by Cindy Bell
“Don’t move, Samantha.”
“Actually, do move, Samantha.” Samantha’s heart raced as she heard Reynold’s voice. “You too, Eddy. Both of you on your feet. If you make one false move you’re both dead.”
Cautiously, Samantha slowly stood up. Eddy followed suit, with his eyes locked to hers.
“Just be calm, Samantha. Do whatever he says.”
“That’s right, Samantha. March.” Reynold pointed with the gun towards his car. Samantha crept forward keeping her steps as small as possible. She wanted to delay getting into the car as long as possible.
“We’ll do anything you ask, Reynold. Just don’t hurt us,” Samantha said.
“It’s a little late for that. Valerie, open the trunk.”
“Reynold, think about this,” Valerie said.
“I am.”
“Why not just kill them here? No one will find them.”
Samantha stared at Valerie with disbelief. Even though she already knew Valerie was a potential killer, it was hard for her to believe that she would encourage him to kill them both.
“Not here. Get in.” He pointed to the trunk.
The gaping mouth of the trunk stared up at Samantha. She felt Eddy’s hand slip into hers.
“I’ll get in first.”
“Fine, I don’t care,” Reynold said.
Samantha watched as Eddy climbed into the trunk. She knew it hurt him to do so, but he didn’t make a sound. Her heart sunk as she realized that it might be the last place they were both alive. She thought about screaming, but with the distance they were into the woods she knew that no one would hear. She climbed into the trunk after Eddy. It was a tight squeeze. The moment the trunk closed, he wrapped his arm around her.
“It’s going to be okay, Samantha.”
“I don’t think it is, Eddy.”
“It is.” He gave her a gentle squeeze. “Just try to stay calm. We’ve found our way out of tight spots before.”
Samantha closed her eyes as the engine started. Wherever Reynold intended to take them, she was sure it was their final destination. Eddy held on to her for the entire drive. She heard him mumbling, but couldn’t make out what he was saying. Though Eddy didn’t strike her as a religious person, she guessed that he might be praying. When the car lurched to a stop, Eddy pressed his lips close to her ear.
“I counted the distance. It’s about the same distance that we drove from Sage Gardens.”
“You counted every second?”
“It’s the best way to figure out where we are. We could be back in town.”
“Or we could be even further away,” Samantha said.
“You’re right.”
The trunk popped open and sunlight blinded Samantha. Reynold leaned over the trunk.
“Get out and stay low. If anyone sees you, they’re dead, too.”
Samantha climbed out of the trunk and recognized the back of the community center. A scream welled up in her throat, but she knew that Reynold would make good on his threat if she cried out. Did she want to risk being responsible for anyone else dying?
Samantha discreetly fumbled in her pocket for her cell phone. She couldn’t see it to place a call, so she just pressed one of the buttons she knew by feel. She often used the recorder on her phone when researching stories she wanted to look into, or instructions that she was worried she wouldn’t remember. Even if they were killed, she could leave evidence behind for the detectives. Eddy climbed out of the trunk behind her. He kept his head down as well. Reynold herded them to the back door of the community center.
“Unlock it.”
“It should be open.” Samantha gulped out.
“No, it isn’t. I requested that it remain closed because of the memorial service for May later this afternoon. We’ll have the place to ourselves. I did good, right Reynold?” Valerie kissed his cheek. Samantha tried not to grimace. Valerie unlocked the door and Reynold shoved them both inside.
“Against the table.” Reynold directed Eddy towards the long snack table near the back of the room. Eddy and Samantha began to move towards the table.
“No, not you, Samantha. You get over here. Right here.” Reynold pointed to the spot beside him, with the gun pointed at Samantha. Samantha’s feet froze to the ground.
“Don’t move, Samantha.” Eddy looked over at her. “Just stay calm.”
“Hey, if she doesn’t move, then Val goes, and then the two of you go next. I’ll let you pick who goes first. So what’s it going to be, Samantha?”
Samantha’s stomach churned as she recalled the way she tried to comfort Reynold after May’s death. The whole time he was the killer. She was very disappointed in her instincts.
“I’m not going to move.”
“You are.” He released the safety. “Three, two…”
“Samantha don’t…”
“I’m here.” Samantha stopped right beside Reynold. “I’m here, don’t hurt anyone. Reynold, don’t you think that you’ve done enough damage here? Are you really going to kill three more people?”
“Does it matter now?” He shook his head. “It seems to be the only thing I’m good at. I started off with my brother.”
“You killed your own brother?” Eddy stared at him. “Why would you do a thing like that?”
“Because he had everything. I got wrapped up in Daniel’s little scam. It was supposed to make me a millionaire. Instead it left me penniless. But John, the know it all, who warned me not to get involved with any of it, was still flush with cash. He had everyone’s respect. He had the good life. I was bankrupt, being investigated for fraud, and on my way to a terrible life. One night, we went out on the fishing boat together. We argued about the decisions I’d made, and even though I didn’t plan on it, I just got so mad, I shoved him over the side of the boat. It just happened.”
“Okay, yes, it happened, but what matters is what you’re going to do now.” Eddy tried to meet his eyes. Samantha stared at Eddy as she remained by Reynold’s side. Eddy shook his head a little, but didn’t dare to step forward. She got the message. He didn’t want her to do anything risky.
“What about May?” Eddy asked. “Why did you kill her?”
“May spoke to Valerie about her suspicions. May figured it out. I never expected her to, but she did. She remembered the scar on Jacob’s eyebrow, my eyebrow. I got it when I was with her, I fell off my bike. A scar that Reynold of course didn’t have. That’s when she began to suspect that I wasn’t Reynold at all. It’s been so many years since anyone called me Jacob, but when she did, I knew that I had to shut her up before she told the whole world what I did.”
“What is your end game here? Do you really think you’re going to get away with all of this?” Eddy asked.
“I don’t care. That’s what you don’t seem to understand. No matter what happens, you three are a liability. Just like May was.”
“What about Daniel?” Samantha looked over at him. “Isn’t Daniel an issue that you need to deal with, too?”
“Daniel?” He shook his head. “Not at all. He will never do anything because if he does he has to dredge all the decisions of his past up and put himself at risk again because he turned on the other investors in the scheme. He despised May. Even if she told him something because she suspected me of murder, or being an impostor, he wouldn’t have done anything. May might have told Daniel but that doesn’t matter. Unfortunately, she told her suspicions to Valerie. This one, thought it would be a good idea to off him, not me.” He shot a look in Valerie’s direction. “She got caught up in emotion, I don’t do that. That’s what changed everything. Then I became the prime suspect.”
“Daniel was onto you. He was going to reveal your identity,” Valerie said.
“Daniel? Daniel couldn’t identify his own nose. He’s an idiot. You did it because you wanted to, not for me.”
“That’s not true Jacob…”
“Stop calling me that, just please, stop calling me that.”
“All right, Reynol
d.” Eddy stepped forward. “How about this, I know that John didn’t just drown. He was a strong swimmer, and he wasn’t a drinker, was he? When you shoved him out of that boat, he didn’t just disappear, did he?”
“That’s all in the past.” He hung his head for a moment. “That day, that day changed my life. I never thought I’d make anything of myself, but then I did. I just did. John kept on and on about how stupid I was to fall for Daniel’s scheme, and then he stood up. He kept blathering on about how I ruined my life and how I would never be anything but a fool. And all I could think was, I’m not the fool that’s standing up in a boat, am I? Then it happened, I shoved him, right into the water. I thought, that was going to be it. He’d get back in the boat, and have even more reason to dislike me. Then I saw his hands grab the side of the boat. I thought, grab your brother’s hand, he needs your help. But when I touched his hand, I thought about what it would be like to never hear his voice again. I shoved his hands off the boat. He called for help, but every time he grabbed for the boat, I just shoved his hands away. I never really thought about it, I just kept shoving. At some point, he stopped grabbing. It didn’t dawn on me until several minutes passed, that I’d done it. I’d gone from being a failure to being a success. That was how it began.”
“Your brother never gave you a chance to prove yourself. Now you have that, now you can decide to be a better man and put down that gun. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe you just made a mistake and needed a chance to recover from it. Now, you can start telling the truth.”
“Oh no, Eddy, you don’t understand. That was only how it began, my chance to become the man I should have been. And now this is how it ends.” He raised the gun again and pointed it in Eddy’s direction.
“No, don’t!” Samantha pleaded as she stepped towards Reynold.
“Samantha, stop!” Eddy’s heart dropped the moment he saw her move. He started to move towards her to shield her, but Reynold swung the gun towards her before he could take a step.
“Not a step, Eddy, or she’ll be first.” He kept the gun pointed at her. “I don’t have anything to lose, remember? One by one, I’ll eliminate any threat to my freedom.”
“Please, this isn’t really you. Think about it. We can let them go. Samantha hasn’t done anything to you. This isn’t what you want. We’re in love!” Valerie grasped at the hand that held the gun. Samantha was surprised at Valerie’s sudden change of heart, she seemed ready for Reynold to get rid of them a few minutes ago.
“Back off!” He swung his hand back and knocked her to the ground. “I’m not in love, you dimwit. Jacob drowned in that lake. Maybe it was my brother, John, who actually died, but so did the man that I once was. The one that had no future, the one that fell for some lying fool’s con. All I wanted was another chance at life, an opportunity to be the person I was meant to be before May’s brother came along and ruined everything. I could have had an amazing life. I could have done everything right. I wasn’t stupid, I was just young, and Daniel was a charmer. He preyed on me because he knew I was jealous of John’s success, just like he was jealous of his sister.” He glared as he lifted the gun back towards Eddy. “All I wanted was a chance to start over. So John had to die, and I got that chance. Then I started using his middle name, Reynold, and I had the clean slate that I wanted, that I needed. But someone eventually had to find out, and unfortunately that was May, and she had to die, and now it’s you, Eddy, along with Samantha, and Valerie of course. But you first.” He pointed the gun at Eddy.
“Eddy!” Samantha started to lunge forward, but she knew she was too far away to get to Reynold in time. Her heart raced as she waited for the sound of the gunshot.
Chapter 20
Before Reynold could pull the trigger, there was a loud bang at the front door. It made everyone in the room jump. As all of their attention turned to the door, a figure surged towards Reynold from behind him. He sprang up into the air and tackled the man, with one arm around the hand that held the gun. The weapon discharged and a bullet whizzed through the air. Samantha turned back to see Walt on the floor. He wrestled with Reynold for the gun. Samantha grabbed the only thing that was nearby, a brand new fire poker. She swung it down hard against the back of Reynold’s head. He jolted, then collapsed. Walt wrenched the gun from his grasp and looked up at Samantha.
“Are you okay?”
“I think so. Are you?”
“Yes.” Walt nodded. He looked down at the man on the floor.
“I didn’t kill him did I?” Samantha’s eyes widened in horror. Walt crouched down beside him and felt for a pulse on the side of his neck.
“No, you didn’t kill him. He’s just knocked out. He’ll have quite a headache though.”
Samantha felt some relief as she turned towards Eddy. “Are you okay?”
Eddy looked past her, at the door. “She’s getting away!”
Valerie ran for the door. When she pushed it open, Jo greeted her with her arm outstretched. Valerie ran right into it and fell backwards onto the floor.
“Stay down, or you won’t have such a pretty face anymore.” Jo glared down at her.
“Why? What did I do?” She gulped as she stared up at Jo. “I’m a victim here. He conned me, just like he conned everybody else!”
“I don’t think so.” Eddy walked over to her to keep an eye on her. “You’re the one that built the bomb and put it on Daniel’s car. That’s attempted murder. You’re on the hook, just like your boyfriend over there. So, at least you’ll spend the rest of your years in the same place, just on opposite sides of the building.”
“No, no, you can’t do this to me. Eddy! Samantha! You know me! I’m just like you!”
“Quiet. You’re nothing like me.” Samantha folded her arms across her chest. “Not after what the two of you did to May, not after what you almost did to Daniel, and to Jo. You’re going to pay for it.”
“You’ll never be able to prove anything.”
“I don’t need to prove it, I recorded it.” Samantha pulled out her cell phone and pressed play on the recording. The entire conversation began to play back. “Do you think you’re going to flirt your way out of that, Valerie?”
“Samantha, please.”
“No, any chance of sympathy from me ended the moment you almost blew up my friend. You are just as responsible for May’s death. You told Reynold about her suspicions. You knew how dangerous the situation was and instead of warning her, you stood by and let it happen. If it were up to me, you’d also be knocked out on the floor.” She glared into Valerie’s eyes. “In fact, I can still arrange that if you want to try to run again.”
“No, no, I won’t.” She covered her head just as sirens blared from outside.
“Oh no.” Jo glanced over her shoulder through the door. “The police are here. I should take off.”
“No.” Eddy remained by Reynold, who was still knocked out cold on the floor. “Don’t leave.”
“What? Why not?” She frowned.
“You haven’t done anything wrong, Jo. You don’t have anything to hide. You shouldn’t have to run.”
Jo looked between Walt, Eddy, and Samantha. “What if they think I had something to do with it?”
“They won’t.” Walt stepped closer to her.
“I don’t want to end up in handcuffs.” Jo crossed her arms.
“They’ll have to go through me first.” Samantha put her hands on her hips.
“And me.” Walt stepped up beside Samantha.
“And me.” Eddy tipped his hat. “Trust me, they don’t want to try to put handcuffs on me.”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s too late now.” Walt tilted his head towards the door just before it was yanked open. Samantha dropped the fire poker to the floor and raised her hands in the air. Her friends followed suit. Within a few minutes Valerie and Reynold were handcuffed. Reynold was barely awake as he was hauled into a police car.
“What happened?”
“You got caught, that’s what.�
�� Eddy stared into his eyes. “Now, finally there is justice, not just for May, but for John as well. You will never be him again, you never were, this whole time you’ve been, Jacob, the same person that you always were.”
He growled and tried to lunge towards Eddy, but the police officer forced him into the back of the police car.
“Try not to get him too riled up, Eddy,” the officer said.
“Sorry.” Eddy cleared his throat. He turned back towards the community center to see Walt, Samantha, and Jo all knotted together. Despite the tension of the circumstances he couldn’t help but smile. There were three people he could count on, no matter what happened. It might have been the first time he’d ever had that many people in his life that he could trust. As he walked back over to them Jo smiled at him.
“Thanks Eddy.”
“For what?”
“For showing me that I’m not a criminal.”
“You’re not. You’re a private eye now, remember?” He winked at her.
“I’m not so sure about that. Maybe I’m not cut out for going solo.”
“You’ll never have to worry about that.” Samantha wrapped her arm around her shoulders. “Whether you like it or not.” Samantha chuckled.
“She’s right.” Walt nodded.
“How did you two know where we were?” Eddy looked between them.
“To be honest, we didn’t.” Jo shook her head. “When you two didn’t show up when we agreed to meet we decided to check things out for ourselves, and that’s when we stumbled across the situation. You really should have told us what you were up to.”
“Yes.” Walt fixed them both with a stern stare. “You should have clued us in.”
“We got caught up in the moment, literally. We were listening in one moment, then at gunpoint the next. We had no idea where they were taking us.”
“I still have no idea why they brought us back here.” Eddy pulled off his hat and scratched the top of his head.
“I think I know why.” Walt smiled. “He was going to use Valerie to take the fall. He would have shot you all, but made it look like it was Valerie who did it and then killed herself. Classic frame job. He would have been long gone before the detectives figured out that Valerie wasn’t the shooter. After all, it wouldn’t take them long to put together that she had a key to the community center and she was the one who planted the bomb, then they would have no reason to suspect him. Pretty smart if you ask me.”