Ann Rostow walked Ashley back to the lobby. Outside, the rain was cascading down in heavy sheets and bouncing off the asphalt. Ashley pulled up the hood on her windbreaker, ducked her head, and ran across the street, keeping her eyes on the pavement, preoccupied by thoughts of her brief visit with the dean. Now she understood what Miles had been trying to tell her. Casey was not the strong, determined woman who had stood up to Randy Coleman at the Academy pool. She was one of the living dead. If some miracle of God or science did bring her back to this world, there was no assurance that she would not end up as pathetic and helpless as the ghost people who moved through the halls of Sunny Rest. Logic told Ashley that she should back off and let Casey rest in peace, but something inside her clung to the hope that Casey was still fighting, that she could save her mother.
Ashley spotted her rental car. She fished out her keys and made a dash for it. Rain was dancing on the roof and the windshield. She leaned down to unlock the door and saw the reflection of a man. Rain poured down from the roof across the driver’s window distorting his features, and a hood partially hid his face, but there was no mistaking the knife he was holding.
Ashley swiveled and lashed out with her foot as if she was powering a shot on goal. The man was turned sideways and she struck his thigh. He grunted, stumbled back a few steps and his knees buckled. Ashley ran. Feet pounded the pavement behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, Ashley saw a dark blur shoot out from between two cars. Then she heard the sound of bodies crashing to the asphalt. Before she could look back, a shape materialized in front of her. She threw a punch at a hooded, black rain slicker and connected. The apparition staggered. She swung again and strong arms grabbed her.
“I’m a cop, Miss Spencer,” a male voice shouted. “We’ve got him.”
Ashley froze and looked at the man who was holding her. She could see part of a uniform under the rain gear. Behind her, over the rain, she heard shouts of “Freeze, police.”
“Let’s go back,” the officer said. She hesitated. “It’s okay. You’re safe. He’s down. I can see a crowd a few rows back, and they’re our men.”
The officer led Ashley through the rows of cars toward several policemen in plain clothes. They were surrounding two men in dark clothes who were sprawled on the pavement face down, with their hands clasped behind their necks. A knife lay between them on the waterlogged ground. When Ashley arrived, a detective holding a see-through evidence bag was stooping for it.
Larry Birch walked over to Ashley. Rain was cascading down his face but he was smiling.
“It’s a good thing we had you under surveillance,” he said.
Ashley was shivering, and it wasn’t from the rain. “Who are they?” Ashley asked, her eyes riveted on the prisoners.
“We’ll soon find out.”
Birch signaled to one of the officers. “Cuff them then get them on their feet.”
Several officers kept guns trained on the captives while other officers snapped on handcuffs and helped the men to their feet. Ashley stared at the two prisoners. Their hoods had fallen back to reveal their faces.
“Ashley,” Randy Coleman shouted. “Tell these cops to get these cuffs off of me. I just saved your life.”
The other man said nothing. He just stared at Ashley. She stared back until it dawned on her that she knew him. Then she looked away quickly and took a step back.
Rain cascaded off his shaved head and ran down the length of his thick, jet-black beard. His eye color was different, too. Probably contacts. But there was no doubt that the police had captured Joshua Maxfield.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Larry Birch brought Ashley to Ann Rostow’s office where she was given a mug of hot tea and a towel to dry her hair.
“Tell me what happened in the lot,” Larry Birch said when she was ready to discuss the attack.
“I was bending down to unlock my door when I saw someone’s reflection in the window.”
“Maxfield?”
“I can’t tell you. The rainclouds blocked most of the sunlight. You know how heavy the rain is. And the window was streaked with water. It distorted everything. And he was wearing a hood.”
“So you can’t say if Maxfield or Coleman assaulted you?”
Ashley stared at the detective. She saw that his question was serious.
“It had to be Maxfield,” Ashley said. “You don’t think Coleman attacked me?”
“I have to keep an open mind.”
“What does he say?”
“Coleman is screaming bloody murder. He’s taking credit for saving your life and capturing Maxfield. He says that he came to visit his wife and just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
“That makes sense.”
“Our problem is that his car pulled into the lot after you parked, but he never went inside the nursing home.”
“What does he say about that?”
“He says that he hasn’t seen Ms. Van Meter since she went into the coma and he felt that he should find out about her condition firsthand.”
“I bet his lawyer told him to go so he’d look good in court.”
Birch shrugged. “I don’t know anything about that.”
“Why didn’t he go in?”
“He claims he had a change of heart after he parked, because he wasn’t sure he could handle seeing Ms. Van Meter so helpless. According to Coleman, he was working out his feelings when he saw you leave. He says that he was coming over to talk to you when Maxfield attacked and he came to the rescue.”
“Is that what your surveillance team saw?”
“Unfortunately, we didn’t have a clear view. You were between the cars and the attacker came from the middle of the lot. We didn’t even see that you were in trouble until you ran. Then someone rushed out from between two cars, but our view was obstructed by the other cars and our angle, and they were dressed similarly.”
“Is Maxfield saying he rescued me from Coleman?”
“Maxfield isn’t talking.”
“He’s tried to kill me before.”
“Yeah, he has. And I suspect that we’ll be charging him with another attempt.”
The door opened and an officer stuck his head in. “There’s a Jerry Philips out here. He says he’s Miss Spencer’s attorney and that you called him.”
“Let him in,” Birch said.
Jerry went to Ashley as soon as he walked in the door.
“Are you okay?”
Ashley nodded.
“What happened?” Philips asked Ashley and the detective.
“Joshua Maxfield tried to kill me,” Ashley answered.
“He’s in custody,” Birch added.
“Thank God,” Philips said.
“Randy Coleman saved me.”
“Coleman? What was he doing here?”
“He says that he was going to visit his wife when he saw Maxfield try to kill Miss Spencer,” Birch said. “She was running for help when Coleman tackled him.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“She didn’t panic,” Birch said. “She fought him off. She was very brave.”
Jerry turned to Ashley. “You must have been scared to death.”
“I was, but I’m better now.”
Jerry looked at Birch. “Are you finished? Can I take Ashley home?”
“Yeah. I’ll need a statement but we can do that tomorrow. Can you drive Miss Spencer? We have to go over her car for evidence and we can’t turn it back to her today.”
“That’s fine. It’s a rental. You can give it back to the agency when you’re through.”
“This is great,” Jerry said as soon as they were underway. “Maxfield is going to prison. You don’t have to be afraid of him anymore.”
“They arrested him before and he escaped,” Ashley said.
“That won’t happen this time. He’ll be watched like a hawk.”
Ashley didn’t reply. She shut her eyes and laid her head against the back of the seat. Jerry must have thought that she was asleep, because he didn’t speak for the rest of the trip.