Fate and Destiny (19 page)

“
What did Charles do with
my laptop and my papers?” She didn’t think it possible, but Doug’s
face became even more blank.

“
Doug. What did Charles do
with the papers and computer he found in his dad’s house when he
killed him?”

A spark of understanding
lit Doug’s eyes.

“
I didn’t know those were
yours. Charles took them. I don’t know what he did with
them.”

“
If you didn’t know those
were mine, then why did you think they wanted you to kill
me?”

“
Dunno.” He shrugged. “I
just did what Lenny told me to do. I never really talked to
Charles. He talked to Lenny and Lenny talked to me.”

 “
You were going to
kill me and you didn’t even know why?”

Doug shook his head.
Usually she liked a man of few words, but this one was just
irritating.

“
Okay Doug.” Closing her
eyes, she regrouped her thoughts. Time to try a new attack. “Why
did you come back?”

“
I want to help
you.”

“
No, I mean the first
time, earlier today. When you were still with Lenny. Why did you
come here then? Didn’t you think I was dead?”

He shook his head
again.

“
No. I hoped you weren’t,
but I wanted Lenny to think you were.”

“
How did you know I wasn’t
dead?”

“
I didn’t stir the pills
up. I didn’t shoot you. You fell asleep and I pulled over and
pushed you so you fell into the snow. I didn’t know Charles wanted
to see you after you were dead.”

“
So you came back to find
me?”

He nodded again.

“
But I won’t hurt you. I
want to help you.”

Her irritation grew.
Normally, she saw herself as a calm person, but the recent dramatic
changes in her life ripped away the human side of her. She raised
the gun.

“
You
keep saying that!
 
How
 
are
you going to help me? What in the world makes you think I believe
for a second you won’t hurt me if I give you half the
chance?”

Doug’s lower lip trembled.
He spoke softly.

“
I brought you here and
left you, now I came to take you back. I got the truck. I’ll drive
you back to Las Vegas. Wherever you want. I made you hurt and
suffer. I’ll spend the rest of my life protecting you now. I can’t
ever take back what I did, but I think I can make it
better.”

The arm holding the gun
dropped back down, the tip pointed to the floor. Destiny didn’t
know what to say. The physical pains would heal, and Doug could not
possibly know the aches in her soul would live on forever. He
couldn’t protect her from herself.

“
You don’t know what you
are saying Doug. Anyone who gets close to me suffers. Do you want
to spend the rest of your life suffering?”

In the darkening room, he
nodded his head. She could barely see his brown eyes were large and
grief filled.

“
I already suffer. I’ve
suffered my whole life. For you, I would at least have a reason to
suffer.”

“
I don’t want you to
suffer Doug. I don’t want anyone else to have pain because of me.
Do you know what you can do for me?”

Forgetting any harm the big
man might inflict on her, Destiny rose from the chair, walked
across the room, and sat by him on the couch. Needing to comfort
him, she took one of his hands in both of hers. The lack of light
gave him the appearance of being more ferocious, but up close, she
decided he could have been a decent looking man if he was a normal
size.

The extreme proportions of
his body distracted the viewer from the sensitivity of his eyes and
the innocence in his face. This man could never intentionally hurt
anyone. His eyes lit with hope as he searched her face for proof
she could end his torment by letting him help her.

“
I will do anything for
you.”

“
Would you testify against
Lenny and Charles? Sit in front of a judge and jury and tell them
what really happened?”

Doug’s head bobbed up and
down before she finished speaking. Excitement filled his
eyes.

“
I will. I know a bunch
more stuff too. I’ll tell the cops and the judge everything they’ve
done. They just think I’m a big dummy, but I watch them. They do a
lot of bad stuff.”

He gripped her hand with
joy, nearly crushing her fingers in the process. Her sharp intake
of breath and the attempt to pull back alerted him to her
discomfort. He relaxed his grip but didn’t let go.

Destiny wanted to shout to
the treetops. Doug could be her salvation. She may not have
physical proof Charles stole all of the money from Marcus, but Doug
could easily clear her name in the murders. As long as the jury
believed him. Then again, it would be her word and his against
whatever proof Charles concocted.

“
That’s what we’ll do,
Doug. You can go to the authorities and clear my name and I will
hide out until then. Once they drop the charges against me, I can
come back out into public.”

Doug looked
crestfallen.

“
You want me to do it
alone? I thought you would go with me. Cops make me nervous. They
always think I did something bad. I’ll get all nervous and they
won’t believe me.”

“
No. They will believe you
because you’re going to tell the truth. If I go with you, they will
lock me up right away. You would have to do it alone anyway, but I
would be in jail until they found enough evidence to let me out.”
He still looked frightened and unsure. “It's okay Doug. Just trust
me here. You can do this.”

“
No I can’t. I’m too
stupid to be able to talk to the police and make them believe
me.”

“
You aren’t stupid Doug.
Who told you that?”

She already knew the
answer, but she needed him to figure it out too.

“
Lenny always tells me I’m
stupid. Even when we were kids.”

She made the connection
between Lenny and Doug.

“
And you believe Lenny?
He’s done nothing for you except get you in trouble. What would
Lenny do if you went to jail for trying to kill me? Would Lenny
stand up for you?”

She was getting to him. She
could almost see the wheels in his head spinning.

“
No. I don’t think
so.”

“
Doug, why do you think
Lenny made you kill me instead of doing it himself? He’s a big
chicken who makes you do his dirty work.”

Doug nodded. The cabin had
dipped into a deep black, but there was enough moonlight to see his
head tipping back and forth.

“
He is a big chicken. He
makes me do everything he doesn’t want to. I always got in trouble
and he never told anyone he made me do things.”

Squeezing his hand,
jubilant at her triumph, Destiny laid the final nudge on the
table.

“
Okay then. Lenny gets you
in trouble and he gets away free and clear. If he and Charles
decide to, they will probably try and make you part of Marcus’
murder. They will tell the cops you were in on the whole thing with
me and it’s all your fault. You will spend the rest of your life in
jail and Lenny will still be free to do bad things to people. Do
you want that to happen?”

“
No. That’s not fair. I
won’t do it anymore.”

“
Then you have to go tell
the police what you know.” He paused. She thought for a moment he
would still retreat from the challenge. Desperation had her ready
to beg and plead.

“
I’ll talk to the police
by myself. But I’m doing it for you and for everyone else Lenny
hurts. I’m not doing it for me.”

“
Doug. Do it for both of
us, okay? Not just me and everyone else. Do it for yourself
too.”

“
Okay. Can we do it
tomorrow, though? I’m really tired now.”

Containing the cheers
echoing through her head, Destiny laughed softly at him.

“
Of course. Sleep now. We
can go tell them tomorrow.”

Instead of lying down on
the couch, Doug stood up, taking Destiny by surprise. She sensed
him moving away from her. Within seconds, the room glowed with
light from an array of candles set on the fireplace mantel. He then
walked to the end of the couch, opened a trunk and pulled out
blankets.

Finally, he entered the
kitchen area, taking a propane heater from under the sink. Light,
blankets, and heat. The man wasn’t nearly as dumb as he seemed.
Despite the broken window, now covered with one of the blankets,
Doug slept soundly on the floor while Destiny curled up on the
couch. They both slept deeply with exhaustion, completely dressed,
coats and all.

19.

When Destiny woke,
excitement raced through her. Doug would take her back to Vegas and
testify on her behalf. The truth would come out and she would be
free to go on with her life. Doug still slept on the floor, mouth
open, snoring softly. Folding her blanket, she placed it back into
the chest. Except for the broken window, which she would try to
send money back to repair, she didn’t want to leave any evidence of
their visit.

Removing the blanket from
the window, careful of the glass shards, she intended to fold it up
and put it away. Revealing the true shade of the light outside, it
was impossible to tell what time of day it was. She assumed when
she woke it was early morning, however cloud cover blocked the sun,
hiding its position in the sky. Fluffy snow drifted through the
air. Inhaling deeply, the cold air entering her lungs felt like
freedom. Clean, pure.

It would be beautiful up
here in the spring when the leaves came back. The trees offering a
shady retreat from the heat in the summer, a scenic painting when
the leaves changed in the fall. Even dressed in white, the
mountains and scenery were wonderful to see.

Through the excitement,
pangs of regret and sadness seeped through. She would not be here
to see the forest in any manner except the one she currently
viewed. No more fantasies. Only realities, and the reality was she
would soon be able to grieve for Marcus and heal from Andrew. Ready
to turn from the window and the memories, she decided it was time
to wake Doug so they could get out of there before anyone
discovered them. Her eyes skimmed over the getaway truck,
excitement growing again until she noticed the vehicle parked
behind the plow truck.

           
 
Stretching
up on her tiptoes, a row of red and blue lights appeared over the
top edge of the truck. Heart hammering, she backed from the window,
taking a quick glance at Doug, verifying he still slept. Quietly,
she went out the front door, wrapping the scarf around her face as
she went. Metal on metal stopped her in her tracks. The familiar
sound of Andrew’s rifle cocking caused her to freeze in place,
hands dropping the ends of the scarf as she turned to the sound. It
was not Matt standing near the truck as she expected, but Andrew.
The rifle she shot him with now pointed squarely at her.

“
I don’t know what your
game is, but I’ve already been conned once this year. I don’t plan
on being conned again. Wake your friend up and get out
here.”

A whispered prayer escaped
her lips.

“
Oh Lord.
Andrew.”

She could hear the pitiful
sounds coming from her, as if someone else spoke.

“
It’s not what you think.
There is no con. Doug is going to testify against Charles and Lenny
to help get me out of this mess.”

Cold, hard eyes sliced
through her. She didn’t think anything could hurt her heart more
than her flight yesterday, but she was wrong.

“
As far as I know, you did
kill that guy in Vegas and you’re hiding out. What was your plan?
Did you think I was well off since I have a cabin in the mountains?
Were you going to kill me when you were done with me? Women like
you wouldn’t be satisfied just stealing my truck.”

Everything was turning out
so wrong. Unable to speak, Destiny could do nothing to defend
herself, except violently shake her head in denial.

“
Oh no. No. Andrew, I
needed to get away. Doug came here to try to help me. I didn’t want
you involved in this.”

“
Yeah I’m sure you didn’t
want me involved. You and your friend there are trying to get away
with murder.”

Matt rounded the back of
the truck, placing a gloved hand on Andrew’s shoulder.

“
That’s enough Andrew. You
can’t think straight. Put the gun down. If you pull the trigger,
I’ll have to arrest you and you’ll never forgive yourself. Don’t
put either of us in that position, Cousin.”

Matt’s words sunk through
the white-hot blaze of blinding anger which controlled Andrew. She
had deceived him so convincingly, so completely. He was angry with
her, but even angrier with himself for falling right into her trap.
When he heard the truck start and drive away, he felt nothing but
fear that the thugs had come back and kidnapped her
again.

Getting to the cabin as
fast as he could, he got on the radio and called out to Matt,
hoping the sheriff would hear him even if Andrew could not hear any
reply.