Double Take

Pallack in his eyes, “I guess your husband didn’t tell you he asked me to have David killed? Yep, I made the calls.” He snapped his fingers. “And no David.”
    “You bastard!”
    “Go ahead, Pallack, tell her. You might as well.”
    And Pallack yelled at Charlotte, “Let me tell you about that sleazy brother of yours! He knew I’d killed Christie, the bastard had followed me, he confronted me. And then he laughed at me, did you know that? He laughed, then he told me he had a sister who looked just like Christie, who could easily fill Christie’s shoes. He said you had no ties to anyone, and all you wanted from the world was money. Your precious brother and I struck a deal—I paid that mealy-mouthed bastard what he called a finder’s fee. I knew he called you—told you how Christie wore her hair, what color it was, how she walked. I knew you were setting me up, and I wasn’t sure, but when I saw you, I was happy. I felt blessed. Imagine, there were two of you in the world.”
    There was silence, thick and angry. Dix saw Charlotte move closer to Pallack. She was still wearing only that nightshirt, and no one seemed to notice or care. She said right in his face, “You’re lying. Sure, he told me about you, how you coveted me, that you’d give me everything I ever wanted. You know I loved David. You vicious old man—how could you tell Makepeace to have him killed?”
    Makepeace said, “Well, now, you asked, didn’t you? I’m sure all of this was quite cathartic for both of you. But frankly I’m bored. You have exhausted me. It’s getting late, time to take our boy away and make sure he’s underground. As for Julia Ransom, I’ve decided I don’t like our deal anymore, Pallack. I think I’ll plan something special for her, maybe that Semtex, after all, that’d do the trick very nicely.”
    Dix pictured the Sherlock house blowing up—Ruth, Sean, all of them asleep, not expecting any trouble, all helpless. He heard Makepeace walking toward him.
    There was only him, no one else. He readied himself. Makepeace bent over him, grabbed his chin, jerked his face up. “Still woozy, are you? What’s wrong, pretty boy? I didn’t hit you all that hard.”
    Dix gave his arms a final jerk, ignored the flash of pain through his injured arm as the ropes cut their way over his wrists and jerked loose. He jumped to his feet, leaned onto his back leg, and slammed Makepeace in the kidney with the side of his foot.

CHAPTER 60
    Makepeace made no sound as he stumbled back. An instant later, he whirled and kicked out smoothly. Dix turned fast and Makepeace’s foot struck his hip, not his groin. Dix felt a slap of sharp pain, feinted left, whirled on the balls of his feet, and sent his right foot high into Makepeace’s chest.
    Again, Makepeace made no sound. He landed on his back, rolled once, and came up, panting, his gun in his right hand. It was a .38 and he pointed it at Dix’s heart. “Enough of that, Sheriff.” He rubbed the heel of his hand over his chest. “You move a whisker and I’ll shoot you right here. It wouldn’t be my problem, you see, just Pallack’s.”
    A shot sounded, deafening in the small space.
    Makepeace flinched. He slowly turned his head to stare at Pallack, his expression bewildered. A dribble of blood snaked out of his mouth. Slowly, the .38 slipped out of his hand and fell on the carpet. He tried to turn, but couldn’t. He crumpled to his knees, then slowly he fell backward, his head striking the edge of Pallack’s desk.
    Pallack pointed the gun at Dix.
    Charlotte said, staring down at Makepeace, “Why didn’t you let him kill the sheriff?”
    Pallack’s face was flushed, his eyes brilliant with excitement. “I figured Makepeace was the most dangerous. No, Sheriff, keep back, don’t try any of your fancy kicks or I’ll shoot you right now. I’ve got to think—okay, the way it’ll go down is that Makepeace tried to kill you and you shot him first.”
    “It’s all over, Pallack,” Dix said, not moving a hair. “You kill an assassin and the law won’t put the needle in your arm. Kill me and you’ll go down hard. They’re getting closer, you don’t have much time. Can’t you hear them coming?”
    Pallack froze at the sound of sirens in the distance.
    Rage pumped through Dix as he stared at the mad old man. “You killed my wife, killed her because she wouldn’t leave me or her boys. Do you know how insane that is?” Dix lurched to the side, and drove his