Kara strode to the chair, her fingertips touching the bag. She halted when something grabbed her ankle. She gasped, looking down.
John was awake, his fingers wrapped around her. She stepped back, glancing at their captors. Shannon and Jane’s attention was still on the hallway. John wobbled to his knees as Kara reached for the bag. Shannon looked over.
As Tom had come in then, telling them Jack was gone, Shannon yelled, “Tom!” She lunged for the bag, but Tom stepped in front of her, his sudden movement knocking her to the floor.
John’s hands dipped into the bag as Kara stepped to the side. Tom grabbed a hold of the bag with one hand and started pummeling John with his free fist. John took the blows, his hands finding the cold metal inside. He withdrew the pistol just as Tom let the bag go.
Tom, ignoring the impending danger of the gun, hopped, throwing all of his body weight into the movement, and came crashing down on John. The men wrestled with the gun as Kara kicked Tom’s back with blind fury. Shannon joined in, focusing her blows on Kara. She pounded Kara’s back, quickly over-powering her. Kara and John dropped unconscious to the floor.
Tom punched John twice more in the forehead before getting to his feet. He brandished the gun in one hand and took unsteady steps, backing into the breakfast nook.
Shannon cussed, smacking Kara’s ear before she stood up.
Jane, slouching in her kitchen chair, glanced down at Matthew, who was curled up under the table. Looking up, she asked, “What about the boy?”
Shannon stepped over Kara’s limp body and flung open the backdoor.
The best places to hide in the camper were probably inside the under-counter cabinets or underneath the bed. Jack chose the latter, pressing his back against the wall. He squeezed his eyes shut. In his mind, he had vanished, but in reality, he was a scared boy lying on his side, feigning sleep.
“Jack, I know where you are!” Shannon wailed, her voice horribly near. She was closing in, hurrying toward him over the grass.
Jack was still, hearing the sound of her reckless steps growing louder.
“I hate this ugly thing,” he heard her say, the thornbushes rasping as she pulled their branches apart to make an opening for herself. She had spotted the camper. “You’re not hiding in there, are you, Jack?” The tone of her voice had suddenly changed; she had asked it lightly as if this was just his mom’s friend talking to him conversationally.
He opened his eyes and rolled to the middle of the floor. She was shielded in darkness, but he realized, so was he. He heard her come closer, cautiously, toward the rear of the camper, but he thought that maybe he had the upper-hand. He knew the angle of the parked vehicle and he knew about the trail into town. It was possible Shannon was unaware of these things in the dark.
Her annoyance was back. “Jack, get out here!” She cried out, then swore, having walked into a thornbush. She struggled, forgetting him for a moment, her mind on the plethora of burrs sticking to her. She ripped some off, but there were too many and now her hair had been caught on the bush. Someone tugged on her shirt.
She turned around, but saw no one. She started forward again, but her leg was yanked. Was that a ring of branches pulling her back? Weaved, thorny wood wrapped around her leg, tugging her downward. It felt like a hand bent into a vice-like grip, pulling into the meat of her leg. She twisted her head to see what had a hold of her.
A mist crept toward her and in the fog that wrapped around her leg a man’s angry face appeared. She screamed at the same time his hazy mouth opened and howled at her.
Jack paused, listening as Shannon tried desperately to untangle herself from the wiry branches. He opened the door of the camper. It squeaked—there was no avoiding that—and he slipped down to the ground. He hurried, taking long, awkward strides, moving away as swiftly as he could, further into the woods.
Chapter Thirty-six
“Tom!” Shannon hollered, rushing in through the backdoor.
Tom sat on a kitchen chair, holding the gun in his hands. “What happened to you?” he asked, noticing the burrs stuck in her hair and on her hoodie and jeans. Bloody scratches were etched across her cheeks and chin.
“Are they still out?” She took in the scene in the great room. Kara, eyes closed, lay on the floor on the far side of the couch, only the top of her head seen from Shannon’s view. John was near the fireplace, on his side.
“Yes, dammit!” Tom hissed. “Did you get him?”
Shannon bristled, slamming the door shut behind her and rounding the table. “No!”
“You dumb bitch!” Jane rose from the table and lunged for Shannon.
“Don’t call me that!” Shannon ducked slightly, so that the plump woman was forced toward her curved upper back instead of her face. They crumpled to the tiled floor, Jane on top of Shannon only briefly, before Jane fell over so that Shannon was on top.
“Stop it!” Tom jumped to his feet, standing over the women who pounded each other and pulled hair. Jane overpowered Shannon and was now on top, straddling her.
“Get off me, you fat beast!” Shannon gasped.
“People can probably hear from the road,” Tom growled, his voice low. He bent down, yanking Jane away by the armpits. She fell ungracefully onto her side, shaking the kitchen floor and rattling the dishes encased in the cabinets.
Shannon struggled to her feet and moved ungainly toward the great room.
“This is a joke. One big disaster,” Jane said sardonically. She stayed seated on the kitchen floor.
Shannon turned around, glaring at her, caught in a moment of indecision as she didn’t know if she should return to beat up the older woman or obey her boyfriend’s command for peace.
“Jimmy died heartbroken,” Jane hissed at Shannon. “You might as well have murdered him, taking this house away from him like you did.”
“What are you going on about?” Shannon looked down at the sneering redhead.
“I’m not dumb.”
“That’s funny. You’re certainly not smart.”
“Shannon.” A warning from Tom.
“You’re an idiot. You let these bastards take all that Jimmy had. This house,” Shannon’s voice was rising steadily. “was his retirement plan. All you had to do was make sure he didn’t lose the house. That was it. Even the plan to have Tom in charge of the bills, in charge of the construction, was so easy to follow. A moron could’ve just sat back and done nothing. All you had to do, you fat moron, was let Tom handle it!”
“Shannon, shut up!” Tom yelled.
“No, Tom!” Shannon hollered back. Her eyes burned on Jane, whose blazed back as she scrambled to her feet. “You were always so greedy. Jane, who thought it was her right to live in the fancy house. The fat cow who Uncle Jimmy wasn’t ever going to marry. He only kept you around because he felt sorry for you.”
Jane shook her head, her husky voice low, but dangerous, “He was going to have you out of the picture. It was a matter of time. I wasn’t going to say anything.” She was directing her words to Tom now, who sat at the table, glaring. “She has no idea we had a plan. That proves how good it was, and it was my plan. Well, mine and Jimmy’s.”
Seeing Tom wasn’t disputing, Shannon asked Tom, “What’s she talking about?”
He was silent.
Shannon redirected her gaze on Jane. “You’re pathetic.”
Jane laughed. “I’m not the pathetic one. Oh, I knew what my place was. You were the sad, clueless one.”
“Shut your mouth!” Shannon lunged at her. Her body shuddered in rage as she shoved her fingernails into the side of the woman’s exposed neck. Jane screamed in surprise at the sudden burning pain as Shannon’s nails combed steadily and deeply into her flesh, moving downward until her hand bumped off the start of Jane’s rounded shoulders.
“I’m going to kill you!” Jane screeched, bending over and running head-first into Shannon’s belly. The force was enough to shove the pair into the great room, but not enough to knock Shannon down.
; “Do it!” Shannon screamed. She turned around and raced back to the kitchen, her hand moving instinctively for the butcher block of knives, as she had misplaced her knife somewhere. Her fingers moved deftly to the handle of one, but they were not quick enough to grasp. Jane was on her, knocking her away and shoving her back to the floor.
“Stop it!” Tom sprung back to life. Matthew, forgotten, cowered under the table as Tom yelled again, “Stop this now!” Tom rounded the table and in two strides had them pulled apart.
He grasped onto a chunk of Shannon’s hair and she yelped as he dragged her across the floor. He let go and she stood up uneasily. “Sit down!”
“Tom!” Shannon cried out in surprise.
His glare made her look down at the tabletop. He said in a low voice, “Seeing as our plan was doomed from the start, we need to figure out a new one. We’ve been screwed and we know that. Now we have to fix it. So, Shannon, where’s the boy?”
She stuck out her lower lip. “I couldn’t find him.”
His voice rose, “Didn’t you just follow him outside? Is he outside?”
She shrugged; it was the easy way to avoid probing questions she inexplicably couldn’t answer. How could she explain that just moments before something had tugged on her, keeping her away from the camper? Something had scratched her. She wanted to believe she had gotten tangled in thornbushes, but she wasn’t sure that was true. “I followed him outside.” She looked up at her boyfriend, softening. “It’s pitch black out there.”
Tom sighed heavily. “Why did you come back? If you don’t know where he went, why the hell would you come back inside? He might be at a neighbor’s now calling the cops.”
“Dummy didn’t think,” Jane spat. “Jimmy’s rolling over in his grave.”
“Jimmy was a moron,” Shannon said. “He was useless, the downfall to this family. He never would’ve built this house if it weren’t for Tom. He had no plans for his inherited property. Jimmy was an idiot and I’m glad he’s dead.”
“Shannon!” Tom cut in.
“I don’t care anymore, Tom. This is our house. Jimmy was nothing more than a guy who mowed lawns. He would’ve been happy living in his camper.”
“You’re clueless,” Jane said, her back propped up against the lower cabinets. “You were never part of the plan. Jimmy and Tom were going to build this house and then Tom was going to dump you. He doesn’t want you.”
Shannon glowered. “Shut up.”
The older woman sighed. “Tom, I’m over this. When are you going to tell her the truth?”
Shannon looked at him. “Tom? What is she talking about?”
A beat passed before he turned his eyes on Shannon and opened his mouth. But before he could reply, a shuffling came from the great room.
Tom jumped up and spun around. John’s eyes were still closed and Kara’s head hadn’t moved. Cautiously, Tom nudged them with the toe of his boot. He wondered if John had shifted in his deep sleep, but wasn’t certain. Kara appeared to be in the same senseless state as before.
Tom returned to the kitchen. “We’ve sat too long.”
“How do we know the girl is still upstairs?” Jane asked.
Shannon ran from the room, thundering up the stairs. “Tom! She’s gone!”
Chapter Thirty-seven
Kara opened her eyes to a solid, pale blue ceiling. It looked near, but reaching out an unbounded arm, she realized it wasn’t close at all. She shifted, realizing she lay on a hard surface. Something tickled her neck. She turned her head, finding she was on grass. The wall above wasn’t a wall, after all. It was the sky: clear, powder blue, without a cloud to mar it.
As she wondered how she had gotten outside, she heard lapping water and intermittent bubbling. She eased up onto her elbows and looked out. Seeing evergreens horrified her. She recognized this place.
She sat up all the way and pulled her knees to her chest, raking her eyes over the grassy shoreline, then looked ahead at the wavering water. She didn’t want to see anyone in the murky water, struggling to breathe, struggling to live.
“Leeeeaaaaaave!”
The command was like a thousand leaves brushing against the wind, an urgent sound she felt more than heard. It wasn’t a prank; it was a command. Get out and go.
And she would. It was the one thing she wanted to do more than anything. She wanted to go.
Something yanked on her hands, making her look down at them. Her wrists were tied together with rope again. Trying to understand what was going on, the wind howled, forcing her to look up. The powder blue sky had turned a sickening greenish-gray.
It was going to storm. The lapping of the water had intensified, turning choppy now, and a whirlpool had formed in its center. A head bobbed; someone was in the center of its eye, their arms waving frantically as the churning water tugged them down.
Chapter Thirty-eight
Shannon ran downstairs and flung open the front door, expecting to see Lilah tottering down the front lawn. Instead, blackness stretched for a great distance until it was interrupted by dotted lights coming from the neighbors’ houses across the road. She slammed the door shut and barreled down the hallway.
Another door slammed.
Tom, Shannon, and Jane turned toward the great room. Beyond Kara and John’s limp bodies, the playroom door had closed. Jane, with Tom close behind, skirted across the room and pulled it open. Something yanked her in, the door slamming shut in Tom’s face.
Tom twisted the doorknob, but the door stayed closed. “Is it locked?” he asked incredulously, knowing there was no lock.
Shannon pounded on the door. “Jane! Open the door!”
Something gurgled on the other side of the door, startling them, making them back away. The gurgling turned into gagging before reverting back.
Tom shoved Shannon, knocking her to the floor. She rolled onto Kara’s leg. Kara moaned, but her eyes stayed shut. Tom changed course and started kicking the door. After a few tries, the wood splintered just below the knob. He started to reach his hand into the hole to grab the interior handle when the door swung open. He stumbled.
From the shadows, Jane faced him, her back pressed against the wall between the windows. Her fingers were wrapped around her throat, her eyes bulging.
Shannon had followed Tom in. “Is she choking herself?”
He moved cautiously toward Jane. That was what it looked like; it was as if she were fighting herself from strangulation.
He yanked on her wrists. But her hands held tight. Shannon pulled on Jane’s waist, moving her as Tom tugged at her hands. Finally, as Jane’s eyes started to close, her hands let go, the force of her release knocking Tom and Shannon to the floor.
As Jane slid to the floor, her cough rocking her whole body, Shannon and Tom noticed the puddle of water she sat in. Their eyes followed its path, seeing water streamed in from the window sill.
Jane jerked suddenly, her cough worsening for a moment before she started spitting up water. Shannon watched her, horrified. The redhead’s body trembled violently for a moment.
When the cough had finally settled and she had regained her normal breathing, Shannon asked delicately, “What happened?”
Jane cleared her throat and worked to stand. She turned blazing eyes on Shannon. “I was drowning!”
The statement baffled them, but neither Shannon nor Tom made any comment. What they had witnessed made no sense, but they still hadn’t found Lilah and that was where they turned their attention back to.
Tom went to the backdoor and pulled it open. A strong gust of wind blew, striking him off-balance. He fought against it, going to the deck. His hair whipping, he looked out over the dark trees surrounding them on all sides. The kids were out there somewhere.
Both women stood beside him, heads barely reaching his chin line.
“What’re we gonna do?” Shannon asked, her voice unsteady.
The sound of the closing door woke Kara. From where she lay on the great room floor, the kitchen looked empty.
Had they all gone outside?
She eased herself up to sit, feeling every bruise and scrape on her body. She was disheartened to find her wrists were still tied together, the remnants of her dream still hovering in her mind. She was still a prisoner.
She honed in on the backdoor, expecting it to open at any moment. Her heart galloped so hard she barely heard anything else; she only had her eyes to rely on to know if her kidnappers (friends) would reappear in the kitchen. She crawled awkwardly to her unconscious husband and grabbed a hold of his shoulder, shaking him. She tugged at his shirt, but he was senseless.
Her cellphone was on the kitchen table. She could see it from the great room where she had now risen to her knees. She thought about looking for John’s phone—it was probably in his pocket—but that would take too long to find. What if it wasn’t there?
Kara rose to her feet and moved in a semi-squatted position, praying those on the deck didn’t hear her. She hesitated at the kitchen’s threshold. The room was fully lit and the backdoor was made up of glass panels. There was no hiding now. Shannon’s back was to her, but she couldn’t see where Tom and Jane were. Kara glanced at the cellphone and then back at the door. She swallowed, pausing the hammering in her head for a brief moment. She had to move fast.
She stepped into the kitchen and then halted on shaky legs.
Matthew was sitting under the kitchen table. She had forgotten about him. He had been looking out the backdoor too, but he heard Kara and now his eyes were on her. Close-up, he looked like a frightened boy. He won’t hurt you, she told herself, he’s scared too.
She straightened, then ran around the table, snatching her cellphone with her clasped hands, and bolted toward the front of the house. She pressed 9-1-1 on her way upstairs, searching for Lilah.
Housewarming Page 31
