Split Second

King continued, talking fast. 'Morse was the Trojan horse, the inside man on the Ritter campaign. That's how he explained it to your father. Morse knew Arnold hated what Ritter was doing to the country. But Morse didn't care about Ritter's politics. So why did he join the campaign? Because Morse loved your mother. She was his Broadway-star-to-be. With your father out of the way, she'd be his. And when that failed, he killed your mother. And now he's using you just like he used your father.'

'That's crazy. If what you say is true, why is he doing all of this now?'

'I don't know. He's insane. Who else would put something like this together?'

'He's lying about all of it, Kate,' boomed out Morse. 'I'm doing this all for you. To give you justice. Now shoot them!'

King held Kate's gaze. 'Your father killed, but he did so in what he believed was a noble cause. That man'-King pointed in the direction of Morse's voice-'that man is a cold-blooded murderer, and he did it out of sheer jealousy.'

'You killed my father,' she said bluntly.

'I was doing my job. I had no choice. You didn't see your father's expression that day. But I did. You know what he looked like? Do you really want to know?'

She looked at him, tears in her eyes, and slowly nodded.

'He looked surprised, Kate. Surprised. At first I thought it was the shock of actually killing someone. But then I realized he was surprised because Morse hadn't pulled his gun and fired. Morse was standing right near me. They'd made a pact. Your father was actually looking at him. It was right then he knew he'd been deceived.'

Morse called out, 'Last chance, Kate. Either shoot them or I will.'

King looked at her with pleading eyes. 'Kate, you can't do it. You can't. I'm telling you the truth. YouknowI am. Whatever lies he's fed to you, you're not a killer, and he can't make you be one.'

'Now!' screamed Morse.

Instead, Kate started to lower her gun. Suddenly the door to the room crashed open. This distracted Kate for a moment, and King grabbed the velvet rope, swung it up and knocked the gun out of her hands. She screamed and fell back.

King shouted at Bruno, 'Run! Out the door!'

Bruno turned and raced toward the exit where Michelle was just coming through.

The lights came fully on and blinded them all momentarily. Michelle saw it before anyone else did. She screamed and launched herself. 'Bruno, down!' she yelled.

The gun fired. Michelle lunged in front of the candidate, and the slug hit her in the chest.

King pointed his pistol in the direction of the shot and fired. That's when he discovered Morse had never intended on giving him a chance. His gun was loaded with blanks.

King screamed out, 'Michelle!'

She wasn't moving, even as Bruno fled out the door. And then the lights went out again, pitching them into darkness.

74

King crouched in the dark, frantically searching for something. Then the lights came back on, although at a lower level of brightness. He sensed something behind him and whirled. Sidney Morse was standing there pointing his gun.

'I knew she didn't have the guts for it,' said Morse, flicking his pistol in Kate's direction where the young woman still lay on the floor. 'Not like yourfather!' He swept his hand around the room. 'I gave you a grand stage on which to perform, Kate. I scripted you perfectly; this was the great finale. Your mother would have given a dazzling performance. You failed miserably.'

King helped Kate up and then stood between her and Morse.

'A human shield again, Sean, eh,' said Morse, smiling. 'It seems to be your miserable lot in life.'

'Bruno got away, and so help me I'll kill you for shooting Michelle.'

Morse eyed him confidently. 'Bruno will never leave the Fairmount alive. As for Maxwell, her luck ran out. At least she went down in the line of fire. What more could a Secret Service agent ask for?'

He turned his attention to Kate. 'Now, you asked a question. Why all this now? I'll tell you. This is no more about John Bruno than it was about Clyde Ritter.' He pointed his gun at Kate. 'Eight years ago it was about your father. Today it's all about you, dear, sweet Kate.'

Her chest heaving and tears streaming down her face, she said, 'Me?'

Morse laughed. 'You really are a fool, just like your father.' He eyed King. 'You said that Regina rejected me because she didn't love me, she didn't want the magic. That was only partially true. I believe that she did love me, but she couldn't go back onstage after Arnold died, she couldn't become my star once more, because someone else needed her more.' He looked back at Kate. 'You. Your mother couldn't leaveyou. You needed her, she told me. You were her life. How incredibly wrong she was. What was a single, pathetic teenager to a legendary career on Broadway, a life withme?'

'That's because a man like you can't understand real love,' said King. 'And how can you blame Kate for that? She knew nothing about it.'

'I can blame her for any reason I want!' Morse screamed. 'And on top of that, when Regina wanted to marry this Jorst idiot, Kate was all for it. Oh, yes, I had my spies. She wanted a man just like her father. That alone is enough to justify her death. But there's more. I've followed your career, Kate. And you grew up just like your miserable father with all your pathetic protesting, marching and being such a noble do-gooder. It was deja vu. I had killed Arnold, but there he was again: come back to life like the Hydra.' Morse's eyes narrowed as he looked at the young woman. He said more calmly, 'Your father ruined my life by keeping the woman I needed, the woman I deserved, away from me. And then you took up the banner after he died. But for you, Regina would have been mine.'

'I can't believe my mother ever would have loved someone like you,' Kate said defiantly. 'I can't believe I ever trusted you.'

'Well, I'm quite an actor myself, dear Kate. And you were so gullible. When Bruno announced his candidacy, I immediately thought of you. What a stroke of good fortune. Here was the very man who'd prosecuted your father for a crime I'd set him up for, running for the same office as the man your father had gunned down. Itwas perfect. The idea for the entire reenactment came to me instantly. And so I came to you, gave you the whole sad story about your poor father, and you bought every syllable of it.'

Kate started toward him but King held her back.

She cried out, 'You told me you were their friend. That you helped my father when he was arrested for murder and that John Bruno had destroyed his career.' She looked at King. 'He brought me all these news clippings. He said he knew my parents and helped them, long before I was born. They never mentioned him to me, though. But he said he was at the Fairmount that day and that you didn't have to shoot my father; that he was putting his gun down when you fired. He said you were really a murderer.' She looked back at Morse. 'It was all lies.'

Morse shook his head. 'Of course, it was. It was part of the play.'

'It's a dangerous thing to believe a madman, Kate,' said King.

'Not a madman, Agent King. A visionary. But I'll grant you, there's a fine line between the two. And now,' said Morse with a dramatic sweep of his hand, 'comes the third and final act. The tragic death of Kate Ramsey as, aided and abetted by the poor, demented former Secret Service agent Bob Scott, she avenges her beloved father, taking with her John Bruno and Sean King-with, of course, all supporting evidence being found later courtesy of me. When you think about it, the symmetry really is breathtaking: father and daughter, the assassins of two presidential candidates perishing on the exact same spot. It's really one of the best pieces I've ever written.'

'And you really are insane,' said King.

'The mediocre always throw stones at the brilliant,' Morse said smugly. 'And now the last member of the Ramsey family-the sweet, loving Ramsey family-will finally disappear from this earth. I'm sure you'll die beautifully,