Meant for Her (18 page)

“What do you mean?”

In one move he reached his other hand under her sweater and pulled out the gun, then held the side of it against her nose. “Bullshit, Julie.”

He pushed her away, making her lose her footing and stumble onto the floor.

“You want to play games? Let’s play a little truth or dare, shall we?” He worked to dislodge a piece of food from his teeth.

Julie got her feet beneath her, crouching on the floor beneath his imposing form. “Why are you here?” she said.

“Waiting for your father. I sent him a text message with this address an hour ago.”

Her skin prickled hot and cold. “Why?”

“Oh, sorry. My turn.” He was smiling like the Cheshire cat, clearly enjoying himself. “I dare you to stand right here in front of me,” he gestured to the floor, “and tell me you haven’t been in contact with your father in all these years.”

It was ridiculous, but she felt her own desire to challenge him as she rose before him and raised her chin, speaking the truth. “I haven’t been in contact with my father in ten years.”

The slap met her face with such force, her head whipped around.

“Liar! The game is
truth
or dare. Nothing but a cunning little opportunist, just like your mother.”

Hatred dripped from his voice, coating the words in ugliness. If he hated her mother,
why had he gone to see her in the hospital?

Something clicked in her memory, a doctor in a white lab coat saying her mother would be going home tomorrow. Julie had gone to the chapel to give thanks for prayers answered, and found Henry Goldstein in her mother’s room upon her return.

Thomas Barstow.

“You killed her!”

“She left me no choice.” He raised arms at his sides. “She was going to name me in the lawsuit about the radiation. It would have destroyed my career, just like you are trying to destroy Jared’s. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, now does it?”

There was no statute of limitations on murder. Barstow had no intention of letting her walk out of here alive.

Too bad it’s not his decision to make.

The courage roared up insider her, the will to fight for herself and win. She deliberately focused on the scene in her mind, Barstow’s blood splattering on the wall. Confidence swarmed through her as she watched him fall, knowing that her premonition would become reality.

Her fingers itched to hold the cold metal of the gun, which rested on the granite next to his half-eaten pizza. Déjà vu wafted over her like a cloud shadowing the sun. She had already lived this moment in the kitchen of Systex, her father standing before her, her opportunity fading as she hesitated.

I will not hesitate again.

“This is so much fun. I’ve often dreamed of what it would be like to talk to you. You’re the only person who can really
appreciate
all that I’ve done.”

Cold sweat lingered on her back, her underarms. “What else is there?”

He puffed his chest. “Pour me a glass of wine. And don’t spill this one, you clumsy bitch.”

She retrieved his cup from the floor and filled it, bringing the bottle back with her to the island. She took a seat at a barstool across from Barstow and her gun.

“Ah, these horrible little Chianti bottles with the baskets on them. Leo used to have them on every table.”

“You knew Leo?”

“Of course. I introduced him to your father when I recruited McDowell to work for Uzkapostan.” He swallowed half his wine in one sip. “We were quite a team, your father and I. I had access to information, he had the ability to decode it. It was un-fucking-believable what we were able to accomplish.”

“Until the Dermody went down.”

He nodded. “Our greatest triumph, but we were discovered when they traced the leak to my office. Fortunately for me, everything pointed to your father.” He winked at her.

“But you were both guilty.”

“No,” he said, his eyes widening. “
We were both heroes.”

He picked up the gun and twirled it around by the trigger guard. “Your father went back to Uzkapostan and everything was fine, until he started blackmailing me. At first I figured I was helping a comrade survive on the lamb. I knew your father wouldn’t turn on me. But over the years he has gotten greedy. It is affecting my bottom line.

So I plugged the security hole in the Navy’s procurement database, knowing he’d come out of hiding to get you to fix it.”

“You’ve been trying to track him down ever since.”

He nodded. “I almost had him that night at Systex. I threw the glass against the wall to try to separate you two.”

“It was you in the elevator!”

He raised his glass. “Indeed.”

“But he got away. So you gave him my address, hoping he would come after me, and you could get to him.”

He pointed at her, a teacher to a star pupil. “Very good. Except he’s not coming to get you,” he began to laugh. “He’s coming to protect you!”

Julie didn’t understand. “He shot me.”

“Your father didn’t shoot you, Julie McDowell.” His evil eyes glittered as he spoke. “
I shot you.”

She saw him reach for the gun, but she snatched it off the granite first. Her hand clutched at the metal but failed to get a grip, the weapon dropping to the floor with a heavy rattle. Julie pivoted to retrieve it and Barstow kicked her away, picking up the gun himself.

She ran, her feet hectic as they worked to push her to safety, Barstow’s footsteps thunderous behind her. She darted around one side of the barrier separating the loft from the front door and entered the darkened foyer.

Gunshots exploded just as she reached for the door handle.

A hundred and eighty pounds of weight slammed into her, propelling her into the steel entry door. Julie screamed. The body that crushed her fell to the floor, and she turned to see her father, blood streaming from his neck.

He had been hiding behind the wall, and deliberately placed himself between his daughter and her attacker.

“Daddy!”

His voice was a rasp, barely a sound. “Run!”

“Oh, that’s so precious. A father rushing to save his daughter.” The admiral clucked his tongue. “But it was all for naught, McDowell.” He laughed hysterically. “Because you’re blocking the door!”

Julie saw that he was right. Her father’s body blocked her only escape. In that moment it didn’t matter that she was trapped.  All that mattered was that he had not tried to kill her, but had saved her instead.

“I love you, Daddy,” she whispered. McDowell took a final racking breath, then he was gone.

Barstow’s cell phone rang and he checked the caller ID before answering it, the gun pointed at Julie. “What is it?” his smile turned to a scowl. “When?” He listened, then hung up the phone. “It seems your boyfriend’s missed his flight to Seattle. I wonder where he could be headed?”

 ~~~

Hank stood on the street outside the apartments, pacing. The door to the building was locked, with no way to ring the individual units. Alarm bells jangled in his brain as he phoned Gwen.

“No, it was definitely open this afternoon,” she said. “Do you think she’s all right?”

“No.”

“I’m on my way.”

“Call 911 first.”

“I will.”

He put the phone back in his pocket and strode to a bank of windows. He took off one shoe and used the heel like a hammer to break the glass, then clear away the shards. The opening was nearly three feet square, and he hoisted himself up and over the wall.

He was in a large empty room with a steel door at the far end. He jogged to it, threw back the lock, and entered a darkened hallway in search of the stairs.

A red exit sign led him to a stairwell, and he took the steps two at a time as fast as his feet would propel him.

Becky’s words tormented him as he climbed
. “It was your job to protect her, and you did a shitty job of it!”
Flight after flight he flew, breath coming in great gasping whooshes of air as he pushed his body to go faster, get there sooner, prevent what had happened from happening again.

Three deafening gunshots rang out on the other side of the fire door, half a flight from the seventh floor landing.

 ~~~

“Hank doesn’t know where I am.”

Barstow touched his finger to his chin and pursed his lips. “Now, why don’t I believe that?”

“I broke it off, just like you told me to.”

“That was excellent advice on my part. I had to extricate you from your bodyguard. Plus, I don’t think he’s ready to settle down, that one.”

Julie’s attention was drawn to the wall behind Barstow, which wasn’t visible from the rest of the apartment. Unlike the honeyed gold that graced the other walls, this one was taupe.

There would be no Calvary, no knight in shining armor come to rescue her. Gwen had given her firepower, and though that gun was in Barstow’s hands, the gift had little to do with the weapon. The universe raised its mighty sledgehammer and hit Julie Trueblood over the head with it.

Like a movie flashing in the darkness, she saw herself kneel before her father’s body in grief, surreptitiously removing the concealed pistol from the ankle holster she knew he always wore. A warm feeling surged through her belly, and she knew her father would be happy it was his gun that would save the life he had died trying to protect.

She nodded her head slightly and allowed her lungs to fill with air. With more faith than she knew she possessed, Julie began to mimic the moves she envisioned in her mind. The emotions came of their own volition, first her face crumpling in grief. Her shoulders caved in around herself as racking sobs took her breath away, true feelings overtaking her as she allowed them to come freely to the surface.

 Leaning over the body,
the last time she would touch this man
, she reached around his legs in an awkward embrace.  She stealthily slipped the gun from its hiding spot beneath his trouser leg.

Barstow ordered her to stand up, as she knew he would. She bent at the waist, hiding the gun, until she nearly reached her full height and turned on him.

His face fell when he saw what she had found, his eyes hardening as he began to raise his own weapon.

Julie fired three bullets, each of them seeming to hang in midair. Barstow’s head twisted at a horrible angle, blood splattering onto the wall behind him in a predetermined design.

He fell to the ground, dead.

The sound of his body hitting the floor was grotesque. For some moments she stared at his form, unable to comprehend what had happened. She looked up, gazing at the pattern of blood on the wall, realizing she stood in the presence of God. She fell to her knees.

Thank you for saving me.

Someone pushed the door behind her furiously into her father’s body, and for a while Julie just watched. She heard Hank call her name, finally moving from her stupor to pull at her father’s weight and allow Hank entry. He rushed in, his hands running up and down her body. Julie could hear sirens. She could see his lips moving, but she wasn’t focused on the words.

For now, there was just the blood on the wall, the floor under her knees, and the awe in her exhausted spirit.

Chapter 14

“I think you’re a complete asshole.”

Julie walked by her, carrying an armful of folded towels, and put them in the trunk of her car. It was already loaded with several turquoise duffel bags, a pillow and a worn lavender comforter. “You’re entitled to your opinion, Becky.”

She never did unpack the things she brought to the loft apartment, quietly nodding when the officer explained they would be tagged as evidence and held for at least thirty days.

Shopping seemed like a better idea.

Reaching into her jacket pocket, she took out her keys before letting the warm down parka slip from her shoulders.

“This is for you.” She handed the coat to Becky.

“Don’t go.”

Tears threatened, fast and hot against her lashes. “I’m leaving,” she insisted, her voice a desperate rasp.

“Hank loves you. Hell, I love you.”

Julie opened her arms and hugged her tight. “I love you, too.” Slowly, she let her arms fall away from her friend. She climbed behind the wheel, numbly starting the engine. “I’ll call you when I get where I’m going.”

Red blotches mottled Becky’s ivory skin. “I’ll miss you.”

“Enjoy that promotion. You deserve it.”

She nodded, tears running freely down her face. “Drive safe, you stupid crazy bitch.”

“I will.”

Julie closed the door against the cold winter air and turned the key in the ignition. With a sad smile and a wave at her best friend, she pulled away from the curb and headed toward the interstate. Relief percolated through her mind, bringing with it the first real peace she’d experienced in what seemed like weeks.

After the incident, as she had come to refer to it, Hank had driven her to the police station in his SUV. He seemed to understand that she needed to be left alone. Julie was interviewed, and when she emerged she was grateful to find only Gwen waiting to take her home, a book of Sudoku puzzles in her lap.

“Hank said to tell you he loves you. He had some work to take care of in D.C.”

And she knew.

The military was Hank’s life, and it was the antithesis of hers. It was crazy to believe they could make it work.

She would be gone before he ever returned.

 ~~~

Moon Lake glistened silver in the morning sunshine, the Adirondack Mountains frozen in waves of purple and blue on the horizon. Hank pushed the lawn mower over his mother’s rolling property, the noise from its engine drowning out all other sounds. The muscles of his arms and back reveled in the exercise, while his mind enjoyed the simple monotony.

Anything to keep from thinking about Julie.

He’d gone looking for her when he got back from D.C., only to find a For Sale sign in front of her condo. The dread in his belly clawed at his insides as he drove toward Becky’s house, fearing he knew what she was going to say.

“She’s gone, Hank.”

“Where?”