"I'll buy that, although we didn't see anything."
And neither did Drew... during the first hour that he was in the house, going from room to room, and searching through the upheaval in the bedroom. He was so exhausted and disappointed at not finding any clues, he almost passed on a second look at the master bathroom.
A memory of his walking through this house another time, looking for an intruder with Teri on his heels, had him smiling in spite of how awful he felt. He remembered her laughing about his braving the shower monster for her, and the night he had interrupted her strawberry bubble bath.
That was what he smelled—strawberries. Following the faint scent, he pushed himself into the bathroom and looked around. The shower curtain was drawn halfway along the tub, but a quick glance inside assured him no scary surprise awaited him there. He pulled the curtain the rest of the way back and frowned over the broken crystal decanter. Had Teri broken it while Selena was dragging her away? There was no blood to indicate a struggle, only shards of glass and spilled pink crystals.
Then he looked again. "Sergeant! Come here quick."
Parkins was at his side a second later. "What is it?"
"Look. I almost missed it. There are letters scraped out in the bath crystals. Dust settled over them, but if you look hard, you can make it out. See? SELENA KILLED... what do you think this name is? It's not as neat as the other three words. Teri must have been rushed away."
"Son-of-a-bitch! Pardon me, but two of us looked in here and didn't notice that. The only excuse I can give is when I glanced behind the curtain, I was at an angle and half-expecting to see a body. When there wasn't even a drop of blood, I just kept going." Parkins knelt down and read off the letters: "V-L-S-T-E-R-C. Does that mean anything to you?"
"No, but there's definitely a space between the 'R' and the 'C'. Maybe it's the first initial of a last name."
Parkins moved his finger in the air over all the letters, tracing Teri's words several times. "Maybe that first letter is a 'U' not a 'V'."
"Ulster?" Drew asked, testing the sound of the name. "There's an Ulster in Ireland."
"And one in New York!" Parkins exclaimed, slapping his forehead. "The 'C' could stand for 'County'-Ulster County, New York! Your lady left a message, all right." He rose and dusted off the knees of his dark uniform pants.
Drew felt a surge of success revitalize him. "Do you think that's where they were headed?"
"It's worth a shot. At least we have a specific county to search public records. Are you up to going to the station with me, or should I take you back to the hospital? You're white as a ghost."
Drew just looked at him like he was crazy and Parkins laughed. He understood what it was like to want to be part of the hunt. He wouldn't deny Drew Marshall even if he did look like he was ready to fall on his face.
Chapter 23
"Bingo!" Ross Parkins shouted staring at his computer monitor. "Selena Lipschitz gained title to a piece of property in Ulster County a little over a year ago."
"Let's go," Drew said, but the time it took him to get up from the chair betrayed his lack of energy.
"You'll have to stay here," Parkins told him.
"I'm going if I have to hire a cab and follow you there."
After several more curt exchanges and Drew's promise to stay out of the way, Parkins gave in and went to clear his trip with Captain Hart.
Since the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction in Ulster was New York's State Troopers, Hart arranged for Parkins, Morris and Marshall to go to the station nearest Selena's property and be accompanied to the house by troopers. There was no guarantee Selena was there, but they would be prepared to apprehend a crazed killer slash kidnapper nonetheless.
Drew slept through most of the two-hour trip, but the morning's exertion took its toll in pain when he awoke. Every breath was like another knife in his chest. But it would all be worth it if they found Teri safe.
* * *
Through half-closed eyes Teri watched Selena take the little tray away. This marked the ninth meal of bread and water rations... and she had actually been grateful when Selena brought it to her. Teri had thought Selena had already deprived her of all she could when she woke up naked in the barren cage. But at that time, she had still had two weapons left—her strength and her mind. The first was disintegrating from purposeful neglect. Selena was keeping her too hungry to stage another rebellion, and the slightest activity left her weak and dizzy.
At first she believed Selena couldn't break her will to live, no matter what torture she devised. But then, at first, Teri also believed that she could somehow talk her way out of her imprisonment.
In the time since her escape attempt, Teri had stayed silent and obedient, apologized, pleaded, screamed in anger, and cried in desperation, all to no avail.
Her newest fear stemmed from the awareness that Selena no longer had any lucid moments. She talked only to Juliette and served Teri's needs like a robot. Teri was fairly sure her warden wasn't getting any sleep either, since she rarely moved from the chair. She was sitting there, staring at Teri when Teri fell asleep, and she was always there when Teri awoke. When she did go upstairs, she would leave Juliette in the chair to keep her one good eye watching their prisoner. Sometimes the shabby old doll frightened Teri more than her owner did.
Selena also seemed to have forgotten her offer to let Teri earn back her privileges, or perhaps, she, too, was losing track of time. Teri and her cage were still stripped bare, and the only water she had received was for drinking. She knew better than to waste that on washing herself. Though she might be filthy and losing weight, as long as she had bread and water, she could survive.
And that fact made Selena the only lifeline Teri had. Without her, Teri knew she would die of starvation. Depending on someone so insane for her merest existence left her totally helpless. And that helplessness was slowly chipping away at her will. Every so often she found herself wanting to curl into a ball and go to sleep, never to awaken again. So far, however, her mind had remained clear enough to push such thoughts away. Although her situation offered no sign of hope, she wasn't yet ready to follow Selena's mother's escape route.
Overhead, she could hear Selena moving about. Strangely, it sounded like she was running from one end of the house to the other. What could she be up to now? Having something to be curious about stirred Teri from her lethargy.
Suddenly she heard Selena open, close and bolt the basement door then saw her racing down the stairs with Teri's robe over her arm. With her long, white hair flying madly around her and her glazed eyes widened in panic, she looked as if she was being chased by demons... or was one herself.
Teri backed into the corner of the cage as Selena hurriedly unlocked the door, darted inside, and locked herself in with Teri.
Pocketing the key, she tossed Teri the robe and ordered, "Cover yourself. Quickly. And be very quiet."
What Teri saw in Selena's hand quieted her more effectively than the warning. Selena had Rico's gun, and, as far as she knew, it was still loaded. At least it wasn't pointing at her this time. She pulled on the robe and made herself wait for an explanation.
"Don't worry, Teri. I won't let them get you. I'll protect you."
"Them?" Teri prayed Selena wasn't just being paranoid. She listened intently for any noise that might indicate a rescue was imminent, but for several minutes the only sound in the empty basement was Selena's breath hissing through her teeth.
* * *
"That's the white Cadillac we're looking for," Parkins told the men around him as soon as they went around the back of the house. "We'd better assume our killer and the kidnap victim are in the house. So everybody stay alert." The six troopers who had provided escort surrounded the house while Parkins and Morris went to the front door. Drew was ordered to stay behind until they had the situation under control.
When knocking, pounding and shouting didn't produce any results, Parkins smashed a window and climbed in. Quickly he unlocked the front and
back doors and let in the rest of the team. A brief search of the house proved that someone was living there, and a damp towel in the kitchen suggested the inhabitant hadn't been gone long. The only place they couldn't easily check was behind a door in the kitchen that had been locked from the other side. While two of the troopers worked at removing the hinges on the outside of the door, Parkins called Drew inside to take a look at the strange portrait in the corner of one bedroom.
"That's Teri's work, all right," Drew confirmed as soon as he saw the painting of Selena behind bars. He bent down to examine the signature. "Look here-it's dated July nine. Teri must have painted it after Selena took her away. She's got to be here!"
Just then one of the troopers came back to the bedroom. "We got the hinges off that door. It leads down to a basement. You ready?"
Parkins turned to Drew. "You'd better go back outside. We don't know what we'll find behind that door."
Ignoring the suggestion, Drew followed Parkins to the kitchen, but was held back by Morris while Parkins headed cautiously down into the basement, followed by three of the officers.
* * *
Teri wanted to scream out a warning, but Selena had her pinned against her with one hand over Teri's mouth and the gun barrel pressed to her temple.
"Hush now," Selena whispered, tightening her grip on Teri's face. "I don't want to hurt you, but I won't let those men get their hands on you."
Teri understood instantly. Selena would kill her before allowing her pet to be rescued.
The moment the first police officer appeared, Selena pointed the gun at him and fired. That man jumped off the stairs and rolled on the floor while three others behind him did the same thing, only to discover there was nowhere to hide. Selena pulled the trigger three more times at the moving targets, but in spite of the bullets ricocheting around the basement, only one man was hit.
They all had their weapons out, but Selena kept Teri securely in front of her as a shield. As soon as it became obvious that they weren't going to shoot, she turned her gun back on Teri.
"You all want her alive, don't you?" Selena ranted at them. "You want to take her from me so you can play your man-games with her. But I'm not going to let you have her. I swore to protect her and I will, even if it means ending both our lives right now. I have two bullets left, one for her, then one for me. But it would be better if you would all just go away and leave us alone."
Teri recognized Sergeant Parkins as he set his gun on the floor and got up slowly with his hands raised. "Selena, you can't kill Teri. That would break your vow as The Protector, and you've already made one mistake too many."
Teri felt Selena loosen her hold on her a bit.
"How do you know who I am?" Selena asked warily.
The officer took one step toward the cage and spoke in a gentle voice. "I found out from someone with greater powers than you. You failed once, Selena. If you fail again, you can no longer be called The Protector. Your title will be granted to someone more worthy."
Teri prepared herself as she sensed Selena's attention turning completely to the officer. Although the gun was still directed at her, it was no longer pressed against her temple. But Teri realized that even if she could break away, there was nowhere for her to run within the cage. If only she could slip her fingers into Selena's pocket while she was distracted and get the key to this bright officer, he might be able to get the door open and end the stalemate.
Selena was obviously confused by what the officer was telling her. In her little-girl voice, she asked, "What do you mean, I failed?"
Parkins looked up the stairs behind him and called, "Mr. Marshall, why don't you tell her how she failed?"
"Marshall?" whined Selena in disbelief and pointed the gun at the stairs.
"No-o-o!" Teri screamed as she slammed her elbow into Selena's stomach, then bashed the girl's forearm with her doubled fists as hard as she could. The pistol fell from Selena's hand, clanged against the bars, and slid under the bed. In a blur of movement, Selena dived to the floor to retrieve the gun, and Teri threw herself on top of her. While Selena groped beneath the bed for the gun, Teri dug her hand into Selena's pocket, pulled out the key to the cage, and tossed it through the bars.
Teri saw Parkins grab the key and insert it in the lock, but he wasn't quite fast enough. In the same seconds that it took him to open the cage door, Selena found the gun, bucked Teri off her back, and hauled her up in front of her again. The other two officers had moved up beside him and were prepared to shoot, but Selena had her gun pressed against Teri's temple again. The slightest movement could mean her death.
"Put down your guns and back away from the door," Selena ordered angrily. "You, too," she shouted at the downed officer beneath the steps. As soon as they were out of the way, Selena brought Teri out of the cage and moved toward the stairway. "Okay, all of you, get in the cage." She waited impatiently for them to drag the injured man inside with them then demanded, "Now call everyone else down here to join you. There are four of you here. I know I saw one more coming toward the house."
Teri could almost see Parkins mind working for several seconds before he called out, "Kirby. Come down here."
"With your hands up," Selena added. When another officer reached the basement she made him remove his gun belt and get in the cage also. "Where's Marshall?"
"He's not really here," Parkins told her. "I lied about that. He's alive, but after what you did to him, he won't be leaving the hospital anytime soon."
Selena made a growling sound. There was no way for her to know if anyone was still upstairs but she couldn't stay in the basement either. Towing Teri along with her, Selena shifted the gun from one hand to the other, closed and locked the cage door, and returned the key to her pocket. Still considering the officers a threat, she kept Teri in front of her and started up the stairs backward.
Teri gagged when Selena's forearm cut off her air passage as she pulled her up onto the first step. After several steps, Teri learned to anticipate the moment she needed to step up by listening for the clack of Selena's sandals right before she would yank Teri up by the throat. Teri wondered how Selena was navigating the stairs backward with those floppy shoes, then scolded herself for thinking of something so silly when her life was about to end, but her brain didn't seem to be functioning any better than her starved body.
Three-quarters of the way up the stairs, a stray memory came to her about how, if you are ever being forcibly held, going completely limp could help you get free. Anything was worth a try at this point. Drew was alive and she was determined to see him again.
Teri waited until the next step up. One sandal landed, and as Selena lifted her other foot, Teri went slack.
She had only meant to slip out of Selena's grasp, but as Teri drooped, Selena lost her shoe, then her balance. With a hard jerk, Teri twisted aside, causing Selena's heavy body to catapult forward. Clinging to the railing, Teri gaped in shock as Selena toppled down the stairs, shrieking and flapping her arms and legs like a huge ragdoll as she tried to stop her fall. With a sickening crunch of bones, Selena landed on the white concrete floor.
No one moved or spoke for several heartbeats. Then Selena's eyes suddenly popped open and she raised the gun toward Teri.
Teri wanted to move, but her body refused to cooperate. She could only stand there, quivering with terror. But Selena couldn't seem to pull the trigger. Her head turned slowly toward the chair where Juliette was perched, as if she were listening to something the doll was telling her. A moment later, Selena's hand began to spasm.
With a keening cry, she pointed the gun at Juliette and squeezed the trigger. As her mentor exploded into pieces, Selena brought the gun to her own temple.
And fired again.
With the ear-splitting sound of the gunshots still echoing throughout the basement, two more officers sped down the stairs past Teri as she collapsed onto a step. She was not sure she had the strength to get up on her own, until someone sat down beside her and stroked her cheek.
"Drew!" she cried, throwing her arms around him. For a long time they merely held each other, oblivious to the gruesome scene below them. There was so much to say, but not yet. When one of the officers needed to get by, they rose to go upstairs also, but Drew hesitated when he saw Teri turn to look back at the creature on the basement floor.
"May she rot in Hell," he said, without an ounce of sympathy.
As for Teri, her time in Hell had ended... permanently.
Epilogue
"Congratulations, Teri," Ann said, giving her a warm hug. "I think this is the best showing the Forsythe Gallery has had since your exhibit last year. Your idea to share the spotlight with Drew was sheer genius! I'm not suggesting your Faces series isn't magnificent, but displaying the paintings alongside his original photography showed brilliance, pure brilliance!"
Teri blushed with pride. "Thank you. We couldn't be more pleased. Pardon me, but Drew seems to need rescuing from one of your more enamored blue-haired patrons." She made her way through the champagne-sipping crowd to her husband's side. Smiling at his fawning admirer, she linked her arm through his and politely excused the both of them.
"Thanks, darlin'," he murmured with a wink as Teri led him to a quieter corner of the gallery.
"My pleasure." She raised up on tiptoes and softly kissed his mouth.
He couldn't resist wrapping his arms around her in spite of the lack of privacy. "They love you."
"They love us," she corrected and let her gaze scan the collection on display. "It is good."
Drew watched her closely and knew the precise moment when she looked at the final collage of the series—Selena... in all her faces and moods... including insanity. Simultaneously fascinating and repelling, it had drawn the most attention at the exhibit. "You okay?"
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