“The same injuries were on all three victims?” Gage asked.
“That’s right.”
“So who sent the tape?” Vega said.
“Someone who has a conscience. Someone who is angry and wants revenge. Who knows?” Gage said.
Tess cocked her head as she stared at the woman on the screen. “Do you hear that? He’s whispering a name. ‘I love you…’”
Gage couldn’t remain in the room any longer. “I’ve got to find Adrianna.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Saturday, October 7, 12:15 p.m.
Gage tapped his index finger on the steering wheel as he drove down the interstate. On the fifth ring, he got Adrianna’s voicemail. “Call me. It’s urgent.” Frustrated, he dropped the phone in his lap. “Kendall said she was going to the estate. She’s meeting Miller there.”
Something in Gage’s tone caught Vega’s attention. Vega muttered something in Spanish.
“What the hell are you saying?”
“You know damn well what it means. How long you two been going at it this time?”
Gage shot him a glare. “Back off.”
Vega pressed his fingers into the bridge of his nose. “Shit.”
“Save the lecture.” He pulled into traffic. “The more I think about it, the more I think there’s a nut out there who thinks he’s Craig. I think these killings have been about role-playing. All his victims have been Adrianna.”
“Why not just kill her?”
“Someone or something has been holding him back.”
If he hurried he could be at the estate in twenty minutes. He wouldn’t relax until he saw Adrianna face-to-face.
The next few seconds played out slowly. For a brief second he glanced up at the overpass up ahead and noticed the dark truck parked in the middle. And then before he thought to question the misplaced vehicle, a bullet pierced his windshield and sliced into the seat just inches from his shoulder.
Gage slammed on the brakes. Another shot struck the front tire and the car fishtailed. “What the fuck!”
The car skidded off the road and onto the grassy shoulder. He held on to the wheel as the car slammed into an embankment and air bags deployed. His head slammed back against the headrest and for a moment his brains felt like scrambled eggs.
He and Vega pushed the deflating bags away and stumbled out of the car. Gage glanced back to the overpass. The truck was gone.
Adrianna passed two news vans as she drove up to the estate’s brick pillars. Police cars kept them at bay but she knew it was a matter of time before one made it onto the property. She paused, showed her ID to the police officer, and drove onto the estate grounds. In her rearview mirror she watched cameramen filming her.
She found Miller and his crew were at the gravesite. By the looks of the rumbling backhoe and the waiting flatbed, they were ready to proceed. There was no sign of Gage.
Adrianna had received his call saying his message was urgent. But when she’d called him back there’d been no answer.
She parked and moved toward the crew. Anxiety snapped through her body like electricity. More than ever she wanted to close this chapter of her life.
“Ms. Barrington.” Miller pulled off his work glove and shook her hand. “We’re ready when you are. We’re just waiting on Detective Hudson.”
“Do we need to wait for him?”
“No. He’s given us the all clear.”
“What about Mazur?”
“En route.”
“We’re not waiting. Get started. The sooner this is over, the better.”
Miller nodded. He seemed anxious to finish the job. “Will do.”
Less than a year ago she’d stood on this same ground and watched as Craig’s casket had been lowered into the earth. Guilt, relief, and sadness had collided in her that cold, gray day. And oddly, the same emotions were reemerging.
Miller tossed a thumbs-up to his man on the Bobcat and the guy fired up the engine. Gray smoke puffed from the exhaust. Slowly he maneuvered the machine over to the gravesite and began to scrape the earth from the grave farthest from the flatbed. CRAIG ROBERT THORNTON IV.
Adrianna wrapped her arms around her chest and began to pace. Her connection to the Thornton family had seemed like it would last forever. There’d been a time when she couldn’t imagine that the family wouldn’t have been a part of her life. Since she was twelve her mother had talked about her marrying Craig.
And now it was ending.
The new life she’d dreamed of as she’d paced the halls of the nursing home was about to begin.
And as frightening as that was, she knew this was what had to be. Time to move on.
She kept glancing toward the main road expecting to see Gage’s car. What could have held him up?
After a half hour of digging, the Bobcat driver backed off from the hole.
All the drama, and now the end would be quiet and uneventful. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Ms. Barrington.” Miller’s deep voice was a welcome distraction from her thoughts.
Adrianna moved toward him. “Yes?”
“We’ve got a problem.”
She felt as if the earth shifted under her feet. “Please tell me it’s not another body?”
He pulled off his ball cap and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “No. That’s exactly what is
not
the problem.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s no vault. No coffin. No body. Craig Thornton’s body is not there.”
“What do you mean?” Adrianna felt sick, remembering the flowers, the card, and the scent of aftershave. “My husband is dead. I saw him buried in that spot not a year ago.”
Miller shrugged. “He isn’t there now.”
“You swept the graveyard with radar.”
“I didn’t bother with his spot or his parents’. I was only worried about the old graves.”
The too-familiar voice on the phone rang in her ears.
I love you, babe. I’ll be seeing you soon
.
Adrianna’s cell phone rang and the sound startled her. For a moment she didn’t recognize the number and considered not answering. Refusing to cower, she picked up the phone. “Yes.”
It was Marie Wells. “I’ve found something at the main house. Something to do with that baby you were looking for. I think I’ve found her.”
Adrianna’s head spun. “I’ll be right up.” She closed her phone. “Miller, get your radar out and start checking. This has to be a mistake.”
Minutes later, Adrianna parked in front of the main house and got out of her car. She was struck by the silence. There was no sign of Marie. Slinging her purse over her shoulder, she climbed the front steps and unlocked the front door. The entryway was completely empty. “Marie!”
No answer. She walked into the house. The click of her shoes echoed through the empty rooms. There was no sign of anyone. She moved into the kitchen and found Marie lying on the floor.
“Marie!”
Adrianna dropped her purse and started to run toward her but in midstride, strong hands grabbed her. Before she could scream, a cold wet cloth that smelled of chemicals flattened against her face. She tried to hold her breath and she struggled, clawing at the hands that held her. Panic exploded.
Her captor laughed. “Breathe, Adrianna, breathe. It’s okay.”
Patiently he waited. Finally, she could hold her breath no longer and sucked in a lungful of air laden with chemicals. The drugs hit her system like a two-by-four and within seconds the room started to spin.
“That’s it. Just breathe, honey. Just breathe.”
Strength seeped from her limbs and soon her knees buckled.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”
She collapsed and passed out.
Gage and Vega stood by a patrol car. The shooting had effectively shut off this part of the interstate. Lights from a dozen police cars flashed. Forensics was on the overpass searching for any evidence the shooter might have left behind.
“So when can we get out of here?” Vega asked as Gage approached.
“All we need is a car.”
Vega glanced toward an unmarked vehicle. “Leaving now means there are going to be mountains of paperwork on this one, brother. Mountains.”
Gage didn’t give a shit about paperwork. His top priority was Adrianna. He reached for the phone on his hip. It wasn’t there. His phone was still in the car.
He moved to the wrecked vehicle and reached in the open driver’s side door. He found the phone on the floor. One new message. It was from Adrianna. I’m at the estate. Call me.
He dialed her number, but didn’t get an answer.
Something was wrong. “Get me a car, Vega.”
“Will do.”
His cell phone rang. “Hudson.”
“It’s Warwick.”
“What is it?”
“City police called. Another body. Janet Guthrie. She was shot.”
“Where?”
“The parking garage near the hotel.”
“What kind of gun?” He and Vega got into the car and fired up the engine.
“Looks like a .38 but we won’t know until ballistics can look at it,” Warwick said.
Gage put his phone on speaker and pulled onto the interstate. “You think the killer is still protecting Craig Thornton.”
“I’ll bet Janet knows about the forgeries,” Warwick said. “My guess is that she found out about them when she bought the gallery from Adrianna last year.”
Vega nodded. “Didn’t she say she’d cleaned out the gallery’s basement?”
“Right,” Gage said. “If that kind of information became public, it would have shattered the family’s reputation—Craig’s reputation.”
“She was cozy at the auction with Brett,” Warwick said.
“Vega and I are fifteen minutes from the estate. I’ll call back as soon as I’ve found Adrianna.”
Gage called Miller. “This is Hudson. Is Adrianna with you?”
“She went up to the main house about a half hour ago. We got a problem. Craig Thornton’s body is missing.”
“What?”
“No vault. No coffin. No body.”
“Shit.” His heart slammed into his chest. “Do me a favor and go up to the main house and find Adrianna for me. Have her call me. I’m on my way.”
This was all turning to shit.
Gage and Vega arrived at the Thornton estate just after four. Gage parked his Crown Vic behind Adrianna’s car in front of the main house.
Miller ran out of the house, his face a tight mask of fear. “She’s not there. But that old lady, Marie, is there. No pulse. I called nine-one-one.”
Gage and Vega unholstered their guns and ran toward the front door. They paused, checked to make sure no one was in the house, and made their way back toward the kitchen. They found Marie.
Gage holstered his gun and rushed toward her. He checked for a pulse. Nothing.
Sticking out from her clutched right hand was his business card. “She sent us the tapes.”
Vega was already on his phone calling for backup.
Gage spotted Adrianna’s purse lying in the center of the room. Beside the purse were her keys.
“Shit, where is she?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Saturday, October 7, 5:00 p.m.
When Adrianna awoke, her stomach churned with nausea and her head felt like it was going to explode. Disoriented, she tried to shake the fog from her brain. What had happened to her? Had she passed out?
Eyelids heavy, she moistened her dried lips and tried to swallow but found the simple act made her stomach all the more unsettled.
Roll to your side. Put your feet on the floor
. But when she tried to shift her position, she quickly realized she couldn’t. She forced her eyes open only to be assailed by a bright spotlight that made her wince and turn her head.
Panic ignited and burned through the haze coating her brain.
Oh, dear God, where am I?
Squinting, she allowed her eyes to adjust as she tried to remain calm and figure out where she was. With growing horror she realized she was tied to a bed. Her gaze darted around the room. It was large and made of gray cinderblock. There appeared to be no windows and a slight dank smell that mingled with cool air suggested she was in a basement.
Underground
.
“Help!” Her voice sounded hoarse and rusty and her tongue felt as if it had been wrapped in cotton. “Help!”
Her pulse thrummed in her neck as she listened and prayed help would arrive. For several tense seconds, she couldn’t hear anything. “Please. Someone find me.”
But no one came or spoke.
And then out of the silence arose an eerie sensation that made her skin crawl. She wasn’t alone. Someone was watching her.
She forced herself to stare beyond the light. “Who’s out there? What do you want?” Her voice cracked, betraying her fear.
Silence.
Her skin tingled. “I know someone is there,” she said. “Help me get out of here.”
“It’s okay, babe.” The familiar voice came from beyond the light.
She curled her hands into fists. “Who is that?”
“Don’t you recognize my voice?” Amusement dripped from the words.
The voice was familiar, but growing terror combined with whatever drugs she’d been given had rattled her. “Just tell me.”
There was a long pause and she thought he’d not answer and then he said, “It’s Craig, babe.”
Craig
. No, that couldn’t be right. Craig was dead. And the voice didn’t match. “You are not Craig. Who are
you
?”
“Yes, I am.” The voice was a little like Craig’s but the silhouetted figure that appeared at the edge of the light was too large to be Craig. “You didn’t find my body.”
The voice was familiar, but the speech pattern sounded stilted, as if forced. “Who are you?”
Out from the shadows stepped Ben Wells. Ben.
Ben
. Her brain couldn’t process the information, which made no sense.
Adrianna tried to shake the fog from her head as she stared at him, a mixture of shock and horror shooting through her body. “Ben. I don’t understand. What are you doing here?”
Smiling, he walked up to her and gently stroked her hair. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Immediately, she was struck by the thick, coiling scent of his aftershave. Craig’s aftershave. He’d replaced his faded jeans, work boots, and Wells Moving T-shirt with khaki pants, brown loafers, and a blue sweater with a white button-down collar underneath. And he’d cut his hair and slicked it back. The outfit and the hairstyle were identical to what Craig would have worn.