Page 98 of Every Deadly Suspicion

“Keep guessing.”

She and Jared stopped at the door, and Marcus shoved her shoulder. “Go on, through the door.”

Hanna stepped over the threshold and into the semidarkness of the garage. The concrete floor was old, cracked, and uneven. Rather than housing a car, the garage had boxes piled in the center of the space, and there was a lot of dust and cobwebs. One naked light bulb shone in the far corner.

Marcus prodded them to move farther into the back. After he came through the door behind her, she heard him close it and two locks engage. Hanna wanted to keep him talking. If he was talking, he wouldn’t be shooting. She stopped moving forward and faced him.

“Okay, I’ll keep guessing. Chase told me you were soft. You didn’t kill Edda; you don’t have it in you. Chase killed her. That’s what he is: a killer. You’re not.”

His eyes narrowed to slits, his voice clipped with anger. “Shows how much you know. Soft? I took care of Gilly, a big bad DEA agent. He was snooping around the cabin that night. I hit him overthe head. I didn’t mean to kill him, but Big Al was grateful to his dying day for everything I did. I got rid of Gilly, helped clean up Chase’s mess. No one has any idea what I’m capable of. No one ever has. Edda included.”

“She was a sweet old woman who never hurt anyone.” Jared’s voice vibrated with anger.

“That was just a game. Like the other women, I toyed with her for the fun of it. I guess she was smarter than I gave her credit for. She figured me out, demanded to know why I was pretending to be someone else.”

Marcus spit off to the side. “She had the nerve to threaten me. ‘I’ll tell Hanna,’ she said. The biddy got what she deserved. She underestimated me. Everyone underestimates me. You’ll see my abilities firsthand. Keep walking toward the light.”

The dark garage smelled musty and old. To the left a short stairway led up to a door, she guessed to the main house. Marcus directed them to the right. A dim, naked light bulb hung from the rafters. Hanna’s eyes adjusted to the semidarkness and saw what looked like a work area, with a vintage bench and a tool cabinet that looked antique. But what was lying between the bench and the cabinet stopped her in her tracks, with Jared running into her heels.

There lay a woman—bound, with duct tape across her mouth, her eyes filled with fear—staring up at them.

“Meet Rita. She drove all the way from Jamestown to meet me. She was as surprised as Edda.” Marcus let out a maniacal laugh.

The irritating laughter threw Hanna back over the years when she used to be taunted by bullies while walking to and from school. Sometimes if she jerked around quickly and unexpectedly, catching them by surprise, it would scare them off.

True, Marcus had a gun and he wasn’t a boy, but if she didn’tdo something now, she and Jared would end up like the woman on the floor.

Concentrating, Hanna tensed. She’d only get one shot. And she didn’t want Jared or the terrified woman on the floor hurt. She and her police force practiced gun takeaway methods in their routine training sessions. She needed her move to be spot-on.

Remembering that Marcus held the gun in his right hand, when Jared knelt to help the woman, Hanna jerked to the right, grabbing the gun’s slide with one hand and Marcus’s wrist with the other.

“Umph.” A grunt escaped his lips, and his eyes widened.

Hanna twisted his wrist to the right with all the force she could muster, then pulled.

“Ow!” He let go, and the ease of the release startled Hanna. She stumbled back with the gun in her hands, running into Jared and tripping over the woman on the floor.

Marcus cursed and backpedaled, while Hanna settled on her butt, then aimed the gun at Marcus. She tried to fire, but the safety was still engaged. Rookie move. She clicked it off and balanced herself. “Stay where you’re at, Marcus, it’s over.”

“No, it’s not.” He reached for some empty cans and hurled them at Hanna, some of which Jared deflected. Marcus turned and sprinted up the steps and through the door. She trained her gun on his retreating back, but Jared jumped in front of her line of sight when he leapt after Marcus.

Hanna scrambled to her feet and stumbled after Jared. Marcus opened a door at the top of the stairs, slipped out, and then slammed it shut behind him. Hanna reached the door as Jared rammed his shoulder into it. It held and he stepped back.

“It’s solid wood,” he said. “They made them to last back in the day.”

“Try the other.” She pointed to the door they’d come through. “I’ll check on Rita.”

She retreated to the woman on the floor while Jared checked the other door.

“It’s dead-bolted.” Jared rammed his shoulder into it. “No give at all.”

Hanna carefully pulled the tape from Rita’s mouth.

“Is he gone? Please tell me he’s gone.”

“I think so. Let’s get you untied.”

Hanna heard Jared push on the large garage door. He kicked at the bottom.

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