Fate and Destiny Page 19

  “It seems I no longer require your services to help in finding my father’s killer. If anything, it has come to light that you and your sleazy cousin were involved in assisting Miss Fisher in killing my father. Lenny is already in jail and shortly you will be there with him, both of you charged with the murder.”

  Charles was cheery and matter of fact. His voice didn’t waver or dip as he made the accusations. Matt had not practiced this particular situation with Doug. Alarm bells sounded through Matt’s mind as he intently listened to the conversation through the static.

  “Charles, I didn’t have anything to do with killing your father. You did it! You killed him and tried to kill Destiny to cover your ass.”

  Doug was teetering on the brink of panic. The fears hidden for the last few hours swelled back to the surface. He kept his eyes on the sheriff who made calming motions with his hands, moving them in a gentle arc like a music conductor.

  “I would never harm my father. I loved him. I’m sure you wouldn’t understand since you didn’t have one. You, Lenny, and that girl murdered my father then ran from here, trying to hide. The police will catch up with all of you, and that girl may not be dead now, but she will be soon.”

  The voice through the phone line became ominous, threatening, dropping octaves, each syllable enunciated slowly and clearly.

  Doug wasn’t sure what to say. Something was wrong with the entire conversation, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. Matt stared at Doug, frowning, questioning Charles’ sanity without making a sound.

  “You killed your father for the money. I helped you carry him out of the house after you hit him.”

  Doug knew he was incriminating himself but he could think of no other way to help Destiny.

  “You made me kidnap Destiny and wanted me to kill her but I didn’t do it!”

  Laughter rolled out of the receiver.

  “Doug. You simpleton! Do you honestly think anyone will believe someone like you over someone like me? You are an oaf. Dumb and confused. You helped Destiny do those things, not me. You ran off with her. Probably some love triangle between the three of you. Thought you could steal Dad’s money, kill him, and get away with it. I have proof it was the three of you. Money in her bank straight from the casino account.

  “Eyewitnesses saw the three of you conspiring. All of you will die in prison for this. Or at least you and Lenny will. I have the feeling Destiny is already dead anyway. I hired you and Lenny to find my father’s killer, not knowing you were involved the whole time. I—”

  Commotion from the other end interrupted Charles. Matt and Doug leaned in, staring at each other, eyes wide as the sounds of a scuffle emerged from the phone. A dog barked and someone yelled in pain. The hair on the back of Matt’s neck prickled, instinctively, he rose from his chair, already heading towards the door when a woman on the other end of the phone line screamed his name. The line went dead. Matt and Doug were already on the move, running down the hall.

  Racing past a startled Doreen and Sawyer, Matt shouted orders.

  “Doreen! Call for backup to get out to Andrew’s place then cover the desk. Sawyer, get your gear together and follow me up there. DeMont’s at the cabin!”

  27.

  As soon as Sammy, Doreen, and Matt left, Andrew and Destiny sat on the bed side by side. The lamp in the corner turned on so they could read every word of Marcus’ will. Destiny finished the first page and passed it over to Andrew so he would stop reading over her shoulder. Shadow lay on the floor in front of the fireplace, softly snoring after lapping up boxes of lasagna he discovered all over the room. Slices of apple pie rested safely in the refrigerator.

  Shadow’s head popped up as something outside drew his attention. Disturbed from his peaceful slumber, he laid still, rigid and tense, ears pricked, listening for a repeat of whatever woke him up, tickling his canine senses.

  Engrossed in their reading, neither person on the bed noticed Shadow tensing, ready to pounce before the dog actually jumped from the floor, barking and growling threateningly as the front door exploded in. Before either person could move, Shadow lunged across the room at the intruder, his flight stilled in midair as the man at the door pulled the trigger on the pistol gripped in his hand. Muscles and tendons relaxed as the bullet threw the dog backwards with a startled yelp, landing in a furry pile on the floor between the kitchen and the living room.

  Reacting at last, muscles able to move, Destiny jumped from the bed, screaming Shadow’s name. Barely on her feet, Andrew rising alongside her, they both froze as the gun swung around to point at them. Registering what was happening, clicking each piece into the proper place within her mind, Destiny looked at their assailant. Clothes disheveled, hair askew, a wild look about him, but Destiny knew in a heartbeat who it was.

  “Charles.”

  The one word a whispered curse as she stared at the man holding them at gunpoint.

  “I hate the snow, Destiny. Why didn’t you just keep your nose out of my business? It was all rightfully mine anyway. My father didn’t miss a dime of that money until you started digging around.”

  Charles stood calmly, carelessly, except for the pistol pointed directly at Destiny. The gun didn’t waver, locked tightly in his grip.

  “Sit back down. Get comfortable. I’m expecting a call soon that will lock my alibi in place. It seems that the idiots I hired to get rid of you obviously didn’t do their job. I knew something was wrong when Doug called and said Lenny was in jail. I was on my plane and on my way here within ten minutes of that call. My original plan was to find him and have him lead me to you. Then kill both of you, or set him up for killing you. Whatever worked. Then I got this call from Lenny wanting me to bail him out. Nice huh? He’s been named an accomplice and he’s sitting in jail. Anyway, he was kind enough to let me in on the family situation around here and tell me exactly how to get here. Of course, he thinks I’m here to bail him out.”

  Charles giggled like a hyena.

  “Such a fool! Anyway, I had to hurry up and get here before Doug called me again. I have the feeling Doug and that sheriff are trying to trick me into talking. I’m not that dumb. Lenny, Doug, and you two are the only ones who can ever put the blame on me for killing the old man.”

  Charles’ voice varied between high pitched to low, At times, almost whispering.

  “It was an accident you know. I lost my temper and hit him too hard.”

  Charles shrugged, a twinge of regret passing over his face. Despite the increasing cold from the doorway, beads of sweat dripped down Charles’ face.

  “He died right there on the floor.”

  The hand holding the gun wavered slightly, dipped. Charles kept his eyes on them, but his attention drifted.

  “I couldn’t call the paramedics. There was too much evidence in the house. I couldn’t hide everything without knowing what you had or where you were. I called Lenny and told him to bring Doug to help me carry him. I told the hospital people I stopped by the house with Doug and Lenny and we found him sprawled at the bottom of the stairs. I told them we panicked and only thought of getting him to the hospital.”

  While Charles talked, distracted within his own memories, Destiny covertly looked around the room. The rifle hid under the bed they sat on. Andrew’s gun was still in the coat pocket by the front door. The only weapon nearby was the fireplace poker and she would be shot before she could reach out and grab it. Shadow laid on the floor, motionless, a red puddle forming around his head. Destiny’s gaze moved back to Charles. She couldn’t let go now. Weakness from her might bring Charles back to the present and draw his attention. She needed him distracted.

  From the corner of her eye, she glanced at Andrew, his gaze caught in hers for a moment. She motioned towards the fireplace tools with her eyes. Andrew shook his head slightly. The tools were too far away and could only be used within arm’s reach. She would receive a bullet before she could swing it. Slowly, carefully, his hand inched towards hers until he gently grasped her fingertip
s, squeezing slightly.

  Caught up in his own speech, Charles remained standing in the room between the shattered doorway and Shadow’s limp form.

  “It was only after you were gone that I figured out I couldn’t get the information off the computer. You locked it up nice and tight didn’t you? That laptop was useless too. You, those idiots, and the computers are the only proof existing that could ever tie me in with the murder of my father.”

  Charles’ focus cleared as he remembered the people on the bed.

  “It seems you two have a nice cozy little thing going on up here. I’m feeling generous. I’ll make a deal with you Destiny. You tell me how to get into the files on the computers, and I will let your boyfriend here live. You don’t tell me, I simply destroy the computers and you both die. It may look a little suspicious when I get the computer out of there, but it’s worth the risk. Especially since the police think you have everything on your laptop and they can’t seem to find it. So how do I get in, Destiny?”

  The distractions gone. In their place, cold, hard, calculating eyes glared at Destiny. She swallowed hard, taking a deep breath to steady the thudding of her heart.

  “The password to get in is my birthday.”

  She met his stare, her eyes steady. Charles shifted the barrel of the weapon to point at Andrew.

  “You lying little bitch. You think I didn’t try that one? I tried every combination of your name and birthday. I had a computer tech come in and try to break into it and he hasn’t figured it out. It’s not as simple as that. Now tell me what I want to know or I blow this asshole away!”

  Charles couldn’t maintain his control much longer. Destiny didn’t flinch. The man was not sane. Either that or he was high on drugs. A large part of the money stolen from Marcus went to support his drug habit. Marcus spent another large sum on rehabilitation facilities, none of which Charles ever completed.

  The roving eyes and wild appearance could not belong to anyone in their right mind. Before Destiny could respond, a tinny rendition of When the Saints Go Marching In emitted from Charles’ coat pocket. Already on edge, the sound startled all of them, Charles momentarily forgetting to keep the gun straight as he fumbled in his pocket for the phone. Andrew nearly lunged from the bed, but Destiny gripped his hand tightly, urging him to stay down. Instead, she took the opportunity to recline back against the wall at the end of the bed, casually letting her hand slip down between the mattress and the smooth logs.

  Charles located the phone and flipped it open before Destiny could pull the weapon up from the floor behind the bed. She situated herself in a relaxed manner as if she was tired of sitting stiffly on the edge. Charles gave her a curious look as he put on a fake smile and cheerily greeted the caller. Hearing Doug’s name, Andrew and Destiny glanced at each other, silent understanding passing between them. The tape recorder was running back at the Station. That cell phone was a line directly to Matt.

  The gun once again pointed squarely at Andrew. Charles’ confidence back in full force, once more switching personalities like a man possessed. As he spun his tale about the murder of his father, Charles maintained a steely glare at Destiny, his voice pointedly becoming eerily menacing as he spoke of Destiny being dead soon. He paused, listening to whatever Doug said on the other end before laughing maniacally and launching into a monologue designed to rattle Doug. Suddenly, he could no longer stand still as his voice rose with each word.

  He swiftly paced back and forth in the small space, temporarily forgetting his hostages. His confidence in himself and his plan were so great and encompassing Charles didn’t notice the dog beginning to stir, brown eyes blinking open through the patch of blood flowing from the hole between his scalp and ear. As soon as the man turned and strode towards the door, his back to the dog and people, Shadow leapt from the floor, his animal instinct blocking out the pain that knocked him unconscious to begin with.

  Snarling and barking, the dog launched from lying down to full flight at Charles’ head in one swift move. Destiny took the opportunity to shove her hand between the mattress and the wall, fingers closing around the stock of the rifle, and pulling it free, screaming out as she did so.

  “Matt! It’s Destiny! Hurry! Help us! He’s here!”

  In the midst of Destiny and Shadow both moving, Andrew jumped from where he sat on the bed, tensed and ready to leap. Shadow landed against Charles with a thud before Destiny could finish screaming. Charles flew forward, knocked off balance, the phone flying from his hand and slamming into the floorboards. Exhausted and in pain from the short burst of activity, Shadow lay where he landed, struggling to get back up and attack the intruder again. Before Andrew could reach him, Charles gathered his wits, took a fleeting glance over Andrew’s head, and raced out the broken door. Destiny fired the gun, but Charles was already moving, nothing but a glimpse of the back of his coat as she pulled the trigger. Hearing the gun cock behind him, Andrew threw himself to the floor, praying he made it out of the line of fire before the bullet whizzed past his head. The slug splintering into the wood mere centimeters behind Charles. Andrew reached across the floor, picking up the cell phone. No one remained waiting on the other end, the display dark and blank.

  Destiny jumped from the bed, sliding her feet into her shoes and racing to the door. Rising from the floor, Andrew grabbed her as she ran past him.

  “Slow down, be careful. I don’t know if Matt heard you. We can’t run out into the snow and give Charles a clear shot at us because we’re running on adrenaline.”

  Nodding, Destiny stopped, however she kept the gun raised at waist level, ready to aim and shoot. Kneeling next to Shadow, she softy reassured him while rubbing her hand along his back. Miraculously, the bullet ripped through the top of the dog’s head where his ear attached, or used to be attached. It now hung off center, ripped from the scalp at the corner. Unable to determine what happened to the bullet after it entered, she could only hope it went on through skin and out the other side. As long as the dog continued to breathe, she vowed to get him help as soon as she could.

  Andrew put on his coat, removing the Smith & Wesson .38 Special from the pocket. Next, he located his cell phone and the keys to the truck. The phone roamed too long searching for a signal and had not been charged. It was completely dead. Andrew dropped the useless thing onto the floor. Shadow whimpered under Destiny’s scrutiny. Every now and then, the dog tried to rise; however he was unable to do so, succumbing once again to the darkness of self-preserving sleep. Andrew’s heart ached. He wanted to scoop the dog up, carry him to the truck, and get him to a vet immediately, but with Charles outside, he and Destiny needed to use caution. They both avoided being in a direct line of the open doorway. Tense, each of them expected a shot to ring through the air, sending one of them to the floor in a lifeless heap.

  “Okay, Destiny, I want you to stay right there with Shadow. Stay low to the ground and out of the doorway. I’m going to get to the truck and pull it right in front next to the door so we can get him in it.”

  Destiny nodded. Rising, she bent at the waist, moving as quickly as possible to the lamp in the corner to switch it off, throwing the cabin into darkness. Straightening up, she ran through the dark to the front door as the shape of Andrew slunk around the edge of the doorframe. Crouching at the door, Destiny scanned the surrounding area, gun cocked and ready to fire at anything that moved.

  Andrew moved slowly along the front of the cabin, crouched over, his back to the wall, gun extended, also scanning for movement. Any rabbit that decided to hop out now would be blown away. The tracks at the front door didn’t offer precise evidence to the direction Charles took as he fled the cabin. Without any new snow to wipe out the tracks from Sammy, Matt, and Doreen, the footsteps Charles left blended into the jumbled snow. Cars, people, and the dog ruined the once pristine blanket of snow, creating a clearing of trampled mud, snow, and slush. Andrew watched the tracks anyway, searching for any indentions that led off from the rest of them.

  Reaching
the edge of the cabin, Andrew gauged the distance of open space between him and the truck to be about twenty feet. If he had been in his right mind when he parked it, the truck would be sitting directly in front of the door. The snow at the corner of the cabin under his feet was undisturbed. Charles had not disappeared around the cabin this way; however, he could have easily went around the cabin from the opposite corner. Keeping his back to the wall, Andrew glanced to the open doorway, spotting the edge of Destiny as she peered out. Andrew said a short prayer that if she saw Charles on the other side of Andrew, she would not try to shoot around him.

  28.

  Andrew crouched lower, ready to race across the expanse to reach the truck. His leg ached. Forcing down the pain, he moved swiftly to the truck, swiveling his torso as he went, maintaining a complete view of everything around him and behind him. No sound erupted and nothing moved. If anything, the woods were eerily silent as if holding their breath, waiting for something to happen. Vulnerable in the open space, Andrew finally placed his hand on the door handle. A quick glance inside the unlocked vehicle revealed nothing but the worn seats. Opening the door, Andrew slipped inside, quickly slamming and locking it behind him. Keeping his head low, he reached over, also locking the passenger door.

  Key in the ignition despite the shaking of his bare hands, partly from cold and partly from fear, Andrew turned the key. Breathing a sigh of relief as the engine caught and roared to life. The moonlight he relied upon to illuminate the intruder disappeared, plunging the landscape into a deep darkness. His eyes could pick out the cabin door as they adjusted to the darkness around him. He flipped on the truck lights and the heater. If Charles was close by, the engine noise would have already drawn gunfire, and the lights would be a warning beacon of any movement.

  Swinging the truck around in the clearing, Andrew pulled the passenger door right up to the front entry of the cabin. Leaving the truck running and the driver’s door locked, Andrew slipped out the passenger side, gun drawn and ready, alert to any motion. Destiny stood straight up, her eyes locked on the landscape, gun barrel arcing left to right, covering the space. Not wasting any time, Andrew slipped past her, into the cabin. Shadow remained in the pool of blood, his ear dangling, but alert and sitting up. Squatting to the dog’s level, gritting his teeth as the skin on his thigh stretched. Andrew placed his hand on the thick neck.