His eyes were vague and wide. She leaned close. "Listen to me, Marlin. Belinda didn't abort your baby. Her husband hit her and she miscarried. It wasn't her fault. It was Douglas's fault. He probably found out the baby wasn't his and he hit her."
"Oh God, I knew I should have killed that jerk. He couldn't father a kid, at least he hadn't been able to with her. Belinda told me he had this real low sperm count."
"You knew I was Belinda's sister, didn't you, Marlin?"
"Not at first. I recognized you when you came to the hospital. Then I knew who you were."
"But how?"
"You were just a teenager then, but we did have fun with you. I took Belinda to see my maze, made her promise she'd scream and groan and carry on, all for your benefit, to punish you for hiding in the trunk, for spying on us. You really pissed Belinda off."
He closed his eyes and sucked in air. Blood trickled out of his mouth as he whispered, "We drove to the warehouse and Belinda pulled you out of the trunk, told you that you'd been captured and you'd have to walk the walk with her. She told you she was going to die, die because of you, but she prayed that you'd survive. You were sobbing and pleading with me, but Belinda pulled you into the warehouse and kept you with her. She screamed real good for you, then she even let me pretend to knife her when you got to the center of the maze, and you saw it all. You just collapsed then. Nobody touched you. You just fell over. Belinda got scared but I told her you were just a nosy teenager and you'd get over it. When we got back to Belinda's house, you were still unconscious.
"Belinda told me later that you never remembered a thing. She felt guilty about doing that to you. Even though you were a sneak, she loved you. She realized you admired Douglas and were afraid she'd leave him for me. But then she killed my kid. Then I had to kill her. I had no choice at all. She had to die. She betrayed me."
"It was a miscarriage. You killed her and she didn't deserve it. You made a big mistake, Marlin."
"I believed she'd betrayed me. I had to kill her but I didn't really want to."
"She didn't betray you."
He opened his mouth again and a fountain of blood spurted out. Blood flowed from his nose.
Lacey positioned his head back, then leaned really close to
his face. "It's over now, Marlin. You've destroyed quite enough. Yes, Marlin, die now."
He tried to raise his hand, but couldn't. He whispered, his voice liquid with his blood, "You sure are pretty, Marty. Not as pretty as Belinda, but still pretty."
His head fell to the side, his eyes still open, a small smile on his mouth.
She looked up to see Dillon standing there, not two feet away from them. There were at least twenty other police officers and special agents in a circle around the center of the maze. No one was moving. No one said a word.
She smiled up at him. "No more questions. No more mysteries. He killed Belinda. He told me so and he told me why." All this time-seven long years-she'd driven herself, felt consumed with guilt. All this time she hadn't remembered that Belinda had forced her into Marlin's maze.
She couldn't dredge up a single memory of that night, even after being told what had happened. She wondered if she'd ever remember, even under hypnosis. Well, it didn't matter. Belinda had been dead for seven years. Her murderer was dead. Lacey's life was her own again. And she had Dillon. She had a future.
"Yes," Dillon said. "We all heard him confess. It's over, Sherlock."
"Who shot Marlin?"
A grizzled old cop raised his hand. "I'm sorry I had to wait so long but I couldn't get a clean shot."
"You did perfectly." She looked at Hannah. "Are you all right?"
"I'm just fine now." She was standing beside Dillon, leaning against him.
Lacey looked at her. "Thanks for tripping Marlin. That was really well done. I wasn't quite sure how to get him low enough to loop him. I knew you'd be ready. You'd best stand up straight now, Hannah. I don't want you leaning against Dillon ever again. You got me?"
Hannah laughed, a raw ugly sound that was quite beautiful. "I hear you, Sherlock. I hear you really well. I thought you might be mean once it occurred to you. Good going."
Lacey slowly stood up. Marlin's blood was all over her. She looked around at the circle of faces.
She was alive.
She gave them all a huge smile. "Thank you all for saving our lives. Mr. Maitland, sir, we finally got him."
"No shit, Sherlock," Jimmy Maitland said, then punched Lewis Jacobs and laughed. Soon everyone was laughing, even as they held their weapons in their hands, their relief, their triumph, made them shout with laughter.
Jimmy Maitland said, ' T wanted to say that since I first saw your name among the new trainees. I love it. Does anyone know where that line's from?"
37
DR LAUREN BOWERS SAID very quietly, "Lacey, do you remember getting into the trunk of Marlin's car?"
Lacey moaned, her head turning from side to side.
"It's all right. I'm here. Dillon is here. You're safe. This was a long time ago. Marlin's dead. He can't hurt you. You're remembering this for you, Lacey. Now, open your mind. Relax. Did you get into the trunk?"
"Yes. I wanted to be sure that Belinda was betraying Douglas. I'd overheard her talking to him just an hour before. I heard them make a date. I followed her and this guy. I didn't know she knew I was there. I heard her talking to Marlin but I couldn't make out what they were saying. When we got to the warehouse and they dragged me out of the trunk, I'd never been so terrified in my life. Then Marlin made me walk to the center of the maze with Belinda.
"I believed she was as terrified as I was, but she wasn't, at least she wasn't that night. But I believed she was. I walked every step beside her. Once she even handed me the string. Every few feet Marlin would call out to us, tell Belinda how he'd have to punish her if she didn't get to the center of the maze. Oh God, I remember being so afraid, feeling so helpless."
"Yes, that's all right, Lacey. You were just nineteen. What happened next?"
"When we finally got to the center of the maze, Marlin was there and he was smiling. He smiled even when I thought he knifed Belinda. I thought he'd kill me next. I can remember screaming, running to where Belinda was lying. The horror of it just shut me down. That's all I remember."
"And you just refused to remember it later," Dr. Lauren Bowers said to Savich. "Anything else?"
"Did Marlin tell Belinda he had to punish her because she cursed too much? Because she bad-mouthed her husband?"
"I think so. Wait, yes, he did."
"I think we know everything she needs to let go of the past." Dillon was silent a moment, then he said quietly, "Before you bring her back, ask her what she wanted to do with her life before Belinda's murder. Oh yes, tell her not to recall it."
When Lacey awoke she looked at Dillon and said, "The answer was there all the time, locked in my brain. I guess that's why I had the horrible nightmares for months and months after Belinda's murder, why I was terrified that someone would get to me and murder me. That's why I had the nightmare at your house, Dillon. It was coming too close. The dream helped me keep it under wraps."
"That's right, Lacey. But it's gone now."
Savich asked her later as they walked to the car, "Will you tell Douglas that Belinda did indeed have an affair with Marlin, that it was his child she carried?'"
"I think he already knew. I don't think he knew it was Marlin, but he sure had to know that it wasn't his kid.
"Belinda wouldn't have ever had an abortion. She wanted that baby. Yes, Douglas must have known he had a low sperm count, even then he must have known. And that's why he hit her, he was furious."
"Yet he married Candice when she told him she was pregnant. Guess he wanted to believe that despite a low sperm count, he'd scored. Who knows? Now maybe he and Candice have a good shot at making it. If he can't sire a kid and she doesn't want one, well, then, all problems are solved."