A Reason to Believe (39 page)

bet money the other man with him had been his

rookie partner, Steve Irvine. “Was the other one

blond, about six-two, on the young side?”

“Yes, that’s him.”

“Son of a bitch.”

“What’s going on, Matt?” Sheila asked, her

voice dropping.

“I’m sorry, I really am. I’d tell you if I could…”

“I know it’s about Abby Reynolds’ murder. And

they were asking about Kiernan, too.”

“What did they want to know?” he asked, his

voice taut.

“Only if I knew where he was. They were pretty

menacing.”

“Are you all right? They didn’t…”

“No, I’m fine. Just worried about you.” Her tone

turned wry. “And you get to replace Kyle’s

computer.”

Matt snorted out a strained laugh. “I’ll let him

pick it out.”

Sheila huffed. “You’ll do no such thing. He’ll

want some monster gaming system, and I’ll never

get the child to do homework again.”

In spite of himself, Matt smiled. “Spoilsport.”

“It’s a mother’s job. Where are you?”

“It’s probably better if I don’t tell you. At least

if anyone else asks, you can say you don’t know

and it will be the truth.”

“Matt, this is starting to frighten me. Those men

did not look like they were playing around. What

in the world have you done that could cause them

to come here looking for you?”

He didn’t answer. What could he say that

wouldn’t compromise her? Or put the entire family

in danger?

“It’s going to be all right,” he said, even though

he wasn’t certain of it. “When I can tell you what’s

going on, I will.”

“I hate when you do that. This whole need-to-

know crap…” She went on, but Matt stopping

paying attention when Kiernan gasped, the T-shirt

still bunched in his hands where he’d been

lowering it over his head, staring wide-eyed

through the back window of the Bronco.

“I have to go, Sheila,” Matt said. The air in the

car began to feel thick and filled with static

electricity. He swallowed against the sudden

dryness in his throat and hesitantly turned to follow

the direction of Kiernan’s gaze.

It was a relief when he didn’t see anything but

the snowy street behind them. But clearly, Kiernan

did.

“What do you mean, you have to go?” Sheila

was saying. “Matt, I need to know what’s going

on!”

“And I swear to God, the minute I can tell you, I

will. But for now, you have to trust me. I’ll call

again when I can.” He flipped his phone closed,

his eyes never leaving Kiernan’s pale face. “What

is it?”

Kiernan blinked and looked at Matt. “We have

to go,” he said, his voice rushed. “We have to go

now.”

“Where?”

“The Reynolds’. Abby just told me. He’s there,

Matt. He just got there, to the house.”

Matt stiffened. “Preston did?”

Kiernan nodded. “And Karen’s alone.”

Chapter Seventeen

“So, how are we going to get in?”

“Through the front gate.”

“Really?”

“Yes.” Matt drove around a corner and swerved

to avoid a car stranded in the deep snow.

“But then there won’t be any element of

surprise.”

“We don’t need the element of surprise. We

need to get in there as quickly as possible.”

Kiernan’s hand clutched the dashboard. “You

think she’s in danger, then.”

“I think she’s in a very dicey situation, yes.” His

jaw tightened as the back wheels on the car

fishtailed. He gripped the wheel hard and got it

under control.

“If he’s there, do you think she’ll answer the

intercom at the gate?” Kiernan’s voice sounded as

tense as Matt felt.

“If she doesn’t, then I drive through the

goddamned thing.”

They didn’t speak again during the short trip to

the Reynolds’ faux Tudor mansion. Relieved to see

the media had abandoned their vigil in front of the

house, probably in favor of sitting in front of his

own, Matt pulled to stop at the towering gates. He

rolled down the window and hit the button on top

of the inset intercom system.

They waited for quite a while for it to be

answered. Matt even sent Kiernan a resolute look

and was reaching for the gear shift when Karen’s

voice came to them from the speaker.

“Yes?”

“Karen?”

“Yes. Who’s there?”

“Karen, it’s Matt Bennett. I was wondering if I

might speak with you for a moment.”

There was a pause. “I…don’t think that’s a good

idea, Detective.” She sounded nervous.

“I won’t take much of your time,” Matt

persisted. “It really is quite important, or I

wouldn’t be here at this time of night.”

There was another pause and then slowly, the

massive gates creaked open.

“She sounded frightened,” Kiernan said, leaning

forward in his seat as Matt followed the curve of

the drive.

“Yeah, she did.” He pulled up in front of the

house and parked the car in the empty drive.

“Where’s his car?”

“It could be around back. We don’t dare go

looking for it, in case he’s watching out a

window.”

“So, what do we do?”

Matt turned off the ignition, his eyes on the front

of the house. Large carriage lamps bathed the

massive doors in a golden glow. “We’ll take our

cue from her. If she seems all right, we’ll calmly

try to talk our way in through the door. If she

doesn’t…” He exhaled heavily. “Well, we’ll

figure it out when we get there.” He turned to

Kiernan, his eyes intent on the handsome face. “But

whatever happens, you stay behind me, do you

understand?”

“Matthew.”

“No, no ‘Matthew,’” he insisted. “You promise

me you’ll stay behind me, or your ass stays in the

car. Got me?”

Kiernan inhaled as if he wanted to speak, but

ultimately he merely nodded.

“All right, then. Let’s do this.”

They walked with studied casualness up the four

wide brick steps. Matt gave Kiernan a stern look,

and Kiernan dutifully took a step back and slightly

behind him before Matt rang the bell. They heard it

echo through the cavernous house.

It took Karen a long time to reach the door.

Finally the sound of the dead bolt being opened

came through the thick wood, and the door opened

about six inches, halted by a sturdy chain.

Karen’s hazel eyes appeared, her pupils hugely

dilated. “Hello, Detective,” she said, her voice

breathy. “How can I help you?”

“May we come in? We’d like to speak with

you.”

Karen blinked rapidly and Matt thought she

darted a look to the side. “That’s…it’s not really a

good time,” she said quickly, hazel eyes swiveling

back to his. “I’m not feeling well.”

“That’s not surprising,” Kiernan said kindly,

taking a step to Matt’s side. Matt had to fight the

urge to grab him and shove him back. “You’ve

been under a tremendous amount of stress. I’d be

surprised if you weren’t feeling overwhelmed.

Perhaps if we come in for a few minutes, we could

talk about it.”

There was no mistaking it now. Her eyes

definitely darted to the right.

“I…no. No. I don’t want to speak with you

about anything.”

Matt was positive Preston was probably

standing right behind her. He caught her eye, and

pointed at his lips. She blinked. “Preston?” he

mouthed.

She dampened her lips and dipped her chin an

infinitesimal fraction of an inch.

Matt took a step to the side, away from the open

door, and reached up to unzip his hoodie to mid-

chest.

“But I thought you trusted me, Karen,” Kiernan

went on, glancing meaningfully at Matt. “I’d

merely like to help you see everything is going to

be all right.”

Matt reached inside the fleece jacket and

unhooked the leather strap holding his gun in place.

“Well, while I appreciate your thoughtfulness,”

Karen said, her eyes wide as she watched Matt

slowly withdraw his weapon. “I really am feeling

quite unwell, and I would appreciate it if you’d

just go now.”

“I promise, we won’t take more than five

minutes of your time.” Matt slipped the hand with

the gun in it behind his back.

“I…I really can’t. Please, just go away.” Her

eyes implored them. She was trembling. “Please.”

There was no way in hell he was leaving her

alone in there with him.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” He reached out and

shoved his free hand against the wooden door.

From somewhere behind Karen came the sound

of a furious snarl. She shrieked as she was

suddenly thrust to one side, and someone tried to

slam the door. Matt managed to get his shoulder

wedged against it and blocked it from being

closed, but the force from the other side was equal

to his, and he couldn’t push it open. Not until

Kiernan put his shoulder into it and shoved on the

door with him. After a pitched battle it finally

burst open, crashing loudly against the inside wall

and causing both of them to stagger. Matt

straightened in time to see Karen being dragged

around the corner into the darkened living room.

Kiernan moved as if he planned to follow but

Matt caught his arm, digging his fingers in hard. He

yanked on him, jerking his head behind him.

After Kiernan was safely out of the way, Matt

turned, his gun held in both hands as he pressed his

back against the wall.

“Get the hell out of here. I have a gun, and I’ll

kill her if you don’t leave.”

Matt stiffened, trying to place where Preston

was standing from the sound of his voice. In and to

the left, near the far wall.

“You won’t.”

Matt looked at Kiernan in surprise, but Kiernan

gave him a look that said, “Trust me.”

“You won’t hurt her,” he went on, “because you

love her.”

“Shut up,” Preston snarled from the darkness.

“What the hell do you know?”

“Well,” Kiernan replied, sounding reasonable in

the midst of the mad situation, “I know the two of

you were a couple in college. That’s right, isn’t it,

Karen?”

Matt moved tentatively toward the doorway.

“Y-yes,” she answered, voice tremulous. “Yes,

we dated in college.”

“And it was serious, wasn’t it?” Kiernan went

on. Matt’s palm began to sweat. He adjusted the

grip on his gun. “Enough Karen became a part of

the family, right? Samantha and Patrick loved her,

didn’t they, Garrett?”

“Stop talking!” Preston shouted. “Just…shut the

fuck up!”

“Garrett,” Kiernan persisted, his voice soothing.

“You don’t want to hurt Karen. None of this has

been about hurting Karen. Has it?”

Matt held his breath.

“Garrett?” Karen said, her voice tentative.

“What’s this all about? You’re frightening me.”

There was a long, heavy silence.

“I don’t mean to scare you. But you were

supposed to come to me.” Preston’s voice

softened, and he was pleading. “When everything

went wrong, you were supposed to turn to me for

support, for consolation. Not to Bennett. And

certainly not to some crackpot ghost whisperer!

They’ll only lie to you, Karen. Tell you things you

want to hear. You can’t believe some spirit is

loitering, ready to tell you the secrets of the great

beyond.” He laughed derisively. “Come on, you’re

smarter than that. You’ve always been so brilliant.

Those are the lies the ignorant and weak cling to.”

Matt inched toward the door. In his peripheral

vision he saw Kiernan move closer.

“I’ve done everything for you,” Preston went on,

his voice quickening with enthusiasm. “The house,

my house, is just the way you said you wanted it,

with the city views in every room and the grand

piano, and the media room. I have all your favorite

movies and television shows, and books. The

bedroom has a walk-in closet, just the way you

said you wanted it…”

“Garrett, I was a girl when I said those things.

We were just talking. They were the plans of

children who still believed they could have

everything they wanted.”

“You can have everything you want,” he said

desperately. “You still can, Karen. With me.”