by Cindy Bell
“I wish he could come home to stay, but there’s just not enough room there.” Nikki stroked Spots’ back. “At least I’ll get him for a little while.”
“Take whatever you need from his supplies.” Petra made a note on the computer, then walked around the desk. “He’s been a little out of sorts ever since Sunday. I’m not sure exactly why, but something definitely has him uneasy. Hopefully, a night with you will help.”
“Would you mind dropping us off, Sonia?” Nikki led Spots outside.
“Not at all, darling. I hope he gives you some comfort tonight.” Sonia took a deep breath as she settled in the car. “At least we have some closure now. It explains why there was sap on the steps at the country club.” She pulled out of the parking lot of the animal shelter.
“It does, you’re right. Malcolm likely had sap on his shoes. I just wish I could convince myself that this really is all over.” Nikki stroked Spots’ fur as they headed in the direction of her apartment.
“You’ve been so wound up in all of this, it’s going to take some time for you to relax. For either of us to relax. I’m sure by tomorrow, things will feel different.” Sonia gave Nikki’s knee a light pat, then pulled up in front of her apartment. “I think we could both use a good night’s rest.”
“I think you’re right.” Nikki eased Spots out of the car, then waved to Sonia. “Talk to you in the morning.”
Sonia waved back, then drove off.
Nikki walked Spots around the parking lot for a few minutes. As she did, she tried to clear her thoughts. No longer did she need to suspect Rick, or Sylvester, or even Martha. Now, maybe she could focus on spending some time with Quinn. Hopefully, with the resolution of the case he would have more time to spend with her. She hoped that would be the case. Nikki guided Spots inside her apartment and made them both something to eat. As she settled on the couch with Spots beside her, she turned on some music and willed herself to relax.
Instantly, thoughts about the investigation resurfaced. Malcolm had claimed that he was at the campground all day Sunday. No, he couldn’t back that up, but had he really lied? If he had wanted to create a false alibi couldn’t he have come up with something better than that?
Nikki took Spots out for one more quick walk. If there was anything that she knew for certain, it was that Daniel had a lot of enemies. But when it came to his son, he seemed to have a different attitude. Sonia felt as if he would have been thrilled to connect with him. If Malcolm really was his son, why would he go to the effort of contacting his father, only to kill him?
By the time Nikki sprawled out in her bed, her mind churned with paranoid thoughts. If Malcolm didn’t kill himself, then who killed him? She tried to sleep, but as the minutes ticked into hours, the only sign of slumber was Spots’ gentle snoring. She picked up her phone and checked the time. She knew that Sonia was an early riser. It was nearly six. She bit into her bottom lip as she wondered if it was too early to call her. As she considered it, her phone buzzed with a text.
You up?
Nikki smiled as she responded to Sonia’s text.
Yes. Are you up for a road trip?
Nikki gazed at the phone as she waited for the response. Maybe if she went to the campground for herself, maybe that would be enough to convince her that Malcolm really had killed his father and himself.
I can be there in ten minutes.
Nikki laughed at the response, then jumped out of bed. Spots lifted his head, gazed at her with annoyance, then laid back down. She hurried to shower and get dressed, then grabbed a banana. Spots dragged himself out of bed. After he had something to eat, he followed her around, growing more curious by the minute.
“Sorry bud, you’re going to have to come with, this place isn’t doggy-proofed and it’s too small for you.” Nikki clipped on his leash and gave him a treat. As she stepped outside, Sonia’s car pulled up. Nikki squinted against the headlights and tightened her grasp on Spots’ leash. At the very least, he would enjoy a walk in the woods.
Chapter 21
With Spots settled in the back seat, Nikki and Sonia drove in the direction of the campground. Nikki watched as the sun tried to break past the shadows of the early morning sky.
“Thanks for coming with me, Sonia. I want to see the scene for myself. I know that Quinn would probably advise against it, but I just can’t believe that Malcolm killed himself.”
“I’m having a little trouble with that myself.” Sonia nodded as she drove onto the highway. “Not only because I trust your instincts, but because he was just so young. Of course, if Malcolm isn’t Daniel’s killer, then the real killer would have a lot to gain from being able to stage a suicide and frame Malcolm for his father’s murder.”
“Yes, he would.” Nikki shook her head. “I just don’t know who might have done all of this. It would take a pretty cunning person to come up with such a complicated scenario.”
“Or desperate. Some people become brilliant when they are under intense pressure.” Sonia turned down the dirt road that led to the campground.
“That’s true. I just can’t shake the memory of Malcolm telling Quinn how happy he was. I believed him. He said he had everything he wanted in life. I just don’t see him going from that, to killing himself.” Nikki leaned back and stroked Spots’ fur as the dog began to squirm on the back seat.
“Maybe he would if he felt the investigation was closing in on him.” Sonia shrugged as she looked through the windshield. “Maybe he knew that he was going to lose everything and end up in prison. Someone who loved the outdoors, might find the prospect of spending time behind bars too daunting. They wouldn’t necessarily be able to survive behind bars.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Nikki frowned as Sonia parked in front of the main cabin. There was just enough light to make out the fact that the front door looked slightly open. “But I just feel like something is missing here. Malcolm killed his father after reuniting with him? Why? Daniel didn’t reject him. At least not at first. He sent Martha flowers, probably as an effort to reconnect with her.”
“Maybe Malcolm blamed Daniel for his mother going missing, or for her death, if she is dead, or just for her lonely life. Maybe he’d harbored resentment over the years.” Sonia stepped out of the car. “I’ll be honest, it feels like a stretch to me, too. I’m not sure what you hope to find here.”
“I’m not sure either.” Nikki sighed as she rolled her window down enough for Spots to have plenty of air, then closed the car door. “I just feel like there’s something I need to see here.” She walked towards the main cabin.
“Nikki.” Sonia took a sharp breath as she looked at the other end of the parking lot. “Nikki, we’re not alone here. Is that the blue coupe you were talking about?” She pointed to a blue car parked so far into the tree line that it was almost impossible to see it.
“It looks like it might be.” Nikki narrowed her eyes. “What would Sylvester be doing out here?”
“I don’t know, but we should try to find out.” Sonia crossed her arms. “Now, something seems really fishy about all of this.”
“You’re right. I’m going to take a look inside, then we’ll go check out the car. But stay close, Sonia.” Nikki rubbed the back of her neck as the tiny hairs on it stood up. She tried to ignore the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Of course, it felt strange to be here, after what happened. As she started to push the door of the cabin open, her nose scrunched up in reaction to a strong smell. Something she didn’t immediately recognize, but she knew that she should have. She was all the way inside the door before it finally registered in her mind.
“Gasoline.” Nikki took a sharp breath and turned back towards Sonia to stop her from entering. “Sonia, stay back!”
“What’s wrong?” Sonia frowned as she stepped inside as well. “Is that gasoline?”
“We need to get out of here.” Nikki reached for the door, but another hand grabbed the knob before she could.
“Not so fast.” The man pushed the door
shut.
“Geoff!” Sonia stared at him as she took a step back. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m more concerned with why you’re here.” Geoff rested his hand on his hip, not far from a holster that held a gun. “I came up here early enough that there shouldn’t have been another soul. And what happens? The two of you show up to interfere in my life.”
“Just calm down, Geoff.” Sonia held up her hands. “We can be on our way.”
“I really created a brilliant plan. I mean, I really did. The thing about a good plan, is there is always a way it can go wrong.” Geoff smoothed down his tie as he continued to block the door. “Right now, the police believe that Malcolm killed his father, and then killed himself, but there will always be people like you, that will keep poking until something is uncovered. I can’t risk that.”
“Geoff, how could you do this?” Sonia glared at him. “You killed Daniel after being friends with him for so long, and Malcolm was an innocent man!”
“I had no choice.” Geoff engaged the lock on the cabin door. “Just like I have no choice now.” He turned back to face the two of them. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I really didn’t. But I had invested so much of myself, my life, my time, in Daniel. I was playing the long game. I thought if I remained his right-hand man long enough, that eventually it would pay off. When he brought me in on this last deal, I decided to go all in. It was the first major deal he allowed me to join. I put in everything I had, knowing it would pay off.” He closed his eyes for a split second but opened them again before Nikki could move a muscle. “Then he came across Malcolm. Or I should say, Malcolm came across him. I came out here to the cabin to speak to Malcolm. I offered him a good amount of money to drop the whole thing, to pretend that Daniel was nothing to him. But he blathered on about it being his mother’s wish for him to meet Daniel. Can you imagine?” His eyes widened as he chuckled. “He wouldn’t listen to reason. He was so stubborn, ironically, not unlike his father.”
Nikki edged back away from him and swept her gaze around the cabin. There was one big window off to the right, and a smaller one higher up in the rear of the space. As far as she could tell, there was no rear exit.
“Once Daniel learned about Malcolm, everything changed. He wanted to pull out of the business deal. He wanted to leave every last dime of his money to his son, to make up for not being there when he was growing up. He was going to stop his plans to expand his business and retire to spend time with Malcolm. He told me to change his will and leave everything to Malcolm, and to make sure every dime of his was pulled out of the deal that we’d just made. Without his money it wouldn’t go ahead. I couldn’t lose everything.” Geoff narrowed his eyes. “I just couldn’t. I accessed his dating apps and intercepted any correspondence between Malcolm and Daniel. I intercepted Malcolm’s calls, but Daniel wouldn’t leave it alone. I knew the only way to keep things the way they were was to kill Daniel before he ruined the deal completely and I lost everything. That way, the deal could stay in place, and I wouldn’t lose the money I invested. I could profit from something finally. I needed to ensure that the business deal would go ahead.”
“Smart.” Sonia nodded slowly as she stared at him. “You did have a very smart plan. I guess you even used Sylvester’s car, so that just in case anyone spotted you up here, the finger would be pointed at him. What I’m not sure about is, how did you get Malcolm to write that confession?”
“I didn’t. When I found him, he was pretty close to wanting to end things anyway. He’d lost his mother, and his father, and was suspected of committing his father’s murder. I convinced him that if he wrote the suicide note, I would fake his death, and he could go on to start a new life in a new place and leave all of the pain behind him. All I had to do was add a few words to make it a confession as well.” Geoff winced. “I really didn’t mean to ruin the kid’s life.”
“Wait a minute.” Nikki stepped closer to him. “Martha’s body hasn’t been found. No one knows for sure if she’s dead.”
“Oh, I do.” Geoff smiled sadly.
“You killed Martha, too?” Sonia gasped. “But why?”
“She started calling Daniel. She wanted to warn him about Malcolm knowing the truth, I guess. Anyway, I intercepted the calls. I went to visit her. She didn’t mention Malcolm, but said there was something very important that she needed to talk to Daniel about. I knew it was likely some kind of money grab. So, I arranged for an accident to happen. She was out for a hike one day, and she just happened to slip off the edge of the trail. I never expected that no one would find her.” Geoff shrugged. “But that really worked out in my favor, I suppose. Unfortunately, Daniel discovered one of her calls, and then he tried to make contact with her. He called her, sent her flowers on a couple of occasions. He got distracted by trying to contact her. So, you can imagine how panicked I was when Malcolm came looking for him. Unfortunately, Malcolm managed to contact Daniel before I intervened.” He sighed. “Really, I did all of this for Daniel.”
“No, you didn’t.” Sonia glared at him. “You didn’t do a single thing for Daniel. You did it for your own greed. You’re a cold-blooded killer, and you’re going to pay for what you’ve done.”
“Maybe.” Geoff smirked as he looked at her. “But not before I add two more bodies to my list of sins.” He glanced at his watch. “I came up here to burn the place down, just in case I left any trace of evidence here. It spooked me a bit when the police found that sap at the country club. I thought I had covered my tracks well. But I missed something. It must have gotten stuck to my shoe while I was visiting Malcolm. Anyway, I’m not going to make that mistake again. So, this place, has to go.” He raised an eyebrow as he gazed at them. “The only question is, will anyone know that you went with it?” He pulled a lighter out of his pocket, then twisted the lock on the door. In the same moment, he pulled out his gun and pointed it at Sonia. “Either of you move a muscle, and the other one dies.” He shook his head. “I’m sure that neither of you want to be responsible for that.” He kept the gun pointed at Sonia as he stepped out the door, then pulled the door closed behind him.
“We have to get out of here!” Nikki ran for the door and pulled at it, but it wouldn’t budge. “He’s got us trapped!” She ran towards the large window on the side wall just as the first flames began to leap around the front door.
“He must have lit it from the outside.” Sonia hurried over to Nikki. “Can you get the window open more?”
“No.” Nikki pried at it. “It’s stuck in this position. There’s not enough room to fit through.”
“Okay, we’ll break it.” Sonia pointed to the desk near the door. “Can we lift that? We can throw it through the window.”
“I think it’s going to be too heavy.” Nikki and Sonia tried to lift the desk, but it didn’t budge. “Let me try this chair.” Nikki grabbed a chair from against the back wall of the cabin and began to swing it at the window. The legs bounced off the glass, as the flames spread around the exterior of the building. “We’re not going to be able to get out through there now.” Nikki coughed as she backed away from the window. “Get low, Sonia, the smoke is getting thick.”
Sonia grabbed Nikki’s hand and pulled her down beside her.
“There has to be a way out of here.”
“I’m going to call for help.” Nikki pulled out her phone, but as she tried to dial, the call was rejected. “I don’t have any service. Do you?”
“My phone is in the car. Help won’t get here soon enough. This place is going to go up fast.” Sonia coughed.
“There’s another window, but it’s small. I don’t think either of us will be able to get through it.” Nikki ran her hand along the rear wall of the cabin. “Maybe we can find a way to get through the wall?”
“The wood is too thick.” Sonia shook her head. “And everything is covered with gas. We need to get away from the walls, they will burn so hot.” She led Nikki into the center of the cabin.
“There has to be a
way out.” Nikki did her best not to breathe in too much smoke as she peered through it. The front door was engulfed in flames. No one knew that they were there. The campground was empty. No one would notice the fire for some time. Far too late to save them. Her heart sank as she realized that this time, they really were trapped. She wasn’t going to be able to find a way to get out. Already her lungs burned from the smoke. Beyond the crackling of the flames, she heard a whimper, and a loud bark. “Spots!” Nikki gasped. “He’s still in the car.”
“I don’t think he can get out of the car. If he can get out I’m sure he’ll stay away from the fire.” Sonia hugged her. “Right now, we need to focus on getting us out of here.”
“Sonia, I’m sorry, but I don’t know how we can escape.” Nikki wiped at her eyes as tears slid down her cheeks, both from the hopelessness of the situation, and the smoke that made her eyes water.
“Now, now.” Sonia hugged her tighter. “There is never a good time to give up.”
Nikki’s heart pounded as she realized that Sonia was right. She couldn’t just sit there and wait for the smoke and the fire to overtake them. She had to do something, even if it was pointless.
Chapter 22
Nikki grabbed two cloths on a shelf beside the desk, then walked into the bathroom. Although there was no window, there was a sink. She turned on the water and soaked the cloths, then handed one to Sonia.
“Put this over your mouth and nose, maybe it will help.”
Nikki used the other cloth to cover her mouth and nose. As she searched through the bathroom for anything that might help, she wondered how long it would be before anyone even noticed the fire. She guessed that there was a good chance it could be hours.
“Maybe we should try to get through those flames.” Sonia looked at the front door. “It’s starting to fall apart. Maybe we can get through it.”
“I don’t think we can.” Nikki frowned. “I don’t think we would survive it.”