Just Evil (38 page)

He was grateful to finally hear her speak, and he had no
idea how the dog was, but he reassured her anyway. “Someone saw that he was
taken to the vet. I’ll check on him as soon as we get you settled. Don’t worry,
I’ll see to him, Kit; see that he’s taken care of.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” He kissed the palm of her hand, “Are you in pain,
baby?”

 “I’m okay. Throbbing, everything’s throbbing a little.” She
wanted to just drift away, but as if from a distance she thought she heard
Gloria tell Jake, “The police are out in the waiting area. If you’d like to
have a word with them, I’ll stay with Kit and go with her to her room. You can
meet us up there when you’re done. I’m told they’re putting her in room 512.
Baylee will want to take her turn to see that she’s okay before she takes the
baby home.”

Jake leaned into Kit, over her, took his time trying to
decide where to plant a kiss. Finally settling on her forehead first, he placed
a tender kiss, lips barely touching skin, before moving on to her nose, then to
her chin and finally, gingerly, kissed her lips. When she closed her eyes
sleepily, he left her with Gloria, left her to sleep while he tried to get some
answers out of the police.

When Jake got back to the waiting area, a uniformed police
officer was explaining what he knew about the accident to Dylan and Reese.
“Witnesses said the SUV crossed a lane of traffic at high speed before bumping
her Jeep. Then for approximately a half a mile the SUV continued to bump the
car until the Jeep finally careened out of control and went off the cliff,
landing some twenty-five feet down on a drop-off point. Some of those cliffs
are so steep they plunge right off into the ocean. It could have been much
worse. She’s lucky the car came to a stop when it did, or that the gas tank
didn’t take a hit and explode, or that the Jeep didn’t roll over on impact.

“Unfortunately, the witnesses we’ve spoken to so far didn’t
get a license plate number and can’t agree on what the driver looked like. And
most of the people, the witnesses, agree the car was either gray or silver in
color, but they aren’t certain which. That isn’t unusual with these kinds of
accidents, what with dusk just setting in. The car took off, didn’t hang around
long enough for anyone to get any more detail than that. More than likely we’re
dealing with a drunk driver and that’s why they didn’t stop. These things take
time to sort out…”

“This was no accident.” Jake wasn’t buying the drunk driver
scenario. “You’re telling us you have no fucking clue who did this to her? That
you have no reliable witnesses, don’t know what type of vehicle ran her down,
other than it was either a gray or silver SUV? Essentially, you’ve got
nothing?”

Reese recognized the anger building in Jake with every word.
When Reese saw that Jake was about to step into the officer’s face, he pushed
him back a step, only to be shoved back in response. Reese hoped the physical
contact with him would temper Jake’s attitude toward the cop. But Jake was just
warming up. Over and through Reese, he told the officer, “You need to call
Homicide, talk to Max St. John or Dan Holloway, make them aware that someone
tried to kill her tonight; tell them what happened here.”

“Now why would I do that? Think about what you’re saying.
You’re suggesting that someone deliberately did this. We have no proof that it
was anything more than a drunk driver. We’ll continue investigating. But right
now, you need to calm down.”

Finally, at Reese’s insistence, Jake took a step backward,
ran his hands through his hair, and more calmly explained to the officer,
“Look, Kit’s mother Alana Stevens was murdered recently. St. John and Holloway
are assigned to the case. Check it out if you don’t believe me. There have been
two additional murders since then. I’m telling you, this was no accident and
you need to at least inform them what happened here tonight.”

“And you need to let us do our job.”

“Then do your fucking job.” A frustrated Jake spun on his
heels and headed for the elevators. This was pointless, he thought. They just
didn’t see the connection; couldn’t they see it was all related? As he punched
the UP button and waited for the doors to open, he was convinced that none of
the police could connect dots even if you spotted them the pattern. Right now,
he needed to be with Kit.

Reese and Dylan caught up with him at the elevator. When
they stepped into the car with him, he told Dylan, “Tomorrow I want you to take
that safe we found and get it open. Find out if what’s in there is worth Kit’s
life.”

That stopped both men in their tracks.

“You really think someone deliberately tried to run her off
the road?”

“Yeah, I do. I’m thinking after she’s discharged I’m getting
her out of here, taking her someplace safe.”

When the elevator doors opened to the fifth floor, Jake took
one look at a grim-faced Quinn standing at the nurse’s station, and panic
gripped his gut. “What’s wrong?”

Quinn looked startled for a moment, but then took a deep
breath. “They found some internal bleeding in her spleen. If it gets worse,
they’ll have to do surgery, remove it. Her doctor wants her to stabilize a
little more first, though, give it time to stop on its own. If it does, she
won’t need surgery.” God, she hoped that was the case.

“Surgery?” This couldn’t be happening. “Can I see her?”

“Sure. I’ll take you in. Gloria and Baylee are with her. I’m
still on duty and will be until seven in the morning, but I’ll look in on her
every chance I get. If you’ll leave me your phone number, I’ll let you…”

 “I’m not leaving.”

Quinn hid her surprise. “Well, the nurses might have
something to say about that.” But the determined look on his face softened her
so much that instead of giving him a hard time, she winked at him and offered,
“I’ll let the nurses know you’re a member of the family.” Wiggling her eyebrows
back and forth, she added, “A brother, perhaps.”

“If that’s what it takes to let me stay in her room, I don’t
care who they think I am.”

As soon as Jake entered the room, Baylee and Gloria stepped
out into the hallway to give him some privacy. He crossed to the bed, and
stared at the woman lying so still.

How in the world had she come to mean so much to him in such
a short amount of time? He’d expected to care. Hell, he’d always cared about
her. And he couldn’t stand to see her hurt. That was all there was to it. But
the urge to tell her, to say the words he’d never said to anyone else was as
strong now as it had been that morning on the boat. Something stupid had held
him back then. And now, to his regret, she might never hear him say those
words.

What if something happened to her in surgery? He’d never
considered himself weak, or scared of anything before, but he was afraid if he
didn’t tell her something might happen when she went into surgery. She might
not wake up. At the thought of that, he leaned down next to her where only she
could hear and whispered, “I love you, Kit. I love you. Do you hear me? Do you
know what I’m saying to you?” He didn’t really expect her to answer, but he
found that saying the words had been a simple enough thing after all.

On this Sunday morning he looked like any other typical tourist
sitting on a sand dune watching the waves.

Man, he loved sunny Southern California. Since the storm had
passed and brought sunshine and perfect surf, the sun had seemed to lighten the
darkness that had settled over him the past two years. When he was finished
with all of this, he might just extend his visit. Take some time to relax and
do nothing but laze at the beach. As he sat looking out to sea, he waited once
again for his prey to come to him.

Technically speaking in this case, the man would jog to him
just as he’d done every day at exactly seven-thirty, come rain or shine. Hell,
the man had probably been running on this same beach every day of his life at
exactly the same time every morning since he’d moved here in 1970. And wasn’t
that just a kick in the pants. The man obviously loved this view, loved this
place.

It was a good thing, too, because the man was going to die
here.

At least he would die on his beloved beach. How poetic was
that?

When he caught sight of the man jogging his way, he calmly
stood up, brushed the sand from his ridiculous flowered print shorts. It was
time to go to work.

Years younger than his prey, he jogged toward the elder man
from the opposite direction, catching up with him without much effort. He had
set up the scene perfectly and when he’d gotten within four feet or so of the
jogging man, he said, “Wow, you’re Sumner Boyd, aren’t you? Wait until I tell
the wife I jogged on the same beach as the great legal eagle himself. Man, she
just isn’t going to believe me.”

Indignant that someone would not only approach him but
intrude upon his private inner sanctum in such a manner, Sumner’s face, already
red from the physical exertion of running three miles, got redder. “How the
hell did you get down here? This beach is private. Can’t you goddamned tourists
read a fucking sign?”

 “Nice meeting you too, asshole. Oh, I can read. In fact,
let me tell you a story.” He calmly withdrew a .38 revolver from his pocket,
which immediately got Sumner’s attention. “It’s not really important to know
how I got down here, but rather why. I’d think you’d get down on your knees
right about now and thank me for getting rid of Alana and Jessica and Eva. Of
course, you aren’t going to be around much longer to enjoy the solitude. But,
don’t tell me you didn’t think about taking care of at least one of those three
bitches yourself over the years.”

He laughed when he noticed the shocked look on Sumner’s
face. “I apologize. I’m getting completely off the subject. I’ve been doing
that a lot lately. Now, why don’t we sit down on this rock here, on the beach
you love so much, and let me tell you a story?”

He saw Sumner’s face go from shock to fear. Good, he
thought, he had the man’s attention.

“Wait. I’m a wealthy man. I can give you anything you want.
Just don’t kill me.”

“Really? Anything?”

“Yes, anything, just name it.” The fear on his face turned
hopeful. Thank God for his money. He could bargain his way out of this.

“Can you bring someone back from the dead?”

Sumner’s face went from red to white. The hope completely drained
from his face and was replaced by confusion. “Don’t be absurd.”

“Then you really have nothing I want, except your life. But
don’t worry, you’ll die on your own sand on a beautiful day and if you’ll sit
down and listen, I’ll tell you why. Have you ever heard that old saying?” He
paused for effect and with his other hand twirled a finger in the air. “...what
goes around comes around?”

In Kit’s hospital room, Jake slept covered up in a blanket,
stretched out as best he could between two chairs. His head rested on the back
of one while a leg and a foot dangled off another. When the door opened and
Baylee walked in carrying a sack, his head popped up.

As soon as she set the bag down, she stuck her hands in her
back pockets, rocked on her heels, and said in a low voice, “Sorry to wake you.
I didn’t realize you might still be asleep. I hate hospitals. If you ask me,
you can never rest in a hospital. They’re always coming up with a reason to
poke and stick you.”

Jake rubbed at his tired eyes and sat up erect, stretched.
“It’s okay. I didn’t really sleep.”

Little wonder, she thought, looking at the man’s makeshift
bed. “How’s our girl?”

“She’s been in and out of it most of the night. But the good
news is about three this morning the bleeding in her spleen seems to have
stopped on its own. They don’t think she’ll need surgery.” Sniffing the air, he
brightened. “Is that coffee?”

Baylee reached into the sack, pulled out a Styrofoam cup,
and handed it off before reaching in for another. “Thought you could use a jolt
right about now. Didn’t used to drink this stuff even though I work in a coffee
shop, but after Sarah came along, I found out soon enough that when you wake up
in the middle of the night with a fussy baby, you need that extra jolt of caffeine
that you just can’t get from a can of soda. So whenever I have to walk the
floor with Sarah, coffee is my go-to crutch. After months of drinking the
stuff, I’m hooked. I can’t make it past six a.m. anymore without my shot of
java, even if I do drink it with a half a cup of milk.”

Jake laughed before yawning and got up out of the chair to
stretch his back. He started telling her about how his sisters had changed when
they’d become mothers.

As he talked, Baylee noticed a wistful look come across his
face. She recognized that look, an almost longing that settled in his eyes when
he talked about his siblings having kids. It was possible, she thought, that he
wasn’t even aware of it. “Ever think about having any of your own?” Baylee
asked.

Jake’s eyes drifted instantly to Kit before he simply said,
“Yeah.”

Baylee left it at that, but wanted to know, “Were you able
to find out any information about Pepper? The minute she comes around she’ll
want to know how he is.”

“She’s already asked. And yeah, I found out he suffered a
compound fracture in his right hind leg as well as internal injuries, didn’t
get out of surgery until around two. But I left the vet my cell number and he
promised to call with an update this morning. I can only hope the news is
good.” After taking a long drink of his coffee, Jake said softly, “I don’t like
seeing her hurt.”

“Neither do I; she’s had too much of that already.” Baylee
waited a beat before adding, “Has she told you all of it, then?”

The two shared eye contact for a moment. “She told me
enough. I’m not making her travel down that road any more than necessary.”

Baylee’s opinion of the man edged up several notches as she
listened to Jake go on, “You didn’t see her sitting in her car the day she went
to Beverly Hills. You didn’t see her panic at the idea of going back inside
that house. I can only imagine what it was like for her, living there with that
woman. You were around Alana. You knew what Kit had to deal with.”