Deadly Intentions, page 23
“Not at this time.”
“What do you think I’ve done?” she asked, thinking frantically, What the hell has Nicholas gotten me into? Why are they asking about him?
“We’ll discuss it at the office.”
Deana was stunned. She sat slumped in her seat. She hadn’t expected to find the FBI at the sheriff’s office. After drilling her for a couple hours, they finally believed—at least partly—that she’d never been involved in her husband’s crimes. The murders he’d committed started and ended long before they met.
I’m married to a murderer? Deana couldn’t wrap her mind around it. An international murderer . . . She clenched her hands in her lap. She knew Nicholas was cold, but never imagined he was capable of such atrocity.
The phone rang and the sheriff answered. His face took on a grim expression as he listened. After a few beats, he said, “I’m on it.”
“A body was found on the south lawn. Woman age twenty-five,” the sheriff said after hanging up.
He left Deana in the office with the agents.
It was almost time for the fireworks, and Harper’s concern grew by the moment.
37
“I wish we could see the fireworks,” Lisa said wistfully, standing in the kitchen.
“Maybe next year,” Brian said.
“We can see them from—”
A volley of shots rang out as a motorboat swung by the house. Lisa at first thought she was hearing firecrackers, but then Brian knocked her to the floor. He grabbed the gun tucked in his waistband at the same time.
“Stay down!” he shouted.
Several officers came tearing into the room. “Anybody hit?”
“We’re okay,” Brian responded.
Immediately the officers were on the phone. A Coast Guard vessel went tearing after the boat blasting gunshots. Several officers ran outside. Only Scott remained with Lisa and Brian.
Lisa started to get up.
With a hand on her back, Brian pushed her to the floor. “Stay down.”
Scott guarded the front of the house and Brian held vigil over the back.
Night had fallen, and the fireworks started up at the festival. Bright splashes of light arched across the night sky. Booming noise could be heard for miles.
Lisa hated having to lie quietly on the floor. She wanted to see what was going on.
Brian returned. “I’m moving you under the bed in the guest bedroom,” he said.
A shot rang out and the front door blasted off. When Lisa gathered her wits, she didn’t see Brian. Where was he? Then she saw his hand. The rest of his body was hidden beneath the door.
A man appeared in the doorway. Lisa turned to run, but the man caught her before she took three steps, hauling her up against him.
“A pleasure to meet you, Lisa Claxton. Meet your destiny.”
“Who are you?”
“The last person you’re ever going to see. Those incompetents will be turning in circles for a long time. So first we’re going to have a little fun. At least I will,” he said, pushing her toward the kitchen.
Scott rounded the corner, gun pointed. Nicholas shot him.
Lisa screamed as Scott fell to the floor, blood quickly covering his shirtfront.
Lisa shuddered in fear. Was Scott dead? Was Brian dead? She had to do something. She must get away from this madman. It must be Nicholas Doyle. He was as crazy as his brother.
In the kitchen, she saw her chance. She slammed the chair into his leg and tried to run. He caught her hair, bringing her up short—again. The pain from it brought tears to her eyes.
He popped her on the head with the gun, thinking the only reason the bitch was alive was because he needed a hostage if he couldn’t get away clean. He hadn’t expected to encounter so many agents.
“Try that again and I’ll kill you,” he grated. “Now move your ass.”
She was still going to die, but only after he got away.
Brian was disoriented when he gained consciousness. Pain exploded in his head. A heavy object pinned him to the floor. The roar of several motorboats bellowed in the background along with a popping noise. Gunfire. He was in a war zone. If he didn’t get up he’d miss the rendezvous. More than likely his men were searching for him.
First he remained motionless, assessing the situation before he opened his eyes and tried to rub his forehead. His hands were pinned to the floor. Then he remembered.
“Lisa.” He shoved the door off him. His gun was still in his hand. He quickly moved his body, making sure nothing was broken. He ignored twinges of pain as he carefully moved through the house searching for Lisa.
An agent ran in. “Where’s the woman?”
“Don’t know.”
“What the hell happened?”
“He knocked the door down with me under it.”
Lisa wasn’t there. Intense fear exploded through him. “You didn’t see him leave?”
“Shots rang from about twenty boats out back.”
Nicholas had created the perfect diversion. There was only one hope—that he wanted Brian more than he wanted Lisa—and he’d keep Lisa alive to get to him.
His cell phone rang. He said hello.
“I’ve got her,” a voice growled. “Why don’t you hang on so you can hear her die?”
“You’re as weak as your brother. Not man enough to stand up to a man. An equal. Always picking on women. I killed your brother, asshole.”
Silence. “Any place, any time. I’ll kill her in front of you, then I’ll kill you.”
“She’s no skin off my back. I love her about as much as you love your wife. Do you love your wife, Nickie? I bet she’s not even a good lay. I’m meeting you for the challenge, because I can kill you.”
“I’m going to enjoy killing you.” He named their meeting place. “Two hours,” he said. “Be on time,” he said before he severed the connection.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Meeting him on my own territory.”
“You can get that girl killed,” the agent said.
“I just bought her some time.”
“You’re not running this. Now where are you meeting him? We’re taking over from here.”
“No way. If I don’t show up, she’s dead. You take over if I’m killed.”
“Listen, you . . .”
“We don’t have time for dick measuring here. Lisa’s life’s on the line. If we take forever to get there, he knows you’re setting up a team. I’m not taking a chance on her life. I’m out of here.”
“Look, asshole. I’ll lock your ass up right now.”
“What the hell’s going on?” Harper asked, coming through the door.
Alyssa glanced around. “Where’s Lisa?”
“He’s got her and I’m going to get her back,” Brian said. Quickly he ran through what happened.
Harper started giving orders about where best to enter the area without detection.
“Listen here. He’s not running . . .” the agent said.
Harper held up a hand. “One of my islanders is in danger. Our job is to first save Lisa’s life. Then we worry about his past deeds.” He looked at Brian. “Do you know the area?”
“No.”
“I know it very well. We’ll have home court advantage. He’s not from here. I doubt he knows the area as well as we do.”
One of the policemen called up to the house that someone was there to see Brian.
Brian sighed in relief. His equipment had arrived.
Lisa was surprised they were still on the island or that Nicholas planned to meet with Brian. He would kill Brian for sure. They were both going to die. She should never have peeped in Jordan’s files. She should have known her relationship with Brian was too good to be true. Nothing this good ever worked out for her.
Instead of feeling sorry for herself, she needed to think of an escape.
Nicholas was good. She’d been captured by amateurs before. She was way over her head now. If there was a touch of humor that could be found in this, she’d been over her head before.
“What are you going to do to me?” she asked.
“Kill you,” he said so bluntly it sent renewed shivers up Lisa’s spine.
“I didn’t do anything to you.”
“You killed my brother.”
“Your brother broke into my house. What would you do if someone broke into your house?”
“Why?” he asked. “I want answers. Answers my brother can’t give me, thanks to you.”
“How would I know? He shows up for the crab feast one day and that night he breaks into my house. All I did was cook crabs.”
“There’s more to it than that. You must have led him on and then turned into a cold fish.”
“I wouldn’t lead your brother on. I spent most of the time in the kitchen that day. And I’m dating another man.”
He hissed between his teeth, letting Lisa know how angry he really was. “The man who murdered my brother.”
Could she use his emotions as his weakness? If so, how?
He hit her upside her head, knocking Lisa out.
Nicholas had just enough time to deal with the other two before he made his final kill. He felt the adrenaline flowing through his body. Oh, he was going to enjoy this.
Still dressed in his geriatric garb, he headed to the island’s lone bar. It was packed both inside and out. Several people were standing outside watching the last of the fireworks. Others had given up and were more concerned with their drinks.
The jukebox belted out songs. It was loud, just the way he wanted it. He took a position from across the street in the bushes, attached a silencer. He had Ben Storey in his sights. He aimed and fired. The two killings should keep the island’s police force busy while he took his time torturing Lisa. He was skilled at it. He’d make her suffer for hours.
He went down. Nicholas smiled. One gone and three to go. For tonight. He’d leave the fireworks for another night when their guard was down.
He left the gun where it was and exited the area. They couldn’t trace it back to him and he wasn’t going to get caught carrying a rifle. He was a mile away when he heard sirens screaming toward the bar. He wished he had time to gawk like the other tourists.
When Lisa awakened she was tied to a tree and some bug was crawling up her arm. She shrieked. She tried to shake it off, but the rope held her too secure for her to move. Where the heck was she? It was almost pitch dark. The fireworks had stopped. The moon had come out, lending a meager dot of light. How late was it?
Her head felt like jackhammers were knocking in it. Did he drug her as well as hit her? She felt like she’d gone on a ten-day drinking binge.
She grew alarmed when she heard noise thrashing through the trees. Was it an animal? Was Nicholas coming back to kill her? Why didn’t he just kill her and get it over with?
Other thoughts worried her equally as much. Was Brian alive? Did she tell him she loved him? Would they survive this?
Lisa prayed. Her grandmother always told her that their ancestor Abiola had been strong. She’d survived pirates because of her quick thinking. But how on earth was she going to get out of this?
She heard more thrashing. “Who’s there?” she called out.
“Little girl, what did you do to piss him off?”
“Who are you?” Lisa asked, hoping the guy would give her a reprieve.
“Reinforcements. I’m watching you until he returns.”
“Please let me go.”
“Can’t do that.” He shined a light in her face. Lisa winced.
“You’re pretty,” he said. “Wish I could spend some time with you.”
Fear froze Lisa’s blood.
Nicholas scoured the area and was unable to find his next target. He couldn’t lose more time. He had to get back to Lisa in time to set things up.
Brian was in his wetsuit when he heard the news that Ben Storey had been killed with a high-powered rifle. Did Nicholas mistake Ben for him? The guy had been trying to date Lisa.
A professional wouldn’t make a mistake like that. How did Ben fit in the equation?
He got off the Coast Guard vessel and swam underwater toward the shore in record time with equipment attached to his back. The good thing was, the sound of the waves covered any other sound.
Once there, he got out of his wetsuit. He saw a flashlight in the distance. Leaving his wetsuit under a bush, he retrieved his night-vision glasses from his pack and donned his weapon.
In just a few feet he saw Lisa tethered to a tree. A man stood in front of her.
He heard another noise and ducked into the bushes. With his goggles still in place he watched another person arrive on a boat. He came to shore several yards from where Brian had come.
He pulled his boat to shore and also hid it under bushes.
Then he walked toward Lisa. Through the goggles, Brian identified him as Nicholas Doyle. He didn’t think twice before he fired off a shot, hitting Doyle. A second one seconds later hit the other man.
Both men were dead.
Lisa’s scream pierced the silence.
Brian couldn’t just run up to her without knowing if there were others. He was patient. He waited and scanned. Finally, he walked toward Lisa.
“Brian. Oh, my God. You’re safe?”
“Yeah, babe. But let’s get you out of here and we’ll have a nice little reunion later.”
The police had gotten a search warrant for Nicholas Doyle’s property.
Harper and Alyssa drove to Williamsburg and went to Doyle’s estate with the local police.
Alyssa perused all the preserved animals in Greg’s house. Some hung from the walls. Others were positioned at various locations.
“Creepy,” she said. They had been there for hours. Their search had begun in the main house.
Alyssa wandered into a room that must have been Greg’s office. There were lots of papers on which he’d written sketchy notes. Bills, receipts, pens, paper clips. The drawer was unusually tidy.
“Jesus,” said an officer from the basement.
“What’s wrong?” Harper asked from another room.
“I’ve seen it all,” the officer said. “Come look.”
Alyssa and Harper ran downstairs and toward the back of another room filled with preserved animals. The officer backed up so they could see into a smaller room.
A preserved woman was placed on the bed.
Alyssa had seen her share of bizarre murders in the last year. She was astonished and dismayed by the sickness of the deviants.
Alyssa’s phone rang. The dealer who had sold the bowl to Knight’s grandfather’s friend told her the identity of the person he’d purchased the bowl from. He claimed he was unaware the bowl was stolen.
Wade Ripley was working at The Cove when the Virginia Beach police arrived along with Sheriff Porterfield and Alyssa Claxton.
It was Thursday and Brian was back at work. Lisa was having lunch with her sister, Vanetta, in The Cove’s restaurant.
“Vanetta.” The restaurant manager approached the table. “The police are in Wade’s office. They are arresting him,” he said.
“What?”
Both Lisa and Vanetta left the restaurant and headed through the lobby to the offices. The Virginia Beach PD had cuffed Wade and read him the Miranda.
“What’s going on?” Vanetta asked, looking at Alyssa for a response.
Alyssa shushed her.
Lisa listened as Wade was placed under arrest for the theft of the bowl.
“But how?” Lisa asked.
“You’ll have to talk to him at the station, ma’am.”
“Can’t I have one moment with him, please? Just one moment.”
“Ma’am . . .”
“Just a moment,” Alyssa said.
Lisa approached Wade. He turned his back to the group. The officers began to talk among themselves.
“Did Jackie help you steal the bowl?” she asked.
Wade shook his head no.
Lisa hoped he was telling the truth. “Did Ben?”
He shook his head again.
A great weight lifted from her chest. She had been deeply saddened by Ben’s death. She would miss him. “Why, Wade? Why would you steal from us?”
“Why does anyone?” He faced the officers, effectively ending their conversation.
After the necessary paperwork, Wade would be extradited to the island. That evening when Brian came to the island Lisa was more than glad to see him. She stood at the kitchen sink peeling potatoes for dinner while he prepared the steaks for the grill.
She never would have guessed Wade. He was a GM in an upscale hotel. He was paid very well.
“He worked night and day. He was always at work,” Lisa said. “The hotel guests loved him. Who would have thought . . .”
“It was greed,” Brian said. “You’ve got to accept it.”
“After all this time. We’ve been searching for that bowl for an entire year and the thief was in our midst,” Lisa said. “Do you think he was too fixated on money? Am I too fixated on money?”
“No. This worrying about every little thing has got to stop. Come over here and let me give you something more pleasant to think about.”
“What do you have in mind?”
He came up behind her and began to caress her.
Lisa was filled with pure pleasure. “If you start that, we’ll never finish dinner.”
“I have something more important in mind than dinner.”
“Yeah? Like what?” Lisa asked mischievously.
He kissed her behind the ear. “I want a quick wedding.”
Lisa groaned. “How quick?”
“June.”
“Brian . . . it’s May.”
“Baby, you’re going to be my wife. You have to be adaptable.”
She turned around. She liked the sound of that. “Your wife, hmm.” All thoughts vanished as he took her into his arms.
EPILOGUE
A year had passed and Brian was taking a week’s leave to spend with Lisa. He’d been away a month this time. He was taking a couple of weeks next month for their anniversary.
“What do you think I’ve done?” she asked, thinking frantically, What the hell has Nicholas gotten me into? Why are they asking about him?
“We’ll discuss it at the office.”
Deana was stunned. She sat slumped in her seat. She hadn’t expected to find the FBI at the sheriff’s office. After drilling her for a couple hours, they finally believed—at least partly—that she’d never been involved in her husband’s crimes. The murders he’d committed started and ended long before they met.
I’m married to a murderer? Deana couldn’t wrap her mind around it. An international murderer . . . She clenched her hands in her lap. She knew Nicholas was cold, but never imagined he was capable of such atrocity.
The phone rang and the sheriff answered. His face took on a grim expression as he listened. After a few beats, he said, “I’m on it.”
“A body was found on the south lawn. Woman age twenty-five,” the sheriff said after hanging up.
He left Deana in the office with the agents.
It was almost time for the fireworks, and Harper’s concern grew by the moment.
37
“I wish we could see the fireworks,” Lisa said wistfully, standing in the kitchen.
“Maybe next year,” Brian said.
“We can see them from—”
A volley of shots rang out as a motorboat swung by the house. Lisa at first thought she was hearing firecrackers, but then Brian knocked her to the floor. He grabbed the gun tucked in his waistband at the same time.
“Stay down!” he shouted.
Several officers came tearing into the room. “Anybody hit?”
“We’re okay,” Brian responded.
Immediately the officers were on the phone. A Coast Guard vessel went tearing after the boat blasting gunshots. Several officers ran outside. Only Scott remained with Lisa and Brian.
Lisa started to get up.
With a hand on her back, Brian pushed her to the floor. “Stay down.”
Scott guarded the front of the house and Brian held vigil over the back.
Night had fallen, and the fireworks started up at the festival. Bright splashes of light arched across the night sky. Booming noise could be heard for miles.
Lisa hated having to lie quietly on the floor. She wanted to see what was going on.
Brian returned. “I’m moving you under the bed in the guest bedroom,” he said.
A shot rang out and the front door blasted off. When Lisa gathered her wits, she didn’t see Brian. Where was he? Then she saw his hand. The rest of his body was hidden beneath the door.
A man appeared in the doorway. Lisa turned to run, but the man caught her before she took three steps, hauling her up against him.
“A pleasure to meet you, Lisa Claxton. Meet your destiny.”
“Who are you?”
“The last person you’re ever going to see. Those incompetents will be turning in circles for a long time. So first we’re going to have a little fun. At least I will,” he said, pushing her toward the kitchen.
Scott rounded the corner, gun pointed. Nicholas shot him.
Lisa screamed as Scott fell to the floor, blood quickly covering his shirtfront.
Lisa shuddered in fear. Was Scott dead? Was Brian dead? She had to do something. She must get away from this madman. It must be Nicholas Doyle. He was as crazy as his brother.
In the kitchen, she saw her chance. She slammed the chair into his leg and tried to run. He caught her hair, bringing her up short—again. The pain from it brought tears to her eyes.
He popped her on the head with the gun, thinking the only reason the bitch was alive was because he needed a hostage if he couldn’t get away clean. He hadn’t expected to encounter so many agents.
“Try that again and I’ll kill you,” he grated. “Now move your ass.”
She was still going to die, but only after he got away.
Brian was disoriented when he gained consciousness. Pain exploded in his head. A heavy object pinned him to the floor. The roar of several motorboats bellowed in the background along with a popping noise. Gunfire. He was in a war zone. If he didn’t get up he’d miss the rendezvous. More than likely his men were searching for him.
First he remained motionless, assessing the situation before he opened his eyes and tried to rub his forehead. His hands were pinned to the floor. Then he remembered.
“Lisa.” He shoved the door off him. His gun was still in his hand. He quickly moved his body, making sure nothing was broken. He ignored twinges of pain as he carefully moved through the house searching for Lisa.
An agent ran in. “Where’s the woman?”
“Don’t know.”
“What the hell happened?”
“He knocked the door down with me under it.”
Lisa wasn’t there. Intense fear exploded through him. “You didn’t see him leave?”
“Shots rang from about twenty boats out back.”
Nicholas had created the perfect diversion. There was only one hope—that he wanted Brian more than he wanted Lisa—and he’d keep Lisa alive to get to him.
His cell phone rang. He said hello.
“I’ve got her,” a voice growled. “Why don’t you hang on so you can hear her die?”
“You’re as weak as your brother. Not man enough to stand up to a man. An equal. Always picking on women. I killed your brother, asshole.”
Silence. “Any place, any time. I’ll kill her in front of you, then I’ll kill you.”
“She’s no skin off my back. I love her about as much as you love your wife. Do you love your wife, Nickie? I bet she’s not even a good lay. I’m meeting you for the challenge, because I can kill you.”
“I’m going to enjoy killing you.” He named their meeting place. “Two hours,” he said. “Be on time,” he said before he severed the connection.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Meeting him on my own territory.”
“You can get that girl killed,” the agent said.
“I just bought her some time.”
“You’re not running this. Now where are you meeting him? We’re taking over from here.”
“No way. If I don’t show up, she’s dead. You take over if I’m killed.”
“Listen, you . . .”
“We don’t have time for dick measuring here. Lisa’s life’s on the line. If we take forever to get there, he knows you’re setting up a team. I’m not taking a chance on her life. I’m out of here.”
“Look, asshole. I’ll lock your ass up right now.”
“What the hell’s going on?” Harper asked, coming through the door.
Alyssa glanced around. “Where’s Lisa?”
“He’s got her and I’m going to get her back,” Brian said. Quickly he ran through what happened.
Harper started giving orders about where best to enter the area without detection.
“Listen here. He’s not running . . .” the agent said.
Harper held up a hand. “One of my islanders is in danger. Our job is to first save Lisa’s life. Then we worry about his past deeds.” He looked at Brian. “Do you know the area?”
“No.”
“I know it very well. We’ll have home court advantage. He’s not from here. I doubt he knows the area as well as we do.”
One of the policemen called up to the house that someone was there to see Brian.
Brian sighed in relief. His equipment had arrived.
Lisa was surprised they were still on the island or that Nicholas planned to meet with Brian. He would kill Brian for sure. They were both going to die. She should never have peeped in Jordan’s files. She should have known her relationship with Brian was too good to be true. Nothing this good ever worked out for her.
Instead of feeling sorry for herself, she needed to think of an escape.
Nicholas was good. She’d been captured by amateurs before. She was way over her head now. If there was a touch of humor that could be found in this, she’d been over her head before.
“What are you going to do to me?” she asked.
“Kill you,” he said so bluntly it sent renewed shivers up Lisa’s spine.
“I didn’t do anything to you.”
“You killed my brother.”
“Your brother broke into my house. What would you do if someone broke into your house?”
“Why?” he asked. “I want answers. Answers my brother can’t give me, thanks to you.”
“How would I know? He shows up for the crab feast one day and that night he breaks into my house. All I did was cook crabs.”
“There’s more to it than that. You must have led him on and then turned into a cold fish.”
“I wouldn’t lead your brother on. I spent most of the time in the kitchen that day. And I’m dating another man.”
He hissed between his teeth, letting Lisa know how angry he really was. “The man who murdered my brother.”
Could she use his emotions as his weakness? If so, how?
He hit her upside her head, knocking Lisa out.
Nicholas had just enough time to deal with the other two before he made his final kill. He felt the adrenaline flowing through his body. Oh, he was going to enjoy this.
Still dressed in his geriatric garb, he headed to the island’s lone bar. It was packed both inside and out. Several people were standing outside watching the last of the fireworks. Others had given up and were more concerned with their drinks.
The jukebox belted out songs. It was loud, just the way he wanted it. He took a position from across the street in the bushes, attached a silencer. He had Ben Storey in his sights. He aimed and fired. The two killings should keep the island’s police force busy while he took his time torturing Lisa. He was skilled at it. He’d make her suffer for hours.
He went down. Nicholas smiled. One gone and three to go. For tonight. He’d leave the fireworks for another night when their guard was down.
He left the gun where it was and exited the area. They couldn’t trace it back to him and he wasn’t going to get caught carrying a rifle. He was a mile away when he heard sirens screaming toward the bar. He wished he had time to gawk like the other tourists.
When Lisa awakened she was tied to a tree and some bug was crawling up her arm. She shrieked. She tried to shake it off, but the rope held her too secure for her to move. Where the heck was she? It was almost pitch dark. The fireworks had stopped. The moon had come out, lending a meager dot of light. How late was it?
Her head felt like jackhammers were knocking in it. Did he drug her as well as hit her? She felt like she’d gone on a ten-day drinking binge.
She grew alarmed when she heard noise thrashing through the trees. Was it an animal? Was Nicholas coming back to kill her? Why didn’t he just kill her and get it over with?
Other thoughts worried her equally as much. Was Brian alive? Did she tell him she loved him? Would they survive this?
Lisa prayed. Her grandmother always told her that their ancestor Abiola had been strong. She’d survived pirates because of her quick thinking. But how on earth was she going to get out of this?
She heard more thrashing. “Who’s there?” she called out.
“Little girl, what did you do to piss him off?”
“Who are you?” Lisa asked, hoping the guy would give her a reprieve.
“Reinforcements. I’m watching you until he returns.”
“Please let me go.”
“Can’t do that.” He shined a light in her face. Lisa winced.
“You’re pretty,” he said. “Wish I could spend some time with you.”
Fear froze Lisa’s blood.
Nicholas scoured the area and was unable to find his next target. He couldn’t lose more time. He had to get back to Lisa in time to set things up.
Brian was in his wetsuit when he heard the news that Ben Storey had been killed with a high-powered rifle. Did Nicholas mistake Ben for him? The guy had been trying to date Lisa.
A professional wouldn’t make a mistake like that. How did Ben fit in the equation?
He got off the Coast Guard vessel and swam underwater toward the shore in record time with equipment attached to his back. The good thing was, the sound of the waves covered any other sound.
Once there, he got out of his wetsuit. He saw a flashlight in the distance. Leaving his wetsuit under a bush, he retrieved his night-vision glasses from his pack and donned his weapon.
In just a few feet he saw Lisa tethered to a tree. A man stood in front of her.
He heard another noise and ducked into the bushes. With his goggles still in place he watched another person arrive on a boat. He came to shore several yards from where Brian had come.
He pulled his boat to shore and also hid it under bushes.
Then he walked toward Lisa. Through the goggles, Brian identified him as Nicholas Doyle. He didn’t think twice before he fired off a shot, hitting Doyle. A second one seconds later hit the other man.
Both men were dead.
Lisa’s scream pierced the silence.
Brian couldn’t just run up to her without knowing if there were others. He was patient. He waited and scanned. Finally, he walked toward Lisa.
“Brian. Oh, my God. You’re safe?”
“Yeah, babe. But let’s get you out of here and we’ll have a nice little reunion later.”
The police had gotten a search warrant for Nicholas Doyle’s property.
Harper and Alyssa drove to Williamsburg and went to Doyle’s estate with the local police.
Alyssa perused all the preserved animals in Greg’s house. Some hung from the walls. Others were positioned at various locations.
“Creepy,” she said. They had been there for hours. Their search had begun in the main house.
Alyssa wandered into a room that must have been Greg’s office. There were lots of papers on which he’d written sketchy notes. Bills, receipts, pens, paper clips. The drawer was unusually tidy.
“Jesus,” said an officer from the basement.
“What’s wrong?” Harper asked from another room.
“I’ve seen it all,” the officer said. “Come look.”
Alyssa and Harper ran downstairs and toward the back of another room filled with preserved animals. The officer backed up so they could see into a smaller room.
A preserved woman was placed on the bed.
Alyssa had seen her share of bizarre murders in the last year. She was astonished and dismayed by the sickness of the deviants.
Alyssa’s phone rang. The dealer who had sold the bowl to Knight’s grandfather’s friend told her the identity of the person he’d purchased the bowl from. He claimed he was unaware the bowl was stolen.
Wade Ripley was working at The Cove when the Virginia Beach police arrived along with Sheriff Porterfield and Alyssa Claxton.
It was Thursday and Brian was back at work. Lisa was having lunch with her sister, Vanetta, in The Cove’s restaurant.
“Vanetta.” The restaurant manager approached the table. “The police are in Wade’s office. They are arresting him,” he said.
“What?”
Both Lisa and Vanetta left the restaurant and headed through the lobby to the offices. The Virginia Beach PD had cuffed Wade and read him the Miranda.
“What’s going on?” Vanetta asked, looking at Alyssa for a response.
Alyssa shushed her.
Lisa listened as Wade was placed under arrest for the theft of the bowl.
“But how?” Lisa asked.
“You’ll have to talk to him at the station, ma’am.”
“Can’t I have one moment with him, please? Just one moment.”
“Ma’am . . .”
“Just a moment,” Alyssa said.
Lisa approached Wade. He turned his back to the group. The officers began to talk among themselves.
“Did Jackie help you steal the bowl?” she asked.
Wade shook his head no.
Lisa hoped he was telling the truth. “Did Ben?”
He shook his head again.
A great weight lifted from her chest. She had been deeply saddened by Ben’s death. She would miss him. “Why, Wade? Why would you steal from us?”
“Why does anyone?” He faced the officers, effectively ending their conversation.
After the necessary paperwork, Wade would be extradited to the island. That evening when Brian came to the island Lisa was more than glad to see him. She stood at the kitchen sink peeling potatoes for dinner while he prepared the steaks for the grill.
She never would have guessed Wade. He was a GM in an upscale hotel. He was paid very well.
“He worked night and day. He was always at work,” Lisa said. “The hotel guests loved him. Who would have thought . . .”
“It was greed,” Brian said. “You’ve got to accept it.”
“After all this time. We’ve been searching for that bowl for an entire year and the thief was in our midst,” Lisa said. “Do you think he was too fixated on money? Am I too fixated on money?”
“No. This worrying about every little thing has got to stop. Come over here and let me give you something more pleasant to think about.”
“What do you have in mind?”
He came up behind her and began to caress her.
Lisa was filled with pure pleasure. “If you start that, we’ll never finish dinner.”
“I have something more important in mind than dinner.”
“Yeah? Like what?” Lisa asked mischievously.
He kissed her behind the ear. “I want a quick wedding.”
Lisa groaned. “How quick?”
“June.”
“Brian . . . it’s May.”
“Baby, you’re going to be my wife. You have to be adaptable.”
She turned around. She liked the sound of that. “Your wife, hmm.” All thoughts vanished as he took her into his arms.
EPILOGUE
A year had passed and Brian was taking a week’s leave to spend with Lisa. He’d been away a month this time. He was taking a couple of weeks next month for their anniversary.
