by Vella Day
She rushed back to the kitchen for a much needed glass of wine when her cell rang.
Caller ID told her it was Annie. “What’s up?”
Annie whimpered. “Tessa, I’m so sorry.”
“What are you talking about? Calm down, I can hardly understand you.”
“Ralph has Mandy.”
Tessa grabbed the countertop for support and slid into the seat next to the counter. “How? When?”
“Just a few minutes ago. He said he’ll kill her if you don’t meet him at the Blue Moon by 5 p.m.”
She checked the time. “Annie, it’s 4:40 already.” A sob escaped. “What else did he say?”
“He said if you tell the detective, he’ll know, and he'll kill my two kids. He bugged the detective’s house while you two were away yesterday.”
Oh, God. He knew they’d been gone? Was he still watching her every move? The image of the photographs flashed in her mind.
But hadn’t Dom alarmed the house when they left for Ohio? Maybe Ralph was lying, even though her ex quite the expert at electronics.
“If you call the police,” Annie added, her voice trembling, “He’ll kill my kids.” Her strong friend started to cry.
Tessa hyperventilated. This couldn’t be happening. If she went to the Blue Moon, Ralph would kill her for sure. But could she sit by and do nothing? She couldn’t notify the police or Annie’s children would be endangered.
“Annie, I’m so sorry.” Tessa wanted to console her friend, but she didn’t have time. “I’ve gotta go.” Tessa hung up before her friend could convince her to abandon her niece.
Tessa raced up to her bedroom and grabbed her keys. She fumbled in her purse for a piece of paper.
Sitting on the bed, she wrote a short note to Dominic. Her hand shook, creating wavy letters, and her sweat and tears left big blobs on the paper. Her sheers were open. No! Bile raced to her mouth. Surely Ralph hadn’t been able to install a hidden camera inside the house. Could he?
The paper crunched on her lap, and Tessa finished writing.
Place bugged.
Ralph has Mandy.
Gone to Blue Moon.
Don’t involve police.
Please let him understand everything she meant to write. She didn’t have time to explain.
She hurried into Dominic’s room and grabbed the small gun she’d found in the table next to his bed while looking for incriminating evidence. He’d be pissed when he found she’d taken his weapon, but too damn bad.
Armed with the revolver, she tiptoed down the squeaky wooden stairs and left the note on the kitchen counter where he’d be sure to find it.
Thankful Dominic’s office was at the other end of the house, she ran to the front door and looked out. The security cop was gone. She guessed he planned to hire the second cop for tomorrow night. Little good it would do her now.
Careful not to alert Dominic to her departure, she eased out the front door. Once clear of the house, she sprinted to her car, her feet pounding on the pavement. Tessa jumped in the driver’s side and started the engine. It backfired. Dammit. She didn’t need Dominic rushing after her.
Fifteen minutes until Ralph killed Mandy. Oh, God. Please let me be on time.
Her sweating palms slipped on the wheel as she peeled out of the driveway. People were pouring into the neighborhood. Damn. The rush hour traffic would be hell. Tears streamed down her cheeks and blurred her vision.
A car pulled around the corner and honked when she nearly rammed into him. Tessa swerved back to her side of the road. Adrenaline raced through her system.
Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate.
Her wheels squealed as she pressed her foot on the accelerator. She shivered and flipped on the heat lever. Tessa took three wrong turns before she made it to the main road.
Eight minutes to go. Please let my baby be safe.
Before she realized it, the restaurant’s glowing sign appeared and Tessa’s trembling hands stopped shaking.
The parking lot was empty. Where was Ralph? Had she mistaken the location? No. Annie had positively stated to meet him here.
Tessa checked her watch for the hundredth time. One minute before five. Surely, he hadn’t come and gone.
No. Ralph was clever. He liked playing mind games, always had. He was here someplace, hidden most likely. He wanted to scare her. While he’d succeeded on that account, he wouldn’t win the game. She hadn’t taken all those self-defense classes for nothing.
Tessa parked, gripped the handle of the gun, and shoved the weapon into the back of her waistband like she’d seen Dominic do too many times to count in the last month.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed open her door and eased out.
16
Tessa stepped from her car, and had to wipe her sweaty palms on her pants. She refused to look around for Ralph. Doing so would give him power. She needed to act in control—for Mandy’s sake. The moment Ralph spotted weakness he’d use it to his advantage.
Head held high, Tessa strode to the front of the restaurant acting as if she were in control, pretending it was just an ordinary day.
Don’t hesitate, and don’t act nervous. Confidence, girl, confidence.
Her promise to her brother that she’d look after his daughter rang in her head. Mandy needed her and nothing was going to stop Tessa from finding her niece.
Behind her restaurant, a construction crane swung a large piece of cement, accurately placing the long beam on top of the eight-story building, and a jackhammer pummeled the earth, making the ground shake. Each day, the dreaded Jankowski project crept closer to Judd’s property.
Tessa’s phone vibrated against her thigh and she jumped. Her fingers twitched as she started to grab the phone.
Don’t answer it.
What if it was Dominic calling? She still shouldn't answer it. Ralph might be watching, or worse, listening with some high tech device. Could he bug a cell phone? With him, anything was possible. Even if it wasn’t Dominic, Ralph might believe she was speaking with the police.
The phone stopped, and her last lifeline for help was gone.
She prayed Dominic had found her note and was at this very moment formulating some clever plan to save both her and Mandy.
Tessa reached out and tested the front door handle. It was locked. Maybe Ralph had gained access in the back through the kitchen. She pulled out her key, took a deep breath, and let herself in.
The stale smell of beer assaulted her senses, and the dark interior made her question if anyone was even here. Once more she wondered if Annie had mistaken the location? Tessa flicked on the overhead lights and glanced around.
Her underarms moistened and her stomach wouldn’t stop doing summersaults. No one was here. As she ducked behind the bar, a few peanut shells crunched under her feet. The big wooden structure would give her some protection against her maniac ex-husband. And having a few bottles to throw at him might come in handy too.
She stilled, straining to hear Mandy’s cries, but only the clicking of the clock behind the bar sent out any noise. Tic...toc...tic. Shades of Alfred Hitchcock assaulted her, and she shivered.
Tessa’s jaw clamped together, as her resolve strengthened. The no good bastard wouldn’t live long enough to regret messing with her niece.
As much as she wanted to, Tessa couldn’t bring herself to shoot Ralph in cold blood, but she would kill him if he laid a hand on her or harmed the baby. In her heart, she hoped when the time came, she’d be able to pull the trigger.
“Ralph, you here?” Her voice cracked. Damn.
Her heart thudded as she awaited his response.
None came.
Damn it. Did he want her to search for him? Of course he did. When she least expected it, he’d grab her from behind. No. She’d wait for him to come to her. She could play the waiting game too.
No way would she let him control the situation. She scooted back against the wall.
“Hello, Tessa.”
Her heart skipp
ed a beat. She whipped around and watched Ralph as he sauntered out of the kitchen, gun raised, pointed right at her heart. The door swung back into place.
She grabbed the counter to keep from collapsing. Ralph looked ten years older. His eyes were unfocused, and his unkempt beard indicated he’d let himself go.
“Ralph.”
“Is that anyway to greet the love of your life?”
Don’t answer that. “Where’s Mandy?” There, she’d kept her voice even.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Yes, I would. It's why I’ve come, Ralph.” Not to see you, that was for sure.
“Come out from behind the bar,” he said, waving his gun. “I want to look at you. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you up close and personal.” The leer in his eye sickened her.
“You can see me perfectly well where I am.”
Ralph’s eyes narrowed as he stepped toward her. “Do as I say, bitch, or you’ll be sorry.” His insecurity shone like a bright light. Too bad, she hadn’t seen his flaws before she married him.
She raised her hands in surrender. “Don’t get upset. I’ll do as you ask.”
Tessa took one step at a time as she moved backwards the entire length of the bar toward the door. Her gaze caught the clock. Six minutes past five. Had Dominic left the house? Please hurry.
“You were wrong to turn me in, you know.” His lip curled.
“You’re right. I never should have ratted you out.”
His brows rose in surprise. “So now you’re playing the devoted wife?”
“No. I’ve had a lot of time to think. I realize I never gave you a chance to explain yourself before I called the station that night.”
“You got that right, bitch. Your one phone call cost me three of the most miserable years of my life.” His shoulders relaxed. “However, I too had a lot of time to think about what I wanted do to you once I had you alone.”
“Listen, Ralph. You had a gambling problem. Stopping you before you hurt anyone else might have saved your life. I’m truly sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you.”
“So what? You’re saying I was better off in jail because I would have ended up dead if I hadn’t stopped gambling?”
“Maybe.”
“Oh, that’s rich, Tess.”
“You’re right to be angry. I betrayed your trust. I should have tried to help you instead of turning you in.” She prayed the techniques for diffusing a situation like this worked—or were they just textbook examples written by shrinks with no practical experience? God help her.
“Damn right you betrayed me. And for that you’ll pay.”
Tessa’s hands turned cold and her muscles wouldn’t move. “I want to see Mandy.” She tried to keep her tone soft.
“Mandy. What a nice name.” He slid his hand up and down the barrel of the gun. “Speaking of which, who knocked you up.”
He never used to be so crass. “No one. She’s not mine. She’s Judd’s daughter. He’s sick and asked me to look after her.”
His face contorted in anger, as if his leverage had suddenly evaporated. He slapped the gun in the palm of his hand. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll kill her anyway.”
A door slammed shut in the kitchen area, and Ralph turned. He glanced back to her. “Who’d you tell?”
“I didn’t tell anyone. You told me not to. You’ve got to believe me.” She let her voice rise, hoping whoever had arrived would hear the panic in her voice and come to her rescue. Surely Dominic wouldn’t make such a racket.
“Since when did you ever do as I asked?” Ralph spit back as he stepped toward the kitchen.
Before she had a chance to answer, Charley came crashing through the swinging door. Her rapid-fire heart threatened to burst. She didn’t care if her former bartender had killed ten people, she felt safer with him than with Ralph.
Ralph raised his gun and pointed it at the bigger man, and a scream lodged in her throat. Charley ducked and rammed his head into Ralph’s midsection, knocking him to the ground. When a gun blast shattered the air, Tessa’s legs turned to mush.
On his way down, Ralph’s leg kicked the bar stool and the wooden chair clattered to the floor. Tessa clasped a hand over her mouth, frozen from the horror.
As the two men rolled around, struggling to gain control of the gun, every instinct told her to run, but there was no way she’d leave the Blue Moon without her precious Mandy.
Her niece had to be in her office. As the men punched and kicked each other, Tessa made a wide sweep past them, hoping they were too focused on each other to notice her.
She passed the kitchen door and was halfway down the hall when a loud report startled her. The doorframe next to her head splintered. She grabbed her head and ducked. When she realized she hadn’t been hurt, she chanced a look back at the two men. Charley was pummeling Ralph’s face. Her ex struggled to get to his feet, and the gun went off again. Tessa couldn’t afford to gawk.
Desperate to find her niece, Tessa rushed into her office and flipped the light switch. Damn. The place was empty. A hoarse cry tore from her throat. The only other viable place to stash a child would be the kitchen.
As she rushed back down the hall, Charley stepped in front of her and blocked her path.
“I killed him for you,” he said with a look of grim satisfaction.
Ralph’s dead? Part of her wanted to rejoice, and the other part cry. Tessa despised the loss of life, even Ralph’s life. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
Cold eyes stared back at her. Gone was the warmth that often colored his face.
“I had no choice. Come on,” he stated. “I want to find a safe place for you.”
“The danger’s passed, Charley. With Ralph gone, you don’t have to protect me any longer, don’t you see?”
He looked confused. “What about the serial killer your detective friend is trying to find?”
You mean, you, she wanted to say. “I don’t know what that has to do with anything.”
“You could still be in danger. He’s already killed three people. You could be next.”
She swallowed hard. How could Charley have learned of Doug Walsh’s death unless he was the one who’d killed him? “I’ll take my chances.”
Tessa pulled her cell phone from her belt loop.
“What are you doing?” Charley grabbed her wrist in a hard clench.
“I’m calling the police to report Ralph’s death.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
A nervous laugh escaped. “Come on, Charley. I know it was self-defense. You won’t get in trouble. I’ll testify for you.”
“I don’t care about whether I’ll get in trouble or not. I care about you and the baby.”
Tessa jerked her hand away from his grasp and took a step backwards. “Ralph kidnapped Mandy. I have to find her.”
Charley raised his gun and swung it around, as if a phantom kidnapper might appear. “Mandy’s here?”
“Yes. I bet you could find her. Why don’t you look in the back storage room while I search the kitchen?”
He hesitated for a second too long. “I’ll help look for her, but we’ll look together.”
“Fine.”
Hurry, Dominic, hurry.
Charley shadowed her as she slowly opened every door in the restaurant, constantly calling Mandy’s name.
“Where could she be?” Tessa asked more to herself than to Charley.
“I don’t know, but we gotta get outta here.”
“Charley, I can’t leave. Not with Ralph dead and Mandy all alone. If you had a daughter, would you leave her?”
Once again, his face contorted, and his eyes darted everywhere. “No. I’d want protect her like I want to protect you.”
“But to do that, we have to find my niece.” She snapped her fingers as if a bright idea suddenly came to her. “I’ll call Annie. She was caring for Mandy when Ralph came and took the baby. Maybe he told her something.”
“No. I gotta prot
ect you.”
“Protect me? From whom?” Charley clearly was not rational.
Unless... he wasn’t the killer.
“From the man who killed the lady, Mr. Dirkman and Mr. Walsh.”
But you’re the man, she wanted to shout. Wasn’t he? He had to be if he knew Doug Walsh was dead.
“You’re right. I do need to be protected, but I need to tell my friend, Annie, to look for Mandy, all right? You know how helpless a six month old is. She’ll starve to death if we don’t find her soon.”
His lips firmed. “Okay, but don’t tell her you’re with me.”
“No, I won’t, I promise. I’ll tell her when I got to the Blue Moon, I found Ralph dead.”
“Okay.” He lowered his gun hand.
Charley didn’t seem bright enough to be a serial killer, yet the photo Mrs. Richter had given them looked remarkably like her bartender, but she couldn’t chance bringing up the Richter. It might be the trigger to set him off.
Tessa pressed Dominic’s preprogrammed number. If Charley asked to speak with Annie, he’d know she was lying. He’d kill Tessa as surely as he’d killed the others.
She paced but never turned her back to the man. Charley didn’t say a word, but his gaze never left her.
“Tessa, my God. I’ve—”
“Annie, thank goodness I got a hold of you. Listen, Ralph is dead. He can’t harm you and the kids anymore, but I couldn’t find Mandy. You’ve got to—”
Shit. She banged the side of the phone and replaced it next to her ear. Dead. Crap. She’d forgotten to recharge her batteries.
“Phone’s dead,” Tessa said holding it in front of him. “I need to use the bar phone.”
“No.” His compliant demeanor disappeared. “Come on. I want to take you someplace safe.” He waved the gun at her.
She wished he’d stop saying that. “Charley, really, it isn’t necessary. And please put down the gun. You’re making me nervous.”
His eyes clouded over as if a demon had jumped inside his skin. She’d never seen such a transformation before. She’d only read about split personalities in her psych books.
He stepped toward her and yanked her arm, and the force of the pull caused her to drop the phone. It bounced and clanked at her feet. Charley tugged her away from her lifeline and Tessa resisted.