Root of All Evil

by Hayden, Jennifer

  “Listen, I’ve had to do all the thinking for the past six years. Don’t start ragging on me now. We’re about ten hours from finally getting our money.”

  “Your thinking hasn’t gotten us anything but trouble, Louis.”

  He walked over to the fridge and pulled out a beer. It didn’t concern him that it was only seven-thirty in the morning apparently. Louis wasn’t one for proper etiquette.

  “Just what do you plan to do with her?”

  “Quit asking me so many stupid ass questions,” he snapped.

  “You do realize that her picture is all over the news. Yours too.”

  “Why do you think I traveled at night?”

  “I don’t know why you’re doing anything that you’re doing. You’re now going to get busted for kidnapping and taking her across state lines, along with murder.”

  “I’m also going to get that money now. Luke Garrison won’t mess around when it comes to his daughter. I plan to be long gone before the authorities figure out a thing.”

  “He wouldn’t have messed around when it came to his wife either,” she snapped. “If you were smart you would have held her for ransom and got the money from him.”

  “Just shut the fuck up,” he told her, glaring. “I’m tired of eating your shit. Over and over, I’ve heard how I’ve screwed up this and screwed up that. Nobody’s forced you to stay married to me all these years. The only reason I’ve stuck around you is so I get my share of that money. You’re worthless to me otherwise.”

  “Listen you asshole, that money is mine. Do you understand me? Mine. You’ll get what I give you.” She realized the minute she’d said the words, she shouldn’t have. If she knew one thing for sure about Louis, she knew he had a terrible temper. She watched as he turned slowly, his face mottled and red.

  “Is that right?”

  “You’re pushing my buttons,” she said quietly.

  “So you think you’ll be in control of the cash, do you? Maybe you’ve been making some plans this whole time.” He stepped toward her and she stepped back. “I’ve been off doing all the dirty work and you’ve been here planning your getaway.”

  “I haven’t had time to do anything like that. I’ve got five kids to take care of.” She was scared of him. For the first time in six years, she felt actual fear. Even when he’d belted her before, she hadn’t actually been scared. Now, seeing the hatred—the evil gleam in his eyes—she knew she had reason to fear him. After all, he had killed Karen and at one time he’d claimed he loved her.

  “You’re the one who slept around and got knocked up by every asshole in sight. That’s your problem.”

  “Two of them are yours,” she reminded him carefully.

  “I didn’t plan to have any fucking kids. That was your thing.”

  “You’d better lower your voice. You’re going to wake them up.”

  “That’s too damned bad. Maybe then you’ll actually have to pay some attention to the little bastards, rather than having them pay attention to themselves.”

  “I’m not a bad mother,” she said, feeling anger again. “I’ve had bad circumstances. Maybe if you had a job that paid the bills I’d have more time to spend with them.”

  He backhanded her so quickly she didn’t see it coming. She stumbled back against the stove, grasping her mouth where the blood began dripping down her chin. This was nothing new. She’d been hit by more than one man in her life.

  He glared at her. “You’re nothing but a two-bit tramp.”

  “I suppose you’re right about that.” She wiped the blood from her face. “And a two-bit tramp is about what you deserve. Certainly nothing better.”

  He just snickered at that and turned away.

  “My mother saw through you, you know. She knew you were dangerous. She told me to get away from you. I should have listened.”

  “Yeah, she was a real smart bitch. Look where she is now.”

  “I never wanted you to kill them, Louis. I wanted the money, but I didn’t want to kill them.”

  “Just like you didn’t want me to get your sister to talk?”

  Michelle felt a pang of guilt. He was right about that. She’d never been close to her sister. Hell, she hated Kate. She always had. But she suddenly realized that she’d hated her for all the wrong reasons. Kate had everything Michelle wanted. She had the college degree, the perfect husband and more money than Michelle had ever dreamed of. Out of anger and jealousy, Michelle had encouraged Louis to take it all away from her and he had immediately complied, motivated by his own greed.

  What she hadn’t realized was that in the process, she had become the same kind of monster as Louis. Only worse. The real sad part was that after talking to Kate the other day on the phone, she realized that if she had asked her sister for the money out right, Kate would have given it to her. Instead, she had put her sister through hell.

  “Guilty conscience?” Louis asked, grinning snidely. “You’re really gonna feel bad when I take care of that kid.”

  Michelle frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “You don’t think I’m going to let her live, do you?” He laughed at that. “She’s expendable.”

  Michelle didn’t know what inside her snapped, but something did. She grabbed a butcher knife from the counter and charged him. It was over. Done. No more innocent blood was going to be shed.

  Louis looked stunned at first. The knife sliced into his shoulder and he let out a scream. He dropped his beer bottle to the floor, shattering it into a million pieces. Michelle came at him again but this time he was ready. He grabbed her by the wrists, easily subduing her and shoving her back against the counter. Michelle felt some pain as he twisted her right wrist. The knife fell from her useless hand. He caught it, lifting it quickly to her throat, its blade instantly cutting into her skin. She just stared up at him, her eyes void of emotion. And that’s when she realized that she was staring up at the devil himself. And she’d married him.

  “You stupid, stupid bitch,” he said, his voice so quiet she could barely hear him. “I hope you realize what you’ve done.”

  “Go to hell,” she said, without flinching.

  He shoved her hard, letting her go. She flew backward again but this time managed to keep her balance.

  “You’re gonna be sorry for your fucking mouth one of these days.”

  Michelle wiped her bloody lip again, then looked around, certain they had to have woken the kids up. Nobody was there. In fact, the place seemed eerily empty. She watched as Louis walked down the hallway and checked each of the three bedrooms. They were all empty. The entire house was quiet.

  Relieved that the kids were gone, Michelle continued watching Louis. He was angrier now. Furious. He was heading outside with a look of urgency. She followed him, scared of what he was going to do to the child sleeping in the car. She saw his expression turn even uglier as he neared the Datsun and peered in the open back window. He let out a vile curse. All that was left in the car was a bedraggled brown monkey lying on the floorboards. The child was gone.

  It didn’t take long for Archer to run a check on Michelle Fitz. He arrived at the house an hour later, a sheet of white paper in his hand. He offered it to Kate. “This your sister?”

  She looked at the Idaho DMV photograph, instantly recognizing Michelle. It had been years since she’d laid eyes on her sister. Those years apparently hadn’t been kind to her. She had peroxide blonde hair and sallow skin. The lines in her face made her look fifty, rather than the thirty-five years she was. “It’s her,” she said, studying the driver’s license closely. Michelle Renee Quincy.

  “Married name is Quincy now. She’s married to a guy named Dennis Louis Quincy.” He handed her another DMV photograph.

  Kate looked at the man in the picture and her heart stopped. Louis Ferndale stared back at her. He had more hair on his head but it was definitely him. She’d never be able to forget those damned icy gray eyes of his. “God, it’s him.” She turned away from the picture, sick to
her stomach. She felt Luke’s hands on her shoulders but they weren’t enough to calm her. He’d been right. Her sister was married to her tormentor. And likely, her sister had known all about what had happened to her.

  “Baby, don’t.” Luke turned her toward him but she shook her head.

  “God, she hated me that much. So much that she allowed this to happen to me. All for money? I don’t get it.”

  “Some people are evil that way, Mrs. Garrison. I don’t know your sister, but I see the scum of the earth nearly every day when I go to work. You’d be surprised what people will do for money and out of jealousy.”

  “Where is my daughter?” she asked, looking at him closely.

  “Now that we have his real name we’ve put out an APB. They have a registered address in Idaho and I’ve located the local authorities there.”

  “You need to get us there,” Luke said suddenly. “Can you arrange it?”

  “We can probably get you on a flight within a couple of hours. Private plane. I take it you’re willing to pay?”

  “Do you even have to ask?”

  Archer went to work arranging the flight. Luke turned to Kate. “She’s going to be okay, Katie. They’ll get there in time.”

  “If he knows we’re on to him, he’ll kill her.”

  “We’re going to get her back.” He forced her chin up. “I promise you that.”

  “She has to be so scared,” she said, her voice coming out in a hiccup. “She’s just a baby.”

  “She’s tough, Kate. I know that for a fact. She’s going to be okay.”

  Kate forced herself to nod. She wanted to believe him so badly.

  “We can have you out of here in an hour,” Archer said, turning back to them. “I’m going to keep some officers here, just in case something happens.”

  “I can have my brother stay here too,” Luke said, picking up his cell phone as they all headed out the door.

  The children huddled quietly behind a large thicket of green bushes. Joey Wilde let his brown eyes scan the area around them carefully. He knew Louis. He knew he was out there somewhere. He’d come to hate his stepfather in the last six years. Even at five years old, he’d sensed something wrong with his mother’s new husband. He was angry all the time and yelled at her a lot. Even when she was pregnant he’d knocked her around. Joey had tried to help her once and Louis had knocked him on his butt. That was the only time Joey had ever seen his mother fight back—and she’d paid the price for it.

  He felt his heart pound as the memory of their fight earlier that day played itself again in his head. They’d been far more angry than usual. He’d wanted to go in and help his mom but she’d told him before not to interfere. It only made Louis angrier. He couldn’t shake the feeling that his mother needed help though.

  Hearing crying behind him, he looked down at his little sister. Lindsay was more upset than the rest of them. He’d had to carry her part of the way on his back and that hadn’t been easy considering she only weighed a few pounds less than him.

  “What are we going to do, Joey?” This came from Jenny, the littlest one. She was five and somewhat whiny.

  “I don’t know. Just be quiet.” He gave her a stern look and then softened. It wasn’t her fault that her father was a freak. Looking back through the bushes, he stared at the house. The yelling had stopped a while ago. That scared him a little because he couldn’t see his mom. Usually when she and Louis were done fighting she would come and get them. They were used to hiding during those moments. Joey had been doing it nearly his whole life.

  The screen door slammed open. Louis came out, his face filled with anger. Everyone froze, five sets of tiny eyes watching as the proverbial monster came down the steps. Joey was relieved to see his mother follow a moment later. Her lip was bleeding but she was alive. He felt instant relief. She was okay. His relief was short lived. He watched his stepfather walk toward the Datsun. Louis’s anger turned to rage once he looked inside the car.

  Joey looked down at the sixth set of eyes in their group. The little girl was shaking, her thumb in her mouth as she stared up at him sadly. He wasn’t sure who she was, only that she wasn’t supposed to be here. He had a bad feeling that Louis had stolen her from someone because when he’d reached into the car and picked her up she’d started crying for her daddy.

  “Is he gone?” Kourtney whispered, as she cuddled the little girl to her.

  “Not yet. He’s looking around. Everyone has to be quiet until he goes back inside.”

  Silence fell around them. Minutes ticked by like hours. Eventually Louis gave up searching the yard and headed back into the house. Their mother looked around at the woods where they hid. Her eyes scanned the area carefully, as if she knew they were right there in front of her. Suddenly she turned and followed Louis back into the house. After that, Joey turned to his siblings. “We have to get help. I think Louis is going to do something real bad this time.” He looked down at the little girl in Kourtney’s arms. “I think he already has.”

  “I hate him,” Lindsay sobbed.

  “Sh,” Kourtney said sternly. “He’ll hear you.”

  “Who is she?” Jenny wanted to know, looking at the little girl.

  “I don’t know. I heard Mom talking to Louis about her though and I think he stole her.”

  “I hate him too,” Jenny said sadly. He knew it was worse for her because Louis was actually her father.

  “We can get through the woods and hike to town. Then we can get help.”

  “I’m scared,” a little voice said, and they all looked down at the little girl in Kourtney’s lap.

  “What’s your name?” Joey asked.

  Pulling her thumb out of her mouth, she sniffled. “Hallie.”

  He frowned. Where had he heard that name before? And then it came to him. This was Aunt Kate’s daughter. “She’s our cousin,” he told the others. “I met Aunt Kate when I was really little.”

  “Are you sure?” Kourtney asked, skeptical.

  “Pretty sure. Is your mommy named Kate?”

  Hallie didn’t answer. She just stuck her thumb back into her mouth.

  “We have to get her to the police before he finds her. I think he’s going to hurt her.” Joey knelt down and looked from one sibling to the other. “You have to be really quiet or he’ll hear us. Do you understand me?”

  The kids all nodded solemnly.

  “Why is he so mean?” Lindsay asked, leaning over and picking up three-year-old Kevin.

  “I don’t know. Because he was born that way, I guess.” Joey stood up and turned, prepared to lead them to safety. And that’s when he came face to face with Louis.

  “RUN!” he screamed the words, causing the kids to scatter. When he turned to run himself, he didn’t get far. Louis yanked the back of his t-shirt and hauled him off of his feet.

  “You little bastard! I’m going to kill you!” Joey felt the slam of a large meaty fist into his face and then everything went black.

  THIRTY

  The plane ride into Idaho was an easy flight. It touched down in Boise just after three in the afternoon. There was a police car waiting for them at the airport. Luke and Kate were ushered, along with Archer, directly to the Sheriff’s Office.

  “We’ve got some activity going on at the address in question,” Sheriff Marlon Carter said, after shaking hands with all three of them. “So far there are three cars out there now. Apparently Quincy is in the house. He has at least one hostage. There are four other people that live in the house unaccounted for at this time. They are presumed to be inside also, but none of my guys have seen them.”

  “Where is my daughter?” Luke demanded.

  “We’re not sure yet. The only person we’ve seen is an older boy, who was spotted through the window by one of my deputies. He didn’t look good.”

  Luke’s heart fell. God, they couldn’t be too late. He felt Kate grasp his hand and he held onto it tightly. “I want to go there now.”

  “No. We have the situati
on under control.” Carter looked at Archer. “He’s armed. He shot at one of my deputies. We’re calling in the hostage negotiator.”

  Archer nodded, obviously not in the position to do anything since this wasn’t his jurisdiction.

  “Michelle Quincy is my sister,” Kate said quietly, her eyes meeting those of Sheriff Carter. “If I can talk to her, I might be able to make some progress.”

  Carter frowned. “Do you think it’s wise for me to allow civilians to be all over when there are shots being fired?”

  “Please,” Kate begged, letting go of Luke’s hand. “Please let me try. I know I can reason with her. I know I can.”

  “Mrs. Garrison, with all due respect, you do realize that Mrs. Quincy is quite possibly responsible for all of this,” Archer pointed out. “She’s not so much your sister as she is your daughter’s kidnapper—your kidnapper.”

  “I can reason with her.”

  “Not on my watch you can’t,” Carter said, agitated. “This situation is very volatile right now. They know we’re closing in on them and they’re cornered. That makes them extremely dangerous.”

  “So back off,” Luke said.

  “I can’t do that, son.”

  “The hell you can’t! My daughter is in there!”

  “We don’t know that for sure.” Carter glared at Archer. “This is why I don’t allow civilians around something like this. I don’t have time to stand here and argue.”

  Luke let go of Kate and glared back at Carter. “I really hope you have a plan here.”

  “My plan is to negotiate with Mr. Quincy as best that I can.”

  “That’s a great plan,” Luke said angrily. “Meanwhile, he can shoot everyone in the house.”

  “Don’t tell me how to do my job, Mr. Garrison. I feel for your situation but I’m not going to stand here and get into a pissing contest with you.”

  “Okay, enough!” Archer stepped between the two men. “This isn’t helping anything.”

  “I want my daughter back.”

  “I realize that,” Carter said, letting out a sigh. “I’m doing my best to see that you get her back.” The sheriff turned and walked away. Luke wanted to go after him but he didn’t. Instead, he turned, expecting to see his wife standing next to him—only she wasn’t there. He looked around the busy room. Kate was nowhere to be found.