Fatal Conceit (26 page)

“Jenna Blair,” Stupenagel said calmly. “Take it easy, honey, we're here to help.”

“Yeah? Like the last guy? The guy who killed Sam? That kind of help?” As she rattled off her comments, Blair cried and waved the gun dangerously.

“The man with the Marine Corps tattoo, right?” Marlene asked.

Blair scowled and sniffed. “Yeah. Friend of yours?” She aimed the gun at Marlene's head.

“No, but we're pretty sure he has something to do with Sam's death,” Stupenagel answered.

A look of doubt passed over Blair's face, then she began to cry again, though she didn't lower the gun. “He had everything to do with it,” she sobbed. “I saw him kill Sam.”

“You saw him? You were there?”

Blair shook her head. “No. I was at my apartment.” She pointed to the laptop on the desk. “But I recorded it with the webcam,
though I didn't know it until Monday.” The young woman's mood shifted again as she yelled, “You know that, though! You were sent to kill me! Just like he was!”

“No, we weren't,” Stupenagel said. “We came here to help you. We didn't know what the people involved in this wanted with you—though it's pretty obvious now—but we knew you were in trouble. Jenna, please point the gun at the floor.”

“No!” Blair screamed, and extended her gun hand.

“Jenna, please! I've known Sam for more than twenty years. I saw him last Friday at the White Horse Tavern. He told me about you and some other things. He said you were going to come here last weekend. That's why I thought to look here for you.”

The doubt returned to Blair's face and she lowered the gun. “Who are you?”

“I'm Ariadne Stupenagel and this . . .”

Stupenagel's attempt to introduce Marlene was cut short by a sob from Blair, who dropped the gun and covered her face with her hands. “Oh, God, I've been so scared.”

“You know who I am?”

Blair nodded. “Before he . . . he . . . he . . . died, Sam talked about you,” she said between gasps. “He sent me an email last night with your name and phone number. But I was too scared to call at first. And then when I got here there was no reception.”

“Did he say anything, or send you an email last night?” Marlene asked.

“Just a line from
The
Last of the Mohicans
and my birthday.”

Both older women furrowed their brows. “I don't understand,” Marlene said.

“I didn't at first either,” Blair said. Then she pointed at the open wall safe. “The bookshelf opens when you pull on
The Last of the Mohicans,
and he changed the combination to my birthday.”

“How'd you figure that out?” Stupenagel asked.

“After that guy came to my apartment and I got away, I was at Grand Central trying to decide what to do when I remembered
how he seemed to think it was important that I know how to locate the safe. He didn't tell me he changed the combination to my birthday, and it took me a while after I got here and had a chance to think about it, but eventually I tried it and it worked.”

“He sort of did the same thing with me,” Stupenagel said. “Out of the blue he asked if I remembered how to get to the cabin. We used to . . .” She stopped suddenly, realizing what she had been about to say to Blair.

Blair looked at her curiously, then she knew why the other woman had stopped in midsentence. “You were lovers,” she stated.

Stupenagel nodded. “It was a long long time ago, before he was married,” she said. “We've been friends ever since, though we'd been out of contact for a while. Still, I knew him pretty well, and I was amazed at how deeply he loved you.”

Tears rolled down Blair's face, but she smiled. “Thank you.”

“What was in the safe, if you don't mind me asking?”

Blair bit her lip. “Some of it was personal . . . for me.” She choked and had a hard time getting the next sentence out, but finally she half-whispered, “I think the rest of it was why Sam was killed.”

“You mean what happened in Chechnya?” Stupenagel asked.

“He told you?” Blair exclaimed.

“Some of it,” Stupenagel replied. “And that someone was using your . . . your relationship with him to blackmail him.”

Blair hung her head. “Yes. It's my fault they could hold that over his head. But you know Sam, I think he knew he had to tell the truth and that's why they killed him.”

“Do you know who ‘they' are?” Marlene asked.

“Yes. But maybe you should hear it from Sam, and then I'll fill in the blanks,” Blair said, and walked over to the desk, where she picked up one of the DVDs and then walked over to the entertainment center and inserted the disc in the player.

Sam Allen appeared on the television screen. “My name is Samuel H. Allen, lieutenant general U.S. Army retired. What follows
is a recording of the testimony I intend to swear to under oath in front of the congressional committee hearing on what occurred at the U.S. compound outside of Zandaq, Chechnya . . .”

Twenty minutes later, Allen concluded his statement, “At this time, I apologize to my family, my sons, and my wife for whatever pain I have caused them—that was never my intent and I accept fully that I was wrong to break the vows of my marriage in this manner. However, I cannot, will not, deny my love for the woman whose companionship and love has renewed this old soldier's heart. These people are innocent, and while I will answer any questions about my own conduct as candidly as possible, I hope that the media will respect their privacy.”

Allen looked out from the screen and blinked hard. “As a result of both the methods used to try to ensure my silence, as well as my own actions, I feel I have no choice but to step down from my position as acting director of the CIA and withdraw my name from further consideration. Thank you.”

When the screen went blank, Marlene and Stupenagel looked at each other and then at Blair. “I guess we don't have to tell you how damaging this would be to the administration and why Fauhomme and Lindsey would stoop to blackmail and murder,” Marlene said.

Blair covered her face with her hands and sobbed. “It's my fault he's dead.”

Stupenagel moved forward quickly and took the young woman into her arms. “It's not your fault,” she said. “Sometimes we just follow our hearts over our heads. These people are ruthless.”

“You don't understand,” Blair said, stepping away from Stupenagel. “They used me to get to him.” She then told them about her past and how she was introduced to Sam Allen and for what purpose. “But I fell in love. . . . I never spied on him and wouldn't take their money.”

“I believe you, honey,” Stupenagel said. “And believe me, I'm about the last person in this room who should cast any stones.
I've done some pretty questionable things for the sake of a story myself. Sometimes we know what we're doing is wrong, but everybody makes mistakes. It's what we do to fix them that matters in the end. But like he said on that recording, he was in love, too.”

Blair smiled slightly. “I know,” she said, walking back over to the desk and picking up the second disc. Five minutes later all three women were crying and continued after Blair showed them the diamond ring in the small jewelry box.

“That was beautiful,” Stupenagel sniffed.

Finally, Marlene pointed out, “We haven't seen what your webcam recorded. Would you mind?”

They gathered in front of the desk as Blair showed them what had occurred in her lover's room while she was in the shower. “Oh, Sam . . .” Stupenagel sighed. But Marlene's face was set and angry.

“What do you think we should do now?” Stupenagel asked her friend.

Marlene looked at her watch. “It's almost ten o'clock,” she said. “I'm worried about how we're going to get Jenna and all of this evidence secure and safe; sooner or later, they'll come looking here. I need to call Butch; he'll know what to do and has the power to get it done. Besides, Jaxon was on his way over to see Butch—maybe something to do with Lucy—and I'm dying to know what it was about. I think for now we're as safe here as anywhere; at least I can talk to my husband. But to do that I need to head toward town until I can get reception.”

Marlene turned and looked at Blair. “Did you tell anybody you were here or make any telephone calls on your cell phone?”

Blair shook her head. “No, I read somewhere that they can track you with your cell phone so I turned mine off. The only person I've contacted was my mom— I sent her an email about noon from the town library. I wanted to let her know I was okay and not to believe anything until we'd had a chance to talk.” She caught the other two women giving each other a quick look. “What? Was that bad, too?”

“Probably not,” Marlene said. “But I'm sure they're watching your mom and these people are capable of intercepting her email.”

Blair looked frightened. “I didn't say where I was.”

“You wouldn't have to,” Marlene said. “Every internet provider source, like the library, has a specific IP address that identifies where an email was sent from. They might have tracked it to the library.”

Stupenagel raised her eyebrows. “Change of plans?”

Marlene thought about it for a moment. “No, not yet anyway. This place was hard enough to find in the daylight, much less in the dark. I think you two should lie low here, and I'll go to town and summon the cavalry. I have GPS in my truck that will help me retrace our steps so I shouldn't get lost.”

Twenty minutes later, Marlene had almost reached the main road into town when a dark SUV headed in the opposite direction went past her. The windows of the vehicle were tinted so she couldn't see inside and she wondered if she should turn around and follow.
Nah, you're being paranoid,
she told herself.
If you try to follow every car that goes by tonight you won't get anywhere
.

Just outside town, Marlene's cell indicated she had service, so she pulled over to the side of the road and called Butch. He didn't pick up. She tried the home number and reached Giancarlo, who said “Dad” had called to say he was working late and wasn't sure what time he'd be home. She was trying to decide whether to call Jaxon when an SUV pulled up behind her.

Looking in her side mirror, she saw Constable Spooner, who got out of his car and walked toward her. She rolled down her window. “Evening, Tom.”

“Evening,” he replied. “You find the cabin?”

“Yes,” Marlene said. “My friend, Ariadne, wanted to spend some time alone sitting on the front porch with her memories. I needed to make a call so I came back to town.”

“Well, she might not get much of that alone time,” Spooner
said. “I just talked to our town librarian at the Lucky Duck bar and grill and she said two federal agents came to her house. They showed her a photograph of Sam Allen's young lady friend and she told them she'd seen her earlier that day at the library. She said she told them the girl might be staying at the cabin . . .”

“What!” Marlene exclaimed, suddenly picturing the dark SUV. “Did she describe the federal agents?”

“As a matter of fact she did,” Spooner said. “Gertie's our town spinster, and if you're male, single, and still alive, she's interested. She was all aflutter about this guy who was apparently a dead ringer for James Bond. I don't know that she got a look at the other one, but she said there were two. Why?”

Marlene turned the ignition. “I'm sorry. I have to go. My friend may be in danger! Those men are killers.”

Spooner frowned. “Then maybe I should go with you. Let's get in my car; we'll make better time, because I know the roads and a shortcut. And maybe you can tell me what's really going on. I suspect this isn't all about old memories.”

Something about Tom Spooner told Marlene she could trust him. So as he drove, she told him a condensed version of the story.

When she was done, the constable looked stunned. “Holy cow, you girls sure know how to ruin a fellow's romantic plans!” He looked at his radio. “Maybe I ought to call in reinforcements?”

“Please don't,” Marlene said, reaching into her purse and pulling out a .45 Colt Mustang Ladies Edition. “I don't know if they have a police scanner in their car. They're professional killers and I think our best chance is the element of surprise.”

Spooner glanced at her gun. “Well, I don't know why I'm trusting a complete stranger,” he said, “but I do. And you seem like a gal who knows what she's doing, so I'll just follow your lead.”

The constable demonstrated exceptional driving skills on the dark, rough roads, and they made good time back to the cabin. Just before they arrived, they came upon a black SUV parked on the side of the road. It was empty.

Spooner turned off the lights of his vehicle before they came into view of the cabin and then turned off the car as it rolled into the driveway. Before he could stop, Marlene had jumped from the SUV and was running up to the cabin. No lights were on, but the door was wide open.

Marlene went in with her gun at the ready. No one was inside, but she saw that Blair's laptop and the evidence from the safe were all piled on the kitchen counter next to the door. She went back out just as Spooner reached the front porch carrying a shotgun.

“Nobody home?” he asked quietly.

“No, and I don't know where they went,” Marlene replied, desperation in her voice. She jumped at the sound of a shot that came from the woods near the lake and took off running.

•  •  •

Big Ray Baum hadn't heard the other car pull into the driveway leading to the cabin. He was too busy watching the two women digging the hole that would be their grave and idly wondering if he should rape one or both of them.
I haven't raped a woman since Afghanistan and that might be just what the doctor ordered,
he thought. But he decided to wait and see what his partner, Craig, wanted to do when he got done getting the stuff at the cabin together and joined him.