so the stench of old food was not as noticeable now. "I'd complain to your superior if I were you," she said, still playing along with Raoul, although she wasn't sure he was falling for it. "You should not have to work in a place like this."
He didn't answer. He merely sat at the kitchen table watching her every move.
Billie handed him a fresh cup of coffee and winced inwardly when she found her hands trembling. She couldn't afford to screw up now that Raoul knew she suspected the implications of the traps he'd set for her. Or did he? She did not take him for a smart man, but he was clearly dangerous. How she had managed to miss seeing that side of him the past year was beyond her.
"You nervous?" Raoul asked.
Billie gave a snort. "Wouldn't you be, after all that's happened to me? I housed a madman bomber under my roof; in fact, I allowed him to sleep on my son's twin bed. My wedding cake blew up in the middle of the ceremony, and I was almost blown to bits in the limo. I arrive here, only to find we're surrounded by—", she shuddered, "—insects. Not only that, I have no idea where my children are. Hell, yeah, I'm nervous."
Billie thought she sounded convincing, but fatigue was wearing her down. She'd seen no possible way of escape, not even when she'd gone to the bathroom. Every window was rigged with some kind of device, as were both doors. Judging by all the explosions lately, Raoul knew what he was doing. She believed him when he said they'd blow up if she touched them. If, by some miracle, anyone found them, they'd die trying to get in, and she and Raoul would most likely die, as well. Which confirmed what she'd thought earlier. Raoul would take them both down, and Nick, too, if possible. He'd never let her go, even if it came to a murder and suicide between them. She tried not to think of Joel and Christie.
Yes, Raoul had fooled her and everyone in the neighborhood.
"You're the one who wanted to marry Kaharchek against my advice," he said after a moment. "I tried to warn you."
Billie sighed heavily. "I know."
"You don't know what you've put me through, Billie. How many nights I lay awake, just thinking—" He didn't finish the sentence.
Thinking what? she wondered. She could tell by the clenching and unclenching of one fist that Raoul was getting upset, and that's the last thing she wanted. She suspected, from the wild look in his eyes, that he was near his breaking point. Her affair with Nick had set him off, and the wedding had pushed him right over the edge.
"I was infatuated with Nick," Billie said, trying to keep Raoul calm. "You have no idea what it's like to catch your husband cheating on you. It was devastating to think I wasn't woman enough to keep my marriage alive. I was rejected by my own husband, the one person I thought I could trust more than anyone else." She sniffed and glanced away as though the thought were too painful to consider.
Raoul stared at the toes of his boots. "I know all about rejection. You think I haven't suffered? I was in love once. I wanted to marry a girl and raise a family with her." He paused and took a sip of his coffee. "That was back in Texas. She was the prettiest thing I'd ever laid eyes on." He raised his head, studied her face, and cocked his head to the side. "You remind me a lot of her. Same eyes and upturned nose. The two of you could have been twins. I noticed it the first time I saw you."
Billie felt her gut tighten. "What happened?"
"Caught her cheating on me. Took me a while, but I was able to forgive her the first time, once my anger passed." He shook his head. "And I'm here to tell I was one angry son of a bitch.
"Second time I caught her—" He paused and gazed ahead at nothing in particular, as if his mind were someplace else.
Billie wondered what he was seeing. His eyes still had that faraway look. "What happened the second time?"
"I figured the bitch wasn't worth marrying."
"You're probably right," Billie said, wondering where his mind had wandered. His expression was vacant, and looking into his black eyes was like looking through the windows of an empty house.
"Where is she now?"
Raoul frowned slightly, and his expression became dazed. When he spoke, his voice sounded different somehow. "I don't remember where I put her." Very slowly, he turned his head until he was looking directly into Billie's eyes.
Without thinking, she took a step back.
"I heard you and Nick together in bed that night. I heard what the two of you said to one another. Heard it all."
Billie's heart began to pound steadily; she could feel every measured beat. Her gaze locked with his. "I made a mistake," she said softly. "Nick was a mistake."
"Some mistakes are worse than others."
Billie gripped her coffee cup. She glanced away, afraid to look at him. "Nick is rich and powerful. My children could have had everything, Raoul. I wouldn't have to pinch pennies anymore."
He slammed his fist against the table. "Are you saying you prostituted yourself?"
Billie didn't know how to answer.
"There are no excuses for what you did. You knew how I felt about you."
Billie looked up, her eyes glistening with tears. She was afraid he had gone over the edge, and she no longer knew how to play him. "Y-you never said anything. Besides, you're married."
"None of that was real. Don't try to make a fool out of me. You know the girl in that picture. She was at the wedding today."
"What does any of it matter now?" Billie said. "It's all in the past. Nick and I are finished."
Billie added coffee to her cup. She turned slowly, giving him a half-smile. "Nick asked me to sign a prenuptial agreement." She gave a rueful laugh. "Do you really think I would have married
him after that? I just wanted to see the look on his face when I turned and left him standing at the altar."
Suddenly, and without warning, she threw her coffee cup in the sink, and it shattered. "But Max ruined it all by setting off the bomb."
Raoul stood and crossed the room to where she was standing. "I don't believe you."
She looked at him squarely. "I'm not asking you to."
He raised one hand and touched her cheek lightly.
Billie remained calm as he moved closer, pressing himself against her, slipping one leg between her thighs, pressing. She met his gaze unflinchingly, her lips parted. She thought of Nick, of the joy his nearness had brought her. And her children, their warm bodies smelling so sweet as she tucked them in bed each night.
"You don't know what I had to go through to plan this whole thing," Raoul said. "I would kill for you, Billie. I have killed for you."
Billie felt as though her breath had been cut off. "I'm sorry."
He raised his hand and cupped her breast. "Kiss me."
Billie wondered how far she would have to go to save her own life. To see her children play again and hear Nick's soft voice in her ear.
She lifted her lips to his.
* * * * *
Nick and Max headed for the Loudoun County Water Company, stopping briefly at a hardware store so Max could pick up the items he needed, a box to carry them in, and a couple of flashlights. The building was in town, just off Main Street, tucked between a dentist's office and City Hall. The Purcellville Police Department sat right across the street. Nick and Max exchanged looks as Nick drove to a doughnut shop a couple of blocks away and parked. Nick glanced across the street to where the Holiday Inn sat, and he wondered how Billie's family was holding up.
"I hope to hell you know what you're doing," Nick muttered. "I don't have time for one of your harebrained schemes."
Max shook his head. "You don't like me, do you, Nick?"
"I never said that."
"But I'm a pain in the ass as far as you're concerned."
"Yes, Max, you can be a royal pain in the ass at times, but I'm really not in the mood to discuss it."
"Yeah, I know. You're too busy."
Nick stopped walking. "Yes, as a matter of fact I am a little busy right now. The woman I love has been kidnapped by a madman," he said. "I don't know if she's dead or alive or—" He paused. He couldn't think along those lines or he'd lose it, go stark raving mad. Right now he had to remain in total control. "I'm a little preoccupied at the moment."
They began walking again. "You've always been too busy for me," Max said glumly.
"Perhaps we could have this conversation later."
"And I've looked up to you all my life. You've been like a father to me."
Nick shot him a funny look.
"It's true. Why do you think I asked to visit every summer?"
"Because I let you run wild, and I let you set up all that lab equipment at my place and blow up my stuff."
"And because you're the only person in the world who doesn't really believe I'm insane when I do the crazy things I do."
"There are moments, Max," he said, "but I knew the first time I held you as an infant that you were different. Special. I knew you would one day make a difference in the world. I still believe that."
Max shoved his glasses up his nose and glanced at his cousin, but didn't speak. He simply squared his shoulders and continued walking.
They stopped in front of the water department building and looked around. "The security system is not going to be a problem." Max pointed to a decal on the front door with a familiar logo on it. "My folks use them. I've worked with that company's stuff before." He glanced back toward the police department where a patrol car pulled from the parking lot and turned onto Main Street. "Let's try it from the back."
Nick followed. "How long will it take you to get what you need?"
Max shrugged. "Depends how long it takes me to figure out the employee password. When I was hacking in from my home computer, it took me almost eight hours. Of course, I had to get through the firewall, and I was only eleven years old."
"Eight hours!" Nick glared at him. "We don't have eight hours."
"I'm a lot better at this stuff now," Max said. They stopped at the back door. The place was dark, and Nick couldn't see any signs that anyone was working inside the building. Max opened his toolbox and went to work. Nick shone the flashlight on the security box while Max removed the front cover plate and reached for the wires.
Beads of sweat dotted Nick's brow as Max peered closely into the alarm box, muttering to himself as he began working on it. A couple of snips, a few mutters, a couple of tugs on the wiring, and a green light flashed on, the lock clicked open, and they were inside the door.
They hurried down a hall, checking each room where signs were posted on doors that read "H20 is Our Business." Finally, Max grinned. "Bingo."
Nick followed him into a room filled with computers and monitors. Max sat down before one and cracked his knuckles. "Okay, baby, talk to me."
Ten minutes later, and Max still had not come up with the password. He and Nick brainstormed. "This is a bugger," Max said, obviously accustomed to the frustrations associated with uncooperative computers.
Nick paced. He wondered what Billie was doing, whether she was okay. Whether she was even alive. How would he tell her children?
Stop it, he told himself. If he allowed himself to think along those lines he'd never make it. But the thought of having to give Christie and Joel bad news filled him with a sense of fear and dread that he'd never before experienced.
No matter what, he would see to the care of Billie's children. He would raise them if necessary, and he would raise them right.
Just as Billie would want it.
Nick squeezed his eyes closed, then opened them, because he couldn't bear to see the images in his mind. His only hope right now for finding Billie alive was knowing that Raoul loved her. Would he hurt the woman he loved? He tried not to think about Raoul's missing girlfriend. Raoul had obviously had no trouble killing Bates, so the odds were he'd killed before. Would he kill Billie to keep her from loving someone else?
Finally, he pulled a chair next to Max and began doodling on a message pad with the company's logo and the words "H20 is Our Business." Anything to take his mind off Billie, he told himself, but he could feel himself getting closer and closer to the snapping point. The clock ticked loudly, drawing his nerves tighter and tighter. His molars were sore from gritting his teeth, and the back of his shirt was sweat-drenched.
He colored in the logo. Patience, he told himself. If he could only hold out a little longer.
"Dammit!" Max said, wiping his eyes beneath his glasses. He blinked several times.
"H20," Nick muttered.
Max glanced at him. "What?"
"Try it."
Max frowned. "That's too easy. Nobody could be that stupid." He typed it in, and the screen lit up. They looked at one another. "How'd you know?"
"I didn't."
Max reached into his pocket and pulled out the list of Hernandez's aliases. He began typing them in, mixing and matching names. All at once, the name Raoul Santos came up on the screen. "Here he is," Max said. "That's his old address." He pointed. "This is his new one."
Nick's hands trembled as he jotted down any information he could find, including the address. Max backed out of the computer, leaving the monitor's screen just as they'd found it, and they left the building. The boy put the wires back into their original places, screwed the plate to the front of the alarm system, and they took off.
* * * * *
Deedee was on her cell phone with Billie's mother when Ferrell's phone rang. Standing just off the kitchen in the hallway leading to the garage, she stopped talking and tried to hear what he was saying.
"You think they found something?" Ferrell said. "Uh-huh. Okay, where are they headed? The doughnut shop across from the Holiday Inn? Okay, follow them and keep me p
osted. I'll get the men together."
Deedee slipped into the half-bath and relayed the information to Billie's mother. "They're headed for the doughnut shop," she whispered. "It's just across the street from where you are. I'll keep my cell phone with me and call you on yours when I know something."
* * * * *
Nick and Max arrived back at the doughnut shop in record time. "Shouldn't we notify the police?" Max said.
Nick shook his head. "I'm afraid to risk it. I'm betting Raoul isn't too fond of cops. If they scare him, he might go off the deep end and hurt Billie." If she weren't already hurt or worse. "I think we need to check things out first."
They climbed into Nick's car and started down the street. "How far is it?" Max said.
"Normally it takes a half hour to reach that area. It's out in the country. I'll make it in twenty minutes. Fasten your seat belt." He squealed from the parking lot of the doughnut shop, leaving long skid marks in the road.
They hadn't gone more than a mile before Nick frowned into his rearview mirror. "Aw, shit."
Max glanced up. "What is it?"
"There's a damn police car and tour bus several blocks behind us. I think it's Billie's family."
Max turned in his seat and watched for a moment. As they turned a corner, he caught a better look. "Yep, that's it. And that's not all. There's at least half a dozen limos following the bus."
* * * * *
Billie had cleaned the kitchen and bathroom and was trying to pick up newspapers in the living room when Raoul looked up from the sofa. "Don't you ever stop?"
"The place needed a little cleanup work. And I like to keep busy, or I get bored." Actually, she was more frightened than bored. Having been kissed by Raoul once, she'd decided the only way to avoid him was to stay busy and keep as far away from him as possible.
He gazed at her, and it was clear what he was thinking. "There's a solution to that, you know?"
Billie suppressed a shudder. Instead of showing fear, she put on a look of annoyance. "You're just like every other man I've ever met," she snapped.
Full House Page 24
