Chapter 189
Behind the three people in the picture, the water sparkled in the background. The sun's rays made the eyes of the serpent tattoo across Roger Cott's bare chest look as if they were winking at her.
She brought her fingertips to her throat. She felt as if she was suffocating. She had to get out of here. But how?
A tap on the window cut into her thoughts, drawing her to the window. On the lawn, bending low next to a neatly cut hedge was Jack readying to throw another stick. She'd never been so relieved to see anyone in her life, even if he was dressed in clothes three sizes too big.
She unlatched the lock, slid the window open, and leaned out. "What took you so long? And whose clothes are you wearing?"
"After meeting with Harrison I had some business in Ventura to take care of." He looked at his baggy pants. "It's a long story."
A knock sounded at the bedroom door. She put a finger to her lips before turning away from Jack. "Who is it?" she called out.
"It's Maria. Dr. Kramer asked me to escort you to the living room where a few of her close friends are waiting to meet you."
"Tell her I'll be there in five minutes."
"But child-"
"Maria! Go tell her now or I will make sure she knows that I am not happy with my hair." She listened to the retreating sounds of Maria's st.u.r.dy heels as the maid marched off.
Kate ran back to the window and leaned as far out as she could manage. "Jack," she said, waving him closer. "You were right about Auntie. She lied about so many things."
"You have to get out of there Kate. She's not who you think."
A key rattled in the door and when Kate glanced over her shoulder, Auntie entered the room with a gun in hand. She kept it aimed at Kate.
"I've called the police," Kate lied, hoping Jack had done exactly that. "They'll be here any minute."
Auntie smiled. "Silly fool. They'll have no choice but to lock your misguided friend behind bars for a very long time."
"The disc will prove him innocent," Kate said, panic lining her voice.
Auntie shook her head. "The disc has been destroyed."
"Lou," a man called from the front of the house as he approached. "Do you need any help?"
"Lou," Kate said, her voice filled with disbelief. Not only was her Auntie working on the wrong side of the tracks, she was the leader of the pack? The person she'd been searching for all along. "You're Lou?"
Before Auntie could react, Ben Sheldon/Greene appeared. He wore a cast on one arm and his eyes gleamed with pleasure when he spotted Kate.
"I have things under control," Auntie told him. "Her boyfriend, Jack, is running around outside. Could you take care of him? I don't need a wanted man running around the neighborhood making the neighbors nervous."
Sheldon nodded and left the room.
Kate met Auntie's gaze. Bile rose to her throat. "You can't be Lou."
Dr. Kramer arched an impa.s.sive brow.
Kate's stomach turned as she thought of her father and how the woman he'd loved like a sister had betrayed him. "Why?"
Dr. Kramer huffed. "Do you have any idea how many people would be out of a job if your father or Dr. Forstin had found a cure for AIDS?"
"This isn't about people losing their jobs," Kate said as she took a step toward the woman, her chest painfully tight. "Is it?"
Auntie remained silent.
"You killed my father...your friend...for this?" Kate lifted her hands toward the gilded frames, porcelain vases, and expensive paintings. "I thought you wanted to save lives."
"We all did at first. But things change. All your father had to do was keep quiet."
Her words..h.i.t Kate like a slap to the face. "He knew what you were up to, didn't he? My father knew your family business was in trouble. He must have known you and your partners were stealing from the organization. I didn't believe it, but it's true. Jack was right. This is about money and greed."
Auntie's eyes flashed, but it wasn't remorse Kate saw in her eyes. It was anger. Greed, money, and power were all that mattered. Auntie backed away from the door and motioned for Kate to lead the way. "Go. I'll follow."
"What are you going to do? Kill me, too?"
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT.
Jack overheard most of Kate and Dr. Kramer's conversation. He pushed away from the stucco wall and headed across the neatly trimmed grounds for the pool area. If luck stayed with him- "Hands up," Sheldon said.
Jack raised both hands to the air. "Well, well. I thought for sure they would have put you behind bars for shooting an officer in Vegas."
Sheldon guffawed. "You're a simpleton. Just like Harrison said. Guys like you make my job easy. It's the girl who almost screwed it all up for us. Good thing you two lovebirds won't be settling down any time soon."
"Why is that?" Jack asked. Not because he was interested to know the answer, but because he needed time to figure out how he was going to get out of this mess.
"Because she would be the one wearing the pants in the family." Sheldon snorted. "And believe me, Jack, after a few years of that, you'd get tired of all the b.i.t.c.hing. Guys like you make me wonder why G.o.d wasted his time giving you b.a.l.l.s."
Jack saw one of the Doberman Pinschers sniffing around the bushes on the other side of the gate surrounding the backyard. The dog hadn't seen them...yet. Jack knew the dog could jump the fence, and he knew it wasn't the same dog that had chased him the other day. This dog's body was leaner and longer. Jack figured he had a fifty-fifty chance of getting the dog's name right. Without giving Sheldon time to see what he was up to, Jack shouted, "Max! Attack!"
The dog looked their way.
Sheldon laughed. "Those dogs aren't too much brighter than you. Let's go."
The Pinscher effortlessly jumped the fence and raced toward them. Jack remained still, determined to show no fear.
Still focused on Jack, Sheldon didn't see the dog coming at him.
As they moved along, Kate winced at the sound of a gunshot. Keeping a steady pace, Kate made her way across the marble foyer toward the other side of the house, high heels clacking against marble. Auntie followed close behind with a gun aimed at Kate. They entered a wide hallway, the walls on both sides covered with framed pictures. Her father's bright smile and kind face caught her attention. Chills crept over her as she stopped to take a closer look.
Elizabeth told her to keep going, but Kate didn't pay her any mind. The picture was taken in the orchard when she was seven-years old. Behind her father, her mother had picked Kate up and all three of them were looking at the camera, at the picture taker, at Auntie...their trusted friend.
Kate turned toward the woman. "How could you do this to us?"
"You haven't walked in my shoes," Elizabeth spat. "I never knew my mother. My father was only happy when he was surrounded by wealth. When he lost everything, I lost more than you could ever imagine."
"So you decided to make everyone suffer for your loss? You were making a difference. People respected and admired you."
Elizabeth's eyes narrowed. "You grew up with two parents who doted on you, treated you like a princess. They put you above all else. Somebody had to look after me. After your father told me he knew I was siphoning funds and had no choice but to go to the police if I didn't stop, I knew I had no choice but to take matters into my own hands. So that's what I did."
Elizabeth wagged the gun in Kate's face. "Now go or I'll have to shoot you right here in the hallway with your parents watching."
Kate took a few steps, but then stopped and turned toward Elizabeth once more. Rage bubbled inside of her. She refused to cower to her father's killer. She'd waited too long for this moment to back down now. If she was going to die, then she wanted to look her father's killer in the eye.
Behind Elizabeth, a shadow moved in the front entry. It was Jack. He was alive. Thank G.o.d. Anxiety left Kate's body and was instantly replaced with admiration. "Go ahead. Shoot me. Look me in the eye, Auntie, and shoot me."
Jack crept up behind Elizabeth just as the front door came open. Bloodied and bruised, Ben Sheldon came through the door.
Jack used the distraction to shove Elizabeth out of the way, grab Kate's hand, and pull her into the bedroom at the end of the hallway. A bullet hit the doorframe. Wood splintered.
Jack locked the door and lodged a chair under the k.n.o.b while Kate opened the window. "It's a big jump," Jack said. "I'll climb out first and catch you." Jack jumped out the window.
Kate pulled off her heels, wrapped the bottom of the dress around her calves and began her backward climb out the window. As she white-knuckled the windowsill, she heard Elizabeth barking orders.
"Let go," Jack said.
She dropped.
He caught her as promised, but they hit the ground hard and rolled a few feet down the gra.s.sy slope. Jack jumped to his feet, clasped her hand in his and dragged Kate along as he weaved through hedges and neatly pruned flowers. Kate's dress snagged on a rose bush. She let go of Jack's hand and ripped her dress free. Jack jumped to the top of the stone fence, turned back toward Kate, leaned low and reached out his arms for her.
Kate heard dogs approaching from behind. Shouts sounded from the front entrance to the house. She was never going to make it. She jumped. Jack latched onto her wrists and swung her to the top. They fell to the other side. Jack's back hit pavement, making him grunt. Kate landed on top of him. He would have more than his fair share of bruises to show for the effort.
The dogs pushed their noses through the iron rails, snarling and growling. Jack got to his feet first and pulled Kate up with him. A dark Mercedes sped down the driveway and screeched to a halt in front of them.
Ben Sheldon, the man with a hundred lives and too many names, climbed out from behind the wheel. Gun aimed at Kate, he gestured for them to get inside the car.
Elizabeth Kramer emerged from the backseat and stood behind Ben. Kate wanted nothing more than to rip the fine linen suit off of Elizabeth's back, but Jack held her back.
All this time, Kate thought, the wrong eyes had been haunting her dreams. Elizabeth might not have killed her father with her own hands, but she might as well have. Only Elizabeth had known that she and her father were sailing the Caribbean. If not for Elizabeth, her father would still be alive. Because of this woman, Kate had spent the last ten years of her life running from her own shadow, never knowing a night's rest. Because of Elizabeth, her father was dead.
"Get in the car," Ben told her.
Kate looked at Jack, surprised when he motioned for her to do as Ben said.
Together, she and Jack headed toward the car. When she glanced at Jack, he looked down at the hem of her floor length gown, and that's when she knew what to do.
Ben Sheldon opened the back door. Kate pretended to trip over her dress, prompting Ben to instinctively reach out for her. Jack didn't miss a beat. He lunged forward and grasped Sheldon's arm. The gun clattered across pavement.
Kate picked up the gun and pointed it at Elizabeth who was running up the driveway toward the house.
"Don't do it," Jack ground out as he wrestled with Ben.
Kate pulled the trigger.
The shot echoed off the mountains.
Elizabeth turned around, hands in the air. "Don't shoot."
"I have to," Kate said, determination lining her voice as she walked toward her father's killer. "I've spent the last ten years of my life dreaming of this moment."
"I loved your father like a brother," Elizabeth said. "But he refused to listen. I couldn't spend the rest of my life behind bars."
"Why are you telling me this?" Kate raised her arms so that the barrel of the gun was aimed between Elizabeth's eyes. "It only makes me want to make you suffer that much more."
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Movement and a grunt caused Kate to look over her shoulder. Jack had used the car door to put Ben Sheldon out of commission. The man was out cold. Jack headed her way.
"Don't try to stop me, Jack. I've waited my whole life for this moment." She took another step toward Elizabeth and pulled the trigger. This time the bullet whizzed by her right side. Elizabeth sank to the ground in a quivering heap of gutless human waste.
"Kate," Jack said again, his voice pleading.
"So this is what it takes to make Dr. Elizabeth Louise Kramer cower?" Kate asked. "Where are your big strong partners when you need them? I guess they have better things to do than come to your rescue. What does it feel like to have n.o.body? And to know that today you're going to die?"
"Kate," Jack said again. "Don't forget that I love you. For the record, I've never told anyone I loved them before because I never felt this way about anyone before."
"Shut up, Jack."
"It seems strange to me that my life could change so quickly," he went on. "One day everything's hunky dory and in the next it's all c.r.a.p, one big heap of rubbish. But then you come into my life and everything starts smelling like roses again. Yeah," he went on. "You're hard as polished marble, tenacious, unyielding, compulsive, stubborn as h.e.l.l, and above all else...fearless. You scare the h.e.l.l out of me most days. You curse like a sailor. But I love you. I love everything about you."
"Stop it, Jack." Kate's voice cracked. "I have to do this. I promised my father I would avenge his death. I've been through too much to let her live now."
Dr. Kramer s.h.i.+vered in a heap of linen on the ground.
"I've never met a woman so emotionally contained and yet completely unpredictable," Jack said, his voice strained. "Every time you walk into a room you take my breath away. Even now," he said as his hand came to rest on her shoulder. "Nothing you do is going to make me stop loving you."
A tear slid down Kate's cheek. "She needs to die, Jack."
"She killed your father because she didn't want to spend her life behind bars," he said. "Killing her would only put her out of her misery. Make her pay, Kate. Make her suffer as you have."
The high-pitched sounds of police sirens drowned out everything around them. Jack reached for the gun, relieved when Kate gave up the weapon willingly, placing it gently in his palm.
State troopers and half a dozen unmarked cars filled the driveway. Jack set the gun on the ground at his feet. He and Kate kept their hands in the air until all weapons had been confiscated. The first police officer to approach Jack was a lieutenant from the Ventura Police Department. He shook Jack's hand. "Sorry I didn't get here sooner. After you brought me the computer and the disc, I had a tough time convincing the sheriff to call the director. Once the disc could be read, we were given orders by the Bureau to send over the troops. Thanks to you and your friends, Harrison is in custody for the murder of Dr. Harold Forstin."
Elizabeth Kramer and Ben Sheldon were cuffed and led away.
"Dr. Elizabeth Kramer is also a suspect in the attempted murder of her a.s.sistant, Amy Long," the lieutenant said.
Kate shook her head in disgust. "Is she going to be okay?"
He nodded. "She was able to speak for the first time late last night. They expect her to make a full recovery."