by Dave Conifer
“She and her father got out?”
“I didn’t see, but that’s what everybody said,” the woman answered.
“That big ass dude helped them get out,” offered a man who looked to be about twenty. “I saw him carrying Allie. They were lucky he was there.”
“He had the girl with him?” Rockingham didn’t have any doubt about who the man was talking about, but he played it straight. “Who is this big ass dude? Sorry, what was your name, son?”
“Jim Davidson,” he said, beaming at his neighbors about his newfound importance. “They hired him to work around the house. We call him ZZ Top ‘cause he has this badass beard.”
“Any idea what his real name is?”
Davidson shook his head. So did everybody else. “Jim’s right,” an older man agreed. “He’s been around for a couple of months. I didn’t see him today.”
“I did,” Davidson said. “He must have moved his truck down the street to keep it away from the fire. I didn’t see Mr. Havelock but I saw ZZ Top walking down the street with the girl. Allie.”
Rockingham stared. “Are you sure about this? He has the girl?”
“Well, I’m sure Mr. Havelock went with them, too,” Davidson said.
“But you didn’t see him,” Rockingham asked. “Right? You just saw the girl and the big guy? Did you ever see Mr. Havelock with them at all? How can you be so sure?” Davidson only shrugged.
“His car was in the driveway the whole time,” said another voice from the darkness. “I kept wondering if it would burn. It’s gone now.”
“I’m not completely sure the big guy had the girl,” Davidson backtracked. “Maybe it was Mr. Havelock.”
“I saw Jane drive it away,” the neighbor from two doors down said. “She got here in her car during the fire but she left in the other one. Maybe she wanted to get it away from the burning house since it was in the driveway.”
“It was already put out by then,” somebody else said.
“His car’s nicer than hers,” Davidson pointed out. “If she could only save one, that’s the one to take.”
“Was it the Audi?” Rockingham asked.
“Yeah,” he said, surprised. “It was sweet.”
“And you’re absolutely sure Mrs. Havelock drove away in the Audi. Alone. Right?”
“It makes sense,” the first woman said. “She probably wanted to catch up with her husband and daughter.”
“If Steve was even with them,” somebody from the back said. “None of us saw him.”
“Nobody here knows where they went, right?” Rockingham asked. He already knew the answer.
~~~
Jane’s phone buzzed from the top of the dashboard at four minutes before ten. How did he cut it so close to our deadline, she wondered. She grabbed the phone and checked the screen, which displayed her own number as the caller. How does he do that? “Hello?”
“Hello, Jane. This is Jane, isn’t it?”
“Where’s Allie?” she demanded while watching Steve grab his ribs as he leaned into the front seat. He must have taken a shot to the midsection that he didn’t remember.
“She’s right here,” he told her. “As far as she’s concerned it’s just a field trip with Uncle Rob. She’s all smiles.”
“Tell me where you are or I’m calling the police!”
“Now, we talked about that,” Creedmoor said. “That’s a really, really bad idea.”
Jane rubbed a palm on her forehead. “Can I talk to her?” Steve motioned for her to give him the phone but she shook her head and turned away.
“Not yet. But I’m going to tell you where we are. She’ll be glad to see you.”
“Tonight? I can see her tonight? And you’ll let her go?”
“We’re about to have ice cream in the mall at the Tropicana. It’ll be fun.”
“In Atlantic City? You’re in Atlantic City?”
“Holy shit,” Steve said. “What the fuck?”
“If you need directions just ask your husband,” Creedmoor advised her. “He knows where the Trop is. Doesn’t he, Jane?”
“I know where it is,” she said quickly. How does he know so much? “Are you going to let her go?”
“Remember, Jane, we agreed that you wouldn’t talk to the police about this,” he warned. “If you do, you’ll never find us. Never. Because I’ll know. Don’t do anything foolish and risk your daughter’s life. Do you understand?”
“Yes. Is Allie with you right now?”
“She’s picking out our ice cream,” he told her. “I didn’t want her to hear all this grown-up talk.”
“Where will we meet you?” she asked.
“We’ll most likely go into the Magic Shop after we’re done here,” he said. “Or maybe before we order. Jane, you didn’t say ‘we’ did you? You’re coming alone. I have some special instructions for your husband. But first, look in the glove compartment.”
Jane reached over and twisted a knob, causing the compartment door to drop open. It was completely empty except for one thing.
“Do you see the key?” Creedmoor asked.
She picked it up. “Yes. I have it.”
“Good. That goes to room twenty-four at the Sea View Motel in Absecon. It should only take you ten minutes to get there. Are you with me so far?”
“I’m not sure,” Jane answered. “How did you know which car?”
“There’s a key in both of them. Drop your husband at the motel on the way here. Starting in ten minutes I’m going to call that room over and over. The first time your husband doesn’t answer Allie and I will disappear. You better hurry. I’m starting in ten minutes.” The line went dead.
“You can’t come,” she said to Steve as she flipped the phone closed and started the car. “He says I have to come alone.” She explained what Creedmoor had said about the motel room as she drove out of the parking lot and headed for Absecon.
“Screw that,” he said. “He’s just playing with us. I’m going with you. He won’t do anything. I’ll just duck down in the back seat.”
“We can’t take that chance,” Jane argued. “He will know. Don’t ask me how but he always does. He knows what we’re saying. He even knows what we’re thinking. He might even be listening to us right now. If we do it his way maybe this will all be over in a few hours.”
“Why in God’s name would you think that? It’s too easy,” he countered. “If all he wanted to do was take her out for ice cream and then give her back, why would he go to all this trouble in the first place? It’s got to be a trap. I’m going, and we should tell the police about it too. They can outwit this dope. I have no doubt about that. And when this is all over I’m going to kill this guy.”
~~~
Despite Steve’s bravado Jane left him at the motel and proceeded to Atlantic City alone in the Audi. The ride took less than a half-hour, the glistening skyline within view for most of it. She tried to relax by listening to the radio but the wind rushing in through the broken window made it impossible to hear. Her hands shook violently as she made her way across the channel and turned south down the barrier island to the cream-colored Tropicana Casino and Resort. A left turn on Brighton Street took her to the Trop parking garage. She could feel her body tremble as she circled upwards looking for a place to park. In a few minutes I’ll have her, she kept telling herself, but in the back of her mind she knew Steve had a point. Why would Creedmoor make this so easy?
It had been a few years but she didn’t have any trouble remembering how to get into the mall inside the resort. Once inside, she walked down a sweeping stone stairway into a pre-Castro Cuban marketplace ringed with upscale restaurants. Her pace quickened as she passed a fifties-era convertible and moved toward the ice cream shop and the magic store. Awareness that she was going to see Allie made her want to run.
Even if Allie hadn’t been beside him she’d have known the man in the baseball cap sitting in front of a dish of ice cream was Creedmoor simply by his size. His appearance had changed drastic
ally. He was dressed neatly in a clean Atlantic City Surf baseball t-shirt and a pair of gray cargo shorts. Most strikingly, the beard was gone. His face was surprisingly gentle without it, although it was bone white where the beard had been and brown everywhere else. Her mind raced as she approached the shop, trying to come up with a reason for the new look.
Allie, sitting innocently next to Creedmoor and spooning ice cream into her mouth, saw her through the glass window and jumped out of her seat. Jane’s innards tightened as she watched Creedmoor restrain Allie with a hand on the shoulder. She was back in her seat when Jane entered but still had an ice cream-smeared smile on her face. He gestured to a seat next to his. Her daughter was across the table. It felt like a greater distance than it actually was. Jane wanted to go to her, to squeeze her and never let her go, but Allie didn’t seem to understand that anything was amiss. For now, best to leave it that way, Jane decided. “How’s your ice cream?” she asked, trying to sound calm.
“It’s good, Mommy. I got a banana split! See?” she asked, pointing at a chocolate-laced banana in her dish. Jane felt Creedmoor’s hand pulling on hers under the table. He guided her to a side pocket on his shorts before looking her in the eye. She patted the pocket until she realized what Creedmoor was trying to make her understand without upsetting Allie. He had a gun. She nodded gently. He was in charge.
“I thought you were going to the magic store,” Jane asked Allie. Don’t think about the gun. Don’t think about the gun. “Change your mind?”
“We goed there,” Allie said between spoonfuls of ice cream.
Whatever Creedmoor had planned, she doubted that it involved letting them walk away. Would he take both of them? The answer had to be yes. He already had Allie. If he doesn’t want me, she reasoned, why have this little meet-up at all? He’s planning to kidnap both of us. At least Allie won’t be alone with him. She decided she wasn’t going to make it easy. The busy casino, surrounded by thousands of people, was the safest place they could be under the circumstances. It also provided the best opportunity for escape. If he managed to get them to some remote location where nobody else was around, there wouldn’t be as many options. It looked like there were about five minutes worth of ice cream in Allie’s bowl so Jane knew she better start thinking fast.
“Jane, can I borrow your phone?” Creedmoor asked politely, interrupting her thoughts. His intent stare told her that it wasn’t a request. She dug the phone from her pocketbook and handed it over to Creedmoor, who slid it into one of the his pockets without even looking at it.
What if she and Allie simply bolted for the garage where her car was waiting? Dragging a four-year-old would make it difficult but maybe it was worth a shot, especially if they could get a head start. Surely he wouldn’t use the gun in the middle of a crowd. Or would he? Maybe, if they were lucky, they’d run into a policeman or a security guard who could help.
Creedmoor had been making steady progress on his own ice cream but Jane noticed he was slowing down. The comfortable posture was gone. Now he was hunched over and swallowing air as he probed his face with his free hand between bites. The spoon dropped onto the table with a metallic rattle. Something was about to happen. She’d watched him enough to know.
His hands flew to his temples and a low moan escaped his lips. Customers at the surrounding tables looked over but nobody moved. He began to rock back and forth in his seat, his hands clawing and squeezing at his head.
Jane stood up quietly and eased Allie from her own chair. She heard a bowl clatter to the floor behind her as she broke for the door with Allie in tow. After escaping the shop they darted up an escalator to the second floor of the mall. Only when they reached the top did Jane dare to check behind her.
Creedmoor had left the ice cream shop with his hands clasped on his head. He quickly spotted his prisoners and stumbled up the escalator in pursuit. By then Jane had seen the signs showing the way to the garage. “Where’s Uncle Rob?” Allie asked.
“We’re playing hide and seek,” Jane told her as they rushed under an archway and through a plain metal door into the dingy concrete of the garage. All we have to do is make it to the car.
The elevators were too far away so they ran into the stairwell. Allie opened her mouth but Jane shushed her right away. The quieter the better. Their feet scraped and pattered softly on the concrete steps as they worked their way up. Somewhere between levels two and three Jane became aware of another set of footsteps much heavier than theirs echoing beneath them. “You have to go as fast as you can,” Jane told her, fighting panic.
Both were out of breath when they reached level five and pushed through the scratchy red door. There was Steve’s Audi, just where she’d left it. Creedmoor’s footsteps were growing louder but there was still a chance they could make it if they just kept moving. Once they were in the car he’d never be able to keep up. If only Allie could run faster.
They were still a hundred feet from the car when they heard the door slam open against the cinder block wall behind them. “Keep going!” Jane yelled at Allie. She was already considering the best way to get Allie inside the car when it disappeared, replaced by a thunderous ball of fire. A series of smaller explosions followed the initial blast as they stopped in their tracks. After the initial explosions the fire hissed and popped. A wave of super-heated air washed over them at the same instant that Jane heard the windows shatter. Somehow she could hear Creedmoor’s footsteps over the clanking of metal debris that rained onto the concrete floor as it was ejected from the burning Audi.
Creedmoor had caught up and was standing behind them admiring the fire with a crooked smile on his face. Apparently the pain in his head was gone. There was no point in running anymore, Jane knew. There just wasn’t any place to go. She pulled Allie in close, an arm wrapped tightly around her shoulder. Allie twisted until she could hide her face in Jane’s filthy shirt. By then the cars on either side of the Audi were on fire.
Jane wanted to know how he made the car explode but didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of asking. The three of them stood there watching the burning car. It occurred to Jane that if they waited long enough, some well-armed people might show up, looking to find out what exploded. Unfortunately, Creedmoor realized it too.
“Time to go. Sorry about the car,” he said, holding up a cell phone. “Remote control. You’ve both been driving around with a few pounds of Semtex under your seat for a month. I’ve got your whole world wired, locked and loaded. I know everything you say and do.” Jane thought about how he’d called at the last minute of Steve’s ten o’clock deadline just a few hours ago. He pulled the black pistol from his pocket. “No more tricks. Let’s go. Back the way we came.” Jane and Allie shuffled past and then he followed.
Two teenagers burst into view out of nowhere, giggling and chattering as the jostled through the red door. They froze when the saw the fire, gaping and suddenly silent. Their eyes moved between Creedmoor’s gun, the burning car and then Creedmoor again. “Come on,” the boy yelled as he broke for the door. Creedmoor raised the gun and shot him twice in the back from where he stood, fifteen feet away. The girl screamed as she watched her boyfriend fall through the doorway and onto his face.
By then Creedmoor had reached her. Still holding the gun in one hand, he dragged her up against the wall. Before Jane knew it he’d grabbed the girl’s hair and was bashing her head into the concrete, her skull thudding softly with each thrust. When he finally released her lifeless body, blood was already dripping down the wall. A casual wipe of his hand on his new shirt left a reddish smear.
“Let’s go. Back inside. Walk all the way through.” He nudged the boy’s body with his foot hard enough to flip it over and expose a bloody face. “Watch your step,” he said. “We’re going on the beach. If you do anything I don’t like, you get it between the eyes. Don’t test me.”
Jane looked at Allie, who was crying without making a sound. “Can I hold her hand?” she asked. “Please? She’s afraid.”
Hi
s face sagged. It was only for an instant, but Jane saw it. “For now,” he said. “Only until we get downstairs.”
Jane bent down to Allie until their faces touched. “It’ll be fine,” she promised. “That wasn’t real, honey. They were just pretending. We’re just going for a little walk. With Uncle Rob.”
“Oh, wait,” Creedmoor said, holding out his arm to stop them. “I almost forgot.” His hand disappeared into a pocket and came back with Jane’s phone. “You need to make a phone call to your husband,” he said as he held it out. “Tell him that tomorrow’s a big anniversary for me and I’m taking you to Maine for a celebration. That’s all. Not a single extra word. No hello, no goodbye. Then give the phone back to me.”
Until then Jane hadn’t remembered that the next day was November 16, five years to the day after the accident. That couldn’t be good. She dialed the number and when Steve answered she delivered the message exactly as Creedmoor had told her to. Creedmoor snatched the phone and ended the call.
“Good,” he said. “Now we go. Allie goes first. Then you. Right back the way we came.”
The tiny procession threaded its way down the dirty garage stairway and through an ornate set of glass doors back into the mall without speaking. It was midnight but the place was packed, even more so than an hour earlier when they were in the ice cream shop. A group of men in police uniforms sprinted past them and disappeared into the garage.
They walked past the glamorous storefronts of boutiques and specialty shops before reaching the casino. After they’d passed a third security guard Creedmoor broke Jane’s grip on Allie’s hand and inserted himself between them. He guided them through the slot machines and blackjack tables without attracting a second look from anybody. Just before they stepped onto the escalator that would take them to boardwalk level he rearranged the group into single file without letting go.
Jane had never felt so repulsed as she walked out into the cold, salty air hand in hand with this monster, who had a tight grip on her daughter with his other hand. Every few steps she tried to get a look at Allie but Creedmoor purposely blocked her view. All she could glimpse were her gleaming new Dora the Explorer shoes as Allie bravely struggled to keep up.