The Burning Point (44 page)

Nick shrugged. "He was going to be dead in a couple of months anyhow. I figured I was doing him a favor by taking him out before it got really painful."

Any faint hope that this was some weird misunderstanding died with his admission. "You bastard! You stole those months from my mother and everyone else who loved my father."

"It wouldn't have happened if Sam had done the right thing in the first place. Personally, I think the cancer had affected his brain. I was really hurt when Angie told me about the will. I couldn't believe Sam would pass over his own nephew to leave PDI to your stupid Irish ex-husband. Hell, I could have understood if he'd left it to you or even your faggot brother, but Donovan? That was a damned insult." He moved another step closer.

Angie? That's right, Nick's wife worked for Charles Hamilton's firm. In fact, that was where Nick had met her. She must monitor files relating to her husband's family and the business. She'd probably seen Sam come in, and checked Charles's notes later to learn why. Nick had obviously taken the news of the new will very, very badly.

"Convenient for you to have a spy in Charles's office." Her cousin was between her and the undamaged part of the building, herding her into more hazardous territory.

"Angie is a nice old-fashioned girl who always does exactly what I tell her. She hasn't talked back or disobeyed since the second year of our marriage."

Bastard.
"I'm family, too, Nick. Our fathers were brothers. We carry the same name. Does family kill family?"

"Don't blame me," he said with an ugly twist of his lips. "You should have stayed in California. But no, you had to work at PDI. If you hadn't, you wouldn't be here today. I just wanted to bring this end of the building down messily so the church got damaged, and PDI's reputation along with it. Not my fault that you and Donovan blundered in so I have to get rid of you both."

He took another step forward. Kate retreated the same distance, the flooring creaking ominously beneath her. "What are you going to do--push us over the edge?"

"Has to look like an accident," Nick said. "That's why I brought the stun gun. When the explosives go off, you and Donovan will be caught in the blast. I suppose an autopsy might show you've been stunned, but who's going to look that closely at a couple of corpses who've been flattened like road kill?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"With two more fatalities, the firm will either close or be sold to Marchetti Demolition. If Marchetti gets it, he'll probably hire me to run to run it. If it closes--well, PDI won't be competing with my company any more. Either way, I win. It would have been so much easier if Sam had just left the company to me in the first place."

His selfish rationalizations revolted Kate, but there was no time to waste in hating him. No use yelling--there was too much demolition noise. Her radio was out of reach, and Donovan was down for the count. She was on her own.

Luckily, Nick had to be within touching distance to use the stun gun. He was also complacent, sure he could take her whenever he wanted. If she could find some kind of weapon, she'd have a chance.

A sizable length of broken rebar caught her eye. Lying about fifteen feet to her left, it would make a formidable weapon, and could be wielded from a distance beyond Nick's reach. She began inching to her left. Nick mirrored her movements in a weird dance where he drew ever closer.

Stalling for time, she said, "Have you had anything to do with the accidents that have been happening on so many PDI projects lately?"

"You're smart, Kate. Yeah, I've been behind most of 'em. Since I did the account work, I knew all of PDI's upcoming projects. I also know demolition people all over the country. It wasn't hard to find guys who didn't mind picking up a few extra bucks in return for playing pranks. Set a little fire, make a mistake or two in ordering or delivering explosives, or when operating equipment--no problem. I turned the gas on here myself. Dead easy."

"So you have a talent for low-grade industrial espionage," she said with disgust. "You're a good snake oil salesman, too, but that doesn't mean you have the technical skills to run PDI. You were always a talker, not a doer. You'd probably bankrupt the firm in a couple of years."

His face reddened. "And you were always a smart-mouthed little princess! Daddy's dear little girl, who could do no wrong."

Donovan's shaky voice said, "You're a slob technically, Nick. That's the real reason why Sam didn't leave you the firm."

Nick swung around, enraged. "You're the one who wasn't carrying your weight! Anyone can drill holes, but it takes talent to find and keep clients. I was the one who was indispensable, not you. But after I left, you poisoned Sam's mind against me, so that he refused when I asked to come back. You brought this on yourself!"

"Bullshit." Donovan rolled onto his side, his whole frame shaking with the effort. "You say that Sam didn't honor family, but he did. If you weren't his nephew, you'd have been out on your ass."

Kate had been taking advantage of Donovan's diversionary tactics to edge toward the rebar. As Nick furiously kicked Donovan in the ribs, she leaped for the length of steel and grabbed it in both hands.

Three racing strides and she was close enough to strike her cousin. Using all her strength, she swung for the back of his neck, hoping she'd break it.

Hearing the whistle of steel slicing through the air, he turned in time to throw up one arm and block the worst impact. He staggered backward, then caught his balance and lunged toward her, the stun gun crackling with blue-white fire.

Oh, God, he was aiming for the rebar. Fearing that steel would conduct electricity dangerously well, she threw the heavy bar at him, then grabbed a piece of broken concrete and hurled it at her cousin's face. The rebar caught him at waist level, ironically bending him over so that the flying concrete missed.

Undamaged, he straightened. "Forget it, daddy's little princess. You never beat me in a fight in your life."

She bolted, moving parallel to the damaged west front. He raced after her. She scooped up a handful of grit and gravel and threw it behind her. Some struck Nick's face. "Christ, you little...!"

It gave her the seconds she needed to get past him. Pivoting sharply, she raced toward the undamaged section of the building. With any kind of lead, she could outrun him, and just a floor below, there was help...

"Come back here, Kate!" Nick bellowed. "If you don't, I swear Donovan will be dead before you reach the next floor."

She stopped in her tracks. Then, heart pounding with terror, she turned to face her father's murderer.

Chapter 40

Nick grabbed a crowbar from the floor and positioned himself above Donovan. "A couple of blows with this should crush his skull nicely. Though jabbing him through an eye socket might be more efficient. Kind of like killing a frog in biology. I remember you were too much of a sissy for that. Had to get your nerdy friend Rachel to do it for you. Shall I show you how it's done right now?"

His threat filled her with icy rage. She must think,
think
, or she and Donovan were both dead. "If you're going to murder us both anyhow, there's no percentage in me sticking around. It will just get me killed without helping Donovan."

He frowned. "You're right. It would have worked if I could take you both out with no one the wiser, but I blew it. Not much point in offing him, then getting arrested for murder. Besides, it's not as if I really want to kill someone else. Time to negotiate. How about I give you Donovan's life in return for silence? Promise that neither of you will squeal on me, and you can both walk away. We'll all pretend this never happened."

Did he think she was stupid enough to believe he'd let them go? Apparently. But as long as he was holding a crowbar to Donovan's head, he was in control. "All I have to do is keep quiet?"

"That's it. After all, Katie, I haven't done any real damage. Donovan will be as good as new in a few minutes, and Sam was going to die anyhow."

"That's true." Wanting to make this convincing, she frowned at Donovan and put a note of doubt in her voice. "I think I can persuade him to agree."

"Don't worry," Nick said confidently. "I've seen how he looks at you. You've got Donovan's balls in your pocket. He'll do any damn thing you want. So let's call it a wash, and get on with our lives. I wanted PDI, but I've missed my chance. My company is doing fine. I'll get my revenge by beating your brains out in the marketplace."

She looked into his dark eyes,and saw a stone killer. If she came within reach, he'd stun her, then set off a blast that would kill her and Donovan. He must think she was an idiot. Of course, she was only a woman, and he'd never taken women seriously.

Take advantage of that. "OK, Nick, you've got a deal."

"Let's shake on it."

She moved forward slowly. She had to stay out of reach of the stun gun, keep him from hurting Donovan, and summon help. Her gaze flicked about the rubble-strewn site, looking for anything that might help her.

In a flash of lethal clarity, a plan formed. Her walkie-talkie lay about six feet from Nick. Five seconds with that, and every man in the building would come on the double.

As soon as she picked it up, Nick would come after her instead of threatening Donovan. She wouldn't have much chance if he were armed with a real gun or a knife, but the stun gun was designed for defense, not offense. She was willing to bet she could hold him off long enough. She
was
betting--and her stake was two lives.

She took the last few steps, forcing herself not to look at the radio. "You promise to leave me and Donovan and PDI alone in the future?"

"You got my word on it. I'll admit maybe I went too far, but Sam really hurt my feelings." He scowled at Donovan. "Keep this jerk away from me. He gets on my nerves."

His brief shift in attention was the best chance she'd get. She dived for the radio, hitting the transmit key even as she raised it to her mouth.

Before she could speak, Nick swung around with snake-like swiftness and knocked the radio from her hand with his crowbar. "You treacherous little bitch!"

Face contorted, he raised the stun gun. She spun away, but the contacts of the weapon caught her elbow in a glancing blow. A dazzling blue-white arc crackled wickedly and stinging needles blitzed from the point of contact.

Left arm half-numb and half-tingling, she grabbed a chunk of concrete in her right hand. "Not so easy to use that nasty little toy if the person knows it's coming, is it?" she snarled. "The only way you could take Donovan was by surprise. He's ten times the man you are! That's why Sam wanted him to have the company."

As she'd hoped, the insult brought Nick forward like a charging bull. Rather than assaulting him directly, she smashed the concrete into the stun gun. It shattered in his hand, no longer a threat.

But she couldn't avoid the battering ram of Nick's solid body. He struck her in a punishing tackle. She fell heavily to the ground, pinned beneath him.

His hot breath hit her face as he snarled, "You filthy little slut!" He grabbed for her throat.

She drove a knee viciously toward his groin, but he rolled away and scrambled to his feet before she could connect. He spat out, "You'll pay for that before you die!"

He was between her and the column, in exactly the right place. Sure he had her now, Nick moved in for the kill. She forced herself to wait until he was leaning over her. Then she whipped up her knees, planted her boots in his gut, and kicked with all her strength.

His breath wooshed out as he hurtled backward--straight onto a rebar rod that spiked from the broken column. He screamed, a horrible, echoing sound, as the metal shaft emerged from his chest. For an endless, ghastly instant, he stared at her incredulously. Then blood gushed from his mouth, and his head fell limply forward.

Before Kate could even heave a sigh of relief, a grinding noise from above gave warning that the impact of his body smashing into the broken column had affected the stability of the fractured structure around them. She scrambled to her feet. "Patrick, we've got to get out of here!"

Her urgency pierced his haze and he managed to feebly push himself to his knees. Her left arm was still numbed, so she used the other to yank him to his feet. Then she hauled his arm over her shoulders and began half-dragging him to safety with a strength she hadn't known she'd possessed.

As they passed the column, a massive slab of concrete fell behind them in a boom of shattering material and choking billows of dust. The impact knocked them from their feet. Remembering that Donovan's hard hat was gone, she threw herself over him, shielding his head.

The world darkened as something heavy smashed her hard hat. A sharp-edged chunk struck between her shoulder blades, followed by an avalanche of smaller debris.

Then silence--and the recognition of what she'd done.

∗ ∗ ∗

Julia was dozing on the sofa when Donovan returned home, but she awoke when he entered the living room. He kissed her cheek. "How's Kate? I thought they'd keep her in the hospital."