Authors: Candice Poarch
Deadly Intentions (15 page)
23
At midnight, Justin got a call that woke him out of a sound sleep.
“Justin Glaser?”
“Who wants to know?” Justin asked, trying to clear the sleep from his brain.
“Greg Doyle was shot tonight. He might even be dead. I know you were working for him.”
Sleep forgotten, Justin sat straight up in bed, slung his legs over the side. His feet hit the cold floor with a thud. “What the hell happened?”
“He hired us to take him to a house on the island. He wanted to work the girl over and rape her. But there was a guy there and he shot Greg. The other guy was caught. I'm getting out of town. I thought you'd want to know. Somebody's got to tell his brother and it isn't going to be me.”
“What the hell?”
The guy hung up.
Justin swore, but it wouldn't help Greg now. It was too late for that. Not even his brother could get him out of this trouble. Although he could afford the best lawyers.
He hoped to hell Greg wasn't dead.
That stupid fool. Had to go after the girl instead of waiting. But rape? What the heck was he thinking to want to rape the girl?
The difference between Nicholas and Greg was that Nicholas was patient. He planned. There was no off-the-seat rush to get the job done working with incompetents. He wanted it done properly.
When a job was rushed, this was the result. From the start he'd had second thoughts about taking on the job, but . . . Now he had his own life to consider.
Justin didn't want to tell Nicholas that his brother was dead. The woman didn't even have the damn bowl. Tootsie had it.
Lisa watched as the coroner zipped up the body bag and took away the dead body. She glanced at Brian. It wasn't just any body, she thought uneasily.
“Does trouble always follow you?” Alyssa asked Brian. “Or is it just her?”
“I strive for peaceful solutions. But when trouble confronts me, I'm ready to deal with it.”
“This guy was at the crab fry today,” Alyssa said. “I saw you talking to him, Lisa.”
“Greg and I attended college together.”
“Any reason he'd want to rob you?”
“He used to talk about how wealthy his family was. He certainly has more money than I do. He threw money around like he had an endless supply back then.” It was disturbing to think a person was killed in her houseâthat somebody wanted to hurt herâmaybe even kill her. It was one thing with a body all done up at a funeral parlor, but bleeding on the floor in her foyer was a different matter.
Greg wore black designer clothes and a Rolex watch. “He certainly didn't come here to rob the place,” Alyssa said. “He paid more than four times the cost of Lisa's old TV for that watch.”
“I never thought he was here to rob her. But I don't know why he came. They had their guns drawn as they approached her house. So they must have intended to kill her.”
“What did he think Lisa had that he wanted?” Alyssa asked.
“Probably the bowl. The guy who ran me off the road the other night was looking for the bowl. Obviously Greg hired him.”
“Did you get a good look at his accomplice who got away?” Alyssa asked.
“No,” Brian said, tightening his mouth in anger. “But you might want the information on the man who sold my grandfather the bowl. He might be able to lead you to the thief. I only have his number, but that should be enough.”
“Have you heard of a woman named Tootsie?” Alyssa asked.
Lisa nodded.
“She lived at the artist colony for a while, and then she disappeared with a replica of the bowl. We gathered this info when we worked another case last year.”
“She's trying to switch bowls,” Brian said.
“That's what we think. That someone hired her. But she's disappeared. She might be working with the thieves,” Alyssa said. “I'm going to talk to some people at the artist colony and see what I can come up with. In the meantime, I'll contact Greg's next of kin.”
A deputy had already arrested the other intruder and had taken him to the station.
Tootsie hadn't meant to answer the phone, but it woke her up out of her sleep. It was way after midnight.
“Our buyer is dead. For the last time, I need that damn bowl.”
“How did he die?” she asked.
“He was impatient. He hired a couple of thugs to take him to a house on Paradise Island. The woman's boyfriend was with her and killed Greg. His brother is going to be pissed,” Justin said. “We need to get out of town. This is one dude I don't want to cross, but it might already be too late. I've got to find a new hideout. I'll call you tomorrow sometime and set up a place where we can meet.”
He hung up.
Tootsie was worried. Not many things rattled Justin, but he was definitely rattled now. If the buyer was dead, then she might as well give the bowl back to the Claxtons. She didn't agree with Justin stealing it anyway. She'd just let herself get talked into it. It was the way many women ended up in trouble.
“I want you and Brian to get a room at the B and B tonight. I'm going to stay at your place,” Alyssa said.
Lisa had had enough danger. She was more than ready to go someplace safe. But . . . “Damn, the B and B is full,” she said. “The crab fry was today.”
“We can stay here. Your dad and uncles are boarding up the doorway. The place is secure and the one who got away isn't coming back tonight,” Brian said.
Lisa could have stayed with any of her multitude of relatives on the island, but she didn't want to. “I do need to get my house fixed up.” More than likely her father would go to a hardware store tomorrow and get a replacement door for her.
Most disturbing of all was another dead body.
Her dad told them he was staying at the house, too. Lisa would feel uncomfortable sleeping with Brian with her dad under the roof. It shocked her that he insisted on spending the night. Their relationship wasn't the best.
Now it was in the wee hours of the morning and she couldn't sleep anyway. “I've got to get out of here,” Lisa said, panicked.
“Come on.” Brian took her outside on the deck. It was cool and he'd pulled a blanket around her.
He was so protective, Lisa thought. She was beginning to lean on him too much and that concerned her. So much for standing on her own two feet. She realized that she'd put her life in danger when she went looking for that bowl. She glanced sideways. Brian's eyes were closed and his breathing was even. The average guy would have ditched her by now. But she never expected to find someone like him.
She didn't need him for protection. She had an island full of relatives to go to bat for her. Maybe she should take a step back from her growing reliance on him.
His arm tightened around her. And she liked the feel of him next to her. His smell. His warmth. She'd been with enough selfish men to know the difference between them and one with substance.
But this was the beginning of the relationship. Lisa paused in her thoughts. Did they have a relationship? Everything had happened too quickly.
“What's turning around in that mind of yours?” Brian asked.
“I thought you were asleep.”
He tipped her chin with one long finger. “What're you thinking about?”
“I'm confused.”
“About what?” he asked.
“Us,” Lisa said.
“What about us?”
Lisa shrugged. “Things moved so quickly.”
“Happens that way when it's right, don't you think?”
“How would you describe us?” Lisa asked.
“Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, we're a couple.”
Lisa sighed. “We don't even know each other.”
“We know what's important. That we both have character. That if trouble comes, we're here for each other.”
“I've done some stupid things in my life, Brian. I might not be the kind of woman you want or need.”
He brushed the hair from her face. “Who hasn't? What're you supposed to do? Beat yourself up for the rest of your life because of a few mistakes you made in the past?”
“I don't know. I wasn't this person a year ago and I wonder if people really change.”
“If they think they need to,” Brian said. “If they want to.” He tilted her chin again. “You know, Lisa, sometimes we get ourselves mixed up with the wrong people and they lead us in the wrong direction. It's sometimes hard to get back on track, but you did.”
“It was me. I'm not blaming anybody else for my mistakes. I should have known better.”
“Tell me about your last boyfriend,” Brian said.
“It's embarrassing. Besides, what good would it do to rehash it now? You're better off not knowing. You'll think less of me.”
“I won't think less of you, Lisa. You beat yourself up enough.”
But Lisa thought if he knew her worst and was turned off by it, then he'd be on his way.
“Talk to me, Lisa.”
“I used to run the B and B for my great aunt, Anna.”
“The B and B Gabrielle owns?”
She nodded. “But then I fell in love.” She made little quote marks with her index fingers.
“What happened?”
“He wanted to go to New York and I went along, so my aunt asked if one of my other cousins would run the B and B for her. Gabrielle lived in Philly at the time, but she wanted to change jobs. She took over managing it.
“I was in New York for close to a year before Aunt Anna died. Even after I deserted her, she left me twenty-five grand. She had even picked out the house she wanted me to buy. And what did I do? I let that asshole talk me into investing in a condo in New York. Only he didn't buy the condo. By the time I found out he was lying, he'd spent every cent. I ended up having to come back homeâin disgrace.” She looked directly at Brian, willing him to understand.
He squeezed her hand gently.
“That's why it's so important that I make a success of my business now. That I don't make any mistakes. And I can't afford to let a relationship get in the way. I always pick the wrong guy. Always.”
“Maybe your luck just changed. You ever thought of that? You didn't let your past experiences defeat you. You're still trying.”
“Do you know how hard it was to get to this point? I was as bitter as Jackie last year.”
“But you did it. You moved beyond your bitterness to something better.”
“With a lot of help.”
“Who says we can't get help when we need it? We don't live on islands, you know.” Brian chuckled but it held little warmth. “Wrong analogy. I meant that figuratively. Don't we go to the doctor when we're sick? I'm sure the people who helped you were happy to do so.”
“I'm no saint. And when you start hearing things about me, don't be surprised. That's all I'm saying.”
“Lisa. Stop beating yourself up this way. I'm no saint, either. My family is so scattered, if I were you I wouldn't take a chance on me. I don't know what it is to be in a loving family like yours. I don't know if I can live up to it. If I can be the man you need.”
Lisa smiled. Stroked his arm. “Is it my family you like or me?”
Brian gave her that crooked grin that melted her insides. “You first, then your family.”
“Maybe we have a few things to learn together.”
“It's better that way,” Brian said. “Less one-sided.”
Only a few inches separated them. Brian leaned toward her and kissed her gently.
“You know what?” he asked.
“What?” she responded softly.
“You worry too much about everything. Let it go.”
“If only,” she whispered, shaking her head, “it was that easy.”
24
Not many things disturbed Nicholas. But with the news of his brother's death, he slumped on the bed. The phone hung limply in his hand.
His baby brother was dead? It couldn't be true. Greg was more his child than brother.
“Is there anything wrong, dear?” his wife asked groggily beside him. She reached for her glasses. He didn't see her, but he knew her that well. Why did he think of stupid things like that at a time like this?
“Yes.”
“What is it, darling?” Deana asked, full of concern.
“It's Greg.”
“What about him?”
Nicholas's voice choked on his emotions. It took two tries for him to get the words out. “He's dead.”
“Oh, my word. What happened? I'm so sorry.” The mattress shifted as she got up.
She didn't like Greg, but she was loyal to Nicholas.
At that moment he hated her. Hated that she was there, that she was offering false platitudes. “You must be happy now,” he snapped.
“Of course I'm not. I would never hurt you or want you hurt.”
“You hated him,” he lashed out at her. Deserving or not, he had to lash out at someone and she was the one at hand. If she didn't like it she could just go to hell.
“I love you. I want to help you. Be here for you. Don't close me out.”
Nicholas's voice was raw when he said, “What does anything mean now that my brother's gone?”
She remained silent. “Oh, Nick. There's nothing I can say that will help. But I'm here for you.”
“Well, say something that makes sense for once.” He was reeling, sinking. He'd lost his footing and came barreling down a mountain.
His son was gone. His baby. Nicholas moaned. He felt himself trembling, losing control. He never lost control.
He heard a noise and realized it was he. What started out as a moan crescendoed into a roar. He slung a suitcase across the room. He slashed his hand across the bedside table, sending the lamp, stupid knickknacks, and books flying. He flung the covers off the bed, upended the mattress. He tore at his chest as if the pressure could alleviate the deep burning pain inside.
His babyâhis baby was gone.
Forever.
Nicholas felt raw and exposed. He had to get himself under control. He closed his eyes briefly, inhaled deeply, then opened them.
He was calmer now. More in control. He could handle things. Yes, there were things that needed to be done. Important things that only he could do.
Deana had backed against the door. Her eyes were huge with fear and worry.
“I'm sorry, dear. I just . . .” He couldn't explain. What did she know? She couldn't feel what he felt. A frozen iceberg could never understand the depth of feeling he had for his brother.
“Come here.” Finally she approached him and pulled him into her arms, but he wanted to lash out, not be coddled. He was a man. He must be strong. He couldn't lie in her arms like some lost child.
“I'll pay them back. As God is my witness I'll pay them back for this.” It was then that he realized he still held the phone. He pressed it to his ear. “I'm coming there. Expect me in the morning.” He hung up and started to the closet.
“Oh, Nick. What happened?”
“Someone murdered him.”
“Murdered?” His wife was getting on his nerves rummaging around.
“Go back to bed, dear. Forgive me for lashing out at you. It was . . .” Shock was such a lame word for what he felt. Unreal, disbelief, deep abiding loss were better descriptors.
“Where is he?”
“Virginia Beach in the coroner's office.”
“What was he doing there?” she asked.
“I have no idea. But I'm going there tonight.”
“Of course you are. I'm going with you. It won't take me long to dress.”
Nicholas stopped her with a look. “I have to do this alone. But thank you, dear.”
She gazed at him imploringly. “Don't shut me out, Nicholas. Not at a time like this. I want to be here for you, dear.”
“I'm not shutting you out. I just have to take care of some things.”
“You have to identify the body. You shouldn't be without loved ones,” she insisted.
“I have to do this alone. Go back to bed.”
She hovered, indecisive about what to do. “At least let me pack for you.”
“I need to keep busy.” He kissed her on the forehead. “Go back to bed, sweetheart.”
His wife stood there a moment staring at his back. Then she turned and went downstairs. When he came down, she had a thermos of coffee waiting for him.
“You aren't driving, are you? At least get the driver. . . .”
He nodded. “I'm driving.”
“Get George to drive you.”
“The fresh air will do me good. I need to think. Alone. Good-bye, dear. I'll see you in a few days.”
He tossed his leather bag in his SUV, got in, and left. By the time he made it to the highway, he'd completely forgotten his wife and focused on the sadness of his brother's passing and the sweet smell of revenge.
He would have his revenge.
Nicholas's scream took Justin by surprise. Icy fingers of panic squeezed the breath from his lungs. He should have hung up, but he kept the phone to his ear, listening. He doubted Nicholas was even aware of the connection. Shaken to the core, Justin dropped to the bed. His hand trembled when he disconnected, laid the phone beside him.
He was a dead man.
Nicholas was going to sweep through that island, creating death and havoc, a destructive force powerful enough to rival a hurricane.
Unable to sit, Justin jumped up, paced the confines of the room. He did a one-eighty turn and raked his hands over his head only to stroll over the carpet in the same path he'd taken before. He had to get that bowl and get the hell out of Virginia Beach.
Forget the bowl. He had to run.
There was no doubt Tootsie had it. She was standing beside the bowl when they heard the housekeeper in the kitchen. He'd thrust it into her hands to deal with the woman. She'd run off with it. He had been headed to the hallway to check when he heard a car door slam and someone coming up the walk.
He'd dashed to the back door, stepping across the housekeeper, and trotted to the dunes behind the house expecting to find Tootsie there. Even lost a precious moment calling out for her.
She was nowhere in sight. After quickly making his way to his car, he'd driven off and passed a police car on his way.
He tried calling Tootsie again, not that the skank was going to answer him any more truthfully than she had the last fifty times he'd called.
It was ironic that one thing, one stupid incident, could change the course of an entire plan.
He'd learned everything about the comings and goings at the Knight household. And then the grandson had been injured. Justin had found that out later from the neighbors. That one little variable, that one fly in the ointment had the potential to get him killed.
Tootsie answered. Would wonders never cease?
Her voice was groggy.
“We have to deal with that bowl, Tootsie. I know you have it so don't even bother lying.”
She remained silent.
“Greg's brother, Nick, is coming to town. He's a hundred times more dangerous than Greg. If I don't get that bowl, we're both dead. I don't even know if that will save us.”
“All you think aboutâall you talk about is that damn bowl. How can you even think of that bowl when so many people are dead?”
“You're sounding like a broken record. It's survival. If I meet with Nick and tell him I can't find the bowl, I'm dead. You're dead. Does that concern you?”
Silence greeted himâa long drawn-out silence.
“I'll meet you in a public place if you don't trust me,” Justin said.
“I can't believe Greg's dead.”
“He was impatient. He hired a couple guys to break into the maid's house and he got killed. She's the woman who interrupted us that morning.”
“They broke into her house knowing she was home?”
“I don't know what was on Greg's mind. I'm thinking there's a lot he didn't tell me. And like I said, he was impatient,” Justin said. “We can meet at the mall.”
“What's to keep you from killing me? You killed that old woman. And I know you're angry with me.”
“Why would I kill you? I only need the bowl and then our connection is gone if you don't love me. I thought we could go away together and settle at my place in Colorado, that we could have a life together.”
“That's why I duplicated that bowl for you. I thought we had a future together, that you cared for me. Now, we have nothing.”
“I still care for you. I just wanted to do this last job to secure our future.”
“You already own a restaurant in Colorado, the only decent restaurant for forty miles. Your house is paid for. Justin, what more do you need? You should have never taken this job.”
“He was paying five-hundred grand. That would have been money in the bank for rainy days. You never know what can go wrong. Restaurants go bust all the time.”
Tootsie sighed. “I don't know what to do, Justin.”
“Give me the bowls and I'll handle it from there. You're completely out of the loop. I don't want you mixed up with Nicholas.”
“All right,” Tootsie finally said.
“We can meet at the IHOP, the one in Virginia Beach. A nice safe place with lots of people if you don't trust me.”
“I don't know . . .”
“How does ten sound? Lot's of old folks there that time of day.”
“Okay.”
“And, Tootsie?”
“Yes . . . ?”
“If . . . if anything happens to me, you have a key to the motel room. I'm going to leave some papers there. I don't have any family. Nobody knows about the properties in Colorado. If I don't make it, you'll find the paperwork leaving them all to you at the motel. You may as well have them.”
“Justin, if you're in danger, go to the police, please.”
“I'd end up in jail, baby.”
“That's better than dead,” Tootsie said, really frightened now.
“I can't spend the rest of my life in jail. That would be worse than dead for me. I don't like to be closed in, babe. You know me. I like wide open spaces.”
“Be careful, Justin. I . . . you mean a lot to me.”
“I will.” He hung up.
Justin didn't want to meet with Nicholas, but if he didn't the crazy man would track him down and kill him for sure. He had to make it seem like the Claxtons' fault. As if he didn't have a thing to do with it.
A tough deed to pull off, he knew. He felt like a fool. He should have called Nicholas when Greg decided to go to that house. But then Greg would have been pissed that he'd given away his surprise. It was a no-win situation from the start.
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