The Sharpest Edge (15 page)

Helen pulled up a chair on the opposite side of the bed and took Max’s hand in hers. “You two have gotten back together, I see. Max will be so glad.” She smiled at Sean. “He has always loved you like a son.”

Sean blinked a couple of times. “Until I drove his daughter away.”

Where did that come from? Since when did he take responsibility for Kim leaving him? It had been her fault. Was he sharing the blame now? And if he was, what did that mean for today? For their present and their future?

Helen shook her head. “No, Sean. He never blamed you for that. It didn’t matter whether you married Kim or not. You were always his son, regardless.”

Sean’s Adam’s apple dipped as he swallowed, but he said nothing.

“Max doesn’t always tell people that he cares.” Helen stroked his hand. “I’ve been working on him, but old dogs don’t like to change their ways.” She looked at Kim. “He’s always loved you, too, Kim. You being here… Well, I can’t
even tell you how much I appreciate it. He’ll wake up for you.”

This was the woman who wanted to destroy Max? The woman Kim had spent so many years hating? She looked at Sean and knew he was thinking the same thing. How could they accuse her of embezzling from the company her husband loved? Yet, the evidence was there.

“Helen,” she said, “we need your help.”

Sean raised an eyebrow at Kim, and she patted his hand.

Helen nodded. “Of course. What do you need?”

“We discovered that the reason the camp is in trouble is because someone has been embezzling funds. There’s only enough money to pay the operating expenses for the next two weeks.”

Helen’s face drained of all color. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

Her grip tightened on Max’s hand. “But who would do this?”

“You have to help us,” Kim repeated. She didn’t want Helen to take her next sentence the wrong way. “We traced it and the money is being funneled into your personal bank account to frame you.”

Sean made a noise of protest, but she ignored him.

“Who would know your account number? Who would want to set you up for this?”

Helen looked shocked. “You would.”

Oh,
well.
Hadn’t been expecting that.

“You’d want to send me to jail or, at the very least, prove to your father that he should leave me.” Helen’s face regained some of its color and she began to look angry.

Better stop that slide. “Helen, I didn’t do it. Yeah, okay, so there was a time when I would have been happy to see you, um, discredited.” She ignored the condemning look on Helen’s face. “But I’d never do something like this. And even if I would, I’ve changed my mind.”

“You have?” Helen looked more than a little skeptical.

“You have?” Sean sounded startled.

“I have.” Kim took her dad’s hand in hers again. “If you make him happy, then he should have you.”

“Since when do you want him to be happy? I thought you wanted him to suffer.”

She sounded like a nice person, didn’t she? “I haven’t forgiven him, but I’m willing to hear his side of the story.” She stroked his hand. “I guess seeing him here like this… Well, I’m not ready to lose the only parent I have left, you know? And if he needs you, then I guess that’s okay with me.”

Sean slipped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed. At least Sean didn’t hate her.

She waited for Helen to answer, but the woman said nothing. Silence fell over the small room until Kim was just about ready to suggest to Sean that they leave.

Finally, Helen said, “If it’s not you, then I don’t know who it is. Do you?”

Sean hesitated, then filled Helen in on John Ramsey and the few suspects at the camp they had who matched his profile.

When he finished, Helen’s forehead was wrinkled in thought. “I don’t like that Tom Payton. He never seems to be working, and I don’t think he knows much about boats. Eddie can’t stand working with him.”

Kim recalled Eddie’s complaints that Tom didn’t know a life jacket from an engine. “Why would they hire someone for the waterfront who wasn’t experienced with boats?”

“He claimed he was. They didn’t realize he’d lied until he’d been there a few weeks already. Max couldn’t get another replacement at this late date or he would have fired him this summer.” Helen rubbed Max’s forehead. “Tom was pretty pissed when Max told him he wouldn’t be invited back next year.”

Kim frowned and looked at Sean. Had Tom been mad enough to set up the accident?

T
HEY STOPPED BY
Will’s house on the way to the station.

No car in the driveway.

Several days’ worth of newspapers piled up on the front step.

Kim rapped on the door while Sean tried to peer through the windows. “Furniture is still here. There’s a pizza box on the coffee table.”

“Well, he’s not answering the door.” Kim set her hands on her hips and couldn’t ignore her relief. It was a little unnerving to be marching up to the house of the man who could be John Ramsey. Yeah, sure, Sean was armed and had his gun ready, but still. It was wigging her out.

“I’ll call and leave him a message to come to the station. Probably won’t work, but it’s easier than going through the courts for a warrant.”

They walked back to the car and, as Kim was climbing in, she glanced back at the house. Then she frowned. “Sean? Was that blind in the second-floor corner room open before?”

Sean peered up at the house. “I don’t remember.”

“I could have sworn it was open.” They stared at the window for a long moment, but nothing moved. “I guess not.”

Sean pulled out his cell phone. “I’ll call him right now.”

They waited while the phone rang.

No sign of movement from inside.

“Hello, this is Officer Templeton from the Ridgeport Police Department. We need Will Ambrose to come down to the station for an interview. Please call the department and arrange a time.” He left the number, then added, “Or you can open your front door and do the interview right now. I’m outside, and I saw you through the window.”

Kim shot a glance at Sean. “You did?”

He pointed at the window in the room on the far left of the second floor. She looked up just in time to see a shadow move away from the window. A chill went over her. “He’s watching us.”

“Yep.”

“Are you going to go in after him?”

“I don’t have a warrant.” Sean shoved his phone in his pocket and leaned across the roof of the car, watching the house. Waiting.

Waiting for the man who might want to avenge Jimmy’s death. Was he watching her right now? Sharpening his knife as he studied her?

“Get in the car, Kim.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s watching you again. I don’t like it.”

Well, hell. Neither did she. After she got in the car, she hunched down. Stupid, yeah, because he already knew she was there, but it made her feel better.

Sean dug out his phone again and hit Redial. “You touch her and you die.”

Then he hung up, climbed in the car and started the engine.

“Um, Sean?”

“Yeah?”

“Was that necessary?”

His gaze flicked to her. “I hope not.”

Reassured, she wasn’t. She was scared. Not only of dying, as she’d been for the past eighteen months. Now she was scared of dying before she had a chance to talk to her dad. Before she had the opportunity to figure out what was going on with her and Sean. For the first time in a decade, she was more afraid of what she’d lose if she died than she was of actually dying.

She reached across the front seat, pulled Sean’s right
hand off the steering wheel and held on. He glanced at her in surprise but didn’t say anything. Instead, he squeezed her fingers ever so slightly and gave her a small smile.

Sean had another officer pick up Tom and bring him to the station. It was time to put some serious pressure on the kid. Sean let Tom sit in the interrogation room for two hours before heading in there. By then it was dark and the youth was getting restless. And nervous.

Sean left Kim in the main office while he went in to talk to Tom. Sean sauntered in, threw one leg across the chair and leaned on the back of it. “Tom.”

“Why am I here? Why are you keeping me here? Don’t I have rights? Shouldn’t I be allowed to leave? I didn’t do anything. I swear, I didn’t! Just tell me what you want and I’ll explain and then let me go home!” He wiped his forehead, but the sheen of sweat remained.

As Sean had expected, Tom was going to be an easy one. “You ever been to California?”

Tom blinked, as if he hadn’t expected the question. “What?”

“California. You ever been there?”

“No. Why? Should I?”

“Where were you born?”

“Madison, Wisconsin.” Tom shifted. “Listen, I didn’t do anything, I swear.”

“What’s the name on your birth certificate?”

He frowned. “Thomas Winfield Payton. But you must know that. Don’t you have my birth certificate or something?”

“Why’d you hurt Max?”

Tom’s face turned a blotchy red. “I didn’t hurt him! I swear it! I didn’t even touch the boat that day. Yeah, I know Eddie said I did and I was supposed to, but I wasn’t even there.”

“Where were you?” Sean kept his voice casual and friendly. Plenty of time to become intimidating if he needed to.

Tom clamped his lips shut. “I’ll get fired.”

“Haven’t you already been fired?”

He cursed. “So what? I didn’t need the job anyway. Who cares? Is that why you think I hurt him? Because he fired me? Give me a break. Would you hurt someone over a job working for some old guy on a bunch of ancient boats? No way.”

Dumb kid. Didn’t even appreciate the camp. “You’re our number one suspect in Max’s accident. Witnesses report that you became angry when Max told you not to return next summer. You work at the boathouse and were on duty the night Max got in the accident, yet you say you saw nothing. You have motive and opportunity. If Max dies, you’re up for first-degree murder.”

Tom’s face did a slow morph into shock as he absorbed Sean’s words. “M-m-murder?”

“Murder one. You feel like talking?” Sean saw the change come over Tom’s face and knew the kid was going to spill. Spill what? That was the question. “I would have been really ticked if Max cut me off. Mad enough to go after him. Not to kill him, but accidents happen, you know?”

“No, I didn’t!” Tom leaned forward. “This is the deal. I wasn’t at the job that day because I took off with one of the guests.”

“A guest? Who?”

“A girl. Underage.”

“Name?”

He shook his head. “No way. I’m not pulling her into this. But I would have lost my job immediately if Max or Eddie found out. First, I’m not allowed to date the guests, and second, she was seventeen. I wasn’t at work that night because we took a canoe out to one of the islands and spent the night.”

“That’s statutory rape.”

“
If
I slept with her. I’m not saying I did.” The defensiveness was back in Tom’s voice. “Don’t you see? I didn’t kill Max. I wasn’t even there. Eddie would’ve fired me himself if he knew I took off, but he’s so out of it, he never notices if I’m not there.”

“He trusts you. A novel concept for you, I’m sure.”

“Hey, why should I bust my butt if I’m not coming back next summer?”

“Why did you get mad at Max if you don’t care about the job?”

“Because
she
was right there and heard the whole thing! I had to do something to save my rep! Took me two days to convince her that I wasn’t a loser. I don’t need Max to screw up my social life, you know?”

Sean leaned back in his chair and studied Tom while he continued to spew about his underage girlfriend and male pride. That’s what all that had been about? Sean shook his head. “I need the name of the girl who’s providing your alibi for that night. And I want a copy of your birth certificate.” He stood up and Tom didn’t protest.

Much as Sean wanted this one to be easy, his gut bought Tom’s story. He wasn’t their guy.

But that still meant that John Ramsey was at large and someone was embezzling from the camp. If they didn’t find out who it was, eventually the blame might land on Helen.

Crud.

S
EAN WALKED INTO
the main area of the station, feeling more than a little frustrated. Why the hell wouldn’t the folks in L.A. come up with some info on John Ramsey? It couldn’t be that hard, could it? He still hadn’t gotten the list of who had come to visit Jimmy when he was in prison.

Then he stopped. Kim wasn’t in sight.

He checked the bathroom.

No Kim.

His gut started to tighten and he grabbed a rookie doing paperwork. “Where’s Kim Collins?”

“She left a few minutes ago.”

“Left?”
Left?
“Where’d she go?”

“I don’t know. I think she left a note on your desk, though.”

He nearly threw the man aside and bolted for his desk. He recognized her writing on the folded sheet of paper with his name on it.

O
H, MY
G
OD
. Her house. Windows were smashed. Glass littered the ground. Flowers were ripped up. The front door was almost shattered. The bulb on the lamppost had been destroyed. Total destruction. The crime oozed anger. Uncontrollable, violent fury.

Kim tumbled out of Officer McKeen’s cruiser the second he stopped it, his headlights illuminating the devastation. Alan was standing in the middle of the driveway, his hands on his hips, his face brutally angry.

“Alan? Are you okay?”

“Fine. I found it like this.” His hands flexed and his face was red, a muscle in his jaw twitching. “Go inside. See what’s there.”

Um, not so high on that idea. “How do we know the person is gone?”

“I’ve been in there. There’s no one here.” He crashed his fist against the hood of the cruiser, swearing as she’d never heard him swear. “Come on.” He grabbed her arm, his fingers digging in as he dragged her into the house. He shoved her into the living room and pointed to the wall. “Look.”

Words were scrawled on the wall in what looked like black magic marker.
Jimmy’s blood is on your hands. You die. Cheryl dies. Everyone dies. No one kills my brother.

There was a knife stabbed into the wall at the end of the sentence, right through the center of a photo of Kim, Cheryl and her dad.

“John Ramsey didn’t do that,” Alan said, disgust dripping from his voice. “When I find the scum who’s doing this, I’m going to—”

“How do you know he didn’t do it?”

Kim spun around to find Sean standing behind her. “Sean!” Thank God he was there! Somehow, she didn’t have faith in Alan’s ability to protect her from a psycho. She believed in Sean, though. Totally and completely.

His eyes were bubbling with anger as he touched her arm gently. “You okay?”

Mentally or physically? Because they were completely different answers. “I guess.”

He nodded, then turned to Alan, who was still muttering about his plans to annihilate the person impersonating John Ramsey.

“As I said, Alan, how do you know it’s not John Ramsey?”

“Because he wouldn’t be stupid enough to claim ownership! That’s like asking the police to come arrest him after he kills his victims. Come on, Sean! Don’t you see? Someone is trying to pin it on John so he can get away.” Alan fisted his hands.

Officer McKeen appeared in the doorway. “I called for backup.” He whistled. “This place is a mess.”

She hadn’t even noticed the rest of the house, her eyes drawn to the message of death. But pillows were slashed, pictures were thrown to the floor, tabletops were swept clean. Total violation of her world.

Sean directed his next question to Alan. “How long ago did you get here?”

“About ten minutes before I called Kim.” Alan ran his hands through his hair and tried to pull himself together. “What if Kim had been here? What if she’d walked in when this psycho was tearing the place apart?”

Um, nice thought. Not.

“That’s why she’s not staying here. And I don’t think you should either.” Sean settled his arm around Kim’s shoulder. “Get a hotel.”

Alan nodded and continued to pace. “Who’s doing this?”

Sean looked as angry as Alan. “I don’t know.”

“Well, find out,” Alan shouted, “before Kim gets killed!”

Sean’s arm tightened around her. “She will not die.” His voice was so icy cold that she actually shivered and Alan stopped to stare at Sean.

Then Alan nodded. “Good.”

Her cell phone rang then and both men stared at her.

“Don’t look at me like that. You’re freaking me out.” She fished the phone out of her pocket and checked the number. Local, but not one she recognized. “Hello?”

“Kim Collins?” It was a man’s voice.

“Yes.”

“It’s Will Ambrose.”

Whoa. She gestured to Sean, who set his ear next to hers so he could listen.

“What do you want, Will?”

“Jimmy Ramsey. That’s who tried to kill you and your sister, right?”

She tensed. “How do you know that?”

“I know who tried to murder Max. I know who’s after you now.”

She almost dropped the phone and Sean caught it and settled it between them again. He nodded at her to continue. Oh, sure. No problem. She took a deep breath. “Who?”

“Not over the phone. I have to show you something.”

Oh, sure. Like that couldn’t be a trap. “When?”

“Once I show you this, I’m taking off. Forever.”

“Where are you?”

“Tomorrow morning. Nine o’clock. My house. I won’t be there until then, so don’t bother to come early. You set me up and I won’t show.”

Sean spoke then. “I’m coming with her.” Nice, Sean. Way to scare off Will. She elbowed him to shut up and he gave her a look that she recognized all too well. He would not be listening to her on this one. Stubborn male.

“Who’s this?” Will asked.

“Sean Templeton.”

The phone was silent.

“Fine. Just the two of you. I see anyone else, and I leave.” He paused. “Tell the Portland police to check out Pete Gibbs’s boat. It’s moored out in the harbor.”

“They already did. He’s not there,” Sean said.

“Tell them to check the anchor at the bottom of the mooring.”

Then he hung up.

B
Y THE TIME
they made it back to Sean’s house, it was almost two in the morning and Kim was exhausted. After the cops
had done their investigation of the house, she’d stayed for a while with Sean and Alan to try to cover up most of the windows to keep bats and other nasties out. They hadn’t even begun to clean up the destruction, which spread through the entire house.

Her bedroom had been trashed.

The hatred and desperation had been virulent.

Once they got to his house, Sean locked the door behind them and she went straight into the bathroom. Not that a shower would erase the carnage of her home, but she had to do something. She stripped down and climbed under the hot stream, making it hotter and hotter.

But even with her skin burning, she couldn’t get the devastation of her house out of her mind. The words on the wall. The knife through her family photo. She leaned her head against the tile and wanted to cry. Why was this happening? How could she stop it? They didn’t even know who was after her. She almost wished Jimmy was still alive. At least then she’d know who to watch for.

A light tap sounded on the door. “Kim? Can I come in?”

She didn’t even lift her head but opened her eyes to check the coverage of the navy-blue shower curtain. “Yeah.”

The door clicked open, then shut, and she knew Sean was in the bathroom with only a thin sheet of plastic between them. If she weren’t so stressed, terrified and exhausted, she might be tempted to throw the shower curtain back and see how he would respond.

“The Portland police checked Pete Gibbs’s boat.”

She held her breath.

“He was dead. Shot through the head. Chained to the mooring about thirty feet down.”

“Oh, God.” A gun? What protection did she have against a gun?

“He’d been dead for a while.”

“You think…it has to do with this whole thing?” Her
legs began to tremble and she leaned more weight on the wall in an attempt to remain vertical.

“The initial consensus is yes. The only missing file was the one on your dad. They’re working on it, though. Now that it’s a homicide, it’ll get top priority.”

Dead. Pete Gibbs was the first one who’d actually died. This wasn’t only about threatening her and scaring them and stealing some money from the camp. This was now about death. Someone who wasn’t afraid to kill.

“Kim? You okay?”

She shut off the water and Sean stuck his hand through the shower curtain with a towel. “Thanks.”

She wrapped it around herself and stepped out. He was leaning against the sink, his arms folded, his gun still in its shoulder holster. He was frowning and looked serious. Too serious. He didn’t even seem to notice that she was naked except for the towel. “What I can’t figure out is the gun,” he said. “A knife is personal. The hit on your dad was sloppy. But a gun?” He shook his head. “Three different methods. It doesn’t make sense.”

“How can I be safe against a gun? I mean, you don’t even have to get close to use it.” Her hair was dripping over her shoulders, the water sliding down her skin like creepy-crawlies. She tried to brush it off, but it kept dripping.

Sean grabbed another towel, turned her around and started drying her hair. “That’s why I panicked when I heard you’d left the police station tonight. What if he’d been in the woods waiting for you to show up? He could have dropped you before you even knew he was there.” He scrubbed her hair more vigorously. “Don’t do that again, okay?”

“I promise to be safe for at least a day.”

He spun her around and grabbed her shoulders. “Don’t joke about it! Your dad is in a coma and a P.I. who knows how to take care of himself is dead. You think you won’t be next?”