Jenn Vakey - Rilynne Evans 07 - Revenge with Murder (17 page)

As he laid it out, Rilynne could see Holly searching for any way out of the room.  She was losing confidence in her defense.  When she reached out and rested her hand on a large snow globe sitting on the table next to her, Rilynne didn’t wait for her to make a move.  The moment Holly’s fingertips touched it, she pulled her gun out of the back of her pants.  She didn’t need to point it toward her for the thoughts running through her mind to stop.  At the sight of it dangling down by Rilynne’s side, Holly slid her hand off the globe and pulled her arms back up across her chest.  When she did, Rilynne looked to
Perez for a reaction to her move.  His eyes shifted from Rilynne to the gun, then back.  When he nodded in approval, she continued.

“Lucas didn’t know Caitlin had been killed, did he?” Rilynne asked, turning her attentions back to Holly.  “You two had known each other for a couple years before he started his work here.  He didn’t think you were capable of actually killing anyone, so he didn’t tell you where he had hidden it.  That’s when you decided to torture it out of him.  Now, like you mentioned, you don’t have the physical strength to actually overpower him, so you would have needed to do something that wouldn’t require moving him from the chair I imagine you had him tied to.  What did you do?  Electrocution would have been too much of a risk because of his heart.  You didn’t want to take the chance of killing him before he told you what you wanted to know.  I’m guessing you went with something from the movies.  From what you did to Caitlin, I wouldn’t put anything past you.”  Rilynne paused just long enough to enjoy the range of emotions she could see working through Holly’s expression.  With an unconscious gesture, Rilynne had her answer.  “I’m going to say you went with the fingernails.”

For the first time, true panic seemed to pass over her.  She tightened her arms before letting them fall back to her side.  She was nervous.

Before Rilynne could continue, the whole ordeal flashed before her.  As the room came back into focus, she turned briefly to Ben.  He met her with an understanding smile.

“After you pulled the first one, he probably realized that you were going to kill him if he told you what you wanted to know.  I imagine that belief was only compounded when you told him what you had done to his partner in crime.  You probably assumed it would sway him.  It did, but not in the way you wanted.”  Her smile only grew as she could see the confusion and recognition meet in Holly’s eyes.  “He tried to stay strong, but after the third one he couldn’t take it anymore.  He broke down and told you exactly where it was.  You’re a smart girl, though.  You weren’t going to kill him until you knew he was telling the truth.  You left him tied up and went to the location he told you about.  Sure enough, you found it just where he said it would be.  After that, you didn’t need him anymore, so you killed him.”

“You can say whatever you want, but that doesn’t make it true,” Holly declared, her confidence beginning to wane.  “I would love to see even one thing that could prove any
part of what you’ve claimed.”

Rilynne smiled, but she waited for someone else to break the news.  To her surprise, it was Perez who spoke first.

“That actually won’t be a problem,” he stated.  “Mrs. Davis here suggested that we test the water that was found in Caitlin Burton’s lungs.  We know for a fact that she wasn’t drowned in the ocean.  What do you want to bet that we can find a matching sample somewhere here on your property?”

He had barely finished his sentence before Holly made her move.  She reached for the large snow globe and lobbed it toward Rilynne’s head before she could even react.  The moment it left her fingers, she took off.  With Perez blocking the door behind her, she went the only way she could.  She didn’t make it far though.  Rilynne ducked out of the path of the flying ornament just in time to see Ben move toward Holly.  He threw his arm out as she tried to pass.  When she ran into it, he pushed back, causing her to slam down hard on the ground.

The fact that he intervened seemed to stun her in addition to knocking the wind out of her.  By the time she gained her composure and tried to get back up, both Rilynne and Perez were standing over her, guns aimed at her face.  Standing quietly behind them, outwardly shocked by everything that had taken place, was Mayor Lomax.

“Are you alright?” Ben asked Rilynne.

She nodded, not taking her eyes off Holly until Perez rolled her over and had the handcuffs in place.  When he pulled her to her feet, Rilynne tucked her gun away and turned to her husband.

“Did you really just clothesline a woman?” she asked, genuinely shocked by his reaction.

He shrugged as he reached out and brushed the hair out of her face.  “I don’t care who it is,” he explained.  “If someone tries to hurt you, I’m not going to let them get away with it.  Besides, if I had let her get past me and she got away, we would have ended up spending the rest of our honeymoon trying to track her down.”

Sergeant Perez let out a quick laugh as he slowly shook his head.  “Do you two want a ride back to the station or would you like me to drop you off at your house?” he asked as he pushed Holly toward the open door.  All of the hostility he’d been directing toward
them was gone, leaving only gratitude and a level of astonishment that showed in his gaze.

“Neither,” Rilynne answered without needing to give it any thought.  “We’ll stop by tomorrow, but I think we’re going to get back to our honeymoon now.”

Ben looked down, shocked by her response, but he didn’t argue.  Instead, he took her by the arm and they followed Perez out.  After watching him load Holly into his car, and both he and Mayor Lomax drive away, they started down the empty road toward their house.

“You know, I never get tired of seeing you do that,” Ben said.  Rilynne looked up at him. He didn’t meet her gaze, but she could clearly see the large smile resting on his face.  “You have this excitement and confidence about you when you have someone cornered like that.  It’s almost intoxicating.”

“I can say the same about you,” she said.  “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.  You really would make a great detective.  You’re always right with me when I break things down, not hesitating to step in and take over.  Not only does it help to add credence to what I’m saying, but it’s incredibly sexy.”

“I’ll have to remember that,” he said with a puckish grin.

“I’m just glad it’s over.  You’ve been incredibly patient with me these last few days.  I don’t know how I’m ever going to make it up to you,” Rilynne said.  She tightened her hold on Ben’s hand as she dropped her head down against his shoulder.  “I also don’t know how I ever got so lucky.”

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head.  “Yeah, you really are a lucky woman,” he said.

Rilynne let out a soft laugh, but she didn’t argue.  He might have been joking, but it was the truth.  Never in her wildest dreams did she ever imagine there were even men like Ben out there, let alone that she would end up with one.

“I’m surprised you didn’t want to go to the station with Perez,” he said after several quiet minutes.  “There are still a lot of questions that are unanswered.  I would have thought you’d be the first person in the interrogation room trying to get the facts out of Holly.”

She shrugged.  “Perez can handle all of that.  He’s surprisingly more capable than I originally believed.  We gave him enough to lock her up.  That’s all that’s really important right now.  I don’t need to spend my night trying to get answers out of a woman that, in all likelihood, isn’t going to say a word.  As far as I’m concerned tonight, the case is solved.  This is our last night here, and there’s nothing I would rather be doing than spending it with you.”

Neither of them spoke another word before walking into their beach house.  After grabbing a half empty bottle of wine and two glasses out of the kitchen, they retreated to the porch swing.

Rilynne took a seat as she watched Ben empty the last of it into the glasses.  After handing her one, he sat down himself and kicked the swing into motion.  The air was cool as it passed over them.  The clouds that had been hiding the sun earlier had disappeared, leaving behind a vibrant blue sky.

“Can I just say how hot it was when you pulled your gun out like that today,” Ben said, wrapping his arm around her and kissing the back of her neck.  “The way you just let it hang there like that; it was like you were daring her to try something.”

“Getting turned on by guns now?” she chuckled, taking a sip of the sweet moscato.  “I think I’m a bad influence on you.”

Ben kissed her again as he nodded.  “That was already established long ago.”

Rilynne could have stayed in that spot for the rest of the day and it would have been nothing less than perfect.  Ben had other plans, though, as he stood and reached his hand down for hers when they had finished their glasses.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

Ben didn’t answer.  Instead, he just smiled and led her down the steps and back on to the road.

“You know, this is one of my favorite places in the world,” Ben said as he laced his fingers with hers.  “I’ve wanted to bring you out here for a while.  I probably would have even done it on our first date, but I thought that might be a little much.  I figured our honeymoon was the perfect time.”

“You were right.  You still haven’t told me how you even know it’s here,” she said.  She looked up to him, hoping he would finally give her an answer, but he didn’t.  Instead, he quietly steered her onto the hiking trail that branched off in front of them.

“Well, at least we have a couple days left of our honeymoon,” Rilynne stated.  She offered a guilty, weak grin as she let her hand slide out of his so she could step over the large rocks that were scattered along the path.  “I know you didn’t want to spend the last few days working.  I really do promise I’ll make it up to you.”

“You don’t-” he started, but fell silent before completing his thought.  Rilynne glanced back to find a large grin resting on his face.  Before she could question it, he continued.  “I might just let you do that.”

“I’m sure you would,” she chuckled.  She knew she had apologized and offered to make it up to him close to a dozen times, but she still didn’t feel like it was enough.  The only thing that overpowered the guilt she felt was the pride from having solved the case.  “So, are you going to tell me where we’re going now?”

“Nope,” he replied simply.

Rilynne let out a low groan and continued down the narrow trail.  With a thick line of trees on both sides, she couldn’t see anything more than the path stretching out in front of them.  She was beginning to think that they were lost half an hour later before the hardened dirt beneath them became salted with smooth, white sand.

“We’re almost there,” Ben said.  “It should be just beyond those trees just ahead of us.”

Rilynne looked back at him over her shoulder for a brief moment before turning back to the trees.  They were
towering like large curtains blocking the path, but she could just make out where to push through them.

“Now I’m a little nervous,” she said honestly.  “Do you want to go first?”

He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms tightly around her, shaking his head gently against hers.

“I’m not going to fall off a cliff or something when I step out, am I?” she asked.  “You hear about those people who get married just to kill their spouse on the honeymoon.  That actually wouldn’t be completely surprising after all of the excitement we’ve had so far.”  She held up her left wrist, still dressed in the brace Dr. Forrest had given her.  “I really don’t want to be one of those people.”

He laughed and stepped back from her.  “So you would rather me go first so I could fall off if there happened to be a cliff right there?  Wow, I really feel loved right now.”

Rilynne knew there was no way to win, so she didn’t even try to come up with a response.  Instead, she reached out for to the tree line and started pushing through.  It was thicker than she had originally thought, and it took a few moments for her to reach the other side.  When she pushed the last branch aside, the warm sun struck her face.  She reached her hand up to shield her eyes as a wave of cool, salty air passed over here.

Her feet didn’t need to touch the sand before she knew exactly where she was.  The taste of salt in the back of her throat gave it away.  Despite the fact that it could have been any beach standing in front of her, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind where he had brought her.  She could see it even before she stepped out and pulled his hand away from her eyes.

“No way,” she mumbled under her breath.  She let her hand fall to her side as she stepped the rest of the way out of the trees and ventured forward.  “But,” she went on, “but this is…”  She couldn’t finish her thought.  Her eyes swept side to side as she carefully examined every detail she could see.  After several long moments, she turned around to find Ben standing just behind her.  “This is the place,” she finally said.  Her heart was aching with excitement in her chest.  “This is the exact place.  Every detail is the same.  This is the beach; it’s the beach from my dreams.”

Ben smiled and shrugged as he tucked his hands into his pockets.  “I thought you might actually like to see the real place for once.”

“You were right,” she said, spinning around to face the crashing ocean.  She took in a deep breath, wanting to taste the air.  “I always wondered if it was actually the way I have seen it, or if it was just all in my head.  This is it, though. 
Down to every last detail.”  Her head slowly shook in disbelief.  “Even the coconuts that seem to have crashed onto the rocks over there.  I almost got hit with one once.  I just assumed it was my subconscious trying to knock some sense into me or tell me that I had been missing something.”