I dropped back even more as the road snaked from side to side, making wide esses. When it straightened out again, I felt a moment of panic because Vera’s car was nowhere in sight. I sped up in time to watch the tail end of the Lexus disappear on a right-hand turn. They must have arrived at the cabin.
The rutted driveway sloped downhill about fifty feet, cutting through foliage only slightly less dense than the woods I’d been passing, Vera pulled onto a leveled-off cleared piece of land next to a red sports car. A few feet away stood a brown-shingled, weather-beaten cabin.
I edged a few feet past the driveway and parked on the side of the road. I closed the car door behind me as quietly as I could and inched back to the driveway, just in time to see the cabin door shut behind Vera and Nick.
Was I really going down there to spy on them? The cabin’s two windows facing the road were about three feet above ground and partly covered by bushes. My pulse quickened at the thought of finally getting to hear what they had to say to each other. Here was my chance to find out.
I’ll be careful, I promised myself. Careful and cautious, I instructed myself as I edged down the driveway, keeping as close to the bushes as I could without getting scratched.
I crouched down between the first window and a sprawling blueberry bush and peered inside. Gauzy curtains covered the glass, but they were sheer enough for good visibility. I was looking into the kitchen. The fridge and stove stood against the wall to my left, and the sink was below the window. Through a doorway to the right I caught a glimpse of a larger room.
Nick unloaded containers of food from the package he’d carried inside onto the small kitchen table. He retrieved a bottle of wine from the pint-size fridge and two glasses from an open shelf. He sat down and smiled at Vera as she emerged from the other room, where she’d probably gone to use the bathroom. She plopped down in the other chair. There were only two kitchen chairs, but then this was a lovers’ nest. A hideaway for two, though despite the two kisses Nick had bestowed on Vera’s cheek in the parking lot, surely they’d come here to discuss their medical scam and not to indulge in some hanky-panky.
They chatted as they ate and sipped wine—about setting up interviews to hire a new nurse and a few patients’ medical conditions. The tone was friendly and congenial, as you’d expect from two people who had been working together for years. When they finished eating, Vera gathered up the debris and tossed it in a plastic garbage pail under the sink.
Were they leaving? If so, I’d better take off before they saw me. What a total waste of time! I swallowed my disappointment. I wasn’t going to find out anything about their criminal activity, much less hear a confession that they’d murdered Aiden and Roxy.
But my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to remain a little longer. Good thing I did because instead of leaving the cabin, they picked up their wine glasses, Nick grabbed the bottle, and they went into the other room. I positioned myself in front of the other window and found myself peering into a sitting room-bedroom. A loveseat set off by two end tables sat against the wall facing me, and a king-sized bed jutted out from the adjacent wall. In the far corner was a door leading to a tiny bathroom.
I was very much relieved when Vera and Nick settled themselves on the loveseat and placed the glasses and wine bottle on the side tables. But why on earth had they moved to that room? I hoped they weren’t planning to make use of the bed. I mean, Vera was at least fifteen years older than Nick. He was a good-looking guy in his early forties who took pride in his appearance, while Vera was blowsy and unkempt, and that was being kind. Her hair was like a bird’s nest, and her choice of clothing made her look shorter and dumpier still.
I sensed the change in Nick even before he opened his mouth. It was as though sitting in this room allowed him to speak his mind. He reached for his wine glass and downed its contents. Then he turned to Vera.
“I’m relieved you didn’t bump off poor Gwen.”
Vera cocked her head, her eyes wide with false innocence. “Whatever do you mean?”
“Admit it, Vera. You wanted to get rid of her.”
Vera sipped her wine and leaned back against the sofa. “I did. She’s too nosy by far. I think she figured out a thing or two but had no proof to do anything about it. She’s the type who wouldn’t think twice about blackmailing us.”
“And so you told the police that she stole from us? Wasn’t that risky?”
Vera shrugged. “Not as risky as another death. That was sure to bring them sniffing around the office. Not that they’d find anything. As for Gwen, with her record I knew she’d keep her mouth shut and disappear.” She scoffed. “The girl’s a grifter with an RN degree.”
My mouth fell open. So Vera had framed Gwen to get rid of her. Because of the medical fraud? The murders? And Gwen had a police record? I jerked away from the window as Nick got to his feet. He covered his face in his hands, then shook his head as though to chase away his thoughts.
“At least Gwen’s alive. But why did you have to … do what you did to Roxy?”
Vera looked up at him. “Did you forget how she stormed into the office that night, accusing you of killing Aiden because you were jealous our patients preferred him to you?”
Nick turned up his palms. “That was ridiculous. I was glad they loved Aiden. The more they loved him, the more money we made.”
“That wasn’t the point,” Vera said sharply. “Roxy was trouble. A loose cannon. Saying you killed Aiden would bring the cops to our door.”
“I suppose, but did you have to kill her?”
“Sweetheart, I didn’t kill Roxy. I merely agreed with her that you murdered Aiden and offered to give her something to calm her nerves.”
“What did you really give her? You told me she thought it was something mild she’d taken before.”
Vera shrugged. “It was a fast-acting barbiturate. She drove off into the night. Is it my fault her car crashed and the poor girl died?”
I stared, frozen in shock. Was this the same compassionate woman I’d spoken to at Aiden’s wake? At his memorial service?
Nick bowed his head. “And Aiden? Was it really necessary to do that to him? He was my partner. We didn’t always agree but—”
“He found out about our private enterprise and would have turned us in.” Vera smiled. “We couldn’t have that. We discussed it, remember?”
“No, you discussed it.”
“We wanted to expand, add another office, but Aiden was against it.”
“He wanted out of our partnership,” Nick mumbled.
“And we couldn’t have that.” Vera opened her arms. “Come to Mama, Nicky boy, and forget all this unpleasantness.”
Unpleasantness? I stared transfixed as Nick sat down and gazed into her eyes. Vera took his face in her hands. “Mama will work her magic and erase all the sad thoughts from your mind.”
A minute later they were kissing passionately, their arms wrapped around each other like the final scene of a forties movie.
“Ugh!” I gasped in horror, then gasped in shock when I realized they’d heard me. Nick ran to the cabin door as I jumped to my feet and raced to the driveway.
“Don’t let her get away!” Vera yelled.
I made a mad dash for my car, watching where I stepped and praying I wouldn’t trip and break my ankle on that rutted driveway.
Nick was gaining on me. I heard him pant, felt his hot breath on my neck. He let out a cry as he stumbled and fell. Yay! I ran faster, watching my feet, careful not to step in a hole or under a tree root. I made it to my car, flung open the door, but he’d regained his footing and yanked me from the car.
“It’s you!” Nick said. “What are you doing, spying on us?”
“I—” I shut up, realizing whatever I said wouldn’t help the situation.
We stood there, his hand clasped around my upper arm. For a moment it seemed that he didn’t know what to do with me.
“Please let me go.”
“Bring her here!” Vera shouted from the bottom of the driveway.
Nick’s grip tightened as he marched me down the driveway and into the cabin. I had a sense of déjà vu. I’d just been watching these two people and now I was their prisoner. What an idiot I was, giving myself away like that!
Nick shoved me down on the loveseat and stood aside as Vera inched closer. I trembled in fear, knowing she was a murderer.
“So,” she said smiling down at me, “another nosy snoop. By now you must know what happens to nosy snoops.”
“If anything happens to me, the cops will be on you in a flash,” I said, my voice quavering.
“I don’t think so, missy. I hear the cops like Aiden’s BFF, Dr. Forlano, for both murders.” She laughed. “No one will be surprised to learn he decided to murder you too. Especially when word gets out that you and Miles were seeing each other behind your boyfriend’s back—until you had second thoughts. Being the possessive type, he couldn’t bear for you to leave him.”
“Miles? That’s absurd. No one would believe that.”
Vera shrugged into her fake innocence look. “Really? I think they will when the gossip spreads around town in a day or two.”
What a spiteful woman. I had the sudden urge to kick her.
Vera stepped back and glanced at Nick. “Enough chitchat. Nicky dear, it’s your turn. Take care of Miss Nosy over here.”
Nick’s eyes slid from side to side. “You mean tie her up? I doubt there’s any rope in the cabin.”
“I mean kill her. Shut her up for good.”
The state of fear I’d been in since Nick had grabbed me heightened. Frozen in place, I couldn’t move. But I had to move if I wanted to get out of here alive.
“How?” Nick said. He sounded scared, but I couldn’t count on that.
“Everything we’ve worked for is ruined if you don’t take care of her,” Vera said.
“But I can’t just kill her with my bare hands,” Nick said.
“Your precious surgeon’s hands,” Vera jeered. “They’re strong enough.” She glanced at the bed. “If you’re squeamish, use a pillow to smother her.”
“I don’t think we need to do this, Vera.”
I looked around for a weapon—anything. And then I saw it.
“I’ll get a pillow for you,” Vera said.
As she started for the bed, I reached for the bottle of wine, grabbed the neck and swung with all my might. Vera went down like a ko’d boxer.
“What did you do to her?” Nick demanded.
He stared at me and I stared right back. He must have seen the fury in my eyes or realized I was now holding a broken wine bottle with jagged edges because he turned his attention to his beloved, who lay sprawled out on the floor, moaning softly.
I raced to my car, glad that the door had been left open and started up the engine. I spun the car around and sped toward town as if the Headless Horseman was chasing me. Luckily the road remained deserted.
When I realized that Nick wasn’t coming after me, I calmed down enough to call the precinct. Gracie Venditto, the policewoman who usually dispatched the calls, answered.
“Gracie, it’s Carrie Singleton,” I said between gasps.
“What’s wrong?”
“Tell John that Aiden’s partner Nick Gannon and their office manager killed Aiden and Roxy. I just escaped from them.”
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
“Thank God. Where are you? Where are they?”
“I’m heading back to town. I’ll come straight to the precinct. They’re—”
A red sports car came speeding up behind me. Nick’s car! Was he going to ram me into the side of the road? I stomped on the pedal to accelerate. A moment later he swerved around me, determined to escape.
“Carrie! Are you there?”
“Yes. They just flew past me in Nick’s red sports car.”
“I’ll tell John.”
Shaken, I pulled over to the side of the road. Vera and Nick were on the run and I was safe. Extremely lucky to be safe, I reminded myself, after having done the stupidest thing—tailing them like a nineteenth-century nincompoop of a heroine. Though they never would have seen me if I hadn’t given myself away.
Laughter welled up in my chest as the image of Nick and Vera in a clinch flashed across my brain. It dawned on me that Vera wanted Nick to kill me because she couldn’t do it—at least not in a straightforward, cold-blooded way. And neither could he. I was laughing hysterically now, though there was nothing funny about it. I began to sob. Deep, heaving sobs that shook my shoulders and had me gasping for breath.
When the jingle of my cell phone sounded, I pressed the phone icon on my steering wheel. Dylan’s worried voice came through.
“Are you okay?”
“I am. Just shaken—but how did you know?”
“John called. He’s put out a BOLO and got the state troopers involved. You’re to go straight home—or the hospital if you need medical attention.”
“I don’t need medical attention, though Vera might. I hit her over the head with a wine bottle.”
“Oh, Carrie.”
I heard the love, exasperation, and disapproval in his voice and was ashamed.
“I know. I had no business following them. I’m sorry I upset you after saying I wouldn’t take unnecessary risks, but the chance to learn what they were up to was impossible to ignore. And nothing would have happened if I hadn’t—”
“Stop!”
I shut up.
“Take a few deep breaths and drive carefully. I’ll meet you at home.”