"Gotcha," she murmured out loud. She was one giant step closer to proving Gary's innocence.
"No," the voice behind her said. "We've got you."
~~~~
Chapter 26
As Michael's car skidded onto the wharf, his cell phone warbled. He picked it up and flipped it open. "Talk."
"I found Lucy," Ivar said. "Knocked out cold in the men's room. Gary's escaped."
Michael started swearing. "Were you able to revive her?"
"Yeah, she says Kaz planned to observe the hand-off of the cash at the Redemption and then follow Karl Svensen from there."
"Follow him where?"
"That's not clear, but I'd bet out on the water somewhere. Makes sense."
Michael got out of the car and searched the boats on the docks below. "Both boats are gone, Svensen's and Kaz's. Goddammit! What did she think she was doing, taking this on by herself?"
"My guess is she didn't have a choice. They both were at the mercy of the tides," Ivar pointed out.
He was right, but that didn't make Michael's heart pound any slower. "Yeah, okay. Listen to me. It's Sykes."
There was momentary silence on the other end.
"Sykes is behind this, dammit. You and Lucy notify the Coast Guard, have them put a rescue boat out on the water."
"You're wrong, man. Lucy says it's Clint Jackson. And Steve called from the Redemption just now, worried about Kaz. He didn't say a thing about Sykes."
Michael told him about the DNA samples. "I don't know whether Jackson is in on it, and I don't know what Steve knows, but Sykes is the killer." He could hear Lucy shouting in the background. "I can see Bjorn from here—I'll convince him to take me out. Let's just hope to hell we're fast enough. Sykes' Lincoln Navigator is parked a block from here, locked up tight."
He threw the phone onto the car seat and locked the door, leaving Zeke whining unhappily inside with the windows cracked for air. He cleared the ramp down to Bjorn's trawler in one leap.
#
Kaz stared at Jim Sykes, who stood on the top step of the stairs leading to the engine room, pointing a large, black handgun at her. His smile was humorless. "You Jorgensens. You never did know when to mind your own business."
"You're in on this?" she asked stupidly. "Jim, why?"
His tone turned derisive. "You think a police chief's salary in a Podunk town like Astoria will ever get me where I want to go? Money is power, Kaz. You know that from all those consulting gigs you had."
"But, Jim. Murder?"
He shrugged, seemingly unmoved. "Ken would've blabbed, sooner or later. I had to shut him up. All my life, I've done what had to be done."
Kaz shivered. "It was you who shot at me out by the Elk Preserve."
Sykes chuckled. "Couldn't have you running around proving Gary's innocence, now could I? He was a necessary part of my plan—my scapegoat." Sykes leaned toward her, his expression coldly satisfied. "It gave me great pleasure to frame him. I've hated both of you ever since we were kids. The great fucking Jorgensen twins—smart, popular, and with parents that every kid envied. That night your parents drowned? I goddamn cheered. The only bad part was that you survived." He nodded and leaned back, pleased with the effect his words had on her. "Now where's the fucking money?"
Kaz cleared her throat, hoping her voice would be steady. "It's gone—you'll never get it back. Gary used it to pay off Bobby's medical bills."
Rage flashed across his face. "Well, now," he said softly. "I was going to spare you by knocking you out, but I guess after hearing that bit of news, I'll just let you burn alive. In fact, killing both of you is going to be a real pleasure."
"Why kill Gary?" she protested.
"Plans have changed. Clint'll handle that little task for me, later this evening." Sykes looked amused. "Your brother was always unstable. His suicide will be just one more tragedy for your family." He stepped to the side and motioned her out onto the deck. "Let's go."
She needed to keep him talking while she came up with a plan. A quick glance around the wheelhouse told her there was nothing that could be used as a weapon. "Listen, Jim—"
Lightening fast, he backhanded her.
Pain exploded. She cried out, stars glittering in the periphery of her vision.
"That's for damn near breaking my nose last night in your living room, you bitch," he said. "Now, move. No more games."
#
Michael stood on the bow of Bjorn's trawler, staring intently into the gathering darkness and gusting wind. When they were riding high on a crest, he could just make out the Kasmira B. His gut churned, his hands so slippery with sweat he could barely grip the binoculars.
Sykes had played him, using his newcomer status to control the investigation so he could frame Gary. And the mayor was no saint in all of this, either. Forbes had to have suspected Sykes, or he never would've visited Michael that morning on the docks. Michael had thought he was merely worried about old loyalties getting in the way of the investigation—he hadn't really given his talk with the mayor a second thought.
That had been Michael's first mistake. His second had been underestimating Sykes.
Sykes had chosen arson as his method on purpose, and he'd planned on having the power to block Michael's jurisdiction over the case. Well, he'd planned wrong. But he'd still managed to slip under Michael's radar long enough to put Kaz in grave danger.
Not again, not again. The refrain played over and over in Michael's mind. Kaz was paying the price for his stupidity. He'd been too slow to figure it out, too slow to put the details together. All along, Sykes had run the investigation from behind the scenes. He'd had access to the boat and to Gary's truck. He also had enough SWAT team training to handle shooting at Kaz that day from the Elk Preserve.
"If someone sneezes out on Youngs Bay, I know about it," he'd told Michael.
He probably knew all those old logging roads like the back of his hand. Michael swallowed bile-filled rage. And Sykes had been at Kaz's house last night, executing a search warrant. All the sonofabitch would've had to do was leave, wait a couple of minutes, then come back and attack her.
So where was he? He had to be out with Svensen. And Kaz was following them, trying to gather evidence. If either one of them saw her…
Michael walked back to the door of the wheelhouse. "Cut your running lights. I don't want anyone seeing us."
Bjorn complied without comment, and Michael held up the binoculars. He could make out Kaz in the wheelhouse of the Kasmira B, along with the shadow of someone else.
His heart simply stopped.
Fiddling with the focus, he brought the man into sharp relief. As he watched, Sykes pistol-whipped Kaz, putting the weight of his body behind the vicious blow. She hit the far wall and slid out of sight.
An icy calm settled over Michael. His heartbeat slowed to a strong, steady rhythm. He carefully set down the binoculars, turning to Bjorn. "Do you have an inflatable raft?"
"Yeah, but in these conditions—"
"Get it."
~~~~
Chapter 27
Kaz pulled herself up from the wheelhouse floor and walked past Sykes out onto the deck on shaky legs, her right hand pressing against her throbbing cheek. As the storm moved closer, the Kasmira B started to pitch in earnest. She stumbled once, then regained her balance.
Sykes motioned for her to stop just outside the door. Keeping the gun trained on her, he braced his feet and switched on the radio, then picked up the handset. "Karl."