Fear shivered through me. She wasn’t bluffing; she’d kill us both. Desperately, I rummaged through my pockets to find only lip balm. Great, just great. Lip balm, condoms, and keys. What the hell can I do with these? “You know Lilly, I’ve been thinking.”
She laughed. “That’ll make you bulletproof.” Ducking low, she worked her way around the other side of the tree, closer and closer to Hunter.
A thought suddenly crystallized, and I knew just what I could do with keys and condoms. But I had to keep her talking, for a few more moments.
“I get why you wanted Chris.” Lilly edged another tree closer to Hunter. When no shots rang out, she stood fully. My stomach did a free fall. “I mean it! I’ll shoot! Drop your gun!”
She smiled. I watched her consider her options: take me out first, or Hunter? If Hunter was faking, she’d be shot in the back going after me. If she went for Hunter, she could keep an eye on me and blow me away if I broke cover. She moved toward him.
Heart pumping at high speed, I tore open one of the condom packets and then hefted the keys in my hand; the condom might be too thin. Wait. If I put several together, nested one inside the other—I ripped through more packets and pulled one out. Oh, lubricated.
A branch snapped, and I looked up to see Lilly creeping closer to Hunter. “Chris had a knack for making people feel good,” I shouted. “But that little man-slut made everyone feel real good, didn’t he?” I knew I was being unfair to Chris, but I had to distract her.
“Watch your mouth.” Her voice sounded startlingly far away.
“And, hey, a good-looking young man, such stunning eyes, would make for great arm candy. He’d be a real asset for someone climbing through the ranks—your own little ‘trophy boyfriend.’ I mean, after all, why should sexual exploitation be limited to men?”
I shoved my fist into the first condom, unrolled it up my arm, then unrolled two more on top of it. They went halfway to my elbow. Whew! Hunter was one impressive man.
“I loved him!”
“You don’t have it in you. You’re a shallow, selfish bitch with a fetid soul, blaming everyone else for your shortfalls. But the truth is you’re just a failure.”
“I’ll fucking kill you!” She started toward me, and I shrank back. She paused, as if remembering her plan, then started toward Hunter again. Thank God! I really didn’t want to be found dead with my arm shoved up three extra-large, cinnamon-flavored condoms. Hurriedly, I pulled the nested condoms off of my arm and stuffed the sack with keys and pebbles. Soon both of my hands and half of my right arm shimmered with lubricant. I checked Lilly’s progress.
Eyes bright with anger, she trudged closer to his tree. “Chris loved me! He understood me! Everyone else always sold me short!” Her voice sharpened. “But Jake made him suffer. He made his daughter suffer. That hypocrite cheated on his wife and even helped Hunter get away with attempted murder, but he thought he had the right to judge someone as loving and gentle as Chris.” The final sound caught in her throat. “And then he sat there and watched Chris die!”
“No! I saw Jake with Chris and the other kids on a video. He cared about them all. You could hear it; feel it. He may have gotten mad at Chris for hurting his daughter, but he would never have hurt him. Come on! Jake gave up everything to take care of him.”
“For her! Never for him.”
I tied off the end of the condoms like a balloon. “What difference does it make why he did it?” I yelled. “And you stand there whimpering that nobody understands you. Well, welcome to Earth, baby! Because, that’s what we do here. We don’t understand each other! Deal with it!”
“You have no idea—”
Hatred rose up in me like magma. “How you feel? Here’s news for you: I don’t care! And let’s get this straight, Lilly, you killed your beloved Christopher.” I peeked around the tree. Lilly was partially turned toward me, gun shaking in front of her. I tossed my homemade blackjack in my hand, getting a sense of its weight. “You poisoned them, didn’t you—Chris and Adalida?”
“No! I, I didn’t mean to. It was her fault. I—” Lilly trembled, her expression practically rabid. “She gave him the poison. She shared it. But she must have known!” Lilly’s eyes darted from side to side. “She made him drink it! What happened to him wasn’t my fault!”
Disgusted, I whispered to myself, “It’s not my fault! Jake was right. The best lies are the ones we make ourselves believe. Well, that may be your best, bitch, but I’m going to make it your last.” Aloud, I shouted, “Chris left you, all right, and we both know why!”
Lilly had reached Hunter. She raised her gun and leveled it at his prone body, then paused, is if my words worked on a three-second delay. She looked over at me, and I ducked.
I sneaked a peek, maliciously thrilled to see the anguish in her eyes. She shook her head as if to ward off doubt. I plowed on, my tone mocking, brimming with contempt. “Chris left you because you’re a joke, Lilly. We all know it: me, Chris, Jake, Nestor, Hunter, Voltaire. We know you for what you are: a pathetic, weak-minded joke!”
“Shut up!” she screamed. “Shut up!” She fired. I hit the ground. She swung on Hunter. I leapt to my feet and fired the coin-filled condoms at the back of her head with all my might.
The package slammed into the back of her neck. She flinched and the gun went off. The ground near Hunter’s head exploded into a shower of dirt.
I ran and threw myself at her back. Lilly fell to her knees beneath me. The gun flew out in front of her, and I lunged at it. She grabbed my feet. I kicked her hands away. With a surge of joy, I spotted Hunter’s gun wedged between his body and the tree. I dove for it, but she kicked me in the kidneys. I yelled in agony and rolled onto my back.
Lilly got to her knees and aimed at me. I clenched my jaw and reached out for Hunter’s hand. I raised my head, angry and terrified, tears burning my eyes, praying for no pain.
A loud blast sounded. I flinched.
There was no pain.
Lilly fell to my feet, face down in the dirt, blood streaming from a wound in her head. “What the hell?” I murmured.
Footsteps crashed through the underbrush, scattering leaves and fallen branches. A shout echoed in the distance. Then something very heavy moved down the slope, blocking the sky. I struggled to my elbows and looked at it.
For a moment, I couldn’t believe what I saw. My mouth fell open and tears of utter joy and disbelief blinded me. “Oh, my God! Jake!”
Had she shot me? Was I hallucinating? But he kept coming, leaning heavily on a cane. A Canadian cop came up beside him. Behind them, Voltaire strode over the crest.
“Get an ambulance!” Jake yelled to him.
My eyes went to Lilly’s still form. “Oh, you wonderful, lying bitch! He isn’t dead. He isn’t!” Then I gasped as the next thought hit me. “Hunter!” I struggled to my feet and ran to him.
He lay on his back. My heart plummeted into my stomach as I saw his bloodless lips. I skidded to a stop beside him and lifted his head onto my lap. “Hunter! Oh, please be okay.”
He groaned and rolled his head to one side. I caressed his face. “Just a little longer,” I said. “The cavalry’s here, right over the hill, just like they’re supposed to be.”
His eyes opened slightly, somber gray slits against his pallid skin. His lips curled into a small smile. I leaned over and kissed them.
When I pulled back, his dark eyes focused on me. “Not bad … Angel,” he whispered.
Then he stopped breathing.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The funeral was held two days later.
Exhaling in resignation, I took off my black suit jacket and laid it over the back of one of the leather chairs flanking the wall of windows. The Chicago skyline glistened behind Hunter’s massive mahogany desk. Towers of steel and stone crowned with the city’s signature masonry filled both walls of the cavernous corner office. Beyond them, Lake Michigan reflected the noon sun on a thousand arching wavelets. The sight filled the room with a sense
of power and potency, with uncompromising and unapologetic bravado. It was so very Hunter.
“Thank you for coming to Mr. Keeper’s funeral,” I said to Zach.
“Only seemed right,” he replied. “Being I was there when, well, you know.”
I nodded. Zach swiped at me playfully with his hat before putting it back on his head. He looked good in his black hat, black jeans, and black twill shirt. Far better than the two-sizes-too-small shiny blue suit I’d talked him out of earlier that morning. He cocked his head at me, clearly trying to elicit a smile. When he couldn’t, he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close, playfully bumping hips. “Don’t look so down, Darlin’. He lived a good long life.”
“It’s not that. It’s, well, it’s that I feel like I failed everyone.”
“Now why on God’s green Earth would you say that?”
I disengaged and walked to the windows. “I should have figured it out earlier! I’m supposed to be so smart, but I’m a total moron when it comes to psychopaths, apparently.”
“Not a total moron,” Zach said, following me.
“Gee, thanks.”
He smiled, his white teeth brilliant against his cowboy tan. “Only Jesus walked on water, Darlin’. You can’t be faulted for getting your ankles wet. You’ll catch on, more’s the pity.”
“What do you mean?”
“This ain’t your quiet and polite world of book learning. You hang around Jake and you’re going to meet a whole lot worse than that crazy female. You really want that?”
“I don’t want to meet people like that, but I do want to see them coming next time.”
Zach chuckled and nuzzled up behind me, resting his chin on my head and gently rubbing my arms with his hands. “You put your mind to a thing, I got no doubt you’ll get good at it.”
“I’d better. Of course, if the Evil Little Dream Pixie had been clearer about the clues she was feeding me, I’d have caught on sooner.” I playfully bumped his chin with my head, easing into the comforting dynamic of his presence. “At least Naked Dream Zach tried to help.”
Zach straightened, and he spun me around. His eyes were wide. “Whoa! What? Huh? Hang on, what? I was naked? When did—what?”
“Sure. That’s how it works, the dreams. Most people think scientists start with equations and theories. But in fact, it starts in the gut, with an intuition of how the world works.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Were you naked too?”
“Um, actually, you were only semi-naked. You see, how it really works is that the puzzle gets into the mind, and we can’t stop thinking about it, turning it over and over, a mental Rubik’s Cube of possibilities, twisted in every imaginable way. All the time, every minute, thinking about it, dreaming about it. And then, wham! The pieces fall into place.”
“There was whamming? Who was—how naked is semi-naked? Were you semi-naked?”
“In the last one, for example, when Dream Zach pointed out that the gum I saw in the floor of the automobile reminded me of resin. And it’s what that whole ‘Candygram for Mongo’ Blazing Saddles vignette thing was all about—you know, which I probably would have caught on to much sooner, if I weren’t so preoccupied with everybody having sex but me.”
“Hold on, you! Who was having sex? Was I having sex?”
I put my finger to my chin, reminiscing. “I know it sounds crazy, but it all fits. The gum reminded me of resin. And the silver snow falling on soot—only it wasn’t silver, it was silver-colored. Aluminum, actually. That’s why I dreamed of a plane disintegrating into dust.”
Zach grabbed my head in his hands. He peered intently into my eyes. “Woman, you need to focus on what’s important here.”
I shook him off, grinning—although, honestly, I was a tad annoyed that he wasn’t more excited about my insights into my dreams. “I am! You see, most airplanes are made of lightweight alloys, including, largely, aluminum. The plane became a pile of aluminum dust. And the jail bars reminded me of pencil lead. But ‘pencil lead’ isn’t lead; it’s graphite, like Semi-Naked Dream Zach said. And graphite is a form of carbon, like charcoal. And when I hit the bars in my dream, they disintegrated into—any guesses?” I smiled, feeling empowered. There’s nothing like putting a puzzle together to bring a thrill to the heart and a chill to the brain.
I went on. “Charcoal powder! And that pile of bull manure? It was fertilizer, containing primarily—yes, you guessed it—ammonium nitrate! And what does all that make: aluminum powder, charcoal powder, resin, and ammonium nitrate? A bomb! In this case, the bomb that blew up Jake’s office. You see?”
“There were only women in this dream, right? I don’t want to hear there were naked men.”
I waved my hand. “Hunter was there, but he was on the other side of the bars.”
“Slow down! There were bars!” His eyes twinkled, “Like bad-girls-in-jail bars?”
“Zach! Will you pay attention, please? You see, it wasn’t just that my dreams were trying to tell me that I had actually seen all the elements of the bomb. That wasn’t enough.”
“Darlin’, it’s never enough, semi-naked or not.”
“What are you talking about?”
“What are you talking about?”
I blinked several times. But then, dismissing the mental derailment, I went on. “I’m trying to say that it’s the when that matters. Now, I first saw the charcoal powder on the bottom of Jake’s cup. And it had been on his desk. There was resin on the file folder. So the bomb was put there before we went to the stakeout. I should have realized that! Later, I saw the aluminum powder on the note from the alley and charcoal powder in the apartment from which Jake was shot. That’s where Lilly and Cord made the bomb, taking advantage of the fact that it was under renovation and they only had to watch out for a few painters. The soot on the desk and in the apartment links them together, the bomb and the shooting. How could I have missed it? It was so obvious!” I smacked myself on the side of my head. “Oh, and there’s more.”
“More sex or more people?”
“Both, actually. I figure that when Lilly told Nestor she was working on the day I was kidnapped, she was lying. It was an alibi in case Lathos and I floated to the top too soon. Nestor had said he was watching me and Hunter, but Lilly must have been watching him, saw me ditch Hunter at the alley, and took the opportunity to get rid of me and Lathos at the same time.”
He stepped back and put his hands on his hips. “Okay, let me see if I got all this.”
“Ask away,” I said, proud of how I’d laid it out so neatly.
“Were all the people having sex semi-naked, or were they completely naked?”
“Zach! Were you listening to me at all?”
“Sure I was, Darlin’. I heard all the important parts.”
I huffed and put one hand on my hip. “The semi-naked sex parts?”
He looked at me like I was unbelievably dense. “Well, yeah!”
Laughing aloud, I shook my head and punched him on the arm. He reached out to cup my chin in his hand, his own eyes lit with affection. But just as he leaned in, lips barely brushing mine, the door opened. He snarled playfully, and I shrugged in response as we both turned toward the door.
Jake lumbered forward, leaning heavily on his cane, followed by Hunter on his crutches. I shot Jake a look of disapproval. No amount of nagging over the last two days had gotten him back into bed. Even at Hunter’s hospital bedside, he’d insisted on sitting up. “I’ll sleep enough when I’m dead,” he’d grumbled. Stubborn old man! I shook my head as he dropped gently onto the calfskin couch before me. At least he’s my stubborn old man.
He scowled as if annoyed, but the smile in his eyes said otherwise. Grunting, he moved his leg out of the way as Hunter swung by him, settling into a chair to my right and leaning his crutches against the glass table between us. Still pale, Hunter looked a hell of a lot better than he had just before the medic resuscitated him. He pointedly refused to meet my gaze. Whatever had happened between us in Canada h
ad dissipated. Maybe he was embarrassed over having let his guard down. Who knew? For whatever reason, he’d shut me out again.
What puzzled me more was Lilly said that Jake had helped Hunter get away with attempted murder. What did that mean? How do you get away with attempted murder? And I still had no idea why Hunter had a grudge against me. When I’d asked Jake, especially when I mentioned Sara, all I got was a soul-piercing stare and cold, stone silence. It was going to take some doing to wear that secret out of him, as well as get to the bottom of what really happened to Hunter in D.C. and what got him kicked off the force. And I still had to figure out what the list and receipt Zach and I had found in Jake’s box meant. So many questions still unanswered.
To be sure, pushing my nose into Hunter’s business was sure to irritate the hell out of him. The thought brought a grin to my face. Sometimes life just works out in your favor.
Jake kicked my foot. “What’re you smiling about, you monkey?”
I shrugged. “Oh, nothing. Did Fancy get the time off? Will we see her soon?”
He nodded. “She’ll be up for the weekend.” His eyes held a wistful cast, mitigated by a touch of uncharacteristic self-consciousness. Two ex-lovers, meeting on the lee side of trauma, with all the baggage of added weight and wrinkles and all the benefits of having seen each other through worse. I wondered how things would develop.
Hunter drew a deep breath and cast a sidelong look at Jake, showing equal mixtures of annoyance and chagrin. Jake’s reaction to finding out about Fancy tricking Hunter into a jail cell had resulted in a clucked tongue at her and merciless ribbing of him, which somehow had actually seemed to relieve Hunter. I chalked it up to yet another bizarre example of men’s predilection for affection by proxy: shoulder punches as hugs.
Hunter’s hostile glare at me was proxy for nothing. He had clearly decided that I was as much at fault, if not more so, than Fancy.
I ducked my gaze, letting him catch the hint of smugness in my smile before saying to Jake, “Mrs. Naidenheim will be coming home in a few days. I talked to her last night. She’s feeling much better. And she was able to give me more detail on what happened the morning the bomb was set. The stranger that ‘Clarisse heard’ must have been Cord. Probably Mrs. Naidenheim’s wandering around in search of the source of the noise spooked him enough that he messed up the timer on the bomb. I mean, it’s as good a guess as any. It’s not like we’ll ever know.”
The Last Best Lie Page 29