“Hello, Rick,” his friend interrupted cheerfully. “Liz is with me. We’re at Paradise Christian. I suggest you allow Walters to accompany you-”

“You son-of-a-bitch! If you so much as touch her, I’ll-”

“I’ve given Walters his instructions,” he continued. “And unless you want to lose her the way you lost Jill, I suggest you cooperate.”

“Let me speak with her, you prick,” he said, all but spitting the words at the man. “I’m not going anywhere until-”

Val laughed. “Of course you will. You’ll do anything I tell you. And, Rick,” he finished, “the clock’s ticking.”

CHAPTER 62

Wednesday, November 21

10:50 p.m.

The rookie pulled the cruiser to a stop in front of the darkened church. Through the stained-glass windows Rick could see the faintest flicker of light. Candles, he realized.

The young officer came around and opened Rick’s door. “Get out, Wells.”

Rick alighted the vehicle. “It’s a trap, Walters. A setup. Why else have you brought me here?”

“Shut up, Wells.” He nudged Rick forward. “It’s been a long day.”

“Just be careful, okay? Be ready. He’s going to have to take you out.” Rick glanced over his shoulder. The kid looked scared. Flat out terrified.

Better scared than dead, Rick thought as they entered the church.

Val called to them from the sanctuary. “Walters, in here.”

The rookie gave Rick a shove in that direction. Rick could feel the kid’s nervous tension. Could sense his hand hovering near his gun.

Don’t blow it, kid. One chance, that’s all you’ll have.

Val smiled as they approached. “Thanks for bringing him over, Walters. I owe you one.”

“No problem.” The rookie moved his gaze past Val, sweeping it over the altar area. “What’s going on, Lieutenant?”

“This,” Val said. He lifted his revolver, aimed and fired. The bullet struck the kid in the chest and a look of surprise crossed his face. He took a step backward, hand going to his chest. Blood seeped through his fingers.

“You son-of-a-bitch!” Rick shouted, jumping forward. “Why’d you have to do-”

Val fired again. The rookie went down. “Don’t be stupid, Rick,” Val murmured, training the gun on him. “You know why.”

Of course he did. No witnesses. No loose ends.

“You’re not going to get away with this. I swear to God, if it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to bring you down.”

“Swearing to God?” Val sounded shocked. “In a church, no less.” He made a clucking sound with his tongue. “I guess I will see you in hell.”

“Where’s Liz? What have you done with her?”

Val laughed. “Desperation suits you, Rick. I like it quite well.”

“If you’ve hurt her, I swear I’ll-”

“She’s in one piece, for now. Behold-”

Liz stepped out from the shadows behind the pulpit. She supported another woman, one who appeared too weak to stand.

“Liz!” He started forward.

“Hold it, loverboy.”

This came from Heather, who stepped up behind Liz. She brought a gun to Liz’s head.

“Not dead, I see,” he said coldly.

“Observant.”

“So who’d they find on Big Pine Key? The other teenager in Bernhardt’s sleazy home video?”

“Poor Stephanie. And she had real talent, too. She and Tara both. Real wildcats in the sack. They were Bernhardt’s favorites.” She paused as if recalling fond memories, then continued. “It’s Tara’s fault Stephanie’s dead. Tara asked her friend to plead with me to let her go. Because of the baby. Like I was supposed to give a damn about that. And I couldn’t allow Stephanie to live with that knowledge, now, could I?”

She shifted her gaze to Val. “Get the chair.” He hurried to do the woman’s bidding and she returned her attention to Rick. “Carla did us a huge favor, finding those videos. I didn’t have a clue what Larry was up to, though I should have suspected. Luckily, my disciple in the Sunset Key Realty office smelled a rat and followed Carla. You needn’t worry about them, they’ve all been collected. I might even watch them once before I destroy them, for old times’ sake.”

Val brought a chair out of the sacristy and set it near Liz and directly under the choir loft. He crossed to Liz, wrenched the other woman from Liz’s grasp and half carried, half dragged her to the chair. She folded into it like a rag doll.

“Rachel!” Liz cried, reaching for her.

Liz’s sister? Stunned, Rick looked at Liz; she met his eyes, the expression in hers desperate.

“Secure Ms. Ames’s wrists.”

“No please or thank-you?” Rick shifted his attention to Heather. “Just because you’re an amoral, psychopathic bitch doesn’t mean you have the right to be rude.”

“Amusing, Mr. Wells.” Heather crossed to the altar. She bent and retrieved a length of rope from a large black plastic bag at her feet. She tossed it to Val.

“You make a good lapdog, Val,” Rick said. “Valentine Lopez, Lieutenant Detective Lapdog. Nice. You must be very proud of the way you’ve bettered yourself.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Val snapped, yanking Liz’s arms behind her back. He jerked hard on the rope; Liz cried out. “Unless you want me to cut off her circulation?”

Rick backed down. Val finished knotting the rope. “What about her ankles?”

“Let’s live dangerously.” Heather motioned him. “Bring her to me.”

Val pushed her toward Heather. Liz screamed in terror as she stumbled forward.

Rick lunged. Val turned the six-inch barrel on Liz. “Think again, Wells.”

He backed off, heart pounding. “Leave her be.”

Val laughed. “You’re such a Boy Scout, Rick. You always have been. It’s sickening. By the rules, the good little public servant.”

“Better than being her servant.”

“You think so?” He circled Rick, the light in his eyes too bright. “You haven’t a clue the riches afforded a man in my position. Heather taught me. Play to people’s needs, their innate weaknesses. To their fears. And they will give you everything and anything you desire. Money. Power. Respect. They’ll bow down, Rick. Anybody ever bow down to you? Here’s a tip, asshole. It’s damn nice.” He tipped his head back and shouted at the heavens. “I’m the man! King of Key West!”

“Here’s the tip, asshole,” Rick retorted. “You’re nothing. A common criminal who’ll end up roommate and boyfriend to some guy named Bubba.”

Val’s face went white with rage. His hand began to shake. “Easy to be sanctimonious when everything’s been laid at your feet. Your rich daddy and mommy…anything you ever wanted, they gave to you. You only had to point and it was yours.”

Rick shook his head. “All of this, was it just about money, Val? About jealousy?”

“You shouldn’t have come back, Rick. You should have stayed in Miami. Safe. Sam would have been safe.”

Rick went cold. The other man continued. “But nothing would do but you had to come back to my island. Here, where everything was going so well for me.”

“If you didn’t want me here, why’d you offer me a job, Val? You acted so eager-”

“Because you talked to the chief! For Christ’s sake, what was I supposed to say to him? A big-city hotshot like you wanting on the Key West force, the man practically wet himself at the thought.

“I knew you’d never go for my and Heather’s version of law and order. You were too moral. Too self-righteous. And too goddamned smart. I needed to get rid of you quickly. So I arranged that break-in.”

The breath left his body. Rick took a step backward. Val arranged the break-in? “Those two coked-up pieces of human refuse, you sent them to my home? Where my child slept?”

“But it didn’t go according to plan. Always the cowboy, you decided to take them out all by yourself.” Val lowered his voice. “I didn’t mean for Sam to die. But it happened. So I used it to my advantage.”

He faced Rick, expression triumphant. “I switched the ballistics report so you believed you had killed your own son.”