The door flew open and hit the wall, Grey filling the doorway. His eyes grazed past me and landed on Cathy, who pointed her gun at him. He stepped inside and closed the door. “I’m the one you want. I assume you’re here to avenge your best friend’s death.”
“Avenge Mindy’s death,” she mused, as though it was the first time she’d thought about it. “Sounds good. No one would hold me responsible, since you’re a killer who got away with murder.” She laughed and waved him to a seat.
“Let her go.” He nodded toward me, giving me a wink she couldn’t see. “You might get away with killing me, but not her. The death of an innocent bystander would weaken any self-defense claim.”
The door opened again, and Rally blew inside and looked around, a big grin on his face, surveying the room and waving a gun around. “Happy to see I didn’t miss anything.” He strode in and shut the door, crossed the room, and leaned against the corner of the desk, looking smug. “You going to kill them here?” he asked Cathy.
“Might as well. It would be too much work getting them downstairs, since I doubt they’d go willingly. They’ll be found that much sooner, but it can’t be helped.”
“If this is retribution for Mindy Graham’s death—” Grey eyed the two. “—I didn’t kill her and don’t know who did. You don’t have to believe me, but you have to know that there wasn’t any evidence against me. Hell, I barely knew Mindy; why would I kill her?”
“I thought finding Mindy’s body on your property was all the evidence the cops would need,” Cathy said. “If I had it to do over, I’d have followed through on my idea to plant a personal item of yours on her body or nearby. If I’d thought of it at the time, I’d have climbed one of your trees and gone in through a second-story window; no one ever locks them. I can climb better than any squirrel,” she boasted.
“You killed her?” My mouth dropped open. “Didn’t you grow up together?”
“It’s her own fault. She was going to tell everyone… I had to stop her. My life would’ve been ruined. Not to mention that my fun would’ve been over,” Cathy lamented.
“What have you got planned?” Rally asked.
“I’d just shoot them and be done with it, but there are other people in the building,” Cathy told him. “I don’t know how many, but you know that when they hear shots, they’ll call the cops. I’m thinking shoot them anyway and be prepared to bolt out of here.”
Since all eyes were on Grey, I tugged and maneuvered my wrist, bunched up my fingers, and was finally free.
“You’re so bloodthirsty.” Rally laughed.
“Please… like anyone’s going to miss him.” Cathy turned her stare on Grey. “The public will think the ‘He’s alive,’ article was a hoax. Besides, it garnered little interest anyway. Wonder what the gossip outfit paid for the tip?”
“Since it appears you two have made up your minds about killing us, at least tell us why,” Grey said.
“Should I share?” Cathy asked Rally.
“Instead of a last meal, consider it a last conversation.” He laughed.
You’re hilarious.
Cathy unleashed a dramatic sigh. If she’d wanted all eyes on her, it worked. “Everyone always thought Mindy was a troubled person. Let’s face it—anyone who knew her knew she didn’t have the smarts to set you up for her murder.”
“That’s a bit harsh,” said Rally, the lifelong friend.
“You have to agree that it was hard listening to her constant moaning about how misunderstood she was.”
Rally turned his gun on Grey. “Don’t think about moving. And don’t bother denying that’s what you were thinking; it’s written all over your face.”
Grey held his hands up and took a step back.
Cathy cleared her throat, clearly not happy that the attention had drifted away from her. “It was me,” she said, ta-da in her tone. “Since I didn’t have a rich daddy to cover my tracks, I had to use what I had, and that was dumb-ass Mindy.”
“You killed her!” I still hadn’t gotten past that part. If she hadn’t been pointing a gun at me, I’d have slapped the eyeroll off her face.
“Of course, I killed her. It was fun and… I was the one to orchestrate every bit of trouble we got into and still managed to be an innocent party… well, maybe not every time. But I’d convinced her to stay quiet or it would be the end of our friendship.” Cathy sounded disappointed. “But all good things must come to an end.”
“Why leave her body on my property?” Grey grouched.
“It took Mindy two minutes to fall in love with you.” Cathy shook her head; clearly, she didn’t get it. “She was devastated when she figured out it was only going to be ‘one perfect date.’ She moaned on and on until I thought I’d barf. I thought she’d never give it up. As her bestie, I had to encourage her blather, no matter how irritating.”
“So Mindy finally wised up that you were behind all her problems. Then what?” Grey prompted.
“She never understood why she got blamed for things she hadn’t done. That’s because when I decided to venture off on my own, like the time I robbed the neighbor’s house, I always left evidence that she was the culprit. It was kind of fun to watch, wondering what her reaction would be as she finally put the pieces together. Her final mistake was getting in my face and threatening to tell anyone who would listen about all the havoc I created in her life. Boo-hoo.”
Not a bit of remorse. I struggled not to show my contempt.
“I had to beg her for another damn day after promising to confess to her family and mine. Couldn’t believe that she thought I’d do that. Then I had to figure a way to grab her attention and get her to cooperate, so I told her I had a surprise, which she didn’t believe, but I had her hooked once I told her I’d figured out a way for her to get together with you.” Cathy turned a calculating smile on Grey. “I lied about meeting a good friend of yours, who I said was going to fix the two of you up for a second chance. It sounded lame, but it was the best I could do last-minute.”
Rally picked his nails.
“Having checked out the area around your house, I knew there was an access road to the pond that backed up to your property. Luckily for me, it was a vacation home, and I could come and go as I pleased. I lured Mindy along, telling her that I’d planned a picnic for the two of you. I even brought props—a basket and blanket. I talked her into setting up everything next to the water, knowing she couldn’t swim, and pushed her in. Poor thing freaked out and fought it and went under fast.”
I grimaced.
“I couldn’t believe my luck when she washed up on your side.” Cathy tittered.
“The sound effects are annoying.” Rally hit the side of his head and laughed.
Grey’s jaw was locked so hard, his teeth must hurt.
“If you think about it, it was a just end, considering everything I had to listen to, and I shouldn’t be punished further.”
Cathy’s narcissistic rambling was coming to an end, and Grey and I needed to get the upper hand against two people with guns who were just itching to pull the trigger. I wasn’t sure if Grey was carrying, but drawing his gun wouldn’t go unnoticed. We needed a diversion.
“Help me understand,” Grey said in a placating tone. “The case has been pushed to the bottom of the stack, and to my knowledge, no one ever looked at you as a suspect, so what’s this all about?”
“Because it’s fun.” Duh in Cathy’s tone. “And personal. It’s your own fault. After all I heard, I decided I wanted a relationship with you, which would’ve been impossible with Mindy alive.”
“I don’t remember ever meeting you.” Grey appeared to be searching his memory.
“That’s because you wouldn’t give me the time of day. Better than me, were you?” Cathy asked in a snotty tone. “I tried a couple of different looks… but you were sucked into yourself and abrasive to my attempts. Mindy had terrible taste in men; should’ve known you’d be a jerk.”
“When?” Grey barked.
&nbs
p; “Once you were a person of interest, I started following you around. If you hadn’t been such a jerk…” Her eyes skirted to me for a half-second. “I clearly wasn’t your type. Who’d guess it’d be dowdy and not very bright?”
Grey scrutinized her as though she were a specimen under a microscope.
“I wanted to wipe the smirk off your face permanently. Rally talked me down, saying that it was better if I didn’t do it myself, pointing out that I lacked cred. He knew someone who knew someone. When I heard a million dollars, I figured back to square one.” Cathy shot a sideways glance at Rally, who remained unemotional. “See how that turned out?” She pointed the muzzle of the gun at Grey’s chest.
“Where’s your connection now?” Grey asked.
“The man who supplied the number is in prison.” Rally snorted.
“You used the information anyway?” Grey asked, his tone letting Rally know he stupid he was.
Rally glared.
No way Cathy shelled out the money. I’d done a background check on her, and neither she nor her family had the zeros in their bank account.
“You didn’t get your money’s worth, did you?” Grey half-laughed, not one bit amused.
Rally had the money. Millions in his trust fund. His family had even more should he run out. But why would he get involved? He was stupid, but was he that stupid? Cathy’s accomplice, maybe? “You’re part of all this craziness?” I asked him. I wanted to say, Millions at your disposal was too boring, so you decided to blow it on felonies? but refrained.
“It was supposed to be a short-term loan. That didn’t go as planned.” Cathy sent Rally an apologetic look. “He’s always been there to help me hone one of my plans and keep me on track so I don’t go off half-cocked. Always stressing patience.”
“We were meant for each other.” Rally smiled at Cathy. “Once the playing field was cleared, there was nothing to stand in the way of us being together.” Rally turned to me. “You appeared on the scene out of nowhere. I saw through your writer con, knowing it was all bull—you’re not smart enough to put together a sentence. A background check turned up nothing. It was tedious tracking you down, tailing you; you’re a bore.”
“Now you can get your truck out of storage.” Cathy beamed at him.
“You ran me off the road?” Grey turned on Rally. “What the hell for?”
“Because I could,” he said with a sneer. “What could you do about it? Nothing.”
“I guess you’re disappointed we lived?” I asked.
“Maybe at first.” Cathy grinned. “Then Rally met you and wanted a hookup, and when you ignored his come-ons and made it clear no way, boy did he jump grumpy.” She turned to him. “But I soothed your hurt feelings, didn’t I, honey bunny?”
A barfing noise seemed appropriate, but I contained myself. Just barely.
Rally smiled at Cathy in a calculating way. It would creep me out. Not her. She graced him with a moony smile.
“You thought I was stupid,” Rally said to me. “Big mistake. I knew your meeting with Detective Donnelly was a setup to see if I’d follow you. Joke was on you; Cathy was already in place, snapping pictures. It didn’t take long after that to figure out that I’d been hosed out of a lot of money.”
I let out a thankful sigh. At least he didn’t seem to know that he’d been dealing with me all along and instead still thought he’d spoken with my father, whose identity he didn’t seem to know. It didn’t answer the question of why he thought my dad was a hitman. Or knew how to hire one.
“If you’re the perpetrator of all things wrong in Mindy’s life, why would she have kept a journal detailing her crimes?” Grey asked.
“We came up with the idea, along with the plan to pitch it to an agent that I met at one of the Charles’s barbeques; the man bragged he was always looking for material.” Cathy smiled at Grey, who clenched his jaw again. “I wrote several parts of it, doing my best to imitate her style. Always wondered if it would pass a handwriting analysis, but as far as I know, no one ever had it done.”
“This has all been a game to you?” I asked, horrified. “And all because Grey wouldn’t give you the time of day?”
Cathy shot me a hate glare.
Rally held up his hands. “I had nothing to do with any of this; my hands are clean. I’ve been an innocent bystander, doing my best to make sure that Cathy doesn’t get too worked up over her next wild idea.”
Delusional. Paying for the hit made him guilty of attempted murder. Then there was the hit-and-run. Neither Grey nor I commented on that.
Rally’s quickness to claim non-involvement left open the question of what else had Cathy done?
“How about a little negotiation?” Grey threw out. “There has to be something you want more than the two of us dead. I’m an ex-cop, as you both know, and can help you cover up any previous felonious activities so you’re never found out and neither of you risk going to prison.”
“If only I’d been able to stop the money transfer.” Rally shot a glare at Cathy, who tittered, then turned to Grey. “You’re not stupid… Or maybe you are if you think I’ll believe your offer is genuine.” He motioned to Cathy. “Let’s get out of here. Totally tired of this dump and these people.”
Cathy waved her gun around. “Either of you have a coin? We can flip to see which of you dies first.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
I’d never stared down death before and was unsure of the protocol but knew that I wasn’t going down without a fight. I also knew Grey felt the same way and would fight for us both. I wished I had a minute to formulate a plan with him.
Rally, who hadn’t killed anyone, wasn’t going to start today, judging from his casual stance. But Cathy had apparently done a mental coin toss and now locked her sights on Grey, a maniacal grin on her face.
I could taste my fear and feel the adrenaline rush and struggled to keep myself under control. I’d already nixed begging for my life, knowing that tactic would only end up entertaining them. I mentally assigned Grey to Cathy and myself to Rally, since he was the closer of the two. If I wasn’t getting out alive, then neither was he, no matter what I had to do.
On three, I told myself. One… I leapt at Rally at the same moment Grey hurled himself at Cathy. I wrapped myself around his lower legs, and he hit the ground with a satisfying groan. I leapt to my feet, evaded his attempt to grab my skirt, and planted my foot on his throat.
A gunshot went off.
The door burst open. From the sound of it, it had almost been kicked off the hinges.
Another gunshot.
Cathy’s scream reverberated around the room.
Rally had wrapped his hand around one of my ankles but let it drop away without a struggle.
I looked up into my dad’s grinning face. He was pressing the muzzle of his gun to the middle of Rally’s forehead, Seven behind him.
Cathy screamed again, this time in frustration. The woman attempted to reach for her gun, but Grey—who’d knocked the gun out of her hand, causing it to discharge—kicked it out of her reach.
“Don’t think so,” he barked.
“There’s a pair of handcuffs on that chair.” I pointed.
Seven unlocked the cuffs and tossed them to Grey, who handcuffed her and left her sitting on the floor.
Dad leaned down, fisted Rally’s shirt, and lifted him to his feet in one swift move. He spun him around and shoved his face into the wall, then took off his belt and used it to secure his hands. Then he pushed him to his knees.
“You’re all going to die,” Cathy screeched, then unleashed a litany of every filthy word she could come up with.
“Shut up,” Rally roared. “Not another word until my lawyer shows up.”
I launched myself at my dad, who caught me, wrapping his arms around me. “You’re in so much trouble, mister,” I whispered. “I love you, missed you, and where the hell have you been?”
“You listen to me, missy…” He leaned down and laid a big smacking kiss on my cheek.
“Love you back. Your old man is retiring, so I’m going to be underfoot more. Plenty of time to share stories later.” He looked to Seven. “When are your friends getting here?”
The door ricocheted off the wall again. To its credit, it wasn’t showing signs of the beating it’d taken this morning. Miami’s finest filled the doorway, guns drawn. Seven nodded at one, then approached the officers and did all the talking.
Grey came over and enveloped me in a hard hug, then laid a big kiss on me. “Don’t you go anywhere without me,” he ordered. I grinned at him and made a quick introduction to my dad, Edgar Finn.
My dad, whose eyebrows were up in his hairline, backed me into a corner, keeping his arm around me. “Who was that manhandling my daughter?”
“It’s a long story.” I gave him a goofy smile.
“Whoever that is has to get my okay or he can hit the road,” Dad grouched as he scanned the room. “What the hell happened to my office?”
“It’s clean, for one thing,” I grouched back.
“I’ve missed you.” Dad wrapped his arms around me in a long, tight hug.
“Same here.”
We turned to face the room as more cops arrived. We’d missed Rally being put in cuffs. Both he and Cathy were being read their rights.
“I’m Rally Charles III, and I demand to call my lawyer.” If that was meant to impress the cops, big fail.
They were led out, Cathy screeching her head off.
Grey and Seven were surrounded by several cops, and they had a short conversation with plenty of hand-waving.
A cop came over and asked us to go downstairs. On the way down, Dad whispered, “Answer all their questions truthfully. Keep it short and to the point.”
I nodded and walked down the stairs, my dad behind me, and the two of us walked over to my SUV. I was happy to be out in the fresh air.
“I’ll be right back.” Dad patted my shoulder.
Hired Killer (Biscayne Bay Book 1) Page 20