Colleen Coble (36 page)

“Are you sure you’re ready for this, honey? It’s going to be hard. We both are pretty sure who we’re going to find in there.”

She covered his hand with hers. “I realize now I don’t know my own brother. If Ben could deceive me so completely, what does that say about me and my discernment?”

He wasn’t sure how to answer her. Little by little, he’d gotten past her defenses, but he could feel her closing up, pushing him away. And who could blame her? What Ben had done was indefensible. It would shake anyone’s foundational beliefs about human nature.

He pulled her into an embrace, but she came stiffly with her arms hanging to her sides. Her shoulders were rigid. “Let’s take this one minute at a time, okay? Don’t borrow trouble. Remember the money in the bank. Maybe he was hiding out for his own safety and didn’t want to pull his family into danger.”

A bit of the tension eased from her body at his words, even though he didn’t necessarily believe them himself. He hoped it was possible Ben had done this unselfishly, but from what Curtis knew of the man, he doubted it.

Her head on his chest moved, and she nodded. “I hope you’re right. Otherwise, this will kill my parents. And me.” She pulled away and wiped at her wet cheeks. “I’m ready.”

She squared her shoulders and marched toward the sound of the television.

Amy had heard this episode of
MASH
a dozen times or more. It was Ben’s favorite, where Hawkeye invents a Captain Tuttle to be able to get supplies to a nun. How appropriate that Ben’s favorite would be about inventing a person who never existed. She doubted her brother had done this for any kind of altruistic motive like Hawkeye.

She moved to the doorway of the living room. A man sat on the sofa facing away. She immediately recognized the shape of his skull, the curve of his jaw.

Her brother was alive and well, at least until she had a chance to kill him personally.

Her first impulse was to rush in and hug him to death, even though what he’d done was incredibly selfish and hurtful.

Tears welled in her eyes, and she recognized them as tears of joy, but she knew tears of disillusionment and pain would follow on their heels. Alive. Ben was alive. She couldn’t quite wrap her mind around the truth as she stood and stared. He must have felt or heard something because he tensed. Ben slowly turned his head, and his green-gold eyes, so like hers, widened when he saw her.

He rose, squared his shoulders, then held out one hand. “Amy.”

“Ben,” she choked out. “I
knew
it was you on the phone.”

His gaze flickered to the man behind her, and his lip curled. “Curtis. Is this your doing?”

Amy clenched her fists and took a step toward him. “Is
what
his doing? The fact that you lied to me and to our parents? The fact that you told everyone Raine is your daughter?” She glanced around. “Is Raine here?”

A muscle in his jaw twitched. “No, I don’t know where she is. I’d hoped to keep her safe.”

“Safe from who?” Curtis put in. “I have to say this is pretty low, Ben, even for a scumbag like you, but we’d hoped you had her.”

She’d known Curtis didn’t care for Ben, but she hadn’t realized until now how deep that dislike went. What had he seen that she’d missed? The deceit in the man, the selfishness?

She swallowed the boulder in her throat. “Why?”

Ben shrugged. “Better sit down. This is going to take awhile.”

A woman spoke from the steps. “I don’t think so.”

Zoe Kendrick stepped into view with a big pistol in her hand. It was pointed at Amy.

“Zoe?” Amy couldn’t take her eyes off the woman’s cold eyes. This woman was nothing like the smiling, vivacious wife of a senator she’d always known. “What are you doing?” A familiar fragrance wafted toward her. It had been Zoe’s musky cologne in the house after the break-in.

“Your brother won’t have the guts to do what needs to be done now, so I’ll take care of it myself. Luckily, we have no neighbors out here.” Zoe gestured with the gun. “Out the back. I don’t want blood on my floors.”

Ben clenched his fists. “This isn’t necessary, Zoe.”

“Good grief, Ben. Do you think either of these two are just going to go back to Hope Beach and forget they saw you? You should have thought of the consequences before you tried to blackmail Preston.”

Blackmail?
Amy stood rooted to the floor, unable to move a muscle. She had to understand this. If Ben had blackmailed Preston, would it have been about Gina? Maybe Raine was Preston’s child. Could he have had Raine kidnapped to protect her from Zoe?

Curtis took a step. “Where is Raine?”

Zoe’s finger tightened on the trigger. “If you move again, the bullet will go straight into Amy’s heart. I’m a very good shot.”

Curtis held up his hands. “Fine, I’m not moving. But where is Raine?”

Zoe’s eyes glittered. “Ben was going to help me eradicate the evidence. I suspect that somehow Preston figured out what was going on and had her moved to safety. But he has no idea I have Bossman in my pocket too. I was about to go take care of that problem when you arrived.”

“You always said you wanted to be First Lady someday,” Amy said. “Preston’s affair with Gina and his out-of-wedlock child would derail all his political ambitions.”

Zoe smiled. “I never would have known about her if Ben hadn’t gotten greedy, so I have him to thank for that. It requires a ruthless hand to cover these kinds of problems.”

Amy could see the entire convoluted pattern. “Did Preston really love Gina? He bought her an expensive wedding dress. I bet he was going to leave you. Did he send me the e-mail suggesting Ben’s ‘death’ wasn’t all it appeared?” The expression on Zoe’s face confirmed her suspicions.

Ben stood clenching and unclenching his fists as he stared at Zoe with an uneasy expression. “Is that how you ended up on the island? You got an e-mail about me? I wondered why you suddenly started poking into things.”

Amy stared at the face she’d always loved so much. “But how did you get involved, Ben? I don’t understand.”

Comprehension flashed over Curtis’s face. “I bet I know. Amy, you mentioned that he’s good friends with Preston. I bet he asked Ben to pretend to be Raine’s father to throw off suspicion when she became pregnant after working on his campaign.”

Amy stared at him. “Ben?”

Her brother didn’t meet her gaze. “Things got kind of out of hand. That’s why I faked my death. I had a friend pick me up while I was out surfing. I tossed my wetsuit overboard and made teeth marks in my surfboard.”

“I think you see we have no choice but to eliminate them.
They’ve figured it out.” Zoe gestured with the gun. “Move. Out the door. The floor is tile, so I can shoot you here if you leave me no choice. Easy cleanup.”

Amy didn’t know this hard-eyed woman, but she knew determination when she saw it. And outside, they might have a chance to escape. When Zoe cocked the gun, Amy headed for the back door. “Take it easy, we’re going.”

“Slow down!” Zoe snapped. “My gun is on lover boy’s back, so if you try to run off, he goes first.”

Amy slowed and took Curtis’s hand. They might be able to communicate by touch. They reached the deck and she paused, gauging what they might use as a distraction or a weapon. Would Ben allow this woman to shoot them? Amy couldn’t fathom the brother she knew standing aside and doing nothing to help them. She glanced back at Ben, but he didn’t meet her gaze as he brought up the rear of their little death march.

The trees were thick where they walked along the back of the property. She could pretend to trip when they entered the forest. That might provide enough distraction for Curtis to grab the gun. But how to tell Curtis what she planned?

She glanced at the path. The mulched walk turned before it ended. Branches littered the ground. A likely culprit to cause her “accident” was ten feet ahead. Squeezing Curtis’s hand, she tried to signal to the branch with her eyes and stumbled a bit. He gave a slight shake of his head, and she could only pray he understood what she planned. His fingers left hers as he reached to his head and adjusted his do-rag.

They reached the branch, and Amy tensed. Her foot touched it, and she pretended to falter, then rolled across the limb. A shot rang out, but she was facedown breathing in the scent of pine needles. Rolling quickly out of the way, she sprang to her feet and turned to face Zoe.

T
HIRTY
-N
INE

B
irds chirped overhead, and his feet kicked up pine needles as Curtis launched himself at Zoe. A shot rang out, and something ripped into his arm. He knocked the gun out of her hand as they both went down in a tangle of arms and legs.

Zoe clawed at his face. “Get off me!”

He grabbed her wrists and hauled her to her feet as blood trickled down his arm. The wound didn’t hurt that much, at least not yet. She fought like a wolverine, and though he was bigger and stronger, he struggled to keep her pinned.

“Amy, grab the gun,” he said, panting.

When he turned to look, the gun was in Ben’s hand, not Amy’s. And it was pointed at him.

“Let her go.” Ben’s finger caressed the trigger as if he wanted to pull it.

Curtis glanced at Amy. She stared at her brother with wide eyes. Her shoulders sagged as the fight drained out of her.

When she took a step toward Ben, he shook his head and motioned with the gun for her to go over by Curtis. “I’m not going to tell you again to turn Zoe loose.”

Amy reached Curtis’s side as he reluctantly released the struggling woman. “Your arm.” She touched his hand.

Curtis kept his eye on the gun. “It’s just a scratch.” Would Ben really shoot his own sister?

Zoe glared at Ben and swiped her hair out of her eyes. When she moved to Ben’s side, she reached for the gun, but he jerked it away. She frowned, then dropped her hands back to her sides without a word.

Ben gestured to Zoe. “You can join them.” She gasped and reached for him, but he turned the gun on her. “Do what I said, or I’ll shoot you where you stand.”

“Ben, we’re in this together.” Her voice quavered, but she shuffled to where Curtis stood.

Ben’s lips flattened. “I think it’s time we broke up the partnership. I can’t trust you. With you out of the way, I can take my money and disappear into Central America, just like I planned.”

“But everything is nearly over now, once we clear up this little detail.”

“Look, when Grant’s cover was blown, I took care of him for you, but you keep upping your demands. If it hadn’t been that you needed another henchman with Grant gone, I’m sure you would have killed me too. I’m sick of it. I want out.” He motioned with the pistol. “Get going.”

Took
care
of
Grant
. Ben must have killed Grant or arranged to have him killed before the authorities could question him. If Curtis didn’t do something, the cold-eyed man might really kill his own sister. Zoe bit her lip and started off down the path. Curtis glanced at Amy, then took her hand and followed. How did he plan to dispose of them?

Amy squeezed his hand, then pulled loose and turned to face her brother. “Ben, you’re not going to shoot me. You and I both know it. I’m tired and Curtis is hurt. I’m going back.”

The gun shook in Ben’s hand. “I don’t want to hurt you, Ames, but I’m in too deep. I don’t intend to go to jail. Surely you wouldn’t
want that either. Can you promise me you’ll let me leave the country and never tell Mom and Dad what happened here? I know you’ll keep your word.”

Curtis cast a surreptitious glance around. Ben stood on uneven ground. If Curtis tackled him, it should be easy to take him over.

Her eyes soft, Amy held her hand out toward her brother. “Give yourself up. Tell the police what really happened here.”

Ben shook his head. “I killed a man. I never thought I’d sink so far, but things just got out of hand. I have enough money to get out of the country now and live well. I intend to take this second chance.”

Amy glanced at Zoe, who was looking more and more panicked. “She had Bossman kill Gina, didn’t she? And then forced you into killing Grant. Once his identity was revealed, she knew it would only be a matter of time before the police found out what she’d done.”

Ben shook his head. “Zoe tried to have me killed too, but I realized what was going on and faked my own death so I could get the heat off until I figured out what to do. I knew she’d gone too far when she had Bossman plant that bomb in Curtis’s car. You could have been killed! I never wanted to see you hurt.”

“You started it!” Zoe said. “Demanding more and more money. I had no choice.”

Bile rose in Curtis’s throat. This woman had had his sister killed. “Why did she have to die? She loved Preston, I know she did. The money in her account. I can’t believe she would blackmail Preston.”

Ben had the grace to look ashamed. “I told her the money was support from Preston. I didn’t want to leave her with nothing.”

Amy gasped. “You loved her?”

He nodded. “I would have taken her with me if she would have gone, but she loved Preston in spite of his weakness. When she started going to church, she broke it off though. And she was livid when she found out the support money had been blackmail money.”