Josie didn’t respond.
The playfulness evaporated from Michelle’s tone. “I want the money back, and you have less than an hour to make up your mind. Otherwise, the handsome doctor will meet the same fate as my dear Daniel. May he rest in peace. And make no mistake about it, Josie dear. I will kill him. Call me back in an hour with your decision. Comprende?” With another high cackle, Michelle disconnected the call.
Rain sprinkled across Josie’s face and hands as she slowly placed the receiver back on the gas station’s pay phone. Tears slid from her eyes while her heart squeezed painfully.
“Oh, William. What have I done?” Still in shock, she returned to the SUV and just sat there. “If I go to the police, she’ll kill him.”
She closed her eyes and tried to think, but William’s loving blue gaze stared back at her. William was her heart. She had always believed that, despite all her protests and long separation. He had risked everything to help her, and she had no choice but to meet with Michelle. There was a very real chance her sister would simply kill them bothif she hadn’t killed him already.
But not as long as I have the money. That was the last ace up her sleeve. Michelle had no idea where she’d transferred the money. That alone should buy them some time.
Speaking of time, she glanced at the clock on the dashboard. Michelle had given her less than an hour and as much as she wanted to call her bluff, she knew better. At long last, Josie started the car and headed back out to her house.
Josie wasn’t crazy enough to roll up the driveway and ring the front doorbell. For the life of her, she didn’t know how Michelle would’ve found him within hours of her leaving the house.
Familiar with her father’s estate like the back of her hand, Josie went through her neighbor’s land and entered the Ferrell estate through the south side of the property on foot.
Unfortunately, the rain followed her, and she had nothing to shield her from the steady drops. She also didn’t have anything to help calm her speeding heartbeat. As she crept along the side of the man-made lake and around the estate’s sparse trees and bushes, Josie was well aware that she didn’t have a clue as to what she was doing, but was propelled to continue simply because she didn’t have a choice.
If William was killed, the blame was hers.
She regretted everything that she’d done that day. Everything could’ve been avoided if she’d just gone to the police with William. Hindsight was always twenty-twenty.
“I had to prove that I could beat her at her own game,” she berated herself.
Josie rushed past the small lake and reached the pool and sauna in the backyard in no time flat. When she finally approached one of the back windows, she was unable to see anything through the Venetian blinds. She still had the spare key that would gain her entrance through the garage, but what would she do if Michelle were sitting in the kitchen waiting for her?
All the what-ifs were going to drive her mad. She wouldn’t know until she actually did something. But Josie never reached the garage. The minute she eased around one corner, a pair of arms wrapped around her like a steel vise, and something hard hit her on the back of the head.
#
“We have a match,” Ming announced to her small team as pulled the crime lab report from the fax machine.
A small whoop of victory went up among her five-man team, but she didn’t dabble with them long. She rushed over to her phone and immediately tried to get the captain on the phone. With D’Angelo’s confession and the fingerprint match, she was sure to have enough to get permission to haul in the phony Ms. Josephine Ferrell.
Ten minutes later, she and her men received the go ahead. “All right everyone, listen up. This should be a simple arrest, but we’re dealing with a mentally ill suspect and one who’s likely armed and dangerous.” Once Ming and Jorge piled into one of the cars, she quickly gave her partner a call. “I thought that you forgot all about me,” Tyrese said groggily into the phone. “Don’t tell me you’re sleeping on duty,” she joked, but a note of warning hung on her every word.
“I’m tired, but I haven’t fallen asleep. Please tell me you have good news. I wasn’t prepared to pull a twenty-four hour shift.” “Well, hang in there. The cavalry is on its way.” “Fingerprints?” “It’s a match. Is Andrews still at Ferrell’s?”
Tyrese cleared his voice. “Yeah. Her goons left for a while, but then returned carrying something heavy. Sorry, I couldn’t get a good look at what it was, but I’m sure am curious though.”
“Well, hold tight. We’re on our way.”
“Be warned. She could go quietly or she could go out like Scarface. After what I saw at the gas station, I think the woman might have a few screws loose or something.” “Tell me something I don’t know. We should be there within a half hour. Call me if something changes.” “You got it, partner.” # “Josie, wake up. Josie.”
Pain ricocheted through Josie’s head as she pried her eyes open. She tried to lift a hand to see whether she was bleeding, but her arms were bound behind her back, and more pain shot through her wrist.
“Oh, thank God. You’re still alive.”
Josie’s heart leapt at the sound of the familiar voice, and she struggled even harder to see through the mesh of her eyelashes. “Will…?”
“Yes, sweetheart. It’s me. Are you okay?”
Josie’s vision finally focused, and she was horrified at the sight of his bloodied and bruised face. “Ohmigosh. What has she done to you?” She tried to move again, but realized that, like him, she was tied to a chair.
“I’m all right,” he said. His eyes softened as they roamed over her face, and then slowly lowered. “Some hero I turned out to be, huh?”
Tears swelled and seeped from her eyes. How she wished she could reach out and hold him. “I think you’re a wonderful hero. I’m the lousy heroine. I should have confided in you. I should have trusted you more.”
William swung his weight and scooted his chair over to her. “Never mind about me. How are you? When they brought you in I thought…”
“Will…”
“Please, let me finish,” he begged, and then licked his swollen lips. “It scared me. All I could think about was all the time we’ve wasted. My head filled with a list of things I’ve never said…all the things my pride wouldn’t let me say.” “William, don’t…” she blurted out, but winced at the booming sound of her voice. “There’s something I have to tell you.” The room’s door burst open, and a smiling Michelle sauntered inside. “Well, well, well. Just what I’ve always wanted: an attentive audience. I hope you’re comfy, sister dear.” Hatred curdled in Josie’s belly while her rage had her struggling against the tight rope.
“Relax,” Michelle said, rolling her eyes. “My boys made sure those knots were nice and tight.” Her gaze swung between the couple. “You know, neither of you have thanked me for reuniting you two lovebirds. What has it been fifteen...sixteen years? I should at least get flowers.”
Josie frowned as she listened to Michelle’s insane ramblings. “You’ll never get away with this.”
“I already have. You know, at first when Danny and I cooked up this scheme, I had my doubts; but I’m just amazed by how little people missed you. What did you do after your failed musical career, live under a rock or something?”
The verbal attack struck a raw nerve in Josie, mainly because it held a note of truth. She hadn’t done much after her career, and now that she might very well be at the end of her life, she couldn’t help but wish she had the wasted time back.
Michelle snickered as she eased farther into the room. This time her attention was centered on William. “I have to hand it to you, Josie. You certainly have a good eye when it comes to men.” She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair. “Too bad we never hooked up. You look like you know how to show a girl a real good time. Of course, it’s not too late.”