Distortion Control (A Makayla Rose Mystery Book 3)

by Audrey Claire

  “He wanted you to find us.”

  “He wanted you alive so you would lose faith in me,” Spencer countered.

  I had never considered this. The entire time, we had been thinking the killer hadn’t gotten around to finishing me off, but Spencer had thought through the man’s motivation in an instant and pieced together his reasons and actions. What I didn’t know is if he’d been thinking it all now or when he was locked up.

  “Do you think he knew about my background?” I asked.

  Spencer’s gaze cut to the others and back to me. “Maybe, but he didn’t have to know it to produce the result he desired.”

  “What background?” David asked, but I noticed Ash didn’t. He too was a cop and probably had already checked into it for himself. I felt like my mistakes were on display for others to sift through. Yet, if Ash had known it, he hadn’t treated me like he knew and been disgusted. He was hardly in a position to, I supposed.

  I ignored David’s question and asked Spencer, “Why did the police follow you? Why did they even suspect you?”

  “Logical,” he said. “And I’ll bet they got an ‘anonymous’ tip. While I was stuck at the station, I asked Pete, but he refused to say. The red face and anger was enough to convince me my theory is correct.”

  Ash slammed a hand against the wall where he leaned. “It should have also been enough to get him to see there’s more going on here than what’s on the surface!”

  “Dial it down,” Spencer growled.

  Pete was handling this whole thing wrong. He was letting his personal feelings get in the way. Well, I for one wasn’t going to let him get away with it. Even if I had to shame him into following up on that tip. Spencer deserved better from the police department, and so help me, he would get it.

  When we determined there was nothing else we could learn that night, Spencer ordered the others out. We were alone, and he ran his hands over my arms. “Stay the night,” he encouraged me.

  I shook my head. “I want to be in my own apartment.”

  He sighed and took me home then walked me to my door. “I could stay here.”

  “No, thank you.”

  “Makayla.”

  “I’ll put a chair under the doorknob so it won’t even open, and I’ll sleep with my cell phone in bed with me. How’s that?”

  He frowned. “When this is over, we need to talk.”

  “Fair enough. Good night.”

  He turned away with reluctance in his bearing. “Good night.”

  * * * *

  I was in a vehicle, and it rocked side to side until my stomach roiled. The interior was so dark, but I saw pinholes of light at the back. I lay curled on a hard metal surface with the stench of something terrible in my nostrils. The vehicle came to a stop, and then light flooded the space. The man stood before me, and I flinched at the sight of him.

  I shook my head, wanting to beg him to let me go, but my words were muffled. He reached into the van with a hand that seemed as big as my head, but it might have been my fear blowing it up several sizes.

  “At last,” he said, grinning. “You two are going to help me. He ruined my life, but he’s going to pay.”

  Two, I thought, and I turned my head. Penelope lay beside me. I thought at first she was dead, but her chest rose and fell. She was drugged, and when I felt the pinch in my neck, I knew he had drugged me again.

  Montgomery dragged me to the end of the van in preparation of lifting me over his shoulder. That’s when I saw it, the color of the van. Dull gray. A memory niggled at the edge of my mind, and I was pretty certain if Spencer and I drove around Briney Creek, I would recall where to find Montgomery.

  I woke grinning and sat up in bed. That dream was the most revealing of all, and this time fear didn’t overwhelm me. The stronger sensation was triumph. Wait until I told Spencer. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind he could help me get the last pieces together and put this madness behind us.

  I thrust the covers aside and climbed out of bed. After a bit of searching, I came upon my cell phone, finding it beneath a pillow. I had kept my word to Spencer and had taken it to bed with me. However, before I could dial him, my cell rang. I answered, intending to get rid of the caller quickly.

  “Makayla?”

  Worry tightened the muscles of my belly at Pattie’s voice. “Pattie? What’s wrong?”

  “It was me, Makayla.”

  I hesitated. “It was you, what, sweetheart?”

  “I caused Spencer to be arrested. I feel so guilty.”

  “Oh, Pattie.” My heart broke. I had been thinking it was the killer who had given the tip, and here was Pattie saying she had done it. Why would she ever do such a thing? We weren’t friends, but neither had Spencer nor I done anything to her. Unless Penelope, having stayed at her inn, had pulled her into the scheme of kidnapping her? That was a possibility. “Just tell me why, Pattie.”

  “Will you come over? Please.”

  I hesitated, but what could it hurt if I gave Spencer more to go on so together we could figure out all of Montgomery’s plans? While I spoke to Pattie, I might even recall more about that last clue that hovered on the edge of my mind.

  “All right. Just let me get dressed. I’ll be right over.”

  A sigh sounded over the line, and then it went dead. Annoyance ran through me that she was trying to assuage her feelings of guilt more than being concerned about Spencer. She should have come forward sooner if she thought maybe Spencer could be freed of all suspicion. Too often we as human beings think only of our own inconveniences and not how it will impact others and their livelihoods.

  Okay, Makayla. Get off your own high horse and get moving!

  As I showered and dressed, I wondered who in town might be new. Spencer and I had come around the same time, but we stuck out immediately. I recalled that day I found the first body. Everyone seemed to know who the sheriff was and what he looked like. Then I met Spencer. I was sure others had also known Zoe was new to the area, even though I personally hadn’t heard about her. Wouldn’t they know about Montgomery?

  Leaving my apartment a short while later, I determined to ask Pattie. She was local and had grown up in Briney Creek. She might know about any new faces. If she didn’t, I would ask Louisa or someone at Zekey’s. I couldn’t imagine Pete or one of his men not asking, but one never knew.

  Montgomery did look different now than he had years ago when Spencer knew him, but not as if he had had plastic surgery. Everyone changed with age, put on weight or lost it. They grew their hair out, dyed it, or cut it. Spencer would recognize Montgomery should he walk about town. Now that I had stopped blocking his face from memory, so would I.

  I drew into the inn’s parking lot and paused to text Spencer. “Visiting with Pattie, but I need to talk to you later. Important.”

  The reply came back immediately. “About?”

  “Later,” I repeated and chuckled, thinking of his irritation. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so cryptic.

  “I’ll be there. I don’t want you going anywhere alone.”

  I smiled and didn’t answer. He was being overprotective as usual. One hardly expected trouble at nine forty-five in the morning.

  As I entered the inn, ignoring everything around me, which probably wasn’t a good idea, I considered who could come and go without a second glance. Who wouldn’t stick out even in Briney Creek? That was a feat given the nosiness of the citizens. Everyone loved to know everyone else’s business. Even I had fallen prey to it all, admitting if only to myself that I liked learning about my friends and neighbors. People like Talia and Ollie, Edna and Peony delighted me with their mere existence.

  I tugged the front door of the inn open and stepped inside. A rush of warm air engulfed me, and I wriggled my shoulders to shake off the chill of the morning. Pattie’s inn had given me a cozy sensation the last time I visited, but today, I squinted in the low lighting, wondering why she wasn’t nearby to greet me.

  “Pattie?” I called.

  The l
obby was empty of activity. She didn’t have many guests this month, but I had expected someone to be lingering in the dining room at this hour. I walked through to the kitchen, calling for her. Still no answer. Had she gone out to make a quick run?

  Walking back to the front, I pulled my cell phone from my pocket, figuring I would give her a call. Maybe she had gone up to her bedroom and didn’t hear me. Before I pressed the button, I pushed the front door open again to check the parking lot. One or two cars were parked there that I hadn’t paid attention to, and at the side of the building, not visible from the road driving up because of heavy bush coverage on both sides of the property—the gray van. My blood ran cold.

  Who could come and go and be overlooked? An exterminator. The terrible scent in my nose from the van and in Spencer’s basement had come from the chemicals the exterminator used. This was what I remembered. Seeing him and smelling his clothing had brought on the dizzy spell at the motel when I had gone to visit Ash. I had thought it meant someone had brought me to the motel, or even that Ash had had something to do with it. The entire time it had been Montgomery, posing as the exterminator.

  With all these realizations, I knew I needed to call Spencer. I started to take a step outside, but someone grabbed my arm from behind. Fear clawed at my throat. What had I been thinking? If the van was here, he was here, and if Pattie hadn’t called me…

  I spun to jerk free, but as soon as I did, I got only a glimpse of his face before a hand with a cloth covered my mouth. He muffled my scream and pulled me into the inn. I kicked at his shins and banged fists against his chest. Nothing could get me free, but all the energy expended forced me to draw in a breath. The lobby dipped and swayed around me. My knees turned to jelly, and I felt myself falling as if down a deep hole. The world went dark.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I woke in a room at the inn, lying on a bed. My throat felt try, and I had a terrible taste in my mouth. Memory of seeing Holden Montgomery’s face flooded my mind, and I tried to sit up but found myself bound. Fear took control, and I must have cried out, because he appeared leaning over me.

  “You’re awake. Good, we can get started.”

  I glared at him with as much fierceness as I could produce, but he only smiled. “Did you want to say something, Makayla?”

  I mumbled and tried to speak around the gag. To my surprise, he removed it, and I worked my jaw. “You’re not going to get away with this, Montgomery.”

  “So you’ve figured out who I am, huh?” He sneered. “Took Spencer long enough. I kept him in mind all these years, but he must have forgotten me. He ruined my career and my life.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” I snapped. “You did that when you hit a woman.”

  A yank on my hair, and I yelped. I reminded myself I was not like the silly little victims one sees in movies. Don’t say things to make the murderer angry. Bide your time. I repeated these orders like a mantra, partly to keep from cracking under pressure and terror.

  “This is Spencer Norwood’s fault, no one else’s,” he growled, “and with the detective in charge fed certain information by me about Spencer, he won’t have a problem blaming Spencer when you’re found.”

  “What information?”

  He ignored my question and picked up my cell phone. I looked around me in a crazy attempt to confirm what he held was my cell. No mistake about it. Montgomery glanced at me and held up another device, almost the size of the cell phone but a tad bigger. He pressed a button, and my voice sounded in the room talking about needing help. I gaped in shock. When had I said those things?

  “Confused?” Montgomery asked. “You see, I can get in anywhere in this disgusting little town. As an exterminator, that is. Everybody’s got pest control problems or they want to prevent them.”

  I cringed, and he laughed.

  “I thought it would be harder. Turns out they don’t even look in the face of the exterminator. Everyone’s too busy or too grossed out. Who knows how many years the last guy was here. I just took his uniform and his identity.” Montgomery tapped the name stitched on the front of his coveralls. “Poor Ned.”

  Montgomery didn’t appear to be sorry in the least for Ned, but I began to understand what he was saying. I imagined Ned, whoever he was, had been in pest control for a while. Maybe he was a loner in Briney Creek, kept to himself, didn’t have a girlfriend. No one paid him any mind for years. Then along comes a replacement, similar height and build, hair always under a cap, so who would be able to tell if it was a different shade?

  I studied Montgomery’s face. He had one of those plain visages, dull brown eyes, round face, brown hair, all non-distinguishing. If Ned never stood out either, even if someone noticed the difference in men, who would say so and risk embarrassing the man if they were wrong? Montgomery had counted on it. I began to think if he hadn’t been such a violent murderer, he might have made a great detective.

  “You seem like an intelligent man, Montgomery,” I said with only a little shake in my voice. “Enough to realize you’re not going to get away with this.”

  He pressed the button again on the recording. My voice rang out again, this time blaming Spencer for my abduction.

  “No,” I screamed.

  Montgomery laughed. “Now to make a call and set it all up. Peter Fortner’s going to think he’s about to make the arrest that launches his career, and you won’t be around to say any different. All the little pieces will fall into place.”

  I racked my mind for a way to escape or some way to buy time. Spencer had told me he was coming. Montgomery had obviously not accounted for that. “What are you going to do to me?”

  He reached a hand toward my face, and I struggled to move out of reach. Montgomery grasped my chin and squeezed. “Don’t you worry your pretty head about it. All that matters is seeing Spencer’s face.”

  “It’s too late for that,” I said, still thinking. “You killed his wife. I’m no one special, just an ex-girlfriend. You really should get the facts straight before—”

  A smack. My cheek stung, and I glared at him. Montgomery untied the rope attaching my hands to the bed post but kept my wrists bound. “I don’t like it here. Feels too exposed, and who knows who’ll show up. We’re going somewhere fun. How do the woods sound?”

  I gasped. “It was you!”

  His eyebrows rose. “Did you think it was someone else? Oh, the brother. That’s good. I should have… Well, never mind. Spencer is enough.”

  We started down the stairs with me ahead of him and his hand holding the rope so my arms were slightly raised. My head spun a little, making the steps sway before my eyes. I swallowed several times, trying to keep down whatever was in my stomach. When we were halfway, the front doorknob rattled, and the bell rang. Montgomery froze.

  “Who?” he whispered.

  I hoped it was Spencer.

  The bell rang again, the knob rattled, and then a pounding on the door. Spencer’s voice sounded from outside. I screamed and ducked at the same time. Montgomery swung to try to shut me up, but with me squatting I threw him off balance. He fell forward over my shoulder, and I cried out from his weight.

  Montgomery didn’t let go of the rope, so when he went thumping down the stairs, he dragged me with him. I tried to grab onto the railing and missed. A crack of wood preceded the bang of the front door against the wall. Spencer barreled through the opening, spotted me upside down on the stairs, and Montgomery below me, still holding the rope on my wrists.

  “Makayla,” Spencer shouted and ran for us. He dragged Montgomery up by his collar, but the murderer sprayed something in Spencer’s face. Spencer choked, and Montgomery thrust him aside and ran for the exit. A fist appeared in the doorway, connecting with his jaw, and Montgomery went down, unconscious.

  While I watched all of this, aching in several spots on my body, Spencer raised me with gentle hands to sit up on the steps. “Are you okay?”

  “I will be when I get this rope off.” I held up my hands, and he took out a po
cketknife to cut away the rope. He rubbed the area that was soon to bruise, and I couldn’t help drawing in a shuddering breath. “That was close.”

  “Don’t joke, Makayla. This could have been more serious.”

  “I know,” I whispered.

  Ash stepped over Montgomery on the floor. He wore dark sunglasses although the sun wasn’t out. With the door open, a cold blast of air swept in, and I shivered. Spencer drew me into his arms. While I rested on his chest with my eyes closed, sirens blasted in the distance.

  I raised my head. “Pete will know it wasn’t you, right?”

  “He’ll know.” Spencer frowned.

  “The recording!” I tried to get out of Spencer’s hold, but he wouldn’t let go. “Spencer, he has a recording of my voice saying I need help and that it was you who hurt me. That can be used as evidence.”

  “Ash,” Spencer said in a clipped order. His brother bent over Montgomery and searched him. He came up with the recording and punched the play button. My voice again, and I cringed. Spencer growled in anger. “He’ll pay for that.”

  “Enough with the pay for this and that,” I moaned. “I don’t want any more to do with people’s revenge. No more death.”

  “Shh.” Spencer hugged me close, and he gave a good explanation of what happened and what Montgomery’s intentions were when Pete arrived. I managed to raise my head from his chest to catch Pete’s reaction.

  “How do I know?” Pete began, but Ash cut him off by playing the recording.

  Pete glanced at me. “Did you record this, Makayla?”

  “No, she didn’t,” Spencer snapped. “Do your job and arrest Montgomery.”

  I sighed. Spencer wasn’t helping anything. “No, Pete, I didn’t, and Holden Montgomery used the recordings before to lure me to him and make you believe… Oh, no, Pattie! Where’s Pattie?”

  “Search the house,” Spencer commanded, and the officers sprung to action. Pete’s face reddened, but he didn’t counter the order. I waited with my eyes closed and hands clutched together in tense fear of bad news.