The Kill (40 page)

Agent Daly walked through the house. “Okay, the house is secure,” he said as he came down the stairs. “Director Stockton said to take it easy today, but plan on being at the lab tomorrow at oh-eight-hundred for debriefing.”

“Director Stockton?” Zack questioned.

“He’s in charge of the FBI laboratory,” Olivia explained, though she felt uncomfortable bringing it up with Zack. They hadn’t really talked about
what
she did for the FBI.

“Coffee, Tim?” she asked.

“That would be great, Dr. St. Martin.”

“It’ll just take a couple of minutes.”

“Don’t rush,” he said, and sat down.

She walked down the short hall to the kitchen and started coffee. Then she noticed the note on the refrigerator.

She frowned, until she recognized the small, perfect block letters on the front.
Greg
.

She opened the note and read it.

“What’s that?” Zack asked.

“A note from Greg.”

“Your ex-husband Greg?”

“Yes.” She smiled. “He brought over some groceries yesterday when Rick told him I was coming back.”

“He has a key to your house?”

Olivia looked at Zack. The tone of his voice was odd—but his face was blank.

“I don’t understand,” she said.

“This is the same Greg who ran DNA tests off-hours and who knew what you were doing from the beginning?”

“I explained that,” she said slowly. She’d thought they’d gotten beyond her lie.

Suddenly, she felt extremely weary and sank down into a chair, her head in her hands. “I can’t live like this.”

“Like what?”

“With you doubting and questioning me.”

“I wasn’t.”

“Weren’t you?” She looked at Zack. “Why does it bother you that Greg knew what I was doing in Seattle?”

Zack shuffled his feet and looked sheepish. “Liv, if you think I don’t trust you, you’re wrong.”

“Then what?”

He didn’t say anything. Olivia replayed his comments in her mind. “Is it because Greg has a key to my house?”

Zack sighed. “I didn’t realize you were
that
close to your ex-husband.”

She almost laughed, but Zack looked so uncomfortable she didn’t have the heart. She stood up and kissed him on the cheek. “Zack, Greg and I are friends. We’re always going to be friends. But I love
you
.”

Zack pulled her close, kissed her, held her. “A lot of marriages don’t end in friendship. I haven’t talked to my ex-wife in years—she’s living in Los Angeles, last I heard. On her third husband.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not. It was a mistake. We both knew it before our first anniversary.” He looked at her. “What happened with your marriage?”

“We wanted different things.”

“Do you still love him?”

Tension radiated from Zack’s body. This was important to him, Olivia realized.

“Not like I love you.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Don’t be jealous, Zack. Greg and I were friends before we got married, and we’re still friends. I love him in the sense that he’s been a reliable part of my life for years. Plus, we have a lot in common.

“But,” she continued, “I mistook friendship and mutual respect for love. In fact, I don’t think I was truly capable of loving anyone then. I didn’t want anyone in my life, but I felt comfortable with Greg and I thought that was reason enough to marry him. It wasn’t.”

“I didn’t mean to sound jealous, Liv. There’s just so much I still need to learn about you.” He kissed her. “But I’m looking forward to it.”

A sound from the doorway made Olivia jump.

Tim Daly cleared his throat. “Uh, sorry, Dr. St. Martin. I was just going to help myself to the coffee.”

Olivia blushed and waved him away. “I’ll get it.”

While she poured coffee for the three of them, Zack commented, “Nice house.”

“Now that I look at it, it needs some sprucing up,” she said.

“You don’t spend much time here,” Zack said.

She shook her head and looked at him. “This house looks like me.”

“No, Liv, it doesn’t.”

She turned to him. “Yes, it was me—cold, sterile, and unemotional—until you came into my life.”

He reached out for her and she sank into his embrace.

Being in Zack’s arms,
this
was home.

It was after ten and another FBI agent, Pete Hoge, had replaced Tim Daly.

“I’m going to check the perimeter,” Hoge said. “Keep the door locked until I return.”

Olivia glanced at Zack, who seemed amused. He locked and bolted the door behind Hoge and pulled Olivia into his arms. “As soon as we get that guy settled, I’m taking you upstairs and making love to you.” He kissed her.

She smiled. “Again, Detective? I can hardly wait.”

Five minutes later, Hoge knocked on the door and Zack let him in, locking the door behind him.

“Everything looks good,” Hoge said.

“Help yourself to anything you need in the kitchen,” Olivia told him.

“Thank you, Dr. St. Martin.” He nodded to Zack, then walked down the hall to the kitchen.

“Almost alone,” Zack whispered in her ear. “Let’s go upstairs.”

They took the stairs two at a time and Olivia opened the door at the end of the hall. Zack picked her up and carried her across the threshold, laying her on the bed.

Zack stared at Olivia for a long minute. He’d almost lost her—twice. First to a killer. Involuntarily, his eyes dropped to the large, flesh-colored bandage on her neck and his heart tightened. She’d been so close to death, sitting in that car with Christopher Driscoll.

And then he’d also almost lost her to his own stupid pride. Thinking back to the last week and everything that had happened on the case and between them, Olivia had been a team player. She’d been an asset, and he should have been the first to admit it, instead of feeling betrayed because she’d misrepresented herself.

If he had walked away from her forever, he would be half a man today. She completed him in a way he didn’t know he needed until she came into his life.

He lay down next to her and rested his head on his hand. Tenderly, he brushed her hair off her forehead, kissed her soft, creamy skin. He ran a finger lightly over the small bandage on her chest. “How are you doing?”

“Stop worrying about me. I’m fine. A little sore, but really, I’m fine.”

“You know, I’m glad you’re not an FBI agent. I don’t think I could handle you being in the line of fire every day.”

She laughed. “Most agents aren’t in the line of fire
every
day.”

“Once in a lifetime is enough.”

“I agree. Besides, I like my job in the lab.”

“What exactly do you do?” He played with her hair. He couldn’t keep his hands off her. He didn’t want to.

“I analyze trace evidence, among other things. For example, in a case I worked on before I went to Seattle I compared carpet fibers found on three dumped bodies in Minnesota and confirmed that the victims were all wrapped in the same industrial-style carpet, down to the lot number and manufacturer. A lot of what I do is build evidence for trial.”

“Sounds interesting, but tedious.” He kissed her cheek.

“It can be, but it’s absolutely exhilarating when everything comes together.”

Olivia’s house phone rang and she reached over to answer it. “Hello?”

Zack heard a male voice on the other end.

“Olivia, it’s Greg. I didn’t wake you, did I?”

She sat up and said, “No, not at all. Thank you for the groceries.”

Zack stood. While he knew there wasn’t anything going on between Olivia and her ex-husband, he didn’t feel comfortable listening to their private conversation. “I’m going to check downstairs and talk to Hoge,” he whispered.

She nodded and he left.

Okay, maybe he was still a
little
jealous, but he’d get over it.

Olivia frowned as Zack closed the bedroom door. She hoped he wasn’t still insecure about her relationship with Greg.

“Olivia? Are you there?”

“Sorry, Greg. Will you be at the meeting with Rick tomorrow?” They needed to formally report their activities to their boss and hope for nothing more serious than a reprimand. However, any punishment wasn’t Rick’s decision. The investigation would ultimately go to a review board for action.

“I already gave my report this morning. Are you well enough?”

“What makes you think I’m not?”

“Maybe being thrown from a moving car or stabbed, pick one.”

Olivia sighed. “I’m definitely not cut out for fieldwork. But really, I’m in one piece and am barely sore.” That wasn’t completely true, but she wasn’t going to let on to Greg or Zack that she felt more than a little battered.

“I can come by, maybe pick you up in the morning.”

“That’s all right. Rick assigned security and they’ll drive me to the office.”

“Rick said that a Seattle cop came out with you.”

Word travels fast, Olivia thought. “Yes.”

“Isn’t that unusual?”

“Not really.”

Silence. Olivia felt distinctly uncomfortable, but she didn’t want to explain to Greg about Zack over the phone. She’d tell him tomorrow, in person.

“I’m tired. I think it’s time I go to bed,” she told Greg. “Thank you again for sending over the groceries.”

“Anytime, Olivia.”

She clicked the OFF button and rested the phone on its charger, then yawned. She was exhausted. She wouldn’t mind a hot bath, though. Maybe Zack would join her. She smiled at the thought and walked over to the adjoining bathroom. She turned on the water, added some bath salts, then crossed over to her bedroom closet for her robe.

She brushed past the bed and something grabbed her ankle.

She fell hard on the carpet, her brief scream silenced when her breath was knocked out of her.

Someone scrambled from under the bed, pinning her body to the ground with his. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a hand clutching a gun.

Hall.

She pounded on the floor with her fists, hoping Zack could hear, though the carpeted floors muffled the sound.

“Stop that!” Hall ordered in a low whisper. “Stop it right now. Make another sound and I’ll shoot you.”

Through her terror, Olivia detected a hint of fear in Hall’s voice. He had to know there were cops in the house. He’d been hiding under the bed while she and Zack were talking.

She shivered, feeling violated and uncomfortable at the thought of Hall spying on their intimate moment.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“It’s your fault.” Hall rolled off her, but still aimed the gun at her. “You fucking bitch. You made me a killer. You did this to me!”

She wouldn’t have to make noise to alert Zack, she realized. Hall’s voice was getting louder.

She slowly sat up, moving away from him at the same time.

“You don’t want to kill me,” she said. She catalogued the items in her room. Nothing lethal. Her gun, which she rarely used, was still packed in her suitcase.

Dumb move, St. Martin
. She’d relied on Zack and the agents to protect her. She needed to protect herself.

“Brian, you need to be smart right now.”

He ignored her. “Okay, this is what we’re going to do,” Hall said. “We’re going to walk out of here and you’ll take me to your bank. Then we’re done.”

Olivia shuddered. He was going to kill her after getting some money. And she wasn’t about to be a hostage again. Once in a lifetime was more than enough.

Hall glanced around the room. “Your boyfriend is going to be back. How can we get out of here?”

Olivia would have found it hard to take Hall seriously as they sat on the floor facing each other but for the fact that he had a gun pointed at her.

And he
had
killed Gary and Hamilton.

“You don’t want to do this,” she said. “You don’t want to go back to prison.”

“I dunno. Maybe I do,” he countered. “Free food, movies, little work. Why shouldn’t I go back to prison? I have no life outside.”

“All right. Well, I can arrange it.” If she weren’t so scared, she would have laughed. She didn’t need to
arrange
anything. Hall had already killed two people. “I work for the federal government. I have a lot of friends in high places. Hand me the gun and we can talk about which prison you’d like to go to.”

He shook his head. “You don’t get it. My life is over.
You
stole it from me. I got out and had nothing. I’m too old to do anything. My own ma thinks I’m guilty. But I’m not!”

Regardless of the recent crimes Hall had committed, Olivia felt sorry for him. He’d been in prison well over half his life and no longer knew how to function in the real world.

“Brian,” she said softly, “I really feel awful about what happened after my sister was killed. I hope you understand that I was just a little kid. I only saw the tattoo. Everything else was based on the evidence.”

Hall’s lips tightened. “It was all made up.”

“No, it wasn’t made up. But you’re right. They should have pursued other suspects. They weren’t thorough enough.” They didn’t have the tools thirty-four years ago to be as thorough as law enforcement was in the twenty-first century. But still, Hall had created part of his problem by lying to the police about his whereabouts the night of Missy’s kidnapping.

Olivia wasn’t about to remind him of that, though.

“Brian, listen. You did a good thing back in California. You helped us catch Driscoll. You helped save a girl’s life. That’s worth something. That’s worth a lot.”

Hall’s back was to the door, but Olivia saw it slowly inch open.

Zack was on the other side.

“That asshole Chris Driscoll! How could he do that? How could he set me up like that?”

“Driscoll was a sick killer, and he definitely set you up. But you might not have heard the news. He’s dead. He was shot and killed outside the courthouse today.”

Hall nodded. “I heard it on the news. He deserved it, the fucking pervert. I’m not like him. I’m not a killer.”

“You’re nothing like Driscoll,” she agreed. As she said it, she realized the difference between the two killers. Driscoll took intense pleasure in killing. Hall had killed Hamilton and Gary quickly and quietly, and in relative darkness.