Deadly Touch

by Heather Graham

  How far were they going? Where were they going? On the one hand she knew her dog well, and if Axel didn’t realize she’d been abducted, Titan would.

  They’d be coming for her.

  How? They were in a tangle of hammocks and water and swamp and sawgrass. She thought about throwing herself over the side. But now, her hands were bound. If she threw herself over the side, she could die a more dreadful death. Things she knew streaked through her mind. She was unlikely prey for a gator—not really bite-size. Since the python and boa invasion, food was scarce and all creatures were going for what they could get.

  Then, of course, there were the snakes...

  What the hell, why not make it difficult for them?

  The airboat began to slow; they were coming to a stop somewhere. Did they predetermine their places of murder? Or were they random?

  There was a bump.

  An aggravated voice rang out.

  “What the hell? Can’t you drive? Damn it, you’re going to do this!”

  Raina pitched herself toward the side. Even if her hands were bound and she was wearing a burlap hood, she was determined to draw it out.

  “Shit! She’s going to make us capsize!”

  She felt herself grabbed roughly, but the hold wasn’t strong. She jerked violently—slamming her head forward, as she’d seen done in the movies.

  It hurt! It hurt to bloody hell!

  But oddly, it seemed to have done something. She heard cursing. “Now I’m covered in this fetid water, and shit, oh, shit! There’s an alligator over there—”

  “Leave it the hell alone!” another voice said.

  This time, when Raina was grabbed, it was with strength. And she suddenly recognized the second voice as it said, “Oh, please. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to do this.”

  “It will all be thrown on you, so grow up! Or you’ll have a witness against you, and you know damned well, the rest of us will come out okay. Even Daddy will be forced to testify against you!”

  The burlap bag was wrenched from Raina’s head.

  She was glad to see that, at the very least, she had head-butted Loretta Oster. The chubby-cheerful teacher was drenched in the swamp water, trying desperately to free herself of the grass and muck clinging to her.

  She was stunned to see the face of the man holding her. The miserable, tearstained face of her once-upon-a-time flame, Tate Fielding.

  It made no sense.

  She stared at him, astounded. If he wasn’t about to kill her, he would be truly pitiable. He was sobbing softly.

  Tears were streaming down his face.

  “Tate?” she said.

  “I’m sorry. Oh, God, I’m so sorry!”

  “Toughen up, frat boy!” Loretta snapped. “Come on, we’ve got to get this over with. I have to get back, and now, how do I explain this? I tripped into the damned water?”

  “Wait!” said Raina. “Who killed Fran Castle?”

  “Why, honey, your friendly neighborhood chaperone,” Loretta said. “You kids were too full of yourselves to realize I wasn’t there until the damned buses arrived. But of course I wasn’t alone.” She paused, still angry and irritated over her condition. “Tate! Damn you, come on. Grow a pair of balls and finish the stupid bitch!”

  “Wait!” Raina demanded. Tate would listen to her, she knew. Tate wasn’t a killer. He was being forced into this for some reason. “Hey, you’re going to kill me. So, humor me! Tell me, please, tell me what has been going on. Did the two of you kill Jennifer Lowry?”

  “I’ve never killed anyone,” Tate said. “And I’m so sorry, Raina—”

  “Shut up you ball-less wonder!” Loretta shouted. “If you can’t do this, give me the damned knife. I won’t have a problem, I assure you!”

  She had a chance, Raina knew. She had a chance because Tate Fielding wasn’t a murderer. He might have known what was going on, but he wasn’t a murderer himself.

  And Loretta...

  Could she take her? The woman didn’t even have the knife yet...

  “Who started all this and why?” she demanded.

  Loretta laughed. “Why is it they just never want to believe it could be a woman?”

  “I know!” Raina said. “And you are so good—or so it seems. I mean, there’s no money trail. I’ll admit, you naturally fell under suspicion, but what I can’t figure out is, why? Did you know Fran Castle—did she do something? I mean, Tate is here now, and Jordan obviously knew something, but they were kids then, so... Oh, I get it! Jefferson Fielding. It was him!”

  “No, you don’t you get it. Jefferson is as big an ass as the rest of them! I knew Jefferson because his son was in one of my classes. That idiot needed to get rid of a witness—at the time, it wasn’t Fran Castle. It was a man named Gabriel Mercury several years before Fran. But as to the money, well, you’ll never find it. Jefferson is great at hiding money, but he’s such a wuss that he regretted what happened to the witness.”

  “What happened?” Raina pressed. Loretta seemed to be on a roll.

  “The man sort of fell off a building. I say sort of because, well, Jefferson was yelling at him. Accident? Maybe. But I was there, and I saw it happen—and after that I had the man in my pocket. Once I had him, well, I had a way to wash some money, you know? It’s amazing how much can go through an attorney’s office without raising any suspicion.”

  “You always had help. I know you had help. Two people attacked and then killed Jennifer Lowry,” Raina said. “Frank Peters? You were a pair of murdering teachers? I mean, it’s obvious the man is horrible, but I’m learning. Being a bad person doesn’t make you a murderer. So who was with you when you took Jennifer Lowry? Jennifer said there were two of you.”

  “Jennifer is dead! She couldn’t have said anything,” Loretta argued.

  “There were two of you.”

  “Oh, and how do you know that?” Loretta demanded.

  “Like I said, she told me.”

  Loretta stared at her, and then started laughing. “You’re crazy as a loon. This might well be a mercy killing. Damn you, Tate—give me the knife!”

  She still didn’t have the knife.

  It was now or never.

  Raina took off at light speed, slamming into Loretta so that she fell, and raced straight into the brush and muck surrounding the hammock, seeking a trail through the firm ground. She staggered onto one and kept running.

  Straight into another man.

  Straight into the arms of death?

  * * *

  He needed an airboat.

  Axel knew he needed to follow as quickly as possible. He spotted one and ran toward it, seeing Billie Osceola was just coming in.

  “Hey!” Billie called cheerfully. “You’re already here, too. Great!”

  “I need the airboat,” Axel said.

  “You—what?” Billie was stepping out.

  “I need the airboat. Sorry!”

  Axel jumped on, followed by the dog, and took the helm.

  “Hey!” Billie called again. But Axel already had the vessel geared again. It shot out over the shallow water and grasses.

  He vaguely heard his phone ringing. He concentrated on only one thing—reaching Raina as quickly as possible.

  But it kept ringing, shrill, even against the thunderous whirr of the airboat.

  He pulled it from his pocket. Andrew.

  “Andrew, get out here. He took Raina. Frank Peters took Raina.”

  “Frank Peters is sitting by the fire.”

  “What?”

  “Frank Peters is sitting by the fire. But Nigel just reached me. He tried to get you, but you weren’t answering.”

  “She’s gone, Andrew. She’s gone. Someone got to her. Raina is gone.”

  “So is Jordan Rivera.”

  “What? He’s just ou
t of a coma, hadn’t moved.”

  “Oh, he moved, all right. He knocked out a male nurse, stole his clothing and left the hospital. They don’t know when exactly. Possibly hours ago.”

  “So, it may be Jordan?” Axel asked incredulously. He kept one hand hard at the helm. He was crashing through low water and high water, over roots and other obstructions. He stared ahead, desperate to find the course of the airboat that went ahead of him by minutes.

  “Maybe, but...”

  “But what?”

  “Do you know who isn’t by the fire?”

  “Who? Andrew, just talk to me. And get the hell out here!”

  “It’s Loretta, Axel. Loretta is gone.”

  “Just start searching. Whoever the hell it is, they have her. Andrew, get anyone—anyone we trust.”

  He hung up, looking ahead desperately.

  And then he saw the ghost.

  The ghost of Jennifer Lowry. She stood by a massive tree that boarded a narrow strip of deep wetland.

  She beckoned to him, deep sorrow in her eyes.

  Titan began to bark. That was the way to go.

  He gritted his teeth, ducking beneath the limbs of an outstretched tree.

  Then he saw Peg-legged Pete and Joshua and a whole lineup of pirates, waving and guiding him through the maze of little islands.

  He wasn’t sure if it was the ghosts, or his own heart beating in his ears. He heard a word, repeated over and over again.

  Hurry. Hurry, hurry, hurry.

  * * *

  Jordan was in bad shape. He caught Raina, but could barely hold her.

  “If they killed Jennifer,” he said. “If they killed Jennifer...”

  “Jordan, did you...?”

  “Did I kill Jennifer?” he asked. “No! I was falling in love with her. I didn’t want to be in love. I didn’t. But I knew something was wrong, oh, God, I knew. There were things said at work, money that went into strange accounts. And Tate’s father. He’d meet with Loretta Oster. So I started to wonder, and I didn’t want to wonder...”

  He staggered back, falling against a tree, slipping down to the ground, barely conscious.

  “Jordan, why did you leave the hospital?” she asked anxiously.

  “Had to. I hit the nurse. I took his uniform, and I just walked out and they didn’t see.”

  “How did you get here?” she demanded.

  He didn’t answer; his head fell.

  She hunkered down by him, searching his pockets, hard going with her hands still tied. Nothing except a wad of bills in the nurse’s aqua tunic he was wearing.

  “Taxi,” he mumbled. “Stole...airboat.” He managed to look up at her, his eyes vacant and watering. He was fading. Either exhaustion or medication or the fact he’d awakened from a medically induced coma to make his way out to the Everglades. “Had to come. I couldn’t let them kill again.”

  “Brilliant,” someone said.

  Raina shot to her feet and stood; Loretta was there, just twenty feet from them.

  Now, she had the knife.

  And she was done talking or listening. With the precision of a circus performer, she drew back an arm and sent the knife flying.

  It would have hit Raina. It would have hit her cleanly in the chest.

  But it didn’t. Because Jordan somehow thrust to his feet and launched himself forward, pushing Raina back.

  “No!” she cried.

  But Jordan was on the ground, bleeding. And Loretta Oster was still staring at Raina with a smile on her face.

  In the distance, Raina thought she could hear the whirr of an airboat.

  “Know that saying? Never bring a knife to a gunfight? My opinion on that is simple—you bring both.”

  She drew out a gun. Raina didn’t doubt Loretta’s ability to fire the weapon.

  Loretta took aim.

  * * *

  Axel was where he needed to be. Tate Fielding lay on the ground, moaning and bleeding. Titan raced to him, sniffing and whining. Axel rushed over, ducking down to see where the blood was coming from. He needed the man alive.

  He didn’t know Tate Fielding’s part in it all, and he was evidently in bad shape now, but he was damned well going to lead him the rest of the way to Raina.

  “Where is she?” he demanded.

  Fielding wasn’t bleeding from the throat. He’d been stabbed. But he was alive. Shaking, he reached up and pointed.

  He hadn’t really needed Tate.

  Titan was ahead of him, already racing through the trees and foliage. Axel drew out his gun and followed.

  Axel burst through a pile of leaves and saw Jordan Rivera had made it out to the Everglades.

  He’d made it out there, apparently, to die.

  He was on the ground, a knife in his chest, eyes open, staring blankly ahead.

  Raina was at his side.

  Facing her, Loretta Oster held a gun.

  Titan let out a growl that sounded more like the roar of a lion. He was going to race forward, tackle Loretta.

  But it would be too late.

  “Drop it!” Axel roared, raising his Glock.

  Loretta broke her stare from Raina to look quickly at Axel, assessing the threat. She wasn’t going to listen to him. She was going to fire, no matter what.

  He couldn’t let that happen.

  She might know her weapon; he knew his better.

  He fired and Loretta dropped to the ground.

  Titan was still in motion, flying across mud and muck and grass, landing atop the fallen woman. Axel rushed forward.

  Raina stood still as rock, staring at Loretta where she had fallen.

  “Raina!”

  She turned to him. Staggered toward him. But she couldn’t put her arms around him. Her wrists were bound. He dug into his pocket for his knife, freeing her.

  She fell against him.

  “Jordan... Tate...” she cried. “They knew. Axel. Help—Jordan needs help. He saved me, stepped in front of me. He needs to get back to the hospital.”

  She was shaking. He nodded; she didn’t realize Jordan was already dead. Tate, however, might live.

  “Andrew is right behind me. He’ll get Tate to a hospital.”

  “Tate was supposed to kill me. He couldn’t do it. But he was fine when I ran—”

  “I’m afraid he’s not fine now.”

  “Jordan needs help desperately.”

  He drew in a deep breath.

  “Jordan is... I’m sorry. He’s gone, Raina.”

  She stared at him, eyes wide, then she turned, rushing back to Jordan. She fell on her knees by his side, touching him. “Oh, Jordan!” she whispered.

  Axel heard the whirr of an airboat. Andrew.

  But suddenly, shots were fired, ringing out wildly.

  He dove for Raina, drawing her back with him behind a crooked old oak. More shots exploded.

  Axel drew a finger to his lips.

  “Titan! Get over here!” Raina said, and the dog obediently came to her call, whining softly as he joined them behind the tree.

  Axel expected to see Frank Peters.

  But it was Jefferson Fielding who walked carefully toward them through the hardwoods, ducking down by Loretta.

  “We’re out of it—thank God, we’re out of it,” Jefferson whispered.

  Axel didn’t know what alerted him. They hadn’t made a sound. The dog hadn’t even made a sound.

  But Jefferson Fielding didn’t see him; he just looked straight at Raina.

  “It was an accident,” he said to her. “It all started with an accident, but then she blackmailed me. She used the firm. Used me to find people. Don’t you see? I’m sorry. Tate couldn’t do it. I have to do it. I have to because it will all fall down, like a house of cards. I hated Loretta for what she did to Tate, teas
ing him and then using him, but I never wanted to dirty my hands. To make a kill. Jordan and Tate couldn’t take it. Especially after they killed that Jennifer girl. Jordan—he loved her—he was going to ruin it all. You have to understand. It’s one of the most prestigious law firms in the state, in the country. I’m sorry.”

  He took Loretta’s gun from where it lay beside her body, and he took aim. Axel jerked Raina back, raising his own gun.

  Jefferson Fielding’s shot hit the tree.

  And he didn’t get a chance to fire again.

  Titan was on him like a mountain lion, snarling, his jaw clamped around the man’s forearm. The gun fell to the ground, and Jefferson was dragged to his knees by the animal.

  Axel darted forward, covering Jefferson with his weapon, and shouted at him. “Don’t move!”

  Raina stood, calling to the dog. With a final shake, Titan let go and came to her side.

  Andrew reached them at last, his boat pulling up with another behind his, bearing Jon and Kylie and emergency medical technicians.

  Axel shouted quick warnings and explanations.

  Jon went to handcuff Jefferson Fielding while Andrew hurried with the EMTs back to Tate Fielding.

  Loretta Oster was dead.

  That much was clear.

  And Jordan...

  Raina was moving to his side again when Axel caught her arm.

  “Wait,” he said softly.

  Because the ghost of Jennifer Lowry was there again. She stood by the fallen form of Jordan Rivera, then knelt down beside him, laying her cheek against his back, weeping softly.

  Then something happened.

  Something Axel had never witnessed before, with all he had seen.

  Jordan was dead; he couldn’t rise.

  And yet he was rising. Some part of him—his soul. His spirit.

  He stood as if confused for a moment. Then he saw the ghost of Jennifer Lowry down by his body.

  He said her name softly.

  She looked up and saw him, and a smile lit her face. He offered his hand to her. She took his hand and stood and went into his arms.

  They were locked together in an embrace for all time.

  Then they moved apart just a bit and Jordan turned and saw Axel and Raina.