Fatal Disclosure (13 page)

Mark bent over and peered at a sculpture of a snow goose in flight. He started to touch the wing tip but drew his hand back. “Is it all right if I touch it?”

“Sure. Pick it up and get a good look at it.”

Mark placed both hands on the piece and held it up to the light. “The workmanship on this is outstanding.”

Luke and Betsy exchanged a surprised look. “You sound like you know wood carving,” Luke said.

Mark put the piece down, shook his head and backed away. “I’ve dabbled in it as a hobby since I was a kid, but I can’t do anything like this.”

“Never can tell until you try.” Luke stroked his chin for a moment. “How long you gonna be on the island?”

“A few weeks. Why?”

“I was just thinking,” Luke said, “I don’t get many folks in here interested in carving. If you want to hang out here with me for a few days, you might pick up some tricks of the trade. You might be interested in seeing the pieces I’m shipping to the mainland this week.”

Mark shook his head. “I don’t know…” Before he could finish his statement, the bell over the door tinkled. He turned and glanced at the man entering the shop. Dressed in khaki pants, a tucked in T-shirt and a loose, unbuttoned sports shirt, he looked like a typical tourist. But something in the way his eyes darted about the room sent a warning signal. Maybe it was the jagged scar over his left eye that gave him a sinister appearance.

Luke sucked in his breath at the sight of the man. “Excuse me a minute. I need to speak with this customer.”

Betsy, who had been examining a carved brant, waved her hand in dismissal. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll just look around.”

Mark watched Luke approach and shake hands with the man. After a few whispered words, Luke called across the room to one of his sales workers. “Take care of the customers. I’ll be right back.”

The man with the scar glanced over his shoulder at Mark before he followed Luke through a door with an Office sign on the door. Their eyes locked for a moment before the man looked away.

Mark narrowed his eyes and tried to memorize every detail of the man’s appearance. He was about to turn back to Betsy when he caught sight of something that jarred him. For a split second the right side of the man’s unbuttoned shirt opened to reveal a suspender clip attached to the waist of his pants.

The hair on the back of Mark’s neck stood up. Why was a tourist on Ocracoke carrying a gun? And what was he doing in Luke Butler’s office? He needed to let Brock and Scott know about this.

Betsy stepped up beside him. “What’s the matter?”

He took her by the arm. “We need to leave.”

She frowned and tried to pull away. “We just got here. I thought you wanted to talk to Luke some more about his decoys.”

“I’ll do that tomorrow. I intend to be back here first thing in the morning. There are some questions I’d like to ask Luke.”

Betsy relaxed and allowed him to lead her from the studio. Once in the car, he headed toward the bed-and-breakfast. Questions ran through his mind as he drove. Why was the man armed in the middle of vacationing families? What was Luke Butler’s connection to him? And could the stranger’s appearance in the studio where he had gone have anything to do with the threats on Betsy’s life?

He didn’t know the answers to those questions, but he intended to keep a close eye on Luke Butler. He had just emerged as a person of interest in John Draper’s death and the attacks on Betsy.

* * *

Betsy put the last dinner plate in the dishwasher, picked up a dish towel from the kitchen counter and glanced over her shoulder at Kate, who sat at the table with the baby in her arms. “Dinner was delicious, Kate, but you shouldn’t have gone to all this trouble.”

Kate shook her head and smiled. “It was fun. Being home with the baby has given me a chance to work on my cooking skills. I’m not as good as Treasury yet, but I’m making progress.”

“I wish Treasury could have come tonight, but she was tired. She said she wanted to get to bed early.”

Lisa entered the kitchen and held up a glass. “I just found this in the living room. I think Emma must have taken it in there.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Kate said. “I find dishes all over the house, but it’s good to have her here. She’s so good with the baby, and he loves her so much.” She turned a questioning stare in Betsy’s direction. “Scott tells me he took you and Mark out in the boat yesterday morning. Is everything going all right there?”

Betsy hardly knew how to answer the question. On the surface everything seemed fine, but she couldn’t tell her sister and sister-in-law how she was struggling with her attraction to Mark. She sighed. “Yeah, it’s fine. I just wish he could wrap up his case and go home.”

Lisa dropped down in a chair at the kitchen table and crossed her arms. “Scott said he noticed how Mark watched you during the trip out on the Sound. He thinks Mark might be having thoughts about picking up where the two of you left off in Memphis.”

Betsy didn’t want to have this conversation. If she didn’t understand her feelings about Mark, how could she explain them to anyone else? “Scott’s wrong. There was nothing between us before except friendship, and we’re trying to regain that. But I’m not sure it’s working. I’ll just be glad when Mark’s gone from Ocracoke and out of my life forever.”

Lisa’s forehead wrinkled. “But Scott thought…”

Betsy gritted her teeth and tossed the towel she held onto the kitchen counter. “I don’t care what Scott said, Mark Webber is the last man in the world I would ever become involved with.”

The words had scarcely left her mouth before she sensed a fourth presence in the room. She glanced toward the doorway, and her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach at the sight of Mark standing there. His expression gave no indication whether or not he’d heard her, but she knew he had. How she wished she could take back the words, but she couldn’t.

He cleared his throat and stepped into the room. “Scott and Brock have to be up early in the morning. If you’re ready, I’ll take you back to Treasury’s.”

She felt numb, but she was able to nod. “I’m ready.” She glanced at Kate who started to rise, but Betsy put out a hand to stop her. “Don’t get up. We’ll show ourselves out. Dinner was delicious. I’ll talk to you both tomorrow.”

Mark moved aside, but her arm brushed against him as she walked through the door. The contact sent a tingle of pleasure racing up her arm. She clenched her fists and didn’t glance at him.

“Thanks for dinner, Kate. I enjoyed it, and I hope we’ll get a chance to do this again before I leave the island.”

Betsy heard him, but she didn’t turn around. She hurried into the living room and hugged Emma, Brock and Scott good-night. Then she fled to Mark’s car in the driveway. He followed her but didn’t speak as he climbed in.

He started the engine and reached over and punched the CD player before he pulled out into the street. They rode back to the bed-and-breakfast with the music of her favorite Christian rock group filling the silence between them.

The closeness she had felt to Mark earlier in the day seemed to have disappeared. She wished she could bring it back, but she didn’t know how. When they entered Treasury’s house, he walked her to her studio door and waited for her to enter. She turned to face him.

“Mark, I’m sorry if you heard what I said to Kate and Lisa. I didn’t say it to hurt you.”

He nodded. “I know. You only said what we both know is the truth, Betsy. There’s nothing between us, and there never will be.”

Hearing the words he spoke cut through her heart like a knife, but she tried to smile. “We’re still friends. Right?”

A sad smile pulled at his lips. “We’re still friends. Sleep well, Betsy. I’ll see you in the morning.”

She watched him walk back to his room and wondered if the slump in his shoulders was caused by what she’d said. She shook her head. No, he was probably tired. She stepped inside her room and closed the door behind her.

The moment the door closed an uneasy feeling rushed through Betsy’s body. She’d left the lamp on the bedside table burning earlier, but the room was now in total darkness. She felt for the light switch on the wall and flipped it, but nothing happened. The hallway lights had been burning when she came upstairs, but her room could be on another circuit breaker. She’d better go to the electrical box in the utility room and check it out.

A soft breeze blew across the room, and Betsy froze. In the moonlight she could make out the fluttering curtains. She hadn’t left the window open. She remembered checking it before she left.

Betsy fumbled for the door knob, but before she could pull it open, a figure materialized from the darkness and forced himself between her and the door. Strong fingers circled her neck, and the barrel of a pistol rammed against her temple. “If you make a sound, I’ll kill you and then kill your boyfriend when he comes to your rescue. Do you understand?”

Betsy twisted in an attempt to break free, but the fingers tightened. “Yes,” she squeaked.

“Good.” He pushed her backward across the room until she bumped up against her desk. Her hands dangled at her side, but his body pinned her against the desk. “Now, where is it?” he hissed.

Tears welled in her eyes, and she tried to shake her head. “I—I d-don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He pressed the gun harder against her head. “I’ll kill you if you don’t tell me.”

What did he want? “I—I d-don’t have anything.”

Betsy felt his body tense, and she closed her eyes. Was he getting ready to squeeze the trigger? He pushed her again until she was bent back over the desk. Frantic now at her impending death, she stretched her arms behind her and clawed at the desk’s surface in search of a weapon. Anything to help her. Her fingers brushed the Degas mug with its assortment of pens and pencils inside.
And a pair of scissors for trimming excess canvas.

She grappled for the mug, and her fingers skimmed over the contents until she felt the scissors. Wrapping her fingers around the handle, she slipped the scissors out of the mug and held them at her back.

“I’m tired of playing games. I’ll give you one more chance. Now tell me where it is.”

“I’ve told you I don’t know.” Her voice broke on the last word.

He glanced over his shoulder toward the bed. “All right, you asked for it. A pillow ought to muffle the gunshot sound. Then I’ll tear this room apart until I get what I came after.”

Her eyes had now grown accustomed to the dark, and she could make out his figure. Dressed in black, he blended in well in the darkened room. Out of the corner of her eye, she could also make out the shape of the gun he held. He pulled the gun a few inches away from her head and yanked her forward.

As she stumbled toward him, she swung her hand around and buried the scissors in the soft flesh of his stomach. She couldn’t see the expression on his face, but she heard his groan. The hand holding the pistol dropped away from her head, and she pulled the scissors out and rammed them in again.

“Mark!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Mark! Help me!”

The man clutched at his stomach and staggered backward. Betsy tried to run past him, but he grabbed her by the arm and spun her back. “I’m not done with you yet,” he muttered.

The door crashed open, and light from the hall flooded into the room. It illuminated the figure standing in front of her, and recognition kicked in. She’d seen this man in Luke Butler’s studio. She remembered because of the scar over his eye.

“Let her go, or I’ll shoot!” Mark’s voice from the doorway bounced off the walls.

Betsy’s heart leaped at the sight of Mark, his legs spread in a wide stance and both hands clutching the pistol aimed at the man. Her attacker whirled, faced Mark and raised his gun. Before he could fire, the report of Mark’s gun split the air, and the man slammed back against the desk. The gun dropped from his hand, and Betsy scooped it up.

A look of disbelief flashed across the man’s face, and he stared at the bloodstains spreading on his pants and shirt. He touched the spot where she’d first stabbed him and glared at her. With a roar, he pushed away from the desk and ran toward the window.

“Stop!” Mark yelled.

Mark raised the gun again, but before he could fire, the man jumped through the open window. A loud thud signaled his impact with the ground two floors below. Mark rushed over and peered out the window. Betsy tried to move, but her legs refused to cooperate. “Do you see him?” she asked.

Mark turned and nodded. “He’s on the ground in the yard. I’ll go check on him. You call 911.”

Betsy pulled her cell phone from her pocket, but her fingers shook so violently that she thought she might not be able to punch in the numbers. She’d just finished speaking with the 911 dispatcher when Treasury hobbled into the room. Panting for breath, she hurried toward Betsy and held her at arm’s length.

“Are you all right? I’ve never been so frightened in my life.”

Betsy wiped at the tears on her cheeks and tried to smile. “I’m all right.”

“What on earth happened up here? The guests are all huddled in the hall scared to death.”

Treasury’s mouth dropped open as Betsy related the events of the past few minutes. “But thanks to Mark I’m all right now,” she said as she finished.

Treasury wrapped her arms around Betsy and hugged her. “Thank goodness. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”

Mark walked back into the room at that moment and stopped beside her. “Brock and Scott are already here. They’re in the backyard, but they’ll be up in a minute to check on you. We searched the man’s clothing, but he didn’t have any identification on him. I recognized him, though. He was at Luke’s studio.”

Betsy nodded. “I know. Is he alive?”

Mark exhaled sharply. “No. And that means we can’t question him about who sent him here and what he wanted.”

The sinister tone of the man’s voice flashed in Betsy’s mind, and she began to shake. The tears she thought had stopped returned full force. “He was going to kill me, Mark. He pushed me back toward the bed to get a pillow to muffle the sound. He would have killed me if…”

Her body began to shake with the sobs that erupted from deep within her soul. Mark reached out and gathered her into his arms. He pulled her close and held her so tightly she could feel the beat of his heart. “It’s all right, Betsy. I’m here, and I’ll stay with you.”