The Next Accident (28 page)

Albert merely smiled. His gaze flicked once again to the wall clock.

"I was at Mandy's one night when you called," Albert said. "Got to hear one helluva stilted conversation, that was for sure. Really, Quince, you never did understand your own daughter. You ought to be ashamed of yourself."

"He milked her for information," he said softly. "And then he killed her."

"
I
came up with the idea. Get her drunk and behind the wheel of the car. It was a little risky. Maybe she didn't die right away. Maybe she regained consciousness. In the end, who cared? She was so damn drunk, she'd never remember what really happened, and we could always arrange a little accident in the hospital."

"We?"

"I," Albert said hastily. "
I
could arrange a little accident. I considered her murder a little test, Quince. Would you catch on? How good was Quantico 's best of the best? But, true to form, when it comes to your family your instincts are a complete zero. Hell, you didn't even stay at her bedside. Just showed up and agreed to pull the plug. You helped kill your daughter, Quince. Not that I mind, but how do you feel about that?"

He ignored the question. "You used her to approach Bethie."

"Sure. Mandy told us… me! all about her mom. Favorite restaurants, favorite music, favorite food. It's not rocket science after that. And I do have my charm."

"Bethie hates charm. He approached her as an organ recipient. He disguised himself as part of Mandy."

Albert's eyes widened. He clearly hadn't known they knew that much. His gaze dashed to the clock. The time seemed to soothe him. He took a deep breath and eyed his interrogator more warily.

"When I'm brilliant, Quincy, I'm brilliant," Albert tried.

Quincy merely shook his head. "He had to wait over a year for Mandy to die. Did that make him anxious? That couldn't have been part of his plan."

"Patience is a virtue," Albert said.

"No, he got nervous. He needed my attention for the game to be interesting. So he used Mary Olsen to raise my suspicion."

"I didn't want destroying you to be too easy," Albert said. "After fifteen years of planning, a guy's gotta have a little fun."

"Mary Olsen is dead."

That shocked him. Albert's gaze widened again and this time, he distinctly paled. "Ummm, yeah."

"How'd you kill her, Albert?"

"I…uh…"

"Gun, knife?"

"I shot her!"

"You poisoned her, asshole!" He felt a spark of anger, then checked himself, and said more sternly, "She received a care package in the mail, chocolates from her lover, laced with cyanide. Horrible way to die."

"Stupid bitch," Albert muttered. He was definitely uncomfortable now. His fingers drummed on the table.

"How do you think he'll kill you?"

"Shut up!" His eyes shot to the clock.

"Poison? Or something more personal? You're a liability, Albert. A big, fat liability who, thanks to Glenda, is in no shape to run and hide."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

"Or did you forget that from the Sanchez case? Psychopaths can have partners, but partners are never equal. Miguel Sanchez lived. His partner, Richie, died on a prison floor with his balls crammed down his throat."

Albert shot up from his chair. The movement jarred the supporting chair from beneath his injured leg and his cast fell heavily to the floor, making him yelp. Albert gripped the edge of the table to keep himself from falling, then glared at him with a face mottled with rage.

"You just fucking blew it!" he roared. "I was gonna tell you where your father is. I was gonna take pity on the pathetic old man. But not now. Now he can rot where he is, tied up, starving, shitting in his own pants and getting bedsores from his piss. How do you like them apples, you arrogant prick!"

"My father is dead," he said quietly, though he really didn't know that and his heart had begun to beat hard in his chest. This was the big risk. The life-or-death gamble. If he was wrong…
I'm sorry. Lord have mercy, because I cannot.
"My father is dead," he repeated more forcefully. "We already found his body."

"Impossible!"

"Would you like to go to the morgue to see him?"

"But he shouldn't have washed up for days, not after all the weights we put on him." Albert suddenly heard his own words. He drew up short, then burst out, "You tricked me.
Goddammit, you ice-cold son of a bitch,
you gave up on your own dad!"

"All in a day's work," he murmured, though his throat felt tight now. He had an ache in his chest. Montgomery was a monster. The UNSUB was a monster. God, he was sick of all of this.

"It's over, Albert," he said hoarsely. "You're nothing but a liability now. You either talk to us, or you die for him."

"You don't know shit!"

"Tell that to Mary Olsen."

"Dammit,
I'm
the one in charge here."

"Then prove it! Tell us something we don't know. Dazzle me!"

Albert froze. He suddenly smiled. He drew himself up straight. His gaze was on the wall clock again, but this time he made no attempt to hide it.

"Hey Quincy," he said. "Here's something interesting. Mandy wasn't the first target. Mandy didn't give up her family. Kimberly did."

"What?"

"Oh, look at the time. Four-fourteen P.M. Why don't you call your daughter's hotel room, Quincy? Reach out and chastise Kimberly who's staying right where Everett told me she would be. Oh wait, I'm sorry, you won't be able to reach your daughter anymore. Four-fifteen P.M. Time's up, Agent. And your daughter is
dead."

Portland
,
Oregon

When the phone
on the coffee table finally rang, Rainie nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Shit," she said, then glanced hastily over at Kimberly.

"Shit," Kimberly agreed. One P.M. Much later than they had thought and they were both now wound too tight. Rainie scooped up the phone before it could ring again.

"Hello."

"Rainie? It's Luke. I got a problem."

"What problem?" she said without thinking. Then her eyes widened and she motioned furiously to Kimberly. The girl got the hint and ran for her Glock.

"I'm not convinced this afternoon's meeting is the way to go, Rainie," the man was saying. "Maybe too risky. Can we meet ahead of time and talk about it?"

"My God, you're a perfect mimic," Rainie murmured. "If I didn't know any better…"

"What's that?" He sounded friendly and still so much like Luke Hayes that even knowing better, one part of her kept thinking it was him. But it wasn't. He was simply a person with a superb aptitude for mimicry and an extremely cruel sense of humor.

"How did you get this number?" she asked.

"I looked up the hotel."

"I never told you where we were staying,
Luke."

"Sure you did. When we met with Mitz."

"No, I didn't. And Luke knew better than to ask where I would be. Nice try. Super Freak. Wanna try again?"

The voice changed instantly, from an almost dead-on impression of Luke Hayes to the silky, smooth voice Rainie remembered from yesterday on the phone. "Why Ms. Conner, you don't trust your own friends. How interesting. You know Bethie surprised me, too. She actually requested a background check on me. What do you suppose it means that all the women in Quincy 's life are so suspicious?"

"That he values common sense. Where are you?"

"Now Rainie," the caller chided. "After all this time you wouldn't take this fun from me, would you? I truly deserve an A for effort."

"You did deserve an A for effort. But Glenda Rodman lived, and I got you pegged."

"Glenda Rodman was supposed to live."

"What, you got a weakness for stern gray suits?" He laughed. "Come now, we both know Albert Montgomery is incompetent. You were a police officer, Rainie, you know the importance of understanding your fellow officers' strengths and weaknesses. I let Albert have Glenda. He really has such a deep-seated rage for anyone in law enforcement. I think it goes back to his father, a washed-up security guard. A little too strict, Albert's father. He produced a son who desperately needed to prove himself better than his own dad, and yet despised himself all the more for following in his father's footsteps. But that's neither here nor there. Albert's conflicted, Albert's incompetent. Therefore, it stood to reason, Albert would fail."

"You bet against your own pawn," Rainie said.

"Of course, although it hardly matters. If Albert succeeded, Pierce would stand accused of Glenda's shooting and would have to return to Virginia. If Albert failed, Pierce would need to question Albert and he'd have to return to Virginia for that. Either way, I win my game."

"You lured Quincy back home so you could kill him."

"No, I lured Quincy
away,
so I could kill
you."

"Oops, I'm sorry. But now that I've given it some thought, I don't feel like dying today." Rainie made another motion to Kimberly. The girl nodded, and headed straight for each window, cautiously raising the sash and inspecting the outdoor fire escape. Kimberly looked both up and down. When she was done, she left the windows open as they had planned, nodded to Rainie that the fire escape was clear, and headed for the bedroom to do the same with those windows there.

"Are you afraid of hell, Rainie?" the man asked. Rainie could hear static now. He was definitely calling from a cell phone, which meant he could be anywhere.Riding up the elevator. Creeping down the hall. He thought keeping her talking would keep her distracted. He would learn soon enough that talking was his mistake.

"I'm not afraid of hell," she answered. "I pretty much figure that's what life is for."

"Suffering here on earth? Come now, surely you have some notion of spiritual reward and punishment. Given everything you've done, that must make you wonder where you will spend your end of days."

"You're one to talk. Your whole life is about punishing Quincy. To do that you've killed how many people? It
therefore stands to reason,"
she mocked him, "that you're not one for religion, since your eternal punishment is gonna be one helluva long suntan session."

Kimberly returned from the bedroom, shaking her head. So far, nothing on the fire escape. She started toward the door, but Rainie hastily waved her away. She'd read of people getting shot as they peered through the peephole. She didn't know if that could really happen, and she didn't want to find out. She gestured to the carpet. Kimberly got the hint and peered beneath the door instead. No sign of feet.

"Are you going to kill me, Rainie?" the man asked.

"I'm thinking about it."

"Oh, thinking's not good enough. You have to commit to the act, Rainie. Visualize the goal, imagine yourself as the victor."

"Wonderful,
Chicken Soup for the Serial Killer.
Just once, I'd like to be attacked by a mute."

Kimberly was looking at Rainie for new instructions. The girl was clearly nervous. Despite her cavalier tone, Rainie was increasingly nervous, too. He was close. He craved intimacy with his victims. He liked to be there for the kill.

"Is Kimberly with you?" the man asked.

"Why? I'm not good enough for you?" Rainie was desperately looking around the room. The fire escape was clear, the hotel-room door clear. Where else could he come from? What had they missed?

And then she got it. Simultaneously, she and Kimberly both looked up. Jesus Christ, there was the tip of a drill bit coming through their ceiling. How the hell had he done that?

"Go!" Rainie yelled.

Kimberly dashed for the front door just as the man said, "Thank you, Rainie. I'd love to come in."

Too late, she realized her mistake. If he'd been actively drilling, they would've heard it, so it had to have been sometime earlier. And peering beneath the door was never foolproof. All the person had to do was stand to one side. Rainie shot to her feet.

But Kimberly had already flung open the door and his gun was already pointed at her chest.

"Carl Mitz," Rainie snarled.

And Kimberly whispered shakily, "Oh my God – Dr. Andrews."

"I'll take your guns, please," Dr. Andrews announced, stepping into the hotel room and kicking the door shut behind him. He was dressed plainly today. Tan chinos, white-collared shirt. He looked like anyone walking down the street, except that in addition to a large black canvas bag slung over his left shoulder, he also carried a 9mm semiautomatic. The barrel was now four inches from Kimberly's heart. The girl couldn't take her eyes off of it. Her face had gone bone-white.

"You don't surrender your weapon," Kimberly told him in an unnatural tone of voice. "An officer should never surrender her weapon!"

"Hand over the gun, Kimberly," Rainie told her tersely. "For Christ's sake, this isn't the police academy's final exam and you're not bullet-proof!"

"One of us will live," Kimberly insisted in that same tone of voice. "He'll fire, but he can't kill us both."

"Kimberly – "

"It's all my fault. Look at him. Don't you get it?
It's all
my fault!
"

Dr. Andrews smiled. He let the large canvas bag slide from his shoulder. It landed heavily on the floor. "Very good, Kimberly. I was wondering when you were going to figure that out. After all, I did tell you that I wouldn't be a stranger."

"But my anxiety attacks – "

"I tailed you. Just because I was willing to confess that you would know your own killer, didn't mean I wanted you to know that you'd already met him. Frankly, didn't it ever occur to you that you hardly saw me after your sister's funeral? You thought I was giving you time off to recover. But I was really buying myself time to destroy your family. We all have our priorities." He gestured to his sharply pressed pants and white linen shirt. "What do you think of my new look, by the way? The right wig, nicely tailored clothes, contact lenses… I wasn't always such a wreck as a professor, you know. I just thought you'd find me more comforting in tweed. So over the years, I became more and more dowdy, and you became more and more trusting. Interesting that for your mom and Mandy, I had to reverse the process. Now drop your gun and kick it over to me slowly."

"
I
thought you were my friend!
My mentor! I told you so much about my family. My father, my mother, my sister… And all along… All along…" Kimberly's body convulsed. She looked like she was going to be physically ill, yet she still didn't lower her Glock.

"Kimberly," Rainie growled. She was sweating pro-fusely, reluctant to let go of her own pistol and feeling. the situation spinning dangerously out of control.

Andrews looked at her. Kimberly noticed the change in his gaze and followed his eyes toward Rainie.
No,
Rainie started to yell, but she was too late. The instant Kimberly's focus left Andrews, he chopped his left hand down hard on her right forearm. The girl cried out, her gun slipping from nerveless fingers onto the floor. Rainie jerked up her own pistol, but found Andrews's weapon already trained at her body.

"I trust you'll be more reasonable," he said, twisting Kimberly's arm behind her back and positioning her as a human shield.

Rainie nodded. Slowly, she lowered her gun to the carpet, her gaze falling on the black canvas bag. Why such a big bag? What would he bring with him?

"Now, kick the firearm toward me."

Rainie complied, jabbing at her Glock.40 with her toe but not putting much effort into it. The heavy pistol stopped three feet away, under the glass coffee table. She made a show of shrugging helplessly, and waited to see if Andrews would push the issue. He frowned at her, but with his hands already full with one female, seemed content to let it go.

Rainie took a deep breath.
Remain calm,
she instructed herself, though her hands had begun to shake and her heart hammered in her chest. She'd kept him on the phone for a decent interval. Now if she and Kim-berly could stall him just a minute or two more. The open windows. The unwatched fire escape with easy access to their room. Come on, cavalry…

What was in that bag?

Kimberly was weeping. Trapped against Andrews, her shoulders had slumped, her spine was bowed. She didn't seem to have much fight left.

"Perfect," Andrews said. "Now that everyone is feeling more agreeable, we have a lot of work to do, ladies. Bombs to build, detonating devices to wire to telephones. Your father is going to call at precisely one-fifteen, Kimberly. I don't want to miss the opportunity for him to blow his own daughter and his lady love into tiny little bits."

Oh shit, that was what was in that bag. Rainie closed her eyes. Andrews had brought all the ingredients for a homemade bomb. God knows it wouldn't take much to blow up a room this size and who cares if Andrews took out a fair portion of the hotel and other unsuspecting guests with him? It would be the ultimate triumph for him. Restraining Kimberly and Rainie. Then rigging a bomb to the telephone, so that the first ring triggered the blast. Quincy would not only lose the only family he had left, but when the first forensics report came in, he'd get to learn that he'd basically pulled the trigger. He'd killed his own daughter. He'd murdered Rainie. Oh, Quincy. Oh, poor, poor Quincy.

Rainie's eyes came open. She felt the breeze from the open window on her face, but she no longer knew if they had enough time to wait. She and Kimberly could not let Andrews build that bomb. Under no circumstances could they let Andrews take out half a hotel simply to spite Quincy.

Rainie looked at Kimberly, trying to catch the girl's gaze. They needed some kind of plan. Maybe Kimberly could get the professor talking, keep him focused on exchanging banalities with his former student so Rainie might ease her way toward her Glock. Three feet. That wasn't much. Right?

Kimberly, however, had her head down. Her slender figure appeared despondent. She was so young, after all. And under such terrible stress.

"I blamed my father," Kimberly whispered, maybe to herself, maybe to Andrews. "AH along, I blamed my father, but in reality, I'm the one who betrayed my family." Another thought seemed to strike her. Her head jolted up, her eyes suddenly growing wide. "Oh my God, the Sanchez case. I've been going over it and over it, thinking there was more of a connection. Of course. Dr. Andrews's research work at San Quentin." She twisted toward Andrews, straining to see his face. "You knew Sanchez! You're the connection! How could I be so blind?
Dammit!"

"You failed to ask the right question in the very beginning," Andrews said matter-of-factly, yanking Kim-berly's arm more savagely to quell her movements. Rainie saw her chance. She eased forward an inch.

"If this was revenge, why now?" Andrews postulated for his former student. "You could theorize that it was a felon who finally got out of prison, but I trust you already explored that option and found it to be a dead end. Then you could look at family of felons but again, why, after all this time? Interestingly enough, I think Quincy was finally getting on the right track, that it wasn't a past FBI case at all. So if it was from his pre-FBI days, then truly, why
now?"

"Because you found me!" Kimberly spat at her captor.

"Because you fell into my fucking lap!" Andrews roared. "Nearly twenty years after that man took my own daughters from me, and here you are! Beautiful, smart, poised to become everything a father could want for his girl. Why should he be so lucky? Why should he have everything that I deserved? Goddamn interfering
shrink!"

His gaze suddenly shot back to Rainie. She froze, having made it two steps closer to her gun, and wanting that to be progress, while knowing it wasn't enough. Andrews was frowning at her. Had he figured out that she'd cut the distance to her discarded handgun? He studied her hard.