Seeing me, his eyes glittered with malice. “What’s she doing here?”
Dimples motioned me into a chair across from Dex. I wasn’t sure I wanted to sit that close, but I sat down anyway, hoping I didn’t look as uncomfortable as I felt. Dimples sat next to me, and I relaxed.
“Didn’t you know? Shelby works for us. We’ve got you for kidnapping, attempted rape, and murder.”
He jerked. “Murder? I didn’t kill anyone.” Realizing his mistake, he continued. “And I didn’t kidnap or rape her. She came willingly, and there was no sex involved. You’ve got nothing.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Dimples said. “Your little friend… your partner in crime… has taken a plea deal. He didn’t like getting charged with murder so he told us all about your scheme. He also told us all about Brock Blackwell and what you did to his wife, Sophie.”
Dex shook his head in denial. “I don’t believe you. You’re bluffing. Randy would never rat me out.” He was thinking Randy was the perfect partner because he was so afraid of his secret getting out, that he’d never talk.
I huffed out a derisive breath. “You think keeping his secret is worth more to him than going to jail? If you believe that, you don’t know him very well.”
He went still and glanced between us, knowing that, if Randy talked, it was over. “I’m not saying another word.”
I picked up his thoughts of the murder and how it happened. Angry and appalled, I threw them back at him. “We know you drugged Sophie and took her to her room. Things were going fine until her husband showed up. He couldn’t believe what was happening at first. His surprise gave you just enough time to attack him. You were in such a panic, that you stabbed him again and again.
“As he lay dying, you had an idea to make it look like a lover’s quarrel so Sophie would get the blame. You positioned him on the bed and left Sophie lying next to him in a drugged stupor. You even cleaned yourself up in the bathroom before you left.”
My hands curled into fists, and my voice shook with emotion. “Did you know it was their anniversary? They loved each other so much, and you took that away from them. You took their whole lives from them.” I swallowed, regaining some control. “But there’s something you don’t know…”
He had listened with a stone cold face. Now his gaze jerked to mine. Still, he didn’t speak, thinking he wouldn’t let me get under his skin.
I leaned forward and spoke softly. “Brock is still here.” I was telling the truth. I’d felt Brock’s presence and it was scaring the crap out of me.
Dex jerked slightly before shaking his head. The man was dead. He’d made sure of that himself.
“Oh… he’s dead all right. But that doesn’t mean he’s gone, and he’s more than upset with you. His dying wish was to see you pay for what you did. And, one way or another, that’s exactly what you’ll do.”
Dex sneered, thinking that shit wasn’t going to work on him. How gullible did I think he was?
The lights flickered a few times. Then the table began to shake. It got worse, with our chairs shaking so badly that they literally danced across the floor. Dex’s chair slipped out from under him and spun across the room. The only thing holding Dex in place were the handcuffs on his wrists attached to the table.
The shaking stopped, and Dimples and I exchanged a surprised glance. He opened his mouth to speak, and the lights went out.
CHAPTER 14
The complete darkness sent my heart racing. I reached for Dimples. Finding his arm, I clutched it tightly. A grunting sound came from across the room, turning into a gut wrenching groan, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
The chains holding Dex to the table began to clank together, like he was trying to get loose. As he jerked against his bonds, the sound came faster and faster, until I feared he’d break free. Another moan came, higher pitched and increasingly desperate.
Freaking out, I gripped Dimples even harder. Without even thinking about it, we jumped to our feet and backed away from the awful sounds. Our backs hit the wall, but that didn’t stop me from clutching Dimples and trying to squeeze into a non-existent space behind him.
We heard another desperate jerk, and Dex began to yell frantically, screaming at something to get away from him. He kept saying the word, no, over and over. Chills ran down my spine, and my legs barely held me up. I wanted nothing more than to get out of that room.
“Let’s move to the door so we can get out of here,” Dimples said, over the din. He let go of me, and I plastered myself against his back, wrapping my arms tightly around him. He took one step toward the door, dragging me behind.
The noises coming from the area where Dex sat suddenly stopped. What had happened to him? It sounded like someone had tortured and killed him. Was he dead? The silence was almost as frightening as the screaming.
Before Dimples took another step, the lights flashed on.
We froze in place. My breath came fast and my heart pounded, but I wasn’t about to let go of Dimples. With apprehension, I turned my gaze toward Dex, hoping I wouldn’t find a bloody mess. His hands were still attached to the cuffs, but the rest of him was under the desk, like he’d tried to hide. He poked his head up and glanced around the room, his eyes darting from side to side.
“He’s alive.” After all that noise he’d made, I could hardly believe it. Dimples straightened, and I reluctantly dropped my arms from around him.
As Dimples moved back toward the table, I followed closely behind. Dex leaned his arms on the table to
