Monahan 01 Options (43 page)

“Go ‘way,” he mumbled.

“I won’t go away,” I told him. “Until you tell me what happened to Evelyn.” Another snort came from his nose and I wasn’t about to allow him to pass out again so I grabbed the fabric of the sleeve of his shirt and pulled on it a couple of times to get his attention.

“Kate, it’s a losing battle,” Jay said. “He just keeps passing out. You’ll never get any sense out of him in this condition.”

“Hey, I’m used to it. This is just like communicating with him at the office. He mumbles and grunts and snorts all the time.” I grabbed the bottle from Chris’ clutches and poured the remains over his head. Scotch soaked into his hair and ran down his face and onto the front of his shirt.

“What the hell are you doing Kate?” Jay demanded.

Satisfied that the bottle was now empty I held on to the neck of the bottle and practiced a few swings with it.

“Emptying the bottle so I can hit him over the head with it,” I told him. Jay swiftly took the bottle from my hand and laid it upright on the table beside Chris’ chair.

“Have you lost it?”

“Hey, I was kidding. I poured it on him to see if I could get a reaction. Maybe I need something colder.” On the back wall of the room there was a fully stocked bar and I knew from the last time I had to sober him up that the refrigerator had an automatic ice-maker that dispensed cubes out a chute in the front door. I found an ice bucket on the bar counter and filled it with ice cubes from the dispenser and then poured cold water from the tap over the ice cubes and sloshed it around a few times. The wicked grin on my face told Jay exactly what I planned to do with my ice-cold concoction.

I stood over Oakes with the bucket poised and asked Jay, “Do you think he prefers a twist of lemon with his Scotch and water?” With my index finger and thumb, I very gingerly held the collar of his shirt away from his neck to make sure some it went inside his shirt.

The reaction this time from Oakes was more to my liking and he reacted quickly, spluttering and cursing. I stood back and watched for signs of an awakening but when it was too slow coming, I filled the bucket again with ice and water and this time poured it over his head and down the front of his shirt. Oakes’ arms flailed about and with his eyes open, he tried unsuccessfully to get out of his chair but I pushed him back. I yanked on the wooden handle at the side of the La-Z-Boy chair to pop up the footrest and Chris’ feet flew up. It was a comical sight and a sure way to keep him prisoner in his chair.

Oakes was awake now and he looked at Jay and I through half opened eyes.

“Hooru,” came out of his mouth and Jay and I looked at each other for interpretation.

“I think he said who are you,” I offered. I put my hands on the arm of the chair and leaned into his face and in my best Marine drill sergeant voice, I yelled at him. “Coffee?” His head lolled to the side and rested on his shoulder. “I’ll take that for a yes,” I said confidently and headed for the bar. One of the lower cupboards yielded a small jar of Maxwell House Instant and I shook a generous amount in the bottom of a large beer mug. To this I added some lukewarm water from the tap and stirred it up with a pink swizzle stick with a cute flamingo on top.

“Now I need your help,” I told Jay. “Just hold his head straight and I’ll do the pouring.”

“He could choke, Kathleen. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Fine, I’ll do it myself.”

I grabbed Chris’ chin and grimaced as I stuck my thumb in his lower lip and forced his mouth open. The lukewarm instant coffee poured out of his mouth and I wasn’t sure if any was making its mark because I couldn’t see his throat working. So, I pushed on the back of the La-Z-Boy to get it into a more reclined position and poured some more into his mouth. When he swallowed, I slowed down and waited for him to empty his mouth.

I looked up at Jay who was staring at me in horror. “Maybe I’d be better off just spooning the dry coffee crystals into his mouth,” I suggested. “That way the caffeine would work faster.”

“You’re nuts.”

“Maybe. But I’m not leaving here until I get some answers.” I started pouring more liquid caffeine in Chris’ mouth and by the time we reached the bottom of the beer mug Chris was stirring. I perched on the edge of the sofa to wait and eventually my efforts were rewarded when Chris grunted several times and wiped his hand over his face. By this time most of the various liquids that had been poured over him had dried on his face but his shirt remained soaked and stuck to his skin. His pyjama bottoms were in the same condition and the fabric covering of the La-Z-Boy chair gave off an uncomfortable squishing sound when he squirmed in the chair. Chris was probably feeling just like a newborn baby sitting in a soaked diaper.

“Come on Chris, please,” I prodded him. Jay had made himself comfortable in a matching loveseat and I looked over at him. “I don’t suppose you could pick him up and shake him for me?” When he gave me a blank look in return I knew I was going to get about as much response from Jay as I was getting from Oakes.

“Did you want to wait in the car while I beat him with a rubber hose?” This at least elicited a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

“I know you object to this. If it wasn’t so serious I’d leave him here to choke on his own vomit. But I want some answers.” Jay nodded wordlessly and I took this for mild acceptance of my methods.

Chris’ eyes were open now and I saw a glimmer of awareness.

“Waddya want?” he asked me.

“Some answers.”

“Get out,” he said as he heaved himself into a more upright position. He pointed a shaking finger at me and said, “You I know.” My eyes followed his hand as it slowly swung around and he pointed at Jay. “Who’s that?”

“Jay Harmon,” Jay told him.

A glimmer of recognition surfaced in Oakes’ face and his mouth formed into a wicked sneer.

“The idiot who got himself fired. Rick’s little bum-boy,” Chris said.

Jay’s face reacted but he didn’t respond. I gave him credit for being able to hold his tongue, a trait I had yet to develop.

Now that Chris seemed somewhat sober, it was time to get this over with. “You told me on the phone that you were sorry. It was an accident.
Evelyn
was an accident. Now tell me what you meant.”

“Get out of my house.” He fumbled at the side of his chair for the lever and gave it a yank. The chair returned to an upright position and his feet hit the floor. His attempt to stand up was unsuccessful and he fell back into the chair.

“You’re fired,” he told me and I laughed.

“Really?” I asked with mock horror. “And just how long do you think the great CEO will hold on to his job? Now that we know you murdered Evelyn?”

Chris squirmed in his chair and averted his eyes.

“Answer me, dammit,” I yelled at him.

He quickly looked at me and then Jay. His eyes were wide open now and he resembled a deer caught in the headlights of a car. His hand reached for the phone beside him. “I’m calling the police if you don’t get out of my house.”

“Please do,” Jay dared him as he stood up. “Kate, come on, you’re not getting anywhere here. Let’s just leave.”

I stood up and took Jay by the arm to the other side of the room. “Just a few more minutes. I think I can get through to him. Go upstairs to the kitchen and make some coffee. Please. You might be intimidating him.”

“Me? I may have the size but you’ve got the mouth. Maybe you should go make coffee.”

“Go.” I gave him a light push and he reluctantly walked up the stairs. Baby appeared from behind Chris’ chair and followed Jay. I had completely forgotten about the dog. Chris remained in his chair looking like a deposed king. His expression was pitiful and he was a mess. I glanced at the clock on the VCR and it read one twenty-four. Almost time to call it a night but I wasn’t about to give up. Yet.

“You know that it’s all over,” I told him, doing my best Dragnet imitation. Baby started to bark upstairs and I heard footsteps on the stairs. “You’ll never work in this town again. Now tell me what happened. Please.”

I was standing over Chris with my back to the stairs and Baby’s persistent yelping was starting to annoy me. “Baby, shut-up,” I said.

“I agree,” a voice behind me said. “The dog is far too noisy.” I spun around to face Philip Winston who was holding a gun in his hand. It looked like the one he had hit me with but this one had a long, tubular extension on the end of the barrel, which I surmised was a silencer. A familiar sight to any Clint Eastwood aficionado.

The dog was yipping and jumping at Philip’s pant leg. He pointed the gun at Baby and pulled the trigger and the dog gave one final yelp before falling on the floor.

chapter fifty-eight

Oakes let out a bellow of rage and catapulted himself out of the chair. Philip now pointed the gun directly at me and my eyes darted to the staircase.

“I’m all alone,” he said, following my eyes. Then where was Jay, I thought desperately. “The watchdog met me at the door.”

Chris was sobbing and kneeling on the floor cradling the bloody dog in his arms. Philip waved the gun at me and I instinctively backed up. My gut was turning over and sweat had broken out all over my body. Philip’s eyes were locked on mine and he ignored Oakes on the floor.

“You got away from me earlier, and now I’m pleasantly surprised to find you here. I’m running around the Metropolitan Toronto area looking for you and here you are.” His calm voice gave me shivers and bolts of fear were shooting up my spine and through my stomach. The hand holding the gun slowly raised up and he stretched his arm outright until the gun was pointed directly at my face. My eyes closed automatically in anticipation of what was to come next. My senses were heightened and the sour smell of scotch that permeated the air wafted to my nostrils. Blood was pounding in my ears and I could hear my breath and Chris, whose sobs had now turned to a high-pitched keen.

“Your voice message, Chris,” Philip was saying, “was very timely. Thank you very much. Open your eyes. Look at me.” I forced my eyes open and looked at him where he was still standing in the same position, about eight feet away from me. The gun remained pointed at my face.

“Mr. Information Technology here left me a voice message. Said he’d told the girl it’d been an accident. I assumed he meant you but I couldn’t be sure because he was so drunk. Now that’s what I call dangerous. A drunk who spills the beans.”

I glanced downwards at Oakes who was still only interested in his damn dead dog. There was no way I was going to escape this situation and I obviously could not depend on Oakes for support. As usual.

I was praying inside that if Jay were still alive upstairs, he’d get some help but in the meantime, my only hope was to try and talk my way out of the situation.

“I agree,” I told Philip. “A drunk is dangerous. But I don’t drink. Guaranteed. So I’ll never spill the beans, as you put it. Just let me go and that’ll be the end of it.”

He slowly shook his head. “Sorry. No can do. There’s too much at stake. I’ve been working at this for most of my life and I
will not
let you, or him,” he waved the gun at Oakes on the floor, “get in my way.”

My hands came up, slowly, to my mouth and I pressed them over my face, trying to hold in the sobs that were building in my chest. I had stupidly got myself into this situation and my actions to this point had been impulsive. Impulsive and stupid. I tried to think clearly and logically but panic boiled around inside me.

I thought of Sadie and her deep, motherly love for her son and decided to try to appeal to his human side. “Your mother wouldn’t be very proud of you right now.”

“You keep my mother out of it!” he screamed at me and I backed up another step. The step backwards put the back of my knees up against the low coffee table and I felt completely trapped. “I’m doing this for my mother. She was shamed and humiliated when my father died. We were poor for so many years. I promised.” He said this slowly and his voice was quieter and respectful when he talked about his mother and I wondered what the promise was all about.

“Then think about your mother,” I said quietly.

The next instant happened in slow motion, and every detail remains engraved on my brain. I saw the muscles move ever so slightly in the hand that was holding the gun. Chris had put his right hand on the floor and was trying to push himself into a standing position but he fell over into Philip’s leg at the same moment he pulled the trigger. Later on I would credit Chris for saving my life. The hot, searing pain I felt on my right ear automatically made me think I was dead. I fell back on the coffee table with both of my hands protecting the side of my head where the bullet had hit me. My hands filled with warm fluid that I knew was blood and in a panic now that I realized I was still alive, I rolled off the coffee table onto the floor behind Chris’s La-Z-Boy chair.

“Goddammit Chris,” Philip screamed. “You’re always screwing things up.” I could hear Philip’s breath coming in short gasps. And then his voice changed again and he said calmly, as if we were standing around at a champagne reception, “If he hadn’t knocked my leg, I would have had you right between the eyes. But before you die, let me tell you, you were close. Close to finding out the truth.”

My eyes darted around the room from my hiding position. The clock on the VCR now read one thirty-one and I realized that it had only been a few minutes since Jay had gone up to make coffee. If he had any idea of what was going on down here, assuming he were still alive, help should be on the way soon.