Last Resort Page 22

  He didn’t release her arm, didn’t stop his headlong plunge along the narrow path. “A lot of killers are horrified by their own crimes after committing them—that doesn’t mean they won’t kill again. Especially if—” He slowed his steps, glanced at her, moved on.

  “Especially if what, Nathan?” She hurried to keep up with him. “Especially if it’s a compulsion they can’t control? Is that what you’re saying? You’ve changed your mind about OCD never involving psychosis?”

  “I don’t know for sure anymore what it is. I don’t know what to think.”

  She jerked from his grasp and skidded to a stop. “You’re ready to blame this on my sister, aren’t you? You’re thinking Jill’s a compulsive killer!”

  “No, I’m trying to be practical.”

  “Then don’t forget about Justin. He’s suffering from the compulsion, too.” She couldn’t control the tension that tightened her voice. “It can’t be Jill. She’s in agony back there, thinking we’re in that fire. Why can’t we just go back and let them know we’re alive? I can’t stand leaving them like this. How can you be so callous?”

  “I’m not being callous, this is hard for me, too. It makes no sense. OCD is not a dangerous disorder, but this time—”

  “Maybe it’s not the disorder,” Noelle said. “Maybe we’re letting this throw us off. Could be I’ve been jumping to conclusions all this time, and it really isn’t family. After all, I have no proof.”

  He placed his hands on her shoulders and forced her to look up at him. “You’re wishing, Noelle. Would you risk our lives for that wish? Because our lives are at stake. How much are you willing to gamble?”

  She felt her face contort with the effort to hold back her tears. She shook her head.

  “You’re the one who insisted it was family, and we’ve operated on that theory,” he said. “It’s become too real a theory to dismiss. Don’t you see how dangerous it would be? Someone wants us out of the way. We’re getting close to the source, or someone wouldn’t be so desperate. Whoever it is will stop at nothing to keep us from getting to Harvey’s house if they know we’re going there.”

  “But to just leave all my family thinking we’re dead…”

  “We’ll be back as soon as we can, and then we can announce we’re okay. If we reveal ourselves too soon, before we have the evidence we need, we may not be alive long.” He released her shoulders. “Can you understand that?”

  “Why can’t we let the sheriff take care of it?”

  “Noelle, they’ve had all this time to find something in Harvey’s house, and they haven’t found it. Do you really want to leave that responsibility to someone else?”

  She closed her eyes. No. “We have to do this, don’t we?” she asked.

  “I’m afraid we do.”

  She continued to tremble, but she nodded, swallowing tears, swallowing another protest. He was right, they were in terrible danger. But she could still feel her family’s suffering. It took all her strength to follow Nathan, resisting a deep need to look back through the trees toward the others. She had to repeat to herself over and over that this was the only way.

  Harvey Sand’s house, a narrow three-story Victorian structure in the center of Hideaway, posed a problem. Nathan and Noelle stood in the alley, looking across the white picket fence into a tiny yard filled with trees, bushes and every kind of blooming rose, pansy and chrysanthemum. How were they going to get inside? In spite of the abundant plant life flourishing in the rich soil, there was no camouflage over the front or back doors—the only two entrances.

  “Now what?” Noelle asked.

  “We’ll have to break a window behind the bushes on the west side of the house.”

  “Nathan, look at us. We’re a mess. It’s a miracle you’re not seriously burned. We had enough trouble explaining our appearance to that man who picked us up. If we get caught—”

  “So we’ll have to make sure no one sees us. Any other objections?”

  “No.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  Glancing around to make sure they were unobserved, they darted across the tiny yard and ducked behind a stand of bushes taller than Nathan.

  Noelle looked through the window, than sprang back. “Either Harvey was an atrocious housekeeper or somebody beat us here.”

  Inside, the room that appeared to be Harvey’s home office was a scattered mess, with files and papers strewn over the oak desk, drawers pulled out and emptied onto the floor. Along the walls, bookshelves had been cleared. Harvey’s collection of Zane Gray, Louis L’Amour and Jory Sherman lay in piles, carelessly dumped on the floor.

  Noelle grabbed Nathan’s arm. “Would any professional investor ever leave a place such a mess after a search?”

  “Depends on what they’re looking for.”

  “This doesn’t feel right. It feels dangerous.”

  Nathan didn’t respond. He tested the window and found the lock already jimmied. “Someone must’ve used the same logic we did, choosing this point of entry.”

  “Except he or she was way ahead of us. This is crazy.”

  “Life’s crazy. Let’s go.” Without waiting for an argument, Nathan swung himself through the window, then reached out to help Noelle.

  “Okay, okay, I’m coming.” She shrugged off his hand and climbed through the window. “The intruder probably already found what we’re looking for,” she grumbled.

  “Or helped us in our search.” Nathan reached for one of the few books that remained on a lower shelf. “What were the words we found on that file in the attic?”

  “‘Lower level, upper file. Home.’” Noelle shook her head. “Since there’s no basement in this house, common sense says this floor is the lower level. So that would mean any upper drawer or shelf could be the hiding place. Except I don’t see anything that hasn’t been disturbed by the intruder.”

  Nathan stepped to the doorway to his left and glanced into the next room. “Kitchen looks worse. He must not have hidden anything in the freezer or the flour.”

  “What about the computer?” Noelle gestured toward Harvey’s workstation. “Could he have put something in it?”

  “Possibly, but more than likely he’d save any incriminating evidence somewhere besides his hard drive. Look for diskettes or tapes.”

  “For blackmail, he’d need hard evidence, wouldn’t he?” Noelle asked. “Something like pictures or signed documents, letters.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “And if Harvey was blackmailing others, as Pearl believes, he’d probably need a fair-sized storage space for his evidence.”

  “Which is probably in this house somewhere.” Nathan beckoned to Noelle as he stepped into the kitchen. “Let’s see where else our intruder searched. Watch your step.”

  Hesitantly, Noelle followed him through the kitchen, stepping over piles of macaroni and corn flakes, skirting the edge of a thick dusting of white flour. When they reached the elegant dining room, she winced at the slashed blue satin padded chairs, stuffing pulled out and scattered over the carpet. Pieces of silver-flocked wallpaper had been ripped from the walls.

  Every room on the first and second floors had received the same treatment.

  When they stepped from the final bedroom on the second floor, Nathan paused at the polished banister of the stairway to the third story. He shook his head. “The man spent a fortune on this house.”

  “Sure, with his blackmail money. If one of his victims searched this place, they must have taken great pleasure in its destruction.”

  “Wouldn’t blame them.”

  “But it’s breaking the law.”

  “I didn’t say I’d have done it myself. Besides, we’re breaking the law, too,” Nathan said. “Let’s go, we have another floor to search.”

  “Hold it a minute.” Noelle turned to glance back down the stairway. “Seems to me we’re getting colder. I thought we decided lower level meant the first floor.”

  “It was just a guess.”

  “O
kay, but we’ve already decided Harvey could have been blackmailing others besides Cecil and Melva, and I’ve heard Jill remark more than once that if anyone wanted a false set of books, Harvey was the man to see. So it stands to reason he could have had several victims. I just wonder why Coopers continued using Harvey’s services for so long when Pearl didn’t trust him.”

  “Pearl said he knew the business better than anybody.”

  “You don’t think he had something on Pearl as well, do you?” Noelle asked.

  “We could ask. Later.”

  Noelle studied the slashed carpet of the hallway where they stood, and saw the hardwood floor underneath. “What a shame to cover such a beautiful floor with carpeting.” She reached down and grasped the ruined floor covering, then paused, head tilted. “Hmmm, I wonder which step he tripped over? You did say Harvey was supposed to have fallen down the stairs?”

  “That was the story, but I think we’re close to refuting that, don’t you?” Nathan turned and went back down the staircase.

  Noelle followed. “We can’t refute it without evidence, and so far we don’t have a scrap—whoops!” Noelle’s toe caught in a piece of slashed carpet. She stumbled and fell against the wall of the stairwell. “Ouch. This place is dangerous!” She rubbed her elbow, glancing at the unscathed wallpaper below the stairwell. “Here’s one place that was missed.” She studied the wall more closely, this time thumping it with the flat of her hand.

  Nathan watched her. “What are you doing?”

  Noelle frowned at the wall. “Strange, don’t you think? All this wasted space below the stairs? Jill’s staircase isn’t enclosed like this.”

  Nathan met her gaze, a growing light of comprehension in his eyes. “Remember hiding under your grandpa’s staircase when we were little?”

  “I remember you always found me, but it sure was a good hiding place the first time I used it.”

  “Lower level, upper file.” He climbed back up to the top of the staircase and sank to his knees. “Suppose Harvey made file cabinets out of these steps when he renovated this house last year?” He felt the riser of the top step. Nothing. He went down another step and did the same.

  “Try pulling the carpet away,” Noelle suggested.

  Even as she spoke, he was peeling back a flap of the thick silver-gray pile, with the sound of ripping Velcro.

  “How about this?” He reached forward and grasped a recessed handle. A drawer slid out. “We’re geniuses!” He shot Noelle a quick glance. “Sorry, you’re the genius. I’m just along for the ride.”

  Noelle knelt below him. “What’s in it?” she asked.

  He reached in and pulled out a thick accordion file. He flipped it open, and both he and Noelle peered inside.

  A sudden, soft creak of wood from the direction of the hallway above them jerked their attention from the file.

  Justin stepped into view from the alcove. He came forward with wary hesitation. “You guys could get in trouble for breaking and entering.” He brought his right hand out from behind his back, and Noelle suppressed a gasp at the dull gleam of blue-black metal. Justin was carrying a gun.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  “Justin Cooper, what are you doing with your dad’s pistol?” Nathan stood up beside Noelle, the file still in his hands, and climbed to the top of the stairs.

  “And what are you doing here?” Noelle added.

  Justin looked down at the weapon in his hand. “I didn’t want anyone to use it. You can’t know who to trust anymore.”

  Nathan tried not to let his relief show on his face. “I know it’s hard, son. Things are confusing for everyone right now.”

  Justin’s troubled gaze met Nathan’s for a brief moment, then returned to the gun. He switched it from safety to fire, then back again. With a metallic click he pulled back the chamber, peered inside as if he were checking for bullets, then released it. He unfastened the empty clip and peered at it as if he couldn’t believe it was empty.

  He pushed it back into place and looked up at Nathan. “These things are dangerous. Everybody knows where Dad keeps his gun. Now I don’t even know what to do with it.”

  “Well, carrying it to town and pulling it on your cousin isn’t the right thing,” Noelle said dryly. “You didn’t tell us what you’re doing here.”

  “Probably the same thing you are. Looking for whatever Harvey may have had on Dad.” He nodded toward the accordion file. “That it?”

  “I think so,” Nathan said. “How did you get here?” He doubted Cecil or Melva would let him use a car, especially not Cecil. Not now.

  “Pearl let me use her truck. She trusts me—unlike some people.” Justin frowned at their clothing, then sniffed and wrinkled his nose. “What happened to you?”

  “We’ll explain later,” Noelle gestured to the gun. “What would you have done if someone besides us had come in here?”

  “Hidden.” Justin checked again for bullets. “I was going to leave this in the truck, but I was afraid somebody would find it. I thought about throwing it into the woods, but what if some little kid stumbled over it? I just didn’t want to leave it where it was. We should be able to trust family, but now you’re saying we can’t. I just don’t get it. Why would anyone want to hurt Carissa?” Again, he checked the gun, slowly and carefully following the exact procedure he had followed previously.

  Nathan leaned forward. “You took the gun because you were afraid someone in the family might take it and use it?”

  The teenager nodded. His hands never stopped their fidgety movements over the pistol, checking and rechecking.

  “Justin,” Nathan said. “I don’t know what your father was thinking when he stopped us from working together on this problem of yours, but he didn’t do you any favors. You need to get out of here now, before someone comes.”

  Justin didn’t move. “Then so do you. And as for Dad, I think he’s worried about that codicil, but I don’t want to stay in Cedar Hollow anyway, so why does it matter?”

  “The Cooper holdings are worth a few million,” Noelle said, “what with the cattle, the farming land, the sawmill and equipment. I wouldn’t dismiss it so lightly, but I think someone needs to seek legal advice about breaking that codicil from the trust.”

  “Pearl doesn’t think it can be done,” Justin said.

  “Pearl doesn’t know everything,” Noelle retorted. “I hate the thought of a legal battle, but this has gone on long enough. We could get a good attorney and challenge the codicil as a family, requesting its removal from the trust. Then maybe we would all be out from under the true Cooper curse.”

  “Do you think we could discuss this later?” Nathan asked. “We need to get out of here.”

  “Wait, I want to follow up on a hunch.” Noelle descended halfway down the staircase, then reached beneath the riser of another step. Again, there was the sound of separating Velcro, then she pulled out another drawer with another accordion file inside it. “Harvey had quite a racket going here. I wondered why he’d need to leave a note to himself about the whereabouts of his evidence if he only had one victim. No telling how many people he was blackmailing.”

  Nathan glanced at the file in his hand. Bingo. It was labeled Melva Cooper.

  Noelle replaced the contents of the drawer she had raided, then descended another step and tried again.

  “Would you stop it?” Nathan said. “Leave all those drawers for the sheriff to investigate. We have what we need.”

  “Looks like somebody really did kill Harvey, then,” Justin said. “Sounds like there might be several suspects.”

  “That’s up to Greg to decide.” Nathan held up the file in his hand. “We need to find a telephone to call him, and we can all pray he doesn’t haul us to jail for breaking and entering.”

  Justin’s fingers traced the smooth wood-paneled sides of the gun’s handle. “Melva told me that Harvey had a copy of a cashier’s check that Dad wrote more than ten years ago.”

  “The one to Frazier Logging?” Noelle
asked.

  Justin nodded. “Dad fixed the records to make it look like he was buying a bunch of equipment, but Harvey said he paid too much, and he started investigating.”

  “So Harvey was blackmailing Melva?”

  Justin nodded. “Melva told me Harvey knew better than to try it with Dad, because Dad would’ve turned him into the police flat-out.”

  “When did Melva tell you about this?” Nathan asked.

  “A couple of weeks ago when Harvey came to the sawmill. She had to tell me, because I was there.”

  “You saw him?”

  “Yeah, I was out working on one of the saw motors when he dropped by. Melva was working in the office, and he thought she was alone, I guess, because there weren’t any other cars in the parking lot. He wanted more money, and said that he could make it look like Dad had caused that log slide that killed Uncle Frank and Great Grandpa and Great Grandma. Melva told me later, she was so mad she threw the first thing she picked up. It was a cant hook.”

  “But, Justin, Melva couldn’t have believed your father would commit murder,” Nathan said.

  “She didn’t, but she was afraid Harvey could make it look that way.” Justin’s lip suddenly curled in disgust at the gun he was holding, and he held it out to Nathan. “Would you take this? I don’t know what to do with it.”

  Nathan accepted the weapon and slid it into the pocket of his jeans.

  “Dad’s paid all the money back now,” Nathan said. “But Harvey’s had Melva scared for years that if Pearl found out about it, she’d fire Dad as the manager, because she has final say about everything. Melva was all freaked about it. She said Carissa and I had a right to our family land, that we’d inherit all of it someday, and it wasn’t fair for us to lose out just because of some problems Dad had ten years ago. So she paid Harvey what he asked.”

  “And she got away with it because she was doing the bookkeeping, and Harvey was the accountant,” Noelle said. “No other double check?”

  “Not until they started entering data on the computer.” Justin shook his head sadly. “If they’d kept up the manual ledger entries instead of buying the computers—”