The Betrayal of Lies

by Debra Burroughs

  “Oh, no,” Kara gasped.

  “It’s the green Jaguar, right?”

  “No, it’s the silver Audi.”

  “Sorry, my mistake.” Emily whirled around and headed for the elevator. Too easy.

  When she reached the parking lot, she slipped on a latex glove and dug a tracker out of her purse, scanning the cars in the lot for a silver Audi. She spotted it parked in one of the reserved spaces near the front door. She walked past it, covertly dipping down and sticking the tracking device to the underside of the frame.

  Let’s see where you go from here.

  Emily climbed back in her Volvo sedan and phoned Colin.

  “I’ve decided to step off this case,” she said. “You were right, I’m too close. It’s emotionally draining and I’m losing my objectivity.”

  “There’s no shame in it, Babe. Why don’t you take a nap or a hot bath and I’ll bring over some take-out for dinner?”

  “Maybe. I’ll give you a call later.”

  Emily sat in her car and kept a close eye on the silver Audi. While she waited, she checked the tax records in the Multiple Listing Service on her Smartphone and found Patrick owned several properties, besides his principle residence. Maybe he was keeping Elise at one of these properties. It was a possibility. After planting the news that they were close to finding her, if he had her stashed somewhere, he would surely want to move her. Emily would follow him when he left and find out.

  It took about fifteen minutes for Patrick Murphy to emerge from the building. He strode to his car, his gaze darting up and down the rows of cars, occasionally flashing behind him. Emily had her GPS monitor wedged on her console and watched as he pulled out of the parking lot.

  He did have an alibi for the time Elise went missing, however, he could have hired it done while he was out of town. After finding out his wife had a lover perhaps?

  She followed him through town, at a safe distance, keeping one eye on the monitor. Her curiosity piqued when he headed out of the city limits and up into the mountains. For safety, she figured she’d better phone Colin and let him know what she was really doing before she got too far out of town.

  “Hey, Colin,” Emily said. “Have you heard anything back about Jake Mitchell?”

  “No, not the airport, bus station, or border patrol.”

  “Where could that man be hiding?” she wondered out loud.

  “We’ve cast the net pretty wide. We’ll find him.”

  “We have to, because like you said, he’s the key to finding Elise.” There she went, stating the obvious again, but sometimes it helped her to talk it through.

  “We’ve flagged his credit cards and bank accounts, so if he tries to use any of them, we’ll know.”

  Emily bit down on her bottom lip, hesitant to tell him where she was and why she really stepped off the case. But it was now or never. “Sweetheart,” she used her sweetest tone, “don’t be mad, but…”

  “But what? Emily, what’s going on?” Colin’s voice was normally smooth and deep, but Emily could hear suspicion and concern coloring the tenor of it.

  “I’m playing a hunch.” She grimaced, knowing he couldn’t see her, but hoping that as a cop, he would understand.

  “What kind of hunch?”

  “Something Maggie said last night got me thinking—who would benefit the most from Elise’s disappearance?”

  “Hmm. Her husband maybe?”

  “Bingo.”

  “But he seems so genuinely shaken that she’s gone, and more than willing to cough up the two million for the kidnapper.”

  “Like I said, it’s just a hunch.”

  “Where are you now?”

  “Just outside of town. I’m following him up Highway 21. I stuck a tracker on his car after I gave him the good news that you were close to finding Elise and Jake Mitchell.”

  “You did what?” His voice rose with irritation. “You know that’s not true. And you can’t put a tracker on his car without a warrant.”

  “That’s why I stepped off the case as a police consultant. I’m doing this as a concerned citizen.”

  “You mean as a private eye.”

  “Same thing.”

  “This better not come back to bite us in the—”

  “It won’t.” Emily crossed her fingers.

  “Hmmm, we’ll see. Anyway, so you think he’s going somewhere to check on Elise? Assuming he knows where she is.”

  “Maybe, if I’m right. Or I could be wrong. He might be on his way someplace totally unrelated to this case, an appointment or something. But since we haven’t been able to locate Jake, I thought this was worth a shot.”

  “You should have let me come with you. Where is he now?”

  “We’re just beginning to climb into the mountains, still on the highway,” she replied. Her phone began to beep. “Uh-oh. I’m running out of battery.” Her chest tightened as she said it. “I’m going to lose you in a sec.”

  “Pull over and wait for me,” he demanded. “I mean it.”

  “I can’t,” she snapped back. “I might lose the GPS signal if we go much higher in elevation. I’ve got to stay on his tail while he’s still inside our jurisdiction.”

  “Emily, pull—”

  Her phone died before Colin finished his sentence. Now she was on her own.

  Chapter 12

  An uneasiness rippled through her body. Maybe she should have told Colin what she was doing before she went off half-cocked and her cell phone died. What was she thinking?

  Perhaps she should have listened to him—pulled over and waited—but she couldn’t risk losing Patrick Murphy’s car. Elise’s life might depend on it.

  Colin would definitely be angry with her for pulling such a dangerous stunt. Hopefully, if her hunch paid off, he would be so happy she solved the case and found Elise that he would let it go.

  She hoped that’s how it would play out. But now she was alone in the mountains without her phone and no one knew where she was.

  The GPS continued to function. She remained far enough behind him that he could not see her headlights, but it also meant she couldn’t see his car either. According to the monitor, though, he turned off on a road just up ahead.

  She located the narrow side road and pulled over just before it. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she swallowed hard. Should she wait for Colin on this main road? Or should she continue to follow Patrick Murphy?

  The thought came to her to leave Colin a sign. She glanced around her car, looking for anything she could use to catch his attention. Spotting a teal scarf in the backseat, Emily grabbed it and jumped out of her car. She ran to the sign that held the name plate for the road and tied the scarf on the wooden post, hoping Colin would see it as a beacon to where she had gone.

  Before she could climb back in her car, she heard a gunshot ring out in the distance, through the trees. She hopped in the car and double-checked her pistol. Pressing the pedal, she turned down the rural road and sped toward the red dot on her monitor, hoping she was not too late.

  Almost a mile down, she came to the location the GPS had shown her—a small rustic cabin off to the right, accessible by a long and rough gravel driveway. A black compact car sat near the front porch, and the silver Audi was just to the side of it.

  Emily parked her vehicle on the road, back from the driveway, hoping the Volvo would be hidden by the thick forest of evergreen trees that surrounded the property. She quietly climbed out of her car and carefully put the door almost closed. Ducking beside her vehicle, she held her gun low, deciding if she should wait for Colin or approach the cabin alone.

  What if Colin couldn’t find her? What if he was a long way off or he missed the scarf she had tied to the sign?

  She had heard a single shot—she was sure of it—but it might not have come from this cabin. Maybe it was a hunter in the woods?

  Emily drew a deep calming breath and exhaled with a rush. Should she venture toward the cabin, creep up onto the porch, try to listen th
rough the door? She wanted to move forward, but her legs were cramping because she had been crouching down so long in her tight jeans.

  Working her way toward the back of her car, she stayed low. She needed to stretch out her legs before they went numb. She straightened her legs, bent over and touched her toes a few times.

  The sound of tires crunching on the gravel road drew her attention. Colin pulled his red Jeep behind her.

  “Nice view,” he said as he got out.

  “Thanks,” she retorted, pulling herself up straight. “I thought you’d never get here.”

  “What are you talking about? I went eighty all the way.”

  “Did you see my scarf?”

  “Yeah, I saw it.” He gave her a smirk. “Don’t you ever run off by yourself like this again. Something could have happened to you and I’d have no idea where to start searching.”

  “I know, boneheaded, right?” she said with an apologetic shrug. “I’m sorry, but do you think you can save the scolding for later?”

  He glared at her for a moment. “All right. What do we have here?”

  “I was able to follow Murphy to this cabin. When I was tying up the scarf, I heard a gunshot in the distance, but I can’t say for sure it came from here.”

  “It’s safest to go on the assumption it did.” Colin peeked at the cabin through the trees. “We’ll sneak up to the porch. Stay along the tree line to the right. Hopefully, they won’t be able to see us there from the front window.”

  Colin and Emily stayed low and silently cut through the trees, then skirted along the tree line as they approached the cabin. Surreptitiously tiptoeing up the few steps to the front porch, they halted on either side of the rustic front door. Leaning in toward it, with their guns poised for action, they listened intently, lifting their gaze to each other.

  Muffled voices and the clatter of a scuffle drifted through the rickety door, then angry shouts erupted. Colin raised his fist to knock when the sound of a gunshot split the air.

  In one swift motion, Colin kicked open the door, then raced in, gun drawn, with Emily close on his tail.

  Not far from the door, Patrick Murphy had his back to them and spun around at the thunderous sound of wood splitting behind him. He held a gun in his hand, the only gun Emily could see as she surveyed the room.

  “Drop the gun, Murphy!” Colin shouted. “Then I want your hands in the air.”

  “You don’t understand,” Patrick groaned, gingerly laying the weapon down on the wood floor. “It’s not what it looks like. It’s not my gun.”

  Jake Mitchell was on the floor, slumped against the wall with his eyes closed, blood dripping out of his abdomen. The left side of his face was red and swelling with a bloody gash along his cheekbone.

  To the right, in the small empty dining area, Emily saw Elise sitting stony silent. She was tied to an old wooden chair with a cloth gag in her mouth. Her head pitched forward and a flow of blood was matting her thick auburn hair.

  Emily’s chest felt suddenly tight and she struggled to pull in a decent breath, but retched instead. The bloody scene—her friend murdered—was all too much for her to take in.

  She staggered over to Elise and felt her neck. No pulse, yet her skin still felt warm to the touch, but they were too late. She was too late.

  Tears blurred her vision. She blinked and willed them back. She had to stay clear headed.

  Patrick put his hands up. “I was trying to save my wife.”

  “How did you know where they were?” Colin asked, as he put Patrick Murphy in handcuffs.

  “I have my ways.” He pitched his head in Jake’s direction. “There’s the one you should be arresting.”

  He has his ways?

  The man certainly was well connected. He may even have hired his own private investigator. He probably had one on retainer.

  Colin patted Murphy down and discovered a gun shoved in the waistband of his pants. “What’s this?”

  “What does it look like?” Murphy growled. “I came to rescue my wife.”

  “You have a concealed weapons permit for this?” Colin asked.

  Patrick lifted his chin in the direction of the door. “In the glove compartment of my car.”

  “It’s supposed to be on your person,” Colin snapped.

  Jake moaned softly from the floor, and Emily squatted down beside him. “He’s still alive.”

  “There’s an ambulance already on the way,” Colin said. “Extra police too.” He shifted his attention back to Patrick. “Sit down and don’t move,” Colin ordered, motioning with his gun toward the old plaid couch.

  “How did you know we’d need them?” Emily asked, helping Jake to lie flat on the floor.

  “On my way up, I radioed Ernie and told him to send one, just in case.”

  Emily dashed to the little kitchenette to find some towels. “How will they find us?” she asked while opening and closing cabinets and drawers.

  “Ernie gave them the address. He remembered seeing a charge on Jake’s credit card yesterday that was pretty vague. Today he dug a little deeper and found it was a vacation rental company. He got the address for what Jake had rented, and checking this place out was next on our list.”

  “So it wasn’t my scarf after all.” Emily ran from the kitchenette to Jake’s side, having found a few towels to try to contain the bleeding in Jake’s belly.

  “The scarf helped, but I also kept my phone’s GPS on so Ernie could pinpoint where I ended up.”

  Colin dragged a wooden chair near Patrick. He dropped down onto it and proceeded to read him his rights, as a potential suspect in his wife’s abduction and possibly even her murder.

  “First you cuff me, and now you’re arresting me?” Patrick shot him an indignant glare. “I’m the hero here. I came to rescue my wife. Look at the poor woman.” He glanced briefly at Elise, and his eyes filled with emotion. “I tell you, I heard a shot when I was driving up. When I ran in, that guy,” nodding toward Jake, “he had that gun in his hand. I tried to wrestle it away from him, but it went off.”

  “Doesn’t look that way to me,” Colin replied.

  “I don’t care what it looks like, Detective, that’s what happened!” Patrick roared. “It was either him or me!”

  “Calm down, Mr. Murphy,” Colin commanded. “We’ll get to the bottom of it.”

  “I found her first,” Patrick growled. “You two detectives are so incompetent that I had to do your job for you.”

  “Tell me again, how did you know she and Mitchell were here?” Colin asked.

  “I had a private security firm in Seattle that I often use look into various people who I thought might be involved, including Elise. That’s when I found out about him.”

  “We knew about Jake and Elise, but we didn’t want to share that with you until the kidnapper was caught,” Colin said.

  “Well, I got a call about him and this old cabin he rented, just after Emily left my office this afternoon,” Patrick said.

  “Why didn’t you pass the lead on to us?” Emily asked. “Because if you had, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  “Because I don’t trust you small town detectives.”

  Colin huffed. “We found out about this cabin this afternoon, around the same time your people did, so it wasn’t like they were very far ahead of us.”

  “If you had been on top of it,” Patrick’s voice cracked with emotion, “you would have gotten here before this piece of crap killed my wife.” A few tears dripped on his shirt.

  Emily wondered if they were tears of anger over his predicament or of grief over seeing his wife brutally murdered. He still appeared to be playing the grieving husband very convincingly.

  “Now you’re trying to point the finger at me as the killer.”

  “You just shot a man!” Colin scoffed.

  “Am I under arrest? Because you weren’t in here, Detective. You think you know what happened, but you didn’t see everything.”

  Colin shifted his gaze around, t
hinking. He would have to play this by the book, Emily knew. With Murphy being a close friend of the Governor, the Mayor, and the Chief of Police, Colin would have to tread lightly until all the facts were in.

  “I am not arresting you yet, Murphy. And I saw enough, but you’re right, I didn’t see it all, so for now, I’m taking you in for questioning until we get this mess sorted out.” Colin gave a little shrug. “But if you’d like to make a statement…get anything off your chest, you could save us all a bit of time.”

  Patrick glared at Colin. “I’m not saying another word without my attorney.”

  “Your choice.” Colin tilted his head and ran a hand under his chin. “But if Jake there makes it, what do you want to bet he has a different story to tell?”

  “Hang in there, Jake. Help will be here soon.” Emily continued to apply pressure on Jake’s wound while she struggled to avert her eyes from Elise. The vision of her dead body would be burned into her memory, the blood matting a section of her long auburn hair, her head drooping forward. But like coming upon a train wreck, it was hard to look away. She gave her head a shake.

  Colin was on the phone now, not five feet from her, calling in the crime and asking for the county medical examiner, but between trying to save Jake and the vision of Elise, she was on sensory overload, like a hazy fog had descended on her brain. Colin’s words jumbled in her mind, cloudy, not making sense. The whole thing suddenly seemed surreal, like a bad dream.

  Just the day before yesterday, Emily was happily planning her wedding with Elise, together fending off Camille and Maggie’s extravagant ideas. Now, she was only a short distance away, dead from a gunshot wound to the head, delivered by either her husband or her lover.

  How would they know who was telling the truth? It was one against the other. Patrick claimed he was trying to rescue his wife, that Jake had already shot her, but what story would Jake tell, if he survived?

  One question after another, each question begging several more. Emily’s head swooned from the effort. It was going to be a long night.

  ~*~

  Just then sirens blared in the distance, growing closer and louder, focusing Emily’s attention. “Help’s almost here, Jake.”