by Kira Chase
Johanna watched as Kristin's eyes clouded with doubt. She knew Frankie was getting to her. Out of the corner of her eye, she also watched Becca. She didn't know if the woman would actually pull the trigger. There was no way she could risk getting to her desk for her gun. Frankie had hers, but how could she reach it without Becca noticing it? Unless she could create a distraction. Maybe that's what Frankie's plan was.
“Why didn't you ask Thatcher?” Kristin looked at Becca. “How hard did you try? I spent my whole life thinking about you and wondering what you were like.”
Becca's jaw tightened. “It doesn't matter. We'll talk about it later.”
“The answer is she never wanted you, Kristin,” Frankie persisted.
Becca's eyes slanted as she glanced at Frankie. “I said close your damned mouth or I'll close it for you!”
“You said you tried to find me, but you didn't, did you? It didn't take Thatcher long to find you. I wanted you to care about me,” Kristin cried as she turned and faced her mother. “You didn't. You never have. I did everything you and Thatcher asked me to do.” Her eyes flitted back and forth. “Are you upset because Thatcher didn't want you the way he wants me?”
“That's nonsense,” Becca said. “She's trying to get in your head. Ignore her.” Becca stared angrily at Frankie. “My patience is running thin. One more word out of your mouth and I'll shut you up for good! I'll put a bullet through your skull.”
“You said we wouldn't hurt anyone. But we have. Why? So we can live in another country on money that's not ours? I can't do this anymore. I don't want to do this.”
“Thatcher earned every dime of that money.” She glared at Kendall, and then turned her attention back to Kristin. “You'll adjust no matter where we live. You've already become accustomed to the finer things in life thanks to Thatcher. Now you'll have everything you've ever wanted.”
She shook her head. “No, this is what you want. I should have never listened to you. My parents warned me that I could be hurt, but I estranged myself from them for you. I did everything you and Thatcher asked me to.” Her hand flew to her mouth. “I set those fires for you.”
“Shut up!” Becca warned. “Everything we did was for you.”
Kristin dropped to her knees. “No, it was never for me.” She began sobbing. “It was always for you. You were afraid Thatcher would leave with the baby and me and abandon you. He told me that.”
Johanna was shocked at Kristin's confession. She stood silent, as did Frankie, Kate, and Kendall. All eyes were on Becca, whose face had contorted into an ugliness that Johanna was certain the rage within her brought to the surface. She readied herself for the move that Frankie knew she would soon make. Her top priority was to protect Kendall and Johanna when it came down to it.
“You wanted Kendall to be blamed for the fires. You said she'd be put away for the rest of her life and Thatcher would try to fight in the courts to have the pre-nup challenged since it didn't cover mental illness. But you were tired of waiting. You convinced him it would be better to just get rid of her permanently.” Tears streamed down her face. “But I couldn't hurt her. I'd already hurt her enough even though she didn't know it. Murder was something I couldn't commit.” She sniffed. “Why did you and Thatcher insist that I do it? Why me?” she cried. “Was I going to be charged with murder and—” her voice trailed off. “Oh my God. That's it! You did use me. No one would have listened to me. Thatcher would have paid everyone off. You and him would have had everything. You both used me.”
“Don't be ridiculous! You're letting your imagination run away with you.” Becca grabbed Kristin's shoulder with one hand. “Get hold of yourself. Stand up. It's almost over. As soon as Thatcher gets here with the baby, we'll be getting on a plane. All of this will be behind us. We'll have a new life.”
Frankie finally broke her silence. “I told you Thatcher's not coming.”
“And I told you to keep your mouth shut! Now I've run out of patience!” Becca aimed the gun. “Because of you, all your friends will have to die.”
“Wasn't that what you planned in the first place?” Johanna asked. “From the minute you pushed your way in here you intended to shoot all of us. There's no way you planned to let any of us get out of this alive.”
“No, we planned to only kill Kendall.”
Kendall trembled next to Johanna. “Why, Becca? What did I ever do to you?” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “You've worked for my family for years. We trusted you.”
“Seriously? You're asking me why?” She laughed shrilly.
Becca's maniacal laugh sent a chill down Johanna's spine. The woman was insane. She'd lost all touch with reality. “What about your daughter?” Johanna asked.
“What about her?”
“Do you love her? Can you love her since she has the one thing you'll never have? How does it feel knowing Thatcher's with her and not you?” Johanna picked up where Frankie had left off.
“He doesn't love her. It was a mistake. She threw herself at him. Chloe belongs to Thatcher and me. She's our baby. We intend to raise her.”
“No. She's my baby. What are you talking about? You're Chloe's grandmother. You can't have my baby,” Kristin cried.
“You stupid, bitch.” Becca lowered the gun and looked at Kristin. “I told Thatcher it was a bad idea to bring you into this. He couldn't keep it in his pants.” She rubbed her forehead. “Thatcher and I are going away with Chloe.”
“What about me?”
“What do you think?” she snarled.
“You set me up. How could you do that to me?” Kristin shook with fear as she cowered on the floor. “I'm your daughter.”
“I didn't want you then and I sure as hell don't now!” Becca pulled the trigger, but before the bullet could make contact with Kristin, Kate lunged for Becca while Frankie reached for her gun.
“Get down,” Johanna said to Kendall.
Kate grabbed Becca's wrist, struggling for control of the gun when it discharged.
Chapter 19
Becca went limp and then slumped to the floor in a heap. Kendall screamed and then fainted at the sound of gunfire. Johanna squatted next to her while Frankie rushed to where Becca lay in a crumpled heap.
“She has a slight pulse,” Frankie said.
“Help is on the way,” Kate replied.
Frankie looked toward the door. “Kristin's making a break for it, Kate.”
Kate was immediately on Kristin, tackling her to the floor. “You're under arrest,” she said grabbing her arms and handcuffing her. She pulled Kristin to her feet and read her her rights.
Kristin began whimpering. “I didn't do anything wrong. What about my baby? What's going to happen to Chloe?”
“You should have thought about that,” Kate said.
Frankie walked over to where Johanna sat on the floor next to Kendall. “Is she okay?”
Johanna lifted an eyebrow. “She fainted for a couple of minutes, but I think she needs to be checked out.”
“No...I'm fine,” Kendall said weakly.
She was shaking so hard, Frankie thought the woman would pass out again. “It's over, Kendall. You're safe.”
“Thank you both,” she whispered as tears filled her eyes. “Is Becca—”
“She's got a pulse.” She peered at Kendall. “I still think you'd better be checked out too, when the medics arrive.”
“No, I'm all right. I just want to go home.”
“Do you think you should be alone?” Johanna asked.
She smiled faintly. “I'll be fine.”
The door opened and the women watched the flurry of excitement as police, medics and reporters converged on the office. Arlan and George quickly removed the reporters from the office promising a statement would be issued later.
Alec Oakman, with his wife Jillian in tow, hurried over to Kendall. “Thank God you're all right.” He introduced his wife to Frankie and Johanna.
“You're coming home with us tonight,” Jillian Oakman said. “And we wo
n't take no for an answer,” she added when Kendall started to protest. “But first I want you to get checked out by the medics. I insist.”
Kendall finally relented to being evaluated by a medic and then gratefully accepted Jillian's hospitality.
After Kendall walked with Jillian to where a medic was waiting, Frankie and Johanna turned to Alec. “Has Thatcher been booked?” Johanna asked.
“Yes. Since he's a flight risk he won't be bonded out.”
“That's a relief,” Frankie said. Her eyes drifted to where the medics had loaded Becca on a stretcher. “I wonder how serious it is.”
“Very,” Johanna said as they watched Becca's body being placed into a body bag. “This case certainly took a strange turn, Alec. You knew all along that it was going to be more involved than just a cheating husband, didn't you?”
He nodded. “I did, but not to this extent. But my main concern was to first prove Thatcher was cheating so Kendall could file a petition for divorce.” He ran a hand over his face. “I'll fill you in as I'm sure George will just as soon as everything is finished up here.”
* * * *
George crumpled up his sandwich wrappings. He'd sent a deputy for sandwiches and coffee after the office had cleared out and a brief statement had been given to the media. He leaned back in his chair. He beamed at Frankie and Johanna. “You two delivered as usual.”
Johanna lifted her eyebrows. “Except that we had no clue what we were delivering.” She bit into her tuna salad sandwich.
Frankie frowned. “I still don't understand why Johanna and I had to be used as pawns.”
George laughed. “We couldn't let anyone know we were on to Kristin.”
“But you didn't know at the beginning when the fires first started that it was her.”
“No, Frankie. It wasn't until we realized Thatcher and Kristin were in all the tapes. That was before you two even began your surveillance.”
Johanna turned to Alec. “And you knew, too?”
“I never connected the fires to Thatcher. In fact, it never crossed my mind. I was in the dark like everyone else.”
“What about the mayor? Wasn't he feeding information to Thatcher?” Johanna frowned. She looked at George. “You told Johanna and me that he was a personal friend of Thatcher's. I took it from your insinuation that Thatcher and Kristin would never be suspects. That's why Johanna and I became the top suspects.”
“Actually the mayor was a key player. He was feeding Thatcher the information we gave him,” George replied.
Frankie exhaled loudly. “You've lost me.”
George nodded. “I can understand how confusing this is. Thatcher confided every move he planned to make to the mayor. It seems they weren't as close as Thatcher thought.” He shrugged. “Or it could be that the mayor knew that what Thatcher was doing would drag him down with him. We'll never know. But by his coming to us, it helped us put all the pieces together and saved his reputation and Kendall's life.”
“So, Alec, you knew this morning that Thatcher was going to be given our identities by the mayor,” Frankie stated.
“Yes, but we didn't know that Thatcher had never planned to take Becca or Kristin with him in the first place. He'd also played the both of them. His plan began unraveling and instead of waiting around he decided to make a break for it.”
“Why the fires?” Johanna asked. “Kristin said something about Kendall getting the blame for them. Why even set them in the first place?”
Alec tilted his chair back. “Thatcher had hoped that Kendall would be found guilty of arson through reason of insanity. Since nothing was in the pre-nup about his losing everything if she were permanently institutionalized, he'd hoped the courts would nullify parts of the pre-nup and award him total control of everything. On the occasions Kendall had been hospitalized, no doctor would sign off on stating she needed only institutionalized treatment. In fact, none of the doctors believed she had any mental problems that would render her a threat to society in the first place.”
George nodded. “When Kendall's name didn't come up as our prime suspect as Thatcher had hoped it would, he had to make a move.”
“Back up a second,” Frankie said. “How did you find out it was Kristin?”
George laughed. “She'd forgotten her black wig one night.”
“Some actress,” Johanna smirked. “So she was going back to those places later after Thatcher had dropped her at the hotel I assume.”
“Yes. He drove home each night so nothing could be linked back to him. Becca Manning picked Kristin back up at the hotel, drove down a side street, and Kristin made her way into the alley where she set the fires.”
“What about Biggs Sporting Goods and Easten Bridal?”
“Becca parked a short distance from the strip malls while Kristin threw the projectiles through the windows. They were trying to speed up Kendall's arrest.”
“Wow!” Frankie exclaimed. She looked at Kate and Arlan. “So you two also knew what was going on, I take it.”
Kate nodded. “We hated grilling you two about the fires. In fact, I told Arlan that I was afraid this would damage our friendship.”
“I assured her it wouldn't since we've known each other a long time,” Arlan said.
Johanna looked at Kate. “Needless to say, we were very upset.” She turned to Frankie. “No, hurt is the accurate word. I was devastated.”
“I knew you would be,” George said. “But we needed to give your names to the mayor so he could relay the information to Thatcher. We had to set everything in motion.”
“Didn't that upset Thatcher since it put a wrench in his plans?” Johanna asked.
“Yes, of course it did. He wanted Kendall to be our suspect. But now he also figured out that you two were tailing him. All we had to do was wait for him to make his next move.” George picked up his disposable cup of coffee and took a swallow. “What he didn't know was that we were keeping a close watch on him. When he left his office this afternoon we knew things were heating up.”
“We were told that he never left during business hours,” Johanna said.
“That's right. But what he didn't know was that the police had unmarked cars watching the parking garage exits,” George explained. “We assumed he was going to see Kristin Robbins, but instead he drove straight to the airport. He had the Bronson private jet ready to go.”
“So he was leaving alone.” Frankie toyed with her coffee cup.
“Yes, he had a phony passport, whole new identity—the works.”
“An identity Becca had helped him set up with the bogus corporate accounts I'll bet.” Frankie nodded knowingly. “And after all of that he was going to leave her and Kristin to take the fall.”
“Yes.” George took another swallow of coffee.
“How much of this does Kendall know?” Johanna asked Alec.
“Not much. I'll fill in the blanks for her tomorrow after she's had time to rest. In fact, I'm going to persuade her to stay with Jillian and me for a while because there's bound to be a media blitz once this whole story breaks,” Alec replied.
“Kristin also mentioned that she was supposed to kill Kendall but couldn't.” Frankie's eyes narrowed. “Was she making that up? Or do you think Thatcher planned that, too?”
“I think that was Thatcher's last resort,” George said. “If Kendall was murdered then he'd have everything that was Kendall's free and clear.”
“As long as nothing could be traced back to him,” Frankie interjected.
Johanna sat listening thoughtfully. “What doesn't make sense to me is why Thatcher chose today to leave. Why didn't he just hire a professional hit on Kendall instead of coercing Kristin into doing it?”
“My theory is that he wanted as few people as possible in on his plan. He had control over Becca and Kristin. Who would suspect Kristin of murder? She'd only met Kendall in person once. Becca couldn't do it. Thatcher needed someone no one would ever suspect. But since the plan had unraveled and he realized he wouldn't get a dime
of Kendall's money, he wanted her dead anyway. He had enough money in the offshore accounts to begin fresh with his new identity. I'm sure Becca and Kristin believed after Kristin killed Kendall, the three of them would leave the country and live whatever life he promised them.”
“A promise he never intended to keep,” Frankie said, “since he decided to leave without them.”
“That's right,” George said. “If he'd gotten away, he could have lived for the rest of his life in complete luxury with his new identity with the amount of money he'd stolen. I'm sure he planned to transfer money from those accounts to others after he established himself. Now he'll be spending the rest of his life in prison.”
“I suppose he's pleading innocent.” Frankie scowled as she crushed her empty coffee cup.
“Of course,” George chuckled. “Even with the phony passport, he's denying he's done anything illegal. He pinned the entire scam on Becca.”
“How did you find evidence of the offshore accounts? I thought you had to have a complete audit or something like that,” Frankie said.
“Kendall has a right to request to review the accounts whenever she desires. She called Becca from my office this morning and told her she was requesting an account review.” Alec grinned. “Haley Jones was a big help to us, too. After we heard what she'd said on the tape, I had Kendall contact her a few days ago. She was more than willing to snoop around Becca's office. I didn't know if she'd find anything.”
“So that's why you told us you were going to get a court order if necessary, to have the records audited,” Johanna said. “I take it that Haley got the proof you needed.”
“That and more. I immediately called George,” Alec said.
“It must have all happened quickly,” Frankie replied shaking her head in disbelief.
“Yes, it did. Shortly after you two left my office, Haley called and said she was faxing everything to my office.”
“Where was Becca while this was going on? I was under the impression that her office was like her personal fortress,” Frankie said and then frowned.