by Gina Conroy
Henderson led us through a putting green. “Stop the cart.”
The trickle of a brook in the distance accelerated my anxiety. I guess this was my green pastures and still waters. Some answer to prayer.
“Tie him to the wheel.” Henderson threw me the excess wire, the gun still at my head.
He had to be crazy if he thought I could do what he asked with my own hands tied up. I held the wire and looked at Jack. The man who saved me and won my heart all those years ago, then betrayed our love. We were no longer joined in marriage, but we would be bound in death. I gazed into his eyes. So full of sorrow and regret and—wait—something else. Hope and determination? My spirit recharged. Something was brewing inside his head.
“Time’s wasting, Mari.” Henderson growled. “Tie him up tight. And don’t think I won’t know the difference.”
Jack’s hand inched toward his pocket. “Not a smart move, Jack. Now remove whatever is in your pocket and do it slowly.”
With eyes fixed on me, Jack slipped out a dagger with an etched-out cartouche on the pommel handle. My gut wrenched. It was the same gold Egyptian dagger Fletcher had on the set.
“It truly is exquisite. Thanks, Jack, for retrieving this for me.”
I licked my lips. Was this Jack’s plan? To use a priceless, dulled artifact against Henderson? I surely hoped—no, prayed—Jack had a backup plan. The sparkle in his green eyes told me he hadn’t given up hope yet. Neither could I. “Detective Lopez won’t believe I was involved. He’s already on your trail.”
“Oh, Mari, I didn’t leave a trail.” He grabbed the dagger with his right hand and cocked the gun. “Now tie him up or I’ll kill you.”
I wet my lips and swallowed. “If you didn’t leave a trail, then how did I find you?”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
9:45 p.m.
HENDERSON GLARED AT ME, speechless, his mouth pursed. I must have touched a nerve. Did he actually expect me to lie down and surrender my life without a struggle? He blinked rapidly, then his eyes narrowed. Yes, I definitely touched a nerve. Good. I lifted my chin, daring him to shoot, knowing full well he wouldn’t. He couldn’t if he wanted my death to look like an accident.
“Even if they do catch on, I’ll be long gone, out of the country.” Henderson’s crimson cheeks turned ashen. “Susan can take the fall. Now you’re trying what little patience I have left. Tie. Him. Up.”
I’m not sure what made me do it, but when I threw the wire to the floor, Jack leapt over the seat. A crack sounded against my head. Pain tore through my skull, spots peppered my vision. Jack tumbled from the cart with Henderson on top of him. I couldn’t tell who grunted and who groaned. Staring at them struggle, I reached for the wound on my head, where it throbbed with blinding intensity. How could I still be alive? I examined my hands. Shaky. No blood.
“Mari! Catch!” Jack tossed me a cell phone, but Henderson caught it before he pinned Jack to the ground.
“Nice try,” Henderson grunted, then threw the phone under the cart.
I dodged flailing arms and legs trying to reach it, but it was no use.
“Run … get help!” Jack’s wide eyes sparked more fear in me than his words as he held Henderson’s hands inches from his throat, but I couldn’t move.
“Mari, get out of here. Run and don’t look back. No matter what.” Jack’s desperation ignited my legs. I kicked off my heels and ran aimlessly through the grass into the darkness, away from danger.
A blast of air beat against me, chilling my dampened sweater. Though most of my body ached and burned, I sprinted awkwardly with my hands still bound. A cramp pricked my side. I slowed to a power walk. Suddenly aware of my exhaustion, I peered over my shoulder into the black night. Nothing. Not that I would’ve seen anyone coming or could detect them above the rustle of the trees, howling wind, or my hysterical heart rate.
A hideous rock song played in the night. Some teenagers having a wild party. But there were no houses around for miles. The tune sounded familiar, close. Matt’s iPhone. I forgot I still had it. I dug through my purse and answered. “Mari, where are you? Are you okay?”
“Fletcher?” My heart thrilled at his voice. “You’re alive?” I quickened my pace.
“Can’t get rid of me … that easily.”
“I thought you were dead. All that blood.”
“Head wound … didn’t see it coming … hurts like mad. I need to find you. You’re not safe … Someone—”
“I know. It was Henderson. He’s alive.”
“What? Where are you?”
“At his estate … somewhere. I’m not sure. It’s dark.” Sobs blocked my throat. “Henderson almost killed us. Jack … I went to get help.”
“Hold on, I’m coming for you. Awww …” Something crashed in the background.
“Fletcher? Are you okay? Call the police. Tell Detective Lopez where I am… Fletcher? Fletcher?” No answer.
God, no! I ended the call, dialed Detective Lopez’s number, and left a message telling him where I was and to send an ambulance for Fletcher. I broke into a jog, sobbing. I was tired of people dying on me. Tired of the pain. Of being left alone.
Fervent prayers flowed from desperation for Fletcher. For Jack. Despite all the deception, I still cared for Jack. I didn’t want any harm to come to him, but I also knew I couldn’t protect him any longer. He would have to live with the consequences of his decisions and so would I, but I wasn’t willing to sacrifice both our lives. Better our children have one parent than none.
Trying to remember the number on Ms. Bomani’s business card, I heard a cougar’s cry, much closer than before, penetrating the blare of the windstorm. I froze, my hair whipping my face. Where was it coming from? In front of me? Behind me? I turned three hundred and sixty degrees, squinting into the darkness. With heightened senses, I saw the silhouette of the trees in the distance, heard the squawking of a traumatized bird, felt the pulse in my neck.
I tried to recall everything I knew about cougars, but the only thing I remembered was the terrifying scene from the Wilderness Family. Someone running from the cougars. Someone falling … being attacked. All at once, the wind settled. A drumming louder than the beat of my heart thundered closer and closer. That’s when I knew I wasn’t coming out of the storm. I was headed straight into its fury.
The cougar’s cry shrieked louder, more intense. My chest tightened, then opened up. I gulped in a breath. That’s when I saw them. Glowing eyes like fireflies in the distance coming quickly at me. I tore off, sucking in air, barely able to mutter a prayer. Feeling a kick of adrenaline, I actually thought I could outrun this predator.
I fought the wire restraints, trying to break free to use my limbs to propel me forward. Instead, I ran like a penguin from a polar bear. The animal padded louder across the grass. All my energy focused on staying alive, seeing my children again. I ran fast. Very fast. Screams from the cougar grew more anxious. Tears welled. I knew at any moment it would pounce—and I was powerless to stop it.
Light flooded the golf course. Glancing over my shoulder, I twisted my ankle and fell into a pile of dirt. Eyes wide, I watched the cougar bound toward me. I shuffled backward, sand sticking to my sweaty limbs as I drew them close, wishing I was already dead and buried.
The cougar leapt. His flight graceful and serene. I remembered the prayer I prayed with Elizabeth. How one day I would be with Jesus. And in that moment, the peace of God shrouded me and somehow I knew death was nothing to be feared.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
10:03 p.m.
A THUNDEROUS CLAP PIERCED the air. The cougar dropped mid-flight, landing six inches to my right. I heaved, hugging my knees, watching, waiting for it to rise and strike, but it lay motionless. Dead.
“Mari?”
Something blanketed my shoulders.
“Mari, are you all right?” That voice. That sweet, wonderful voice.
I turned and threw my arms up, trying to hug Detective Lopez, but knocked him in the nose instead. “Sorry
.”
He rubbed his schnaz. “That’s okay.” With a small knife, he cut my restraints and rubbed my wrist.
My body trembled, my teeth chattering like Ben’s toy mouth from the dentist’s treasure chest.
“You’re safe, Mari.” His Spanish lilt warmed me from head to toe. “You’re in shock, but you’re going to be fine.”
I don’t know why, but I actually believed him. “What about Jack? Fletcher? Are they okay? And Henderson?”
“I got your message. An ambulance is on the way for Fletcher. We haven’t found Jack or Henderson yet, but we will.”
A car sped across the grass.
“Fletcher’s okay, right?”
Detective Lopez wet his lips.
“Promise me he’ll be okay.” Tears streamed down my cheeks, my pent-up emotion spilling. “And you’ll find Jack.”
Comforting arms wrapped around me, and I felt thirteen again, pleading for his help to save me from my father. He stroked my hair as I returned his embrace. “I can’t promise that. But I will do whatever I can to make sure you’re okay, and that Henderson gets what’s coming to him.”
I clung to Lopez. All the hurt and bitterness rushed from my body. “I believe you.” I pulled away and dried my eyes. “I’m so sorry for blaming you, for treating you the way I did these past few days.”
“I deserved it.”
“No, you didn’t. I blamed you for my mother’s death when it was my father’s fault. I blamed myself, but he pulled the trigger.”
Detective Lopez’s cell phone rang. “Lopez … right, bring him in and keep searching. Call in the dogs, he couldn’t have gotten far.” Detective Lopez put away his phone. “They found Jack. He’s okay. He’ll be here in a minute.”
Tears crowded my eyes, the tautness in my throat stinging. Regardless of everything that had happened, Jack’s obvious guilt, a part of me hoped he had gotten away, that he wouldn’t go to jail. That I could have saved him.
My shoulders drooped, my body heavy and drained. All I wanted to do was crawl in bed and sleep for a month. But I couldn’t. Not yet. There was one more thing I had to do. I searched for Matt’s phone, but I must have dropped it. He wasn’t going to be happy.
“Detective, may I borrow your phone? I need to call Ms. Bomani.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
10:21 p.m.
“MARI!” JACK JUMPED OUT of the vehicle and ran to me. “Thank God you’re all right.” He grabbed my shoulders and leaned in to kiss me. I jerked away.
“I’m sorry. That was wrong of me.” His mouth turned down, the wrinkle between his eyebrows deepening, but I had no words of comfort. Not after what he’d done.
Betrayal, love, anger, yearning collided in one cataclysmic moment. “Walking out on us without explanation was bad enough, but lying to us like this. How could you?”
Sirens screamed, closing in.
“I never lied to you,” he rasped.
“I did things I never dreamed I would do, all for you and the sake of our kids.” My arms thrashed the air, my Sicilian temper peaking. “And all the time you—’”
“Let me explain.” His jaw flexed.
“I know all about the forgeries. The dagger and heart scarab. What else?” I shoved him away. “What else have you been lying about?”
A car screeched to a halt next to Detective Lopez’s. Doors slammed. I turned toward Ms. Bomani. Two FBI agents jogged past her, guns drawn.
Jack grabbed my hand. “Mari!”
I yanked it away, unable to interpret the look that flashed in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Jack, but I can’t protect you any longer. I won’t let our children lose both their parents.”
The two FBI agents ran to Jack’s side. He raised his hands. One agent pushed him to the ground and cuffed him behind the back while the other pulled the dagger from his pocket.
I stepped away. The tears started again as they stuffed him inside their vehicle. He stared through the glass and mouthed “I’m sorry.” I turned away. A revving engine the only reply.
As if on cue, the Texas windstorm settled along with my soul.
Detective Lopez rested his hand on my shoulder. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’m going to be fine.” I dried my tears. I was done crying and ready to start fresh. “Can I see my kids now?” They were all that really mattered. All that ever really mattered.
Ms. Bomani jogged to my side. “Are you all right, Mrs. Duggins?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” The pain in my head throbbed worse than ever. “I just want to go home.”
“First you need to see a doctor.” Detective Lopez’s concern warmed me.
I glanced at the police car with Jack inside. “Fine, but will you go with me?”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Thank you for calling, Mrs. Duggins. I know it had to be difficult.” Ms. Bomani glanced in Jack’s direction. “I’m sorry, I need to go. When I’m finished questioning Mr. Duggins, I need to get your statement. You did say you have information and evidence to corroborate your ex-husband’s involvement in the stolen and forged artifacts?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Good. I will leave now so you can rest. I will stop by tomorrow.”
I slid into Lopez’s passenger seat, gazed out the window, and watched as they drove off with Jack. Detective Lopez started the motor and tore across Henderson’s beautiful lawn. How many years had he been plundering the world’s history to finance his lavish lifestyle? Five? Thirty-five?
“Do you think they’ll find Henderson?”
“The K-9 unit will sniff him out. It’s only a matter of time. You’re lucky. You came out of this alive.”
My burden didn’t lift. “What about Fletcher?”
“Let me make a call.” Less than a minute later he ended the call.
“Is Fletcher okay?”
“I couldn’t get through. I’ll try again later. You know you shouldn’t have gone to Susan’s house.”
“I know, but if I didn’t you might not have figured it out in time. Henderson would’ve fled the country and gotten away.”
“He would have surfaced sooner or later. Men like Henderson always do. Just promise you’ll never do anything like that again.”
“There’s not going to be a next time. I’m sticking to archaeology. Might even try a turn in the field. What about Susan?
“We’re following up on her insurance claim for Henderson’s death. They’re getting her now and taking her to the station. At the very least we’ll get her on life insurance claim fraud, obstruction of justice, conspiracy. Hopefully, she’ll give us details to help convict Henderson, but who knows. The extent she went to fake and cover up his death, she might be willing to plea.”
“Do you have any idea how they did it?”
“Not yet. Unless one of them divulges the information, there’s no pathology to follow. We’re positive Brian Farlow, the Assistant Medical Examiner, was in on it. He signed the autopsy report and claimed he performed one when it is obvious he hadn’t. I still can’t figure how they pulled one over on the paramedics at the scene.”
“I think if you check the hospital records for the morning Henderson died—” it was so weird talking about a live man this way, “—I think you’ll find Susan was one of the paramedics that brought him in. And if she was, couldn’t she have given Henderson some drug to simulate death like in Romeo and Juliet?”
“The way this case has been going, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“You’ll need to check out her cousin at the crematory as well. He has to be involved.”
“Now that does sound like a Shakespearean play. I’ll see if any drugs are unaccounted for at the hospital or her pharmaceutical company. I’ll put someone on the cousin. Thanks, again.”
“Oh, and I seem to recall a lone cameraman buzzing around the hall that morning. Maybe they have footage that could be useful in court.”
I turned toward the window, watch
ing the light posts speed by. Was this nightmare really finished? The aching in my head throbbed relentlessly. I wouldn’t be surprised if I had a mild concussion, yet I knew it would heal. I prayed Fletcher would as well. If he didn’t, I didn’t know if my heart would ever recover. Headlights beamed in our direction. My heart fluttered. “Stop the car.” I pushed open the door to the cruiser and jumped out as it slowed to a crawl.
The car before us jerked to a stop. Fletcher bounded out, sprinted toward me. He swallowed me in a hug and swung me around and around like in those cheesy romance movies. As he held me in his arms, I prayed the credits to this happy ending would never end. Then he lowered me and his eyes bore through me.
“You came back for me.”
He cupped my face. “Mari, hear this now: I will always come for you.”
I smiled at the Princess Bride reference and touched his matted, blood-soaked hair. He grimaced. “Sorry.” I wrapped my arms around his waist. Tears blurring my vision. “I thought I lost you.”
“Can’t get rid of me that easily.” His eyes beamed with longing.
“What are you waiting for? Why don’t you kiss me already?”
“As you wish.” Fletcher leaned in and kissed me so deeply, so passionately, so purely, I thought I would slip through his fingers. But he held tight. And this time, I knew he’d never let me go.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Thursday, 9:58 a.m.
Mari’s Kitchen
“MOOOM, MATT’S HOGGING THE remote.” Ben ran to me in his slippered feet. His green eyes and sandy-brown hair sticking up every which way reminded me so much of Jack. I didn’t regret letting the kids stay home from school. It felt like a Saturday, especially since I slept in. Saturday used to be Jack’s special day with the kids. He always cooked them a huge breakfast like I did this morning. I hadn’t had time to keep up the tradition, but that would change.