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“Yes. Catching my breath.”
Lindsey worked harder on the cording. If she could keep him talking, maybe she could buy herself an extra minute or two.
“It was your aftershave, you know.”
“What?” He squinted at her.
“That’s how I knew it was you. I smelled it in the kitchen the day I found the body. I smelled it again at your house tonight.”
“It wasn’t the tattoo?”
“That clinched it, but the aftershave was my first clue.”
He gave a soft, mirthless laugh. “Proof that the devil truly is in the details. I never wore it to the office. Some clients have an aversion to certain scents. But I used it that day for the conference I attended—my alibi, if ever one was necessary. Who knew it would come back to haunt me?” He propelled her upward again. “Keep walking.”
Below them, the tap of Heidi’s shoes against metal indicated she was climbing up to the landing.
“I, uh, didn’t know you were a scuba diver.” The cording was getting looser. In another minute or two, she should be able to free her hands.
If she had that long.
“Years ago, but I still had all the gear. It’s gone now.”
Naturally.
He wouldn’t leave anything lying around that could connect him to a crime.
They were approaching the top of the catwalk.
She had to make her play soon.
“And you staged the mugging.”
“Yes. With Heidi. My planning was meticulous until she blew everything by moving your car again and leaving her DNA as evidence.” Anger scored his words.
One more piece fell into place.
The biggest remaining question was why he’d launched this scheme to begin with.
“If you love her, why didn’t she just divorce her husband so you two could be together? Why did you have to kill him?”
He snorted. “Love didn’t have anything to do with it. It was all about the money. And killing him was the only way to get it.” He forced her onto the catwalk at the top of the steps.
Dragging her feet as much as possible, she continued to work on the cording as he pushed her forward over the narrow grating. “Please, Dr. Oliver. You don’t have to do this.”
Finally! She had the wiggle room to pull her hands free.
“Sadly, I do.” He tightened his grip, halting their progress. “May as well stop here.”
Heart thumping, she peered down into the cavernous warehouse.
Heidi was about fifty feet away and down a level, no more than a dim outline in the murky interior.
Perfect.
If she could elude Dr. Oliver, get off the catwalk, and hide in a dark corner, they’d have a hard time finding her. They wouldn’t risk using their phone lights to search. Not after Dr. Oliver had gone ballistic when Heidi flicked hers on for a brief minute while they got the lay of the land. As he’d told her, a light inside a deserted warehouse could arouse suspicion and perhaps prompt a call to the police. They couldn’t take that chance.
As he began loosening the noose around her neck to remove it, her pulse vaulted into the stratosphere.
