Evidence of Mercy

“I can’t do that, sir. It’s a partners’ meeting, and I’ve been given instructions to—”

  “Then transfer me to Sally!”

  He waited as he was put on hold, realizing what Paige must have gone through all those months before she was one of Lynda’s priorities.

  “Lynda Barrett’s office.”

  It was Sally, and he breathed a sigh of relief. “Sally, this is Jake Stevens.”

  “Jake, I got your message. What’s going on?”

  “It’s a long story. Is there any way you can get Lynda out of that meeting for an emergency?”

  “Well, I suppose I could, but—”

  “Then do it! Tell her to call me ASAP! I’m sitting out here by my car so I can take the call. Here’s the number.”

  When he hung up, he waited, his heart racing. If only he could do something besides sit. If he could just get into this car and drive to her office.

  Minutes ticked by, but the phone didn’t ring. And he had no intention of going inside until it did.

  Lynda couldn’t have been more relieved when Sally got her out of the meeting. The sheer act of sitting still was making her ache all over, and her head throbbed from all the questions her partners and associates kept flinging at her about the cases they had taken over for her. And it was all time she could have spent working on Paige’s case or catching up on her correspondence.

  Sally gave her a once-over as she came out, laden down with papers. “Are you feeling okay? You look pale.”

  “I’m a little tired. What’s wrong?”

  “I got you out because Jake has been calling. He says it’s an emergency. You’d better call him. He’s waiting at his car. Here’s the number.”

  Frowning, she took it. “Did he say what’s wrong?”

  “Nope.”

  “Okay, I’ll call him,” she said, heading for her office. “Hold all my calls.”

  She hurried into her office and dialed the number. Jake answered on the first ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Jake, it’s Lynda. What’s going on?”

  “Lynda, Paige and I were talking, and we hit on something I think you should know about.”

  “What?”

  “Did you know that Keith Varner used to be an aircraft mechanic?”

  She caught her breath. “No he wasn’t!”

  “Yes, he was. In the Navy,” he said. “He worked on airplanes on an aircraft carrier.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Dead sure. Paige said it herself.”

  There was a moment of silence, and finally, Lynda blew out an unsteady breath. “Jake, they had him. After the fire and again after the assault. They had him twice, but they let him go. It was him all the time.”

  “Yeah. Some poor guy is sitting in the slammer right now for something he didn’t do, and this lunatic is still out there. Probably waiting for another opportunity. Or at least we have to assume for your safety as well as Paige’s and Brianna’s, that that’s true.”

  She felt dizzy, and for a moment, she considered asking him to hold while she splashed cold water on her face.

  “Where’s Paige? How’s she taking this?”

  “The way you might expect, just short of hysterical. She decided to take Brianna and go to the sheriff’s department to talk to Larry and Tony.”

  “Good. That was smart.”

  “But I’m worried about you.”

  She swallowed and reached for her car keys. “Frankly, I’m worried about me. Look, I’m coming home. I’m not feeling that terrific anyway. I’ll just call it a day.”

  The relief was clear in Jake’s voice. “All right. I’ll see you soon. Lynda?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Be careful, huh?”

  She sat for a moment after he’d hung up, trying to organize her thoughts. She wasn’t going to panic.

  Picking up the phone, she buzzed Sally’s desk. “Sally, would you get me all those files I need to look at for Paige’s case? I’m going home, and I’ll take those with me.”

  “Sure thing.”

  She looked up the number of the police station, dialed it, and asked for either of the two detectives.

  Neither Larry nor Tony was in, and they couldn’t be reached.

  As she sank back into her chair, Sally breezed in with the files. “Lynda, are you sure you’re all right?”

  “Yeah. Sally, Jake’s just run across some information that makes him think Keith Varner caused our crash and that he burned down my house.”

  Sally’s eyes widened. “Paige’s husband?”

  “Yeah. And to tell you the truth, I think he’s right. It all makes sense.” She was trembling as she got to her feet. “I’m going home, but if Larry or Tony calls, tell one or both of them to call me on the cellular phone. I have to talk to them.”

  “Okay.”

  Lynda reached for the stack of files that contained the depositions from all the witnesses, all the emergency-room reports, and all the police complaints and stories from neighbors. But Sally put out a hand to stop her.

  “This is too heavy for you,” she said. “Give me the keys, and I’ll go drop them in the car for you so you won’t have to carry them.”

  Lynda managed a smile. “That would be great.” She tossed her the keys. “I have a few other things I need to do before I leave.”

  “I’ll be right back,” Sally said and flitted out of the room.

  Lynda sat and thought for a moment then decided not to wait for Larry and Tony. She would go straight to the DA, even before going home to Jake. Picking up the phone, she dialed the district attorney’s number and told him she was coming right over.

  Preoccupied, she got on the elevator and rode it down, hoping to intercept Sally in the parking lot.

  The security guard was waiting just outside the elevator door when she got off.

  “Sally said she’d bring your car up to the door, Miss Barrett, so you wouldn’t have to walk.”

  Lynda smiled wanly. “That was sweet of her. All I wanted her to—”

  A sound like the end of the world shook the building, breaking out the front windows and knocking her to her knees. The security guard threw himself against her, covering her from the flying glass with his body.

  “No!” she screamed as she hit the floor, but it was too late. She’d already seen the glow that bathed the parking lot in a weird, unearthly light and the smoke that billowed across the lot as if shot from a hose. She knew without the slightest doubt that a car in the parking lot had just exploded.

  And she knew without looking whose car it was.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

  * * *

  Struggling to her feet, Lynda crunched across the shattered glass and through the ruined door toward the flames, but the security guard caught up to her on the sidewalk.

  “You have to stay back!” he shouted.

  “But Sally’s in there!” She tried to push him away, but he held her more tightly, and finally, the fight turned to mourning as she collapsed into his arms, covering her face with her hands, watching through her fingers as the flames devoured the car.

  Already a crowd was spilling out of the building, and she heard sirens.

  “They’ve got to get her out!” she cried.

  But the guard wouldn’t let her go. “She’s dead, Miss Barrett. There’s no way she could have survived that.”

  Lynda shook free of him again. “But it was my car! It was meant for me!”

  She collapsed on the ground and immediately friends surrounded her as the parking lot filled with emergency vehicles.

  Paige paced the floor at the police precinct, waiting for Larry or Tony to come back in or call. She couldn’t just stay here, she told herself. Keith was still loose out there. He could try to hurt Lynda or even Jake again. He could burn the house down—or worse.

  Grabbing Brianna from the dirty floor where she’d been looking at a book, she went back to the precinct desk and tapped the arm of the uniformed deputy who had helped her earlier
. “I have to go,” she said. “Please tell Tony or Larry when they come in that Keith Varner is the one who’s been after Lynda Barrett. Please. They have to arrest him.”

  The man had already checked Paige’s situation out in the computer. He knew that she’d complained about her ex several times. He also knew they were embroiled in a custody battle, and he’d seen enough to know that such spouses would do whatever it took to discredit the other. He jotted down the note disinterestedly then slipped it in a stack. “They’ll get the message.”

  Paige could see that he wasn’t counting it as urgent. “I’m telling you if you don’t do something, somebody might die. He’s out there.”

  “Call us if anything comes up,” he said.

  Cursing under her breath, Paige gave up.

  “Where are we going, Mommy?” Brianna asked as they headed out the door.

  Paige sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe to Lynda’s office.”

  “Good. I like Miss Lynda’s office.”

  “Okay,” Paige said. “That’s where we’ll go then.”

  Brianna was quiet as they drove, as though she knew that her mother needed time to think.

  But the moment Paige turned onto the law firm’s street and saw the fire trucks and police cars surrounding the parking lot, her heart leapt in fear. Forced to stop in the line of traffic, she rolled down her window and stretched as far out as she could to see what the problem was.

  A car alongside the building was on fire.

  Terror ripped through her, and she covered her mouth, muffling a scream.

  Brianna started to cry. “What’s the matter, Mommy?”

  But Paige didn’t answer, for as the traffic began to move, she saw the car that was burning.

  Lynda’s car.

  Trembling, she pulled out of the line of traffic, did a quick U-turn, and headed back to the house as fast as she could, trying with all her heart to fight the certainty that Lynda was dead.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

  * * *

  Keith had watched and waited from three blocks away, knowing that the moment the car went up, he’d know it. And he’d been right.

  He hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. He’d figured he would have to spend a few more hours sitting in his car watching, but she had made it easy on him.

  He laughed now as he drove to the house where his wife and daughter were hiding. Paige was defenseless now, both in court and out. Brianna was his. All he had to do was tie up these loose ends.

  Boldly, he turned down the street that he hadn’t dared to drive down before and passed the trees he had hidden in as he had stalked them over the last week.

  But Paige’s car wasn’t in the driveway. Only the red Porsche sat there—the car that hadn’t been moved since he’d first noticed it.

  Disappointed, he turned around at the dead end and left the street. Okay. So he would park and watch for her to come home, then. And the moment she did, he would grab Brianna before Paige could get inside. There would be nothing she could do. Absolutely nothing.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE

  * * *

  It’s Keith Varner.” Lynda’s voice was dull and without inflection. “He did it.”

  Larry had just shown up on the scene after getting the urgent message from Lynda—one that had to be delivered by another detective since he and Tony had been working on an undercover case in which they couldn’t carry their radios. “What?”

  “He was an aircraft mechanic in the Navy. It’s him, Larry. He’s the one who’s been trying to kill me. I thought you had the right guy behind bars! I never would have let Sally go out there if I’d known—”

  “You didn’t know. You couldn’t have known. You don’t even know now.”

  “Then explain this!” she screamed at him. “Something seems to go up in flames everywhere I go! If the guy you’ve got in jail is the right one, then why did this happen? I’m telling you, it’s Keith! He’s crazy!”

  Larry looked up at the other officers who were filling out reports. “Put out an APB on Keith Varner. If he did it, we’ll know it soon enough.”

  “Do you honestly think you’re just going to go get him? He’s not sitting at home waiting for the police!” Lynda shouted.

  “We’ll find him. Just calm down.”

  “I can’t calm down! My secretary is dead in my place! She was my friend!” She collapsed in tears, then shook her head, trying to pull herself together. In a cracked, high-pitched voice, she said, “I have to tell her family. They can’t hear this from just anyone.”

  “Well, you’d better do it soon,” Larry said. “Before the authorities tell them.”

  “Would you—would you take me?”

  “Sure.” He took a deep breath, then walked her to his car and set her inside. Then he turned and gave a few more instructions to the deputies still on the scene.

  As they pulled away, Lynda glanced back at the crowd that had formed around the parking lot. Another gruesome sight they would never forget. Another incident Lynda Barrett had escaped.

  She didn’t know how many more she could take. Especially not at this cost.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

  * * *

  Keith got tired of waiting and decided to park his car in his usual spot on the street behind Lynda’s house and cut through the woods. Then he would sneak up on the back of the house, look through the windows, and find out whether anyone was home.

  He made his way to the fence enclosing the back yard, the same place where he’d talked to Brianna just a few days ago. Satisfied that no one was near, he climbed the fence and cut across the yard.

  Boldly, he crossed the patio and peered into the kitchen window. The lights were off. He moved past the back kitchen door and looked through the living-room window. No one was there.

  Stepping quietly, he made his way down the length of the house to the other back door, the one that went into the master bedroom. Peering through the glass pane in the door, he saw that the bed was made and the lights were off.

  So they were gone. He tested the door that led into the bedroom. Locked. Going back to the kitchen door, he tested it, too.

  The house was empty. When Paige came home, it would be just the two of them—and Brianna. He found a comfortable seat behind the house and waited for Paige.

  Jake heard the screeching tires as Paige pulled into the driveway; as quickly as he could, he pushed himself out of the recliner and into his wheelchair. He rolled to the door—but even before he could turn the knob, he heard Brianna scream.

  Through the door’s window, he saw that a man had grabbed Brianna out of Paige’s car and that Paige was fighting and clawing and kicking him with all her might.

  His heart jumped, and he twisted the knob, ready to burst through the door and defend her—until he was hit with the crushing realization that there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t walk or fight or defend anyone.

  For a moment, he sat stunned, watching Paige fight for her life, watching as the man—he assumed it was Keith Varner—held Brianna roughly around her waist with one arm, and with the other pulling Paige by the hair to the door, making her unlock it. “You have ten minutes to pack everything she has here,” he said through his teeth. “And then I’ll decide what to do with you.”

  Jake roused himself, knowing that regardless of his limitations, Paige and Brianna needed his help. Flying back to the small kitchenette, he pulled the biggest knife he could find from the drawer, set it in his lap, and headed back to the door.

  He heard the house door slam. He hoped that, with all the screaming inside, Keith wouldn’t hear him if he went out and tried to reach his car phone. Jake guessed that they were in the bedroom at the back of the house, getting Brianna’s things.

  As quietly as he could, he opened the door and rolled out onto the driveway.

  Paige’s screams still sounded from inside the house, and something crashed. Jake’s hands trembled as he opened his car door as quietly as he could then slipped inside. Pulling the doo
r shut, he checked to make sure that Keith had not heard him. Apparently he hadn’t.

  He dialed 911 and keeping his voice barely above a whisper, told the dispatcher that Paige and Brianna were being held hostage inside the house and that Keith was dangerous. When he told them it was the home of Lynda Barrett, the dispatcher hesitated.

  “Barrett? The same woman whose car blew up today?”

  Jake clutched the phone. “What?”

  “Is it the Lynda Barrett who works in the Schilling building?”

  For a moment he couldn’t find his voice. “Yes,” he said. “What happened to her car?”

  “Uh—there was an accident. An explosion.”

  Trying to steady his breath, he said, “Was she—was she killed?”

  “There was one death in the accident,” the woman confirmed hurriedly. “Do you think the person in the house could be a suspect in the explosion?”

  Jake felt as if he were falling, falling, and there was nothing he could grab to stop his fall.

  “Sir? Can you hear me?”

  “Yes,” he breathed. “Yes, it’s him. Hurry, or he’ll kill them.”

  He punched the end button on the phone then sat still, trying to grasp everything she had said. Explosion. Lynda’s car. One death.

  For a moment, he considered putting his key in the ignition, turning on the car, and ramming it headfirst into the house. Maybe he could get rid of Keith and himself in one quick action.

  It was too much.

  Not Lynda. She couldn’t be dead.

  He covered his face with his hand, too shocked to weep or scream. It had to be a mistake. She wouldn’t die on him just like that. She would fight and survive. Somehow she’d make it.

  So caught up was he in the turmoil of his raging thoughts that he didn’t hear a car pull into the driveway behind him. But he jumped when he heard the car door slam and wrenched his neck to see. Lynda was walking toward the house, and a car was backing out of the driveway.

  He flung the door open and almost fell out. “Lynda! You’re alive!”