The Reunion

by Suzanne Rossi

  “I’m on the second, room two-fifteen.”

  “I’m in five-oh-six.”

  The elevator stopped. “I’ll walk you to the door.”

  Meghan found his actions unnecessary, but endearing. What I really want is to forget about everything and let nature take its course. She sighed, opened her purse, and extracted the key. She unlocked the door, and Zach slipped in first to look around.

  Meghan held her breath. Was someone hiding in the closet? The bathroom? The inspection took less than a minute. When he returned, he smiled, glanced at the bed, and then shrugged. Forget anxiety. Old-fashioned lust sent heat flooding her body. Yeah, me too.

  “You’re clear. I’ll be back in, say ten minutes?”

  “Make it fifteen. I want to wash up.”

  Zach nodded, kissed her, and left. Meghan closed the door behind him, fanning her hot face with the evening bag. Was the hospital really all that important? Another hour wouldn’t make much difference, would it? She turned to open the door and call him back. Then Suzanne’s bleeding body flashed before her eyes. Her conscience hammered at her.

  “Damn,” she muttered.

  Meghan peeled the dress from her body, tossed it onto the bed, and headed for the bathroom. Washing the make-up from her face and the blood from her arms, Meghan wondered if the doctors and nurses had scrubbed the blood from Suzanne.

  She grabbed a pair of jeans from her suitcase and pulled them on, then yanked a canary yellow top over her head. She added socks, slipped her feet into running shoes, and debated the necessity of carrying a purse. Meghan decided against it. Instead, she added twenty bucks to the ID holder that already contained her driver’s license and a credit card.

  She shoved it along with her cell phone into her back pockets, daubed lipstick on her mouth, and gazed at the stun gun still in her purse. She slipped it out and pressed the red button. Meghan flinched at the zap, but didn’t drop it. She jammed the thing into her front pocket. Won’t forget it there. I’ll give it to Zach when he gets here.

  A knock startled her.

  She glanced at her watch. Zach already? It hadn’t even been ten minutes yet.

  Honestly, men.

  She’d requested the extra time to get her emotions under control. She was angry about the night’s events and frustrated at the inability to do anything at the moment about Zach’s kisses. She never thought straight when either emotion was present, often saying and doing things she regretted later. And she really wanted to pursue those kisses further.

  Certain it was Zach, she gazed through the peephole and, surprised, opened the door.

  ****

  Meghan and Zach are becoming a problem. Both are analytical and intelligent. No wonder that bumbling sheriff allowed them to help with the investigation. He didn’t have the brains or the manpower to stop me.

  But Meghan and Zach are another story. They could piece it together. The two of them already zeroed in on the past as a motive. It’s only a matter of time until the answers click in one of their heads. I’ll have to do something about them. I’ve come too far, have too much to lose, to be defeated now.

  I heaved a sigh. I hadn’t counted on a seventh or an eighth victim. Maybe number six could wait until later. The road to success is often strewn with rocks. Meghan and Zach represented my boulders. I had to deal with them first. Without them, the sheriff would be clueless.

  Together, they’re a team. Divide and conquer. That’s the strategy. But which one do I chose?

  My decision made, I turned to my hotel highway, the stairs.

  ****

  Zach strode out of the elevator on the fifth floor and hurried to his room. Slamming the door behind him, he jerked off his suit coat tossing it on the bed, then kicked off his shoes. His tie, shirt, and pants joined the heap. The bed sagged as he sat to remove his black socks. They hit the floor near the shoes.

  He donned jeans, a light blue polo shirt, a belt, athletic socks, and a pair of Nikes. He shoved his wallet, phone, and car keys into his pockets before glancing at his watch.

  Why on earth would Meghan need fifteen minutes to change clothes? He could do it in two and be back outside her door in five. Zach decided he had a lot to learn about women.

  To kill time, he hung his discarded clothing in the closet, and looked at his watch again.

  Swell, that took a whole minute and a half. Now what do I do?

  He grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, flipping though channels until finding the news. Two talking heads debated the world situation and the United States’ role in it.

  He flipped to the Weather Channel. Central Indiana could expect hot and humid conditions for the remainder of the weekend with the possibility of thunderstorms on Sunday afternoon.

  The clock on the nightstand said only another three minutes had passed.

  This is ridiculous. He shut the tube off. I’m going anyway. She can either let me in or I’ll wait in the hall.

  He jerked the door open and jumped back in surprise.

  “Zach, I’m glad you’re here. Can I come in? I have to talk to you.”

  Puzzled, he stepped aside. “Sure. What’s wrong?”

  Zach left the door open. Curious and unsuspecting, he faced Tom Ecklund.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Tom Ecklund rushed past Zach, his hair in disarray and his eyes glazed, as if he’d just gotten out of bed. His expression bordered on panicked.

  “Where’s Meghan?”

  “I just left her in her room. We’re going to the hospital. Tom, what’s going on?” Zach walked further into his room, leaving the door open.

  “The hospital? Why?” The panic on his face changed to sheer horror.

  “Suzanne Crocker was attacked a little while ago in the parking lot. She’s in bad shape. Tom, what’s going on?”

  The look on the man’s face was scaring him to death. He couldn’t decide if Tom was crazy or terrified. Zach cast an uneasy glance back toward the open door.

  Tom grasped his head. “Oh God, oh God, no! She’s done it again. Oh, Jesus, please help me.”

  Zach strode forward, and shook his classmate by the shoulders. His voice rose. “Knock it off! What the hell are you talking about?”

  Tom gulped, his gaze darting from side to side. Zach shook him again.

  “Tom, sober up!”

  “I’m not drunk. I was drugged. And now I’m scared. It’s Glory. She’s the killer. And I think Meghan is next on her list.”

  Zach’s stomach dropped to his toes as a numbing cold swept over him. “What? What makes you think that?”

  “I don’t know for sure, but I just have a feeling, especially now that Suzanne is dead.”

  “Suzanne’s not dead yet, but she’s in critical condition.”

  Amazement flashed across his face. “She’s not? Another mistake. She got away twice.” Tom grabbed Zach’s arm. “Come on! We have to make sure Meghan’s all right.”

  The man’s hysteria fueled Zach’s fear for Meghan. Oh my God! If anything happens to Meghan, I’ll die. I can’t live without her. Not after finding her again.

  The two men ran from the room.

  ****

  “Glory! What are you doing here?”

  Meghan’s surprise gave way to concern. Glory was a mess. Her eyes, red and puffy, showed obvious signs of recent tears. Any make-up from the evening had long since vanished. With her washed out blue eyes and pale face, the woman resembled a ghost. Her rumpled gray sweat suit looked as if she’d slept in it. She sniffed and shifted a frightened gaze from side to side up and down the hallway.

  “Oh, Meghan, please help me.” Glory clutched her stomach and cried, new tears coursing down her cheeks.

  “What’s wrong?” Meghan reached to pull her into the room, but the distraught woman stepped away.

  Glory tugged at Meghan’s arm. “It’s—it’s Tom. I can’t find them, and I’m so afraid he’s done something bad.”

  “Bad? Bad how? And what do you mean you can’t find them? Them
who?” Meghan pulled back against the determined woman.

  “He’s with Zach, and I’m afraid,” she wailed. “Hurry! There’s no time to lose.”

  “With Zach? How do you know?” Her heart thudded with fear she didn’t understand. The woman’s babbling made no sense. “Glory, come in and calm down. What’s this all about?”

  Glory grabbed Meghan’s hand again and tugged her into the corridor. “I saw them getting into the elevator, but the doors closed before I could catch them. I think they went down to the lobby. Please, help me.”

  “Why are you so scared of Tom and Zach being together?” She closed the door to her room and headed for the elevators. Glory, however, veered toward the stairwell.

  “The stairs are faster.” She rammed the door open and dropping Meghan’s hand, grasped the banister.

  “Glory! Answer me. What’s so urgent?”

  Meghan’s legs trembled and her heart pounded as the fear increased. Glory’s departure from the happy reunion committee member to an incoherent hysteric scared the hell out of her. Glory finally stopped on the landing and turned to face her.

  “Meghan, I think Tom’s responsible.”

  “Responsible for what?”

  “The killings. I couldn’t find him when Annabelle and Dave were murdered. I’m afraid Zach may be in danger, too.”

  “Why would Zach be in danger?”

  “Because you guys are helping the sheriff, and you’re getting close to solving the crimes.”

  Meghan’s heart rate soared and her breath caught in her throat. Tom Ecklund? Quiet, always pleasant Tom, a killer? The image just didn’t fit. Her mind had a hard time assimilating the information. On the other hand, how many times in her novels had the quiet ones been the killers? A lot. The quiet ones who allowed things to fester were always prime candidates for being serial killers. But this isn’t a story. This is real life.

  “Why would Tom kill anyone?”

  “He hates them all. They made fun of Divine and after she killed herself, he blamed everyone for sending her over the edge. And he wasn’t in town when Tami, Eddie, and Ms. Sylvester died.”

  “What’s Divine got to do with this?” The ramblings, making less and less sense, confused her. They also scared her. Glory’s panic-stricken face and words fueled Meghan’s fears. Oh God, what if she’s right? What if Tom does want to kill Zach, and then me? I couldn’t stand to find Zach’s body. Not when I think I’m in love for the first time in my life.

  Glory continued down the stairs. If she wanted an explanation, Meghan had no option but to follow. Fear and a growing sense of dread overwhelmed her. She wanted that explanation.

  “Glory, tell me, what does Divine have to do with this?” She put on a burst of speed to catch up to the woman galloping down the stairwell.

  Glory paused on the landing below, her breath rasping in and out. “He was in love with her. Still is. He only married me because I look like her. I tried to be just like Divine for him, but it was never enough. He gets drunk and forgets who I am. Calls me Divine. He’s not normal, Meghan.”

  She whirled and continued on. Meghan followed. They reached the lobby and jerked open the door. The area was empty.

  Tom in love with Glory’s sister? She could see that, but to marry the younger sister as some kind of substitute sounded crazy. Then she remembered Tom’s stumbling actions in the bar earlier in the evening before Dave’s murder. Meghan sucked in a ragged breath. Crazy? Oh, my God, no.

  “We need to find the sheriff.”

  “No time to look. We need to confront Tom now. He’ll hurt Zach, and Zach won’t see it coming. He won’t suspect. If we find them, we’ll be witnesses. Tom won’t do anything with witnesses, and he won’t hurt me. Then Zach can subdue him while one of us gets the sheriff,” Glory said, still breathless and sobbing. She grabbed Meghan’s hand again and tugged. “Quick, the ballroom!”

  Meghan tried to control the ever-increasing terror. Her legs trembled, and her breath rasped in her throat. Frightened for Zach, she tried to pull free, but the woman’s grasp on her hand tightened painfully.

  “Why the ballroom? Maybe they went out front.”

  “Too busy and well-lit. Tom would get Zach into a more secluded place.”

  “Glory, stop! We don’t even know where to look. We need Sheriff Armstrong. Given what’s happened tonight, Zach will be careful.”

  Glory burst through the ballroom doors. The younger woman’s panic and hysteria were infectious. Meghan followed, a ball of anxiety and fear knotting in her stomach. The room had minimum lighting. The table rounds, not yet put away, leaned against the walls.

  Glory pointed to the open terrace door. “The garden. He’d have gone out through the terrace to the garden. Hurry, Meghan!”

  The urgency in Glory’s voice sent a cold chill down her spine.

  Then Glory cried out and clutched her calf. “Cramp,” she cried out with a gasp. “Hurry, Meghan! You can catch up to them.”

  Against her better judgment, she ran past the woman for the terrace doors. If Tom Ecklund was the killer, then she had to find Zach. He was fit and would put up a hell of a fight, but Tom would have the element of surprise.

  She plunged onto the dimly lit terrace and paused at the top of the steps.

  “Tom, Zach, are you out here?” Only the chirping insects answered. “Zach! Where are you?” She dashed down to the path, and then slowed her pace when she almost fell.

  “Which way would they go, Glory, and how long ago did you see them?”

  She didn’t wait for a reply and turned left toward the koi pond. A few seconds later, it dawned on her Glory had not followed. She whirled. Her breath and her mind froze.

  ****

  Zach and Tom raced down the stairwell.

  “Why would Glory want to hurt Meghan?” Zach said, gasping as he ran.

  “You guys got in the way of her plans.” He yanked the door to the second floor open.

  They ran to Meghan’s room. Zach pounded on the door.

  “Meghan!” He waited less than three seconds before repeating his action. “Meghan! Open up!”

  “Oh, God, please let her be in there,” Tom muttered.

  “Damn! She’s not here.” They raced back to the stairs, stumbling out in an empty lobby.

  Zach looked around, his heart slamming against his ribs and his breath ragged. The front desk was once again unattended, but the light in the small back room was on.

  “Hey! We need help!”

  Billy emerged, his eyes wide at the sight of the two men.

  “I need the passkey to room two-fifteen. Now!”

  “I can’t do that,” Billy protested. “I may never hand out another key again.”

  Zach leaned over the counter and grabbed the young man by his tie, yanking him forward.

  “I said give me the goddamned key now! A woman’s life is in danger!”

  Tom pulled at Zach’s arm. “She’s not in the room. Glory wouldn’t do anything there. She’d get her to leave.”

  “Where’s the sheriff?” Zach yelled, keeping his hold on Billy.

  “He—he’s in the security room questioning the guards.”

  “Get him!”

  He released the man’s tie. Billy picked up the phone and dialed. “Uh, Sheriff, you’d better get out here. I got trouble.” He hung up, backing away from the two men.

  The sheriff emerged from a back hallway with Mark Nelson. At the same time, the remaining two deputies stepped in the front doors.

  “What’s wrong, Zach?”

  “Meghan and Glory are missing.”

  Ray’s eyes sharpened. “You think the killer’s got both of them?”

  “I think Glory’s the killer,” Tom informed him.

  “Meghan’s not answering the door to her room. She should be there.”

  “Get the passkey and go check,” Ray snapped at the hapless desk clerk. “Campbell, go with him. Let me know what you find. Jamieson, you checkout the parking lot.”

 
; “We just got back from there. It’s quiet.”

  “Goddamn it! Check it again!”

  The deputies turned and ran, one through the front entrance and the other toward the elevators.

  “Any idea where Glory and Meghan might have gone?”

  “Why would Meghan go with Glory? She’s not stupid,” Zach claimed.

  “My wife can be very persuasive. She knows exactly which buttons to push. She’d use you, Zach. You’ve been with Meghan all evening. It’s obvious the two of you are close.” Tom gazed around the lobby with a haunted look in his eyes. “The garden. If she wants to kill Meghan, she’ll try for the garden. It’s dark.”

  They ran to the large double doors of the ballroom that earlier in the evening had opened to a crowd of happy people. Zach wrenched open the door and rushed in, then paused in the semi-darkness to scan the room.

  “One of the terrace doors is open,” he exclaimed, pointing.

  A scream echoed from outside. Ray drew his gun and raced for the terrace, pushing Zach and Tom out of the way.

  “Stay back,” he ordered.

  Both men ignored him and pounded after the policeman.

  A second scream shattered the night.

  ****

  Glory stood at the bottom of the steps six feet away, a tire iron in her hands. The look on the woman’s face in the feeble light was just short of grotesque. Her lips were drawn back in a snarl and her pale eyes glowed. Meghan didn’t need to be told, she’d been a fool. Her heart hammered and her knees went weak.

  “Glory?”

  “I’m sorry, Meghan, but you had no business sticking your nose into this.” She stepped forward and swung the tire iron like a baseball bat.

  Meghan leaped back. The end of the iron caught her in the side and spun her around with a gasp. Pain radiated through her torso.

  “Glory, for the love of God, don’t do this. Think! You’ll never get away with another death. I’m not Suzanne.”

  “That bitch! ‘And I will execute great vengeance upon them,’” she muttered.

  Meghan’s mind snapped back to all those years in Catholic youth and parochial grade school. Long forgotten Scriptures funneled into her brain.

  “Ezekiel. Chapter twenty-five, verse seventeen,” she said, gasping.