Ever Present Danger (35 page)

“What do you mean?”

“You had on brown loafers when you got in the elevator.”

“Loafers? Nah. I don’t wear loafers.” Bill kept his eyes fixed on the photo. “You must have me mixed up with someone else.”

“I’m positive because I remember they matched your leather jacket perfectly—right down to the smooth texture. Reminded me of a Hershey bar.”

Bill turned, his eyes locking on to hers. “I’m tellin’ you I’ve never owned a pair of brown loafers. You’re obviously mistaken.”

Or I’ve been duped
.

Suddenly, the room seemed to pulsate with the same terrifying presence that had followed her home after her last date with Bill.

Ivy sucked in a breath and forgot to exhale, her heart hammering, her behind feeling as though it were welded to the church pew.

“What’s the matter with you?” Bill said. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost or somethin’.”

She struggled to find her voice but couldn’t make a sound.

“Ivy, what the—?”

She shoved him with all her might, then jumped up and raced to the back door and pushed it with her shoulder again and again, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Will you settle down?” Bill’s hands closed around her upper arms like a vice.

“Take me home right now!”

“Will you please just tell me what’s wrong?”

Ivy looked down at her belt and realized her cell phone was in her purse on the pew. “I want to go home!”

“Why have you gone postal on me? What’d I do?”

“You lied to me!” she shouted. “You absolutely
were
wearing brown loafers. I don’t trust you anymore.”

“You’re being irrational!”

“No, I’m not. You wouldn’t lie unless you had something to hide.”

“Like what?”

Ivy thought her heart would pound out of her chest.

“Come on,” Bill prodded. “If you’re accusin’ me of somethin’, let’s hear it.”

“Just take me home.”

“Not till we clear this up. Just talk to me straight and say what you’re thinkin’.”

“All right. I think you’re the one who put the note in my pocket and tried to make me think Mr. Hadley shot Pete and Reg and Denny!”

“Why would I do that?”

“So I wouldn’t suspect that you did it!
You
killed them!”

Bill spun her around and grabbed her wrists. “Ivy, listen to me. You’re not thinkin’ clearly.”

“Oh, yes, I am. For the first time in a long time! You deceived me!”

“It’s not what you think! I love you. I’ve always loved you. I just wanted us to have a chance to be together. I had to break Pete’s hold on you.”

“I told you I had no interest whatsoever in Pete!”

Bill tightened his grip. “Come on. Even after ten years you wouldn’t go to the reunion with me because you were afraid of what he’d think! It was always gonna be like that. I couldn’t compete with Pete, and you needed to be free. Don’t you see? It was the only way.”

Ivy started to cry. “That’s not true! And why would you kill Reg and Denny? Reg’s wife is eight months pregnant. Did you even think of that?”

“I didn’t have a choice. They saw me.” Bill’s eyes blazed. “But they shouldn’t have dissed me at Grinder’s either. How dare they treat me like I was nothin’ more than a cockroach? And how dare they dump Joe Hadley’s body in a hole, throw dirt on him, and just walk away like nothin’ ever happened? They got what they deserved. What difference does it make if it was me or Mr. Hadley who evened the score?”

“Don’t hand me that! You didn’t know they killed Joe until I told you!”

“Yeah, I did. I saw you guys drive off with Joe the afternoon he disappeared.” Bill let go of her wrists. “I never said anything to the sheriff because hangin’ out with you guys was all I really had. Plus if I’d blown the whistle, the guys would’ve turned me in for buyin’ drugs. I never knew for sure how they killed Joe till his bones were found, but I knew they did.”

“How’d you know I wasn’t in on it?”

“Because I know you—better than anyone.”

Ivy raked her hands through her hair. “So you just left the Aspen Room, followed the guys to their room and shot them, then came back and asked me to dance? How cold can you get?”

“Look, I didn’t plan to kill Reg and Denny, but when I saw the three of them leave together, I knew it was the opportunity I’d been waitin’ for, and I took it. I had an exact change of clothes out in the car, except the shoes were different. I didn’t think anyone would notice.”

“Bill, you’re in so much trouble.”

“Not unless you tell. The feds can’t prove anything. I tested negative for gunpowder residue because I wore gloves. I tested negative for blood because I changed clothes. I was only out of the Aspen Room for maybe twenty minutes max. I’ve burned all the evidence. They’ll never catch me.”

Brandon Jones sat at the dinner table picking at his mashed potatoes, thinking back on his earlier conversation with Jake Compton.

“Are you okay?” Kelsey Jones said. “You finally come home after a late meeting with Jake, never even asked me how my day was, and you’ve hardly touched your dinner.”

Brandon glanced over at her and took a bite of meatloaf. “Dinner’s great, honey. I’m just a little preoccupied. How
was
your day?”

“I really enjoyed having Ivy over this morning. We can talk about that later, though. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

“Oh, Jake really ticked me off just before I left the office, and I’m not sure how I should respond to it. I know one thing, if he doesn’t stop butting into my personal business, my job is going to get old really fast.”

“How can you say that?” Kelsey put down her fork. “We spent weeks praying about this job. You’re right where the Lord wants you.”

“I’m beginning to wonder.”

“Tell me what happened.”

Brandon lifted his eyes and looked into Kelsey’s. “Jake’s got some personal grudge against Buzz and resents me hanging out with him, that’s all.”

“What grudge?”

Brandon shrugged. “Don’t know. He’s being really weird about it, but he won’t talk straight to me.”

“Did you ask him point-blank?”

“Yeah, but he never said. I told him either to tell me outright why he has a problem with Buzz or drop it. He’s got a lot of nerve ragging on the guy without giving specifics.”

Kelsey snickered. “Well, we can all guess the gist of his concern. Buzz’s crude talk is probably just a preview of what’s in his heart.”

“I admit Buzz is rough around the edges, but he totally respects the fact that I’m a Christian. He’s different around me than he is other guys.”
I can’t believe I just lied to my wife to protect Buzz
.

“Ivy mentioned something when she was here that really has me bothered now,” Kelsey said. “She was out with Bill Saturday night and saw Buzz with a woman at some tavern in Mt. Byron. She said the woman wasn’t his wife. And Ivy knows who Maggie is because the Eastons go to Jewel’s every Saturday morning for breakfast. Do you know if Buzz is cheating on Maggie?”

Brandon picked up his iced tea and took a sip. “How would I know a thing like that?”

“Well, has he ever flirted with other women when he’s with you?”

Why flirt when he can stop in any time and have sex with his girlfriend?
“Not that I’ve noticed.”

“What, no wolf whistles? Crude remarks? Off-color jokes?”

“Honey, Buzz is who he is. I blow off most of what he says and does. As long as he respects where I’m coming from, we get along fine.”

“I think you should press Jake to tell you specifics. What if there’s something you need to know so you don’t end up in a compromising situation?”

“Like what?”

“Well, for one thing, if Buzz is cheating on Maggie, I don’t want her to think you’re covering for him.”

Brandon buttered his dinner roll. “Do you really think I would do that?”

“Absolutely not. I trust that you’ve got the spiritual backbone to stand up for what’s right.”

Ivy felt as if she were going to throw up. “Will you please just take me home?”

“I can’t do that,” Bill said.

“I promise not to say anything about this.”

“I can’t take that chance.”

“Meaning what? You going to kill me, too?”

Bill’s face fell. “After all I’ve done so we can be together, and you still don’t believe I love you?” He stroked her cheek, then took hold of her arm and unlocked the door. “Come on. I know where we can go till I figure out what to do.”

Bill pulled her close, his hand over her mouth, and forced her out to the van, then pushed her up in the back. He put a gag in her mouth and tied her wrists and ankles.

“I hate doin’ this, Ivy. But until you get your thinkin’ straightened out, I don’t want you doin’ anything that’ll mess up what we’ve got goin’.”

“We haven’t got anything going!” Ivy shouted, her words muffled and indistinguishable.

“I’ll take the gag off when we get to the cabin,” Bill said.

Cabin?
Her mind raced with the horrible implications of being holed up with a guy obsessed with possessing her. The thought that he might force himself on her was revolting enough. But she knew he could never let her go now that she knew the truth.

God, please help me get out of this. I promise I’ll tell the truth about Joe’s death. Don’t let Montana lose his mother. Not now. Not after all he’s been through
.

“Okay, sweetheart. Just try to relax and enjoy the ride.” Bill
lifted her head and gently slipped something soft under it. “After all these years, my dream’s finally comin’ true.”

Ivy winced when the back doors slammed shut. Seconds later the van started and turned right onto Three Peaks Road.

IVY GRIFFITH, her wrists tied behind her, walked up four wooden steps covered in pine needles to the front porch of what appeared to be a small log cabin. She’d almost made a run for it when Bill Ziwicki untied her ankles, then realized that, even if she could manage to escape, she might not survive in the crisp Colorado night dressed in only jeans and a sweater.

Bill unlocked the door, pushed it open, and flipped the light switch, then prodded her inside to a large room reeking with an unpleasant fishy odor and the distinctive smell of charred firewood. She saw an iron skillet on the stove and considered that she might be able to use it as a weapon if she ever got her wrists untied. She noticed Bill had left the van keys in the ignition.

She walked across the creaky wood floor and a grimy oval rug that looked as though it had never been vacuumed and decided the place looked at least fifty years old. The furnishings were basic: a knotty pine table and chairs. A dilapidated brown sofa and two gold chairs that would have been stylish in the seventies. Maple end tables with spindly legs, and a matching coffee table marred with deep scratches and coffee rings. The curtains on the windows had probably been white once, but were now a dingy yellow.

This is hideous—just like him!
Ivy thought.

“I’ll take off your gag if you promise not to scream,” Bill said. “No one will hear you anyway, so you’d be wastin’ your time.”

Ivy nodded, and Bill removed the gag.

She took a couple of slow, deep breaths, thinking the air in the room was so stale it must have been years since the windows had been opened.

“Where are we?” she said, stealing a glance at her watch and noting it had been thirty-seven minutes since they left the church.

“Does it really matter? We’re finally together the way I always dreamed.” Bill brushed the hair off her face and a chill shot up her spine.

“You cold?”

“Freezing.”

“Okay, let me get a fire goin’. There’s absolutely no place to run so forget tryin’ to run off. You might as well settle in and get comfortable.”

“How am I supposed to feel comfortable when you’re holding me here against my will?”

“You’ll change your mind when you realize we were meant for each other. You just need to reconcile Pete’s death, that’s all. He had to die for you to be free. Eventually you’ll understand that. It’s all that garbage about God and sin and guilt that’s messin’ with your mind.”

“Bill, I’m supposed to be at work in the morning. I can’t afford to miss. I need the money.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not goin’ back to Jewel’s. I’ll be takin’ care of you now.”

“But I need to get home to Montana. He needs me.”

“I know.” Bill struck a match and lit the kindling, then used the bellows until the logs were ignited and flames danced in the fireplace. “We’ll worry about Montana as soon as we get settled. We need time to get used to each other first.”

Ivy looked around and saw only one bedroom, and dread covered her like a heavy, dark mantle.

Flint Carter paced in his office, his hands in his pockets, his mind alive with the one possibility he had never considered in a decade of wondering what had happened to Joe Hadley.