Web of Deceit

by Peggy Slocum

As the driver closes the door, he tries to catch Symphony’s attention. “We’re taking her to Mercy Hospital. They have the best burn unit in this area. OK?”

  Symphony stares at the driver a moment before realizing he is talking to her. “Yeah … thanks.” She gives an obligated wave good-bye as she turns towards the house to decide her plan of attack.

  Symphony watches a four-wheeler approach from the direction of the farmhouse as the ambulance speeds out of the field and onto the road, rushing Joanna back toward the city.

  “Great, the welcoming committee,” Symphony says.

  “Hey! What are you doing over there!?” An angry female nears Symphony on a Yamaha Rhino.

  That’s a stupid question. I’m obviously not gonna answer that. Symphony runs for cover in the trees near the edge of the road.

  “Get back here!” Lou says, Mrs. Freedman’s accomplice.

  Yeah, let me think about that for a moment. She jumps over a fallen tree. This path seems bumpy enough to even the odds. Let’s see if Cruella can catch me now. Symphony glances back to see Lou closing in. Wow! Those Rhino’s stand up to their name. Sucks to be me. Symphony runs as fast as she can to the road that leads to the cottage where the cars are parked. I’ll take Beth’s Jeep and drive past the house. After I find a better hiding spot, I’ll sneak back to help Beth and Elliot.

  “Cut her off at the end of the road!” Lou says loud enough for Symphony to hear.

  That can’t be good. Maybe she’s bluffing. Symphony dodges a pine by jumping over a large snow- covered log. “Ugh.” The hem of Symphony’s coat catches a branch on the fallen tree. She trips and tumbles forward as the branch snaps at the last second.

  “She’s over here,” a deep male voice says.

  So much for bluffing. Symphony scrambles to her feet and runs away from the voices. I can still make it to the cars through those trees. It would be easier if the moon wasn’t the only light I had to depend on, but I don’t dare use my flashlight. I’d be handing myself over for sure. Almost there … just the other side of those trees and …

  “Gotcha.” A small, skinny man jumps from underneath the low hanging branches of a snow covered evergreen. He grabs Symphony’s arm, stopping her from getting away.

  “I don’t think so, Tiny.” Symphony kicks him in the shin, causing his grip to weaken.

  “Howard! Quick … she’s gettin’ away!” Another man hurries through the trees to catch Symphony.

  “I got her.” Howard runs along the side of the tall evergreens and snatches Symphony up by her waist as she is running between the trees before she can reach the Jeep Cherokee parked fifteen yards away. “That’s gotta be depressing.” Howard mocks Symphony’s near escape.

  “You can put me down now. We wouldn’t want your back going out. I’m not sure you’d wanna try and get disability out of Mrs. Freedman. Her wages are deadly.” Symphony tries to wriggle out of Howard’s strong grip.

  “Get the Jeep, Jerry. We got a smart mouth that can’t wait to see the boss.”

  “Oh, good one, Abbot. Did you think of that all by yourself or did Costello write it up for you ahead of time?” Symphony says.

  “Hey! There’re two cars. Shouldn’t there be another person?” Jerry asks.

  “Very good. You are the smart one,” Symphony says as they put her in the passenger seat of the Rhino. “You must have seen the ambulance take off just before you got here.”

  “Yeah.” Jerry waits for more information.

  “My friend was electrocuted by the fence.”

  “And?” Jerry questions.

  “Two minus one equals one. Where does she get you people?” Symphony loses her patience.

  “She …” Jerry starts to answer Symphony.

  “Don’t answer her, she’s just toying with you,” Howard says.

  Symphony laughs out loud, not able to hold it in. “I get it. You guys are her jesters. Even Mrs. Freedman probably needs to laugh once in a while.”

  “Enough!” The tall woman in charge nears the four-wheeler. “Howard, get her to the house, and don’t do any more talking. Jerry, you ride with me.”

  “But Lou, shouldn’t we tie her hands together first?” Jerry questions.

  “What? That should have been the first thing you did!” Lou pulls a roll of duct tape out of her pocket and tosses it to Howard. “Tape her wrists together and slip a piece over that mouth while you’re at it.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  * * *

  As Howard pulls into the driveway, Mrs. Freedman hurries off the porch to meet them.

  “Symphony, how nice of you to visit,” Mrs. Freedman says. “I see you met Lou. She’s not big on talking.” Mrs. Freedman reaches up into the Rhino’s passenger seat and grasps hold of the duct tape and rips it off Symphony’s mouth.

  “Ow.” A gasp of pain slips out, but Symphony shakes it off fast.

  “But I would love to get more acquainted.” Mrs. Freedman folds the tape in half and then continues walking toward Lou. “We may have more company on the way. You better get the girls ready. Meet me in the garage when you are done,” she says quietly enough so Symphony can’t hear. “Oh, and make sure they cannot escape. And be a dear, put this in its proper place.” She hands the neatly folded tape to Lou.

  “Yes, Mrs. Freedman.” Lou hurries into the house.

  “Symphony, I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.” Mrs. Freedman helps her out of the Jeep. “Free her hands at once,” Mrs. Freedman says to Howard.

  “Yes, Mrs. Freedman.”

  “Are you here to tell me good news about my daughter?” Mrs. Freedman questions while directing Howard and Jerry to each take one of Symphony’s arms.

  “Yes, Mrs. Freedman,” Symphony says in an obedient tone.

  “Good, you must come in the house where it is warm.” Mrs. Freedman leads Symphony up the porch steps and into the parlor. “Tell me, do you know where she is?”

  “Yes,” Symphony answers.

  “Where is she?” Mrs. Freedman forces her through the dining room that leads to the kitchen.

  “The good news is she told us everything, and we were able to help her. Don’t bother trying to force the information out; hypnosis doesn’t work on me.”

  “Don’t be too confident, my dear. There is more than one way to skin a cat.”

  “If you’re gonna talk with clichés, then, please just kill me now,” Symphony says as Mrs. Freedman pushes her through the door.

  “I will not let your nonsense bother me.” Mrs. Freedman follows Symphony through the kitchen door.

  * * *

  Beth catches up to Elliot who has already gone into the next room.

  “This is unbelievable.” He shines the light around the room. “It looks like a dungeon—a very clean and organized one—but a dungeon nonetheless.”

  “Knock it off, Elliot. You’re creeping me out. I can’t believe how excited you are,” Beth says.

  “I can’t believe you’re not,” Elliot says. “You’re the one that changed your last name to the same as the author of ‘The Sherlock Holmes Mysteries.’ This place is like right out of a novel. Only it’s real, so that part sucks.”

  “I never told you that.” The amusement disappears from Beth’s voice.

  “I know. I did a background check on you when we first met. You seemed too wealthy for a detective.”

  “I can’t believe you did that.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. Whoa … what do you think they do with that?” Elliot shines his flashlight on a long, wooden slab with shackles at both ends.

  “I don’t know, but we have to find Sarah before they introduce her to any of these machines. And I forgive you, I ran yours too.” she says as they walk down an aisle that separates the medieval torture devices. “Hey, what are those?” She points to the right. “Jail cells? Maybe Sarah is in one of them.”

  Elliot and Beth race over to the small cubicle cells lined in a row against the wall.

  “This one’s empty.” Beth peers through t
he barred door.

  Elliot shines his light through the other barred windows until he comes to the last cell. “Beth, come look at this. There is someone in this cell.”

  “Is it Sarah?”

  “I don’t know.” Elliot shines his light into the cell. “Sarah? Is that you?”

  Beth shines her flashlight on the face. “Sarah, wake … huh.” Beth gasps and staggers backward.

  “What’s wrong?” Elliot shines his light on the face. “Whoa. He’s dead.”

  “That’s Jade’s husband. I recognize him from the pictures I took from her house. Why would they still have the body? And shouldn’t he be stinking?”

  “It looks like they’ve preserved the body somehow.” Elliot shines the light on the cadaver to get a better view.

  “That is sick. Why would they do that?”

  “Have you heard of body museums?”

  “I read something about it in the Times, but nothing of significance. So what’s the static?”

  “We have a few in the US. People buy tickets to see real dead bodies. They prepare the bodies in a way that allows you to see the muscles, bones, tissue, and everything. They have pictures on the Internet showing a man cut in half with everything hanging out. People believe it’s a great way to see how the human body works, but I can’t help wondering how the families of these dead victims would feel if they knew what became of their bodies. I read an article saying they were dead prisoners from China. Looks like Mrs. Freedman found a way to make some cash with her victims.”

  “Elliot. We need to find Sarah, now.” Beth pulls him away from the cubicle towards another room only a few feet away, shining her light through a window, revealing the inside.

  “This must be where they do it.” Elliot stares through the window.

  “It must be the lab, slash, operating room. Let’s get out of here.” Beth holds his arm close, pulling him alongside. “I’m sorry. I can’t bear to go in that room. I have witnessed enough barbarism.”

  “Yeah, the world is a much prettier place when your eyes are closed,” Elliot says as they enter the next room.

  “This must be the storage room?” Beth inspects a filing cabinet.

  “What could possibly take up all this space?” Elliot scans the abundance of cabinets.

  “I don’t know, but I’m about to find out.” Beth opens a drawer and pulls out a file. “Jeffrey Caldwell—failure.” She glances at Elliot. “I wonder what that means?”

  “Hey, these might be all the victims she hypnotized.”

  “Yes. So, all we have to do is find the name in these files of someone who has been caught up in this mess and …”

  “And we got her.”

  “What’s Kelly’s last name?”

  “Thompkins,” Elliot says. “While you go through the files, I’ll go through this desk over here.”

  Beth scans the filing cabinet drawers spanning the wall. “Fantastic. I have the T’s.” Beth flips through the files. Tandle, Tem, Thompkins. “This is it, Elliot! I found a file on Kelly Thompkins.”

  Elliot clicks the desk lamp on. “Hey, check this out. She’s got one with your name on it.”

  Elliot opens the file folder underneath the lamp. “Beth, it says here she’s been followin’ you for months. She’s been getting her information from Chip mostly. Kelly’s in here too, but she’s got the word ‘failure’ next to her name. Must be that’s why they brought her back.”

  “Yeah, Jade guessed they were making it appear as though Kelly moved out. Only, you got in the way. This proves it.”

  “Sweet, these files tie everyone to Mrs. Freedman.” Elliot reaches for his phone. “I’ll call Captain Aims and have him send those guys he has on hold.” Without looking at the phone, Elliot presses Send.

  “It’s not ringing.” Perplexed, Elliot brings the phone away from his face to figure out what’s wrong. “I only have one bar and it keeps fading in and out. God, please help this call go through.”

  “Let me see that.” Beth takes the phone from Elliot. “There are no bars. Not a big deal.” She hands the phone back to him. “Once we get out of the basement, you can make the call.” Man, this case has really gotten to him; he’s weirding me out.

  Elliot smiles as he pushes Send.

  “Hello?” the gruff voice on the other end says.

  Skeptical, Beth gets closer to Elliot to listen to the conversation.

  “Aims,” Elliot says. “Beth and I have the evidence needed to make an arrest. Do you have a team ready?”

  “We’ll be there ASAP. You guys stay hidden, and don’t do anything else until we get there. OK?”

  “Uh, yeah, I can’t make any promises, Sir.” Elliot disconnects the call.

  * * *

  “Elliot?” Aims realizes Elliot disconnected the call and presses the intercom button. “Ralph!”

  “Yes sir?” the rookie responds, uncertain what he has done wrong.

  “Tell the men downstairs we’re leaving, and get suited up. You’ll ride with me.”

  “Yes sir. Thank you, sir,” Ralph responds. “You won’t be sorry.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Just hurry up before I change my mind.” Aims releases the intercom button.

  * * *

  “OK, the guys are on their way. We need to find Sarah and Kelly and get them to safety before they get here. The last thing we need is a hostage situation.” Elliot disappears into a dark corner. “Beth, are you comin’?” He glances back, catching her blank stare.

  “Yes, I’m right behind you.”

  “I’ve never seen you like this, you’re usually so confident. What’s wrong?”

  “What’s wrong with me? Don’t you mean what’s wrong with you?” Beth asks. “You’re the one that’s changed from night to day. And how did you make that call? It wasn’t fading in and out. There weren’t any bars at all. And, the way you’re handling yourself. We both know you have anger issues when it comes to situations like this. And yet you’re the calm one. So, don’t ask me what’s wrong. How about ‘fessing up and telling me what’s going on.”

  “I got saved. I can’t explain it, but I have a peace, and I know everything’s gonna be OK. Everything Sarah has told us about God is true. I was blind and now I see. Put your trust in God, Beth.” Elliot goes into the shadows. “There’s a door, I’m gonna check it out. Stay hidden. I’ll come back if it’s safe. OK?”

  “Uh huh.”

  Elliot silently scales a steep flight of stairs. At the top he presses his ear to the door and listens. It sounds clear to me. Now let’s see … Elliot tries to rotate the knob. Hmm. Locked. I can fix that. Elliot reaches in his duffel bag and pulls out a locksmith device. OK, baby, let’s show Mrs. Freedman there’s no keeping us out.

  Click.

  “Sweet.” Elliot opens the door a crack and peers inside. It’s the garage.

  * * *

  “Stay close to me.” Kelly leads Sarah down a dimly lit hallway to the right.

  “This lighting adds to the creepiness,” Sarah says as the lights flicker.

  “That’s the generator. The lights are always weak like that when the power goes out.” Kelly comes to a door at the end of the hall.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To the kitchen. This stairwell leads to a secret door inside the food pantry. I was playing hide and go seek with a little girl who used to live here, and we found it by accident.” Kelly places a finger up to her lips, finishing her sentence. “We have to be quiet. Someone could be in the pantry.”

  Sarah descends the stairs with one hand on the railing, and the other on Kelly’s shoulder so as not to lose her.

  At the bottom of the steps, Kelly puts her ear up to the door. “I think it’s clear,” Kelly whispers to Sarah. Being cautious, she opens the door a sliver and peers inside. “It’s empty.” She pushes the door the rest of the way open.

  “Wow, I didn’t think it was possible to be more organized than my friend Beth. Are those in alphabetical order?” Sarah questions as she lo
oks around the immaculate food pantry.

  “Yeah, and she notices right away if something is out of place.”

  “That’s too bad ’cause I’m starving.” Sarah holds her stomach.

  A wry smile forms on Kelly’s face as she places her ear to the door. “I hear footsteps. Someone’s coming. Hide”

  Sarah hides under a nearby shelf while Kelly stays close to the wall where the door opens, counting on it to hide her. Neither girl knowing the other’s plan, they both pray for help as the door flings open. The tall dark figure enters the pantry.

  Close the door, a knowing voice says to Kelly. Kelly shuts the door as the figure nears Sarah.

  Stretch your leg out, God tells Sarah. Sarah extends her leg out straight just in time for …

  “Ugh,” a female voice says while falling.

  Bang! Smash!

  The large woman impacts and sprawls out on the pantry floor.

  “Sarah, are you OK?” Kelly asks.

  “Yeah, God told me what to do, and it caused the person to trip and fall.” Sarah moves closer to inspect the unconscious villain. “That’s Catrina, the charge nurse from the hospital.”

  “Her real name is Louise, but the guys call her Lou. She’s tougher than any of the men that work for Mrs. Freedman. Hurry, we gotta find something to tie her up and gag her.”

  “Look, she has everything we need in her coat pockets.” Sarah tosses Kelly some rope. “You tie her feet, and I’ll get her hands.” Sarah finds a roll of duct tape in Lou’s pocket, rips a piece off, and tapes her mouth.

  “I hear voices coming towards us.”

  “Help me put her in the stairwell.” Sarah lifts the top of Lou’s body and pulls her up a few steps.

  “We need to clean up this mess before Mrs. Freedman comes in. She’ll know something’s up if we just leave it there.” Kelly sets Lou’s legs down and goes back inside the pantry.

  “We don’t have time to put it back where it belongs. Push everything under there.” Sarah points to a shelf next to the secret entrance.

  * * *

  “Have a seat.” Mrs. Freedman enters the kitchen.