Nick rocked back on his heels and wiped his arm across his eyes. “Thank you,” he muttered.
He ran careful hands over long, motionless limbs, taking stock of the damage. Broken left arm, a knot the size of a goose egg on the side of his head, shocky -- but his pulse seemed strong enough.
Perry coughed and opened his eyes. He blinked up at Nick.
“Hooyah,” he said.
“Now I know you’re concussed.” Nick felt over his skull with gentle fingers. “Yep, that’s some knock on the head.”
“I think I kn-kn…know what happened,” Perry told him.
“Yeah?” Nick eased his arm behind Perry’s shoulders. “Did it have to do with falling off a ladder?”
“I don’t think I fell.”
“I think you’re right, Humpty Dumpty. I’m going to pick you up. Don’t freak.”
Perry tensed. “I think my left arm’s broken.”
“Right again.”
“Lucky it’s my left.”
“Yeah. You are one lucky guy. Hang on, this is going to hurt.”
Perry wrapped his good arm around Nick’s shoulders, and Nick lifted him. Perry sucked in his breath and swore into Nick’s shoulder.
“Hang on.”
Perry said conversationally, “Someone yanked the ladder out from under me.”
“Did you see who?”
Perry shook his head, sucked in a sharp breath and swore into Nick’s neck. “I think I know where the jewels…ouch!”
“If they were in the hanging lamp, they’re gone now.”
Perry didn’t answer, breathing hard and fast against Nick’s damp skin.
“I’m going to set you down here.” Nick followed his words with the action, lowering Perry onto the flat-topped boulder. “I don’t want to move you around a lot after a fall like that.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to stay here,” Perry said, not letting go.
Nick hugged him briefly but carefully. “I’ve already called the cops. Nothing is going to happen to you in the five minutes it takes me to phone for an ambulance.”
“Look at what happened to me the last time you left me alone.”
Nick overlooked that. “And then I’ll be back with a blanket because you’re probably going into shock.”
“Great.” Perry said as Nick freed himself gently. Perry tried to cradle his broken arm with his other. “Can you make it fast, because I don’t feel very good.”
“I’m already on my way back,” Nick told him, heading for the door. He opened it.
There was a flash of daylight and a loud bang.
Nick staggered back a couple of steps and sat down in the cold water. He sagged slowly back.
“Nick!” Perry yelled. He half jumped, half fell into the pond and hauled Nick into sitting position. He was heavy, and Perry could use only one arm, but he got his head out of the water, got him braced against his knee.
“Jesus,” Nick gasped. He tried to push himself to his feet but sank back.
There was blood everywhere, unfurling like smoke through the icy water. Perry’s hand felt the obstruction in Nick’s back. Nick’s pistol.
Instinctively, his hand closed on it, but then froze as a voice said, “Stay where you are. Don’t move.”
Nick, hand clutched to his shoulder, leaned back against Perry. The shadow blocking the doorway slipped inside the icehouse and pulled the door shut. A flashlight caught them in its beam.
Numb with a lethal combination of pain, shock, and cold, Perry’s brain couldn’t seem to slip into gear. His thought process was moving so slowly, so inefficiently. Nick was shot. He couldn’t take it in. His own arm was killing him.
“He’s bleeding,” he told the shadow.
“That’s the idea.”
He recognized the voice without any particular surprise.
“Mr. Stein?”
“You should have stayed out of it, Foster,” Stein informed him. “Not that I’m not grateful. I still don’t know how the hell you came up with the idea of looking in the chandelier.”
Nick tried to turn and see Perry. “You found Moran’s stash?”
“I…d-didn’t get to see,” Perry said through chattering teeth.
Stein said, “Yep, it was in the globe of the chandelier. A fortune in jewels and old coins. It’s not everything, but it’s a good start. Those people knew how to live.” Then he said in a different tone, “You should have taken the hint, Foster. Not dragged your buddy into it.”
Perry said stupidly, “The hint?”
“The dead bird,” Nick got out between clenched teeth. “That was a warning. A little present from Stein.”
“Nope,” Stein said, “The dead bird was Tiny’s idea. He found it after the storm, and he put it in your room as a warning. Not bad for a retard.”
“T-Tiny was in on this?” Now that was truly hard to imagine -- Stein partnering up with Tiny. Perry wrapped his hand around the butt of the gun. Nick’s body shielded his actions from Stein, but he was never going to be able to use the pistol. Never.
Stein snorted. “Tiny thought he was helping me in undercover work. Hamburger for brains, that one.”
“But you heard him talking to Perry and me, and you couldn’t trust him not to blab to the real police,” Nick said breathlessly. He shifted a little against Perry, and Perry knew he was expecting him to take the pistol. And do what? If he could give it to Nick, it would be one thing…maybe he could drag Nick onto solid ground…
He inched back, and Stein barked, “Don’t move, I said!”
“We’re freezing.”
“Not for long.”
Nick grated, “Come on, Stein. How the hell are you going to explain this?”
“I won’t have to explain. Who would I have to explain to? Teagle’s locked in his room with his porn collection, Mrs. Mac fled to her sister’s in Burlington, the Bridger broad and the psychic snuck away last night. The whole mansion is going up in flames tonight, starting with this place. Everyone keeps saying it’s a death trap.”
“Come off it,” Nick said. “The cops aren’t as dumb as you think.”
“No one knows cops better than me, and these dumb hicks are going to blame the entire thing on that whack job Dembecki.”
“Nobody is going to believe Miss Dembecki shot us,” Perry said.
“Why not? She’s got a gun. She’s got Shane Moran’s gun. A family heirloom. Bet you didn’t know she was Moran’s great-grandniece, did you? The old bat’s been looking for his loot longer than I have.”
“There’s no way you can get away with such a crazy --”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll be long gone. A new name, a new identity. I know just how to pull it off.”
“Somebody’s probably called the cops already,” Perry said. “A quiet morning like this, shots carry. Miss Dembecki has probably called the cops.”
Stein laughed. “You’d better talk to your buddy about that one.”
Nick said between clenched teeth, “So why did you kill him? The P.I. Raymond Swiss.”
Stein made an aggravated noise. “Would you believe that was an accident,” he said. “A total goddamned accident. I bumped into him as I was coming out the secret passage that lets out onto the staircase. He fell down three flights and landed right in front of that moron Tiny.” They could hear the shrug in his voice. “That’s the kind of luck I have. Or had. Everything’s changing now.”
“Why did you put him in my tub?” Perry asked. They had to keep Stein talking. He needed time to figure out what to do…
“Tiny said you were gone for the week, so I thought we’d stash him there while I figured things out. I didn’t want to take a chance on Teagle stumbling across him while he was prowling through the back passage.”
“And then I came back early.” I can’t do this, Perry thought, his hand shaking as he eased the gun from Nick’s waistband. Even if I could hit Stein, which I can’t -- that little circle of light? I can’t shoot someone. I can’t…
If I miss, he’ll shoot us both. Now. Immediately. We’ll be dead.