Faye was moving fast, so fast that Jake had a hard time keeping up with her. Not that he couldn’t outrun her. His legs were much longer than hers. But to make his way through the unfamiliar terrain of the Everglades, at night, without getting stuck in a bog or crashing through the low-hanging tree limbs and alerting her of his presence slowed him down far more than he’d anticipated. Hopefully he’d catch her before she got so far ahead that he couldn’t hear her.
He followed her for over two hours, something he couldn’t have done if the moon wasn’t so bright. But then again, if the moon wasn’t bright tonight he’d have never let her take off into the woods. He’d have had to come up with a new plan.
She rarely stopped to catch her breath. He was usually gasping for air by the time she did. He considered himself to be in excellent shape, but he wasn’t in the habit of running marathons.
There were a couple of times when he lost her and started to panic. But since she obviously didn’t think anyone was following her, she made no attempt to be quiet or disguise her tracks. He watched for broken branches and footprints as she’d done when they’d been searching for Gillette together, and he was able to pick up her trail again.
When they started on their third hour, everything suddenly went silent. Jake hurried forward until he could see her and ducked behind some bushes. Thirty feet ahead, she stood in what appeared to be as much of a yard as one could have out in the marsh. In front of her was a tiny building, one of the smallest houses Jake had ever seen. But it was well kept, with a lean-to on the side that sheltered the car parked there. She looked around, as if to make sure she was alone, before knocking on the door.
“It’s Faye, Eddie,” she said. “Can I come in?”
A full minute went by. No one opened the door. She knocked again and tried the doorknob. The door cracked open a few inches.
“Eddie?” she called, before stepping inside and closing the door.
Who the hell was Eddie? Was Calvin in there with him?
Jake checked his phone, hoping to call Dex again and give him an update. But unsurprisingly, there wasn’t any service.
A scream sounded from inside the house.
Jake vaulted over a bush and sprinted for the door, pulling his pistol as he went. The door burst open just as he reached it. Faye ran outside, practically knocking him down as she barreled into him.
He grabbed her arms, steadying her. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
She blinked, her shock at seeing him overriding the shock of whatever she’d just seen. Her brow wrinkled in confusion. “Jake? What are you doing here?”
He lightly shook her. “Are you hurt? You screamed.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh my God. Eddie. Someone...someone killed Eddie.”
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind him toward the door.
“No, I’m not going back in there.” She tugged, trying to free herself.
“And I’m not leaving you alone out here. We’re sticking together. I won’t let anything happen to you. Come on.”
She swallowed hard and allowed him to pull her inside. He quickly cleared the main room, checking behind the couch and chair, the only places big enough for anyone to hide. The tiny kitchen to the left was completely open. There weren’t any doors on the cabinets. He shut the front door and locked it before shoving her down on the floor beneath the window.
“Don’t move. I mean it, Faye. Don’t go outside, and don’t move from this spot. Promise me. And for once, mean what you say.”
Her shoulders stiffened, just as he’d intended. He’d insulted her to get her angry, to snap her out of the shock she was sliding into.
“I won’t go anywhere,” she bit out. “Promise.”
Hoping she really was telling the truth, he swung his pistol out in front of him and headed into the tiny hallway. To his left was a bathroom, empty. He steeled himself for what he was about to find in the only other room. He crouched down, and kicked the door open. It slammed against the wall as he ran inside, sweeping his pistol back and forth.
Ignoring the gory scene on the bed since the man there posed no threat, he checked the closet and beneath the bed before holstering his gun. There wasn’t any point in checking the man’s pulse. He didn’t have one. His throat was slit from ear to ear.
Jake pressed his finger against one of the man’s wrists just because it was one of the few places not covered in blood. Warm. Which meant the killer might still be close by. He tried his phone again as he headed back into the main room. Still no service. He put it away and knelt down in front of Faye.
“Did you see anyone else when you arrived?” He gently swept her hair out of her eyes.
“No. No one. Just you. After.” She shuddered and pressed her hand to her throat as if struggling not to gag.
He nudged her chin up to get her to look at him. “You didn’t kill Genovese.”
Her eyes widened. “You believe me now?”
“Yes. You would have thrown up all over the crime scene. You don’t have it in you to kill anyone.”
“You picked a great time to start believing me.”
He smiled sadly. “Sorry about that. Sometimes we city slickers can be a little slow. Who was Eddie?”
She gagged again and clapped her hands over her mouth.
Jake grabbed her and ran with her to the kitchen, reaching the sink just in time. He held her hair back from her face as she retched over and over, until there was nothing left in her stomach to throw up.
“Deep breaths, baby,” he said. “Slow, deep breaths.”
She gave him a startled look. He realized what he’d just said. Calling her “baby” wasn’t exactly keeping his professional distance.
He sighed and grabbed the towel hanging from the stove handle. He wet it beneath the faucet and handed it to her. While she washed her face and rinsed her mouth, he made another quick circuit around the room, hoping to find a landline so he could call the police. There wasn’t one.
Faye met up with him in the middle of the main room. “You followed me here?”
“Yes.” There was no point in denying it.
“I should have expected that.” She looked toward the bedroom and shuddered again. “I won’t fight you anymore. I’ll go with you into town, tell the police everything I know.”
“Why? Why now? Because of Eddie?”
“Yes, because of Eddie. He didn’t have any enemies, nothing of value to steal. He’s dead because of me, because I thought I could outrun my past. But obviously I can’t. And I can’t risk anyone else getting hurt. I’ll turn myself in.”
If she’d told him that a few days ago, he’d have jumped at her offer. But suddenly he was the one who was hesitant. He wanted nothing more than to grab her in his arms and carry her somewhere far, far away. Where she wouldn’t have to face the ugliness of being arrested and going through a trial. Where he wouldn’t have to worry about whether she was adequately protected if Rossi came looking for her.
For that matter, Rossi could be outside right now, waiting for her to come back out.
Jake tugged her over to the couch and pressed her down on the cushion. He sat beside her and took her hands in his.
“How does Eddie figure into this? What’s his connection to you and Gillette?”
“This morning, when Calvin and I got away from you, I brought him here. I asked Eddie for a favor, to take Calvin to a bus station. Calvin insisted on going to his apartment first. He said he had to grab some of his things. After that he’d go to the station by himself, go somewhere far away and lie low for a while. But Eddie can’t...couldn’t...afford the gas for a trip like that. He doesn’t have much money. So I told him I’d stop here tonight and reimburse him for a tank. That’s all. There’s no other connection.”
“Calvin went back to his apartment? Didn’t he say that he saw one of Rossi’s thugs prowling around Naples days ago? That’s why he left in the first place, right?”
Her eyes widened in dismay. “Yes. He’d left in a hurry, though. So he didn’t have many of his belongings with him. I didn’t think about him being in danger going back. He was just supposed to run in and out, a fast trip. Do you think someone might have been watching his apartment?”
“I think it’s a real possibility.”
She jumped up from the couch. Jake stood in front of her, in case she tried to go out the door.
“We have to get out of here,” she said. “We have to warn him. There’s a good spot for cell service about three miles north of here. If you can...get Eddie’s keys, we can drive there. We can call the police from there, too.”
“All right. Wait here and I’ll check Eddie’s pockets for the keys.”
“Faye,” a voice called from outside. “Get out here.”
“That’s Calvin!” She stepped around Jake.
He grabbed her before she could run to the door. “Wait. Let me talk to him first.”
Her brows creased. “Why?”
“Because we’re in a secluded area, with one dead body and three live ones. And since neither you nor I killed Eddie, do the math.”
She glared up at him. “Calvin didn’t do this.”
“Humor me. Let me check out the situation first.”
She crossed her arms and plopped back down on the couch. “Go ahead.”
He flattened himself against the wall and peeked out through the blinds. Relief shot through him as he viewed the scene outside. For once, one of his plans was working out. Not exactly the way he’d planned, but he’d take it. Unfortunately, Faye wasn’t going to be happy when she realized what had happened.
He crossed to the door and pulled it open. “Come on. Let’s go.”
“I thought you wanted to talk to him first.”
“I’ve seen what I need to see. It’s safe.”
Confusion warred with relief on her face as she hurried out the door with him. Guilt reared its ugly head again as Jake watched her eyes widen in shock. He hated that she was upset. But at least the worst was over. She was safe now. That was what mattered.
Calvin stood ten feet away, his hands tied in front of him with a white nylon rope. Another length of rope circled his waist, like a long leash. And behind him, holding the other end of that leash, with a rifle pointed at Gillette’s back, was Quinn Fugate.
“It’s good to see you, Quinn,” Jake said. “Dex called you?”
“Yes, he did. Early this afternoon. I got into Naples just a little while ago. I was going to go straight to that Mystic Glades place Dex told me about. But I stopped by Gillette’s apartment first. Guess who showed up? I followed him out here and, well, you can see what happened.” He flicked the end of the rope.
Gillette stumbled but righted himself. He swore beneath his breath.
“Oh my God, oh no, oh no,” Faye whispered, from behind Jake. She tugged on his shirt.
He turned back to look at her. She was shaking, pale, even worse than when she’d seen Eddie.
He was shocked at how terrified she looked. Then it dawned on him why she was so scared. Regret shot through him. “Honey, it’s okay. I’m sorry. I know how bad this must look. But it’s okay. The man who has Calvin tied up is an FBI agent. That’s Quinn Fugate. Everything’s okay. Calvin isn’t in any danger.”
She shook her head violently back and forth. “That’s not Quinn. That’s Kevin Rossi, the man I saw shoot Genovese.”