TWILLY HELD HIS HANDS in the air. He said, “Thank God you showed up, Sergeant. I was trying to stop her, but your friend was determined to kill herself.
I pulled Yuki into my arms. The smell of gunpowder was in the air, but there was no blood, no wound. Her shot had gone wild.
Yuki. I’m here, honey, I’m here.
She moaned, sounded and looked dopey. There was no liquor on her breath. Had she been drugged
What’s wrong with her?” I shouted at Twilly. “What did you do to her
Not a thing,” Twilly said. “This is how I found her.
You’re under arrest, scumbag,” Conklin said. “Hands behind your back.
What are the charges, if you don’t mind me asking
How do you like attempted murder for starters
You’ve got to be kidding. I didn’t touch her.
Yuki was wired, buddy. You teed her up for a dive off this cliff. We’ve got it all.
Conklin squeezed the bracelets tight enough to make Twilly yelp. I called for a medevac, sat with my arms around Yuki as we waited for the chopper to arrive.
Lindsay?” Yuki asked me. “I got it . . . on my watch . . . didn’t I
You sure did, honey,” I said, hugging my friend, so very grateful that she was alive.
While I held her, another part of my mind was turning it all over. We had Twilly in custody for the attempt on Yuki’s life, but the reason we’d tailed him was because of what he’d hinted to Yuki this morning: that he’d killed Michael Campion.
What he’d told Yuki in the last ten minutes contradicted that.
Conklin stooped beside us, said, “So this was all a trap? He set Yuki up to create an ending for his book
That’s what that psycho said.
And he’d almost done it. Now the ending was him. His arrest, his trial, and, we could always hope, his conviction.
Yuki tried to speak, but ragged sounds came from her throat.
She was struggling to breathe.
What did he give you, Yuki? Do you know what drug
Water,” she said.
The medics will give you water in a minute, honey.
Yuki’s head was in my lap when the chopper’s arrival sounded overhead.
I looked down to shield my eyes - and saw a glint in the path. I shouted over the racket.
Twilly drugged the water. Is that what you mean, Yuki? He put it in the water
Yuki nodded. Moments later Conklin had bagged the evidence, two plastic water bottles, and Yuki was in a carry-lift up to the chopper’s belly.
