"No, I realize now how twisted John Taylor was and how he used us all. I'm sorry I didn't see it before," JW said, adding, "I even talked to him about the stalking. When I told him you were in town, he's the one who suggested I see you, instead of the police."
Rainey knew how he must feel, now that he knew the truth. "He fooled a lot of people, JW. From what I know about this guy, he spent a great deal of time planning this out, right down to his most recent escape."
JW sat back against the couch. "Would you say he's one of the smartest criminals you've ever dealt with?"
What an odd question, Rainey thought, but answered, "One of the luckiest, I'd have to admit."
"So, still not ready to concede he outsmarted the FBI, not once, but three times?" JW asked.
Rainey felt a bit defensive and said, "He made mistakes. He just got away with them, until now. Not real smart to use property that could be traced back to him."
"Yet, he got away," JW countered.
Rainey really didn't want to debate the efforts of the FBI with JW. She would prefer he say what he had to say and leave. His cologne was making her sick. JW must go through a gallon of that stuff a month.
JW continued his thoughts about the case, "Isn't it amazing that you could know someone almost your whole life and not really know them?"
Rainey thought that was true of how she felt about JW, now that she knew what Katie had told her. She agreed, "Yes, that is remarkable."
Rainey's attention was drawn to Freddie, who leapt down from the window sill, hissed at JW and disappeared into the kitchen. Rainey had never seen him act like that. He must smell how nervous Rainey was around JW. She was nervous. Her palms were beginning to sweat. It felt weird, but she was sleeping with his wife and that could make anybody apprehensive.
She said, "I'm sorry, he isn't used to strangers."
JW smiled, "It's okay, maybe he's a democrat."
Rainey laughed, "Most folks around here are."
There was an awkward silence, between them. JW stood up and crossed to the bookshelf. He picked up a round from an AK47, examined it, replaced it and moved on to another piece of weaponry. His back was turned to Rainey, as he quietly studied the items on the bookshelves.
He stopped and asked, "What's this?"
Rainey stood and joined him, looking to see what he had in his hand. It was the dagger that Billy Bell had taken from his would be killer. She took the dagger from JW's hands. She studied the blood patterns on the cloth handle. Rainey felt the hair on her neck and arms stand up. The dagger never had that effect on her before, but then she hadn't known the story of how it ended up here.
Rainey said, to JW, "It's a dagger my father took off of a guy who almost killed him."
They were standing very close together. JW's cologne was really bothering her. She needed to move away from him, or she thought she would be sick. Rainey turned to JW, handing him the dagger back. He looked at it, twirling the tip of the blade against his forefinger. He turned his eyes from the blade and looked down at Rainey.
JW asked, a peculiar smile on his face, "Are these real blood stains?"
Rainey met his gaze. His blue eyes where almost twinkling with delight. A spark of recognition sent a jolt of adrenaline through her heart and in that instant she knew she was looking into the eyes of her attacker. She blinked once to make sure, but there was no doubt in her mind, JW was Johnny. His cologne was making her sick, because it was the smell she had associated with her rapist. Her body knew JW was the man she had so desperately wanted to find. It was screaming at her to run.
Rainey could not run. Katie was in the other room. Rainey's pistol was in pieces on the kitchen table. If she could get to the bedroom, there were other weapons at her disposal, but first she had to get there. Her cell phone was on the coffee table, in front of the couch. Rainey could not let JW know, she had recognized him, for who he really was. Rainey needed a plan and fast. "Think Rainey, think," her mind shrieked.
"Yeah, that's real blood. You should ask Mackie about that, the next time you talk to him," Rainey said, turning away, so JW couldn't see her face. She stepped over by the window and saw that Mackie's arm was still in the same place on the window sill of the car. Her heart sank. Mackie was probably dead. The agents had probably been dealt with also.
JW put the dagger down and moved back to the couch. If he had a weapon, it was probably in his coat, Rainey was thinking. He was now between Rainey and the shotgun by the front door, but he had left a clear path to the bedroom, where Katie slept. If she ran toward the back bedroom, he would be on top of her, before she could get out of the room.
Rainey tried a ruse. She smiled at him and said, "You didn't come all the way out here to talk to me. Let me go wake Katie for you. Give me a minute will you?"
Rainey didn't wait for his answer. She was moving on the first word. JW did not have time to react and did not make a move to cut her off. She took normal steps, fighting the urge to break into a run. Rainey thought she may have him fooled, until she heard the familiar sound of a revolver being cocked behind her.
Rainey dove, half-skidding and crab-crawling down the eight-foot hallway to the bedroom. The sound, of a shot and splintering wood above her, encouraged her body to move faster. Her hand grabbed the doorknob and, as her weight smashed up against the bedroom door, she fell through it. Another shot fired, this one going through the door, above her head, just as she slammed it shut.
Rainey ran to the other side of her father's big, heavy chest of drawers and knocked it over, in front of the bedroom door. It did not fall all the way over, but wedged itself into the wall, on the other side of the door. Rainey grabbed her father's shotgun, from the corner, before diving for the bed. Katie, who was now sitting up, with a wide-eyed look of shock on her face, grunted when Rainey slammed into her, pulling her off the bed and onto the floor, away from the door.
JW's body crashed against the door. The maniacal voice of the madman, screamed out, in the little boy voice, "Open the door, Rainey. It's time to play."
Katie whispered, "Who is that?"
Rainey answered, while looking around the room for her next move, "It's JW. He's the killer."
"What?" Katie said, astonished.
JW splintered the door with his shoulder. "I want to play with you girls. Let me in." He slammed into the door again, more wood cracked.
Rainey pumped the shotgun, stood up and blew a hole in the door. She squatted back down immediately.
Katie huddled beside her. She said, in disbelief, "JW is the Y-Man?"
Rainey peeked over the top of the bed, answering Katie, at the same time, "Yes and I don't have time to talk about it right now. I'm trying to keep him from killing us."
Rainey could see through the hole, she had blown in the door that JW was either, hunched down behind the dresser or not in the small hallway anymore. She got her answer, when she heard the back door open and close. If he made it onto the back deck, there would be nothing between JW and his prey, but the sliding glass doors on the opposite wall from where they were crouched.
Rainey almost threw Katie back across the bed, yelling, "Move, move. Get to the door."
Katie ran up to the chest and tried to lift it. Rainey did not want to put the shotgun down. She yelled, "Open the top drawer!"
Katie pulled the drawer open, scraping it down the wall.
Rainey yelled again, "Grab the forty-five in the corner and give it to me. Put it in my holster."
Rainey aimed the shotgun alternately down the hall and at the glass doors. Unable to tell where JW was. She felt Katie slide the forty-five into the holster. Rainey handed the shotgun to Katie.
"If anything comes by that glass, aim and pull the trigger."
Katie said, "I've shot skeet, I can do this."
Katie took the gun and held it up in front of her now trembling body. Rainey wedged herself under the dresser and pushed up with her legs, lifting the corner out of the wall and up righting it. The chest wobbled with the force she put behind the lift and then fell over the other way. Rainey carefully looked through the hole, in the door, and then opened it.
She pulled the forty-five out and took hold of Katie's arm, leading her down the hallway, with Katie walking backwards aiming the shotgun into the bedroom. Rainey could only see a small portion of the main room. She had no way of knowing exactly where JW was standing. If he stood in the archway to the kitchen, he could see the top of both sets of stairs, the only avenues of escape for Rainey and Katie. If Rainey peeked around the corner, JW could blow her head off.
Freddie startled Rainey and almost got shot, when he jumped on the corner of the bookshelf unit, closest to the hallway. He did not look at Rainey, but cowered, ears back, growling in the direction of the kitchen and Rainey's blind spot. Katie and Rainey pressed their backs against the wall on the other side of the kitchen, inching closer to the corner. Rainey's heart was thumping so loudly in her chest, she was sure Katie could hear it, but Rainey could not slow her breathing.
Rainey's hands began to shake, caused by the epinephrine rushing through her bloodstream. Her body knew she was in trouble and the fight of flight response had taken over her brain. Rainey stopped going forward, two feet from the end of the wall. With hand signals, she indicated to Katie that she should stay put, careful not to make noise. Rainey knelt down, staying low and crossed the hall. Pressing her back against the wall opposite Katie, she peeked around the corner.
From her vantage point, Rainey could see most of the main room, the front window and the front door. If she made a break for the cover of the couch, she might be able to reach her cell phone. But if he saw her, he would be all over her. If she were alone, Rainey might take the chance, and just start blazing away at whatever was around the corner. She was a trained agent. The probability was good that she would kill him before he got her, but if he killed Rainey that would leave Katie to defend herself alone against JW.
JW had brought a revolver with him, but now that he was in the cottage, he was surrounded by loaded weapons. He might already have the shotgun, Rainey left by the front door. At the end of the hallway, one way opened into the main room, the other led to Rainey's old bedroom. The door was open and they could be in that room in one step. With the door shut and barricaded, Rainey would have a better defensive front, than the one she found herself in this moment. Rainey slid back across the floor and stood up beside Katie. She motioned with her free hand, what was to happen next.
Rainey turned the corner quickly, firing twice in what had been her blind spot. Katie bolted behind her into the open doorway of Rainey's old room. Rainey fired once more, this time hitting the alarm panel by the front door. She hoped the redundant systems she had in place would realize the alarm had been rendered inoperable, alerting the alarm company. Rainey stepped in the bedroom, just as a bullet shattered the doorframe beside her. Katie slammed the door.
Rainey and Katie pushed the dresser over in front of the door. It would not stop him, but it would slow him down. Her answer, as to whether JW had found the shotgun, came when a blast slammed into the other side of the wall, where the bookshelf was. Rainey pushed Katie down behind the bed. She pulled the mattress over them, protecting them from the splintering wood and shrapnel. Rainey was relieved to see that Freddie had sprinted into the bedroom behind Katie. He flashed through the room, taking shelter in the bathroom.
Jumping from the only windows, in the room, meant a drop of more than fifteen feet onto hard ground. Rainey put the forty-five in the holster and crawling over Katie grabbed her father's other shotgun, by the bathroom door. There was only one way out of this room, without going through the door. The floors were too thick to blast through, but the exterior wall was only seven and a half inches thick. The front deck continued just on the other side of that wall.
When JW ran out of shotgun shells she heard him throw the gun down, his footsteps nearing the bedroom door. She heard him say, "Oh, Katie," in his singsong child voice, "Katie, you know I killed the baby, so I wouldn't have to share you with another little boy."
Rainey scrambled to her feet, yanked out the forty-five and fired into the wall and door, hopeful of hitting JW, or at least sending him toward the back of the house. After six rounds, Rainey put the forty-five back in the holster, picked up the shotgun and pumped all nine shells into the exterior wall.
Rainey grabbed Katie, who was still clutching the other shotgun, leading her through the hole Rainey had just blasted in the wall. Rainey kicked the few pieces of wall left intact, pulled the forty-five again and stepped onto the deck. She aimed the pistol at the front door, keeping her eye on the window. Nothing moved that she could see. Freddie shot out of the bedroom, through the hole and down the steps.
Rainey heard JW hit the bedroom door with two more rounds from the revolver. She screamed, "Run Katie!"
Rainey ran between Katie and the window, firing back into the house, laying down cover fire for them to make it to the stairs. Rainey heard the blast and shower of glass as JW blew out of the deck doors in the master bedroom. He could be coming down the back steps or circling back through the house. Rainey had to get Katie behind cover.
When their feet hit the ground, Rainey pushed Katie toward the back of JW's car, parked in front of Mackie's Escalade. Once behind JW's car, Rainey peeked over the trunk, looking back toward the cottage. She dropped the empty magazine from the forty-five and slid a full one into the stock, racking a bullet into the chamber. She could see the two bodies of the agents, under the cottage, two large Styrofoam cups lay beside their bodies. JW had drugged everyone, with an offer of cold iced tea. It was then that she noticed Mackie was not sitting up in his vehicle anymore. Rainey had a spark of hope that he was alive.
Katie whispered behind her, "Listen."
Rainey could hear far off sirens, lots of them, coming fast, but too far away at the moment. Then Rainey heard the sounds of a struggle in the cottage above them. She knew it had to be Mackie. Rainey bolted from behind the car and charged up the steps.
Katie was screaming, "Rainey, don't! Stop!"
Rainey could not leave Mackie, in the cottage, possibly fighting for his life. She took the steps two at a time. Rainey was four steps from the top, when JW's body crashed through the remains of the shattered front window, bounced off the deck railing, and collided with the ground below. Rainey turned to see JW trying to move. She ran down the steps and approached him.
JW was bleeding from his mouth and nose. He was having trouble breathing, but still attempting to crawl away. Rainey raised the pistol in her hand and aimed it at his face. She stood there trembling, staring down at the man who had brutalized and raped her, terrorized her and the woman that she loved. Now he lay dying, at her feet. The sirens were getting closer. If Rainey was going to kill him, she had to do it now.
JW sneered up at her from the ground. He said, "Do it."
Just as her finger began to squeeze the trigger of the forty-five, Rainey heard the shotgun blast pierce the air, without warning. JW's chest exploded in front of her. She jumped around and realized Katie had been standing behind her. Katie still had the smoking barrel, of the shotgun, aimed at JW's now dead body. A gaping hole in his chest had blown away his last breath. Rainey put her weapon in the holster and slowly took the shotgun, from Katie's hands. Suddenly a revolver landed on the ground by JW's body. Rainey looked up to see Mackie, leaning over the railing, his outstretched hand having tossed the revolver.
He smiled down at Rainey and said, "That ought to take care of any question that your lives were in danger."
Rainey sat the shotgun on the ground and hugged Katie to her. Katie had not said a word since firing the gun.
Katie finally whispered, "He killed my baby."
"I know, honey. I know," was all Rainey could think to say. She took Katie to the steps and sat down beside her, waiting while the sirens grew louder.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE.
A small army, consisting of Mackie, Ernie, their families and friends, along with Rainey and Katie descended on the cottage, as soon as the FBI and local law enforcement released the scene. Rainey, Katie, and a very angry Freddie, had only spent two nights, in a safe house, to keep the press at bay and allow the crime scene techs time to do their jobs. Once Mackie's crew had cleaned up all the broken glass and splintered wood, the repairs began right away.
Rainey and Katie spent days sorting through all of Rainey's father's memorabilia. The shotgun blasts had ruined some of it, but for the most part just gave the pieces more character. She let Mackie have anything he wanted out of the collection. Rainey kept some things that held special memories for her, including the dagger with the blood stained handle. The rest she offered to the North Carolina Military History Society, which they gladly took.
Just ten days, after the crime scene tape came down, Rainey and Katie were serving iced tea to the workers, who were putting the final touches on the repaired cottage. Rainey looked up to see a lone black SUV coming toward them. Rainey and Katie both dreaded this day, because what Danny was coming to talk to them about, they had tried so hard to forget. Maybe this would finally be the end of it and they could move on.
Rainey sighed and glanced at Katie, who was laughing with Thelma about something. Katie had sawdust in her hair, which was pulled up off her neck with a clip. She was wearing one of Rainey's old tee shirts, which swallowed her whole; a pair of shorts cut from sweatpants, and was covered in dirt from head to toe. While the last bits of trim were being added to the new bookcase inside, Katie had been slaving away on flower boxes. She built them herself out of scraps from the repair job and had happily been filling them with dirt for the last half hour.
Katie's bruises had almost faded away. The cuts were healing nicely and she could smile broadly again, which she did often. Katie was happy, for the most part, slipping into sadness less and less with each passing day. When those times came, Rainey did her best just to be a shoulder to lean on. Rainey did not offer advice, she simply did what she thought helped Katie the most, gave her time. Danny was coming to flip the hour glass again and they would start over, but time would heal them both, together.
Rainey looked over at Mackie. He noticed the approaching SUV, as well. Mackie had only been knocked out for a short time, from the heavy dosage of sedative given him, because he was so overweight. A fact that he reminded everyone, every time he sat down for a meal, had saved his life. Mackie put down the tomato sandwich Thelma had brought for him, a sign that he was dreading this last meeting, too.
"Katie," Rainey said, "Danny is here."
The laughter faded quickly from Katie's eyes. Thelma gave her a knowing pat on the hand, and went to say goodbye to Mackie, leaving Rainey and Katie alone. Katie looked at her hands, and made some excuse about needing to wash up. Rainey knew she was going in ahead of everyone else to gather herself for the coming storm of emotions.
Rainey grabbed Katie's hand as she passed, saying, "We'll get through this."
Katie smiled at her and said, "Yes, we will," then pecked Rainey on the cheek.
When Danny walked up to Rainey, he was carrying a thick file in one hand. Mackie dismissed the crew for the day. He explained Katie and Rainey needed some privacy with the FBI and the remaining few pieces of trim could be handled in the morning. Then Rainey, Danny and Mackie joined Katie, who was already sitting on the new couch, when they walked in. Mackie's big chair had been ruined in the fire fight and replaced by two winged back chairs from Katie's former home. Mackie could not fit in them, so he stood, leaning against the wall behind the couch. Rainey joined Katie and Danny sat opposite them, in one of the chairs.
Danny began, somberly, "I wanted to meet with you one more time, before we close the investigation. I hope the information that I am about to share with you, will help explain some of the questions you may have."
Katie spoke, "Mainly, how I was married to the man for ten years and had no idea he was insane."
"He fooled a lot of people Katie, that's what made him so dangerous," Danny replied.
"And evil," Katie added.
From an analyst's point of view, JW Wilson's criminal behavior would be something to study for years. Rainey, at one time, would have found him fascinating, as a research subject. Now, all she wanted was to get this meeting over with and put him out of her mind, as far as possible. Rainey decided to encourage Danny to hurry along.
"Danny, can we just get started."
"Sure, Rainey," Danny said, "First let me explain what happened to John Taylor. As you know we still have not found his body, but we did find his blood in the trunk of JW's car. JW killed him and gave a homeless man twenty thousand dollars, who just happened to look like JW and Taylor, to fly to Philadelphia and disappear. The homeless man came forward after the news broke and he realized we were looking for him. There was a John Tyler on the flight to LA, but he really was John Tyler, not Taylor. It was just a coincidence.
JW set Taylor up, because he needed an out. He knew we were getting too close. He thought, if he gave us someone else, he could get away with murder and go on with his bid for Senator. His mistake was he thought he could kill you and then he would stop."
Rainey broke in, "He had to know the DNA would not match Taylor. He knew we would keep looking."
"Well, that is the really interesting part," Danny said. "Taylor's wife told us that John had been convinced by JW to donate sperm in his name. The two men looked so much alike no one would have ever known. JW's sperm count was too low ever to get Katie pregnant. John and his wife discussed it, and since they were not going to have children, they thought it was a good thing to do. JW made John swear never to tell anyone. He did not know John had told his wife."
Katie was beyond shocked. She asked Danny, "So, John's sperm was implanted in my egg? How did JW think he could get away with that?"
"When he turned in the specimen at the doctor's office, JW must have kept some for himself. That's what he put on Katie, so we would think we had the right guy. The lab knew something was wrong with the sample and this explains it."
"He was planning this for a long time, wasn't he?" Katie said, quietly.
Danny nodded in agreement, "Yes, he planned things out far in advance. That was part of what made it hard to catch him. He was very cunning."