The three of them looked at each other; Gregg, Elizabeth, and Eric. There was the silent understanding that they knew something was very wrong, that this wasn’t a simple matter of family dysfunction. Even Gregg seemed to have come around to this conclusion. He got up and peeked out the window quickly and returned to the bed. He silently drank his beer as Elizabeth calmed Mary down.
“It happened again maybe a week ago,” Mary said, rubbing her face. “When I started feeling better Diana started making me be with Lily again. And I’d still try to stay awake until Lily was asleep but I always felt so tired in the morning. I was so tired I could hardly do anything. I even fell asleep at school a few times. Sometimes after school I’d go to Tina’s and fall asleep in her bed while we were in her room watching TV.”
“When you were sick and Diana kept Lily away from you,” Gregg asked, his voice gentle, “where did Lily sleep? Did she sleep in your room with you?”
Mary shook her head. “No, she didn’t. I don’t know where she slept. I...I think she slept with Diana and my daddy, but...I’m not sure.”
“What about Rick?” Eric asked.
“He has his own room,” Mary said, “but I never saw him sleep in it. Every time I went to bed he was always watching TV.”
The phone rang again and Elizabeth stood up slowly. “It’s probably my mom again.”
“Are you sure you should answer it?” Gregg asked.
“I’ll see who it is on the LED readout.” She turned to Mary. “You okay, honey?”
Mary nodded. She took a big drink of punch. “I’m okay,” she said. “I’m tired, my throat hurts a little, but I’m okay.”
“I’m going to go downstairs and check our voice mail for messages,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll be right back. Gregg, will you stay up here with the kids?”
“Yeah.”
She went downstairs, pausing at the living room window to peek outside but saw nothing suspicious. The phone stopped ringing and she went to the kitchen and punched the text messages button on the caller ID readout. Sure enough, her mother had called five times in the past thirty minutes. Elizabeth picked up the receiver and checked her voice messages.
“Honey, it’s your mom,” Laura said, her voice sounding normal, like the mom Elizabeth had always known. “I was just wondering if you’d seen Mary before you left. We can’t find her anywhere, and Jerry and Rick are checking the backyard and the neighborhood. Diana’s worried sick and—”
I’ll bet, Elizabeth thought, listening to all the messages. The next two calls were hang-ups. The next one was Laura again, her voice more desperate, definitely more worried, and it was genuine. “Mary’s missing, honey, we can’t find her. When I get off the phone with you I’m calling the police.”
Mom’s terror and worry were evident in her tone of voice and Elizabeth knew she had to talk to her mother now. She dialed the number and it was answered on the first ring. “Elizabeth, is Mary with you?”
“Yes, she’s with me,” Elizabeth said, her mind trying to come up with a story quickly. “She wanted to come with me so I let her. Sorry.”
“Oh, thank God, I’m so relieved,” Mom said. “We were so worried. Diana was just beside herself and—”
“I’m sorry,” Elizabeth said. “I wanted the company and I should have said something but Mary was upset and—”
“Upset? Why was she upset?”
Elizabeth was quickly growing confused. She shouldn’t have taken Mary so quickly, so suddenly, but at the time it was the only thing she could think of to do to get her away from Diana and talk to her openly without fear of reprisal. Her mom was still in Diana’s camp, at least that was Elizabeth’s impression, and she didn’t want to upset her. “She’s just upset at...at everything,” Elizabeth said, making up excuses on the spot.
“Didn’t you even think to tell us you were taking her? We’ve been so—”
There was a sound on the other end, background voices, and then Diana’s voice came on the line. Stern, angry, authorative. “What the hell were you thinking taking Mary without my permission?”
For a moment a part of Elizabeth was afraid and wanted to back down. “I...don’t know,” she said. “I wasn’t—”
“Bring her back here and do it now!”
Then suddenly all the anger that had been building up broke to the surface and whatever confusion and fear Elizabeth had felt was gone. “Bring her back and do it now? Who do you think you are?”
“I’m Mary’s parent, and you took her without my permission!”
“You’re not Mary’s parent!” Elizabeth yelled. “You don’t give a shit about her and you know it!”
There was a pause on the line. Then Diana’s voice started breaking down into sobs. “How can you say that?”
That stopped Elizabeth. It sounded like Diana was crying. Maybe I’m wrong, she thought. Maybe she isn’t the monster I think she is, maybe they’re not the things Mary is making them out to be. Elizabeth could hear her mother in the background talking calmly to Diana. She heard Diana’s voice as she tried to hold back her tears, then she felt her resolve crumble. My God, I fucked up. I fucking kidnapped my niece and—
Through sniffles, Elizabeth heard Diana tell her mother, “I’ll be okay. Why don’t you go out and tell Jerry and Rick that we found her.”
“All right, honey,” Laura said. There was the sound of mom’s footsteps retreating.
“Diana,” Elizabeth said, feeling a sudden sense of shame at having caused so much anguish. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know...we...we just forgot something at the house and Mary wanted to come along and—”
“Bring her back now or I’ll castrate your son and stuff his cock up your ass.” The sudden emotion, the breakdown and tears that had been in Diana’s voice a moment before were now gone. In its place was pure evil.
Elizabeth’s voice froze. An icy grip throttled her. “What did you say?”
“Did I stutter? Are you as deaf as Cindy was?”
At the mention of Cindy, Elizabeth felt cold. She tightened her grip on the receiver. “I’m not bringing Mary back.”
“You will,” Diana said, her voice a low purr that was both seductive and cunningly evil. “You’ll bring her back now or—”
“Or what?” Elizabeth said, her voice rising, panicking now, the fear still there but helping to spike the anger that had momentarily retreated. “What the fuck can you do? You aren’t Mary’s legal guardian. You have no legal claim to her, so fuck you!”
And then she slammed the phone down.
She stood at the kitchen counter, hand still on the receiver, her heart pounding. She felt dizzy.
Diana’s voice...it had still been her, had still had that smoky tone of cigarettes and booze, but it had changed as soon as her mother left the room. It had changed into something unnatural, something un-human.
Bring her back now or I’ll castrate your son and stuff his cock up your ass.
And Cindy...what did she mean by Cindy being deaf? As if she had made a similar threat to Cindy.
The hairs on Elizabeth’s arms stood up on end as it hit her: Cindy hadn’t been intoxicated when she broke into Ronnie and Diana’s house. Yes, she broke into the house and tried to kill Diana but...maybe it’s true that Diana threatened Mary.
And knowing Cindy, that would have been something she wouldn’t have taken lying down. She would have been driven to do something about it.
But she would have called the police. Surely she would have told Ronnie—
Well, maybe Ronnie wouldn’t have listened. In fact, it was more likely Ronnie had rebuffed her. And with Cindy’s criminal record and her reputation as a drinker and a brawler, any reports to the police would have fallen on deaf ears. Mom hadn’t thought Cindy was serious when she told Elizabeth about the harassment incidents prior to Cindy’s death. And who would have back then, Elizabeth thought. Cindy was a drunk, a fuck up. And Diana is the kind of person who would have taken advantage of that.
Elizabeth stood at the k
itchen, her heart trip-hammering in her chest.
The intensity in Diana’s voice reverberated in her mind.
The guttural tone—
—the evil.
Elizabeth rushed upstairs, not knowing what they were going to do, but knowing they had to get moving, get a plan in action, and do it fast.
SIXTEEN
THEY ARGUED ABOUT what to do. Elizabeth wanted to pack some things and go away somewhere, anywhere, as long as it was far away from Lancaster County, and she wanted to take Mary with her. Gregg was the voice of reason; it was clear he believed her, and she told him everything down the hall in her office while the kids waited for them in their bedroom. His eyes grew wide when she related what Diana told her she would do to their son, and if it wasn’t for that he might not have been totally won over to her corner. As it was he still tried to play devil’s advocate in the situation, suggesting the possibility they would be arrested and charged with kidnapping. Still, she pressed the issue with Gregg. “Diana is not Mary’s legal guardian,” she reiterated. “If they want to get her, they’ll have to come here with Ronnie. In fact, I insist that Ronnie come get her. After what happened yesterday, I want to see him.”
Gregg looked out the window that overlooked Elm Street. Elizabeth was sitting in her chair, back turned to the blank computer screen. Gregg turned around. “She’s probably on her way over here.”
“You’re probably right.”
“Let’s get in the car and go to his house.”
Elizabeth felt the fear twist in her stomach. “And do what?”
“For one, if Diana and your mother are heading over here, and I think they or the cops will be soon, then we’ll avoid them for awhile. It’ll buy us some time. Two, if we head to Ronnie’s house we can see for ourselves what the situation is and we might be able to talk some sense into him.”
“Buy some time?”
“If Diana left your mom’s house to come over here she’ll be here in five or ten minutes,” Gregg said, leaning against the windowsill. “It’ll take us thirty minutes or so to get to Ronnie’s. Diana isn’t going to know how to get to our place unless your mother is with her, and you know your mom knows the back roads. We can bypass them by taking 222 and getting off in Reamstown and heading towards Adamstown. By the time Diana and your mom get back to the house, we’ll be at your brother’s. Worst case scenario is even if Diana calls the police they can’t do anything to us because Mary is your niece and she did come with us willingly and we brought her back to her father. Cops won’t want to get involved in a domestic situation anyway.”
“I don’t know if I feel good about leaving Mary with Ronnie,” Elizabeth said, worried.
“I don’t either, but we can at least see what the situation is at the house before making that decision.”
“What if Ronnie isn’t there? What if we can’t find him?”
“Why wouldn’t he be there?”
Because maybe he isn’t Ronnie anymore is what she wanted to answer. The more she thought about it, the more her imagination started to run away with her, and when she took Mary’s account into the situation it sounded like a horror movie. Like Diana was some kind of vampire or succubus, draining the life out of everyone around her. Instead of answering, she shook her head. “I don’t know...I’m just scared about what we might find.”
“So am I. But we’ll have the cell phone with us. At the first sign of anything dangerous or weird happening, we get the hell out of there and call the cops.”
Elizabeth looked down the hall toward the bedroom. “I’m so worried for her.”
“I know,” Gregg whispered. He approached her and touched her shoulders. “So am I.”
The clock was ticking. They had to get moving, had to do something. Elizabeth nodded and stood up. “Let’s do it.”
WHEN THEY PULLED up in front of Ronnie’s house twenty-five minutes later Elizabeth was struck by how barren it looked.
The one story brick ranch house had been built on the corner of a quiet cul-de-sac, a new development of homes that were mostly finished. Another development a few blocks over had been completed a few years before, and the lot behind Ronnie’s had been bought and a new house was to be erected there next spring. Despite the fact that the neighborhood was well populated, and there were signs of life and activity, Ronnie’s house looked like one of those homes one saw in a movie; alone on a barren mid-western field, desolate, secluded from civilization. She looked out the passenger window of the car at the house as they pulled up to the curb and shuddered as she noted the yellowing lawn, the drab appearance. The garage door was closed and the curtains were drawn shut, giving the house the appearance that nobody was home. Ronnie’s black Ford Explorer was in the driveway. He was home, at least.
From the backseat, Mary started crying.
Gregg turned off the ignition and looked at the house, then at Elizabeth. “You want to go up?”
Elizabeth nodded and swallowed. She had thought about it on the drive over, knew Gregg had mulled it over as well, and having her walk up to the house and knock on the door, gain entrance into the house and talk to Ronnie was probably the best course of action. Of course she would high tail it back at the first sign of any weird shit. If she could see Ronnie, assess the situation, talk to him openly about what was going on, she’d have a firm grip on which to base her next decision.
And if he seems fine, if he’s just tired from all the over-work and stress, then what? Do I just hand Mary over to him, knowing what I know about Diana?
What exactly do I know about Diana?
And for that matter, what does Ronnie know about Diana?
It was about time to find out.
“I’ll be fine,” she said as she opened the door and stepped out.
She headed up the walkway to the front door. Pausing for a moment, she glanced back at the car and rang the doorbell.
Waited.
She rang the doorbell again, then leaned forward and tried to listen for any sounds that were emanating from within.
Nothing.
She frowned. No, there wasn’t exactly silence. She definitely sensed a presence, but it wasn’t anything she could discern. It wasn’t as if somebody was lying in wait on the other side of the door. The feeling was almost like—
Like that of an animal—or something—waiting for her to come in.
She thought of Himmler sitting in the dark house calmly as she stood outside. And while the visual image would normally be threatening, ominous, it didn’t scare her.
But something else did scare her, though. It was the thought, the feeling, that the presence she felt waiting on the other side of the door wasn’t Himmler at all, but something else.
She whirled toward the car, momentarily panicked, then Gregg held up his hand, holding something. She realized it was the cell phone and she ran to the car, wanting to get away from the house, feeling she was being watched, and as she stepped into the car Gregg asked, “What happened?”
“Nothing. He didn’t answer,” Elizabeth said. “But something’s there. I can feel it.”
“Something?”
“It’s that thing!” Mary cried. She was huddled against Eric who had his arm protectively around her, his face worried. “That thing’s in there and its got my daddy!”
“His car’s parked in the driveway,” Gregg said, licking his lips nervously. “Call him.” He held the cell phone out to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth took the phone and hit the speed dial button for Ronnie. The phone rang once, twice, three times, then—
“Hello?” The voice on the other end was groggy, weak, and slightly raspy.
“Ronnie?”
“Hello?”
“Ronnie, it’s Elizabeth. Are you okay?”
“Elizabeth?” She could tell it was Ronnie now but he sounded weak, disoriented. “Where are you? What’s—”
“I’m in front of your house. Are you okay? I rang the doorbell a few times but nobody answered.”
“Feel
horrible.”
“You feel horrible?”
“Yeah.” His voice was weak, raspy.
“Do you feel sick?”
“Yeah. Tired...”
“Where are you?”
“In bed.”
“Can you walk?”
“Yeah.” There was muffled coughing on the other end, then he came back on the line, still sounding weak. “Hold on.”
Elizabeth glanced at Gregg, the earlier paranoia she had felt about Diana draining the life out of him now dissipating. Ronnie was sick, and judging from his condition a few weeks ago and yesterday he was deteriorating. He probably had fallen off the wagon, was using drugs, maybe cocaine, maybe heroin. He was doing something, had to have been doing something to get him through the stress of working all those double shifts every day with no days off, dealing with Diana not working and doing nothing in the house, dealing with her lazy kids, not being able to see his daughter, then dealing with Cindy’s incompetence and addictions. Elizabeth actually wished her brother had fallen off the wagon and slid back into drug use. It would be better for him if that were the case rather than what her paranoid, fantasy-addled imagination had dreamed up. “Ronnie, you okay?”
“You outside? I’ll unlock the door.”
“Okay.” She looked at Gregg, feeling the tension shift. “He’s going to unlock the door. I’m going to see what the situation is.”
Gregg nodded. “Does he sound like he’s been using?”
“Yeah. I hope that’s the case.” She stepped out of the car, handed the phone back to Gregg and headed back to the house.
When she reached the front door she heard the lock disengage. She pushed the front door open, letting light into the room. At first she didn’t see Ronnie because it was so dark inside, but as she took a step inside the first thing that struck her was the closed-in, musty smell of the house. It felt like the house had been closed off for a few months. She held her breath, then stepped into the living room.
The Beloved Page 22