The View from Rainshadow Bay

by Colleen Coble

  “I hope you don’t say that about me someday.”

  “Never,” he vowed. “We’re going to have a great life together. I can’t wait to show you the world. We’ll go on a luxury cruise once we get settled.”

  “You’re the best. Listen, I already had to shoot Lewis.”

  “What? I thought you were going to make it look accidental. Fire is the best way.”

  “He gave me no choice. He was trying to bargain for his grandson’s exchange and wouldn’t give me the plans. I’d had enough of him anyway.”

  She’d taken the opportunity to get rid of Lewis. He suppressed a shudder. Her dangerous side was one of the most intriguing things about her. Life with her would never be dull. “So you’ve got the sheriff and Zach contained?”

  “Partially. I’ll throw Lewis to the fishes, and then I’ll set fire to this place.”

  He frowned. “What about Shauna?”

  “What about her?”

  “I hate that she’s going to lose Zach now too. And Marilyn.” He rubbed the bee sting on his arm, which had begun to smart again. He reached for the lavender essential oil. “I mean, we had to kill Jack, which I didn’t want to do. It seems cruel to take Zach too.”

  “You’re getting all soft on me. We can’t finish this too soon for my taste. Let’s get on with it.”

  He rubbed in the oil. “It’s just been a long time coming. You’re right. We need to finish this and get out of here. I’ll take care of things here, then head your way. See you soon.”

  He ended the call and got out of the car. This would take some special handling so he didn’t scare the boy. He pulled his mask on again and headed for the cabin.

  Zach tore frantically at the knot in the vines, but it didn’t budge. The shot he’d heard couldn’t mean anything good. It had been just a single report from the pistol, followed by the heavy thud of a body falling to the ground. If Lewis had shot Penelope, he’d be out here right now. Which meant Penelope would be back in here any second.

  A movement caught his eye, and he glanced to his right to see Shauna ease through the doorway. She had mud on her jeans and boots, and her dark hair was in a tangle. The sheriff stiffened at the same time as Zach. She held her index finger to her lips, then grabbed a paring knife from the kitchen counter on the way to his side.

  “Okay?” Her voice was a faint whisper.

  “Did you find Alex?”

  She shook her head. “Not yet. Penelope murdered my dad. I saw the whole thing. She has to be stopped.” She sliced through the vines, then slid the knife into his hand. “I have to get a gun. This puny knife is no match for her.”

  He flexed his wrists and palmed the knife. “I’ll go after weapons. You’re liable to run into her.” Penelope could emerge from the bedroom at any moment.

  “I’m going now. There’s no time.” She stepped quietly into the hall, then vanished into the gloom before he could argue.

  He held his breath and prayed she got to the armory before Penelope opened the other door. No sound came from that direction so maybe she’d already made it inside to the gun room. Then a squeak down the hall told him Penelope had opened the bedroom door. Footsteps came down the hall, and he tried to quickly cut the sheriff’s bonds too, but there was no time. The knife was caked with something, but he slid it into his palm and kept his wrists together behind his back so she couldn’t see he was free.

  The gun was in Penelope’s right hand and down at her side as she emerged from the hall shadows. Her left hand held a roll of papers that had to be the plans he’d heard her mention. Blood splattered her right sleeve and boot.

  Her eyes narrowed as she took in their proximity. “I figured it wasn’t safe to leave you two alone for long, but you’ll never untie those knots. I know how to make them foolproof.” She brought the gun up and aimed it at them. “I’d be lying if I said I was sorry I had to do this. The two of you are all that’s standing in the way of my perfect new life.”

  She’s going to shoot.

  Zach nodded toward the plans. “Looks like you got what you wanted, but that’s pretty cold, shooting a defenseless old man. Is he dead or did you leave him to suffer?” It would only take a movement of a few inches to be able to pass the knife to the sheriff without her seeing. He shuffled a bit and flexed his shoulders as if he had a cramp.

  “Of course he’s dead. I don’t miss.”

  Zach slid the handle of the knife into Burchell’s hand. “Why’d you kill him?”

  “He tried to bargain to get back his darling grandson.” Her lips curled as she said the word darling.

  “Will you tell Shauna you killed him? She loved him once.”

  “She wouldn’t understand. Enough of this. I’m not really going to shoot you. That would be too obvious to investigators. Walk to the bathroom.”

  While the sheriff worked on cutting his restraints, Zach flexed his wrists to get the blood circulating again. “You could always take us to my boat and scuttle it.”

  A slight smile lifted her lips, and she dropped the plans by the door and reached for a pack of matches. “I’ve got something much better in mind.”

  The sheriff shook his head. “Fire won’t work. They’ll find the ropes on us, along with ligature marks. They’ll know it was murder.”

  Her brow furrowed and she blinked. “The rope will burn up, and so will the ligature marks.”

  “People always think that, but it usually isn’t true. Just last year the police in Seattle tracked down a killer who torched his girlfriend’s house with her in it. The rope remnants were the giveaway that it was murder. Plus, the bodies are rarely fully burned. Look it up if you don’t believe me.”

  Zach had to admire the way the sheriff gave out the information. Shauna should be back any moment so the longer they could stall Penelope, the better.

  She bit her lip and looked at the matches in her hand. “Fire is clean. It’s always the best way.”

  The sheriff shook his head. “Fire leaves more evidence than most people realize.”

  “Enough talking. I know what I’m going to do.” She motioned with the gun toward the hallway. “Get moving.”

  Had the sheriff managed to free himself yet? Zach would have to risk it even if Burchell wasn’t able to help. Once they were in the bathroom, they’d be trapped unless they managed to break down the door. But the space was so tiny, it would be hard to generate enough momentum to crash through the door.

  If Shauna came down the hall now, she’d be an easy target, so he prayed she stayed back where it was safe.

  Chapter 40

  Shauna couldn’t just walk back down the hallway with the gun. Penelope had killed Pop with one shot. Shauna loaded two extra pistols, then stuffed them in the waistband of her jeans. She filled her pockets with extra ammo just in case, then eased open the door. She froze when it creaked a little.

  Penelope’s voice droned on in the living room, but she couldn’t make out the words. From the hall, Shauna could see Zach looking toward the fireplace, but she couldn’t see the woman. Shauna’s gaze went across to her dad’s bedroom. The door stood partly open. The big window on the south side of the room usually opened easily. He kept it open most of the year because he liked a cool bedroom.

  Shauna knew every creak, every soft spot in the floor of this cabin, so she managed to get to her dad’s room without making a sound. Her throat closed when his scent, a mixture of tobacco and beer, hit her in the face. He hadn’t been much of a father, but she’d loved him in spite of it. Now there would never be a chance to make him love her.

  But Alex was all that really mattered.

  She swallowed down the pain and shoved the window up the rest of the way, then climbed onto a cedar chest positioned under the window. She dropped noiselessly into the bushes outside the window, then crept around to the front of the house toward the door that stood partially open. Her back to Shauna, Penelope had a gun pointed at Zach and the sheriff and was herding them toward the hallway. Good thing she hadn’t
gone that way. They would have been in her line of fire.

  If only she could simply shoot her, but Shauna had to make her tell where to find Alex.

  She made sure the safety was off on her firearm, then shoved open the door. “Drop your gun, Penelope!” The woman froze and started to turn, but Shauna fired a shot into the floor by the woman’s right foot. “The next one will be in your head. Drop your gun.”

  Penelope lifted her hands in the air, but she didn’t toss the gun to the floor. A sneer lifted her mouth. “Look who found some courage. I took care of your dad for you. You’ll have to stand on your own two feet now.”

  “You don’t know anything about me or my father. If you did, you’d know I was always the strong one. He came here to lick his wounds after Mom died, and he never came out of it. I know you think life has given you a rotten lemon, but you don’t know how lucky you are. A loving mother, a good career. You didn’t see what you had—only what you didn’t.”

  Penelope rolled her eyes. “Loving mother, a lot you know. She hardly knew I was on the planet once your dad was through with her. Your dad deserved everything he got. I’m glad I was the one to bring justice.”

  Shauna gritted her teeth. “Where is my son?”

  A smile curved Penelope’s lips. “You let me out of here with those plans, and I’ll tell you.”

  “I don’t care about any blueprints. All I want is my son.”

  “Good. Hand them to me then.”

  Shauna didn’t dare take her eyes off the woman. She kicked the white roll of paper toward her. “What’s so special about them anyway?”

  “Your dear old dad accidentally stumbled on a way to trigger earthquakes. That one that killed your mom was started by the deep-injection well he had near here. When he realized what he’d done, he closed the pumps.”

  “He could start earthquakes?” Shauna shook her head. Did Penelope really believe such a fantastic story?

  Behind Penelope, Zach brought his hands out from behind his back and snatched the gun from Penelope’s hand. She gasped and turned a mottled red before swinging toward him and reaching for the gun.

  He pushed her back as she swiped at the hand holding the gun. “Sit down. This is over.”

  The color washed out of her face, and her dark eyes looked huge. “You can’t ruin it for me now! We’re going to live a dream life by the water in Cambodia. I won’t give it up!”

  She lunged at him. Her nails raked at his face, and she tried to gouge his eye with her thumb. He reeled and fell back with her on top of him.

  Shauna rushed to his side. “Don’t hurt her, Zach! She has to tell us where to find Alex.”

  The words were hardly out of her mouth when the gun in Zach’s hand went off, and Penelope sagged against Zach. He shoved her off, and Shauna saw a spreading stain on her chest.

  “Oh no.” She knelt by Penelope’s side and pressed her fingers against the artery in her neck. No pulse.

  The sheriff knelt beside her. “Is she dead?”

  “Yes.” Shauna’s breath whooshed out. “With her dead, we don’t know where to look for Alex and Marilyn.”

  Zach sat up and scooted closer to her. “I’m sorry, Shauna. She had the safety off. I didn’t try to shoot her, but when she fell on me, the gun just went off.”

  “What are we going to do?” She turned to him and buried her face in his shirt. His arms around her kept her from sinking to the ground in a miserable heap.

  She needed Alex in her arms. The thought of him out there in the dark with some madman nearly drove her insane. What if she never saw him again? Her eyes burned, and she tried not to think that way. They had to find him.

  Something niggled at her again. She lifted her head and tried to think through the little nudges she’d had. “She said Cambodia, didn’t she?”

  “Yeah,” Zach said. “Does that mean something to you?”

  “I know someone who is always talking about how much he loves Cambodia and how an American can live like a king on the Gulf of Thailand. I just can’t quite pull out the memory.”

  Pacing the floor, she tried to think. “Pop was a top-notch geological engineer in his younger years. The money from his patents is what he lived on. Maybe there’s something in that deep-well site she mentioned. It has to be that building we found, right?”

  Zach nodded. “Lewis started to take us inside to tell us about it, but she insisted we come here after the plans. I can grab that ax in the yard and we can bust in.”

  “I could shoot it off, but it might be safer to cut it off. I’m sure Lewis has a bolt cutter in the shed,” the sheriff said. “Let me go look.”

  Shauna started for the door, then stopped as she felt dizzy with the revelation that struck her. “I know who the man is. Karl Prince is always talking about retiring to Cambodia, and his wife just rolls her eyes.”

  Zach took her arm when she swayed. “You mentioned lavender was used to treat bee stings. His wife has those bees, and he had to take over for her when she went to visit her sister.”

  She turned and hung on to him for dear life. “What do we do now? Go find him or go to the building?”

  “The building is close. He might even have Alex and Marilyn there.”

  She could only pray as he led her to the door.

  Zach couldn’t wrap his head around Shauna’s accusation against Karl. Why would a man who had everything—a successful business, a beautiful wife, and great kids—go off on this rabbit trail in his life? Zach didn’t argue with her, but he wasn’t sure he believed it either.

  He trained the lights from the ATV on the door of the building, then got out with the sheriff, who had found a bolt cutter. The night air was cool and held the hint of rain. Zach had brought along the ax just in case as well as a flashlight belonging to Lewis.

  Shauna flipped on the flashlight and walked around the building calling for Alex. There was no response.

  Zach banged on the metal door. “Come here, honey, we’ll get in this way.”

  The desperation in her eyes tore at his heart. He felt the same urgency, but he was managing to hold it in check. Barely. He put his arm around her, and they stood back to let the sheriff try to open the lock.

  Burchell positioned the tool on the padlock and quickly cut through the metal. In moments the lock lay on the ground in pieces. He shoved open the door, and the odor of rusty metal and mold rushed to greet them.

  Zach took the flashlight from Shauna and focused on the wall beside the door. Just as he thought, a bank of light switches was just inside on the right. He flicked the first switch, and the hum of fluorescent lights sprang to life. The dim glow brightened as the lights warmed up. The space had concrete floors. He walked across the floor to another door toward the back that was locked as well.

  The sheriff took the bolt cutters, then turned and shook his head. “No padlock on this one. Good thing you brought the ax. I think it can bust through this door.”

  Zach nodded and hefted the ax, then brought it down against the doorjamb. It splintered but didn’t open, so he chopped at it until it hung ajar in pieces.

  The sheriff shoved open the ruined door, and Shauna shone the light around the space. There were pipes and a tank inside. “There’s the deep-injection well.” Burchell stepped closer and looked it over. “Doesn’t really look all that special.”

  Shauna hugged herself and stepped back. “It must be worth a lot of money, though, or Karl wouldn’t be willing to give up his life for this.”

  Zach put his arm around her. “I’m not so sure it’s Karl. I can’t see him killing people. Especially not Clarence and Lucy. Jack and Darla too.” Zach turned her toward the door. “Let’s go talk to Karl.”

  She stopped as they reached the door. “I just remembered something Alex said. He mentioned that Spider-Man tried to force Marilyn to go into the outhouse with the black widows. He must have them at a rough cabin somewhere. Karl has been part of our lives for a long time. He was best friends with Marilyn’s husband and helped b
uild that old cabin she never uses. I asked about using it once, and she said the outhouse was likely infested with spiders by now. What if he’s holding them captive there?”

  “You’re reaching. The guy could have them in any of dozens of old, abandoned cabins.”

  She gripped his arm. “Look, it’s not that far. We could check it out, right? Then if he’s not there, we can continue on to Karl’s house.”

  “She’s right,” Burchell said. “That old place is on our way back to town anyway. Let’s give it a try.”

  Zach wasn’t convinced the delay was worth the risk, but he was overruled. He prayed he was wrong, and they found Alex and Marilyn safe and sound in the cabin.

  Chapter 41

  He glanced at his watch. No matter how many times he told himself he had to finish this, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. His face itched under the mask, and he was hot in spite of the coolness of the night air pouring in through the cabin’s broken windows.

  The boy was sleeping on an old cot and covered with his grandmother’s sweater. Now would be the best time to do this. Once Marilyn was out of the way, he’d scoop up Alex and take him out of here with them, even if it wasn’t what Penelope wanted. He could probably even sell the kid once he got away.

  Marilyn sat huddled in one of the chairs near Alex’s cot. She hadn’t said much since he’d left to call Penelope. She probably realized he didn’t believe her. There was no doubt in his mind that she’d recognized him somehow.

  He cleared his throat. “I need to get some sleep so let me take you outside for a potty break before that.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “I don’t want to be awakened at midnight. Let’s go.”

  She glanced at him, and her mouth flattened, then curved into a tender smile when she gazed one last time at her grandson. “Do what you have to, but don’t hurt him. Please, please, don’t hurt him.”

  “I’m not going to hurt him as long as you don’t give me any trouble.”