by T. R. Ragan
He sighed as he walked to the desk and picked up the Taser. He brought it back to where she sat and held it to her temple. “Do you really want to find out what a jolt to the head at close range will feel like?”
“No. Please. I’m sorry. I’ll tell you about Madeline. I promise.”
She was crying now. That’s better. He put the Taser aside. “Stop your sniveling and start talking.”
Her legs were shaking now, her knees literally knocking together. “She’s in her thirties. Um, she used to want to be a model. I’ve been doing her hair for many years. We’re in a book club, too.” She dared to look at him. “Is that enough?”
“Not even close.”
Between hiccuping sobs she said, “Madeline is athletic. She enjoys skiing at Heavenly.”
“You can do better than that.”
“I don’t know. I can’t think.”
“Sure you can. Your life is depending on it. I want dirt, lady. I’m not letting you go until you tell me something juicy enough to ruin your friendship with Madeline.”
Her bottom lip trembled. “She slept with her best friend two days before his wedding.”
“Now we’re talking. Please tell me the man’s name was David Westlake.”
Surprise lit up her watery eyes. “That’s him.”
“Does his wife know?”
“No.”
“Give me the particulars . . . hurry . . . we’re almost done here.”
“David’s wife didn’t want Madeline at the wedding . . . is that what you mean?”
“You got it.” He cracked all ten fingers.
“His wife was jealous of Madeline’s friendship with David, so she laid down the law and told David that Madeline could not attend.”
“I bet she was furious,” he said.
“At first she was sad, but then the idea of not being at her best friend’s wedding ate at her.”
“I bet it did. Go on.”
“Madeline went to see David.” She gave her head a shake. “God, she’d be so upset if she knew I—”
He pressed the tip of the Taser to her temple and she jumped and screamed. When she’d quieted down, eyes rolling wildly up toward the Taser, he said, “Do you think I care how upset Madeline would be?”
“No!”
“I’ll bet she told you it was her deepest, most shameful secret. I’ll bet she made you swear on your life you wouldn’t tell, didn’t she?”
She nodded.
“Well, who do you think is the biggest threat right now—Madeline, or me?”
“You.” Her lips trembled.
“Good call.” He traced the tip of the Taser down the side of her face, then back to her temple. “You were saying Madeline went to see David . . .”
“She brought pictures and yearbooks from their past. They shared memories and they ended up in bed together.”
“Madeline, Madeline, Madeline,” he said over and over.
“Can I go now?”
He walked to the desk where he’d set up all his tools and picked up a scalpel. “If you think that little electric charge hurt, you might not want to find out what this baby can do. It has a zirconium nitride–coated edge to improve sharpness.”
She struggled and cried out.
He set the scalpel down and picked up a recorder, then walked back to Megan. “When I hit this button right here and you see the little red light go on, I want you to say, ‘Don’t hurt me, Madeline. Why have you done this to me? Let me go.’” He let that settle in for a moment. “Got it?”
Between the sobbing and crying, she managed a nod.
He hit the button and held it close enough for Madeline to get the full effect when she heard the recording.
“Perfect.”
“Oh, my God, please, can I go now?”
“Absolutely.” He moved behind her chair and pretended to fiddle with the ropes.
“I won’t tell a soul,” she said, relief lining her voice.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out the syringe that contained a lethal dose of fentanyl, and just before he plunged the needle into her neck, he said, “I believe you.”
CHAPTER 50
Three raps on her door prompted Hayley to look through the peephole before she slid open the new deadbolt she’d installed and let Tommy inside.
“Hey, there,” he said as he walked past her and set a large box along with Kitally’s leather bag on the floor next to the couch.
Hayley had just washed Kitally’s hair without getting the bandages over her nose wet. There was a lot of dried blood and matted hair and the whole ordeal took about forty-five minutes. The bandages covering her broken nose started at the middle of her forehead and ended at the tip of her nose. As of yesterday, Hayley no longer needed to pack Kitally’s nostrils with dampened gauze strips coated with antibiotics. That was good news. The bad news was that Kitally could talk at her normal capacity again.
“How’s the face feeling?” Tommy asked Kitally.
“Like it’s been run over by a truck.” Kitally frowned. “I better not need to have my nose fixed. I liked my nose just the way it was.”
“I’m just glad to see you looking human again. It looks like Hayley has been taking good care of you.”
“Yeah, she’s been pretty good,” Kitally said. “I think she’s getting used to me since it’s been twenty-four hours since she asked me to stop talking.”
The dog was curled up on the couch next to Kitally. Tommy scratched its head and then handed Kitally the keys to her house. “I waited until the house cleaner was finished, then I locked up your place. I don’t think there was a vase or a picture frame that wasn’t broken. According to the police, the contents of your purse were scattered across the garage floor, but your wallet is missing.”
“Son of a bitch. That means I need to start calling credit card companies.”
“Do the police have any leads?” Hayley asked from the kitchen.
Tommy shook his head. “There have been several burglaries in the area recently. It sounded to me as if they’re writing this one off as a home robbery gone bad.”
Hayley cleared the wooden chest of papers and set a bowl of chicken soup in front of Kitally.
“That smells good,” Tommy said.
“There’s plenty on the stove. Help yourself.”
“I’m good. So,” Tommy said as he looked from Hayley to Kitally, “what’s the plan?”
“Plan?” Hayley asked.
“Well, apparently you two have spent a week passing out flyers offering a reward for anyone who knew where Brian might be. Kitally just got her ass kicked with a message telling you both to lay off or die. Looks like you found Brian. So now what?”
Kitally swallowed a spoonful of soup as she looked at Hayley. “Maybe we should tell him.”
“Tell him what?” Tommy asked.
As Kitally repositioned herself on the couch, she winced in pain. “We could use his help, Hayley. If those guys show up again in the next few days, I’m not exactly ready to fight anyone.”
Hayley crossed her arms, her gaze set on Tommy. “Why do you want to know about any of this? I thought your Karate Kid business was keeping you extra busy these days.”
He raised both hands in the air. “I’m the boss. I have dependable people working for me. I can take as much time off as I need.” He took Kitally’s machete from the box he’d brought in and made a few quick, well-practiced moves: overhead, outside, and inside body cuts. He stepped into each strike, stopping the machete before the end of each swing.
“Nice,” Kitally said.
He put the machete back in the box, then looked at Hayley. “I’m sure there’s something I can do to help. Neither of you look like you’re in any shape to defend yourself against Brian and his friends.”
“I’m ready,” Hayley t
old him.
“Bullshit.” He positioned himself in the middle of the room. “I haven’t seen you at UFC training in a while. Show me what you got.”
Kitally sighed. “Don’t be an idiot, Tommy. She’ll kick your ass.”
Hayley didn’t want his help. Didn’t need his help. But it was time to shut him up. She walked up to him and got into the same position she used to use when she and Tommy would visit schools in the area with Lizzy and teach kids self-defense.
Tommy struck first.
Hayley ducked.
He kicked.
She jumped.
And then bam, he had her on the floor and she wasn’t sure how it had happened. They were on the carpet. She was on her side. His legs were interlocked with hers; one of his arms held her arm behind her back.
“Let me go.”
“No.”
“Let her go, Tommy,” Kitally said, worry in her voice.
Hayley gritted her teeth and told him to get out.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
His face was inches from hers. She tried to twist her arm out of his grip, but she already knew he had her right where he wanted her and he wasn’t budging. That really pissed her off. Not only did Tommy train young kids at his karate place every day, he’d obviously been training hard at the UFC gym.
“If you really want to get Brian and his friends, you need to stop being so stubborn and actually prepare.”
“What are you going to do, train me?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Hayley growled.
Tommy leaned in close to Hayley’s neck and sniffed. “You smell good. What are you wearing?”
“Chicken soup and soap.”
“You two need to get a room,” Kitally cut in.
“If you don’t get off me right now,” Hayley ground out, “there’s no way I’m going to let you help us.”
“Ah, that’s more like it,” he said as he let her go.
She was tempted to put him on his back, but it wasn’t worth the energy it would take.
“You need to replace all of that pent-up anger of yours with grit.”
Hayley was on her feet, rubbing her wrist. For some reason, she hadn’t noticed until now that Tommy had grown in the last couple of years. Not only in height, but in bulk. He’d filled out all over. He was still on the lean side, but more defined. He was twenty-four and he’d finally lost his baby face.
“OK,” Kitally said happily, “looks like we’ve got our own little Justice League.”
Justice League? “Listen,” Hayley said. “This is my fight. I never intended to drag anybody into this.” If she had any sense at all, she thought, she’d pack up and head out alone.
“Take a good look at Kitally,” Tommy said, “and tell me that other people aren’t already involved in this.” When nobody responded, he clapped his hands together. “Let’s get started. The first thing we’re going to do is whip the two of you back into shape.”
Hayley rolled her eyes and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes in the sink.
“Come on,” he said, “right now. We’re going to the park.”
“I just took a painkiller with my soup,” Kitally said. “Today you’re going to have to focus on Hayley.”
“Come on, Hayley, let’s go,” Tommy said, already annoying the shit out of her. “When you can take me down like you used to, I’ll leave you alone.”
“Promise?”
“Cross my heart, hope to die.”
CHAPTER 51
Lizzy parked a block away from Madeline’s house and then walked past a news van and through more than a few angry people hanging out on Madeline’s front lawn.
Reporter Stacey Whitmore from Channel 10 News stood near the steps leading to the front door. The moment she saw Lizzy, she gestured for her cameraman to get moving. In an instant, Lizzy found herself face-to-face with a giant lens and Stacey’s microphone.
They exchanged knowing looks. They had worked together in the past, when Lizzy found herself in the middle of the Lovebird Killer debacle. Stacey had a knack for finding a story when there wasn’t much to go on. Clearly the past few years had given her confidence. She appeared to be much more poised and self-assured, confidently directing her crew to keep filming. “We’re talking to Sacramento PI Lizzy Gardner. Ms. Gardner, according to our sources, you’ve been working closely with Dr. Blair for a few weeks now. Perhaps you can shed some light on why people closest to Dr. Madeline Blair are disappearing.”
“Madeline Blair is a killer!” a woman standing on the sidewalk shouted.
Lizzy had seen the commotion on TV even before Madeline called to let her know what was going on. Madeline’s hairdresser, Megan Vos, had gone missing. Megan’s friends and family wanted answers, especially after they’d caught wind that Megan wasn’t the only person associated with Madeline Blair who had recently disappeared.
Megan’s family went straight to the press. They wanted information about Madeline. Why hadn’t the public been told what was going on? What was being done to find these people? Mostly they wanted to find their daughter.
“The police department handles all missing person cases. Since I am not involved with the police department, I don’t have the answers you’re looking for.”
“Is the police department aware that four people connected to the popular radio host have disappeared recently?”
“Detective Chase is aware of the situation. You’ll have to talk to him about specifics.”
“Maybe you’re not aware of the most recent disappearance, Megan Vos?” Stacey pressed, going so far as to follow Lizzy up the stairs until they both stood in front of Madeline’s front door.
“I saw the news this morning just like everyone else,” Lizzy said. “I don’t know any more than you do.”
“Investigators are at Megan’s house as we speak,” Stacey told her, obviously hoping to get a reaction, but getting none. “The family has confirmed that there are signs of a struggle, including blood splatter in the master bedroom.”
“I don’t know anything about it,” Lizzy said, knocking on the door, thankful when Madeline let her inside.
Madeline shut and locked the door behind her.
Lizzy looked around the main room, then glanced into the kitchen. “Where’s your bodyguard?”
“I’ve been fired from my job. The man did nothing but sit on my couch watching television and eating my food. I can’t afford a bodyguard.”
“You can’t afford not to have one.”
Madeline expelled a breath as she took a seat on the edge of the couch. “What am I going to do? The maniac is taking names right out of the address book he stole.”
Lizzy’s eyes widened. “What address book?”
Madeline looked at Lizzy as she tried to think. “I didn’t tell you about it? I told Detective Chase about the book before you arrived the morning I was attacked.”
“So your stalker has the names, addresses, and phone numbers of everyone you know?”
She nodded.
“Is there any connection between David, Chris, Amber, and Megan? Anything at all?”
“I’m in a book club with Amber and Megan. We meet once a month, although, of course, with everything that’s been going on, I missed the last meeting.”
“Who else is a part of the book club?”
“Oh, my God,” Madeline said as it all sank in.
“Give me names, Madeline, now.”
It wasn’t until hours after Madeline and Lizzy had talked to every member of her book club and Lizzy had left her house that Madeline remembered Cindy St. Louis, the receptionist at work, had recently joined the club.
Staying calm, not wanting to panic her, Madeline called her cell phone. She paced the room and gulped down a breath or two. “Pick up your phone, Cindy.”
“Hello.”
“Cindy, thank goodness. I’m so glad I caught you at home. This is Madeline.”
“Madeline,” she said, her tone ridden with sympathy. “How are you?”
“I’m doing fine, Cindy.”
“I am so sorry about everything that has happened. I know you didn’t have anything to do with David’s disappearance. I told the police that there was no way you could ever hurt a fly.”
“Thank you, Cindy, but I really need you to listen to what I have to say.”
“I can’t thank you enough for sending me the book I need to read for our next book club meeting,” Cindy went on. “That was so thoughtful of you.”
Madeline had no idea what she was talking about. “What book?”
“Obsessed. I cheated and sort of skimmed through the book. It’s really creepy and definitely not my favorite genre, but I’m going to read it, I promise.”
“I don’t know what’s going on, Cindy, but I didn’t send you—”
Madeline heard the doorbell. At first she thought it was her own doorbell, but then she realized someone was at Cindy’s door.
“Can I call you back?” Cindy asked. “Someone’s at the door and I’m expecting a package.”
A feeling of dread washed over Madeline. It couldn’t be him, could it? “Don’t get the door,” Madeline said, but Cindy had already hung up the phone.
CHAPTER 52
Brian wasn’t sleeping well. Nearly every night since he’d recovered as much as he ever would from Hayley Hansen’s mutilation of him and forced himself off of the painkillers that had allowed him to sleep, he would wake up in the middle of the night with visions of her hovering over him. Unable to move, he had no choice but to watch her prepare her knives. First, she pulled out what looked like a diamond-encrusted sharpening stone. Next, she poured a fair amount of mineral oil on the stone. He would ask her what she was doing, but she never said a word as she worked.
On this night, as on every other, she purposely took her time setting the blade at just the right angle before stroking the knife away from the stone in perfect sweeps. Before she could test the sharpness on his chest, he awoke in a cold sweat. Damn it. He’d never thought the little bitch had it in her. He’d fucked her up royally. He’d been so sure that killing her mother would destroy her, but ultimately it only seemed to have made her stronger. He’d known Hayley since she was a little girl. He raked his fingers through tangled hair and realized a part of him took pride in her determination to see this strange sort of relationship between the two of them through to the end. The girl was not going to give up. He shook his head.