When the Smoke Clears (Deadly Reunions)

by Lynette Eason

  Alexia frowned, wishing she could see the woman. “I know Jillian. I don’t know who Julie is.”

  “But you know Jillian’s been in hiding these past ten years.”

  “Yes.”

  “And she’s been in contact with you.”

  “No!” Frustration with the insistence that she knew where Jillian was nearly overshadowed the fear. “Why won’t you listen? I haven’t talked to her. I keep telling you I don’t know where she is.”

  “That’s too bad for you. If you don’t know, then he doesn’t need you anymore.”

  “He?”

  “The reason for the blindfold. He’ll be here soon.”

  Alexia felt herself drowning in the terror even as she felt the blade of a knife press against her throat. “And when he’s done, I get you.”

  “What did I do to you? Why do you hate me?” Alexia whispered. “I haven’t seen you since high school.”

  “Because you want the children,” Lori hissed, and Alexia jerked at the change. She sounded . . . different now. “He said you’d take them away. That you were here to spy on me. That you knew I killed Avery’s wife.”

  A chill settled between Alexia’s shoulders. The woman was crazy. Insane. Psychotic. The list of terms ran through her mind even as her insides quaked.

  “Well, you can’t have them. They’re mine now and no one, not you, not Devin, not even Marcie Freeman will take them away from me.”

  From somewhere, Alexia heard a small voice calling, “Aunt Lori, where are you?”

  And Alexia knew exactly where she was.

  Hunter thought he might very well lose his mind. He had no idea where Alexia was or how to find her. Chad stood beside him. Together they watched the video provided by the hotel security. Chad said, “There, they go in the bathroom. Katie and Alexia, then Lori.”

  “No one else went in there, just the three of them,” a security guard said.

  “No cameras in the bathroom,” Hunter muttered.

  “How did they know she’d use that bathroom?” Chad said.

  Dominic entered the room. “Where are we?”

  Hunter had called to let him know Alexia was missing. Dominic hadn’t wasted any time in getting down to the security offices.

  “We’re not getting anything from the inside. Let’s see the outside cameras,” Hunter said.

  After too much time scanning, they finally found the camera footage they needed. “Look. There.” Chad pointed to the two figures leaving out a back door. They each had on black clothing and masks. The person in the middle didn’t. Her back was to him, but Hunter could clearly see that it was Alexia and she was unconscious.

  The two shoved her in the waiting car, then one drove off while the other returned to the building.

  “Get the plates,” Dominic ordered.

  “See who’s not here now that was earlier,” Hunter told one of the officers. “Be discreet if you can. If you can’t, that’s fine. Just get the information we need.”

  The woman nodded and left.

  The man in charge of security, Garrett Smith, sighed. “I can’t get the plates. The car’s angled away from the camera. They backed up and drove off.”

  “They scouted the cameras and parked out of range on purpose. Back it up and play it one more time,” Chad said. “I want to see it again.”

  Mr. Smith complied.

  Chad slapped the table. “I recognize that car. Or one like it.”

  “From where?” Hunter snapped.

  “It pulled into the garage the night I was watching Alexia at the Tabor house.”

  Hunter pulled his phone out and dialed Brian. The man answered on the second ring. “Brian, I need a quick favor. Do you have access to a computer?”

  “Sure.”

  “Pull up the DMV records for Avery Tabor, will you? I need to know what kind of car he drives and the license plate.”

  “Hold on.”

  While Hunter waited for Brian to come back on the line, he watched the video footage again. His heart thudded and fear roared through his veins, but he couldn’t acknowledge it. If he did, he’d never be able to think through finding Alexia. And right now, she needed him.

  Please, God, be with her. Keep her safe. Let me find her. Show me what I need to find her.

  “Okay, it’s a black Mercedes, license plate DOCTR A.” Brian rattled off the information along with the address.

  “That’s definitely Avery Tabor’s address,” Hunter said. “He lives near Alexia’s mother.”

  “What would he have against Alexia?” Chad asked.

  “Who knows? Get a team over there and get Avery Tabor in here. We need to talk to him.”

  While someone went to find Avery, Hunter slapped his phone to his ear, putting together a plan to rescue Alexia. Backup should be on-site within minutes. A SWAT team and a hostage negotiator on standby.

  Was Avery still at the party or had he left to take her to his house? Or was this a wild goose chase?

  Hunter’s phone beeped and he switched over to grab the call and put it on speaker so everyone in the room could hear. “Yeah?”

  Dominic said, “I’ve checked the guest list against the people in attendance. Avery Tabor is here. His sister, Lori, isn’t.”

  “Any indication that he left the party?”

  “No.”

  “Lori was in the bathroom with Alexia and Katie. She must have shot Katie and somehow managed to get Alexia up through the ceiling.”

  Dominic broke in. “I’m going with the team to the house. I’ll be in touch.”

  “Alexia wouldn’t have just cooperated,” Chad said. “She’d have fought tooth and nail and you would have heard the commotion.”

  “No, she had to be drugged.” Hunter felt his heart clench. He prayed she was still out cold. As long as she was unconscious, she wouldn’t be scared.

  Alexia was terrified. Who was the “he” Lori referred to?

  Her father? Had he set all this up?

  “You killed Devin,” she whispered when Lori returned from seeing to the child.

  A hitched breath filtered to her ears. “Yes, poor Devin.” A sniffle. Was Lori crying? “He wasn’t supposed to be home. He was supposed to be cutting grass across town. But he was there and he moved wrong . . . and I . . .” A sob. Then a ragged breath. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “And you were waiting for me in the basement?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you planted the knife in my bedroom.”

  Lori laughed, all sign of tears and remorse gone. “Yes. Yes, it was all me. The plan was to have you arrested for everything. In jail it’s much easier to get rid of someone. Unfortunately, the police didn’t cooperate with us, so we had to find a different way to get to you.”

  We? All Alexia could think was that she needed to keep her talking. “Why kill Devin’s parents? That makes no sense.”

  “They knew about me.” She said it like the answer should be obvious. It wasn’t. Really.

  “Knew what?”

  “That I wanted Devin. I was at his apartment before he lost it and moved in with your mother. His parents showed up and heard us arguing. Devin was interested in me before Marcie Freeman came into the picture.” Alexia could hear the fury in the woman’s voice. “He was going to ask me out, I knew it. I went to see him and . . . well, it doesn’t really matter. As soon as he died, I knew they had to die too. I just had to get to them before the cops.”

  “Is that why you set the fire at Detective Isaac’s house?”

  “I knew Hunter would be the one to question the Wickhams, so I created a distraction. I figured he’d postpone questioning them to rush to his partner’s side.” A coarse laugh escaped her. “He did.”

  Please, Hunter, be looking for me. Please, God, show him where to look. Keep her talking. “How did you get in my mother’s house? Steal my necklace?”

  “Simple. When I killed Devin, I took his keys. Now shut up, I’m tired of talking.”

  Of course
.

  “Wait a minute. That was you watching me in the dress shop, wasn’t it?”

  A longsuffering sigh sounded from the woman. “Yes, I even gave the police a statement. Under a different name, of course. But it was so fun to watch all the action.”

  Alexia didn’t know what else to say, to ask.

  And then receding footsteps told Alexia that Lori was leaving the area.

  The darkness was terrifying. Suffocating. Pressing down on her. She shifted, drawing her knees up and resting her forehead on them as she debated whether or not to slip the blindfold off.

  Maybe not. If “he” came in and she saw his face, he might kill her on the spot. Then again, Lori wasn’t about to let Alexia walk out of here alive, so did it really matter?

  A different set of footsteps sounded.

  42

  Saturday, 7:56 p.m.

  Avery Tabor looked nervous. “What’s this about that couldn’t wait until after my dinner?”

  “Where’s your sister?” Hunter demanded.

  Annoyance chased the nervousness from his face. “I don’t know. She said she was going to the restroom. I haven’t seen her since. Now, if you don’t mind . . .” He turned in the direction of the door.

  Hunter stepped in front of him. “I do mind. There’s evidence that says your sister and an accomplice kidnapped a woman tonight. One person drove off, the other came back to the party. Did you leave the table for any reason?”

  Shock bleached the doctor’s face white. “What? No. You can check with the people at my table.”

  “We will.”

  “Why do you think my sister—or I—had anything to do with this?”

  “We have it on video. Along with a black Mercedes. She used your car.”

  “My ca—what? Are you all crazy?”

  Hunter’s phone rang. He snatched it. Dominic said, “She’s not here, but there’s a nonresponsive woman on the couch. Looks like she’s been drugged. We’ve called for an ambulance.”

  Hope deflated like a punctured balloon. He wondered about the woman, but right now, his only concern was Alexia. “Where is she then?” Hunter whispered, more to himself than Dominic. He started to panic. “I don’t know where to look.”

  Hunter pointed to Avery. “She’s not at your house. There’s a woman passed out cold on your couch, but no Lori and no children. We called an ambulance for the woman. Now where would she go?”

  He paled. “My mother. Is she okay?”

  “Alexia! Where would Lori take her!” Hunter was just about out of patience with the man.

  Avery flinched. “I . . . I . . . don’t . . . Maybe her house.”

  “Her house?” Hunter frowned. “I thought she lived with you.”

  “No, she stays there most of the time because of my schedule, but she has a townhouse on the other side of town.”

  “Give me the address,” Hunter snapped.

  Avery complied and Hunter passed it on to Dominic. “Get over there. I’m right behind you.”

  “On the way.”

  Alexia tensed. She’d pushed the blindfold up a scant millimeter more, allowing more light in. The suffocating feeling dissolved a bit, the panic she felt ready to overtake her receded.

  Think, Lex, think.

  Pray, Lex, pray.

  Please, God, I don’t even know what to pray. Just let me say the right thing and don’t let them kill me. Please.

  “Hello, Alexia.”

  She froze. Strained to recognize the voice, but she didn’t think she’d ever heard it before. But would she recognize her father’s voice after all this time?

  Definitely.

  “What do you want?” she asked.

  A hard slap to the side of her face sent her spinning sideways. Shock and pain radiated through her as she landed on the floor facedown, no way to push herself up with her hands bound behind her back.

  A hand in the crook of her elbow yanked her back into a sitting position.

  “I’ll ask the questions, thank you very much.” The polite tone next to her ears was at definite odds with the man’s actions.

  Her head spun and her ears rang.

  She wanted to cry.

  And refused.

  Clamping her lips shut, she remembered that little place she used to go in her mind when her father started his punches. The area around her heart that Hunter had touched had begun to thaw. It now chilled back over.

  “This could get really painful for you—but it doesn’t have to.”

  Alexia didn’t answer.

  She felt him move closer and breathed in, memorizing his scent. He smelled good, she noticed through the haze of pain. Rich. Like leather and cigars. She forced herself not to flinch. If another hit was coming, she’d take it.

  “Now. Do we understand each other?” he almost whispered, the sound grating and terrifying all at once.

  “Yes.”

  He moved back a fraction. “Good.”

  Alexia looked down through the bottom of the blindfold.

  Expensive shoes.

  She took a deep breath. God, lead Hunter to me.

  “I’ll get right to it. You’ve been a very troublesome girl to get ahold of. But I need to know where Jillian Carter is. I believe you know where she is.”

  “And why do you believe that?”

  Another crack to the side of her head sent her sprawling to the floor. Pain ricocheted through her. Tears sprang to her eyes without her permission, and she squeezed her lids tight until the sensation passed.

  Somewhere in the distance, a cry sounded. A young child. Alexia wondered how Lori could seem so normal and yet be so sick.

  “Pay attention to me, Alexia. Tell me what I want to know or people close to you are going to start dying. Like your sick mother lying in the hospital needing a bone marrow transplant.”

  His words echoed in her head, freezing her blood in her veins. What do I tell him, God?

  She drew in a deep shuddering breath. “I would tell you where Jillian was if I knew. I haven’t talked to her since the night of the graduation party ten years ago.” She spat the words along with a stream of blood. He’d split her lip.

  “Let’s talk about that night. Jillian was in a place she shouldn’t have been, saw something she shouldn’t have seen. Did she tell you about it?”

  “No.” Alexia almost shook her head, then decided against it. “She just said she saw something, that her life was in danger, and if she told us, we would be in danger too. I haven’t seen her since.”

  Silence greeted her words. Then more footsteps. Lori?

  “She tell you what you wanted to know?” The voice came from her left.

  “No. Kill her. But wait until I’m well away from here.”

  Her head and lip throbbed.

  Where was Hunter?

  The team surrounded the house. Hunter kept pushing the earpiece tighter into his ear. The minutes were ticking.

  But they were in there. In Lori’s house. A two-story townhouse in a cute little neighborhood.

  Hard to believe it held such evil.

  SWAT moved in, placed microphones and video surveillance in the windows.

  Dominic shifted beside Hunter. “You ready?”

  “Almost.”

  Alexia had to figure out a way to get free. The man’s cell phone had rung and he’d walked away from her, Lori’s footsteps trailing behind. Up steps? Sounded like it.

  And all was quiet once again.

  Every bone and muscle in her body ached. Her head throbbed and her teeth had shredded her lower lip.

  But she was alive. And determined to stay that way.

  An idea formed.

  Her forehead back on her knees, she shoved the blindfold up a little further and examined her prison.

  Definitely a basement. Lori’s house. Several windows lined the top of the walls, but it was dark outside so there was no help there.

  Shifting, she saw what she was looking for.

  The candles.

  Worried
she’d run out of time, and either Lori or her partner would return, Alexia scooted as best she could across the floor in her now ruined fancy black dress. Somewhere she’d lost her shoes.

  Finally, she slid in front of the candles, her head pounding, mouth aching. With a grunt, she heaved up on her knees, backed up, and held her hands over the open flame. To her right were paint cans, a gasoline can.

  And paint thinner.

  Fury stirred in her gut as the flame worked on her bonds. Thank God, he’d used rope. If they’d been cuffs, it would be hopeless.

  The flame singed her wrist and she jumped, her knee knocking into the gas can. Another idea formed as she listened for footsteps.

  And then her hands were free.

  She gasped as she pulled them around to her front to clasp and massage her arms. Her wrists had blisters, but she didn’t care.

  Footsteps sounded above, then began their descent.

  It was time. The children were occupied. Another pill. She needed another pill. Killing Alexia would be the final act needed to ensure that the children were safe and would be with Lori forever.

  No one was going to take them away. No one. Their own mother never loved them like Lori.

  She stepped to the bottom of the basement and looked around. The concrete walls would muffle the shot.

  Or maybe she’d use the wire.

  She’d used it a lot in the army. They’d trained her well.

  43

  Saturday, 8:32 p.m.

  Alexia watched the woman from the corner of her eye. She’d ditched the blindfold. Now she held her hands behind her back. She wasn’t sure where the man had gone, just knew that he’d left. Which was fine by her.

  She also knew that Lori was stronger than she and there was no way Alexia could win a physical fight with the woman.

  So she had a plan. A one-time effort plan.

  If she failed, she died.

  Her only concern was the children. And Lori’s mother.

  “So,” she said as Lori reached the bottom of the steps, “he left you to do the dirty work, huh?”