Give Him the Slip (41 page)

"Not a place a visitor to town would just happen to stumble
across, either. This wasn't one of the dickheads."

"Who?"

"Her old boyfriends. One of them has been bothering her, but
my gut tells me this is all about that godforsaken box." A hollow sense of
worry expanded in his gut. Damn. He'd hoped to find something out here,
anything. "There has to be something I'm missing," he muttered.
"I know this town. I know the people. I'm a trained investigator. I should
be able to see the clues. There are always clues."

"Maybe," Sara-Beth agreed. "However, I'm not so
sure that even with your training, you'd be the one to see them. Sin, you've
been away a long time. You don't know this town and its people. You don't know
the secrets. Maybe you should talk to people who do."

She had a point. "All right, so where do I start? You work
for the newspaper. You must have your finger on the pulse of Brazos Bend. Who
has something to hide?"

"Half the people in town," she replied. "I'll tell
you who you should talk to and that's Kathy Hudson. She knows—"

"Nothing," Luke interrupted. "I talked to her right
when I learned Maddie had disappeared. She flaked out. Apparently today is her
daughter's birthday and having Maddie turn up missing sent her over the edge.
She started sobbing, didn't make any sense. I felt awful for her."

"She never has gotten over Sparkle's disappearance. She still
makes huge deals out of all the anniversaries— Sparkle's birthday, all the
holidays. She even makes a homecoming mum every year with a picture of Sparkle
wearing her crown and—"

"Homecoming? Sparkle was homecoming queen?" Kathy's
strange statement flitted through his mind.
The homecoming king needed
another queen.

"Don't you remember? There was such a to-do in town that year
because no seniors were voted onto the homecoming court. It was the week before
she disappeared. Everyone expected Janis Plummer to get it, so it was a big
surprise when they announced Sparkle's name. I can't believe you don't
remember. Mark was up for king."

"But he didn't win," Luke said, sifting back through his
memories. He hadn't cared about that sort of stuff at the time, and he hadn't
thought of it at all in succeeding years. "I can't recall who did."

"Austin Rawlings."

Rawlings. Hmm. Luke's heartbeat accelerated. Maybe. The man had
power, position he valued. Worth checking into, anyway. "Do you know where
he lives?"

"He's in his dad's old house in Country Club. Randolph built
a new place on the north side of town. Luke, surely you don't think Austin is
behind this. He's no arsonist."

"It's a place to start." Luke desperately needed that.

Since Branch's house was on the way, he swung by there to collect
Matt for backup and leave Sara-Beth in a safe place. Then, for the first time
in years, he asked his father for a favor. "In case Maddie's not at
Austin's, I need a list of every piece of property the man has a stake in.
Could you work on that for me?"

"Be glad to, son. Although, if your hunch is right and
Rawlings is behind this, then I have a really good idea of where he'd take
her."

Matt and Luke shared a look. "Where's that?" Luke asked.

"His old man had a place on the river, up north of the lake.
He's owned it for years. He used to take his women there. It's isolated. Hardly
anybody knows about it. It'd be a perfect place to hold somebody hostage."

"Y'all are crazy." Sara-Beth shook her head. "This is
Austin Rawlings we're talking about. The district attorney.

There's never been even a hint of scandal attached to his name. Do
you really think he'd go to these lengths just because he wants to be
governor?"

"Governor!" Branch snorted. "Hell, Sara-Beth.
Randolph Rawlings has had a written political plan for Austin since the boy was
in elementary school. He always had his sights set higher than the governor's
office."

"Washington?"

In the great room at Austin Rawlings's river house, Kathy Hudson
cocked her gun and said, "Let her go, Rawlings."

Austin's hand tightened on Maddie's arm. "Put it down, old
woman."

Maddie sat frozen, afraid to move, as her mind tried to piece
together the puzzle. Austin killed Kathy's daughter. Oh, poor Kathy. Poor, poor
Kathy. She'd waited all these years.

When had it happened? Back all those years ago when she went
missing? Why? How did Kathy figure it out? Was Jerry Grevas blackmailing
Austin? Was the proof in the missing box? Did Austin kill Jerry? "Um,
since I'm up to my neck in trouble here, would one of you please explain why?
If I'm going to die, I'd like to know why."

"You're not going to die!" Kathy's voice went shrill.
Tears flowed down her face. "I'm sorry I got you into this, Maddie. I
never intended for you to get hurt. I trusted Luke to keep you safe. I never
thought Austin would burn down your house or go so far as to do this. I never
would have sent those notes, sent the necklace, if I'd known. I just want...
Tell me what happened. Tell me why. Tell me
where.
I need to know where
my baby is!"

"You?" Austin snapped. "You're the one who sent the
stuff? Not Callahan?"

"Sin doesn't know anything."

Austin spat a curse and raked his free hand through his hair.
"Great. Just great. Now look at the mess we're in. How did you find out?
Grevas?"

The gun in Kathy's hand shook wildly and Maddie held her breath.
Too much emotion. Too much anger and pain and despair. Kathy shook with it.
Austin vibrated with it.
Someone's going to get hurt.

"I thought he was the one who hurt my baby!" Kathy
cried. "Maddie gave me jewelry from Gus's house and I recognized Sparkle's
necklace. She was wearing it the last time I saw her. So I went to Jerry to get
answers."

"He gave you the pictures?" Austin asked. "Where
are they?"

"I don't know. I've never seen them."

"Pictures of what?" Maddie asked.

The barrel of Austin's gun nudged her skin. "That day. Me and
Sparkle. He's kept them all this time. I didn't know they existed until Jerry
was arrested for growing the shrooms. He told me about them then, said he was
in the woods that day, saw what happened. Took pictures of me and Sparkle, me
and my dad."

"Your dad! What did your father have to do with it?"

"When I realized Sparkle was... well... that she was gone, I
didn't know what to do. I went to my dad for help. He helped me bury her body
in the woods."

His father
did that?

Austin paused a moment, then mused, "That must have been when
Grevas found her necklace. I noticed it was missing, but I was afraid to tell
my dad."

Maddie couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her father would do
just about anything for her, but he'd draw the line at covering up a killing.

Austin cleared his throat. "Jerry promised me the pictures if
I let him out of jail. But they were gone. You did something with them. That's
when he attacked you."

"I never saw a box of pictures!" she protested.

"Jerry told me that he'd hidden them inside videotape sleeves,"
Kathy told them. "That's what was in the box.

VCR tapes. You told me you threw a bunch of videos away, remember,
Maddie?"

"Yes." Maddie's mind raced. Only she hadn't thrown them
all away. She'd sent a stack of movies to her dad. She doubted he'd even opened
the box yet. Could the pictures be in with those videos? Maybe she could
bargain with them now.

While Maddie debated the questions, Austin asked Kathy,
"Grevas told you this? When? Right before you killed him?"

Maddie startled. "A loan shark had him killed."

"No." Guilt rippled across Kathy's expression. "I
did, but it was self-defense. He attacked me."

"Oh, wow," Maddie muttered. Her head was spinning. She
couldn't believe this. Any of it. The district attorney and her best friend?
Both of them killers?
And I thought my
boyfriends
were bad.

Kathy's worried gaze pleaded for Maddie to understand. "I
didn't mean to kill him. He rushed me. We struggled. It was an accident!"

"Yeah, well, so was mine," Austin declared. "But
that doesn't make any difference. Dead is dead."

"Do you mean Sparkle?" Kathy brought a hand to her
heart. "It was an accident? How? Tell me how she died. Was she in
pain?"

In her peripheral vision, Maddie could see the gun barrel shake
from the tremble in Austin's hand. "No. She was angry at me. Yelling. I
didn't want the baby."

Kathy gasped. She swayed on her feet.

"I wasn't going to lie about it," Austin continued.
"We didn't have a future. I told her that from the beginning. My father
would never have allowed me to marry a girl named Sparkle who didn't have a
father and whose mother was an ex-hippie who ran a hamburger joint." He
paused, and his expression turned a bit wistful. "She was so sweet,
though. Funny. She made me laugh. I loved that about her. I loved her."

Kathy let out a little mewling sob.

Austin's voice hardened. "But I needed a wife who'd be a
political asset, not a liability. My dad had already picked her out. So Sparkle
and I kept our relationship secret. We couldn't get married, so I told her to
get an abortion."

"Oh, Sparkle," Kathy moaned.

"She got hysterical. She hit me." Austin shook his head.
"Again and again. She kept coming after me. Finally, I'd had enough. I
shoved her away. Not even that hard, just a little push."

His voiced faltered then and he cleared it before adding,
"She stumbled. Cracked her head on a rock. All the blood. It was
awful." He swallowed hard. "Awful."

Across the room, tears streamed down Kathy's face. Moisture pooled
in Maddie's eyes, too. Such a sad, tragic tale, and it had led to so much
grief.

Yet, the fact that it had been an accident gave Maddie hope.
"Austin, you don't want to do this. You're not an evil person. Kathy,
neither are you. Put down the guns, both of you. Let's not make this a bigger
tragedy than it already is."

Austin didn't speak. He didn't so much as move.

"She's right," Kathy said. "Nobody has to know. Let
Maddie go, and tell me where my Sparkle is buried, and this can be the end of
it."

"I'm not telling you anything." Austin went as taut as
one of Blade's guitar strings. "Put down your gun, old woman, or I'll pull
the trigger here and now. Maddie's like a daughter to you, isn't she? You want
to lose her, too?"

"Do you want to die, Mr. District Attorney?"

It's a standoff, Maddie thought. Neither one will give up or give
in, so we're all liable to get hurt.
We need a distraction.
If Austin
would shift the gun away from her, then maybe she could fling herself at him.
Knock him down. Knock the gun away. Kathy could make a grab for it.

Or maybe...

A new thought occurred to Maddie. How did Kathy get out here? How
did she know about this place?

Maybe she didn't come alone. Maybe she brought the distraction
with her and somebody—like Luke—waited outside to play knight in shining armor
at exactly the right moment.

Now is good, Callahan. No need to wait. Feel free to rush right in
to the rescue anytime now.

At that moment, to Maddie's amazement, the front doorknob began to
turn. Her heart leapt. Her hopes took flight. Luke! He'd come to save her.
Finally, she'd hooked up with a hero.

She drew a deep breath. A huge, welcoming smile waited to burst
forth.

Randolph Rawlings stepped into the river house carrying a
sawed-off shotgun. "Well, boy. What sort of trouble do I have to get you
out of this time?"

Maddie's heart sank.
Randolph. It's over now.

Then everything happened at once. Movement above her caught her
attention. Matt Callahan launched himself from the staircase onto Austin
Rawlings at the same time that Luke rushed in through the front door behind
Randolph. A gun discharged and Kathy screamed.

As if in slow motion, Maddie saw the shotgun come around as Luke
took the old man down. Sunlight beaming through a window glinted off the
shortened barrel.

Maddie never heard the shot.

At first, she felt no pain, just the suffocating surprise of not
being able to breathe. Then the pain came, a wave of hot, intense agony that
pulled her down... down... down into the dark.

The Careflight paramedic told Luke his first aid had saved her
life, but he didn't believe it. Nor did he believe the nurse who showed up in
the waiting room to report that the surgery was going well. He had a little
more faith in her word when she showed back up and mentioned complications.