Final Surrender (28 page)

She kissed him one last time then pulled free. All of her staff glanced away, trying to make themselves look busy with the models. All except Jose and Maddy. He smiled like a schoolgirl and waggled his finger at them both. Maddy’s jaw hit the floor.

Angela’s heart jumped in her chest and she laughed.

Sharing her love of Clay with the world?

Not in the least underrated.

“Hello, everyone,” Angela said into the microphone she now held in her hand.

Clay watched from his side of the stage. He saw Wyatt on the other side doing the same, and when he looked past Angela receiving a round of applause, he saw Campbell surveying the crowd from the floor. Mark, Clare and her parents were seated in the front row on the right side. Mark kept watch for anything out of the ordinary, but everything seemed…fine.

“Anything?” he whispered into his earpiece.

“Nothing,” was echoed back, from Campbell and Wyatt, before Angela continued.

“Thank you all so very much for coming today, especially in this very bad weather.” As if to emphasize her point a huge thunderclap chose that very moment to crash outside.

The crowd chuckled and Angela paused, probably gathering her thoughts. Or just enjoying the moment. She’d sure as hell earned it.

“I’ve heard all my life every storm has a silver lining. As most of you know I’ve had a bit of a storm brewing for a while now.”

The people in the audience nodded and whispered.

She smiled brightly and closed her eyes. “I’ve done something a bit different for this show. Something you probably won’t be expecting, and up until a few months ago, something I never thought I would be a part of.”

The crowd murmured again and the anticipation filtered through the darkened space.

Angela looked to the side at Clay and motioned for him to come join her. He frowned and shook his head.

“I’d like you all to meet someone, but be nice. He’s a little shy. Wouldn’t you guys like to meet my fiancé?”

For a breath the entire room went quiet and then the storm outside couldn’t hold a candle to the cacophonous roar of applause filling the building. Most of the people under the roof were either colleagues or friends of hers, and he should have known she wanted to share her good fortune with them.

She grinned like a fool, and Clay rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help the smile that popped up on his face. He unwound his arms that had been crossed in front of his chest and stepped around the end of the wall and into the spotlight.

The crowd applauded again, hoots and hollers roaring about the rest of the noise all around. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her for all to see.

Several catcalls came from the back of the room and Clay looked down into the face of the woman he loved and asked, “What are you doing, you little devil?”

“Showing you off. Isn’t it obvious?” she responded.

He rubbed his nose against hers and kissed her mouth again.

Angela pulled the microphone back up to her mouth as she turned to the crowd, “And I have a very personal stake in this collection. I have so much to be thankful for. I hope you enjoy these pieces as much as we enjoyed making them. Thanks!”

Clay took the microphone from her, handed it back to the emcee and then walked off stage with Angela hand in hand.

He kissed her again, as the lights dimmed and the music started.

The first model, who was hugely pregnant, was dressed in a silver evening gown that highlighted her more than ample chest and rounded belly. Angela had literally created a dress that was the silver lining she had spent her whole life looking for.

She waved the model out and Clay heard the crowd gasp and break into applause again as they put two and two together on what the collection really meant to her.

A sigh of relief left her lips as model after model went out without incident and was met with flashbulbs exploding all around them.

As always, from what she’d explained earlier, they all worked up until the last moment before a model was cleared to turn the corner.

All too quickly, the last model was making her way back down the runway back stage.

Midway through the show, Angela had changed into an outfit all her own and she followed the other models out in one last parade of her entire fall collection.

Her outfit was an A-line halter style dress in a shimmering pale blue fabric. Her belly protruded just enough to leave no illusions to anyone in the audience.

Everyone stood and cheered when Angela made it to the end of the catwalk. She did her best impression of a model pose, curtsied like only she could do and walked back to the beginning of the stage with her head held higher than Clay’d ever seen it.

The show was a huge success and a little while later, Angela stood in the wide prep area surrounded by the press and fans who were all congratulating her on the collection and her engagement and gushing over how beautiful she looked pregnant.

It was chaotic with people everywhere, but Clay and Wyatt hovered close by to keep Angela out of harm’s way.

Campbell was in the crowd and Clay caught a glimpse of him making his way to the back of the room.

Clay caught Wyatt’s eye and motioned toward the back. He saw Campbell and nodded to Clay. He turned to walk away and Clay said into his headset, “Campbell, where are you going?” he asked as his partner passed into the back.

“You said it was like it was right under our noses right?”

“Yes, I know it is. Why?” And Clay scanned the area again and wondered why all the hair on the back of his neck had just stood up.

“Do you guys remember Arthur Ramsey?”

“Yeah, on our crew in Iraq ’til that last day when he died. Why?”

“Do you remember his favorite hobby when he was on leave?”

“Of course, he took photographs. He loved taking them.”

“Yes, but he loved developing them and every time he came back to base before we were deployed, we’d rib him for smelling like a chemical booth.”

“It was always there,” Clay admitted with no idea where this line of questioning was going. “Oddest fucking thing for you to bring him up. These past few months I kept thinking of Arthur but knew he couldn’t have anything to do with it since he was killed years ago.”

“Same problem for me. Thinking of Arthur kept sidetracking me. But just now I smelled those same chemicals. Fresh. They’re also on photographs Angela’s been getting. I knew I’d smelled it before. And holy shit, Clay, TNT. What does it stand for?”

“’Till Next Time,” Clay responded automatically.

“No. What does it
stand
for?”

“’Til Next…Dynamite.” Clay’s mind was reeling. “Oh fuck! The tattoo of the stick of dynamite. And the pictures.” Everything fell into place like dominoes. “The collages put together for each of Angela’s outfits for the show. That’s why they looked so familiar. We were looking at them almost every day and I never realized it.”

Wyatt broke in then as he almost made it into the back. “Clay, the fingerprints.”

“The fingerprints on what?”

“The letter Angela got after the bombing. Who touched the letter in her office?”

“Vanessa.”

“You’re sure? Completely sure she was the only one?”

“She was it. I’m positive.”

“Fuck. I knew I missed something. Fuck!”

“What, Wyatt? What the hell did we—”

A funny thump registered through his headset. “Campbell, where the hell are you?”

After no answer came, he spoke louder, “Campbell, what is your location?”

Wyatt answered back, “I can’t find him back here. He’s just gone. Get back to Angela. I’ll meet you there.”

Clay immediately turned back to Angela who was talking to one of the major maternity buyers that she had asked to come to the show. Clare stood at her side, smiling from ear to ear.

He had to get to Angela before she could be hurt again.

He heard her say, “I couldn’t have done it without her. She’s one in a million. Where is she?” Clay watched her turn and scan the crowd until she found who she was looking for. Her face brightened and he broke into a run.

“Maddy, come here, I want to introduce you to someone. Are you okay? You don’t look so good. Is everything…” And that’s when she saw Maddy raise her arm.

“But…” was all Angela got out.

Angela remained frozen as she raised her arms to protect her belly. Maddy mouthed the words, “’Til Next Time,” with an eerie expression Angela had never seen before. Then she pulled the trigger. Just like that. No hesitation. No remorse. No conscience. She just pulled the trigger and Angela opened her mouth to scream…

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Clay threw himself in front of Angela. They both fell to the ground as Maddy grabbed Clare by the hair and held the gun to her head.

Wyatt yelled, “Put the gun down, Maddy. Let her go. You don’t want to do this.”

Clare screamed and Maddy yanked on her hair, spittle flying in her face. “Shut the fuck up! Not another sound outta you.” Maddy shifted from side to side, using Clare as a shield from all the guns pointed at her.

No one could get a clear shot. Not without risking hurting a number of other innocent people.

Pain streaked through Clay’s arm as blood soaked his shirt. He barely registered it as he searched Angela’s white face. She lay on her back, arms still draped across her stomach.

“Angela? Baby, are you hurt? Talk to me!” he demanded. When she remained silent and limp, he moved one of her arms finding the small bullet hole in the side of her dress and then the horrific pool of crimson growing steadily wider beneath her.

Clay ripped his shirt off and pressed it against Angela’s side, “Stay with me, baby. Don’t leave me, okay? Stay with me,” he begged.

He heard a shrill laugh coming from behind him and saw Angela shudder as her eyes popped open.

“You never even suspected me, Ang. I’ve been behind everything and you were all too stupid to suspect little, old, unassuming, Maddy. Well, it looks like I’ll be getting the last laugh this time, since none of you could keep her safe.”

“Maddy,” Wyatt called through clenched teeth, drawing her attention to him. “How’d you do it? How’d you get the gun past us? We thought we had every angle covered. You obviously thought of something we didn’t.”

She laughed again, making Clare whimper and she pulled her around again. “Angela brought it in herself. In one of the containers with some of the metal bullshit for the show. She set off the metal detector, and you and your little FBI pets never even checked it. Dumbasses.”

Clay caught sight of several men talking into wrist mics, trying to get as many people outside as they could. Wyatt stood at the edge of the crowd and his parents both had hands on him, holding him back. They spoke to him, but it was too low to hear what they said.

Angela turned her head toward Clay and tried to mouth something she wanted him to hear, but he couldn’t make anything out.

“I hear sirens, baby. They’re coming for you. Hang on.”

Moments later the hand that had been holding her belly went slack and her head fell to the side.

“Dammit, Angela, don’t go to sleep!” he yelled as he kept pressure on her side that just wouldn’t stop bleeding.

“Why? Why would you do this to her?” Clay spat at Maddy who was still smiling smugly.

“Because I’m better than her and she didn’t appreciate me.” Her volume rose and she took a step toward Clay.

Wyatt took a step closer as well, putting him in Maddy’s line of sight again. “Appreciate you? She treated you like family and valued your opinion above anybody else’s. Then how do you repay her, by stalking her for almost two years and bombing her?”

“Appreciate me! She never wanted me with her overseas. She’d always take Jose or Vanessa or Nikki and leaves me here. She didn’t want me with her at any of the dinners or functions where she could have introduced me to the right people. She knew I was better than her and she didn’t want me around to show her up.”

Wyatt stepped to the side, holding her focus. Maddy yanked Clare around who had locked onto Mark in the crowd and hadn’t taken her eyes from him. “Maddy, why don’t you—”

“Stop fucking calling me that!” Maddy screamed at him. “I hate that name.”

“Okay, okay. What do you want me to call you?”

“April.” She quickly wiped her cheek on her sleeve and mascara smeared along with tears. “My name’s April.” For a moment she looked like the Maddy Clay had met. But confused. Lost. Then in a flash she sneered down at him. “I could have had my own label by now if it wasn’t for her holding me back.”

He glanced at her. “Holding you back? She would have done anything for you. She was your friend and you’ve been the one terrorizing her for months! You tried to kill her. What in the hell were you thinking? Did you even hear what she said to you on the way over here? She adored you.”

“Too little, too late. I thought I had her at the airport. Yet another trip where she didn’t need me,” she scoffed. “Then she changed her flight so I had to tip off the police so it didn’t blow up everybody in the terminal. So I changed detonators for the second one. I almost had her. If she hadn’t gone back down the steps, or my phone hadn’t delayed the explosion, she would have been dead then and there. Then it all would have been mine.”

“Why didn’t you just blow up the apartment? You knew where she was?” Clay kept her talking as he watched Angela’s breathing grow shallow.

“And destroy the studio where I could have had my new line? Not to mention the cameras across the street, it would have given me away too easily. Then you added the cameras into the studio and I couldn’t do shit without getting caught. Had to sneak packets in your paper. Hermano never suspected sweet, little, Maddy. She flirted with him. Promised to marry him. So stupid. Just like the rest of you.”

“So you decide to shoot her in cold blood in front of three-dozen witnesses,” Clay accused incredulously. “FBI, NYPD. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Agents quietly moved people out from behind her. More than likely trying to get one of their men a clear shot. She never noticed, raging on against Angela as she took another step closer.

“I don’t care anymore. She didn’t deserve to have it all. She didn’t care about the fame and she did everything she could to hide my talent and take credit for my work. And then she was going to throw it all away, for what? For you!” A brittle cackle came tumbling from her lips along with spittle.