Sometimes things go bump in the night--and it's not anything scary...
Secrets at Midnight
Leona Palmer Haag
Chapter 60
Bolting into action, Jenn raced for Katie. She threw aside
cups and pulled out a screaming bundle. She held her up for a quick examination
and determined her daughter hadn’t been wounded. Livid over the possibility,
she faced what had awoken her. There stood Nick, Matt, Curtis, and their
unknown companion in a circle with their guns pointed at each other in a
standoff. Natalie lounged on a bubble bed with her gun hand propped on the side
of the crate for support. A spreading pool of blood in the center encircled
baby-faced Adams.
Jenn hid her face in Katie's soft hair. “Is he dead?” she
whispered.
“Yes,” everyone answered.
Jenn’s chin rose along with her voice. “You didn’t ask what
I smelled when I took out the trash, Matt. I never considered it until this
afternoon.” She angrily faced her former friend. “I smelled him.” She pointed
in the general direction of the fallen man, but shielded her eyes.
“I—I didn’t think to ask,” Matt stuttered.
“Some super-agent you are! What else did you neglect?”
“Jenn, I—I took care of you. You’re safe now.”
“In a room filled with everyone waving guns at each other? I
think not.” She faced Curtis. “I'd know that creep’s atrocious cologne
anywhere—but what about you—were you hiding with him? Did you fake an injury at
my home as a cover up?”
Curtis involuntarily stepped back. “No ma'am. Remember, I
arrived later.” He stared accusingly at Matt. “After Jensen—the
orchestrator—dumped the body.”
“Weak excuse. You’re the guy who found evidence Natalie was
killed—remember that fingernail? How convenient for you.” She stomped to the
crate and snatched her gun back. She turned it on Kevin, aiming chest high. “I
want the truth, Mr. Kevin Curtis. Who was behind my trashcan besides Adams? Why
did you find Natalie's fingernail if she's right here and very much alive?”
Curtis’ eyes narrowed. Unblinking, he stared at Jenn, his
gun barrel shifting from her husband’s chest to hers.
“Lower your gun, Curtis. Don’t even think about pulling your
trigger. I want answers,” Jenn said.
When Curtis didn’t withdraw, she added, “Put your gun down
Kevin or I'll shoot. I'm a lousy shot so you'll only be wounded, but it will
hurt so much you'll wish you were dead.”
Except for Katie’s wailing, the break room was silent.
Curtis slowly lowered his gun, setting it on the table beside him. Jenn shook
her head and he understood, inching it beyond his reach. He stepped back when
she demanded, perspiration beading on his forehead.
Turning toward the stranger she said. “Who are you?”
“Mueller. Michael Mueller, Mrs. Washington.”
“Should I be happy to meet you?”
“Yes, uh…Jenn,” he said.
Hearing her name from a stranger’s lips irked her—probably
because the other stranger in the room lay dead near her feet and this one had
a gun pointed at her husband. Her gun hand shook. “Put your gun down.”
“I’m not a danger to you. I’m protecting you.”
“Matt has been saying that all week and I’m ready to kill him. Put your gun down.”
“Put it down,” Matt echoed.
“But I’ve never been to your home or behind your trash or….”
“Now, or I’ll shoot. I’m sure it won’t make my daughter
scream any louder.”
Mueller slowly squatted and set his gun on the floor. He
rose and nudged it forward with his foot.
“Further,” Jenn demanded.
Mueller pushed it further, then stepped back.
“Matt, you're next.” Jenn didn't bother looking at him or
removing her aim from Mueller for fear someone would jump her, like happened in
movies.
“Come on, Jenn, you might want me to....”
She cut him off. “Sorry, but I don't want you to do anything
but obey me. I'm tired of doing what you tell me to do. I'm in charge. Drop
your gun.”
He fingered his weapon, but didn’t set it down.
“What about my gun?” Nick asked.
“Keep it if it's loaded. You may need to persuade Matt I
mean business.”
“Jenn….” both Nick and Matt began.
“Matt, put your gun down so I don’t ask my husband to kill
you,” Jenn snapped.
Matt set his gun on the table inches from his hand.
Jenn snatched several tight breaths as she examined the
tense faces sizing her up.
“What about her gun?” Mueller said, nodding in Natalie’s
direction and indicating the empty gun in her lap. “You missed one.”
“It’s isn’t loaded. I already checked.”
Kevin Curtis dryly chuckled, “Mrs. Washington, she’s exactly
the one you should worry about. She’s at your back and….”
She hushed him with a withering look. “Sorry, Kevin, but I’m
more worried about you. Tell me what’s going on.”
Curtis drew in a slow breath and exhaled. “A little woman
with a little kid in her arms is acting stupid. She’s going to get someone else
killed. Her husband ought to….”
Waving her gun at him she said, “Who defected—that’s what I
mean and you know it?”
Tension pooled in Curtis’ deep-set eyes and he fell silent.
“Talk faster and be honest. Katie is heavy and I'm tired.
You’re at the heart of this whole mess, so talk.”
Curtis swallowed. “Someone defected.” His eyes stared
unblinkingly at her like a giant snake eager to devour his prey. He remained
silent.
A twitch tickled Jenn’s right eyelid and her trigger finger
grew clammy. “You think it’s my husband or Matt Jensen.”
Curtis didn’t respond.
“I won't buy it without evidence. Come up with a new name.
Yours, perhaps?”
“No—no, ma'am.”
“No, not you, or no, you won't come up with a new name?”
“Both.”
“You’re brilliant,” she sarcastically said. Her gun hand
slowly moved toward Mueller. “You're next. Who is the defector? Do a better job
than Kevin, please—and much faster.”
Mueller looked at his shoes—or perhaps his gun. He shook his
head. His eyes slowly lifted to meet hers. He shrugged and his gaze lowered to
the floor—or perhaps his weapon.
Jenn sighed. “You can do better than that. I’m assuming
you're a secret agent spy guy or you wouldn’t be here. Take a wild guess. Make
it good, make it quick and make is sound logical. I want to get this over
with.”
Mueller hesitated before he nodded toward Adams. “Him.”
Jenn glanced around the circle at each pair of deadly eyes
staring back at her. “Okay, one vote for the dead guy. What about you, Natalie?”
There was silence behind her. Jenn didn't dare look over her
shoulder, but watched the others look behind her. Finally Natalie said,
“Obviously the dead guy. But until I talked to you, I could have sworn it was
Curtis or Washington or Jensen. Maybe all of them. Now, if you’ll hand the gun
back to me I’ll….”
Jenn chuckled sarcastically. “That’s exactly what we need.
Some fashion doll still in her packaging holding a gun.”
“Mrs. Washington,” Natalie angrily hissed.
“Tell me, Natalie, exactly why did you want to send your son
to my day care center? Because my husband is a black sheep? That makes perfect
sense.”
Natalie didn't answer.
“Do you even have a son, Natalie, or Kathleen or whoever you
are?”
“No.”
“Then where did the kid come from?”
A long silence followed. “I borrowed him,” she finally said.
“You rented a kid and bribed him to call you mama?” She
stepped back several times until she could see Natalie from the corner of her
eye.
Natalie turned, popping bubbles in the process. “He didn't
call me mama and I didn't rent him.” Her voice rose. “You think you know so
much, but you’re very naïve.”
Jenn’s gun swung to the beautiful woman lounging in a
crate. “Tell us why you think my husband
is a bad guy.”
Natalie smoothed her hair and sipped from the water bottle.
She licked her lips and whispered. “It's very complicated.”
Jenn rolled her eyes. “Of course it is, and so is the murder
I just witnessed you commit with my gun.
Now be clear and extremely brief. My patience is running out.”
“Your husband was in Colombia when he was supposed to be in
Chicago.”
“Yes, he was,” Jenn admitted, beginning to feel defeated.
The whole terrible ordeal could be blamed on Nick for lying and deceiving her
for years. She sucked in a deep breath and hitched Katie higher on her hip and
her spirits revived. “And you were in Dallas when you were supposed to be in
Colombia. Did you defect? Were you
the one who shot Pete?”
“No!” the woman in the crate screeched. “And he was never
shot! He was brutally executed!” Several bubbles popped as she attempted to
rise.
“Stay there. Did I tell you to get out?”
Natalie leaned back on the cushioning and sighed. “Mrs.
Washington, you’ll regret this. You have no idea who you’re speaking to or what
is going on. You’ve killed one man already. How many more deaths do you want on
your pretty little hands?” She attempted to rise again.
“Stay where you are or I’ll have Nick nail the lid back on,”
Jenn threatened.
Natalie sank back and hissed, “He wouldn’t, not even for
you.”
Nick moved toward the crate. “I would.”
Jenn turned to Matt. “Who defected?”
Matt examined each face. “Curtis. Possibly Mueller.
Adams.” He studied Natalie. “Did you defect too?”
Bubble wrap popped, making Jenn jump. “No, I did not defect. I got grabbed in Dallas,
deported to Colombia, and escaped with Monica. Where is she?” She pointed one
long finger at Matt. “Your wife escaped and I was recaptured. Did she get out?”
“Exactly my question. Where is my wife?” Matt shot back.
Natalie
looked at Nick. “Washington, tell your crazy—your wife—to put her gun away so
we can have a civilized discussion.
An inexperienced lady with a gun is....”
“Very
dangerous,” Jenn finished for her.
Natalie shot her a deadly look. “Please.” She waved her
empty gun at her.
Jenn aimed at Natalie’s heart with a loaded weapon. “Because
I’m crazy, inexperienced and dangerous—don’t push your luck or you’ll never
escape this coffin.”
Natalie sucked in a breath, clamped her mouth shut and
fumed. Nick slowly circled the box not much bigger than a coffin, “Relax, Holtz
and do as she says.” When he reached Jenn his hand rested on her shoulder. “Put
the gun down, baby,” he gently urged.
Jenn shook her head. Tear pooling in her eyes spilled over
and coursed down her cheeks. “I can’t. Not until I know why I'm standing in a
break room and everyone wants to kill each other, and one person is already
dead.”
Nick squeezed her shoulder. “Jenn, give me your gun.” He
slid his hand down her arm to take it.
She jerked away. “No! Not until after you tell me why you're
here and not selling life insurance.”
He stepped back, his hands dropping to his sides. “I didn't
want to frighten you—involve you.” He nodded toward the angry group surrounding
them. “Does this convince you?”
“All this time you've been involved with drugs and guns and
killing—and you lied to cover it up.”
Nick sighed and shook his head. “Let's sit down and talk.
We're all tired and it's been a long day. Everyone is a little tense with you
waving a gun around.” He motioned to the table and reached out for her arm.
Jenn shook her head and stepped away. “No, thank you. I'm in
charge and I want answers. Put your
gun down.”
He didn’t set his gun down, but reached for Katie. “I’ll
hold her for you.”
Jenn clutched her daughter tighter. “No, thank
you. Stay where you are and talk. I'm listening.”
End Chapter 60
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