Carol Higgins Clark Boxed Set - Volume 1: This eBook collection contains Zapped, Cursed, and Wrecked. (18 page)

A
s Jack’s car zoomed up the West Side Highway, the tension in the car was increasing.

“I wonder if Huck ever got married,” Regan said. “We never asked Arthur if there was another name on the real estate documents.”

“I wonder if he married the roommate,” Kit scoffed.

“If he is married, then maybe he’s more likely to be home,” Jack reasoned.

They exited the highway at Seventy-second Street, made a quick left on West End Avenue and raced to the entrance of the Schwab House between Seventy-third and Seventy-fourth. The back of the building overlooked Riverside Drive, the West Side Highway, the Hudson River, and the cliffs of New Jersey.

Regan and Jack were the first ones to dash out of the car.

A doorman was sitting in the foyer, two lit candles on the table in front of him. He looked weary.

Jack quickly identified himself and showed the doorman his badge. “We need to speak to one of your residents, Huck Darling. It’s very important. Do you know if he’s home?”

The doorman snapped to attention. “You’re in luck. He just got home, but his wife was trying to convince him to drive out to New Jersey. He wouldn’t do it.”

“What floor does he live on?” Jack demanded. “This is urgent.”

“The twelfth. When you come out of the stairwell, his apartment is across the hall, first one to your left. But I don’t think I can let a group of people…”

Jack grabbed Regan’s hand. “Understood. My wife and I are going up. The others will wait down here.”

They took the steps in the dimly lit stairwell two at a time. When they reached the twelfth floor, they ran out into the hallway, found Huck Darling’s door, and rang the bell. Several times.

“Who’s there?” a man called out.

“Jack Reilly from the NYPD. Please open up.”

The door was opened a crack, but the chain was on. “Show me your badge.”

Quickly Jack complied.

The man closed the door, unlatched the chain, and opened it again. “What’s going on?” he asked, alarm in his voice.

Regan immediately noticed his blond hair. An attractive woman was standing a few feet behind him. Several candles had been lit in the apartment. The lights of New Jersey were visible through the living room window.

“We’re sorry to disturb you, but this is important,” Jack explained. “Are you Huck Darling?”

“Yes.”

“Did you know a Georgina Mathieson in college?”

“What?” the woman asked, stepping closer. “A Georgina who?”

“Yes, but not for long,” Darling answered nervously, ignoring his wife.

“Did she tell you exactly where the accident that took her grandmother’s life occurred?”

“I believe she did,” he said slowly.

“You
believe
she did or she did?” Regan asked, already sure that she’d never like this guy. There was just something about him.

“She did tell me.”

“Where was it?” Regan asked, her voice clipped.

He pointed out their living room window. “Right out there. On the West Side Highway just north of Seventy-second Street.”

“Right there?” Regan asked, unable to hide the astonishment in her voice.

“Yes, I went to check it out once. That’s what drew my attention to this building. I understand it was a terrible accident. I felt very sorry for Georgina, but I want you to know that Georgina was more than a little off—” he started to explain.

It was too late. Regan and Jack were gone. What a shameless jerk, Regan thought as she and Jack raced down the steps to the lobby.

G
eorgina was heating up the branding iron with her lighter. The black metal was getting hotter and hotter. I’d have made a great little girl scout, she thought, glancing at the words on the brand—
I AM A SNAKE
.

She started to get nervous and excited. She was breathing fast and her thoughts were racing. Being here at the spot where her grandmother died was making her even more agitated than she usually felt at this point.

Georgina positioned herself next to Chip’s right arm. Wait a minute, she thought. He’s a lefty. I noticed that tonight. It’s much worse to have my brand on the arm you use most often. Just above the wrist, with the letters facing out for all the world to see.

She stood up and walked around the motionless body. “My first lefty,” she whispered to him. “But certainly not my last.”

“T
he accident happened on the West Side Highway right behind here!” Regan shouted to Kit, Melanie, and Billy, as she and Jack hurried out the front door of the Schwab House.

“Behind here?” Kit cried in disbelief. “And Georgina’s ex lives in this building?”

“His apartment even has a view of the accident site,” Regan said with disgust as she and Jack starting running to the corner, followed by Melanie.

Billy hesitated. “Kit, I don’t want to leave you alone…”

“I’ll be okay!” Kit insisted. “Go ahead! I’ll catch up with you.”

Billy turned and took off, joining the sprint down Seventy-third Street to Riverside Park. The park was a narrow, scenic, four-mile strip of land between the Hudson River and Riverside Drive. It began at Seventy-second Street, where the West Side Highway became the Henry Hudson Parkway, and stretched four miles.

“Wait a second,” Jack instructed after they all reached the park’s entrance at Seventy-second Street, where a statue of Eleanor Roosevelt greeted them. “It’s so dark here it’s impossible to see a foot in front of you without a flashlight. Let’s spread out a little and cover this area just north of Seventy-second Street without losing sight of each other’s lights. If Georgina’s in the park, let’s hope she didn’t wander too far from the scene of the accident, which I gather happened right up there.” He pointed to the highway where cars were speeding past the spot that had changed Georgina’s life.

Silently, the four of them fanned out.

She’s got to be very close to here, Regan thought as she hurried down a grassy knoll toward the highway underpass. If Georgina’s grandmother was thrown from a car above, depending on which direction she was traveling, she either landed right around here, or on the other side of the underpass closer to the river. Georgina may have wanted to take Chip down by the waterfront where it’s even more isolated. And if she left him there and he woke up disoriented, he could end up falling in and drowning. I have to look over there now, Regan thought with a sudden urgency. She turned, about to call out to Jack. But a sound, almost imperceptible, made her stop in her tracks.

Several feet from Regan, behind a cluster of bushes, Georgina was on the ground facing the stone wall that extended up to the side of the highway. She had just flicked off her lighter. Staring at its flame as she heated up the brand and her total absorption in the task had put her into a trancelike state. With her right hand she was holding on tight to the handle of the scalding hot brand. Chip’s left arm was perfectly still on the ground. Narrowing her eyes, Georgina positioned the brand and aimed it at his skin.

“Stop!” a woman’s voice screamed as a light from behind suddenly illuminated the sickening sight.

Startled, a wild-eyed Georgina turned her head toward the source of the light, then quickly turned her attention back to Chip. But it was too late. Arms reached around her torso, pulled her up, and yanked her back away from Chip’s body.

Thank God, Regan thought, as they both fell backward to the ground, Georgina’s body landing on top of hers. Georgina, holding on to the branding iron more tightly than ever, started screaming as she twisted her body and flailed her arms, desperately trying to break free of Regan’s grasp.

“Regan!” Jack yelled as he raced toward them.

“Watch out! The brand!”

In an instant, Jack, Melanie, and Billy were just feet away.

“Train your flashlights on them!” Jack ordered.

“Ahhhh,” Regan yelled as a corner of the brand grazed her left arm. With all her might, her arms around Georgina’s waist, Regan rolled their bodies to the right.

Georgina extended her right arm outward as they rolled, keeping the brand a safe distance from herself. With lightning speed, Jack lunged forward and forcefully brought his foot down on Georgina’s right forearm, pinning it to the ground. He reached out and grabbed her left wrist, holding it tight.

“Let go of the brand!” he commanded.

“You’re hurting me!” she wailed, her fingers grasping the brand.

“I said let go.”

Jack’s foot pressed down harder on her arm. She cried out in pain and released her grip. Jack reached down, picked the brand up, and quickly handed it over to Billy. “Regan, are you okay?” he asked as he pulled Georgina to her feet and snapped a pair of handcuffs around her wrists. “Did you get burned?”

“Just barely,” Regan answered as she scrambled over to Chip’s body, tried to shake him awake, then grabbed his wrist. “His pulse is low,” she cried. “He won’t wake up. Call an ambulance.”

“I already did,” Kit shouted as she crutched down the hill. “They’re on their way. I think it’s coming now.”

As the sound of the approaching ambulance grew louder, Jack growled to Georgina, “You’d better pray that this guy makes it. What did you slip him?”

“I didn’t give him anything!” she protested. “We had a couple of drinks, that’s all.”

Regan held Chip’s hand and tapped his face. “Come on, Chip. There are a lot of people who love you and are so worried. Your parents and your sister and your friend Phil…there were search parties of people you don’t even know out looking for you tonight…they can’t wait to see you and talk to you…”

The ambulance screeched to a halt on Riverside Drive, followed by several patrol cars. Paramedics hurried into the park with a stretcher. As Regan explained what happened, they quickly placed an oxygen mask on Chip’s face, took his vital signs, and gave him a shot of flumazenil. “We’ll get him to the hospital.”

“Is he going to be all right?” Regan asked anxiously. Jack was standing next to her, his arm draped protectively around her shoulder. Kit and Billy were standing a few feet away.

One of the emergency medical workers nodded. “I think so. His vital signs are okay. If she did slip him chloral hydrate and he was drinking alcohol, he’ll be out of it for a while. But he’s young and looks strong.”

Regan sighed with relief. “I’ll contact his family. We’ll meet you at the hospital.”

“Yes, ma’am. St. Luke’s,” he said as the paramedics started wheeling the stretcher out of the park.

Jack pulled Regan close. “Are you sure you’re okay? You yelped in pain. Let me see where she got you.” He shone his flashlight on her left arm. An angry red mark stood in stark contrast to Regan’s pale skin. “Regan! Look at that!”

“Oh, Regan!” Kit echoed.

Regan shrugged. “I’m just so grateful she didn’t drop that brand on Chip or throw it at his face when I grabbed her. Can you imagine if…”

Melanie came running toward them. She had gotten cold water and an icepack from the ambulance. “Here, Regan, this is for your arm. The paramedics couldn’t believe you didn’t tell them you were burned.”

“I didn’t want them to waste time on me. Honestly, it’s just now that I’m starting to feel it. It doesn’t hurt much,” Regan insisted, as Jack took the water and poured it over her arm. “That does feel good, though. I’ve gotten burns much worse than this when I’ve tried to cook dinner,” she joked. “Remember, Kit?”

Kit smiled. “Yes, I do.”

“Now, if she had branded me with
I AM A SNAKE
, then I’d be upset.”

Jack shook his head as he tenderly held the icepack against her arm.

Regan smiled. “Listen, everybody. I’m really okay. We’ve got to get to the hospital. Let’s go.” She reached into her pocket for her cell phone as they started to move. “And before another minute passes, I’ve got to make some very important phone calls.”

Georgina was ahead of them, being led out of the park in handcuffs. A small group was gathered on the sidewalk, watching the events unfold. Georgina barely glanced at them, but her brain registered a flicker of familiarity, and she looked again. The color drained from her face. It was as if she’d seen a ghost.

In a way, she had.

Huck Darling was standing just a few feet away.

“I’m sorry, Georgina,” he said as he approached her. “I didn’t mean to hurt you…

Georgina glared at him, and with a perfect aim, spit in his face. As the onlookers gasped, she got in the back of the patrol car.

“W
ell, we’re almost there, finally!” Clay said testily. “Did you have to spend so much time talking to that woman about your fan club?”

“If she wants to start one, I couldn’t be rude.”

“I hate to tell you, but if you don’t get those letters back, there won’t be a need for a fan club.”

“Call the Reillys again and make sure they aren’t home.”

Clay did as he was told. “No answer. Maybe they’re out of town. That would be a treat.”

As they approached Tribeca, the streetlights flickered on. “Oh, no!” Lorraine cried. “It would have been better for us if the power were still off and the Reillys’ building was dark!”

Clay shook his head. “I told you not to waste time. It’s just a couple more blocks. Let’s hope the key still works. If it does, we’ll get in and out and be on our way. Do you think you can jog?”

“Of course I can,” she insisted, even though the sides of the borrowed shoes were chafing her skin. Mind over matter, she thought as they ran down the narrow street. We’re almost there.