She forced herself to consider the problem at hand. "The data isn't sufficient to form a conclusion."
"Jeez, you sound like a computer. A lot of things aren't adding up."
She agreed with a nod. Her stomach was hurting. She felt as though she had a hot coal lodged in her esophagus. She picked
up her backpack, found her antacid, a bottle of water, and two energy bars. She opened the bottle, popped the pills, and swallowed. Then she handed the bottle to John Paul and opened one of the energy bars for him.
"Thanks," he said after he took a long swallow of the water. He took a bite of the bar and washed it down with another gulp.
"It tastes like cardboard."
"You're welcome."
His smile lasted for half a second, but she still saw it and reacted. She surprised herself. She couldn't stand the man an hour
ago, but now she didn't think he was so awful. He had a beautiful profile… and was sexy as hell. No reason for her to
pretend she didn't notice, even though she wasn't going to do anything about it.
He was also protective. The way he tried to boss her around in the store when she went running to the back office. He acted… worried. Worried about her safety.
Nice, she thought. He wasn't such a cold duck after all.
"It's gonna rain," he remarked.
"Rain will slow us down."
"It's still coming. The sun's going to be setting soon," he said. "I'm going to plant the watch about a mile or two from here. Then we'll go on for as long as we can."
He parked the car and picked up the watch. "What'd you do with that gun we took?"
"It's in the sack on the floor."
"Get it out and keep it on your lap. Have you done any target practice?"
"No."
He gave her a disgruntled sigh. "Keep the safety on." He got the gun for her. "I won't be long."
He disappeared before she could tell him to be careful. A fine drizzle began to fall, covering the windshield. It seemed an hour
had passed before he came sprinting down the hill toward the car. When he opened the door, a blast of cold air filled the interior.
The second he turned the motor on, she flipped on the heater. "Where did you leave the watch?"
"I hooked it to a tree branch by a crossroad to the west. If he's tracking us now, I'm hoping he'll think we took the other road."
He drove on, thanking God he had a four-wheel drive. He zigzagged up the side of the mountain, slowly weaving in and out of the trees. When the terrain became too dense to go any farther, he maneuvered the car into a cluster of thick pines, turned it around, and then backed in until he was assured the car couldn't be seen from the road below.
Night rushed in on them, closing them in together.
The drizzle had turned into rain. A booming clap of thunder sounded. She flinched.
"You've got a weapon just in case, food and water."
"What do you mean I've got food and water? You think you're going to leave me here?" He reached for the door.
Chapter 16
By the time Carrie plopped down on the living room sofa, she felt doomed. Jilly and Monk had thought of every possible way out. Oh, yes, they'd wired every window… except, perhaps, one. She looked up at the skylight that loomed over the spiral staircase. The bubbled rectangle was over thirty feet above them. She shook her head. Even if they stacked table upon table upon wardrobes, they still wouldn't be able to hack their way through.
Anne had prepared a dinner from the contents of the pantry, and the three women ate in dejected silence. The sun had gone down and the house was dimly lit by the candles Anne had found. None of them wanted to turn on the lights, fearing Jilly and Monk were watching, and there weren't any drapes to cover the massive windows. Sara had brought up the possibility that Monk had hooked up a video camera to observe them. That so freaked out Carrie, she once again scoured the house, this time looking for a camera.
Anne was reclining on the sofa, and Sara sat in an easy chair waiting for her when she came back downstairs.
"I couldn't find anything," Carrie said. "I looked everywhere. I even searched the light sockets, the ones I could reach," she added. "I don't think anyone's watching us."
"What difference does it make if they can see or hear us?" Anne asked.
Carrie thought the question was stupid but didn't say so. "Because if we're digging our way out of the basement and they can
see us, they'll push the button and kill us right then and there."
Digging through the basement was, of course, out of the question. The door to it was locked, and there was a big sign taped to
it. One word, but quite enough to keep the three women from trying to break the lock. "Boom."
Exhausted and frightened, Sara and Carrie sat in silence as they stared out the windows at the deepening shadows on the
beautiful landscape.
Anne struggled to sit up. Carrie noticed a stack of papers on the sofa next to her. "What's all that?" she asked.
"Newspaper clippings I found in the chest in the foyer. One of the owners of the house must have saved them. Here they are," she said, handing Carrie a picture of a bride and groom on their wedding day.
"They look happy."
"I imagine they were," Anne said. "But now they're getting divorced and fighting over this house. Here, take all of the articles,"
she said, thrusting them at Carrie. "It's quite sordid. Is anyone ready for dessert?" She sounded like a hostess of a party. Carrie found the question hilarious and laughed until tears came into her eyes. Sara was also tickled. She began to giggle.
"Oh, I don't know if I have room for dessert," Sara said. "After that gourmet dinner of baked beans and canned beets, I'm quite full."
"Don't forget the creamed corn," Anne reminded. "I worked hard to get just the right amount of pepper mixed in." "It was very tasty," Sara said.
"I've taken inventory of the pantry," Anne said. "I thought we could have canned peaches for dessert. Shall we eat in the kitchen by candlelight? I've closed the blinds so no one can see in from the driveway."
Anne was sounding so chipper that Carrie became alarmed. Her own burst of laughter had been due to near hysteria, but Anne wasn't hysterical. She was acting as though she were having a lovely time getting together with old friends.
"After dessert, I have a surprise for you," Anne said. Her wry smile reminded Carrie of the cat who'd just eaten the canary.
"You aren't going to try to open the door to the garage, are you? That one is wired too," Sara said. "I checked it myself."
"In other words, you read the sign on the door?" Carrie said.
"Well, yes," Sara answered sheepishly.
Carrie put her hand out and helped pull Sara up from the easy chair.
"I'm a little stiff," Sara said.
Anne had already gone into the kitchen. They could hear her singing. Carrie, picturing Anne climbing up on the granite counter to open the window above the sink, rushed ahead of Sara. Blessedly, the image wasn't real. Anne was opening the can of peaches.
Carrie couldn't stop worrying. The woman had yet to grasp the futility of their situation. "Anne, you're not getting loopy on us again, are you?"
Anne laughed. It was a high-pitched noise, like china breaking. "I don't think so. Now sit down and relax."
At this point, Carrie knew she would have done anything Anne or Sara told her to do. She was feeling so beaten down. She was sick with worry for Avery, and though she was loath to admit it, she missed Tony.
"I miss my husband." She was surprised she'd said the thought out loud. "I guess I do love him."
"You don't know?" Anne asked. She placed the fluted ice cream bowls on the table and scooped peaches into each one.
"I thought he was cheating on me. He said he wasn't, but I didn't believe him. Some woman was calling at all hours of the