“Is it Bill James?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t see his face. He hurt me . . . I think I had a concussion and kept drifting in and out of consciousness. He killed a woman and gave me a scar so I’d never forget. And he’s here tonight, Belinda.” I grabbed her arm. “We have to tell the police. I have to tell Brady.”
“That’s why you ran away?”
“Yes. Let me go tell Brady.”
“We’ll tell him together after this is done, but we have to go now.”
“Go where?”
“The basement.”
I violently shook my head even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “I can’t, Belinda. I get panic attacks. I’m having one now.”
“No,” she said firmly, bringing my face close to hers. “You can do this, Magnolia. Don’t give that man any more power over you than he already has.” She paused. “If Bill James really is the serial killer, this is your chance to take your life back.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m about to confront him, but I need you to cooperate. If I promise not to hurt you, will you promise me to play along?”
“Play along with what?”
“Good. It’s better if you think it’s real, but we have to move.” Her hand slipped into mine and squeezed tight. “I won’t let go. You’re safe with me.”
I wanted to tell her that her gun wasn’t making me feel very safe, but then I realized that between the two of us, we had two guns. The serial killer wasn’t likely to get the better of us tonight.
I closed my eyes and held the railing with one hand and her hand with the other. Since it was dark, I couldn’t see anyway, and closing my eyes somehow made me feel more in control.
We seemed to descend forever, but Belinda never loosened her hold on my clammy hand, and we finally reached a concrete floor at the bottom of the steps. I opened my eyes to a space much like the one above us, only there was light pouring through the bottom of the door.
Belinda cupped my face again. “I love you, Magnolia. No matter what happens, I won’t really hurt you. I need you to remember that.”
I shook my head. “What are you talking about?”
She opened the door, grabbed my upper arm with her left hand, and pulled me out into a small wine cellar. There was another door at the end of the small hallway—presumably the entrance to the larger part of the cellar. I heard muffled voices on the other side.
“Who is—?” I started to whisper.
Belinda clamped the hand holding the gun over my mouth, her eyes widening with fright. “The element of surprise is very important. Okay?” She’d whispered the words so quietly I could barely hear them.
I nodded, panicking again. Belinda may have sworn she wouldn’t hurt me, but she was freaking out herself, which made her extremely dangerous with a gun in her hand.
Lowering her hand, she tugged me closer to the opposite door. The sound of Colt’s voice sent a jolt through me. “It’s here. All of it. I need your guarantee you’ll leave Magnolia alone.”
“I never touched her,” a woman said. Her voice sounded . . . familiar. “But from the cameras I had installed in her apartment, it sure looks like you have.” When Colt didn’t answer, she became more insistent. “Does he know?”
“No.” Colt sounded defeated.
“He’s not going to be happy.” Her voice hardened. “Where is he?”
I realized who she was. Colt was talking to Rowena Rogers. But who was the he she kept referring to?
“I don’t know,” Colt said. “He hasn’t been in contact with me since Lopez’s death,” Colt said. “But Maggie doesn’t know anything. If you’re going to kill anyone, kill me. I’ve been working for him. I’m the guilty one.”
My eyes widened with fear, and Belinda shot me a warning look.
“Who said anything about killing anyone?” Rowena asked, but she sounded amused.
Were they talking about Bill? But if so, why would Bill care whether I lived or died?
“I see you lurking in the shadows, Bill,” Rowena called out. “Show yourself, or I’ll be forced to shoot.”
Had she mistaken Belinda and me for Bill? Could her bullets penetrate the wooden door separating us? The fact that we could hear their conversation so well led me to believe it was pretty thin.
“You always had a penchant for the dramatic, Rowena. What is this nonsense?” Bill asked, his voice getting louder. He was walking closer to them as he spoke.
“Just getting my share of the money your partner stole, plus a nice amount of interest.” There was a hitch in her voice when she spoke again. “Where is he?”
“I haven’t seen or heard from him for two years,” Bill said. “The last time was when he came back and dealt with Ava Milton. He slipped out of my grip then, but he won’t this time. You have to trust me.”
Oh. My. God.
I glanced over at Belinda to see if she was making the same leap, but she was completely intent on the conversation. It was like she was listening for her cue.
I gasped as I remembered how Colt had insisted that I stick close to Belinda. From Rowena’s questions and his own vague admission, he wasn’t an innocent victim in this. He was complicit in something, but what he was complicit in remained to be seen. Still, I refused to believe he was part of Belinda’s crazy scheme, whatever it was.
“I trusted you before, and look what it got me,” Rowena said, growing impatient. “Nothing.”
“We’re close,” Bill said. “But this stunt is going to set us back. Now just go back to the party or your hideaway or wherever you crawled out of and be patient.”
“I’m done being patient,” Rowena snapped. “If the gold isn’t enough of a draw, then Magnolia will do. Colt, go get her.”
“No. Leave her out of this.”
“Bill,” Rowena said. “Go get your partner’s daughter.”
“Rowena,” Bill objected. “Colt’s right. Leave her out of it.”
“Obviously he needs an added incentive.”
And that, it would seem, was Belinda’s cue. Her hand shook before she tightened her hold on my arm and pushed the door open, dragging me with her. “Ms. Rogers is right. Here she is.”
Horror and panic washed over Colt’s face when he saw us, which made me feel slightly better. I would have bet my life he wouldn’t hurt me, and it looked like I was right. Too bad I hadn’t expected the danger to come from Belinda.
We were in a large, unfinished basement with rock walls and an uneven, crumbling concrete floor. The ten-foot ceiling was covered in cracked plaster, and the few bare light bulbs providing shaky light cast eerie shadows in all directions. At roughly twenty-by-twenty, the room was obviously only a portion of the huge house overhead. In addition to the door behind us, there was an open doorway directly opposite me that led to a dark space. There was a third (closed) door on the wall to my right, along with a large open window that looked like a pass-through to a dark kitchen. Two stone pillars in the center of the room braced the ceiling—Colt stood next to the pillar closest to Rowena Rogers, and there was a man I didn’t recognize to my left. Bill James stood directly in front of me.
Who was the stranger? I had a sneaking suspicion he might be the man we’d encountered in the industrial park. He stood behind Rowena with a gun in his hand. He was obviously her henchman.
Rowena squinted in confusion, and she glanced toward us. “Who are you?” She turned to Bill. “Is she with you?”
“She’s Roy’s wife. Belinda,” Bill said in disbelief, “what are you doing?”
“I have the bait. Now where is he?”
Bill shook his head, his eyes wide with confusion. “Belinda, I know Lila’s illness is upsetting, but you need to put down the gun and let Magnolia go. Roy has this under control.”
Roy had what under control? This was like watching a foreign movie with only some of the subtitles.
“No.” Belinda’s fingers dug into my arm. “I don’t need Roy. Not anymore. I’m doing
this on my own.”
I was a total pawn in this situation, desperate to regain some sort of control. The best person to get on my side was the woman next to me. “Belinda,” I turned to her, pleading, “let’s just—”
She gave my arm a violent shake. “Be quiet, Magnolia!”
My mouth dropped open in disbelief.
She glanced from Bill to Rowena with wild eyes. “I know he’s around. He’s been watching her. I saw him. Magnolia did too.”
Oh, my God. Was she talking about the serial killer? Because I still couldn’t let my mind believe the other idea running through my head was true.
“Belinda,” Colt snapped. “Why are you doing this? Let Maggie go. This has nothing to do with her.”
Belinda stiffened. “I know you’re in regular contact with him, Colt. Text him.”
Colt shook his head and held out his hands. “What are you going to do to Maggie? She’s your friend, Belinda. You don’t want to hurt her.”
Belinda lifted the gun to my temple. “Text him!”
Colt, obviously panicking, took a step toward us before he stopped himself. “Okay. Okay. Please. I’ll text him. But I want you to swear to me you won’t hurt her!”
Belinda didn’t answer, and at that moment I wasn’t sure I believed her earlier promise that I was safe.
“I’m getting out my phone,” Colt said. “Okay?”
“Don’t try anything, or I’ll kill her, Colt.”
“I believe you. Just tell me what you want it to say.” He slowly reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone.
“I want to see the text before you send it,” she said. “Tell him that he has ten minutes to show up or Magnolia dies.”
“Text?” Rowena said, sounding disgusted. “Why doesn’t he just call?”
“Because he doesn’t answer the phone,” Belinda said. “Does he, Colt? He hides behind his blocked number.”
The blood rushed from my head. Was he the serial killer? My knees started to buckle, but Belinda jerked my arm, helping me regain my senses.
Bill looked confused. “How do you know that, Belinda?”
She didn’t answer.
Colt had already been tapping on his phone and held it up. “Here. It’s ready, but he might not be close enough to meet the deadline. I promise you he’ll come. You know she’s important to him, but he might be too far away.”
Belinda shook her head. “No. He knows this is going down. He’ll be close. In fact, I suspect he’s closer than any of you realize.” She nodded to Colt. “Send the text.”
He looked up at me with fear in his eyes as he pressed the screen.
“Now that that task has been accomplished,” Rowena said in a satisfied voice, “I’ll need the bag of gold, Mr. Austin.”
Colt slowly backed up, moving partially behind the pillar before he reemerged with the small canvas bag we’d taken from that basement in Chattanooga. It looked heavy from the way the straps strained against his hand.
“Set it down in front of Kent,” she said, gesturing to the man at her side.
Colt did as instructed, then slowly backed up.
After handing his gun to Rowena, the henchman squatted in front of the bag and searched through it.
“Is it all there?” Rowena asked.
“It appears to be,” he said. Sure enough, I recognized the gravelly voice from that rainy night at the industrial park, but I wasn’t so sure it was the man in Bill James’s office.
“You got your gold,” Colt said. “So go.”
“No,” she said with a tight smile. “I’ll wait to greet our special guest.” Then her grin spread.
Lord only knew what would happen then. There was nowhere to hide if it turned into a gun battle.
Colt’s gaze landed on the purse still tucked under my arm.
He had a gun, and from the look on his face, he would do whatever it took to protect me. I suspected that included shooting Belinda if he thought she was going to kill me.
“Belinda,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm and soothing. “Colt sent the text. He’ll show up. You can put the gun away now and wait.”
“Do you even know who he sent the text to?”
Tears filled my eyes, but I shook my head. “No.”
Her chin quivered. “He killed my parents, Magnolia. Him and these two”—she gestured to Bill and Rowena—“and the others. They killed my parents.”
Her words split something inside of me. Was she talking about my father? I’d learned a lot of terrible things about my father, but was he capable of murder too?
“I didn’t kill anyone!” Bill protested.
“What about those poor women?” Belinda asked. “What about Emily and Amy?”
“You were the anonymous tip?” Bill asked in disbelief. “I didn’t kill those women, Belinda!”
“Then why were those files about Emily and Magnolia on your desk?”
“A week ago, I got an anonymous email telling me Emily, you, and Magnolia were in danger. I knew Emily had been Magnolia’s attorney, but I hired a PI to find out more information about her.”
“Why wasn’t there a file for me?” she asked.
“Because I know all about you, Belinda. Or I thought I did.”
“Did you know my parents invested in the Jackson Project?” she asked.
Bill’s face drained of color. “No.”
She shot him a glare. “Brian Steele talked my dad into investing everything he owned. My dad even borrowed money to put into it. To say he didn’t take the loss very well is an understatement. He was an alcoholic, and when he lost everything, he got depressed. He and my mother were killed in a car accident—a head-on collision that killed the man in the other car. My father had been drinking, but the police called it a murder-suicide. I was five when I was sent to Mississippi to live with my impoverished, invalid grandmother.”
“Magnolia didn’t do that to you,” Colt said in desperation. “She’s done everything in her power to help you. Why would you hurt her?”
Belinda started to cry. “I want to hurt him like he hurt me.”
“Then use Roy,” Colt pleaded. “That bastard has hurt you more times than either one of us can count. Use him.”
“Because he doesn’t love Roy like he does Magnolia. She’s the only one who can draw him out.” She turned to me with teary eyes. “I thought Bill was the serial killer too. I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?” Colt asked.
“I promised she could get her revenge. For what Bill did to her ten years ago.”
“What?” Colt gasped. Then his eyes turned murderous. “What did you do to her?”
Bill’s eyes widened. “I never hurt you, Magnolia. I swear to God, I never hurt you.”
“I know,” I said, trying to figure out how to defuse this situation. “I know it wasn’t you.”
If my father was about to walk through that door, I didn’t want him to walk in on this—on me being held at gunpoint by the person I’d considered my best friend. And I sure didn’t want her to get shot.
“Belinda. I need you to look at me,” I said.
She turned her attention to me.
“Now listen to me. Are you listening?”
She nodded.
“You need to put that gun down. You’re going to get hurt, and I’ve lost too many people to lose you too.”
“But . . .”
“No. Give it to me, and we’ll deal with my father together.”
She hesitated.
“Colt’s already sent the text. My father thinks I’m in danger, so if it’s going to work, the trap has been set. We just have to wait. Together. Now, please. Give me the gun.”
Her shoulders slumped as she handed the gun to me, and then she collapsed into my shoulder.
“Colt,” I called out, unsure I could hold her up.
He gave me a look of hesitation, so I said, “She was never going to hurt me.”
Belinda dropped to her knees as Colt took two steps in my
direction.
A gunshot went off, ricocheting off the concrete as Rowena shouted, “Everyone stay where they are. Magnolia, toss the gun on the ground, or Kent will shoot Colt.”
Colt looked furious. “Don’t do it, Maggie. I’m sick to death of taking orders.”
Pure evil filled Kent’s eyes. I believed him capable of killing Colt, if for no other reason than because he was bored. But if I tossed the gun, we would be completely unarmed—at least as far as Rowena and Kent were concerned. But maybe that could be to our advantage.
I tossed the gun to the ground, and it bounced, skittering close to Colt.
“Don’t even think of picking that up, Mr. Austin,” Rowena said. “Or Magnolia’s forfeiture of the gun will have been for naught.” Smiling, she lifted her own gun and pointed it at me. “And if I’m going to shoot someone, I have someone else in mind. Like Magnolia said, you already sent the text.”
“No!” Colt shouted.
Several gunshots went off. I automatically dropped to the floor, and my upper arm began to burn as if on fire.
Kent had fallen to the ground, and Colt leaped toward Rowena, tackling her from the side.
I looked down at my bicep in disbelief, watching blood ooze from the wound on my bare skin.
“Maggie?” Colt called out in panic. “Maggie!”
“I’m okay.”
I glanced around, looking for Bill, but he was gone.
“Magnolia!” Belinda gushed as she helped me to a sitting position against the wall. “Colt, she’s been shot.”
“I’m okay,” I said, but my peripheral vision was getting dark.
“We have to get out of here. Now,” Colt said in a tight voice. “Rowena and her goon are dead.” He paused. “And the gold is gone.”
“Bill must have taken it. What are we going to do?” Belinda asked, looking back at Colt. “We have to call the police.”
“No, wait.” Colt gently touched my arm and lowered his voice, but it sounded strained. “It’s superficial, Mags. It just grazed you.” Colt shrugged out of his jacket and then started unbuttoning his shirt before he gave up and ripped off the buttons. “Belinda, don’t let her blood drip on the floor. Keep it on her dress.” He quickly rolled up the shirt, lifted my arm, and wrapped the shirt around it several times before knotting it.
Call Back: Magnolia Steel Mystery #3 (Magnolia Steele Mystery) Page 33