Finn drove across town to the address Jessica had given him. He reached the storage facility, which was just down the street from where Grossman’s unit was located. There was no security gate, and there were no cars in the lot. He punched in the code and the roller door began to lift. Finn stayed out of sight until he was certain it was safe to enter.
A strong odor assaulted him. And he knew what it was. While in the Marines he’d seen and smelled death more than he wanted to admit. A few flies swarmed the large garbage bag rotting in the corner. The body of a woman lie on the concrete slab next to it. He recognized the purple tinges in the long dark hair and knew that hair belonged to Kat Johansen. So the body in the trash bag must be Grossman’s girlfriend Candy Symes. There was no sign of Macy. Nor was there a purple roller bag in the unit. He’d been absolutely certain he would find her here. He didn’t know why but he’d had this horrible feeling.
He looked skyward. “Please let her be alive,” he whispered. He put in a call to Detective Burns to tell him about the dead bodies and before the man started his lecture about coming down to the station Finn hung up on him. So now what? Where was Macy? Where would Grossman take her? It had to be somewhere he wouldn’t be seen. If he had killed her already, wouldn’t he have left her body to rot with the others in the storage unit?
They weren’t at her apartment because Talwar and Remington were there. He wouldn’t be at Matthews’s house because the place would be crawling with cops. They weren’t at Grossman’s house. So where could they be?
Could they possibly have gone to the television studio? The place was closed down for two weeks. That was the perfect location. Why hadn’t he thought of it sooner? He called in the troops. Talwar and Remington. He needed all the help he could get. He only hoped he wasn’t too late.
When Macy came to she realized she was perched on the white leather chair she normally sat in while the show was being taped. Her feet and hands were still tied but Benny had removed the gag. He’d also removed the wig from atop his head but was still dressed in female attire.
He was fiddling with the camera equipment. All the studio lights were on, shining brightly down on her. Her face throbbed with pain.
Hearing her stir Benny looked over at her. “Oh good. You’re awake.”
“Benny, please don’t do this. Please let me go.”
“Shhh,” he hissed. “We’re almost ready to start the interview.”
“Benny, people will be looking for me.”
“You mean that dumb bodyguard pretending to be your cousin?” He barked out a laugh. “He’s never going to find us. And besides, I’ll be long gone before they find your body.”
Hearing Benny refer to her as no more than a body frightened her but she refused to let him see how scared she was. “I can pay you if you let me go. You know I’m worth millions. You can have it all. Just untie me.”
“Oh, I’m going to get your money. Trust me. Maybe not all of it, but whatever liquid funds you have will be mine shortly.”
How did he figure that?
“You see, you’re going to transfer everything you can today to my cousin’s account, and from there I can access the funds and get the cash tomorrow while wearing my Jessica disguise.”
Macy shook her head. “No. I won’t do it unless you let me go first. Then once I’m safe I’ll transfer the money and you can leave town, or better yet you can leave the country.”
“Do I look stupid to you? It’s me. Benny. The go-to guy. Do you know how I got that nickname here? Because everyone came to me. Because I know everything.” He brought a finger to his temple and tapped it. “I’m smarter than any of those stupid yahoos, even Jeremy Matthews and David Greenberg. Hell, I should have been the director and the producer.”
“You’re right, Benny. You are smart. The show can’t survive without you.”
He straightened his shoulders and smiled at her. “I’m glad you can see that. But like I said, I’m not stupid. The minute I let you go you’ll run to the cops and I can’t let that happen.”
“I won’t! I promise!”
Laughing again, he shook his head. “You know, I used to like you. You were always so nice to everyone. But then when I found out about how you got your job by making up a fake husband I realized you were just another lying bitch. I no longer had any respect for you.”
“I’m sorry about lying. I wanted so badly to get the job.” She sighed. “If I had it to do over, I never would have lied.” And that was the truth. Right now she didn’t give a damn about being a reality TV star. All she wanted was Finn.
He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. The damage has already been done. When Candy called the studio you should have told her you couldn’t help her. You should have told her that maybe she deserved to be punished for lying to me. As much as I liked her I couldn’t stand coming home to a drunk practically every night. But then again she was pretty easy. Any sexual fantasy I had she was ready, willing and able to perform. Not a lot of women will satisfy a man at the snap of a finger.” He snapped his finger for emphasis.
Macy didn’t know how to change Benny’s mind, was afraid she wouldn’t be able to. All she knew was that she had to keep him talking. The longer they talked the more time Finn would have to find her.
Benny made a few more adjustments to the camera and then announced, “It looks like we’re ready to do our interview. Smile for the camera.”
Macy forced a smile and swallowed back her tears.
Finn was almost there. Only a few more miles and he would reach the Sears Tower aka Willis Tower. He just prayed Macy was there, alive and well. Talwar and Remington were on their way as well.
He didn’t think Grossman had any firepower but that didn’t make him any less dangerous. He took a corner much too sharply and nearly turned his vehicle on to its side. “Fucking snow!” Where was the street crew when you needed them? Her righted the SUV and kept going.
He didn’t bother to call Detective Burns. First, because he wanted to be the one to put a bullet in Grossman’s head and secondly, because the detective would probably drag him back to the station for questioning. No, he didn’t need help from the police. He needed help from above. Please let her be alive.
“So you see why I had to kill my aunt and my mother, don’t you?”
Macy shook her head. “No, I don’t. Did you ask your aunt, I mean your birth mother, why she gave you away?”
“Yes, I asked her. She told me I was crazy. Delusional. That Jessica and I were not twins.” He made a tsk sound and shook his head. “Did she think I was that stupid? Just because Jessica believed her didn’t mean I was buying that load of crap. That’s when I knew she had to be punished for what she did. She had absolutely no sense of remorse.”
Macy tried to swallow back the dread in her throat. “Maybe your mom’s sister couldn’t have children and she thought she was doing an act of kindness.”
Benny narrowed his eyes at her. “An act of kindness? Since when does giving your kid away count as an act of kindness?”
“Okay, then let’s talk about other possibilities. Maybe having twins was too much for her to handle. Maybe she wasn’t financially able to raise two babies at the same time.” She was reaching, but she needed to keep Benny talking. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to help you deal with what happened all those years ago.”
“No, you’re not. You don’t give a shit about me.”
“That’s not true.” A lie, but what else could she say?
“You keep forgetting you’re not a real psychologist!” He leaned forward and screamed in her face. “What the hell do you know about anything? You’re nothing but a liar! Just like my aunt and my mother.”
“I’m sure they both cared about you, Benny. They probably lied so they wouldn’t hurt you. Maybe they thought you wouldn’t understand. How old were you when you first suspected you and your cousin were twins?”
He stood then. “I’m done talking about this. Look into the camera and tell the world you’re a fraud, a liar and a bitch! And that you deserve to be punished.”
Macy’s lips quivered. She couldn’t do it. Because once she did she knew he was going to kill her. Where was Finn?
Benny loomed over her, gave her hair a hard yank and pulled her head back so that she had no choice but to look up at him. “Say it!”
When Macy refused he slapped her hard across the face. Hard enough that she saw stars. She couldn’t hold back her tears.
“Say it now, or I’m going to not only kill you but torture you as well. Is that what you want?”
“No.” She sobbed. “Please, Benny, don’t do this.”
He left her then and hurried to the corner of the room and rifled through a canvas duffle bag. He pulled out what appeared to be a large hunting knife or small machete. She almost wet her pants. “I bet I can lop your head off with one clean swipe of the blade.” He came toward her, waving it in the air. “Now, are you going to start talking?”
She nodded.
“Good. Let’s get started.” He went to stand behind the camera once again. “We’re still rolling. Speak up or I’m going to have to cut your pretty little head off.”
Through her choking sobs she managed to say, “I’m a fraud . . . a liar . . . and a bitch.”
He glared at her. “And?”
She wailed again, trying to get her emotions under control. “And I deserve . . . to be . . . punished.” Silently she began praying. Benny started toward her just as she heard a loud crash. Finn! It had to be Finn.
Finn took out his Colt 45 and aimed it at the double glass doors. Glass exploded everywhere but he didn’t give a fuck. The place was quiet as he made his way down the hallway toward the TV studio and the dressing rooms. He tried the door to the studio first but it was locked. He fired again and the door knob crashed to the floor.
Kicking the door open, he stood to the side, noticing the lit room. “Grossman!” he shouted. No answer. He stuck his head around the open door and there was Grossman, holding a knife to Macy’s throat. “Drop the knife, you sick fuck!”
“No way. I didn’t do anything wrong. All those women deserved what they got.”
“Is that what you think?” He couldn’t look at Macy’s swollen face because he had to stay focused.
“Yes. And you and I both know that if I drop the knife you’re going to kill me.”
“Oh, I’m going to kill you either way, cocksucker!”
“I’d like to see you try.”
Finn noticed Macy squirm, trying to pull away. But Grossman tightened his hold on her; so tightly in fact, the knife must be digging into her skin and blood poured down her neck.
He saw her eyes go toward the red streak that was now covering her shoulder before lifting her gaze at him. “Finn,” she whispered.
“Close your eyes, Macy.” Once she obeyed he fired, aiming for the center of Grossman’s forehead. The man dropped to the floor in a nanosecond.
Macy screamed and Finn rushed to her, lifting her into his arms just as Talwar and Remington ran into the room. Talwar went to check on Grossman. “Nice shot,” he said.
Finn held Macy to his chest as he worked at the rope tied around her wrists. Talwar untied her ankles. “Baby, are you okay?”
She nodded, threw her arms around his neck and cried softly against his shoulder.
“This was all my fault. If I hadn’t made up that stupid lie you would have been by my side and Grossman couldn’t have gotten to you.”
“That’s true,” she said against his throat.
He figured she would say that, which meant she was never going to forgive him. But for right now he wasn’t letting go of her. He’d almost lost her because of his actions. And he couldn’t stand himself because of what he’d done.
So if that meant she would refuse to speak to him again, then he had to face his punishment. At least she was alive. Even if she hated his guts.
It had been over a month since Macy had seen Finn. Actually it had been five weeks and two days, but who was counting? She’d told him she never wanted to see him again and when he realized she was not going to give in to his pleading and begging for forgiveness he’d finally left town.
He had humiliated her, which had caused her to make careless decisions and had almost gotten her killed. But wallowing in her self-pity and anger had gotten her nowhere. She missed him. Loved him. And if she could swallow her pride even for a minute she would tell him so.
She hadn’t renewed her contract with the Dr. Macy show. David Greenberg decided to do a spin-off instead, this time hiring an actual psychologist who had been married for more than twenty years. Dr. Simon and his wife had six children and looked extremely happy together.
Caroline had given birth to her daughter just last week. Penelope had weighed in at seven pounds even, and had strawberry blonde fuzz on her tiny little head. Caroline sent her a new photo every day via text, sometimes two and three a day.
Macy was on her way to John and Caroline’s so she could meet the newest member of their family. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on the tiny creature. She pulled into the drive, grabbed her purse and the gift bag from the front seat and got out of her rental car. She headed up the front walk that had been cleared of snow. The night air was chilly but not as cold as Chicago. Then again it was February so it was supposed to be cold.
She hadn’t made a plan for her future, but Caroline told her she could stay in her lake house until she decided what she was going to do. The only problem was that Finn was staying in John Ryder’s house next door. Did he know she was coming to Orchard Falls and planned to stay for a while? If so, how did he feel about that?
Was Finn dating anyone? She hadn’t asked Caroline because she didn’t want to hear that he was. Well, she was sure she would find out soon enough. Macy jabbed at the doorbell and a few seconds later Caroline greeted her at the door.
It felt good to be home.
Finn knew Macy was coming for a visit, so he had deliberately stayed away from Ryder and Caroline’s place this evening. He was sure Macy would not want to see his face. She was coming to see little Penelope. It was only fair that he give her some space and let her spoil her soon-to-be godchild. After all, he had seen Penny every day since she’d been born. He could go a few days without seeing the little darling.
He probably should have gone to Buffalo or Columbus to visit his own family, but for some reason he didn’t want to leave town knowing that Macy was coming. Okay, he knew exactly why he didn’t want to leave Orchard Falls. Because Macy was coming. He wanted to see her and yet he had promised Ryder that he wouldn’t cause a scene.
He sat down in the recliner and flipped through the television stations, nothing holding his interest. All he could think about was Macy. He wondered what she was doing right about now. Was she still holding the baby? Probably not. It was late. Almost ten. Penny was probably in her crib sleeping away.
He flicked off the remote and was about to turn off the lights and head to bed himself when he saw headlights coming down the lane toward the lake houses. No one lived here during the winter months with the exception of him. And he wasn’t expecting company.
But then he noticed the strange car didn’t stop at his place, but at Caroline’s house next door. His heart skipped a beat. Could it be Macy? He pressed his nose to the window to get a better view and sure enough Macy got out of the car and went to the trunk. She retrieved a suitcase and headed toward the front door of the house.
Why hadn’t Ryder told him Macy was going to be staying there while she was in town? And how long was that going to be anyway? He wanted to go next door, just to see if she needed anything. Yeah, right. Leave her alone, Finn. She didn’t come to see you.
He sighed and went to the fridge for a beer. He was just about to crack it open when he heard a knock on the front door. Trying not to act excited, he took his time answering it. There stood Macy looking at him through the screen door.
“Hello, Finn.”
“Macy. I heard you were in town. How have you been?”
“Good. Fine.” She licked her lips, the way he remembered her doing. “Can I come in?”
What the hell was wrong with him? He pushed the door open. “Of course. Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”
She sucked in a noisy breath and shivered against the cold.
Finn closed the front door. “Come sit by the fire and warm up.” He stood by the door and watched as she made her way to the fireplace and turned her backside to the flames. “Did you get to meet Penny?”
Her face broke into a huge smile. “Yes. What a little angel she is.” She licked at her lips again. “So, Caroline said you were going to make Orchard Falls your home.”
“Yep. I like it here. It’s quiet.”
“It’s a nice town. I’ve thought about moving back myself.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded and took a step forward. There was a long awkward silence between them. “Well, it’s late. I just wanted to stop in and say hello, make sure you were okay.”
“Thanks, but I’m fine.” He waited a beat. “That’s a lie, Macy. I’ve been miserable . . . without you.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” Not wanting to chase her off, he took a tentative step toward her.
“Surely you’ve dated?” Her words came out as more of a question than a statement. Was she fishing for information?
“Are you asking me if I’ve dated anyone since I left Chicago?”
“Yes.” Then she shook her head. “No. It’s none of my business. I really should go.” She started to move past him.
“No.”
She stopped and looked up at him.
“I mean, no, I haven’t dated anyone.” He shrugged a shoulder. “Why would I want to go out with anyone else when I’m in love with you?”
He saw her eyes fill with unshed tears. “Oh, Finn.”
He reached for her then. At first she pushed at his chest then she fell against him and tilted her head up. Their mouths met for a slow and thoughtful kiss. He was the one to pull away. “I love you, Macy. I want to marry you and make babies together. And if I have to move to Chicago and pretend to be Antonio or whatever his name was I’m happy to do that.”
She grinned. “No need. I’m done with the show.”
“Really?”
“Really. I thought if I was going to get married for real and have a family, I’d rather not start off with another lie.”
What was she saying exactly? “Are you planning on getting married?”
“I was thinking about it. There’s this guy who said he loves me and I love him. So why not go for it?”
Finn nearly choked. He’d never felt happier than at this moment. “Baby, you will never regret it. I swear I’ll treat you like a princess, and I will never take advantage of you ever again.”
“Never? Because I was kind of hoping you’d take advantage of me now.”
He laughed as he lifted her off her feet. “Baby, if you insist, how can I say no?”