The Remains Of The Dead Part 32

She moaned in agony and swayed as spots danced in front of her eyes.

"You were the reason Kent lied about a trip to Tahoe. He just went down to Portland because he knew the aunt suspected something with Trudy. He wanted to find out from the aunt if I'd ended it with Trudy when I said I did. Guess he was suspicious, thanks to you. But it was a waste of time, since the old biddy was here staying with Sylvia. When Kent got back, he heard about Grant's mom being shot and he figured it had to be me."

"Because it was you," Sadie said. "How could you do that?"

"It's your fault!" he shouted. "Kent called and begged me to turn myself in. Said he couldn't turn me in, blood being thicker than water and all that." He rolled his eyes. "Well, he doesn't have to worry. I'm cleaning up what I started. You'll both be dead. Another tragic murder-suicide."

"You can't do that," Maeva cried.

Kristian threw his hands up toward the ceiling and started pacing. "It's not my fault. Blame your friend." He whirled on Sadie and waved the gun in her face. "And don't think I didn't warn you. I tried, but you just wouldn't back off. Slashed your tires, fired a few rounds at you. But d.a.m.ned if you don't just keep on coming back for more. Well, you'll get more," he spat.

Sadie's head ached, but she tried to focus on finding something, anything, to grab and use as a weapon. If he'd leave them alone for a second she could get her gun from the closet and use it.

"I don't think the front door is locked," Maeva blurted suddenly, as if reading Sadie's mind.

"I don't remember locking it," Sadie added, hoping he would go check.

"It's locked." He smiled wildly. "And you don't need to get me out of the room to get the gun down from the top shelf of the closet. As a matter of fact, I'll get it down for you. It'll sure make things easier."

"You were watching me," Sadie whispered in disbelief.

"Yeah, and when I saw you had a gun of your own I knew how to solve things. You're depressed after cleaning up blood and stuff. n.o.body would ever question it if you went off the deep end and killed yourself after taking out your friend here."

Abruptly, Maeva closed her eyes and began to hum The Wizard of Oz tune.

Oh G.o.d, she's trying to summon the dead!

Sadie swallowed, but the lump of terror in her throat remained. Suddenly the room temperature began to plummet. Maeva kept on humming, and Kristian looked at her like she was a pesky insect.

"What the h.e.l.l's wrong with her?"

He didn't seem to expect an answer because he turned and walked to the closet, then opened the door and felt around on the top shelf with one hand while never taking his eyes off Sadie and Maeva.

"I'm getting your gun, and this time you'll follow through. You'll kill your friend and then yourself."

He didn't appear to notice that his breath came out in a white cloud.

"Why would I kill my friend and myself if you'll just shoot me anyway?" Sadie asked, hoping to keep him talking.

He turned to face her and as he did, a box lifted off the closet shelf behind him. The box levitated and moved slowly just outside of Kristian's peripheral vision.

"You'll do it because there are worse ways to die than a precisely aimed bullet. In your line of work I would think that you would know that. I'm not above slowly dissecting one of you while the other one watches."

Sadie looked into his dead eyes and knew he was telling the truth.

Maeva kept on humming, and when Kristian began searching the closet shelf again, Sadie knew the gun was no longer there. She saw that the shoe box with her Ruger was now beside her feet, partially protruding from under the bed.

Kristian was getting increasingly frustrated.

"Where the h.e.l.l is it?" he snarled, tossing down a stack of folded sweaters.

"It's-it's behind the photo box," Sadie said, just needing him to turn around briefly. "Use the chair."

Maeva's humming had stopped, and Sadie could feel the anger radiating from her.

Finally Kristian took his eyes off them long enough to stand on the chair and move a large box of photos on the closet shelf. Sadie bent swiftly and her fingers snaked to the floor. She snapped the lid off the shoe box and snagged the gun.

When she lifted her hand, Kristian was just turning around. He fired a shot. It missed Sadie and took out a portion of her mattress.

There was more shooting and the sound of breaking gla.s.s. Sadie could hear screams and knew one was her own. She watched as part of Kristian's skull exploded and a spray of blood and bone fragments. .h.i.t her wall before he slid down to become a heap on the floor.

Sadie stared down at the gun in her hand, momentarily perplexed. She didn't remember pulling the trigger. Someone was calling her name. It took seconds for the voice to register as Zack's. She turned and looked through the shattered remains of her bedroom window to see Zack's face, as pale as her own felt.

She turned to Maeva and screamed when she saw the psychic had fallen back onto the bed. Blood oozed from her side.

"I'm okay," Maeva said, wincing as she spoke. "Go open the door for the cops."

As if in a trance, Sadie ran down the hall, pa.s.sing Pam to open the front door. Behind Zack came Detective Petrovich.

The detective had a fearsome look in his eyes that would've been more believable had he not been carrying Hairy tucked tenderly under one arm.

Sadie rushed back to Maeva's side.

"It isn't bad. Just a scratch," Maeva said, but she groaned a little as she sat up.

"Just relax," Sadie said, trying not to look at what was left of Kristian Lasko.

"It was Grant who came," Maeva said, a small smile playing on her lips. "I felt his presence, and the minute I started humming it was like he'd been waiting around you all the time for a chance to get back at that guy. He whisked that gun to us like a pro." She chuckled.

"He sure did." Sadie smiled back. "I hope he's at rest now."

"Who? What are you talking about?" Petrovich demanded.

"Nothing," Maeva and Sadie shouted simultaneously.

"He is resting," Maeva whispered to Sadie. "He's with Trudy now."

"You got it right," Sadie whispered back. "You said you saw brushes, mops, and buckets. Kristian's a janitor. You were right."

"Of course I was right," Maeva said indignantly.

Maeva's wound was superficial, but the ambulance took her to the hospital, where she got a few st.i.tches. After the strobe lights of the police cruisers stopped illuminating her yard, Sadie began to piece it all together.

"It was Kent who called you, wasn't it?" she asked Zack. "He finally decided to give up his brother instead of protecting him."

"Actually, Maeva was the one who called," he replied. "She got my number off a business card you gave her. She called me up and said that Grant told her it was Kristian who killed Trudy. Grant killed himself, Sadie. The suicide part of the evidence was right."

"That's why I couldn't see Grant. He really did kill himself." Sadie put a hand to her throbbing head. "And Kristian borrowed his neighbor's car and used it to try and shoot me, but he hit Mrs. Toth instead. And he had it again when I was at the spa."

"We would've gotten here sooner, but Petrovich pulled Kent over a block away. It took a while to figure out that he'd just been following Kristian, trying to stop him. Kent knew that if you kept looking at him you'd find out he was really covering for his brother. Maybe that's why he came over to talk to you." He blew out a long breath. "It's a good thing Grant filled Maeva in. She headed right over here to keep an eye on you until I could get here."

"Remind me to send that woman flowers," Sadie said. "Or diamonds. Maybe both."

"I screwed up." He shook his head slowly. "I should've taken you more seriously and called it in right away when you called me about Kristian," he admitted, his lips in a tight line. "I was almost too late."

"It's not your fault. h.e.l.l, you rescued me. And Maeva. Oh, and Hairy." Sadie clasped her fingers tightly in her lap because they'd yet to stop trembling. She glanced around her house sadly. "I never realized my next job would be my own place."

"Not a chance," Zack said. "This one's on me. You and Hairy can stay with me. When the cops are done here, I'll do the cleanup. Jackie called and said she'll be back in town tomorrow, so she can help. It'll be her first job with Scene-2-Clean, so we can both judge how well she does."

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"We'll never know if she's any good unless we see her at work."

"I'm not talking about Jackie doing the cleaning. I'm talking about staying at your place. That's not a good idea."

"My sofa is a h.e.l.luva lot more comfortable than yours."

She met his eyes. His sofa might be comfortable, but they both knew it didn't have the restraints required to keep her from his bed.

20.

Zack insisted on taking the sofa and giving Sadie his bed. She felt warm and safe as she crawled under his covers, surrounding herself with his scent. Shock and exhaustion overcame her, and it wasn't long before she fell into a dreamless sleep.

When she woke up she called to check on Maeva.

"I told you it was only a scratch. I doubt I'll even have a scar to show for my troubles," Maeva said over the phone. "Oh, and don't think I've forgotten my promise to you."

"What promise is that?"

"I told you I'd try and put you in touch with Brian, and I will. As soon as you're ready."

"Thanks," Sadie said, "but I think I'll pa.s.s. At least for now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm not so sure that even matters anymore. It can't change anything. Besides, there's some other, more important stuff I've been putting off." Sadie glanced up at Pam, who'd popped in at Zack's place. "I'll call you in a few days so I can take you out for a thanks-for-saving-my-life fancy dinner."

"Great. I like steak and lobster."

Sadie put down the phone and smiled wearily up at Pam.

"I've got a great day planned to help us forget all our troubles," Pam said, clapping her hands together with excitement.

Sadie listened quietly while Pam described their itinerary.

"We're going to start by giving each other complete manicures and pedicures. Afterward, we'll do each other's hair while we watch a really stupid comedy. You can send Zack to the video store to get one."

Sadie just looked at her best friend forlornly.

"We need to spend some girlfriend time, all right. I'll get Zack's keys. We're long overdue for a field trip."

Zack figured she was still too shaken to drive, so she and Pam road in the backseat while he took the wheel. Pam was a chatterbox, cracking jokes about Zack and his cute a.s.s. She was trying her best to get Sadie to giggle, but laughter wasn't the order of the day.

Sadie kept her eyes forward, her gaze occasionally connecting with Zack's in the rearview mirror.

Finally Zack steered his Mustang between wrought-iron gates and up a narrow, winding lane. At the top of the hill, he stopped at the exact location that Sadie instructed.

"Stay here," Sadie told Zack. "I don't think this'll take long."

Sadie climbed out and held the door for Pam. The two of them walked slowly across the belt of green gra.s.s between the grave markers. The sun peeked out from behind the thinning clouds and warmed Sadie's face as they walked.

"Why are we here?" Pam asked, her eyes wary and her smile faltering.

"Remember when we went for that spa weekend on Vancouver Island?" Sadie asked.

"Sure. It was positively divine. I've never felt that pampered in my life. Remember the boy toys who served drinks in the bar?" She winked.

"Your back was sure bothering you on that trip," Sadie reminded her. "You'd taken enough painkillers to knock out a horse. You could barely get out of bed most of the weekend."

"Well, yeah, my back always hurts."

"True." Sadie nodded. "It got so bad that when we got back to Seattle I had to take you to the hospital."

"That's right." Pam nodded. "My G.o.d, those kidney stones were awful!"

"Not kidney stones." Sadie had stopped walking now and looked at Pam sadly. "They performed some tests, then exploratory surgery. Your belly was filled with cancer. The doctors suspected it had spread rapidly from your ovaries. There was nothing they could do but close you back up."

"No, that's not right." She looked worried and perplexed. "It wasn't cancer. It was kidney stones and-"

"Pam, you've been my best friend for so very long. You always let me lean on you."

"And I've leaned on you. It worked both ways."

"No. I've let you down." The tears blurred Sadie's vision, but she didn't wipe them away when they coursed down her cheeks. "I've just needed you so d.a.m.ned much that I forgot what you needed. I didn't want to lose you."

"Don't be silly. This is what friends do, Sadie. We're there for each other."

"It's time, Pam."

"I don't know what you mean."