by Becki Willis
“Here, now, none of that!” he told her sternly. His voice was oddly calm, which only managed to frighten Madison even more. She suddenly understood the term ‘cold-blooded’ killer.
He slammed the car door shut and pushed her to walk in front of him.
“Wh-Where are we going?” she asked.
“Shut up and walk. And keep your hands where I can see them.”
“I-I’m cold.”
“You’ll be plenty warm where we’re going,” he said with a smirk.
She stumbled along the white rock road, toward the rear of the houses. “Why?” she asked after a moment. “Why did you kill Ronny Gleason?”
“Damn fool threatened me. Me! After all I had on the man, he actually thought he could double-cross me! The fool got what was coming to him.”
“What did you have on Ronny?”
“For starters, he was keeping game roosters, which was against Barbour rules. He was fighting them and taking bets, which is against Texas law. Plus the man was bribing a Barbour Service Tech to falsify records. There was a reason he always placed at the top of competition, and it wasn’t because the man knew how to raise chickens!” Eddie Menger barked out a bitter laugh.
“A Service Tech?” Madison asked in surprise. “How could another Service Tech falsify records for this farm?”
“Who said it was another Service Tech?” His sly grin was laced with evil.
“You? He was paying you to rig competition?”
Eddie Menger looked at her with a smug smile. “I’ve got me a sweet little system going. All my growers are in the top ten percent of the company’s best performers. Not only does it look good on my part, but it brings me in a nice bonus paycheck and some sweet incentive awards. I’ve won season tickets to the Houston Texans, an all-expense-paid dove hunt down in South Texas and a fancy new laptop. That laptop sure has come in handy, too, especially when I want to control things on the farm without stepping foot on the property.”
Madison gasped and forgot to take a step. She stumbled to a halt as she stared over at him. “That’s how you did it!” she cried. “That’s how you made all those strange things happen, how you made the house go dark with me in it, and how you created all those alarms! You-You manipulated me into going out that rainy night. And you tried to bring the house down around me by creating high pressure with me inside. You tried to kill me!”
“Don’t act so surprised. You were getting too close. Instead of minding your own business and just walking the houses like you were hired to do, you had to go butting your nose in where it didn’t belong.” He jerked on her arm again, spurring her back into motion.
“What-What did I do? Where did I poke my nose?”
“deCordova started sniffing around, asking questions, looking into Ronny’s gambling problem. Soon he’d be looking into his finances and see a few inconsistencies. Before long, Barbour would get wind of the cockfights and start asking questions of their own. The Ngyens pay me to keep quiet about their part in all this, but Barbour would want to know how I let something like that slip past me. If they shut down the Ngyens, I’d lose commission on a farm. If they shut down the fights, I stand to lose a lot more.”
“I heard you tell that other man the boss was getting greedy, cutting into your profits.”
“You-? Where? Where did you hear that?” Eddie demanded.
Pleased that she was able to offer at least one surprise of her own, Madison gloated. “At the Muehler place.”
“That was you?” the man snarled.
“You turned the dogs out on me!” Madison said with indignation.
“That was Harold. If I’d have known you were there, I would have snapped your neck.”
His matter-of-fact tone caused a new chill to race down Madison’s already shivering spine. She blanched as she absorbed the knowledge that he planned to kill her now. He would not admit his guilt to her if he planned to let her live.
“Who is your boss?” she asked, trying to stall the inevitable.
“Don’t you worry about that. You have other things to worry about.”
She had to keep him talking. She did not know where they were headed, but she knew it was to her death. “So you killed Ronny because he threatened to go to Barbour about your little scheme?”
“It’s hardly a ‘little’ scheme,” Eddie bragged. “It goes far deeper than rigging feed conversion and placing first in competition, deeper than earning hush money to keep a few secrets. I own a farm in Leon County, too, did you know that? It’s not under my name, of course, and I don’t run it. I have people to do that for me. And thanks to this envelope you just brought me, I’ll soon own this farm, too.”
“The grower who died in Leon County,” Madison murmured, recalling a previous conversation. “The car wreck.”
“Funny, how a brand new car like that can suddenly develop mechanical problems.”
“So you somehow blackmail the growers into naming you beneficiary on their life insurance policies?” Madison guessed.
“Just an added little detail in keeping them at the top of competition.”
“So you make money all the way around. You earn a paycheck from Barbour, a bribe from the grower, a bonus from Barbour when that grower performs well, hush money from the farms growing fighting roosters, money off the bets placed on those roosters, plus you collect life insurance when you kill off a grower or two?”
“Technically, there have only been two. It was just a lucky coincidence that Larry Botello died of a heart attack shortly after he signed over his policy.”
“Let me guess,” Madison said dryly. “They have different insurance companies so no one has ever made the connection. But what about Ramona Gleason?”
“What about her?”
“She’s not at all happy with her check. Why haven’t the other wives complained?”
“What’s to complain about? Most banks require that growers have a life insurance policy. I have nothing to do with who they name beneficiary. My policy is completely separate.” He frowned as he said, “I’m not completely heartless. I don’t want to leave their families with nothing.”
“Just without a husband or father.”
The Service Tech shrugged. “The right amount of money can ease a lot of heartache.”
“Apparently Ramona didn’t receive the right amount.”
“That’s her problem, not mine. The damn fool husband of hers took out a second mortgage on his farm last fall. I imagine most of his policy went to cover that.”
“So that’s how he paid off all his debts,” Madison murmured aloud.
“Yeah, but he placed some sucker bets and he was right back in debt again. Only this time, it was with the wrong people. We had a sweet little operation going on down here, until he brought in the big boys for a piece of the action. First thing I knew, they were taking over.” Eddie spit on the ground, as if to rid his mouth of a foul taste. “That’s the second time Ronny’s screwed me over, but I made damn sure it was the last. First time he cost me my teaching job at the school, then he cut into my action on the fights. When he threatened to squeal on me, I knew I’d had enough.”
“So you killed him, just to keep your job at Barbour?” They had reached the end of the rock road and were at the back of the farm, near the incinerator.
“Not the job.”
“To stay out of jail?” she guessed again.
“I killed him to stay alive. It wasn’t Barbour or the law he threatened me with.”
Realizing Eddie Menger was more frightened of the ‘big boys’ than he was of the legal system or job security, ice settled into Madison’s veins. That could only mean that the men controlling the game roosters were powerful and extremely dangerous.
“Did-Did they tell you to kill me?”
Eddie laughed. “Don’t flatter yourself. You aren’t important enough for them to even notice. No, killing you is completely my idea.”
“So how did you kill Eddie?” She thought about the blackened wall
in his bathroom. “Was Ramona in on it?”
“And break a nail?” Eddie scoffed. “No, all that broad thinks about is herself and how she looks in the mirror. While she was off to her usual Tuesday afternoon beauty appointment, I slipped inside the house and waited for Ronny to take his bath. I knew he had a bad back and always sat in front of the Jacuzzi jets after he walked houses. I tossed a radio in with him, pulled him from the water, then took him to the chicken houses where the chickens were supposed to peck away all traces of foul play. Then you came along, and messed up everything. My plan started to fall apart.”
“And now?” Madison asked bravely. “How are you going to get around it all now? And how are you going to explain my death?”
“Don’t have to.” He grinned at his own ingenious plan. “You’re going to disappear. There will be talk that you and Ronny were lovers before you moved here. Maybe you were the reason he was always slipping away to Vegas.”
“That’s crazy! I have children who can vouch for my whereabouts! And I was married, you know.”
“But not happily. I looked into your life, Madison Cessna Reynolds. I discovered Little Miss Heiress has some dark secrets in her past. All I need to do is plant the seed of doubt. I’ll let them make their own assumptions after that.” He gave a nonchalant shrug. “Maybe you were heart-broken. Maybe you were the one to kill Ronny Gleason in the first place, then pretended to find his body.” He grinned again. “Yeah, I like that one. You killed him when he refused to leave his wife and marry you. Maybe you even had something to do with your own husband’s sudden death, trying to clear the way for the two of you to be together. But now that you have to live with the reality of what you’ve done, you can’t face your children. You’ll run away, never to be seen again.”
“And just how are you going to make that happen? No one will believe I left my family behind. And surely they’ll find my body.” It was amazing how calm she sounded when discussing her own demise.
“No, I promise you, no one will ever find your body,” he said smugly. “And if you want your family to be safe, you’ll do exactly what I tell you to do.”
“Leave my family out of this!”
“Your son is a pretty good ball player.” Eddie Menger’s eyes had an evil glow. “And your daughter is coming along nicely with her cheerleader practice. I’d hate for something to happen to either one of them. They’re cute kids, and have their entire future ahead of them.”
“No! You can’t hurt my kids!” Madison made a grab for his arm, imploring him to keep her family safe.
“I can do whatever the hell I like,” he informed her coldly. “But luckily for you, I have no desire to hurt kids or old ladies. Your grandmother actually took my side at the school board meeting when I got fired for fighting with Ronny on school grounds,” he mused. “She’s a cool old broad. But make no mistake. If you don’t do exactly as I say, I will kill every one of them.”
“Anything!” Madison cried without hesitation. “I’ll do anything, just promise me you won’t hurt my children!”
“What about your Granny?” he smirked. “You’d let me hurt the old lady?”
“You-You said you wouldn’t. Not if I went along with whatever you have planned.”
Eddie seemed to consider her words for a moment, judging her sincerity. He finally nodded. “Just to ease your mind, I promise not to harm that best friend of yours, either. It would be a darn shame to lose the best baker this town’s ever seen.”
“Genny,” Madison whispered, her knees now weak. Whether it was from relief or fright, she could not say; probably both.
“So get going,” Eddie said, nudging her forward.
There was an open field beyond the incinerator. Madison looked at him in surprise. “You’re letting me go?”
His laugh was short and humorless. “No, silly. Of course not.”
“So-So where am I going?”
“To the incinerator, of course.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Madison’s eyes grew wild. Not that! Surely the man did not plan to burn her alive!
“I don’t have all day,” he said with exasperation. “I have to get rid of the car and take this check to the bank. I have accounts in several towns, in case you’re wondering, so that no one gets suspicious. Can’t use a local bank because everyone’s so damn nosy around here.” The very thought aggravated him and he took it out on Madison, shoving her none too gently. “Go on. Get inside.”
Madison’s legs were leaden. She was rooted to the spot, unable to move. Fear washed over her and left her feeling cold and weak. Again, she thought she might faint.
“I said to move!” Eddie Menger snarled, shoving her with enough force to make her stumble.
“I can’t,” she whispered. “I can’t get in there.”
“You can, or I can start with killing your son. He has baseball practice right about now, doesn’t he?” Eddie asked, consulting his wristwatch. He then pulled a detonator from his coat pocket and waved it in Madison’s face. “Too bad the entire baseball team will suffer because of your stubbornness.”
Madison’s whispered plea was hoarse and raw. “N-No. No, don’t do that. I beg you.”
“Then get in.” He lifted the heavy cast iron door of the barrel-shaped incinerator.
Tears streamed down Madison’s face. She couldn’t do it. Her legs were like limp noodles when she tried to move forward. Her stomach lurched and she was certain she would lose her lunch. She couldn’t make herself crawl inside the cast iron oven to a certain death.
But she had to. If she wanted to save her son’s life, she had to do it.
Her movements were slow and awkward as she climbed onto the upturned bucket Eddie provided. She lifted her leg and clumsily started to crawl inside the narrow opening of the oven. One leg was already on the grating when she stopped and looked back at her murderer. Her face was ashen, her eyes large and frightened and swimming with tears. “How-How do I know you won’t… you won’t… kill them anyway?”
“I’ll give you my word.”
His ludicrous statement, spoken so earnestly, brought out a hysterical laugh. “And I’m supposed to believe you?”
He shrugged in total unconcern. “Up to you. But I tell you what. If you’ll get inside without causing me any more trouble, I’ll give you the detonator. That way you’ll know your kid is safe and you can die with a clear conscience.”
She had no choice. She curled her long body into a ball and crawled completely inside the cold tomb that reeked of burnt, decomposed chicken flesh and putrid ashes. The smell alone was enough to gag her, without the horrid knowledge of what was yet to come.
“Always wondered how long it would take to cook a human body,” Eddie said conversationally as he poked and prodded her long leg to make it fit inside. “I’ll come back in a few hours, make sure you’re burning alright.”
“The-the detonator,” Madison begged, snaking her arm out to reach for it.
He tossed the device inside without care to how it landed. Madison made a wild grab for it, but there was little room inside the cramped confines for her long, flailing arms. The devise fell to the bottom of the incinerator with a clatter. With a sense of cold panic, Madison looked down to see how the detonator had landed. When she saw the red button facing up at her, she went weak with relief.
Her relief was short-lived. Eddie lowered the hatch door, closing her inside the pit of death. When she tried to push against the door, he laughed from the other side and told her it was useless. “Don’t bother. I’m wiring it shut. And you can forget screaming, because there’s no one around to hear you. The fire department and police are conveniently out at the Muehler place, so your boyfriend or that Montgomery kid won’t be coming to your rescue anytime soon.”
“Eddie! Don’t do this! You can’t leave me like this!” she screamed frantically, pounding on the sides of the roughened cast iron until her hands were chaffed and raw.
Inside the pit, light filtered in around the
vents and through the cracks. While Eddie worked a piece of wire round and round the handle to insure it stayed tightly shut, Madison forced herself to calm down and look at her surroundings. She was on the wide grating shelf where the chickens were thrown to cook, much like in a barbecue pit. Below her were uncooked bits of chicken and ashes littered with bones and feathers. Swallowing back the bile that rose in her throat, she turned over, so that she lay on her back. The blackened walls loomed around her, threatening to suffocate her with claustrophobia. Once Eddie turned on the gas valve, the temperature would be two thousand degrees and hot enough to roast flesh, but right now the dark interior of the cast iron pit was empty and cold. Wind whistled in through the cracks, increasing the sensation.
Nothing, however, was as numbing as the ice inside her heart. Madison knew she was about to die, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. In a matter of minutes, fire would flame into the pit and cook her alive.
Her eyes zeroed in on the ceramic igniter and the gas line that fed the inferno, situated just above her head. There was a similar igniter on the gas furnace at Granny Bert’s. Sometimes it failed to make connection and would not spark. Without a spark, there was no flame.
Knowing her only hope of survival was to disable the igniter, Madison pounded at the small electronic probe with her fist. Nothing happened except to rip her skin. She thought of turning around and kicking it with her feet, but she could hear Eddie walking around the incinerator. If he was done securing the handle, he would be lighting the furnace soon.
She was running out of time.
Madison knew it was a long shot, but she had to try something. She tugged off her coat and worked a piece of her sleeve into the narrow gas line. Remembering the pen stuffed up her shirtsleeve, she used it to push the fabric as far into the line as possible, packing it tightly. She knew it would probably do no good, but it was worth a try. When the body of her coat hung heavily onto the grating, she remembered the water bottle. Grabbing it from the pocket, she doused the igniter with water, then used the cap-end of the bottle to pound away at the probe.