Chapter 5 - The Shot in the Kitchen
The gunshot deafened the room.
Mark saw Lucy jerk backward.
Then Pike screamed.
The bullet had hit him high in the shoulder.
Diane stared at the gun in disbelief.
“I didn’t—”
Pike collapsed against the stainless-steel counter.
“You shot me!”
“I was aiming at—”
She stopped.
Everyone heard what she had almost said.
Lucy.
Mark crossed the distance in two steps.
He grabbed Diane’s wrist and slammed it against the wall until the gun dropped.
Jack kicked it beneath the sink.
Police pounded on the front shutter.
“Police! Open the door!”
Pike reached weakly toward his ankle holster.
Lucy saw him.
“Mark!”
Mark knocked the second weapon away.
Pike sagged to the floor.
“You idiots,” he groaned. “Do you know who you’re bringing down?”
Lucy leaned over him.
“You.”
He laughed despite the blood soaking his shirt.
“No. Bigger.”
The front shutter began rising from outside.
Diane suddenly stopped struggling.
That scared Mark more than the gun had.
She became calm.
Almost relieved.
“You should have left the freezer locked,” she told Jack.
Jack stared at her.
“You should have left my mom alone.”
Uniformed officers flooded the dining room.
Mark raised both hands.
“Gun under the sink! Another under the stove!”
Two officers moved toward Pike.
One stopped.
“Detective?”
Pike grimaced.
“She shot me.”
The officer looked at Diane.
Diane immediately began crying.
“He attacked me. Mark and Lucy both did. I came back here because Lucy threatened my family.”
Mark exploded.
“She was tied inside the freezer!”
Diane pointed at Lucy.
“Ask her where she’s been for seven months.”
Lucy stepped forward.
“St. Alder.”
Several officers exchanged looks.
One older sergeant went still.
“What did you say?”
“St. Alder Behavioral Center.”
The sergeant stared at Pike.
Pike looked away.
Lucy continued.
“I was held there under a false involuntary commitment signed by Dr. Bernard Keller.”
The sergeant’s face changed.
“Keller died last month.”
Lucy froze.
“What?”
“Car accident.”
Pike gave a weak laugh from the floor.
“Funny how accidents happen.”
The sergeant turned toward him.
“What does that mean?”
Pike closed his eyes.
“Nothing.”
Lucy looked at Mark.
“Dr. Keller was going to help me.”
“How?”
“He realized the records were fake. He made copies.”
“Where?”
Lucy swallowed.
“He mailed them to someone before he died.”
“Who?”
She looked at Jack.
“To our son.”
— — —
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