CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT

 

Selene first started to feel that something wasn’t quite right when Julian sat in a chair in the living room and started to talk about Michel.

“He had the hots for you like you wouldn’t believe,” Julian said. “I met Giovanni in a bar not far from where he was staying. We drowned our sorrows—mostly his—with some cheap liquor. He was pretty tight-lipped about the juiciest stuff he had. But when I paid a whore to soften him up a bit, the man couldn’t stop talking. He practically bragged about the anonymous calls he made to you. Even talked about the reward money and how he and you were going to collect it and start your lives over in South America or something.” He snickered. “If nothing else, the son of a bitch was a dreamer, I’ll give him that.”

Selene, who had remained standing, was shocked. She wasn’t sure about where it was coming from or what it meant. But she certainly didn’t like where this was going. “I’d rather not talk about Michel, if you don’t mind. In fact, I really have to—”

“You know,” Julian cut her off, “Giovanni was the answer to all my problems. His obsession with you worked out beautifully.”

“What are you talking about?”

Julian stood, flexing his muscular arms. “I needed someone to be the perfect fall guy for the cops to wrap up in a nice, neat little package and boast about as their Woods Strangler trophy. I’d heard through the grapevine that your line was tapped, waiting for Giovanni to call. Once I encouraged him to do just that by making him believe it would send you running back into his arms, I knew the cops would be quick to show up and pounce on him like flies on rotted meat.”

He moved closer to Selene.

“I blew the man’s brains out with his gun,” bragged Julian, “making it look like he did it himself. Even left behind some souvenirs from the victims to seal the deal.”

Selene could barely believe what she was hearing. Julian McKenzie had just admitted that he had murdered those women and had framed Michel for the crimes and then killed him, too.

She watched as Julian removed what looked like a scarf from his pocket and began to snap it between his hands.

“Sorry, Selene, but this is something I have to do,” he told her. “I’ve wanted to do this from the very beginning, but it seemed smarter to stick with bitches I didn’t know. Except Cyndi Gordon. Met her at Dennis Cramer’s barbecue. It wasn’t too hard to get Cyndi to let down her guard and trust the last person in the world she should have. A big mistake that you’ve also made...”

Selene was scared to death, but determined to hold it together. She didn’t want to die. Not like this. Not by him. She assessed her escape routes.

Selene looked directly at Julian and stammered, “You’ll never get away with this. Killing me will let Michel off the hook. The police will hunt you down.”

“Not if they think Quinn was the real killer!” Julian’s eyes lit like fire. “When he comes back from his run, it’ll look like Giovanni was right all along—that Quinn really did kill those hapless women and found a patsy in Giovanni, before killing him. Quinn finished off his murdering ways by killing you, so you could join his first cheating bitch of a wife.”

Selene could tell that Julian had thought this all out, including Quinn’s absence. He was clearly a psycho, but smart enough to see it through with possibly no one being the wiser. No one alive anyway. She would have to fend for herself.

“You don’t have to do this, Julian,” Selene said, trying to switch tactics. “It’s never too late to turn your life around.” Selene knew she was grasping at straws, but hoped the message would somehow resonate with him.

He laughed. “Nice try, Selene. You almost had me thinking about it for a moment or two,” Julian said with amusement. “You’d say anything to try to save your pretty little neck. Doesn’t matter. This is the way it has to be. You’ll be better off anyway. Just like the other bitches I put out of their misery—”

The sudden ringing of Selene’s cell phone caused them both to jump. The phone was in her purse, which she had tossed on the sofa earlier.

She moved in that direction, but Julian quickly stepped between her and the sofa.

“Can’t let you answer that,” he said tersely. He grabbed the phone out of her purse and flung it at the wall so hard, it was immediately silenced. “I should have guessed that leaving the phone off the hook in the kitchen might not be enough. Doesn’t matter now. By the time anyone catches on that you’re in trouble, it’ll be too damned late to do anything about it—”

Julian stepped towards Selene with the outstretched scarf. She backed away. Her heart was pounding wildly and perspiration pouring down her armpits.

Julian stepped toward her again. Realizing she was literally backing herself into a corner, Selene decided she had to go for it. Or die trying. She balled her fist and swung it with all her might, hitting Julian flush on his broad nose.

The blow caught him off guard and he winced. Fury colored his face and he back-smacked her. She bit back the pain, tasting blood.

“Don’t fight me, Selene,” he said angrily. “It’ll only make things worse. Just let it happen...”

Out of the corner of her eye, Selene spotted the vase on the end table. If only she could get to it.

“Not a chance, you bastard!” Selene said defiantly.

In one swift motion, she grabbed the vase and slammed it against the side of Julian’s head, causing the vase to shatter. Julian was stunned, and he relaxed the tight extension of the scarf. Sensing this might be her only chance to get away, Selene clasped her hands, thrust them behind her head and moved forward rapidly, slamming them right between his eyes.

Julian screamed and appeared to be disoriented. Selene bolted across the floor for the front door. She managed to get her hands around the doorknob before Julian caught up to her.

He put the scarf around her neck, constricting her air passage. Then he pulled her backwards and off her feet as he tightened the scarf. She flailed away with her arms, hands, and legs at the killer, to no avail.

Oh, God, please help me. Don’t let him kill me!

Selene was beginning to lose consciousness at about the same time she heard what sounded like the front door bursting open.

Then she heard Quinn’s booming voice. “Let her go, Julian!”

The scarf around Selene’s neck loosened enough to allow her to breathe and fight passing out. Out of her periphery, she saw Quinn literally fly through the air and land atop Julian. Both men went down to the ground, while Selene somehow managed to stay on her feet, clutching her sore throat and gasping for air.

She watched as Quinn got the upper hand, punching Julian in the face a couple of times. But just as quickly, Julian seemed to take control, hitting Quinn with his powerful fists.

Selene knew she had to do something. She staggered to the fireplace, grabbed one of the solid brass ball handle tools, and headed towards the men.

Julian was half on top of Quinn, and both men were landing blows, when she got to them. Reversing her hold on the tool so that the ball could be used as a weapon, Selene raised her arm up and brought it down as hard as she could, hitting Julian on top of the head. It was enough to stun him, allowing Quinn to gain the advantage. Following a couple of solid punches to Julian’s jaw and chin, he fell over into unconsciousness.

Suddenly, Detective Cramer ran in along with a half a dozen other cops, all with guns drawn.

“There’s the man you’re looking for,” Selene told them, pointing at Julian McKenzie.

Cramer glared at the fallen man. “Yeah, I can see that.” He ordered the officers to arrest him just as Julian began to come around.

Selene rushed to her husband, who was slowly getting to his feet. Blood oozed from his split lip and one eye was swollen and nearly shut.

“Did he hurt you?” Quinn asked her.

Selene swallowed. Her neck was still burning and her throat was sore, but she managed a smile. “He tried, but never got the chance to finish the job.”

Quinn winced. “Thank God for that. If anything had happened to you—”

“You’re hurt, darling,” Selene cried, more concerned about his condition than hers. She ignored all the commotion going on around them and tried to tend to him.

“I’m all right,” Quinn said.

Selene wrapped her arms around him and thought about how close she’d come to death.

The police handcuffed Julian McKenzie and led him away.

Officer Leighton diverted from the group and approached the Herreras. “I’m so glad McKenzie didn’t...”

“So am I,” Selene said. She glanced at Julian McKenzie as he disappeared out the front door. “Looks like we both have a strong will for survival.”

Ashley smiled. “Yeah, I think we do.”

Selene finally felt that this nightmare was truly about to end.