Page 21 of Hidden Raphael
She wished she had medieval security guards to do what they did in movies.
Then a somber thought hit her. Had Raphael lowered the gate to get the bodies inside? What if Roger had snuck in?
Kimberly shivered and stopped at the dirt mounds. Then she saw a small sign of the cross and a name taped on it.Eileen. She fingered the edges of the white-lined paper. The other read,Ali.
She fell to her knees, her eyes watering. Ali and Eileen had done so much with their lives. They had deserved to live far more than she had. She picked up dirt and said, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry to both of you. I promise to make sure Roger Hellsworth gets justice."
"How you going to do that?" a rough voice said.
Kimberly dropped prostrate between the two mounds of dirt. Her heart raced. Was that the pilot? Her breath hitched as she brought the Taser toward the front of her body. Then she let out a loud sneeze.
The voice called through the air, "Kimberly, you have to die too."
Where was he? Her heart beat so fast and her ears drummed. She clutched the Taser like a water gun. "Why?"
"Come meet your fate."
"Leave me alone," she cried out.
"Your boyfriend won't protect you forever."
Raphael had to be safe, and far away from Roger. Perhaps if she stayed and kept Roger talking, he could save whatever he could from the crash site. The Taser steadied her. She took a deep breath and lifted her head. His voice had come from one of the slits on the outer wall. He couldn't be inside. She forced herself to sit up. If he could scale the walls, then she had to defend herself. "Why did you kill them?"
"Ali and his western wife betrayed everything our country stands for."
Politics.Eileen had died for no good reason. Kimberly closed her eyes, fingers went into a circle, and she said a prayer for them. Then she lifted the Taser and pointed toward the thick wood gate. Nothing stirred, but she needed to end this. If he came toward her, then she'd be ready. "Then you can leave me alone. I won't go anywhere but home."
"To your privileged, pampered life," Roger scoffed. "You don't deserve that, Kimberly. You waste oxygen every second you breathe."
After waiting to see if he would shoot something into the courtyard, she stood, her gaze narrowing on the slits next to the drawbridge. "Murderers don't get to judge."
His voice chilled her. "I clean up my messes, and your death means no one will know the truth."
She swallowed and held the Taser higher. He’d have to kill Raphael too.
His voice carried from the slits where once upon a time arrows must have flown at intruders. "Harry, the man who saved your worthless life by pushing you out of the plane, is dead. I bet you never even knew his name."
She inhaled. No, she hadn't known his name. Her spine tingled, and her neck heated. "Did you kill him?"
"He saw what I did," Roger answered. "These walls won't keep you and your boyfriend safe."
Images of how Roger might reach through the stone walls and get to her flashed in her mind. Raphael would know how to handle himself. What if she misfired? Roger would have to be close for her to even use the Taser. She took a few steps backward, toward the castle. Gravel crunched under her shoes. "Do you have a way off the island?"
"Do you even know who your boyfriend is?" He laughed, low and menacing. "You might want to save us both time and come outside. It will be over fast with me."
The words were like bullets in her heart. Her feet pressed into the ground and she refused to give this man one more second of her time. Roger Hellsworth wanted to confuse her. Her chest caved as she neared the door. Raphael was her hero, and Roger’s words were tricks.
