Thunder in the Night (Crimson Romance) (28 page)

The cool night air, such a contrast to the humid dolphin area, made me gasp. But a second later, I recovered, taking a deep, full breath to fill my lungs and using that air to shriek.

“Help!”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Each step was jarring as I ran flat out along the shadowed path between the dolphin enclosure and the aviary. Over and over, I shouted that single word.

“Help!”

I didn’t look behind me or off to either side as I fled, just kept my eyes glued on the tarmac unfolding endlessly before me. I didn’t seem to be making any progress and my voice was getting weaker with each exclamation.

I don’t know if it was instinct that guided me to the aviary or if some non-terrified part of my brain actually recalled Mart telling me the police would be there. In any event, I headed for its door at a full gallop, my breath catching in my throat on sobs I didn’t dare let out.

The door opened, swinging silently inward as I approached. And Mart was there, arms outstretched to catch me, pulling me to a stop. He folded me closely up against his body and I babbled madly into his ear, each word crowding onto the next in the rush to get out.

“Allison! Allison! Calm down. It’s okay.”

I pulled away in frustration.

“No, no!” I shook my head wildly, looking past him into the dimly lit interior of the unfinished aviary. Several uniformed men stood nearby and just the sight of them — authority figures to end this chaos — made me feel a second of relief.

I took a deep breath. It was important that they listen to me now and believe every word I said. Squaring my shoulders, I began. “Clark is dead. An accident. In the dolphin pool.”

“What?” Mart’s eyebrows shot up. He directed a glance at the policemen and they drew in around us.

“He and Sylvia had an argument. He grabbed her, she pulled away. Then he fell. Hit his head.” My eyes pinched shut at the remembered image. I could hear one of the officers speaking in low tones into his walkie-talkie, giving the information to the voice which squawked back.

“And Sylvia? Where’s Sylvia?” Mart asked.

“I don’t know. She ran out. She doesn’t even know he’s dead. But Mart — there’s more.” I grabbed his arms just below the elbow and his hands tightened around my waist. “It’s Dan behind the animal smuggling. Dan’s the ring leader!”

Mart’s mouth gaped open like a fish; he was speechless.

In halting sentences, I stammered out my story, telling Mart and the officers what Dan had told me. When I got to the part about the gun, Mart’s face turned a pasty shade of white and he interrupted my narrative to engulf me in a fierce, protective hug.

“Oh my God, Allison!” he exclaimed and I could feel him shuddering as he held me.

“How did you get away?” he asked me and I finished my tale, ending with my flight from the dolphin enclosure to the aviary.

“So, Dan is still there?” Mart asked and I shrugged.

“I don’t know. I doubt it. “

Once more, the officers near us were in action, asking me for details and radioing the information to other authorities on the grounds. For the space of a few moments, all the work fell to them, giving Mart and me a chance to just cling to each other, out of harm’s way. An ambulance had been ordered, its siren already sounding shrilly in the evening air. We heard one officer describe Dan, the suspect, as “armed and dangerous.”

Truer words were never spoken
, I thought.

The policemen bustled around us in an orderly fashion, obviously knowing what needed to be done and doing it with great efficiency.

“We’ve had some excitement here, too,” Mart told me, leading me to a ladder left by the construction crew and perching me carefully on one rung, where I could rest.

“Did you intercept the exchange?” I whispered, my voice still unsteady.

“Yes. At the service road on the other side of the woods. They arrested the man we saw with Clark at the parking garage and Kyle, the groundskeeper. Remember, he drove the van downtown and left it for Clark to pick up?”

He gave me a second to nod before going on.

“Tonight’s bit of contraband appears to be some powdered rhino horn.” His mouth squared and I remembered him telling me — ages ago, before any of this began — how he’d been part of a rhino relocation program.

I reached for his hands. “Oh, Mart!”

He sighed before continuing. “It’s hoped these two will provide the specifics of the operation. But, if what you say is true, they won’t have to lead us to the head of the operation.”

All I could say was, “It’s true.”

• • •

The officers asked us to remain where we were for the time being and a full fifteen minutes went by before we heard a commotion out front, followed by the sound of the door opening and Dan shouting.

“This is absurd! Do you know who I am? Treating me like a criminal. I’ll have your badge for this — every one of you!” Hair mussed and clothing rumpled, he was held securely between two uniformed policemen. The federal authority Mart had pointed out earlier was there, as well, his tuxedo giving him the appearance of a real guest at the Mardi Gras.

They’d advanced well into the room before Dan saw me. Unabashedly clinging to Mart, I was doing my best to hide behind him.

“You!” Dan stopped in his tracks and the look he gave me chilled my heart. “What crazy stories have you been telling them? I haven’t done anything wrong!”

“You tried to kill me,” I stated flatly. “I told them everything you told me. About the wild animal smuggling. About Clark being in on all of it. About you getting involved and taking it over.”

“Why, you’re out of your mind!” He gave a chuckle and shook his head. “She’s got it all wrong,” he told the gathering. “I’d never be party to such a thing. How she can even suggest — ”

“Can it, Underwood,” Mart growled low.

“Hey, it’s her word against mine!” Dan declared.

A lump formed in my throat as I realized this was true. No one had heard what he had told me. No one had seen him pull that gun. I groaned.

“No, it isn’t.” Someone spoke from behind the little cluster of policemen holding Dan.

As they moved to one side, Elaine came into view. She looked awful, haggard and tired. Her lips were white and her eyes appeared sunken and dark. Standing between Dan and me, in the middle of the action like an actor taking center stage, she wrung her hands.

Directing her comment to the officers and pointedly ignoring her husband, she said, “I saw everything. I saw it all!”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

“Elaine, what are you saying?” Dan tried to take a step forward, but was held back by the strong arm of the law.

Slowly, her mouth drawn down in infinite sadness, Elaine looked at her husband. Sounding exhausted, she said simply, “I saw you, Dan. I heard what you told Allison,” she paused, gulped a breath, and continued. “I heard you say you’d kill her.”

“But, how?” I asked her, puzzled. “We were alone in the building.”

“I wasn’t in the building,” she told me. “I was just outside the door. Your voices carried quite clearly in all that empty space.”

“I think I can explain part of this,” Mart put in. “After Dan sent me on that wild goose chase looking for Clark, I ran into Elaine back at the education building. She was looking for Dan and I told her he was with you on the path.”

“So, I went to meet you two,” Elaine took up the story. “But you weren’t where Mart said you’d be. I wasn’t sure where to look next, so I just kept walking. When I got to the dolphin building, I thought I’d just take a peek. I knew Dan was very interested in the place. It’s … it’s one of his favorite exhibits.”

“Elaine, don’t do this!” Dan demanded, his eyes pleading with her.

She viewed him dispassionately, as if she was looking at a stranger. “When I got to the door, I heard voices and I looked through the glass. I didn’t go in because something didn’t seem quite right. Just something about the way you two were standing. I don’t really know. But, I just froze there and listened.”

“Then what, ma’am?” one of the officers prodded.

“Well, naturally, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was utterly stunned. I … I didn’t know what to do next. But then there were voices behind me, heading in my direction and I panicked.” She looked down at her clasped hands. “I hid in some bushes a few feet away.”

“It was Clark and Sylvia. Arguing. They went inside and I snuck back to the doorway. I was sure they’d see you. Save you from Dan.” Elaine shook her head. “Sylvia almost knocked me over when she ran by on her way out. Never even saw me, though.”

“Why didn’t you come inside then?” I asked, my voice sharp with anger. “Why didn’t you try to save Clark — and me? You could have gone for help!”

The older woman looked down at her hands, twisted together in a nervous knot. Her tiny shoulders were stooped with fatigue and despair. When she replied, her voice shook with tears. “I didn’t know what to do! I couldn’t think. I needed time. I’ve been walking all this while, trying to sort it out.” She looked up and met my eyes, saying with great sincerity, “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner, Allison. But I’m here now.”

Dan let loose a string of angry exclamations, condemning his wife for turning against him. The officers immediately cut him off, leading him forcibly from the building.

“That will do, Underwood,” one officer said. “You’ll get your day in court.”

Elaine followed slowly behind them. “I’ll meet you at the police station,” she told them, sounding subdued but brave.

“Should we go with her?” Mart suggested in a whisper, but I shook my head.

“I think she’d rather be alone right now.”

• • •

Hours later, after more interviews and explanations, Mart and I snuggled together on my living room sofa. Our shoes lay in a discarded heap just inside my front door. I nestled my head against his chest and he rested his feet on the coffee table.

“But, how did you come to be at the aviary?” I asked, as the thought came to mind.

Mart took a second to drop a kiss on the top of my head, laying his hand against my hair and tangling his fingers deep within it. “When I realized Clark was nowhere around and obviously wasn’t looking for me, I got worried. I was pretty edgy all evening, you know, and I think even the slightest variation from normal would have set me off. Anyway, I decided to check in there. It seemed like the logical spot for trouble. Kyle had just been arrested and it’s a good thing we were in the aviary.”

“Why is that?”

“Because he was singing like a canary,” Mart quipped, chuckling. He sobered as he went on. “Clark was Kyle’s boss, but Kyle knew there was someone else at the helm. Wasn’t sure of the name, though. When he said it was ‘something like Oakwood,’ my heart almost stopped. I couldn’t be sure, of course, but his statement sent me to the door, in search of you and Dan.”

“And there I was, hysterical.”

“Yes, there you were.” He squeezed me tight, then released the hold, running his hands over me in tender, comforting caresses.

“Clark’s dead. Dan will go to prison and the smuggling will stop,” I summed up the situation, wriggling closer.

“In Rochester, it will stop. We’ll have to count on Ishani and others like her to block the pipeline at the other end,” Mart pointed out.

“Won’t Ishani be surprised, hmm?” The terrors of the evening were beginning to fade and I was able to think about how the activities at the Mardi Gras would affect others.

“Yes. We’ll contact her in the morning.” He shifted on the sofa, drawing me closer, pulling my legs across his lap. His hand rested briefly against my cheek and he traced the outline of my lips with his thumb.

“In the morning,” I echoed just before our lips met. The kiss kindled fires of love and of passion deep inside me. Warming me, melting me, each emotion fed and enhanced the other, inextricably bound together.

As our lips separated, I opened my mouth to speak, but Mart beat me to it.

“I love you, Allison,” he whispered.

Tears formed in my eyes, blurring his sweet, handsome face. “And I love you.”

Swinging my legs to the floor I stood up, the skirt of my heavy gown swirling around my ankles. Tugging his hands, I drew him up beside me.

“You know,” I said, “we never got to finish our dance tonight.”

“Well, then.”

Mart gathered me into his arms and we began to move together. His gentle humming was all the music we would ever need.

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