You Can Run... (41 page)

“I give myself a great deal of credit for waiting as long as I did, for planning as carefully as I did. It wasn’t easy, but it worked. First, I romanced the less-than-lovely Lenore. She had boyfriends, but she knew they just wanted her money. What else was there to want? Besides, she’d been in love with me since I was twenty. She couldn’t hide it. When I asked Morgan for her hand in marriage, he could hardly contain himself. His plain, ordinary Lenore married to a Wentworth!”

“Oh, Blake, please don’t say things like that,” Lenore begged. “You cared for me.”

“I tolerated you. And don’t ever think I didn’t love you because you can’t have children. I would never allow you to be the mother of
my
child. You’re not worthy.”

Lenore bowed her head and began to cry. In a gesture of disgust, Blake rolled his eyes and threw back his head with its thick black hair. At that moment, Clarice moved just a fraction of an inch closer to Diana. Diana almost glanced at her before she realized the woman’s eyes were still closed as if she was unconscious, and from the folds of the hideous pink robe she was pushing something hard and cold against Diana’s left hand. Diana moved her hand slightly against the object. It was a gun.

Blake looked back at Diana suddenly and she was afraid he’d seen her move her hand. She quickly asked, “Was Morgan’s death really a mob hit?”

“No. I knew Morgan went to the same seedy little bar every Tuesday night. I made certain Jeff was occupied
alone
—no alibi—and I simply waited for Morgan to come reeling out of the kind of place that was his true home. I stepped out of an alley right beside the bar, and stuck the gun to his head, just like he did to my father, and I shot. Of course, Jeff had everything to gain by his father’s death. He and his father hated each other and everyone knew it, and Jeff had no alibi. I made certain there was no incriminating
evidence, though. And
I
started the rumor of the murder being a mob hit. Couldn’t have old Jeffrey hauled off to prison and ruining my plans.”

“So he took over the company at age thirty, when you were fresh out of the Harvard MBA program he gave you a nice job at Cavanaugh and Wentworth, and later he married,” Diana finished for Blake.

“You certainly have your chronology down, Diana.”

“This family fascinates me. Were you jealous when Jeffrey married Yvette?”

“Jealous? She was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen—she married Jeffrey only for his money, obviously—but I wouldn’t have
married
her for a million dollars. She was a schizophrenic. I know some schizophrenics function in society quite well if they are careful to take their medication and follow doctor’s orders, but Yvette did only as Yvette pleased. She wouldn’t take her medicine because she said it made her drowsy. She drank more than I thought it possible for anyone to drink and stay on their feet. But she did have her good points. Aside from being stunningly beautiful, she was a fantastic lover. The best I ever had.

“But her illness was taking over. She couldn’t control her behavior or her tongue. She was going to tell Jeffrey about us. I saw it coming so I got her wound up at that party in San Francisco. I told her Jeffrey was going to have her institutionalized as soon as we got home. She caused a scene. As soon as she left the ballroom, I intercepted her and told her to go to their room and order some champagne. I went back in and maneuvered Jeffrey into a conversation with an incredible windbag I knew who would keep him busy for at least twenty minutes. I went to Yvette’s room. She was so drunk she was not aware of me opening the window. After a struggle in which I managed to tear off that fantastically valuable necklace, I tossed her out of that open window. Good-bye, Yvette. And once again, the police could almost make a case for Jeff’s guilt, but not quite. I didn’t want him to go to prison. I still had plans for him.”

Carried away with his boasting, Blake didn’t notice Diana subtly pushing the gun behind her. She cursed the wound in her left shoulder. It hurt terribly, and she felt as if she had little control left in the hand. Still, she had to keep subtly sliding the gun to the right.

“And then there was Penny,” Lenore said out of the blue. “I always wondered why you didn’t object more to that marriage. Now I understand. Penny was the next Yvette.”

“Right, Lenore. At first, I could tell she really did love Jeff. No one ever said Penny was smart. I bided my time. Then she had Willow and things began to shift my way. She was unhappy with the way Jeff responded to the baby. She didn’t see him crying like a baby himself when the kid was born—he wasn’t one of those men who watch the delivery. But she didn’t know how much he talked about the baby—on and on and on. I thought I’d lose my mind.

“Penny just didn’t understand that although he adored Willow, Jeff was almost afraid of her—afraid he’d hurt her physically if he held her, afraid he’d be a father like his was and damage her psychologically. So he decided to inflict himself on her no more than necessary. It was crazy—it was perfect. Penny started talking to me about the problem. Then Jeffrey began spending more time away from home. He treated Penny like a prisoner. The more unhappy she became with him, the better my chances with her.” He looked at the four faces in front of him. “I guess I don’t have to tell you what happened.”

“Penny ran away because she found Yvette’s necklace in Jeffrey’s office safe,” Diana said coolly.

“Ah, Tyler has been telling secrets. Penny had decided she was in love with me—that she was going to leave Jeffrey for me. I couldn’t have that! Jeffrey would have gotten me out of that company faster than I can imagine. I couldn’t kill her—a murdered father and
two
murdered wives might have finished Jeffrey. If he’d been arrested and charged with murder, the business would have suffered badly.

“Instead, I decided to play on Penny’s fear. I knew she didn’t believe Jeffrey had ever harmed anyone, but I kept
casually bringing up Jeffrey and Yvette. Then, when Jeffrey was gone on an extended trip with Lenore, I planted the necklace in his safe and kept bringing the necklace into the conversation. I knew Penny had always been curious about that safe. I even gave her a hint about where to find the combination. She found both the combination and the necklace. She was terrified.

“I convinced her not to go to the police. I told her it would be safer to run. She’d told me about Tyler, I knew he could get her false ID. I bought the house for her. I helped her move in.”

“I saw you!” Clarice cried, leaning forward and waving her arms. “I thought you looked familiar. I saw you when she first moved in, but just for an instant and you were wearing a cap!” Clarice fell back, as if exhausted by her outburst, but she’d managed to move more of the robe onto Diana’s lap. Diana was able to give the gun a shove to the right without Blake seeing her arm move at all.

“I knew I’d have to get rid of Penny eventually, but just having her disappear had the desired effect on Jeffrey. He was devastated, yet this time there was no police scrutiny. He’d been in France. People had seen Penny early on the day she and Willow disappeared—a time when he and Lenore were staying in the home of a client.

“Things went well for a while. Penny found a job she liked. She was happy with the town. I came to visit about once a month. Then Lenore began noticing my frequent absences. I couldn’t visit as often. Penny started applying pressure about when I was going to tell Lenore, when was I going to tell Jeffrey we were in love and getting married. A month ago, she announced she was pregnant—pregnant with
my
child. I knew it was mine. I’ve always known Penny wouldn’t let another man touch her, although she’d told me when Glen Austen started bothering her in late May.

“And then a note came for Jeffrey. He was having one of his usual cases of the vapors and working out of his apartment, so I opened his mail. The note said a
reliable
person would give the location of Penny and Cornelia Cavanaugh for $150,000. The sender had enclosed a picture taken with a disposable camera. It showed Penny and Willow in a yard, playing ball. The picture was taken inside because the photographer had caught that stained-glass water lily in the shot. Penny had even told me about the water lily. She said it was a constant reminder from Yvette of how evil Jeff was, of how he’d murdered her.” Blake’s laughter sounded raw and uncontrolled. “Penny could be
such
a ninny! Anyway, I was damned lucky to have intercepted that piece of mail, but I was also certain more would follow. I knew the time had come to get rid of Penny.”

Diana’s cell phone rang. Five sets of eyes fastened on it—four with hope and one with annoyance. It rang a second time. “That’s Uncle Simon,” Diana said.

Blake sighed. “I know. Tiresome Uncle Simon finally calling to tell you Penny died almost an hour ago.”

The phone rang a third time. “He’ll know something is wrong.”

“He’ll think you’ve misplaced the phone. You’re careless, Diana. Just look at how you left the door unlocked when I came back the second time, making access so easy for Lenore.”

“And if I hadn’t, you wouldn’t have a gun,” Diana said.

Blake smirked. “Don’t you think I brought my own? Well, really Penny’s. I took it from her house.” The phone rang for the third time. “Oh, give
up,
Simon!” Blake yelled as he aimed at the cell phone and shot, blowing it to pieces. “There. Now for some peace.”

Diana could see that for all of Blake’s bravado, he was unraveling, tiring of explanations, growing weaker from his long day of waiting for Penny to die. Still, he wanted everyone to know how very clever he had been.

“You came here and set the bomb,” Diana said hastily. “While Penny was at the hospital with Willow, you went into her house and set the bomb.” Blake nodded, pleased
with himself. “You called the hospital and asked when Willow would be released. Why?”

“I wanted to kill Penny but not Willow. His child’s death would have been the end of Jeffrey and the end of me at Cavanaugh and Wentworth. It seems some people aren’t too pleased with the job I’m doing, but Jeff has my back. I hadn’t planned on losing him yet.”

Although Willow seemed to be in a world of her own, she held Diana’s right hand. Diana tried to free it, but the child held fast. “And what about Nan?”

“Penny had already told me all about you and Simon and Nan. When I saw that stained-glass window in the picture, I knew someone in this house had taken it. Now who would call themselves a
reliable
person? That idiot of a girl. Penny had also told me she thought Glen was involved with Nan. She didn’t want to tell you until Nan had left this house and her mother had resumed her old job—it would be too awkward for you. But I thought Glen was probably involved in this brilliant scheme to make $150,000.”

“After the explosion, Jeff was notified and here we came, the Three Musketeers.” He rolled his eyes again. “I couldn’t count on Nan to keep her mouth shut about her letter to Jeffrey. She
knew
she’d set something bad in motion with her money-making scheme. I also knew she would have told Glen all about it. Both have numbers and addresses listed in the phone book. I went to Nan’s. She was packing to leave, but she was too late. I got to her first.

“I was outside walking to my car parked a block away when I saw a man pull into Nan’s driveway. He went inside. I knew it was Glen. I was going after him when
you
pulled up, Diana. You went inside. Apparently you trapped Glen in the attic with a dead body—not the most comfortable situation. When he came running out of the house, I was waiting for him in his car. I forced him to drive someplace. Then I didn’t have to worry about Glen anymore.”

“Glen has been dead since Sunday night?” Diana asked. Blake nodded. “Then who—”

“Came to your window? Me. You still knew too much
about everything. I had to kill you. I really didn’t have any choice. So I put on the absurd costume and pretended to be Willow’s guardian angel, then threw pebbles at your window to wake you. I knew I could use Willow to lure you outside. But then Tyler came to the rescue.”

“And you didn’t get us,” Diana flashed back, immediately regretting her words. Blake’s eyes narrowed. “But you planted Glen’s ID bracelet in the woods.”

“And predictably, the police found it.”

“The bracelet bothered me,” Diana said, beginning to feel dizzy from blood loss. “Glen always complained about how hard it was to unclasp. He said he almost had to use a screwdriver to pry it open. Yet we were supposed to believe it just fell off his wrist.”

“I didn’t care what
you
believed,” Blake said. “The police believed he dropped it. And I used his cell phone to call you a while ago.”

“So the police and I would think he was still around. That’s why you ran down to the surveillance car to tell the police officers.”

“There was only one and, unfortunately, he’s dead, Diana. Right after he reported Glen’s call, I was forced to kill him. I had no choice.”

“The police believed Glen was guilty of everything, so why did
you
come here?”

“When I cornered Nan in her attic, she said you were suspicious of me. She said you knew I’d tried to kill Penny and you’d know I killed her.”

“She was lying,” Diana said flatly. “I didn’t suspect you of anything except not being quite as patient with Jeffrey and Lenore as you seemed.”

“I thought she was probably lying, but I knew I couldn’t live comfortably if I had a shred of doubt. I always tie up loose ends, Diana. The police were supposed to think Glen came here in a rage and killed you for breaking his heart.” He paused, his teeth clenching. “However, my darling wife fouled my plan. Now I will have to kill all of you and then go away. No one will ever find me. They shouldn’t even
try, but they’ll waste hundreds of man-hours and thousands of dollars. I suppose I should be flattered.” He paused then smiled. “Who shall I kill first? Willow.”

He shifted the gun and pointed at the child, who screamed shrill and loud. While he took his time aiming, Diana whipped out the gun she gripped in her right hand and, through dimming vision, fired. The shot only grazed Blake’s thigh, but the pain threw off his aim and the shot hit the wall. With a shout of rage, he aimed again at Willow. Diana fired once more, her shot whizzing past his ear.