by Dana Mentink
The words echoed around her mind. He was telling the truth. He would not hesitate to drop the grenade and kill them just as easily as he’d shot Agent Rudley.
With a sick feeling of dread, she lowered the gun and let it fall to the ground. “I will do anything you tell me, if you don’t hurt them.”
His smile was luminous in the dark. “I know.”
NINETEEN
Bill called to Tank and started the engine. Idling there, he called Rudley’s number one more time, startled when Heather answered.
“Bill?”
His body shuddered in relief. “Where are you?” he managed.
“I’m …”
There was the sound of the phone changing hands. “Hello, Bill.”
Bill felt the bottom fall out of his stomach. His worst fear since the moment he’d learned Oscar was on the loose again had come true.
Oscar had Heather.
“Don’t hurt her.”
“Don’t hurt her? Like you didn’t hurt my son, Bill?” Oscar’s voice simmered with rage.
As much as Bill wanted to lash out, he knew he had to play along, to find out where they were.
“We both know you want me. Tell me where you are and I’ll be there. The girl isn’t important.”
“Oh, I think she is. And I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen next because I’m in charge here. Do you understand that, Bill?”
“Yes. I understand.”
“This will be easy. You’re already at the construction site.”
Bill jerked in surprise. How did he know that?
“Are you still there, Bill?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then all you have to do is be a good boy and stay there. We should be along shortly.”
Bill’s mind raced. “Where’s Agent Rudley? And the others?”
“That’s all you need to know right now, except for one more thing.”
“Tell me.”
“You won’t summon any cops or Tribal Rangers. No law enforcement of any kind. There’s only one road in and out. If I see one sign that anyone else is waiting there but you, I will kill these girls, one at a time. Do you understand me?”
Bill forced the words over his dry tongue. “I understand. Just me, and you won’t hurt them.”
Oscar laughed. “See you soon, Bill.”
He stared at the phone. This had to be a nightmare. How could this man have complete power over him?
Because he had Tina.
And Heather’s mother.
And Heather.
If he hurt Heather, took her away forever … Bill could not stand to think it.
His mind raced. If Oscar was monitoring the property somehow, he would easily spot any police or FBI cars, and Bill knew the threats to kill the women were not idle ones. Oscar cared little for people outside his family.
Frustration clawed at his mind. He got out of the car to pace, Tank right along with him. Oscar had all the bargaining chips and Bill had no one to call on for help.
A thought struck him. There was one person who could assist, but he’d already made a mistake that left him untrustworthy in Bill’s eyes. He’d lost everything and Bill figured he probably deserved it.
Deserved it.
Bill let the thought linger in his mind before another took its place.
And he deserved forgiveness, too.
Bill dialed the phone.
After a brief conversation, he settled in to wait. Unable to stand the stillness, he paced up and down the long gravel drive, checking and rechecking his gun and the extra rounds, looking for the slightest indication that Oscar was getting closer. The time ticked away in slow-motion minutes. Eight-thirty. Eight forty-five. It was almost nine by the time he saw Al. As it was, the man was a scant fifty feet away before Bill knew he was there and only then because Tank went on alert.
“Easy there,” Al said, giving Tank a pat.
Bill realized he had drawn his weapon. He holstered it and they stood near the cover of the shrubs. “I didn’t hear your horse.”
“That’s the idea. I stayed off the roads, stuck to the trails. Status?”
“No sign of him yet. Any word?”
“Guy out hunting found Rudley. They transported him to County. He’s alive. No one else found on the scene. You sure you don’t want to bring them in on this?”
Bill shook his head. “Oscar meant what he said. He’ll kill them if he spots cops.”
“That why you called me?” The regret shone on Al’s face, even in the moonlight. “I’m not really a cop anymore?”
Bill sighed. “No, Al. I called you because you have been my friend for twenty years. You screwed up, yeah, but so have I. If I’m ever going to be forgiven for my heap of mess-ups, then I guess I can see my way clear to forgiving one of yours.”
Al’s voice broke. “Thanks.”
“You’re not going to thank me later. Oscar is out for my blood, but he won’t hesitate to kill you, too. You sure you want to be here?”
Al nodded, eyes glittering. “Nowhere else I’d rather be.”
They talked out a plan and Al disappeared into the darkness.
In spite of what was about to come, Bill felt that some corner of his soul was at peace. At least he could go to his death knowing that.
The luminous hands of his watch crept along and still no sign of Oscar.
He resisted the urge to kick at the tires of his truck.
Where were they?
Heather’s ears still rang with the sound of Bill’s voice before Oscar had snatched away the phone. Oscar looked as if he had thoroughly enjoyed the conversation. And why not? He had Bill right where he wanted him, squirming, and deeply afraid.
How unfair it was that love could make you so terribly vulnerable. She startled herself with the thought. Bill still cared about her on some level, she knew, enjoyed the memories of the sweet love they’d shared, but her feelings for him had rekindled the moment she had seen him and it was more than fond memories of the past. She loved him, desperately, and that love would stay one-sided, she was just as sure. Watching Oscar’s satisfied smile, she believed none of them would be alive very long to worry about it, unless she figured out some way to escape and contact Bill.
Oscar slid the phone into his pocket and whistled cheer-fully, the grenade still in his hand. Then he locked eyes on hers.
His face morphed into an expression of pure evil as he tossed the grenade down the slope toward Margot and Tina.
“No!” Heather screamed, running to the side until Oscar caught her by the hair.
“Stay here with me, and listen for the bang,” he hissed in her ear.
Struggling with Oscar, terror firing her nerves, she could not get away. All she could do was watch in horror as the grenade bounced and rolled, coming to rest at her mother’s feet.
Oh, God! she screamed silently. Don’t take her away again.
The seconds ticked away and she suddenly realized Oscar was laughing. He let go of her abruptly and she went down on one knee.
“It was a dud. You should have seen the look on your face,” Oscar said, wiping away tears with the back of his gun hand. “I’ll bet you feel good and stupid now for handing over the gun, don’t you?”
Rage built up inside and she would have struck at him if he hadn’t pointed the weapon at her.
“Now, go down there and get them. Bring them back up. If you try anything I’ll kill the kid first, then your mother. Move it.”
On rubbery legs Heather slipped and slid her way down the slope, all the while trying to figure out a plan for escape. She still had her own phone, but there most likely was no signal, and if she took it out of her pocket, Oscar would see it light up.
The scraggly tree to which her mother and Tina were tied offered little cover and they would be exposed for several yards before they could find something else to hide behind.
Think, Heather, think. She berated herself as she closed the gap between them. Why hadn’t she insisted on s
ending her mother away from South Dakota? Why?
The answer, true as it was, did not help matters.
She loved her mother. In spite of the abandonment, her complete parental failure, the years of grief, Heather loved her mother. As she drew near, Tina’s gaze followed her every move and her mother’s eyes filled, a tear trickling down her face and over the tape that covered her mouth.
Through her own tears, Heather began trying to loosen the rope. She remembered her mother’s earlier words.
I love you, though I haven’t earned the right and you will likely never return that love.
How is that possible?
I think that you would probably say it’s because of God, wouldn’t you?
She pulled harder at the ropes until her fingernails tore and finally the bonds loosened. Tina peeled the tape off her own mouth and grabbed Heather around the waist. Her mother slid to the ground.
“That bad man …” Tina spluttered, her nose running. “He tied us up. He’s bad, bad, bad.”
Heather tried to comfort her and check on her mother at the same time. “I know, honey, I know. He is a bad man, but we need to do what he says right now, just for a while.”
She knelt on the gravelly soil and pulled the tape as gently as she could away from her mother’s mouth. For a moment they stared at each other in silence, hands gripped together.
Margot tried several times before she got the words out. “He’s still up there?”
She nodded.
“Were you able to call for help?”
Heather felt an overwhelming sense of failure. “No. We’re going to meet Bill.”
Margot squeezed her daughter’s hand. “You did your best.”
But her best was not enough to save them. Why couldn’t she think of a way out, some plan that would buy them time at least?
Oscar shouted down from the road. “Get up here.”
Tina whimpered again as Heather helped her mother to her feet. Margot reached out a hand, very gently, and stroked Heather’s face.
“I am very proud that you are my daughter.”
Heather’s throat closed up, leaving her unable to answer.
Very proud.
Daughter.
There were no sweeter words, nothing she had longed to hear more in her entire life. And now they’d been given to her just before they were all likely to die.
Margot took Tina around the shoulders. The girl buried her face in Margot’s shirt, and Margot stroked Tina’s hair before she gave Heather a final look.
“We’ll make it as easy for the child as we can,” she whispered.
Heather nodded through her tears and they began the trudge back up the slope to the place where Oscar waited.
“Walk that way,” he ordered when they had made it back to the road. Holding hands, the three walked as best as they could in the darkness to a spot a few miles down the road, where they found a dusty blue sedan.
“All three in front,” he barked, poking Heather with the gun. “You drive.”
She was surprised he would allow her to take the wheel, until he got into the backseat and pressed the gun to the back of her neck.
“If you do anything funny, I’ll kill the kid first. Then your mother.”
She could feel Tina’s body go rigid beside her. Risking a quick pat to her knee, she said, “Nothing funny, so you won’t need to hurt anyone.”
“What time is it?” Oscar asked.
Margot answered, her voice remarkably strong. “Nine.”
“All right, then, we’ve got plenty of time. Drive.”
Plenty of time? The realization hit Heather. Plenty of time until midnight, when the day changed. Plenty of time for Oscar to make his murderous deadline. With no other choice, she put the car in Drive and eased out of the shrubs onto the road.
She did not recognize where they were going at first. Close to an hour later it came to her. The lab. They were heading toward the DUSEL. It raised a spark of hope inside her. The place was monitored and secure. Someone would see them, surely, a security guard maybe.
The spark died as they passed the lab, the comforting lights from the building fading into the distance behind them.
“Slow down,” Oscar said. “Coming up on it on the left. We’re early, but I don’t think Bill will mind dying a little ahead of schedule.”
She saw nothing but flat grassland until he ordered her to turn on a narrow path that she would have missed. It was more a trail than a road, and the car bumped and jostled over the uneven ground.
They stopped at Oscar’s instruction. He dialed the phone.
“Bill. Enjoying your evening?”
Heather’s heart squeezed. It could not be that they were going to witness Oscar kill Bill. How could she watch helplessly as the man she loved was gunned down? To be followed by her mother and Tina?
There had to be something she could do.
Think, Heather.
“We’re here now—your girls, too. I will meet you in front of the warehouse. Lock up your dog and stand with your hands in the air. If I see you go for a gun, or any cops arrive, you know what is going to happen.”
He clicked off and pressed the gun into her neck again. She saw her mother tense.
“Drive slowly and remember what the price will be if you get creative.”
She drove, the car creeping so slowly it hardly raised any dust. All the while her mind raced.
Bill.
How she had hurt him, not by her drinking but by shutting him out of her life when he wanted to help. Now she was going to watch him die, murdered at the hands of a madman, and he would never know how much she loved him, how very sorry she was for hurting him.
Some part of her mind would not accept it. Surely there were cops waiting, concealed in the warehouse maybe.
The FBI must have realized Agent Rudley had not reported in. Perhaps they’d sent help and even now the place was surrounded.
As they pulled to a stop in front of the warehouse, she knew her ideas were just desperate imaginings.
Bill stepped forward out of the shadows, quite alone, his empty hands held toward the night sky.
TWENTY
As soon as Oscar got out of the car, Tank went crazy, barking and clawing at the window. Bill did not try to quiet him. The dog behaved exactly as Bill would have if he wasn’t so afraid for the women in the car. Emotions raced through him as he sought Heather’s eyes behind the windshield and saw them rounded in terror, her face pale as milk.
Tina’s and Margot’s expressions were concealed by shadows and he was grateful. They were alive for the moment and that’s all he could ask for.
His heart hammered inside and he felt a bead of sweat slide down his forehead. He needed only a moment, a way to get Oscar off guard for a fraction of a second. Al Crow was concealed somewhere and he prayed Al would find a way to buy him that time.
Oscar stepped out and closed the door behind him, gun leveled at Bill. He ordered Heather out of the car and told her to bring the car keys. She obeyed. Bill wanted to reassure her, to tell her he would get them out of this mess, but he couldn’t. He’d never lied to her and he wasn’t going to start now.
Oscar positioned Heather close, her back to the driver’s door, and retrained the gun on her.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment, Cloud-man.”
“Me, too,” Bill said, his mind whirling. With Heather so close, Al would be afraid to take a shot for fear of hitting Heather or the two people still in the car. He had to keep Oscar talking and hope for an opening.
Tank’s frenzy increased and he slammed at the truck window.
“I didn’t expect to have so many extra bodies around, but life is unpredictable and you’ve got to roll with the punches.” Oscar grinned.
“They have nothing to do with it. You want me because I am responsible for Autie’s death, isn’t that right?”
Heather gasped as the words hit their mark. Oscar stiffened. “Yes, and you will die like the cowa
rdly dog you are, but not until you see them die first. I want to see the suffering on your face.”
“First, tell me. Why did you kill my sister?”
He shrugged. “She was too close to finding it.” He laughed. “Now that I know she was your sister, I should have found a more painful way for her to die instead of a blow to the head and an injection to make it look like she overdosed. A quick push over the cliff and it was done.”
A red mist filled Bill’s vision as he struggled for self-control. “She was close to finding what?”
“My chance for the big payoff. My one chance to make sure my son had everything he deserved. I could have made it all happen, but your sister was close to figuring it out. She was nosy, just like you and just like Hazel.”
“I still don’t understand. What was the payoff?”
Oscar hesitated a moment. “Doesn’t matter. You don’t get to know all the answers. I do. I know all the secrets and I choose not to let you in on them.” Oscar’s gloating distracted him from two important details—the faintest squeak of metal from the warehouse roof and the slow movement of Heather’s hand as she slid her fingers into her pocket.
It was an innocent gesture and Bill had no idea what she planned, but he caught the look on her face, desperate yet determined. With a Herculean effort he kept his eyes fixed on Oscar. “So I’ll die never knowing why you killed my sister.”
Oscar laughed. “Exactly.”
The next moment unrolled in a frantic haze. Heather pulled something out of her pocket and threw it into Oscar’s face. Whatever it was, it caused him to jerk back just as Al Crow dropped down from the roof of the warehouse and Bill lunged at Oscar. There was a shot fired, but Bill didn’t have time to track where it went.
They tumbled over and over on the dusty ground, Tank barking viciously until Bill heard the sound of breaking glass and the dog smashed his way out of the truck, grabbing the back of Oscar’s jacket between his teeth.
It was all Bill could do to hold on to Oscar, whose fury gave him the strength of a much bigger man. They grappled, Bill desperately trying to keep Oscar’s gun from firing in the direction of the women.
