| |
A car door slammed in the parking lot outside and Grace paled and turned her head. “Can we lock these doors?” she hissed at me. “He followed me here.”
I didn’t know why Grace was scared and why she wanted to be locked in with me. But after seeing the look on her face, I hastily moved toward the door—whether to lock it or to run out, I wasn’t sure. But before I could get there, the doors opened and Kyle bolted through them.
Grace looked frozen and I’m sure I did, too. Because Kyle was carrying a gun.
“Now you’ve endangered Ann,” snarled Kyle to Grace. “All you ever think about is yourself.”
Grace gave me an apologetic wince. “Sorry. I saw you were still here and Kyle was following me.”
My mind was whirling.
“How did you know?” she asked Kyle, her voice flat.
“I didn’t. Not for a while.” He gave a short laugh. “Scott even told me and I didn’t believe him.”
I wasn’t sure how to get out of this, but I felt if I could buy myself some time, I might have a better shot at it. I worked hard to steady my voice and said, “You’re talking about your girlfriend’s death.”
Kyle looked at me. “You know about it too?”
I shook my head. “Not really. Just the basics.” But I was starting to get a much clearer picture suddenly.
I cleared my throat. “Grace was present when your girlfriend died.”
“Amber,” said Kyle in a flat voice.
I tried to keep my voice even. “When Amber drowned. You and the others were somewhere out on the lake, but Scott and Grace stayed behind with your girlfriend. Everyone thought it was an accident.”
“The police called it an accident,” said Grace in a husky, frightened voice.
“It wasn’t. It wasn’t her time to go. You could have saved her.” Kyle’s face was blotchy with anger.
A mulish expression crossed Grace’s features. “No. No, I couldn’t have.”
“Scott said you could have,” said Kyle.
Grace gave a scoffing laugh. “You mean right before you killed him? I guess he would have said anything.”
While they were focused on each other, I stepped just slightly back away from them.
Kyle said, “That’s what I thought at the time. Then I discovered something that made me realize he was telling the truth all along.”
Grace stared wordlessly at him.
Kyle continued, “When I was helping Scott’s family clear out his things, they told me they’d found out some things about him. They weren’t sure how to process it.” He stared coldly at Grace. “If you couldn’t have helped Amber, why were you paying him money every month?”
Grace looked confused, but I could tell she knew exactly what Kyle was talking about. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You were paying him money to stay quiet about letting Amber drown.”
Grace said quickly, “I was paying him money to help him with his finances. He was having money troubles.”
Kyle shook his head, stony faced.
Grace took a deep breath. “You’re right, Kyle. Scott was blackmailing me. But only in the last year, when he went broke. And that’s the same kind of arrangement we can have, you and I. I understand you need money, too. And I have it to give.”
The red splotches on Kyle’s face grew even more pronounced and again I slipped backwards a bit.
He seethed. “You think that’s what I care about? Money? I care about justice. I care about what happened to Amber.”
Grace lifted a shaky hand. “And I totally get that, Kyle. Look, you and I have known each other for years. Even though I know you cared about Amber, money doesn’t hurt.” She gave a hoarse chuckle. “Believe me, I found that out. It may not bring happiness, but it sure can make life easier.”
Kyle was looking uncertain now and Grace went on: “Killing me isn’t going to bring Amber back. And turning down money won’t, either.” Kyle shook his head angrily and a look of impatience flashed across Grace’s face. “Don’t act as though you’re too ethical to take money. You killed Scott. And he was your best friend.”
“Until he stopped acting like one.”
There was a long pause and I tried to keep the conversation going. I cleared my throat. “The final straw must have been Felicity.”
“There were lots of final straws.” Lines of exhaustion were etched into Kyle’s face.
Grace made a restless movement and Kyle trained the gun on her until she stilled again.
“How did you find out what happened to Amber?” Grace’s expression was somber.
“Scott told me.” Kyle saw Grace’s look of surprise and shrugged. “He was totally wasted by then and running his mouth. I complained about him chasing Felicity. He said in this really cocky voice that maybe she was chasing him.” He noted our disbelieving looks and said bitterly, “Yeah, that’s what I said, too. Felicity didn’t want anything to do with Scott and I told him that. But then he said my high school girlfriend had been chasing him, too.”
I could just imagine Kyle’s fury at that.
“What’s more,” added Kyle coolly, “Scott claimed that’s why you let Amber drown, Grace.”
Grace stared at him.
“That’s right—because of petty jealousy. Amber was flirting with Scott while I was out on the lake with everyone else. And when she went swimming and started struggling, you just watched her drown.” Kyle’s eyes blazed.
Grace kept her voice carefully even. “Kyle, let’s talk about this. You can name a price. I know your mother could probably use a hand financially, too. We can make this work out.”
Kyle gestured at me. “But Ann knows about it. Which is all your fault. And I liked her—you’ve made things even worse by deciding to come here when you saw I was following you. You should have just gone home, Grace.”
I felt a chill go up my spine at hearing myself referred to in the past tense.
“She already knew before I came here,” protested Grace. They both turned to me. “Didn’t you? I had a phone call a little while ago from someone on the library board.” She gave me a tight smile.
I shifted on my feet. “Oh?”
“I have a couple of friends who serve on the board. Apparently this one received a phone call from your director here that the board needed to meet to discuss my gift to the library. That you had some information that the board needed to hear.” The tight smile was totally gone now.
That was Wilson for you. Sounded like he’d thrown me under the bus in the process.
Grace continued. “My friend said that Wilson made it sound as if he didn’t entirely know what the issue might be, but that you were to explain it to the board when they met.”
A point he hadn’t shared with me.
I said carefully, “Wilson didn’t tell me that was the case. I did raise some concerns with Wilson and he felt it would be best under the circumstances if the board were convened to discuss your donation. “I just know Wilson and he likes to steer clear of controversy at all costs. Especially when it involves the reputation of the library. Once I realized the source of your husband’s income, I knew I needed to let Wilson know, in case that made him think differently about the donation.”
“What was there to discuss? I gave money to the library. Wilson gave every indication of being totally delighted with it. In fact, he was falling all over himself to not only accept the gift, but to have you and Luna go out to lunch with me at every opportunity, probably hoping you could procure even more. And that was your concern. The source of the income.” Grace’s voice was flat.
“That was it.”
“Right.” Grace looked at Kyle. “She’s not telling the truth . . . I know it was more than just my husband’s income.” She turned back to me. “I had the feeling you weren’t asleep on the boat. Scott was stupid to say anything with other people around. Or reckless. Or maybe he just didn’t care, I don’t know. But the first rule of blackmailing is to keep the secret, right? I mean, unless the victim doesn’t pay up.” Her eyes were hard as she turned to Kyle. “Like I said: just get rid of her and then you and I can come up with an arrangement.”
Kyle hesitated and then found some resolve and lifted his gun, pointing it at me.
Grace lunged for the cat carrier and swung it at Kyle hard. The gun flew out of his hand and he went down and Grace turned to reach for the weapon.
Which was when a voice that was usually very soft said harshly: “Stop!” This command was accompanied by frantic barks.
Grace whirled to see who it was and to also see what was causing the chorus of deep-throated barking. I didn’t care who or what my savior was, instead taking the opportunity to grab a nearby library cart full of books to be shelved. I rammed it at Grace as hard as I could. Then I picked up Kyle’s gun, and with my other hand dialed Burton’s number.
Then I looked up to see who’d gotten me out of my jam. Although by now, I’d already figured it out.
Sure enough, there was Linus and Ivy, standing threateningly over Grace. Well, Linus was looking as threatening as it was possible for mild-mannered Linus to look, and Ivy, who’d picked up on the fact her new owner was quite upset, was definitely looking threatening.