Who set the alarm?
An icy chill slithered down her back. She certainly hadn’t set it. She glanced around the large, spacious kitchen, half-expecting a gremlin or ghoul to jump out. When, at last, she found nothing out of the ordinary hovering in any of the nooks or crannies, she proceeded to tiptoe out of the room.
The rest of the house was a huge fortress. Someone could be hiding anywhere.
“Josie,” she whispered. “She set it.”
She’s screwing with you. Oh, this is good. Instead of us finding her, she’s come to us.
Michelle had the same thoughts. Where in the hell were those damn bodyguards she got from D’Angelo? Yeah, she’d gunned it on the highway, but shouldn’t they have been there by now?
Where did you put the gun?
“Upstairs in my bedroom.” She glanced around as she inched through the house. “I should have seen this coming,” she chastised.
The voice said nothing, undoubtedly because it agreed with her.
One thing she noticed was that the house seemed to creak each time she took a step, and no matter how much she tried to control her breathing, its sound magnified and bounced off every wall. When she reached the spiral staircase, Michelle had the ingenious idea of sliding off her pumps.
Afterward, she hesitated to ascend.
Don’t tell me that the big bad wolf is afraid of a little mouse.
Michelle bristled and took her first step, but her brave front didn’t last long. Halfway up, she found herself wondering again about her absent bodyguards. Was she walking into some kind of trap? Had Josie somehow bribed D’Angelo’s men?
Wouldn’t this be a delicious game if she had?
Michelle’s heart rammed in her chest, her palms itched, and a line of sweat beaded across her hairline. No, it wouldn’t be a good game. The only games she liked were the ones stacked in her favor.
There was nothing fun about this at all.
She reached the top stair and surveyed the area. Was she alone or was she supposed to guess behind what door danger awaited?
I choose door number three: Josie’s old bedroom.
“It’s my bedroom.” Michelle stormed toward it, but then slowed when she’d actually made it to the door. She drew a deep breath, prepared herself for a fight, and then pushed through the door.
Nothing.
It took a moment for Michelle’s heart to stop pumping so much adrenaline, and for the blood to stop rushing to her head. No one was there. However, there was the unmistakable scent of perfume in the air.
“Beautiful,” she whispered. “Josie’s favorite.” She glanced across the room to the dainty gold-and-glass vanity. The bottles had been rearranged.
“She was here.”
I’m starting to like your sister. She’s a class act.
Michelle swallowed her anger and eased farther into the room. She reached the pile of boxes in the center of the floor; but before she could step over them, something crinkled under her foot.
She looked down and frowned at a picture. Kneeling, she picked it up. It was of Josie smiling broadly at the camera. God, how she hated the spoiled little rich girl standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, with her arms wrapped around a handsome man.
She stopped cold.
The man’s faceshe knew that face. Michelle turned the picture over and read. “Josephine Lynn Ferrell and William Charles Hayes in love forever.” She flipped it over again and stared into Dr. Hayes’s baby blue eyes.
“W.C.H. Well, I’ll be damned.”
Chapter 34
Josie barreled down the streets of Atlanta with tears blurring her vision. Her headache had returned and had escalated into a full-blown migraine under the stress of her decision.
She would stick with William’s plan and go to the police once her medical records arrived. She would tell them everything; including her role in killing Daniel Thornton.
Her body trembled, and she could barely manage to pull over into an abandoned shopping plaza. She needed to get a hold of herself before she did anything. There in the parking lot, Josie allowed herself the luxury of a good long cry.
It would be the last time she would do it, she promised. The last time she’d play the victim. When her tears dried, she felt better. Her roller-coaster emotions had to be a by-product of her detox, and they were the most exhausting things she’d ever endured.
Beside her in the passenger seat sat her pink box of memories, and seeing it returned her thought to William.
Doubt and fear rippled through her mind; but then she remembered what had transpired between them last night and this morning. None of it meant that he would remain by her side.
Across the lot, she spotted a McDonald’s and shifted the car into drive. She’d just get some water to wash down her pills. Once she got rid of the migraine, then she would decide her next move.
#
Parked a relatively safe distance from the Ferrell Estate, Detective Tyrese Simmons heaved a frustrated sigh and called his partner from his cell phone.
“Who’s supposed to take the night shift?” Tyrese asked as he watched Andrews’s goons finally arrive. “I have to tell you it’s lonesome out here.”
Ming laughed. “You poor baby. Anything interesting happening?”
“Well, there was this episode at a gas station. She couldn’t get gasoline or something and went berserk. When we finally arrest her, we might need a straightjacket.” “How was she when she left Keystone?” “A blur,” Tyrese joked. “I think she was trying to qualify for the Indy 500.” “Sounds pretty bad.” “You’re saying the right things, but I hear sarcasm.” He smiled and shook his head.
“I can never get anything past you.” She chuckled. “But it looks like surveillance duty might be a one-day deal. D’Angelo confessed Andrews paid him a visit today. She wanted a passport under Josephine Ferrell. But I thin he’s played a bigger part in this than he’s letting on.” “You’ll get the truth out of him. If anybody can, you can. How did your master plan for the fingerprints go?” “Waiting for a comparison to Andrews’s police file right now. With a little luck, we’ll have her in custody tonight.” “Before we find out what she’s done to her twin sister?” “Given the long trail of dead bodies, do you really think she’s still alive?” Tyrese thought it over and had to admit that the chances were pretty slim, but, “There’s always a chance.”
“True.” Ming drew a deep breath, and when she spoke again, her voice sounded weary. “What would you prefer we do, follow her around for a few more days?”
There was a long strained pause while he looked past the curvy driveway to the handsome mansion nestled in the center of an immaculately manicured lawn. “Nah. The sooner we end this, the better for all involved.”
“You got it. I’ll give you a call as soon as I receive word on the fingerprints.”
“You know where you can find me.”
#
The moment William opened the garage door his heart sank. The Mercedes was gone. He pulled inside and climbed out his vehicle and stared at the empty spot as if his eyes were playing some sort of trick.
When he, at last, turned toward the kitchen’s entrance into the house, he still called out for Josie. However, silence was the only thing that greeted him.
It didn’t make sense, he thought. Why would she leave? His footsteps quickened as he rushed from one room to the other. All the while, a wave of denial wiped out reality. After he reached the last bedroom, he plopped down on the edge of the bed as stunned disbelief coursed through him.
As that emotion left him, anger and betrayal began its own war with his veins. He had placed himself on a limb, sacrificed his career and life for her, and this was what he got in return? When in the hell was he ever going to learn his lesson?