You Can't Hide

by Theresa Sneed

  “Merrick’s mother, Winifred Snyder.”

  “Winnie? Winnie’s here?” She jumped up.

  He motioned for her to sit back down. “We’re sorry to have to do this, but she should be here for his execution.”

  “Does she know about me? That I’m alive?”

  “Yes, she does.”

  “Then, I’d like to see her first, before the lethal injection begins.”

  “Of course. I’ll go get her.”

  A few minutes later, the door opened. Winnie looked somehow changed, healthier. Right away, Nancy knew why. That tyrant had been drugging her for all those years. Winnie had her sanity back. Her eyes were sharp and focused and her smile radiant.

  “My dear,” she said, her arms outstretched. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to find you are alive!” Her eyebrows furrowed. “I still can’t believe it. I went to your funeral, dear. You were as dead as a doorknob.”

  “You went to my funeral?”

  “Of course, I did. I kept to myself, didn’t talk to no one, but I did need to pay my respects.” She tilted her head. “I didn’t believe those FBI men when they told me you were here, but look,” she patted Nancy’s shoulders up and down, “here you are.” She pulled her near, and then pushed her away. “That was you, wasn’t it? In the coffin?”

  Nancy nodded. “Yes, a very drugged-up me.”

  At that, Winnie frowned. “I guess, that makes sense to me now. Drugs can do awful things to people.”

  “Yes, they can.”

  “So, now we are to witness his demise.”

  “Yes,” Nancy said.

  Winnie turned to her. “When I found out that Malcom’s twin had murdered him, I was devastated. I had no idea he was Merrick, but now, I can see it could never have been Malcolm that did those horrible things to you and me and little Sally.” She stifled a sob. “Poor, little, Sally.”

  Nancy put her hand on Winnie’s arm. “You haven’t heard?” She had expected the FBI had already told her about Sally.

  “No, what are you talking about, child?”

  She grinned at the word child, an endearment Winnie had often given her. “Well,” she began, “brace yourself, Winnie.”

  Winnie straightened. “More secrets?”

  Nancy nodded. “Sally is alive, too, and, so is Elle and Sam.”

  “Heavens.” Winnie’s mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. “This is true?”

  “Yes.”

  Grabbing her shoulders, she pulled Nancy into a hug. “It is the best news I’ve heard in years—actually, in my whole life!”

  They chatted for some time, Winnie asked a lot of questions, mostly about Sally and Elle, how they were, and where they’d been. Until, at last, the door opened.

  “It’s time.”

  Thirty-One

  Trapped

  Sam looked down at his watch. “When is it supposed to start?” He moved to the window and looked out, still no sign of Elle or her parents.

  Louise stepped up beside him. “They must’ve wandered off too far. Maybe you should go look for them.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”

  A car pulled down the drive. Sam parted the curtains. It was his best friend, Sheriff John Higgins. He got out of the car, and then it backed out onto the road. He turned to his mother. “Does he know . . . about me?”

  She pressed her lips together tight. “No.”

  “Okay, here goes,” Sam said, with a grin. He opened the door and stepped out. “Hello, old friend.”

  A grizzly bear standing on the doorstep could not have stunned John more.

  “What—” In an apparent daze, he stuck his chin out, as if not believing what he saw, and trying to get a better look. “Sam?”

  “Yeah, it’s me. Ever heard of the witness protection program?”

  “What—” he repeated. “Yeah, but . . . Sam? Is that really you?”

  He bounced down the steps toward John. “In the flesh.”

  “Well, I’ll be—” John extended his hand and then pulling him near, they clasped their arms around one another. He pulled away, shock melting away to awe, and then bursting into elation. “Incredible. Wicked incredible. Wait ‘til I tell Becky.”

  “Becky? Are you two back together?”

  “She just dropped me off.” John’s voice softened. “And, yeah, after you died, we both decided life was too short . . . uh, but, wait. You didn’t die. Wow.” He grabbed him again for a second hug.

  Louise called from the porch. “Sam?” She pointed toward the path and jerked her head forward.

  “What’s up?” John asked.

  “Elle went looking for her parents. They took a walk and haven’t come back yet.” He started toward the path, then turned back toward his car. Reaching inside, he removed the Motorola. “You can call me on this. FBI has one, too.”

  “Oh? Ah-yuh.” John scratched his head. “Hey, you want me to go with you?”

  “Nah, I’m sure they’re on their way back right now. Go inside and see how much Sally has grown.”

  “Sally? Oh, my, gosh, Sally.” John grinned wide.

  Sam gave him a quick wave and disappeared into the woods.

  Nancy took Winnie by the hand and they followed the agents down a narrow hallway, back to the room she had been in earlier. The chaplain looked up as they came in. Two more people were there, but they both had prison badges. The curtains were still closed on the windows into the adjoining room where they would perform the lethal injection. A row of phones hung on the wall. She had read that that was for a last minute call from someone in authority to stop the injection.

  The chaplain turned in his seat. “Ah, y’wanna know how he’s um, gonna . . .?” He gestured toward Merrick.

  Nancy’s eyes widened. No, formed on her lips, but before she had a chance to say anything, Winnie spoke up.

  “Yes. Every gory detail.”

  Nancy swallowed. She understood Winnie’s disdain. Merrick was the beast that killed her real son. She didn’t need to how Merrick would die, but supposed she could cover her ears, if it got too—in Winnie’s words—gory.

  The chaplain continued. “First, they’ll give him an anesthetic, sodium thiopental. It’ll put him in a deep sleep.”

  Nancy perked up. She didn’t want him to fall into a deep sleep, not until he’d seen her eyes.

  “Then they’ll give him a saline solution to flush the intravenous line.” He sighed and stared at the drawn curtain. “Finally, they’ll give him a paralyzing agent, pancuronium bromide, it’s ah, a muscle relaxant.”

  Muscle relaxant, thought Nancy. That didn’t seem too bad. Though he was a horrible person, she didn’t want him to suffer.

  “The dose stops breathing by paralyzing the diaphragm and the lungs.”

  “Ew.” Nancy grasped her throat. That was too much information. Her head swam, and she felt faint.

  “Are you, okay?” The chaplain took her hand. “Mrs. Snyder?”

  She stood. “Please, excuse me.” She stumbled toward the door.

  “I’ll go with her,” Winnie said, in a soft voice. She turned back and glared at the FBI agents. “Don’t start without us.”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “I remember you,” Sally said, once Sheriff Higgins stopped hugging her. Her eyes moistened. “You’re the man who saved my dad.”

  “Well, little lady, that’s mighty kind of you, but actually, your Uncle Jack had a lot to do with it.”

  She turned to Louise. “Did Jack go on the walk with my other grandparents?”

  Louise nodded, and then she turned back to the window. “I don’t know what could be keeping them.”

  Sam Sr. looked out the window. “Well, you know, that waterfall is a long walk, if that’s where they went.”

  Louise groaned. “I sure hope not. Those falls are a good hour’s walk away. But it’s probably what they did. Jack was anxious to show them to his parents.”

  “Well, Sam has that portable radio with him.”

>   “Will that work way out there?” Louise asked.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Agent Thompson said. He was on one right then and glanced up at Sam Sr. “They’re about to start the injection.” He pointed toward the screen, which flickered, and then came into view.

  Everyone went quiet. The small room was in view, but the curtains blocked Merrick.

  “Do you want to go into the other room?” Louise said, stepping next to Sally. “I made some cookies.”

  Sally held her stomach.

  “No, of course not,” Louise said. “We could go for a drive, if you’d like.”

  Sally looked into her eyes. “Maybe.”

  “Well, okay.” Louise fumbled through her purse and pulled out her keys. “Just let me know.” Movement in the small room on the screen brought their eyes back to it.

  “Hey, wait,” Sally said, squinting at the screen. “What’s my mother doing there?”

  “Yeah, I thought Nancy was away somewhere,” Louise chimed in.

  On the screen, Winnie led Nancy to a chair.

  “And that’s my Grandma, Winnie,” Sally said, in a hushed tone, pointing at the monitor.

  Louise wrapped her arm around Sally’s waist. “They probably just needed to be there, Sweetheart.”

  The curtain opened, revealing Merrick strapped in a gurney, his head covered and slightly raised.

  Nancy groaned. “Oh, no, I need to see his eyes.”

  “The prisoner requested to have his head covered,” the chaplain said. “He’s a dying man and that’s his last request.”

  Nancy slapped her hands on her legs. “But, I need to see him . . . for closure.”

  He studied her eyes. “Sometimes, we forget the living suffer long after the dead are gone.” He picked up the phone and called into the adjoining room.

  Two guards hovered over Merrick. Both were busy attaching IV’s to his arms. One stopped and picked up a nearby phone. Looking out the window at them, he gave a quick nod, and then stepped behind Merrick.

  Elle went deeper into the woods. The path was dense, lined with thick trees and broad canopies with tiny new leaves that concealed the sun in places. Most of the snow had melted, but traces lingered where the branches weaved together like lace shadowing the snow. Had it been summer, the sun would’ve been blocked by thousands of fully grown leaves, but the young leaves allowed some sun to filter down onto the worn path.

  Elle had wanted to call out to her parents, but was concerned that her voice would give them an awful fright. Seriously. They had believed her dead all these years, and to suddenly hear her voice, would no doubt startle them.

  She thought to turn back, too, in case they had doubled back another way. “But, I’m almost to the falls, and I might as well go there first before heading back to the farm.” Her voice seemed loud in the quiet trees, maybe that’s why the sudden rustling in the surrounding bushes startled her. The hairs pricked on the back of her neck.

  The prison guard untied a string and tried to work the hood off over Merrick’s head. It was obvious he didn’t want him to remove it. He thrashed violently, as if trying to untether his arms to stop the man. It was in vain, though, and within seconds, his angry eyes sought for the guard.

  It was a bit pathetic the way he jerked about, like an animal caught in a trap. The irony of it all was strangely comforting to Nancy. She stepped to the glass that separated her from the man who had robbed her of so much. It was obvious that he had no intention to look her way as he continued to strain his neck far to the side.

  “They may have to sedate him first,” the chaplain said.

  “No,” Nancy said, a quietness to her voice. Not taking her eyes from Merrick, she placed her hand on the window. “He has to stop sometime, and then, he will look at me.” She turned to the chaplain. “May I talk to him?”

  He stared at her for a long time, but then stepped to the phone. On the other side, one of the prison guards answered it, and then flipped a switch under the row of phones.

  The sounds of heavy breathing and the prison guards moving about, filled the room where Nancy and Winnie waited.

  “Merrick,” she said. “Merrick Snyder.”

  He kept his head as far away from her as possible.

  “You will die soon, but before you do, I want you to look at me.”

  No response from the other side of the glass, his head was still twisted away.

  One of the prison guards glanced down at his watch. “If you’d like, I can hold his head to face you.”

  Merrick jolted his head toward the man. “You will not.”

  The other prison worker shrugged. “I’ll help.” Between them, they grabbed his head and forced it to face forward, while Merrick’s foul obscenities filled the room.

  With his eyes full on her now, Nancy’s heart froze. Every part of her wrenched. She fell against the glass. An agent was quick at her side. “Are you okay, ma’am?”

  She pointed a trembling finger at Merrick. “No!”

  “Nancy?” Winnie rushed up beside her. She tried to pull her away from the glass.

  “No, Winnie!” Fear gripped her. “Look!”

  Winnie followed Nancy’s shaky hand to the man who had murdered her son. Her face reflected Nancy’s fear. She choked on her words, “But, it can’t be.”

  The chaplain stepped between them. “What’s wrong?”

  Nancy’s heart beat fast, everything started to spin. She clutched at the chaplain’s arm. “That’s not Merrick!”

  Thirty-Two

  Switched

  At the farmhouse, they gathered around to watch the execution. Louise parted the curtains and looked out toward the path. “I don’t know what’s keeping them.” She leaned in to Sally. “You don’t have to watch this on your own, Sweetheart.”

  Sally didn’t take her eyes from the screen. “I’m not alone.” She reached up and patted Louise’s hand. “It’s starting.” She pulled her down beside her on the couch. The guard was taking off the hood over Merrick’s face.

  The room went quiet at Nancy’s scream.

  Sally turned to Louise. “What did she say? What did my mother say?” She stumbled forward and fell to the floor. Louise grabbed her and pulled her near.

  John bolted for the door, gun in hand. The FBI agent stopped him. “Wait, sir,” the agent said. He listened over the radio. “We have to get her out of here.” The agent pointed to Sally.

  “Not by herself—not this time,” Louise said calmly. “I will go with her.”

  Sam Sr. stepped beside his wife. “We will go with Sally. She’s not doing this without family.”

  “Go.” The agent yelled, grabbing Sally’s arm and leading her to the door. “The rest of you—leave this premise immediately. Get as far away from Dover-Foxcroft as you can.” Everyone jumped up and dashed to the door, and in minutes, the driveway had emptied.

  Sally whimpered. “He’s, he’s out there?”

  “We don’t know for sure, but we’re not taking any chances. We’re going to take you and your grandparents to a safe location.” He turned to John. “Be careful, sir. The other agents will be here soon.”

  But his caution had fallen on deaf ears, John was already pummeling toward the path that led to the woods.

  “How, how could this happen?” Nancy said, sinking into the wall.

  Winnie pointed to the imposter. “He looks a lot like him, Nancy.”

  “Are you sure it’s not him?” the chaplain asked.

  Nancy broke down in tears. “Absolutely, one-hundred percent sure. That man is not Merrick.”

  With a wave of his hand, the prison guards unhooked the man and began to wheel him out of the room.

  “Wait.” Nancy said, pounding her fist against the glass. “Who are you? And why would you die for him?”

  “Oh,” the imposter said, sourly. “It’s not for Merrick.” But that’s all he would say, and they wheeled him away.

  The chaplain appeared to be at a loss for words. “Uh, we’ll of course, interrogat
e him. We’ll get the answers.”

  “I’m sure you will,” Winnie said, “but in the meantime—that animal is out there, isn’t he?” She stepped closer to Nancy and put her frail hand on her arm.

  The FBI agent stepped aside and spoke into the radio. He turned back to them. “Okay, we’re on the move.”

  “On the move?” Nancy knew what that meant. This couldn’t be happening again.

  “Yes, ma’am. We have no idea where Merrick is, and we’re going to have to take you both to a safe place. The helicopter is on its way.”

  Trembling, Nancy took Winnie’s arm and followed the agents out the door.

  Thirty-Three

  Ghost

  Keep moving, Elle, she thought to herself. Just keep moving. Whatever it was that made that rustling, she must have spooked it, because it stopped, and the woodland sounds resumed.

  As she got closer to the falls, the rhythmic sound of water swirling and splashing over the large boulders met her ears, but there was something else, too. Someone was talking—no, whispering. She strained her neck to listen.

  “Do you believe in spirits, Mom?”

  “Spirits, you mean ghosts?”

  Elle’s eyes widened. She recognized those voices.

  “Yeah, I guess they’re called that, too.”

  “Sure, I do. Seriously, Jack, what’s this all about? And why are you whispering?”

  “Mom, I swear I saw Elle just a few minutes ago.”

  “Uh, Jack, I’m sure it’s because of the, um, events of the day.”

  “No, Mom, seriously, I saw her, in full color, down the path.”

  Elle held back a laugh. Did they think I’d be in black and white? She could hardly contain herself, as she neared the bend in the path that would bring her to the falls. Instinct told her to approach with caution. The falls had a sixty foot drop straight down, tumbling over huge boulders into a rocky pool below. She crept carefully around the bend.