"It was our only option! It has to look like he was the one blackmailing Cochrane, and that Cochrane found out and killed him."
"That's the only way we'll distract the police and Kane. Once I finish planting evidence for the police to find, it'll be crystal clear that Jed was the blackmailer. Dinah found out some how, and he kidnapped and killed her — in one of Cochrane's warehouses — intending to pin the blame on Cochrane."
"He was my brother!"
"He was a fuck-up and we both know it!"
Brother? Jed and Max were brothers?
There was a moment of tense silence inside the room, and Faith edged closer. Were they facing away from the door? Could she slip past without being seen?
"I had to take the heat off us, Max. You'd done a damned fine job of stirring everybody up until we could hardly breathe, until it was only a matter of time before Kane or one of his bloodhounds figured it all out."
"So I took a chance with the pipe bomb, so what? What was I supposed to do after she hooked up with Kane — ignore it? Sit around like you wanted to, Connie, and wait to see if she got her memory back and spilled everything to Kane?"
Connie. Oh, God ... it is Conrad. That realization stabbed through Faith; she knew how this would hurt Kane.
"You could have waited! For Christ's sake, Max, even an idiot could have realized that every time you went after her and failed, you gave them more reason to look for answers — and more time."
"Look..."
"No, you look. I had to scramble to find evidence to make the story hang together and point away from us. Jed had to be sacrificed. It would have worked, Max. But then you had to blunder in once again, grab the girl from under Kane's nose. And if you don't think he's turning Atlanta upside down right this minute looking for her..."
"So what? He didn't find Dinah, did he?"
"You're a fool," Conrad said.
Faith risked a quick glance into the room and felt her heart sink. They were facing each other no more than a few feet inside the door, and chances were very good that both men would see her if she darted past.
"I just want the box back, Connie, that's all."
"If i she remembered where she'd put it or knew where Dinah put it after that accident, don't you think it would be in the hands of the police by now?"
"She'll remember quick enough once I get my hands on her. She'll talk then."
"Oh? The way Dinah talked?"
"Surely you don't think this one will be that tough? She's no bigger than a minute, and it's easy to see she'd jump out of her skin if anybody yelled boo."
"She survived that car accident, didn't she? She came out of a coma when she should have ended up a vegetable. I wouldn't underestimate her if I were you."
"She'll talk," Max repeated stubbornly. "We'll get the box, and then we'll be safe. If you think it's necessary, we can plant the box so it looks like Jed had it — all that clear evidence of blackmail. He gets the blame for that, Cochrane gets the blame for killing him, and we lay low for a few months."
"And what about Faith Parker? They'll know exactly when she disappeared, Max, and you told me yourself Cochrane's still at the police station being questioned. He has an alibi for the time she vanished."
"You can fix it so it looks like he hired somebody," Max said, impatient. "You've always been able to fix things, Connie, ever since we were kids back in Seattle. Should be easy enough."
Conrad swore viciously. "Easy? Do you realize how many rabbits I've already pulled out of my hat for you? Christ, if you'd just killed her in Seattle or, better yet, hadn't been careless enough to leave that envelope in a secretary with too much curiosity for her own good? Once she saw the note from me to him it was only a matter of time before she figured out the insurance scam. I had to get rid of her."
"But you didn't get rid of her, did you? You didn't even make sure what she looked like, killed the sister instead and the mother with her."
"Look, never mind all that, it's water under the bridge. I've got her now, and I don't intend to stop until she's told me where that god damned box is."
You hid it in the only place you felt really safe. That's why I couldn't tell him. He wouldn't have been able to get into Haven House, and so he would have burned it down to destroy the evidence. They would have been killed, all of them. Karen and Eve, Andrea and little Katie. I couldn't let that happen ...
Faith closed her eyes briefly, then opened them and tried to figure out her options. She had to get past the open door and the men inside the room ... and she had to get out of this house. Unaware of where the windows and doors were, she was bound to make mistakes, especially if she was running. But what choice did she have? She risked another look into the office where she was bound to see it...
"How was I to know Jed had..." Conrad had turned toward a desk against the far wall, and Faith could have laughed aloud when Max turned in the same direction. Both their backs were now to the door.
Now or never.
Holding her breath, Faith slipped quickly and silently past the doorway.
"If you're determined to be stupid, at least don't be insane," Conrad was saying angrily. "To bring her here! There's no way I'll allow you..."
"I didn't know if you wanted another body on Cochrane, so ..."
Faith reached the foot of the stairs and went up them swiftly. From what had been said in that room, she gathered she was at Conrad's lakeside vacation home somewhere outside the city. Which meant she had no idea where she was.
Away. Just get away. Worry about where you are later.
At the top of the stairs she found herself in a small hallway, which led to a dining room and a kitchen, where there appeared to be an exterior door. At the end of the hall was a living room, with another staircase going up.
Don't go up. The nitwits in the movies always climb the stairs, and how they expect to get off the roof when someone's chasing them...
"I don't know," Faith whispered. She continued to move carefully, desperate to make certain no squeaking floorboard betrayed her to the men below. The front door, she thought, was probably near the living room, but this door out of the kitchen was closer.
As soon as she opened it, Faith detected the unmistakable odors of a garage. A closed garage.
And garage doors were very noisy when they opened.
She swore inwardly and drew back into the kitchen, just as she heard heavy, quick footsteps on the basement stairs and Max swearing grimly.
With no time to do anything else, Faith slipped through the door into the garage, closing it silently behind her.
He's very good at playing cat and mouse. Don't hide. Get away.
The garage was dark; Faith had to feel her way. Moving as fast as she dared, she nearly fell over the hood of a sports car. Were the keys in it? She tried the doors but they were locked.
Growing accustomed to the darkness now, she made out the garage door, which was closed, and two windows, which were high up and also closed. Nothing to stand on.
Was there an automatic door opener? She peered up at the tracks above the car and made out the box.
So there would be a remote in the car, most likely, and one by the door to the kitchen.
She felt her way back to the door, fear growing, horribly aware of the minutes ticking away. She heard the voices inside rise in a violent argument, heard them get louder as Max and Conrad came in her direction, and then a deafening gunshot.
Terrified, Faith punched the panel of the garage door opener. Instantly, the garage was filled with bright light, and the big door began to move up laboriously and loudly.
Nearly blinded, Faith lunged for the garage door and ducked under it just as the kitchen door opened and she heard a curse behind her.