Ruthless Game (A Captivating Suspense Novel) (46 page)

"What about the tape of me someone called into the police on my cell phone?" Alex pressed, buying time as much as anything else.

She waved her hand. "He taped the conversations, but I put the tape together. He liked making the calls, but he wasn't very smart—almost got caught the night he broke in to steal your cell phone."

"And the parking ticket?"

"Me, me. I got it from the station. Had to do it myself. Just snagged it and filled it out." She sighed and shook her head. "Alfred was my least successful attempt. I don't want to talk about him anymore." She motioned Alex up. "Let's go."

"Someone's going to make the link that Alfred was your patient. Questions are going to be asked."

"But you killed Alfred, too, Alex. Your fingerprints are in the car."

"It wasn't my weapon," Alex countered.

Judith shrugged. "How hard is it for a cop to get a weapon? It won't keep them from convicting, I don't think."

Alex couldn't even form a sentence.

"No more questions, then? I guess it's time for business." Judith brought her left arm around Alex's back. The motion was slow and deliberate. Alex never could have imagined what was coming.

The buzz at her neck sounded like an electric razor, but the shock that followed shot through her like a fiery bullet. Every muscle in her body contracted in a wave of excruciating heat.

Alex dropped to the ground, landing directly on her left shoulder. A scream sprang from her lips as she felt her ligament tear from the bone.

"Go ahead and scream, Alex. There's no one here to hear you. And, of course, this room is completely soundproof."

Alex fought to gain control of herself, to move her hand or leg. But it was as though her brain had been wrenched away from her body. She couldn't so much as lift a finger.

"It'll wear off," Judith said. "It did on Loeffler and Nader. But it's very convenient, really. Gives me a chance to prepare for the final touches."

Alex winced as tears began to stream down her face.

"Enough of that." Judith pushed Alex's hair back from her face, wiping her tears. "You should be able to watch this. I've always enjoyed watching, myself. Androus was quite good at what he did. A very interesting psychological profile, a fantastic study. Much more rewarding than Alfred. I was doing a great thing. I wish you could know that your life wasn't wasted."

Panic rushing through her blood, Alex tested her finger. It wouldn't move. Her teeth clenched, she tried again unsuccessfully.

Judith laughed as she walked to the bookcase. "There's no use fighting it."

Alex watched as Judith pulled a heavy-looking burgundy textbook from the shelf. She opened the textbook, and Alex saw that the center had been hollowed out. Judith pulled out several small vials and a syringe.

Gasping, Alex struggled again.

Tearing the syringe from its plastic wrap, Judith lifted it and one of the vials so Alex could watch. Slowly, Judith drew the liquid into the needle. With the syringe full, she turned it upright and tapped its side.

Her panic was strung so tight, Alex almost missed the motion she felt in her shoe. Her toes. She was moving again. She only had one chance.

Judith started to turn toward her as Alex focused her energy on this last effort.

After using a few seconds to gather her strength, Alex lifted her leg and kicked Judith with all the force she could muster. The woman fell backwards and Alex reached for the stun gun.

Judith got to it first. Turning it toward Alex, she caught the side of Alex's hand with the electrode. Alex screamed and fell back, cupping her hand to her chest.

Tears flowed down her face like water from a faucet. Why hadn't she told someone where she was going? Fight, she told herself.
Fight.
But she couldn't. The pain overwhelmed even the most basic instinct for survival.

She felt the prick of the needle in her shoulder before she saw Judith's hand holding the syringe. Alex pulled her knees to her chest, fighting to maintain her dimming will to live.

"It's too bad you up and ran off, Alex. Someone from the force might've missed you otherwise."

Alex shook her head, trying to block out Judith's words. But they sank through, and Alex knew she was right.

"Now no one will know any better. You'll be missing a few more days. Then you'll show up dead somewhere. They'll realize the guilt of the murders finally got to you. All very neat with a bow on top."

A thick, drunken buzz began to settle over Alex. She shook her head to fight it.

Judith patted her head. "Don't worry. You won't lose consciousness. I'll be right here until it's all over."

Chapter 34

Alex caught glimpses of Judith as she moved around the room, but her eyelids were like bricks, dragging her eyes closed. Each time she opened them, it felt as though she'd been sleeping, and yet she had no idea at what speed time was passing.

The next time she woke, Judith was slapping her face. "I might've given you a bit too much," she admitted. "You're not as big as I'm used to."

Judith pulled Alex into a sitting position. "We're going to the basement," she explained as though she were helping Alex instead of trying to kill her. "You're going to need to stand."

Alex shook her head and fell back.

Judith put the stun gun in her face. "Every time you don't do what I say, I'm going to give you a little jolt."

Clamping her eyes closed, Alex ignored her.

"Fine," Judith said, her tone smug. "You'll learn."

The cool touch of metal made Alex flinch. The stabbing shock that followed made her vomit.

Judith clucked her tongue disapprovingly as she rolled Alex to her side. "Doesn't look like your last meal was very big."

Alex rocked, holding her stomach and fighting the pain.

"Open your eyes," Judith demanded, tilting Alex's head toward her left shoulder.

Alex opened her eyes and saw redness on her arm, where the flesh felt burnt. But the pain had dulled, as though her limit for it was a circuit that had just been blown.

"Now, sit up."

Too weak to fight, Alex sat up.

Judith pulled Alex toward her and then led her toward an open hatch under the rug where the floral couch had been.

Down the hatch, Alex could see a short wooden ladder. Below it was a crawl space. A mound of dirt was surrounded by a square cement area not larger than twenty feet by twenty feet.

"Let's go," Judith commanded.

Alex fought for her footing as Judith shoved her toward the hole. In the back of her mind, she heard heavy thumping like footsteps overhead.

Judith pushed harder. "Not a word."

Alex sensed anxiety in Judith's voice and felt a breath of hope. Halting, Alex turned toward the door. "In here!" she screamed with every bit of strength she had left.

Judith pulled the stun gun out and connected the current to Alex's injured shoulder.

Groaning, Alex collapsed. But the pain wasn't what she had expected. She had shifted slightly before Judith reached her. Instead of the electrifying shock, Alex felt only a brief jolt.

Heavy pounding shook the door. "Police, open up!"

Alex saw the stun gun drop to Judith's side as she turned to the door. Fighting the sharp pain in her shoulder, Alex pushed Judith backwards.

Judith fell off balance but caught herself. The stun gun dropped to the floor, but Judith had the real gun pointed at Alex.

With Alex's arm injured, Judith seemed especially strong. She grabbed Judith's wrist, struggling to point the gun into the air. A shot went off.

Judith twisted toward her, connecting her knee to Alex's stomach.

Doubling over, Alex held her stomach and counted to three. Then, in a last burst of strength, she drove her right shoulder into Judith, shoving her backwards.

Judith let out a shriek as she tumbled, knocking against her desk and rolling onto the floor. The gun dropped from her hand.

Grabbing for the gun, Alex felt numb, her limbs heavy, her senses dull.

Judith scrambled back up and was at her desk as Alex tried to lift the gun.

Alex's vision was blurred, as though she were looking at everything through water. As the image cleared, she found Judith lunging at her, a letter opener tight in her fist.

At the edge of the crawl space, Alex steadied herself from falling. Judith was coming fast. Unable to focus, Alex pointed the gun and pulled the trigger twice, hearing the pop, pop. But Judith was already in midair and her dead weight fell forward, knocking Alex backwards. Alex tumbled into the crawl space, slamming her head at the bottom. She tried to make a sound, any sound, but couldn't.

Eyelids heavy, Alex closed her eyes, as the sharp pounding in her head grew to a dulling pain.

Chapter 35

The angel's long white dress floated in front of Alex's face. "You need to do it," the angel said, handing her the gun. "If you don't, the bad man will hurt these boys and it will be your fault. Do you want that to happen?"

Alex shook her head.

The angel wrapped Alex's small hands around the gun and pointed it at the bad man. He wasn't moving. But the angel insisted she had to shoot him. He would come back, she said. With the angel's help, Alex pulled the trigger.

"Good girl," the angel said.

Alex caught a glimpse of the angel's face and recognized Judith Richards as she lunged forward with a letter opener. Alex pointed the gun again and pulled the trigger all by herself.

Alex opened her eyes, blinking hard at the harsh overhead light. She tried to move but her arms and legs were bound. As she struggled against the restraints, pain knocked her back.

"It's okay, Alex. It's okay."

Alex stared at the face, the familiar face. But instead of terror, she felt calm.

"It's me. It's your partner."

She choked back a sob as Greg touched her face. Turning his attention to her restraints, he loosened them. "You were thrashing so much, they had to tie you down. You pulled out stitches in your shoulder three times."

His words spun around her head along with a million questions, tangling her thoughts. "Judith," she finally whispered.

Greg pulled his chair up to her bed and held her hand. "Judith's dead. You shot her."

She frowned, looking around the room. "Where's James?"

"He's on his way. He's been here the whole time—Brittany, too. They went to talk to the doctor. They'll be right back."

"How did you—"

"Shh. Don't talk. You need your rest."

She squeezed his hand. "Tell me."

"After you called, I checked up on that Hennigan guy. Turns out he was good friends with Judith's ex-husband who had also worked with her at Stanford. It didn't take us long to track down Hennigan. He hadn't even left for London yet. He had a lot of interesting things to say about her. Seems the main reason she and her hubby split up was because he thought she was mentally unstable. Then I found her name on Alfred Ferguson's parole sheet."