Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“ H e’s in the wind,” Aaron told Maisey the next morning about ten o’clock. The entire sheriff’s department had been looking for the boy, but so far, they hadn’t found a trace of him.

When work was over, Maisey went out to head home, but her car wouldn’t start. She tried and tried to get it to turn over, but it just wouldn’t. After fifteen minutes, she finally called Aaron and told him what was going on. “I’ll come get you.”

“No. You’ve got a game. You need to go on and I’ll call the auto club. It’ll be fine.”

“But I can―”

“No. I don’t want you to miss the game. That’s what I pay these people for. Go on. I’ll grab a burger on my way and I’ll be there before the end of the first inning.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m positive. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Maisey went back into the office and called the auto club, then sat down and waited. She had plenty of paperwork to do, and it would take them forever to get there. The forms that had to be filled out with the Wurth kids were a nightmare―dozens of different kinds of forms.

So she waited. And waited. And waited. It was getting dark outside, so she called the club and asked if someone was coming. Yes, they said, it was a busy night and it would just take a while, so she settled back down to wait.

Daylight was gone before she heard a loud truck outside and wandered to the front door to see a burly guy with a wrecker standing across the street. “I think you’re looking for me,” she said as she stepped out.

“You Friedman?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Have you going in a jiffy.” True to his word, he jumped her battery and smiled. “There ya go. Need a new battery, or you left something on in the car.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

“Have a nice evening, ma’am,” the guy said with a little tip of his hat. She watched as the truck disappeared down the street, then headed back to the office to gather her stuff, not daring to shut off her car.

It only took her a couple of minutes to get everything she needed, and she locked the office door behind her, then climbed into the running car. After checking her mirror, she pulled out from the curb and headed for the ballpark.

As she drove along, she turned on the radio and sang along. It would all be over as soon as they found Colin, and Maisey knew that wouldn’t take long. He was a teenager, and they weren’t usually as resourceful as adults. There were a lot of things they didn’t know how to do, and fleeing a country was one of those things. She doubted Colin even had a passport.

For a second she thought about stopping at the convenience store on the way, but there was a place she liked better. Once she’d picked up some dinner from the famous chicken restaurant, she turned toward the county park where the ball fields were located. The highway wasn’t busy, and she only met one car.

The park’s entrance had a lit sign, and as Maisey spun the steering wheel to the left, she thought she saw a flash of something behind her, but she couldn’t see anything in the mirror. The road forked, going off to the right toward the ball fields, and to the left toward the tennis courts.

Her car knew the way, but just as she pulled the wheel to the right, there was a loud sound like metal crunching, and her car lurched toward the embankment on the left-hand side of the fork, rolled down, and came to rest faced into a huge tree. It took her a few seconds to figure out what had happened, and when she did, she heard a voice.

“And now I’ve got to deal with you.”

Fear blinded Maisey, and she lunged for her bag, threw her door open, and ran. A couple of times he reached out for her and almost touched her, but she was running for her life, and she hadn’t known she could run that fast. In her panic, she’d just bolted, and she realized as she ran that she wasn’t headed toward the ball fields.

She was headed straight for the tennis courts.

At least I’ve got my bag , she told herself, but as she ran, she gripped whatever was in her hand, and it wasn’t her bag. She didn’t have her phone. Instead, she had the coat. For reasons she couldn’t fathom that morning, she’d tossed it into the front seat. She’d had no plans to put it on at work, and she wasn’t sure why she’d done it. It would be of no use to her―none at all. The distinction of being the second person to die in that coat didn’t mean much to her. The tennis courts came into view, and she was almost to the clearing when something hit her from behind and she rolled.

She righted herself to find him dragging her by her shirt, and she flailed wildly, flapping the coat around. He dragged her, kicking and screaming, until he threw her against something, and she winced as her face struck it. That was when he turned loose of her, and she reached out for the object.

It was the tree trunk.

Something took over Maisey’s body, and she slipped the coat on. “What the fuck? Why are you wearing that?” Colin spat.

“You know who I am. You know why I’m here,” Maisey growled. “Remember? She said, ‘Who are you and why are you here? What do you want with me?’ And you said, ‘I’m going to shut you up for good.’”

“How do you know that?” Colin bellowed. “You can’t know that!”

“Because she told me , you idiot! She said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ You said, ‘You need to keep your mouth shut.’ Then she said, ‘Please, I really don’t know what happened. I won’t say a word, I swear.’”

“What are you, some kind of damn witch or something?” Colin snarled.

“No. Victoria told me. She told me what you said. She told me what you did. They all know, Colin. You’re doomed. They’ll find you, and they’ll put you away for good, and if you kill me, they’ll have you on two murder charges. Is that really what you want?”

“Shut up! Just SHUT UP!”

“You said, ‘You’re right. You’re not going to. She’s just a stupid high school girl. It’s her fault because he’s a good man. If you do the right thing, you’ll ruin everything for me, so that can’t happen.’ She said, ‘But I didn’t see―’ Then you said, ‘You’re right. You didn’t see anything.’ Then she said, ‘Why? I don’t understand…’ Remember what you said, you greedy little bastard?”

Colin laughed. “Yeah. I do. I told her I was going to kill her because I wanted a Maserati. It’s worth a lot more than she was, and it’s worth a lot more than you are too.”

“She begged you for her life. And you killed her anyway. You may kill me, but you’ll rot in hell, and I’ll go to my grave knowing I put you away. Nobody’s going to ruin it for you. You’re going to do it to yourself. It’ll be all your fault!”

“Fuck you! And fuck that pageant woman! And fuck my dad and that stupid skank he’s been fucking! I’ll be gone before anybody even finds your body!” He stalked up to her and grinned.

“ColinSkidmore! This is your only warning. Put down your weapon and surrender.”

He glared at Maisey and for a split second, she thought he was going to lunge at her and kill her anyway. Then he stopped, grinned, and dropped the knife. “This isn’t over,” he whispered to her.

“Actually, it is.” Aaron stepped up behind him and kicked the knife away. To Maisey’s surprise, another deputy, Norris, stepped up with his weapon drawn so Aaron could cuff Colin. “ColinSkidmore, you’re under arrest for the murder of VictoriaHunt and the attempted murder of MaiseyFriedman. You have the right to remain silent. If you do not remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have…” Maisey couldn’t hear anymore. She just turned inward and took a deep breath, listening to her heartbeat slow and feeling her pulse drawing down. “Mrs.Friedman? Mrs.Friedman, it’s Norris. You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m okay. I think I twisted my ankle, but yes. I’m fine. Where’s Aaron?”

“He’s standing over there with Skidmore, waiting for a cruiser to come pick him up. Is there anything I can do for you? Get for you?”

“Got any water?”

“Uh, not with me. We ran all the way from the ball field.”

“That’s okay. I’ll be fine.” The field suddenly lit up as bright as day, and Maisey looked up to see an ambulance pulling into the grassy area. “An ambulance?”

“Yeah. Aaron insisted they check you out. I’m sure they’ll have some water. Come on. Let me help you stand up and I’ll walk you over to them.” He held out a hand, and Maisey took it.

She sat on the back steps of the ambulance and waited, sipping on a bottle of water, while one of the EMTs checked her head to toe. In just a few minutes, a cruiser pulled in, and she was surprised to see Carly step out of it. Instead of heading to Aaron and Skidmore, she made a beeline toward Maisey. “Honey, are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. I thought I was gonna die, but I didn’t.”

Carly stood there and stared at her. “You’re wearing the coat.”

A glance down told Maisey that Carly was right, and she hadn’t even realized what had happened. She didn’t remember pulling the jacket on. To her surprise, she also didn’t remember anything that had been said while he was standing over her, but she did remember how scared she’d been. Another face appeared beside Carly, and she looked up to find her husband standing in front of her, tears pouring down his cheeks. “Aaron? Are you okay?”

“No. No, I’m not. I damn near lost you, Maise. If I’d been a split second later… If I hadn’t seen your headlights wink off when he hit you… God, baby, I was so fucking scared!” Maisey was barely on her feet when he grabbed her and wrapped her in a tight hug. “I love you, Maisey. I can’t live without you.”

“Now you won’t have to.”

“Aaron, look at her,” Carly’s voice said. “She’s got the coat on.”

Aaron released her and stepped back. “Yeah. Colin said it was the weirdest thing ever. Babe, you repeated word for word what he and Victoria had said on the night he killed her. It totally freaked him out, and I’m guessing that’s the only thing that kept him from killing you.”

“She was here with me, Aaron. Victoria was here with me. And she’s at peace. But I have a message I have to give to somebody.” She had to wait until the next day to talk to Will, but she wanted Aaron and Carly with her. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t believe her.