Chapter Nineteen
“Philip.” Sophie recovered with commendable speed, addressing Roker in the no-nonsense tone one usually reserved for children. “What the devil are you doing, coming in here and waving a water pistol around? Have you lost your mind?”
Ashley doubted whether it was a water pistol. For the first time since she’d known him, Roker’s eyes didn’t appear dead. Instead, they expressed a combination of animation, resentment, and steely determination.
“You just couldn’t keep your nose out of things, could you, little miss perfect?” Roker said to Ashley, ignoring Sophie altogether. “Everything was going according to plan, then…sit down!” he shouted at Sophie when she attempted to stand up.
Sophie tutted and resumed her seat, still looking deathly pale. She folded her hands in her lap and levelled a death glare at Roker.
“What are you talking about?” Ashley asked, determined not to be cowed just because he happened to have a gun pointing at her.
“What are you talking about,” he mimicked. “Like you don’t know.”
“It’s over,” Ashley said. “You lost.”
“Perhaps.”
“How did you know where I was?” Ashley asked. “I assume it’s me you came to see, but I didn’t tell anyone I was coming here.”
“It might surprise you to learn that the whole world doesn’t revolve around you, Ms. Wilde,” he said sarcastically.
“I didn’t imagine you’d come to see Sophie, armed with a gun.”
“I came to say good-bye to Sophie. Your being here is just an added bonus. Saves me a trip to Reigate.”
“What do you want to see me about?”
His laughter was almost manic, sending a chill down her spine. “You should have kept your nose out, carried on screwing Matt to keep him distracted, and then everything would have gone to plan.”
“Except for Interactive’s directors, whom you tried to deceive.” Ashley glowered at him, her anger giving her courage as she faced down an unhinged man wielding a gun. “Not to mention the relatives of those policyholders whose cases you tampered with.”
“They’d have been paid eventually.”
“Don’t you think they’ve had enough to deal with, getting over the loss of their loved ones, without fighting insurance companies for what’s rightfully theirs?”
“Shit happens. I should know.” Roker shrugged. “Besides, in two of the cases their loved ones, as you call them, hadn’t been near their relatives until it came to pay out time.”
“Even so, you had no right to put them through that.”
“How did you do it, Philip?” Sophie asked. “And why?”
“How?” Roker quirked a brow. “I should have thought that Miss Marple here would have filled you in on all the details by now. Isn’t that why she came to see you? Probably couldn’t wait to tell you how evil Matt’s wife is.”
“Eve?” Sophie’s eyebrows disappeared beneath her hairline. “What on earth has this got to do with her?”
Roker’s gaze switched between the two women, a knowing smile playing about his thin lips. “Ah,” he said. “I see you haven’t heard it all yet.”
“Then why don’t you sit down, put that silly gun aside because we both know you’re not going to use it, and tell me?”
Roker remained standing, the gun still trained at Ashley’s head, held rock steady in his right hand. “Your saintly son, who can do no wrong in your eyes, is a lousy husband and has brought this all on himself.”
“If you mean he has a relationship with Ashley, then you’re not telling me something I didn’t already know,” Sophie said calmly.
“And yet he has a wife and two, no, make that three, children?” He grimaced. “You disappoint me, Sophie. I thought you had higher standards.”
“I’m not going to discuss my son’s marital difficulties with you.”
“You seem to forget that I’m the one with the gun. I guess that puts me in charge, for once, and we’ll talk about whatever I damned well say we will.”
“I still don’t understand what the fraudulent claims have to do with Eve.”
“That’s because, like everyone else, you underestimate her. There’s more to Eve than a pretty face. She’s very clever, and underappreciated.”
Roker took a few steps more into the conservatory and perched one buttock on the arm of a chair. Ashley was discouraged to see that he still had a firm hold of the gun. She also instinctively knew that he wouldn’t hesitate to use it. A man as meticulous of Roker wouldn’t buy a weapon and not verse himself in its use. For a brief time, he’d had the upper hand and had probably enjoyed what he was doing to Interactive. He’d have had a good laugh when he saw them running round in circles, trying to get to the bottom of things, but appeared to know the game was up. He’d be ruined, but didn’t seem to care. His ultimate revenge would be to ruin Matt’s life, too, by taking her out. He had nothing left to lose.
“We’re all aware of Eve’s talents,” Sophie said.
“Why don’t you tell Sophie who helped me single out the claims to sabotage?” Roker asked Ashley.
She shrugged. “Why would I steal your thunder? You’re obviously very proud of yourself.”
“Have it your way.” Roker smiled at Sophie, almost tenderly. “As soon as I suggested to Matt that Stevenson’s and Interactive might benefit from a merger and he took the idea up, I knew my time had finally come. I’m a patient man, you see. That was two years ago, and Eve and I have been working on setting this thing up ever since.”
“Eve helped you?” Sophie couldn’t hide her surprise. “You knew?” she asked Ashley.
“Yes, perhaps I should have told you, but I thought Matt should be the one to break the news.”
“Of course.” Sophie turned toward Roker. “Why was my daughter-in-law hell-bent upon destroying her husband’s company? To the best of my knowledge, Matt had been entirely faithful to her, until she broke his trust.”
“Bah, there’s more than one way to break someone’s spirit.” Roker waved the hand holding the gun wildly in the air. Ashley fervently hoped the safety catch was on. “Matt neglected her quite shamefully.”
“I’d say it was more the other way round,” Sophie countered. “Eve chose to spend her time in Cornwall with her mother’s family. No one forced her to.” She fixed Roker with a gimlet gaze. “You spent a lot of time down there as well. I assume that’s where you cooked up this ridiculous plot for revenge.”
“Eve feels loved and appreciated in the bosom of her mother’s family, which is why she goes down there so often. No one can blame her for that. Everyone needs someone to love them,” he said, fixing Sophie with a penetrating gaze. “Matt barely had time for her.”
“According to you.”
“If you want to run Interactive so badly,” Ashley said, “why did you leave? Matt would have been happy for you to stay. You could have run it together.”
“David threw me out,” he snarled.
“What!” Sophie looked astounded.
“He figured out how I felt about you, Sophie, and wasn’t prepared to have me hanging around. That’s why he insisted that Matt come back.”
“I had no idea,” Sophie said faintly. “David never said a word. You didn’t…” She shook her head and made an obvious effort to pull herself together. “I had no idea about your feelings until after David died.”
“And yet Sophie tells me you continued to call here regularly whilst her husband was still alive,” Ashley said. “How come, if you were persona non grata?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t take banishment lying down. I told David that if he tried to stop me calling in socially then I’d confess my feelings to Sophie and let her choose between us.”
“You what!” Sophie’s eyes widened, and she lost even more colour.
“I knew all wasn’t well in paradise,” Roker said. “I watched the two of you, saw how much he took you for granted. How you fetched and carried for him after his stroke, with never a wor
d of thanks. How he sniped at you about every little thing. He guilted you into staying with him.”
“You’re quite wrong, Philip. It wasn’t like that at all, and for what it’s worth, the thought of leaving him never once crossed my mind.”
“Really?” he said softly. “In that case, why did David put up with me coming here?”
Sophie said nothing.
“Exactly!”
“So seeing you here, knowing how you felt about Sophie, couldn’t have done much for Mr. Templeton’s health,” Ashley said, disgust in her voice.
“Oh, I’m fairly sure I was partly responsible for his untimely demise,” he said smugly. “That was a great comfort to me in my darker moments.”
“But his dying got you nowhere,” Ashley snapped back. “Because Sophie very wisely turned you down.”
Roker snarled, but had nothing to say.
“All right.” Ashley could see how badly Roker’s words had affected Sophie. She diverted him with more questions, giving the older woman time to recover. “Eve hunted out suitable death claims, you cultivated Dr. Andrews, but who broke into the policyholders’ houses and made their paperwork disappear?”
Ashley thought he’d be a fool to tell her. The third member of their conspiracy was protected because no one had a clue who he was. She’d clearly underestimated Roker’s desire to boast, though, because he answered her without hesitation.
“Brad Vikery,” he said smirking.
“Who?”
“No!” cried Sophie.
“Who is he?” Ashley turned to Sophie for clarification.
“He’s Eve’s stepbrother, I suppose,” she said. “Her mother Stephanie remarried a property developer in Cornwall, Greg Vikery. Bradley is his son from a previous marriage and lives with his father.”
“So Eve would see a lot of him, if she goes to Cornwall regularly?”
“Yes, I gather that Greg was getting tired of Brad’s slovenly ways. He refused to take up a career because, I suppose, he assumed he was automatically entitled to live off his father’s wealth. There was some unpleasantness when Greg cut off his allowance.”
“So if he was feeling resentful, Mr. Roker here took advantage of that and recruited him to his cause.”
“Brad’s a natural at breaking and entering,” he said smugly.
“And, let me guess here,” Ashley said. “He’s also the father of Eve’s baby.”
Roker merely shrugged, a malicious half-smiling playing about his lips.
“It sounds incestuous,” Sophie said, shuddering. “Although, of course, they’re not blood relations, just stepsiblings.”
Ashley was only half listening. Most of her mind was occupied with their perilous situation. There had to be a way out of this. If she could just keep Roker talking, there might be a chance that he’d drop his guard, and then she could try something. What, she didn’t know. Hopefully inspiration would strike before Roker did.
Her phone rang, sounding unnaturally loud in the temporarily quiet conservatory, snapping her out of her reverie.
“Answer it,” Roker ordered. “I expect it’s lover-boy checking up on you. “Put it on speaker,” he added when Ashley finally located the phone.
“Hi, babe.” Matt’s voice sounded tinny as it echoed through the small speakers. “Where are you?”
“Er, I’m with your mother.”
“That’s nice,” he said. “Is she okay?”
“Well, she—”
“Look, I just rang to warn you that it didn’t go too well with Eve and I think she got a call off to Roker before I could stop her. When I tried to locate him, I was told he’d left his office in a hurry.” Matt paused. “I don’t like it. He’s bound to be out for blood.”
“Oh, he is,” Roker said smugly.
“What the—”
“He’s got a gun,” Ashley yelled.
“I’m on my way. It’s me you want, Roker. Harm a hair on either of their heads, and I’ll swing for you.”
“Oh, that won’t be necessary.” Roker raised the gun. The two women clung together, helpless in its sights. “This is for you, Sophie,” he said.
And he pulled the trigger.
Chapter Twenty
“Oh my god!”
Ashley wasn’t sure if it was her or Sophie who screamed. Perhaps it was both of them. Or could it have come from Matt on the other end of the phone?
The gun discharging within the confines of the glass conservatory was deafening. A smell of cordite and gun oil lingered in the air. Ashley, convinced that she’d been shot, felt tightness in her chest and waited for the pain to hit, for the blood to flow. She placed a hand on the spot close to her heart where she felt the pain. When she brought it away again, there was no blood on her fingers. Confused, it took her a moment to realize that she was unharmed. She looked at Sophie, terrified that she’d been Roker’s target, but she too seemed unhurt.
Realization was slow to come, but Ashley now saw clearly what had happened. Roker had raised the gun toward them, tightening his finger on the trigger with agonizing slowness, not a flicker of emotion on his features. Ashley, rigid with fear, also felt inexplicably calm as she awaited the inevitable. There was no escape, and no reasoning with a psychopath out for revenge.
Then Roker turned the gun to the side of his own head and, without hesitation, pulled the trigger.
“What’s happened?” Matt screamed down the phone. “Ash, are you all right?”
His voice slowly got through to Ashley, and her limbs unfroze. “He shot himself in the head,” she said, dazed.
“Is he dead?”
“I think so. He’s not moving.”
“Ashley, you need to make sure.”
“Yes, I know.” She released Sophie’s hand and moved toward the prostrate man, doing her best to avoid stepping in the blood leaking from his wound. She felt his neck. “He’s dead,” she said, taking the gun from his hand and putting it on a surface, out of harm’s way.
“Call the police, darling, and don’t touch anything. I’ll be there in half an hour.”
“All right.
Somehow Ashley managed to do that, persuading a traumatised Sophie to move into the lounge whilst they waited, away from the sight of Philip Roker’s brains seeping from his skull. Away from the sight of blood spreading across the tiled floor.
The police arrived quickly. By the time Matt got there, the place was swarming with people wearing white coveralls. A detective inspector took charge and was questioning the ladies when Matt strode into the room. Ignoring the man, he went straight up to them and embraced them both at the same time.
“Are you both all right?”
“I’m okay,” Ashley said, leaning against his shoulder, finally feeling safe. “But I think your mother is still a bit shaken.”
Matt turned his attention to Sophie. “She needs a doctor.”
“One’s on his way,” the inspector said.
“No, Matt,” Sophie said, rallying. “I’ll be all right. It was all such a shock. One doesn’t expect an old friend to come and blow his brains out in one’s conservatory, that’s all.”
“Better that than shooting either of you,” Matt said, shuddering.
“I shouldn’t have come here, Sophie,” Ashley said, grasping her cold hand and rubbing it between both of her own. “I’m sorry.”
“Phil obviously planned to kill himself in front of me. Selfishly, I’m glad I didn’t have to witness it alone, although it’s probably traumatised you, too.”
“No, really, don’t worry about me.”
“So much resentment.” Sophie shook her head. “To bear a grudge for so long. I feel almost sorry for him.”
“We do need to ask you two ladies just a few more questions,” the inspector said gently. “Then you can rest.”
“Is that really necessary?” Matt asked. “It’s fairly obvious what happened here. No one else is involved.”
“Even so, it’s procedure, sir.”
“I suppose.”
Matt sat beside Ashley, her hand in his. “Make it quick then.”
“The gun, Inspector,” Ashley said. “My fingerprints will be on it. I removed it from Roker’s hand when I checked to see if he was still alive.”
“You shouldn’t have done that, madam,” he said, his tone mildly reproving.
“Well, excuse me if I didn’t follow your precious procedures,” she snapped. “It was instinctive. I knew he was dead, but I still didn’t want him to have a gun in his hand.”
“I understand.”
The questioning established Roker’s relationship to the Templetons, his state of mind, his reason for calling. Matt answered a lot of the questions, and the inspector appeared to believe him. He left the room at one stage in response to a summons from one of his colleagues. He returned clutching a letter encased in a plastic bag.
“Well,” he said. “If I had any doubts about your account, Mr. Templeton, which I didn’t, by the way, this just about puts an end to them.”
“What is it?”
“A letter the deceased had in his pocket.”
“A suicide note?” Ashley asked, blinking. “He really intended to kill himself all along.”
“It would appear so.” He handed the plastic bag to Matt, who began reading.
“He admits everything about the scam with the death claims.” He read some more, lifted his head, and clashed gazes with Ashley. “He says he acted entirely alone.”
“Ah, I see.”
The doctor arrived, gave Sophie a sedative, and Ashley helped her into bed, sitting with her until she fell into a drug-induced sleep.
When she returned to the sitting room, feeling drained and disorientated, everyone except Matt had left. The body had been taken away, Matt had drawn the blinds in the conservatory and shut the door.
“Come here.” Matt pulled her into his arms. “I’m so sorry you had to see that.”
“I’m just glad it’s all over.”
“Ash, when I was on the phone and I heard that gun shot, I thought…” His voice broke. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“Shush.” She rested her head against his chest. “It will take more than the likes of Roker for you to be rid of me. And at least he solved your one remaining problem.”
Soliman, Wendy - The Name of the Game (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Page 21