One Little Lie Read online

  “You okay?”

  “What do you care?” She stared sullenly at the pan of soup. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Brian lied to me. This is way worse than the trouble I was already in.”

  “What trouble was that?” He wrenched on his wrists again. Still tight.

  “Brian figured out I was the vigilante, but I was only trying to bring a little justice to town! No one was really hurt, but I had to help him if I didn’t want to go back to jail.”

  Reid stared at her and remembered what Jane had told him. “Why would you help him set up Charles? You didn’t love him anymore?”

  She stared down at her hands. “He’d asked me to leave and said it just wasn’t working. He gave me a month to find another place to live.” She shook her head. “I should have known he was never going to marry me.”

  “Why not just leave like he asked? Why punish him?”

  “Everyone gets away with everything! It’s not fair. He needed to pay for taking ten years of my life with no intention of making our relationship permanent.”

  She was justifying everything in some twisted way. “So you wanted him thrown in jail for something he didn’t do? Where’s the justice in that?”

  She went white. “When Brian first came to me, I didn’t think it through really well. All I could think about was that I didn’t want to go back to jail, and I didn’t owe Charles anything anymore.” She wrung her hands. “Besides, Brian promised no one else would be hurt—that it was just about justice for him and his family. That resonated with me too. You don’t know what it’s like in there. I’d rather die than go back.”

  Reid nodded. Jane hadn’t mentioned Elizabeth’s last name was Spicer, but he remembered it all now. “I wanted to do a documentary on that case because I believed you shouldn’t have been sent to jail. The trial was moved to another venue because the jury pool was too sympathetic. My producer picked another case, but I never forgot yours.”

  She studied him a long moment. “You’re telling the truth.”

  “I am. Your husband was a commercial fisherman, right? You even had bruises from the last time he hit you, but the prosecution claimed they were made during the so-called murder. But you killed Nicole. Did you kill Gary for hitting his wife?”

  She shook her head wildly. “Nicole was an accident! I had no idea she was allergic to feathers, but when she died, Brian was going to charge me with murder. I’d never get out of jail.”

  “What about Gary?”

  “I had nothing to do with Gary’s death. Gary had seen Brian taking stuff from the evidence room to Daryl Green, who was selling it and putting the money he got in a bank account in Charles’s name. They both wanted revenge on Charles. Gary tried to squeeze him for money, but Brian knew the guy would tell Charles sooner or later, so he needed to get rid of him.”

  “Woman, you never shut up.” Daryl groaned. “You can handle this.” He started the ATV and roared off onto the trail.

  Reid watched him unlock the cabin and enter. “Why not just kill him and deep-six the body? The wedding dress and mutilation was extreme.”

  “Brian thought he could eventually tie the vigilante incidences to Charles. He thought muddying Gary’s identity would make it more fun.” She shuddered. “He and Daryl took Gary out on Charles’s boat where they killed him and put the body in the shrimping waters knowing he’d eventually be found.”

  He strained at the bonds again. “Jane found some stuff in the files Charles had. She knows you knew all the victims.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “Charles was suspicious, too, but Brian had all the evidence. He promised to destroy it if I’d help him. I thought it had to do with convincing the senator to back some legislation, but after he took Harry and Fanny Dawson, I realized it was all about assassinating the senator.”

  “Do you know why he wants her dead?”

  She rolled her eyes. “It’s all he talks about. She was a prosecuting attorney before she became a senator, and she was behind his dad’s conviction. He wants revenge on both her and Charles.”

  “Why Charles?”

  “Charles gathered the evidence, and it was his testimony that put Brian’s dad in prison.”

  There was a lot more to know about the story, but the past five minutes seemed like hours. What was happening with Jane? Reid twisted the rope again, and it moved a little more.

  He sent Elizabeth a placating look. “Could I use the outhouse? You’ve got a gun there. You can tie me up when I come back out.”

  She chewed her lip and glanced toward the trail to the woods. “You’ll have to be quick. Brian is pretty scary. Now that I know how dangerous he is, I’m not sure he won’t shoot me and feed me to the fish like he plans with everyone else.”

  “It won’t take long.” Reid struggled to his feet and turned his back to her so she could remove the rope.

  If she put the gun down and released him, he could run for the woods before she was able to snatch it up and fire. And even if she moved faster than expected, he was willing to gamble that she wouldn’t shoot him in the back.

  She dropped the gun to the ground, and her fingers plucked at the rope. “It won’t loosen. I’ll have to cut it.” She picked up the gun and moved to the fire. After a moment’s hesitation, she put the gun in the waistband of her jeans, then picked up a knife and carried it back to him.

  He felt the cold steel touch his wrists and tensed before the bonds fell at his feet. His hands were numb and tingling. It would be a while before he could hold a weapon of some kind, and his legs and feet were stiff as well, but he had to make a move. Jane could be looking down the barrel of Brian’s gun right now. There was no time to waste.

  He leapt past her and ran for the woods. She shouted but didn’t shoot. The coolness of the tree line welcomed him, and he tore through the brambles and thick brush. His harsh breath stuttered in and out of his chest until he stopped a moment to see if she was giving chase.

  There was no sign of her behind him. He glanced around to get his bearings. The beach was to the west, so he located what he thought was the deer trail again and loped into a run.

  Jane needed him.

  Thirty-Seven

  Jane’s arms ached from being tied behind her, and she was dizzy and disoriented as the boat moved through the dark waters. It was time to get free. She’d practiced this maneuver of getting her hands in front of her back in the academy, but she’d never had an opportunity to use it in the field. Being so small and dexterous made it easier, but it was far from simple.

  She squirmed around until she was sitting on her hands. Flexing her shoulder muscles to make her arms as long as possible, she shuffled and moved until she had her hands at her thighs, then at her calves and down to her ankles until she got her feet through the loop made by her tied hands. Her shoulder and back ached from the exertion, but she forced herself up and reached out with both hands to find the light switch.

  She blinked in the sudden illumination. The berth contained a galley with a small bank of cabinets, a table that transformed into a bed, and a head. There had to be a knife or something sharp down here somewhere. She stepped to the cabinets and wrenched open the first upper one. Plates, metal pans, nothing to cut with. The other cabinet held towels. She knelt to check the bottom ones. It wasn’t until she opened a small drawer that she found a fishing knife. She moved it around in her hands until she had the blade against the rope. She sawed it back and forth for what seemed like forever.

  The engine throttled back, and the boat slewed sideways a bit as it began to slow. She heard a woman’s voice and knew they must have reached the senator’s boat. There wasn’t much time. With renewed urgency she sawed with the knife. So close. The blade finally broke through the top of the rope, and her bonds loosened. She quickly unwrapped them from her wrists and tossed them to the floor.

  She needed a better weapon than this pitiful knife that could barely cut through butter. Reid had a concealed-carry permit, so maybe he had a gun here somewhere. She pulle
d out every drawer, upended the cushions on the benches, and went through the tiny cabinet in the head. No gun.

  She picked up the knife again. There was no choice but to go up there and do the best she could with it. If only she had her phone to call the Coast Guard. Her chest was tight as she eased up the ladder rungs and poked her head above the hatch to the upper deck. Brian was tying the two boats together. The senator stood on the starboard side ready to board Reid’s boat.

  Jane glanced around for Brian’s gun, then spied it tucked into the back of his waistband. There was only one, so he must’ve left her gun on the sand. Was there anything she could use to hit him over the head? Another glance around didn’t turn up a possible weapon. She would have to bide her time.

  She quickly went up the rest of the ladder and crouched down in the bow. With any luck Brian wouldn’t look here. Her gaze fell to the deck, and she saw a fire extinguisher attached to the side. It might do as a weapon.

  She released it from its caddy and hefted it in her hand. Good and heavy. It would take the right circumstances to be able to use it before he pulled his gun and shot her.

  The boat rocked a bit, and the senator’s voice was louder. She must have stepped aboard the ship. “Harry? Fanny?” The senator’s footsteps came closer. “Where are they?”

  “They’re in the berth. The little guy was really tired.”

  “Poor little man. This has to have been hard on him. Did you find out who took them and why?”

  “Sure did. Do you remember a guy you sent to prison by the name of Karl Boulter?”

  “Cop killer from Pelican Harbor? He was on death row for a while, but someone killed him in prison, I think. What’s he got to do with this? I think he’s been dead seven or eight years or so.”

  Brian’s dad? This was about revenge? Jane dared a peek out of her hidden spot, and Brian had his back to her. Should she try to ambush him? She gauged the distance. Too far to throw the canister, and he’d hear her coming before she got two feet. Plus, the senator might see her and give away the attack without meaning to.

  Patience. The right time would show itself. She ducked back down and crept along the bow a little closer to the two of them.

  “What you might not know is that his wife and daughter died in a car accident the day he was sentenced to death. Some say it was suicide.”

  “I’m so sorry. That’s terrible.”

  “You don’t know the half of it. He had three kids. Two boys as well as the girl. Do you want to know what happened to the boys?”

  Jane peeked up for another look and saw a glint of metal in Brian’s fingers. A coin of some kind. Maybe a Kennedy half-dollar?

  The senator sidled away a step. “I’d rather see my family right now.”

  Brian smiled. “Chief Hardy felt a lot of guilt. He helped one of the boys start a business in town. Paid for the other one to go to police academy, and that one eventually got hired at Pelican Harbor a couple of years ago.” He held up the coin in his hand. “Karl Boulter loved Kennedy half-dollars and always had some in his pocket. I think he liked them because they were minted the year he was born—1964. I like to have them on me too.”

  Jane snuck another peek. The senator must have been figuring out something wasn’t quite right because she continued to sidle away from Brian.

  “I don’t understand what that case has to do with this. It was a long time ago.”

  In a smooth movement Brian snatched the gun from his waistband and brought it up to center on the senator’s chest. “I don’t suppose things like that bother you. My dad wasn’t guilty. Charles Hardy framed him, so I’m returning the favor. He’s wanted by the FBI, and he’s implicated in Gary Dawson’s murder. He’ll soon be in jail, and he’ll suffer the same fate as my dad. His daughter will be dead as well, and when you’re dead, my revenge be finished.”

  “W-What about my daughter and grandson?”

  He grinned. “It might be better if you didn’t know.”

  “No!”

  He gestured with the gun. “Let’s go back to your boat. That’s a better place to end this. Don’t worry. I’ll make your death fast. It will be much briefer than the pain you brought my family.” He shoved her toward the yacht.

  * * *

  His boat was gone.

  Lungs burning, Reid stood on the rickety deck and looked out to the water. Some of those boat lights might be from his boat, but he couldn’t tell from the distance and in the dark. Jane and the senator were not here, and he guessed Brian had taken them aboard Reid’s boat. At least he prayed he wasn’t going to find their bodies somewhere here on the sand.

  Reid scanned down the deserted beach and saw nothing. No people, no lights, no boats close enough to hail for help. Maybe he could call someone from the senator’s house. It was all he could think to do. He crashed back through the vegetation, then took off in a run along the trail to the house. He didn’t think Elizabeth would come after him. In fact, she’d probably escaped herself. She would if she was smart anyway. Reid doubted Brian would let her live.

  He wished she’d told him where Fanny and Harry were being held. He’d seen the cruelty in Brian’s face, and he didn’t trust that the detective hadn’t already disposed of them. Elizabeth seemed to think they’d be allowed to live, but Reid wasn’t counting on it.

  It seemed an eternity before he stepped back into the clearing where the house stood. Paul’s body was where they’d left it so no one had been here. “Jane?”

  Only bullfrogs answered him. He went inside the house in search of a phone. It smelled of disuse and dust, and he felt along the wall for a light. The switch was near the door, and he flipped it on, then blinked at the sudden glare of light. It was mostly a big open room filled with dust cloth–draped furniture. The senator must not come here a lot.

  He walked through the place and found a landline, but it had no dial tone. He searched for some kind of weapon, but there was no gun or rifle in the place—probably because of the possibility of theft clear out here in the wilderness.

  Jane needed him. But how would he get help or reach her?

  He started to leave, then saw a kayak up in the rafters of the boathouse. Stretching up on his toes, he managed to grab hold of it and drag it down to the floor. A paddle was strapped to the side of it, and it looked seaworthy.

  He put the boat into the water, then stepped into the kayak and picked up the paddle. Out in the bay the waves were bigger than he’d expected, probably left over from the storm. Splatters of rain hit his face as he steered the kayak out toward the middle of the bay where he’d seen the boat lights.

  The lights drew nearer as he paddled into the bay, and he could make out two boats tied together. The one presenting its starboard side to him was his boat. He squinted in the dark and prayed the clouds would part so he could see better. The moon had been out earlier, but another storm seemed to be moving in.

  A wave nearly capsized him, but he righted the kayak and paddled closer. The senator’s yacht should have a ladder. There it was. Brian’s voice was a low murmur, and Reid couldn’t make out the words.

  Reid went up quickly behind Brian. He stepped onto the yacht’s deck, then slid onto his stomach and listened for any sounds that would indicate he’d been spotted. On his belly he crawled toward the wheelhouse. A whine caught his attention, and he spied Parker crouched under the captain’s seat.

  Reid reached out and ran his fingers through the fur on Parker’s head. He looked around for a gun or a knife, but the senator didn’t have any weapon stashed that he could find. He reached up and grabbed the VHF radio’s mic, but before he could key it in and send out a mayday, Brian’s voice came toward him. He dropped the mic and crawled to the bow where he hoped to remain out of sight until he could get the jump on Boulter.

  Was Jane here with him, too, or just the senator? He’d seen no signs of Jane, but with Parker here, he hoped she was somewhere close.

  Thirty-Eight

  Jane had to move fast. The senator was
in the yacht’s berth, and Brian was walking toward the rope attaching the two boats together. He was planning to come get her and take her aboard the senator’s yacht too. The minute he got over here he’d see her.

  Considering her options, she looked over the side of the boat into the dark waves lapping the hull. Gators were known to be in the bay sometimes. Sharks too. She let go of the fire extinguisher and threw one leg over the railing. After taking a deep breath, she lowered herself over the side of the boat. The shock of cold water made her gasp, but she struck out in strong strokes for the bow and swam to the yacht, where she paused to figure out the easiest way to reach the deck. The anchor chain caught her eye first, and while there might be a ladder around the starboard side, it was impossible to know how much time she had. Brian could discover her missing from the boat’s berth any time.

  She grasped the anchor chain and began to walk and pull up the side of the boat. Her arm and leg muscles burned by the time she’d maneuvered herself up four feet, but she gritted her teeth and pressed on. Inch by inch, she climbed until her palm gripped the upper rail. She hauled herself over and lay gasping on the deck. She thought she heard the senator shouting for help from belowdecks, but it was unlikely any boater out here would hear her.

  If she could get the yacht free from Reid’s boat, she could leave Brian behind and call for help on the radio. She rose to her knees and looked around. When she saw no movement, she rose and started for the wheelhouse, then caught motion from the corner of her eye. She ducked down.

  Brian, his face set and angry, leapt from the boat back to the yacht. He no longer had his backpack. He untied the two boats and shoved away from Reid’s boat.

  And she was still weaponless.

  A boat this size would have multiple fire extinguishers, but she hoped for something a little more lethal. The yacht slewed in the water and moved away from Reid’s boat. She peeked up and saw Brian at the wheelhouse. Where did he plan to scuttle the yacht? She was sure that was his plan. Scuttle the boat and let the senator drown. It would seem to be an accident.