“Poor Tamara,” Teresa whispered, shaking her head as she pressed her fingertips to her lips. “Sorry. My pregnancy has been playing hell on my emotions.”
Before anyone could comment, Dean’s cell phone rang. He quickly answered before mentioning the sheriff by name. Lily had reached for Ridge’s hand underneath the table, and he held onto her tight as they waited for news on whether or not the body in one of the alleyways was Alan Harrison. Unfortunately, Ridge already had an idea on what was found at the scene based off of Bud’s phone call.
“…appreciate the update,” Dean replied grimly. “How much longer will you be there?”
“It wasn’t Alan, was it?” Paul asked before Dean could finish the phone call, pushing his chair back with what appeared to be a mixture of disbelief, anger, and pain. He didn’t wait for confirmation, but instead pushed out of his chair. “I still can’t believe this circus.”
“It will be okay, Paul,” Teresa said, attempting to reach out to her husband, but he was already walking around her to leave the conference room, mumbling something about needing a glass of water to take his pain medication. “I’m sorry about that. This has been so hard on him.”
Ridge observed Paul walk through the bullpen, the state police officer assigned as his detail close behind. Deputy Chen stepped into the room right after their absence to be closer to his ward, as well as Teresa Harrison. Considering they were inside a police station, it was comforting to see that neither detail slacked on their duties.
“I’ll be right back,” Lily whispered, squeezing Ridge’s hand as she stood to go after Paul. He held her in place, not wanting her to be out of his sight. “I know what he’s going through, Ridge. Let me go talk to him. I’ll grab our drinks while I’m in the kitchen.”
Ridge sighed in resignation and nodded toward Jonah to indicate that he should follow behind her. He didn’t like today’s turn of events, particularly the current phone conversation. He’d already known that the body found wasn’t Alan, but the confirmation affirmed that Alan Harrison was more cunning than originally thought. It wasn’t that Ridge had underestimated the man. Anyone who could escape apprehension from the feds for months had to be calculating enough to cover his tracks.
“This has been so hard on him,” Teresa said tearfully, lowering her voice so that she wouldn’t disrupt the rest of Dean’s conversation. “It doesn’t help that he was in the hospital when Rhonda’s service was held at the funeral home. It’s like he’s closed himself off to me.”
“Your husband has been through a lot,” Ridge attempted to reconcile, not that he would ever understand how a man could turn away from the one person he’d pledged to have by his side for life. “I’m sure once his brother is apprehended, he’ll be able to rest easy.”
Ridge didn’t bother to add on the half part of the sibling equation. It honestly didn’t matter at this point.
“You should put your feet up,” Ridge said, shifting his chair so that he could move the one in front of him closer to Teresa. “It will ease the swelling in your ankles.”
“Thanks.” Teresa lifted her feet and sighed in relief. “I had to drive to the pharmacy this morning. Paul forgot to fill his pain prescription that the hospital gave him upon his release. I’ve been on my feet for too long today, and I—”
Teresa stopped talking and focused on Dean as he ended the call with the sheriff. Ridge had gotten very good at multitasking over the years, so he was already aware that the male discovered in the hospital’s alleyway had been a homeless man. He’d been stabbed to death and then rolled behind a dumpster.
As Dean got Teresa caught up with what the sheriff had relayed over the phone, Ridge spotted Lily coming back with their beverages. Her talk with Paul hadn’t lasted long. She quickly set down his tea as she focused on what Dean was saying about the body.
“Your tone indicates that you think the victim who was found has something to do with Alan,” Lily said, resting her hand on Ridge’s shoulder. “Do you believe he killed that man?”
“We’re not sure of anything right now,” Dean replied cautiously, finally taking a seat in one of the chairs. He’d basically been standing the entire time that they’d been at the station. It was clear that he didn’t like the speed of which this investigation had accelerated in the last few hours. “I’d like to hear from Agent Roche before we start putting together pieces that could literally go anywhere on the board.”
“Fair enough,” Ridge said, having come to the decision that he and Lily would head back to the cabin right after the phone call was taken. “No need to order the pizza. I’ll feel better once we’re back at the cabin, if you can hold off that long.”
“Vending machine it is,” Lily said, leaning down and reaching into her purse for her wallet. “Teresa, can I get you anything?”
“No, thank you. I’ve been trying to drink more water, so this bottle is all I need right now,” Teresa replied, looking over her shoulder through the window to see if her husband was returning. “Is Paul alright?”
“He was already on the phone talking with Bright by the time I made it into the kitchen,” Lily replied with an apologetic smile. “It sounded like they were talking about the pub being short-staffed right now, but I’m sure that he’ll finish up soon. Ridge, I’ll be right back.”
Lily was halfway across the bullpen when Dean’s cell phone began to ring again. He answered right away, and his next words caught Ridge’s attention.
“A body?” Dean frowned at whatever was being relayed to him. “Where? At his old apartment building?”
Ridge figured the only call they were waiting on right now was from Linc, so it stood to reason that Dean was talking about Paul Harrison’s place in West Virginia. The federal agent stood up and walked around the conference room table to leave the room in an effort to take the call in private. Right before he was out of hearing, Ridge caught that the body in question had been found in a wooded area out back of the nursing home where Paul Harrison’s mother currently resided.
“You don’t think that he’s referring to Paul’s mother, do you?” Teresa asked in concern, lowering her legs to the ground. She stood and closed the distance to the door, not caring that she came across as eavesdropping on a private conversation. “Maybe I should go get Paul.”
“What time did you say that you drove to the pharmacy this morning?” Ridge asked, his stomach tightening the way it used to when new information came to light about a potential target. “You said that Paul asked you to go pick him up a prescription?”
“Yes, and I was there for over an hour due to a mix-up with the order. They claim that the hospital had given him the prescription before he left yesterday, but he said that it wasn’t in the bag they sent home with him.” Teresa rested a hand on her stomach and turned back to her chair when it was obvious that she wasn’t going to be able to hear anything more of Dean’s conversation. “This is going to be horrible if it turns out that something happened to Paul’s mother. I’m not sure that he can handle anything more at this point. He’s been so agitated.”
Ridge was already aware that the body discovered wasn’t that of Mrs. Harrison. He’d overheard Dean mention earlier in passing that Linc had already seen the woman and was sitting with her in hopes of experiencing a coherent conversation. Alzheimer’s disease had devastating effects on the brain, but there were moments of clarity every once in a while when loved ones caught glimpses of the former family member.
If the body wasn’t that of Mrs. Harrison…
“Teresa, how long have you been married to Paul?” Ridge asked, standing up from his chair as he looked out over the bullpen. Lily was near the vending machine in the far hallway, with Jonah between her and the kitchen. “Let me rephrase that. How long have you known him?”
“We knew each other back in high school, though I didn’t attend Winter Heights High. I grew up the next town over,” Teresa explained, her expression full of concern now that Ridge had closed the distance to the open doorway. “
Paul and I got reacquainted online through social media. I know what you’re thinking, and you’d be right in this instance. We are one of those new age romance stories—rekindling a high school crush with a one-night stand over eight months ago, resulting in this little miracle. We ended up getting married at the courthouse. I don’t regret a thing, though.”
Ridge highly doubted that Teresa truly meant that she had no qualms about marrying a man who she had just been reacquainted with less than a year ago, especially considering the way Paul pulled away from her touch every time that she reached out to him. Ridge couldn’t imagine their marriage was a joyous one, but that wasn’t the reason for his inquiry.
“Teresa, I need you to answer me honestly,” Ridge said, ensuring that the tone of his voice got across the importance of his question. “I know for a fact that a federal agent came to you to obtain an alibi for your husband on the night of one of the previous murders. You confirmed with the agent that Paul came straight home after leaving the pub that particular night. Were you covering for him?”
“I don’t—”
Ridge would rather feel like a complete ass then be even remotely right with his current line of thinking, because that would mean the man who claimed the lives of at least six people was currently in the kitchen mere feet away from Lily. It would mean that Paul Harrison wasn’t the one who’d returned to Winter Heights earlier last year.
Alan Harrison had somehow—and seamlessly—taken over Paul’s life.
“Answer me truthfully, Teresa. Now.”
“Yes, I covered for him,” Teresa exclaimed as her lower lip trembled in fear. She glanced out the window to make sure that no one had overheard her. “Paul didn’t kill those women. I would know! Please, you can’t tell anyone that—”
He didn’t wait for Teresa to try and make excuses for the cold-blooded killer who assumed her former boyfriend’s identity and had mistakenly married out of desperation.
Ridge needed to talk to Dean after getting Lily to safety.
“Killian,” Dean called out, quickly coming around the desk and blocking Ridge’s path across the bullpen. “We have a problem.”
“Let me guess, the body that Linc found was identified as Paul Harrison,” Ridge stated, still holding out a sliver of hope that he was wrong about the situation. “Teresa just confessed that she covered for her husband when one of your colleagues questioned her about his alibi. I don’t believe we’re dealing with Paul Harrison at all.”
“We need to clear the kitchen area before making the arrest,” Dean murmured, motioning toward one of the deputies. Everyone would need to know what was about to go down inside the station, but it would have to be done quickly. Once the deputy was informed, Dean turned back toward Ridge. “Alan Harrison knows that he’s running out of time now that he’s aware that Linc is in West Virginia. I have no idea how he pulled off being stabbed repeatedly and getting to the hospital, but it was an ingenious way to put us off his trail. We need to apprehend him now before—”
“Lily’s not by the vending machines,” Ridge said as ice began to travel through his veins. He had to believe that the two officers had things covered, but the element of surprise was on Alan Harrison’s side. “We’re out of time, Malone.”
He set his cell phone down on the counter after talking with Bright. How gullible had the man been—for that matter, how gullible of all of them—to assume that Paul would want to return to Winter Heights? Hadn’t he left without ever wanting to look back?
Alan would never understand how someone could so cavalierly leave their roots behind. With that said, Paul’s death had been an accident. Self-defense, really. The man had come at Alan like a snake. There hadn’t been any other alternative but to fight him off. It was by happenstance that Paul had hit his head on the curb in the parking lot of the nursing home.
Truthfully, Alan took it as a signal from a higher power that his quest to bestow peace on the widows of Winter Heights was an inspired plan of redemption.
All Alan had wanted was to see how closely they resembled one another, praying that their similarities were enough to pose as Paul. To say it had all worked out wonderfully was an understatement, which had resulted in yet another sign that Alan couldn’t pass up. He’d managed to hide the body and use Paul’s keys to get into his apartment. From there, taking over a solitary man’s life by leaving it all behind had been almost too easy.
Where things had gone wrong was with Rhonda. Something he’d done or said had her doubting his cover story, and her suspicions had grown over time. She would have eventually said something to Bright, and he wouldn’t have understood Alan’s quest. Bright was simply a godless man driven by material desires. He never would have accepted that Alan was a messenger of God.
Unfortunately, he’d allowed emotion to cloud his judgement. Lily Hudson had spit in the face of the peace that he’d been offering her. She didn’t get to do that and not suffer the consequences of God’s wrath. She was the sole reason that everything was falling apart now.
It was just a matter of time before everything he built for his mission came crumbling down, but he wasn’t going to go out alone.
Lily Hudson was going to be traveling by his side on their journey straight to hell.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Lily had heard Paul call out that he needed help in the kitchen. It wasn’t the sound of a plea for something mundane, like he’d spilled coffee or something. There was a hint of panic in his words. Jonah was closest to the doorway, so he entered first as Lily left the package of orange cheese and peanut butter crackers that she’d just chosen in the bottom of the vending machine.
“Is everything al—”
Lily cut off her words when she saw Jonah hastily reach for the state police officer. Upon first glance, it looked as if he had been filling up a cup with coffee. She had to be wrong, though. He’d already stumbled back a few steps with his hands against his own throat.
“Is he choking?” Lily asked in disbelief as she all but threw her wallet on the counter to help Jonah with the detective. “Turn him around and—”
“What the hell,” Jonah muttered in astonishment as blood began to seep through the fingers of the officer. Everything happened all at once, and Lily had been too close to the men before she realized that something was very wrong. “Lily, go—”
It was too late.
Lily hadn’t been able to go anywhere when she found herself being yanked back again by Paul, who all but dragged her away from Jonah. At first, she thought that maybe he was making sure she was out of harm’s way, but she soon realized that wasn’t the case.
Jonah immediately shouted for backup, drawing his weapon while the state police officer dropped to the ground with a choking, gurgling sound that impacted Lily in a way that she would never forget for as long as she lived.
“This is all your fault,” Paul said harshly against her ear as a sense of déjà vu washed over her. She’d been in this same position over a week ago, only she’d been better prepared then and had the ability to arm herself. Unfortunately, Paul held the knife that to her throat that Joanne had used earlier. “Why didn’t you just take the peace that I offered you?”
“Jonah, do what you can to help him,” Agent Malone ordered, his sudden presence in the doorway a welcome sight. Lily had frantically wrapped both hands around Paul’s arm that was tight against her upper body. He held the long kitchen knife to her throat, which she assumed was the same blade that he’d used to slit the carotid artery of the poor officer. “Alan, there’s nowhere for you to go. Let Ms. Hudson go so that you and I can talk things through.”
Lily kept expecting Ridge to materialize behind Agent Malone. She kept telling herself over and over that he could end this standoff as an officer bled out on the floor. She couldn’t even bring herself to watch Jonah attempt to save the man’s life, knowing that it might have been her lying on the floor while she choked on her own blood.
Somewhere in her mind it registered that Agent Ma
lone had called Paul by the name of Alan, but the terror flooding her system made it hard for her to think of anything else except how she was going to get away without being either stabbed or having her throat sliced open.
“There’s nothing to talk about. Nothing.” Paul had a hold of her in such a way and pulled back against him in the corner of the kitchen that it would be nearly impossible for Agent Malone to get a shot off. “My job here is almost done. Even I can see that.”
Paul had no intention of leaving this building alive. Lily tried to digest the realization of his way of thinking, but it only escalated the panic that was rising inside of her. This man was ready to die, and he planned on taking her with him.
“Alan, you don’t want to die here today,” Agent Malone tried to reason as he held his weapon steady, but even she was aware that she’d get hit should he decide to pull the trigger. “Regardless that you were pretending to be Paul, you have a wife who is expecting your child. Do you really want to leave him in the same position as you were left by your father?”
The name Alan kept registering, but Lily was still having trouble understanding what had happened in those few moments that she’d left the conference room.
Would she even live to find out?
A maniacal laugh burst from Alan’s lips, causing his spit to land on her cheek. She was too afraid to move for fear the blade of the knife would slide into her neck. He tightened his grip on her and shifted when Agent Malone altered his stance to the left, causing her to stumble enough that a sharp sting pierced her flesh.
“Don’t you see?” Alan exclaimed in excitement that only he experienced. “My son will follow in my footsteps. He’ll grow up knowing what his father was trying to accomplish, and he’ll pick up where I left off. You can’t stop us, Agent Malone. No one can.”
The Reclusive Widow (The Widow Taker Book 3) Page 21