“Bitch, bitch, bitch,” I crowed with every swing. The tire iron was coated with blood making it hard to grasp. My grip slid in the slippery ooze. I clenched my hands harder.
Blood flowed from her head. I had no idea why she was still conscious. She tried scrunching her head and torso under a car. I grabbed an ankle and pulled. She kicked, so I slammed her legs over and over.
Then in the distance, I heard a car door slamming and voices. My heart pounded in my ears and my breath clogged my throat. I couldn’t get caught. Not yet. I wasn’t done with my work. I needed to get out of here.
Suzanne lay still, the blood from her broken body pooling around her head. A thin stream crept toward the tire.
The voices grew louder. I wanted to hit her again and again, but there was no time. I could be discovered at any moment. I cast one last look at Suzanne Wayland. She was dead or soon would be.
Only one more to go. I turned and ran.
****
“I want to see if the sheriff needs us any more tonight,” Zach said to Meghan after leaving Suzanne.
They approached the crime scene and halted. Zach poked his head around the corner of the door.
“Body’s gone.” He ducked under the yellow tape.
Meghan stayed put. Novelist or not, she had no desire to see where a man she’d known and spoken with just hours earlier, had been brutally murdered.
A deputy stopped Zach. “Sorry, sir. Can’t let you in. Forensics is busy.” He glanced toward Meghan. “Are you the people helping Sheriff Armstrong?”
“We’ve been talking to him. Don’t know if it’s helped.”
“Well, he wants to see you two and Mrs. Crocker. You just missed him. He’s headed for the lobby.”
Meghan and Zach retraced their steps to the elevator. In the lobby, they spied Ray gazing at the memorial boards by the ballroom. He turned as they approached, a sad expression on his face.
“A damned shame,” he muttered.
Meghan alerted him to the timing of the teacher, Clara Sylvester’s, death.
“I can’t see how she’d be involved, but I’ll call the nursing home and the sheriff in the morning. You’re right. The timing’s too coincidental. Where’s Mrs. Crocker?”
“In her room,” Zach told him. “She was tired. Said if you wanted to talk with her, it’d have to wait until morning.”
“We’ll see about that. But first, I want to ask the two of you a few questions.”
“About what?” Meghan replied.
“Let’s take a load off.” Ray walked into the now deserted bar. He took a seat at the nearest table. Meghan and Zach sat on either side of him.
Zach stared at the sheriff. “What do you want to know, Ray?”
“Exactly when were you in Dallas?”
He shrugged. “I’d have to check my schedule, but I think it was in late May or early June. Why?”
“And you said you visited your folks about the same time, right Meghan?”
“Yeah, about. Technically I was in Granbury.”
“Where’s that?”
“A few miles southwest of Ft. Worth.”
“And the two of you never saw each other?”
“No, why should we? I had no idea of Meghan’s whereabouts. Ray, what’s this all about?”
“And, Meghan, you claimed you were in California prior to that?”
“Yes, I had a book signing tour.”
“Did it include Los Angeles?”
“Define Los Angeles. It’s a big city. I was in Riverside, Oxnard, and a couple of other places in the area.”
“Know the dates?”
“Not off the top of my head, but it was late April or early May, I guess. Why all the questions?”
Ray held up his hand and turned to Zach. “You admit to being in Los Angeles at that time, too.”
“Brentwood. I was helping my folks move. I told you that earlier. Dammit, what’s going on?”
“Both of you were in Los Angeles and Dallas at the same time Tami Robinson and Eddie Mancuso were killed.”
Meghan gasped. “You can’t think either one of us had anything to do with it.”
Her mind reeled with the implications. Then she realized how bad it looked. She and Zach had often been on the receiving end of practical jokes and cutting remarks by the Fearsome Foursome. Who’s to say either or both of them hadn’t decided to get even?
Ray shrugged. “You just said you didn’t believe in coincidences. I find it highly coincidental.”
Meghan squirmed. Her own words had come back to haunt her. Fear that the sheriff actually believed she might have something to do with the murders made her mouth go dry. She swallowed and cast a glance at Zach, who stared at the officer with an amazed expression.
“Ray, why would either of us kill Tami, Eddie, or anyone else for that matter? I make those trips on a regular basis. Check my schedule,” Zach told him.
“I’ve talked with a lot of people tonight. A few told me that you and Meghan often provided a source of amusement for the so-called in-crowd. Meghan took the insults and embarrassment stoically. Still others found it interesting that you dispatch your fictional characters in extremely gory deaths, kind of like a literary revenge.”
“I have an active imagination.” Meghan didn’t know whether to be angry or scared. Both emotions made her tremble.
“And just how are we supposed to have dispatched Annabelle and Dave?” Zach inquired in an indignant tone.
“You give each other alibis for the former. And one or both of you could have slipped upstairs to kill Dave. For all I know, the two of you have been more than friends for a long time and decided revenge was the best policy. And Zach, you have a stun gun.”
Meghan stared at Zach in consternation. His expression was one of disbelief.
“And if I did it, why would I be dumb enough to not only mention that fact, but to actually produce it? If I’m not mistaken, you found a stun gun in a trash can.”
The sheriff shrugged again. “You could have had two.”
“My God, how could we have known where Tami and Eddie lived?” Her voice shook and her eyes filled with tears.
“Zach knows his way around a computer, and as an author, you know how do research. One of you could have hired a private investigator to track ’em down. As a matter of fact, the two of you make one damned good team.”
“But we’ve been helping with the investigation!”
“What better way to muddy the waters?”
“Ray,” Zach said in an incredulous voice. “You can’t be serious.”
The sheriff removed his hat and ran a hand through his hair, then looked from one to the other. Meghan bit her lip, wanting to box the sheriff on the ear. She clenched her fists to keep the urge under control.
“You’ve got to admit, it’s strange. And I will check your whereabouts on the dates Tami and Eddie died. Wouldn’t be doing my job otherwise. You could be helping me just to see what I’ve uncovered. No reason why both of you couldn’t have a stun gun.”
“Are you finished?” Meghan asked in a tight voice.
Ray stood and replaced his hat. “Not quite. I have to interrogate Mrs. Crocker.”
Meghan wanted to tell Ray to go to hell, but kept her mouth shut. Suzanne would do it for her if the sheriff woke her from a sound sleep.
“She won’t talk to you.” Zach rose. “She won’t even open the door. But she might for Meghan. We’ll go with you.”
“Unless, of course, you’re afraid we’ll murder you in the elevator,” Meghan snapped.
Ray stared with cold eyes, but capitulated. “All right, but when we’re done I want you both to call it a night. You’re done with this investigation.”
The ride to the fourth floor was silent. Zach slipped his hand in hers and squeezed. She met his concerned gaze and squeezed back. The past twenty minutes hadn’t been the best of her life. She still couldn’t believe Ray suspected her and Zach of being partners in a murder spree. She forced herself not to ki
ck the sheriff in the ass.
Ray led them to room four-oh-nine and knocked. He tried again when there was no answer.
“Mrs. Crocker, it’s Sheriff Armstrong. I’m sorry to disturb you, but we have to talk.” Silence met his request and he knocked again, louder this time. “Mrs. Crocker, open up.” He waited several seconds. “Would she just ignore me?”
Meghan glared. “Of course, she would. She was tired, pissed, and scared to death. If you wake her, she’ll let you have it with both barrels. Even though she was hysterical, you should have done this earlier.”
She was beyond giving a damn what the sheriff thought. He’s an incompetent jerk.
Ray narrowed his eyes and compressed his lips. “Fine, you try.”
She knocked. “Suzanne? It’s Meghan. Zach’s with us. I know it’s late, but please, open the door.”
More time and silence passed. Worry and a growing sense of dread rushed through her. “I don’t like this. If nothing else, she’d tell us all to go to hell.”
Ray whipped out his cell and dialed. “Jamieson, you still in room four-twenty… Call down to the desk and get someone up to room four-oh-nine with a passkey now.” He hung up. “Would she leave the safety of her room?”
“I don’t know,” Zach snapped with a worried expression on his face. “When we left her, she said she wanted to go to bed. I heard the lock click and the chain sliding into place.”
“Who would she open up for?” Meghan asked.
“Somebody she trusted,” Ray answered with a sharp glance at them.
“It wasn’t us,” Zach snapped. “We went directly from her room to the crime scene and spoke with your deputy. When we discovered you were looking for us, we came down to the lobby and met you.”
Meghan opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again.
She would have trusted a cop. Oh, my God. Is that the answer? Could the killer be a cop?
It made sense. A police officer would have unlimited access to the hotel and its grounds. And if a cop showed up at her door in the middle of the night requesting she accompany him somewhere, she’d comply. A friend would be the only other person Suzanne would open up for. And Suzanne didn’t have a lot of those around here.
Zach? But he was with me.
True there had been a few moments when they’d been separated earlier in the evening, but was that enough time to kill Annabelle and Dave? And there was no way he could have enticed Suzanne to leave the safety of her room.
Or was there? God knows, Suzanne had flirted enough with him tonight. If he’d come to her door with a change of heart, would she open it? Maybe. Oh for crying out loud, what am I thinking? Of course Zach isn’t involved. He was with me the entire time.
She swiped a hand across her forehead. Exhaustion muddled her thought processes. It happened all the time when she was in full writing mode necessitating massive edits later. Then another thought occurred.
What if two people are working this? Suppose there’s an accomplice—and that accomplice is a cop?
Meghan shivered and moved a step away from both men. She was letting her imagination run wild. The reunion murders weren’t part of a novel. They were real. People had died horrible deaths.
The night manager trotted around the corner at a fast pace with a key in his hand.
“This can’t be happening,” he said. “We can’t have another body. The hotel will be ruined.”
“Just open the door,” the sheriff ordered.
He did, and they all stepped inside. The room was empty, the bed unmade. Ray checked the bathroom.
“A used washcloth and a towel are by the sink. Looks like she went to bed, then got up and split.” He turned to the manager. “Did you see anyone in the lobby in the last half an hour?”
“No, sir.”
“Were you on the desk the whole time?” Zach asked.
“No, I was with the night clerk in the back room sorting through some paperwork.”
“For how long?” Ray demanded.
“I—I’m not sure. Fifteen, twenty minutes maybe. When I came out, the lobby was empty.”
“Damn. Let’s search the obvious places.”
“Better begin with Dave’s room,” Meghan suggested. “Suzanne told me she had the key. She got it when she was looking for him.”
A search of Dave’s room yielded nothing, although Meghan noticed Ray took interest in items on the bathroom counter. He pulled out his cell again.
“Jamieson? Get down to room three-twenty-six. I want it sealed and forensics going over it.” He snapped the phone shut. “Looks like the late Mr. Coryell had a private party. Let’s head downstairs.”
He should have checked Dave’s room earlier. He is so in over his head.
Back in the lobby, he turned to Meghan. “Meghan, you try the ladies’ room and the ballroom. Zach, you come with me to the bar and the kitchen.”
Meghan dashed to the ladies room. The cleaning crew had apparently finished their jobs. The light was off and the place smelled of disinfectant. She flipped the switch and did a quick scan under the stall doors. No one was there.
In the hallway, she hesitated, looked around, and then slid into the men’s room. It only took a few seconds to determine it, too, was empty.
She paused at the ballroom door. Most of the tables had been removed, the stage dismantled, and some of the lights turned off. Without the crowd, the cavernous room looked lonely and cold. She shuddered when her overactive imagination conjured up monsters in the shadowy corners. Suzanne wasn’t here. She turned and ran out, meeting Zach and the sheriff exiting the bar.
“Nothing,” Ray told her.
“Same here,” she replied.
“Well, she has to be somewhere,” Zach said. “She can’t have just vanished. Would she go into the garden?”
“After what happened there tonight? Not a chance in hell.” Meghan rubbed her forehead with her fingers. Where could Suzanne have gone? Something, a tiny bit of information, tugged at her memory. “Damn, what was it she said?”
“Who?” Zach demanded in a rough tone.
“Suzanne. She said something I should remember.”
“When?” Ray wanted to know.
“Just a little while ago. After she found Dave. We were in the bar with Glory. I was trying to calm them both down. Glory was in shock, and Suzanne babbled about looking for Dave and how she was being framed. Oh, shit! Why can’t I remember?”
“Take it easy, Meghan. Try a few cleansing breaths to clear your mind,” Zach suggested.
She complied and tried to recall the conversation in the bar prior to Zach’s arrival. Suzanne had talked incoherently about getting the key to Dave’s room and feeling spooked because she thought someone was watching her in the hallway and the parking lot. But what else?
“She had Dave’s room key and went there to search for a stun gun. She has one and thought maybe Dave had stolen it in Chicago.”
“I don’t think Dave Coryell zapped and strangled himself,” the sheriff retorted in a dry tone.
Meghan waved him silent in irritation. “She had the creepy feeling she was being stalked.”
“Stalked? Where?” Ray pressed.
“Outside Dave’s room and in the parking…” She stopped. “That’s it! She said she searched Dave’s car, too.”
“Coryell’s car keys were in his pants pocket,” Ray told her.
Zach heaved a deep breath. “She must have found a spare. Is Dave’s car still here?”
“It was an hour or so ago.”
“Suppose someone knocked at Suzanne’s door, but she didn’t answer. Suppose she was scared and decided to bolt,” Meghan concluded. “If it was me, and I had a car key, I’d make a run for it.”
The night manager approached with the desk clerk.
“Sheriff, Billy has something to tell you.”
“Can’t it wait?” Ray clasped his cell phone in his hand.
“I guess, but since Mrs. Crocker is missing I thought you’d like to k
now about the scream.”
“What scream?” Meghan, Zach, and the sheriff all spoke at the same time.
Billy cleared his throat. “Well, Mr. Nelson had been helping me with some paperwork in the back. A few seconds after he left, the phone rang. It was some woman on the sixth floor. She called to say she thought she heard a scream. I know I’m not supposed to leave the desk unattended, but in view of what’s happened tonight I went up to check anyway.”
“Where were you?” Ray demanded of the night manager.
“Making my rounds. I was checking up on the cleaning crew. I do it every night.”
“Go on, Billy.” Ray tilted his hat back on his head.
“When I got there, the woman’s husband answered the door. He said his wife had fallen asleep with the TV on. He thinks she must have heard the television. He apologized for disturbing me. I came back down, and a few minutes later Mr. Nelson returned.”
“Where was this room?” Zach asked.
“Uh, it was room six-seventeen.”
Meghan gazed toward the front doors. A chill slid down her arms causing the hairs to rise. “What direction does it face?”
“The front of the hotel.”
“Near the parking lot,” Ray answered in a low tone.
“Well, the parking lot’s off to the side a bit,” Billy informed them.
Meghan looked at Zach and Ray. The hair on the back of her neck followed the action of those on her arms.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered. “Suzanne.”
The three of them raced for the doors, and ran down the steps.
Zach led the charge. “What kind of car does Dave drive?”
“A Mercedes. Light colored, I think,” Ray replied.
In her high heels, Meghan had trouble keeping up with the men. “Any idea where it’s parked?”
They stopped momentarily as Ray flipped open his cell and punched a button. “Jamieson, when you searched the lot for Coryell’s car earlier, where was it parked?” He listened for a moment. “Thanks.” He hung up. “Third row, near the end, over by the garden.”
They sprinted in that direction then pulled up short when they spotted the car under a lamppost.
The Reunion Page 19