Dead Even - Mariah Stewart [116]
“I’ll explain it all later, honey. Just leave your things and come on now, Julianne, we’re out of time. Come with Daddy . . .” Jules held a hand out to her. “Mara, move.”
“She’s not a bad person. You lied about that, too. Why did you do that? Why did you have to lie?”
“Sweetheart, I’ll explain everything to you later.” Jules was starting to sweat profusely. “But right now, we have to go.”
“Why do you have a gun?” Julianne stood next to her mother.
“Julianne, we’re going now. Do you hear me? Now. Right now.” Jules’s voice rose shrilly. The gun waved shakily in his hand.
“Jules, put the gun away. You’re frightening Julianne,” Mara pleaded.
“Out the door. Now.” He reached out for his daughter with his free hand. Julianne took several more steps away from Jules, then her eyes widened with surprise.
Looking beyond him, an “Oh” escaped her lips.
Miranda Cahill had two more steps before she’d have reached Jules, but Julianne’s inadvertent warning had removed the element of surprise. He spun around, his finger on the trigger, and the best Miranda could do was to swing one leg in the direction of his gun hand. That one long leg was all it took.
Jules’s .38 flew across the room. He grabbed Miranda’s leg in midair and flipped her onto her back before diving for his gun at the same time Will came at him from the back hall. Even with his adrenaline in high gear, Jules was no match for Will. Within seconds, Jules was facedown on the living room floor, both hands held behind his back in Will’s strong grip.
“Cahill, you okay?”
“I will be in a minute.”
“Have you got a pair of handcuffs on you?”
“No.” She lay on her back, trying to regulate her breathing. “Guess you’re just going to have to sit on him until the police get here.”
“Are you going to arrest my father?” A shaken Julianne stood behind Mara, anxiously holding on to her mother.
“I’m afraid the police are going to have to take him in, yes,” Miranda told her. To Mara, she said, “Maybe you’ll want to take Julianne upstairs until we’re finished here.”
“Come on, sweetie.” Mara turned her daughter toward the steps.
“You won’t keep her, you know. They can’t hold me. I’ll be back, Mara,” Jules snarled as Mara and Julianne climbed the steps. “Don’t think for a minute that you’re going to keep her. Julianne! Come back here!”
Julianne stared straight ahead until she reached her bedroom door. She went in, still holding her mother’s hand, and closed the door.
“Bitch,” Jules spat. “You won’t be able to lock me up. I’ll be out by morning. Reverend Prescott will be on the next plane to bail me out.”
“I doubt it,” Will told him calmly. “There are two dead bodies out there, one of whom is a federal agent. I’m betting the bullet in the other matches that .38 of yours. Besides, something tells me Reverend Prescott has his hands full right now.”
“What are you talking about?” Jules looked up, his eyes red with fury.
“I’m talking about the fact that at eight o’clock tonight, a team of federal agents paid a visit to Reverend Prescott. Seems they have some questions for him to answer. I think he’s going to be way too busy to worry about you, Jules. I’m willing to bet he’s not going to give you a second thought. . . .”
“I want a lawyer,” Jules growled. “You call the compound and tell them I want Robert Springer out here right now.”
“Springer, eh?” Will grinned and looked up at Miranda. “You hear that, Cahill? Nothing but the best for Prescott and his merry band of pedophiles, I guess.”
Jules bucked wildly.
“I’m not a pedophile,” he shouted. “I’ve never . . . I would never . . . you’re disgusting. . . .”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re pure as the driven snow. Only cooked the books, figured out how Prescott could hide the money he made off those poor young girls.” Will, who still sat astride Jules, leaned over and said, “You’re going to prison along with the rest of them, Douglas. I’m only sorry your daughter had to be here to see you go down like this.”
Flashing lights in the street heralded the arrival of several Lyndon police