drove to the hospital, determined to put an end to all the lies tonight when he returned to the lodge and Karen, no matter what happened today. He couldn’t take any more. He couldn’t lie to her anymore.
Denny looked better, but still weak. Still vulnerable. Jack knew it had more to do with worrying about his daughter than the physical effects of his injury.
“I can’t believe you dug up the grave,” Denny said, sounding impressed rather than horrified. “That was something like what I would do.”
It was true. Denny had always been the hothead, the one in trouble. So why was Jack now about to lose his job, his career? He still couldn’t understand what it was between him and Baxter, some animosity he’d never understood.
“Once we saw that someone had already started digging—”
“You’re kidding,” Denny said. “Did you see who it was?”
Jack shook his head and told Denny about the person who’d taken a shot at them. “Someone didn’t want us to know that the only thing in that casket was a doll.”
“A doll?” Denny asked in surprise.
“Karen thinks it was Liz’s from when she was a girl.”
Denny’s eyes widened slightly, his jaw tightened. “Vandermullen.”
“He had to be in on it,” Jack agreed. “But Liz must have agreed to go along with the plan to give up the baby for adoption. She wouldn’t have been looking for your daughter if she hadn’t known about it, right?”
“But why?” Denny asked, sounding in pain. “Why didn’t she tell me about the baby? Why did she give her up?”
Jack shook his head. “Maybe Vandermullen knew it wasn’t his kid and put pressure on her. Who knows?”
Denny nodded thoughtfully. “You think she was killed because she was searching for our baby? This mystery man. If he took the baby, maybe he didn’t want Liz finding out where our daughter is.”
Jack shrugged. It was a possibility. But at this point, only speculation. For all they knew the baby might not even be alive. But like Denny and Karen, Jack was starting to believe she was. And that Liz’s death was tied to the illegal adoption.
“So, you’re going to try to draw out the killer tonight,” Denny said.
He nodded. “I’m worried that if this really is about your daughter, then we’ve uncovered enough that the killer is feeling trapped. I’m afraid of what he’ll do.”
“He probably figures he has nothing to lose now,” Denny said in agreement. “That he’s going down one way or the other. But he plans to take Karen with him. A last-ditch effort to eliminate the eyewitness.”
“And maybe a little payback,” Jack said, scared Karen had a deadly enemy out there who wasn’t going to stop until he killed her.
“That makes Vandermullen a prime suspect.”
“And the man who took Liz’s baby,” Jack said. Who knew how far that man would go to keep the girl’s identity and whereabouts a secret? How far he’d already gone? “For all we know, the mystery man and Vandermullen may be in this together.”
Denny seemed lost in thought. When he looked up, his gaze softened. “How’s Karen?”
Jack shrugged noncommittally. He’d seen the hurt in her eyes this morning and knew she must be confused. He wished with all his heart that he could erase parts of the past, the way the blow to Karen’s head had erased part of hers. But mostly he wished he could erase the lie between them.
“I’m afraid I’m going to lose her. But not to a killer,” Jack said vehemently.
THE THIRD MEETING was set in the park at the south side of the Clark Fork River. Denny had passed along Jack’s idea for the female undercover cop to take Karen’s place.
Jack watched with binoculars. Because it was a beautiful late afternoon, the park was full of joggers, sunbathers, dog walkers and bikers. What a terrible place for a stakeout. He kept his eye out for anyone who looked suspicious—a ridiculous task—and for other cops. Baxter especially.
Jack didn’t expect anything to happen. The killer wouldn’t show. He’d know the woman waiting on the park bench wasn’t Karen.
But, Jack hoped, the killer would have to get close enough to be sure.
Half an hour went by but still no one had come near the Karen look-alike.
Then Jack saw the female cop grab her left shoulder and slump over. At the same time, cops who resembled sunbathers, dog walkers and bikers moved in.
Jack rushed to his Jeep and turned to the frequency the stakeout team was using. The female cop wasn’t hurt badly from a