Dead by Midnight - Beverly Barton [167]
Terri’s death had to appear totally unrelated to the murders of the other Midnight Masquerade actors. He couldn’t risk being found out, especially not before he had killed the remaining three. If only one was left alive, it would have all been for naught. In order to free himself from his never-ending torment, they all had to die.
He had parked his car several blocks away, walked to the center, and then checked out the visitors’ lounge directly inside the entrance to make sure the night watchman was nowhere to be seen. Once inside, he moved quickly down the corridor toward the west wing, luckily not encountering a single solitary soul.
So far, so good.
Pausing at the point where the hallways crisscrossed, he peered around the corner and scanned the nurses’ station. A heavyset, dark-haired aide came up the hall toward the station, apparently having just left a patient’s room. She bypassed the station and went straight into the lounge.
He took in a deep breath, waited a couple of minutes, and watched as the guard rose from his comfy seat, stretched, and headed for the lounge where the employees’ lockers were located. Once the coast was clear, he ventured around the corner and rushed past the guard’s empty chair. The sound of voices and laughter from the lounge followed him down the hall as he hurried to room 107.
He opened the door and gazed into the dark room. Coming from the well-lit hall, he had to wait a couple of minutes for his vision to adjust to the darkness. She lay on the bed, her body turned away from the doorway, the covers pulled up to her neck. A combination of excitement and dread shot a dose of adrenaline through his veins.
I can do this. I will do this. She doesn’t deserve to live any more than the others.
His attention focused on Terri’s still form as he closed the door behind him and moved toward her. Feeling around in the bedside chair, he found the extra pillow that the aides placed behind her back during the day. Smothering her would take only a few minutes. She wouldn’t suffer, not as the others had. In a way he was glad. But somehow it didn’t seem fair that she, the one who was the most responsible for all of his pain and misery, would be allowed such a gentle death.
Suddenly, his peripheral vision caught a flash of movement on the other side of the bed. Holding the pillow over Terri’s head, he stopped dead still when he saw a dark silhouette standing in the corner, only a few feet away.
Even in the darkness, he recognized the man.
“Hello, son,” Ransom Owens said.
Chapter 34
“What are you doing here?” Tyler Owens stared in total disbelief at his father.
“I could ask you the same question,” Ransom replied as he reached out and pulled the lever that turned on the light over Terri’s bed.
Tyler gripped the pillow tightly. “I came to check on Mother.”
Ransom glanced at the pillow. “What were you going to do with that?”
Tyler swallowed hard. “I thought she might need another pillow.”
“Over her face perhaps?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Perspiration peppered Tyler’s forehead and upper lip.
Ransom hadn’t wanted to believe that his son was capable of murder, let alone that he had come here tonight to kill his own mother. But somehow the possibility didn’t surprise him. He had spent years denying his concerns about Tyler, who had been a sullen, moody little boy whom he had suspected of killing numerous birds and several neighborhood pets.
Thank God, he had taken his ex-wife seriously tonight when she had managed to say those few damning words—Tu kull. Me. I nuw.
He had translated. “Tyler is going to kill you? You know. You know what?”
Terri had pointed to the number twelve on her bedside clock. “Kull. Kull awl.”
Cold fear had permeated Ransom’s body at that moment, hours ago, after Lila Newton had lied to the guard and convinced him that Ransom’s name had been added to the visitors’ list. Lila had been the one who had called him to warn him that she believed Terri had asked her son to protect her from his father. Ransom had instantly realized something was wrong, that either