High School Reunion (23 page)

“Kathy—”

But Kathy wasn’t listening to him.

“You monster—” That was aimed at Langston. “You’ve held Wendell’s death over me for the past te
n years! But not anymore!” She pulled a gun out of her purse and waved it wildly.

Langston grabbed his lawyer’s arm and tried to push him in front of him as Kathy leveled the gun at him and held it in both hands like a pro.

“I used up every bit of my inheritance paying you hush money for ten years. And Debra drained her parents and made them think she was a spendthrift. You made our lives hell.” She glanced at Cade. “Then when Laurel started nosing around, he threatened to tell you we killed Wendell unless I got the pictures and stopped her. It had been ten years. Everybody had accepted Wendell’s death as suicide. But Ralph didn’t want to lose his gravy train. Greedy, heartless—!”

“Kathy,” Cade said quietly. “You didn’t kill Wendell.”

“What?” She turned her head toward Cade. “What are you talking about?”

Cade let his gaze drift behind her where Laurel had her backup weapon in her hand and was slowly creeping closer to Kathy.

He’d been taking a step every time Laurel did, but Langston’s lawyer had parked his car right in front of the burnt-out station house. It was in Cade’s way. He had to detour around it.

“Kathy,” he said. “Let’s talk about this. Why don’t you give me the gun so you don’t make things worse for yourself. I know you didn’t kill Wendell. He was unconscious but he wasn’t dead when you left him.”

“Didn’t kill—? But Ralph blackmailed us for ten years.” She shot a wild-eyed look at Cade. “And it was for
nothing?
”

He stopped and tried to look harmless. “I’ll tell you all about it if you’ll give me the gun.”

She took another step toward Langston. “You knew about this?”

Langston was white as a sheet. He took a step backward. “I swear, Kathy, I thought you killed him.”

“You are a liar! You told us you found Wendell dead. You said you’d hanged him to make it look like suicide—to protect
us.
Oh, my God, you killed him.” Kathy laughed. “And Sheryl knew, didn’t she? She was as greedy as you. Maybe I’m not sorry I shot her, after all.”

“No, I swear! I saw Wendell and Debra headed toward the swimming hole. I knew y’all had more cooked up for him than a sign on his back. Did I want to see Wendell humiliated? Yes. Did I kill him? No!”

Laurel moved toward Kathy, staying out of her line of sight. Cade saw her release the safety on her gun.
Good. Keep closing in on her.
Laurel was doing exactly the right things.

With stiff, jerky motions, Kathy moved away from Cade and toward the other side of the street. She hadn’t yet become aware of Laurel behind her.

Cade stayed in step with her, and within ten steps, he was closer to Langston and the lawyer than she was.

“Kathy, we’re going to take care of Langston,” Cade said, deliberately keeping his voice quiet and calm. “He’ll pay for everything he’s done. You don’t want to shoot him.”

“Kathy,” Langston choked out. “I swear to God I’m telling the truth. Maybe Sheryl killed Wendell herself—”

“You,”
Kathy shrieked, “shut your lying mouth. I dealt with Sheryl and I’ll deal with you!”

Cade didn’t like the look in Kathy’s eyes or the hysterical tone in her voice. He aimed his weapon in her direction.

She saw him.

“He killed Wendell, Cade! He killed him and he blackmailed us!”

“Kathy,” Cade said. “Set the gun down and we’ll talk.”

“No! You tell me or I’ll shoot him, right here.”

“Come on, Kathy, you don’t want to shoot him. Sheryl’s going to be okay. You haven’t killed anyone.”

“You can’t stop me. I have to do this,” she cried. “I’ve lived in fear for ten years.”

As if in slow motion, Cade saw her finger squeeze the trigger. He had to make the right decision within microseconds now or someone would die.

He sent a quick glance in Laurel’s direction, then dove toward Langston and the lawyer, pushing them down.

Cade felt like he was moving in slow motion as several loud pops sounded in his ears. Something hit him with a wallop, and he slammed into the hot pavement and rolled.

Langston screamed. The lawyer whimpered. Laurel yelled at Kathy.

Cade rolled up into a crouch. Laurel had knocked Kathy to her knees and was cuffing her. The FBI issue Glock that Kathy had held lay on the ground beside her.

Cade sprang to his feet and ran to Ralph’s side. He knelt and felt for a pulse.
Nothing.
One of Kathy’s shots had hit him. Cade lifted his left arm to reach into his pocket for his cell phone, but to his surprise, it didn’t do what he wanted it to. He glanced down. Blood spread like an opening flower on his yellow pullover shirt.

He set his gun down, retrieved his phone and called the EMTs. Kathy was beginning to calm down somewhat, but she was still threatening to kill Langston. She didn’t realize he was already dead.

“Cade? Are you okay?” Laurel called out, her voice tight with concern.

He met her gaze and nodded.

In her eyes he read the same thing he was thinking. It was over, but not soon enough. Too many lives had been destroyed.

I
T WAS TIME
to leave. There was nothing else for Laurel to do. Cade had everything well in hand. The day before had been an odd mixture of terror and boredom. It had ended with Ralph Langston dead, Cade injured and Kathy Adler’s life in shambles.

Kathy’s confession had cleared up a lot of unanswered questions. Then, after Cade’s shoulder was bandaged and he was released from the hospital, he’d filled Laurel in on what Sheryl had told him.

The whole thing was so bizarre—such a tangled web. Sheryl had blackmailed Langston, because she’d seen him kill Wendell. She confessed that what Ralph did to Debra and Kathy didn’t concern her. But after Debra’s death, Sheryl only wanted justice. She didn’t want any more of Langston’s blood money.

She’d lured Laurel down to the swimming hole to tell her about Langston killing Wendell. But she’d panicked when Fred showed up.

Laurel took a deep breath. Finally, it was over. Wendell Vance had gotten justice. But Ralph Langston paid for his crime with his life, and at least three other lives were destroyed by the secrets that had been kept for ten years.

Laurel’s suitcase was already in the car. She took one last look around the room at the B&B to be sure she hadn’t left anything behind—other than her heart. She blinked against the stinging in her eyes. Nothing she could do about that.

Her cell phone rang. It was her boss, Mitch Decker.

“You got the rest of the evidence?” he asked.

“Yes, sir. Cade has it. It confirms almost everything. It was Debra Honeycutt’s hand in the photo. Sheryl Posey will testify that she saw Ralph choke Wendell in return for immunity on extortion charges for the years she black
mailed him. Kathy is pleading to three counts of assault, one of assault with intent and one of manslaughter.”

“What about Debra Honeycutt? Why did Langston kill her?”

“We never got to ask him. I guess he found out that she was planning to tell me everything. It’s all so tragic. I almost wish I’d never seen that photo.”

“You did the right thing,” Mitch said. “It sounds like things were coming to a head anyway.”

Laurel smiled sadly. “It was like a perfect storm. Kathy and Debra’s determination to stop Langston from blackmailing them, Sheryl’s efforts to keep the hold she had over him so she could keep his blackmail payments coming in, and his fear that the real truth would come out. So with the reunion as the trigger, and my snooping into the meaning of that picture, it all came together in a tragic climax.”

“Right. Don’t beat yourself up. You did your job. Now, about Cade Dupree.”

Laurel’s heart jumped. She’d asked Mitch for a favor, something she’d never done before.

“I had his Quantico file pulled. He was solid. In fact, in several areas he excelled. He got great reviews from his instructors and trainers. A couple of them wrote letters of commendation.”

That was Cade. Solid, brilliant, driven to excel. She held her breath.

“It wouldn’t be easy—might not even be possible. He was given his first choice of assignment when he graduated. Almost nobody gets their first choice. And he turned it down.”

Laurel wanted to blurt out that his brother had died and his father had suffered a stroke, but she bit her tongue. Mitch knew the circumstances.

“He could be assigned anywhere.”

Her heart leapt into her throat. Was Mitch saying there was a chance? “I—I don’t think he’d mind.”

“When would he be ready to move—if he got in?”

She swallowed. “I haven’t exactly talked to him. I was just asking.”

“I see.” Mitch paused, and Laurel felt the criticism in his silence. “Well, if
he
is interested, have him contact me. Meanwhile, are you sure you don’t need a couple of days—”

“
No!
I mean, no thank you, sir. I’m ready to get back to work. I’ve had enough of Dusty Springs, Mississippi.” Even as she said it she knew it was a lie. She didn’t love the town she’d grown up in, but it was breaking her heart to leave Cade.

“Okay then. See you tomorrow.”

“Mitch? Thanks.” She hung up.

A quiet cough startled her.

“Had enough of Dusty Springs? I know what you mean.”

She turned around. Cade was standing in the open doorway of her room. His face under his tan was pale and his left arm was in a sling. But he was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

Not that it mattered.

“How—what are you doing here?” she finally managed to ask.

He gestured with his head at the open door. “Wide open.”

“Oh, right. I was loading the car.” She nodded toward his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“It hurts, but yeah. I’m fine.” He pinned her with his blue eyes. “
Who
haven’t you exactly talked to?”

Her ears burned with embarrassment. “How long were you standing there listening to me?”

“That was the first thing I heard. So—is it me? Is there something you were going to talk to me about?”

“You think you’re the only person I could possibly have been talking about?”

He shrugged, then winced. “Want me to get that bag for you? Your hand—”

“No.” Thank goodness he was off the subject of who she hadn’t asked what. “Absolutely not. Gunshot trumps a cut on the hand. I’ll take it out. I need to get going.”

He looked at his watch. “Your plane doesn’t leave for four hours.”

“There’s the drive, and then the check-in…”

“All of which will take about an hour and a half.” Cade narrowed his gaze as he assessed Laurel. She was nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Was she that eager to leave? He knew she harbored no love for Dusty Springs, but he’d like to think she was reluctant to leave him.

Hell.
She had a whole life back in D.C. Of course she was ready to go.

What he’d heard her say to her boss still fascinated him though. What business had she left unattended in this town she hated? He knew what he hoped might cause her to want to stay, but he also knew it would never work. He loved her. But that was
his
problem.

She’d never let herself fall for a hometown boy. She’d said it herself. She hated Dusty Springs.

He followed her out to her rental car, taking one last look at her sexy figure, bouncy dark red hair and determined, no-nonsense gait.

He tried to help her load her bags into the trunk, but she ignored him. She opened the driver’s side door, but before she could climb in, he took hold of the door. She turned, startled.

“Laurel, is there something you want to say to me?”

Her eyes flickered. “Th-thank you?”

“Come on, Gillespie. Give me a break. Are you just going to drive off without talking about what’s between us?”

“Between us?”

“You haven’t spoken two words to me since you moved back to the bed-and-breakfast two days ago.”

“Cade, I’m so sorry about looking at your letter from the FBI. I never meant to snoop.”

His heart sank in disappointment. So that was her unfinished business.
Apologizing.
His defenses rose, trying to shield his heart. “But you did.”

“I know and I apologize. Have you—” She stopped, and he saw her throat move as she swallowed. “Have you ever thought about going back?”

“Back?”

“To the FBI.”

Her words echoed through him like a pinball machine on tilt. “That’s not possible.”

She looked down at her feet, then raised her gaze to his. To his surprise her eyes were damp.

The way she was acting scared him. What was she about to say?

“You know I never wanted to come back here. The only reason I let Misty talk me into coming was because of the picture. I had to find out what had really happened to Wendell. But I was determined to get in and out of Dusty Springs without getting any dust on me.”

He opened his mouth but she held up her hand.

“If you don’t let me finish I’ll never get this out.” She took a deep breath. “One huge reason I didn’t want to ever come back here is because in high school I had the biggest, most desperate crush on an older boy. I knew coming back would hurt. And what I was afraid of is exactly what happened. I was just as smitten as I’d been back then—more so.”

“James.” He held his breath. He couldn’t believe how much it hurt to know that she’d had a crush on James. Or maybe what hurt was that she’d never gotten over his brother.

“James?” Laurel stared at him, her hazel eyes glittering in the noonday sun. “No. It was never James.”

He frowned. “But what about the homecoming dance—what the CeeGees did and how much it hurt you? Why did they target you unless they knew you had a crush on him?”

“Because that’s what they did. And because to them I was an easy target.”

“But if it wasn’t James, then who—?” Cade’s voice gave out.

Laurel’s lips were trembling and tears were gathering in her eyes. “These last few days made me realize I’ve fallen in love with a solid, honorable, wonderful man who never knew I existed and apparently still doesn’t.”