CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
The rancid scent of mold and dust and a dead animal assaulted Korine as she entered the dilapidated house where Esme and her daughter had once lived.
She blinked to adjust her eyes to the darkness. A scratching sound came from the corner. She jerked her head toward it and made out the shadowy outline of a man.
Hatcher. Tied to a chair. Not moving. His head slumped over.
Her heart pitched. Dear God. He had to be alive.
“What did you do, drug him?” Korine hissed.
The barrel of the gun dug deeper into her back.
“You need help,” Korine said when the woman didn’t respond to her question. “Belinda Winters . . . I know your real name, but you changed it to Cat. You changed your last name, too.”
A sarcastic chuckle. “Do you really think they would have allowed me to join the FBI if they knew my personal history?” She shoved Korine so hard she stumbled forward. She hit the wall, boards splintering beneath her feet from the rotting wood.
“I know you suffered, but I thought we were friends,” Korine said.
“Friends?” Cat laughed. “Do you know how hard it was for me to listen to you talk about how wonderful your father was?” She adopted a whiny tone, mimicking Korine. “Daddy loved me. He was such a good man; he helped other children. I have to find out who murdered him.”
“I didn’t know,” Korine said, tears lacing her voice. “Not about the abuse. So stop this now. A jury will understand, and you can get help—”
“I’ve had help,” Cat said icily. “All the damn counseling in the world can’t erase what your father did to me. That’s the downside of having a photographic memory. I could never forget anything, especially the details of what he said when he touched me.”
Korine held up her hand. “Maybe another therapist—”
“I don’t want a fucking therapist! My mother trusted him, and he locked me in this room and molested me.”
“I’m so sorry,” Korine said. “I swear I had no idea. My mother didn’t either, not until the night he planned to do the same thing to me.” She gave Cat a pleading look. “My mother killed him to stop him from hurting me or any more children.”
“Yeah, and then he died a hero while they paid my mother to keep her mouth shut.”
“I’m so sorry, Cat. Esme should have come forward.”
“She needed the fucking money!” Cat waved the gun in her face. “She thought by taking it she was doing the right thing by me, but I knew she was ashamed. She could barely look at me.”
Korine reached for her, but Cat swung the butt of the gun up and slammed it against Korine’s head.
Pain seared her skull, and stars swam in front of Korine’s eyes. “Please, don’t do this.”
But Cat wasn’t listening. She aimed the gun at Korine, then threw a punch to Korine’s stomach. Korine grunted, then dove for the gun and wrenched Cat’s arm toward the ceiling. The bullet dislodged. Plaster rained down, and Korine lurched toward her and knocked her to the floor.
They fought for the weapon, and it went off again. They rolled across the floor, trading blow for blow. Korine landed a hard punch to Cat’s midsection, then knocked the gun from her hand. It sailed toward the wall, and Korine scrambled after it. But Cat jumped her and stomped on her lower back, sending sharp spasms of pain through Korine’s kidneys.
Suddenly a thunderous roar rent the air, and footsteps pounded. Cat grabbed the gun, rolled to the left and fired.
Hatcher. He was alive. And he’d gotten free.
He dodged the bullet, then charged Cat. The two of them hit the floor, rolling and fighting for the weapon. Cat slammed her foot into Hatcher’s face, then scrambled backward and aimed the gun at him.
Korine crawled to her hands and knees, but Cat swung the gun toward her. “Move and I’ll shoot.”
Hatcher raised his hands in surrender, and Korine did the same.
Cat paced in front of them, her expression crazed. A moment later, the scent of gasoline filled the air as Cat doused the wood floors and walls.
Korine glanced at Hatcher. They had to act quickly. But the darkness hid his face.
She latched on to a mental picture of him, though. If she had to die today, she’d take that image with her.
Hatcher cursed as Korine tried to get up and tackle Cat. Cat fired at her, then at him, but they both dodged the bullets. A second later, Cat slammed the butt of the gun against Korine’s head again, sending her to the floor.
Smiling, Cat tossed a match to the corner near where Korine lay. Flames immediately burst to life, then Cat dashed out the door and slammed it shut, locking them in.
Hatcher raced to Korine and knelt beside her. “Come on, we have to get out of here.”
He slid an arm around her waist and helped her stand. She leaned on him as they hobbled toward the door. Heat seared them as the flames climbed the wall and shot to the ceiling. Wood crackled and popped, the fire eating at it as if it were paper, spreading in orange-and-red patches.
Smoke billowed around them, clouding the air. “Stay back,” he ordered.
Summoning all the strength he had, he rammed his shoulder against the door.
It didn’t budge.
He stepped back and tried again. This time he used his booted foot and kicked with all his might. Korine raised her leg and kicked the door, too. With their combined efforts, the door splintered and cracked.
The fire was spreading across the floor fast. Heat singed his back. Another piece of wood crashed down, then more of the ceiling.
Korine jumped aside to dodge a board, but the ceiling collapsed. She screamed, beating at the flames, as the burning wood fell on top of her.
Fear paralyzed Hatcher. He’d watched his wife die at the hand of one monster.
He couldn’t lose Korine.
He snatched the burning boards away from her, beating and kicking at the flames to extinguish the fire. She beat at them as well, grabbed his hand, then they crawled toward the door.
The flames were on top of them, eating at the soles of their shoes as he helped Korine through the hole. As soon as she made it to the ground, he dove through. Panting for air, he grabbed her hand, and they ran toward the marsh.
Firelight flickered against the darkness, illuminating Cat. She stood beneath the live oak nearby, the orange glow accentuating the demented expression on her face. She was mesmerized by the flames, smiling as she watched what she thought was their demise.
He cupped Korine’s face in his hands. “You okay?”
Soot and sweat stained her cheeks, but she looked so damn beautiful he wanted to cry because she was alive.
“We have to stop her,” Korine said in a gravelly voice.
He gestured toward the opposite direction, back where she’d parked. “Get to your car where you’ll be safe.”
She shook her head. “We’re partners, Hatcher. We do this together.”
Their gazes locked, her stubbornness and courage a reminder that she was nothing like his former wife. He could be partners with her.
Not just at work but maybe in life, too.
A loud crash jolted him back to the moment. The entire house collapsed in a burning pile of rubble. Flames shot toward the sky, smoke rising in a thick cloud, sparks flying.
“I’ll create a distraction,” Korine said, “while you come up behind her.”
He nodded, and Korine dashed around the burning house. He ducked low and crept to the opposite side, moving quickly until he had a good view of Cat. Ducking behind another patch of trees, he maneuvered closer until he was only a few feet away.
Korine suddenly appeared from behind a mound of burning wood. “Cat, please, it’s over. You can’t keep killing people.”
Korine’s voice startled Cat into spinning toward her. The young woman looked incoherent, lost in her world of hurt and revenge.
As if she was in a trance, she slowly raised the gun and pointed it toward Korine.
Hatcher inched closer, his blood boiling. If this went wrong, he could still lose Korine.
No way would he allow that to happen.
He jumped Cat from behind. She yelped in surprise, and he knocked the gun from her hand and sent it sailing toward a rock. She raised her fists to fight, but he was stronger and shoved her to the ground. He flipped her over and climbed over her, using his weight to restrain her. Then he yanked her arms behind her and handcuffed them together.
Korine retrieved the gun, then walked toward them. Sadness streaked her face as she looked down at Cat. “I’m so sorry for what my father did to you,” she said.
Cold hatred streaked Cat’s eyes as she glared at Korine.
Hatcher didn’t feel as sympathetic. Cat had gotten a raw deal by being abused as a child. But it wasn’t Korine’s fault.
And neither one of them deserved to die so she could continue killing.
The next half hour was fraught with tension as the evidence team arrived along with the fire department.
Watley looked at Cat with contempt. “She tried to kill Trace, didn’t she?”
“I believe so,” Hatcher answered. “He must have figured out what she was doing, so she wanted to keep him quiet.”
Korine gestured to the burning building, then Cat’s car. “Get us every piece of forensics you can. We’ll need it.”
They nodded and went to work. Detective Brockett arrived to transport Cat to booking.
“I have to check on my mother and Esme.” When she’d been insistent on pursuing her father’s case, her mother always said that not knowing was better.
That comment made sense now.
She stepped over to her car and phoned her mother’s number, then Wyatt’s.
No answer from either one of them.
Fear crowded her chest and she rushed to Hatcher. “I have to go. Wyatt didn’t answer, and neither did my mother.”
She might have sent Wyatt into an ambush.
And what would she do if Esme had hurt her mother?