Death Angel (45 page)

“Start walking,” Mike snapped.

Carl waved Kate ahead. She took several
steps, then tripped, falling on one knee. Carl wasn’t sure if it had been real,
but he reached out to help her up.

“Don’t touch her, Leidecker.” Mike
glared at Kate. “Get up and this time stay on your feet.”

She struggled upright, crying out when
she stepped on her right foot. Mike kept an eye on Carl, daring him to try
anything. Kate limped around the side of the cabin. Carl came next, then Mike,
knife in one hand and the gun in his other.
 

Inside, Kate hobbled over to a chair.
She flopped down and leaned over, groaning as she massaged her ankle. Ignoring
her, Mike kicked the door shut, and waved Carl over to the far side of the
table.

“Well, Chief Leidecker, what brings you
up to our neck of the woods?”

“A Glen Sather came by the station
yesterday.” The gun in Mike’s hand jerked in recognition of the name. “The man
had quite a bit to say. While my officers were looking into his story, I
decided to have a talk with Kate. When I got to her house, I discovered you’d
both come up here for a vacation. Thought I’d better drop in and say hello.”

“How’d you find the cabin?”

“I fish Beaverton quite a bit. After
Richard disappeared, I had the Wisconsin police check out the place to see if
he was here. The next time I came up fishing, I tried to find the cabin. That
marsh is a sonovabitch. I thought this time I’d come through the woods.”

“Sorry you made the trip for nothing.”

“Listen to me. Right now I’ve got an
entire team focused on every facet of your life. By the end of the day there’ll
be enough evidence to take to the grand jury. When I called in to say I’d
arrived at the lake, two of my men were on their way to the hospital to meet
with both sets of nurses who were working the second floor the day Jenny
died.”
 

“What’s that to me?”

“Trust me on this. If you thought we put
a lot of pressure on Richard, imagine what it would be like if anything
happened to either Kate or an officer of the law. You think I’m tenacious? My
cops are as relentless as a pack of pit bulls.”

Carl stared into Kennedy’s eyes trying
to read the man’s reaction. He didn’t want to panic him, only let him know that
he was in real danger of being arrested. At the same time, he hoped to convince
him not to hurt Kate.

 
He tried not to think about the blind fury
that had made him careless when Mike attacked her.

“Can I get something for my foot?” Kate
asked, breaking into the tense silence of the room. “My ankle really
hurts.”
 

“Stop your whining. It’s just a sprain.”

“Can I get some ice?”

“There’s none left.”

“I could use one of the cans in the
cooler,” she continued. “Please?”

“Oh, for God’s sake! If that’s what it
takes to shut you up, go get one.”

She staggered across to the cooler,
wincing at every step. Lifting the top, she took out a can. Back in her chair,
she propped up the sore foot and rubbed the can back and forth, sighing aloud.
Mike stared at Kate, his glance speculative.
 

“Just out of curiosity, Doctor, how’d
you figure out I was here?” Carl asked to draw his attention away from Kate.

“The old gal I was talking to out front
owns a tavern down the shore. The bartender told her a guy came in while she was
down at the marina. Said he was up fishing and was a friend of mine. Asked a
load of questions about when I’d gotten up here, etc. The bartender told her
the guy was a cop.”

Mike pointed the gun at Carl and
laughed. “After she left, I decided I’d better look around back. I was just in
time to catch Kate making a break for it.”

Mike set the gun down and picked up
Carl’s knife by the handle. Suddenly he glanced up.
 

“All right, Leidecker. Sit in that
chair.”
 

Carl moved the chair close to the wall
so he’d have a clear path to Mike. He sat down and waited.

Putting the knife down, Mike reclaimed
the gun. “All right, Kate. There’s some rope on the floor under the shelf. Get
it. And if you blink, Leidecker, I’ll shoot her first.”

Kate hobbled over and picked up the
rope. He wagged the gun at her.
 

“Tie him up. And you better make it
good, I’ll be watching.”

Carl sat forward the slightest bit so
that when she looped the rope around his body, it looked tight but wasn’t. She
came around to tie his legs and as she leaned over she lost her balance,
catching herself on his shoulder. Her head was beside his ear.

“The safety’s on.”

The words were only a breathy hiss, but
he heard them.

Methodically he reviewed his actions.
While Kate was climbing out the bedroom window, he’d crawled across the floor,
and reached up for the gun on the shelf. He pulled it down and finding the
safety lever, he pressed it down to take the safety off.
 

When Mike forced his hand, Carl had set
the gun on the windowsill. He touched the safety lever but hadn’t reset it. On
the slim chance he could jump Mike, he wanted the gun ready to shoot. When Mike
picked up the gun, he must have assumed that Carl had put the safety on, so he
flicked up the lever. The significance hadn’t registered. Carl snuck a quick
peek at the gun. Kate was right.

The safety was on.
 

The trigger was locked in place. Mike
wouldn’t realize his error until he tried to fire the gun. When that moment
came, Carl knew they would have their chance.

Kate finished tying him. She struggled
to her feet and limped back to her chair.
 

“Can I get another soda?”

“Yes, and while you’re there bring me a
beer.”
 

She gave him the cold can, and then sat
back down to chill her sore ankle. Mike popped open the beer, tipping his head
to drink.
 

“How did you manage an alibi for the
time of Jenny’s death?” Carl asked. “You were seen at the hospital at 2:45 and
3:19. Unless the nurses were covering for you, that’s not enough time.”

Mike’s face lit up at Carl’s obvious
confusion. He took another gulp of beer then slapped the can down on the table.
“It was the damnedest stroke of luck. I was in Mrs. Olson’s room when two of
the nurses going off shift came in. We chatted for a moment. They left. I
noticed she was having trouble breathing. I stayed with her until she was more
comfortable and told her I’d increase the oxygen. I made a note on her chart
for the nurse coming on shift, and then I left.”

Kate’s hands were clenched on the seat
of her chair. Her expression was a mixture of pain and fascination. Carl prayed
Mike wouldn’t get too graphic because he doubted if Kate could handle the
details. He strained at the ropes, feeling them slip on the oily perspiration
covering his skin. He was grateful for the heat in the room. If he sweated enough,
he’d slide right out of the ropes.
 

Mike tipped his head back, staring into
space. “I was driving down the street when I saw this little girl fall. At
first I didn’t even realize it was Jenny. When I did, I pulled over to the
curb.”

He scratched the beard stubble on his
jaw, his expression pensive. His eyes were unfocused as if he were mentally
watching the events unfold.
 

“Jenny had fallen and scraped her knee.
She was crying. I rolled down the window and called to her. When she got in the
car, she looked so sad I gave her one of the ButterSkots I had in my pocket.”

He turned to Kate.
 

“I never meant to hurt her. I swear to
you I had never touched her before. I was only going to bring her home. When I
hugged her and she snuggled up to me, I just wanted to be with her for a little
more time.”

“She adored you, you bastard.”
 

Carl held his breath. Mike blinked at
the hostile tone and the moment of compassion was gone. He turned away from her
and faced Carl.

“After it was over, I had to get away. And
I knew I would need an alibi. I raced back to the hospital. I was just coming
up the back stairs onto the second floor when I realized there was a code
blue.”
 

Mike’s voice was devoid of emotion.
Strictly conversational. Carl hoped it would stay that way.
 

“One of your patients?”

“No. A Joe Blalock. He was old Doc
O’Brien’s patient. Died.” Mike shook his head. “At any rate, when I got on the
floor, I ducked into Mrs. Olson’s room. She was awake and wanted to know why
nobody’d been in to see her since I left. I told her that because of the
emergency down the hall, the new shift hadn’t gotten to her yet. I was still
pretty shaken up, so I picked up her chart to give myself a chance to calm
down. I looked at my watch. It was 3:50. I had one chance to create an alibi. I
changed the time I ordered the oxygen increase to 3:19, and told Mrs. Olson I’d
sit with her for awhile.”

“No wonder,” Carl said, putting a touch
of awe in his voice. “So when the nurse came in, she thought you’d been there
all the time.”

“Exactly.” Mike smiled. “The moment I
heard her footsteps, I pretended I was asleep in my chair. She tiptoed across
to the chart, spoke to Mrs. Olson, and then left. When my beeper went off, I
said good-bye to my patient and went out to talk to the nurses at the desk.”

“Why did you bring me up here?”
 

Kate‘s question startled both men. She
tried not to stare at the gun on the table. Mike was still too watchful. It
wasn’t the right time. She’d have to wait.

“The case was closed, but you wouldn’t
let it alone. Questions. Looking up things at the library. I knew I had to stop
you.”

“People knew I was coming up here with
you. Marian knew. Were you planning to stage some kind of an accident?”

Mike laughed, but there was little humor
in the sound. “Better than that. I wrote several prescriptions for you and
talked to several people in the hospital about how worried I was about your
depression. I even told Marian. You’ve been under a terrible strain, so I don’t
suppose it would surprise anyone if you took some sort of overdose. Of course,
I’d have done everything to revive you but my efforts would naturally have been
in vain.”

Kate nodded. “That makes a certain
amount of sense and might have worked. Now with Carl here you’ll have to come
up with another scenario.”

“Yes, he’s complicated things. I
definitely need a new plan since it looks as if my time in Pickard is up. So
we’ll sit tight here until nightfall,” Mike said. “Then I’ll take the boat and
make a run for it.”

She didn’t believe him. She glanced at
Carl, and could see in his eyes the truth. Mike would leave, but he would kill
them before he left. It was still daylight, but the sun would be going down
soon. She guessed the time at six or six-thirty. A couple of hours before it
was dark. That would be the time to make their move. Until then she needed to
marshal her strength.

“If that’s the case, I’d like to lie
down. My ankle’s still killing me, and I’m tired.”

“You know, I’m getting pretty damn
annoyed with your complaints.”

His face reddened and his fingers
twitched on the butt of the gun. Kate hurried to placate him.

“I’m sorry for all my moaning, but my
ankle’s throbbing.”

Her apology seemed to appease him. “If
you want to lie down, you can use the floor.”

She lay down beside her chair, her back against
the wall. Knees pulled up to her chest, she pillowed her head on her arm and
closed her eyes. Richard’s penknife was somewhere on the floor, but she hadn’t
been able to spot it. She wondered what Carl had done with his gun. Had he
hidden it in the bedroom before Mike forced him outside?
 

She tried to think how they could get
the gun or the knife away from Mike, but she really was exhausted. She tried to
relax letting her body drift into a mindless trance.

“Get up, Kate.”

The impatient call broke into Kate’s
semiconscious state. For a moment, she wondered why she was lying on the floor.
With a jolt, she remembered where she was and raised her eyes to Mike sitting
at the table, glowering down at her. She jerked her head. Carl was still tied
to the chair, but she noticed he’d managed to work his feet free. His eyes were
steady and encouraging as they met hers.

The cabin was filled with shadows. The
edges of objects were beginning to blur, growing indistinct in the gathering
dusk. The time was near when she and Carl would have to make a move.
 

“Light the lantern.”

Kate jumped at the barked order. Tilting
on the back legs of his chair, Mike waved the gun in the direction of the
Coleman lantern. The stiffness of her body lent credibility to her awkward
movements as she limped across the room. She picked up the lantern, set it on
the corner of the shelf beside the stove, and lit a match.