Beautiful Storm (Lightning Strikes Book 1) (34 page)

"He was terrified when Liliana disappeared. The thing is Jerry didn't know that Sandbury had photos or information. He said he got suspicious when I brought up the man's name yesterday. He said he would take care of him later."

"Well, Sandbury was right to run then. I know he gave Liliana the photos, but I don't believe he told her the whole story. She didn't know how close she was to the truth. If she had, she would have taken precautions."

"One of these days, maybe we can get him to tell us what exactly he told her." She let out a breath. "Jerry called me this afternoon. He acted friendly and helpful, but he was just feeling me out. He wanted to know if we were done asking questions. I told him we wouldn't be done until we got justice. I didn’t know he was outside of my apartment. I guess my words made him realize that I was going to be a problem. He told me you would be next." She shook her head, choked up at the thought.

He tightened his arm around her. "I'm still here, and so are you."

"I never should have left my apartment, but I was feeling restless, Michael. I didn't know what to do with myself. The lightning was coming, and I wanted to see where Liliana's body had been found, so I came here. I couldn't imagine Liliana's killer would still be here. Jerry followed me. He said I made it easy for him."

"You didn't make it easy. That's why he's fighting for his life."

"Because of you. If you hadn't come when you did…"

"You're safe, Alicia. That's all that matters now."

It felt so good to have his warm strength surrounding her. She wanted to stay there forever, but she could see the paramedics strapping Jerry to a gurney and she needed to know if he was still alive.

As the paramedics wheeled Jerry down the path, she moved forward. "Is he going to make it?"

"We have to get him to the hospital," the paramedic said. "You can talk to him later."

"It's over," Michael said to Jerry. "You're going to pay for what you did."

Jerry lifted a badly burned hand and pulled the mask away from his burned face with whatever strength he had left. He was fighting to hold on, but he was slipping away.

"Over for me, not for you." He looked at Alicia with evil in his eyes. "Someday you'll know what happened to your father. It's not what you think." His hand fell to the side, and his eyes closed.

"He's crashing," one of the paramedics said.

"Wait," she shouted, wanting to know what Jerry had meant, but the paramedics were rushing him to the ambulance waiting in the parking lot. The vehicle took off a moment later, sirens blazing.

"What did he mean? Why did he say that about my dad?" she asked, a feeling of dread running through her body.

"He was messing with you."

"No, it was more than that." She tried to remember Jerry's earlier words about her father. "Earlier tonight, he said something about me being just like my dad, sticking my nose where it didn't belong, and then being surprised there was danger." She clapped a hand to her mouth. "He knew something about the plane crash. What if it wasn't an accident? We have to go to the hospital. Jerry has to make it. He has to tell me what he meant."

"We'll go to the hospital," Michael reassured her. "But you can't believe anything he said, Alicia. He's a pathological liar, a killer. He can't be trusted."

Everything Michael said made sense, but she wasn't entirely convinced.

"We'll talk it all out," he added. "We'll go over every word that you and Jerry exchanged. Okay?"

"Okay." She let out a breath. "It's really over, isn't it?"

"It is."

"And the lightning showed us what we needed to see," she murmured. "It's actually how I got away from Jerry. A bolt hit the carousel rods and the flash blinded him for a second."

"Sounds like divine intervention."

"It felt like it. It was so much like the last time: the lightning, the carousel, the struggle. He was going to kill me the same way he killed Liliana. He must have dragged her into the woods when I was knocked down by the lightning."

"No, Alicia, I'm sorry. I should have told you earlier. Liliana wasn't killed last week. She was killed two months ago, right after she disappeared."

She stared back at him, more shock running through her body. "But I saw her."

"You didn't see her. You couldn't have."

"Then who did I see?" As they exchanged a long look, the unbelievable answer came to her. "Oh, my God! I didn't see her; I saw myself. It was me fighting with Jerry. I wasn't seeing the present; I was seeing the future. It was my scream that was ringing through my head. It was a premonition."

"Have you had those before?"

"Never. But how else can you explain what I saw last Friday?"

She could see that the rational part of his brain wanted to deny her theory, but he had no other idea to offer.

"I don't know," he said. "But I think we should go home and figure it out."

"I need to speak to you both," Kellerman interrupted. "To get your statements." His tone was harsh and somewhat doubtful, as if he didn't know what to make of the situation and still couldn't quite believe Michael wasn't guilty of something.

"I'm taking Michael to the hospital," she told Kellerman. "You can talk to him later. I'd start working on an apology, because the man who killed Liliana was just taken away in an ambulance. He confessed everything to me. He also killed two other people in Texas. So maybe you should talk to him."

Kellerman gave a short nod. "We'll do that. But we will speak to both of you later."

She put her arm around Michael's waist as they walked back to their cars. "I'll drive," she said when they got to the parking lot. "We'll get your car tomorrow."

"I can't believe you got us past Kellerman."

"After facing down Jerry, Kellerman was easy."

He gave her a somewhat weak smile as he got into the passenger seat. "Have I told you that you're amazing?"

"Yes, but you can tell me again when it doesn't look like you're hallucinating. I should have made the paramedics take a look at you."

"I just have a headache. It's no big deal."

She suspected that the adrenaline was wearing off and now the pain was settling in. She hoped a headache would be the worst of it.

* * *

Michael had suffered a mild concussion. After undergoing tests at the hospital, he was released two hours later with the caveat that he needed to rest for the next twenty-four hours. Diego told them that Kellerman would see them in the morning, for which Alicia was immensely relieved. She couldn’t get into a lot of explanations tonight.

While waiting for Michael, she'd learned that Jerry had died before arriving at the hospital. She would not get any answers from him about the cryptic statements he'd made to her. And as Michael had reminded her, Jerry was a psychopath, so why should she believe anything he'd said to her?

Maybe because it had felt…true. There had been something in Jerry's eyes every time he spoke about her dad.

But how on earth would she ever find out now? Jerry was dead. And he'd killed everyone who knew what he was doing.

Perhaps not everyone…but she suspected he'd covered his tracks extremely well.

It was after midnight by the time Alicia got Michael home and into bed.

Michael had no fight left in him to protest. His face was a mix of black and purple bruises with a good-sized cut on his forehead. Judging by the way he winced every time he moved, she suspected he had some aches elsewhere.

"Did they check your ribs?" she asked him as he slid under the covers wearing boxers and a T-shirt.

"Just bruised, like I thought." He gave her a tender smile. "I've been beat up worse than this."

"When was that?"

"When I was a kid."

"I don't think I believe you."

"The important thing is that I'm okay and you're okay."

"I came out way better than you."

"I'm glad about that. I couldn't stand the thought of him hurting you. When I got out of the car, I heard you scream. I was afraid I wasn't going to get to you in time." His jaw tightened. "It was unthinkable."

"I was stupid to go to the park alone."

He ran a finger down the side of her face. "Stupid or brave? Remember that fine line?"

"I crossed it again."

"You showed enormous courage, babe. And let's be honest. If you hadn't gone to the park, Jerry would have found another opportunity to get to you and probably also to me."

"I wish he would have lived. I know that sounds strange to say, but I really wanted to ask what he meant about my father. Now I'll never know."

"He wanted to hurt you. He couldn't kill you, so he gave you as much pain as he could."

"That makes sense. Jerry told me that MDT owed him. That they'd grounded him after his crash, threw him away like a piece of trash. I guess that was his motivation for stealing their secrets and selling them."

"Revenge and greed are a dangerous combination. Why was Connie involved?"

"He said it was for the cash. I guess Bryer caught her doing something. And obviously Paul Sandbury also figured out she was stealing secrets from the company."

"He should have come forward when Connie was killed. Then Liliana would still be alive," Michael said harshly. "What a coward."

She nodded. "I have a feeling that it wasn't cut and dried."

"What do you mean?"

"Sandbury's wife is sick. He needed the insurance. Maybe he wasn't going to turn Connie in, perhaps he was going to blackmail her."

"Or get a cut of the action," Michael said. "It makes sense, but then Connie died."

"He kind of tries to imply that she wasn't having an affair at the trial, but he gets shot down by the prosecutor who doesn't want any other versions of the story."

"Then when Liliana goes to see him, he decides to free himself of his guilty conscience."

"I don't think his photos got her killed. Jerry said that she was making too many waves, talking to too many people."

"I wonder why she got in the car with him," Michael said.

"He might have told her that he'd come to Florida to tell her what really happened. If she didn't suspect him, she would have wanted to hear what he had to say."

"Yeah. So I guess that's it."

"Except for the part about my dad."

He gave her a compassionate look. "I know it's going to be difficult to let that go, maybe impossible, but nothing will change what happened to your father."

"If it wasn't an accident, then I need to get my dad justice."

"If Jerry was the one who made sure your father's plane went down, then justice has already been served, Alicia."

She hadn't thought about it that way. "That's true. Jerry was always such a friendly, outgoing guy. When we saw him yesterday, he was so nice to me. He was like my uncle. But he was so evil and twisted. I wonder if my father ever saw that side of him."

"He was very skilled at hiding his true nature." Michael paused. "I know you wish you could have five more minutes with Jerry, but his death means Liliana's parents and family won't have to live through a trial. They won't have to look at his face. They won't have to relive it all again."

"You're right about that."

"Theresa and Dominic will probably want to talk to you, though. They'll want to know what Jerry said about her murder."

"He really didn't tell me anything specific, and when he did speak of her, he had no humanity in his voice. She didn't matter to him. She was just an obstacle. I would never want to tell Liliana's family that."

"Then don't. All they need to know is that their daughter was trying to stop a killer. And in a way, she did that, because if she hadn't gone missing in Miami, we never would have gone to Texas. In the end, we stopped Jerry from hurting anyone else."

She did feel good about that. "That's what I'll tell them." She paused. "How are you doing, Michael? And I'm not just talking about your injuries. You've had a lot of emotions to deal with today."

"Too many to make sense of tonight. We can talk about it tomorrow." Michael patted the bed next to him. "If you're staying, I think you should get into bed."

"I would like to stay, but…" She didn't know exactly what she wanted to say.

"But I need to apologize," he finished.

She looked at him in surprise. "I wasn't going to say that. I just want you to rest."

"No, I need to say I'm sorry. I pulled away from you after Diego called with the news about Liliana's body. I barely spoke to you on the way home. You called me earlier, and I didn't call you back."

"You were upset."

"Don't make excuses for me."

"Okay, I won't," she said, meeting his gaze. "You did cut me out, and it worried me. I knew you were upset, but I wanted to comfort you, and you wouldn't let me. That hurt."

"I felt an enormous wave of guilt when Diego told me Liliana was dead. I'd actually forgotten about her last night. I was so happy with you. She didn't cross my mind once. Then I got the call, and I felt bad for feeling good."

"I guess I can understand that," she said slowly.

"I felt like I had to distance myself from you, so I could focus on what I needed to do and that was to find her killer. But I have to tell you that it felt really strange to be without you. After I dropped you off at your house, I missed you."

"I missed you, too, Michael."

"Good, because I have something important to tell you. I love you, Alicia."

A tingle of surprise shot through her body. "You love me? Are you sure it's not the pain medication talking?"

He smiled. "Not a chance. Love was an emotion I locked away a long time ago. But somehow you broke that lock. You pushed past my walls. You made me feel free again." He picked up her hand and tightened his fingers around hers. "You're the one, Alicia."

"It's fast."

"Like a lightning bolt," he teased. "But you love lightning, so maybe you can love me, too."

"No maybe about it. I do love you, Michael. Like you, I wasn't sure I could give in to love, because the thought of losing someone else I cared about was too frightening. But when you and Jerry were fighting, I was overwhelmed by the need to protect you, to save you."