What was she going to tell them when they asked her where she dropped Rob off? What was she going to say when they asked her why she didn’t call the police immediately, why she picked up Kelsey and drove all the way home first?
Because I was afraid, she thought. A good answer, as long as she didn’t finish the sentence. Afraid of what? Afraid that Rob would be caught.
The rain lightened marginally, and she slowly pulled out into the street.
At this pace, she’d never get home.
She slowed as headlights raced toward her, and she thought she recognized the oversize FBI car that had been positioned outside her house. Where the heck was he going in such a hurry?
Unless, maybe they’d caught Ian….
Please God, she thought, staring hard at the road through the relentless rain. Let them have caught Ian, and let this all be over.
ROB’S HEAD WAS SPINNING. It wouldn’t take the FBI long to set up roadblocks across the two bridges that connected the Key to the mainland. There was no way Rob could get there before they did. Especially not without a car, not with only one good leg.
There was just one thing he could do, and he prayed it would work. Because if it didn’t, Jess was dead. And he was, too. He put the telephone receiver back to his ear.
“2786 Midnight Pass Road,” he told Selma, in as calm a voice as he could manage. “That’s where I am.”
“Hang on a second, Rob,” he heard Selma say, and after a short moment, she was back. “That was very brave, dear.”
“Look, I wouldn’t have told you where I am if I was the killer, right? So please, get someone over to Jess’s house. Don’t let her go in there alone. Selma, I don’t want her to die.”
“I don’t want her to die, either, Rob,” she said. “Is she there with you?”
He cursed, frustrated. “No! Dammit, I just told you. She’s on her way home. You’re wasting time!”
JESS PULLED INTO the driveway. The FBI agent’s car was gone. It must’ve been the one she saw heading west so quickly on Bee Ridge Road.
She pushed the remote, pulling the car into the garage and closing the door after her.
Kelsey was fast asleep, her fingers curled into fists, pressed against her cheeks.
I’ll untie Frank, Jess thought, before I bring Kel inside. God forbid she wakes up to find a man tied up in the living room…. That would be a hard one to explain.
Jess made sure the blanket covered Kelsey completely, then, leaving the car window open a crack, she went into the house.
THE RADIO CRACKLED in Elliot’s car as he sped toward Siesta Key, going much too fast, considering the wind and rain.
“Yeah,” he said shortly.
“We have an address for the perp,” one of his team members told him. “2786 Midnight Pass Road. We’ve verified that the property is owned by Bill and Nadine Baxter.”
“Is Jess with him?”
“Selma’s not sure.”
“She get him to confess?” Elliot asked.
“Not yet, but she’s working on it.”
“Just have her keep him talking,” Elliot said. “That’s all I want.”
“PLEASE, ROB, just stay calm,” Selma said.
“I am calm!” He took a deep breath, running his hands through his hair. “Look, I’m going to give it to you in a nutshell, all right?”
“I’m listening.”
“Almost nine years ago, a friend of mine, my roommate, was a runner for a crime syndicate up in New York. He made deliveries. Of drugs. One day I…messed things up, and suddenly there was a million dollar contract on my head. The bosses wanted me, dead or alive. I started running and—”
“What did you do?”
“What?”
“You said you messed things up,” Selma said. “What did you do?”
“I dumped a ten million dollar shipment of cocaine into the Hudson River.”
Selma laughed. “You’re kidding.”
“No, ma’am, I’m dead serious. So was my friend’s boss when he found out what I did.”
A clap of thunder made the house shake.
“This is taking too long,” Rob said. “When is Elliot going to get here?”
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. “You want Parker Elliot to get there?”
“I want to go help Jess. God, this is killing me. If she’s over there, alone with him…”
FRANK’S EYES were closed, and Jess stepped over his legs to turn off the television.
His eyes opened slowly, and he stared at her blankly for a moment, as if trying to remember where he was.
“Hi.” She smiled. “I’m going to untie you, okay?”
He smiled back at her. “About time.”
“I’M NOT THE KILLER,” Rob insisted. “Selma, you’ve got to believe me.”
“I’m not sure what to believe,” she said carefully.
“Look, it can’t hurt to cover all the bases, can it?” he said, persuasively. “Send someone over to Jess’s. Please!”
“We’ve already got a man out there,” Selma admitted. “Tom Johnson. He’s sitting out in front of Jess’s house. Elliot told him to stop Jess, and bring her downtown for some questions. She won’t even get inside her house, Rob.”
He slumped into a chair with relief. “Thank God,” he said. “Thank you, Selma.”
JESS STRUGGLED to untie the knots in the heavy nylon rope. “I’m sorry this is taking so long,” she apologized.
“Why don’t you get a knife, and cut it?” Frank said.
“It would be pretty hard to cut this rope,” Jess replied. “My knives just aren’t that sharp. I’m afraid I’d slip and hurt you.”
Outside the window, lightning flashed, followed by a resounding crash of thunder.
The lights flickered slightly, and Jess looked up in alarm. “Oh, great, that’s all we need. A blackout.”
“This is crazy weather, isn’t it?” Frank remarked.
Jess finally worked his hands free, then moved around in front of him, and started untying his feet.
He rubbed his wrists gingerly, and she looked up at him. “Frank, I’m really sorry about…well, about not wanting to go out with you. The time’s just not right for me and…”
He shrugged. “I guess I really didn’t expect you to.”
The lights flickered again, and Jess looked up at them. “Don’t you dare go off,” she said, but they flickered again and went out.
She swore under her breath.
“What’s the matter, Jess?” Frank murmured. “Don’t you like the dark?”
Jess stood up. “No,” she replied. “I don’t. And I can’t get this untied if I can’t see the knot. Wait here, I’ll light a candle.”
Slowly, she felt her way into the kitchen.
“I keep a candle in the cabinet,” she said, loud enough for her voice to carry into the living room. “Here it is.” She pulled the candle down from the shelf. It was a taper candle stuck into a traditional candlestick, but the wax had melted and it was shaped like a sideways S. She searched through her junk drawer, looking for a book of matches. “Boy, wait’ll you see this candle. Remember when the AC broke down last summer? It got so hot in the house, all the candles drooped. And Kelsey’s crayons melted into one giant block….”
She gave up searching for the matches and switched on the front burner of the gas stove. It lit, and she held the end of the candle to the flames. She switched off the gas, and holding the candle, turned toward the living room.
Frank was standing in the doorway, holding the blue rope in his hands.
Jess jumped. “Lord! Frank! You scared me! How did you get that knot untied?”
The light from the candle played across his bland features. “I’m good with rope,” he said, and smiled. “Yes, sir.”
THE KITCHEN DOOR burst open, and Parker Elliot rocketed into the beach house, his gun drawn. Five or six agents followed him, along with several uniformed policemen. They quickly surrounded Rob, who was stan
ding by the telephone, receiver in one hand, the other hand in the air.
Silently, he held out the phone to Elliot.
“Selma wants to talk to you,” he said.
Elliot stared at Rob. Blue eyes? The description they had gave him brown eyes. What was going on? Why was he so calm? And where was Jess?
Parker Elliot took the phone, glancing first at the other agents who still had their weapons trained on Carpenter. “Johnson,” he said, nodding at the wiry little man to his right. “Search him.”
“Yes, sir,” Johnson replied. “Okay, Carpenter. On the floor, on your belly, hands on your head!”
“Selma.” Elliot spoke into the phone. “Good job. We got the bastard.”
“No you didn’t, dear.”
Elliot’s stomach started to hurt. “I don’t think I want to hear this.”
“I said, get on the floor,” Johnson repeated, louder this time.
“Hang on, Selma,” Elliot said.
Rob was staring at Johnson as if he were the devil incarnate. “Johnson?” he rasped, his voice barely a whisper. “Tom Johnson?”
“Well, yeah. How the heck do you know me?” the little man said, confusion on his face.
Rob turned and looked at Elliot in horror. “He’s supposed to be watching Jess’s house,” he breathed. “He’s supposed to keep her safe. What the hell is he doing here?”
“THE FLASHLIGHT’S batteries ran out a month ago,” Jess said, digging under the sink, looking for more candles. “Kelsey was playing with it, and I guess it got left on. I kept meaning to pick up new batteries, but every time I went to the store, I couldn’t remember if I should get size C or D.”
She heard Frank opening the drawers.
“Candles wouldn’t be in there,” she told him. “Those are the utensil drawers.”
“I know,” Frank replied.
Something about his voice made her look up.
Something about…
He stood there, smiling at her in the flickering candlelight, holding her longest, sharpest knife. He drew it slowly across his thumb, then glanced down at the line of blood it left behind. “I think it’s probably sharp enough,” he said in his mild voice.
For one short moment, Jess stared at him, confused. Then, instantly it clicked. She drew in a ragged breath, shock coursing through her veins.
Frank.
All this time, it had been Frank. All those women, raped and murdered…
She bolted for the hall that led to the garage. She had to get out of here. She had to get Kelsey out of here….
Frank grabbed her, tackled her. She landed hard on the floor with him on top of her. The knife was still in his hand. He didn’t hold it threateningly. He just held it, which was threat enough.
“Now, that’s not very nice,” he said reprovingly. “That’s not nice at all.”
SELMA WAS SHOUTING, her voice coming out like an enraged chicken over the telephone’s tiny speaker. Elliot put the receiver back to his ear as he watched his men wrestle Carpenter to the ground.
“I heard that!” Selma shouted. “If Johnson is there with you, Parker, then Jess is alone in her house with the killer! Rob isn’t the killer! Frank Madsen is!”
“What?” Elliot felt his teeth clench. As he watched, Rob struggled to get free. “Selma, that’s crazy. This guy is nuts. Four of my men can barely hold him down.”
“You want to quiet him down? Tell him you’ll take him to Jess’s house.”
“Come on. You have no way of knowing Carpenter isn’t the killer—”
“I know.” Selma’s voice was definite. “Parker, you said you trusted my feelings. Well, I’ve never been so positive about anything. Tell him you’ll take him there!”
“Carpenter,” Elliot called out. “If you let them put the cuffs on you, I’ll take you over to Jess’s house.”
The man stopped fighting instantly.
“Well, that worked,” Elliot said to Selma. “Now what?”
“Now take him to Jess’s, dammit!” Selma shouted.
FRANK HAD BROUGHT the length of blue rope into her bedroom with them, and now he sat on her bed, playing with it.
Jess’s heart was hammering in her chest. He had ordered her to take off her clothes, but now he seemed to have forgotten about that. She sat on the floor, knees pulled into her chest, hoping… What? That he’d fall asleep? That he’d have a sudden, fatal heart attack? That God would strike him dead with a bolt of lightning?
Lightning lit the dim room with bluish light, and thunder cracked loudly.
You missed, God, she thought.
She hoped with all her heart that Rob would show up, like a knight in shining armor to rescue her. Lord, she could really use him right now. Rob, with his deadly switchblade…
But it wasn’t going to happen. If she wanted to be saved, she’d have to save herself.
Please, God, she prayed. Whatever happens to me, please keep Kelsey safe. Don’t let him find her, don’t let him know that she’s here….
“I told you to take your clothes off,” Frank said sharply.
“Frank.” Her voice cracked and she started again. “Frank, we should talk. Maybe I was a little hasty in my decision not to have dinner with you….”
“It’s too late to change your mind,” he stated, his voice gentle now.
“How can it be too late?” she questioned. Lord, maybe if she could just keep him talking…
“You had your chance,” he said. “And it is too late. Too late indeed.”
His wide eyes looked colorless in the candlelight, giving his face an inhuman quality.
“So you’re going to kill me.” A spark of anger cut through the fear in Jess’s stomach. “Just like that.”
He shook his head and smiled. “Not just like that. I’m going to take my time.”
Fear threatened to overpower her, but she fought hard to keep hold of the anger. Dammit, she wasn’t going to just sit here and let him kill her….
If he would just make a mistake—just one small mistake….
She needed him to get overconfident, sloppy….
A weapon. She needed a weapon.
She glanced around the room, but there was nothing. She had a stick pin in her jewelry box, but that wouldn’t do much against a stainless steel carving knife.
“Take your clothes off,” he ordered. “You have to do what I say.”
“Why?” Jess argued, her dark eyes flashing. “You’re just going to kill me anyway, aren’t you?”
“Because,” he said. “If you don’t do what I say, I’m going to eviscerate you. You know what that word means don’t you, Jess? It means that I’d take this knife and cut your belly open and—”
“I know what it means.”
“Take off your clothes.”
He sat up, leaning toward her slightly with the knife, and she began untying her sneakers.
He chuckled. “Good girl.”
One mistake, that’s all she needed.
Got to find a weapon.
But what?
She didn’t have any double-barreled shotguns lying around the house. Or swords. Hell, she didn’t even have a baseball bat.
Think, Jess, think.
There was a crowbar, but it didn’t do her a whole hell of a lot of good where it was out in the garage. And even if she had a chance to run for it, there was no way she’d lead him out there, out to where Kelsey was.
At least he doesn’t know that Kelsey is here. She was clinging to that thought like a lifeline. At least Kelsey’s safe. Please, Lord, keep Kelsey safe.
There were other knives in the kitchen, but none as large as the one Frank was holding in his hand.
He was watching her closely as she undressed. She wasn’t wearing that much, just her T-shirt, the denim skirt, her underwear. She took her time, dragged it out….
How about the living room? What was out in the…
The fireplace poker.
Yes.
But it was out in the living room.
She took off her underwear. She was naked and she was afraid, but she grabbed that fear and stomped it back down to where it came from.
Fear and tears weren’t going to keep her alive.
“I’m cold,” she said. “Can I put on my robe?”
“No.”
He was just sitting there, looking at her.
If he was trying to humiliate and frighten her, it was working.
“Okay, Jess,” he said. “Put on your makeup. I want your lips really red. Like blood.”
This was it. Her chance.
She trembled, afraid he would see her triumph, afraid he would know.
Her voice shook. “My makeup’s in my purse. It’s out in the living room.”
He smiled. “Well, go and get it.”
She nodded, and moved out into the dark hallway.
The living room was even darker. Every muscle in her body screamed for her to head for the door and run. But Kelsey was there, in the car, and her car keys were in her purse….
No, she had to get over to the fireplace, pick up the fire iron without Frank hearing, and then bash him over his head as hard as she possibly could.
Silently she crept into the middle of the living room. She was almost there. Lord, it was so dark…. Just another few feet…
Lightning flashed.
For a moment, it was clear as day in the living room, and Frank smiled at her from in front of the fireplace. He held the fire iron in his hand.
“This what you’re looking for?”
Fear surged through her, as darkness collapsed back around them. Jess turned, about to bolt for the door, but his words stopped her.
“Don’t move, or I’ll kill you where you stand.”
She froze, numb with fear, with failure.
She closed her eyes, her breathing coming in sobs.
She felt him lightly touch her foot, and she jerked it away from him. He grabbed her ankle, harder this time, and she felt him slip the rope around her foot.
“I used a slipknot, Jess,” he murmured. “Just like the knot Rob showed you how to make earlier tonight.”
No Ordinary Man Page 24