Old Flames Never Die (Valentine Mystery) (30 page)

Liv tossed the phone on the
desk. “You and I are going to take a trip.”

Tess' mind raced. How was
she going to get out of this? Why couldn't she have left well enough alone? She
could have let Liv get away with murder, not cause strain in her relationship
with Jack, and lived to see another day.

“Why are you doing this?”
Tess asked.

“Why am I killing you? Or
why did I kill Charles?”

“Why kill Charles? You get no
financial gain.” Tess determined if she kept Liv talking, she’d buy time until
Daniel arrived.

“I killed him because he
knew all along he couldn't have children, but never said a word. That baby was
going to insure that no matter what happened I’d be taken care of. It may have
not been his, but it was a Danforth. But then I lost the baby and he was going
to leave me. Because I cheated, I wouldn't get anything.”

“You have a prenup.”

“Yes. A prenup with a
morality clause. Every time I was with another man, with Jack,” she added. “He
didn't give a damn because it wasn't going to cost him anything if we broke up.”

“But you lost that baby in
March. Why kill him now?”

“He told me last weekend he
was leaving.”

“Why didn't he leave when
you told him you were pregnant? Did he know the baby was Kevin’s?” Tess asked.

Liv laughed. “Of course he
did. He may have been aloof, but the man had eyes everywhere. I didn’t know he
knew, of course, until he told me he was leaving. He got a sick thrill watching
me squirm as he told me he knew about all the affairs, about Kevin and the
baby. He said something about enjoying watching me put the noose around my own
neck. I guess I had the last laugh.”

Tess tried to take it all
in.  “You used the air conditioning to cover up the time of death. Did Boone
help you with that?”

“No. One thing I’ve learned
about cop shows is that the less other people know about your crime, the
better. Charles was a stickler about not wasting money and I knew Boone would
notice the lights and air on eventually. I just had to hope he noticed in
enough time that the room would warm up enough to fool the medical examiner.”

And that Boone wouldn’t
notice his boss was dead when he did, Tess thought. “So you planned all this?
Including Jack?”

“Actually, I hadn’t planned
to kill Charles that morning. But he sat there eating that damned egg-white
omelet and told me how he was divorcing me, selling the house and moving to
Tennessee or Kentucky or something. He gave me a week to move out.”

“That is cold,” Tess agreed,
hoping it would calm Liv down.

“So I found my gun.” She
waved it in front of Tess. “I got this from an old boyfriend. No one knew I had
it. I grabbed it out of an old shoe box, came here to Charles’ office and shot
the heartless bastard.”

You showed him, Tess
thought. “Where’d you keep the gun after that?”

“I figured I’d be a suspect
even though I was out of town, so I buried it in the woods. I picked it up
again the day I decided to kill you.”

Tess ignored Liv’s comment
and instead asked a question that popped into her head at the mention of the
woods. “What about the hunting accident? Did you try to kill Charles then?”

“No. That wasn’t me. It was
probably some dumb hunter who didn’t know better. But I’ll admit, I wished
whoever it was had succeeded.”

Tess wondered what it was in
people that they could murder so easily. She was raised by heartless, unloving
people and could have inherited quite a bit if they were dead. But it never
occurred to her to kill them. Sure, she used to wish terrible things on them,
like a swarm of bee stings, but she never entertained the idea of killing them.
She chose to walk away from them and their money.

“Now, let's get out of here
before someone else shows up.”As Liv moved around the desk, Tess frantically
searched for a weapon or something she could use to get away. She saw her purse
on the desk and picked it up.

“You aren't going to need
your purse where you're going.”

“You wouldn't want me to
leave it here. It would be one more thing to trace me to you. Where are we going,
anyway?”

“Tess?”

Both women looked up to see
Jack standing in the doorway.

“Looks like I owe you
another apology,” he said as he stepped into the room.

“Don't come closer, Jack.” Liv
pointed the gun at him and then back at Tess. “I didn't want to do this, but
she left me no choice.”

“And what about me?” he
asked. “Are you going to kill me too? You might as well. Without Tess, I'd be
as good as dead anyway.”

Tess felt her heart go
gooey, but the butt of Liv's gun poked in her side reminded her they were in a
grave situation. She realized that Liv was hesitating. Could it be she really
did care for Jack? Seizing the moment, Tess swung her purse upward, hitting
Liv's hand. There was a loud bang, as the gun flew up. Remembering her
self-defense course in college, Tess jammed her elbow into Liv's belly. Liv
pitched forward, giving Tess the opportunity to knee her in the chin. It wasn't
pretty, but Liv was on the floor writhing in pain. Tess grabbed the fallen gun,
feeling triumphant.

“Christ, that hurts.”

Tess' head jerked up. Jack
was slumped against the doorframe, blood oozing between fingers covering his
abdomen.

“Oh God, you're shot.”

She ran to him, dropping to
her knees. “Jack.” She took off her sweater and pressed it to his stomach.

“Ouch, God dammit, Tess.” He
tried to push her hand away.

“No. We have to stop the
bleeding. Oh God, Jack, there's so much blood. We need to call…where's my
phone?” She scanned the room.

“My pocket.”

“My phone is in your pocket?”

“My phone. My pocket.”

“Oh right. Sorry, I'm just…”
She jammed her fingers into his pants pocket and searched for his phone.

Jack growled in pain. “Another
time I'd enjoy this, but—” He grabbed her hand. “My coat pocket.”

“Right.” Her hands shook as
she found his coat pocket and pulled out his phone.

“Breathe, Tess,” she heard
him say.

“Okay.” She dialed nine one
one, giving the dispatch Liv’s address. “Yes, he’s conscious, but he’s bleeding
badly. Please hurry.”

“Tess. On the off chance
that things don't go well—”

“No, Jack. Don't you do
this. You told me you'd always be here. All I had to do was take a chance.
We'll, I've taken it dammit, so you fight.” The dispatcher said something about
keeping pressure on the wound, so Tess pressed her sweater more firmly against
Jack’s wound.

He growled and winced in
pain. “Just know that I love you. Always.”

Tess heard a movement behind
her. Turning she saw Liv moving towards a window at the back of the room. Tess
picked up the gun and pointed. “Liv! Sit your ass down before I shoot it down.”

Liv stared at Tess as if
considering. “It will be murder if you shoot me.”

“Only if I kill you.” The
two women stared. The air was still despite the blowing of the air
conditioning. “Sit. Down.”

Liv dropped to the floor.

“On your hands.”

“What?”

“Sit on your hands!”

“Okay, fine.”

Tess turned her attention to
Jack.

“You kick ass, counselor.”
He was being funny, but he looked bad. Really bad.

“Don't talk. Just relax.
Where are they?” She looked out the door and down Liv’s driveway.

“They'll be here.” His lids
closed.

“Jack!”

“It’s okay. I'm just
resting.” He opened them again. “Tess?”

“What.”

“Will you marry me?”

Tess gaped. “Just because
you think you're dying doesn't mean I'll say yes.”

His lips curved up. “I know
it doesn't seem very romantic, but really if you think about it, it’s a
romantic proposal.”

“You're delirious.”

“No.” He coughed, wincing in
pain as he did.

“Jack, just—”

“The way you took her down.
And just now, 'Sit your ass down before I shoot it down'. That was…well, it was
very sexy.”

“That's not a reason to get
married.”

“I love you and—”

“Jack, now is not the time.
Wait until you’re better.” Tess heard sirens coming up the drive. “Help is
here. Just lay back and relax.”

“Marry me, Tess.”

The ambulance and police
vehicles skidded to a halt outside the door. The police came in first, securing
the scene and taking the gun from Tess. She heard Liv concocting a story about
how she was attacked, but fortunately, Daniel had already radioed the officers
and told them the situation. They put restraints on Liv and escorted her to
their car.

“Please help him,” Tess
called out to the paramedics. With the police okay, the medics entered the
office and tended to Jack.

“What the hell?” Daniel ran
through the door. “Jesus, Tess, are you okay? You’ve got blood all over you.”

“It's not mine. It's Jack's.”

The paramedics lifted Jack
onto a stretcher and prepared to move him to the ambulance.

“Is he going to be okay?”
she said rushing to him.

“He's losing a lot of blood.
We need to get him to the hospital.”

As they wheeled Jack out, he
lifted his head. Despite the pain and loss of strength, his brilliant
blue-green eyes looked at her, to her soul, begging for an answer.

“Yes,” she said.

His lips curved upward,
giving her a glimpse of his dimple as the paramedics shut the door and drove
away.

~~~~

“Carter's not happy,” Daniel
said referring to the assistant Commonwealth’s attorney assigned to prosecute
Liv.  Tess sat in Daniel's office a week after Liv’s arrest. She was tired of
answering the same questions over the last few days, but put up with it because
Daniel had been such a rock the hours following Jack’s shooting. Despite the
blood loss, Jack pulled through and would be released as soon as Tess could get
out of Daniel's office. None too soon either, because she and Cora, whom Tess
arranged to come to Jefferson Tavern to see Jack in the hospital, were nearing
World War III.

“Why? The case is good.”

“Your prints are on the gun…in
Jack's blood,” Daniel pointed out.

Tess shrugged.

“The caretaker can't be sure
of the time he lowered the thermostat or what the temperature was when he did.”

“Do all Carter’s cases come
neatly packaged?”

“You have to agree the
defense has some things to work with.”

“Sure. I'd point that stuff
out too, but you've got my testimony.”

“Yes, the lady whose prints
are on the gun," Daniel reminded her.

“You've got Jack's
testimony—”

“The guy deliriously in love
with you. He'd say anything.”

“Not if I shot him, he
wouldn't.”

Daniel didn't look
convinced. “How about the fact that there is gunshot residue on your shirt?”

Tess waved that away. “I'm
sure there is an expert somewhere that will be able to testify that the residue
on Liv is more consistent with holding the gun when it was fired.”

“You’re on tape threatening
Liv.”

Sheesh. Tess blew out a
breath. “Is Carter really worried?”

“Shouldn't he be? You're a
defense attorney. You know the problem areas.”

Tess nodded. If she and Jack
hadn't been involved, it might have been a fun case to defend. But she felt
certain there was enough to successfully prosecute Liv. “Maybe I should offer
to consult with the Commonwealth Attorney if he's so worried.”

“I'd stay out of it if I
were you. I'm curious how you figured out about the air conditioning.”

“It was in the report. I
should have realized it sooner. I'm glad the M.E. was able to use what we had
to recalculate a time of death putting Liv at home, assuming, of course, that
Boone’s statement holds up.”

“It just goes to show how
the insignificant things can be significant.”

“Right. If that's all, I
need to run. Jack's getting out of the hospital today.”

“How is he?”

Tess smiled. “He's good, now
that he's being released.”

“Is it true he proposed?”

“How’d you know?” Tess
searched Daniel's face for clues as to his feelings about it.

“The nine one one call. It’s
recorded as well.”

“Oh.”

“Some of the dispatchers
think you’re a terrible person for not saying yes right away. Others thought it
was romantic how you used it to keep him conscious. There’s a pool betting on
your answer.”