Random Acts of Iniquity

by Christy Barritt

  On the side of the screen, an arm stretched forward holding a gun that was aimed at his head.

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later, Chase and I were on the road. He still wasn’t happy, and I couldn’t blame him.

  Truth be told, I wasn’t happy either. But what choice did I have? I couldn’t let Drew suffer and die.

  The good news was that I had a bullet-proof vest on beneath my shirt, as did Chase. My earrings contained trackers. A microphone had been attached beneath Chase’s shirt. The police should be monitoring everything we were doing.

  There were several cars following us. Others meeting us there. But we couldn’t let the fact that they were there be known.

  Everything was risky. Then, again, so was life.

  “I don’t like this,” Chase muttered as we pulled into the neighborhood in his car. The same neighborhood where I’d been abducted but a different house. Officers had checked many of these homes, but they hadn’t been able to get into them all. They hadn’t had enough time.

  “I don’t either,” I told him, trying to hide my anxiety.

  “If anything happens to you . . .” His voice caught and he touched his neck, his entire body looking tense.

  “You’ll be there to protect me.”

  He glanced at me. The heaviness in his gaze made it clear how much pressure he felt. “But what if I can’t?”

  “Even if you can’t, it will be okay. I’d rather die doing the right thing than to live with myself knowing I could have done better.” I didn’t say the words lightly, but I meant them with all my being.

  His fingers skimmed across my face before tangling in my hair. “You’re one in a million, Holly.”

  “I think you’re pretty great too.”

  “If we don’t get out of this—”

  My throat tightened. “Don’t talk like that.”

  “No, I want to say this. If we don’t get out of this, I want you to know that you’re the best thing that ever happened to me. You’ve made my life better and complete. Thank you.”

  “Oh, Chase . . .” My heart squeezed with emotion as I stared at his face. At his tousled blond hair. The depths of his blue eyes. The perfect lines of his jaw. They were perfect to me, at least. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” He quickly kissed me before glancing at the house in the distance. “You’re absolutely sure you want to do this?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I am.”

  He turned the car off and stepped out. He took my hand as we walked toward the front door. I had no idea what we were going to face inside. I had no idea if I would make it out alive.

  But I knew I was doing the right thing, despite the tremble of fear that started down deep inside me.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  We stepped into the house. The front door was unlocked, just like we’d been told.

  I glanced around, hardly able to breathe. This house appeared to have the same layout as the one I’d been held captive in. To my right, there was a dining room. Farther down, on the left, was the hallway leading to the bedrooms. Straight ahead we’d run into the kitchen and living room.

  Unlike the last house, this one wasn’t decorated. There was no furniture or anything on the walls. Wood floors were beneath our feet, and the walls had been painted a calming gray.

  It was also suspiciously quiet inside.

  “Hello?” Chase called.

  No one answered.

  He pushed himself in front of me and crept forward. Forward. Forward.

  I expected a jump scare. A figure to appear from the shadows. I halfway even expected another bomb. But there was nothing.

  Finally, we paused in an empty kitchen.

  There was no sign of Drew, and no sign that he’d ever been here even.

  A shudder raked through me. Had this been a trap? A distraction? I had no idea.

  “There’s a note.” Chase strode across the room and picked up a paper from the kitchen counter. “It says we’re to go out the back door and into the house behind this one.”

  “Chase—” Panic raced through me. This wasn’t part of the plan.

  He turned toward me and said, “We’ve got this, Holly.”

  I swallowed hard, wishing I felt as certain. It didn’t matter. What choice did we have but to obey? Especially when I remembered the look in Drew’s eyes in that video.

  Besides, the police were tracking us.

  With trepidation, we stepped out the back door. I glanced around. From where we stood now, I doubted anyone could see us. I certainly couldn’t see them. The house perfectly concealed us.

  We had to be careful what we said also because we had no idea what was being monitored by the person behind this ordeal. Cameras and microphones could be set up, for all we knew. We couldn’t risk giving anything away.

  Slowly, we walked across the lawn to the house located directly behind it. As we reached the back door, I glanced behind me one more time.

  I still couldn’t see the front yard. Couldn’t get a glimpse of anyone who might be monitoring us.

  That was exactly what this person wanted, wasn’t it?

  He’d suspected people would be watching us, and he’d had a backup plan. He’d thought of everything.

  My stomach churned at the thought of it.

  Chase and I stepped through the unlocked back door of the house and into the living room. I knew that, just as in the other homes, there were built-ins on two walls. Exquisite craftsmanship adorned the crown molding and the columns that separated this space from the kitchen.

  But I hardly looked at those things now. I hardly noticed the two blue couches there. The woven rug resting on the floor.

  All I could see was Drew sitting in front of us. His hands and feet were bound, and a gag stretched over his mouth.

  I sucked in a deep breath, wanting to rush toward him and help.

  But I knew that would be too easy. We had to proceed with caution.

  As soon as the door closed behind us, someone stepped out, gun in hand.

  But it wasn’t a man.

  It was a woman wearing a doll mask with a sickly plastic grin.

  A woman?

  What?

  Just who else was involved with this?

  * * *

  “You two, sit.” The woman pointed her gun at the second couch, one that was set up at a right angle to the one where Drew sat.

  Chase raised his hands and kept his voice placid as he said, “We’re going. Don’t do anything drastic.”

  “I’ll judge what’s drastic.” Her growling voice contradicted her smiling mask and made everything feel even more disturbing.

  Chase and I sat on the couch, just as we were told. My feet nudged the rug in front of me, and I wanted nothing more than to put a nonslip pad beneath it.

  Really, Holly? That’s what you think about right now?

  I knew the thought was just a result of the anxiety that gripped me.

  I glanced at Drew. His eyes were wide. His skin was pale. Blood trickled from a scrape at his temple.

  But, overall, he looked okay. I prayed he would stay that way. Please, Lord.

  “You have no idea who I am, do you?” The woman strode in front of us, her brown eyes barely visible because of the mask.

  “Should we know?” My voice came out as a croak as I stared up at her.

  She let out a laugh, the gun still firmly in her hands. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t. Detective Dexter should, though. Then again, all he’s been concerned about for all these years is his brother.”

  Chase’s gaze nearly burned into hers. “Did you know my brother?”

  “As a matter of fact, I did. I worked with Hayden at Axon.” Though we couldn’t see her face, I could hear the pleasure in her voice. It rang out loud and clear.

  Chase sucked in a quick breath but still remained calm. “Did you?”

  “Something else you probably don’t know is this—it’s your fault my boyfriend is dead. You set all of this in motion when
you didn’t mind your own business. And then your little girlfriend started digging into my company. The two of you are nothing but trouble. But I’m going to take care of that.”

  Chase stared at her, a knot of confusion between his eyebrows. “Who was your boyfriend?”

  “Hugo Miller.”

  “Hugo was your boyfriend?” Chase repeated, disbelief stretching through his voice.

  I didn’t think either of us had seen that one coming.

  But, suddenly, things made more sense. If this woman in some way attributed Hugo’s death to Chase, then she had a personal reason to hate Chase, to have a vendetta against him. In her mind, Chase had killed the man she’d loved. Now, she wanted to torture me in return, because, apparently, she thought Chase loved me.

  Now, I knew he did. But when all of this had started, we weren’t dating.

  The thing was . . . Chase had never met Hugo, had he? His name had only come out in a conversation once, from what I recalled.

  “Hugo only killed Hayden because I asked him to. But Hayden owed some guys some money—some druggies.” She sounded like even saying the word disgusted her. “They thought Hugo might have the money and came after him. Killed him. I had to bury his body myself so the police wouldn’t find it.”

  “Why didn’t you want the police to find it?” I asked, still unclear how any of this was Chase’s fault.

  “If the police discovered Hugo’s body, the evidence could lead back to me. I couldn’t let that happen.”

  “I don’t understand.” Chase remained wedged in front of me, his body tense and on alert. “How is that my fault? I didn’t kill Hugo. I didn’t even talk to him. Believe me, I wanted to.”

  “You put out a lead to those guys.” Her eyes narrowed with disgust. “About eight months ago, you tracked down one of the dealers Hayden worked with and asked him if he’d heard of a guy named Hugo. They used their connections on the street to track my boyfriend down. They don’t easily forget a 300K debt.”

  “So all of this is about revenge?” Chase bristled as the words left his lips.

  “That’s right. It’s about watching the people we love suffer.” She jerked Drew from his seat and put the gun to his head.

  Drew let out a moan, and his eyes widened with fear.

  My heart pounded in my throat as I watched the scene playing out.

  “I’m going to make both of you watch Drew die, and then I’ll kill Holly,” the woman said. “And you’re going to have a front row seat for it all, Chase. So buckle up for the ride.”

  Sweat sprinkled across my skin. This couldn’t be happening. And where was backup? Couldn’t they hear what had transpired?

  “They won’t find you here for a while.” She seemed to read my thoughts. “I scrambled the signals and sent them on a bit of a wild goose chase. All your buddies are headed to the other side of the neighborhood now. They think you walked there and cut through some lawns. Yes, I am a genius. And I did set up some surprises for them when they go inside.”

  Chase’s nostrils flared. “Who are you?”

  “You really don’t know still?” More satisfaction rang out in the woman’s voice. The next instant, she pulled off her mask.

  Olivia stood there.

  Olivia, the woman my brother was dating. My heart pounded in my ears.

  She’d never cared about Ralph, had she? Their relationship was just a scheme to get to me and maybe Chase. She’d been able to keep an eye on this whole situation after I’d escaped.

  I had to give both Olivia and Lars kudos. They’d thought everything through. They were brilliant and skilled.

  But they were also evil. So, so evil that a knot formed in my chest.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “Why would you pull my brother into this?” I asked, my hands clenched at my sides. “And Drew? They have nothing to do with this vendetta you have.”

  Olivia shrugged. “Because everything feels personal to me. Because you started getting too close to answers, Holly Anna, and I knew I had to stop you. I’d been itching to get some revenge on Chase Dexter for quite a while. Now is the time.”

  “You’re despicable. . .” I muttered.

  “I can’t tell you how much satisfaction I felt as I watched your face that night at your house as the Doll Man showed up on your TV screen.” Olivia flashed a smile. “Watching everything play out was so satisfying.”

  More anger built up inside me, but Chase nudged me back down. His touch reminded me to keep my cool. It would go a lot further in this situation than losing it.

  Chase turned to Olivia. “You don’t have to do this.”

  “Yes, I do. I have all the money in the world, and you know what? It means nothing without my love by my side. You took that from me, Chase Dexter. You and no one else.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” Chase said. “But I didn’t do anything to Hugo. I never even saw him.”

  “Hugo would still be alive right now if you’d just left it alone.” Olivia’s voice rose. “I didn’t even know Hayden had a brother. How does that make you feel? You cared so much about him, but he didn’t even bother to mention you.”

  Chase’s cheeks reddened. “We didn’t know about each other until a year before Hayden died, but I had hoped that we could get to know each other more. Why did you have him killed?”

  Olivia took a step back, but her intense gaze showed she wasn’t easing up. She still had her gun—and probably some other tricks up her sleeve. “Hayden had a change of heart. He discovered what we were doing, and we couldn’t buy him off. He was going to go to the police. We couldn’t let him do that. So we had to set it up to look like a mugging. We had to protect what we were doing.”

  “What you were doing was blackmailing innocent people and getting their money,” Chase said.

  “There was nothing innocent about these people,” Olivia seethed. “They were doing evil things. Really evil things, and they needed to be exposed.”

  “But that wasn’t your end goal,” I muttered, trying to unscramble her supposed motives from the truth. “Your end goal was to get money from them. You can’t even make it sound like you were doing this for righteous reasons.”

  “They needed to learn their lessons.”

  “So you started your own business to use as a front. After Axon shut down, you’ve started other cover organizations—including your current ‘grant writing business.’ Correct?” I asked.

  How had I not seen it? Olivia had all the traits we’d been looking for in the person who was responsible for this. The way she and Ralph kept showing up together . . . I’d thought it was sweet. Now I knew it was anything but.

  And Ralph was going to be heartbroken when he found out the truth.

  “That’s right,” Olivia said. “My brother and I are excellent at developing covers. We haven’t been caught until now—and this isn’t going to stop us.”

  “Your brother?” I said. “Lars is your brother?”

  Now that she said it, everything made sense.

  Olivia smiled again. “We were both blessed with brilliant and devious minds. What can I say? And as you can see, this got personal for me.”

  She squeezed Drew’s arm and rammed the gun into his temple until he groaned. I started to lunge forward, but Chase nudged me back down.

  “Now, let’s get this taken care of,” Olivia growled. “What you don’t know is the bigger plan I have here.”

  “The bigger plan?” I asked. Fear trickled down my spine. This woman’s mind . . . I couldn’t even fathom what she might be thinking.

  Olivia grinned. “That’s right. I was able to manipulate some videos, as well as set up some fake information in your bank and email accounts. I’m rather pleased with myself at the final results.”

  “What did you do, Olivia?” I asked, almost not wanting to know. But I had to know.

  “I’ve set everything up to make it look like you and Chase killed Drew before turning on each other. It’s really quite wonderful. The video footage
is a work of art, if I do say so myself.”

  “No one will believe that,” Chase said.

  Olivia flashed a smile. “People will believe anything. All they have to do is see a video online. This will work.”

  “What about everything that happened up until this?” I asked, buying time. “How will you explain it?”

  “The emails will answer it all. They show the two of you scheming this from the start. The love triangle gone bad. It’s going to work.” She scowled. “Now, let’s get this over with.”

  * * *

  I stared at Olivia’s gun, unsure what to do.

  I felt helpless to stop anything from happening. As much as I wanted to doubt she could have developed a high-quality video that would fool the police, another part of me didn’t doubt it at all. This woman knew what she was doing.

  She’d known we would arrest Dahlman. She’d used that distraction to abduct Drew. To lure us here.

  I was sure she had another plan for getting her brother out of jail.

  Olivia appeared to be ready to pull that trigger any time now.

  My eyes locked with Drew’s. I saw the fear in his gaze.

  She was crazy enough to actually do this. I had no doubt about that.

  “Olivia, we should talk this through,” Chase said.

  “There’s nothing to talk about. Like I said, the plan has already been set in motion. The world will think you’re both evil. Lars and I are going to get away scot-free. That’s all there is to it. We’ll both become ghosts in the night, and no one will find us.”

  “What about Kari? How does she tie into all of this?” I asked, still unsure about that aspect.

  “We found your relationship with her extremely interesting and knew her involvement would throw you off our trail. So we used that to our advantage. She had nothing to offer us monetarily speaking, but the emotional punch of her possible involvement was satisfying enough.”

  “Something is wrong with you,” I muttered. I couldn’t even begin to fathom just what was going through this woman’s head.