She Left Me Breathless (34 page)

 Jackie shifted nervously from one foot to the other. “If all of you are done with your little love fest from the admiration society, I’d like to add my two-cents worth.”

“I’m not interested in a damn thing you have to say you twisted bitch. If I had a gun I’d be tempted to shoot you myself,” Rachel snarled.

“Wow, Mom. I didn’t know you could break butch,” Caitlyn laughed.

“Baby, you ain’t seen anything yet,” Rachel said.

“I have a question,” Caitlyn said, looking at Jackie.

“Fire away,” Jackie said.

“Which one of you wrote the programming codes?” Caitlyn asked.

“That would be me,” Jackie said, tapping her chest with her finger. “It was quite ingenious, don’t you think? Like you, computers and programming are in my blood. The only difference is that it was more like a hobby for me.” Jackie smiled, obviously proud of herself. She looked at Caitlyn and shook her head. “I have to tell you though, I was shocked and impressed at the same time when you figured out I was using the Salami Technique. I got the idea from a case that I helped investigate in New York. It was so simple and almost full proof.” Jackie shrugged. “If it hadn’t been for your new system upgrade, who knows how long we could have kept it going.”

“But why?” Sydney asked. That was the one question she didn’t have an answer for.

Jackie looked at Sydney and shrugged. “Hell, I don’t know. Partly greed and thinking you had so much money, you’d never miss it but for me it was more an issue of seeing if I could pull it off. It was one helluva an adrenaline rush. Now Mo on the other hand, had her own reasons.”

“And those would be?” Sydney asked.

“Do you remember a company called Hazlo?” Jackie asked.

“Vaguely, why?” Sydney asked.

“You should. It was one of four companies you took over when you first started building your business.” Jackie smiled and shook her head as she watched Sydney as she tried to place the name. “Let me help you out. Mo’s parents had worked at Hazlo all their lives and when you came in, you stripped the company down to the bare bones, laying off or should I say, firing ninety percent of the workforce. Mo’s parents were two of the employees who lost their jobs and because of your greed and ruthlessness, her parents lost their house, the house that Mo grew up in. So when she found out you were hiring at Welsh, she decided to come work for you and get her own revenge.

Sydney sighed heavily. She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. “I had no idea about her parents.”

Jackie laughed. “Of course you didn’t.

“It wasn’t personal, it was just a part of doing business,” Sydney said.

Jackie snorted. “Her parents and the rest of the employees were just peons to you. They didn’t matter as long as you got what you wanted and to Mo, it was
very
personal.”

“But how did you get involved?” Sydney asked.

Jackie shrugged. “She and I had been dating for almost three months when she told me all about her parents and how she hated you. So, with me having programming skills and her being on the inside at Welsh, we sat down and put a plan together and you know the rest of the story.” Jackie smiled. “When you track down the rest of your money, you’ll see that some of it’s missing. Mo used it to buy her parents a new house and car.”

Sydney shook her head. “This is unbelievable.”

“Yeah, well it is what it is. I’m sure you’ll take their house back now that you know,” Jackie said, her voice full of sarcasm.

“No, I won’t,” Sydney said, shaking her head. She looked at Jackie. “So tell me this. Why didn’t you just kill Rachel and me once I figured out where Caitlyn was being held?”

Jackie laughed. “Oh believe me when I say I seriously thought about it but then the logic side of my brain kicked in. I figured it would be easier to make it out like Mo was the mastermind. You know, raise less questions than if I off’d you and your main squeeze.”

“And Maureen? Do you not feel any remorse for what you did to her?” Sydney asked.

“Nah, not really.” Jackie shrugged. “She was expendable.”

Rachel’s look was incredulous. “You’re insane,” she said to Jackie.

“Maybe,” Jackie said, grinning at Rachel. She looked at Caitlyn and then at Sydney. “Why don’t you tell dear Caitlyn here the real reason why she got the job working for you?”

Sydney glared at Jackie. “Shut up.”

Caitlyn frowned. “What’s she talking about, Syd?”

“Go ahead, Syd,” Jackie mocked sarcastically. “Tell the kid how you only hired her so you could take revenge on her mother.”

“I said shut up,” Sydney yelled, pointing the gun directly at Jackie’s head.

Jackie grinned wickedly. “Ah, what’s the matter, Syd? Cat got your tongue?”

“I mean it, Jackie,” Sydney said as she took a step closer.

Rachel turned and looked at Sydney. “What’s she talking about, Sydney?”

“Well if you won’t tell them I will,” Jackie said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Actually, I have something I want to say to you first. Something, I have wanted to say to you since we met. It’s your fault that people like me do what we do. You with all your money, sitting on your high and mighty throne, pulling the strings for all of us lowlifes as if you were the puppet master. You use your power and money to fuck with people’s lives, and then when things go wrong, you’re the first to blame everyone else. Poor, poor, Sydney Welsh, she got her little heart broke and couldn’t handle it. Why is that, Syd? Because dear Rachel here, had enough sense to tell you to go fuck yourself?”

Rachel grabbed Sydney by the arm. “Tell me what the hell she is talking about, Sydney?” she demanded.

Sydney felt her heart breaking all over again as she looked at Rachel. She opened her mouth but no words came out.

Jackie laughed. “Wow, the great Sydney Welsh, Ohio’s finest millionaire is speechless. That has to be a first.”

Sydney’s look was incredulous. “How dare you pass judgment on me after what you’ve done. For Christ’s sake, you killed Maureen, the woman you supposedly loved, you kidnapped Caitlyn and you and I both know that you were going to kill her, too.”

“Yeah, well … C’est la vie, enough about me. Let’s talk about the last ten years and how you had me help you put together this massive scheme to get dear old Rachel back into your life and …” Jackie pointed at herself and then at Sydney. “How you and I working together as a team, plotted to hire Caitlyn fresh out of high school, and how we worked on your plan to purchase Rachel’s company.”

With a move quicker than Sydney thought possible, Jackie reached to her right and grabbed Caitlyn. Caitlyn screamed as Jackie rammed the barrel of the gun against the side of her head.

“Don’t be stupid,” Jackie said as Sydney and Rachel both took a step toward her. “I swear to God I will put a bullet through her pretty little head. So be smart, Sydney, and slide your gun across the floor to me.”

“If it’s about the money, Jackie, I will give you whatever you want.”

“You just think you can buy your way out of everything don’t you? I said, put the God damn gun down, Sydney,” Jackie yelled.

Caitlyn shook her head. “No, Syd, don’t do it. She will just kill all of us anyway.”

Jackie smiled. “I give you my word. I will let all of you go.”

Sydney snorted. “Yeah, I know how much that’s worth now.”

The sound of sirens in the distance caused Jackie to cock her head. “Sounds like the Calvary is coming,” she said in a voice thick with sarcasm.

“How can you possibly judge me after what you’ve done? I don’t give a shit what you think about me, or what I’ve done. Nothing can justify you killing Maureen,” Sydney said in an attempt to keep Jackie talking to buy them more time. “You know, this just keeps getting better. I just now realized that you and Maureen came into my life around the same time.” She looked at Jackie and laughed and for a split-second, she clenched her teeth so hard it made her jaw hurt. “My God, that means the two of you have been planning this all along.”

Before Sydney knew what was happening, Caitlyn had twisted away from Jackie, shoving her sideways in the process. 

Jackie bent over at the waist and laughed. As she stood upright, she slowly brought the gun to her head.

“You aren’t getting off that easy,” Sydney yelled, pulling the trigger.

Jackie screamed as the bullet hit her right thigh. She fell to her knees, dropping her gun in the process.

“You shot me, you bitch,” Jackie cried out as she grabbed her thigh, trying to stop the blood that was now flowing between her fingers.

“You deserve much worse,” Sydney said, kicking the gun away from Jackie with her foot. She walked over to the table and grabbed a rag off of it. She carefully side- stepped around Jackie, bent down, and picked up the gun using the rag. 

The sound of footsteps running across the floor above their head got their attention. “Let’s get out of here,” Sydney said, looking at both women.

Rachel and Caitlyn, their arms wrapped around each other’s waist followed Sydney out of the room.

“Freeze,” a cop, dressed in a Miamisburg’s Police uniform yelled from the top of the stairwell.  

“We’re the good guys,” Sydney yelled back, shielding her eyes with her hand from the bright glare of his flashlight. “I have two guns, one is mine, and the other wrapped in this rag belongs to the killer. It’s the murder weapon and has her fingerprints on it. I’m going to slowly pull mine out of my pocket and lay it down on the step along with this one.”

 “I strongly urge you to move very slow,” he said, his voice shaking.

Sydney slowly removed her gun and then laid them both down on the step.

Now put your hands up where I can see them,” he yelled. It was then that Sydney as well as Rachel and Caitlyn noticed the gun pointing at them.

“Please don’t shoot us,” Rachel pleaded as she along with Sydney and Caitlyn raised their arms in the air.

“Come on up here and move slowly,” the officer instructed as another officer came into the stairwell. He held the door open and as the women came up the stairs, he backed slowly away from them through the open doorway.

“All three of you against the wall, arms over your head,” he said, still keeping the light on them.

The other officer quickly searched them. “They’re clean,” he said.

“You can put your arms down now,” the officer who had the gun on them said as he put his gun back in the holster.

“There’s a woman downstairs who’s been shot and she needs an ambulance. She killed the other woman lying on the floor,” Sydney said.

“Who are you?” the officer who had held the door open asked.

“My name is Sydney Welsh and I own the building.” She nodded at Caitlyn. “She’s my employee and was kidnapped by the two women downstairs and this is her mother, Rachel Ashburn.”

“We’re waiting for the homicide detectives to arrive but we’re going to need a full statement from all of you,” he said, looking at Sydney.

Sydney nodded and said, “I understand.”

Chapter 16

Sydney stood next to the fireplace in the family room, a glass of Bourbon in her hand. She took a swig, watching as Rachel came across the room toward her. “How’s Caitlyn,” she asked.

“She’s sleeping better than a baby. The doctor gave her a sedative that knocked her out,” Rachel replied.

“And Alyssa?”

“She’s fine. I’m gonna pick her up tomorrow at Christy’s after one.”

“I’m so sorry, Rache,” Sydney said, her voice just above a whisper.

Rachel looked at Sydney with contempt, her face a blank mask. She felt all the hurt and anger suddenly boil over. In less than a second, she had slapped Sydney across the face before she even realized what had happened.

Sydney stumbled backward from the blow.

Rachel’s mouth flew open in horror. “Oh my God,” she said, clasping her hand to her mouth.

Feeling beaten and broken down, Sydney dropped her head against her chest. She deserved so much more than just getting slapped across the face. When she looked up, tears were streaming down her face. “When you leave here, I promise to never bother you or your children again.” Sydney closed her eyes, turned to walk away but Rachel grabbed her by the hand.

Rachel’s expression softened as she looked at Sydney. “I had no right to do that and I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“You had every right,” Sydney choked out between sobs.

Rachel cupped Sydney’s face in her hand. “Please don’t go. I have spent too many years away from you and I can’t do it anymore. I don’t want to do it anymore,” she said, her eyes pleading. “I may not fully understand what you did but I know what a broken heart feels like because mine has never healed.”

 Sydney reached up and covered Rachel’s hand with her own. She brought it to her lips and kissed it. “When I first put this insane plan of mine together, I had tunnel vision so bad that nothing or anyone could make me see how crazy it was. I told myself that I was doing it for revenge and that I wanted you to hurt as bad as I had hurt for all these years. I couldn’t understand or accept why you wouldn’t stand up for us.”

“Oh, Sydney, I did hurt, sweetheart,” Rachel said as she wiped the tears from Sydney’s cheek with her thumb. “You don’t need to tell me any of this.”