Tangle of Strings

by Ashley Farley

  He made a sudden U-turn and headed in the opposite direction. A quarter mile down the road, he made a left-hand turn onto a gravel driveway. Cooper felt a huge sense of calm as soon as he crossed the threshold into Sam’s bungalow. His mother liked to cram every surface in their house with knickknacks, but Sam’s home was uncluttered. Her contemporary furniture, upholstered in soft grays and blues, set him at ease. Who wouldn’t want to live in a place like this, where every room offered a view of the inlet he loved so much. He wouldn’t find anything like this in New York City.

  “Come here, you.” The last of his tension drained from his body when Aunt Sam embraced him. He was mentally and physically exhausted, but he’d come to the right place. She held him at arm’s length. “Any luck in finding Annie?”

  “Not yet. I was hoping you’d heard from her.”

  Faith left the sofa where she’d been sitting and came to greet him. “We’ve texted and called. She’s avoiding us.”

  “Maybe we should check Annie’s Find My iPhone app,” Cooper suggested.

  “We already did that,” Faith explained. “The phone isn’t showing up. I guess that means the battery is dead or the phone is turned off.”

  “Thea gave me her cell number when Annie was in the hospital after the accident,” Sam said. “We’ve been texting and calling her as well with no luck.”

  “Thea is the reason I’m here,” Cooper said. “I’m hoping Eli can help me figure out where she lives.”

  “He’s out conducting a search of his own. He should be back any minute. Come over here and sit down.” Sam looped her arm through his and walked him over to the sitting area in front of the fireplace. “Can I offer you something to drink, maybe a cup of tea?”

  “No, but thanks.” When he lowered himself to the sofa, his aunts sat down on either side of him. “I’m sure Annie is fine. She’s probably hanging out at Thea’s house, waiting for everyone to calm down before she comes home.”

  Cooper noticed the uncertain glance Faith cast her sister. “What are you not telling me?”

  “Well…” Sam crossed her legs. “Eli’s been working a big case that involves Thea’s brothers. He busted up their prostitution ring yesterday. Thea’s brothers got away. Eli’s men confiscated a large supply of drugs from the property and brought in a number of men and women for questioning. Unfortunately, no one could provide any leads on the Bell brothers.”

  “The police have an APB out on them now,” Faith said. “As you can imagine, they aren’t too happy with the police at the moment. They’re aware of Eli’s relationship with Annie. Which makes us worry they’ll come after her in retaliation.”

  “What a nightmare.” Cooper sank back against the sofa. “I assume Eli knows where Thea lives. Has he checked to see if Annie’s there?”

  Sam nodded. “He knows where Thea lives and I’m sure he’s been by there, but I don’t know what he found out.” They heard the sound of gravel crunching in the driveway. “That’s probably him now.”

  The somber expression on Eli’s face when he came through the front door drove Cooper off the couch. “Did you find Annie? Was she at Thea’s house? Have her brothers threatened Annie?”

  Eli gripped Cooper by the arms. “Take a deep breath and calm down. So far, I have no news. Let’s sit down and I’ll tell you what I know.” He spun Cooper around and walked him back to the sofa. “Yes, I have been twice to Thea’s house today.” Eli took a seat in the chair beside him. “There are not any cars in the driveway, and no one is answering the door. Which concerns me because Thea’s mother suffers from diabetes. I’d go so far as to call her a shut-in.”

  Sam’s cell phone vibrated on the coffee table in front of them. Four sets of eyes locked in on the caller ID. Sam smacked her forehead. “Why didn’t we think to call Heidi?” She snatched up the phone. “Have you seen Annie?” Sam’s blue eyes narrowed as she listened to what Heidi was saying. “Oh, thank God. Hang on. I’m going to put you on speakerphone. I’m here with Faith, Eli, and Cooper.” Sam held the phone away from her mouth. “Annie left Heidi’s house twenty minutes ago.” She clicked her speaker icon and set the phone back down on the coffee table. “You’re on speaker now, Heidi. Did you happen to see who Annie was with?”

  “Not exactly. She was with another girl who was driving an Oldsmobile in worse shape than my Mustang.”

  “That’s Thea,” Sam said. “That’s what we suspected.”

  “Annie wanted me to sign the forms so she can have an abortion,” Heidi said. “She stormed out of here when I wouldn’t give her my consent. I got the impression that’s not what she really wants.”

  “I agree,” Sam said. “She’s too upset to know what she really wants right now.”

  “What were y’all thinking putting the poor girl on the spot like that?” Heidi asked. “No wonder she took off.”

  Cooper moved to the edge of the sofa, closer to the phone. “Heidi, it’s Cooper. I’m responsible for this whole mess. My mother isn’t thinking straight right now. I should have stopped the meeting from taking place.”

  Heidi let out an audible sigh. “Don’t blame yourself, honey. The grown-ups in this situation need to put their feelings aside and focus on what’s best for you, Annie, and the baby.”

  “Point taken, Heidi. And agreed. It’s Faith by the way. Do you know where Annie and Thea may have gone?”

  “I assume they were headed back to Prospect. But she didn’t say. For the record, I offered for Annie to live here with me. For a few days or until after the baby comes. I even told her I’d help raise it if that’s what she decides to do.”

  Faith’s eyes were glassy with tears. “Thank you, Heidi. That might be her best option, considering all the stress around here.”

  “Should I come down there and help you look for her?” Heidi asked in an anxious tone.

  Eli said, “I think it’s better if you stay there, at least for now, in case she returns.”

  “That makes sense,” Heidi said. “But I’ll be worried out of my mind. Will you stay in touch, please, Sam? Let me know the minute you find her?”

  “Of course. And you do the same if you hear from her first.” Sam punched the button and ended the call. “So now we know where Annie is.”

  Eli consulted his watch. “According to Heidi, they left Charleston around five-thirty. I’ll give them a few minutes before heading back over to Thea’s house.”

  Cooper perked up. “Can I go with you?”

  “Not this time, bud. Things might get a little dicey. I need you to stay here and take care of the women.” Eli winked at Sam, and she flashed him a stubborn I-don’t-need-anyone-to-take-care-of-me look in return.

  THIRTY-TWO

  Eli

  Thea’s Cutlass was parked in the driveway when Eli arrived at the Bell home. He retraced his steps from earlier and rapped his knuckles on the front door. When no one answered, he pounded harder.

  “Thea,” he called out. “It’s Eli Marshall. Is Annie with you? I need to speak to her for a minute. Her family is worried about her.”

  A muffled voice answered from inside. “Go away, pig. We don’t want none.”

  Eli cupped his hands around his mouth and spoke to the door. “I don’t want any trouble, Tyrone. Or Willie. Whichever one of you is in there. Send Annie out and we’ll be on our way.”

  “This is Tyrone, but Willie’s in here too. If you leave peacefully, we won’t have to hurt you. Annie don’t wanna go with you. She’s staying here with me. We gonna have ourselves a party.”

  Eli’s mind raced. He considered breaking down the door, but realized that was dangerous without having any backup. “I’ll consider going along with that if that’s really what Annie wants. But I need for her to come out and tell me so herself.”

  Two shots rang out from within the house, followed by piercing screams. Eli dove off the stoop and into the bushes, scrambling for cover. He removed his radio from his waistband and signaled to dispatch for backup. “Shots fired. I repeat, shots fi
red.” He barked out the address, and then crawled his way through the tunnel of overgrown shrubs around the side of the house. Crouching down, he ran across the yard to the adjacent wooded lot. Heart racing and lungs gasping for air, he hid behind a large pine tree. He heard the steady thump of rap music coming from inside the house three hundred feet away.

  “Goddamnit!” He punched the tree and then winced in pain. He’d understood the risks involved. He was an officer of the law. But his obsession with sending the Bell brothers to prison had made him careless. And now, because of him, Annie’s life was in danger.

  He darted from one tree to the next as he made his way out of the woods. A line of five patrol cars sped down the road several minutes later and skidded to a halt in front of him. He rounded the rear end of the front car and slid into the passenger side next to Brad.

  “Are you all right, man? ”Brad’s eyes traveled Eli’s body. “You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

  “I’m fine. But Annie’s inside the house with Tyrone and Willie Bell. When I asked them to let her come out, they fired shots.” Eli quickly briefed Brad on Annie’s friendship with Thea Bell. “To complicate matters, Annie is recovering from shoulder surgery as a result of her accident last week. And she’s pregnant.”

  “Man, that sucks.” Brad ran his hand over the top of his nearly bald head. “Do we have any idea who else is in the house?”

  “I assume Flora, their mother, is in there with them.”

  “Their mother?” Brad repeated, his mouth agape. “Why would she let her sons get away with this?”

  “I don’t know,” Eli said. “The Flora I once knew operated a strict ship. But her diabetes has made her an invalid. Which worries me for her safety.” Eli pointed at the road in front of them. “Drive up a little. I’m going to talk to them through the bullhorn, see if I can get them to cooperate.”

  Brad inched the patrol car forward. Eli got out and, hunkering down, shot off across the yard to the end of the dirt driveway where he’d left his squad car. He popped the trunk and removed a bulletproof vest, a pair of binoculars, and a megaphone. He slipped on the vest and crept up the side of his car, squatting down when he reached the front end. He lifted the bullhorn to his mouth. “Tyrone! Willie! It’s Eli again. Let’s see if we can work this thing out. Can you come out so we can talk?”

  The volume on the music died and the front door swung open. Tyrone appeared in the doorway, using Annie’s body as a shield. He held his right arm wrapped around her neck while his left hand pointed a pistol to her temple.

  Eli lifted the binoculars and focused them on Annie. Her eyes were shut tight and her face scrunched up in fear.

  “I ain’t got nuttin to say to you, man.” Tyrone’s wild eyes darted around the yard. “You fucked with me, now you gonna pay.” He kissed the side of Annie’s head, near her ear. “Or maybe I’ll make this little beauty suffer for you.”

  “This is between you and me, Tyrone. No reason to hurt her. Can’t you see she’s already been hurt enough?”

  Tyrone tightened his grip on Annie. “If she behaves herself, I won’t have to clip her other wing.”

  “Is Flora in there with you, Tyrone? Does she need medical attention?”

  “My mama’s health ain’t none of your business. I’m warning you!” He fired a shot at the sky. “Get on outta here if you ever want to see this pretty little angel alive again.” He yanked Annie back inside and slammed the door.

  Eli climbed into the passenger side and shimmied over the console to the driver’s seat. He started the engine and backed the car out of the driveway and down the street a hundred feet in the opposite direction from the other patrol cars. He radioed Swanson. “We need to isolate the area. You seal off your side of the road and I’ll tape mine. Don’t let anyone through for any reason, except the rescue squad and fire department. I’m calling in the hostage negotiators.”

  THIRTY-THREE

  Annie

  Annie sat in the corner with her knees against her chest and her face tucked in the crook of her good arm. She could still feel the metal barrel of the gun Tyrone had pressed against her temple. She couldn’t stop her teeth from chattering. But she wasn’t cold. The tiny sitting room was stifling. The cigarette smoke made her want to gag and her armpits were damp with sweat. She needed Thea’s help to get her injured arm out of the fleece, but she was too terrified to ask. She didn’t want to draw attention to herself. Willie and Thea occupied opposite ends of the sofa, and Tyrone was stretched out in Flora’s recliner, pointing the remote at the TV as though he was watching the Super Bowl instead of holding three innocent people hostage.

  “I need me some food.” Tyrone smacked his lips. “Thea, make yourself useful and rustle me up some grub. Make me some eggs over easy, bacon, and biscuits with honey.” He waved his pistol in Annie’s direction. “And take her with you. All that teeth chattering is grating my nerves.”

  Annie slowly rose to her feet and followed Thea into the kitchen. She heard Tyrone tell his brother, “Go in there with them, you idiot, in case they try something stupid.”

  Willie shuffled into the kitchen and plopped down in a metal chair at the tiny table beside the back door. He slipped on his Beats headphones and thumbed through a playlist on his phone.

  Thea removed the ingredients she needed for the meal from the refrigerator and lined them up on the counter. Annie leaned in close to Thea. “Are they going to kill us?” she whispered.

  “I ain’t gonna lie to you, girl. They’re mean enough to shoot us both dead. I’m so sorry, Annie, for getting you into this mess.”

  “What are you talking about? You didn’t get me into anything. Tyrone has some kinda vendetta against Eli and he’s taking it out on me. You’re the one caught in the middle.”

  “I’m worried about my mama.” She opened the drawer to the right of the stove and rummaged through the syringes. “Her insulin is gone. It was in here this morning. I don’t care what they say. I’m gonna check on her.” She turned off the stove and marched across the room. But Willie was too quick. He leapt out of his chair and blocked the door. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  Thea tried to push past him, but he wrapped his strong arms around her so she couldn’t move.

  “What’s going on in there?” Tyrone hollered from the other room.

  “Thea dropped an egg,” Willie yelled back. “Nuttin for you to worry about. I’m just helping her clean it up.”

  “Tell her to hurry the fuck up. I’m hungry.”

  Willie dragged Thea away from the doorway. In a whisper loud enough for Annie to hear, he said, “I’m going to let you go so you can fix his food. If you make one wrong move, I’m gonna shoot you myself. Understood?”

  Thea nodded, and he loosened his grip. She spun on her heels and elbowed him hard in the gut. “If anything happens to my mama, I’ll be the one doing the shooting,” she said to his bent-over body. “Do you understand?”

  “Why you little cunt!” He tried to grab hold of her arm, but she wrenched herself free.

  Thea returned to the stove, and Willie slumped back down in the chair, his head resting on his hand. She slammed cabinets and banged pots around as she prepared to cook.

  “Keep it down in there, will ya?” Tyrone called, and the volume on the TV in the front room grew louder.

  Annie handed her the ingredients as she needed them. Thea chunked a slab of butter in a cast iron skillet, and whisked the eggs in a bowl with milk. She poured the eggs into the skillet.

  “What’s wrong with your dumbass?” Thea spun around, turning her back on the eggs. Pointing her plastic spatula at Willie, she said, “I expect this kinda shit from him,”—she jerked her head toward the other room—“but not from you. If something happens to Mama or to Annie or me, you’re gonna have our blood on your hands. Which means you’re the one going to jail for life. Because he’s gonna get off like he always does and let you take the fall.”

  Willie snorted. “Shut up, girl. You don’t
know what you’re talking about. Tyrone’s gonna find us a way out of here. We’ll be long gone before morning.”

  “Ha. I wouldn’t count on it,” she said, scooping eggs out of the pan. She set a plate in front of Willie. “There’s three of us in here and one of him out there. If we make a plan, we can get the gun away from him. Annie and I will tell the police that you helped us. Then you’ll walk and he’ll go to jail.”

  “Nice try, little sister, but it ain’t gonna work. I’m already wanted on charges bigger than the ones I’m facing in here. Running is the only chance we got. If anybody dies in the process, then so be it.” He waved her away. “Now get on out of here and take him his food.”

  Annie returned to her corner in the front room and balled herself up as tight as she could manage with her injured arm. The lingering smell of bacon caused her stomach to rumble. She should’ve asked for something to eat while she had a chance.

  Tyrone scarfed down his food. Mopping up the last of his egg yolk with his remaining biscuit, he pushed his plate aside and leaned over the framed photograph of MLK on the coffee table, snorting up a line of white powder. “Time to party.” He held the rolled-up dollar bill out to Annie. “Want some?”

  “I don’t do drugs,” she said, and buried her face in her arm. I’m freaking pregnant, she wanted to scream. She wouldn’t do drugs under normal circumstances. No way would she risk the health of her unborn baby. But hadn’t she risked it anyway by coming here? Faith and Mike had tried to warn her. If only she’d listened.

  “Come on, angel. You might as well have fun. I aim to have my way with you whether you like it or not.”

  “Leave her alone!” Thea picked up a throw pillow and hurled it at her brother. The pillow knocked the photograph off the coffee table and the cocaine spilled onto the brown shag carpet.

  Tyrone shot out of his chair, bounded across the coffee table, and landed with the full weight of his body on his sister. He started throwing punches and Annie screamed. Willie rushed in from the kitchen. “Get off her, man!” he hollered, grabbing his brother by the shirt and hauling him off their sister. But it was too late. Tyrone had already busted her nose.