A Killer's Watch (31 page)

“Yes, I watched his unfortunate passing, saw how you chose
the coward’s way out. Really, Ms. Forbes, throwing a knife into his skull was
so predictable, and highly unsporting of you. I would rather have liked to see
you and Anson in hand to hand combat. My feeling is that you would not have
walked away, unscathed, from such an event.”

Jeri’s gaze didn’t flicker as Monique and Chloe resumed
their slow walk toward Grant. If they could surprise him, one of them could
grab the chain, preventing Grant’s gruesome plans for Aubrey. The other three
could then focus on taking Grant down.

It was a much safer scenario, than Ethan shooting the chain.
Not that she had concerns about his aim, but if Aubrey made the slightest move,
she could be shot as well. Neither options were fool-proof, but they had to do
something. Letting Grant get away with her was not up for debate.

“Perhaps not, Grant, but I can assure you that Anson would
not have left that house alive. Fortunately, your outcome can be different. Let
go of the chain, and release Aubrey. We’ll make sure to tell the D.A. that you
cooperated.”

“Surely you’re joking, Ms. Forbes. I’ve waited years to have
Aubrey as my own, I will not let her go so easily. She is mine. She has always
been mine, she will always be mine.” With one quick motion, Graham whipped the
butcher knife from his back pocket, and held it against Aubrey’s cheek.

“Why do you need a knife, Grant, if the spikes are as deadly
as you say?” Jeri asked, noting that Ethan moved, almost unperceptively, to his
left.

“Why, the knife is not for Aubrey, Ms. Forbes,” Graham
laughed, then deftly moved the knife away from Aubrey. Raising his arm, he
flung the knife, hard, at Jeri, aiming for her head.

The next seconds were chaos.

Ethan shot Grant’s hand a millisecond after he let go of the
knife, the sound of the gunshot blocking out Aubrey’s petrified scream.

Chloe and Monique raced the few feet to grab the chain, and
Grant, hoping to keep the spikes from piercing Aubrey’s flesh.

Grant howled as he registered the pain from Ethan’s bullet,
blowing away half of his hand. His first instinct was to grab the searing wound,
in an attempt to put out the fire raging through his arm.

Jeri froze as the knife came toward her, so surprised at
Grant’s murderous attempt that she almost didn’t get out of the way. Her
training, and her instincts, kicked in just in time to send her sideways, out
of the path of the deadly blade.

Chloe held Grant in a chokehold, as Monique grabbed his
wrist, the one attached to the chain, trying to hold it steady.

When Grant grabbed his wound, he released Aubrey’s hands.
She immediately reached for the collar, holding it away from her skin.

Ethan looked to Jeri, saw that she was unharmed, before he
refocused his gun on Grant’s chest.

“If you move one muscle, I’ll put a bullet through your
heart.”

Ethan’s fierce growl silenced Grant’s moans. With his neck
held tight in Chloe’s grip, he met Ethan’s furious gaze, then shifted his eyes
to see Jeri, rising from the floor, and heading for Aubrey.

Realizing that it was over, knowing that he was well and
truly caught, he did the one thing he could, to end his quest for his beloved.

It had always been his plan to take her life. If he had to
die in the process, then so be it.

The French woman had a tight grip on his wrist, but she
wasn’t large enough to stop him from moving his arm. Summoning every ounce of
strength he possessed, he jerked his wrist downward, simultaneously grabbing
the chain as he did so.

Ethan’s bullet hit its mark, but it was too late. Jeri
reached Aubrey’s side just as the spikes went into both of her carotid
arteries, ripping them open as Grant’s body fell to the ground.

“Noooooooo,” Jeri’s scream mingled with Monique’s as both
women tried to save the only victim in the room.

Aubrey’s eyes went wide as her body sank to the floor. Jeri
grabbed her before she could land, easing her down gently, one hand over the
blood-spewing wounds.

 Meeting Jeri’s gaze, Aubrey uttered her last three words.

“Tell….family….love…”

Monique was there with dish towels before Aubrey’s eyes
closed. Replacing Jeri’s hands with the towels, both women pressed hard against
the slashes that gushed no more.

“Call an ambulance,” Jeri screamed, her hands and arms
soaked in Aubrey’s blood. She looked up to see Ethan’s face, filled with
sorrow, as he knelt down beside her.

“It’s too late for an ambulance, Love,” he told her softly.
“She’s gone.”

“But…” Jeri looked from Ethan, to Aubrey, and back again.
She saw the truth in Aubrey’s still, lifeless body, saw Monique back away, her
hands shaking, eyes filled with tears.

“I tried…I had him…how could he…” Monique kept backing away,
until she reached the wall.

Jeri’s eyes held those of the dead woman for a few seconds
longer. There was nothing she could do for Aubrey now, nothing any of them
could do.

Jeri stood, putting her own feelings aside to comfort
Monique. Going to her, she grabbed Monique’s hands, Aubrey’s blood mingling
between them.

“This is not your fault, Monique. Grant was determined to
kill her. His adrenaline was pumping, I doubt that even Ethan could have
stopped him, if he had ahold of his wrist.”

“You know that’s not true,” Monique looked at Jeri, then
Ethan. “I had him, but I couldn’t hold him. Aubrey is dead because I wasn’t strong
enough.”

“What about me, I had him by the neck, why didn’t that stop
him from moving?” Chloe came to stand beside them.

“And me,” Ethan stood, but didn’t walk over. “If I had shot
him, once second faster, then he would not have been able to jerk the chain.”

“And if I had moved faster, reached Aubrey sooner, I could
have helped hold the collar away from her neck, or even removed it. Grant saw
me going toward her, he knew that he had to act, or lose his chance. Is it my
fault for trying to help her?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Monique straightened her shoulders,
and squeezed Jeri’s hands. “I know what you are doing, what you are all doing.
Thanks, but we have more important things to take care of, at the moment.”
Sliding her hands from Jeri’s, Monique took a deep breath.

“We have to tell her family that Aubrey is not coming home.”

“It was a beautiful service,” Chloe draped her arm through
Monique’s as they walked away from Aubrey’s graveside. They counted among the
hundreds of mourners who came to support the family, and say goodbye to a
friend.

“It was,” Jeri agreed, walking hand in hand with Ethan,
behind them. “This is the part of small-town life that we never see. The way
everyone bands together in a tragedy gives me hope.”

“I know what you mean,” Ethan dropped her hand, and put his
arm around her. “As devastated as her husband, her children, her family are,
it’s good to know that Clevestone is gathering around them.”

“I wonder if Belinda Grant’s friends are doing the same for
her?” Monique asked softly. “It wasn’t her fault that her son was a monster. I
hope she has at least a few true friends to comfort her.”

“Wasn’t it?” Chloe asked. “I think the parents of someone
like Graham Grant are at least partially responsible. I’m not saying that she
molded him, or taught him to kill, but maybe she could have done something
differently along the way. Something that would have made him a better person.”

“Hard to argue with that,” Jeri said as they reached the
car. “But I do hope that she isn’t dealing with this alone.” Her telephone
suddenly vibrated the pocket of her black blazer.

“It’s a text from Jackson,” she explained. “He said he’ll
meet us in a few days, if we need him. Jen is doing much better.”

“That’s good to hear,” Ethan told her, reading a text of his
own. “Jeri, do you remember someone named Celine Drew?”

“Celine Drew?” Jeri closed her eyes and concentrated on the
name. “Yes, she was almost killed by a serial we put away a few years ago in
Montana. Why?”

“She contacted the bureau, trying to get in touch with you.
Says it’s life or death, but she won’t talk to anyone but you.” Ethan glanced
up from his phone. “What do you make of that?”

“No clue, is that from Nate?”

“Yes.”

“Tell him to send me her number. I’ll call her. Oh, ask him
to forward me the case file, if he can. I remember a lot of it, but she may
have a question I can’t answer.”

Ethan nodded as he typed.

“And ask him if Tyler Burgess is still on death row.”

“Tyler Burgess? I’ve heard of him,” Chloe jumped in. “Wasn’t
he a lawyer or something?”

“Yes,” Jeri answered. “He called himself the judge. He
managed to ‘try and convict’ six women before we could stop him.” Jeri shook
her head at the memory. “He had a torture chamber set up in his basement. He
would hold the women for days before finally killing them. According to the
coroner, it was a blessing when they died.”

Monique and Chloe shuddered.

“Celine was a victim?” Monique asked.

“Yes, she was the last one he took. He had her for two days
before we caught him. I’ll never forget how she looked when we burst into the
room.” It was Jeri’s turn to shudder. “Dylan and I were partners then, he’ll
remember this case, too.” Jeri looked at Ethan. “I wonder why she’ll only speak
to me?”

“One way to find out.”

Look for The Judge, An EJB Global Crime Thriller, coming
this summer, 2014.

If you enjoyed
the story, please leave a review, no matter how brief. Thank you. For excerpts
of my other works and for details of upcoming novels, visit
http://www.TallulahGrace.com
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Titles by Tallulah Grace

Romantic Suspense with a
Paranormal Twist

Timeless Trilogy, Book One, Fate

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0054QZNRA

Is precognition a
prescription for happiness or disaster?

The good things in life
are coming together for Kristina Collins. She’s found her ideal home, her
career is on track for mega success and the man of her dreams has finally come
back into her life.

In Fate, the first
installment of the Timeless Trilogy, Kris Collins discovers the benefits and
risks of having precognitive visions while being stalked by a serial killer.
Her friends can’t help her, the FBI can’t save her; she must save herself.

The Timeless Trilogy
heroines, Kristina, Veronica and Cassandra, each deal with paranormal abilities
as they discover and rediscover eternal love.

Timeless Trilogy, Book Two, Spellbound

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Veronica Myers is an herbalist with a potent talent
that takes her by surprise. Follow Roni’s perilous journey as she discovers her
authentic self in spite of forces that seek to steal her power and manipulate
her destiny. Along the way, true love offers protection if she can only
recognize and accept its magic.

Timeless Trilogy, Book Three, Destiny

Cassandra Locke’s dreams have the clarity of
remembrances, the pain of love lost and the essence of future connections. Who
is the man that haunts her, nearly every night? Could they truly have been
lovers throughout centuries past? Where is he now? Will they have another
chance?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MGP764

All three books of the
trilogy are also available as a Compilation:

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Cliffs of Starsdale
 

Stories of
Starsdale, Book One

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DENSG9W

Seeking a fresh
start after her mother’s death, Chelsea Bates lands in the picturesque town of
Starsdale, California. Nestled amid the peaks of the High Sierras, Starsdale
defines the term ‘small town’ with its mish mash of well-meaning residents who
always seem to know everyone else’s business.

The one thing no
one knew, could not have predicted, was the evil lurking beneath the surface of
Chelsea’s ex-fiancé. Preston Beecher follows her to Starsdale with the
intentions of taking everything she owns, including her life. Will Preston
destroy her dreams before they begin, or will bonds forged in a small mountain
town be the pathway to her future?

Chelsea’s attempts
to put the past behind her leads to a new partnership with one of Starsdale’s
most respected citizens, John Mills, a man who harbors secrets and an agenda of
his own. With the help of John and his talented son, Mac, Chelsea turns a
dilapidated building into a bed and breakfast showcase.

Join Chelsea as she
learns the ways of a small town in this, the first book in the Stories of
Starsdale Series.