The Broken (The Apostles) (39 page)

“I’m here. Let him go.”

“You are hardly in a position of power.” He ran the length of the blade along his thumb.

“What’s your real name?”

“Come now, Katrina, don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten me.”

“I don’t even know you.”

“Does the name Dustin Root ring a bell?”

She wracked her brain. Nothing.

“How about Robert McRay?”

She shook her head. Nothing familiar about that, either, but it was hard to focus on anything but that silvery knife drawing closer and sending her heart racing in a dizzy panic. But she had to stay calm. Like Hayden. Calm, analytical, thorough Hayden. “Refresh my memory, please.”

“Robert McRay called you three years ago and left a message that he had a lead for one of your ‘Justice for All’ reports. You were in the middle of the Mike Muldoon story, so you called him back and left a message that you’d touch base with him soon.”

She thought back to that time. She’d been working the Muldoon story for a solid month, and she’d been knee-deep in interviews with defrauded investors and the U.S. Attorney’s office. She’d been hell-bent on getting Muldoon himself in front of the camera. It’s possible she got a tip that she put on the back burner, one that…

“The pregnant woman,” she said with a rush of recognition.

“Ahhh, so you do remember.”

“I remember a man calling and leaving a message that a doctor killed his pregnant wife and unborn child. I don’t remember the details, but he was distraught.”

“That would be Robert McRay. He was distraught,
very
distraught and very desperate.” The Butcher stopped two feet in front of her, his knife now within striking distance.

She swallowed, forcing her heart to slow. “Tell me about the man. I want to hear his story. I want to hear
your
story.”

“It’s not a pretty one, not a fairy tale, but your life hasn’t been much of a fairy tale either, has it, Katrina? We’re alike in that respect, aren’t we? Both victims of dragon mothers.”

She nodded, anything to keep him talking, and that’s when she heard something. The click of a door. The man didn’t appear concerned. Was she imagining the sound? Had Hayden found her?

“What’s your story?” she asked.

“Tough childhood. I had a whore for a mother who shared me with her customers, but I survived by pretending I was someone else somewhere else. Eventually I killed her and others like her, all worthless whores.”

“And no one ever suspected you?”

He motioned at the mask on the floor. “Let’s say I became very good at becoming other people and wearing disguises. The police never knew quite what they were chasing.”

“You’re not a real doctor.”

“No. But Dr. Daniel Gray does exist, or he did. Unfortunate for him that he found me butchering a whore in the alley behind his pissant little clinic in Vegas. But fortuitous for me because I was able to become Dr. Gray, who was just about to move to the quiet little town of Dorado Bay and open a small medical clinic.” He smiled. “You look doubtful. You’ve always been so expressive, Katrina, but yes, I impersonated a doctor, stitching up cuts, setting broken bones. It’s amazing what you can learn from the Internet, but of course I sent all the serious cases to Reno.”

“Until Robert McRay’s pregnant wife.”

“Yes, by the time the fool got her to me, she was in serious distress. I did my best, but it was too late to life-flight her to Reno. Robert McRay was devastated beyond reason, and he blamed it on me. He tried to rile the Dorado Bay police and state medical board, but they didn’t bite. All bought into the masquerade.”

“But McRay refused to give up,” Kate said. “He called me to investigate you for one of my ‘Justice for All’ reports. I never got around to following up before Jason attacked me.”

“Exactly, and we both know how good you are. Lucky for me, I got to him before you two officially touched base.”

“You killed Robert McRay.”

“He’s in Mulveney’s Cove.” Dr. Gray/the Butcher/Dustin Root shook his head. “Funny thing, he hasn’t popped up yet.”

A creak and a shuffle sounded. She’d been so engrossed in this madman’s story that she’d forgotten about hearing something. Hayden? She had to keep the Butcher talking. “So you talked Jason into killing me.”

“It was pathetically easy. Jason was so easy to manipulate after your mother’s death.”

Kate sucked in a breath. “My mother died three years ago?”

“Yes, it appeared to be a heart attack.” He winked at her. “But I’m not a doctor, so I’m not sure. Anyway, when I got to Jason’s house, she was dead. And Jason was pretty far gone, too. From what I learned he kept his mother’s body in the freezer for more than two years. Sick little boy. He wanted to keep her close, but when I started killing the broadcasters and using the exact same attack he’d made on you, he must have gotten scared and moved the body to the hunting cabin. Horrible, huh? He couldn’t let go of the mother he loved.”

Kate pictured the iced blood in the bottom of Jason’s freezer. “And you used that love to get him to attack me.”

“After I discovered that Robert McRay had contacted you about the death of his wife and child, I knew I had to get rid of you, but unlike the whores I’d killed before, you were well known. Your death would be front page news. I’m good, but I didn’t want to take any chances of getting caught. So I told Jason
you
killed Kendra Erickson, that you’d come back to town to punish your mother for hurting you as a child. I even gave him the knife.”

She had to keep him talking. “And the other broadcasters? Why kill them?”

“To get to you, of course. When you disappeared off the face of the earth, I harbored the hope that you’d died, but after I saw you in the surveillance video six months ago, I knew you still lived and had to die. Since you’re such a big fan of justice, I knew killing innocent women would flush you out of your hidey-hole. Took me awhile, but eventually it did.” He clapped his hands in front of his chest. “Yay, me.”

Where was Hayden? He always wanted to go slow, to be absolutely certain. She needed him now.

She wet her lips. “But why make the Broadcaster Butcher attacks so similar to my brother’s attack on me? Why the broken mirrors? Why the multiple stab wounds?”

“Initially to cover my tracks. Better to let the authorities chase Jason then hunt for me. But it gave me a little bonus because Agent Reed and his brilliant mind made the connection between the attacks and eventually led me to you, which was the intent from the beginning.” He spun the knife in his hand. “But you’ve stalled long enough, Katrina. It’s time to die.”

She backed up into the cupboard doors and couldn’t go any farther. She could dive at him, head-butt him as high as possible, and try to keep the knife away from vital organs.

At the same time he raised his knife, a shadow crossed the doorway and a wet, muddy shape appeared. Her chest almost exploded.

She wanted to yell,
Run! Fast and far!
But the old soldier wouldn’t. He was ready for war.

“Five steps forward. Two to the right. Aim at two o’clock. Swing hard. He has a knife.”

*  *  *

Friday, June 19, 10:40 p.m.
Dorado Bay, Nevada

“How the fuck did he get away!” It wasn’t a question. It was a roar torn from the volcano in Hayden’s chest.

He stood in the grand foyer of the Conlans’ lakeside mansion. An army of searchers, including his teammates, hunted for the Butcher and Kate, and all came up empty.

Evie rushed from the kitchen. “Just confirmed with the caterer, one of the waiters is missing. No one seemed to know his name or where he came from. He was the one wearing the green dragon mask.”

A master of disguise. That’s what Hayden was dealing with, and the dragon had Kate.

Frustration and anger and fear erupted. “So how the fuck did he get away, and where did he take her?”

“Calm down, Hayden,” Parker said. “You’re not thinking clearly, and we need you to think. This is your case. You’ve lived it, breathed it. You know this man better than anyone.”

Hayden closed his eyes, trying to clear away the raging red that blinded him, but he couldn’t. All he saw was Kate and those green eyes that finally shined with hope.

“I know shit!” Hayden opened his eyes, only to find himself facing the mirror in the Conlan foyer. He balled his fist and slammed it into the image of his face, shattering the mirror.

He welcomed the slice of pain, the trickle of red. Better his hands than Kate’s.

“Dammit, Hayden.” Evie yanked a table runner off one of the foyer tables and wrapped it around his bleeding hand. “You’re not going to do Kate any good acting like an idiot.”

“Evie’s right,” Hatch added. “Focus on what you do, Professor. Look at your facts. Look at those pictures in your head.”

His other hand fisted and he raised it.

Finn Brannigan grabbed that fist and got in Hayden’s face. “Tell me she’s dead, Hayden. Look me in the eye and tell me the Butcher got her. Tell me you see Kate’s body still except for the blood pouring out of her.” Finn grabbed him by the front of the shirt. “Tell me, dammit!”

The picture refused to come into focus. “No. She’s not dead.”

Parker lifted a single index finger, getting everyone’s immediate attention. “Glad we got that settled. Mrs. Conlan, find someone to stitch up Agent Reed’s hand. Hayden, let’s review what you know.”

Ava nodded, then stopped. “I’ll find Dr. Gray. He’s supposed to be here tonight.”

Hayden kept his hand above his heart as he pushed back the emotion and tried to tap into his logical, analytical side. It took six deep breaths to find it. “We found no signs of the Butcher or Kate by the boathouse, but that’s no surprise, given the rain and the Butcher’s propensity for leaving nothing behind. The officers posted on all the roads leading out of the Bayside Estates have seen no cars. The Butcher is physically weak, most likely with some kind of foot problem as evidenced by the orthotic shoes. He couldn’t be far unless—”

“What?” Hatch asked.

“The lake. He escaped by boat.”

“The storm has whipped the lake into a frenzy,” Chief Greenfield said. “No sane person would try to run a boat on that.”

“We aren’t dealing with a sane person.” As blood dripped from his hand, Hayden flipped through his mental notes on the Butcher. They were dealing with a man who found power in blood, who was a master of disguise. “His ability to disguise himself is his biggest strength. He was able to trick his way into each of his victim’s homes.”

The Butcher got to me twice after the first attack!
Hayden’s knees threatened to give way. The voices had been silent lately. And now he heard Kate’s.

He stood at my bedside. He came into the recovery room. He. Held. My. Hand.

The lead detective said there was no way any unauthorized personnel could have gotten in.

Which meant the Butcher disguised himself as medical or law enforcement personnel.

He opened his mouth but stopped short when Lottie burst through the front door, wearing a pair of soggy white tennis shoes and a snarl on her lips.

“Okay Mr. FBI Hotshot,” she said, pointing her finger at Hayden. “I need your hotshot take on something.” She told them about the bogus orthotic shoe prescription for Louella Bollinger. “Who the hell faked the prescription?”

Ava Conlan ushered a paramedic into the room. “Hayden, this young man will look at your hand. I couldn’t find Dr. Gray.”

Hayden grew still as the paramedic unwrapped the table runner bandage and blood splattered to the floor.

Dr. Gray. The snapshots flashed through his head. The man who’d been limping after he’d been kicked by two-year-old Pammy. The man who quietly joined in the search for both Smokey and little Benny Hankins. The man who’d been Jason Erickson’s doctor and wielded power over him.

Parker was right. He had all the information.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Friday, June 19, 10:45 p.m.
Dorado Bay, Nevada

N
ow he’s three feet to your right, crouched low, knife in his left hand.” Kate kept her voice calm as Smokey Joe and the man known as the Butcher circled each other in the kitchen lit only by candles.

She stood next to the cupboard, her damn hands still tied behind her. “Watch it, Smokey, he just stepped to the left. Knife at four o’clock.”

“Sorry team we make, huh, Katy-lady?” Smokey Joe said with a smile that cracked the mud on his face.

Yeah, they were a team, and they could beat this guy. The key was getting the knife out of the Butcher’s hand. If only Smokey could keep his attention while she slammed him from behind. Smokey Joe seemed to sense her plan. He jabbed a three-foot stick at the Butcher. “Come on, Butcher Boy, try and take me now, you who can only take on sleeping old men, little boys, and women.”

The Butcher stilled, his face growing red. Kate could see the fire swirling behind his eyes. Like a dragon. The dragon was completely focused on Smokey’s taunting words, on the little jabs of Smokey’s stick.

Kate sprung from the cupboard and lunged for the Butcher. He stepped aside, and she flew across the room, hitting the floor with a thud. Her teeth sunk into her tongue, and blood spurted out her mouth.

“Kate!” Smokey cried out.

She spat out the blood and turned, expecting to see the Butcher’s knife hovering above her. But to her horror, it wasn’t. The sickle of silver was aimed at the blind man.

“Duck right. Roll!” Too late.

The Butcher’s knife slashed into Smokey Joe’s chest.

“Noooo!” she screamed as blood soaked through Smokey’s muddy shirt. She struggled to her feet. “Smokey!”

He didn’t answer.

Everything had stopped. The storm outside. The humming refrigerator. Her heart. Even the Butcher stood eerily still, fixated on the bloody knife. Again she realized how mesmerizing he found blood.

Run!
She could make it down the hall. She could flee into the night. They were on the lake. The part where the houses were few and far between. She could get to the road. Find a car. At the very least she could hide in the darkness.