by Ines Galiano
- What are you laughing about?
- Do you really think you have me? - She asked.
- Sure, tied to a chair - Red answered, although his voice did not sound as confident as it should.
- Does that mean you have me? As soon as the kids find out I'm here, they'll turn away from you. And as soon as the police search for me ...
- Are you going to kill me? Red seemed nervous, as if he had already thought about that possibility.
- Yes, I'll kill you and say you've run away with the money, abandoning them.
- And you think they'll believe you? Why should I leave Pireia? Everything I own is here.
- At this moment. - Red ... you could do many things to win this battle, but to keep me here is not one of them.
- I do not need you. Tell me where the save is, and I'll let you go.
- Do you really think I'm going to tell you?
- You won’t have any choice.
- Or what? Or I'll kill him, Red said, seriously, while approaching the door and giving it a few knocks. without stopping to look at her. Someone opened the door at the other side. At first Shara could not tell who was entering, because the corridor was in shadows, but then the light in the bedroom lit her face:
Karla was pushing a tall, dark boy, blindfolded.
- This guy, okay?
Shara did not answer, she simply looked sadly at David, who was shaking from top to bottom.
- What's his name?
- David said Shara.
- Miss Marst, is that you? - David asked, moving his arms in the air.
- And what would be the point of killing him? - Shara asked.
Red did not respond at first, but instead gave David a push. The boy fell to his knees and searched the ground with his hands, scared.
- Killing him would give me respect among the kids.
Sahara sighed.
- Do you think so? Killing the newspaper delivery guy? The boys are not as stupid as you think, Red.
Red reached into his jacket pocket, furious, and pulled out a long, silver knife.
- I'm tired of too much conversation.
- Me too, let go, and I may let you leave Pireia.
This time it was Karla who laughed.
- Do you still think it would be that easy?
Shara stared at her, her eyes blazing, then turned her head towards the fireplace.
- My father was right about you.
- What do you mean?! - Karla exclaimed, hysterical.
- What takes? - Red yelled, raising the knife -. Old Marst is dead! Can you hear me you two? Dead! You are no longer the boss's daughter, nor are you any longer his lover Karla! Dead! He is not here anymore! I'm tired of hearing his name, as if his ghost still haunts us!
Karla turned with compassionate eyes towards Red and tried to calm him with a hug despite the fact that he tried to push her off.
- Honey ... everything is going to be fine, we are almost there ...
Shara could not believe what she was hearing.
- Honey? - A repulsive image was drawn in her head, thinking about the possibility that Red and Karla were involved. Karla seemed to notice the expression of disgust, because she quickly clarified:
- Red is my son.
- You ...? - repeated Shara, open-mouthed. If her hands were untied, she would have brought them to her face.
- And who cares? - Red tried to attract the attention of his mother again -.
- What we need is for her to tell us where the save is.
- Yes ... - his mother slowly approached his son and took the knife from his hands -.
While working in the tavern for so many years I learned some tricks from Marst - she said, kneeling on the ground next to the trembling David.
David felt her approach and lay on the ground, crying.
- What are you going to do, Karla? - Shara sensed what the other intended but did not believe her capable. A wave of revulsion pierced thru her.
- Let's see - Karla answered - what do you think of a finger for every refusal you give us?
- Don’t! - David shouted -. Help me, Miss Marst ... please ...
Karla tried to take David's hand, but he was writhing on the floor and kicking his legs. Red bent to help to hold the boy.
- We can send the fingers one by one to the family ...
Karla said with delight, finally caressing the boy's youthful hand, while holding the wrist strongly with the other hand so that it could not go anywhere.
- What a disappointment you are, trying to be one of us - Shara spoke coldly.
With fury, Karla took one of the boy's fingers and prepared the knife.
- No! Please! Because of David's screams it was hard to hear the voices coming from the other side of the door.
Red jumped up:
- Wait a second - he said to his mother.
He approached the door and made a gesture of silence.
- Red! The police, the police are here! Said the voice on the other side of the door.
Karla got up quickly and hid the knife in her clothes.
David sobbed silently.
Red opened the door a few millimeters, enough to talk to whoever was on the other side, but without showing the interior of the room.
- Red, the police are here! - Where? - They just parked on the entry road! They've followed the boys!
- Shit! - Red stamped on the floor and turned to look at his mother, consulting her with his eyes.
- Let them register. We go into the forest for a while and we take her with us. Anyway ... - Karla suggested.
- No. That's not going to be of any use - Red turned back to the voice from the outside -.
- Do you think we can mislead them?
- I think so, if we go out the back door now.
- Good. Red's eyes gleamed, brooding. Let Shara Marst be here, they will find her and will take her to jail. Nobody will bother us.
Sahara laughed. How clever.
- Is that Marst's voice? The boy asked from the other side of the crack.
- No, it's Shara's voice. Now Marst is me. Making a gesture to his mother, both left the room and closed the door.
Shara heard them running down the hall and shouting at the rest of the boys.
- We're leaving! Quick!
- But what about the cops? - Asked another voice -.
They are waiting at the door.
- They will get tired of waiting and will enter using force - answered another - and by then, we better be far away. - Yes, they better not see us. It's the same cops that were at the hospital when we went for old Amat ... The voices drifted away little by little, leaving Shara alone with David's sobs.
- Okay -you're safe now. Violent blows were heard from the first floor in what seemed like an attempt to force open the door of the great mansion.
- They are here - said Shara.
CHAPTER 11
Kidnappings
They had searched the Marst home for Shara, but they could not find her anywhere. Anyway, Lowe was not surprised, he knew they would not find her that easily. How had she fooled him that easily? He had tried to believe that Shara Marst had nothing to do with the murders, that she was just a little more difficult, that her defiant attitude exonerated her of everything.
What murderer would wander so freely through the city, taunting the police? Although this city was not an ordinary city.
She was not at home, Setti had told him over the phone. Of course, she was not there. Angry, he dropped the receiver with force.
Keep searching her home and try to find something that tells us where she can be, he had ordered his partner.
The office was almost deserted at that time of night. However, he was sure that his supervisor's call would come in, as soon as he knew there was no positive news.
He looked at the clock, it would be nine o'clock soon and he had promised the old lady, Rios, that he would go to her home.
He decided to turn off the lights in the other room, where they had stack
ed the evidence, and to take one last look. He opened the door and found the plastic bags with the objects just as they were before. Looking at them more closely, one of the objects caught his attention.
That hairbrush ... he had the feeling of having seen it before. But that was impossible of course.
Sighing, he turned off the lights and went back to his office to get his jacket. He picked up the receiver again and dialed the number that had been of his home until not long ago.
- Hello! - Shouted a singing voice from the other side of the line.
- Hi, sweetie, how are you?
- Dad! Great! Rob has brought treats! Why don’t you come also and bring me treats?
- Liz, I would love ... - He took a deep breath and asked -:
- Who is Rob?
- Rob is my music teacher. He has become very close to mom! He comes here almost every day and sometimes makes dinner. Although he does not cook very well ...
- Liz? Whom are you talking to? - His wife's voice came to him in the background.
- Honey, I'm going to have to hang up the phone, dad has a call from the office - Lowe said quickly, before she reached the phone.
- Okay, Daddy, I love you.
- Me too.
- Who are you with ...? - Lowe heard, just before hanging up.
He got up from his chair and left the office with his jacket in his hand, trying not to think about the music teacher. It had taken her little time to redo her life ...
He left the building and waited a couple of minutes for the boys to arrive. They had agreed to be at the door at a quarter to nine, whether they found the girl or not. The cold night wind did hurt his face.
Soon he heard hasty footsteps coming from the other side, talking among them in a low voice.
Surprised that his companions did not come by car, he decided to hide behind some containers.
Three men dressed in dark clothes passed by without noticing him. They were in a hurry and one of them seemed to instruct the others. Lowe could only make out some single words:
- At nine...
- No, he has forbidden it.
- But the old ...
- What about ...
- Money is not ours.
- Do you have the key?
They walked by, paying no attention to Lowe. A few moments later, Lowe recognized the sound of an engine as a car approached.
He emerged from his hiding place just as Col stopped the car so that he could jump in. Setti was sitting in the back seat, slouched and half asleep, so he jumped up frightened when his supervisor opened the door.
- Wake up - Lowe said entering the car - I just watched them go by.
- Who? – Col asked.
- There were three of them. They were walking.
- Do you think they will be going to the house of Mrs. Ríos?
- Yes.
- But weren’t we going to the home of Mrs. Ríos?
Setti asked, still in a stunned voice.
- Yes,
- At the same time as them?
- Yes.
- But then aren’t they going to detect us?
- Yes.
- But ... - Setti stammered, realizing what was going to happen that night. When he finally understood, his eyes widened, and he automatically reached for the pocket in which he carried his gun.
Col, who was more awake, seemed also surprised by the turn of events.
- But we have not found Marst.
- We'll find her. I get the feeling that if she were interested in hiding she would have done that long ago - he tried to encourage his teammates and at the same time trying to convince himself -.
- Have you found something worth investigating? Something that could give us a clue about where she might be?
- The truth is yes! - Setti shouted, as if at last there was something that motivated him -. I found the title of the haunted mansion!
- What is that you are saying?
- The mansion on the cliff, the one of the ghosts.
- It's an old legend - Col said dryly -. People believe that it is inhabited by spirits.
- What does that have to do with Shara?
- Precisely, that we have found a title that indicates that the Marst are the owners of that property! - Do you think she can be hiding there?
- Who?
- Shara Marst, of course.
- Yes, she could be. But the most important thing is that we now know that there were no real ghosts, that they were the Marst!
Lowe looked at them as if they had gone mad and decided to change the subject. Okay, we'll look for the mansion as soon as we finish with this. Now listen, let's go to the home of Mrs. Rios and help her get safely to the station.
- What about the guys who just said they were on the way?
- We are three against three, do not worry.
- Three? - Asked Setti, counting using his fingers and looking around.
- And what do we do if they appear? - Asked Col.
- We arrest them.
- But if we do not know what they want!
- It does not matter, I am tired of the witnesses escaping me. We arrest them, I say, tonight we put them in the dungeon and tomorrow morning we do the interrogation.
- What if they are innocent?
- Do you think they are?
- I do not know, I am just saying that they could be friends with Mrs. Ríos ...
Lowe gestured him to be silent with his index finger and asked him to start the car.
- One stays in the car, ready to run if necessary.
- Do you think that will be necessary?
- It might, yes. Get going now.
Col obeyed him and started the car.
The house of the lady was quite close, so they arrived right away. Lowe motioned him to park at the corner of the street, in the shadow of the streetlamp, as if that would change things.
The three of them got out of the car, looking in all directions: they found the street was empty.
Lowe hurried to the door of the house and tried to catch some sound from inside, putting his hands over his ear against the door: but nothing.
- Col, stay in the car and leave it on - he said to his partner -. But lock the doors. - Me? Why me?
- You were driving.
- But ... - Shh, go.
Col walked away with an apprehensive look on his face and Setti straightened himself triumphantly, although that did not last long, because immediately Lowe made a gesture to him to prepare his pistol and he now realized that he probably had the worst part.
With the gun in his hand, Lowe nocked on the door softly, but no one answered. He looked at his watch and noticed it was ten minutes to nine. He knocked again, but surely the old woman could not hear him from inside the house.
He had not wanted to ring the bell in case it made too much noise and alarmed the possible suspects, but he had no choice.
He rang the bell once again, but nobody answered. His heart began to beat strongly, fearing they had arrived too late. He started to push against the door, as if he wanted to force it, when it suddenly opened.
Mrs. Rios, looking disgusted, looked at him from the entrance.
- It's almost nine o'clock.
- Yes. You told me to come at that time.
- Well, I've changed my mind, the lady snapped, and tried to close the door, but Lowe prevented it.
- Are you alone?
- What does it matter?
- Madam, you asked me to ...
- I did not say anything at all! - Shouted the lady, brandishing her stick in the air and trying to use it to push Lowe out of her house -. And now, if you'll excuse me, it's time to sleep!
- Madam, you ... - Me nothing! I warn you young man, do not turn around and go over to those containers at the end of the street, I'm going to call the police!
- I'm the police! - Lowe replied, angrily.
- Well, go look for criminals in another place, there are plenty of them here.
- So you do not want
to ...
- Just leave - the lady repeated furiously – go over to those containers over there. At least have a look and find out if you will find criminals inside of them!
These are not visiting hours! She shouted, just as she pushed Lowe's stomach with her cane and slammed the door behind him.
Lowe looked at the door, stunned, and turned to his companion Setti, who showed a frightened face.
- Why have we come at this time, boss? The truth is that she is right, ladies should not be disturbed at this time of ...
- She asked for it!
- Did she really? But she told you to go to the cont ...
Lowe put his hands on his shoulders suddenly, his eyes lit. Exactly, the containers, he said softly. Come on. Signaling to Setti to follow him, he walked silently to the car and climbed in.
- Did you speak to Mrs. Rios asked Col? I thought we were going to bring her with us.
- Listen, Col, do you see those containers over there? - Asked the inspector, pointing to the end of the street. Col nodded. - she wants us to go there, but first make a few turns around the block, so that it does not look that obvious.
- The containers? - Asked Col, while pressing the accelerator pedal.
- Yes, I am afraid that the men that I just saw arrived at her house before us.
- But, what do we do then?
- First, let’s see what is in the containers. The lady very much insisted on that.
- When she pushed you with the cane? - Asked Setti from the back seat, but Lowe ignored the question.
- When we understand what is going on, and we find out how to enter the house without anyone noticing we will do so. I'm sure they were hidden in the darkness of the landing pointing their guns to the door in case I might come in.
- Do you think so? – Exclaimed Setti, breathing deeply.
They circled the block twice and tried to return using a different intersection from the one they had used to get there before. They parked the car behind the cubes, on the opposite side, making sure no one could see them from the house.
The three policemen got out and looked for something near the containers, but there was nothing.
- Are you sure, boss? - Col asked
- Yes, she told me to go to the containers.
- Didn’t she mean to say ...
- Search inside the cubes! - Lowe yelled, losing patience.
- Inside?