“Are you alone in your office?” Jeannie asked, realizing that something was terribly wrong.
“Yes. They’ve allowed me to come in here alone. But Jeannie… Oh, dear God, they have guns! They’re holding the children hostage.”
Jeannie heard Marta sobbing. “What do you mean, they’re holding the children hostage?”
“During our before-school free time in the cafeteria, Danette Suddath and these two other women pulled their guns, each one grabbed a child, and they’re holding the whole school hostage.”
“What do they want?” Jeannie asked, but she knew. She glanced at the partially open door, wondering if Sam had gone back into the kitchen.
“They want you, Jeannie,” Marta said. “They’re all members of the Righteous Light Church. Danette told me that—that they won’t hurt any of the children, if you’ll come down to the school.”
“Call the police, Marta. Tell them what’s happened. Sam and I will be there as soon as possible.”
“No! I can’t call the police, and Sam Dundee must not come here. They said if I called the police or if Mr. Dundee comes with you, they’ll start sacrificing the children. That’s the exact word Danette used. Sacrificing.”
“They want me to come alone?” Jeannie’s mind splintered into a dozen different thoughts, the prime one being the question of how she would ever escape from Sam.
“I don’t know what to do, Jeannie. If you come down here, they’ll turn you over to Maynard Reeves.” Marta’s voice quavered more with each word she spoke. “I think they’re expecting him to come here and get you.”
“I understand. I’ll find a way to get there. Alone. We can’t allow any harm to come to those precious children in our charge.”
“There must be some other way,” Marta said. “If only—”
“Everything will be all right,” Jeannie said. “I’ll do what I have to do.”
Jeannie punched the Off button and laid the telephone down on the bath mat beside the tub. Closing her eyes, she said a quiet prayer, allowing her mind to relax and her nerves to calm. She would have to lie to Sam, and she would have to trick him. She hated doing it, but she had no choice. The lives of forty-five children were at stake. Innocent, helpless children with physical and mental limitations that made them even more special to Jeannie. She knew so well the pain these children endured, especially their emotional suffering.
“Sam! Sam, I’m ready to get out of the tub now.”
Within a minute, Sam was at her side, lifting her out of the tub and drying her with a large, fluffy towel. She wrapped her arm around his neck.
“Why don’t you go ahead and enjoy my bubble bath? It’s still warm,” she said.
“I haven’t finished up in the kitchen.” He carried her into the bedroom and placed her on the edge of the bed.
“After I get dressed, I’ll take care of that.” She pulled him down toward her, rubbing her cheek against his. “Go on. You need a bath. You smell like…well, you smell.”
Sam laughed. “I smell like you and me. I smell like sex.”
“Yes, you do. You smell like sex.”
“Need any help getting dressed?” he asked.
“You’re better at helping me undress.” She shoved him away from her. “Now go get your bath. I can dress myself and finish cleaning up the kitchen without your help.”
“Your wish is my command.” He stripped out of his slacks, which he’d put on again when he returned to the kitchen.
Jeannie watched while he walked to the bathroom. He stopped in the doorway, turned and smiled at her. When he closed the door, she lifted her cane from its resting place against the nightstand and hurried to the closet. She dressed as quickly as she could, dug the keys to her Lexus from her purse and walked out of the bedroom.
Easing the front door closed, she breathed a sigh of relief when it made only a faint clicking sound. She slid behind the wheel, started the engine and backed out of the driveway, holding her breath all the while.
“Please, forgive me, Sam. I have no other choice.” She whispered the words aloud, knowing that Sam had already sensed that something wasn’t quite right.
When she pulled out into the street, she glanced in her rearview mirror. Sam Dundee ran into the yard, a towel draped around his hips. He screamed her name.
Tears blurred Jeannie’s vision as she pressed the accelerator. The Lexus flew down the street and out of Sam’s sight.
CHILDREN’S WHIMPERS AND muted cries drifted down the hallway. Jeannie gripped her cane as she walked along the empty corridor. She hesitated at the closed cafeteria doors, uncertain what she would find once she entered, but knowing she was willing to make whatever sacrifice was necessary to save the children.
She flung open the double doors and stepped inside, halting immediately. The children had been divided into three groups. The groups huddled on the floor in three corners of the cafeteria, each group guarded by a woman with a gun. Danette Suddath held her own daughter in front of her as a shield as she brandished a semiautomatic weapon.
“Hi, Jeannie.” Missy Suddath smiled, her round face wrinkling in pleasure lines when she saw Jeannie. “My mama’s playing a game with us. It’s like cops and robbers. Did you come to play with us?”
“Yes, Missy, I came to play with you.” Jeannie clenched her teeth, willing herself to stay calm and unemotional for the sake of the children.
“Come on in, Jeannie Alverson!” Danette shouted. “Your days of evil are about to end.”
“Suffer not a witch to live!” A plump middle-aged woman with long, straight salt-and-pepper hair tightened her hold on little seven-year-old Amelia Carson, who’d been born marginally retarded. Clasping a small-caliber gun in her hand, she laid it across Amelia’s chest.
“I’ve followed your instructions,” Jeannie said. “I’ve come alone, without the police or Sam Dundee. You have what you want. Please release the children.”
“Such concern for these little ones.” The baritone voice came from a tall, slender woman who held the third group of children in the far right corner. She lifted six-year-old Justin Walker, blind since birth, up on her hip. Justin screamed. The woman placed her hand, which held a gun, over the little boy’s mouth.
Jeannie sucked in a deep breath. “Please, put him down. You’re frightening him.”
“Hush now, child,” the tall woman, who was wearing a frumpy floral-print dress, said. “If Jeannie loves you, really loves you, none of you will need to be sacrificed.”
Jeannie couldn’t bear the thought of a child being harmed because of her. How could these women threaten the children, when they claimed to be believers in a religion of love and compassion?
“I’ll leave with you,” Jeannie said. “I’ll go with you to Maynard Reeves without protest.”
All the teachers had been lined up against the wall on the far side of the cafeteria. Jeannie looked at them, one at a time, hoping to convey hope and love. Marta McCorkle was conspicuously absent.
“Where’s Marta?” Jeannie asked.
“Ms. McCorkle is in her office,” Danette Suddath said. “She’s there to answer the phone and make sure the outside world thinks everything is normal here at the Howell School.”
Jeannie sighed with relief. For one split second, she had feared for Marta’s life. “My car is outside. The keys are in the ignition. We can walk out of here, and you can take me to Reverend Reeves. Right now.”
“We won’t need your car,” Danette said, forcing her daughter to walk around her classmates sitting on the floor. “Our plans are already made.”
“All right.” Jeannie walked into the room, slowly moving toward Danette. “I’m prepared to go with you, on your terms.”
Missy Suddath took a step toward Jeannie. “Are you a bad guy?” the child asked. “They’re calling you ugly names. I don’t like you playing bad, Jeannie.”
“I’m not really bad. Remember, this is just a game.” Jeannie reached out her hand to Missy.
“No! D
on’t touch her!” Danette jerked her daughter close to her side, the gun she held resting over the child’s body. “I won’t have you contaminate her with your evil.”
“Danette, surely you know I’d never do anything to harm Missy,” Jeannie said. “She’s been attending the Howell School for four years, and she’s made excellent progress. All of us here love her.”
“Enough talk.” The tall, deep-voiced woman marched around her charges. Justin shivered in the big woman’s arms, tears streaming down his face as he sobbed.
“Justin, don’t be afraid,” Jeannie said. “I’m here in the room with you.”
“I don’t like this game,” Justin said, choking back his tears. “I don’t wanna play anymore.”
The woman holding Amelia walked toward Jeannie. “The game will end soon,” she said. “As long as Jeannie does exactly as she’s told.”
“What do you want me to do?” Jeannie asked.
“You’ll come with us. My friends and I will walk out of the school to the parking area, where our cars are waiting.” The woman in the floral-print dress secured her hold on Justin and lifted her gun to the child’s head.
Jeannie was thankful Justin couldn’t see, that he really didn’t understand what was happening. “Yes, I’ll come with you. Just put Justin down, and don’t harm any of the children.”
The tall woman grinned. Jeannie gasped, suddenly realizing that the person holding Justin was a man disguised as a woman. Maynard Reeves!
His grin widened when he looked directly into Jeannie’s eyes. She knew he was aware that she’d recognized him.
“Danette will take her daughter with her,” Reeves said. “I’ll take Justin. Nora will take the little girl with the blond pigtails. And we’ll need five or six more children as escorts. All of us will walk out of here together.”
“There’s no need to take the children. You don’t want them,” Jeannie said. “I’m the one you want.”
“Ah, but there is a need to take the children, at least until we reach our cars. I wouldn’t want you changing your mind, or any of your employees in here deciding to call the police.”
“You’ll let the children go as soon as we get outside?”
“All except Missy and Justin,” Reeves said. “They’ll go with us. Once I make sure we haven’t been followed, I’ll release Justin, somewhere you can be certain he’ll be safe.”
“Don’t do this. Please. No one has called the police, and Sam Dundee has no idea where I am.”
“I tend to believe you. However, I’m not a person who takes chances.” Reeves waved his gun in the air, then pointed it to the door leading to the hallway. “Shall we go?”
Jeannie watched, feeling totally helpless, as Danette and the plump middle-aged woman gathered up six children, instructing them to form a single line beside Reeves. Confused and crying, the children ran to Jeannie, completely ignoring Danette’s directions. Kneeling, Jeannie touched each child, placing them in a circle around her. They reached out, laying their hands on her. She absorbed their fear and frustration, and within minutes all six children had quieted.
“Look at the witch’s power!” Reeves bellowed, storming across the few feet that separated him from Jeannie. “She controls the minds of the innocent!”
He set Justin on his feet, then pulled the six children away from Jeannie. She reached for her cane, grabbing it up off the floor just as Reeves dragged her to her feet.
Turning to his two faithful helpers, Reeves motioned them toward him. “She controls these children.” He pointed at the four boys and two girls Jeannie had soothed with her touch. “They are useless to us. Take only the child you have with you, and go to your car. Wait for me outside.” He looked at Justin, who had found his way to Jeannie and was holding on to her leg. “Take his hand, and bring him with you. And don’t try any of your witchcraft on him. If you do, I’ll have to destroy him when I destroy you.”
“Please, don’t—”
“Take his hand! Now!” Reeves screamed.
Jeannie lifted Justin’s hand, grasping it firmly, then looked to Reeves for instructions.
Reeves placed his arm around her shoulders. “We’ll walk into the hallway and through the school to the back door.”
Jeannie nodded her agreement. Danette and her cohort left the room, taking Missy and Amelia Carson with them. Reeves stuck his gun in Jeannie’s ribs, motioning her forward. With each step she took, Jeannie prayed. The moment she exited the cafeteria and entered the corridor, she felt Sam Dundee’s presence. Dear God, how had he found her? And what was he going to do? Had he called Marta? Had she been unable to hide the truth from him?
Danette and the other woman left the building, Missy and Amelia with them. Halting abruptly halfway down the long central hallway, Reeves squeezed Jeannie’s shoulder.
“Wait,” he said.
Her breathing quickened. She clasped Justin’s hand tightly. Whatever happened, she’d need to move at a moment’s notice. If ever she had wished she could run, it was now.
“You and Justin will walk out in front of me,” Reeves told her. “Just remember that I’ll be right behind you, with a gun aimed at the boy.”
Jeannie nodded, swallowed hard, squeezed Justin’s hand and walked them toward the back door.
Grab Justin. Drop to the floor and roll into the open classroom on your left. Now! She heard Sam’s orders as clearly as if he’d spoken. Not hesitating, she obeyed, grabbing Justin around the waist and throwing them both onto the floor.
“What are you doing?” Reeves fired his gun, but a big hand knocked the weapon upward, and the bullet lodged in the ceiling.
“Don’t move a muscle,” Sam Dundee said.
With her arms wrapped around Justin, protecting him with her body, Jeannie rolled them directly across the hall. Curling her body into a fetal position as she rolled, she tumbled them through the open classroom door. She caught a glimpse of the female-disguised Reeves, Sam Dundee towering behind him, his Ruger pointed directly at the reverend’s head.
With his free hand, Sam jerked Reeves’s wig off his head. “Looks like you’ve been caught in the act.”
“Let me go, Dundee, or two innocent children will have to be sacrificed.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Sam flung the wig to the floor, then thrust his big arm around Reeves’s neck, bringing the man’s back up against his chest.
“Ask your precious little witch,” Reeves said. “She’ll tell you. Two of my disciples have potential sacrifices with them, and if I give the order to destroy these children for the greater good of the Righteous Light Church, they’ll shoot them.”
“Sam?” Jeannie called out to him silently. “Danette Suddath has her daughter, Missy, but I’m not sure she wouldn’t harm her. And the other woman has Amelia—”
“All right, Reeves, let’s you and me go outside,” Sam said. “If what you say is true, I’ll exchange you for the children.”
Reeves’s maniacal laughter reverberated in the hushed stillness of the corridor. “You give me Jeannie, and I’ll give you the children.”
Sam didn’t hesitate before giving his reply. “No deal.”
“Jeannie, Dundee is willing to sacrifice the children to save you!” Reeves shouted. “Is that what you want?”
“Sam?” she said aloud.
“Stay where you are. Trust me to handle this,” Sam said.
Reeves taunted her. “Jeannie, I won’t hesitate to sacrifice the children.”
She didn’t reply. Sam gave Maynard Reeves a tight jerk, choking him momentarily, then loosed his hold and shoved him toward the back door.
“Don’t try to screw around with me, you son of a bitch.” Sam growled the words in a low whisper, meaning them to be heard only by Reeves. “No one’s life is more important to me than Jeannie’s. You got that? You do whatever you have to do, but if you issue an order to kill those children, I won’t have any qualms about blowing your head off.”
“Jeannie? Answer me, you wi
tch, you seed of the devil!”
Reeves struggled. Sam pressed his muscular arm into Reeve’s windpipe, cutting off his oxygen. He ceased struggling and stood perfectly still.
Sam waited in the hallway for a moment, allowing Reeves to listen to the silence. “What’s it going to be?” Sam asked. “Do you and two innocent children die, or do I exchange your life for theirs?”
“Let me go, and I’ll send the children in when I reach my car.”
“No deal.” Sam rubbed the Ruger’s barrel up and down the side of Reeves’s sweaty face.
“State your terms.”
“We’ll walk outside. You’ll tell your disciples to release the children. As soon as they’re within touching distance of me, I’ll release you.”
“How do I know you’ll keep your word?” Reeves asked.
“You don’t. You’ll just have to trust me, won’t you?”
Sam walked Reeves out into the parking lot behind the school. Danette Suddath and an older woman sat inside a dark blue sedan, two children sandwiched between them in the front seat.
“Tell them to let the children out of the car,” Sam said.
“Danette. Nora. Release the children.”
Once Danette and Nora saw that their beloved reverend’s life was in Sam’s hands, they opened the car door and ushered the children out, telling them to go to the man with the gun. Missy clasped Amelia’s hand, and the two girls walked toward Sam. The moment the girls came within his grasp, Sam shoved Reeves forward as hard as he could, then grabbed both girls up in his arms. Missy and Amelia clung to him.
Reeves ran toward his Lincoln Continental, parked beside Danette’s sedan. He started the engine, shifted the gears and roared out of the parking lot. Danette followed him quickly.
Police sirens screamed in the distance. Sam turned around and walked back toward the Howell School. Jeannie stood in the doorway, her eyes swimming with tears. Sam set the two little girls on their feet and pulled Jeannie into his arms. Within minutes the corridor had filled with children and teachers, all of them crying.
Marta rushed out of her office, dropped to her knees and embraced the children closest to her. “Thank God you didn’t believe me, Mr. Dundee. I hope you understand why I couldn’t risk telling you the truth when you called.”
Witness Page 47
