The Maze ft-2

by Catherine Coulter

  "Good. You're a smart little bitch, aren't you?" She drew a deep breath, then called out, "Oh yes, Marlin, you fucking little bastard, I'm so smart I'm going to kill you. Count on it. And no one will miss you. Everyone will be glad you're in hell where you belong." She stepped into the maze. "Don't you talk to my boy like that, gal, or I'll take a whack at you myself after he's through."

  She heard them talking but couldn't make out any words. Marlin said, "I just told my daddy I was right. Yes, I was right all along. You have a dirty mouth. He heard that bad word you said. You deserve my kind of punishment." He laughed, a full, deep laugh, but there was something in it, something that sounded vaguely like fear. Was that really fear she heard? She'd hurt him once, surely he hadn't forgotten that, but she couldn't imagine why he'd be even faintly afraid now. She was alone. She didn't have a weapon. Still, she had no other options. She decided to push. "Remember how it felt to have a bullet in your gut, Marlin? Remember all those tubes and needles they stuck into you at the hospital? You even had one in your cock. You remember that? Remember how you just lay there whimpering, all gray in the face? You looked so pathetic. You looked like a beat-up little boy. I looked at you and I was really glad I'd shot you. I hoped you'd die, but you didn't. You'll die this time, Marlin. You're a crazy fucker, you know that?"

  "I'll pay you back for that, Marty."

  "You little bastard, you couldn't pay back anything. You're a coward, Marlin, and you're afraid of me. Aren't you? I can hear it in your voice. It's shaking. You're worthless, Marlin, you're nothing but a loser."

  "No!" He was heaving now, she could hear him, heaving from rage. "I'll kill you, Marty, and I'll enjoy every minute of it. You deserve to die, more than any of the others."

  "Let me take her out, boy."

  "No! She's mine, and this one too. I want both of them. You know this other one cusses all the time. Yes, I want both of them. Just you wait and see how well I slice them up. You'll be proud of me, Pa."

  He was screaming and pleading with his father, both at the same time. He was really close to the edge. "I'm the best slicer in the world, not you! I'm the best!"

  Lacey walked very quietly, the knotted string wrapped around her hand. He'd built the maze very well. She hit two dead ends and had to retrace her steps.

  She called out, "Marlin, it looks like you finally learned how to build a proper maze. I just hit the second dead end. Too bad you're so fucking stupid that your daddy didn't teach you how to build a really good maze way back when you were young. It took you long enough to learn, didn't it, you pathetic little fucker?''

  "Damn you, bitch, shut up! Don't you talk like that! I know you're doing it on purpose to make me mad, to try to make me lose control, but I won't. I know you don't talk like that all the time. Do you? Damn you, bitch, answer me."

  "That's right, you little jerk. It's all just for you, Marlin, you miserable stupid fuck."

  "Damn you, shut up!"

  His voice was trembling. She could imagine him nearly frothing at the mouth with rage. Good.

  Her voice rang out cold and calm. "Why the tuck should I?"

  "I'll kill you now, Marty. I've got my Magnum right here, all ready to go. You walk faster or Hannah's going to lose her pinky finger."

  "I'm coming, Marlin. I told you I would. Unlike you, I keep my word. Only a coward would hurt her and you've been swearing to me you aren't a coward, right?"

  He was breathing really hard now. She was close enough to hear his rage, nearly taste it. It smelled sweet, coppery, like human blood. "No, I won't hurt her. Not yet anyway. You're first, Marty, just you. I want you, then I just might be satisfied."

  She walked into a narrow pool of light. She carefully held the string at her side. "Where's your daddy, Marlin? Is he lurking around one of the corners of the maze? He's a coward too. You got it all from that precious father of yours, didn't you?"

  "I ain't lurking no place, girlie," Erasmus shouted out. "I'm just letting my boy do what will make him happy. You just do what he wants, and I won't skin you."

  "Did you skin your wife, Erasmus? After you slit her throat or before?"

  "Ain't none of your business, girlie. You just come along now, you hear me? I want to get out of this place, it ain't comfortable. It makes my skin crawl."

  "Yes, I hear you." He was on her left, some thirty feet away. Marlin was only about ten to twelve feet away, at about ten o'clock. Imagine anything making Erasmus's skin crawl. She'd wrapped about six lengths of string around her hand. String, she thought. All she had was a handful of string to take out two killers with three guns. She loosened the string, making it into a large enough circle so she could loop it over Marlin's head. No, it had to be even bigger. It took time.

  She felt the bile of terror in her throat and swallowed. She couldn't, wouldn't give up until he killed her. She thought of Dillon. He'd go nuts if Marlin killed her.

  He'd already had one woman he loved leave him. She wasn't about to let Marlin kill her.

  36

  THE LIGHT WAS SEADY now, becoming brighter with each step she took. It was from a narrow beam of light that he'd strung some eight feet overhead. She was nearly to the center of the maze now. She heard Hannah moan. She heard Martin's breathing. Hannah moaned louder. The moans weren't from pain. Hannah was giving her directions. Yes, both she and Marlin were at about ten o'clock. She could picture him standing there over Hannah, the Magnum in his hand, a big smile on his face. Waiting for her. He couldn't wait. Where was Erasmus? Had he moved at all?

  "Hannah? Can you hear me? Are you all right?"

  "I'm all right, Sherlock." Then she moaned again, a nice lusty moan. "The bastard just kicked me."

  "Hang in there, please, just hang in there."

  And she knew that Hannah was thinking frantically. She knew whatever she tried, Hannah would help her if she could.

  There was no sound now except for Marlin's jerky deep breathing.

  Had Dillon found her message? Had he even gone to her house yet? Of course he had. She swallowed. Nearly there. Nearly to Marlin.

  She walked into bright light, two spotlights shining directly into her face. She shaded her eyes with her right hand. In her left hand was the string, ready now, if only he didn't see it, if only she had time and opportunity.

  "Hello, Marty," he said, nearly gasping with pleasure. "You're here."

  He was standing beside Hannah, his chest puffed out, looking very proud of himself. He looked happy. His eyes were dead and glittered. He was grinning at her.

  She grinned back at him. "Hi, you little fucker. How's tricks? Have you killed any more women since you escaped from that madhouse in Boston?"

  He lurched, as if she'd gut-punched him. "It wasn't a madhouse!"

  "Sure it was. It was the state madhouse."

  "I was just there to talk to some shrinks, nothing else. I was just visiting for a little while."

  "If that judge hadn't been such an idiot, they'd have you right now in a padded cell. You know what else? They'd shackle your legs together and walk you right out of your padded cell to the electric chair. Then they'd fry you. It will still happen, Marlin. Can you imagine the pain, Marlin?"

  "Damn you, shut up! Be quiet! Show some respect for me. I won, damn you, I won! Not you. You're just standing there, nothing going for you this time. I'm the big winner. You're nothing, Marty, nothing at all."

  "That's right, Marlin, you've won. Even though you haven't had any women walk to the center of your maze since your escape, you've still managed to kill very dangerous and very heavily armed homeless people and teenagers. That's real big of you, Marlin. Real manly. You make me puke."

  "No, that was my Pa!"

  "Same difference. You're his very image."

  He was panting now, trying to hold himself back, and she pushed harder. "You know what, Marlin? I once thought you were pretty good-looking. You know what you look like now? You look like you're ready to drip saliva from your mouth. Is that true? Are you ready to froth at th
e mouth, Marlin? I've never seen a sorrier excuse for a man in my life."

  He snapped. He ran at her, the knife raised. Hannah jerked from her left to her right side, whipped up her bound legs and tripped him. He went sprawling, sliding on his stomach almost to Lacey's feet. She was on him in an instant, looping the thick knotted string around his throat. She had her knee in the small of his back, pulling back on the string, bringing his face off the wooden floor. She knew it was cutting deep into his neck.

  "Hannah, where's his gun?"

  "Hannah can't get it, Marty."

  She turned slowly to see Erasmus holding Hannah's head back at an impossible angle. He had her hair wrapped around his left hand. His right hand held a twelve-inch hunting knife to her throat. "Let my boy go, Marty."

  "I will if you release Hannah. Now, Erasmus."

  He shook his head slowly. The knife point punched into Hannah's skin. A drop of blood welled up and trickled down to disappear into her running top. Lacey saw no fear on her face, what she saw was some kind of message in her eyes. What?

  "You release him real slow, Marty, or the knife goes all the way in."

  "The knife goes all the way in, Erasmus, and your sweet boy here is dead." She twisted the string. Marlin gurgled. His face was darkening. She jerked back his head so his daddy could see him. He thrashed with his arms and legs, but he couldn't dislodge her.

  Erasmus screamed, "You bitch! Loosen the knot! You're choking him, he's turning blue!"

  Suddenly, Hannah sent her elbow back with all her strength into Erasmus's stomach.

  He yelled, loosened his grip just a bit, just enough so Hannah could roll away from him and that hunting knife.

  There was a single shot, loud and hot in the heavy silent air. Erasmus took the bullet in the middle of his forehead. He stared toward Lacey, surprise widening his eyes even in his own death. Slowly, so very slowly, he fell forward. Hannah rolled out of his way. He landed on his face. They heard his nose break, loud and obscene in the silence.

  "Pa! Damn you, you killed my pa!"

  Marlin jerked back, grabbed Lacey's wrists and pulled her over his head. She landed on her back, winded. Marlin was on her, sitting on her chest, leaning into her face, his knife right under her nose.

  "I've got you now, bitch. You killed my pa and now I'll kill you and then that other bitch."

  "No, you won't cut me, Marlin. It's too late. The cops are here. One of them shot your pa."

  Marlin jerked up and brought down the knite.

  "Sherlock, flatten!"

  She pressed as hard as she could into the floor even as she heard the gun crack, loud in her ears. It was a very hard shot to make without hitting her in the process. Marlin had been so close to her, they'd had to hold off until they got a better angle. She felt Marlin jerk over her. She knocked him off her, sending him onto his back. The bullet had hit him in the back of the neck.

  She rolled and came up on her elbows next to him. He was looking up at her. "Tell me how you did it."

  "I left him a message. In my purse, in the floor of the shower. I wrote it in eyebrow pencil on the inside of my makeup bag." She looked up. "Dillon, keep everyone away. I've got to talk to him. Just for a moment."

  She leaned right into Marlin's face. "Did you kill Belinda?"

  He grinned up at her. Blood flowed from his nose and mouth. But he didn't look to be in any pain.

  "Did you, Marlin? Did you kill Belinda?"

  "Why should I tell you anything?"

  "So I can judge which of you is the better man, Marlin, you or your daddy. I can't really know until you tell me about Belinda. Did you kill her?"

  He looked away from her, upward, but the ceiling was dark, impenetrable. What was he looking at? "You want to know what she did, Marty?"

  "What did she do?"

  "She killed my kid. Oh yeah, she tried to tell me it was a miscarriage, but I know she killed the kid because she was scared it would be all crazy even before it was born. She told me about her pa being a loony. She told me she'd have to be nuts herself to have a kid that I fathered. That's why she killed my kid. She told me she wanted the kid, she didn't care if it was crazy, but then she went and she killed it."

  His eyes were vague and wide. She leaned close. "Listen to me, Marlin. Belinda didn't abort your baby. Her husband hit her and she miscarried. It wasn't her fault. It was Douglas's fault. He probably found out the baby wasn't his and he hit her."

  "Oh God, I knew I should have killed that jerk. He couldn't father a kid, at least he hadn't been able to with her. Belinda told me he had this real low sperm count."

  "You knew I was Belinda's sister, didn't you, Marlin?"

  "Not at first. I recognized you when you came to the hospital. Then I knew who you were."

  "But how?"

  "You were just a teenager then, but we did have fun with you. I took Belinda to see my maze, made her promise she'd scream and groan and carry on, all for your benefit, to punish you for hiding in the trunk, for spying on us. You really pissed Belinda off."

  He closed his eyes and sucked in air. Blood trickled out of his mouth as he whispered, "We drove to the warehouse and Belinda pulled you out of the trunk, told you that you'd been captured and you'd have to walk the walk with her. She told you she was going to die, die because of you, but she prayed that you'd survive. You were sobbing and pleading with me, but Belinda pulled you into the warehouse and kept you with her. She screamed real good for you, then she even let me pretend to knife her when you got to the center of the maze, and you saw it all. You just collapsed then. Nobody touched you. You just fell over. Belinda got scared but I told her you were just a nosy teenager and you'd get over it. When we got back to Belinda's house, you were still unconscious.

  "Belinda told me later that you never remembered a thing. She felt guilty about doing that to you. Even though you were a sneak, she loved you. She realized you admired Douglas and were afraid she'd leave him for me. But then she killed my kid. Then I had to kill her. I had no choice at all. She had to die. She betrayed me."

  "It was a miscarriage. You killed her and she didn't deserve it. You made a big mistake, Marlin."

  "I believed she'd betrayed me. I had to kill her but I didn't really want to."

  "She didn't betray you."

  He opened his mouth again and a fountain of blood spurted out. Blood flowed from his nose.

  Lacey positioned his head back, then leaned really close to

  his face. "It's over now, Marlin. You've destroyed quite enough. Yes, Marlin, die now."

  He tried to raise his hand, but couldn't. He whispered, his voice liquid with his blood, "You sure are pretty, Marty. Not as pretty as Belinda, but still pretty."

  His head fell to the side, his eyes still open, a small smile on his mouth.

  She looked up to see Dillon standing there, not two feet away from them. There were at least twenty other police officers and special agents in a circle around the center of the maze. No one was moving. No one said a word.

  She smiled up at him. "No more questions. No more mysteries. He killed Belinda. He told me so and he told me why." All this time-seven long years-she'd driven herself, felt consumed with guilt. All this time she hadn't remembered that Belinda had forced her into Marlin's maze.

  She couldn't dredge up a single memory of that night, even after being told what had happened. She wondered if she'd ever remember, even under hypnosis. Well, it didn't matter. Belinda had been dead for seven years. Her murderer was dead. Lacey's life was her own again. And she had Dillon. She had a future.

  "Yes," Dillon said. "We all heard him confess. It's over, Sherlock."

  "Who shot Marlin?"

  A grizzled old cop raised his hand. "I'm sorry I had to wait so long but I couldn't get a clean shot."

  "You did perfectly." She looked at Hannah. "Are you all right?"

  "I'm just fine now." She was standing beside Dillon, leaning against him.

  Lacey looked at her. "Thanks for tripping Marlin. That wa
s really well done. I wasn't quite sure how to get him low enough to loop him. I knew you'd be ready. You'd best stand up straight now, Hannah. I don't want you leaning against Dillon ever again. You got me?"

  Hannah laughed, a raw ugly sound that was quite beautiful. "I hear you, Sherlock. I hear you really well. I thought you might be mean once it occurred to you. Good going."

  Lacey slowly stood up. Marlin's blood was all over her. She looked around at the circle of faces.

  She was alive.

  She gave them all a huge smile. "Thank you all for saving our lives. Mr. Maitland, sir, we finally got him."

  "No shit, Sherlock," Jimmy Maitland said, then punched Lewis Jacobs and laughed. Soon everyone was laughing, even as they held their weapons in their hands, their relief, their triumph, made them shout with laughter.

  Jimmy Maitland said, ' T wanted to say that since I first saw your name among the new trainees. I love it. Does anyone know where that line's from?"

  37

  DR LAUREN BOWERS SAID very quietly, "Lacey, do you remember getting into the trunk of Marlin's car?"

  Lacey moaned, her head turning from side to side.

  "It's all right. I'm here. Dillon is here. You're safe. This was a long time ago. Marlin's dead. He can't hurt you. You're remembering this for you, Lacey. Now, open your mind. Relax. Did you get into the trunk?"

  "Yes. I wanted to be sure that Belinda was betraying Douglas. I'd overheard her talking to him just an hour before. I heard them make a date. I followed her and this guy. I didn't know she knew I was there. I heard her talking to Marlin but I couldn't make out what they were saying. When we got to the warehouse and they dragged me out of the trunk, I'd never been so terrified in my life. Then Marlin made me walk to the center of the maze with Belinda.

  "I believed she was as terrified as I was, but she wasn't, at least she wasn't that night. But I believed she was. I walked every step beside her. Once she even handed me the string. Every few feet Marlin would call out to us, tell Belinda how he'd have to punish her if she didn't get to the center of the maze. Oh God, I remember being so afraid, feeling so helpless."