“Hi, Mack, I’m sorry I’ve been gone…”
Stacey didn’t know what she noticed first. His stricken face or the sketch he held in his tight fist. She could have sworn her heart stopped. The picture she’d drawn of her and Helen! Oh, hell, she’d left her sketchpad in the turret the previous day when she heard Peg coming upstairs. Instead she’d carried out dictation tapes and blank pieces of paper to pretend she’d been working.
He wielded the sketch book like a club. “Want to tell me about this?”
She licked her parched lips, but her tongue was just as dry. If she spoke, she’d swallow the damn thing.
“You knew Helen Stanton?” he asked, his voice rising.
“Well…” The answer she’d given Carlos stuck in her throat. She could never lie to Mack in a convincing fashion. There was no way out—except the truth. “Um…yes.”
He blinked, his face growing stern in that way she had come to recognize as being deep in thought. His eyes burrowed in on hers. “She was the friend you told me about, the one who died,” he said through gritted teeth.
Her chest felt full, and she was barely able to breathe. “Yes.”
Mack swiveled toward her, blue eyes flashing like warning signs. “Why?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why did you lie? Why did you come here? To find out about us? To find out if we drove her to suicide?”
“I didn’t believe that she would commit suicide. Not Helen.”
His mouth hung open, his eyes incredulous. “She was erratic those last days, despondent.”
Tears edged into her eyes, but Stacey couldn’t back down. Not about this. “Not Helen. She was scared.”
“Of what?” he demanded. “She’d broken up with a boyfriend. She could barely function.”
“Boyfriend? She didn’t have a boyfriend,” she protested.
“Really?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.
The definite way he said that frightened her. Had there been someone in Helen’s life? She mentioned a man right after arriving on the island, but never talked about him again. For a time she thought it might be Mack, until she met him and discovered how he viewed Helen.
“She said he was coming to meet her at the ferry the day she died,” Mack added.
A cold chill ran through her. “That…was me…I was…” she stopped. She couldn’t admit she had failed to show up.
“Why would she lie?”
“Why would she commit suicide?” she retorted. “I grew up with Helen. She would never kill herself.”
“Then you don’t know about the note.”
Stacey went cold inside. “The…note?”
“The note the sheriff found in her coat pocket. Saying everyone had turned against her. She no longer wanted to go on.”
The words were not Helen. “Can I see it?”
“The sheriff has it,” Mack said, “or he sent it to her folks. I don’t know where it is.”
Stacey sagged into the nearest chair. She’d never felt so horrible in her life. Had she really known Helen at the end? Had she let her down one more time in coming here? She bit down hard on her lip. She could feel Mack watching her as despair wracked her body. She wanted to cry, shout, but she didn’t know about what.
She’d let Helen down again.
No. She had come.
She had the backpack.
As for the note, she looked up at Mack as a horrible thought ran through her. She had not heard about any damn note. How could he know about it?
“You know, you think you know Helen so well… You think she lied and that she lost John Scotti’s notes that she never made a thumb drive for you. But you know what? She didn’t lie! I saw that thumb drive when I was by the quarry the other day! And all of John Scotti’s notes are in her backpack downstairs. I hid them in a box! They prove everything Helen was trying to tell you.”
She wasn’t certain about that last part, but as his face turned crimson, she found she couldn’t stop herself. “You don’t want to believe the truth about Helen any more than you want to believe the truth about Lily Feeney! She’s a ghost that you’re clinging to because you don’t want to work at being whole again or getting over your injuries!”
Mack was bright red now and he looked ready to explode. Stacey knew she had gone too far and she ran from the room.
He called after her, but she hopped down the stairs, knowing he could never catch her before she got out of the house.
Chapter Ten
Once she was out the door, Stacey started to run toward her car, but as she fumbled in her pocket, she realized she’d left her keys in the kitchen. Fearing he’d catch her if she went back inside, she walked passed her car and behind the garage. She glanced around anxiously and then with her head down, she turned toward the trees. The wet grass was slippery but she barely felt it soaking through her shoes. She was not going to be frightened any more. Had Mack Warren pushed her friend off the cliff? How did he know about a suicide note if he hadn’t written it?
Mack, though? Could he really have been that mercenary?
Part of her refused to accept that. She’d come to care about Mack, to love him. Could he hurt anyone? That man who kissed her so gently? Who aroused feelings in her she didn’t know she had?
Tears streamed down her cheeks. She needed to keep a clear head.
What would Kendra do? Oh, the hell with Kendra! Stacey needed to make a plan. Maybe she needed to retrace her steps from her last trip to the woods and find that thumb drive. It would prove that Helen had come out to the woods and might have the proof about Lily too. Holding up her wrist to make certain she was going to the left, Stacey found she didn’t need it. She knew where to go. Her eyes scanned the underbrush as she neared the spot where she’d been pushed into the quarry. She could see all the matted leaves and branches where she’d been pushed, but she saw no sign of the thumb drive.
She thought about going back to the house. What was Mack doing right now? Looking for her? No, probably searching frantically for the backpack. Lily and her secrets were all that mattered to him.
The crackle of breaking branches sent a trickle of fear down her spine. A black jacket appeared through the branches coming toward her. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Carlos, his head down.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, stepping toward him. “I thought you went back to Seattle. Did Mack send you to look for me while he looks for the backpack?”
He drew up and stared at her in surprise. “What backpack?”
“He saw my picture with Helen. He knows I knew her. Or did you tell him?”
Carlos studied her for a moment and then shook his head. “I admit I figured it out after you got so upset over that picture, but I never said anything. What’s this backpack he’s looking for? Helen’s? It has the notes, right?”
“Yes, and I told him I had it so I’m sure he’s looking for it. He’s so damn busy protecting Lily and her reputation. It’s like she rules him from beyond the grave.”
His laugh was quick and sharp. “I warned you.”
“But I don’t think he killed Helen.”
“What? You think Mack killed Helen to protect Lily? Why? How?”
“I know people think I’m clumsy and silly, but I know I didn’t fall in the quarry and I know Helen wouldn’t commit suicide. Someone pushed me and they probably killed her too. I’m looking for the thumb drive I dropped here the other day.” She glanced around the area and then realized he’d been searching the ground when she saw him. Her breath caught as everything began to fall into place.
“Oh, no, it was you!” She waited for him to deny it, to laugh at her, but the dark serious look that crossed his feral face almost stopped her heart.
“I wondered how long it would take you to figure that out. Just like Helen, you’re very smart and very thorough, but unlike her, you’re not blinded by wild thoughts of romance. I thought of seducing you.”
She shivered, recalling what Mack had said
about Helen having a boyfriend. “Like you did with her? That would never have worked.”
“I figured that out right away. You’re like Lily was before she left here, believing in romance.”
Another link in the chain fell into place as she thought about the face in the composite sketch. Suddenly she knew where she had seen it before—in her own sketchbook. “That’s why you killed Helen. You…you killed Lily too! You were the other boyfriend. The one she used to fight with. I thought it was Ray, and probably Helen did at first too. But she saw that composite just like me. I didn’t put it together until just now. It looks just like the picture I drew of your old press pass.”
The shock that swept across his face would have given her a sense of triumph, if the circumstances weren’t frightening. She was alone with a killer!
“Is that what did it? It never occurred to me that that’s how she put it all together.”
“You killed her here and took her to that other place.”
“It wouldn’t do to kill someone so close to home. I discovered that with Lily. I’d been to Greenlee’s crime scenes so staging the body was no problem. No one would have put it together until Mack and John started digging. I knew they’d never let it go.”
“You sabotaged Mack by getting rid of his assistants.”
“Peg did that. I accused one of stealing so she fired her. Then I convinced the other girl Mack was unstable, so she took off. But Helen really got into this murder mystery thing. She wanted to prove Greenlee didn’t do it.”
“Why did you kill Lily?”
“It was an accident. She was such a damn flirt. Always some new guy who was going to be the man of her dreams. It was me, but she never saw it.” He shuddered and shook his head.
“I knew Mack and John would eventually put it all together. I hoped once John was gone, Mack would drop the case.”
Another horrifying thought struck her. “You killed John Scotti?”
“He always suspected Lily wasn’t one of Greenlee’s victims. He was drinking a lot and on so damn much medication it wasn’t hard to give him an overdose. I guess whatever he took ended up looking like a heart attack. That was a damn lucky break because he’d started to re-interview people who knew Lily. People had seen me with her and I guess he had someone do that damn composite.”
“You had me fooled about Helen. I even thought maybe Peg did it.”
“Peg?” His laugh came out as more of a snort. “Why would Peg do it?”
“Well, you said she got jealous. So I thought maybe she was afraid Mack was falling for Helen and wanted to get rid of her. Maybe she wants to keep Mack to herself. She chooses to be alone, but I get the impression she doesn’t like being out here all by herself.”
“Don’t be silly. Peg would love to see him get hitched again. She feels responsible for her baby bro, which is why she’s here and so damn bitchy. She hates this place, but it’s where he wants to be.”
“Mack’s going to find out the truth, you know. Once he finds that backpack and sees the composite.”
“Which is why I need to get rid of you and go find the damn thing myself. I thought I’d burned everything in the fire. Yesterday Mack tells me you’ve started finding pieces in some of the boxes and I saw you pick up a thumb drive the other day.”
“So you came back. But you’ve been here all along, haven’t you? In the house?”
He pointed a finger at her like a gun. “I knew you were smart.”
“The figure by the garage. That was you. You’ve been living upstairs in Lily’s room. Raiding the refrigerator at night.”
“Bingo. It was easy to go up and down the back stairs. I just made a copy of the key.”
“You tried to kill me because I was seeing and hearing things.”
“No. I really didn’t mean to hurt you. I wanted that thumb drive, and I know it’s still around here somewhere. I hoped scaring you would make you quit and go home. I thought that’s what you were doing at the ferry terminal today. But you came back.”
“I don’t give up, and Mack will never believe another suicide.”
“No, so you’ll get lost. Forever. Everyone knows you can’t tell directions. What do you think?”
“Mack will find out the truth. He’s consumed with Lily right now, but maybe later…”
“Then I’ll worry about that later.”
She considered her options. What could he do to her? She hadn’t seen a weapon, but there were rocks and tree limbs around. He was stronger. It wouldn’t take much to overpower her and get rid of her as he had Helen. What would Kendra do?
Fight! But she wasn’t Kendra!
Wait! Who had gotten Kendra out of all those jams?
She had!
But Kendra could kick and fight.
So could she! Stacey’s heart raced. Somehow she was going to get out of this mess. “You’re a monster! A monster. First Lily, now Helen.”
“No, now you.” He reached for her arm. “Enough of these games. It’s time to end this once and for all.”
Stacey kicked at him and he looked surprised as her foot came up and connected with his chest. The jolt surprised them both and the jarring in her leg sent a shaft of pain through her, but it shoved him back from her and his fingers slid away from her arm.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asked, fighting to catch his breath.
“You won’t toss me down any cliff again,” she cried, balling up her fist and waving it at him. “I won’t go easily.”
He tried to reach for her and she kicked again, swinging her foot toward him and then the other, in rapid motions that he had trouble following. He might have size over her, but she had determination and as she connected with his leg, she realized the pain was diminishing now that she recognized what her movements needed to be. She aimed for the groin this time but he looked ready for that and stepped back. Her foot flicked at air and he lunged for it, missing her.
“Enough,” he shouted and to her horror, he pulled a gun from his jacket pocket.
“You won’t shoot me,” she declared with more bravado than she felt. “A bullet hole will prove someone else did it.”
“If they find your body,” he said with a sneer. “But they won’t. Not if it’s weighted down with stones. Dear little Stacey will simply disappear.” He gestured for her to walk toward the quarry. “Go. That pool is bottomless beyond the rocks.”
From behind him she saw movement through the branches and then a sandy head emerged from the forest. Fear choked her and she shook her head. “Mack…”
Carlos chortled. “He can’t save you now. Not this time. And there’s one last thing I want you to know. You were wrong. Mack is no longer totally consumed with Lily. You have managed to change that. But it’s too late.”
Was it? Mack held his finger to his lips and then to her horror, he moved forward. With a kick his foot hit the gun, knocking it out of Carlos’ hand. The older man bellowed and whirled toward Mack. Stacey moved quickly, launching another kick at Carlos. When he jerked back in her direction, she kicked again, this time connecting with his groin, sending him to his knees.
Mack moved with more agility than she thought possible, lunging for the gun. Carlos scurried toward it too, but Stacey reached it first, kicking it toward Mack. With a shout, Carlos rose and charged toward her but she whirled and danced away. His shout behind her was horrifying and she spun around in time to see his momentum catapult him over the edge of the quarry. The sickening thud of his body hitting a rocky ledge and then another was something she knew she’d never forget. She hurried to the side in time to see his battered body bounce off another ledge before plummeting into the water below. It bobbed there, face down.
Her hands shook as she turned to Mack. “You…saved me.”
His right hand clutched hers. “No. I think we saved each other.”
They peered over the ledge at the lifeless body, and she sagged against Mack. He caught her with his right hand, wrapping his arm around her.
She leaned closer to him, pleased to be in his arms. Tears singed her eyes as she realized she never wanted to leave the protection of his touch again.
Mack kissed the top of her head. “We need to go back to the house and call the authorities. Are you strong enough to walk on your own?”
She nodded and together they began the trek back to the house. To her surprise and delight he kept his arm around her as though he didn’t want to let her go either. Or maybe he didn’t think she was capable of making it on her own. Only when they entered the house and he went to pick up the telephone did he relinquish his hold.
For Stacey the next two hours were agonizing. Mack insisted she stay at the house to answer questions for one sheriff’s deputy while he took the others to the quarry. She outlined her story in shaky detail, her hands trembling and cold despite the hot cup of tea Mrs. D. gave her. As she spoke, she felt herself growing stronger. For once she felt like she had come through for Helen. She had uncovered the truth of her death and no one would ever again think that her friend committed suicide.
But she didn’t feel total relief sweep through her until she saw Mack emerge from the woods. He walked with his limp more pronounced. She grabbed her jacket and ran out the door toward him.
He held out his hand, shaking his head. “It’s over.” His sigh was heavy, exhausted, but he had never looked better to her.
She flung herself to him and wrapped her arms around him. “I don’t ever want to ever hear you say you can’t do something,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. Then realizing what she was doing, she straightened up. “I’m sorry.”
His smile was tired, but there was light in his eyes. He stroked her face gently. “Don’t be. You did it. You fixed me. And Carlos was right. When I left the house to look for you it was with the knowledge I’m no longer consumed with Lily. I said I wanted to wait for us to talk until we were finished, but now I’m not certain I even want to finish our project.”
Shadows from the Past Page 12