by John Rector
A hand appeared holding a polished black cane, and then I saw a flash of short, silver hair.
Roman Pinnell had arrived.
I watched Pinnell and his driver walk in, but I didn’t move right away. Instead, I stayed in the car for another minute and tried to settle my mind, but nothing I did seemed to help. That scared me. This had to go perfect. I couldn’t fuck it up again.
I took a deep breath, then opened the door and stepped out under a perfectly still sky. I looked around, saw no one, and started walking across the parking lot toward the entrance to the arboretum.
My knee had been numb for a while_">’as, but each time I took a step, I could feel something pop behind the bones.
Inside the arboretum, the air was rich and warm and wet. There were three separate walkways leading away from the entrance, each one lined with trees and flowers and color. The stone walls were high and spaced with full-length arched windows that looked out over snow-covered gardens.
Above it all, long glass panes ran along the ceiling toward the domed center of the building. And under that, an enormous tree, bent and scarred by age, stretched up out of the earth toward the light.
I searched for any sign of Murphy or the Vogler brothers, but the gardens were deserted. The only person I saw was a young girl in thick-rimmed glasses sitting behind the information desk with a book open in front of her.
She didn’t look at me.
I started down the main walkway toward the tree in the middle of the arboretum. There were several smaller paths that led off the walkway and disappeared into the dense gardens.
Pinnell could’ve been at the end of any of them.
When I got to the center, I stopped and fo saw the purpl
35
When I stepped out from the walkway, Pinnell was standing beside the bench, staring at me.
Neither of us moved.
Then I said, “I want to talk.”
Pinnell didn’t say anything, and at first I wasn’t sure he would acknowledge me at all, but then he turned and eased himself down onto the bench.
I approached slowly, trying to keep as much weight off my bad knee as I could.
Pinnell watched me, frowned, then opened his hand and waved it over the open seat. “Sit down, Mr. Caine.”
I sat and looked at the koi pond and watched the fish circle in flashes of red and gold and black. I thought about Murphy waiting for me, and I started to speak.
Pinnell cut me off. “I funded the construction of this building,” he said. “All these gardens, actually. Did you know?”
I told him I didn’t.
“The tree out there was here long before these gardens,” he said. “Once there was nothing here but a field of grass and weeds and that one tree. I used to come with my son from time to time. I carved his name into the side of that tree. It’s still there after all these years.”
“My daughter,” I said. “Where is she?”
Pinnell ignored me.
“Of course, when I donated the money for these gardens, I made sure they were built around that tree. There was resistance, but cutting it down was not an option, and in the end—”
“Fuck that tree.”
Pinnell stopped talking and turned to face me.
“Where is she?” I asked. “I’m not alone this time, and if I don’t get an answer from you, I’ll—”
“You’ll do what?” His eyes narrowed. “Blindfold me? Handcuff me to a pipe like an animal? Will you leave me to rot in some damp shed by the river? Will you beat me?” He hesitated. “Is that what you’ll do?”
My throat felt tight, and when I found my voice, I said, “I didn’t want her to get hurt. I went along to make sure she was safe.”
“You went along out of greed and cowardice,” he said. “Don’t pretend to be something you’re not. It’s much too late in the game for that kind of illusion.”
He was right, and there was nothing I could say.
“I gave up pretending a long time ago,” Pinnell said. “I know my role in this life, and it’s something I no longer try to escape.” He looked up and nodded. “On one hand, I am the man who built this building, and others, in an attempt to bring happiness to people, but that is not all I am.”
“I figured that out.” the lightdoo“How do you know that?”
Pinnell kept looking up, seemingly lost in thought. When he came back, his voice was soft.
“I knew the second I saw you here that you weren’t alone.” He turned to me. “You’re not an unintelligent man. At first, I thought perhaps you were, but I misjudged you.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s safe.”
The words filled me with hope, but only for a second. I wanted to believe him, but I’d believed him before, and I couldn’t do it again. This time, I needed more. “Tell me where she is.”
Pinnell looked down and tapped the end of his cane on the ground. “I’ve done many things in life that I’m not proud of,” he said. “But every action I took, every one, was for my family.”
Somewhere, far off, a woman coughed.
The sound echoed.
“But one thing I’ve learned, Mr. Caine, is that you can never fully protect the ones you love. You can build walls around them, hire an army to watch over them, but eventually, something will get through.” He pointed at me. “It could be a blind dog running on luck, like you, or it could be something else. Something bigger, something that sneaks in unnoticed and slowly drains away an entire life before it is ever lived.”
“I don’t see—”
“Or maybe something as simple as a car accident.” He turned to face me. “Perhaps an overworked nineteen-year-old university student runs a red light one morning after her eyes drift shut for an instant while driving to class.”
I felt the air rush out of me.
“There are a great many tragedies in this world, Mr. Caine. Yours is but one.”
“How did you know about the accident?”
Pinnell looked away. “If I tell you where to find your daughter, what is stopping them from killing me?”
I was still thinking about the accident, and it took me a minute to pull myself together.
Once I did, I said, “Nothing.”
“Then you’re asking me to trust you?”
“I’m not asking for anything,” I said. “I’m telling you the situation.”
Pinnell sat up, exhaled sharp. “The way I see it, as long as I have something you want, I’m safe. Forgive me if I’m not willing to give up my one remaining chip on faith.”
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, and nodded. “No, I didn’t think you would.”
“My suggestion would be for you and me to leave here together.” He turned toward me. “I can take you to your daughter, and then we part ways.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Then we are at an impasse.” He tapped his cane on the ground and pushed himself up. “It’s getting late, and I have a busy day. Right now I’m going to walk out to my car, with my driver, and we’re going to leave. If you’d like to see your daughter alive again, I suggest you make sure we’re able to do so with no interference.”
I watched him as he spoke, and I did my best the lightNothings out of to keep the rage building inside me from boiling over. I told myself he was the only one who knew where Anna was, and if I was going to find her again, I needed him alive.
“Good-bye, Mr. Caine.”
Pinnell turned to leave, but I stopped him.
“Hold on.” I took the cell phone from my pocket and held it up. “You might want to sit back down.”
“We have nothing else to discuss.”
He started toward the passage, but he didn’t get far.
Murphy stepped out, blocking the exit. He had his hands folded in front of him. He was holding the .45.
“There is one thing.” I opened the phone and hit Send. There was a series of beeps as the preset id="page_197"
36
/>
I listened while he talked, not believing.
“You’re lying.”
Pinnell shook his head. “No, I’m not.”
I watched him and I didn’t look away. I thought if I stared at him long enough, he’d slip and I’d know for sure if he was telling the truth.
But he didn’t slip.
Pinnell’s face was stone.
I stepped back and opened the phone and hit Redial. It rang, but I knew no one would answer, not this time. They’d been given specific instructions: one call only. After that, no contact.
Still, I had to try.
I let it ring several times before I hung up.
“I assure you, she’s there.”
“If you’re lying to me,” I said. “If this is some—”
“I know what’s at stake, Mr. Caine.”
“I hope you do.”
Pinnell sighed then moved back to the bench and sat down. He set his cane across his lap and said, “Since I am taking you on your word, I would like it if you took me on mine. We are both working toward the same goal.”
“You expect me to believe she’s been with you, at your home, this entire time?”
“It is the truth.”
“You wouldn’t take that risk.”
“The risk was minimal,” Pinnell said. “It was only to be one night.”
“One night?”
“Any longer, and it would’ve become difficult to keep her in the country. We thought it would be better to—”
“In the country?”
Pinnell paused. “We thought it would be better to relocate her to a place with fewer eyes. Missing children in America attract a great deal of attention.”
Nothing he was saying made sense, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was all part of some game. Pinnell was too smart, too careful, and hiding Anna at his home was not only sloppy, it was dangerous.
“I can’t believe you’d be that careless.”
Pinnell looked down at the pond. “My wife was not the only one your friends stopped from reaching the airport this morning. Our plane was ready, and your daughter was scheduled to fly.”
“What?”
“After what happened, what she witnessed, our choices were limited. She had to be removed, one way or another.” He looked up at me. “My wife convinced me to choose the more humane option.”
“You son of a bitch.”
Pinnell set his cane between his feet and folded his hands over the top. “I hope, once you have your daughter back, you’ll show the same compassion for my family that my wife has shown for yours.”
I didn’t know what to say, and for a long time, all I could do was stand there and stare at him.
After a while, he nodded toward the passage and said, “She’s waiting for you, Mr. Caine.”
Murphy was standing at the end of the path when I walked out.
I held out my hand, palm up. “I have to go.”
Murphy looked at my hand then motioned past me toward the bench where Pinnell was sitting. “Did he tell you?”
“She’s at his house.”
“What?”
“I tried calling there, but—”
“They won’t answer that line again.”
I nodded. “I have his address.”
“Do you believe him?”
“No choice.”
“What if he’s lying?” Murphy asked. “Are you prepared for that?”
I told him I was, but it wasn’t true. Not only was I not prepared, I couldn’t even bring myself to think about the possibility.
Murphclass="indent"
37
The Vogler brothers’ truck was still out front, but there was no sign of them or of Pinnell’s driver.
I crossed the lot to Murphy’s GTO, climbed in, and started the engine. When I pulled out of the parking lot, I turned toward the highway and headed south.
My arms felt weak, and my stomach rolled. I kept thinking about Anna and what I would do if she wasn’t there. The more I thought about it, the more my thoughts turned dark, and the faster I drove.
I caught myself more than once and slowed down, but my mind kept spinning, and I knew I had to do something to stay calm.
I reached into my pocket and took out the cell phone.
I dialed Carrie’s number.
She answered after the first ring.
“Oh, God, Matt.” She talked fast. “That bar, it’s all over the news. Someone burned it down, and they found bodies outside.” Her voice cracked. “I didn’t know if it was you or—”
“Carrie?”
“What the hell is going on, Matt? I didn’t know where you were or how to call you.” She took a breath. “I’ve picked up the phone so many times to call the police, but—”
“You can’t do that.”
“I know, I know.” She exhaled into the phone. The air came out in stuttered clips. “Thank God you’re safe.”
“I’m safe.”
“Anna?”
“I think I found out where she is,” I said. “I’m on my way there now.”
Carrie’s voice broke, and I heard the tears come all at once.
She didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to.
“I don’t have her yet,” I said. “But I’ll call you when I do, I promise.”
Silence.
“Carrie?”
“I’m here.” Her voice was quiet. “I just—”
“It’s okay,” I said. “Don’t worry.”
Again, silence.
“I’m sorry, for all of this.” I hesitated. “I never meant to—_Io“How do you know that?””
“Just be safe, Matt.” She stopped, and when she spoke next, her voice was steady and clear. “And bring her home.”
Roman Pinnell’s house was tucked up against a low hill covered in scrub oak. The lawn was long and framed on both sides by a tall privacy hedge. There was an oak tree out front, old and wide, and the snow-covered branches spread out over the yard in a canopy of white.
I drove by and parked a block over.
The house looked quiet, and the last thing I wanted to do was draw attention. I knew people in the neighborhood would notice a strange car parked at the curb, especially if that car was a battered orange GTO.
I got out and walked around to Pinnell’s street and started toward the house. If my knee hurt, I didn’t notice. All I could think about was seeing Anna, and even though there was no pain, each step felt heavier than the last.
When I got to the house, I started up the walk to the front door. There was a rustle in the hedge on the far side of the lawn, and when I looked over, dozens of blackbirds lifted into the air and scattered above me.
Tiny shadows against a chalk-white sky.
I stood on the porch and reached down to open the door, then stopped. It occurred to me that the men inside didn’t know I was coming, and they didn’t have any idea who I was. If I walked in without warning, things could turn bad fast.
38
The French doors opened, and the man behind me pushed me inside. I tripped over the doorjamb and went down hard. Several hands grabbed me, dragging me away from the doors and across a hard linoleum floor into a kitchen.
I tried to say something, but before I could, I felt a knee dig into my back, forcing all the air out of my lungs.
Then my hands were behind me, and I heard the long rip of duct tape. Once my hands were wrapped, the guy behind me stood up, and I sucked the air into my lungs, coughing, trying to speak.
“Wait, I—”
I tried to turn, but then the hands were on me again, dragging me up and across the floor. Someone opened a door, and I was pushed through. The floor under me gave way to nothing, and for a split second I felt myself fall, rolling down steps and landing hard on a cement floor.
I looked up toward the light at the top of the stairs and saw a dark figure, silhouetted in the doorway. He stared down at me as I tried to find my voice.
“My daughter, she’s—”
The figure stood for a moment, then stepped back and slammed the door, leaving me in darkness.
Once I caught my breath, I rolled over and tried to work my way up off the floor. I managed to slide my legs under me and sit up.
The room was dark, and it took a while for my eyes to adjust. Even then, all I could see were dim shapes and shadows.
The tape around my wrists was tight, and my hands were turning numb. I sat forward and twisted them back and forth to get the blood flowing again.
It helped a little, but not much.
There was a thin slip of light coming from under the door at the top of the stairs, and I inched over. My left knee throbbed, and the pain was constant.
“Hey!” I shouted at the door, trying to keep my voice steady. “This is a mistake. I’m with Leo and Eddie.”
I listened, but there was only silence.
“I’m the one who called,” I said. “I’m working with Murphy. My daughter is here.”
Still nothing.
I could feel+ o“How do you know that?” all the anger and frustration build inside me, and it didn’t take long for it to overflow. I screamed out and fought against the tape around my wrist.
“Open the fucking door!”
But they didn’t, and I lost my balance and tipped sideways onto the cement. This time, my head landed on something soft. At first, I thought it was a pillow, or a pile of clothes. Then I felt something cold and wet against my cheek. An instant later, the smell hit.
Urine.
I jerked away, pushing myself across the floor.
There were two of them, their bodies lying side by side, legs folded together, barely visible in the shadows. I assumed they were Pinnell’s men, but I didn’t know for sure, and I didn’t care.
I focused on my breathing and tried to keep calm.
I don’t know how long I stayed there, but when the door at the top of the stairs finally opened, the light burned my eyes.
Two men came down the steps. They grabbed my shoulders and pulled me to my feet.
“This is a mistake,” I said. “I’m—”
“Shut the fuck up.”
One of the men got behind me, and I heard the click of a box cutter and felt the tape give way under it.