Hope smiled. “Sorry. I don’t think that’s a crime.” She put out a hand to steady herself as the ground began to slope downward. “Can I ask you how you picked their names? Is there some literary connection?”
“There is for Owen,” I said. “His name comes from A Prayer for Owen Meany. I was reading it when I first got the cats and he kept sitting on the book. Now I realize it was probably to get my attention.”
“What about Hercules? That’s Roman mythology, not Greek, right? Hercules is named for the guy who did the twelve labors.”
“Right,” I said.
“Okay, that was a lie,” she said.
I looked over at her. “No, it wasn’t. Hercules is the son of the god Zeus and a mortal woman.”
She waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, I don’t doubt that. What I meant was you’re lying about naming your cat after him.”
“How did you know?” I said.
“You answered too quickly.”
I laughed. “I’ll remember that next time I want to fudge the truth. No, Hercules isn’t exactly named for the son of Zeus. He’s actually named for Kevin Sorbo. He played Hercules in a TV series back in the nineties.”
“So why didn’t you name Hercules Kevin?” I could see she was trying not to laugh.
“So I could avoid having conversations like this one.”
Hope did laugh then. “How’s that working out?”
Just then we came level with an area where the brook widened and the water was much shallower. Several large rocks made a bridge of sorts to the other side. “I’m pretty sure this is the spot,” I said.
The rocks were wet and slippery but we both made it across safely.
My shoes were oozing water. So were Hope’s. “Are they your new running shoes?” I asked, pointing to her neon-yellow-and-green footwear. Hope was training for another triathlon. Marcus had convinced her to buy new shoes with fancy inserts that had been custom made in Minneapolis.
Hope looked down at her feet. “I knew spending all that money on these things was a bad idea.” She looked around. “Which way do we go?”
“That way,” I said with a confidence I didn’t completely feel. I pointed more or less northwest. If Hope thought I was lying again she kept that to herself.
We walked for another twenty minutes or so. Hope was the first to spot the lean-to up ahead of us in a small clearing. A rough road curved away from it off to the far left side. The lean-to looked more like a section of an old barn left after the other half had collapsed. I had my fingers crossed as we made our way closer, and then I spotted it.
“The Jeep is there,” I said to Hope.
“Stay here,” she said, holding up one hand.
I stopped where I was while she made her way carefully closer, bending low to study the front end of the vehicle. Finally she turned and looked at me. “There’s front-end damage, Kathleen,” she said, and I could hear the excitement in her voice. She pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I’m going to take a couple of pictures and we can get out of here.”
“I don’t think so,” a voice said, and John Keller stepped into the clearing.
15
Hope’s hand moved almost imperceptibly.
“Don’t even think about it,” John said, gesturing with the gun in his right hand. “I can shoot your gun right out of your hand. In fact, I can shoot you in the hand before you can even get the gun out, and then shoot Kathleen in the hand just because she really irritates me.”
Hope held up both hands, palms facing John. “Okay. No gun. But you know this isn’t going to work.”
“Do they teach you to say that the first day of cop school? Because I have to say it’s pretty lame.”
“Gerald Hollister may be willing to lie about renting you that Jeep,” I said. “But when they find our bodies out here, shot to death, he won’t keep covering for you.”
John smiled at me like he was a teacher and I was his star pupil. “Very good, Kathleen. However, you missed two key points. One, your bodies aren’t going to be out here and two, I’m not going to shoot you, as tempting as that might be.”
“So what are you going to do?” I asked.
His wet hair dripped onto his face but he didn’t seem to notice. “Right now I’m going to get Detective Lind’s gun.” He looked at her. “Pull it out nice and slow. Two fingers. Try anything funny and I’ll shoot Kathleen.”
Hope took out her gun as John had directed.
“Toss it over here,” he instructed. “If you throw it too far or too short, like I said before, I’ll have to shoot Kathleen.”
“I thought you said you weren’t going to shoot us,” I said. My stomach clenched but I tried very hard not to let him hear the panic I was feeling.
John nodded. “Good point, Kathleen. I did say that. Shooting you would mess up my plan, but I will do it if I have to.” He gestured at Hope with the gun. “Throw it, and remember, accuracy counts.”
Hope lobbed her gun in his direction and it landed on the ground at his feet.
John crouched to pick it up and tucked it in his waistband. I couldn’t help hoping it would somehow discharge and shoot him in the foot. “Now toss me your cell phones.”
I looked at Hope. “Do it,” she said.
I threw my phone underhand at John. He caught it in midair. “Nice,” he said to me. Hope tossed her phone over as well. It landed once again at his feet. John picked it up and put both phones in his pocket. “We’re going to take a little walk.” He looked at me. “Back the way you came.”
That meant back in the direction of Wisteria Hill. Back in the direction of help.
“You too, Detective,” I heard John say.
We trudged through the trees as the rain came down, soaking through my jacket. My shoes and jeans were already wet. I promised myself a warm pair of socks and a huge cup of hot coffee when we got out of this. I wasn’t going to think about the possibility that we wouldn’t get out of this.
“Why did you kill her?” I heard Hope ask behind me.
I turned and looked back over my shoulder. Hope had stopped walking and was looking at John.
“You think I don’t know you’re trying to stall,” he said. “Wherever you went to school, you should ask for your money back.”
“If you’re going to kill me I’d at least like to know why I’m going to die,” I said.
“You think I want to do this?” he asked.
“No, you probably don’t.” My hands were shaking and I stuffed them in my pockets so he wouldn’t see. “And I know you didn’t want to kill Dani. You loved her.”
“Yes, I did,” John said. He lifted the gun so it was in line with my midsection. “Walk.”
We continued in silence for a while, John directing me when he thought I was trying to veer from the path. We were headed back to Wisteria Hill but I had no idea why.
“She didn’t see that you were the best person for her,” Hope said. “Not the other two. You.”
“I loved her.” John’s voice was low and filled with emotion. “Why couldn’t she see how good we could have been together?”
“I know,” Hope said.
I slowed my pace a little so she could close the gap between us, hoping John wouldn’t notice.
“No, you don’t,” he said.
“Marcus doesn’t see how good we could have been together,” Hope said.
I looked back at her but she wouldn’t meet my gaze. John had stopped walking. Hope and I did as well. “You and Marcus?” he asked. “Stop screwing with me.”
“I’m not.” Hope’s voice was laced with something. Longing? Pain? I wasn’t sure. She started moving again and so did I.
“Did you tell him?” John said suddenly.
“Not in so many words,” she said. “But . . .” She let the end of the sentence trail away.
“But what?”
I heard Hope sigh behind me. “It doesn’t matter,” she said flatly.