Killer Takes All

CHAPTER 50

Friday, March 18, 2005

8:10 p.m.

Stacy stayed with Alice, and while the minutes ticked past, she did her best to reassure the girl. Reminded her that her father had done nothing wrong and that as an innocent man, he had nothing to fear.

After a while, it seemed the girl wasn’t even listening. It was as if she had drifted off to a place where she couldn’t be touched. If she had noticed that more than an hour had passed since the detectives had left with her father, she didn’t mention it.

Stacy fell silent as well. She made sure they ate the meal Mrs. Maitlin had left, then straightened the kitchen. All the while, she went over the facts as she knew them, conscious of the ticking clock.

The e-mail from the White Rabbit had come in at 3:00 p.m. Which meant they had until the same time tomorrow to catch him.

Why was Malone wasting time questioning Leo? Danson was behind this. Her gut told her he was.

Now she needed proof.

She glanced at her watch for what she knew was the dozenth time in the space of as many minutes. Why hadn’t Billie called? She had hoped her friend would unearth something quickly.

She called the other woman’s cell phone, left a message, then began to pace.

“I’ve figured it out,” Alice said suddenly.

Stacy stopped pacing and looked at her. Alice sat at the kitchen table, a pen in her hands, staring at what appeared to be doodles she’d made on her napkin. “Figured out what?”

“What the White Rabbit’s up to.” She motioned to the napkin. “Wonderland is a maze, fashioned in a sort of spiral.”

Stacy crossed to her and saw that her doodles were actually a sort of diagram. “Go on,” she said.

“I was playing the game, working my way through Wonderland. Each victim has been a step closer to the epicenter of Wonderland. The Queen and King of Hearts. “ She paused. “Mom and Dad. And me.”

Stacy was amazed at the girl’s calm. “But you’ve already gotten to the Queen. If she’s at the epicenter-”

“The Rabbit left me an opening. I jumped the gothic forest and got to her. I disabled her and vaulted back because the forest was a dead end. No road to the King.”

“What about the Cheshire Cat? The e-mail indicated she was making her move.”

“It makes perfect sense. The Cheshire Cat is a shape-shifter. And a ferocious fighter.”

“With long claws and sharp teeth.”

She nodded. “I put myself in Dad’s former partner’s head. If it’s him, he wants revenge. He wants to punish Dad. And Mom. And what better way to do so than by using the game Dad stole as a means to kill him?”

“Stole? That’s not the way I heard it went down.”

“I’m in his head. Trying to think like him. He’s angry. Resentful. His life went nowhere. Dad’s a huge success.”

“So he’s not crazy,” Stacy murmured. “Just wants to look like he is.”

“Not crazy,” Leo said from behind them. “He’s brilliant.”

“Dad!” Alice cried, running toward him. “Are you okay?”

He took her in his arms and hugged her tightly. “Fine, Pumpkin.”

But he wasn’t, Stacy thought. He looked as if he had aged ten years in the past ten hours. The lines around his eyes and mouth appeared more deeply etched than before, the light in his eyes seemed to have been extinguished.

The detectives had put him through his paces.

“How’d it go?” she asked quietly.

“I’m home.” His simple answer spoke volumes.

Alice curled her hand around his. “Are you hungry?”

When he shook his head, she pursed her lips. “I’m making you a sandwich. Or there’s some of Mrs. Maitlin’s chicken gumbo left.”

“Sandwich.”

She didn’t ask what kind. Stacy watched as she fixed her dad a big peanut butter, honey and banana sandwich. She also poured him a glass of milk.

Watching the two interact brought a lump to her throat. It was an oddly sweet dynamic, the child caring for the parent. For all her adolescent bluster, Alice adored her father.

Alice looked at Stacy. “Dad and I used to eat these every Saturday morning for breakfast.”

“While we watched cartoons.” He took a bite, then washed it down with milk.

“Roadrunner was his favorite.”

“Because of Wile E. Coyote,” he said.

“What was your favorite?” Stacy asked the teenager.

“I don’t remember. Maybe the same.” Her eyes became glassy with tears. “Any news about Mom?”

“Not that they told me.” He set the remainder of the sandwich on the plate. “I’m sure they’re looking, Alice.”

Bright color spotted her cheeks. “No, they’re not! They’re wasting time questioning you.”

Stacy had to agree. She kept her mouth shut.

“They asked lots of questions,” he murmured. “About my relationship with Kay. Our financial agreement, my recent licensing deals. What I did last night.”

“The search turn up anything?”

“Of course not.”

“Sometimes nothing looks like something. It happens, Leo.”

He shifted uncomfortably, his gaze moving to a point somewhere behind her.

She narrowed her eyes slightly. Was there something he didn’t want to say?

He looked at her then, giving his head the smallest of shakes. As if to say “Not now, not here.”

She understood. Besides, he and his daughter needed some time alone.

And she needed to talk to Malone. She intended to convince him she was right.

She excused herself, grabbed her purse and car keys and headed outside. As she climbed into her car, she called Malone from her cell.

“Where are you?” she asked.

“Home.” He sounded as tired as Leo had looked.

“Where’s home?”

“Why?”

“We need to talk.”

For a long moment he was silent. “I’m talked out, Killian.”

“Alice told me more about the game.” A tiny exaggeration, but one she could live with. “And my short-term memory’s not so great.”

He rattled off his address and hung up.