Lethal Affair
Page 23
He knew she was aware of his anxiety; she would answer.
If she could.
Deep breaths. Maybe she was out of range. He tried again and got the same result. He'd called her when she'd been further away than Metchosin and she'd answered then, no problem.
Lyle and Kim both stopped what they were doing and were watching Will.
“Something wrong?” asked Lyle.
“Rosemary isn't picking up. That guy, his dog...”
“You're not making sense, man.”
The panic was coming in waves now. “Shit! Max! Kylie!” He was punching the touch screen on his phone frantically, cursing the whole time. He listened to the ring tone go on and on.
“Talk to us,” Lyle insisted. “What's going on?”
Will was all tension and rage. “There was a man with a dog at the park. It was Hammond! Neither Rosemary or Kylie is picking up.”
*
Margie hauled Kylie to her feet and brought them face to face.
“Don't tell me you're going to do this foolishness,” Margie cautioned. “Let's go get those two burly guys out front, let them handle this.”
Kylie was trembling, gulping air. “He wants me, Margie. I can't let him hurt Max.”
“Who's Max?”
“He's my boyfriend's son.”
“You've got a boyfriend? When did this happen? No, wait. Tell me later. Right now I want you to take a chill pill while I go get those...”
“No! Don't you understand? He's going to kill Max if I don't do what he wants. Margie, you know what he did to those two women. They died horribly.”
“We don't know that it was him.”
“He kidnapped a ten year old kid and wants me in exchange. He's lost it completely.” Realization dawned. “What if he's bullshitting me about an exchange? What if...”
“Don't go there! What instructions did he give you?”
“No police. I'm to go through the fields to the pay phone at Country Cupboards.”
“I have an ATV out back for the crop keepers. No one's using it right now.” She dug into her deep pockets and came up with a key ring, extracted a key. “Go. Take it. But whether you like it or not I'm going to call Detective Crane.”
“Here, take down his number off my phone.”
Margie quickly scribbled the number onto her palm.
“Are you sure you're up to this? This is insanity; you know that, right?”
“Would you let a kid die because of you?”
Margie's look was dead-on serious. “No. But what about your kid, the one in there?” She was pointing at Kylie's belly.
“It's his. He won't hurt it.” She wasn't sure if she believed it herself but she couldn't, wouldn't leave Max in a lurch. Or Will. Oh God, Will! Should she call him?
Her phone rang. Speak of the devil. He'd freak. Would he tell her not to go? Maybe he'd tell her she should go! Damn it, she couldn't think.
Sudden clarity overruled the panic. She had the power to get Max back. This was her shot at it and she wouldn't fail him.
Ignoring Will's call she ran to the field where the ATV was parked. Hopping on, Kylie's mind whirred with anxiety as she plowed along the dirt access road at top speed, making it to Country Cupboards in record time. The phone was ringing when she got there.
Breathlessly, “I'm here!”
“Very good. Scored a point for getting there fast. Glad you're not wasting my time because little Max is getting on my nerves. He's making me lose my cool. We don't want that, do we?”
“No! I mean, no, we don't. What comes next, Drew?”
“You haven't informed the dedicated Detective Crane of our little enterprise here, have you? Because if you have...”
“No! This is strictly between you and me. I'll do whatever you say. Just don't hurt Max. Please.”
“Well, since you're asking so politely and all, I'll hold off for a bit. Maybe you can take his place. Would you like that, to take his place?”
“Yes. Yes, I would. He has nothing to do with us. Nothing to do with any of this.”
“Oh but I beg to differ. He's the son of the man you've replaced me with. A man who maybe thinks he's the father of your child. Does he think that, Kylie? Is that what you've told him?”
If possible, her heart sank lower. He'd been watching them the whole time, making his assumptions.
“Drew, please. Let's talk about this when we're together. I'll tell you whatever you want to know.”
“Oh, believe me, you will. How did you get to the phone so fast? Those cops from the parking lot listening in right now?”
“No. I used the company ATV. I did as you asked and came here through the field.”
“Good. When you get to Daisy Corners you'll see a set of mail boxes. The third from the left is unlocked. In it you'll find a cell phone. Call me.”
He clicked off, leaving her no choice but to carry on.
It took nearly an hour to reach Daisy Corners where six roads met and crossed one another. Two directions of those roads led travelers back into the outlying districts of Victoria. The others took them deep into the forest, much of it undeveloped parkland.
She reached into the mail box and found the cell. There was only one number in the contact list.
He answered immediately. “What took you so long, sweetheart?”
“An ATV only goes so fast. Where are you? Why all the subterfuge?”
“You make this sound like a Bond movie. Are you a Bond girl, Kylie? Oh, wait a minute. You're pregnant. Bond women know how to have a good time without incurring consequences, don't they?”
She'd use her pregnancy as a bargaining chip if she had to. “That's right, I'm pregnant with your child. You don't want to hurt the baby.”
“I'm not so sure it's mine, now that you've shown your true colors.”
“And you, yours.”
“Touché! This is fun. I think we're going to enjoy our time together.”
“Just tell me where you are.”
“Look behind the mail boxes, Kylie. See the ten speed? I know you enjoy a good ride. Get on it and take the northeast road until you see a marker with a blue flag on it. Keep a sharp eye out for it because your phone will be hitting cold spots and we'll be out of touch. Got all that, Kylie? Max here is depending on it.”
“Yes, I've got it. I'm coming your way, Drew. Just wait for me. Don't do anything to Max.”
“I won't as long as you come alone. You have my word.”
He clicked off.
She tried to call Detective Crane but her own phone was out of credit and this new one was programmed to receive and send calls to this one number exclusively.
Perfect.
Lacking a pen she typed a message into her personal phone and left it displayed on the screen, unable to send. She put it on top of the mailboxes and got on the ten speed.
* * * *
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Stanley found Olivia in her usual hang out, the sun room. She was dosing, an empty highball glass on the table beside her. It was three in the afternoon.
He shook her shoulder and she jerked awake.
“Olivia, wake up. I need to speak with you.”
She opened her eyes fully and straightened in her chair, ran a hand through her hair.
Stanley was dismayed. She'd become a drunk, a common alcoholic. Once upon a time she'd been so alluring that when she'd rejected his advances, he'd simply taken what he'd wanted by force. Regretfully he knew he'd driven her to drink. It was a coping mechanism. He understood that now.
“What is it Stanley?” she uttered tiredly.
“It's Drew. He's gone missing and the police are looking for him. Have they been here yet?”
“I've been... busy.”
Stanley called out to Ligaya who appeared instantly.
“Were there any calls today?” he asked her.
“Yes, sir. The policeman, Detective Crane, he call. Want to know if Mr. Drew here. I say no, he not here.”
“That
was it?”
“No sir. He say if Mr. Drew come here, for me to tell him.”
“Alright Ligaya. Thank you, that will be all.”
Ligaya melted into the background as Stanley turned back to his wife.
“Olivia. Drew visits you. How does he seem to you?”
Olivia stared dully. “He did it, didn't he? Those murders. He killed those women.” Her eyes welled.
Stanley's spirit plummeted with the weight of her acknowledgment of his own conclusions. He knew he'd lost Drew now to whatever demon lived inside him. He'd tried to help him and maybe still could when they caught him.
If they caught him.
Drew hadn't answered any of his calls. Clearly he had succumbed to this seemingly genetic curse. A step over the edge of sanity into an abyss of mental anguish and pain. He knew, because he himself had nearly succumbed to the same at least half a dozen times throughout his lifetime. Only recently had it abated, that bleak and dark demon that had driven his son into madness.
He felt shame that he himself had been too weak to override his own for so long. He might have spared Olivia a lot of grief.
“Olivia, we must put up a united front. The police will come, they'll ask questions. Probably have search warrants. Tell me, is it true that you still have your garden gloves and shears?”
“No Stanley, I don't. He took them.” Tears spilled silently down her cheeks, punctuating stark misery.
Stanley took her hands in his and bowed his head.
Together, they wept for their son.
*
Pasty white and looking like he should be the one lying in the bed, Will sat next to Rosemary in the hospital and squeezed her hand in commiseration. The knife hadn't gone deep. The doctors had repaired the damage and Rosemary would have a scar but otherwise be fine. She was on an antibiotic drip and would be released the next day.
“Stop saying you're sorry, Will. It's hardly your fault and you've got bigger things on your mind. Get out of here. I've got people here who I plan to milk for sympathy and believe me, I'm going to take advantage.”
She aimed a watery smile at her husband, Jeff, who sat opposite, still shell-shocked. He held their son Bobby on his knee in a bone crushing grip.
Will got up. “Alright. I'm off.” He looked at Bobby who was clinging to his Dad. “We're going to get him back,” he told him with conviction, and watched Bobby nod vaguely.
“One thing before you go Will,” said Rosemary solemnly. “Your son saved my life. He's tough, brave to the bone. If there's a way to get away, he'll take action.”
“Thank you, Rosemary. Crane and his gang are on it, but I'm not going to sit on the sidelines and wait for them to bring him back. I'm going to do whatever it takes.”
“Let me help,” said Jeff. “Tell me what you need me to do.”
Will nodded. “Keep these two safe. If there's anything else, I'll let you know.”
The police had found and returned the little mop dog back to its owner two blocks from the Meeslers. They'd confiscated its collar to dust for fingerprints, collecting their evidence. Rosemary had positively identified Drew Hammond as the man who had stabbed her. They had plenty now to arrest him, but they had to find him first.
Margie Farmer's frantic call to Detective Crane had set off a massive search. When a passerby had found Kylie's phone and sent her message via their own, the juncture at Daisy Corners had provided them with Margie's ATV and a valid direction. Regardless, they were scouring each of the six roadways that led out from that point.
Crane had asked Jolene to provide a recently worn piece of Kylie's clothing which he presented to the tracker dogs. The team of two German Shepherds had led them fifteen kilometers into deeply wooded country where they'd found the ten speed broken apart in pieces and tossed into a thicket of blackberry bushes. Beyond that the dogs had sniffed out a red bandana ripe with Kylie's scent. Tire tracks indicated that a vehicle had departed from that point, possibly heading back toward civilization.
Will headed back to his house where a control center had been set up. Lyle and Kim had closed the diner and everyone had shown up right down to Buster. Jolene made endless pots of coffee and fixed sandwiches that no one ate. Keep busy, she told herself, or she'd go mad. Stoically she kept it together, although she longed to have a screaming meltdown.
Holding Dino in a vice grip, Lyle crossed to Will the moment he came back in. “How is she?”
Will's reply was clipped. “Doing fine. Knife didn't puncture anything vital.” Lyle saw he was walking a sharp and slippery edge. Barely holding on.
Will hated it. To be on tender hooks was bad enough, but to see all those well meaning, anxious faces; he thought he'd go mad with the abject tension.
Crane called. “Our guys followed the tire tracks for a few kilometers but after that they got obliterated by other tracks.”
“Where exactly are you? I want to come out there.”
“Hammond had her come out here to eradicate any sign of them. There are thousands of acres of land and we've brought in some guys from the Forestry Department who know this terrain, but it's dense forest out here and we've lost light. We have to put off the search until morning. You can join us then.”
They both knew that statistically by morning it might be too late. If Kylie was with Max now, thought Will, she might be his only chance of survival. He didn't even want to think about any other possibility.
“What about the helicopters? Did they spot anything?”
“Not yet. I'll be in touch.”
Will's mind reeled. He was clinging to a treacherously thin veil of hope. He had to do something for Christ's sake. But what?
The doorbell rang and Jolene admitted Rita and Joe Lambert. She introduced them to Will. Joe Lambert was struck immediately by the desperation on Will Delaney's face. He recognized it because it was exactly how he felt.
“Mr. Lambert,” Will managed, shaking Joe's hand with a firm grip, “I really hate to be meeting under these circumstances. Your daughter is special to me too, I can guarantee you that. Looks like we're both in the same boat.”
Rita came into his line of sight looking haggard, her eyes swollen. She took Will's hand and instead of shaking it, held it to her cheek. “They'll come back to us, both of them,” she said, her voice cracking.
Jolene led her to a couch. “Kylie's smart and fierce. She did the right thing going after Max. She'll figure a way out for both of them.”
Eileen and the other waitresses had rallied in the kitchen with Buster and Jimmy. Always hungry, the kid stuffed a chunk of carrot cake down his gullet and followed it with a chug of milk.
Buster stared. “Boy, you're gonna puke if you keep that up. Reminds me of when Will took me off the streets. I was a walking skeleton then, took weeks to get enough food in me to slow down to normal eatin'.”
Jimmy eyed his rotund belly. “Looks like you made up for lost time. Where'dya sleep when you were homeless?”
“Parks mostly. Made a little shelter out of cardboard, but it got mighty cold at night. 'Specially when it rained.”
“Let's hope it doesn't rain tonight,” said Eileen.
Will had caught the tail end of the conversation. Rain would wash away tracks, slow down the hunt. His spirits dipped even lower at the thought of it.
Reluctantly he went out on the back patio and got out his cell, punched in Julia's number. This would be the hardest call he had ever had to make.
*
Back and hips aching, lungs near bursting, Kylie had pedaled for miles along blacktop until the road had narrowed and become dirt and pebble. Twice she'd stopped when the color blue had winked at her in the waning afternoon light, and twice she'd been disappointed to find crumpled up beer cans instead of a blue flag.
This had to be part of Drew's sick joke. He'd watched her ride Jolene's ten speed all over Oak Bay and now her stamina was being put to the test. She realized he meant to exhaust her. Physically worn out, she would be easier for him to handle.
There it was! A scrap of blue material flapping in the breeze. It was so small she'd almost missed it. Tossing the bike aside she knelt to examine it. Attached to the flag was a hand written note that said to take the flag with her and go around the bend in the road on foot.
The sun had moved from midday to late afternoon, sending golden rays slanting through the forest. Dappled light dimmed as a cloud blotted the sun and the air snapped to attention, all at once crisply ionized with the promise of rain.
Remembering the phone message she'd left at Daisy Corners, she propped the ten speed against a tree and began walking. Around the bend she only saw more dirt road, more trees and brush.
“Breathe,” she wheezed, gulping oxygen as her system slowly recovered from the hard ride.
“That's right, Kylie,” came Drew's disembodied voice from somewhere nearby. It echoed through the trees, making it hard to pinpoint. “Catch your breath.”
She looked around wildly. Glimpsing movement in the underbrush, she moved toward it. Thorny blackberry bushes dug into her pant legs and scraped her arms.
“Where are you, Drew?” Stay calm, she cautioned herself. This was his game and he was setting the rules.
A gray rabbit came into view, stared at her for a brief moment before hopping out of sight. From directly behind her came a soft laugh. Whirling around, the blackberry thorns tore at her flesh. He was right there! Without hesitation he stepped forward and pushed a hunting knife up against her neck.
“Don't move a centimeter. This knife sometimes has a mind of its own.”
A whimper erupted from her throat.
“Now, now, don't look at me like that. This is the fun part.” In a singsong voice, “Just you and me, and baby makes three.”
He pushed up against her, his breath hot. “I know you called in the troops. Probably left bread crumbs, huh. A nice little trail to follow?”