Hell Bent

blood were spreading beneath their heads.

Jack was aiming his weapon at the man on the couch. But within short seconds, he was lowering the gun and re-holstering it.

Annabelle wasn’t sure what it was he’d decided about the couple, but whatever it was, it must have meant that the man was not a threat. And the two bodies on the floor probably confirmed as much.

Jack slid his gun back into its holster and adjusted his leather jacket over it. His gaze never left that of the man on the couch, who was holding Virginia Meredith’s hands in his own. Annabelle noticed that Virginia was crying. Actually, now that she looked more closely, she saw that both of them were crying. Virginia’s expression was stricken. The man’s was helpless.

And then Jack took a deep breath, glanced once more at the two fallen men on the floor, and came the rest of the way into the apartment, closing the door behind them as Annabelle and Dylan followed him in.

When he’d shut it and re-locked it, he turned back to the man on the couch. With a tone much less mystified than Annabelle would have expected, considering what he was about to ask, Jack said, “Mr. Brandt, I presume?”

Annabelle’s eyes widened.

Dylan’s must have too, because under his breath, he muttered, “No fucking way…”

Craig Brandt, for his part, only took a deep breath, slowly stood, and nodded.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Jack had called in re-enforcements. It took roughly an hour for all of them, working together, to clean the mess in Virginia Meredith’s apartment. The bodies, Jack and Sam disposed of. The blood, Annabelle wiped up from the hard wood floor. The towels used for the job were also taken by Sam and disposed of. And the one blood stain on Virginia’s faux fur rug was brilliantly exercised by Beatrice. Who, apparently, was just made to be the perfect spouse to an assassin or… say… a mobster.

The apartment was incredibly intact and undamaged for the sight of a double-homicide. Which was fortunate, because, once they’d finished up, Jack was able to simply right the couch back into its original position and then sit down on it to face Craig and Virginia, who had once more taken their places on the love seat opposite him.

Jack opened his mouth to speak, and Craig held up his hand in placation.

“Look, Mr. Thane, I already know what you’re going to say; what you’re going to ask. So, why don’t I just save you the trouble and tell you what’s going on?” He offered.

Jack’s brow raised and he sat back into the couch. He shrugged, gesturing for Craig to continue. Craig nodded.

Annabelle studied him. Brandt wasn’t a bad looking man; probably standing at just under six feet, with an athlete’s build. He wore blue jeans and a red t-shirt over a long-sleeved white thermal. His hair was brown and wavy, resembling Dylan’s.

Annabelle sat down in the plush tufted chair in between the two couches. Sam stood by the front door, as if guarding it. Dylan took up guard duty at the double glass sliding doors, which were now covered by drawn curtains.

Clara and Beatrice joined Annabelle, standing on either side of the tufted seat as if she were their queen. She smiled at the thought, and then forced herself to concentrate on the issue at hand.

“I knew I was in trouble when Teresa was killed,” Craig began. “I discovered the cure in the middle of the night and sent her an email right away. I couldn’t have been more idiotic, I know that now. But we were best friends. We went to the same grade school and high school together. I was best man at her and Max’s wedding.” He shook his head, as if disgusted with himself. “I was going to present my findings to Mr. Osborne the next day. Teresa immediately sent me an email back, ecstatic for me. She wished me luck.”

“That night, she was killed. I got the news the next morning. Max called me.”

He stopped, swallowing repeatedly. They let him re-gain control of his faculties and, in a few minutes, he went on. “That day, I realized what had happened. Somehow, I just put two and two together. I saw the grant, the cure, Teresa’s death – all of it. And I knew my life was in danger too. So, I decided to leave town.”

“I called in sick to work and thought about where the hell I would go. I needed a duffel bag big enough to put more than one set of clothes in. All I had were the small ones, since I used to play a lot of sports.” He sighed. “I figured it would be best if I bought one new. And then, when I was thinking about this, I realized that if I went off the radar, my cure would have to disappear as well.” He became more animated now, his voice raising slightly as he continued. “I couldn’t let my discovery die along with the memory of Craig Brandt.” He looked at each of them in turn. “I went out the fire escape of my apartment because it was a lot faster than going down the main stairs or using the elevator. And because I didn’t want to be seen.”

He looked at Jack, who nodded once in understanding.

“I ran down the alleys behind my apartment complex and then took a taxi a few blocks away.” He looked at Virginia. “I came here.” She was watching him silently, her eyes glistening with more, un-shed tears. She gave him a small smile. He squeezed her hand and went on.

“I gave a vial of the solution to her, along with a note that contained the calculations necessary to reproduce it.” He turned back to them. “I told her to hide it and she promised she would. But, she almost didn’t let me leave again.” He smiled at this and Virginia lowered her head as her cheeks flushed pink. “She told me I shouldn’t return home and that it was too dangerous.” He paused and gently cupped her face in his hand. “She was right.”

“I took a taxi back to the same place I’d picked it up and got out. I still needed to buy a bag and pack, so I headed down the sidewalk toward a convenience store at the corner.”

He paused, and Annabelle could tell that he was remembering. He’d gone very still. His color had paled and his gaze slipped to the floor.

“And then there was an explosion. It rocked the whole block. I hit the pavement, just like everyone else.” His voice became very soft, taking on a far-off quality. “This is New York; the pain was still very fresh in all our minds – not enough time had gone by.” He shook his head slowly, once. “We thought the world was coming to an end. All over again.”

Everyone in the room nodded in silent understanding.

And then he seemed to square his shoulders and re-focus. He went on. “When we stood back up and looked around, I realized that the smoke was coming from my apartment complex. They’d blown it away.”

He stopped again, swallowing against something that had formed in his throat. “They meant to kill me. Instead, they’d killed my cats. I hadn’t had time to get them out. To say nothing of packing. I had… Nothing.”

“You went into hiding, pretending to be dead.” Dylan said the words softly. His own expression was as lost as any Annabelle had ever seen. He was even more pale than Craig. He looked like a ghost. She knew he was wishing that his own parents had done such a thing. At the very least, his father, who obviously knew he was in trouble or he wouldn’t have left this puzzle trail for his son to follow.

“Yes,” Craig nodded. “And I’ve been hiding ever since.”

Annabelle wondered whether she should get up and go to Dylan; give him a hug. But even as she wondered this, Clara moved toward him instead.

“There, there,” she whispered softly, placing her hand gently on his shoulder. He looked at her and his eyes widened slightly. Then a bit of color returned to his cheeks and he cleared his throat.

Annabelle’s brows raised. She looked over at Jack. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes were locked on the two teenagers as if drawn there by magnets.

“How did you know Miss Meredith was in trouble?” he asked, without taking his eyes from his daughter and Dylan.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on her,” Craig admitted. He turned back to look at her. Now it was his turn to blush. Virginia blinked, obviously not knowing exactly what to think of that.

Jack took a slow, deep breath and let it out through his nose as he pulled his gaze away from the couple standing by the sliding glass doors and ran a hand through his hair. He stared across at Craig and then at Virginia. “I’m afraid you’re both going to have to disappear for a while now,” he told them. “Not just from New York.