Captive Justice: A Private Investigator Mystery Series (A Jake & Annie Lincoln Thriller Book 4) (28 page)

THE LAST THING ANNIE wanted to do—could afford to do—was underestimate the cunning of Eli Martin. He would know Annie wouldn’t merely walk in there and give herself up without a fight. Rather, he would calculate her intentions and devise his plans accordingly.

He might be a ruthless killer, but he wasn’t stupid.

But then, neither was Annie.

From the printed map using satellite view, she knew the precise layout of the land surrounding the cabin, all the roads leading in and out of the area, and the exact approach she would take.

The cabin was set back from the road about a quarter mile, which meant, by her best estimate, it was three quarters of a mile from a parallel road. The trek from that road to the cabin would be mostly through bush and overgrown terrain. If she hurried, the hike would take her thirty minutes, bringing her to her destination before Martin’s deadline.

But she had to get moving if her plan was to have any chance of success.

She took a quick stock of what she needed, decided she had everything necessary and raced out the door. The drive to Highway 23 took her almost fifteen minutes. Still enough time.

She parked on the shoulder of the road and waited until a tractor-trailer zipped by before stepping out. She put her cell phone on vibrate, tucked it into her side pocket, then consulted the map briefly and headed up the embankment, climbing over a wire fence. The first leg of her journey was across an open field, overgrown with weeds, but no other obstacles other than an occasional knoll and dip in the terrain.

She estimated she was halfway to her destination as she entered a thick forest. She looked at her watch. A half mile to go and still plenty of time.

She dodged fallen trees and low hanging branches as she weaved her way and before long stumbled across a footpath. It was overgrown and rarely used, but a footpath, no doubt. She assumed it would lead her close to the area occupied by the cabin.

She stayed on the path until she sensed she was getting close to her goal. Topping a small knoll, she could finally make out the roof of the building through the foliage. She crouched down and listened. The breeze whistled through the treetops, high above. The occasional flutter of wings, distant sounds of animals at hunt or at play.

Martin would be watching for her, no doubt. She was unsure of where he would be stationed but she knew one thing for sure; he wouldn’t be inside the cabin waiting. It was more likely he would be watching for her to drive up and would be somewhere between the cabin and the road he expected her to take.

She stood and pulled the binoculars from her bag and carefully scanned the area in front of her and at both sides. Nothing moved and no one was around. She advanced a few more feet, down the knoll and repeated the process. Again and again. She wasn’t taking any chances.

The trees ended and she crouched down beside a bush, the cabin in full view now as she swept the entire area again with the binoculars.

All clear. She glanced at her watch, stepped boldly into the clearing, stopped and listened. Nothing.

The back of the cabin facing her had no windows. She wanted to see inside. There must be a window somewhere. She dipped back into the trees and skirted around, taking time to stop and listen, until she could see the side of the cabin. There was a window, just about eye level.

She used the binoculars again and that’s when she saw him through the dusty window. Jake, tied to a chair. Rosemary must be there too, but Annie couldn’t see her.

But where was Martin?

She crawled to the edge of the tree line and scanned the area again, taking a little more time, just in case. Nothing. She dashed to the window and peered inside. She saw Jake through the grimy pane, he and Rosemary tied to chairs.

She was lucky; the window wasn’t locked. It made a low squeal as she raised it slightly. She raised it more and the screech of wood on wood sounded like thunder. She glanced around before looking inside.

“Annie.” It was Jake. His face showed a mixture of apprehension and pleasure. He recovered his surprise and added, “He’s not here.”

Just what she needed to hear.

The window gave a final shriek as she lifted it all the way. She crawled inside and fell into a heap on the floor. Safe. For now.

She looked up. Jake was grinning, ear to ear. Rosemary’s mouth had dropped open, her eyes wide.

“I knew you’d come,” Jake said.

“I had no choice,” she said, as she dashed over to Jake, digging the kitchen knife from her bag.

“Martin is out there somewhere,” Jake said. “He’s watching for you. How’d you get past him?”

“I took another route.” Annie pointed toward the back of the room. “Through the forest.” She sawed at the ropes binding Jake’s hands and feet, got them free and then turned to Rosemary and cut her bonds.

Rosemary rubbed her wrists to restore the circulation. “Annie,” she said. “He’ll be back soon. We’d better hurry.”

Annie looked at her watch. Her deadline had passed and in a few minutes she would know if her daring plan would work or fail.

Her cell phone vibrated. She pulled it from her pocket and looked at the display. Unknown Number.

“Where are you, Annie?”

Annie took a deep breath. “I . . . I’ve decided I can’t meet you,” she said. “I thought I could do it, but . . .” Her voice trailed off.

“You know what that means don’t you?”

“Please . . . don’t hurt them.” Annie was pleading.

“You’ve left me no choice.”

The line went dead.

Annie turned to Jake. “Stay in the chair,” she said. “Put your hands behind your back as if you’re still tied. We’ll wait for Martin and in the meantime, I’ll call the police.”

Too late.

The door rattled as Jake and Rosemary resumed their positions. Annie dove to the side, ducked behind a battered sofa and slipped the pistol from its holster. She flicked off the safety of the already loaded weapon, gripped it with both hands, held her breath and waited.

The door banged open.

Martin was back. “It seems like your beloved wife had a change of heart,” the killer said.

Annie could tell by his voice Martin’s back was to her. She rose up slowly. Martin had the pistol in one hand, pointed at Jake. She caught Jake’s eye and they exchanged a knowing look. A plan.

With a blur, Jake’s right hand came up and caught Martin by surprise. The huge fist pounded Martin’s gun hand and the pistol spun through the air, hit the floor and slid under the table.

At the same time, Annie stepped out to the side, in full view of Martin, her weapon raised and pointed at his head. “Don’t move.”

Martin turned slowly to face her. “I should’ve known you’d come,” he said, his eyes narrowed.

Annie stepped back to a safer distance, her weapon never wavering. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she said.

Chapter 61

Saturday, September 3rd, 6:36 PM

JAKE LET OUT his breath in relief. Annie’s plan had worked to perfection, they’d caught the kidnapper and Rosemary Coleman is safe. He turned to Eli Martin and pointed toward the couch. “Sit down.”

Martin glared at Jake, then at Annie and finally at the weapon she held. He gave her a black look and then turned slowly and sat where Jake had indicated.

Rosemary had risen from her chair. She took one step toward Martin and stopped, her hands on her hips. “Why’d you try to kill me,” she demanded.

Martin scowled and leaned forward in his seat, murder in his eyes.

Jake took a step toward Martin. “Sit back.”

Martin sat back reluctantly and continued to glare at Rosemary. Jake sat on the other end of the couch to keep an eye on him.

The door rattled. It opened a few inches and the anxious face of Walter Coleman appeared. He looked at Rosemary and a relieved look crossed his face. The door opened and then slammed shut behind Coleman as he stepped into the room. He glanced at Annie, then at the weapon she held, and then he approached his wife.

“Are you ok?” he asked, as he put an arm around her shoulder.

Rosemary smiled up at him. “I’m fine now.”

Coleman turned to Annie. “I had to come.”

“How did you find the place?” Annie asked.

Coleman shrugged. “You told me the general location, and then when I saw Jake’s car parked on the road, I knew this was it.”

“We’d better call the police now,” Jake said.

Annie nodded and reached for her cell. She juggled the phone in one hand, the gun in the other, struggling to dial.

Coleman stepped over to Annie. “Let me hold the gun,” he said, holding out his hand.

Annie handed the weapon to Coleman, who took it and stepped back a few steps, raised the weapon and pointed it.

Straight at Annie’s head.

“Drop the phone,” Coleman said.

Annie’s mouth fell open. Jake sat forward, Rosemary gasped and Eli Martin chuckled.

Coleman waved the gun at Jake. “Stay there.”

Annie took a couple of steps back and glared across the room at Coleman.

“Walter, what are you doing?” Rosemary asked, about to approach her husband. She stopped short as the weapon turned her way.

Eli Martin rose to his feet and approached Coleman. His grin dissolved into laughter and filled the room, then disappeared as suddenly as it had started. “This was too easy,” he said, as he took the pistol from his partner and turned to face his captives.

Jake was stunned. Coleman and Martin in league together? The truth dawned on him.

“And now look at what we have here,” Martin said. “The last three witnesses.”

Rosemary’s hands were on her hips, her brow furrowed in confusion, and she spoke in an almost pleading voice. “Walter. Why?”

Her husband didn’t answer.

Martin laughed again and spoke up, “Just our little way of dissolving our marriages.”

Annie was furious. “And so you killed your wife and tried to kill Rosemary as well. But why’d you kill Linda Gould?”

Martin shrugged. “To throw suspicion away from ourselves.” He laughed and slapped Coleman on the back with his free hand. “And everything went off smoothly. He kidnapped my wife, and I kidnapped his. Thankfully, mine is no longer with us and soon, Walter’s dear wife will join her.”

Jake spoke up, “Why’d you want me to deliver the ransom money for you.”

“Because we knew you’d do exactly what we told you to. You had no choice.” Martin chuckled. “And we wanted to prove we’re miles smarter than you and your wife put together.” He paused, a grin twisting his mouth. “And of course, your word is beyond reproach. The perfect witness and the perfect patsy.”

“But that’s changed now,” Coleman added. “But our plan will still come out perfectly.” He turned to his wife. “Darling, do you remember that time you dinged up your little Honda? Well, I was fortunate enough to take it to Martin Auto to have it repaired. That’s where I ran into Eli.” He grinned. “We shared a few drinks on many occasions. One thing led to another and eventually, we found out we were in the same boat and soon came up with a foolproof plan.”

Jake leaned forward and took Annie’s hand, afraid she might make a harsh move. Though he fought against his own anger, he knew they had to stay calm.

Annie glanced at Jake, took a deep breath and turned back to Coleman. “So your real intent was to kill your own wives.”

“And it worked too,” Coleman said. “Nobody suspected a thing. Everyone was looking for a single killer, a kidnapper.”

“And now all we have to do is finish the job,” Martin added and sighed. “And I was having so much fun. I was really beginning to enjoy this and had plans to carry our little game on much, much longer.” He sighed again. “But alas, it must end here. Unfortunately, there’ll be some collateral damage, but it can’t be helped.”

Jake turned as a low growl came from Rosemary. She charged at Martin but Coleman stepped forward and swung his fist, hitting his wife a sharp blow to the side of her head. Rosemary staggered and lost her balance, falling heavily against the solid table leg. She groaned, turned over and lay still, her back toward them.

Martin turned to face the Lincolns and waved the gun at Jake. “Stand up.”

Jake stood reluctantly and put his arm around his wife.

Martin pointed the gun at Annie. “And now, we’ll start with you.”

“No,” Jake roared, as he stepped between his wife and the gunman.

The weapon exploded and the shot caught Jake full in the chest. He went down. Annie screamed and dropped to her knees beside him.

“Put the gun down.”

They spun their heads toward Rosemary Coleman. She gripped Martin’s pistol, retrieved from under the table. She held her finger firmly on the trigger, the gun unwavering in her fist.

Martin’s expression froze a moment before turning the weapon toward Rosemary. His finger tightened.

A shot exploded in the small room and Eli Martin’s eyes widened. He staggered backwards, blood spurting from the hole in his chest, his weapon slipping from his fingers as he crumpled to the floor.

Jake groaned and tried to sit up. The vest had saved his life, but he felt like he’d been hit with a sledgehammer.

Walter Coleman froze a moment, staring at his partner, dying on the floor. He spun around and stopped with his hand on the doorknob as a second shot buried itself into the door near his head. He turned back, his arms out to the side. “You won’t shoot me, Rosemary,” he said.

There was fire in her eyes, a burning anger. “If you move, I will,” she said, and Jake knew she meant it.

Epilogue

Saturday, September 3rd, 7:32 PM

THE OFFICER snapped the cuffs on Walter Coleman’s wrists and tightened them. Rosemary paid no mind as they led her husband out to the waiting cruiser. For the first time, she broke down, her head bowed, the tears flowing as Annie sat beside her, an arm around her shoulder.

The body of Eli Martin still lay on the floor, the pooled blood beginning to turn a darker hue as it soaked into the wooden floor of the cabin.