Until Death (7 page)

The caller had attempted to block his number, using the old *67 trick, but they’d still been able to trace him.

The phone belonged to
Hugh DuLane.

Hugh, who just happened to be Bennett’s size. Hugh, who just happened to have dark hair. Hugh…who just happened to have a sister who looked
exactly
like the other victims.

Fucking Hugh.

“No way,” Ivy said flatly. “He would never do this! And, hell, don’t you think I’d recognize my own brother’s voice?”

“He was at the ball last night,” Bennett reminded her.

“Yes, with me!” Her cheeks flushed and she yanked the phone from his hands. He knew that she was calling her brother even before she—

Worry slid across her face. She kept the phone near her ear, but it was obvious that Hugh wasn’t answering her. “Something is wrong,” Ivy said. She dropped the phone. “Hugh always takes my calls.”

“Where is he?”

She began to pace. “He was going to another ball tonight. His girlfriend—Shelly is in the Maidens of Folly. They were having her party at the Melton House tonight.”

Then he’d be getting his ass down to the Melton House. He knew exactly where that old mansion was—the place was often rented for wedding and parties, and he had no doubt that a big crowd would be there tonight.

“He could be in danger,” Ivy said. She dialed again on the phone. “Maybe I can get Shelly…” She paused a moment, then Bennett saw her face light up. “Shelly! Shelly, it’s Ivy. I need to speak with Hugh, right now.” She paused and Bennett could tell by her expression that the news Shelly had just given her wasn’t good. “When? No, no, please try to find him. Then call me. I’m on my way there.” She glanced at Bennett. “Shelly said that he disappeared about ten minutes ago. She lost him in the crush.”

Hell.

“He’s not doing this,” Ivy said definitely. “That bastard…last night, he mentioned Hugh to me. He said it was a shame…”

A shame?

“What if he’s hurting my brother, in order to get to me?”

Or what if your brother is as screwed up as your father? And we just didn’t notice it before?

Because that accident that had taken Bennett’s aunt…it had happened right during Mardi Gras. Right during the madness.

Coincidence?

And, Hugh…he’d been in the back seat of his father’s car. He’d seen that nightmare go down, and he’d watched his father get away with murder.

“Let’s go,” Bennett said.

But Ivy was ahead of him. She was already running for the door. He knew how things worked with Ivy and Hugh. No one ever came between them. He’d tried. And he’d gotten shut down real fast. Ivy would do anything for her brother.

But could she see the darkness inside of him?

“Stop sir,” a big, burly bouncer ordered as he stepped into Bennett’s path. His bald head gleamed under the light and a diamond winked from his right ear lobe. “Tails are required for this event.” He glanced toward Ivy and shook his head. “And ma’am, you
know
those jeans won’t get you inside.”

Bennett lifted his badge. “How about this? Will this get us inside?”

The bouncer stepped back and smiled. “You should’ve mentioned you had the VIP pass,” he murmured.

Bennett just nodded as he took Ivy’s hand and hurried past the security check-in. Music drifted in the air, spilling out from the open doors and windows at Melton House. The mansion was on a secluded fifteen acres, and the long wrap-around porch on the second floor was filled with men and women. Some wearing masks. Some without.

He was really getting sick of the masks.

“Bennett…” Ivy stopped.

He looked back at her, only Ivy was staring up at the balcony. He followed her gaze and saw the man in the white mask and black tux. A man who seemed to be staring straight down at her.

“The men don’t wear masks at this event,” she said quickly. “It’s a party for the women’s Mardi Gras organization. They’re the ones in masks, and Shelly’s group picked out green masks, I saw them at her place last week.”

Sonofabitch.

The man up there—he
bowed
to Ivy.

“That’s him,” she whispered. “Oh, my God—”

“Stop!” Bennett bellowed.

The man didn’t stop. He turned on his heel and started pushing through the crowd on the balcony. “Dammit!” Bennett kept his hold on Ivy and started running toward the entrance to Melton House. That jerk had been waiting out there. He’d
wanted
Ivy to see him.

He lured her here. He lured us both here.
Bennett tightened his hold on Ivy. He wasn’t going to let her out of his sight.

When they burst inside the house, Bennett’s gaze swept the packed scene. Ivy had been right—none of the men in the lower area of the house were wearing masks.

What is his plan?
Bennett wondered as he looked around.
What does he want?
He looked up, and then Bennett raced toward the spiral staircase.

“Ivy!”

Hugh stood in the middle of that staircase. He had on a black tux, with tails, and his dark hair was pushed away from his face. He smiled at Ivy. “What are you doing here?” Hugh asked her. “You—”

Bennett’s left hand slammed into the guy and he shoved Hugh against the railing.

“Bennett, no!” Ivy ordered as she tore free from him. “Stop it! My brother isn’t the one you’re after!”

She seemed so very certain, but then, Ivy didn’t trust anyone else the way she trusted Hugh. She’d do anything for Hugh. Lie. Fight.

Leave me.
Yes, he’d known that, even years ago.

“What’s your problem, Detective?” Hugh demanded.

It had gotten very, very quiet on that staircase. Bennett glanced around and saw that they had nearly everyone’s attention in the immediate area.

“Where is your phone?” Each word was a growl from Bennett.

Hugh just blinked. “Uh, in my pocket?”

Bennett let him go. “Give it to me.
Now.”

Hugh pulled out his phone. “You’re a crazy SOB, you know that?”

“You had this phone all night? You never let it out of your sight?”

Hugh looked around. His cheeks reddened. “You interrogating me,
now
?”

Ivy pushed against Bennett. “The man we’re after is getting away!”

Was he? Bennett wasn’t so sure…

***

“Hugh?” Shelly Estes rubbed her arms as she walked across the balcony on the west side of Melton House. It was dark back there, with only a few couples hiding in the shadows. Kissing. Sharing their secrets in the night.

The balcony on the east side had been a totally different story—the crush out there had been unbelievable. Probably because the band was playing closer to that balcony. It had been the place to see and be seen.

Maybe Hugh doesn’t want to be seen, though. Maybe he is out here.

She put her hands on her hips. When she found Hugh, the jerk was going to get it. He didn’t get to cut out in the middle of the ball, not when it was her night. Sure, she understood that he was worried about his sister, but that didn’t mean the guy got to pull a vanishing act on her and—

“You’re looking for Hugh DuLane?” A dark, deep voice queried from her right.

Shelly spun around. A tall, handsome man stood just a few feet away. He smiled at her, showing off perfectly straight, white teeth. “Or is there…” he murmured. “Another Hugh gone missing tonight?”

“Ah, no, I am looking for Hugh DuLane.” She took a step toward him. “Have you seen him?”

“I have.” His smile stretched a bit. “Want me to take you to him?”

Relief rushed through her. “Yes.” Then she’d give Hugh a serious piece of her mind.
Jerk.

He held up his hand to her. White gloves covered his fingers. She put her fingers in his. They headed back into the house.

He glanced over at her as the bright lights fell on them both and appreciation lit his gaze.
A brilliant, blue gaze.

Shelly hesitated. “Have we met before?” Because he seemed familiar. Maybe… “Didn’t I see you at the ball last night?”

His smile seemed to tighten. “Did you?”

She lifted her hand and her fingers brushed against her mask. She pulled it up so that he could see her face.

“I don’t think I’d forget a lady as lovely as you.”

That was nice. Hugh should say nice things like that to her.

The man’s gaze seemed to linger on her hair as he said, “No, I wouldn’t be able to forget a woman with hair like yours. So dark and beautiful.”

She laughed at that. “Well, actually, I was a redhead last night. But I like to change things up.” She’d wanted to look extra special for the ball, so a change had seemed like a good idea.

“Do you now…” He put his hand at the small of her back. Because her dress had a deep, plunging back, his gloved hand slid against her skin. A tingle of awareness pulsed through her.
This is why Hugh shouldn’t abandon me at a ball. There are plenty of other handsome men who can appreciate me.

Her smile stretched a little more. “How do you know Hugh?”

“I actually met him through his sister.” He steered her toward a closed door. He opened the door, but kept his other hand on her back. “Are you well acquainted with Ivy?”

She nodded. “Why, yes, I—”

He shoved her inside and shut the door behind him.

She stumbled and nearly fell as her high heels wobbled. “Wh-what are you doing?”

He turned the lock on the door. She realized they were in some kind of storage room. And they were alone.

He reached inside of his coat and pulled out a white mask. Staring at her, he put that mask over his face.

“This isn’t funny,” Shelly snapped. She tried to surge around him. “I’m going back to the party.”

He grabbed her, held her tight and—something sharp pressed under her chin. “You aren’t going anywhere,” he told her.

Her breath heaved out.

“I wasn’t going to kill you…you weren’t my plan.” The tip of a knife slid up her chin and began to trail over her lips. “But then you said you saw me last night. I had my mask on, love. You weren’t supposed to remember me.”

She…she… “Your eyes,” she whispered. “I remembered them.” Because she’d been at the whiskey bar with Hugh and Cameron. Cameron had been talking with that man. He’d looked over at them, and she’d been caught by his eyes. Such bright, blue eyes.

Unforgettable eyes.

Eyes that she suddenly wished she’d never seen.

Shelly wanted to scream, but that blade was right at her lips. She had a horrible flash of him cutting her mouth. Of him using that knife on her…

She stopped moving.

“Are you going to be good to me, Shelly?” he asked her.

She managed a nod.

“Good. Then don’t make a sound…” He moved the knife away from her lips. Her breath heaved out. Her heartbeat was drumming in her ears. Maybe if she didn’t fight him, he’d just let her go. Maybe…maybe he was just going to scare her.

“I won’t tell anyone,” Shelly whispered as tears stung her eyes. “I promise.”

He smiled at her. “I know you won’t.”

She tried to smile back at him.

He drove the knife into her chest. “Because the dead can’t talk.”

She stared up at his mask. Up at his unforgettable eyes. His eyes were the last thing she saw.

***

“This is bullshit!” Hugh snarled. “Get out of my face,
Detective
Morgan!”

Bennett just leaned closer. “You told me you had this phone with you all night. Then explain to me,” he ordered, “about the phone call that Ivy got less than thirty minutes ago. A call from the killer…from the guy I heard confess to stabbing the councilman.”

Hugh’s face went slack with shock. “Wait…
what?”

“If you had the phone, then
you
made the call.”

“No, I didn’t!” Hugh denied. His gaze swung to Ivy. “Hell, I swear it! You know I’d never do anything to hurt you!”

No, just the rest of the world.

“It wasn’t Hugh.” And Ivy shoved around them both as she hurried up the stairs. “And you two are wasting time. He’s up there!”

Bennett glared at Hugh even as he carefully put that phone in his coat pocket. He’d run the phone for prints and see what they turned up, and in the meantime, he’d keep Hugh in sight.

Hugh tried to push past him, hurrying after Ivy.

Bennett grabbed him and barked, “You do anything to hurt Ivy, and you are a dead man.” Ivy might trust her brother, but Bennett recognized the guy for exactly what he was.

Trouble.

He locked his hand in Hugh’s collar and pushed the guy up ahead of him. Ivy was at the top of the stairs now, and she glanced back, glaring at them both.

She didn’t see her brother for what he was—she had her blinders on with him. Always had. But Bennett wasn’t blind.

“I-I need to find Shelly,” Hugh mumbled. “I was going upstairs to get some air when I saw you come in.”

Bennett’s eyes narrowed at those words. So Hugh wanted him to believe that he hadn’t been on the balcony.

“Shelly was upstairs when I saw her last,” Hugh said, hurrying his steps as they neared the landing. “When we find her, she can clear everything up for me.”

Bennett wasn’t seeing Shelly, though. He also wasn’t seeing anyone else that could have been the killer.
Just Hugh.
The other men they passed didn’t match the guy’s description. A few moments later, Bennett followed Ivy out onto the balcony. There were only couples out there. One man with red hair was embracing a blonde. A balding guy was slow dancing with his partner. A fellow in Navy dress blues held hands with his date.

Where is the bastard in the mask?

“He’s not here,” Ivy said. She hurried past him and ran back into the hallway. “We should look—”

Hugh reached out and grabbed her arm. “If the killer is here, then I want to find Shelly, now.” A new urgency had entered his tone.

Ivy searched his gaze, then she nodded. She pulled out her phone and dialed quickly. “She answered me before. I’ll get her again.”

Hugh nodded, appearing relieved.

But…

“No answer,” Ivy said as she began to walk. She kept the phone at her ear, no doubt listening to it ring, as she said, “there’s another balcony around back, let’s search it.”

Bennett yanked Hugh after her. Bennett assessed every man they passed. He paused at the top of the stairs, his gaze trekking down below, looking for that taunting bastard. The men at this party weren’t wearing masks, though. The bastard had probably just taken it off once he’d left the balcony, and then he’d blended right in with the crowd.

The thick crowd truly did make for a perfect hunting ground.

He turned away from the stairs, ready to check that other balcony. Hugh was at his side, Bennett made sure of that with his grip on the guy. They took a few quick steps forward—

Hugh froze. “That’s her tone.”

Ivy kept walking. She still had the phone at her ear.

“That’s Shelly’s ring tone!” Hugh yelled.

Ivy whirled back around.

Hugh jerked free of Bennett’s hold. He put his head next to the door on the right. “I can hear it.” He glanced back at Ivy. “You know she loves Katie Perry.” He grabbed for the door knob and twisted, but the door didn’t open. “Shelly!” Hugh called. He knocked his fist on the door. “Shelly, open up! I need you to talk with the jerk Morgan! Tell him that I’ve been with you.”

Ivy put her phone down. Her worried gaze met Bennett’s.

“Shelly?” Hugh knocked on the door again. “Come on, baby. Open the door. This isn’t funny.” He laughed, the sound rough and awkward. “I’m sorry that I didn’t come back upstairs right away. It’s just…I needed a break. The crowd was pressing in on me. I felt like everyone was staring. Watching. You know the way gossip follows my family.”

There was no response from within that room. Bennett put his hand on Hugh’s shoulder and pushed him back. Bennett tried the knob—definitely locked.

“Maybe it’s not her,” Ivy said as she approached them. The phone on the other side of that door had stopped ringing. “I’m sure Katie Perry songs are real popular ring tones.”

Bennett glanced down at the phone cradled in Ivy’s hands. “Call her again.”

She swallowed and her fingers slid across the screen. He saw the screen note of
Dialing Shelly…
and Shelly’s smiling face appeared on Ivy’s screen.

Then the call connected.

And Katie Perry began to sing from behind the door.

“She could have dropped her phone,” Hugh said quickly as he gave a hard nod. “I bet that’s what happened. She dropped her phone in there. She’s probably somewhere else, hell, maybe she’s even looking for her phone…”

Bennett wasn’t so sure of that, and, judging by the worry on Ivy’s face, she wasn’t, either. They both knew the killer was there—and he could already have a new victim.

“Get back,” Bennett ordered.

“Why?” Hugh blustered. “What are you—”

Growling, Bennett pushed the guy back once more. Then he kicked in that door. If he was wrong, he’d pay for a new door. If he was right—