Lights Out Tonight (34 page)

Chief Stanley listened to his night officer’s report.

“Only time will tell if that kid is really missing,” Stanley concluded, “but if Victoria Sterling has had something to do with Belinda Winthrop’s disappearance, we can’t afford to wait until morning.”

The sound of the footsteps stopped outside the trunk.

“Now,”
whispered Caroline. She pushed upward on the trunk lid with the only arm she could move, while Meg was able use her foot to kick outward. It was enough to catch Victoria off guard, and she fell back, hitting her head on the ground.

Caroline and Meg struggled to untangle themselves while Victoria faltered, trying to clear her head. As she came to a sitting position, Caroline spotted the gun still clutched in Victoria’s hand.

There was no answer on either Caroline’s cell or hotel room phone, and Annabelle was worried.

Maybe the cops were going to follow up on her call and maybe they weren’t, but Annabelle wasn’t going to wait around any longer.

Still, she didn’t want to go to Curtains Up by herself. She called Lamar and Boomer, waking them up, and told them to get dressed.

Caroline’s struggle to get her balance as she climbed out of the trunk gave Victoria enough time to get to her own feet. The two women found themselves standing face-to-face, just a few yards apart. Victoria took aim at Caroline.

“You can shoot if you want, but that would be awfully stupid of you,” Caroline shouted. “I’ve already told KEY News about my suspicions that you had something to do with Belinda’s disappearance.”

Victoria shook her head. “Suspicions aren’t proof. Nobody was ever convicted on suspicions.”

“The police will be interested, Victoria, when KEY News tells them I thought you were linked to Belinda—and a witness tells them that he saw you walking up from the road in the middle of the night that your husband died—at the time you said you were sleeping alone in your bed.”

“I don’t believe you. If there was a witness, why didn’t he come forward then? Who’s this witness of yours?”

Caroline was conscious that Meg could hear her. She wanted to shield her stepdaughter, but no matter what happened tonight, it was all going to come out eventually. Nick would go to the police, and people would learn that he’d been unfaithful to his wife. There would be nasty gossip about it, but ultimately, only Caroline and Meg would be truly hurt. They’d only be hurt, though, if they survived. If the information might help save them, then it had to be used.

“Nick saw you.”

“Nick McGregor?”

“Yes,” said Caroline. “You killed your husband that night. It wasn’t an accident, was it?”

Victoria shifted her weight from one foot to the other before she spoke. “I was tired of sharing the limelight, tired of everyone thinking that
he
was the talent and I was just hanging on. Once I read the play that he’d been working on alone, I knew I wanted it to be mine.”

“So you killed him.”

“Some might view it that way.” Victoria shrugged. “But Daniel hadn’t been taking care of himself all summer. He wasn’t getting enough rest or eating the right things, and he was drinking way too much. He couldn’t get away with that because of his diabetes. After the party that night, he felt very weak, and when he went to get his insulin, there wasn’t any left. He hadn’t been keeping track.”

“I would think you would have. An observant wife would have,” said Caroline.

“Actually, I did know he was running low. I’d been waiting for just that opportunity.” A smile came to Victoria’s face. “It takes a while to die from insulin shock, though, and time was the one thing I didn’t have. Someone could have come to Daniel’s rescue. So I…” She seemed to relish the next words. “So I just helped things along.”

Despite the danger she was in, Caroline found herself fascinated as Victoria matter-of-factly recounted her story, showing no sorrow whatsoever.

“I told him I’d drive him to the hospital, and along the way, he got drowsy and then fell asleep. When we got to a nice, dark, deserted stretch of road, it was so easy to pull over and quietly open the car door. Once outside, all I had to do was reach in, put the car back in drive, and shove it over the edge.”

“But it looked like Daniel had been the driver when they found him, didn’t it?” Caroline coaxed.

“Yes, and that was the beauty of it. I climbed down into the gully to make sure he was dead and try to drag him over to the driver’s side of the front seat, but the car had toppled in such a way that Daniel’s body had shifted and he was already behind the steering wheel. After that, all I had to do was get home without anyone seeing me,” Victoria stated with pride.

Dr. Margo Gonzalez’s
KTA
segment flashed into Caroline’s mind. Victoria had shown no emotion as she described destroying four lives. She was taking an enormous risk recounting what she had done, but she did so, defiantly. She’d lied, manipulated, stolen, and murdered. Still, Victoria stood before her, bragging about it all, showing absolutely no remorse.

Victoria Sterling was a sociopath. She had no conscience.

The realization terrified Caroline, but she used all her determination not to show it. “So, it was as easy as that,” she said mockingly.

Victoria’s finger tightened on the trigger. “You are too smart for your own good, Caroline. Just like Belinda was. I still don’t know where the script that gave me away came from.”

“Belinda got it from Remington Peters.”

Victoria seemed to be digesting the information. “Daniel must have given Remington an early version,” she said.

And Remington was working off that,
thought Caroline as she recalled the murderous expression on the face of his painting of Belinda’s Valerie.

“Where is she, Victoria?” asked Caroline. “What did you do to Belinda?”

Victoria didn’t answer. She had turned her head in the direction of the sound coming from the distance. Sirens were growing closer.

Caroline took advantage of the distraction. She lunged for the gun, grabbing it by the barrel with both hands and forcing Victoria’s arm into the air. As the two women wrestled for control of the weapon, Victoria pulled the trigger, and Meg screamed from inside the trunk when the bullet hit the back window of the Volvo.

With the sirens wailing louder and louder, Caroline forced Victoria to loosen her grip on the gun. It flew wildly out of Victoria’s hand, skittering across the gray stones and settling beneath the car.

Knowing there wasn’t enough time to retrieve it, Victoria pushed Caroline to the ground.

“Get out, Meg.
Now!”
screamed Caroline as she landed hard on the sharp stones.

Meg scrambled out of the trunk, tumbling onto the ground just as Victoria ran to the front of the Volvo, got in, and sped down the driveway.

SUNDAY

—— AUGUST 6 ——

 C H A P T E R 
136

Caroline and Annabelle stood by while the satellite truck operator fed the video to New York.

“Great stuff, great stuff,” Linus roared with enthusiasm from the Broadcast Center as he watched the images of red lights flashing against the night sky, milling law enforcement officers, and a late-model Volvo nose-down in a ditch, having been forced off the road by pursuing police cars. Victoria Sterling was seen being taken from the car and, able to walk on her own, being escorted to the backseat of a police vehicle.

“Nice work,” said the executive producer. “Do we know if she’s told the police anything about Belinda Winthrop?”

“If she has, the cops aren’t telling us,” said Annabelle. “But why would Victoria Sterling incriminate herself? Maybe her lawyer will swap information on the whereabouts of Belinda’s body for a plea bargain or something, but at this point Victoria wouldn’t be acknowledging her participation in anything.”

“All right,” said Linus. “But keep on top of it with the police.”

“Of course,” said Annabelle. “And, Linus, I think Caroline should be the one on air to report this story.”

“No go,” Linus answered. “Constance is up there. It’s got to be hers. But let’s use Caroline as an eyewitness.”

Police searched Victoria Sterling’s bedroom at Curtains Up. A computer owned by Meg McGregor was found at the back of the closet.

Chief Stanley waited while the German shepherd’s handler prepared the dog, making her familiar with Belinda’s scent.

“How that dog is gonna be able to home in on Belinda Winthrop is a mystery to me,” said the chief. “People have been all over this property.”

“Sure. It definitely would have been better if you’d had Daisy in here first,” replied the handler. “But she’s a busy lady, and she can’t be in two places at one time. She found a little boy who’d wandered away from home in Lenox yesterday.”

“Let’s hope she can find Belinda Winthrop today,” said Chief Stanley as he bent down to pet the tracking dog. “If she’s out there, we have to find her, and if she’s alive, she’ll need medical attention.”

“Sir, if there’s a chance in hell a dog can find her, Daisy will.”

The Sunday morning edition of
KEY to America
opened with an exclusive KEY News shot of Victoria Sterling in handcuffs as she was ushered into the Warrenstown Police Station, while Constance Young’s voice narrated.