Blood And Bone (33 page)

Her father had given it to her when her divorce had become final, telling her she’d have to take care of things for herself now that she didn’t have a man in her life. Though she was fairly certain he didn’t have in mind facing down killers holding the man she loved hostage.

Please, let me get us both out of this.

She reached into the backseat of the car and grabbed the tire iron. The wind whispered through the leaves like tiny ghostly voices. She slid the thin metal up the arm of her jacket, cupping the curled end in her hand. No need to advertise she planned to fight back, and hopefully Ian wouldn’t notice how stiff and straight her right arm was.

She eased the car door closed so as not to make a sound, then crept into the dark woods. She walked as quietly as she could, wincing every time a twig snapped beneath her weight. The canopy of leaves above her blocked the last of the dying light, turning the woods murky. She kept the driveway, a slightly brighter break in the trees, in view so she would at least know she was headed in the right direction. But in the deepening twilight, the marginal difference was fading fast.

She should have searched Des’s apartment for a flashlight. Though, it wasn’t like she would have been able to use it. The light would have given away her approach. Right now, the only things she had on her side were the element of surprise, a couple of makeshift weapons and Heddra Grey’s promise to wait to call the police.

Not terribly reassuring.

No sirens yet. Maybe the woman would keep her word. Or maybe she’d masterminded the entire plan. No, Heddra had appeared genuinely furious at the idea her son had been the one to murder her daughter. Still, even if she could count on Heddra, Shayne’s odds of getting both her and Des out of this mess alive weren’t good.

The distinct scrape and clang of a shovel reached her ears. Her breath caught. She froze midstep, straining to hear more. Low voices, unintelligible, but definitely male. Carefully, she tiptoed closer. The trees thinned and through the tangled branches, Shayne could discern the outline of a small, sagging house in the distance and the silhouette of two men about fifty feet to her right.

She held her breath, heart pounding in her ears. One man dug while the other watched.

“Hurry the hell up,” the smaller shadow ground out. Ian, she recognized his voice. “It doesn’t have to be deep, just wide. After all, it’s better for us if they’re found. Not right away, but in the spring, maybe.”

The digging man grunted, but didn’t slow his pace.

Her blood ran cold. She didn’t need more of an explanation for what they were digging and why. Des. Where was Des? Oh God, was she already too late?

She scanned the area, her gaze landing on a wriggling heap to her left. That had to be him. And he was alive.

She let out a slow breath, then moved away, staying close to the edge of trees hugging the clearing. Despite, the care she took tiptoeing as she walked, dead leaves and pine needles crunched beneath the rubber soles of her sneakers. Fortunately, Ian and his pal’s muttered conversation drowned out her footsteps.

As she drew closer, the wiggling lump went still. She slipped from the trees and crouched down beside him. Des was hog-tied, and even in the growing darkness she could make out the crusted blood on his face and clumped in his hair. A dull ache thickened in her throat.

“What did they do to you?” she whispered, gently brushing her fingers through his hair.

His eyes popped open, sheer horror gripping his features. “Shayne, get the hell out of here. Run.”

“Not without you.” She glanced at the men still digging. She didn’t know how long she had until they stopped and checked on Des, or started looking for her, but hopefully she’d have enough time to untie him and get him to the car before they even knew he was gone. She dug the Leatherman from her pocket, searched through the implements until she found a serrated blade.

“I mean it,” Des ground out. “That’s a grave they’re digging, they plan to bury us alive.”

She swallowed hard, but stayed focused on sawing through the rope. “Then shut up so they don’t notice me.”

He gasped as the added pressure drew the ropes tighter.

“Sorry,” she whispered, sawing faster. She didn’t want to cause him more pain, but she had to work quickly.

The rope frayed, the loose strands tickling her knuckles as she dragged the blade back and forth.

“Shayne, please,” Des whispered.

“I’m almost through. Watch them. Let me know if they stop.”

“No. Get the hell—”

The clang of a shovel banging over the ground jerked her attention to the two men and silenced Des.
Caught.
The word screamed in her head while her heart fluttered wildly in her chest. With her stomach somewhere around her shoes, she waited.

“She’s taking too long. She should have been here by now,” the larger man said, his voice a deep growl. Warren working with Ian? She would never have guessed.

Shayne bent her head and sawed furiously.

“I bet she’s gone to the police. We should just kill him and get the hell out of here. We can get her later,” Warren muttered.

“Stick to the plan.” Ian’s voice was bright with humor. “She didn’t go to the police. She’ll be here.”

The knot gave way, and she unwound the rope from around Des’s wrists and ankles. He let out a low breath, wincing as he straightened his limbs.

“I can’t run yet,” he said, easing onto his back. “My legs and arms are numb. Go, I’ll catch up.”

“Not without you,” she told him, keeping her gaze trained on Warren and Ian.

“You can’t be sure she’ll come, or that she won’t go to the cops,” Warren said, climbing out of the pit. “Let’s kill him now.”

“I told you, we need him alive in case we need to flush her out,” Ian said, throwing up his arms, the humor in his tone giving way to impatience. “Trust me, she’ll be here and she won’t risk going to the police.”

“Go!” Des flexed his arms and fingers.

“They haven’t spotted me,” she hissed. “Stay quiet and they won’t.”

“How can you be sure?” Warren snapped, taking a menacing step toward Ian. With any luck, they’d turn on each other.

“Because she’s in love with him.”

“She’s in love with him?” Warren exploded. “That’s your guarantee? I should have known you’d fuck this up. Where is she? Huh? Where the fuck is she if she loves him so goddamned much?”

“Right over there.” Ian said, swinging his arm out to point directly at her. His invisible gaze pinned her where she crouched.

Des clumsily grabbed at her, trying to shove her away. “Run. Go. Now!”

Shayne stood, gripping the Leatherman in one hand and let the cool metal of the tire iron slide down her arm, gripping the end and keeping the bar tucked behind her leg.

“That would be a very bad idea, Ms. Reynolds,” Ian said, perhaps assuming she was getting ready to make a break for it. “At least, if you ever want to see Des alive again.”

“Don’t listen to them. It’s bullshit,” Des shouted. “They’re going to kill us no matter what.”

Not if she could help it.

Shayne didn’t blink, she kept her gaze on them as they slowly made their way closer. How could she take them both out? One she might have been able to handle on her own, but two? She didn’t like those odds.

“I brought you what you want. All of my notes and research material are in my car.” She jerked her head in the direction from which she’d come. “Everything is there. Even my Day- Timer and all my contacts.”

“Thank you, Ms. Reynolds.” Ian flashed a wide smile, hauntingly bright in the darkness. “You’ve been very accommodating. You’re not surprised to see me, are you?”

“No, I know why you killed your sister.” Maybe if she got him talking she could stall long enough for the police to get there. “You found out she was leaving Robert, and you would never be able to take control of your mother’s companies.”

He chuckled softly, menacingly. Goose bumps raced over her skin. “I think Cal overestimated you. Perhaps you’re not as dangerous as he gave you credit for. Doesn’t the fact he’s here tell you I knew Gwen and Robert were leaving town together?”

The man had a point. “Why did you kill her?”

“Because here or away, it wouldn’t matter. My mother had disowned my sister for nearly three years, but she would have still handed it all back to her in the blink of an eye. Even with Gwen gone, Heddi would have waited for her to come back. I was tired of waiting for what should have been mine, and getting rid of Gwen for real would give me exactly what I wanted.”

“You murdered your sister and your nephew, and all you got for your trouble was a broken-down realty company,” Des mocked. “Nice job.”

Something in Ian’s eyes flashed. “I’ll have everything once that old bitch is dead.”

“No, Kate will.”

“I can manage my daughter.”

Des opened his mouth to argue, but Shayne cut him off. “You killed your sister, believing Heddra would have no choice but to accept your help running her companies. You just didn’t count on how little your mother trusted you. It must have been frustrating to watch your mother continue to manage everything herself until your daughter came of age.”

Ian’s mouth curved into a feral smile. Shayne’s blood turned to ice. She’d pushed too far. “You think you’re so clever,” Ian sneered, taking a step toward her and Des.

Des tensed at her feet. Her pulse raced. How much longer until the police arrived. Minutes? Seconds? Not at all?

“Not really…” Shayne’s voice faded in her dry throat. She cleared it and tried again. “Why is Warren involved? Wouldn’t killing Gwen put an end to the money he could extort from her whenever he threatened to go after the children again?”

“It was never about the money, I wanted the companies. That’s why I married Gwen in the first place.”

“But you didn’t get anything for your efforts,” Shayne said. “Why are you helping him now?”

Warren winked. “Damage control.”

“Always the writer looking for a story, huh?” Ian set his hands on his hips and shook his head slowly. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? You’re not going to be around to write your book. If you’re lucky, maybe someday someone will write one about you.”

The irony clearly pleased him, his smile widened.

“Enough,” Warren said. “Let’s finish this.”

Warren lunged forward and Des tensed again, but Ian stepped in between. “Now, now, it seems only fair these two should know why they’re about to spend eternity buried in Tic Johnson’s yard. You’ve both been very accommodating where Tic’s concerned. No one will be surprised he killed you, with so much animosity between you all.”

Shayne’s heart pounded in her chest. “Except Tic. He might be surprised, and not too happy at being set up for murder.”

Both Warren and Ian grinned as if Shayne had said something very funny.

“He’s not going to complain where he is,” Ian said, still grinning. “We were much more careful disposing of his body than we will be with the two of you. When you’re found, people will think he killed you and took off. No one will guess he’s dead too. The brilliant part about all of this is we were going to use this plan originally. Let Tic, that mean old bastard, take the fall for Gwen’s death. After all, everyone knew he’d been making their life hell that year on Heddi’s order, but Anderson fell under suspicion right away, and we had Des and Julia to keep him in line.”

Shayne adjusted her grip on the Leatherman. “Why didn’t Anderson tell the police you killed them?”

Ian’s brow furrowed. “He couldn’t prove it was us. Heddi was convinced he’d killed them, so were the police. Even with circumstantial evidence, he was going to jail, and wouldn’t be able to protect his children while fighting to clear his name. I explained if he didn’t go along quietly, I would finish what we started, and take out Julia and you too, Des.”

“I guess after an eight-year-old managed to outwit you and escape, you had to make a few amendments to your plan,” Shayne said unable to hide her derision.

Warren snorted, and the smarmy smile slipped from Ian’s face.

“She didn’t escape. Do you think a kid could get away from both of us? We got to her before she even had you out of your high chair.” Ian nodded at Des, but Des merely held Ian’s gaze, his expression blank. “She didn’t actually see me shoot her mother and Christian. We told her a monster killed them, and if she said she saw us at the house, the monster would come for her, and for Des. She believed us, but as she grew older she began to realize why we’d really been there that night. She stayed quiet, though—lucky for her. Besides, who would believe a basket case like her when Robert had already confessed? And as added insurance, I kept you close to me, Des. She wouldn’t say anything that would risk my hurting you.”

“That’s why you would have me stay with you sometimes, even interfere with Heddi,” Des said, his voice oddly calm, hiding the pain he had to be feeling at having his uncle betray him this way. “To control my sister, to keep her quiet.”

Ian chuckled, clearly delighting in at last having someone to reveal all that he had done. “That’s right. I also wanted you to feel you could confide in me. If Julia ever talked, I wanted you to come to me with whatever she told you. And you would have. We were quite close, weren’t we?”

“Why kill Christian if you spared the other two?” Shayne asked, drawing the man’s attention again. She had to keep him talking, just a little longer. “Because he was older and harder to control?”

“Killing the children hadn’t been part of the plan. Cal was supposed to keep them away until I got clear. He would even claim he saw Tic hurrying from the house with the gun. But Christian heard the noise and came running out. I had to kill him.”

Shayne jerked her attention to Cal staring stoically back at her. “My God, how could you have let him murder your own son?”

The man’s expression hardened, but he didn’t reply. Ian slapped Warren’s shoulder, smiled ruefully and shook his head. “Make no mistake, he wasn’t happy with me, but we were in too deep to go back or turn on each other. I let Cal talk me out of killing Julia and Des, though. He convinced me they were both too young to cause us any trouble. But he was wrong, and the time’s come to correct our oversight.”