by Joanne Fluke
“I don’t think there’s any lake like that around here.” The waitress frowned. “But if there is, Speedy would know.”
Doug leaned forward. “Speedy?”
“Speedy Harmon.” The waitress nodded. “That’s him in the checkered shirt at the end of the counter. Speedy drives around the lakes every day. He’s our RFD man.”
“Excuse me?” Doug was puzzled.
“RFD That’s Rural Free Delivery, but they don’t call it that anymore. The post office changed the name. Now it’s a Star Route.”
“The post office!” Doug was so excited, he almost jumped up to hug her. He handed her two twenties instead, then slid out of the booth. “Do you think you could get me a couple of sandwiches to go? I don’t care what kind. And keep the change. I’m going to talk to Speedy.”
It didn’t take long before Doug was back in his car. In less than a minute, Speedy had eliminated the four lakes on his route and had given him the location of the neighboring Star Route delivery zone. Doug’s spirits were high as he drove to the next sheriff’s substation. Driving around four lakes would have taken him until dawn, yet he’d accomplished the check in minutes. And the only thing he’d had to do was buy Speedy Harmon a beer.
* * *
“What’s the matter, Jill? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” Jill smiled, though she felt like wincing. “I’m just a little tired. I think I’d better call it a night.”
Connie glanced at her watch. “You’re right. It’s past midnight. Sleep well. I’ll come up in a minute to tuck you in.”
Jill climbed up the stairs and shivered as she opened the door to her room. Connie would lock her in again, and this time it would be for keeps. What she’d hoped was a touch of indigestion had turned out to be her worst nightmare. If she wanted to live to see her baby grow up, she couldn’t let Connie know that she was in labor.
* * *
They’d set up a checkpoint at the Bemidgi Station, and Doug was on the phone. Two deputies were helping him, tying up all but one line.
“Detective?” One of the deputies waved him over. “I’ve got Red Spiers on the line. He delivers to Lady Lake, Elbow Lake, Beaver Lake, and Big Buck Lake. I read him you description, and he says there’s a couple of driveways walled with river rock on his route.”
Doug’s hands were shaking as he took the phone. “Mr. Spiers? How about a big log cabin with a flagpole and a big green lawn?”
“Yup.” Red Spiers sounded eager to help. “That’d be the Twin Pines Golf Club. It’s right across the lake from the old Sherman place, and that’s been a rental since Sherm moved to Florida and sold it.”
“Does the Sherman place have a river-rock wall by the driveway?” Doug held his breath as he awaited the answer.
“Yup. It’s got river rock. You can go with me in the morning, if you want to see it.”
Doug felt like whooping with joy, but he took a deep breath instead. “I have to see it now, Mr. Spiers. I’m working on a kidnapping case, and I think they could be holed up there.”
“Why didn’t you say so in the first place?” Red Spiers was clearly excited. “Sit tight, sonny. I’ll throw on some clothes and be there in a flash.”
* * *
“Doug? I’m in labor. She doesn’t know, but I can’t keep it from her for much longer.” Jill’s voice was shaking as she recorded her message. “I got her drunk, and she told me everything.”
Jill took a deep breath as another contraction hit, then let it out in a shuddering sigh. “She was pregnant, and she lost her baby when her boyfriend died. His name was Alan Stanford. He donated organs to Rossini, Turner, Woodard, and Neil. She’s got this crazy idea that Alan will live on if she gets pregnant by a man who received a part of him. Rossini wouldn’t cooperate. When he called her crazy and threatened to turn her over to the police, she killed him. Turner was next. She rented an apartment in his complex and seduced him. After two months, she found out he’d had a vasectomy, and she murdered him, too.”
“She went on to Reverend Woodard.” Jill took a deep breath and hoped her stomach would settle down. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was in labor or if the sick feeling was caused by the awful things Connie had told her. “She said she tried to seduce him when she was being baptized, but he resisted her. He was praying for guidance when she murdered him. And she asked me if I didn’t think it was a nice touch that she killed him on an altar.”
Jill took another deep breath. Her hands were shaking, but she knew she couldn’t panic. She had to make sure Doug caught Connie, and this tape would help. “She’s sick, Doug. You’ve got to get her. She’s like a loaded cannon, ready to fire, and I . . . I know I’m next. She’s going to take my baby, Doug. And she’s going to kill me. She said it would only hurt for a second and then . . . then I’d be dead.”
“Doug?” Jill was silent for a long moment. “I know this isn’t the time, and it isn’t the place, either . . . but I just want you to know that I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time and . . . Oh, Doug, I hope it’s not too late for us!”
Jill wiped away a tear with the back of her hand and forced herself to calm down. If she got upset, the baby might come more quickly. The longer she could stay in labor without letting Connie know, the more time Doug would have to find her.
“She told me about Neil. She was his mistress, Doug. Connie was the other woman. She killed him after she went to the doctor and found out she couldn’t have any more babies. It all makes sense, Doug. I got pregnant after Neil’s transplant. That’s why she wants my baby!”
Jill clicked off the recorder and hid it under the floorboard. After taking a deep breath for courage, she timed her contractions. They were forty-five minutes apart. Her baby was coming, and she couldn’t wait much longer. The last contraction had been strong. Soon they would become more frequent. Now was the time to try to save the baby. If she delayed, she wouldn’t be able to escape.
* * *
Red Spiers was a man in his sixties with a red beard streaked with gray. He arrived with a double-barreled shotgun under his arm, and he shook his head when Doug suggested he leave it at the station.
“Now look here, sonny.” Red patted his shotgun. “I’m a pretty good shot, if I don’t say so myself. You said this was a kidnapping case, and you might need some backup.”
Doug nodded. “Okay. Let me drive and you ride . . . uh . . . shotgun.”
“That’s the spirit, sonny!” Red threw back his head and laughed. “I like a man with a good sense of humor. Time’s wasting so let’s get going. Lady Lake’s eleven miles to the south.”
* * *
Jill’s hands were shaking as she climbed over the balcony rail and grabbed her makeshift rope. She’d knotted her sheets together and secured them to a balcony post, and she’d changed into a dark sweatshirt so she’d be less easy to spot.
Could she climb down the rope when she was so unwieldy? What would happen if she had another contraction and lost her grip? She took a deep breath for courage, grabbed the first knot on the rope, and let herself swing down into space.
The post creaked, and Jill drew her breath in sharply. She didn’t dare think about what would happen if it gave way. She just concentrated on letting herself down, one knot at a time, praying that Connie wouldn’t hear her.
There were ten knots in the sheets, and Jill had gone past four when something ripped. Her sweatshirt had caught on a nail. She reached up with one hand to pull it free. Her heart was in her throat as she climbed down another knot and then another. Only four more knots to go and she’d be on the ground.
Just as Jill’s feet touched solid ground, the lights went on in Connie’s room. Connie had heard her. She had to get away!
Jill ducked around the side of the house and headed for the woods at an awkward run, her heart pounding in fear. She was only a few feet from the safety of the trees when she heard an almost inhuman scream.
“My baby!” Connie’s voice was a raging howl. “I see
you, Jill! You can’t escape me! I’m going to find you and cut my baby out of you!”
CHAPTER 39
Connie was coming! Jill could hear her crashing through the bushes, and she clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp. She was having another contraction and she couldn’t let Connie hear her. Jill had found a woodpile by the edge of the driveway and she’d ducked down to hide behind it. She could see the beam of Connie’s flashlight and all she could do was pray that Connie wouldn’t see her.
The beam of light was coming closer and Jill swallowed hard. If Connie’s light swept over the woodpile, would she see her hiding there? Jill pulled the hood of her dark sweatshirt up, over her face, and curled into a fetal position. Doug was on his way. Jill was sure of it. But until he got here, she had to save her baby from Connie.
A light rain was falling and Jill shivered from a combination of cold and fear. She’d been out here for what seemed like hours and she was drenched to the skin. She’d managed to elude Connie by hiding behind trees and shrubs, but Jill’s goal was to get to the road and she knew she hadn’t made much progress.
Connie was coming closer! Jill could hear her voice now, and the words Connie was shouting made Jill’s face turn pale with fright.
“Talk to me Alan! A part of you is inside her and you know where she is! Please, Alan! You’ve got to help me find our baby!”
Jill shuddered. Alan Stanford had been dead for almost ten months, but Connie still thought he was alive. She was insane. That was very clear. And she was also a killer. If Connie found her, her knife would slash down and Jill’s life would be borne away in a wash of her own blood. She’d suffer the same fate as Willy Rossini, Mark Turner, Reverend Woodard, and Neil.
The shouting stopped. The night was perfectly quiet and for one brief, hopeful moment, Jill thought that Connie had given up. But then she heard Connie shout again and Jill realized that she was only a few feet away.
“What was that, Alan? Our baby is close to me? But where? Tell me where, darling! You’ve got to tell me where!”
Jill’s heart was pounding so loudly, she was afraid that Connie might hear. The beam of light swept closer and closer, and then it was directly in her face.
“I told you not to hide from me!” Connie’s voice was a shriek of pure rage. “You tried to run away with my baby!”
Jill knew she couldn’t fight Connie physically, not in her weakened condition. For the space of a heartbeat, she gave way to overwhelming panic. It was over. Connie had found her. And she was going to die.
But some instinct for survival lifted Jill out of her panic. It made her mind start to work again, searching for ways she could throw Connie off balance. Connie believed that Alan was still alive. And she believed that Jill’s baby had been fathered by a part of Alan.
“Thank God you found me!” Jill managed a weak smile. “Alan told me you’d come. I’m in labor, Connie. I’m having your baby and you’ve got to help me!”
Connie stepped back, startled. For the first time since Jill had met her, she looked confused and unsure of herself. “Alan told you I’d find you?”
“Yes.” Jill nodded. “He was afraid I’d lose your baby, out here all alone in the woods. And I couldn’t call out for you because I was having a contraction.”
Connie’s knife lowered slightly and there was a puzzled expression on her face. “Alan really talked to you?”
“He’s wonderful.” Jill nodded again. “I can see why you love him, Connie. He’s very caring and he loves his baby. He told me he’s inside me because he’s a part of the baby.”
All the rage left Connie’s face and she sat down on a log next to Jill. “What else did Alan say?”
“He told me to stay here and wait for you.” Jill managed to look perfectly sincere. “But I’m so cold and Alan said that’s not good for the baby. What should we do, Connie?”
“We have to get you warm. Stand up, Jill. I’ll help you back to the cabin.”
“No, Connie.” Jill shook her head and pretended to be listening to a voice deep within her. “Alan says I shouldn’t move. Your baby’s too close to being born and I might hurt him. I wouldn’t want to do anything to hurt your baby, Connie.”
Connie reached out to stroke Jill’s hair and Jill tried not to shudder. Her touch was gentle, but the knife was still in her hand.
“Alan says you have to build a fire, Connie. It’s the only way to save your baby.” Jill pretended to listen again, and then she nodded. “He told me that if my body temperature drops too low, your baby could die of exposure.”
Connie began to frown. “But I can’t start a fire. I don’t have any matches.”
“Then go back to the cabin and get some. Bring some dry firewood, too. You have to keep your baby warm.”
Connie’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not going to leave you, Jill, You’ll try to run away with my baby again!”
“No, Connie.” Jill paused, and then she took a big chance. “Alan says . . . no, I can’t tell you what he said.”
“Tell me! What did Alan say?”
Jill winced, as if she didn’t want to repeat it. But then she nodded. “All right, I’ll tell you. But don’t get mad at me.”
“I won’t. What did he say, Jill?”
Jill took a deep breath and then she blurted it out. “Alan’s disappointed because you don’t trust him!”
“What do you mean?” Connie’s mouth dropped open. “Of course I trust Alan! He’s the father of my baby and I love him!”
“I know that. And you know that. But Alan’s not convinced. He says he’s a lot stronger now that the baby’s getting ready to be born. You have to trust him to stay with me while you go after the matches.”
Connie nodded, but she still didn’t look completely convinced. “I still think this could be a trick. How can I be sure that Alan’s really talking to you?”
“Alan says he can prove it.” Jill thought fast. “He says he’ll tell me something that only you would know.”
Connie nodded. “All right. What is it?”
“It’s about the tapes.” Jill remembered what Doug had told her about the Turner case. “Alan says he helped you find your tapes and take them away from Mark Turner’s apartment. He told you to leave the other tapes to confuse anyone who searched the place.”
Connie nodded. “That’s true. Tell him I need more proof, Jill. I want to believe you, but I’m still not sure.”
“He’s going to tell me about a lawyer.” Jill did her best to recall everything that Dave Kramer had told her about Connie’s arraignment. “This lawyer helped you when you were in Judge Swensen’s court. And his name was . . . Green. Harvey Green.”
“That’s right!”
Connie was beginning to look convinced and Jill decided to force a decision. If she was wrong, it would be all over. But if she was right, Connie would leave her to go back to the cabin.
“Alan says to stop wasting time, Connie. You’ve got to get those matches right now. If your baby dies, you’ll never see him again!”
“Noooo!” Connie looked absolutely horrified and she reached out to stroke Jill’s stomach. “I’m sorry, Alan. I was a fool not to trust you. I’ll hurry right back with the matches, darling. I promise!”
Jill managed to stay perfectly still as Connie jumped to her feet. A moment later, Connie was running through the woods, her knife in one hand and her flashlight in the other.
How much time would she have? Jill shivered and sat up. Ten minutes? Twenty minutes? She watched until the beam from Connie’s flashlight had faded into the distance, and them she pushed herself awkwardly to her feet. Jill knew she had to start now and go as far and as fast as she could. She’d bought herself precious minutes, but her ruse wouldn’t work a second time. She had to get out to the road and flag down a car before Connie came back and discovered she was gone.
Jill forced her shaking legs to move, one foot in front of the other. As she brushed past trees and made her way deeper into the woods, there was
only one thought in her mind. Doug was coming. He was a good detective and he would put all the pieces together. He’d find the lake and the cabin, and he’d be here any minute. She just had to keep moving, no matter what, until she was safely back in Doug’s arms.
* * *
The drive seemed to take forever, but it was actually only ten minutes by the clock on the dash. Doug took the turn-off to the lake and shouted out a question. “How much farther?”
“Two, three miles.” Red reached up to grab the roll bar in Doug’s Explorer. “Careful, sonny . . . Some of these curves are steep. You’re not going to do anybody any good if you wind up in the ditch.”
Doug took a deep breath and slowed down. Red was right. But his heart was in his throat as he drove around the curves.
“Okay, sonny. It’s right up here on your left. Cut your lights. You don’t want ’em to see us coming, and the moon’s bright tonight.”
Doug didn’t take time to consider whether Red was right or not. He flicked off his lights and blinked several times until he could see the faint outline of the driveway.
“It’s straight for about thirty yards. Then there’s a curve to the right. I’ll tell you when we get to the curve. I’ve been down this driveway so many times, I could drive it in pitch black night.”
Doug kept the wheel straight and turned when Red told him to. They’d just come out of the curve when both of them heard a crashing in the bushes.
“Stop, sonny! Now!” Red’s voice was hoarse with emotion, and Doug tromped on the brakes. A second later, a figure dressed in dark clothing broke from the bushes, running straight toward them.
“Jill!” Doug jumped out of the car and caught her. “Are you all right?!”
“Yes . . . I mean, no! She’s after me, Doug. And she’s got a knife!”
Before Doug could do anything but thrust Jill behind him, another figure hurtled out of the bushes. It was Connie, and her knife was raised high.
“I’ll kill you!” Her scream was so loud, the words seemed to echo off the trees. “You can’t take my baby away from me again!”
She was almost on top of them when a shot rang out, exploding the stillness of the night. Connie crumpled and the knife skittered across the gravel, coming to rest by Red’s feet.
