The heather graham bundl.., p.104
The Heather Graham Bundle, page 104
was convinced that he had time, all the time in the world.
And why not? The others were surely gathered at the main
house. They’d probably been in the dining room when the lights
had gone out. Someone there was keeping them together, find-
ing f lashlights. Someone there certainly had a phone that
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worked. But even then, it would take time for help to get to the
island. So the killer knew he had some time to play. Like a cat
with a mouse, he had time to torment his victim.
“Oh, Kelly, you and I both know that the woman who walks
around pretending to be nice isn’t the real one. It’s Marla
who’s real.”
At last she could feel the door behind her. Biting her lip, she
turned, feeling for the chain, clenching her teeth as she slipped
it free, desperately trying to keep the movement silent. She
barely dared breathe. She finally got it, but sliding the bolt would
make noise. She had to be ready.
“Poor Kelly. Nowhere to run. Well, hell, you’ve made me
show my hand. But they’ll never know. Do you know why? Be-
cause I’m careful. I know what I’m doing. I plan it out.”
She drew the bolt, jerking the door at the same time, and ran
out. A bullet whizzed past her head and thunked into a palm
tree. She ran, not toward the water, but toward the trees and
the brush.
Doug came around the back, stealthy and silent. He trod
upon the darkened beach and headed through the darkness for
the rear sliding doors. As he did, it suddenly clicked in his mind.
What he had seen in the numbers. What the calls had meant.
Why addresses of connections to pay phones had actually made
tremendous sense, though they had appeared random.
He inched toward the rear and stepped on the glass. As he
backed away, he heard a moan. Inching forward, he saw the
body on the f loor. For a moment, his heart leaped. He hunkered
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down. It was Mel, with blood on his forehead and all around him.
But he was breathing, still breathing.
He couldn’t stop to help him or even attempt to ascertain the
injury. He paused, dead still, listening, and knew after a moment
that the room was empty. He was growing accustomed to the dark
and could see that the door in the front was open. Wide open.
Kelly burst into a thicket of palms and tall brush. There, she
went dead still. There was help, at the main house, if she could
get to it. But he would follow her. He would start shooting,
probably. Did he dare? Everyone would see him. What would
it matter? She had seen him. She knew. He had to kill her now.
She listened. At first, there was nothing. Then footsteps.
Light footsteps, but with enough weight to cause the ground to
rustle. He was coming closer.
Doug moved through the house, going upstairs and to his suit-
case. His Smith & Wesson tucked in his waistband, he moved
back down the stairs. Someone was moving in the house. At the
foot of the stairs, he listened, waited. Then he made his move.
With a sudden leap, he brought the night prowler down.
“Don’t! Don’t hurt me. It’s not me, I swear. I wouldn’t…I
wouldn’t hurt her!”
It was Lance Morton.
Crack. Rustle. Crack. Rustle.
“Kelly, Kelly, Kelly…come out and play! You know, your
pretty boy was so clever, but there were just things he didn’t
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know.” There was suddenly a sound of laughter. “I can see you,
Kelly. Stand up and face the music!”
The gun was pointing at her. She stood. He came closer,
smiling. “See, Kelly, there’s a lot people don’t know, because
money is power. Money can buy anything. Money buys people
and it buys silence.”
“It just never bought you anyone who actually cared about
you, right?” she asked, keeping the conversation going. How
long did she have?
“Ah, Kelly, we could have such a conversation. I never wanted
it to end like this. We should have had time.You should have un-
derstood. But this is rather dramatic, don’t you think? The po-
lice will be here soon. And I’ll be long gone, of course!”
“Someone will pick up your pseudo cops, you know,” she
told him.
“I don’t intend to let them live that long,” he said. “Ah, Kelly!
You really are such a pretty thing. I did dream of running my fin-
gers thought that hair of yours before…well, you know. But I’m
afraid—”
She had no idea if it would work or not. None. She just knew
she was about to be shot. She bent over and snapped out one of
her best, toughest yoga moves.
Her foot slammed into his wrist. The gun f lew into the foliage.
“Bitch! I am going to strangle you slowly!” he swore.
Kelly ran.
“Get up, you idiot! I know it’s not you!” Doug snapped, drag-
ging Lance Morton to his feet. “Get out of here. Run out of the
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room, making as much of a commotion as you can. Shout, call
out names, make a racket.”
“Me! There’s a maniac with a gun out there—”
“Damn it, do it! Run fast.”
Lance stared at him.
“You know who it is because he told you to pick a fight with
me today so that he could get rid of me. If you didn’t do what
he asked, he was going to shut down your video, right?”
“Bull! You came after me—”
“Get out. We haven’t got time for this! Now! Or I’ll shoot
you!” Doug threatened.
Lance stood where he was.
“If he gets to her…” Doug warned, taking a step toward Lance.
“I’m going. I’m going!” Lance burst out the door, screaming.
“Kelly, Kelly Trent. Hey, Kelly, anyone!”
He must have really expected a bullet, because he ran as if
his pants were on fire, wildly waving his arms in the air. Be-
hind him, Doug slipped out and headed into the brush. Just
beneath the sound of Lance’s wild gyrations, he could hear the
brush moving.
She ran hard, then came to a dead standstill when she heard
the commotion. Lance Morton! The idiot! Creating so much
noise! And…stopping her pursuer, she realized dryly.
But Lance wasn’t bright enough to do that on his own. Her
heart took f light. O’Casey. Somehow he had made it back.
She quickly weighed her position. She’d been forced around
to the beach side and she couldn’t make it to the house unless
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she went around the entire wing of the building—or slipped out
into the water.
She shivered. The ocean at night. The ocean when she
couldn’t see. The darkness. Yes, the ocean, she thought, and
started to run.
She had nearly reached the water when she heard the thun-
der of feet directly behind her. She turned and there he was,
ready to leap upon her. She screamed. His face was twisted with
fury, and she realized that he had expected to bring her down
far more quickly and with far less effort. He was about frothing
at the mouth, his weight slamming her down in the damp sand.
The surf washed over them both.
“I poisoned your damned dog, Kelly. How’d you like that? The
little yapper old Dana had went out like a light with one kick.
That was part of it with you, Kelly, did you know that? You’re
still young. While she…she was old. She’d been at it a long time.
The bitch! She was a bitch when she had my kid and gave him
up, and didn’t even tell me for years. Not until she could get
something out of it.You do understand, don’t you? She’d gone
after me because she was young then, young enough to see me
in jail. That was what she threatened. Then she came back into
my life. And the funny thing was, I still wanted her. Even though
she was older. Even though she’d been screwed by that idiot she
married. Because she had steel in her. She could manipulate in
a way that was exciting. She was something different, sexy. But
you know what I found out? This time I wasn’t going to let her
get me. She’d been playing the trump card for far too many
years. I had to shut her up—with my bare hands. Damn that felt
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good. Every time I heard someone sound like her…well, it be-
came a challenge. But you, Kelly…you had me pulled in long
before I knew that Marla Valentine was real, long before Matt
told me about the real you.”
“Matt!” Terrified, feeling his weight, feeling his spittle against
her, she was not just playing for time, but truly amazed. “What
does Matt have to do with this?”
“Well, he’s my son, of course.”
“Your son!”
“Dana was already blackmailing me, you see. Years later,
knowing that it could never be traced or changed, she told me
about him and I started seeing the boy. I’d already been watch-
ing you for so long at that point. And I knew that you were an-
other of them, the worst of them. And when he told me what
you did to him, I knew that you really were Marla Valentine. And
I knew that, whatever it cost, whatever I had to do, you had to
go.” His face went taut and grim suddenly. “And now it’s time.”
His fingers curled around her throat, tightened. She tried to
scream but could only choke out a sound. Then the grip eased.
She realized that someone had Logan by the hair and was trying
to rip him off of her. There were feet near her head, right when
she heard the words, “Get the fuck off her. Now!”
A sudden shove of heavy weight crushed over Kelly, nearly
causing her to black out. Then the weight was gone and the men
were rolling into the water. They staggered up and Marc Logan
was staring at Doug in amazement. He hadn’t expected him to
survive.
“You all right, Kelly?” he asked, his gun trained on Logan.
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“Yes.” It was a croak at first. “Yes!” she repeated firmly.
Logan shifted, his body movement bringing him closer to
Kelly again.
“Stay away from her. I mean it. I could do a whole Dirty Harry
thing here, you know. Frankly, I’d like to shoot you, but I was a
cop once, and cops are supposed to make arrests, not be judge
and jury. I do have something of a temper, though, especially
where Kelly is concerned. And hell, I’m not a cop now, so keep
your distance.”
Logan continued to stare. “You’re not going to shoot me.”
“No?”
Logan grinned. “Don’t you realize by now that I’ve been in
that apartment? How do you think that animal got the poison in
his food. Check out your weapon, muscle boy. No bullets.”
“You know what, Logan? You have really lost it. Patting your-
self on the back all this time for your incredible cleverness. But
you’re not so clever. There’s no way in hell you’ll get away with
any of it this time.”
“Yes, there is. Money can buy anything.”
“You’re wrong,” O’Casey assured him.
“Anyone can be bought. I’ll bet even you have a price.”
“Again, you’re wrong. ’Cause guess what, Logan, money isn’t
everything.”
Logan laughed. “You talk a lot of shit for someone without a
gun. So how are you going to stop me?”
“You don’t have a gun, either. Face it, Logan, I can knock
you f lat.”
Logan started to laugh, hunkering down, almost as if he were
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just going to sit in the sand. “Thing is, muscle boy, I do have a
weapon!” He reached for his calf and came back to his feet sud-
denly, brandishing a knife. “Always prepared.”
He made an instant feint for Doug.
“O’Casey. Watch out!” Kelly cried inanely. Doug had hopped
back, agile, quick, but Logan was gearing up to lunge again.
Kelly rolled quickly, going for his legs. Logan eluded her, but
Doug was ready. He spun around, left foot slamming out. He
caught Logan hard in the gut. Logan staggered. Another lightning-
quick blow disarmed him. He faltered back and made a lunge for
his knife, but Doug stepped on it. The man began to run.
“Ah, hell!” Doug said, and went after him.
Down the beach, he tackled Logan. He did have one hell of
a right jab. Logan went still, and Doug rose slowly, coming to-
ward Kelly. He reached down, helping her up. She was trembling.
“He hurt you?”
She shook her head. He looked back toward the shattered glass
of her back door. “I think we need a new room, huh?” he said.
“I…Mel! Mel is hurt, Doug.”
“I know. Let’s go to him. Help is coming, though. Can’t you
hear the boats?”
Suddenly she could hear sirens on the water.
He put his arm around her. “Kelly, I should have known! The
calls between Logan and Avery. Avery’s mysterious past. There
had to have been something. Logan had been paying Matt’s
adoptive mother and paying in cash. And then there were the
other calls, made to Dana Sumter’s station and her house—from
a pay phone on the same street as Marc Logan’s glorious new
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sound studios. I should have known. I could have…I could have
lost you.”
She still didn’t understand. She was shaking in the balmy
night, her knees suddenly weak. She wanted to just let him hold
her, tell her that this was really over now and that she would be
safe from now on. With him. But then she remembered.
She swallowed hard. “Mel…” she murmured.
“Right.”
They turned and hurried for the man, who was prone and
bleeding, half in, half out of the shattered glass entry. Kelly
came quickly to her knees. Doug was already at Mel’s side.
“Looks like the blood is from his temple, not a bullet wound.
Logan must have given him a really hard hit with the butt of the
gun. His pulse is weak but steady.”
“Oh, Mel!” Kelly murmured.
To her amazement, Mel’s eyes f luttered up. “Kel…”
“I’m all right. It was Logan. He’s out in the sand.”
Something of a smile touched Mel’s lips. “I take it all back,
Kelly.”
“What’s that, Mel?”
“You’re…high maintenance. I definitely deserve fifteen per-
cent.” And with that, his eyes closed again.
There were men running around on the beach—deputies,
med techs. “Over here!” O’Casey cried.
A moment later, she was leaning against him, and they both
watched as Mel was tended to, then lifted, ready to be taken to
a hospital. Only then did Kelly turn at last and collapse into
O’Casey’s arms.
Light and Revelation
EPILOGUE
There was conjecture, there was truth, there was admission—
all to be put together. And when it broke, it was sure to be the
scandal of the decade.
It wasn’t that night, with the madness and confusion, that any-
thing began to come clear. That night, there was worrying about
Mel, med techs crawling all over, the emergency launches, the
deputies and the questions.
It wasn’t until several days later, when dozens of papers and
programs broke with the story, that Kelly really began to com-
prehend it all herself.
But the basis of the matter was this; nothing had been coin-
cidence—except for the death of the poor woman in Ohio. She
had died on her own, and it was doubtful that anyone would ever
know if it had been an accident or suicide.
Thirty years before her death, Dana Sumter had indulged in
an affair with an up-and-coming businessman named Marc
Logan. She had known that theirs was not the forever-after kind
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of affair, and she had used her age to milk him for a tremendous
sum of money. Rather than using an unexpected pregnancy as
a means to receive more at the time, she had given the child up
for adoption, not telling Logan the truth for years.
Logan had taken the adoption out on the parents, seeing that
they met a fiery end upon the California beach. He had be-
friended his biological son, without betraying the truth. But by
associating with his past lover, he had become embroiled again—
until the sharpness of her tongue once again turned him away.
And worse. It sparked a calculated fury within him that set him
