Death Takes a Holiday (33 page)

“What
money?” Kyle asked.

Propping her elbows on her knees,
Grace leaned forward and tried to concentrate on the information they had gathered. They were so close to solving this mystery, she thought, as a solution to this puzzle began to form in her mind.

“Robert had been withdrawing money periodically from the business.
I just assumed he was spending it on some girl.”

“Maybe it wasn’t a bribe to stay away from you,” Kyle said thoughtfully. “Robert may have been paying her to keep quiet about the murder. She knew he and Felicity had been talking about killing his father. Maybe she figured out he killed the old man and threatened to tell unless he paid her off.”

“If he was paying why would she kill him?” Lucas asked.

“Perhap
s he threatened to stop paying,” Kyle guessed.

Lucas looked defeated as he
rubbed his hands across his eyes. “I’m a dead man. No one’s going to believe that I’m innocent. They’ll execute me.”

“That won’t be for years,” Kyle said
, trying to sound reassuring.

“We’ll at least be able to testify that you couldn’t have killed Robert because you were with us in the kitchen when he died. I’m sure the jury won’t convict,”
Grace said, trying to inject a note of optimism to her voice.

“Right,” Kyle said cheerfully. “We can’t help you with Henry’s murder, but at least we can throw some reasonable doubt on Robert’s. Probably can’t help you with Oscar’s, either. There’ll probably
be charges for moving the bodies around, too. Then of course there’s the whole unlawful imprisonment thing you have going on in here.”

Lucas turned around, leaned forward and laid his head against the wall.

“Still, it’s one of the murder charges that’s going to do you in,” Kyle said, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t worry so much about the others.”

Lucas lightly banged his head against the window.

Grace patted Kyle on the arm. “You’re no longer in charge of morale.”

A knock sounded at the door and Asa Wellington’s voice rang out. “Lucas, we’ll be at the hotel in less than an hour. There’s nowhere for you to run
, my boy. Let Grace and Kyle go.”

Lucas
slid open the window. Placing a foot on top of the dresser, he pushed himself up.

Grace jumped up and grabbed Lucas’ belt.
“Come down from there?” She looked over her shoulder at Kyle still lying in the bed. “Would you please help?”

“Why?
If I was facing the electric chair for something I didn’t do, I’d run, too,” he said before standing up and helping Grace pull Lucas back from the window.

“Let go
,” Lucas snarled. “I’d rather go out this way.”

Still holding onto his belt, Grace said. “Would you wait? I think I know who killed your brother.”

Lucas leaned back. “Then what are you waiting for? Let’s go tell Wellington.”

“Well, there’s just one problem.
Baring a full confession, no one’s going to believe it since all of the evidence still points to you.”

She
held on tight as Lucas began to struggle.

*

Kyle threw open the door, but immediately came to an abrupt halt when he discovered all of the passengers crowded in the corridor in front of the door. “He went out through the window,” he said in a rush.

Holding a hand to her mouth,
Meredith gasped. “We have to stop the train and go back and get him. He may still be alive.”

Parker
angrily shook his head. “I say we let the authorities go back and find him.”

They all began talking at once.

Wellington raised his hands for quiet. “People, calm down. Lucas may still be alive. We must—”

“We didn’t see him fall,” Kyle said, trying to get their attention. He looked up all of a sudden. Cocking his head to the
side, he raised his hand and told them all to be quiet. A few seconds passed before he pointed to the corner of the car. “There! I think he’s on the roof again.”

Everyone’s heads turned up to the ceiling.
They all strained their ears trying to listen for any movement above their head.

S
uddenly, Steve pointed above his head. “I heard a footstep!”

“That’s probably just a tree branch,” Parker said, staring up at the ceiling. “No one’s up there. He probably fell off.”

“He was doing just fine up there thirty minutes ago,” Steve said.

Kyle
took a few steps away from the doorway. His eyes following along the center of the ceiling toward the back end of the train where Felicity was standing. Narrowing his eyes, he fixated on the light fixture above her head that was swaying ever so slightly.

Felicity
abruptly looked up and shrieked. “He’s over here! I heard him right above me.”

“Grace and Meredith’s room!” Kyle said excitedly. “The window’s open.”

All but Grace ran to the end of the corridor. Kyle glanced back at Grace who was leaning against the door jamb rubbing her finger which had gotten injured while she was struggling with Lucas. He walked back toward her. His voice tight, he asked, “Where's Abry?”

“He’s in the bathroom,” she said softly. She glanced down at the end of the car where Wellington and the others stood.
She watched as Meredith took out her key and opened the door. Wellington went in first. The others crowded around the door until they all, one by one, disappeared inside the room. She could hear, Steve shout, “Room’s clear,” and then Felicity shriek, “He must be hiding.”

Kyle rubbed a hand down Grace’s arm as he shouted, “Check under the beds.”

Tracy and Meredith backed away from the door as Parker and Steve dragged one of the mattresses out of the room and laid it on the floor in the corridor. A box spring joined the mattress a few seconds later.

Kyle glanced over his shoulder in the opposite direction. He suddenly pulled away from Grace and began running to the vestibule.
Grace stood there for a few seconds before running to the room at the end. She carefully navigated her way over the mattress and box spring only to jump back when Parker dragged another mattress out.

“He’s not in here,” Sara said in disgust.

Grace pushed her way past the others until she was standing in front of Wellington. “Kyle just took off toward the observation car.”

“Why?” Sara asked.

“I don’t know, but he took off awfully quick.”

Groaning, Steve pivoted around
. “Lucas must have come back in through the open side door!” he threw over his shoulder as he dashed out of the room. All the others quickly followed him out into the corridor with Grace and Sara bringing up the rear.

Sara,
however, changed course from the others and ran into Kyle and Steve’s room. Curious as to what she was up to, Grace followed her. She watched as Sara leaped onto the nightstand and leaned out the window.

“Oh, not you
, too,” Grace said in irritation. “If Kyle’s reaction is anything to go by, I doubt Lucas is up there anymore.”

Uttering a light curse,
Sara jumped back down and glared at Grace. “How could you two let a murderer escape?”

“What do you mean ‘let’? You seemed to forget we were hostages,” Grace said snidely. “Besides, he’s not
the murderer.”

Sara, who was passing back through the doorway,
abruptly turned around. “Not the murderer?” She gave Grace a withering stare. “This is why amateurs shouldn’t get involved—”

“Sara,” Parker shouted from somewhere in the corridor. “Wellington wants you.”

Still staring at Grace, Sara shook her head softly before turning and disappearing into the corridor.

Grace reached over and opened the bathroom door. She stuck her head in long enough to make sure Abry was okay before closing the door and exiting the room. She
ran down the corridor as fast as she could, only to pause at the door to the vestibule.

Cold air was rushing through the missing side door, turning the already
freezing room into an icebox. She felt a little queasy as she looked outside. As disquieting as the vestibule usually was, it was even worse now that the side door was gone. She quickly hurried through to the next car and then made her way to the back of the dining car.

She walked up to Meredith who was leaning against the bar, scowling at everyone else. “Where is Lucas?”

“Einstein’s locked himself in the lounge car with his brother’s body,” she said with a shake of her head. “I don’t know what he’s thinking. He has nowhere to go.”

Felicity walked around
to the other side of the bar. She picked up a bottle of wine and poured herself a drink. “I think we should just leave him alone and give him a chance to calm down.”

Nodding her agreement
, Grace pushed herself away from the bar and walked to the end of the dining car. Parker, Sara and Tracy were hovering around the door to the vestibule. She rose to her tiptoes and craned her neck until she caught sight of Kyle’s blond head. Muttering a quick, ‘pardon me’ Grace pushed her way past the others until she was standing next to Kyle in the vestibule. He, Steve and Wellington were grouped together, peering through the window into the lounge car door.

Noticing Grace next to him, Kyle
made room for her to look in through the window. The lounge car was completely dark, but she could just make out Robert sitting in the back. “Where’s Lucas?”

Steve tapped the glass. “He’s
sitting on the floor, just behind Robert.”

“He’s done something to the door,” Kyle said with a wry grin. “We can’t get in.”

Wellington cleared his throat. “Just as well. We’ll be at the hotel shortly. I’ve already notified the police about the situation . . . They’ll be ready for him,” he said softly.

“
I hope so,” Sara said from behind her. “There’s no telling what he’ll try.”

“He’s not going to try anything,” Grace said sharply. “He didn’t kill these people.
”

Parker
, who had just started to turn around and join Felicity at the bar, stopped and stared at her in disbelief. “Of course he did. He’s the one who hid the bodies.”

“He hid the bodies
, but only because someone was trying to frame him,” Grace said.

“Oh, come on,” Parker said with a chuckle, “y
ou believed him?”

Grace nodded.

Parker glanced at Kyle. “What about you?”

Kyle looked at Grace before making a face. “
You’ve got to admit, he’s not really acting innocent.”

“He was always so desperate for money, but I never thought he would kill his own brother.” Tracy shook her head. “It’s just unbelievable. I still can’t believe he did all of this without help. Killing them all and then hiding the bodies.”

“
Tell me, Ms. Holliday,” Wellington said, “why do you suddenly believe in Lucas’ innocence?”

Grace looked around at the other passengers
, one by one, as they waited impatiently for her to answer. “Because I know who really killed Robert and the others. In fact, I have proof.”

They all looked at her doubtfully.

She paused a beat before adding, “I also know where Jack is. He didn’t commit these murders, either. Someone here tried to set them both up.”

That got their
attention, Grace thought with a smile. Each one leaned forward eagerly.

“Where is
Jack?” Wellington demanded.

“Did Lucas tell you where he hid his body?” Parker asked at the same time.

Grace bit her lip. “I think I’ll save it for the police.”

“She’s bluffing,” Sara declared.

Kyle who had turned back to the window, said, “Lucas is moving.”

Steve nodded. “I know. I’ve been watching him.”

“Look,” Grace said quickly. “I think someone needs to keep Lucas calm until I speak to the police.” She looked pointedly at Tracy who shook her head.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t,”
Tracy said, wiping away a tear.

Grace watched as Tracy walked past the bar and opened the door to the restroom.
She turned to Wellington who nodded as he took her place at the door.

“Lucas, my boy, it’s time to think of your
future . . .”

Grace
waited for a few minutes as Wellington droned on about sentencing guidelines and the ramifications Lucas’ actions would have on his defense before finally walking out of the vestibule and back into the dining car. She surreptitiously took inventory of the other passengers’ whereabouts while casually walking about the car. Meredith and Felicity were sitting at the bar, drinking; Parker was opening the door to the kitchen; Tracy was in the bathroom; and Kyle, Steve and Sara were standing in the vestibule staring though the window, nodding at everything Wellington was saying. When she was reasonably certain that no one was paying any attention to her, she headed toward the observation car. If she was lucky, she could get back to Kyle’s room before anyone noticed she was missing. She was just pulling open the door when Meredith suddenly shouted, “Where are you going, Grace?”