Ridge did his best to turn off all of his emotions as he compartmentalized and allowed himself to settle back into the man the Marines had spent over twenty years training, though he’d never thought he’d be in a situation like this out in the civilian world.
The woman he was falling for and could see a future with was back in the arms of the man who had tried to kill her. She’d been able to save herself in that first confrontation, but Alan Harrison had the upper hand right now due to one specific truth—the man fully intended to die today.
Ridge had already explained to the deputy who’d been wrapping up paperwork at her desk what information he needed, which required her to see into the kitchen. It meant Ridge had to have an angle for a shot through the glass-paneled wall, all the while maintaining a view of the hallway that went past the sheriff’s private office. He’d done this once before in a village inside a hut with tin walls separating the rooms. While that mission had been successful, he’d also had a team who’d made such a shot relatively easy to make.
Without a visual of what was taking place in the kitchen, Ridge had to rely on his memory. Kicking habits that had been ingrained in him for so many years wasn’t easy, and he’d found that he’d subconsciously memorized the layout of the entire building. The kitchen had been positioned next to the three offices that he was currently facing. Each of the offices had windows not unlike the three windows looking out from the kitchen.
Unfortunately, Alan had backed into the corner where Ridge could just barely make out the front of Lily’s body. He could see her arms folded up, holding onto Alan’s arm that was across the top of her chest.
There was no wind to take into account for the shot that he would have to make if Dean was unsuccessful in getting Alan to release Lily, which was down into the less than one percentage column. Ridge had made her a promise the night that she was attacked to remain at her side, but it had grown into so much more than that.
“You can’t do this,” Teresa screamed, attempting to leave the conference room and stop Ridge from raising his weapon. “There’s been a mistake. Paul isn’t—”
“Do not interfere, ma’am,” Deputy Jordan said, stepping in front of Teresa. “I have no problem putting you in cuffs.”
“You don’t understand! He can’t just shoot…”
Ridge glanced back over his shoulder and locked eyes with the deputy, who was currently holding Teresa back. He focused his hearing on the somewhat muffled conversation that Dean was having with Harrison, getting a sense that the confrontation wasn’t going to end well. Another state police detective had arrived, and he’d placed himself out to Ridge’s flank and farther back into the room with his own weapon drawn, prepared for the situation to spiral out of control.
Ridge had purposefully blocked out Teresa from his mind as he turned back to estimating where his target was in the space behind the plasterboard wall. Ridge knew that Deputy Jordan would do what was needed to ensure that a pregnant woman didn’t impede what had to be done. There was no way in hell he was allowing Alan Harrison to follow through with killing Lily.
The three civilians who had been manning the hotline had all been corralled into the main conference room, so Ridge didn’t have to be concerned with anyone else but his target.
“…is done here. Even I can see that!”
The fact that Alan Harrison’s words were getting louder and sounded clearer to Ridge told him that Dean was running out of time to talk their target down. The state detective’s arms flexed just slightly in a way that told Ridge things were escalating from the man’s oblique point of view.
Had Harrison moved more than the three inches from the back of Lily’s head?
Ridge deepened his breathing as he aimed his weapon at a specific point on the far wall, right next to the window. Ridge saw Lily’s arms draw up slightly, meaning Alan was likely pressing the knife tighter against her throat.
That son of a bitch’s head should be on the other side of the wall, directly behind Lily’s so that he could avoid being targeted by Agent Malone. Lily’s head had to be directly behind the edge of the casement of the picture window into the bullpen.
“…can’t stop me. Not even you, Agent Malone.”
Ridge had to make the shot at a ninety-degree angle to ensure that it did not deflect and hit Lily by mistake.
Inhale.
Exhale.
The deputy released his supporting grip to hold up a hand signal, letting Ridge know that Harrison had pulled even closer to the cupboard in an attempt to shield himself from any potential shot that Dean might have been able to take. Ridge had already determined that Harrison had resigned himself to going out in a blaze of glory, but he wasn’t going to do so without ensuring that Lily died with him. His next words served as confirmation, as well as sealed his own fate.
“…taking her to hell with me!”
Ridge squeezed the trigger three times in succession without hesitation, tracking back two inches to the left with each shot.
The reverberation elicited a scream from Teresa, as well as a few gasps of surprise from those assembled in the room.
He didn’t wait for confirmation that he’d hit his target, though.
Ridge quickly moved forward with his gaze deflecting to where Dean stood. It would be his reaction that would corroborate one more kill that Ridge had been forced to make. His relief was evident as the man lowered his weapon. Dean’s response gave him all the verification that he needed to know that Alan Harrison wasn’t walking out of the station under his own power.
Ridge finally steered down the hallway and around the corner into the kitchen to find that Lily was still standing in the corner, her hands somewhat raised as if she wasn’t sure what had happened in the last five seconds. Dust from the drywall coated her hair and clothes, as well as remnants of blood. He quickly holstered his weapon so that he could take her into his arms and hold her tight, not caring about anything other than the fact that she was okay. He reassured her over and over again that she was safe all the while taking stock of the situation.
Part of Harrison’s head was disfigured and mangled with blood as he lay crumpled on the floor in the far corner, his upper body collapsed against the lower cabinet below the counter. The man’s eyes were still staring straight ahead, as if he had yet to realize that he’d been shot through a sheet of drywall.
Deputy Chen was sitting on the floor with his arm pressed against his mouth as he kept his blood-soaked hands far away from his face. He stared at the officer lying on the ground with a mixture of disbelief and grief. It was clear that the man hadn’t made it, and Dean confirmed Ridge’s assumption with a slight shake of his head.
The federal agent began to give directives, giving Ridge time to hold Lily as he backed them away from the body behind her. He managed to grab a dishtowel before he began to lead her to the door.
“I-I don’t understand,” Lily whispered as she tried to look back at Harrison. Ridge stopped her, shifting so that he could take ahold of her shoulders and keep her facing him. There was the thinnest two-inch line of blood on her neck that had begun to pearl with tiny beads of red liquid. “Agent Malone kept calling him Alan. How is that possible? How could—”
“It’s a long story,” Ridge murmured, tilting her chin and inspecting the injury to her neck to ensure that it wasn’t worse than what it appeared. “I’ll tell you all about it when we have a chance to catch our breath and get you cleaned, but right now I just need to make sure that you’re okay.”
“I don’t know,” Lily replied honestly with what was a mixture between a laugh and a sob. The dust from the drywall even coated her arms. “The officer—”
“He’s gone,” Ridge told her softly, wishing more than anything that the outcome had been different. “We were all lured into a false sense of security, having no idea the man we were looking for was right in front us. No one could have predicted he could assume another man’s life so seamlessly.”
Lily nodded her agreement
as tears filled her eyes. She motioned toward Deputy Chen, who still looked to be in shock with his back against the row of cabinets.
“We both thought that the officer was choking,” Lily explained in a horrified whisper. “When he turned, and the blood started to seep through his fingers—”
To witness death in such a manner was going to remain with Lily for the rest of her life. There wasn’t a way to erase such a memory. Ridge had seen many of those scenes from his past that still flashed before him unexpectedly and at the most random times.
“He just grabbed me before I realized what had happened,” Lily explained, looking back at Ridge as if she couldn’t take any more of the bloodshed that had occurred in this room. “I wasn’t prepared, and yet all I kept waiting on was for you to show up behind Agent Malone.”
“I can’t even begin to tell you the fear that went through me when I realized that you weren’t still standing in front of the vending machines when we realized what was happening,” Ridge said honestly, not caring a damn about the constraints of a new relationship. He’d wiped away what he could and tossed the towel in the sink, still wanting to get her out of the kitchen. “The thought of losing you was…”
“I’m okay,” Lily replied, stepping back into his embrace and resting her cheek on his chest. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tight. “I’m here, and I don’t plan on going anywhere. I hope you’re okay with that.”
“More than okay,” Ridge murmured as he took another dishtowel that Agent Malone had grabbed from a drawer. “Let’s go into the bullpen, hazelnut. I want to get a bandage on your neck, have you use the shower in the station’s locker room, and we need to let Dean take over this crime scene. It’s going to be a long afternoon and evening, but you don’t have to ask this time.”
Ridge escorted Lily past Dean, the state police detective, and another two male deputies who were coming in from the bullpen. No doubt, Joanne had called them back to the station, along with the coroner, forensics, and anyone else who needed to be contacted for what had gone down today. Both he and Lily would need to give formal statements, but that could wait while they both had time to collect themselves.
“Ask?” Lily looked at him with confusion as she took a seat at a random desk in the bullpen. Ridge had cut off the direction to the conference room, where Teresa could be heard sobbing and crying out for her husband. She had no idea that she’d been nothing but a pawn in a sick man’s game of playing God. “What do you mean?”
“You don’t need to ask me to stay with you, because there isn’t a human being on the planet who could take me away from you right now.” Ridge leaned down and pressed his lips gently against hers. He then pulled a chair over from another desk, ensuring that they were touching knees as he held onto her hands. “I’m turning the tables and asking you to stay with me, hazelnut.”
“It would be my pleasure,” Lily responded with a wavering smile, finally exhaling as the reality that her nightmare was finally over began to sink in. “I’m not going anywhere, Ridge.”
He spent the next few minutes tending to her superficial wound with a small first aid kit that one of the hotline staff had brought to him after seeing what was taking place in the aftermath. Lily had told him a couple of times that a bandage wasn’t necessary, but she finally seemed to understand that he needed to do something to keep himself busy.
Lily hadn’t known him during his years in the service, but there was always a stain that materialized on his soul for every life that he took. He certainly wasn’t playing judge and jury. He was simply a man who’d served his country, and one who was finally on the cusp of happiness that had evaded him until his retirement from a life of taking others’ lives.
Lily had made a comment about both of them being somewhat reclusive at this point in their lives, but no longer. This was their time. They would both keep a promise that had ended up meaning more than either of them had realized at the time, and they could now do so with a peace that The Widow Taker would never know.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“We could have come into the station,” Lily said, though she was truly grateful that Agent Malone and Agent Roche had stopped by the cabin. “Are you sure that we can’t get you something to drink? Coffee? Tea? Soda? Water?”
Two days had passed since Alan Harrison had been killed while attempting to carry out the one mission that he’d failed to achieve, though the short timespan had felt like an eternity. The storm that hit that night had been a godsend. Piling inches of snow had kept most of the news media at bay, giving Ridge and Lily a well-needed quiet night where they had just laid in bed and held onto each other in an appreciation of life.
Ridge had filled Lily in on most of the particulars, although there had been details that both of them were still missing. The two federal agents had stopped by to fill in those gaps, and Lily was finally ready to hear them.
“No, thank you,” Agent Malone said, answering for both of them. They had removed their winter coats so that Ridge could hang them up on the hooks. Having taken seats on the couch, they seemed ready to get down to business. “I’m heading back to New Haven this afternoon, and Linc is driving back to Quantico.”
Ridge was more on a first name basis with the agents, and he’d relayed to Lily that both men had met the women they were currently seeing here in town during the investigation. It amazed her that such beauty could come from something so violent and twisted. She was happy for them, though. Her ordeal had taught her that life could be extinguished in a single moment. One must live for today.
“We wanted to give you closure on the events that led to Alan Harrison returning to his hometown with some design to give widows like his mother peace.” Agent Roche had taken the seat closest to the fire that Ridge had started earlier this afternoon. The two of them had decided to spend the afternoon playing Scrabble, even though she still had yet to win a game. This time would be different, though. She’d been combing through the dictionary for short words that could earn her additional points. “Harrison was very methodical in his way of thinking, but Teresa’s pregnancy was a blessing and a curse to him.”
“I take it that your profile of Alan Harrison was accurate in terms of why he started his killing spree?” Ridge asked, taking a seat in his recliner as they all settled in for the conversation.
“Yes, very much so,” Agent Roche replied, beginning at the very start. “Alan’s mother passed, freeing him to do what he’d always fantasized about during his childhood. According to what we’ve pieced together from handwritten notes and drawings that we discovered in his room at the compound, he wanted to seek out his half-brother with the intention of becoming friends and integrating back into their old life. Alan had no idea that Paul and his mother had moved to West Virginia.”
“It was at that time that Alan made contact with Paul,” Agent Malone said, picking up the story. “We believe that Alan originally met up with Paul to see who he still talked to in Winter Heights. Somewhere along the way, Paul must have realized that there was more to Alan’s visit than simply wanting to reconnect.”
“When I visited Paul’s mother in the nursing home, she would cry unexpectedly and walk over to the window,” Agent Roche informed them, clearing up how he even knew to look for a body. “She would have a moment of clarity here and there, but it was never enough for her to relay what truly happened between Paul and Alan. Her strange behavior was enough to have me walk the grounds of the nursing home, which was when I discovered a body hidden just beyond the edge of the tree line. We had a timeline, of course, so I then went back through the old security tapes and discovered that Alan and Paul had a scuffle in the parking lot. Paul ended up hitting his head on the curb, killing him instantly.”
“The video showed Alan rummaging through Paul’s pockets, resulting in Alan obtaining keys, identification, and the like,” Agent Malone said, filling in more of the blank spaces that had existed for too long. “Alan then dragged Paul’s body across the grounds and int
o the woods, which Paul’s mother must have witnessed. A search of Paul’s apartment in West Virginia revealed a desktop with private messages exchanged between Alan and Teresa. The same was found with Daryl Brighton, Rhonda Benson, and a few others who we’ve already followed up with for their statements.”
“Alan posed as Paul after the incident in the parking lot,” Lily murmured, wondering if it was really that easy for a person to dupe another individual. “There was no reason for anyone to ever question Alan’s identity after he moved back here. I’m not sure I would even recognize some of the people who I went to high school with after all these years.”
“It helped Alan that they both resembled their father so strongly,” Agent Roche tacked on with what almost resembled respect. Lily had to be wrong about that, though. “Alan came to town and met up with Teresa first, and one thing led to another. Alan most likely only had sex with her because she forced the issue and he needed a way back into Winter Heights that didn’t have the residents questioning his motives.”
“I spoke with Daryl Brighton,” Ridge said, though Lily had been there with him at the pub last night. They’d gone to show their support, and they’d made new friends in the process. “It’s going to take some time before he trusts anyone that much again. He brought Alan into the business and back into their old circle of friends, and no one was ever the wiser.”
“Alan had carte blanche to surveil the widows who were still grieving, and he made them his targets. He was able to garner the information that he needed from various sources, and he was then able to carry out the murders with methodical precision.” Agent Roche still had his keys in his hand, and they jingled as he shifted his weight on the cushion. “We’re in the dark as to why or how Rhonda was able to figure some things out. Maybe something caught her attention in a conversation about the past or she saw something that she wasn’t supposed to. Unfortunately, there are questions that go unanswered in most cases like these.”
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