by Debra Webb
Devon studied the image, then shook his head. “I don’t, no. Who is he?”
“This is the missing driver,” Corwin explained. “The one who picked Maynard up from her street corner and drove her to meet the person who paid her to pretend to be your wife.”
Devon nodded. “I see. Did you find him?”
Hodge laughed. “Oh, we found him all right. He took a bullet right through the eye.” He tapped his left eye. “It was a .32. Just like the one that killed the mechanic found in the trunk of the Lexus Maynard was driving.”
Another murder. Devon’s chest felt tight with the weight of yet another death. “Do you know if it was the same weapon?”
“We’re checking that now,” Hodge explained. “We might not know until tomorrow, but we believe that will be the case.”
Richard Sutter had a couple of weapons but Devon had no idea the caliber. It wasn’t something they ever really discussed, but at some point during all the years they had known each other, the subject of weapons had come up. Richard had mentioned having one in his nightstand. He also remembered Richard mentioning that Mariah and some of her friends were taking a weapons training class. Mariah had wanted Cara to attend as well.
The urge to call Bella with this news was nearly overwhelming. She should know about this. She was watching Mariah.
He checked the time again. Something was wrong. He should have heard from her by now.
“Maynard says the driver was her boyfriend. He was the one who made the deal with the person who set all this in motion,” Corwin explained. “She said that she made up the other statement because she was trying to protect her boyfriend. But now that he’s dead, she spilled her guts.”
“You found him first and used that to get her to talk,” Devon suggested. How long had these two known about the dead driver? Or Maynard’s new statement? Long enough to be running ballistics on the bullet that killed the man. Fury tightened in Devon’s gut.
“Does Maynard know the person who hired her?”
Corwin shook his head. “She doesn’t but she does know it was a woman.”
That bad feeling he’d been ignoring swelled inside him. “This person—this woman—hasn’t left any evidence? A fingerprint? A hair? Anything?”
“Not that we’ve found so far,” Hodge said, scanning another report.
“Is there a woman in your history,” Corwin asked, “who might want revenge for some reason?”
The name burgeoned in his throat. He opened his mouth, ready to tell them all that he suspected regarding Mariah Sutter, but his cell vibrated.
He snatched it from his pocket and took the call without checking the screen. “Yes.”
“This is Traynor.”
Devon kept his attention on the two detectives. “I’m glad you called. Is everything in order?”
“Your ex-partner Richard Sutter is dead.”
Devon stood, uncertainty raging through him. “What about Bella?”
“Her car is here at the cottage in Ottawa.” Traynor hesitated a moment. “Her weapon is here, but she isn’t.”
“Thank you.” Devon struggled to keep the fury and the fear twisting inside him from making an appearance. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Devon ended the call and slid the phone back into his pocket, his movements as calm and relaxed as he could manage. “I have an emergency, gentlemen. I hope you’ll keep me updated on your progress.”
“Count on it.” Corwin stood. “I kind of miss your lady friend. Where’d you say she was off to?”
“She’s following up on an old friend of my late wife’s.”
Devon moved toward the door, the blood pounding in his ears.
“Be careful the secrets you keep, Dr. Pierce,” Corwin called after him. “They can get people killed.”
Chapter Fourteen
Devon made it outside without breaking into a run. He found Frasier’s car and dropped behind the steering wheel. He dug for his cell, selected the contact for Mariah and then started the car.
He had merged into traffic by the time she answered. That she answered at all startled him.
“I wondered how long it would take you to call, Devon.”
A searing anger blazed through him, banishing the shock. He fought hard to muster a reasonably calm voice. “What the hell are you doing, Mariah? Richard is dead. Where are you?”
Deep breath. Don’t let her hear your fear.
“What? You’re not even going to ask about your new friend? I saw the way you looked at her when the two of you visited my home that first time. I knew then that she was part of this, too.”
A thread of sheer panic rushed through his veins. He had no idea where to go. Traynor was at the cottage. Bella wasn’t there. Where would Mariah take her?
“Let’s talk about this, Mariah. Tell me where to meet you. We’ll work out whatever the problem is together. I’m prepared to do whatever you say.”
His tone sounded reasonable, calm, though every muscle and nerve in his body strummed with bone-shattering tension.
“We’re waiting for you at your home, Devon. Now, be very smart, old friend. Come alone. No police. We can settle this among ourselves, I believe. But if you force my hand, your sweet little friend will have to join Richard in hell. We both know you don’t want that.”
The call ended.
Devon took a breath and drove to a less busy area of the city to determine if the police were following him. He had a feeling that was the reason for the visit to the station. Otherwise the detectives could certainly have continued to interrogate him at his office. Obviously they had wanted to set up a situation and then watch his reaction. Then all they had to do was follow close behind him.
He executed a couple of turns to take him into a less traffic-heavy area. After a couple more turns, he spotted the dark sedan making all the same maneuvers. This was one time he would have preferred to be wrong.
Devon couldn’t remember the last time he’d attempted to outmaneuver or outrun another vehicle. Perhaps when he was a teenager. He supposed it was never too late to determine if he possessed the necessary skills. One rapid-fire turn after the other, first right, then left, then right again, and he accelerated past a garbage truck and then veered down an alley on the left.
From there, he retraced his route via a couple of different streets and headed for the one that would take him to I-90. If he pushed the speed limit as far as he dared and still avoided being pulled over, he could make it to his house in fifty minutes.
At the next required stop, he sought and found the number for the Colby Agency. When the receptionist had transferred his call to Victoria, he explained the situation. The step was the only one he felt fully confident in taking.
“First,” Victoria said, “slow down. I don’t want you arriving at your home until I have people on-site.”
“She warned me to come alone,” he reminded his old friend. “I will not risk Bella’s life by going against Mariah’s demands.”
“Traynor and McAllister know what they’re doing, Devon,” Victoria reminded him. “Sutter will not be aware they are there until they’re ready for her to know.”
Devon ordered his heart rate to slow. He drew in a slow, deep breath. “All right. Tell me what to do.”
“I’ll give you the heads-up when Traynor and McAllister are in place. Then you’ll go to the house exactly as Sutter requested. Try to engage her with dialogue. People who do this have something to say. Listen. Be sympathetic. But be careful not to sound patronizing. She needs to see and feel your fear. This is real, and if she suspects that you’re not worried or afraid, she’ll know she’s been set up.”
“Very well. I’ll drive the speed limit and wait for your call.”
“We’ve got this, Devon. Keep in mind that Bella is a highly trained former detective. She knows how to take car
e of herself.”
Devon thanked Victoria and focused on driving.
Victoria was right. Bella was more than capable. But that didn’t make him feel any better about the situation. There were so many things he wanted to learn about her. For the first time in years, he wanted to feel something more than mere respect and compassion for another human being. He wanted a relationship with Bella.
He wanted to share a life with her for however long she would have him. He wanted to make her his.
Devon laughed out loud at the preposterous thought. Bella would be the first to tell him that she belonged to no one but herself. Whatever relationship they were able to build together, it would be one of mutual respect and admiration. Perhaps not completely. He wasn’t sure she could ever feel the same fierce need for him that he felt for her. It was too early to label his feelings precisely, but they were strong.
For now, he wanted the opportunity to explore those feelings and every part of this fascinating woman.
If she was willing.
He refused to consider that one or both of them might die today.
Arbor Drive, Lake Bluff, 5:30 p.m.
BELLA’S EYES FLUTTERED OPEN. A distant ache throbbed in the back of her head. There was something she needed to remember.
Something she needed to do...
Mariah. Mariah Sutter.
Bella willed her body to sit up. The room spun and her stomach churned as if she might vomit. She scrubbed her hand across her face. Her body felt as if it belonged to someone else. What the hell was wrong with her?
She tried to clear her throat...tried to swallow. Her mouth felt dry.
Where was she? She looked around. Not the cottage. She blinked until her eyes focused on the fireplace across the room.
Devon’s house.
“You’re awake. Good.”
Bella jerked at the sound of Mariah’s voice. The throb in her head deepened and she felt ready to pass out again. As if she were watching for someone, Mariah stood by the window at the end of the room that faced the front of the property.
I need the new security code.
Bella vaguely remembered hearing the question over and over. Had she given Mariah the code? She must have. Devon had changed it after his house manager’s murder. Mariah couldn’t have known it otherwise. Now she remembered. The blow to her head had rattled her. She probably had a concussion considering she’d been unconscious for a bit. Mariah had disarmed her, roused her and forced her into the car she’d been driving.
Richard was dead.
Mariah had killed him.
The bitter taste in Bella’s mouth made her want to gag. She suppressed the reflex. Mariah had given her something. A drug.
She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. The pain in her skull throbbed.
“Don’t worry. I didn’t give you very much. It should be almost worn off by now.” Mariah strolled toward the sofa Bella had been lying on. “Liquid morphine. The pills weren’t really working for me. The doctors want me to be comfortable at this stage. The past couple of days have been hell. I didn’t expect the pain to become so bad so quickly.”
Bella licked her lips. “You’re dying,” she guessed.
A weary sigh echoed from the other woman. “That’s what they tell me. Frankly, until a couple of days ago, I secretly hoped they’d made a mistake. The pain is no fun, but the disease hasn’t really slowed me down until lately. I swear to God, when that fool Harper tried to kill me with her damned butcher knife, I thought she might succeed. All I needed was the key and the security code to the house. Who knew she would go shopping without her list and have to come back for it. I didn’t want to kill her but she left me no choice.”
“Why did you do any of this?” Bella asked. The longer she could keep the woman talking and distracted, the more time she would have for shaking the effects of the drug.
“They stole everything from me,” she said without hesitation. “Richard took my youth. Refused to have children. And then he had the audacity to try to seduce Cara. She came to me and cried. She was so certain it was her fault. We ended up crying together. One thing turned into another, and the next thing we knew, we were making love.” She walked back to the window and stared out. “I have never loved anyone the way I loved Cara. We had everything planned. Then Richard got sick and we agreed that I should see him through that hard time.” She shook her head. “That was our mistake. If we’d walked out as planned, we would have had all this time together.”
Bella used the arm of the sofa and pulled to her feet. She swayed.
“When he was finally back on his feet again, Cara and I resumed our plans. Everything was arranged. She wanted to get away from Chicago for a week or so after breaking the news to Devon. I was to join her in New York after he left. Only none of that ever happened. First, Richard found out and went ballistic. He made all sorts of threats, but we got through that one. Then there was the accident.” Her voice drifted off.
“But you stayed with Richard anyway,” Bella said, braced against the end of the sofa. She wasn’t quite steady enough to trust herself to rush across the room and tackle the woman. Hopefully she would get there soon.
Was Mariah armed? She no doubt had Bella’s weapon.
“I was too devastated to do anything else,” Mariah went on, seeming to talk more to herself than to Bella. “I couldn’t sleep or eat. It was as if my life had ended, too. Really, I suppose it had. The only difference was that I was still breathing. Richard and Devon started to have trouble and suddenly Richard was determined to destroy Devon’s career. For a time, that was enough. Then last year, I received my own death sentence. Lung cancer. The worst kind. Something snapped inside me.” She shrugged, her expression distant. “I realized that men like Richard and Devon had stolen the past as well as the future I deserved—that Cara and I deserved. And I was furious.”
She stared out the window again and Bella tested her legs once more. One slow step at a time, she moved to the other sofa, just ten or so feet, but it was something. She leaned against it as she had the other sofa.
“It must have taken a great deal of planning to set up such an elaborate plan.” Bella needed her talking again. “Why not just kill him? It would have been so much easier.”
“Because killing him wasn’t enough!” Mariah said, her voice vibrating with emotion. “You can’t imagine. Within days of learning I was dying, I started to plan. Before I killed either one of them, I wanted to make Devon suffer. To question his own sanity. And if nasty rumors about him started circulating and ruined his hospital—his baby—even better.”
“Using the Cara look-alike was ingenious,” Bella offered. “But did you have to kill the driver and the mechanic?”
“Men are so stupid.” Mariah reached beneath her jacket and withdrew a .32. “The mechanic tried to back out on me after I’d paid him so handsomely. The driver, as it turns out, was Maynard’s pimp boyfriend and he tried to demand more money.” She laughed. “Killing them was practice. I’d never murdered anyone before. I wanted to make sure I could do it. A dress rehearsal.”
“I guess Unger was lucky, then, since he survived.” Bella’s head had stopped spinning. The pain was worse but at least she could think clearly and stand upright without swaying.
“I had every intention of killing the little bastard. I caught him in my house. He was trying to find evidence of what I was up to for Richard. Richard had his suspicions but he couldn’t prove a damned thing. The only thing he could do was stay hidden so I wouldn’t kill him first. Coward.”
“So now you’re going to kill Devon, is that it?” Bella wished for water.
Mariah cocked her head and eyed Bella. “I can’t stomach the thought of him living one day more than I do. So, yes, I’m going to kill Devon. But first, I’m going to kill you. Like Harper, I really don’t want to hurt you, but I have to use whatever is at m
y disposal to get the job done.”
Bella made a face of confusion. “What did I do? I was only hired to help him figure out what was going on. I had nothing to do with taking Cara from you or the cancer eating away at your lungs.”
Mariah smiled. “You were a surprise. I wasn’t worried when he hired your agency. I was confident in my plan and the steps I’d taken to cover my tracks. But when I saw the two of you together that first time, I knew I’d been given the coup de grâce. He has feelings for you. Maybe not the kind of feelings I had for Cara but something. So before I kill him, I’m going to take you away from him. He deserves to know how that feels. He should be here any moment.”
Bella didn’t have a lot of time. Traynor would have figured out she was in trouble and be working on some kind of backup. Apparently Mariah had given Devon their location. If Devon was smart, and Bella knew he was, he would have called Traynor or Victoria.
Mariah’s plan had failed already.
As true as that most likely was, Bella understood the variables in any operation’s projected outcome. Something could always go wrong and someone could end up dead. She had no weapon. She’d been drugged and the effects weren’t completely worn off. The odds were not stacked in her favor.
But she’d never been a quitter and she wasn’t about to start now.
“See,” Mariah said with a glance out the window. “I knew he’d come alone.” She sent a sinister look at Bella. “He does care about you. Otherwise he would have stayed in his office and sent the police to handle the matter.”
Bella braced for making some sort of move. Devon likely knew he was walking into a trap. If Mariah took some time to taunt him, it would give Bella more of a chance to make a move.
Mariah watched as Devon emerged from the car.
It was now or never.
Bella ran. She was barefoot, so she made it several yards before Mariah realized she had moved.
“Stop! Or I’ll shoot!”
Bella darted through the cased opening and into the dining room. True to her word, Mariah fired off a shot.