Relative Chaos (32 page)

"You have no idea what-" Janice whirled and stopped at the
sight of Teale behind the door.

She stared at the gun. "What-what-7 She looked at me, eyes
wide.

Teale came forward and grabbed her arm, shoving his weapon
into her side.

"Ladies," he said in a jovial tone, "this is your unlucky day." Keeping the gun trained on us, he backed up to the desk and grabbed my
purse. "You, Klutter Killer, douse the lights. We're out of here"

"Leave us," I said. "Go. We won't say anything."

"Yeah, right," he said.

Janice emerged from her stupor and glared at me as if I was the
bad guy. "What the hell have you done?"

"Me?"

"This is unbelievable," she screeched. "I came over here to get
what's rightfully mine, and-"

"Shut up," Teale said. "We're leaving, and you'll both keep your
traps shut. You act like we're friends out for a Friday night. Got that?"

"I'm not budging." Janice folded her arms over her chest. "Whatever problems you two have has nothing to do with me."

"It does now" He waved his gun toward the door.

Janice and I exchanged a glance, but neither one of us moved.

Teale fixed us with an evil eye that could have won him an Academy Award. "You ladies need to think of Miss Millie. She could get
hurt. Badly hurt."

Janice stepped toward him. "How dare you threaten my mother?"

I grabbed her arm. "We'll do whatever you say."

Janice's wrath faded as we left the law office ahead of Teale and
walked down the empty hallway. He directed us to the stairwell, and
we'd descended one flight when Janice found her voice.

"If I'm about to die, I sure as hell wish one of you would have the
decency to tell me why I'm dying."

"Because you had to come for some stupid box," I said. "What's
that all about anyway?"

"Mother told me you picked it up," she said.

It took my brain a second to catch up and remember what Monty
gave me at the service station. "Oh, that's out in the Durango."

"And a fat lot of good it will do me now."

"Shut up," Teale said. "Keep walking."

We were crossing the very spot where Teale had murdered Dawn,
and I felt numb, unable to devise any way to gain an advantage. He
was stronger than both of us put together and bent on getting his
hands on the Featherstone money. And who could forget the gun?

He steered us out through the stairwell exit leading straight to the
small parking lot behind the building. The rush of cool night air heightened my panic as I noted the only vehicles in sight-mine, Teale's
rental, and a battered Civic. Janice must have parked out front.

One lone pole light cast a dim glow on the asphalt. Downtown
Richmond didn't have any nightlife, and everyone who worked in
the vicinity had taken off for the weekend. Little traffic noise came
from the main drag running through town. I doubted the Civic belonged to a conscientious security guard who would rush to our aid.

I glanced over my shoulder at Teale, who moved close behind
Janice. If anyone saw us, the fact that he had my purse slung over his
shoulder might draw attention even if they didn't see the gun he held
inches from her back.

"You've piqued my interest in this box that's worth a fortune," he
said. "Let's take a look."

Janice stopped in her tracks and turned to stare him down. "You
can't be serious."

Teale scowled and raised the gun hand as if she'd said, "Over my
dead body."

"For God's sake, Janice, let him look." I quickened my step, glad
for any interruption of Teale's plan, and pulled out my keys. Hit the
unlock button. In a perfect world, I would take Teale down with a
karate kick, throw Janice into the vehicle ahead of me, and we'd take
off before he could recover.

That wasn't about to happen here.

"The box is in back." I moved straight to the tailgate door, then
unlatched and lifted it in one fluid motion. I fumbled with the keys
for my miniature flashlight and flicked it on to better illuminate the
interior.

"You don't have to be so freaking helpful," Janice said.

Teale kept the gun on her. "Show me what you've got in the box,
Mouth."

"Show him," I said, meeting her eyes with a we've-got-to-dosomething expression. My fingers felt for the panic button on the underside of my keyless-entry doodad. Setting it off might help us or
might get us killed.

Janice took the lid off her precious box, muttering, "Came here to
keep this from one creep, now I'm giving it to another."

I cringed, expecting Teale to crown her with the gun. He put my
purse down beside the box and stepped closer, drawn by the baseballs inside.

"Autographed?" he said, as if he were planning to make a bid.

"Of course," Janice said smugly. "Babe Ruth's in there somewhere."

I could almost see the dollar signs flashing before Teale's eyes
and took advantage of the distraction to stretch my free hand toward
my purse strap. I needed my phone.

Janice reached into the box and latched onto the red plastic sack
inside, then elbowed the cardboard corner hard. Balls spilled out onto
the pavement.

Teale crouched and grabbed at them.

Janice raced around the SUV, the red plastic waving from her
hand.

Teale lifted his gun arm, taking aim at Janice.

I hit the alarm button, setting off a blaring horn and flashing
headlights.

He ducked, startled, but before he could turn the gun on me, I
grabbed the tailgate and with all my strength smashed the heavy
door down on his head.

Teale's legs buckled, and he fell to his knees, moaning and holding his bloody temple.

Get the phone.

I reached for my purse and jumped back when Teale made a grab
for my leg. I got the purse, but my keys fell to the pavement. Teale
lunged at me again, but his movements were weak. I slugged him with
my purse, and he fell to the ground. That wouldn't last.

Forget the keys.

I took off running, expecting to feel a bullet in the back. Janice
was nowhere in sight. I sprinted across the lot and down the sidewalk
beside the law office building, chest heaving. Rounded the corner to
the front sidewalk.

And saw Wayne McCall only yards away, running toward me.

He held a gun too. I froze and screamed, my brain instantly connecting McCall to Teale. They were in this together. McCall would
drag me off to the Brazos River and toss me in like fish food. Or
he'd take me back to Teale, and they'd use me for target practice.

I was trapped. Teale behind me, McCall ahead.

He closed the distance between us quickly. When he reached out
for me, I darted away. But he was faster, stronger, and managed to
wrap his arms around me and pull me close. He backed us up to the
alcove of the building entrance, murmuring, "It's okay. I called the
cops. You're safe, Poppy."

Sirens sounded in the distance, and for some crazy reason I believed him. I allowed myself to rest against him, my heart pounding
wildly, for the thirty seconds it took the police to show up. And did
they ever show up-with more sirens and flashing lights than I'd ever
seen in one place. I decided it must be a slow crime night in Fort
Bend County, but I was glad to see every blessed officer.

McCall and I were separated in the flurry of activity that followed
as the police apprehended Teale and stuffed him into the back of a
cruiser on my word that he had tried to kill me and Janice. When I
added that he had already committed two murders and gave them
facts and evidence to back up my claim, they put in a call to Troxell.

Half an hour into the commotion, McCall finished talking with the
cops and told me good-bye. He had important business to tend to, or so
he said. I was peeved that he felt the need to rush off. And then immediately I felt guilty. I was still stressed, yes, and would have welcomed
him comforting me, but for McCall to leave like that? Obviously, this
business was even more important than he'd indicated.

Shortly after he'd gone, the cops dismissed me too, with a warning
to not leave the county, that Detective Troxell would be contacting
me shortly. I couldn't very well leave with the Durango blocked in
by a dozen police cars. I didn't want to go over there anyway. Teale
was staring me down through the cruiser's window. Maybe he wasn't
a well-known actor, but tonight he had the role of psycho killer
down pat.

Janice, who'd answered her share of questions and obviously
been dismissed too, waved me in her direction. "C'mon, I'm parked
out front. Give you a ride."

"Yeah, thanks."

We walked side by side toward her car, and I felt like crying, or
hugging her, or both. We'd come close to losing our lives. I'd never
felt so glad to be with my cousin and thought this might be a turning
point in our relationship. Janice was uncharacteristically subdued,
and I figured she must be having the same feelings.

Teary-eyed, I glanced over at her.

She gave me the usual smug expression, a Janice classic, and said,
"Good thing I came along tonight to help you out of that jam."

By the time Detective Troxell showed up at Aunt Millie's to give
us an update, we'd moved into the dessert-fest phase of a late supper. Millie had baked from the time Janice left to come after me until we returned to her doorstep at around nine. Cheesecake, deep-dish
apple pie, and fudge brownies sat on the table before us.

McCall was a no-show, though Millie had invited him. Kevin was
there, and I wondered what special communication pipeline Millie
had to reach him when I could never get a lead on the boy. Maybe
he'd sniffed out the food and showed up without an invitation.

A trickle of dread slipped down my spine when Troxell stepped
into the dining room and shook Kevin's hand. I knew he was off her
radar now, but I still felt nervous having them in the same room after all that had happened. That feeling wouldn't fade quickly.

"Have some dessert, Rae." Millie pulled out a chair for the detective. "There's plenty."

"I can see that." Troxell sat and made a show of checking out the
selection. "What? No chocolate cake?"

"Not tonight." I picked up the plate of brownies. "This is tonight's
chocolate fix"

"That'll do."

Janice, quiet after inhaling three pieces of cheesecake, nodded
hello to Troxell and sipped her coffee.

Troxell placed two brownies on her plate, took a bite, then
checked out me and Janice in turn. "You ladies holding up okay?
Kind of a rough night."

"We'll live," said Janice.

"You're fine," Millie said, "thank God. And thank God I had the
sense to send Wayne after you."

"We would have been fine without him," I said, wishing that his
absence didn't bother me.

Troxell swallowed a bite of brownie and looked at Millie. "What
made you send him over there?"

Millie looked sheepish, then glanced at Janice. "Seems silly now,
but Janice was pretty hot when she left here to go after Poppy. I was
afraid the girls might get into it. They've been this way their whole
lives."

Janice rolled her eyes. "We're not twelve, Mother."

"Then quit acting like you are," Millie said. "But let's not discuss
this now. I'm sure Rae came over here for more important reasons."

Troxell wiped her mouth with a napkin and addressed me. "We
can formalize this in the morning, have you and your cousin come
down and make official statements. You know the routine."

I nodded. "Unfortunately, I do."

"Since you gave us what we needed to solve the murders, I didn't
want to keep you waiting that long before you got some answers,"
she went on. "Everything you reported fits with what I've learned. I
talked with that PI, Becker. Along with some help from my LAPD
contact, we put the story together."

I felt myself leaning forward, relieved. Kevin was absolutely in
the clear.

"Teale and Featherstone worked and lived together," Troxell went
on. "They rented a pricey LA apartment. Featherstone spent most
of his time working on location, leaving the place to Teale, who, according to a neighbor, couldn't seem to find work. He spent his time
lounging around the pool, feeling sorry for himself."

"Until he spotted a golden opportunity to make a fortune by doing next to nothing," I said.

"Right." Troxell sipped her coffee. "Tate had the PI search for Mrs.
Featherstone's heir. Becker found Teale holed up at the apartment
leased in Featherstone's name. Sent Tate the first report complete with
pictures of the man she believed was Featherstone"

"So Teale intercepted the letter to Featherstone about the inheritance," I said, "while Steve was out of town. He must have known
Steve hadn't been in contact with his grandmother since he was a
kid."

"I believe that's exactly what happened," Troxell said. "I sure
would like to know what went down after Steve showed up here in Texas-and where. Teale's not talking. Yet. Bet we can squeeze the
details out of him before it's all over."