“I’m sorry we had to bring this man who’s been tormenting you, but the marshal will take care of him now. He won’t hurt you anymore.”
Mavis’ eyes flew to the marshal and then to the young man, confusion etching deep lines around her eyes. “What do you mean? Kevin wasn’t hurting me.”
Kate blanched. “Kevin?” Her stomach felt queasy.
“Let him go, for heaven’s sake. He’s done nothing but protect me,” she pleaded. “And please take that awful tape off his mouth.” Mavis rose from her seat.
“I think you’d better stay where you are, Mrs.Baxter,” the marshal said. He took a step toward her, and she backed away. “Although I will do as you ask and take this tape off.”
With a ruthless tug, he ripped the duct tape from the young man’s mouth. Kevin Baxter let out a shout and wiped his lips on his shoulder.
“Mom? Are you okay?”
Kate looked from the young man to Mavis in confusion. What was going on here? She swallowed hard.
“Mrs.Baxter, is this man your son?”
“Of course he is. And who are you, anyway?” Mavis said with an accusatory glance at Kate. “Are you in league with him?” She pointed toward the marshal, and he cast a cautionary glance back.
“In league? What do you mean? I’m Kate Hanlon. My husband, Paul, is the new minister at Faith Briar Church.”
“I can vouch for her, Mavis,” Renee said, much to Kate’s surprise.
“Don’t you see?” Mavis replied, looking helplessly at Renee.
“See what?” Kate’s confusion was multiplying by the second. “The marshal brought us here to find you, to make sure you’re safe.”
“What marshal?”
Perhaps the trauma had caused Mavis to have a mental breakdown. “That man there. Marshal Wright. From the U.S. Marshals office.”
Mavis went even whiter, if that was possible. “That man’s not a U.S. marshal.”
“What?” Kate’s head whipped around from the marshal to Mavis. “What do you mean?”
“What my mother’s trying to tell you,” Kevin Baxter said, struggling against the ropes, “is that this man is Johnny Rydell.”
“Who?” Renee demanded.
“Johnny Rydell.” Kevin cast the marshal a scornful glance. “The mobster my parents sent to prison.”
Kate had lost all ability to speak. She looked at the marshal—or the would-be marshal—and then at Mavis. And then at Kevin Baxter.
“Can someone please tell me what’s going on here?” Kate asked.
“I’d be happy to.”
Kate watched as Johnny Rydell reached behind his jacket and drew the pistol out of his waistband. “But first I’m going to need to secure the premises.”
If Kate had any hopes that “securing the premises” meant locking the doors, she was sorely mistaken. Before she or Renee could protest, Rydell produced three more sets of long plastic ties and stepped toward the women. Kevin Baxter moved to intercept him, but the mobster pushed him aside, hard, and the young man tumbled to the bare wooden floor.
“Kevin!” Mavis tried to rise up out of the chair, but Kate put a staying hand on her shoulder.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Renee screeched at the man who’d deceived them so easily. “Get away from us.”
“I plan to, Mrs.Lambert. I plan to get as far away from you busybodies as possible. But first I have a score to settle with Mrs.Baxter here.”
He said her name with so much venom that a shudder ran through Kate. She glanced around, looking for any possible source of help.
“They should never have let you out of that prison.” Mavis had color in her cheeks now.
“Let’s just say it pays to know someone on the parole board. Or at least to know the secrets they don’t want to come to light.” He reached for Renee, and Kisses snapped at him. “You can put the dog down, old lady, or I can drop-kick him across the room.”
Kate struggled to breathe, terror seizing her. How had they ended up in this nightmare?
“When you’re caught, you’ll go back to prison,” Kate said, trying to distract him, but he wrapped the plastic tie around Renee’s wrists and slid it closed so that the older woman’s hands were bound in front of her.
“Leave them alone,” Kevin warned from his prone position on the floor. He struggled to roll over and then staggered to his feet.
Rydell waved the gun at him. “You think I won’t use this?” He pointed it at Mavis. “She’ll be my first target.”
At that moment the depth of the danger they were in swamped Kate. No one knew where she and Renee had gone today. Their cars were hidden at the quarry, where no one would ever think to look for them. Paul wouldn’t be home until dinnertime, and she had no idea what Renee had told her mother about her plans for the day. No one would miss them until it was time for choir practice.
Kevin Baxter sank back to the floor, defeated. Rydell pushed Kate out of the way and bent over Mavis, lashing her wrists together. He was rougher with her than he’d been with Renee. Kate wanted to intervene, but she was afraid he’d only hurt Mavis all the more.
“What do you want from us?” Kate asked, trying to distract him from the two older women. Kisses barked incessantly and ran in circles. “We’ve done nothing to you.”
“No, you’ve been quite helpful.” His smile, which before had seemed charming, now oozed like black sludge. “In fact, I couldn’t have done it without the pair of you.”
A hot flush of shame rose under the collar of Kate’s silk blouse. Here she’d taken so much pride in her detective skills. She’d fancied herself the next best thing to Miss Marple. And all she’d done was lead three people straight into the greatest danger of their lives.
“Now it’s payback time.” Johnny Rydell looked around the room. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”
Mavis whimpered, and Kevin scooted across the floor toward his mother. “You’ll be sorry, Rydell. I swear you will.”
“Big talk from a snot-nosed punk.” The mobster looked calm, tranquil almost, amid the sea of fear in the room. “What are you going to do? Bite my ankles like this rodent here?” His foot shot out toward Kisses, but the little Chihuahua darted away before he could make contact. Renee started to protest and then bit back her words.
“I’m only sorry your father died in prison before I could get to him.” He walked closer to the young man huddled on the floor. “Either way, though, I’ll even the score.”
“Big talk from a man holding a gun on three elderly women,” Kevin shot back.
Kate didn’t have time to take offense at being described as elderly. She caught Kevin’s eye and nodded slightly, trying to encourage him. If he could just keep the mobster busy for a few minutes . . .
Kate couldn’t believe that Rydell hadn’t tied her hands, but he must have gotten careless in his moment of triumph. Her gaze flew around the room. If only there was a potential weapon somewhere. But unless she threw the card table or the television at Rydell, there wasn’t anything lethal in sight. What could they do to distract him so that one of them could escape and get help?
And then Kate remembered a news article she’d read online at the library one day about a woman who’d escaped from her attacker by a rather unusual method. It was risky, but it was the only thing she could think of.
Slowly Kate leaned toward Renee, who had collapsed into the other folding chair.
“Fake a heart attack,” she whispered, casting a nervous glance over at Rydell. To Kate’s relief, Kevin had caught her meaning and continued to taunt the mobster.
“What?” Renee looked at her with a frown. “Speak up.”
Kate resisted the urge to clamp her hand over Renee’s mouth.
“Fake a heart attack,” she repeated insistently, this time a bit louder but still low enough that Rydell didn’t hear.
Renee looked at her uncomprehendingly for a moment, and then the light dawned. A slow, small smile spread across her face.
“Mav
is, when Renee goes down, run for the door,” Kate hissed.
“I’m not leaving my son,” Mavis whispered fiercely.
“All right. Is there a phone in the house?”
“No. There’s no service. Kevin said I couldn’t risk using a fake name.”
Kate cast a quick glance at Rydell’s back and then cautiously slipped her hand in her purse. As usual, she had to fish around for several long moments before she could find what she was looking for. She retrieved her cell phone and put it into Mavis’ bound hands while Rydell’s back was still turned. Mavis took the phone awkwardly and managed to flip it open.
“Slip into the kitchen. Call 911. Do you know the address of this place?” To Kate’s relief, Mavis nodded. “Good. Okay, ladies. Let’s make this look real.”
It was either the most foolish or most brilliant idea she’d ever had, Kate thought as she clenched and unclenched her fists and then nodded to Renee. Either it would work and Mavis would summon help or all three of them were going to be left at the mercy of a very cruel man.
Chapter Twenty
Oh . . . my chest. It hurts!” Renee’s moan of pain was real enough to scare even Kate, who knew it was a sham. At the sound of his mistress’s voice, Kisses began to bark frantically. He raced around the room, yipping at everyone.
“Renee? What’s the matter?” Kate was sure she sounded like a bit player in the community-theater melodrama, but her pulse was pounding too heavily in her own ears for her to hear herself. She kept her hands behind her back, hoping Rydell wouldn’t notice her untied wrists.
“Ow . . . Ow . . .” Renee writhed in the chair.
“What’s going on?” Johnny Rydell spun around. At least he had lowered the gun for the moment.
“There’s something wrong with her.” Kate put all the fear that was in her heart into her voice. “I think she’s having a heart attack.”
“She had bypass surgery two years ago,” Mavis chimed in.
“Make her be quiet,” Rydell ordered. He waved the gun at Kate. “Now.”
“Renee? Can you hear me?” Kate stood between Rydell and Renee. The older woman moaned again and then looked up and winked at Kate.
“Help me,” Renee breathed, for all the world as if she might expire at any moment.
Kate looked over her shoulder at Rydell. “We’ve got to help her.”
“Just shut her up.” Rydell’s face had gone red, and he looked around helplessly and then back at Kate. “Shut her up, or I’ll do it myself.”
“We have to get her to a hospital.” The urgency in his voice made Kate forget about keeping her arms behind her back, and she slid an arm around Renee’s shoulders and helped her to her feet. “We have to take her right now.” She started walking toward the front door, and Renee shuffled along beside her, moaning.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
They had Rydell’s attention now, and Kate could only pray that Mavis had slipped out of the other folding chair and started for the kitchen. “I’m taking her to the hospital.”
The click of the gun as Rydell pulled back the hammer stopped Kate in her tracks. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
Kate whirled around. “I’m not about to let her die.”
“You’ll do what I say. Now get back over there.” He jerked his head toward the table and chairs.
At the same moment, Kate and Rydell noticed that Mavis wasn’t there anymore.
“Where’d she go?” He spun back to Kate. “Where is she?”
Kate had never had a gun pointed at her in her whole life, and at the moment she knew it was an experience she never wanted to repeat.
“Where did who go?” Kate asked with feigned innocence, hoping to irritate Rydell further. The mobster started toward her as he lifted the pistol in the air. Kate braced herself for the blow. And then she heard—and felt—a huge thud at her feet. She opened her eyes and saw Rydell sprawled on the floor, his legs tangled with Kevin Baxter’s. The younger man quickly threw his weight across Rydell’s body.
“Get the gun!” he yelled.
Kate looked frantically around the scarred hardwood. “I don’t see it!”
Rydell tried to get up, but Kevin grabbed one arm between his bound wrists and pinned it behind Rydell’s back. He straddled Rydell, keeping him facedown on the floor.
Kisses barked, and Kate’s gaze flew to him. There, beneath the Chihuahua’s feet, lay the pistol.
“Kisses!” Renee bolted across the room for the dog.
Before Kate could reach either of them, Renee had scooped up the gun.
“Renee! Be careful.” Kate started toward her. “It might go off.”
Renee clasped the gun in her joined hands and pointed the pistol at Rydell.
“Don’t shoot Kevin by mistake,” Kate pleaded.
To Kate’s surprise, Renee laughed. “Don’t worry about me, Kate. I was a three-time skeet-shooting champion in my youth.”
The gun wobbled in the older woman’s hand, and Kate grimaced, thinking that a few years had passed since Renee’s younger days.
At that moment Mavis reappeared from the kitchen. “They’re on their way,” she said and sagged against the wall. “Kevin? Are you okay?”
The younger man looked over his shoulder at his mother but kept the mobster pinned to the ground. “I’m fine, Mom. You okay?”
“Why don’t you sit down, Mrs.Baxter?” Kate crossed the room and put her arm around Mavis’ shoulders. “We’ve all been through quite a shock.”
“Who are you again?” Mavis leaned against Kate.
“I’m Kate. Kate Hanlon. The minister’s wife.”
“Let me up!” Rydell roared from the floor.
“Move, and you’ll regret it,” Renee snapped. Kisses growled.
The distant wail of sirens pierced the air, and Kate let out a sigh of relief.
KATE HAD NEVER BEEN so thankful to see the inside of a police station in her life. The fluorescent lights, vinyl chairs, and metal desks seemed warm and welcoming after their experience. The two officers who’d responded to Mavis’ call for help had quickly called for backup, and over the past two hours, Kate had made the acquaintance of a number of Chattanooga’s finest.
“How long do you think they’ll keep us?” Renee asked.
She and Kate had been left alone in a small interview room for the past half hour while their statements were being typed up for them to sign.
Kate glanced at her watch. “Hopefully not much longer.” If they left soon, they could be back in time for choir practice. “I’m ready to get home.”
“And exactly how are we going to do that?” Renee was getting irritable now that the danger had passed. “And for that matter, how are we going to get our cars out of the quarry?”
“We’ll have to call someone to come get us.”
Kate had left a message at the church for Paul, but he was most likely still at the Pine Ridge Hospital on chaplain duty. She had a pager number for him, but it was at home on the little bulletin board in the kitchen. And she hated to call the hospital and scare him.
Renee stroked Kisses’ head as he snored in her lap, exhausted by his encounter with a hardened criminal. “I think we should call the sheriff.”
“I’m afraid you’re right.” Kate would almost rather have walked home, because Sheriff Roberts was going to have a few choice things to say to her. Probably more than Paul.
The door to the interview room opened, and Kate looked up, expecting to see the police officer who had taken their statements. But Mavis entered the room instead.
The older woman greeted them both and settled slowly into the third chair at the table. She waved away their inquiries about her health.
“Mrs.Hanlon? I wanted to thank you again. And you too, Renee. If it hadn’t been for you . . .”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Kate asked.
Mavis looked as if she’d aged ten years in the past few hours, but the lines around her mouth and eyes had eased, and there
was a light of hope in her gray eyes.
“I know it’s been quite an ordeal for you. And please, call me Kate.”
Mavis smiled. “Ordeal? Yes, but at least it’s over now. Johnny Rydell is going back to prison.”
Kate had so many questions, but she wasn’t sure if it was an appropriate time to ask them. “Will you go back into the Witness Protection Program?” Kate couldn’t help but ask. “Or will you come back to Copper Mill?”
“The program won’t take me back,” Mavis said, but there was no real regret in her voice. “Which is fine with me. I’m tired of living in fear.”
“Aren’t you worried Rydell’s associates will come after you?” Kate wondered if perhaps Mavis was making her decision too hastily.
“Kevin and I have decided that we’ll take that risk. We have to relocate, of course. Maybe change our names again. But beyond that . . .”
“I’m glad you can be with your son.” Kate reached out to cover Mavis’ hand with her own where it rested on the table. “You’ve been very brave.”
Tears welled up in Mavis’ eyes. “No, Kate. Not so very brave. Now, my Albert . . . there was a man with the courage of his convictions.” She wiped at her eyes. “I didn’t want to testify at first. Especially after I knew it wouldn’t keep Albert from going to prison. He’d done it for me, you see.”
“Done it?” Kate echoed.
“Gotten involved with Johnny Rydell. As an accountant. He—how do they say it?—cooked the books for Rydell. I was always wanting more than what we had. A bigger house. A nicer car. Private school for Kevin. European vacations.” She placed her other hand on top of Kate’s. “They say that pride goeth before a fall. What they don’t tell you is that when you do take your tumble, other people will be dragged down along with you.”
The heaviness of Mavis’ regret brought tears to Kate’s eyes as well. Even Renee sniffed.
“I’m sorry you can’t come back to Copper Mill,” Kate said. “I would have liked to get to know you, especially since I’ve spent so much time in the past few weeks talking to people about you.” This made them both chuckle, but then Mavis frowned.
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