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“So that’s what our witness saw,” I said. “The two of you in your car, not Rachel’s. I guess she failed to tell us there were two cars on the side of the road at the time. Please continue. What happened next?”
“I took off, leaving her car there to be found. I drove to work and parked behind the building, where I knew no one would see me. I put plastic covers on the seats so they wouldn’t get blood on them. Then, I stabbed her inside my car—just one quick stab. Later, once it was dark, I took her to the storage unit and put her inside the barrel of formaldehyde I had bought. I once dated a mortician and knew it took only two liters of that stuff to embalm a body. You weren’t supposed to find her until later when I had gotten rid of Elyse and saved my grandson from her, so I had to hurry. I wanted John to take the fall for both. I made sure to steal his necklace and put it on the ground outside. You must understand that I did it for the children’s sake. Elyse had already had one divorce, and she was about to start all over with a new man, and I couldn’t let her. I couldn’t let her take Charlie away to some foreign country, and I couldn’t lose her. Rachel was about to leave hers in the hands of John. I thought the children deserved more stability. They needed me.”
“So, you were about to murder both of them in cold blood,” I said. “That was probably why Elyse was calling Rachel at night. Maybe she knew something was up and wanted to warn her. But then she chickened out? Because she was scared? Had you threatened her?”
“No, I just told her she couldn’t leave. She knew that. They both did. There is no leaving me. The girls know. I have said it their entire lives.”
Parker sniffled and wiped his nose. He shook his head. “And what about poor Kyla? Look at her. Look at her, woman, and what you’ve done to her.”
He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at her daughter in the pool of blood on the bed. I could hear more sirens, and they were getting close now. The sound of them made Parker look up for one unforgivable second, and that’s when Madeleine grabbed her chance. With a sudden burst of strength, Madeleine pushed herself up from the floor and lunged for the gun. Her fingers grasped the metal, and for a moment, it looked like she might succeed, so I yelled to alert Parker. I jumped to my feet to help him, but as she pulled the gun toward her, there was a deafening bang.
Madeleine's body jolted back, and her grip on the gun slackened. Parker's eyes widened in horror as he saw the bullet wound in her chest. Madeleine's body crumpled to the floor, and Parker sank to his knees next to her.
Parker stared at her lifeless body, a mixture of shock and regret washing over his face. He slowly put the gun down and sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. “I can’t believe I just did that.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “Just hand me the gun, please.”
He let it drop to the floor, and I picked it up.
Just then, the sound of the door being smashed down echoed through the house, immediately followed by the pounding of heavy boots on the wooden steps leading to the upper floor. My heart raced as I hurried to Matt, who lay motionless on the floor, blood seeping from a wound in his side. I put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. He had already lost a lot of blood and was barely conscious.
The SWAT team from the sheriff’s office burst into the room, their guns drawn and pointed at us. I held up my badge, trying to steady my voice, and shouted, "FBI! Don't shoot! That man on the floor is my partner; he’s with CBPD, and he's been stabbed! I’m the one who called for backup."
The officers hesitated for a moment, their eyes flicking back and forth between us before lowering their weapons. One of them stepped forward, his gun still at the ready, and demanded, "What's going on here?"
I struggled to keep my voice calm as I explained the situation briefly, then added: “I need two ambulances ASAP. Someone should tend to the woman on the bed, please. And please, save my partner. Please.”
Chapter64
Matt's hand was slipping away from mine as the ambulance rushed us to the hospital. His face was pale, his eyes closed, and his breathing was shallow. I couldn't help but feel dizzy and nauseous as I watched the paramedics frantically try to stabilize him.
"We're losing him!" one of them shouted, his voice echoing in my head. "We need to get him to the hospital now!"
I clutched Matt's hand, pleading with him to stay with me. "Please, don't leave me," I whispered, tears streaming down my face. "You can't leave me like this."
The ambulance screeched to a stop at the hospital's emergency entrance. I stumbled out of the back of the ambulance, my mind racing with a million different thoughts. What if he doesn't make it? How will I live without him? I couldn't bear the thought of losing him.
The hospital staff rushed over to us, pushing the gurney with Matt's motionless body into the emergency room. I followed closely behind them, a desperate look on my face.
"Please, save him," I begged, my voice hoarse with emotion. "He's lost so much blood. Please, do something."
The doctors and nurses rushed around Matt, hooking him up to various machines and IVs. I stood there, feeling helpless and lost. It was all happening so fast, and I couldn't keep up with the chaos around me.
Suddenly, Matt's heart monitor started beeping rapidly, the sound filling the room with a sense of urgency. The doctors and nurses started to work even faster, their movements more frantic than before.
"He's going into cardiac arrest," one of them yelled. "We need to shock him!"
I could feel my heart racing as they shocked Matt's body multiple times, trying to bring him back to life. It was a scene straight out of a nightmare, and I couldn't believe it was happening to us.
After what felt like an eternity, Matt's heart monitor started beeping steadily, and the doctors and nurses let out a collective sigh of relief. They continued to work on him, their focus unwavering as they fought to save his life.
I collapsed into a chair, my head in my hands, my body shaking. Everything around me felt surreal—like I was watching a movie. But as I looked up at Matt's motionless body, I knew that this was all too real.
Hours passed, and the doctors and nurses continued to work tirelessly to keep Matt alive. Every beep of the machines, every frantic movement, sent me into a panic. But despite my fear and desperation, I refused to leave his side.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the doctors emerged from the emergency room, their faces grim but relieved.
"He's stable," one of them said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "We managed to stop the bleeding and stabilize him. But the nerves of his leg were damaged, and there’s a blockage of the arteries supplying the leg, meaning that the blood circulation has been severely reduced. There’s no longer enough blood to keep the leg alive. We will need to amputate."
