Fifteen minutes into her walk, a car slowed down behind her. Rachel’s heart sped up. She hadn’t anticipated being intercepted on her way. She’d intended to surprise Eldon and get him to talk. At gunpoint, if necessary.
Looking back, Rachel saw a white BMW pull off to the side of the road. She recognized the driver—Marcy—and went cold inside. The two-lane mountain highway was deserted. How had she found her here? What was she doing this far out of town?
Marcy rolled down the passenger window. “Hi, Rachel.”
“Marcy? Everyone’s been looking for you. Where have you been?” She pretended not to think much of the fact that Marcy was on this mountain road.
Marcy grimaced with a repenting smile. “Yeah, I know. I’ve been staying with Eldon. I was afraid how it would look once it got out that I was also seeing him. I’m on my way to his cabin now. Need a lift?”
Being afraid of exposure seemed like a lame excuse to Rachel. Her affairs weren’t really a secret. Rachel looked down the highway where the bus had long since vanished. She wished she’d have seen this coming—that Marcy would be with Eldon. It implicated them both. Marcy had last been seen with Jared and then she’d gone missing. Now here she was, on her way to Eldon’s remote cabin.
Rachel had been so convinced Jared had murdered Luella—up until his own murder. Eldon had been taken aback with the knowledge that Marcy had had an affair with Jared. He had seemed innocent. But he could have been acting. He and Marcy could have worked together all along, even during his affair with Luella. But why would both of them want to kill Jared?
Jared’s change of heart, of course. He’d gone against Eldon. Eldon was involved in the fraud as much as him. That had to be it. And Marcy had joined in on the crime. She liked money and men in power. Eldon must give her both.
“Are you all right?”
Rachel turned back to Marcy. If she declined her offer, what then? She could walk back to town. And lose this chance to free herself of menace?
“That’s where you’re headed, right?” Marcy asked. “To see Eldon? Not too many other places out here.”
“Yes,” Rachel said cheerily. As she moved toward the door, she opened her purse and took out her pistol as she sat on the passenger seat. “Take me to see Eldon.”
Marcy’s act of friendliness disappeared, her astonished eyes going from the gun to Rachel’s face. “What are you doing?”
“You can stop the act, Marcy. I know you’re working with Eldon.”
No longer taken by surprise, the real Marcy came out, shrewd and unafraid. “You’re making a big mistake.”
“I suppose I should thank you for stopping to offer me a lift,” Rachel said. “Now I know what I’m walking into.”
Marcy smirked at her.
“Drive.”
She did.
“Why’d you do it?” Rachel asked.
“Do what?”
“Was it Eldon’s charm? Did he need your help?” Clearly, he didn’t. Maybe he’d used Marcy. She’d thrown off Lucas. No one had looked at Eldon, only Jared and his involvement with Marcy. He’d known she would be the last person to see Jared alive. She’d look guilty.
“He’s using you,” Rachel said as the thought dawned on her.
“Hmph. You don’t know anything about me and my relationship with Eldon.”
“Did you help him kill Luella?”
“He didn’t need my help for that. And I was glad to have her out of the way. Eldon and I have been seeing each other ever since.”
“Along with all his other women?” Rachel supported the pistol on her forearm, putting on a facade of comfort and courage, both of which she wasn’t completely feeling right now.
“I see other men. Big deal. We aren’t monogamous.” Marcy lifted her hands from the wheel briefly and sounded annoyed.
“And that’s okay with you.” Rachel didn’t buy it for one minute.
“He gives me everything I want.”
“He’ll give you a prison term.”
“I haven’t done anything.”
“You were with Jared before he was killed. Police will think you murdered him once they realize you’re alive and well and you weren’t a victim along with him. Don’t you think Eldon planned it that way? He wasn’t anywhere near Jared when he disappeared.” Rachel paused for emphasis. “But you were, weren’t you?”
Marcy looked over at her, no longer shrewd.
“Is he the one who convinced you to go into hiding?”
Again, Marcy glanced over at her, somber now.
“You’re way out of your league,” Rachel said. “Eldon is smart. He’s thought all of this through. Now that Lucas is closing in, he’s getting scared. If I were you, I’d turn this car around and go tell the cops everything you know.”
Marcy laughed cynically. “It’s not that simple.”
“No?” She must have done her share of fraud right along with Jared and Eldon.
“No.” Marcy turned onto a narrow paved road.
Rachel’s heart began to slam. She fought the rising anxiety. She had to stay calm so she could think clearly.
“You’ll never get away with this,” Marcy said. “What do you hope to do?”
“Just park and get out slowly.”
Marcy parked in front of Eldon’s spacious log cabin. She opened her door, eyeing Rachel, who kept her pistol aimed at her as she climbed out after her. With her purse hooked diagonally from her shoulder, she grabbed Marcy’s arm and bent it behind her back, putting the pistol to her head.
Up the porch steps, Rachel said, “Open the door.”
Marcy did. Rachel followed her inside, searching for signs of Eldon. The house was quiet. Too quiet. A single light illuminated the Western-style great room with towering stone fireplace and vaulted ceiling.
“Go to the phone.” Rachel nudged Marcy toward the phone on a stand between the marble and stainless-steel kitchen and great room. “Pick it up and dial 911.”
Marcy picked up the phone and held it to her ear. “It’s dead.”
Fear that Rachel could not subdue nearly took over her mind. Releasing Marcy’s arm, she kept the gun to her head and took the phone from her, pressing the call button and listening. No dial tone.
Eldon had seen them arrive and had taken the precaution. Where was he? Just as she was about to turn to look, she felt a gun against her own head.
“Hello, Rachel.”
* * *
Going to HealthFirst led to news of Rachel’s whereabouts—and more. Lucas had gone to talk to Eldon, only to learn from his secretary that a woman Jared had double-crossed had followed Rachel out the front entrance. And she knew said stranger.
Rachel didn’t have a car, so she must have walked to the nearest bus stop. A talk with the driver and Lucas had a scent. The driver said she got off at the last stop alone, and Eldon’s secretary had informed him Rachel had been looking for Eldon and that Eldon was at his cabin in the mountains. The bus’s route ended in the mountains.
If Lucas comes looking for me, tell him to go to Jared’s house...
She must have discovered something. And she’d gone to try to redeem herself. Alone. Whatever she’d found must involve Eldon. Lucas had to find out what before he went after her. Going in blind would do neither of them any good.
Damn her. Why’d she have to leave him? Luckily, Jared’s house was on the way to the mountains. Just a stroll through the house and he found what she’d left for him. Pictures, lined up on the floor. They had not been there when the forensics team had processed the house. Rachel had left them on the floor on purpose.
What he saw turned him to stone. Luella. Eldon.
Eldon.
He couldn’t picture his sister with a man like him, even before he’d begun to suspect him, Eldon wasn’t
the kind of man he’d have paired with his sister. Jared had a cutting edge, a drive, a charisma. Eldon...well, maybe Eldon had hidden his edge, and Luella hadn’t seen the lethal side.
He took out his phone for the umpteenth time, then put it back into his pocket. Rachel didn’t have a cell phone. If she was in trouble, she wouldn’t be able to call him. She wouldn’t be able to anyway, in the mountains. With an increasingly sick feeling, he left the house in an urgent hurry to get to her. But he had to remain calm and think like a detective. One piece of this puzzle bothered him. Marcy.
* * *
The sun lit up a bright blue sky but did nothing to chase the cold away. Lucas spotted a young woman outside an old Volkswagen, bundled up in a heavy jacket, gloves and beanie hat. That car probably never got warm and it had broken down on the side of the highway. He couldn’t leave her there. Despite his urgency to reach Rachel, he stopped and parked behind the car.
The woman looked wary as he got out.
“I ran out of gas,” she said.
Walking up to the car, he saw a baby in the backseat. He thought of Rachel. Was she pregnant? He imagined her struggling the same as this woman, and felt his first sting of contrition. He’d treated her terribly when she’d dropped her bit of news, which may not be news at all. She didn’t know for certain. He should have believed her.
“There’s a gas station up the road. I’ll drop you there,” he said. She looked from her baby to him.
“I’m a private investigator. I used to be a cop.” Taking out his driver’s license, he showed her and handed her a business card with his name.
She read the card and compared it to his license. Then she smiled. “Thanks. You can never be too sure these days.”
He didn’t see a ring on her finger. Single mother. Obviously she didn’t have a lot of money and the father wasn’t helping.
He waited for her to gather her things and the baby, then drove her the short distance to the gas station. All the while he kept thinking of Rachel.
Stopping at the gas station, the woman got out and reached for her sleeping baby. The sweet, innocent face melted Lucas. He couldn’t leave this woman to fend for herself.
“Wait.”
She paused and looked up at him.
“I couldn’t help noticing your car.”
A crease formed between her eyebrows. “What’s wrong with my car?”
“Nothing, if you live in Florida.” He chuckled. He got out and went to the back of his SUV, where he’d put his duffel bag. He kept a lot of cash there while he worked to solve his sister’s murder. He had several charities, but this would be delivered by him in person. He took out enough to buy a decent car and walked around the vehicle to the woman. He handed her the cash.
“For a warmer car,” he said. “And to get you and your baby home.”
She took the cash, dumbfounded.
Lucas looked down at the baby, who’d begun to stir, her young blue eyes opening to see him. An electric bolt of affection speared him. The baby girl grunted and gave him a toothless smile with bobbing hands.
“How old?”
The woman smiled, beaming love even in the wake of receiving a windfall such as he’d just given her. “Ten months.”
He again thought of Rachel. She may have one of those soon. His baby. And he’d better be on his way to save them both, if saving was what they needed.
“I don’t know how to thank you, Mr. Curran.”
“No need. Your baby’s done enough.” Just the sight of such innocence, a pure and stunning glimpse into God’s love energy, snapped him back into focus. Focus he hadn’t had since before his ex had revealed her lie.
The woman smiled bigger. “They have a way of doing that.” She rocked her baby in the carrier. “It’s a true wonder.” She observed him a moment longer. “May your life be full of joy.” With that, she turned and headed for the gas station.
As he watched her go, his cell phone rang. Close to the highway, he had service. He headed for the driver’s side of the SUV and answered the call.
“Curran.”
“Lucas Curran,” a man’s voice said. “Of the infamous Dark Alley investigators.”
“Who is this?” The voice was familiar.
“You should never let those you care about out of your sight when you’re hunting down a criminal.”
“Eldon.”
“Someone has something to say to you.” Eldon didn’t hesitate. He’d fully expected Lucas to figure out who had called.
That almost frightened Lucas. Smart killers planned that way. They stayed a step ahead of investigators. They taunted. They played.
But they always made one mistake. They underestimated the tenacity and intelligence of their opponent. They underestimated the law.
Fast breathing came onto the line. “I’m sorry, Lucas.”
Rachel.
The punch in his gut threw him. “Rachel.”
“I’m all right. I can handle th—”
The phone must have been taken from her.
“I’d like to have a word with you,” Eldon said. “Why don’t you meet me?”
Lucas didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. Rachel. She’d been captured by Luella’s killer. Eldon had played his role well. Smart killer.
“I presume by now you know where to find me?”
Lucas had captured plenty of smart killers before. “Yes. Just tell me the mile marker. I’m down the road.”
That caused Eldon some hesitation. He hadn’t expected Lucas to be so close, so soon.
“It’s not too late to make a deal, Eldon.” Lucas capitalized on this opportunity of weakness. “Turn yourself in and I can arrange to have your sentence reduced.”
Eldon laughed, but it was forced and too robust. Nervous. “If you want your girlfriend to live, be here in one hour.”
“I can be there in ten minutes. Weren’t you listening?”
“One hour. Not before.” He told him the mile marker.
“Eldon?” Lucas said before he could disconnect.
“Yes, Mr. Curran?” he said with sarcasm.
“You’re not smarter.” Lucas disconnected.
The weaker he could make Eldon, the better. Eldon’s lack of confidence would work to his advantage. But he’d have an hour to build it back up...and hurt Rachel.
No way would Lucas wait that long.
He got into his SUV and started the engine. Eldon would kill them both if he had his way.
He raced up the highway, a fire lit in him like never before...and plaguing thoughts of that baby he’d seen...and Rachel’s news.
Chapter 15
“You should have kept quiet.” Marcy set down a plate of food and a glass of water on the end of the twin bed where Rachel sat.
Eldon had locked her in a bedroom he’d modified into a prison cell. The window was boarded and the lock on the door one-sided—the wrong side requiring a key. The twin bed was the only furnishing in the room, and Eldon had made her remove her shoes—a deterrent in case she got out of the room and decided to make a run for it outside in the cold. He’d left her socks, though. And her purse. Once he’d had her gun, she hadn’t posed a threat. She’d tucked that under the bed and searched the room for a weapon. The clothes rod in the closet offered the only option. One side missed a screw and the others looked loose. As soon as she got rid of Marcy, she’d get to work.
“You know a lot about what Eldon has done,” Rachel said, eyeing the plate of mashed potatoes and some kind of meat smothered in light gravy.
“We’re in love. Once you and that pest of an investigator are out of the picture, we can go back to our lives.” Marcy smiled with overconfidence, not in a way a woman truly in love would.
“You think it will be that simple? That once you
get rid of me and Lucas, the law will stop tracking you?” She would not eat that food. She’d get out of there first.
Marcy remained in her delusional world, an innocent pawn who wouldn’t be viewed very innocent in court, brow raised, lids low, wistful. “Eldon says the cops will never catch him.”
“Lucas will,” Rachel said. The truth of that resonated inside her. Lucas. Her hero. Father of her baby...
She had to protect her future. But first she had to work on taking Marcy down.
“Lucas is one man,” Marcy said, her brow lowering with the insult.
“Navy SEAL. LAPD Narcotics cop. Top detective for Dark Alley Investigations. Handpicked by Kadin Tandy?”
Marcy leaned back, folding her arms and regarding Rachel as though deciding how she’d punish her.
Footsteps behind her interrupted and ruined Rachel’s chance to escape. Eldon looked at Marcy.
“Go watch for our new visitor,” he said, cupping her chin and kissing her.
While Rachel’s stomach turned in disgust, Marcy glowed from the scrap of attention.
Eldon faced Rachel, his expression changing from false attraction to hard menace. He cupped her chin, much the same as he’d done with Marcy. She refrained from showing her revulsion.
“I always wondered what you saw in Jared,” he said with chilling, psychotic sophistication. “He was such a follower. All I ever had to do was suggest something and he’d do it, so desperate to be like me. Successful. Wealthy. He was easy to manipulate.”
Rachel heard his deepening voice, and it reminded her of the threatening calls. He’d muffled his voice so she wouldn’t recognize him and had paid thugs to frighten her. Then he’d driven one of Jared’s cars when he’d shot her.
“Were you trying to manipulate him?” she asked.
“No. Only coerce him to do what I wanted.”
Justice Hunter Page 20