“Don’t make a sound,” he hissed in her ear. “Not one little peep. And stop struggling, damn it, or I will put a hole the size of Ohio through the back of your head right now.”
She froze.
“That’s better.” He began to move backward, dragging her along with him. “I’m going to turn you around, and you’re going to go down the steps ahead of me.”
He pointed to the basement, which loomed dark and deep before her eyes.
“No, no, please…” The thought of what might lie below in the dark terrified her, and the old movie mantra-don’t go down into the basement-rang in her ears. She pushed against him, and he laughed.
“You have a short memory, Mrs… I can’t remember what your last name is, but it doesn’t much matter. I know who you are. I know that you helped that bitch after she put my man Eugene in that damned prison so he could die there. I know you took her out of town before any of us knew she was gone. So it’s going to give me a real thrill to do you, lady. An unexpected pleasure, but it’s going to be a pleasure all the same. Now, walk down those steps, or I do it right here.” He pulled the gun from his waistband and held it to her forehead.
Maggie descended the steps, Edmund Dent at her back, his gun pressed hard between her shoulder blades. The air below was close and redolent of dried herbs. It was dark and twice she fell slightly forward, and twice more she tripped over something before the toe of her shoe struck the bottom step.
“Lift your foot and find the stair,” he told her.
She counted as she climbed, thirteen steps to the top. He reached around her and pushed open the door. Maggie blinked several times at the bright sunlight that flooded the kitchen. He led her across the room to the table and pushed her into the nearest chair. A length of rope lay coiled on the countertop, and she guessed that it had not been placed there by Vanessa. That, and the fact that the basement door was already open, told her that he’d been in the house earlier today. What else had he brought with him? she wondered. What did he have planned for her daughter?
“What’s her cellphone number?” Dent demanded.
“What?” Maggie frowned.
He leaned forward, so close to her that she could smell his breath. She had to force herself not to gag.
“I want her cellphone number.”
“I don’t know it.”
“You’re her mother.” He remained literally in her face. “How could you not know her number?”
Maggie shrugged and tried to move back away from him. “We’re not particularly close.”
“You were close enough a couple of years ago when Eugene’s trial was going on that you were in the courtroom every damned day. You were close enough when he was sentenced that you drove her straight out of town.”
“Yeah, well, that was then.” Maggie looked him in the eye. “This is now.”
The slap across her face was totally unexpected.
“I’m going to ask you again. What’s her cellphone number?”
“I can’t give you what I don’t have. She never gave it to me. Up until Saturday, I hadn’t seen her in three years.”
She braced herself for another slap, but instead he put his hand in his back pocket and took out his wallet. He opened it and searched through some bills-bills most likely stolen from Vanessa’s cash register, Maggie thought. He removed a card and reached for the house phone on the wall.
“Got something just as good.” He smirked. He began to dial, turning the card around to show Maggie. It was one of Vanessa’s business cards, taken, she suspected, from the shop when he robbed it. “I know she went to that shop of hers today. I watched her from the coffee shop across the street. When she answers, I’m putting you on the phone, and you’re going to tell her to meet you here, you understand?”
“I won’t do that,” Maggie told him.
“Oh, I think you will.” He pointed the gun directly between her eyes. “As a matter of fact, I’m sure of it…”
Chapter 18
SO what do we do, just stand around here staring at each other until Edmund shows up?” Vanessa asked.
“That’s about it,” Hal replied.
“Well, I’m just going to keep on doing what I was doing before…” She returned to the pile of sweaters she’d earlier started to fold, anything to keep her mind occupied. Knowing that someone was planning on killing you that day was terrifying. If she gave in to the panic, she’d be useless. She envisioned herself as a weeping heap in the corner of the room. Terrified and cowed wasn’t a good look for her.
The phone on the counter began to ring. Vanessa reached for it and Hal stopped her.
“Check the caller ID first.”
She leaned forward and read the number.
“It’s my house.” She frowned and looked up at Grady. “Who’d be in my… oh.”
“Well, I guess we know where,” Grady said to Hal, then nodded to her. “Pick it up, Ness. If it’s Dent, sound surprised that it’s him. Don’t let him know we’re onto him.”
“Hello?”
“Vanessa. It’s Maggie.”
Maggie’s voice vibrated with fear.
“Maggie, what are you doing at my house?” She shot a confused glance at Hal.
“I’m supposed to be luring you here, because-”
Vanessa heard the sound of a struggle, then a slap before Maggie cried out.
“Maggie? Maggie? What’s happening?” Vanessa cried into the phone.
“Maggie isn’t playing by the rules, so she took a penalty,” a mocking male voice told her.
“Who is this?” Don’t let him know we’re onto him…
“This is your worst nightmare, baby,” Edmund crooned, and Vanessa grimaced at Grady. She pointed to the phone and nodded. It’s him.
“I’ve had a lot of nightmares lately,” she said. “Who is this?”
“You’re going to have to come on over here and find out for yourself. But you come by yourself, you hear? Do not call the old man or the guy who’s been banging you.” He snickered. “I saw his clothes in the closet upstairs. It must be nice and cozy around here at night.”
“What do you want?” she asked curtly.
“I want you, here, in this house, in nine minutes. I know it takes eleven minutes to walk from your shop to this house because I timed it. I’m giving you nine. For every minute you’re late, your mother will have another hole in one of her body parts. A foot, a hand, maybe shoot off a couple of fingers. If you don’t come at all, I aim for the heart. I see anyone but you coming this way or anywhere near this house, I kill her. Come now. I’ll be watching for you.”
“Listen-”
“You’re down to eight minutes, Vanessa, and so is your mother.” He hung up.
“I have to go,” she said. “He’s going to kill Maggie if I’m not there in eight minutes.”
She ran for the door.
“Hold up there.” Grady grabbed her arm as she ran past. “I can’t let you just walk in there.”
“I have to. He’s going to shoot my mother.”
“If you go into that house, Ness, he’s going to shoot you, too,” Hal told her.
“You’re the survival expert, right?” She turned to Grady. “You figure out how to save us both.” She shook herself free. “I have to go. He said he’d be watching for me.”
“Ness, where’s your cell?” Grady asked.
“It’s in my bag.” She pointed to the counter.
He grabbed her bag and dumped the contents onto the floor. He picked up her phone and dialed a number. His cell rang inside his pants pocket. He answered his phone as he handed Vanessa’s phone to her.
“Leave the call open in your pocket so we can hear what’s going on. He’s going to have to be in the front of the house, so try to keep him there to give us time to get in through the back.”
“How do you know he’ll be in the front of the house?” she asked.
“You just said he told you he’d be watching for you. He’ll only be able to see the street from the front door or from the living room.” Grady turned to Hal. “There’s a stretch of woods that runs behind her house. You know where we can cut through to get to her yard?”