Crime & Passion (42 page)

“Lindsey! Answer me!” she screamed at the
closed door, trying to convince herself there was no reason to
panic.

Silence.

She put her trembling hand inside Brutus’
collar and crouched down to hug the dog’s neck.

“Okay, Eric. You go...but be careful.”

Donovan’s throat constricted to the point it
was difficult to breathe. He swallowed hard. “What do you mean
something’s waiting at her house?”

Suzie smiled and grabbed a strand of her
hair, twirling the black tresses around her fingers. “I planned for
everything, Donnie. I couldn’t take any chances with Maddie.”

Unable to stop himself, Donovan grabbed her
shoulders and shook her roughly. “What have you done?”

“You’re hurting me.” She gripped his biceps,
digging her long nails into them. “Let go.”

Shit! I’ve got to keep my cool. Maddie’s
what matters here.

He forced his fingers to relax and slid his
arms around her back. “Sorry, baby. I’m disappointed, that’s all.”
He kissed her cheek. “I was looking forward to us taking care of
her together.”

“You were?” She struggled in his embrace and
stepped back when he released her. “When Eric questioned me at the
hospital, he said you were living together.”

“Eric talked to you about me?”

She shrugged. “I refused to confess unless he
told me how you were.” Her lips tightened and she folded her arms
together. “I was
not
happy to hear you moved in with
her.”

Damn. She’s a clever little nut, forcing
Eric to tell her about me.
He had to come up with a good lie as
to why he was with Maddie. Feed Suzie’s ego somehow. “I didn’t know
what else to do. I tried to see you so many times, but they
wouldn’t let me. Your dad said you didn’t want to see me. It broke
my heart so I turned to Maddie. You know I can’t be alone for very
long, but I didn’t really want her.” He stroked her cheek. “You’re
the one, baby.”

Her face brightened. “Really?”

“I wanted to kill her to prove my love to
you.” He shook his head slowly, trying to seem regretful. “Now I
can’t. At least tell me how she’s going to die.”

Suzie watched him with a tilted head,
calculating. “You’re still trying to trick me somehow.”

“Damn it, Suzie!” Donovan felt heat rush to
his face. He needed to know what she planned. And pretending to
love her wasn’t working. “I’m not tricking you. I want to be with
you, but it pisses me off that you won’t trust me. I’m out of
here.” He turned his back on her and took a step for the
doorway.

“Don’t leave!” Suzie grabbed his hand. “I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean to make you mad. I’ll tell you
everything.”

Thank God that worked.

Through the open door, Donovan saw Brice
creep along the tree line, gun drawn. He ducked behind Donovan’s
police cruiser and was once again lost to view.

“I’m listening,” he said gruffly, not turning
around. She responded best to anger, which was the only emotion he
didn’t have to fake.

She caressed his arm and then walked around
to face him, putting her back to the door. “Don’t be that way,
Donnie. Kiss me and tell me everything will be okay. Please.”

Brice’s head bobbed above the trunk of the
car and he stalked toward the porch, moving silently. There was no
way to stop him from coming closer without alerting Suzie to his
presence.

She lifted her face and closed her eyes,
waiting for a kiss.

“Everything’s okay.” He brushed his lips
against hers, praying Brice would slow down, would see that Donovan
had things under control. He needed more time. “Now, tell me
everything. Let me share this moment with you.”

She smiled. “Someone’s agreed to help. He’s
going to—”

Wood cracked, loud as a gunshot as Brice’s
foot fell through the porch.

Suzie gasped and whirled around, pressing her
body against Donovan’s. “You followed him? You shouldn’t have done
that, Brice. Very stupid,” she called out. “It’s a shame, but we’ll
have to kill you now.”

Brice’s gun had fallen from his grasp when he
fell through the porch. He lunged forward, trying to reach it.

As carefully as he could, Donovan eased the
handcuffs from the pouch at his belt. There was no way Suzie would
tell him anything now unless he proved himself by killing Brice.
He’d have to race back to Pleasant View without knowing what she
did and hope for the best.

“What are you waiting for?” Suzie turned her
head back to glance at him. “Shoot him.”

Donovan almost felt sorry for her; sorry that
she had sunken into her derangement. Sorry that she thought she
loved him. However, the joy shining in her eyes at the prospect of
killing Brice squelched his guilt.

He grabbed her hand in his and twisted her
arm behind her back in a quick motion, slapping the handcuff onto
it.

“What are you doing?” she shrieked. “You
bastard!”

She jerked around, surprising him. Her
fingernails raked across his face and poked him in the eye. Donovan
lost his grip on the handcuff and she slipped away from him.

Her footsteps pounded across the floor as he
clutched his hand to his face, trying to fight through the pain to
chase after her. It was all over if she reached Brice’s gun.

Donovan blinked to clear his vision and
lurched forward, lunging for the blurry image in front of him.

“Freeze, Suzie!” Brice shouted. “Don’t make
me shoot.”

Donovan stretched forward, wrapping Suzie's
hair in his hand. He jerked her head violently toward his body and
kicked the back of her knee, driving her into the ground. “I’ve got
her,” he said to Brice, shoving her to her stomach and kneeling on
her back. His vision cleared and Donovan captured her arms, yanking
them behind her and securing the other handcuff.

“You’re hurting me!”

“Quiet.” He turned to Brice. “You okay,
Chief?”

Brice set his gun down and sank to his knees.
He shook his head and crawled forward to drag himself out of the
hole in the wood. A hiss of pain accompanied his movements as his
right foot rose, the ankle flopping unnaturally. He lay on the
boards and closed his eyes. “Pretty sure it’s broken. Hurts like
hell.”

Damn it! Nothing was going right. Donovan
grabbed Suzie’s hair again and pulled her head back, ignoring her
screams of pain and rage.

“Tell me what you’ve done to Maddie’s house
right now and I won’t kill you.”

“Fuck off.” She laughed, though tears poured
down her face. “You don’t want me? Go ahead, then, kill me.”

***

Brutus whined, licking her face and pressing
into her.

Madeline held her breath, trying to hear any
sound from the back room. Not a peep since Eric crept through the
door.

The thud of her heartbeat echoed in her ears
and tears leaked steadily down her face. What if Suzie got to them?
They could all be dead back there.

“Eric? Are you okay?”

The heavy sound of metal sliding against
metal echoed from the back room. A gunshot rang out. A woman
screamed.

Maddie sprang to her feet and dropped Brutus’
leash. “Stay boy.”

Pulse racing, she crept silently toward the
door trying to control her loud breathing.

Not obeying her command, Brutus slid across
the floor with her, so low to the ground his stomach almost brushed
it.

Halfway there, the door burst open and Eric
walked through, running his fingers over his scalp, his gun in his
other hand. Lindsey was behind him, white as a sheet, blood running
down her arm.

“I didn’t mean to shoot her,” Eric
moaned.

Brutus barked and his hind legs bunched. He
leapt from the floor, bowling into Eric and knocking him off his
feet. The dog stomped his paws on Eric’s chest, growling
ferociously as foam-flecked drool dropped onto the man’s terrified
face.

“Brutus, stop!” Madeline rushed forward,
tugging on his collar.

Eric yelled and grabbed his weapon from where
it had fallen on the floor, pointing it at Brutus.

“No! Don’t!” Madeline tugged harder on
Brutus, desperate to get him away from the gun.

Brandon stumbled out of the back room; his
scared eyes met Madeline’s. He pushed past Lindsey and kicked the
gun from Eric’s hand. “I should let the dog kill you for shooting
Lindsey,” he snarled before grasping the other side of Brutus’
collar and helping Madeline pull him off the officer.

Brutus continued growling and snarling,
trying to get back at Eric.

“Easy, boy.” Brandon dragged the Dane across
the slick linoleum floor to the back room. “I’ll lock him up. Take
care of Lindsey.”

Eric carried on as though Brutus had done
more than slobber on him, but Madeline looked up to see Lindsey
slump against the wall and slide to the floor. The ashen pallor of
her face was a stark contrast to the red on her shirt sleeve, and
Madeline forgot all about Eric.

She made her way to the other woman’s side
and crouched on the ground.

“Dumbass, rookie cop.” Lindsey leaned her
head back and closed her eyes, a crease between her eyebrows. “We
were out back cleaning the dog yard and Eric just fired when we
walked in, with no warning. Freaking idiot.”

“Suzie escaped from the hospital, and we
thought something happened to you guys,” Madeline said. But Eric
should have given a warning before pulling the trigger. What was he
thinking? He could have killed her.

Lindsey sucked in shallow breaths, and
Madeline wished she could do something to stop her friend’s
pain.

“What genius let that bitch get away?”
Lindsey glared over Madeline’s shoulder at Eric. “Incompetent cops
are everywhere these days.”

“Donovan’s taking care of Suzie. Let me see
about you.”

At Lindsey’s nod, Madeline peeled back the
sleeve of her once-white blouse, relieved to see the wound on the
outer portion of her arm and not her shoulder or chest. “I think
you’re going to be okay.”

“I’m sure I will. It just feels like that
asshole stuck a hot poker in my arm.”

“We have to stop the bleeding,” Madeline
said. “I’ll find a towel.”

Brandon came back into the room, a towel
already in his hand. The dogs barked crazily behind him. “Madeline,
settle the dogs down and close this place up, would you?”

She nodded. “What are you going to do?”

“Take Lindsey to the clinic. They can help
her while we wait for an ambulance. I’m pretty sure she’ll need to
go up to Eureka General.”

“What am I supposed to do about Brutus?”
Madeline asked. “Mrs. Stanfield still isn’t here.”

“She called,” Lindsey said, keeping her eyes
closed. “She ran into some friends and went to dinner, forgot about
the time.”

Madeline rolled her eyes. “I’m glad she never
had children.”

“Some people weren’t meant to reproduce.”
Lindsey laughed weakly. “She just wants us to keep Brutus here
overnight, and she’ll pick him up in the morning.”

“Don’t worry about anything. I’ll give the
dogs some dinner and walk them once tonight.”

“I knew you would,” Lindsey responded.

Brandon cinched the towel tightly around her
arm. “Help me get her to her feet.”

Madeline gripped Lindsey’s elbow on her
injured side, doing her best to help Brandon pull her up.

Lindsey cried out as they jostled her around.
“That’ll teach me to clean up dog poop.” She gripped Madeline’s
hand in hers. “That’s your job from now on.”

Relieved Lindsey still had her sense of
humor, Madeline nodded and kissed her cheek. “Sure thing, boss.
Now, go get patched up. I’ll check on you as soon as I find out
about Donovan.”

She watched as Brandon led Lindsey out of the
building before checking on Eric. What she really wanted to do was
strangle him, but that wouldn’t help matters any.

He sat on the ground, staring at the gun in
front of him. “When that back door opened, I assumed it was Suzie
and fired without thinking." He shook his head. “I can’t believe I
shot her. I’ve never shot anyone before.”

“Pull yourself together. We still have plenty
of problems.” She didn’t have time to coddle him. “I’ll settle the
dogs down and lock the back door. Wait here.”

Brutus obviously hated Eric—she didn’t want
him to follow her and set the dog off further. They said dogs could
sense when people didn’t like them or feared them. She wondered if
that was the reason Brutus attacked Eric. Then again, he was a
smart dog. Maybe Brutus tried to protect her because he somehow
understood Eric had attacked Lindsey. Unfortunately, the dog had no
way to know it was an accident.

She stepped through the swinging doors and
grabbed a bag of rawhide treats off the shelf. She turned left into
the kennel area and Brutus barked madly when he saw her, lunging
against the side of the cage. Two Chihuahuas, who belonged to a
tourist, shook pitifully and huddled in the backs of their
cages.

“It’s okay, Brutus,” she crooned. “That mean
old Eric won’t get you. Such a good boy, trying to protect me. Good
dog.”

Holding a treat in her hand, she approached
the cage, continuing to babble nonsense in a soothing voice. Brutus
finally stopped barking and sat down, watching her. When she poked
the rawhide strip through the cage, he gingerly took it out of her
hand and dropped to the ground, sighing heavily as he gnawed on
it.

She checked on the small dogs and set a treat
in both cages, hoping they would be okay, but not wanting to waste
any more time. In a few hours she’d come back and check on them.
They’d certainly be fine until then. Right now she needed to go to
the police station and find out if anyone had heard from
Donovan.

After locking the back door, she checked the
shelf with the dog shampoo for her cell phone. She looked among the
various bottles, unable to spot it. Although she didn’t remember
moving it, maybe she had put it inside her purse.