out of there.”
Loving JP and letting JP get the last word were two separate issues. “You should have seen how desperate he was to get here. I know he has Carter trapped somewhere down here. I can’t leave now.”
“Are you crazy? Did you alert anyone that you’re even there?”
“I just told you. Now tell me what you learned on your trip, I know you’re dying to impress me.”
He let out a frustrated sigh. “According to police reports, Cransky’s is the last place that Phillip Tompkins was seen. I’ve talked to a couple of regulars who were here that day. Timothy Kent, one of the guys Tompkins hit with the car, was the one who had killed Benson’s parents. The records might be sealed, but the local gossip wasn’t. They remembered Tompkins leaving with a mystery man that nobody had seen in the bar, before or since. They couldn’t give a really good description after twenty-some years, other than he was rather nondescript, but one guy did remember that he wore a US Air Force shirt.”
“I’m impressed. I guess you are doing a little work in between beers. Did you learn anything in Arizona?”
“I met the mysterious Lucy. She had worked with Jones on the Gilbert PD. She basically confirmed that Benson was a psycho who once assaulted her when he discovered that she and Jones had driven home drunk one night. She also told me that Benson was set off by a GNZ report I did on a judge named Raymond Buford, who was known for letting drunk drivers off the hook.”
“That doesn’t sound like good news for the judge.”
“Let’s just say that Benson didn’t let him off the hook. As is his M.O, it was made to look like an accident, but it doesn’t fit into our anniversary theory.”
“Although, it does fit our pattern of not being able to prove anything.”
“Maybe so, but I can prove
“Why does the location of his death matter?” she shouted over a loud crackle of thunder.
“You are on Benson’s street, right?”
“Yes, I’m across the street from his house.”
“Well, look down about three houses from Benson’s. That was Buford’s home.”
She gasped, suddenly feeling that they were in way over their heads.
He continued, “I traveled to Lake Havasu yesterday, to look into Leonard Harris’ death. I learned that there’s a section of many houseboats where exhaust fumes gather that the experts call the ‘death zone.’ Benson rented the boat-it wasn’t a coincidence. He sent Harris to his death.”
“And you can prove that?”
“No, but Kyle Jones’ parents retired in Lake Cumberland, Kentucky, which happens to be the houseboat capital of the United States. Christina was able to get at the court documents, and learned that they died in the exact same way as Leonard Harris. That’s how Benson learned of the tactic.”
This news sent a shiver down Gwen’s spine. As if on cue, Benson exited the beach house, got into his rental car and drove off. She knew she had to get some hard evidence.
“He just left … I’m going in.”
He began screaming at her, but eventually saw it her way. Mainly because there was nothing he could do about it from Seattle.
“I’ll be careful. Is there anything else you want to tell me before I go?” she asked, while struggling to climb over the wet sand of the dune.
“I helped save a missing family last night on Lake Havasu.”
“Well aren’t you special,” Gwen said, no longer listening, all her focus on Benson’s house.
“Just be careful,” he warned.
Chapter 72
Gwen stumbled through the wind and rain, which was so fierce it knocked her off balance. She splashed through puddles that were turning into small lakes. She hurried across the marshy ground, falling twice, before reaching the beach house. After making sure the coast was clear, she climbed the stairs, holding tightly to the slippery railing.
Her naivete in thinking she could actually walk through the front door worked in her favor. The sliding glass door was smashed in. She didn’t know what to make of this development, but entered the house through the large hole. Her best guess was that Benson had left in search of supplies to fix it, and would be back soon. But for all she knew, he could have been off to kill a drunk driver. Regardless, she didn’t have a moment to lose.
She pulled out her dripping cell phone from her poncho, surprised it still worked, and re-dialed. “JP, someone must have broken in or out of here, the glass door is bashed in. Maybe this is where he was holding Carter, but he was able to break out,” she said, excited by the possibility.
He tempered her enthusiasm, “I broke it during my own search. I also emptied all his drawers when searching for evidence. There’s nothing in there.”
Gwen urgently moved from room to room. “He must have cleaned up because everything is back in place.”
“Hurry up and get out of there!”
Gwen ignored, but kept him on the phone. His voice made her feel safer. “I know there’s something going on in his bedroom.”
She searched the room and then checked the closet. When she parted the hanging clothes, she noticed a piece of the paneling slightly peeling off the wall. It might have gone unnoticed if she wasn’t looking for something. When she yanked on it, it came off, exposing a hidden door with a combination lock. She knew it!
She began fiddling with the combination lock with no luck, and finally settled on the tactic of banging on the thick steel door and shouting, “Carter are you in there!?” Not very effective.
“Can you please just get out of there, Gwen? I just can’t deal with the thought of losing you again,” JP pleaded.
Gwen took his words with a smile.
Then she screamed.
A strong hand strapped around her neck. The other hand covered her mouth, muffling her screams.
Her phone fell to the ground.
Chapter 73
Once again Grady Benson swallowed the bitter taste of betrayal. When his necklace signaled an intruder, he had hoped it was a looter, but deep down he knew he’d find Gwen Delaney.
Even though he knew she’d plotted against him, he still held out some hope she would mend her ways. No woman had ever made him feel like she did. But now he saw that she was nothing more than a test. And it was one he was going to pass.
He kept a firm hand over her mouth, while reaching down to pick up the phone. He listened for a moment, hearing Warner’s pleas, as if it would help. He unceremoniously hung up on him.
He first secured the prisoner with a pair of Rockfield PD handcuffs, and putting masking tape over her mouth. It was bad enough she betrayed him, but he didn’t have to listen to her refer to him as a “sick bastard” and tell him over and over again he wouldn’t “get away with it.”
He spun the combination lock and proudly informed her the combination was
He tore off her hood and baseball cap. He grabbed a chunk of her hair and walked her into the secure room. When he tossed her on the floor, she landed right next to the unconscious Carter.
“You very much disappoint me, Gwen,” he lamented. She couldn’t respond, which suited him fine. “You were
