The Michaela Bancroft Mysteries 1-3 (58 page)

"I'm telling you, if you want something done
right, you have to do it yourself," he hissed. "Those morons, Juan
and Enrique, if they'd done the job right, Bob would be dead, and you and I
would be on our way to my bedroom."

"I would
never
go to bed with
you!" Michaela spat.

He tightened his grip. "You would have. I saw
it in your eyes the day that we met. You wanted me. And we could've had a great
time together. What a waste. I can't believe Pratt is alive."

It had been Bob who'd made the call to her the
other day claiming to be Terrell Jardinière, too afraid to alert anyone other
than Cara that he was alive. But he'd heard through Audrey that it had been
Michaela who was ultimately responsible for discovering who had murdered her
uncle Lou the previous year, and he'd hoped that she would do the same thing
for Audrey. And she had.

"You've been doing this for years. Didn't you
think that you would eventually get caught? You're a chemist. You know that
these supplements that you've been producing, first with Strong X and now Eq
Tech, can hurt the user. Why not make a product that doesn't?" She hoped
to bide time. Keep him talking and maybe someone would save her. She prayed
that a SWAT team was surrounding the area now. She had no other idea how she
was going to get out of this alive. Even though it was chilly outside on the
roof, she felt perspiration trickling down her back. How could she get this
maniac to let her go? He had an ego. Keep him talking. That was all she could
think to do until a better plan hopefully worked its way inside her head.

"Are you kidding? My products have proven
successful. They make people and horses stronger, faster, and sharper minded.
It's proven."

"It's also proven that they do harm. Look at
Terrell Jardinière."

"Some people had reactions," he growled.

"He is completely incapacitated."

"It can't be proven that Strong X caused
it."

"What about the horses? That
can
be
proven."

"You should have minded your own
business."

"You shouldn't have murdered my friend. And I
know you not only killed Audrey, but Francisco, too. How did you do it anyway?
How did you lure Audrey onto the back forty and kill her?"

"I saw it as opportunity. I'd tapped Bob's
phone, knew he'd had dinner with her and that he planned to tell her something.
I was afraid he told her what he'd found out. So, when I spotted her heading to
the track, I called her over. Told her that they wouldn't let her out onto the
track. That I'd tried. Then I told her that Bob was missing. I suggested we
take a walk and discuss the options. At that point I didn't realize she was
clueless, but I couldn't take the chance."

"You killed an innocent woman! You're really
sick, Hudson. What about Francisco? Why did you kill him?"

"I didn't. That was something Juan Perez took
care of for me. I sent him out to Audrey's ranch to locate that file and lo and
behold he ran into Francisco. Casualty of circumstance, so to speak."

Michaela felt her throat tighten. "Why do you
want all this blood on your hands? Don't you care at all? Is money and power
all that you want? I also know all about Cara's husband, Shawn Klein."

"Oh please. Cara Klein is an idiot and Shawn
was a loser. If you ask me, I did her a favor." He grabbed her arm tightly
and dragged her to the side of the building. She looked down. It was a long
way. Lights from the hotel gardens reflected off the hotel pool. She doubted
she could survive a fall.

Michaela flashed back to her conversation with
Cara as Hudson pulled her closer to the edge. "Hudson Drake killed my
husband, Shawn," Cara told her. "Supposedly Shawn died in a boating
accident, but I know that it was Hudson who killed him. My husband was a
sailor. He'd been on the seas since he was a kid. It was a clear day, and all
he was doing was sailing out to the end of Point Loma, which isn't far."

"Why did he do it?" Michaela had asked her.

"We were both working for Strong X. I was in
the marketing department and Shawn was the head chemist. Drake asked Shawn to
add a drug called diazepethicone to the recipe, saying that some of the
athletes they'd been in discussions with had heard of the drug and how it made
athletes in Russia stronger, more vital. The problem is, it's a steroid
derivative and as you know, steroid use in most sports is completely banned.
Hudson's request of Shawn was to find a way to hide the drug within the
supplement so that when athletes were tested it would not show up."

"Did your husband do it, put that drug into
the Strong X supplements?"

"He did, and he paid the ultimate price for
it. Shawn had a bad feeling that what the supplement was comprised of could
cause serious damage to athletes, to people in general, but he did what he did
because we needed the money and were desperate at the time. I know that sounds
horrible, and I won't bore you with the details, but we went through with it.
Shawn tucked his ethics way down and became one of Drake's henchmen. Then,
Terrell collapsed, and so did a track runner. A kid really, only nineteen, up
and coming. His family didn't pursue anything because they didn't put it all
together. But Terrell Jardinière's aunt had her suspicions and she started
asking questions. Drake agreed to pay her a lot of money to keep her quiet, as
well as pay for his medical expenses.

"When Terrell had the stroke, Shawn became
scared. He had a bad feeling that eventually it would all blow up in their
faces and he'd be the fall guy because he was the head chemist. He decided to
deal with it before that happened. He began taking files and copying them,
keeping them in a safe-deposit box. He wanted to collect all the evidence he
could before he went to the authorities."

"Were you aware of this?"

"No. Not until after he was killed. He made
me a video. On it he told me everything that he suspected and what he'd been up
to. He also told me where the safe-deposit key was and how to get into it. When
I went to the bank, the box was empty. I don't know if he emptied it before he
died for some reason, or if they did. Maybe Drake and his crew learned about it
and found the key. My guess is someone got on that boat that day with my
husband and tortured him or threatened him until he told them where he was keeping
the files he'd copied. Shawn was afraid that our phones were tapped and that
they were watching him."

"You continued working for them, though, for
Hudson Drake."

"I felt I had to. I was too scared that if I
stopped working for him that he would become more suspicious of me and kill me.
I thought that maybe I could continue putting a case against him together. That
was my hope."

"What happened?"

"After Shawn, they started to phase out
Strong X and that part of their human line. They began to go into the equine
division claiming they wanted to diversify, and after doing a lot of research
they also said the equine market could produce millions of dollars, which it's
doing. I also think that they figured they were taking less of a risk by
dealing with equine athletes like racehorses."

"How did you meet Bob?"

"Once Drake started to phase out Strong X and
change direction, Bob was brought on as the research vet. I met him and thought
he was a nice man. We had lunches together. He confided in me about his alcoholism.
I got sick last year and was diagnosed with stage IV cancer. I only worked
another two months before I had to leave."

Cara continued. "Bob came to me, actually. He
said that he didn't like the way some of the test results were turning out with
some of the horses he'd been giving the supplements to and that it bothered
him. He said that when he went to Drake, he was told that the studies looked
great, and for him not to be troubled and just keep doing his work. Bob got
scared. He said that Drake used a threatening tone with him when they discussed
this. That was only a few weeks ago, before I entered hospice care. I became
really worried about Bob. We were still seeing each other on occasion. I even
went up to Los Angeles a couple of times in the last few months. He knew that I
was concerned and I told him what I thought they'd done to Shawn. He then told
me that he was also trying to collect evidence against Eq Tech. I begged him to
stop, but I don't think he did. That was the last time I heard from him. Until
now. Just yesterday."

Michaela had left the hospital knowing that she
had some work ahead of her to get Hudson to confess. She thought that if she
accused him in front of a roomful of guests and presented the evidence she'd
discovered, he'd crack. Oh, he'd cracked all right. Being taken hostage had not
been part of the plan.

"Why don't you just let me go?" Michaela
pleaded. "You can get away and no one will find you. I'm sure you've got
money in offshore accounts. Do you really want another murder on your
hands?"

"I've got plenty of money…and as far as
killing you? It won't bother me a bit, sweetheart." Still standing behind
her, knife at her throat, he kissed her on the cheek. "You've got your
choice though: I can either push you off or slice your throat."

"Great options."

"You should have minded your own
business."

Michaela knew she didn't have much more than a few
seconds. As her brain scrambled for a way out, she heard a loud bang. Hudson's
arm fell from her neck and he grabbed at his leg, the knife falling to the
ground. "Fuck!" he screamed. Realizing that he'd let her go, he
lunged for her, his leg seeping blood.

Michaela, stunned, didn't think, just reacted,
picking up the knife. "Get away, Hudson! Stay away from me!"

He kept stumbling forward. "You're not going
to kill me."

Tears stung her eyes. "Get away! I
will
kill you!"

"No you won't—"

Another shot rang out as he again lunged for her.
An anguished scream rose from Hudson as he fell against Michaela, the knife
piercing his stomach. He stumbled backward, trying to pull the knife out. He
stared at her, shocked. Then his body swayed as he took one too many steps
backward and, leaning to the side, his body fell off the roof. She backed away
and felt arms wrap tightly around her. She turned and cried on Joe's chest.

"I'm sorry, Mick. Sorry we couldn't get to
you in time."

"It's okay. I'm okay," she sobbed.
"Did you shoot him?"

"No." Dennis Smith, dressed in a tuxedo,
came forward.

"Smith? You were here?" She pulled away
from Joe to see a smiling Smith standing there, gun in hand.

"Yep. Had to keep tabs on Benz and the rest
of the shysters. Made myself a nice deal with one of the tabloids. Looks like
I'll get my Tahitian vacation after all. And this tops it off."

She couldn't help but smile. Although her leg
hurt, she was thankful Smith had been there. "You saved my life. I can't
believe that I didn't spot you in there."

He shrugged. "I'm a private investigator. You
weren't supposed to see me."

She thanked him and Joe, happy to be alive.

SUNDAY, THE DAY AFTER HUDSON DRAKE'S DEATH,
Michaela was back at home with her animals. Ethan had called and found a link
between the chemicals and the damage it was causing to the horses; along with
Bob they reported their findings to the
Los Angeles Times
. The story
would be a huge one by the following day.

Bob was back at home with Cara; he wanted to care
for her during her last days. He'd explained how he'd reached Cara the day
before Michaela came to see her, but he'd asked her not to tell anyone that he
was still alive, afraid that Drake would find out and finish him off before he
could discover a way to put him behind bars. Cara had contacted him after
Michaela left, and told him about her visit. They had then contacted Michaela,
who with Joe and Bob's help devised what they thought was a foolproof plan to
catch Hudson Drake. What they had not expected was the actual turn of events.
However, it had all paid off in the end, as Hudson Drake suffered his own
horrible death, thanks to Dennis Smith—a memory Michaela would not soon forget.

After the chaos that had taken place at the hotel,
Bob further explained about his connection with Bridgette Bowen—indeed, she had
a secret to keep and did not want Bob to expose her. When they were at Betty
Ford together, Bridgette had come to Bob's room and tried to seduce him, but
he'd wanted no part of it, and she hadn't forgotten the incident. Michaela was
sure that Bridgette would recover just fine from her divorce and bounce right
back, be it with Callahan or some other rich old geezer.

When the Perez brothers learned what had happened
to Drake, they'd made a run for the border, only to be caught by the police and
placed in jail.

Olivia was apparently on her way to rehab, and
Hugh was shocked and dismayed but relieved that the lies had been exposed.

Kathleen and Marshall Friedman were indeed an
item. She would get her half of Audrey's insurance policy. Michaela hoped she
would use the money wisely, but doubted it.

Hugh had done his best to put the fear of God into
Friedman and Callahan to let his daughter out of the contracts with them.
Callahan graciously agreed and Friedman threatened suit, but Hugh was confident
he'd back down. He wanted his daughter to pursue her dream of becoming a
jockey.

Joe was back with his wife and kids preparing for
a Sunday feast and had invited Michaela to join them, but she asked for a rain
check, needing a day of rest. She did, however, call the woman from the autism
center at home and told her that she would take the job. Dwayne was on his way
to get her trailer back and bring Geyser home. She planned to head down to the
Humane Society first thing Monday morning and claim Audrey's animals.

And with her brother now home, Audrey could truly
rest in peace. Although Michaela was still saddened by her tragic death, she
knew that Audrey had not died in vain. No more people—or animals—would suffer
at the hands of Hudson Drake ever again, and she knew that Audrey would be
proud of that.