The Dying Room (15 page)

Shook Hill Road, 1:30 p.m.

Jess’s instincts were on high alert. “Where’s Taylor’s car?” She surveyed the cobblestone parking area as they crossed to the front door.

Sylvia shook her head. “Maybe he didn’t want to get out of the car out here in the open with all those reporters on the street.”

“Guess so.” Jess gazed toward the street. The driveway was a long one but a telescopic camera lens wouldn’t have any trouble. Anytime there was police activity involving the city’s elite, the media followed. Jess scanned the property. She didn’t like that it was so damned quiet. Lori had already rung the doorbell but no one had answered. “Lori, have a look around before you come inside.”

“Sure thing.” Lori palmed her weapon and headed down the steps.

Since Sylvia was busy digging in her purse, Jess pressed the doorbell again.

“Found it!” Sylvia held up a single key. “I always let myself in.”

While Sylvia unlocked the door, Jess unearthed her weapon from the bottom of her bag. She stretched her back and wished the pain would go away. It was worse today than last night. She wasn’t about to complain and hear more warnings that she should be taking it easy.

Three men were dead. The killer was still out there. Who had time to take it easy?

“Hello!” Sylvia called out as they moved along the entry hall. She peeked into the great room as they passed but it was empty. “They must be in Daddy’s study.”

The house was too damned quiet.

Jess put a hand on Sylvia’s arm, then pressed a finger to her lips. Sylvia’s eyes rounded. Jess pointed to the front door about a dozen yards behind them. Sylvia nodded and they started back in that direction.

“Leaving already, ladies?”

Jess halted.

“You just got here,” the male voice said. “We’ve been waiting for you. Now, lower your weapon and come along before I have to do something we’ll all regret.”

Jess lowered her weapon and slowly turned to face the threat. Dammit. She should’ve listened to her instincts. This meeting hadn’t felt right.

The tall thin man staring at her smiled. “Looks like that baby’s coming any time now. We don’t want to do anything rash. Put the gun down on the table and follow me.”

Jess hesitated long enough to look him up and down once more. If he had a weapon, it wasn’t visible.

“It would be better if you came with us, Mr. Kinslow,” she countered.

He chuckled. “I see. You think I’m unarmed.” He held up his right hand. “This is a detonator.” With his left hand, he opened the lapel of his jacket. “I’m certain you know what this is. If I release this trigger—” he waved his right hand “—we’ll all go boom.”

A belt of what appeared to be explosives looped his waist. Evidently, drugs weren’t the only things he’d been ordering on the Internet.

Jess placed her weapon on the table. “Can we see the senator and Mr. Taylor now?”

“That’s why we’re all here.” He motioned for Jess and Sylvia to precede him.

Jess hoped Lori had gotten a peek in one of the windows or had simply decided something was off and called for backup. All the times Dan had told her she needed to be especially careful echoed through Jess. Fear trickled through her veins. Whatever happened next, she had to protect their baby.

At the door to the senator’s study, Jess got a glimpse of the senator as well as Taylor secured to chairs before Sylvia hurried around her to get into the room.

“Daddy!” Sylvia rushed to her father. His head hung forward.

Taylor looked up and immediately started apologizing. Both men were restrained in the same manner as Kinslow’s other victims. The newspaper clippings and photos had already been arranged on the wall.

Kinslow ushered Jess inside and then took a position next to his intended victims.

Sylvia glared at him. “What did you do to my father?”

“We were just getting started,” Kinslow said with a smirk. “Step away,” he ordered. When Sylvia held her ground, he repeated, “Move over next to your pregnant friend or else.”

Sylvia looked to Jess, her lips quivering. Jess nodded, and the terrified ME did as Kinslow instructed.

“Before I finish this,” Kinslow said, “I want you to hear from their own mouths what these two did. I realized after I ended Baker’s sorry existence that I’d only made those men martyrs. What I should have done was made them admit what they’d done on a video before I killed them.” He shrugged. “Maybe we’ll just tell their stories as well to the two of you. Since Congressman Moore ran like the coward he is, I mailed a letter to that reporter Gina Coleman about him. She’ll get it in tomorrow’s mail. He won’t escape his fate.”

“I think that’s a very good idea,” Jess offered. “Would you like me to take notes?”

Kinslow thought about her question for a moment. “No.” He looked at Sylvia. “I’m pretty sure she won’t forget.” He nodded to Jess’s bag. “Put your purses on the floor and push them away with your foot.”

They both did as he asked. Another pain stabbed Jess in the lower back and she almost flinched. She didn’t need this man seeing any sign of weakness. What she needed was a plan.

When he would have spoken again, she cut him off, “We interviewed Mr. Hilliard.”

Kinslow schooled his face but not before Jess saw a glimpse of emotion. “Mr. Hilliard was a great man.”

Jess smiled. “That’s exactly what he said about you, Bernie.” She touched a hand to her mouth. “Is it all right if I call you Bernie? Mr. Hilliard spoke so fondly of you I feel as if I know you already. He said you were a fine, loyal assistant.”

Confusion cluttered his face. “When did you speak with him?”

“Just before we came here,” Jess explained. “We were at his house looking for you.” She sighed. “Bless his heart. We called an ambulance for him. The paramedics took him to the hospital. He’s doing well considering what he’s been through.”

Kinslow’s head started to shake before Jess stopped talking. “Mr. Hilliard is dead.”

“Oh no,” Jess assured him, “he’s going to be fine.”

“They’ve already pumped the oxy out of his stomach,” Sylvia put in, seeming to understand where Jess was going.

“An oncologist will be taking him to surgery soon. They’re going to cut out the cancer. The doctor called me on the way here. He says the prognosis is surprisingly good.”

“You’re lying!” Kinslow shouted. “He’s dead!”

Think, Jess!
“If you don’t believe me, you could speak to him yourself.” Jess hoped Sylvia wasn’t staring at her as if she’d lost her mind.

Kinslow seemed to stall on the suggestion.

Thankfully the senator, who had regained consciousness, and Taylor were keeping quiet. All Jess needed was to buy enough time for Lori to get help in here.

“If you’re lying to me,” Kinslow said in a quiet roar, “I will—”

“I’m not,” Jess lied. “All I have to do is call my detective and have a Skype call set up. That way you can not only speak to Mr. Hilliard, you can see him.” Jess had learned all about Skyping last summer.

Anticipation replaced the confusion on his face. “Do it. Quickly.”

“Should I use the house phone?” Jess gestured to the senator’s desk.

Kinslow nodded. “And tell your cop friends if they come near this house we all die.”

“I understand.” Jess went to the desk. The shutters on the massive windows behind it were closed tight. Lori wouldn’t be able to see them at all. Since she had no idea where Lori was, Jess couldn’t call her. She could be inside the house at this point.

Her hand shaking just a little, Jess picked up the phone and called Sergeant Harper. He answered immediately. “Sergeant, I need you to prepare a Skype call for me.”

“Put it on speaker,” Kinslow shouted.

Jess pushed the speaker button and placed the receiver back in its cradle. “Can you hear me, Sergeant?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Jess moistened her lips and said a silent prayer as she instructed Harper. “Sergeant, I explained to Mr. Kinslow how the paramedics took Mr. Hilliard to the hospital for surgery. But Mr. Kinslow would like to speak to his friend personally. Would you call the oncologist, his name is Dr. Martin Leeds, and tell him that we need to set up a Skype call so that Mr. Kinslow can see Mr. Hilliard. He doesn’t believe that his friend is still alive.”

“Absolutely, ma’am. I’ll make that call right now.”

What else? What else? “I know this is a big request since they’re preparing Mr. Hilliard for surgery, so if Dr. Leeds gives you any trouble you call Chief of Police Burnett and tell him that we have a volatile situation here. If the doctor won’t cooperate this situation will blow up in all our faces.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m on it.”

“Thank you, Sergeant.”

The call ended and Jess took a deep breath before facing Kinslow once more.

A grin split his face. “I like the way you let him know about the explosives.” The grin disappeared. “I hope that’s the only coded message you attempted to pass along. I’d hate to have to kill the senator’s daughter.”

“Do what you came here to do, Kinslow,” the senator demanded. “No one else needs to be hurt. Send these women out of here. They’re innocent in this.”

“Shut up!” Kinslow growled. “How long will this take?” he asked Jess.

“It depends on whether or not they’ve already taken Mr. Hilliard into surgery.” She shrugged. “Fifteen or twenty minutes if he’s not in surgery.”

“You’d better hope he’s not,” Kinslow threatened. “Until then, let’s play truth or dare.” He turned to Taylor. “You can go first, Your Honor.”

Taylor screamed in agony as Kinslow alternately tasered him and demanded answers. The senator pleaded with Kinslow to leave Taylor be and to let him speak. Kinslow ignored him.

Jess put a hand on Sylvia’s arm and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Cops would be everywhere outside. SWAT was no doubt getting into place. This would be over in no time. Meanwhile, Jess scanned the room looking for any sort of weapon. All she needed was the right opportunity...

Please let my baby stay safe
.

By the time the telephone rang, Sylvia was trembling. Jess gave her arm another squeeze before turning her attention to Kinslow. “Would you like me to answer that?”

He nodded.

Jess moved around behind the desk again and answered the call, putting it on speaker. “Is that you, Sergeant?”

“Yes, ma’am. Everything has been arranged. All you need to do is place the call from any handy computer.” He rattled off the contact information. Jess grabbed the nearest pen and wrote it down on the desk blotter.

“Thank you, Sergeant. We’ll set it up now.”

The call ended and Jess looked to Sylvia. “Can you get me into your father’s computer?”

What Jess wanted was Sylvia behind the desk with her. She didn’t trust her not to make any sudden moves.

Sylvia turned on the computer and then stepped back while Jess brought up a screen and entered the necessary information. Within moments, Dr. Martin Leeds, Jefferson County’s Coroner, appeared on the screen. Behind him, Jess could see Wilson Hilliard in what appeared to be a hospital bed. An IV was in place, along with a heart monitor, clearly monitoring someone else’s heart. An oxygen mask had been placed over Hilliard’s mouth and his chest moved up and down as if he were breathing. Jess didn’t know how they’d managed considering the old goat was as dead as a doornail, but it looked real enough to her.

“Dr. Leeds,” Jess said, “can you hear me okay?”

“I hear you perfectly, Chief.”

“Good. Good. Mr. Kinslow is here and he’d like to speak to Mr. Hilliard.”

“I’m afraid Mr. Hilliard is sedated right now. We’re about to take him into surgery.”

“Let me see him,” Kinslow shouted as he stormed around the desk. “I want to see him breathing.”

“Let me get out of your way.” Jess eased back just a little.

She couldn’t help staring at his hand and the detonator he held. It was right there in front of her. Her heart skipped a beat. If he released the pressure on that button it was over. If she could just take it away from him without the loss of pressure on the button...

Even as the thought formed in her mind, movement in the corner of her eye warned that Sylvia was about to make a move. Whatever she had in her hands she swung it hard against Kinslow’s head. Jess grabbed his hand in both hers and squeezed a thumb over his.

He struggled.

Jess held on.

Sylvia hit him again.

This time he went down, dragging Jess to her knees.

“What part of
we’ll all go boom
did you not understand?” Jess demanded, her heart pounding.

Sylvia dropped the statue she’d used to clobber Kinslow. “What can I do?”

“I need the bomb squad in here now!” Jess shouted. “Call Lori.” Jess held as still as possible even as her arms started to tremble. She reminded herself to breathe, deep breaths.

Sylvia rushed to her purse and dug out her cell to make the call.

 Jess held on tight and prayed the son of a bitch didn’t wake up and start struggling again. He was breathing. At the moment that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Sylvia rushed back over to her. “What now?”

“Release your father and Mr. Taylor and get out of here.” Shit. Shit. Shit. This was a bad, bad situation. Sweat dampened her body and her back was hurting like hell.
Calm down, Jess. Deep breaths
.

“Are you insane?” Sylvia straddled Kinslow and sat down on him, pinning his free arm beneath one knee just in case he moved, Jess supposed. “Let me have that.” She reached for the detonator.

“Get out of here!” Jess ordered. “Now! There’s no way I’m letting go!”

The senator and Taylor were shouting for someone to release them as they struggled to get free.

“Very carefully I’ll put my hands where yours are,” Sylvia insisted, “and then you take that baby out of here.”

Jess couldn’t do that. “I have to—”

“Listen to me, Jess,” Sylvia said, tears spilling past her lashes. “You do not get to be the hero this time. Now go. The only thing that matters is that baby you’re carrying.”

Her heart thundering, tears blurring her vision, Jess inched her fingers away from Kinslow’s as Sylvia inched hers over his. Sylvia pressed her thumb on top of Jess’s and she slowly, slowly tugged hers free.