The Cinderella Murder

78

Laurie didn’t dare steal another glance at her phone. She just had to hope that the call had connected and that Alex was able to hear her.

“Just do what I say, and no one else will be hurt,” Hathaway said. “Your son and your father will be fine.”

But not me, she thought. You have other plans for me.

Maybe if she kept him talking, she could buy herself more time. “Why did you do it? What did Susan see in the lab that afternoon to make her such a threat to you?”

“It didn’t need to be such a big deal. Dwight had already done so much of the code work. Whether REACH was his idea or mine was just a matter of semantics. She overheard us and completely overreacted. It was worth millions. Did she really expect me to turn it over to a bunch of academic know-nothings?”

Hathaway was almost talking to himself at this point, but Laurie was able to piece the story together. She remembered the article published in the campus newspaper when Hathaway retired. It mentioned that, as a faculty member, Hathaway did not own any of his own research. She pictured Susan walking into the lab as Hathaway enlisted his favorite student to take the credit for his work so they could both profit from it.

Hathaway suddenly stopped muttering and told her to take another turn. His expression was cold and determined.

“Don’t do this, Hathaway.” She made it a point to say his name. If nothing else, maybe Alex would know who did this. “You’ll never get away with it.”

“I may live my life under suspicion, as you call it,” Hathaway said, “but I won’t be convicted. There’s no real proof I killed Susan. As for Dwight, I can find the video files from his boat faster than any low-level hack working for the LAPD. And once I’m done with you, my next stop will be to Keith Ratner. He’ll kill himself, leaving behind a distraught note confessing to the murders of both you and Susan. This entire thing will go down in the history books as being wrapped up with Advocates for God.”

Laurie remembered taking this exact route when they’d driven to the spot where Susan Dempsey’s body was found.

“You’re taking me to Laurel Canyon Park, aren’t you? We’re going to the place where you killed Susan.”

“Of course that’s where we are going,” Hathaway said. “It’s exactly what Keith Ratner would do in a meltdown over the downfall of his beloved church leader-a demise that you brought about.”

Laurie thought about the terror Susan must have felt when she realized Hathaway was trying to kill her. It was about to happen to her, too.

She had to find a way to save herself.