When She Wasn't Looking

by HelenKay Dimon

  Both men panted. Jonas’s chest rose as he pushed out his words. “I’m going to kill you now.”

  She heard the comment and reached for Jonas. She tugged on his shoulders but it would have been easier to move a building. “No, he needs to pay for Eckert’s death.”

  Cade coughed and sputtered. It took three tries for him to get the words out. “I didn’t do it.”

  Jonas used his weight to press Cade even deeper into the pavement. “We have it on tape.”

  Cade put his hands on Jonas’s arm. “He was my friend.”

  “As if you know what that means.”

  “He was alive.”

  “When?”

  “When I left the room.” Frantic now, his eyes darting from side to side, Cade looked at Courtney. “Ask the guard.”

  “He’s dead.” Jonas delivered the news as he stumbled to his feet, half-bent over and wheezing every few breaths.

  Before she could react, he grabbed the gun out of her hands and aimed it at Cade’s still form. “So is the guy you sent to kill Courtney earlier. I killed him and left him in the forest.”

  Cade’s forehead wrinkled as his hands dropped to his sides against the hard ground. “Who are you talking about?”

  The manager chose that moment to come outside. He shouted from the safety of his office. “I’ve called the police.”

  “I am the police,” Jonas yelled back. Then he looked at Cade again. “Who else did you send after her? How many more are coming?”

  Cade’s chest rose on harsh breaths. “No one. Paul wasn’t supposed to get hurt. I thought…”

  Jonas lowered the gun, but only slightly. “What?”

  “You killed Paul to protect her.” Cade closed his eyes. When he opened them again, some of the daze had disappeared.

  “Why would I do that?” Jonas asked.

  “I don’t know.” Cade shook his head against the ground. “That’s why I watched you when you drove up and sat across the street. I waited for you to drive over here to make a move and when you did—”

  “You grabbed me.” Courtney didn’t want Cade’s story to make sense. She wanted to keep him in the hatred column and write off everything he said as a lie to cover his father’s murders. But as he talked, she felt their twisted connection over that horrible day.

  Cade wiped the water from his face and the rain pelted him again. “I only came here to scare her.”

  “Congratulations,” she mumbled.

  “I have to get you to stop. My family has paid enough for your lies,” he whispered.

  Sirens wailed as flashing lights appeared over the slight hill down the road. Jonas wiped blood from the corner of his mouth. “You’re going to jail.”

  But Cade wasn’t listening. “If you didn’t kill Paul, who did?”

  Jonas glanced at her. “And why?”

  Courtney wondered the same thing.

  Chapter Twenty

  Ellie came around the counter when the bell above her shop’s front door dinged. “Can I help you?”

  Kurt waved her off as he secretly locked the door and slipped into the high stacks lined with books. “Just looking.”

  She smiled at him as she returned to her stool by the cash register. “Enjoy.”

  He intended to savor but probably wouldn’t enjoy. He’d never expected to start down this road. He’d been trying to save his family all those years ago. Allen had threatened to shut the partnership down over a simple bookkeeping issue. He wanted out, which meant refunding his investment and stopping contracts in midbid.

  Kurt would have paid back the loan as soon as the money rolled in. Not taking an advance, limiting his draw to the bare minimum, had put his family’s future at risk. But losing the partnership would have meant bankruptcy and likely the end of his marriage.

  Allen wouldn’t listen to reason or give him time, so Kurt didn’t have a choice. If he got rid of Allen, the business would come to him. Taking out Allen’s family ensured there wouldn’t be any lengthy legal battles or annoying questions. Allen had to go out and take the blame, then Kurt could step in as the grieving partner.

  And it all would have worked, all would have ended, if Courtney had just shut up and gotten a life. Her being alive when she should have been dead was a huge problem and cost Kurt millions. Her playing amateur detective was a nightmare that could cost him his freedom.

  For years she’d pushed and he’d begged her to move on. More than once she went to the police and he walked in behind her to clean up the mess and drop hints about her competency.

  Then in an email a month ago she’d mentioned getting her dad’s old business boxes, and Kurt knew he couldn’t wait. The final Peters daughter needed to meet her end. She’d never been the good one, anyway. She was the artsy one. The waste.

  All it had taken was a well-placed rumor about Courtney going after Cade’s father again and getting the press to help her clear her father’s name this time around. Kurt had tracked her down through their infrequent emails and made sure Cade had the information to go after her on his own.

  It was the perfect ending. The son of the “real” killer, driven mad and desperate, would finish his father’s most horrid work.

  But bringing Courtney and Cade together proved more difficult than Kurt anticipated. Which led him to this bookstore. He glanced over at the shop owner. Thirty and divorced, she was the only friend of Courtney’s that Kurt could find. Ellie was his last hope. He hoped Courtney’s loyalty to her friend would lure her away from the deputy.

  Kurt had seen what Porter did to the first man Kurt sent to grab Courtney. Thanks to back channels and cash payments, nothing could trace the dead man back to Kurt, but the death was a nuisance.

  All Porter had to do that first time was make contact so Courtney would know to be afraid and try to run. Kurt’s man had been ready to grab her, but no one had expected the deputy to hover, let alone run after her into the forest and shoot.

  With Porter around, the plan would shudder to a halt. Kurt understood that now. It was either dispose of Porter, which would only raise questions and risk alienating Kurt’s paid-for police help, or separate the deputy from Courtney and handle it that way. Kurt chose the latter.

  And it had to happen fast. He’d killed the FBI agent to bring the authorities running and start the unraveling of Cade’s careful world. Kurt had set up the tape to make sure Cade was implicated. That meant it was time to finish the job and get back home to work.

  Kurt dragged his finger along the spines of a group of hardcover books lined on the shelves. “This is an impressive collection.”

  He didn’t read the titles because he didn’t care. He only picked them because they sat on the shelf closest to the woman he needed. Ellie.

  “Are you searching for something special?” she asked.

  “Definitely.”

  “If you have the title, I can look it up. If it’s not here, I can order it.” She clicked on her keyboard and left her hands poised, ready to type in whatever he said.

  “I don’t live around here.”

  She dropped her hands but her smile remained. “Are you on vacation?”

  “A business trip.”

  “It’s always nice to have something to read while you’re away from home. We have commercial fiction and literary fiction.” She pointed at different aisles as she spoke. “Do you have a preference?”

  He’d had about enough with the walk through the makeshift library. Anyone could come in, and he wanted to take advantage of a break in the rain while he had the chance. Why anyone would ever choose to live in a water-drenched area like this was a mystery to him.

  Ellie slid off her seat and walked around to stand next to him. “I can show you whatever you need.”

  “I’d like you to get Courtney to come here. Now.”

  Ellie’s smile faltered. “What?”

  “Your friend Courtney.” Kurt grabbed Ellie’s arm in a tight grip to keep her from running. “Her real name is Ann Peters, but I don’t r
eally care what she calls herself. I just need to talk with her.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  He dragged Ellie to the opposite side of the counter. She dug in her heels. When she started to scream, he slapped a hand over her mouth and pulled her into the back office. The police station was not far away, and the last thing he needed was for some Good Samaritan with a gun to come running.

  “Your dear friend is being difficult.” He whispered the words against the woman’s hair as he rounded her desk. Ellie trembled and winced at each syllable as he spoke.

  “You could just call her.” Ellie stuttered over the comment.

  Ah, but that’s not the plan. “No, but you will.”

  “You’re not making any sense.”

  “Maybe this would help.” He shoved her into her chair and took out his gun.

  All the color drained from the woman’s already pale face. Amazing how a weapon could change the conversation. Get it back on track.

  “What are you doing with that?” she asked.

  “I need you to tell Courtney to come here. Alone.” He picked up the receiver and held it in front of Ellie’s face.

  “I don’t—”

  Kurt grabbed Ellie’s purse off the edge of her desk and dug around for her cell phone. He dumped that on the desk, too. Between a call and a test, Ellie would get the job done.

  Or she better. “I am not in the mood to deal with the deputy police chief. He needs to stay away. Tell Courtney to come alone.”

  Ellie shook her head, sending her blond hair swinging. “He won’t leave her side.”

  “Then you better be convincing. Make Courtney think you’ll die if she doesn’t slip away and get here.” Kurt inched forward until the gun touched the woman’s forehead. “Because, Ellie, you will.”

  * * *

  JONAS WATCHED CADE put his wallet and gun on the desk for the inventory clerk to tag. They were at the police station. Jonas had done everything he could to intimidate the other man on the drive over. Nothing really worked, since Cade hadn’t said a word or even looked up since Jonas walked him in the building.

  Neither had Courtney. Even now, she sat in Jonas’s big desk chair and stared straight ahead.

  Rich joined Jonas in the doorway to his office, and after a quick glance in Courtney’s direction, joined in watching Cade. “She okay?”

  “No.” Jonas wondered if she would ever be okay.

  How could a person live through everything she had and come out the other side? She’d fostered her hatred for Cade, and when faced with the moment of victory, she’d looked as confused and panicked as a little kid lost in a department store.

  Rich crossed his arms over his chest. “What do you think about this Willis character?”

  The man in question mumbled answers to whatever questions he was being asked. He nodded and shuffled his feet. His wet shirt hung untucked, as if he had just come through a fight, which he had.

  Hardly the actions of a trained assassin out for a fresh kill. Cade struck Jonas more like a lost male version of Courtney.

  “Courtney hates him,” he said.

  “You know that’s not what I’m asking.”

  “His face when I mentioned Eckert…” Jonas shook his head and closed his eyes when the small shake sent pain bouncing around in there. “I don’t think it was guilt. The accusation he killed his partner shook him, as if he was out there trying to find the murderer.”

  “So Willis really came here just to scare the crap out of Courtney and ended up getting his friend killed?” Rich whistled. “Try living with that.”

  Jonas had. Every single day since he left his last job he struggled with the crushing regret.

  He’d shot a kid during a drug bust and then had to defend his actions when the kid’s gangbanger friend and vocal family insisted Jonas pulled first. As if dealing with the death of a kid at his hands wasn’t bad enough, he had to handle the aftermath. The fallout included a suspension and mandatory check-ins with an office shrink. The newspaper stories detailing the abuses of the Los Angeles Division of the DEA and its rogue officer—him—came later.

  Not one word of the vile story was true, but the damage had been done. Jonas lost pay and the respect of his team. The entire division had to undergo special training. New regulations came down requiring more warnings before a shooting. The new protocol for delayed engagement put the agents at risk.

  Basically, the administrative folks did everything they could think of to tie the hands of the people in the field. And everyone blamed Jonas. Everyone except Henry.

  The case took a toll, wore Jonas down physically and mentally. His refusal to take medicine earned him an extended suspension. When he finally returned to the job things went okay for a while.

  His boss would later call the disaster the result of a loss of self-confidence. Jonas called it a fast track to Henry’s death. Out on a call, Henry waited to pull a gun. So did Jonas. But by the time the weapons came out Henry was on the ground and his killers were off and running.

  Henry McCarthy, dead at thirty-one.

  That’s how the newspaper article started. The sentence was seared into Jonas’s brain.

  Jonas looked at Cade’s slumped shoulders. Jonas tried to block out the heartbreak that had pounded off of Cade when he stood in the parking lot and talked about his father. Jonas tried to imagine how far he would go to clear his father’s name. He’d do anything for the man who raised him and died before he witnessed Jonas’s shame.

  “Cade is as sure of his father’s innocence as Courtney is of her father’s,” Jonas said.

  “What do you think?” Rich asked.

  “I’m wondering if they’re both victims.” Jonas knew she hated the word, but it fit here. Two families destroyed by a horrible act, spending years pointing fingers at each other instead of healing. “Their focus on each other could have let the person really responsible slip under the radar.”

  Rich exhaled. “You know what that means, right?”

  “That another killer is loose in Aberdeen.” Jonas glanced at Rich’s fixed jaw. “We’ve both known that for a half hour and have been trying not to say it.”

  “I wanted it to be Willis so we could wrap the case up and end it.”

  “Me, too.”

  Rich kept his focus on Cade. “It’s pretty hard to fathom all that death so close to a place many think makes Mayberry look a little loose.”

  “Let him go.” Courtney’s firm voice shot out of the back of the office.

  Both Rich and Jonas turned around at the same time. She hadn’t gotten up. Hadn’t moved even an inch, as far as Jonas could tell. Her hands remained folded on top of his desk and her back stayed straight.

  She was on the verge of falling apart. Under all that strength, she shook and trembled. Jonas never would have noticed it before. He saw it now. The determination hid a lifetime of pain. The attitude covered all the insecurities.

  “He assaulted an officer.” That was the charge Jonas put on the sheet. It would stick. Witnesses across the street and the motel manager saw Cade drag Courtney out of the car, saw it all unfold.

  Her eyes finally focused. For the first time in what felt like forever, she stared at Jonas instead of looking through him. “Cade had it all figured out in his mind. You killed Eckert. Cade thought you were trying to kill him like you did his partner. It was self-defense.”

  Rich scoffed. “That’s bull—”

  “Cade was out of line and deserves a takedown. Rogue agents with a badge don’t serve anyone.” Jonas struggled to keep his voice calm. She didn’t need any more drama today.

  “Yeah.” She pushed out of the seat and walked across the room. Even her footsteps seemed unsure and uneven. “But it was instinct.”

  Jonas snorted. “I’m not ready to forgive.”

  “You think I am? I still don’t understand what’s going on.” Her wide eyes mirrored the confusion in her voice.

  “Do you think he’s the one who’s trying to kill yo
u?” Rich asked.

  “No.”

  Her answer surprised Jonas. “Why?”

  “He carries a gun and a badge and could have walked right up to my door and taken me away without ever involving you. So few people know me here that it would have taken days, maybe weeks, for anyone to notice I was gone. By then I would have been dead.” She sighed as if the weight of the world had been dropped on her shoulders. “No, this is something deeper.”

  “The real killer?” Rich separated each word with a pause.

  She let out a harsh laugh. “I don’t even know how to answer that.”

  Jonas’s heart ripped in two over the sight of this beautiful, amazing woman brought to her knees. “Courtney—”

  “I was so sure Tad Willis killed them all.” She looked up at Jonas, her eyes clouded with tears. “What if I was wrong?”

  He cupped her cheek. “And what if he read his dad all wrong? Maybe his dad did it.”

  “And Cade is not exactly innocent in this. He wanted to scare you, to break you,” Rich said.

  Jonas was deathly afraid Cade had succeeded.

  She turned her head and pressed a kiss in Jonas’s open palm. “I just want to go home and go to sleep.”

  Her words kicked him right in the gut, each syllable a crack against his ribs. “I don’t think your house is safe.”

  “I mean your place.” She dropped Jonas’s hand and walked back into his office. “Let Cade go while I get my stuff.”

  Rich watched her. “That’s a fine woman right there.”

  Jonas wasn’t sure how he felt about the house thing, but he sure didn’t hate it. The idea of waking up with her, holding her, settled inside him on a wave on contentment. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

  If she could make this bold move, he could answer with one of his own. He stepped up to the counter. They were about the same height but he seemed to loom over Cade. The man shrank as he stood.

  Jonas signaled to the man behind the desk. “Give Agent Willis his property back.”

  The officer frowned. “Sir?”