by Harlan Coben
The two men were maybe three steps away now.
Another point: They were willing to attack him right here, on the street, where anyone could see. That suggested a certain level of desperation and recklessness and, yes, confidence — a level Myron wanted no part of.
So Myron made his choice: He ran.
The two men had the advantage. They were already accelerating. Myron was starting from a standing position.
This was where pure athleticism would help.
Myron’s knee injury had not really affected his speed much. It was more a question of lateral movement. So Myron faked a step to the right, just to get them to lean. They did. Then he broke left toward his driveway. One of the men — the other one, not the hippy art teacher — lost his footing but only for a split second. He was back up. So was Dominick Rochester.
But it was the hippy art teacher who was causing the most trouble. The man was fast. He was almost close enough to make a diving tackle.
Myron debated taking him on.
But no. Win had called in a warning. If it had reached that level, this was probably indeed a very bad hombre. He wouldn’t go down with one blow. And even if he did, the delay would give the other two the chance to catch up. There was no way to eliminate the art teacher and keep moving.
Myron tried to accelerate. He wanted to gain enough distance to get Win on the cell phone and tell him—
The cell phone. Damn, he didn’t have it. He’d dropped it when Rochester hit him.
They kept chasing him. Here they were, on a quiet suburban street, four adults running all-out. Was anybody watching? What would they think?
Myron had another advantage: He knew the neighborhood.
He didn’t look over his shoulder, but he could hear the art teacher panting behind him. You don’t become a professional athlete — and brief as his career was, he did play professional ball — without having a million things go right internally and externally. Myron had grown up in Livingston. His high school class had six hundred people in it. There had been zillions of great athletes going through the doors. None had made the pros. Two or three had played minor league baseball. One, maybe two, had been drafted for one sport or another. That was it. Every kid dreams about it, but the truth is, none make it. None. You think your kid is different. He’s not. He won’t make it to the NBA or NFL or MLB. Won’t happen.
The odds are that long.
The point here, as Myron began to increase his lead, was that, yes, he had worked hard, shot baskets by himself for four to five hours a day, had been frighteningly competitive, had the right mind frame, had and did all those things, but none of that would have helped him reach the level he’d gotten to if he hadn’t been blessed with extraordinary physical gifts.
One of those gifts was speed.
The panting was falling behind him.
Someone, maybe Rochester, shouted: “Shoot him in the leg!”
Myron kept accelerating. He had a destination in mind. His knowledge of the neighborhood would help now. He hit the hill up Coddington Terrace. As he reached the top, he prepared. He knew that if he got there enough ahead of them, there’d be a blind spot on the curve back down.
When he reached that down-curve, he didn’t look back. There was a somewhat hidden path between two houses on the left. Myron had used it to go to Burnet Hill Elementary School. All the kids did. It was the strangest thing — a paved walking path between two houses — but he knew it was still there.
The very bad hombres would not.
The paved walk was public enough, but Myron had another idea. The Horowitzes used to live in the house on the left. Myron had built a fort in the woods there with one of them a lifetime ago. Mrs. Horowitz had been furious about it. He veered into that area now. There used to be a crawling path under the bush, one that led from the Horowitzes’ backyard on Coddington Terrace to the Seidens’ on Ridge Road.
Myron pushed the first bush to the side. It was still there. He got down on his hands and knees and scrambled through the opening. Brown branches whipped his face. It didn’t hurt so much as bring him back to a more innocent time.
As he emerged on the other side, in the old Seidens’ backyard, he wondered if the Seiden family still lived here. The answer came to him fast.
Mrs. Seiden was in the backyard. She wore a kerchief and gardening gloves.
“Myron?” There was no hesitation or even much surprise in her voice. “Myron Bolitar, is that you?”
He had gone to school with her son, Doug, although he had not crawled through this path or even been in this backyard since he was maybe ten years old. But that didn’t matter in towns like this. If you were friends in elementary school, there was always some kind of link.
Mrs. Seiden blew the strands of hair out of her face. She started toward him. Damn. He hadn’t wanted to involve anyone else. She opened her mouth to say something, but Myron silenced her with a finger to his lips.
She saw the look on his face and stopped. He gestured for her to get in the house. She gave a slight nod and moved toward it. She opened the back door.
Someone shouted, “Where the hell did he go?”
Myron waited for Mrs. Seiden to disappear from view. But she didn’t go inside.
Their eyes met. Now it was Mrs. Seiden’s turn to gesture. She motioned for him to come inside too. He shook his head. Too dangerous.
Mrs. Seiden stood there, her back rigid.
She would not move.
A sound came from the brush. Myron snapped his head toward it. It stopped. Could have been a squirrel. No way they could have found him already. But Win had called them “very bad” meaning, of course, very good at what they did. Win was never one for overstatement. If he said these guys were very bad…
Myron listened. No sound now. That scared him more than noise.
He did not want to put Mrs. Seiden in further danger. He shook his head one more time. She just stood there, holding the door open.
There was no sense in arguing. There are few creatures more stubborn than Livingston mothers.
Keeping low, he sprinted across the yard and through the open door, dragging her in with him.
She closed the door.
“Stay down.”
“The phone,” Mrs. Seiden said, “is over there.”
It was a kitchen wall unit. He dialed Win.
“I’m eight miles away from your house,” Win said.
“I’m not there,” Myron said. “I’m on Ridge Road.” He looked back at Mrs. Seiden for more information.
“Seventy-eight,” she said. “And it’s Ridge Drive, not Road.”
Myron repeated what she’d said. He told Win there were three of them, including Dominick Rochester.
“Are you armed?” Win asked.
“No.”
Win didn’t lecture him, but Myron knew that he wanted to. “The other two are good and sadistic,” Win said. “Stay hidden until I get there.”
“We’re not moving,” Myron said.
And that was when the back door burst open.
Myron turned in time to see Hippy Art Teacher fly through it.
“Run!” Myron shouted at Mrs. Seiden. But he didn’t wait to see if she obeyed. Art Teacher was still off balance. Myron leapt toward him.
But Art Teacher was fast.
He sidestepped Myron’s lunge. Myron saw that he was going to miss. He stuck out his left arm, clothesline style, hoping to get under Art’s chin. The blow touched down on the back of Art’s head, cushioned by the ponytail. Art staggered. He turned and hit Myron a short shot to the rib cage.
The man was very fast.
Everything slowed down again. In the distance, Myron could hear footsteps. Mrs. Seiden making a run for it. Art Teacher smiled at Myron, breathing hard. The speed of that punch told Myron that he probably shouldn’t stand and trade blows. Myron had the size advantage. And that meant taking him to the floor.
Art Teacher revved up to throw another punch. Myron crowded in. It was tougher
to hit someone hard, especially someone bigger, when you crowded in. Myron grabbed Art Teacher’s shirt by the shoulders. He twisted to take him down, raising a forearm at the same time.
Myron hoped to put the forearm against the man’s nose. Myron weighed two hundred fifteen pounds. That kind of size, you land full force with your forearm resting on someone’s nose, the nose is going to snap like a dried-out bird’s nest.
But again Art Teacher was good. He saw what Myron intended to do. He tucked down just a little. The forearm was now resting on the rose-tinted glasses. Art Teacher closed his eyes and pulled them both down harder. He also raised a knee up to Myron’s midsection. Myron had to curve in his belly to protect himself. That took a good part of the power away from his forearm blow.
When they landed, the wire-framed glasses bent, but there was no serious power behind the shot. Art Teacher had the momentum now. He shifted his weight. His knee hadn’t landed with much force either because of the way Myron had rounded his back. But the knee was still there. And the momentum.
He threw Myron over his head. Myron took it with a roll. In less than a second they were both on their feet.
The two men faced each other.
Here was what they don’t tell you about fighting: You always feel crippling, paralyzing fear. The first few times, when Myron felt that stress-induced tingle in his legs, the kind that got so bad you wondered if you’d be able to stay on your feet, he felt like the worst sort of coward. Men who only get into a scrape or two, who get that leg tingle when they argue with a drunk lout at a bar, feel awash with shame. They shouldn’t. It is not cowardice. It is a natural biological reaction. Everyone feels that way.
The question is, what do you do with that? What you learn with experience is that it can be controlled, harnessed even. You need to breathe. You need to relax. If you get hit when you’re tensed up, it’ll cause more damage.
The man threw off his bent glasses. He met Myron’s eye. This was part of the game. The staring down. The guy was good. Win had said so.
But so was Myron.
Mrs. Seiden screamed.
To both men’s credit, neither of them turned away at the sound. But Myron knew that he had to get to her. He faked a charge, just enough so that Art would back up, and then he darted toward the front of the house, where the scream had originated.
The front door was open. Mrs. Seiden was standing there. And next to her, with his fingers digging into her upper arm, was the other man who’d chased him from the car. This guy was a few years older than Art Teacher and wore an ascot. An ascot, for crying out loud. He looked like Roger Healey from the old I Dream of Jeannie show.
No time.
Art Teacher was behind him. Myron slid to the side and threw a roundhouse right. Art Teacher ducked it, but Myron was ready. He stopped mid-punch and looped his arm around the man’s neck.
Myron had him in a headlock.
But now, with a grotesque rebel yell, Ascot leapt toward Myron.
Tightening his grip on the neck, Myron aimed a mule kick. Ascot let it land on his chest. He made his body soft and rolled with the blow, holding on to Myron’s leg.
Myron lost his balance.
Art Teacher managed to free himself then. He threw a knife hand, aiming for Myron’s throat. Myron tucked so that the blow hit his chin. It rattled his teeth.
Ascot held on to Myron’s leg. Myron tried to kick him off. Art Teacher was laughing now. The front door burst open again. Myron prayed it was Win.
It wasn’t.
Dominick Rochester arrived. He was out of breath.
Myron wanted to call out a warning to Mrs. Seiden, but that was when a pain unlike any other he had felt ripped through him. Myron let loose a blood-curdling howl. He looked down at his leg. Ascot had his head lowered.
He was biting Myron’s leg.
Myron screamed again, the sound mixing in with the laughter and cheers coming from Art Teacher.
“Go, Jeb! Woo-hoo!”
Myron kept kicking, but Ascot dug in deeper, holding on, growling like a terrier.
The pain was excruciating, all-encompassing.
Panic filled Myron. He stamped down with his free leg. Ascot held on with his teeth. Myron kicked harder, finally landing a kick on top of the man’s head. He pushed hard. His flesh ripped off as he finally pried himself free. Ascot sat up and spit something out of his mouth. Myron realized with horror that it was a meaty chunk of leg.
Then they were on him. All three. Piled on.
Myron ducked his head and started swinging. He connected with somebody’s chin. There was a grunt and a curse. But someone else hit him in the stomach.
He felt the teeth on his leg again, the same spot, opening up the wound.
Win. Where the hell was Win…?
He bucked up in pain, wondering what to do next, when he heard a singsong voice say, “Oh, Mr. Bolitar…?”
Myron looked. It was Art Teacher. He had a gun in one hand. In the other, he had Mrs. Seiden by the hair.
CHAPTER 23
They moved Myron to a large cedar closet on the second floor. Myron was flat on the floor. His hands were duct-taped behind his back, his feet bound together too. Dominick Rochester stood over him, a gun in his hand.
“Did you call your friend Win?”
Myron said, “Who?”
Rochester frowned. “You think we’re stupid?”
“If you know about Win,” Myron said, meeting his eye, “about what he can do, then the answer is yes. I think you’re very stupid.”
Rochester sneered. “We’ll see about that,” he said.
Myron quickly assessed the situation. No windows, one entrance. That was why they’d brought him up here: no windows. So Win couldn’t attack from the outside or at a distance. They had realized that, considered it, been smart enough to bind him and bring him up here.
This was not good.
Dominick Rochester was armed. So was Art Teacher. It would indeed be nearly impossible to get in here. But he knew Win. Myron just needed to give him time.
On the right, Ascot Bite was still smiling. There was blood — Myron’s blood — on his teeth. Art Teacher was on the left.
Rochester bent down so his face was close to Myron’s. The cologne smell was still on him, worse than ever. “I’m going to tell you what I want,” he said. “Then I’m going to leave you alone with Orville and Jeb. See, I know you had something to do with that girl disappearing. And if you had something to do with her, you had something to do with my Katie. Makes sense, doesn’t it?”
“Where’s Mrs. Seiden?”
“No one is interested in hurting her.”
“I didn’t have anything to do with your daughter,” Myron said. “I just gave Aimee a ride. That’s all. The police will tell you.”
“You lawyered up.”
“I didn’t lawyer up. My lawyer arrived. I answered every question. I told them that Aimee called me for a ride. I showed them where I dropped her off.”
“And what about my daughter?”
“I don’t know her. I’ve never met her in my life.”
Rochester looked back at Orville and Jeb. Myron didn’t know which was which. His leg was throbbing from the bite.
Art Teacher was redoing his ponytail, making it tight and wrapping it with the band. “I believe him.”
“But,” Ascot Bite added, “we got to be, got to be certain, tengo que estar seguro.”
Art Teacher frowned. “Who was that?”
“Kylie Minogue.”
“Whoa, pretty obscure, dude.”
Rochester stood upright. “You guys do your thing. I’ll keep watch downstairs.”
“Wait,” Myron said. “I don’t know anything.”
Rochester looked at him for a moment. “It’s my daughter. I can’t take that chance. So what’s going to happen here is, the Twins are going to work you over. You still telling the same story after that, I know you had nothing to do with it. But if you did, maybe I save my kid. You understa
nd what I’m saying?”
Rochester moved to the door.
The Twins crept closer. Art Teacher pushed Myron back. Then he sat on Myron’s legs. Ascot straddled Myron’s chest. He looked down and bared his teeth. Myron swallowed. He tried to buck him off, but with his hands taped behind him, it was impossible. His stomach did flips of fear.
“Wait,” Myron said again.
“No,” Rochester said. “You’ll stall. You’ll sing, you’ll dance, you’ll make up stories—”
“No, that’s not—”
“Let me finish, okay? It’s my daughter. You have to understand that. You need to crack before I’ll believe you. The Twins. They’re good at making a man crack.”
“Just hear me out, okay? I’m trying to find Aimee Biel—”
“No.”
“—and if I find her, there’s an excellent chance I’ll find your daughter too. I’m telling you. Look, you checked me out, right? That’s how you know about Win.”
Rochester stopped, waited.
“You must have heard this is what I do. I help people when they’re in trouble. I dropped that girl off and now she’s gone. I owe it to her parents to find her.”
Rochester looked at the Twins. In the distance Myron heard a car radio, the song fading in and then fading out. The song was “We Built This City on Rock-n-Roll” by Starship.
The second worst song in the world, Myron thought.
Ascot Bite started singing along, “We built este ciudad, we built este ciudad, we built este ciudad…” Hippy Art Teacher, still holding Myron’s legs, started bobbing his head, clearly digging his colleague’s vocals.
“I’m telling the truth,” Myron said.
“Either way,” Rochester said, “if you’re telling the truth or not, the Twins here. They’ll find out. See? You can’t lie to them. Once they hurt you some, you’ll tell us everything we need to know.”
“But by then it’s too late,” Myron said.
“They won’t take long.” Rochester looked at Art Teacher.
Art Teacher said, “Half an hour, hour max.”