Sealed with a Kill (24 page)

Paula pushed her lower lip out in a small pout. Brenna marveled that she had ever been charmed by this girl.

“It’s okay,” Paula said. “I’ve been moving the money overseas. Even if they freeze my New York account, the bulk of it is already far away just waiting for me.”

“So, why did you kill Lester?” Brenna asked. “Couldn’t you just take the money and go without killing him?”

Siobhan tripped over a root and stumbled, falling to the ground. Paula let out an impatient sigh.

“Get up!” she snapped.

Siobhan rolled to her side and then onto her knees. Being locked in the car had obviously left her weak, and she moved slowly as she got back to her feet.

“Be more careful,” Paula said. “I’d hate to have to shoot you before we get there.”

“Where?” Siobhan asked.

“You’ll see,” Paula said. Her voice had a childlike singsong quality to it that made Brenna’s skin crawl.

“To answer your question, Brenna, I had to kill Lester because he figured it out.”

“Figured what out?” Brenna asked.

“That I’m Rupert Morse’s daughter,” she said. “My original plan had been to bankrupt the company by romancing a fortune out of Lester. That was going quite well until his wife caught on that he was cheating. Stupid man. He told her that he was in love with me and that we were soul mates—how embarrassing—and that we were going to run away together.”

“You never planned to be with him, did you?”

“That old prune?” Paula gave a derisive laugh. “No way. But Mrs. Lester went to Morse and told him what Harvey was planning. He then told Harvey all about his affair with my mother. His argument was that affairs happen, but you don’t throw your life away on them.

“Sadly, I hadn’t counted on this. Most unfortunate for poor Harvey, he put it all together and realized I was Morse’s daughter and that I wasn’t in love with him, shocker, but was just using him to destroy Morse.”

“So, you shot him,” Siobhan said. Her head was cocked to the side as she walked, and Brenna could tell she was cataloging every word Paula said.

“What choice did I have?” Paula snapped. “He actually wanted all of the money back. I mean, really, like that was going to happen.”

Leaves crunched and twigs snapped under their feet. The night air was cold and Brenna could see her breath. Despite her familiarity with the woods, she was struggling to figure out where they were or how they could get out of here.

“Stop here,” Paula ordered.

Siobhan and Brenna both stopped and turned to face her.

“It worked out better than I hoped,” Paula said. “Daddy dearest will now spend his life in jail and I will be free. Free to live the life I always deserved.”

“No one has the right to take a life,” Siobhan said, stepping toward Paula.

“They took my life first,” Paula said and shoved Siobhan back.

Siobhan staggered and fell against Brenna, who felt something sharp gouge her wrists. Siobhan was stabbing at the rope with what felt like a piece of glass. She must have picked it up when she’d fallen.

Brenna didn’t even care if Siobahn nicked her skin. She pulled against the rope and felt the glass slice it, leaving it frayed. She knew it would be enough. She shoved Siobhan away as if she was annoyed.

Paula was watching them through a narrowed gaze.

“Just because you had a rough childhood is no reason to murder people to get what you want,” Brenna said. She wanted to distract her from watching Siobhan too closely.

“What do you know?” Paula snapped. “I know all about you, Brenna Miller. You grew up in Boston, attended private schools, and lived a privileged life. Until you decided to rob your own art gallery, and then it all went wrong, didn’t it?”

Brenna felt her teeth clench. “I didn’t rob the gallery.”

“Yeah, sure,” Paula scoffed. “Then why are you hiding out in this backwoods town? What happened? Did your criminal friends screw you over?”

Brenna felt a hot burst of rage override her panic. She welcomed it. It felt so much better than being afraid.

“You don’t know anything,” she snapped. “Certainly not about me. I came here to get away from the criminals in Boston, the ones who stripped me of my life there, but what I have come to discover is that bad people are everywhere, and they are frequently the people you least suspect.”

“Is that a jab at me?” Paula asked. “Did I disappoint you? Pardon me if I couldn’t care less.”

Brenna opened her mouth to retort but Siobhan made a sudden leap at Paula. She’d gotten her hands free, and the two of them went down with a grunt and an oomph.

Brenna scrambled to rip off the rope at her wrists. She yanked her arms apart and the rope gave way, freeing her hands. She was shaking off the rope when a gunshot roared through the night air, and she jumped with a screech.

“Siobhan, are you all right?” she called.

“I’ve got her gun,” Siobhan said. “Run, Brenna, run!”

The two women thrashed on the ground. Brenna tried to get closer, but in the nighttime shadows, she couldn’t see who was who. Something sailed passed Brenna’s head, and with a curse, Paula jumped off of Siobhan.

“Damn it, Brenna, run!” Siobhan yelled. She was holding her shoulder with one hand, and even in the dark, Brenna could see the bloody stain spreading on her white blouse.

“Go! Now!” Siobhan ordered.

Paula was thrashing around in the leaves, searching for her weapon. Brenna knew the only chance Siobhan had was for her to run and get help. Paula would have to chase her since she couldn’t risk Brenna bringing help. Brenna just hoped she could outrun Paula and get back to Siobhan in time. Without looking back, she tore through the woods.

Branches reached out and clawed at her. She twisted her ankles on roots and rocks and still she ran. She could hear Paula pounding the earth behind her, swearing at her, cursing her, and still Brenna ran. A gunshot went off and a tree to Brenna’s right exploded in a shower of wood and bark. Apparently, Paula had found her gun.

Terrified, Brenna put on a burst of speed. Her lungs were burning from the cold night air, and she ducked between the large tree trunks, hoping for cover. She saw the wink of a light through the trees and she knew she was getting closer to the cabins. The sound of the lake lapping against the shore filled the night, and she broke through the trees back onto the main path.

There was a grunt behind her and she knew that Paula had either fallen or run into a tree. Brenna dashed on, hoping to buy herself some time.

The porch lights from all of the cabins were on, illuminating the little community of cabins around the lake. She ran toward them, cutting across the meadow.

A lone figure was running toward her. Brenna recognized him instantly and felt her heart lift. Of course, he was here just when she needed him most. She almost burst into tears, she was so relieved to see him.

“Brenna!” he called. She plowed into him, and he hugged her close.

“Are you all right? Where have you been? I was getting worried,” he said. He was running his hands over her, as if assuring himself that she was all right.

“There’s no time.” Brenna glanced over her shoulder. “She’s coming and she has a gun.”

She grabbed his hand and began to run toward the cabins. They skirted around the corner of the second vacant one. She glanced up and saw Chief Barker’s squad car cruising down the driveway.

“Chief Barker’s here?”

“He was. He’s just leaving,” he said. “He got a call about a missing person and came out here to check.”

“Siobhan,” Brenna said. Brian must have called about her. She wondered how long Siobhan had been in that car and how much longer she could lie bleeding in the woods. A sob escaped her.

“Brenna, who are we hiding from?” he asked. “What’s happening?”

“Paula, one of my leaf-peeping students, showed up at my cabin. She had a gun. She shot Siobhan.”

“What?” He pulled Brenna around to face him. He cupped her face, and even in the faint light from the distant cabins, she could see the intensity of his gaze as it met hers.

“I’m fine,” Brenna said and squeezed his hands in reassurance. She turned back to the corner of the cabin to peer at the woods. Sure enough, Paula came tumbling through the trees. She was gasping for breath and brandishing her gun.

“Brenna, come out, come out, wherever you are.” Paula’s voice was singsong and sickeningly sweet and made Brenna’s scalp prickle with alarm.

A sweep of headlights shone across the grass as a car pulled into the lot.

“Oh, thank goodness, the chief is back,” Brenna said. But when they glanced up at the communal parking lot, it wasn’t Chief Barker; it was Tenley and Matt.

“Oh, no,” Brenna said. “I have to go and head them off. She’ll shoot Tenley for sure.”

“Why would she shoot Tenley?” he asked.

“Because Tenley is her half sister,” Brenna said. “Stay here.”

“No, I’ll go; you stay,” he said.

But it was too late. Paula had already seen Tenley. She strode across the grass, determination in her steps. In the gloom, Brenna could see the similarity between them. They had the same posture and tilt to their noses; even their chins jutted in the same stubborn manner. But where Tenley’s face was soft with kindness and warmth, Paula’s was brittle with bitterness and resentment. Why hadn’t Brenna seen it before?

“Paula!” Tenley cried, sounding happy to see the girl of whom she’d grown so fond. “I thought you had left to go back to New York.”

“Change of plans,” Paula said. Her eyes were scanning the dark as she held the gun behind her back.

“Oh, well, if you’re staying, you’ll have to come to the next decoupage class,” Tenley said. “I’m sure Brenna has something wonderful planned.”

“I’ll mark my calendar,” she said. “Speaking of Brenna, have you talked to her lately?”

“No, in fact, she was supposed to call me earlier, but she never did,” Tenley said. “I suppose I’m being overprotective, but I had a bad feeling and we were on our way past, so we thought we’d pop in to see if she was here.”

“I thought she said something about having a date,” Paula said.

“See? I told you,” Matt said. “She’s out on a hot date. I’m sure she’ll call you later and tell you all about it in glorious detail.”

Brenna could feel the man pressed up against her back. The heat of him was so warm and reassuring, she wasn’t even embarrassed that they were listening to others discuss her love life.

Please go
, she thought, hoping Tenley would get her mental message.
Go, go, go
.

“Do you think she’ll harm them?” he whispered in her ear.

“I don’t know,” Brenna said. “I hope not. Oh, God, I hope not.”

“Stay here,” he said.

“But what are you . . . ?” She didn’t get a chance to finish the question.

Nate’s lips landed on hers in a kiss that was firm and swift, as if he were trying to memorize the feel of her against him and at the same time promising her that he’d be right back. And then he was gone.

Brenna clamped her hand to her mouth as he slipped around the back side of the cabin. What was he going to do? This couldn’t be good.

She refused to let Nate put himself in danger. She carefully crept to the front corner of the cabin. Her heart was hammering in her throat.

“Are you ready, Tenley?” Matt asked.

“I guess so,” Tenley said, although she didn’t sound very sure.

She turned to go, but then spun back around and stared at Paula. “I’m sorry; why did you say you were here?”

There was a moment of taut silence as the two women stared at each other. Then Paula tossed her hair back and gave Tenley a slow smile.

“I came by looking for Brenna, but I must have missed her. I had a decoupage question for her, but I only just remembered about her date. I was just admiring the beautiful lake.”

“Oh,” Tenley said. She looked somewhat reassured.

Brenna felt herself relax as Matt took her arm and led her away. Paula’s gaze whipped to the cabins, and Brenna knew she was searching for her.

She couldn’t very well shoot Brenna with Matt and Tenley in earshot, but Brenna didn’t want to do anything that would endanger them or the baby, so she waited until they reached their car.

Brenna stepped forward. Paula spun to face her. They stared at each other for the briefest moment when all of a sudden a shadow erupted from behind the other side of the cabin and launched itself at Paula. She went down with a shriek.

Hank had caught her off guard and toppled her. Nate was right behind him, and Brenna ran forward. Paula still had the gun and Brenna was not about to let anything happen to the two most important men in her life.

Brenna saw Paula trying to get her gun hand free to shoot. Before she could, Brenna lifted her right leg and stomped on Paula’s wrist, trapping it under her heavy boot. Then she reached down and wrenched the gun out of Paula’s hand.