by C. J. Thomas
Frank frowned. “Green energy? Like, what, solar power? Windmills? Stuff like that?”
I shrugged. “I guess so. Regardless of the means, why would someone whose bread and butter is oil be interested in green energy?”
“He didn’t say why he was there, though?”
“No, but does it matter? The fact is, he was there. His investors would probably shit a brick if they knew he was even vaguely interested in alternative means of energy. What if it had something to do with that?” Something else tugged at my memory. I closed my eyes tight, straining to remember. “He said something about Emelia trying to convince him that green energy was where he should invest. Something like that.”
Frank stared at me. “What if she convinced him?”
“What if he invested? And that’s what they were trying to keep secret all along? Now that would end a career. Not even so much finding out they were dating—what was the big deal in that? Not nearly as big a deal as finding out the CEO of an oil company wanted to go green, all because of the girl he was sleeping with. That’s something I can believe.”
“Holy shit. Do you think it’s true?”
I sighed. “I don’t know. It’s the closest we’ve come to a workable theory yet.”
“What’s this got to do with Margo, though?”
I slumped in my chair. Margo. Right. I still had to tie it to her.
“What if Margo found out about it? What if—oh, hell, what if that was why she blackmailed Emelia? She knew Emelia loved him, would do anything for him. What if she threatened to go public with the investment unless Emelia paid up?”
“What if that’s why Austin is with her now? Dating, I mean?”
“Holy shit!” I put my hands to the sides of my head. “That makes sense! What if she’s blackmailing him, now?”
“And that’s why he wouldn’t say nothin’ about knowin’ she killed Emelia!”
We stared at each other, eyes wide. My heart raced. It all came together. It all fit. Granted, it was predicated on the assumption that Haynes was investing in green energy, but it made sense.
“That’s great and all,” I said, coming back to my senses, “but it still doesn’t tell me where Julia is.”
“Right.” Frank deflated like a balloon. We were back to square one. “It tells us Margo’s not too desperate, though. She doesn’t have to do anything to Julia right away. She can take her time. We can find her.”
“I still don’t know how. I don’t know.” I shook my head, frustration tearing me apart.
Where was she? Was she scared? In pain? Wishing I would come for her?
“Listen.” Frank stood, coming over to me. “Why don’t you get some sleep? If you’re thinkin’ that clear without sleep, imagine how much better you’ll be once you get some.”
“I can’t. I can’t.”
“You’re too close to this. Let me take over for a little bit. I’ll monitor the missin’ person’s report for you. I’ll wake you up as soon as I hear anything.”
I smiled. “Thanks, buddy, but I just can’t. It’s not even that I can’t let you handle it. I can’t sleep. I can’t relax. I can’t stop thinking about her.”
Frank patted me on the back, returning to his chair. “I’ll make a few phone calls for ya, just the same.”
I smiled again for his sake, then went back to my dark mood. We had an idea why Margo was doing any of it—if Julia went public with the article, Margo wouldn’t have anything to hold over Austin’s head anymore.
Like he’d said, skeletons would pop out of the closet left and right. Any power Margo had would disappear once the world knew he’d dated Emelia. Investigations, questions. It would all unravel before Margo got what she wanted.
What was that? A wedding ring? A million dollars? It had to be something worth kidnapping another person for.
I sighed, wondering how long she’d let Julia live. How much time did we have? I felt the moments slipping by, like grains of sand slipping through my fingers. I tried to close my fingers, trapping the sand, but it spilled out anyway. There was nothing I could do to stop it.
Frank’s voice shook me from my thoughts. “Hey, you’ve got a dozen leads already.”
“What?” I went to him, where he took down information. Hope blazed hotter inside me than it had before.
Somebody had seen one of them? Where? I imagined going out, finding them right away. They could’ve been right under our noses the entire time, I realized. Hiding in plain sight.
I watched as Frank scribbled locations. Somebody had spotted Margo at a gas station. A grocery store. A men’s clothing store. A park. A movie theater. Meanwhile, Julia was all over the city. All that before ten in the morning.
I groaned, hope already extinguished. No way any of it was all true, if any of it was. We didn’t have the time to go over every location, asking questions, looking at security footage.
The missing person’s report hadn’t been such a hot idea, after all.
I was running out of time.
158
Julia
THERE WAS no clock in the room. Not that I would have expected all the reasonable amenities at such a sketchy hotel, of course, but it made me wonder if clocks were even a thing anymore.
I thought back to the last few hotels I’d stayed in. Did they have alarm clocks in the rooms, or did the management simply assume everybody had a smartphone to set an alarm with? I couldn’t remember, no matter how hard I tried.
It was little things like that which kept me sane while I waited for somebody, anybody, to get me out of the situation with Margo. If I didn’t think about mundane, stupid things like whether I remembered seeing an alarm clock the last time I stayed at a Hilton, I’d lose my mind. If and when the police ever found me, I’d be nothing but a babbling idiot.
I had to keep myself in check.
I couldn’t let her get the upper hand, no matter what it took.
I pulled out all my tricks, everything I’d ever learned about the brain. I meditated for the first time in years, focusing on a single flower on the boldly printed bedspread and staring at it for hours. I thought Margo worried that I’d already lost my mind, waving a hand in front of my face to snap me out of it.
“Where’d you go?” she asked.
“I was just thinking.”
“About what?” She sat on the bed, again with the air of a girlfriend asking another girlfriend a question.
“Nothing.” It was the truth. My mind had been as clear as a mountain lake.
“Oh.” She sounded disappointed.
I realized she was bored. I wanted to remind her she could let me go whenever she wanted. We didn’t have to sit together in a hotel room forever. It was all up to her.
But I held my tongue. No need to get her all excited.
Through the pulled curtains, I could see it was light again. Morning. Had it really been an entire day already?
I’d slept, though fitfully. Margo had slept, too, sitting up in a chair by the window. She had a better night than I did. It seemed as soon as I’d fall asleep, I’d remember the horror I was in and would wake up like somebody splashed cold water on me. Again and again this happened, all through the night. While Margo dozed.
Only the truly insane could sleep soundly at such a time, I was convinced.
All the while, the gun sat on her lap, gleaming against the gray slacks she wore. It was tempting, the thought of going for it. It would’ve been futile since my hands were tied. No matter how many times I asked for release, there was no getting through to her.
After she’d woken, all pretense of calm disappeared. She was waiting for something—what, she wouldn’t tell me. Even when I tried to talk to her like an old friend. I only knew her anxiety ratcheted up with every passing hour.
If she wanted to use the gun, she would have used it already. That was one of the little bits of hope I held onto. The longer it went unused, the better my chances. She wasn’t as crazy as she’d sounded just after taking me. She could s
peak and sound like a normal, rational person. I hoped she’d calmed down a little. She might even realize the error of her ways, wonder why she went to such lengths to begin with.
Or I could have been kidding myself. I knew that, too.
What was taking Dan so long? Didn’t he have people looking for us? For me? He had to know something was wrong, didn’t he? Of course he did. He was probably going crazy with worry.
Only, there was no way to tell where we were. I wasn’t unaware that Margo had probably made it difficult for him to find us. She might have been nutty, but she wasn’t stupid. It wasn’t as though she would’ve left a note with the address of this sleazy hotel.
From the sound of the traffic and noise outside, I thought it was probably somewhere outside Hollywood, on the shady side of the downtown area. More than once did I hear a bottle break on the street. I thought I heard a scream coming from somewhere nearby, too. Chills ran down my spine.
Even though my stomach was in knots, I was starving. The French toast with Dan had been my last meal.
Would it be my last meal ever?
I reminded myself to stop going down dark roads, but I couldn’t help it. While that train of thought would get me nowhere, it was inevitable that I wondered if I’d make it through.
Margo held all the cards.
I had no power.
I let myself remember that breakfast at Dan’s. The comfortable way we got along together. So natural, so right. I’d wondered if it would always be that way, or if we’d come apart after Emelia’s case was closed. I knew, tied up on that bed, what I really wanted.
I wanted him.
I needed him in my life.
What a fool I’d been, telling myself it wasn’t worth getting involved with a cop. I didn’t want my heart broken, right? I didn’t want to love him, then lose him. Life couldn’t be lived like that—in fear. Or else there would never be happiness.
I wished I could tell him all of it. I would confess to how much I’d wanted him for years. I would admit how happy I was in the short time we were together—even with the craziness all around, he’d made me happy. I’d felt safe.
And, no, it wasn’t his fault that I’d walked into a trap. That was all on me. He’d tried to warn me. I’d been stubborn, as always. My stubbornness was my downfall. My fatal flaw, like some Greek tragedy.
He would never know, would he? I would never get the chance to make it right.
“I’m bored,” she finally announced.
Gee, no kidding. We’d been sitting in silence, except for our own sporadic conversation, for a day. She turned on the TV—despite the shabby quality of the room, the TV was fairly new. I let an inane sitcom soothe me . . . then another . . . and another.
Time ticked past.
What was she waiting for? It became more obvious that she was waiting for something, the way she jumped whenever she heard a sudden noise. She kept checking the time, too, looking at her phone. I wanted to ask what time it was, but didn’t dare. Besides, when she flipped through the channels, I noticed The Price is Right. That came on at eleven in the morning. I had an idea, at least.
A phone rang somewhere on the floor of the hotel and Margo jumped. I jumped with her, the sudden movement startling me.
“What?” I asked, exasperated. She needed to share with me if we were in the same twisted nightmare.
“Nothing. I’m just waiting for a phone call.”
There was only one person she could be waiting for with that level of anxiety. “Austin?”
She nodded. “I don’t know what’s taking him so long. I’m sure he’s busy.”
I managed to keep from rolling my eyes. “I’m sure that’s it. Why is he supposed to call?”
She eyed me up warily. “Why do you need to know?”
“I wouldn’t say I need to know, but I’d like to know. Don’t you think I have the right? I mean, really. Tied up on a bed like this. I haven’t eaten or had anything to drink since yesterday. A little information might help. Such as why I’m going through this.” Why not? I had nothing to lose but my life, and I was already easing into the idea.
She frowned. “I’m waiting for him to call to tell me he’s made the right decision. That he’s committed to me.”
“What?” I whispered. I thought it would be something ridiculous, but I’d never expected anything that insane.
She nodded, smiling shyly. “I told him I want a commitment. He needs to make up his mind. Yes or no. I know it’s just a matter of time before he realizes we’re perfect for each other.”
It was really too much.
“So, what, you’ll kill me if he says no? Is that how it’s going to go?”
She shrugged. “He doesn’t know I have you, per se. I only told him you would pay if he didn’t get back to me soon. I laid it on the line, you know? That’s how you have to treat men sometimes. You can’t wait for them to make up their minds. You have to make them up for them.” Her resolute nod told me she believed every word she said. It also told me she was completely looney tunes.
“He knew I was in danger from you?” I asked softly.
“Something like that. I was pretty vague—I didn’t even know at the time what I was gonna do. I saw him go to your place, by the way. I saw him walk through the door.”
“You did? You were watching?”
She nodded. “I followed you home. He went in not long after—maybe he was following you, too. So I knew he wanted to help you. I knew I played my cards right when I threatened you. He couldn’t have told you very much. Could he? Not if you walked right into meeting with me the way you did. That was a big risk on my part. I didn’t know if you’d accept, or if you’d know it was my way to get you where I wanted you. Right here so you can’t publish your article. I’d lose Austin, I’d lose everything I’ve worked for if that goes to press.”
I hated thinking of how easily she’d played me. She was right. I walked right into it. I hadn’t hesitated, even with the evidence of the texts to Emelia. It had never occurred to me how desperate Margo might be or what might be on the line for her.
Her phone rang.
Our eyes met.
I saw so much excitement in hers it almost broke my heart. I held my breath, waiting to see what would happen.
“It’s him.” Her hands shook a little when she answered. “Hello? Austin?”
I watched her face, listening hard to hear anything I could. His voice was too low for me to make anything out, but I didn’t need to hear once Margo’s face broke out into a wide smile.
He was telling her what she wanted to hear.
“That’s all I ever wanted. Didn’t I tell you? We should be together. It just makes sense. Oh, I’m so glad you finally see it like this.” She gave me a thumbs up, which I would only have sarcastically returned if my hands were free. In that case, it was probably better they weren’t.
“I don’t want any bloodshed, either. No, I don’t want to have to hurt her.” She had to be talking about me, which meant he knew she’d kidnapped me. How?
My heart skipped a beat.
Dan.
He was looking for me, asking questions. He’d gone to Austin. Oh, thank God.
“Okay. Yes. I’ll do what I can. All right. I love you.” She hung up, closing her eyes and nearly squealing with delight. I forced myself to stay positive for the sake of my neck.
“We’re going to be together! Oh, finally.” She sank onto the bed, beaming. “Do you know what it’s like to wait for something for so long? To work for it? To hope and visualize and put all your energy toward that one single goal . . . and then to have it come true? It’s unreal. I’m sure I must be dreaming.”
“It’s no dream, unless we’re sharing it.” I chuckled as best I could. “I’m happy for you. You deserve it.” She had to stay in that happy mood if I was going to survive. As long as she floated in her bliss bubble, she had no time to consider the repercussions of kidnapping me. She wouldn’t think about how much trouble she was in.
My heart soared.
I imagined myself with Dan before the day was out.
The sound of the opening to the noon news broadcast grabbed our attention. “Breaking at noon, police are looking for these two women. Julia Mabel was last seen early yesterday morning, before leaving for a meeting with this woman, Margo Rice. Neither has been seen since. Police have released a Missing Person’s Report for both, and are working hard at this hour to locate the pair.”
My jaw dropped. And I’d been so close, too. So close.
Oh, Dan. You couldn’t have known.
She turned to me, hatred burning in her eyes. “This is all your fault.” Her eyes cut to the dresser, on which the gun sat. I felt my life slipping away before she’d even pulled the trigger.
159
Dan
FRANK FORCED me under threat of bodily harm to go home, shower, and change. “You’re not smellin’ so great right now, buddy.”
“I can’t leave.”
“It’ll take, what, a half hour? You can spare that long. I ain’t tellin’ ya to go to sleep. Just clean the hell up, for God’s sake. You’ve been sweatin’ all day.”
I couldn’t argue with that. I felt dirty, rumpled. I used the siren on the way up and back—I was in a hurry. By the time I returned to the station, I felt much better than I did before I left. Just as tense, but better, still.
“How’s it going?”
“You picked the right time to leave,” Frank grumbled.
“You made me leave,” I reminded him.
“Well, either way. It’s been a fuckin’ mess here.”
“How do you mean?” I handed him a cup of coffee.
He gestured to the pile of papers on his desk. “Leads. A million of ‘em. It’s a fuckin’ mess, like I said.”
I flipped through the list of leads. “Most of these are crap. I can tell just from looking at them.”
“Right. I’m tryin’ to work my way through. I thought I could weed out the ones that are obvious bullshit.”
“Okay. Let’s get started.” I sat down with him. It wasn’t lost on me that he didn’t have to take my problems on as his own, but he did. My heart warmed to him.
