She thought about the strange feeling she’d had earlier, when Harvey secluded her in the hospital lounge. If the police captain really was the enemy, it magnified their danger enormously.
He could shoot first and make explanations later. He could manipulate evidence, eliminate suspects and cover his tracks without arousing suspicion.
She reviewed the sequence of events, trying to see whether Harvey fit the picture. First a client had hired Sarah Walters to steal files in an inheritance dispute. But Sarah hadn’t believed her client could be a murderer. Why? Because he was a policeman?
After someone tried to kill Wick, he and Sarah had dropped out of sight for four months. The files had never been given to the client, as she recalled.
It wouldn’t have taken four months for a police captain to locate a woman hiding in his own jurisdiction, would it? The killer had apparently had to wait until Wick exposed his whereabouts by kidnapping Linda.
What had the killer been doing during that time? He must have been ill, in jail or out of the country, she thought. Harvey Merkel had been none of those things.
Or the killer might have kept Linda under surveillance all that time. Maybe he’d suspected that Wick hadn’t died, since his body never turned up. Maybe he’d been watching Linda, waiting for Wick to contact her.
And who could have done that better than Janet’s boyfriend?
The sedan was passing between vacation cottages and empty lots by the lake. “Felice,” Linda said. “When you were at the church before my wedding, was anyone missing? Anyone who should have been there? Because we think someone may have witnessed my kidnapping and followed Wick.”
“Granville had some kind of business emergency.” Felice frowned into the bright sunlight. “And Harvey had to work that day. He couldn’t get off, you know.”
“I’d forgotten.” Linda got a dark feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“Everyone else was there,” the other woman said. “Except you and Janet, of course.”
“What about Yuri?” He’d been invited, but Linda hadn’t expected him to attend.
“Oh, yes, he came with Armand and me.” They passed a mom-and-pop grocery store that had a display of flotation devices in the window. “He hates to miss anything Janet is doing. He says there’s nothing more precious than family.” The words came out bitter.
“You’re really angry at him, aren’t you?”
“He’s a monster. He may have gotten Janet killed for his own greed. She and Armand dote on him, but I never trusted him. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s betrayed someone close to him.”
Linda spotted the cabin ahead. “That’s it. Drive past without slowing. I’ll try to see if anyone might be there.”
As they went by, the cabin appeared to drowse in the sunshine. The curtains were drawn and a newspaper moldered on the front porch.
“I don’t know,” Linda said. “Either they’ve been here and gone, or they haven’t arrived yet. Or Janet didn’t hide the dossier here, after all.”
“We’ll look for it ourselves,” Felice said.
They swung back to the house. Linda dug up the key from the flower bed and they put the car in the garage. It seemed wise to keep their presence a secret.
Compared to the place where she and Wick had been staying these past few days, the house looked spacious and modern, Linda noticed as they walked through the front door. Yet it didn’t have quite the same innocence that it had before.
She wished Wick were here. It didn’t feel right to come back without him. She only hoped he would be arriving soon.
“Do you think anyone has gone through the place?” Felice asked. “It looks clean as a pin.”
“Janet wouldn’t have needed to search,” Linda said. “She would know where she hid the dossier.”
“Where do you suppose that could be?”
It struck her as odd that Janet’s mother would be so intent on finding a list of spies, when her primary concern should be for her daughter. But maybe she just wanted to make sure it was here, so they knew this was the best place to wait for Janet.
“Probably the spare bedroom. That’s where she always slept.” Linda led the way upstairs.
Her body felt heavy, and the baby wiggled as she ascended. She remembered the doctor’s instructions to take it easy. But how could she do that now?
Light poured through lacy curtains into the spare bedroom, highlighting the country motif on the wallpaper. A handmade quilt, purchased at a crafts show, covered the bed.
Against the far wall stood a rough-hewn dresser. While Felice checked the closet, Linda went through the drawers. She found only a spare box of facial tissues and an electric blanket.
Felice glanced under the bed, then shook her head. “Of course it is not here. My daughter would know that when the mattress is turned, someone might see it.”
What other hiding places were left? Remembering Mina’s endless supply of movie ideas, Linda tried to recall anything she might have seen in a film or on TV.
To her surprise, she actually recalled something. “Maybe she taped a packet underneath a drawer.”
“If it is very thin, it might work.” Felice began pulling out drawers. Linda helped her turn them over one by one.
Nothing.
“We must look behind the bureau,” the other woman said. “It might be taped there. You take that corner.”
“In a minute.” Linda’s breath was coming heavily, although she hadn’t exerted herself much. The weight of the baby was pressing onto her lungs, she realized. “I need to sit down for a moment.”
“Please, I have no patience now.” Mrs. Capek’s hands fluttered in agitation.
Linda rested on the edge of the bed. “I’m under doctor’s orders, Felice.”
“I’m sorry.” The older woman clasped her hands together to still them. “I am so anxious to know if we are on the right trail.”
To distract her, Linda said, “What did you mean earlier, that it wouldn’t be the first time Yuri had betrayed someone close to him?”
“He had a mistress for many years.” Janet’s mother grimaced her disapproval. “A tough woman, I suppose. Someone in the secret police.”
“His lover was a spy?” Linda asked. “It sounds like a James Bond movie.”
“I don’t know exactly what sort of work she did,” Felice said, “but even Yuri was afraid of her. Then he grew tired of this woman, and he did not want to share his money when he left.”
“How did he get out of Litvonia without her?”
Moving to the window, the older woman stared at the street below. “He made sure she couldn’t follow.”
Linda shuddered. “He killed her?”
“No. There was a warrant out for her arrest by the new government. His, too, I’m sure. He notified the police where she could be found, and left her sleeping. He took the money and the dossier for himself.”
Linda thought of the elderly man who beamed at his great-niece as if he adored her. It was hard to imagine him capable of such cold-blooded treachery. “How do you know this?”
“He bragged about it,” Felice said. “Not the dossier, of course, but about tricking her. He thought he was so clever.” She turned abruptly. “There is a car coming.”
Linda went to the window. On the street below, she made out a BMW far down the block, creeping along. “I think it’s them!”
“Can you see Janet?”
“Not from this angle.” Both of them headed for the stairs. In a minute, Linda thought as they descended, she would know whether Wick had stuck around, or whether he was gone.
It took all her self-control not to run outside until she saw for sure who had come. Her hands were damp with tension as she approached the front window.
Through the translucent curtains, she watched the sedan cruise by, just as she and Felice had done a short time earlier. Its occupants must be observing the same sleepy house, and hopefully not noticing any sign of intruders.
Without moving t
he curtains, however, she couldn’t see who was inside. And she didn’t dare move them for fear of frightening off her friends.
Suddenly, Linda wished time could stand still. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know who was in the car. She wasn’t even sure which distressed her most, the chance that the killer might have taken the others captive, or the possibility that Wick had fled.
The car was turning around. Linda could see its outline, but still no faces.
Felice ran her hands nervously over the back of a chair. “I cannot look. Linda, I feel that someone is nearby. There is danger. If anything happens to my daughter…”
“It’s okay. Keep talking. Did you ever hear what happened to the woman after she was arrested?”
“She was convicted of crimes against the state and sent to prison for life. They use the old dungeons for prisons, small, dark, nasty places.” Too restless to stand still, Felice crossed to the living room. “This woman, she had been caught once by some rebels. I don’t know the whole story, but she developed claustrophobia.”
“Claustrophobia? And Yuri deliberately got her sent to a dungeon?”
“I told you, he is a monster.” Felice stared at the lake. “I actually feel sorry for this woman. But I am sure she is dead by now.”
“Why?”
The car halted in front. Unable to stand the suspense, Linda fingered aside a fold of cloth.
Two women emerged, Mina from the passenger seat and Janet from behind the wheel. Linda tried to say something to Felice about her daughter, but her throat was so dry, she couldn’t choke out the words.
Then she saw Wick disentangling himself from the back. He was here. He hadn’t left. And there was no one else around, just him and Janet and Mina.
As the three visitors approached the house, Linda’s limbs felt stiff and her hand was so slippery, she could barely turn the knob. She opened the door just as they reached the edge of the porch.
Three pairs of eyes fixed on her in surprise.
Behind her, Felice said, “Because she had a heart attack soon after she was arrested. I’m sure it was only a matter of time before—oh look! They’re here!”
Chapter Seventeen
Wick could scarcely believe what he was seeing. Linda stood there in the doorway, and then Felice Capek pushed past her onto the porch.
Linda was free. But what was she doing here? And why did she have a stunned expression on her face?
“At last, we are reunited.” Mina’s voice sounded stronger than it had all morning. “You have been searching the house? So, what have you found?”
“Nothing yet.” Linda’s voice had an odd flatness to it.
“Janet!” Felice trotted down the steps. “You are all right? No one has harmed you?”
Janet gave her mother a hug. “I’m fine. How’s Uncle Yuri?”
A shrug. “He was awake for a little while. Who cares? I will never forgive him for what he has done.”
Linda was staring at the group like a deer frozen in headlights. There was something wrong, but what? Wick wondered. Could the killer be hiding inside? But if he were, surely he wouldn’t have let Felice race out the door.
“I do not think we should stand around,” Mina said. “Let’s go inside where no one can see us.”
“Let’s not,” Linda said.
Everyone regarded her with varying degrees of perplexity. “Why not?” Janet said.
“Yes, why not?” There was a steely undercurrent in Mina’s voice that didn’t sound like her usual chipper self. She must be overstrained and eager to get this business done with.
Then a car shot around the corner and gunned down the street Wick couldn’t see where it came from, but it was going too fast to be casual traffic.
Was it the killer? If so, they were sitting ducks. “Inside!” he roared.
Mina started toward the steps.
“No!” Linda blocked the entrance. The old woman stood her ground for an instant and then turned away with narrowed eyes.
What on earth was going on?
A blue sedan screeched to a halt behind the BMW and Harvey Merkel jumped out. Wick couldn’t believe it. Was this why Linda had delayed them?
After all that had passed between them, she had thrown in her lot with the police. Didn’t she realize that Harvey himself could be the murderer?
This might be his last chance to flee. Janet and Felice were standing between him and the captain, so Harvey couldn’t fire. Wick might still be able to get away.
But he knew in that moment that he couldn’t. He had to believe he was wrong about Linda. And if Harvey did turn out to be the killer, Wick might be leaving her and the baby to die.
Wick’s life had no meaning without them. He was going to stick this one out, no matter what it cost.
Harvey stalked across the sidewalk, his gun drawn. He broke his stride only when Janet planted herself in his path.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded. “Go away! You did enough harm last night!”
“No,” Linda said. “Let him stay.”
“Did you tell him about this place?” Wick asked her. “Linda, I need to know.”
She gave no sign of having heard. “Janet, go inside the house. Get the dossier and bring it outside.”
“What?” Janet said.
“Nobody’s going anywhere.” Training his gun on Wick, Harvey edged around his girlfriend. “Mr. Farley, step away from the women.”
“It isn’t him,” Linda said in that same flat, unnatural voice.
“Of course not!” Janet snapped. “For Pete’s sake, I’ve been with him all morning and he hasn’t done a thing.”
“I said, step away!”
Raising his hands, Wick moved aside. “You can’t just shoot me, Harvey. There are witnesses.”
From his pocket, the captain pulled a set of handcuffs. “This time I came prepared.”
“For God’s sake, don’t do that!” Linda cried. “Don’t you see—”
And then things happened so fast that Wick could scarcely follow them. One minute the women were standing like statues in front of the house, and the next Mina had snaked an arm around Linda’s neck and was holding a small gun to her temple.
He didn’t see where the weapon had come from and his first thought was that it must be a toy. But from the dismay on Linda’s face, he knew it wasn’t.
This must be the danger that she’d foreseen—from Mina. Linda had been trying to manipulate them out of harm’s way, but it hadn’t worked.
“You?” Felice cried. “You were Yuri’s—?” The last word she spoke was in Litvonian.
Mina snarled something at her in the same language. Felice went white.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Harvey’s revolver wavered between Wick and Mina. “Put the gun down, Mrs. Barash.”
“Put it down yourself, Captain,” Mina said. “I have already killed three people. One more will make no difference. Excuse me, two more. We must not forget the baby.”
“It’s impossible!” Felice appeared on the verge of hysteria. “I thought she must be dead!”
Janet touched her mother’s arm to steady her. “You mean, Yuri’s mistress? The one from the secret police!”
“Mrs. Barash is some kind of assassin?” Harvey looked as if he were waiting for someone to supply the punch line to a joke.
Wick knew he had to take action, but the wrong kind could be fatal. Why hadn’t he moved to Linda’s side at once? Why hadn’t he trusted her, instead of wallowing in his own doubts?
No wonder Mina had been so eager to help them No wonder she’d known how to open a safe, and had so many insights into security. Her knowledge hadn’t come from old movies but from long experience.
He could see now why Sarah wouldn’t have suspected her client of being anything more than an innocent bystander. Such a helpless old lady.
It was painfully clear how Granville’s list had found its way into Wick’s car. There hadn’t been any prowler last Saturday; Mina had kept the
list all along. And she had vandalized her own house last night. Then, when she took the wheel of his vehicle, she must have slipped the list under the seat.
She’d done a great job of framing him. If Linda hadn’t grown suspicious, she would have gotten away with it.
She still might.
A gunshot jolted him from his thoughts. For one numb moment, he thought Mina had shot Linda, and then he saw Harvey clutching his shoulder, on the same side where Yuri had injured him last night.
“I said drop it!” Mina ordered.
Harvey set the gun on the lawn and moved away.
“Now your cell phone!” Mina said. “Yours, too, Wick. Felice, pick up Harvey’s gun and bring it to me. And the handcuffs. Do it now!”
Slowly, everyone complied. He hoped against hope that some neighbor might come out to investigate. But there was no one around.
Once she had the other gun and the cuffs, Mina herded the entire group into the living room. She was going to kill them, Wick thought.
Mina wouldn’t be foolish enough to shoot them and leave evidence that pointed to her. He knew her well enough to realize she must be spinning a scheme, even now.
Somehow, he thought frantically, she would set it up to look as if he were the killer. Maybe she would stage it as a gun battle in which he and Harvey shot each other.
But how she would arrange it didn’t matter. The point was to keep them all alive in the first place.
Urgently, he tried to catch Linda’s eye, but she seemed lost in her own fears. Had she figured out how desperate their situation was? If she had, she would realize that they had to try something, anything, to get away.
Yet, with the barrel of a gun pressed against Linda’s temple, what chance was there of saving her? Wick would gladly sacrifice his own life, but he needed some way of separating his wife from Mina.
He glanced at Harvey, but the policeman was staring at the gunwoman. Whatever action Wick took, it would have to be a solo operation.
“Felice, take this.” Mina held out the open handcuffs. “Attach the captain to the stair railing. Move!”
Felice obeyed, glancing apologetically at Harvey. His face was impassive.
And The Bride Vanishes Page 20