Deadly Inheritance: A Romantic Suspense Read online

  A sluggish stream of water kept trickling out of the wide mouth of the pipe that had flooded the pool. But the opening was at least four feet above her head.

  Was there a way to drain the water? She scanned the rough walls. Nothing broke the pitted, gray surface.

  They were going to die. There was no way out this time.

  She didn’t want to die, she couldn’t die like this.

  Oh Gabe, where are you?

  A bubbling sound warned her that Sarah had sunk below the surface. Weary and trembling from the effort, Nora tightened her grip on the older woman’s blouse and kicked, drawing her back up to the surface.

  So cold…so tired. Her legs and arms felt numb and uncoordinated. Her feet dragged like rocks, pulling her down. All she wanted to do was relax and let go.

  Click-click-click. The sound of a dog running across the floor, toenails clicking on the cement. She jerked at the sound, confused.

  A hallucination. It had to be. The thought frightened her, but even that fear failed to generate a warm rush of adrenalin. She was too numb to feel anything, so exhausted that the water no longer felt icy as it washed over her shoulders and neck.

  In the distance, her hallucination barked, the sharp noise echoing and bouncing off the walls.

  Foul water lapped over her lips. She spat it out and kicked feebly, trying to clear her mind and hang on. A movement at the edge of the pool caught her attention. She blinked and tried to focus on it.

  Black fur. It looked like the fuzzy head of a poodle. As she watched, it started barking excitedly and pacing along the edge of the pool, its toenails tapping against the cement.

  “Nora?” Gabe’s voice sounded strong and clear.

  Nora kicked again to raise her chin out of the water. “Gabe?” His name was barely more than a whisper.

  “Nora—my God.” He peered down at them from the edge.

  “Don’t…” she whispered, her voice trailing off. If he dove in, they’d all drown.

  A scraping sound and metallic rattle indicated that he had found the ladder. Panic twisted through her. If he climbed down, he’d be trapped as well.

  “No,” she croaked, strangling on the word.

  One end of the ladder appeared, overhanging the rim of the pool by about a foot. She saw it angle down as Gabe started to lower it.

  Suddenly, the dog started barking frantically. The ladder fell back with a jarring crash, uselessly jutting out over her head. Gabe fell over the rim. As he tumbled forward, he somehow managed to grab the rounded edge with one hand. His shoulder muscles rippled and tightened with his effort to haul himself up. His left hand flailed inches from the edge. Then, with a grunt, he caught it.

  A dark shadow wavered above him.

  Gabe grunted in pain as his right hand lost his grip.

  “Don’t fall.” Nora’s heart thudded in sickening fear, watching him. “Don’t let go—please don’t,” she whispered.

  Straining, Gabe pulled himself up enough to hook his right hand back on the rim and kicked his foot over the edge. The silhouette of someone else appeared again, elbowing back the poodle and trying to push Gabe back into the pool.

  Gabe’s back and arms bulged as he summoned his strength to resist the efforts of the man trying to force him down. With one final surge, Gabe threw himself over the edge and disappeared from Nora’s view.

  She heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh and a grunt. The dog barked wildly, the high pitch lowering into deep-chested growls.

  “Gabe?” she called weakly. They had to hang on.

  Gabe had to win.

  The guttural sounds of the fight continued, broken by the rattle of someone falling against the ladder. A metallic scraping sound caught Nora’s attention. She glanced up in time to see the ladder thrust out even further past the edge of the pool. As it teetered above her, she heard another deep grunt and screech of metal rasping over cement.

  The ladder overbalanced and fell into the pool with a deep splash. It landed at a crazy angle, but the upper rungs were out of the water.

  Nora shook Sarah, but the older woman was too exhausted to respond. Nora stared at the ladder. Just a few feet. If she could just swim those few feet, they could get out of the icy water. She kicked and almost swallowed a mouthful of foul water. Spitting, she jerked her head back and tried again.

  They floated closer. Kick. Float. Kick.

  Her elbow nudged the ladder. She hooked her arm through one of the rungs to rest, refusing to think about what might be happening beyond the rim of the pool. With her last remaining ounce of strength, she propped her trembling feet on a rung and climbed until she was halfway out of the water.

  She hooked one of Sarah’s arms through a rung so that the older woman’s head and shoulders were above the water’s surface, and she tucked the deathly cold kitten under her shirt. Maybe her body warmth would keep the tiny creature alive. It was all she had left to give.

  Nora closed her eyes and rested her head on one of the rungs, listening.

  Beat the crap out of him, Gabe.

  Dizzy with fear, she winced at the thud of a solid punch and the sharp intake of breath.

  Whatever you do, just don’t lose.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Get up.” Hands fisted, Gabe stared down at the thin man who lay crumpled against the wall.

  Don Bain, the handyman. Why didn’t that surprise him?

  Bain didn’t move. Gabe nudged him with the toe of his shoe, grunted, and bent down to feel his pulse.

  Still beating strongly.

  So he was alive.

  Einstein sniffed Bain’s stringy hair and sneezed before growling again, deep in his throat.

  “Watch him, Einstein,” Gabe commanded.

  He straightened and staggered over to the pool. Nora was sitting on one of the rungs with the housekeeper propped up just below her.

  “Are you all right?” he called down to her.

  Nora glanced up. When she saw him, a smile lit up her tired face. “Fine. What about you?”

  “I’m good.” His left eye was swelling shut and his ribs caught at his lungs with each breath, but that didn’t matter. What was important was the woman clinging to the ladder just a few feet out of his reach.

  He lowered himself down on his belly and reached down. The tips of his fingers brushed the ends of the ladder, but he couldn’t get a grip on it.

  Some of the light drained out of Nora’s face as she watched him. “I—I don’t know if I can drag Sarah up there.”

  He stood and glanced over his shoulder. The man who had attacked him still lay on the floor, apparently unconscious. Einstein looked at Gabe and wagged his tail.

  “Just hang on.” Gabe took a deep breath, winced at the pain in his ribs, and dived into the pool.

  When he surfaced, Nora was glaring at him. “What are you doing?” She looked up anxiously at the edge of the pool. “We could all be trapped in here.”

  “I don’t think so.” He kicked over to the ladder and hooked a foot around one of the rungs. “Even if that idiot wakes up, he’s going to have a hard time getting this ladder out of my grip.”

  It took a little maneuvering, but he managed to heave Sarah up the ladder and onto the floor above before helping Nora ascend. Einstein trotted over when Nora removed the tiny kitten from under her shirt, but the dog seemed content to lick the bedraggled creature.

  “Is your dog okay around cats?” she asked, trying to keep the kitten out of Einstein’s reach.

  Gabe smiled and hugged Nora closer, rubbing her back to warm her shaking body. “His name is Einstein, and he’s okay. He’s got a cat fixation. He thinks they all want to play with them, despite the fact that every cat he’s run across has whacked the snot out of him whenever he got close enough.” He rested his chin on the top of her head.

  At their feet, the dog gently groomed the cat and then cradled it between his paws. When the kitten moved, he emulated Gabe by putting his chin down on the small cat to keep it warm and snug.


  “Let him take care of the kitten.” Gabe smiled. “He’ll clean it up and keep it warm, better than any mother ever could.”

  The world seemed right when she rested her forehead against his neck.

  The tramp of feet and irritated grumbles soon alerted him. The cavalry had arrived.

  Gerhardt led the way and stumbled to a halt when he caught sight of them. His startled gaze rested on Gabe and then strayed to the expanse of water behind them. His brows rose.

  Before he could speak, a low moan caught Gerhardt’s attention. He gestured for one of the cops to go over to Bain. The handyman shook his head and tried to sit up.

  “You might want to cuff him,” Gabe recommended, nodding in Bain’s direction. “He tried to drown Nora and Ms. Lennox.”

  “I see,” Gerhardt drawled. “So he did occasionally break the rules and come into the house.” He stared at the cop who had cuffed Bain. “Makes me wonder if Bain is really his name. Does he have any identification on him?”

  The cop patted him down and pulled out a wallet. He searched it before announcing, “Driver’s license says Dennis Boxwood.”

  “Driver’s license?” Gerhardt shook his head mockingly. “And here we all thought he couldn’t drive.”

  “What’re you doing?” Boxwood mumbled, jerking his arms as if testing the handcuffs. “Why am I cuffed?”

  “Why are you cuffed?” Gabe echoed, a sense of wonder edging close to admiration at Boxwood’s gall. He couldn’t possibly expect them to believe he was just an innocent bystander, could he?

  Gerhardt snorted and covered his reaction by rubbing his mouth with the back of his hand, although there was no way for him to hide the laughter crinkling his eyes.

  “Yeah.” Boxwood thrust his chin forward and expanded his chest. “If anyone is arrested, it should be you.” He focused on Gerhardt. “He,” he jerked his chin at Gabe, “hit me. Beat the crap out of me. I never did nothing but try to protect myself.”

  “And try to drown your mother,” Gabe said dryly. “And Ms. James here.” He hugged Nora closer.

  “You don’t know shit,” Boxwood threw back. “I’m innocent.”

  “You’re not wearing gloves. I bet your prints are all over that ladder and the lever controlling the water,” Gabe observed. A smiled tugged his mouth, but he managed not to laugh. At least out loud.

  The theories he’d been considering were starting to tumble into place.

  “That don’t prove nothing. I was trying to shut it off. To save them.”

  “And then there are the vents. And your little toys.”

  Boxwood stared at him. Gabe could almost see the thoughts flitting back and forth behind his pale, gray eyes. His sharp nose, pointed chin, and thin face gave him a rat-like appearance that wasn’t helped by his lank pale brown hair and long, bony limbs.

  He looked oily and untrustworthy. His eyes shifted to the left as he assumed a casual air that he obviously hoped would make them think he had no idea what Gabe was talking about. “Vent? Toys?”

  “Yeah. The vent covers have been modified to slide out of the way when you need to access a room with your drones. Like the drones you used to shoot Archie James, your father. And Michael James and Candace Westover.”

  Boxwood laughed. “No drone small enough to fit through a vent is gonna be able to handle the recoil. You’re full of shit.”

  “You’re a smart boy, Denny, and that isn’t such a big problem to solve. All you have to do was add a couple of metal struts that a drone could deploy at the vent opening to keep it from recoiling back into the duct. And I bet everything is covered with your prints.”

  “I don’t know nothing about electronics. And I wasn’t even here the first time. The police checked the ATM’s camera. It’s proof.”

  “There’s an app for that,” Nora murmured against Gabe’s neck. “You didn’t need to be here to operate a drone.”

  “That old man deserved it.” Boxwood’s eyes flared with anger. He lunged at Gabe, but the cop holding him yanked him back by the arms. “They all did. This,” he looked around at the cellar, “should be mine. I’m his son! He threw me away like I was nothing. Trash. Wouldn’t even let me in the house. And he was giving it all away. I’ve looked for weeks, and there’s nothing here—nothing! He wasted his money. It’s gone, and it’s not fair—it should have been mine.”

  “Get him out of here,” Gerhardt told the officer as Boxwood descended into cursing and threats against the remaining members of the James family. When the policeman pushed Boxwood forward, Gerhardt turned to Gabe. “Can you prove those accusations?”

  “Yeah. I discovered the sliding vents just before Nora disappeared. They’re easy enough to check, and I’d make sure I dusted them for prints.”

  “What about the drones?”

  “I found one about three feet into one of the vents in the den. You’ll find more, and a lot of them may be down here, just inside the vents. Check them all if you can.” Gabe chuckled. “You may end up with quite a collection.”

  “If he hasn’t removed them.”

  “He wouldn’t have done that, he hasn’t had time. And they were safer in the vents than anywhere else. I’m sure he didn’t want to get caught with one if someone happened to see him leaving.”

  Gerhardt shook his head. “You know, if that kid had let his father die of natural causes and then hired a lawyer instead of killing three people, he might actually have inherited something.”

  “Yeah, well, that would have required patience. He didn’t seem like a patient guy to me.”

  “Yes.” Gerhardt’s mouth twisted wryly. “He might have had to wait a whole six months.”

  “Six months?” Nora repeated.

  “Archie James had liver cancer. The medical examiner found it during the autopsy. It was the reason I couldn’t entirely dismiss the idea that he might have killed himself, although how he could have done it without leaving behind a weapon did make it difficult to explain.”

  “I guess so,” Nora said. “I still can’t believe he killed his father. And then tried to drown his poor mother. It’s so sad. I wonder if Uncle Archie even realized that Don Bain was actually Dennis Boxwood, his son.”

  “Maybe not.” Gabe glanced at Gerhardt. “Can you get an ambulance? These women need medical care.”

  Nora stirred and his arm tightened around her shoulders. “I’m fine. I just need a shower.” She coughed wetly and made a face. “And some bleach.”

  “You and your bleach. This time, you’re going to the hospital. They can disinfect you there without turning you into a blonde.”

  “Bully.” She smiled and closed her eyes, nestling closer. “You might like me blonde.”

  Gerhardt pulled out his cell phone, scowled at it, and turned to one of his men. After a short conversation, the cop ran out. “There’ll be one here shortly. You want to explain to me what happened, and why you think Don Blain, a.k.a. Dennis Boxwood, is Sarah Lennox’s son?”

  “We’ll need to verify that, but I think it’s likely.”

  “So they were in on this together?” Gerhardt asked, frowning down at Sarah, who lay breathing heavily through blue-tinged lips. He stooped and checked the pulse in her neck and then took off his jacket and spread it over her.

  “No,” Nora interrupted before Gabe could speak. Her cold hands gripped his shirt. “I don’t think she knew that Bain ever came into the house. We’ll have to ask her to be sure, but I don’t think she knew anything.”

  “Excuse me,” Johnny strolled into the room, followed by a portly, graying police officer, his face lined with concern.

  When the officer saw Nora, his expression cleared. He smiled and gave her a wink.

  “Tell them what we found, Officer Tilton,” Johnny said, pushing the older cop forward.

  “Boxes.” He touched his temple and glanced up, flushing as if belatedly realizing he still had his hat on. He pulled it off, looked briefly at Nora, and fixed his gaze on the toes of his black shoes. “In the
moat, sir.” He eyed Gerhardt as if expecting a sharp reprimand. When the detective remained quiet, he continued, “They was wrapped in plastic, sir. Three boxes.”

  “The gold,” Gabe said.

  Nora stiffened in his arms and raised her head to study his face. “The inheritance—I can’t leave. I can’t go to the hospital, now.”

  “You can go for a couple of hours.” His grip on her tightened.

  “You know perfectly well that it won’t be a couple of hours. It never is. And I’ve come too far to throw it all away. The shelter—”

  “I know, the shelter can use all the money you can get. You are the most stubborn woman—”

  “Not stubborn. Determined. And I want to know what’s going on, what really happened.”

  Another officer entered the room and went over to the detective. Two paramedics trailed after him. After a quick conversation, Detective Gerhardt said, “The ambulance is here. Ms. James, I suggest you go with Ms. Lennox.”

  The paramedics had already removed the detective’s jacket from Sarah and were efficiently checking her vitals. “What happened?” one of them asked.

  Gabe gave them a terse rundown, and although both men gave Nora a quick, professional glance, they concentrated on the unconscious woman.

  Despite Nora’s protests, Gabe escorted her to the ambulance and insisted she go with them. “I’ll bring some clean clothes for you,” he promised as the emergency tech shut the door in his face.

  By the time Gabe returned to the house, Gerhardt had already dragged Dennis Boxwood into the hallway.

  “Where are you going?” Gabe asked, torn between his desire to question Boxwood and his promise to follow Nora to the hospital.

  “The station.” A smile creased Gerhardt’s thin face. He looked like the proverbial cat that swallowed the canary.

  “Can’t you question him here? Now? I’ve got to follow Nora to the hospital in a few minutes. She’s entitled to know what happened.”