Lethal Affair (40 page)

A voice, Drew's voice, came from
behind. “You've got dirt on your forehead.”

Olivia nearly jumped out of her skin.
She whirled around and came to her feet, holding her trowel
defensively.

He stood at the end of the
row of trellises with a benevolent expression on his face.
His
ruined
face.
Behind him was a solid wall of moss and lichen covered rock. How
foolish, she thought, for the police to assume it was a deterrent
for intruders.

Her fear must have been
visible.

“
Don't worry, Mom. I'm not
here to do you harm.” He took a step closer and she saw he had one
of her monogrammed hankies in his hand. He waved it at her. “I see
you've been visiting our girl Kylie. Left this behind in her
apartment, didn't you? Guess you're pretty chummy these days, what
with all the action lately. So tell me Mom, is she still pregnant
with my child?”

She was trembling. He looked...
psychotic. His eyes shone with it, and fear washed over her in
waves. She was afraid of her own son! How terribly sad was
that?

“
Oh Drew,” she managed,
feeling the weight of it on her shoulders, “what's become of
you?”

He stepped closer and his expression
darkened. She took an involuntary step back. Recognizing her fear
he suddenly slumped, a whoosh of air going out of him. The
psychosis faded and she glimpsed her real, true son at
last.

He hung his head. “Mom, I love you.
Please remember that. No matter what happens, you have to know that
I've always loved you.” He raised his eyes to hers and she saw
stark misery. He whispered, “I just don't love myself.”

She broke. Tears streamed as her
entire body shook with tremors. In an instant he was holding her,
crying into her hair. “There's something inside me. I can't control
it. It won't leave me alone. It wants to be me, only it's not
me!”

Hugging him back, Olivia uttered, “I
love you too. No matter what I'll stand by you. You've got to give
yourself up, Drew. This thing, whatever it is, it's got to be
stopped. You need help...”

She felt the switch in him instantly.
His body went rigid with it and he abruptly released her. He was
glaring at her now, the muscle in his jaw going wild. “Like hell!
You didn't answer my question, Mom. Is the little bitch pregnant or
not?”Witnessing his complete about face, renewed fear sliced
through her. He was terrifying like this! Detective Crane had told
her that if he called – they'd tapped her phone line – and asked if
Kylie was still pregnant, to say yes. That the tactic might buy
them some time. A moment ago she might have told him the truth. Now
she knew she couldn't.

The lie that slipped off her tongue
tasted bittersweet. “Yes, she's still pregnant. What are you going
to do, Drew? Please, don't hurt her. She doesn't
deserve...”

He was on her in a split second,
gripping her arm painfully. “She deserves everything I'm going to
give her,” he snarled through clenched teeth. “The brat
too.”

Releasing her, he turned and
disappeared down the row of beans. She watched as he traversed the
rockery using a rope to climb back up the way he'd come down. When
he reached the top he pulled the rope back up and looked down at
her. Once upon a time he'd made quite a striking figure, but even
at this distance his cocky stance and malevolent expression were a
testament to a damaged mind.

Letting out a long breath, Olivia went
inside to get the cell phone she and Stanley hadn't told the police
about.

Stanley answered on the first ring.
“What's happened?”

“
He was here. He came down
the rock wall out back while I was working in the
garden.”

“
Is he still there? Can I
speak with him?”

“
He's gone. He wanted to
know if Kylie Lambert is still pregnant. I said what Detective
Crane told me to say.”

A few silent moments, then, “You did
the right thing. Have you told the cops out front yet?”

“
No. That's why I'm calling.
Should I tell them?”

“
I don't see what point
there would be in that. You say he's gone and he didn't... harm
you, so there's still a chance we can influence him to give himself
up.”“I tried that. He wasn't my Drew anymore, Stanley.” The tears
came then, her voice breaking.

“
You mean our Drew. He's our
son and we'll give him as much support as he needs. Olivia, please
don't cry.”

Those last words stilled her; it was
the first time he'd ever said that to her with such heartfelt
sincerity. The shock of it abated the tears.

His voice was soft now, a balm against
the storm of emotions raging inside of her. “I'll come home. I love
you, Olivia. I know I've made a mess of things, but I want to be
there for you now. Is that alright?”

It was an emotional breakthrough. Too
bad it had taken a crisis like this to bring her husband to his
senses. To his knees.

As Olivia stopped in the kitchen and
considered making herself a vodka and tonic, then opted for plain
water instead, Stanley sat behind his desk and gazed out over the
city, his emotional state surprisingly resigned to their fate as a
family.

* * * *

CHAPTER
TWENTY

The Langford diner construction site
was in full swing. A hive of busy workers that looked like pure
chaos, contractor Al Saunders ran everything with his own kind of
orderly precision.

Buzz saws, pounding hammers and raw,
uncensored jokes spiked the air. Silt overhead and sawdust
underfoot made breathing masks and protective eye wear a
must.

Kylie loved it. Along with the sweat
every man put into his work was a visible pride. Will inspired
people to go the extra mile, to whistle while they worked and to
pour the very best of themselves into whatever job they'd been
assigned. A natural born leader, he put aside their weaknesses and
played to their strengths, elevating their spirits and giving them
positive reinforcement. It was a gift, she marveled, listening to
him explain to the carpenter how he wanted the mahogany bar
installed. No condescending egoism, but rather good natured
collaboration.

Jolene appeared with Dino on his
requisite leash. Lyle was in the new kitchen inspecting the gas and
water lines and fussing over details. When he reverently smoothed
his hand over the industrial cement counter surfaces, Kylie swore
she saw him drool.

“
Lyle's orgasmic,” Jolene
commented. “If you think he's in love with those counter tops, you
should have seen him inside the walk-in freezer just
now.”

“
It's a good thing Will and
Lyle share similar taste, which to my eye is pretty damn
good.”

“
They have us so you can bet
your skinny ass they have good taste! You should see Lyle's house.
In fact, I'm surprised you haven't. But then he's a very private
person. Doesn't like to share his space much. I'm going to change
that.”

“
You seem pretty
confident.”

“
Expect to get what you want
and it will come your way.”

“
What about things you don't
want? Does your theory work as a deflector too?”

“
I guess. It's all about
negatives and positives. You're referring to our night
caller?”

“
Unfortunately he's never
far from my mind.”

“
That's exactly what he
wants. He's controlling you from a distance.” She looked over her
shoulder. “At least I hope it's a distance.”

Kylie looked around. The workers wore
hard hats and face masks. Drew could be one of them and they
wouldn't know it.

Will strode over to the girls. “What
are you two plotting over here?”

“
This place is going to be a
hit,” said Jolene. “I'd call it
nostalgia
meets trendy
.”

“
That's what I was shooting
for. Old world blended with modern.”

Lyle stepped up. “You guys ready to
roll? Gotta get back to our other enterprise. You know, the one
that's paying for this one.”

They waved their good bye's and
climbed into Will's Jeep, headed out. Jolene, Lyle and Dino rode in
the back and with Kylie staring absently out her window, Will
reached across and squeezed her hand.

“
What's going through your
mind?” he asked her.

“
Same old thing. Damn
it.”

“
He's not worth all the time
you're giving him.”

“
That's true,” she said
testily, “he's not. But I can't control what I see in my mind's eye
or how it makes me feel.”

“
Understandable,” came
Lyle's observation from the rear.

She shuddered. “Why does he have to
like knives?”

No one commented as Will pulled onto
the highway heading back to the city and matched speed with the
other vehicles. Checking his rear view mirror, he saw their police
escort a few cars back. These guys were supposed to be incognito
but their requisition black town car with tinted windows was a dead
giveaway.

Lyle caught Will's eye in the mirror.
“Our shadow still with us?”

“
Like glue.” He glanced at
Kylie and saw teeth clenching tension. “Hey, anybody feel like
hitting a pub, grab a few beers?”

“
I gotta work,” said
Lyle.

“
Me too,” added
Jolene.

They were passing the Gorge, a
meandering inlet of green, murky water that ran parallel to the
highway. A slow moving car had Will speeding up into the passing
lane.

“
No point in being the boss
if you can't pull strings,” he said. “Call Kim, give him
instructions, see if Millie can pull a double. Whad'ya say? All
in?”

“
We are now,” said Lyle,
pulling out his cell. “Eileen can help Kim in a pinch.”

Jolene laid a hand on Kylie's
shoulder. “Sweetie, you need to relax. Let's get buzzed and let
these two guys have their way with us.”

“
Sounds good to me,” said
Will, pulling back into the right lane and easing back on the gas.
A car pulled onto the highway ahead, forcing Will to hit the
brakes.

Nothing happened!

“
Fuck!” He pumped the brakes
repeatedly and got nothing. “No brakes!” Checking his mirrors he
swerved into the fast lane to avoid hitting the slower vehicle in
his path. “Everybody buckled in?” he yelled. The car's momentum
should have slowed but they were on a downward grade.

Lyle struggled to fit Dino into a seat
belt and quietly swore he'd get Will a real dog-belt if they lived
through this.

“
Is there a run off lane
anywhere?” shouted Will, steering back into the slow lane and
hitting his emergency lights. The highway had a narrow gravel
shoulder and a low cement barrier wall. Ahead, heavy traffic had
accumulated for a stop light and they were approaching way too
fast.

“
Try for the shoulder. Pull
on the emergency brake!” yelled Lyle. Jolene had his hand in a
death grip.

Maneuvering the Jeep onto the
shoulder, Will hit the horn when a car ahead started to do the
same. The car swerved back into its lane just as they barreled
past. Gravel spewed up from the tires; the Jeep began to
slow.

The stop light loomed ahead. It was a
busy intersection with opposite traffic zooming through. The Jeep
hadn't lost enough momentum to prevent them from rolling into
mayhem. His brain in overdrive and calculating the odds, Will
gunned the engine at the last second and swept them through a gap
in the traffic, a cement truck missing them by a hair.

The other side was traffic free. Will
stayed on the now level shoulder and used the hand brake to bring
the Jeep to a skidding stop.

No one moved. It seemed like no one
breathed either.

The black town car pulled up behind
them and a plain clothes cop got out, walked to Will's window,
knocked.

Will was in a daze. He hit the button
to lower the window.

“
Problem with your vehicle,
Mr. Delaney?”

Will's cell phone went off. He ignored
it. “Um, yeah,” he managed, and looked across at Kylie who was
sheet white, then twisted around in his seat. Lyle and Jolene were
bug-eyed with Dino licking their faces.

The cop raised his
eyebrows.

“
Brakes are gone,” Will told
him. His cell had quieted but now it went off insistently. Kylie
picked it up and looked at the call display.

It said, Drew H.

She looked at Will sharply. “You
didn't block his number?”

He took the phone from her. “I'm
putting him on speaker.”

A hush fell over them all.

“
Hello, Mr.
Hammond.”

“
Well hello to you too, Mr.
Delaney. That was a helluva performance. Bravo! Very entertaining.
Better than the movies in fact. You could be a stunt car driver,
you know that?”

Will stuck his head out the window and
searched the landscape. Across the four lane highway on the other
side was a cliff with forested land at the top. A small figure
stood, hips cocked, holding a phone to his ear.