False Impressions (30 page)

“Oh, that’s Yost,” she said.

“Did my mother send him?” Kit sounded confused.

“No, I called him to help me when I thought you were in danger. I’ll just tell him we’re okay. No need for him to come in,” April said, moving to the front door. She caught sight of Yost getting out of his personal car, parked across the road.

That car. In that spot. That was the car she’d seen when she’d left the night J.B. had visited Kit. The night J.B. died. Yost had been here.

Yost got out of his car. He was dressed all in black. He looked up and down the deserted road and pulled his ski mask down. April’s heart plummeted. This was not the face of the friendly neighborhood cop trying to stay warm.

She ducked below the window in the door and reached up and threw the deadbolt.

Of course. Yost was the mastermind. He had access to Mary Lou’s foreclosures. He had access to the vulnerable addicts like Violet and Paula. He’d stopped J.B. for a DWI, Paula for kiting checks. Violet’s parents had given her to him to cure. His Anvil group was just a front for using people.

April looked for something to block the entrance. She pulled over a wooden sawhorse, recognizing the futility as soon as she did. But by balancing it on two back legs, she was able to jam the lock. It wouldn’t hold for long, but she’d gained a little time. To think. To get help.

“Kit, take Dr. Wysocki and go down in the basement. I’ll get rid of Yost.”

“Why?” Kit pulled up Dr. Wysocki, who was staring at April as though she’d lost her mind. April wheeled her arms, hustling them to the stairs in the middle of the hall.

“That’s who killed your uncle. He’s the guy behind the meth making.”

She pulled open the basement door and shoved Kit and the
doctor down, protesting. “Stay there until I tell you it’s all clear. I’m going to get rid of him.”

Yost hadn’t come to the door. April looked outside and could make out a figure circumnavigating the backyard. Being a good cop and looking for trouble? Or making sure she was alone with Kit.

Kit’s phone was on the counter. She grabbed it and called the police station again. She looked out the slider in the kitchen to the back of the house. She lurched when she saw Yost answer his cell. He’d had the phone forwarded to him. She bent over so he wouldn’t spot her.

She had to pretend all was well and forced herself to sound cheery. “False alarm, Officer Yost. I got here and there’s no one here.”

“Really? Because I see lights on.”

“Just me. I found the spare key under the mat. Logan and Kit must have gone to get something to eat or something. They’ll probably be right back.”

“Well, I can check around. Make sure there’s no one lingering.”

April clicked off her phone. She yelled downstairs to Kit. “Can you turn off the light?”

“It’s dark.”

“I know. I don’t want him to know you’re here. He doesn’t know how much you know. He might think J.B. told you things about him.”

She was speaking in a harsh whisper, trying to paint a dire picture for Kit without worrying her sick. She didn’t need Kit to totally freak out on her. If Kit thought there was a chance she wasn’t going to see her babies again, she might try something stupid.

April had to keep her contained and get rid of Yost. At least until the police arrived.

She called the state police barracks. “I’m at 461 Dowling Road. I see an intruder with a gun outside of my place. Please send someone.”

That would take a few minutes. The key was to keep Yost outside.

She stood in the kitchen window, trying to catch sight of him.

She smelled gas. Oh God. He was going to blow them up. Just like he had Charlotte and Grizz.

She pulled open the window. It stuck on the icy track. “Yost!” she hollered. “Stop. I’ve called the state troopers and told them that you killed J.B. I told them how you blew up my father’s barn, killing those poor old people inside.”

Yost’s voice was high and tight. “It’s too bad Logan is such a crappy caretaker. He doesn’t know the first thing about gas lines. He should have had PP&L come out and inspect this connection to the house. It seems to be loose. Anyone could just light a match and whoosh.”

April glanced at the door to the basement. Kit was counting on her to keep her safe. Kit, the mother of two babies. April couldn’t leave her trapped in the basement if Yost was going to blow the house up. But if Kit ran, where would she go that Yost couldn’t find her? Yost would never know how much J.B. had told her. He’d have to kill her, too. She would never be safe.

April had to stop him. She yanked open the front door. “Officer Yost, can we talk about this calmly?”

Yost appeared out of the bushes. Her heart stopped, and she had to hold herself up in the door frame. He looked like a commando out of a comic book. He was always in costume, she realized. As a policeman. As a civilian. Now as a killer. Were these the same clothes he’d worn when he’d blown up the barn?

She closed her eyes to regain her equilibrium, and when she opened them again, he was right in front of her, lit by the porch light. Every woman’s nightmare.

“Did you cook meth in this house?” she asked him.

“I don’t cook meth.”

She waved off his smug response, barely resisting the urge to smack his face. She would have to make nice with him at least until she could figure out how to get them all out of this bind.

“No, you just had your girls do it. How many of Mary Lou’s foreclosures did you use?”

“Oh, you know that, do you?” He came across the threshold and shut the door behind him, not wanting any of the gas to escape. April could see his shoulder holster through his open jacket. She wondered if that was his only weapon. A creep like him probably had a gun on his ankle, too.

He was taller than she was by a good eight inches, and grabbing the gun before he responded was out of the question. She tried to calculate how long it would be before the troopers could get there. Mitch was at the barn without his car. Logan might be on his way but given his fascination at the barn, it was hard to know when.

“Yes, I figured that out. You were so helpful to Mary Lou, weren’t you? You had every excuse to pop round. And with so many houses in foreclosure, you had your pick, didn’t you?”

Yost shrugged, his holster riding up and down. He thought that she was admiring his guile. He was wearing a black turtleneck and an open leather jacket. Spy School 101. She wondered if she offered him a martini, shaken, not stirred, if he’d go for it. Yost. Henry Yost.

A noise from the basement reminded her that Dr. Wysocki and Kit were down there, in the dark. She cleared her throat to cover it. Yost didn’t flinch. He believed she was alone. Good. She could lead him away. Get him out of here.

“And Violet? Did you kill her?”

“Violet is fine. Don’t you worry about her.”

“Isn’t that what you do? Blow up people that you’re finished with? Isn’t that kind of your MO? J.B. was the exception. He came to town and you had to finish him off, make it look like an accident. He was the only one who could put you with the meth houses.” She paused to let her accusations sink in before continuing her attack. “Why did you go after Charlotte and Grizz?”

He scowled. “That’s on you. You told everyone you were going to be alone last night.”

The whole town knew Charlotte and Grizz were away. After the ring reveal, everyone knew that she and Mitch were fighting. No one expected them to reconcile so quickly.

She was supposed to be home alone. Charlotte and Grizz paid the price.

“Before you came along, I could go about my business without anyone questioning. No one cared. I didn’t sell the meth here in Aldenville. In fact, I kept drugs out of here. I wasn’t lying that night at Mary Lou’s. There are no drugs around here. And that’s because of me. I keep this town clean. I was doing the town a favor.”

The man had a seriously weird sense of chivalry.

April backed into the kitchen. She wanted him away from the basement door. He didn’t need to know more people were in the house.

She sighed heavily. She could taste gas. It got into her nose and tickled it. She tried to calculate how long before the air got to dangerous levels. If Yost had done the same thing last night, maybe Charlotte and Grizz had been unconscious before the explosion. Small mercy.

Yost leaned in the doorjamb, his own gun still snapped in his holster. Gas was still leaking into the house.

She couldn’t remember what happened to Dr. Wysocki’s gun. Had it been in his hand when he went downstairs? Or had he laid it down? April scanned the kitchen quickly so Yost wouldn’t follow her gaze. She kept him talking.

“Why? Why did you do it?”

“You were there. You heard. The borough council is eliminating my job.”

“Pete Rosen was on your side. He might have changed a few minds. He only needed one or two.”

Kit’s hostess setup from the other night was still there—three folding chairs around a milk crate. J.B. had sat right there, eating kielbasa. She could see something metallic on one of the chairs.

April reached behind her, trying to feel for the gun. She didn’t stand a chance in a quick draw, but maybe she could hold him off long enough for help to arrive. But her fingers touched only the plastic openings of the milk crate.

“The borough has been talking about getting rid of the police for years. It’s inevitable. With budget cuts, it doesn’t make sense to have a separate police force. I had to take care of my future.”

April wondered how many other laid-off workers figured dealing meth was the way to go. Yost wiped his face with the mask he’d been wearing. He was sweating under his tight turtleneck.

“J.B. ruined things. He was calling it quits. He’d fallen for some chick. Wanted out.”

His eyes lost focus. “Killing Ransom was an accident. I told the jerk not to be there that day, but he was probably tweaking and didn’t know where he was. I hate users.”

So he’d meant to kill J.B. but not the other meth maker. Nice to know he had standards.

He smiled, a look so reptilian she expected a tiny forked tongue to flick out. “I changed up my tactics. That’s why I’ve only been using nonusers now.”

April’s eyebrows raised. “So Violet hasn’t gone back to using?” That would be some comfort to her father.

“She’s clean. I drug-test them. Paula kept her straight.”

He cocked his head toward the middle of the house. The place was deadly quiet. They both heard the noise.

“Listen,” April said, trying to make some noise.

Yost held up a hand to silence her. She protested, and he grabbed her by the upper arm.

“Quiet,” he said and pushed her away.

She and Yost heard the footsteps on the basement stairs at the same time. He turned quickly. April jumped up from her seat, hand scrabbling for the gun. It wasn’t there.

Yost yelled. “Who’s there?”

April heard a car in the driveway and saw the red flashing light of the trooper car. She ran to the side door to unlock it.

When she turned back, Dr. Wysocki was standing with a gun pointed at Yost. Yost’s hand hovered over his holster, but he’d hesitated. Even he couldn’t shoot an old man in cold blood.

Dr. Wysocki didn’t seem to have the same problem. His hand was trembling, but the gun was small and not heavy. He was close enough to do damage to Yost even if his aim wasn’t true. But if he fired, the gas that Yost had turned on would surely explode, killing them all. April knew what was on his mind.

“Dr. Wysocki!” April yelled. “Hold on. Violet is clean. She hasn’t used again.”

Dr. Wysocki didn’t react. His eyes were on Yost. He wasn’t hearing her. She could smell gas more strongly now.

Kit’s head appeared behind the doctor’s. “Run outside,” April said. “Kit, now.”

The girl went out the front door. Yost watched her go, his eyes flicking from April to Dr. Wysocki and back.

If the state troopers came in right now, they’d see an old man with a gun pointed at a police officer. April was afraid that they would shoot Dr. Wysocki. She had to get him to put down the gun.

“Dr. Wysocki, he broke the gas connection at the intake pipe. You might not know this, but the house is filled with flammable gas. If you fire, we will all die in a fireball. Just like the Campbells,” April said. “Don’t shoot, Dr. Wysocki. Give me the gun.”

Dr. Wysocki was not listening. “You got my girl involved with drugs again. I thought you were keeping her sober.”

He pushed the gun to Yost’s chest. “You deserve to die like a dog.”

Yost’s eyes widened. He hadn’t heard the car. Now he could hear the low voices of the troopers outside. He grabbed the gun from the doctor’s hand. The doctor was weakened by his grief and age, and Yost easily disarmed him. He took hold of the doctor and spun him around.

Yost gestured at April. “Come on, we’re going out together. I’m not going to jail. You two are my ticket out of here.”