a Touch of TNT (An Everly Gray Adventure) (37 page)

No more time. I palmed the rock, took aim, and tossed it at the gun. Time slowed. Loaded gun. Dropping toward me. Not my best move. I jumped back. It landed on the dirt with a dull thud. Didn’t fire. The breath I’d been holding whooshed from my lungs and I dropped to all fours, hoping to reach the gun while Danielle was occupied with levers and knobs. My fingers shook as I prepared my mind for the emotional assault that would come with the images. Had. To. Touch. The. Gun.

I grasped it between my hands, and my mind exploded with images and sensations from Danielle. A barrage of pictures flashed through my mind, details of the day she shot Jerry Applegate. Bad. Worse: the deterioration of her mind that spilled through me, contaminating my brain with overwhelming sensations of crazy.

The gun dropped from my hands, and my brain cleared. Okay. One more time. I pressed my palms against the earth, inhaled the solid scent of dirt, and scooped the weapon into my hands. Gripped it, and held on while I used all my willpower to push the images and crazy emotions from Danielle out of my head.

The sound of Danielle’s manic chuckles brought me back to the horrifying reality of my situation. She dropped the first load of dirt on top of me.

I stumbled to the far side of the hole, away from the mound of dirt. Wasn’t going to take too many shovelfuls before I’d be covered.

Clouds parted. Moonlight poured over the earthmover. I prayed the safety on the gun was off. Not that I had a hope in hell of hitting anything, but this was one of those or-I’d-die-trying situations.

The second load of dirt tumbled into the hole, covered me in red clay. I jumped back—a bad move. It jarred my bones into breath-taking agony. When I was able to suck in some air and brush the dirt from my eyes, I chanced a look up.

Danielle had backed away to get a fresh scoop of dirt. I used the time to gauge the distance from the pile of dirt to the top of the pit. Too far. I couldn’t reach the rim.

Had to use the weapon.

I tracked the movement of the earthmover. It was coming right at me. The next load would trap my legs.
Now, Everly
.

I took one of those stances like the TV heroes, gripped the gun, braced myself against the wall of dirt, and focused on Danielle. When she moved into view, I pulled the trigger.

The blast knocked me hard into the dirt wall, pain spiked through the wound on the back of my head, and I crumpled to the ground.

TWENTY-SEVEN

The wail of sirens jarred me awake,
and I struggled to open my eyes. Now was
so
not the time to be out of it. I glanced up. Dizzy. Had I somehow hit Danielle?

The vibration of the earthmover’s engine matched the throbbing in my head. It was perched at the edge of the hole with Danielle slumped over the controls. If it fell on top of me…no. Couldn’t go there.

I fumbled for the gun. Didn’t have a clue how to get another bullet into the chamber, or whatever, but the shaking eased when I held it.

The sirens were louder. Sent pulsing pain through my skull.

The gun slid from my fingers.

There were definitely cars out there. Headlights sliced through the black, doors slammed and there were voices.

Sane voices.

“Woof.”

Merlin! Oh, shit. Did that mean Marcy was out there waiting to pounce on me? No. There were sirens. That meant cops. Or firemen. I’d be happy with either one.

I levered onto my elbow and scanned the dirt walls for some kind of foothold. I had to get out of this pit, see what was going on. I made it to my knees, turned to check out the perimeter of the pit. Merlin was running around barking like a wild puppy.

“Everly?” Adam’s voice cut through the barking. He scooped Merlin into his arms, and the harsh glare of a Maglite illuminated the pit.

I wiggled my fingers at him then collapsed back down giving in to exhaustion and tears.

Adam motioned behind him. “Get me a ladder,” he ordered. At the sound of his cop voice, the knot in my chest released, and I sucked in my first full breath since Danielle captured me.

Adam set Merlin and the light down, then adjusted the beam to illuminate my corner of the hole.

I closed my eyes. Adam wouldn’t let Danielle kill me.

Oh, damn. Danielle. Had
I
killed
her
? My eyes flew open, and I glanced at the earthmover. She was still slumped over the controls. Uniforms began to converge around the machine. Shock that I might have killed someone coiled in my belly, and it spasmed with dry heaves. By the time they passed, Adam had climbed down the ladder and cradled me in his arms.

With the help of a fireman and some kind of sling, they got me out of the hole and onto a gurney. A paramedic immediately started checking me over while Adam removed the handcuffs. I grabbed his arm, my fingers limp. “Did I kill her?”

“Chambers?” His gaze flew to the uniforms surrounding the earthmover.

I pushed the images from touching him into the dark hole where I stored the things my fingers saw, but were none of my business. “Danielle Chambers. I shot her.”

“You what? Be right back.” He took off at a jog.

I kept an eye on the activity around Danielle while the paramedics cleaned my wound and checked for broken bones or whatever. Dead people don’t create the kind of havoc that was going on around the earthmover, so I was pretty sure I hadn’t killed her. Some of the tension left my neck and shoulders. I really wanted her to be alive.

When the paramedics finished with me, they put Merlin on my lap, and pronounced me battered and bruised, but not broken. Except my mind. Mentally I was a wreck.

Minutes later they wheeled Danielle to an ambulance and it took off, sirens blaring and lights flashing. Definitely not dead. Uncontrollable shaking racked my body. I hadn’t killed anyone. Relief washed through me, and tears cooled against my cheeks. I swiped at them with the edge of my t-shirt. “Guess I didn’t kill her,” I said to Adam as he strolled up to the gurney and rubbed Merlin’s ears.

“Nope. You didn’t.”

“How’d you find me?” I was ready to move on to other topics.

“When Marcy Blaine confessed to working with Applegate on the industrial demolition, she told us that Chambers had called her. Told Blaine she was following some redhead who needed to be eliminated.”

He slid his finger under my chin and tipped my face up so he could see my eyes. “For sticking her nose where it didn’t belong,” he said through clenched teeth. Then he pulled me into a hug. “And, no, she won’t die. Bullet went into her upper chest and there’s bleeding, a collapsed lung, but she’ll be okay. My question is, how’d you ever manage to hit her?”

I shook my head at him. Big mistake. “Miracle,” I mumbled, holding my head to keep it from shattering. “She won’t be okay, though. She’s certifiable. Killed Jacobson and Applegate. After me, she planned to go after North.”

Adam was jotting down notes at warp speed. “Shit. Busy girl. What else?”

“It all started with Shauna Blaine’s death,” I explained. “But you know that, don’t you?”

He held up his left hand to stop my monologue while he wrote.

Since he didn’t answer, I ignored his plea for time and filled in the silence. “Danielle told me she and Marcy had been lovers for years, that she was crazy jealous when Marcy started her affair with North.”

Adam’s brows scrunched together. “Blaine hated North?”

“Strange bedfellows,” I agreed.

He shook his head. “Must have something to do with the way women think.”

“I saw the images of you, Marcy and Terri North in Danielle’s front yard when I touched you. Sorry about the trespass.”

He nodded. “Yeah. The drama started twelve years ago when Shauna Blaine died on that mountain.”

I started to nod, stopped myself. “That’s what Danielle said.”

“Gives me a har—” red colored his cheeks, and he closed his mouth. “It’s, ah, good when the perps agree on the details.”

One of the cops offered me a bottle of water, and I shot her a grin. “Thanks. I’m parched. Must be all the dirt I inhaled while I was stuck in that hole.” I took a deep swallow and turned back to Adam. “You want to fill me in on that scene at Danielle’s house?”

He shook his head. “Nope. But I never in hell want to be at the mercy of a woman scorned. Terri North has a bitch of a temper.”

“Looked like they were going at it pretty good. What was the deal?”

“Woof.” Merlin interrupted. I’d stopped scratching his ears. “And what’s with Merlin being here?”

“I, uh…adopted Merlin when we arrested Marcy Blaine.”

“That is so cool.” I rubbed my cheek against Merlin’s head, and breathed in his musty, puppy scent.

“Uh-huh. We’ll see.”

I waved my hand at him to get on with the story about Marcy.

“Seems Mrs. North was about done with her husband’s affair, she paid some thugs to have Blaine’s house trashed. Didn’t go over well.”

“Did you put Terri North in jail?” I couldn’t wrap my mind around that one.

Adam rocked back on his heels. “Not exactly. Seems she’s close with a judge. Made a phone call on the way to the station. Judge Kendall met us and escorted Mrs. North home.”

“And Justin North?”

Adam shrugged. “Other than being a first-class bastard, North didn’t commit any crimes.”

“I have a client who’ll be very unhappy about that. And isn’t sexual harassment a crime. My client might be willing to testify.”

“Who…” He squinted at me, then shook his head. “You’re not gonna tell me who.”

I angled my chin at him and wrinkled my nose. “Client. Confidential. But I’ll have her contact you. And Annie said she saw him hit Marcy. Does that count?”

“I’ll talk to her, but with everything attached to this case, it’s barely a misdemeanor.”

That North might get off with nothing but a hand slap wasn’t gonna work for me. I’d find some way…maybe send him a box of chocolates laced with a laxative. “ Did Marcy confess to planning the construction site explosions with Applegate?”

“Yeah. You about done with questions? Mitch is waiting at home for you.”

“You gonna drive me?”

His lips twitched. “Not done with questions, huh?”

“You’re kidding, right?” I slid off the gurney. The ground came up to meet me, and I grabbed for Adam’s arm.

“You don’t get your feet under you, and I’ll drop you at the hospital instead of home.”

“No, you won’t. You don’t dare show up without me. Not when Mitch is waiting.”

“Good point. Next question?”

“What was up with Marcy’s anger? Blowing stuff up is pretty extreme, especially since one of the things she blew up was my car. And me.”

“Blaine was hospitalized for depression after Shauna died. Believed she should have stopped her sister from trying to join TNT. As far as blowing you up, she claims she just wanted to scare you. Thought it would really screw with North’s business if it made the papers. Applegate followed you, set off the explosion.”

That fit. “So she and Applegate teamed up to ruin Jacobson and North.”

“You got it.” He locked Merlin and me in the passenger side of his Crown Vic.

“What’s with North transferring all that money to Jacobson?” I asked as soon as Adam got in the car.

“Jacobson was North’s mentor. He warned North that the “trial” was too much for Shauna. Harbored guilt for all these years because he didn’t stop his protégé from sending her to her death.”

“That’s why he gambled?”

“Yep. He’d lose himself in all kinds of gambling entertainment. North bailed him out because of the guilt, and because Jacobson had been like a father figure for so many years.”

“And Danielle Chambers? When did she and Marcy meet?”

He shot me a look. “Blaine was a secretary for the same firm Chambers worked as an apprentice design engineer,” he explained as he pulled into my driveway.

Mitch was waiting on my porch, but by the time Adam stopped the car he was next to me, helping me out of the car.

“Gotta run,” Adam said as Mitch gave him a wave and shut the car door.

Mitch angled his chin toward the stairs. “Want me to carry you?”

“No, I’m okay. It was a bit of an evening though.”

His eyes narrowed. “I want the whole story.” He slid his hand under my arm. “Annie’s making tea for you.”

“It’s good to be home.” Tears rolled down my cheeks.

Annie stepped out on the deck, took one look at me and wrapped me in her arms. She smelled like cinnamon and sugar. “Adam called while the medics were working on you. I figured the best thing I could do was supply some comfort food.”

I dropped into a chair. Annie handed me a fistful of tissues, set a plate of warm cookies in front of me, then sat down and wrapped her hands around mine. “You survived, and you didn’t kill her.”

The wisdom in her eyes did more to calm me than anything else could have. I’d planned to take a life tonight. Annie understood that like no one else could. “Thanks,” I whispered.

Mitch had poured my tea and set the cup on the table, reached over and cradled my cheek in his palm. “You scared the shit out of me. Again.”