Michelle lit up a cigarette and took a deep drag. She’d spent the last hour bandaging up Louis’s arm where she had sliced him with a knife. After that, she’d had to give her son first aid. Louis had nailed him in the face and the child’s nose had taken the brunt of the blow. She figured it was probably broken and cursed her husband for the millionth time. Joey was on the couch with an ice pack now. Louis was pacing the floor nervously. Apparently he hadn’t realized just how many police officers had shown up in the last hour. There were at least three or four cruisers, each filled with several officers. They had been calling on the phone for the past half an hour but Louis had refused to answer. As if on cue, the phone began to ring again.
“You may as well answer it. You should just talk to them and get it over with.”
Louis gave her a look that clearly said you’re stupid. “And just what do you suggest I say to them? Thanks to your pansy ass son here, we have no hostage now. I have no bartering tool.”
“You were going to kill her anyway, Louis. You wouldn’t have had her to barter with.”
“They wouldn’t have known that,” he snapped, peering through the sheer curtains in the living room. “We need a way out of here. To get that, I need a hostage to control them with.”
“And go where? You are a wanted fugitive now. Hell, you’re probably on the twenty most wanted list.” She shook her head at him. “You should never have brought her here. This all would have gone away if you had just left things alone. None of that money was ever worth this.”
“Is that so? Seems to me it was your idea. All of this was your fucking idea. Kate Garrison sure as hell isn’t my sister.” He picked up a half-empty bottle of beer and took a swig. Then he turned to Joey, his face mottled with anger. “Where the hell are those kids, boy?”
Joey ignored him, which only fueled his anger. He walked over and yanked the child off the couch.
“Damn it, Louis, put him down,” Michelle said, charging him.
He shoved her away without any effort at all. He turned back to Joey, shaking the child slightly. “You’d better tell me where they went, kid. I’m not playing around here anymore.”
“They’re gone. I told them how to go through the woods. They’re going to get help. They’ve probably already made it. Why do you think the cops are here?”
Louis cursed, tossing Joey to the ground.
“Damn you and your bastard kids!”
“They’re your kids too, Louis. Don’t you give a shit about them at all?” Michelle walked over and helped her son up, handing him the ice pack again.
“I never wanted any brats, Michelle. I’ve told you that before. This whole trailer park family thing was your idea. Don’t hold it over my head now and think it’s going to make a fucking bit of difference to me.”
The sad thing was, he meant every word he said. Louis had never wanted any kids. She’d gotten pregnant and he’d found out about her grandmother’s money. It had seemed like a good idea to marry, so they had. That’s where greed got you, she figured.
She looked over at her son, regretting so many things right at that moment. Joey had been through hell in his short life. He’d never known his father, never would know him. He’d watched his mother be used and abused more times than she could count. He basically took care of all his brothers and sisters without being asked. She knew he did that because he was worried about them. He was trying to protect them. Guilt ate at her. He had basically been doing her job.
“Don’t stand there looking stupid. We have to find a way out of this.”
“And how do you propose we do that?”
“Shut up. I’m thinking.”
“A lot of good that’s done us so far.” She walked over to the couch and sat down next to her son. “How’s your nose?”
He shrugged, lifting the ice pack off of his face so she could see. The tissue was swelled up and turning purple now. At that moment, she wished she could shoot Louis. It was one thing for him to abuse her, but when it came to her kids she drew the line.
“If he hadn’t crossed me, he wouldn’t have gotten hit.”
“If you hadn’t kidnapped that little girl, he wouldn’t have crossed you.” She stood up and walked over to the phone. It was ringing again. “If you don’t answer, they’ll get tired of trying. Then they’ll storm the place.”
Louis appeared to think that over. Eventually, he picked up the receiver. “What?”
“Mr. Ferndale. This is Deputy Raver. Is everyone okay in there?”
“Everyone is fine. If you assholes would take off, we’d all be a whole lot better.”
“I need to know if your wife is okay. Is she there?”
“She’s fine,” Louis snapped. “The bitch is strong as an ox, trust me.”
“What about the children?”
Louis’s eyes narrowed. Weren’t the children with them? Slowly his face broke into a smile. “They’re fine. Watching TV in fact.”
Louis heard a muffled sound, like the deputy had covered the phone with his hand. “I need you to tell me if Hallie Garrison is in the house with you.”
This was it. His bartering tool. “Now Deputy, just what are you getting at? I don’t know any Hallie Garrison.”
“Don’t screw with me, Louis. We know you kidnapped the child and brought her here. Do you realize the severity of the charges you’re facing? Let the kids go. All of them. If you do, we can make this easier on you.”
“Those are my kids,” he snapped. “And they ain’t going anywhere.”
“Hallie Garrison is not your child. If you don’t release her, I can’t help you.”
“Do you think I’m stupid enough to believe you’ll help me if I do let her go? You’re wasting your time, Deputy. Unless I see my money, I’m not dealing with any of you. You got that? You tell Luke and Kate Garrison that they’d better start talking. I gave them a deadline and it’s fast approaching.” Louis hung up the phone and turned to his stepson. “Funny thing, little man. They think the kids are in here.”
Michelle straightened. “What do you mean they think the kids are in here? Where are they?”
“I don’t know,” Louis said, heading across the room toward the kitchen. “But I’m going to find out.” He looked through the back window, his eyes scanning the greenbelt that wrapped around the property carefully. There was no movement. That didn’t necessarily mean there was no one there. He would be taking a big chance if he attempted to go out the back door. In fact, it was likely he would be shot.
Thinking about things for another minute, he decided he was going to be shot if he stayed inside the house anyway. Swiftly, he reached for the doorknob and pulled open the door.
THIRTY-ONE
Kate watched as the scenery went by. She’d managed to hitch a ride with a passing car. The teenager driving didn’t look very old, maybe sixteen at the most. He had pulled over when he’d seen her flagging him down in front of the sheriff’s office. Obviously, his mother hadn’t spent much time lecturing him on the dangers of picking up hitchhikers. Especially hitchhikers who were standing out in front of the police department.
Kate was grateful for that fact. She needed to get to her sister’s place fast. She wasn’t willing to waste any more time. Hallie was in grave danger and she wasn’t about to stand in the police station arguing when she could be helping to fix what she’d caused to go wrong in the first place. Louis wanted her. Hallie had nothing to do with this. She had to save her daughter.
“You sure you ain’t in any trouble? I mean you look nice enough, but my mom told me never to pick up hitchhikers.” The teenager glanced at her. “You look like you’re in trouble. I’m going to get my ass whooped for this one. I won’t be driving for a month.”
“I’m not dangerous. I just need to get somewhere quickly. I’m picking up my daughter,” she said, figuring she wasn’t lying.
“Oh. All the way out here?” The kid turned his small Geo onto a long, dirt road. There were several trailers parked on either si
de of the so-called street. They were all older, most in need of painting and other routine maintenance. Kate knew her sister lived in a trailer park. Michelle had lived in one most of her life. This place was worse than Kate expected. She would have felt badly for her sister and her family, had her sister not caused all of this misery to begin with.
“What’s your hurry? And why were you standing in front of the sheriff’s office?”
He was asking too many questions, Kate thought. He was starting to make her nervous and she didn’t like it. “My daughter’s visiting my sister,” was all she finally told him. The last thing she needed was to involve and innocent kid in her fiasco.
“Huh.” The teenager continued down the road until Kate stopped him and asked him to pull over. She could see the medium-sized trailer up ahead, the police cars parked in front of it. She didn’t want to tip off Louis or the cops of her arrival. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a ten-dollar bill and handed it to the kid.
“Thanks. By the way, you should listen to your mother. It’s not a good idea to pick up hitchhikers.”
“You don’t have to pay me,” he said, though he pocketed the cash. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay? There are cops up there. Something must have happened at your sister’s house.”
Ignoring him, Kate climbed out of the car and shut the door. She waited until the kid had driven off before carefully heading for the woods that backed up the house. Cutting through a lot several houses down, she got down low and moved as quickly as she could. She didn’t see any police officers, which was strange. They all seemed to be conglomerated in the front yard while the wooded area back here seemed abandoned. She knew she should probably wait for them to do their jobs. She also knew Luke would be frantic now but she just couldn’t sit around anymore. Not when she knew Louis was a ticking time bomb. It was more than likely that her sister was too. There was no telling what would happen to her daughter if someone didn’t get in there and help her.
Pushing some bushes aside carefully, Kate made her way toward the house. She concentrated on making as little noise as possible. Unbelievably, even as she zeroed in on the house, there were no police in the backyard. They were all standing stupidly in front of the trailer, as though the possibility of Louis or Michelle escaping through the back door had never crossed their minds.
Sighing, she knelt down, looking at the house carefully. She wasn’t seeing any sign of movement from inside. The place appeared to be quiet as a tomb.
Was her daughter in there? She had no way of knowing from back where she was hiding. She would be taking a gamble getting any closer to the place. More than likely, someone would see her. If that someone was Louis she knew she was done for. He would never let her get away alive again.
Thinking of Hallie, of the fear she knew her daughter had to be battling right then, she moved out from behind the bushes. She scurried quickly across the dirty backyard and up to within a foot of the house. There were two bedroom windows on the backside of the residence. Without giving it anymore thought, she edged toward one, quickly peering through the dirty glass and into a bedroom. The room had three twin beds in it. They were crammed into the area in a horizontal line. A few toys littered the room, but no people. She quickly moved to the next window and found much the same thing in this room, only there were two beds, rather than three. Again, the room was empty of people. Kate didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed. She knelt down and thought out her next move carefully. If Hallie was in the house, she was likely with Louis and Michelle. That meant there was no way for Kate to sneak her out. How was she going to save her daughter?
Panic ate at her and she rubbed her arms, trying to stop shivering. She thought of Luke and wondered what he would do in this situation. She knew for sure that he would do whatever it took to save his daughter. That was exactly what she was going to do too. She pivoted and abruptly stopped when she focused in on a pair of well-worn work boots.
“Well, well, little one. Somehow I knew you’d come.”
She heard his voice and knew she was in very big trouble. Her eyes looked up and locked with the eyes of the devil himself.
Pure fury over came Luke as he climbed out of the squad car and looked toward the crowd of policeman surrounding the old, dilapidated trailer. Kate wasn’t there. He looked carefully from person to person. Still, he didn’t see her. He knew she’d come here. He knew she was desperate to fix what she felt she had broken by coming back after three years. Now he’d lost her again—all because he’d been too damned busy fighting with a freaking cop! He looked at Archer who had been silent since they’d figured out Kate was missing. “Where is my wife?”
“If she came here, I’m sure the deputies took care of her.”
“Then where is she?”
Archer frowned, looking over at Carter who had sped onto the property in front of them. He was yelling at one officer, then another. Then he turned and headed their way, his expression grim. “She’s not here. They’ve been here the whole time and no one has seen her.”
Luke frowned. “She’s here. I know she came here looking for Hallie. She’s going to try to reason with her sister. You have to get inside that house.”
“Mr. Garrison, someone would have seen her if she’d gotten near the house. We have it covered.” Carter scowled at Luke. “You and your wife are keeping me from doing my job. That is putting your daughter in further danger.”
“My wife is here somewhere.” Luke glared back at the man. “I know her.”
“You have the back covered?” Archer wanted to know.
“Of course I do,” Carter snapped. “I’ve got someone attempting to negotiate with Quincy right now too. My guy talked to him earlier and we know everyone inside the house is okay at this point.”
Luke stared at the trailer, anxiety riddling his body. His instincts told him Kate was either in that house or somewhere around it. “Have you searched the woods?”
“We’re working on that. It’s a large area. Undeveloped and rather rough terrain.” Carter turned toward his swarm of officers. “Who’s covering the back?”
When no one answered, he swore a blue streak and screamed more orders. Luke felt the hopelessness set in. Somehow, he knew Louis had her again.
“He’s got her,” he said to Carter.
“We don’t know that.”
“I do know that. If you’re not going in there, I am.” He started toward the house and immediately two deputies detained him roughly.
“Don’t make me lock you up, Mr. Garrison. Your wife has already compromised this situation. I hate to do it, but I’ll do what’s necessary to keep you out of the way.”
“Damn it, my wife and daughter are in there!” Luke shoved against one of the deputies, freeing himself for only a moment before a third stepped up and grabbed his arm. He fought them, but between the three of them they were able to subdue him and shove him against the cop car. Before he knew it, he was cuffed and shoved inside the vehicle. He cursed a blue streak, but it did no good. They turned and walked away.
Helpless, he sat there watching, knowing there was no way he could help Kate or Hallie now. His temper had rendered him completely useless.
Kate stumbled as Louis shoved her through the kitchen doorway and into a large living area. She immediately saw a young boy, who looked to be around ten or eleven. He was sitting on the couch, an angry glare on his face as he stared up at her. His nose was swollen and his face was dirty, but she recognized him. Joey. This was her nephew. He’d changed over the years. The last time she’d seen him he’d only been four or so. Now he was tall and lanky, his mop of dark brown hair hanging nearly to his shoulders. His brown eyes were filled with anguish. Her heart broke for him as she realized his childhood had obviously not been good.
“God, what are you doing here?”
Kate whirled around and came face to face with her sister, for the first time in nearly ten years. The DMV photo had been kinder than Kate had first thought. In person, her
sister had wrinkles from her eyes to her mouth to her forehead. Her skin was pale, her bottom lip puffy and red. Her eyes looked worn and tired. Her bleached blonde hair didn’t look any better in person than it had in the picture. If anything, it looked worse.
“I said, what are you doing here?” Michelle repeated, dragging deeply on a cigarette.
“You know why I’m here.”
“I hate to disappoint you, but she’s not here.”
Kate narrowed her eyes. “You’re lying.”
“No.” Michelle shook her head. “Ask Louis. She’s gone.”
God no. She couldn’t be too late. Hallie was here somewhere. She just knew it.
“Don’t look so stricken. You saw her die once before and you managed to live through it.” Louis shoved the butt of his gun into Kate’s back, forcing her to the floor. She winced as she landed firmly on her knees. “You made a big mistake crossing me, Katie.”
“I didn’t cross you,” she said, hating herself for feeling fear. As hard as she tried to shove the memories of that dark room in Vancouver aside, they were there in her head, rearing up and turning her into that pathetic, beaten-down creature again.
“You crossed me. You and that bitch, Karen,” Louis snickered, grabbing Kate by her hair and pulling as hard as he could. Her eyes involuntarily shut and he dragged her to her feet. “Karen knew I was going to kill you. She was right.” He squeezed Kate’s face tightly between two meaty fingers, bringing tears to her eyes, in spite of her plan to stay strong.
“You know what? This was more fun anyway. I’ve enjoyed my time with Hallie. She’s a beautiful little girl.”
Kate’s stomach roiled and for a moment, she thought she was going to be sick. “You bastard!” She spat the words, her eyes glaring into his. “If you hurt her…”
“What? What are you going to do, Kate? Huh?” He yanked her hair harder. “You’re worthless, just like Karen was—just like your sister is.” He snickered at his wife. Kate could see her sister glower back at him but she didn’t speak.
Root of All Evil Page 27