“Goddammit, Webb! Can’t you do anything right?” Frank cursed. “I ought to blow your damn head off!”
“Run, Maggie!” Simon shouted.
As if someone had snapped his fingers before her eyes to wake her from a trance, Maggie sprang to life. Without any hesitation, she leapt off of the porch and began sprinting into the night, her bare feet throwing splashes of water from the growing puddles. In a matter of seconds, she was completely swallowed from sight by the storm.
A movement from behind caused both men to look back. Nona was scrambling away. In all of the confusion, Frank had loosened his grip.
“Jesus Christ!” Frank swore. He paused for a second, glaring down at Webb with hate-filled eyes, his mouth opening and closing as if he wanted to say more. Then, without a word, he took off at a dead run after Nona.
Struggling to his feet, Webb began to follow.
Nona ran headlong into the snarling teeth of the wind. Her hair was plastered across her face by the chilly rain, and her legs were weak with fear, but still she willed herself to keep going. These were the men who had abducted Maggie. The bald one had tried to shoot her! Now they had no intention of giving up. They had come back for her.
“Where the hell are you goin’?” a voice shouted from behind.
Shutting the words out, Nona pushed on. Ahead of her, a pair of unoccupied cabins loomed. She sped toward one as fast as her legs could take her. If she could get inside and barricade the door, it might hold her attackers off until help could arrive.
She remembered Simon saying Mrs. Hogan had not been well for a few days and her husband had taken her to see the doctor. When she reached the steps leading up to the door of the Hogan cabin, Nona felt her feet slipping out from beneath her. A large puddle of rainwater and mud had formed there, and she hadn’t seen it until it was too late. Suddenly, she crashed to the ground, her right knee slamming hard into the first step.
Stinging pain shot up her leg and through her body.
Rolling over onto her stomach, she peered back into the night behind her. A well-timed flash of lightning showed that her pursuers were swiftly narrowing the gap between them. She had to move . . . and fast! Scrambling to her feet, Nona took one tentative step; her leg hurt terribly but she was reasonably sure it was not broken. Hobbling up to the porch, she crossed to the door.
“There she is,” a man shouted.
Nona fell against the door, her hand searching for the knob. When she found it, the knob rattled in her hand. Please God, don’t let it be locked. Then, with a loud click, the door swung inward. Nona shot through, slammed it shut behind her, and threw the dead bolt.
“Thank God,” she said aloud and leaned against the wall, her heart pounding.
The inside of the cabin was pitch black. Most of the windows had been boarded up in preparation for remodeling. Only one window near the kitchen area had been spared, but little light came from the stormy outdoors. A musty odor assaulted Nona’s senses as she stumbled forward into the unknown.
“Simon! Oh my darling Simon! Where are you?” she gasped. Have they killed you? I haven’t told you how much I love you. If they kill me, please take care of Maggie.
Over the rolling thunder, Nona heard the sound of footsteps thudding across the porch, followed by the rattling of the doorknob. When the man found the door locked, he began kicking at it.
“Open this goddamn door!” he shouted, his voice full of rage.
Creeping to the back of the cabin, Nona moved cautiously into the kitchen and leaned against the counter. Her leg throbbed in agony. When it came time to run, would she be able to move fast enough?
The pounding against the door resumed with an even greater ferocity. Frank was putting all of his weight into the effort. If he placed a hard kick on the knob, the lock would give way and he’d be inside. She would have only seconds before he was on top of her. She was just beginning to formulate a plan of escape when suddenly the pounding stopped.
“Go check the back!” one man yelled from the porch.
“What do you—?” another voice answered.
“Go around the side! No! Over there, you stupid son of a bitch!”
“Oh no!” Nona muttered to herself. She’d been so intent on getting in the front door, she’d forgotten to lock the back one. Fear gnawed at her gut and she knew she had to leave immediately.
The window above the sink was small, but with effort she’d be able to squirm through. When she flipped the lock and threw the window open, she was struck by a blast of cold, wind-driven rain. Wincing with pain, she climbed up onto the counter. She heard the door bang against the wall and a shout from the man who was now inside the cabin. Half-expecting to be grabbed from behind, Nona let go and fell out onto the rain-soaked ground.
“She’s outside!” a voice shouted from the kitchen window.
Not bothering to look around, Nona got up and ran as fast as her injured leg would allow. Her only chance was to plunge into the woods and find somewhere to hide. As she ran, branches and leaves struck her, slowing her pace.
With each step, she expected to be caught. She strained to hear any sound of their pursuit, but couldn’t discern anything above the din of the storm. Wind whipped the tree branches into a frenzy; thunder crashed. The pounding of her heart was nearly overpowering.
Coming to a small clearing, Nona saw something that gave her hope. Up ahead was a jumble of toppled trees. They looked like they’d fallen years before; rotted husks and broken branches littered the ground. If she could get behind one and wait for the men to go past, she could . . .
Without warning, a heavy weight crashed into her back and drove her down onto the wet ground. The air was compressed from her lungs. She screamed in pain when the man fell on her injured leg. Unable to struggle against her captor, Nona was roughly flipped over and pinned to the ground. Her attacker stared down into her eyes, his breath ragged and fetid.
“You’re gonna pay for that, you bitch. When I’m finished with you, you’ll wish you were dead.”
Chapter 26
MAGGIE SPED THROUGH THE STORM, toward LeAnn’s cabin. Around her, bright flashes of lightning were immediately followed by thunderous crashes that sounded like gunshots. With every one, she flinched. She was breathless with dreadful anticipation of a bullet that never came. Her soaking wet nightgown was stuck to her skin.
The distance between their cabin and LeAnn’s seemed endless. Maggie forgot her stiffness from the long walk back to the camp with Dusty, as fear put wings to her feet. She had wakened from a fitful dream to the feeling that something was wrong and had slowly moved through the front of the cabin as Mabel slept soundly in her chair. Looking out the door, she’d seen two men trying to drag Nona toward the woods. She’d sprung out onto the porch and shouted her sister’s name. Immediately, she’d heard a gunshot, then realized that the bullet had been meant for her! It seemed too strange to be real.
When she reached LeAnn’s cabin, the lights were off. With a final burst of speed, Maggie shot up the steps, leapt across the porch, and yanked open the door.
“Jack!” she shouted. “Come quick!”
“What’s wrong?” Jack asked as he sprang up from the cot where he had been dozing.
“It’s . . . it’s . . .” Maggie tried to explain, but her breath was coming in ragged gasps.
“Take it easy, Maggie.” Jack reached for the gun that lay on the floor. He slid it into the waistband of his pants. “Calm down and tell me what’s happened.”
Taking a deep breath, Maggie managed to say, “Two men dragged Nona into the woods! When I shouted for her, one of them shot at me! Simon yelled for me to get you. Hurry!”
“Where’s Simon now?” Jack asked, his voice steady.
“Back there, by our cabin.” She pushed her wet hair out of her eyes.
“Has he gone after them?”
“I think he was hurt. I didn’t wait to see.”
Jack strode quickly toward the front door.
“What a
bout LeAnn?” Maggie asked.
“I need you to stay with her.”
“No! I’m coming with you.”
“Jack!” Suddenly, a cry came from the back of the house. Jack and Maggie stopped in their tracks. A few seconds later, another cry rang out. “Jack! Help me!”
Battered and exhausted, Nona was dragged deeper into the rain-soaked woods, between the two men, one arm gripped tightly by each of them. She knew they were a good distance from the camp. Her leg ached and her chest throbbed from where the man had landed on her.
Still, Nona clung to hope. Her ears strained for any sound that Simon was coming for her. She wanted him to come, but also feared it. The only sound she heard was that of the two men bickering.
“You are one stupid son of a bitch!” Frank growled.
“I told you I wouldn’t let you hurt her.”
“And I told you that if you got in my way I was gonna make you pay for it. You’re lucky this bitch ran or I woulda gunned you down like a damned squealer. That little tramp will shoot off her mouth. Before you know it, the whole goddamn sheriff’s department is gonna be down here lookin’ for us.”
“They didn’t find us before.”
“Ain’t no guarantee they won’t this time!” Frank snapped. “You let that girl get to you and kept me from doin’ what needed to be done.”
“There was no reason to kill her.”
“That’s what you think. If you were so hot for her, why didn’t you go ahead and screw her when we had her?”
“Because she’s just a kid,” Webb retorted.
“I hear they’re the best.”
“I’ve done some rotten things, but I’ve never ruined a young girl.”
“Young? She’s all of thirteen or fourteen. In some places, girls that age have already had a couple of kids.”
“Not my kids, Frank.”
Frank sneered. “So you’ve got scruples, but I get the job done and I’ve got a good bank account to show for it.”
Webb nodded toward Nona and said, “Let’s just get what we need from her and be done with it. The sooner we’re out of here, the better.”
While the two men snarled at each other, Nona kept her mouth shut and tried to keep her wits about her. Sooner or later, they would ask about the money Harold had taken. If they tried to make her talk, if they tortured her, would she still be able to keep the secret?
“Do you and Wright have something going? Has he been in your pants?” The words pulled Nona away from her frantic thoughts. She turned to look into Frank’s face and felt a wave of revulsion.
“You’re an animal.”
“That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me yet. I like you already, sweetheart. You’re gonna be a hell of a lot more fun than your sister."
“You took Maggie, you low-life scum.”
“Yeah. What are you goin’ to do about it?”
“Knock it off, Frank. We don’t have time for this,” Webb cautioned.
“Come on. Just ‘cause you’ve got eyes for the kid sister don’t mean you get dibs on both of ‘em! You’re younger than me, so it makes sense you’d want the other one, but this little darlin’ is all mine!”
“Just keep movin’. We need to get out of here.”
Nona was silent. She knew Frank was trying to get a rise out of her by talking about Maggie. Rain thudded against the ground in ever-larger drops, ripping through leaves on the branches and drowning out nearly all other sounds. The wind cut through the trees, impeding their progress as they struggled toward some unknown destination.
“What did your sister say about us?” Frank prodded her, his rough voice rising over the storm.
Unable to resist, Nona answered, “Actually, she said you were stupid and ugly, and if she got the chance, she’d kill you. So far, I feel the same way.”
Frank laughed. “Sounds about right. I had me a real good time with her once I got rid of Webb. Her tits aren’t much bigger than fried eggs.” He laughed again. “What I did to ‘em would make that red hair stand on end. Guess what else I did to her?”
Nona stopped. The idea that this man had touched Maggie in a sexual way, violating her when there was nothing the girl could have done to stop him, caused rage to consume her. Maggie hadn’t said that she’d been molested.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“She didn’t tell you that?” Frank continued. “I guess I’m not surprised. I can’t say she liked it all that much; I was pretty rough with her. You see, I’d been drinkin’ and it bein’ her first time, she wasn’t very cooperative. But if I could have kept her for a day or two, I would have taught her to like it.”
“Shut your mouth, Frank!” Webb shouted. “She doesn’t know you’re lyin’.” He loosened his hold on Nona’s arm.
“Lyin’, my ass,” Frank said. He leaned closer to Nona, his hand still tight on her wrist. “Kinda hard to think that your sister’s a woman on account of me, ain’t it?”
Nona’s fist flew out and struck Frank hard across the mouth. She’d hit him so hard that her hand hurt. She was so angry she would have killed him where he stood if she’d been able.
As lightning flashed, Nona saw blood at the corner of Frank’s mouth. He daubed at his lips and worked his tongue across the inside of his cheek. “You ain’t got no idea who it is you’re dealin’ with, bitch. You play rough with Frank Rice, you’ll find yourself dead.”
Without another word, Frank sprang with the raw ferocity of a wild animal. Wrapping a rough hand around Nona’s throat, he slammed her into a large tree. She hit it with such an alarming force, the back of her head bouncing against the trunk, that the air was driven from her lungs and she saw stars.
“Frank! Stop it—” Webb said more, but thunder drowned out the rest of his words. Frank increased the pressure on Nona’s neck. He was out of control and beyond reasoning.
“How about this, bitch? Wanna hit me again?”
Nona’s vision blurred and the man’s face began to fade. His grip was like a vise! She was unable to get air into her lungs, and her feeling of panic was soon overwhelmed by her struggle to breathe. Her nails dug deeply into Frank’s flesh as she tried frantically to pry his hand from her neck. Am I going to die here? Will I ever see Simon or Maggie again?
“Si-Si-Sim—” she sputtered.
“You think you’re so goddamn smart!” Frank bellowed as he leaned his weight into her. “Did you think I was just gonna stand here and let you hit me and get away with it? You’re nothin’ but a goddamn slut!”
Nona’s hands slid from Frank’s and fell uselessly to her sides. The blackness was everywhere and she felt heavy; she wanted to close her eyes and go to sleep. Her tongue lolled around in her mouth, but even over the incessant ringing in her ears, she heard the crack of a gunshot. Her last thought before darkness swallowed her was that Simon had told her he loved her.
“You rotten son of a bitch! Ain’t you full of surprises!”
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Webb supposed he’d always known it would come to this. As he stood in the pounding rain, the pistol in his hand, his mind raced for a way to make Frank listen to reason. He was a madman. How can you reason with a madman? He couldn’t stand by and let him commit a cold-blooded murder.
The way Frank had attacked the woman had been vicious. Webb had yelled at him but he hadn’t stopped. In the end he’d pulled his gun free and fired it above their heads. Frank reacted to that; it was the only language he understood.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Frank snarled.
“I’m tryin’ to stop you from killin’ that woman.”
Taking a deep breath, trying to keep his hand from shaking, Webb leveled the gun at Frank’s head. He knew that Frank wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him if he got the chance. “I don’t want to shoot you, Frank. I want to do what we came here to do . . . Find that damn money. Ain’t no reason to kill anyone.”
“You saw that bitch hit me!”
“Only after y
ou taunted her about touchin’ her sister.”
“How do you know I didn’t feel that brat up?”
Indecision raged in Webb’s mind. If someone had been following them, odds were high that they’d heard the gunshot, even over the roar of the storm. If they were near, they could be on top of them in moments. If he was going to deal with Frank, he needed to do it quickly.
“So what are you gonna do, kid?” Frank prodded him. Even with a gun pointed at his head, he was argumentative. “You gonna shoot me in cold blood? You got the balls to do it?”
“You don’t want to find out.”
“I’ve got friends, kid. You’d never make it back to the windy city.”
“I don’t think the boss would like what you’ve been doin’ here. He doesn’t want to draw the attention of the FBI. I told you kidnappin’ was a federal offense. He ordered us to find the money, nothin’ more and nothin’ less. You ain’t got no one to blame but yourself if the feds come down on us.”
“I’m sick of your bitchin’. I should’ve shot you when I had the chance,” Frank grumbled. Before Webb could answer, Frank suddenly dived to his left and yanked his gun from his waistband. Startled, Webb pulled the trigger and fired. The bullet slammed into the tree behind Frank. He fired again, but Frank had rolled away.
“Shit!” Webb swore.
Before Webb could take aim and fire again, Frank suddenly righted his roll and fired at him. Searing hot pain roared through Webb’s right shoulder as the bullet ripped through skin and crashed into hard bone. The force of the blow spun him around; the pistol flew from his hand and landed somewhere behind him among the wet leaves. He fell onto his back, the pain nearly rendering him unconscious. As one hand went to his wound, the other clawed at the ground around him, hoping by some miracle to find his gun.
“Oh, God! Oh, Jesus!” he prayed through stiff lips.
The rain fell on his face and he blinked rapidly. Frank appeared above him, his gun pointed down at him. Webb knew that Frank was going to kill him.
“Betcha didn’t think it’d go quite like this, did ya?” Frank placed his foot on Webb’s shoulder and pressed down with all of his weight. Webb howled in agony, his hand feebly trying to push Frank’s foot away. He felt nothing but an all-consuming pain.
On Tall Pine Lake Page 22
