Tales of Chills and Thrills: The Mystery Thriller Horror Box Set (7 Mystery Thriller Horror Novels) (94 page)

Tara screamed, “No,” with a shrill, high-pitched voice that
sliced through the storm. She rushed to the side and looked down as the boat
was pushed towards the rocks again. It came up with the wave and dropped,
landing only a foot from the rocky ledge.

Riley saw Kent prepare to leap. He threw himself from the
sun-bridge to the deck below, his long gray coat billowing out behind him as he
screamed. He landed in the spot Kent was aiming for, just as Kent threw himself
forward.

Startled, the killer tried to stop his momentum. It was too
late. He fell forward, diving out in a frantic effort to reach the side. He
caught the side of the boat with his hands, letting his gun fall into the
water. The boat slid out with the wave, and Kent was pulled along with it. His
feet came off the rock and he dropped into the water, but he clung to the side
and pulled himself up, so that he clamped the side of the boat against his
chest.

He grinned, showing all his teeth as he smiled at Tara. “You
almost got rid of me.”

The boat dropped into the bottom of the trough and started to
rise on the next wave.

Kent looked over at Riley. “Out of my way, whatever you are! I’m
coming on board.”

The boat slid up the wave, was pushed towards the rocks and
crashed down. The shattering blow of the collision with the rock knocked Tara
off her feet. She fell forward, catching hold of the side as spray cascaded
from the rocks over her.

The unstable deck had no effect on Riley. He stood solidly, his
feet apart and his hands on his hips. He stared into the wild eyes of the man
clinging to the side of the boat. Kent’s eyes widened in shock as blood
trickled from his mouth. Then the boat slid away from the rock and the waves
swept away his legs and most of his torso.

Kent’s face turned white as the blood left his upper body. Riley
looked at the face of the dead killer and felt no remorse. The arms slid up and
over the side as the weight of the head and shoulders carried the rest of the
dead man into the sea. The severed portion of the torso rolled over once and
then sank out of sight.

Walt forced the throttle down and the boat jumped forward,
turning into the oncoming waves and away from the cliff.

Riley looked for Tara. She held onto the railing of the ladder
that led to the sundeck. Her clothes clung to her body, and she shivered as the
wind and rain assaulted her. She shook her head and cried.

“Get inside,” Riley yelled.

Tara wiped her eyes with a wet arm, and blinked.

“Get inside.”

Tara opened the door and Riley stepped back so that she could
enter. The darkness of the night settled in quickly, and almost hid the cliffs
from view even though they were less than fifty yards away. He heard a long,
drawn out scream coming from the engines, but it sounded like a human voice. He
spun around with his left hand coming up and out, taking a defensive position
as he dropped into a crouch.

No one was there, but the call persisted. He ran to the back of
the boat and looked down. Bowden had his left arm wrapped around the swimming
platform and was yelling for help.

“Stop the boat,” Riley shouted.

Tara still stood by the door. She looked at him.

“Stop the boat,” he yelled again.

Tara turned and shouted at Walt, who threw the boat into
neutral. Then Tara ran to join Riley. She leaned over the side of the boat and
grabbed Bowden’s coat and pulled on it as Walt came to help. They pulled the
coat up around Chase’s neck before it caught under his arms, and they managed
to drag him onto the swimming platform. His right arm hung limply in the water
but by using his left arm, he pulled himself up to a sitting position on the
platform.

Tara clutched his jacket and braced her knees against the side
and heaved, as Bowden got his feet underneath him. He pushed as she pulled, and
he toppled over the back and fell to the deck. Walt grabbed Bowden’s right arm,
to pull him into the cabin.

“No,” Bowden screamed.

Walt let go and the arm fell to the deck. It was twisted around,
and Riley knew that the humerus was shattered.

Bowden looked up at Riley, his face distorted from the pain and
the cold. “Glad you made it.”

“Me, too.” He pointed at the box. “That’s a World War One
ammunition case.”

Bowden glanced over at it. “Never seen one before.”

“Probably because it’s German.”

Lightning struck the island with a blinding flash of light and
deafening crash of thunder.

Bowden was looking at Riley, when the ghost was saturated by the
light. When Bowden could see again, Riley never took form.

“Riley!” he shouted and struggled to sit up. “Riley!”

The only answer was the howl of the wind.

20

Bowden opened his eyes and tried to figure out what had
happened. He looked at the ceiling of the small room and then at the machines
by his side. One towered over him and held an IV bag, with a tube running to
his left arm. He rolled his head on the pillow and looked at his right arm. A
white cast held it motionless, encompassing his wrist and wrapping around his
shoulder. A steel bar attached somewhere near his waist held his arm away from
him. A movement caught his eye, and he lifted his gaze past his arm, and saw
Tara rising out of a chair.

“Hi,” Bowden croaked, and then grimaced at the awful sound of
his voice.

Tara smiled. “Hi.”

He tried to turn so that he could see her better. The cast got
in his way, but he noticed that she was wearing black jeans and a tan suede
coat.

“I see you had a chance to change.”

Tara grinned. “Yeah, yesterday.”

“Really?” Bowden looked around for a clock.

“You’ve been asleep for thirty-two hours. The doctors told me
not to worry about it, that it was mostly due to exhaustion.”

“Good. How’s your mom?”

“She’s made it. She came out of it yesterday. They’re still
trying to get up the white blood cell count before they release her, but she’s
out of the ICU.”

Bowden shifted on the bed and the sheet bunched up under him. He
reached down and tried to straighten it out, but his weight held the sheet in
place. He leaned over in an attempt to get off the fold and only managed to
make it bigger.

“Are you okay?” Tara asked.

Bowden looked up and nodded. “Yeah. Did you go back to the
house?”

Tara nodded and looked towards the door. It hung open a crack,
and she leaned over and whispered. “I put the diamonds in the cellar.”

Bowden’s brows furrowed as he thought about the weight of the box.
“How’d you get it inside?”

“How much do you remember? Getting off the boat, I mean.”

“Medics met us at the dock. I remember wondering where you were,
and then I remember you being at the Medic Unit. Then they took me out of
there.”

“You don’t recall giving me any instructions?”

Bowden shook his head and tried hard to remember, but only
recalled the things he had seen.

“Well, I did what you said. I had Walt help haul that case over
to your car and put it in the trunk. Then I drove back to the house and unloaded
the diamonds. I put them into shoeboxes and carried them in. Once the box was
empty, I was able to lug it down into the cellar.”

“Did Walt want to know what was in the box?”

Tara’s smile showed her white teeth. “I told him it was old junk
that had been in the family for several generations.”

“Do you think he bought it?”

Someone knocked on the door and Tara stepped away from the bed.
Bowden glanced over and saw Cooper poke his head in.

“You’re awake.” He stepped inside and shut the door behind him.
“Hope you haven’t been comparing stories.”

Bowden closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. His head fell
back and hit the pillow. It wasn’t very soft, but at the moment it was
comfortable.

The detective looked around for a chair and ended up standing.
He pushed the table away from Bowden’s bed and stepped up to the side of it.

“I understand that you found what you were looking for.”

Bowden opened one eye. “What’s that?”

Cooper shook his head. “I don’t know.” He reached over and
tapped the cast on Bowden’s arm. “They told me that you almost lost that.”

“Haven’t heard. I just woke up.”

Cooper glanced over at Tara, and Bowden wondered how much he had
heard before coming in.

The detective scratched the back of his neck. “You know, I had a
long talk with Walt Keller.” He looked at Bowden and then at Tara. Neither one
of them spoke, so he continued.

“He’s an interesting man. It seems that he started a one-day
cruise with two people and ended up with four on his boat. So he goes to a
place designated on his map. Two of the men go ashore, and bring back a heavy
chest. They get the chest on board, but both fall into the water. The third man
gets hit by lightning. One of the men that fell into the ocean is pulled out.
So Walt returns to the dock with the same two people he left with.”

“And?”

Cooper glared at Bowden. “And what?”

“There must be a punch line.”

“There is. I want you to tell me who the other two men were.”

Bowden looked over at Tara and wondered if she’d already had
this conversation with Cooper.

Cooper seemed to read his mind. “Tara said she wouldn’t speak
without a lawyer. I’m still trying to figure out if there really were two other
men on the boat.” He pointed at Bowden. “I have, however, concluded that you
fell into the ocean.”

Bowden rubbed his face with his left hand. It was a gimmick to
buy some time. “I can’t help you much,” he said. “One man was Kent Fonck. He
jumped onto the boat as it was leaving the dock, and is the one who killed
Adam. You may find Kent’s body some day.”

“And the other man? The one hit by lightning?”

Bowden looked Cooper straight in the eyes. “No one was hit by
lightning.”

“Would you agree to a lie detector test?”

“Come on. You know you’re as good as one of those machines.”

Cooper chuckled. “Actually, I’ve never used one.”

Bowden nodded.

“But I still wonder what Keller saw.”

“Maybe the mist or a low cloud.”

“Not a man?”

“No. You’ve got no body. You never will.”

Cooper stared at Bowden for several seconds. “If I get a missing
person report on a guy wearing a gray fedora and a gray duster…”

“Yeah, I know.”

“It was the same description of the man out by the Miller house,
that the deputies chased.”

“I know.”

Cooper hesitated.

“What?” Bowden asked.

Cooper glanced up at Tara, and then back at Bowden. “SID didn’t
get any evidence on a second man for the uh, rape on uh, Michelle,” he said.

“You let Doug Sanderson walk?”

“Had to. No proof.”

“He used his credit card to hold the room,” Bowden countered.

“He claims that Kent stole the card.”

“What does Bill say?”

“He didn’t know anything about it. He just said that Kent took
care of it.”

Cooper walked to the door and opened it. He stood there for a
second and looked back over his shoulder. “I’ve got this case with three dead
bodies, and I’ve got to do the paper work. The only thing I don’t have is a
motive. I can’t believe all this was for a worthless painting.”

“It wasn’t.”

Cooper nodded. “The box?”

Bowden shook his head. “The inheritance.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Cooper stepped into the
hall and shut the door.

Tara put her hand on Bowden’s leg, and he looked over at her.
She smiled and her lips parted.

“I’m glad you didn’t tell him about Sam,” she said.

“He wouldn’t have believed me. Have you seen him?”

“No.” Tara’s smile vanished, and she glanced down at her hand.

Bowden closed his eyes again. The drugs made him tired and he
wanted to sleep.

“What are you going to tell Uncle Vinny?”

The name sounded odd to Bowden and it took him a second to
realize that Tara was asking about Vincent Fonck. “Oh. I guess I’ll tell him
that Kent killed Adam, and that Bill’s in jail, and that I killed Barry, and
Kay tried to kill herself. And Kent’s dead.”

“What about the diamonds?”

“He hired me to get the painting. I’ll take it to him.”

Tara smiled and squeezed
his leg. With all the medication in him, he hardly felt it.

The tires on the tow truck beat out a rhythm on the concrete
spacers as it cruised down the old road. A full moon cast its white light
through the trees to dimly illuminate the cliff that the road paralleled. There
were no streetlights this far from town.

Riley slid silently into the passenger seat and glanced over at
the driver.

Doug Sanderson rubbed his eyes and yawned.

“Tired?” Riley asked, his voice cold and uncaring.

Sanderson jumped and snapped his head around. “What the…”

The truck swerved and Sanderson wrenched the wheel back to
correct the motion.

“Just wondered if you were tired. I think you’d get more rest
now, knowing that the police don’t have enough evidence to charge you with
repeatedly raping your niece.”

“I…. How’d you get in my truck?”

“That’s not what you should be worrying about.”

“Oh, yeah?” Sanderson gripped the wheel with both hands and
glared over at his uninvited passenger. “What should I be worrying about?”

“How hot it is in hell.”

Sanderson screamed and swung his fist at Riley. The fist connected
with the window and Riley smiled. As Sanderson stared at him, he pointed at the
road. The truck had crossed the centerline and was well into the oncoming lane
of traffic.

The road took a sharp turn to the right and Sanderson grabbed
the wheel and cranked it sharply. Riley could hear the tires squeal as they
lost traction, then the truck hit the metal barrier and sheared the wood posts
off at the ground.

Sanderson yelled and leaned into the turn, but the truck was already
over the edge, the front wheels in the air. The tires turned, but the truck
plummeted out into space.

Riley watched as Sanderson pushed on both the wheel and the
brakes. His hands and legs were straight. The back end of the truck came up and
forced the front down. It fell past the rock wall, and Sanderson screamed
again.

The front bumper hit the ground first and was forced into the engine,
which was shoved back into the firewall. The man was thrown against the
steering wheel just before the weight from the rear of the truck collapsed the
driver’s compartment.

Riley stepped out of the truck and looked back in. He could see
Sanderson’s white face through the shattered windshield but the tangled metal
hid the rest of the body. Riley touched his fedora and saluted the wreckage
before turning away.

Now that he’d finally learned to travel, maybe he could get a
better look at those “closed files.”

THE END

Thank you for
reading
“KILL TO INHERIT”
If you enjoyed this book, I would appreciate it if you'd help
other readers enjoy it too by recommending it to friends, readers' groups, and
discussion boards, or by writing a short review on Amazon. Thank you.

The further
adventures of Sam Riley are in the planning stages, as he continues to try to
solve his own murder.