Page 93 of The Pretender

“You stabbed her eleven times.” Harris took a step toward Ted then. He held the screwdriver by his side, but Ted didn’t seem to notice. “You slashed her chest so deep it was impossible to perform CPR.”

Gabby’s mind rebelled. She wanted to slam her hands over her ears and wipe her memory clean. She’d never heard every terrifying fact. The police had kept that all a secret. Even the records held back certain aspects in the hope of finding the killer. But now Harris was making her live through it.

Eleven times.

“That came after. It was an attempt to cover up the fact she was already dead.” Ted sounded frantic now.

“But she wasn’t,” Harris shot back. “She was alive and wheezing and you left her there to bleed out on that gray carpet.”

The roar came out of nowhere. One minute the waves of blue water provided the only background sound. That and the slight rustle of the tree branches from the wind. Then Stephen let out a howl that sounded as if it had been ripped from his soul.

“I’m going to kill you.” He launched his body at Ted.

Ted pivoted just in time. His arms rose and the shovel’s edge left the ground. The nightmare of possibly watching one more family member die spurred Gabby to move. Disconnected thoughts ran through her head. Something tickled at the back of her mind but she pushed it away. Her only goal was to get to Ted, shove him in the water if she had to, before he swung that shovel.

Harris took off at the same time. The first whack of the shovel missed him and slammed into the dock. The next time Ted lifted it, Harris rammed right into his stomach and they both took flight. Bodies flashed in front of her and she kept going. Her uncle sat on the dock and she had no idea why he’d landed there. She just knew she had to get to him.

Two more steps and she was there, pulling him down to the deck as a shovel flew over their heads. She covered his body with hers and held on. The metal part of the shovel clattered on the wood deck beside her head. The noise had her looking up.

Harris and Ted rounded on each other. Ted had broken the shovel and held the jagged wooden end, stabbing it toward Harris. Harris had the screwdriver and a look of determination on his face. At the last second, Ted shifted and headed for her. His face was a mask of fury as he lunged. The frayed wood came toward her. Harris knocked into Ted one last time, taking them both down to the dock hard enough to shake the pylons anchoring it.

Ted yelled as the handle fell from his hand. She heard a pinging sound and looked up to see her uncle had batted the handle away from her face with the metal part of the shovel.

He’d protected her. She was so stunned all she could do was stare.

He pointed toward Harris. “Stop your boyfriend before it’s too late.”

She looked over to see Harris straddling Ted with the sharp end of the screwdriver jammed into his neck. He didn’t break skin, but it wouldn’t take much.

Shouting sounded all around her. She made out Damon’s voice and thought she heard Kramer. None of it got through as she scrambled to get to Harris. Out of breath, she collapsed against his side. “Let him go.”

“He’s going to lie.” Harris shook his head. “He’ll say all of this was your fault and people will believe him.”

“I won’t,” her uncle said as he stood up on shaky legs.

“Harris, please.” She ran her hand along his arm, feeling the stretch of every muscle. This boiling anger was for her. He was fighting for her and she loved that, but this was the wrong battle. “Don’t do this. I need you, but not to do this.”

Harris eased his hold on Ted. He started to squirm until Damon aimed the gun at his head. “Please move. Just give me any reason to put a hole in you. A sneeze will work.”

The sound of a boat engine grew closer as Harris rolled off Ted and sat down next to her on the dock. His body shook. She guessed the adrenaline still had him in its grasp.

“We got him.” She put an arm around his broad shoulders and hugged him.

He finally looked at her then. The stark look in his eyes was too obvious to miss. “I’m sorry.”

Chapter 25

The police and forensic units walked the yard. Every first responder imaginable roamed over the island. Two hours had passed and there was no sign of the action slowing down. Damon thought the investigation would continue into the night.

News helicopters flew overhead. Every now and then they’d pass close to this side of the island and drown out any other noise. Kramer sat stunned and unmoving as two medics looked him over. Hearing the truth about Ted had driven Kramer to his knees and it took several men to get him back up again. Craig sat a short distance away from Kramer with his head in his hands.

So many lies and so much devastation.

Damon motioned and pointed as he talked with a detective and Stephen. A man Harris didn’t recognize except that he worked for Wren walked around. Harris didn’t know who was on a legitimate law enforcement payroll and who had gotten here in record time at Wren’s insistence. Harris didn’t feel anything except for the harsh buzzing in his brain.

“Who are you?”

He closed his eyes at the sound of Gabby’s voice behind him. He sat on the porch banister, looking out over the property. She came out the front door. He knew because he heard the bang of the screen door.

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