“What kinds of things?” I asked gently. “I don’t recall you and Grace having a lot of stuff.”
“Books and clothes mostly,” Gregson responded. I felt myself perk up a bit. Rachel had mentioned books. Gregson seemed to notice the change in my demeanor. “Nothing special. Just lots of old used things I needed to get rid of. Less stuff to take.” He patted his armchair.
“You gave the books away?” James asked. “All of them?”
Gregson paused and appeared to be thinking hard. As he spoke, it was slow and deliberate, as though he was very aware of his words. “I had her sell all of it. For cash. These places are expensive to live in, you know. My social security check barely covers the rent.”
James nodded and pulled a small notebook and a pen from his shirt pocket. “Any ideas where she sold them to?”
“I didn’t ask for receipts,” Gregson scoffed. “Rachel’s a good girl. She wouldn’t hide money from me.”
“That’s not what we’re suggesting,” I assured him.
Gregson crossed his arms and studied me carefully. “Then what exactly are you suggesting, my dear?” His twinkling eyes turned cold and dull. I felt a chill rise in the pit of my stomach. This old guy was luring me dangerously close to the deep end and I had a feeling I couldn’t swim in his waters.
“Just wondering if you happened to know the name of the place she sold to,” James said easily as I stammered for words. “That’s all.”
Gregson seemed to accept this and his kindness returned, softening his features. “Some place in Chicago. She was headed to the city for a bachelorette party for a friend of hers. Said she’d sell it all while she was down there.”
“But you can’t remember the name of the place?” I asked skeptically, finding my voice.
“No,” Gregson assured me. “I can’t.” His voice was once again cold steel. After a few seconds, he steepled his fingertips and leaned forward in his chair. “Has Rachel done something wrong?” he asked suspiciously.
“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” I told him. “Would you mind if we gave Rachel a quick call to see if she can recall the name of the bookstore?”
“I don’t think you need me on a phone call,” Gregson chuckled nervously. “Why don’t you just ask her yourself when you get home? So if that’s the end of your line of questions-” Gregson hefted himself out of his chair with a grunt and began to stagger towards James and I, trying to shoo us out his front door.
I didn’t budge, but narrowed my eyes. Something was definitely not sitting well with me. I pulled out my cell and dialed Rachel’s number, which I knew by heart. “I just think she’d love to hear from you,” I assured Gregson, putting the call on speaker phone. “Now that she’s no longer in your employ, it can simply be a call for pleasure, rather than business.”
“Two things you should never mix,” Gregson said hurriedly. “Listen, it has been lovely catching up but it’s getting late and I really think you should-”
“Hello?” Rachel said, answering my call. “Em? Is everything okay?”
“It’s great!” I chirped. “Listen, James and I are just sitting here with Greg Gregson and he told us that you were sweet enough to help him pack up and sell a few things on his behalf, so his move to the assisted living facility was easier.”
“Retirement home,” Gregson snapped.
“Anyway, he was just trying to recall the name of that store you sold all of his used books to. He thought it was some store in Chicago.” I waited and stole a glance at James, who was grinning wildly at my boldness.
“Rachel,” Gregson growled quietly.
“Rachel,” I said smoothly. “Tell me. Now. We’ve come too far to hit another dead end.”
There was another moment’s pause. “The Quill,” she finally answered quietly.
Something flashed in Gregson’s eyes, but it was quickly gone. His face immediately crumpled. “Ah,” he said quietly. “That’s it.”
I looked from Gregson to James and shrugged. “Well, I guess that’s all. Thanks for your help, Rachel. Have a good night.”
“You, too,” Rachel said before the line went dead. I wanted to reach through the phone and hug her. The confession hadn’t been easy, I was sure, but it was another crumb. Gregson had obviously sworn her to silence. While before I’d have laughed at this, I was beginning to think Gregson was a dangerous man, despite his age. I didn’t blame Rachel for being cautious.
Mr. Gregson tottered back to his chair and sat silently for a few moments, his head resting against his hand. “Old brain,” he said, tapping his head without glancing at us.
“I understand,” I said, my voice more cool than I thought it was capable of.
A lingering silence rose between us. Finally, Gregson shakily pushed himself back to his feet and he walked quickly to the front door. Opening it, he turned back to James and I. “I think you’d better go now,” he muttered quietly.
I looked at James, who shrugged. It was likely that we’d uncovered all that we could from Gregson, for now. Even if he did know more, we’d have to investigate a little further before we had more questions to ask him. I walked slowly for the door and gave Gregson a cold, hard stare as I passed by. “Great to meet you,” James muttered.
“I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again,” Gregson admitted.
“I feel as if that’s likely,” James said with a nod.
We’d been back on the road for about 45 minutes when my cell phone began to ring. It took me several seconds of patting various pockets within my purse to find it. When I finally located it, I quickly answered with a breathless “hello?”
“Break in the case,” Addison said hurriedly.
“Oh, God. Did you find her?” I asked, running my free hand worriedly through my hair. James turned to look at me, a question filling his eyes.
“No,” Addison responded quickly, and I shook my head at James. “But a follow-up to the ransom arrived at your brother’s house.”
“In the mail?” I asked confused.
“Hand delivered,” she responded. “To your brother’s house.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “What? Who would do that?”
“That’s just it,” Addison said. “Rachel won’t tell us.”
“What do you mean she won’t tell you?” I cried. “Can’t someone reason with her? John?”
“She didn’t tell them,” Addison revealed. “She only told me. Called. She made me swear I would only share with you. I assume she had to know we would tell the other three.”
“What is going on?” James hissed, trying hard to keep his eyes on the road but glare at me threateningly at the same time. I filled him in quickly. “What?” he cried in disbelief.
“I know!” Addison screamed on the other end of the line. Pulling the phone away from my ear, I switched it over to speaker. “It’s typed again.”
“What does it say?” I asked her.
“To have the money at the diner where Rachel works at 7:30pm and for Rachel to be the one to deliver it,” Addison said.
“And Riley?” I asked.
“Doesn’t say,” Mika admitted, coming in on the conversation. Addison must have us on speaker, as well.
“Let me get this straight,” James said loudly, keeping his eyes trained on the road. “We’re supposed to come up with the full ransom within the next few hours, leave it with Rachel and have her hand it over, without a clue as to Riley’s whereabouts?”
“That about covers it,” Mika told him.
The silence stretched for what seemed like far too long before Janet broke in. “Do you think we should tell Frank or your dad about this?” Her voice sounded tinny and very, very far away.
I immediately shook my head, even though they couldn’t see me. “We have to protect Rachel,” I responded. “Addie, she asked that you keep this to yourself for a reason.”
“She’s the one with three million dollars,” James argued. “If anyone needs protecting, it’s probably your niece.”
/>
Addison sighed. “Marian is right,” she grumbled. “If Rachel really is in on this whole thing, she’s probably our best bet of finding Riley.” Pausing for a moment, she continued, “It sounds like you’re in a car. Are you on your way back from Gregson’s?”
“We are,” I assured her.
“Did you find anything?” she asked, suddenly bold with curiosity.
“Quite a bit,” I teased. James and I alternated sharing the strange scene that had unfolded back at the retirement home with Gregson.
“Weird,” Addison breathed when we’d finished.
“Quite,” I answered.
“The Quill,” Janet said from far away. “We have to go, I guess. In person. I’ll go. I’ll drive myself down to Chicago tomorrow.”
“Why not tonight?” James asked.
“It’s too late,” Janet assured him. “It’s nearly a four-hour drive to Chicago from here. They’ll be closed by the time I get there, I’m sure. I’ll leave early tomorrow, though. Before dawn.”
“What about the ransom?” I asked. “What do we do about that?”
“It feels funny,” Mika told me. “Something about how quickly it appeared. How cagey Rachel was with the details and not telling us who delivered it. How she was home alone when it happened.”
“You’re sure my parents and John don’t know about it?” I asked them.
“Positive,” Addison and Janet responded together.
“Maybe it’s some kind of setup?” James asked. The silence stretched long and loud. “Good grief,” James finally said, rubbing his temples as he steered our car along. “What the hell happened to cases that were easy?”
“They’ve never been easy,” Mika reminded him. “They just weren’t quite this messed up.”
“Criminals are getting creative,” Addison chimed in. “It’s the only way they’ll make headlines.”
“Then why don’t you people stop giving them attention?” James asked.
“You people?” I heard Addison’s voice prickle with indignation. “Do you mean reporters?”
“More or less,” James replied.
“I provide a service,” Addison roared.
“Hey!” I said, cutting off a nasty string of cuss words that exited Addison’s lips next. “Can we please try to focus? There’s a ransom due in a few short hours. Between that and the bookstore tomorrow, we might be able to wrap all of this up and bring Riley home alive in the next several hours. We have to work together, though. As a team. United and all that nonsense.” I paused and yawned, suddenly very sleepy. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been awake today, but it felt like far too long. “We’ll be back in about another 40 minutes or so,” I assured Addison. “Cool down. Do some deep breathing.”
“I suppose we’re going to work on coming up with over 60 grand in secret,” she responded sarcastically. “It’s going to be darn near impossible.”
“Which is just the kind of possible I like,” said Mika, just before I clicked off. At least someone over there was positive about the unfolding situation.
James and I rode in silence for a few moments. As I peered out the window at snow-filled, empty fields, I felt my whole being begin to crush under the weight of hopelessness. Hopelessness is a terrible emotion. If I could banish one feeling from the human variety, it would be that one. I always thought that fear or sadness were worse, but I was wrong. Hopelessness eats at your soul in a way that no other emotion can, allowing those other pesky feelings to leak into the empty holes and nest there, willing you to feel more and more depleted, until the ugly stepsister, Giving Up, makes her grand entrance. Hopelessness sucks.
James seemed to sense this and reached an arm across the cup holders, setting a hand on my leg. “We’ll find her,” he told me sternly. “And she’ll be okay. I promise.”
I felt myself smile a little. “You’re not supposed to promise a victim’s family anything. Crime 101.”
James shrugged. “I don’t really like the rule book. I’m more of a renegade.”
I grinned. “So I’m learning. Still, we need to be reasonable about the possibilities here.” The whole situation was exceedingly twisted. I didn’t want to admit it but there was a strong possibility that I wouldn’t be a huge fan of the outcome. Just because someone hadn’t kidnapped Riley and left her for dead in the bitter winter didn’t mean she hadn’t been hurt or worse, somewhere far and away from her loving family.
“Well, Darlin’,” James said easily, “I’ve known you off and on over the years. But one thing I’ve learned is that I’ve never known you to be reasonable about anything.” He paused and frowned. “And I absolutely mean that as a compliment.”
I set my hand atop his and turned back to stare out the window, a worried frown on my face, and hoped with all of my heart that he was right.
We returned home to little progress having been made. My parents were out in the garage, collecting information from people who had returned from their searches, creating new assignments and struggling to stay warm near the space heater. Nearly the whole town had been studied by this point, but my parents were desperate to find their granddaughter. Desperation could make you unreasonable. Unreasonable could mean searching the same spots again and again, hoping for missed clues. I’d seen unreasonable many times as I’d photographed crime scenes. An unknowing victim’s family would come home to ambulances, body bags and thick yellow tape. They’d attempt to charge into the crime scene, not believing that someone they loved was dead, despite the evidence laid out in front of them.
John was off searching for Riley, while Rachel was still waiting at home in case Riley turned up there, even though both she and I knew that, that wouldn’t happen. I looked and looked for Addison, Mika and Janet, but couldn’t find them anywhere. Having no clue where they’d run off to, I texted Addison, asking that she and the others meet us at my brother’s house. It would be easier to keep things under wraps there, away from volunteers and prying family.
When we arrived, I knocked on the front door. It was the first time I’d ever knocked. Normally, I just let myself in their house. Somehow, that didn’t feel right this time around. Rachel opened the door quickly and cast a suspicious glare at us. She turned to check behind her. The others, I suspected, were already there. Then she spun around to face us again, anger contorting her face into an ugly expression. “I can’t believe you put me on the spot like that,” she hissed. “Calling me with Gregson right there! He’s gonna-”
“What?” James asked her calmly. “Kill you?”
Eventually Rachel turned away, not bothering to confirm or deny James’s suspicions. “Everyone is in the living room. This way,” and she motioned for us to follow her, as though I hadn’t been into her living room hundreds of times before. On the couch sat Addison, Janet and Mika. They each held a mug of tea and were munching on frosted cookies. “Riley and I made those. Yesterday, before she was grounded,” Rachel said quietly. “We were going to surprise John after dinner. He’s been working so late in the mailroom, now that we’re in the holiday season.”
I sighed, my anger with her dissipating. I no longer cared if she was playing me. I was tired of guessing at her intentions. “Do you have any idea where she might be?”
Rachel shook her head. “I swear. I have no idea where she is. If I did, I’d tell you.”
“But you know who may have taken her,” Janet said from her place on the couch, between munches. “Was it Gregson?”
Rachel shook her head. “I can’t. I can’t tell you anything. Please.”
“But why?” I pled, taking one of her hands in mine. “We’re alone here. No one will know.”
“Because I don’t know anything more,” she said simply.
I dropped her hands in disgust and shook my head. “You know more than you’re letting on,” I challenged her.
Rachel continued to stare at the floor, silent.
“Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath. Clearly that conversation was going nowhere. “Let’s focus
on the ransom drop that’s supposed to happen tonight.”
“We’re not going to be able to lock down the money in time,” Addison told me quickly. I immediately felt deflated. How much more could go wrong?
“There’s no way for anyone to get it from the local bank or police department without someone blabbing,” Mika said simply.
“This town is too damn small,” James added.
“Stupid Agnes Thorton,” Addison mumbled. “How much longer is she going to be alive? She was old when we were kids, Mare.”
“It is frustrating,” James agreed, “but at least three people in this room have that kind of money sitting around.” He looked to Mika. “Why can’t you or I just do the draw? Agnes Thorton has nothing on us.”
“But we both use banks local to the city,” Mika reminded him. We’d have to drive all the way back to Milwaukee to withdraw. No ATM will give us that kind of cash. And there’s no way to make it to Milwaukee and back by seven.”
“Rachel uses a national bank,” I told them.
“But she’d need to transfer the funds, which would take time,” Mika said. “On top of that, she’d have to withdraw from her local bank. Which again broaches the issue of blabby Agnes telling everyone that your sister-in-law is suddenly rolling in the dough. That’s one risk we can’t take anyone around here knowing just yet- including your family, Marian.”
“So what do we do?” I asked, looking from one face to the next.
“Simple,” James said with an easy smile. “We bluff.”
I’m not particularly fond of bluffing. This is due, in part, to how horrible I am with doing it. Honesty is the best policy anyway, right?
We spent the remainder of the afternoon hashing out details around the drop. As 7pm inched closer, we went through the final layout, just to make sure that everyone had their assignments correct. Mika and Janet were to go in first and request a table. James would follow a few minutes later and sit alone at the kitchen bar. Rachel was to enter by herself, carrying a paper bag filled with Monopoly money, and sit near James. She would want to be close enough to him that he could hear any conversation that transpired between she and Riley’s potential kidnapper, but far enough away that he didn’t intimidate anyone to the point of not appearing. He was rather intimidating looking, after all, even with his gun hidden beneath his long but chest-hugging t-shirt.
Allison Janda - Marian Moyer 02 - Seduction, Deceit & a Slice of Apple Pie Page 7