Then he was hauling her out of the car feet-first, so roughly that she banged her head on the door frame. He seemed to expect her to stand on her own, but with her ankles bound she couldn’t get herself upright and balanced. She toppled against Nelson, then crumpled to her knees. He swore, hoisted her to her feet, and shoved her against the car.
Her breath coming in gasps, Rachel shot a look around. They were on a dirt road in a deserted area. Under silvery moonlight she saw an old farmhouse thirty feet off the road. Small and dark, it listed to one side. Abandoned. A place no one was likely to come to anytime soon. Dead, dry weeds from years past covered the ground between the house and the road. Rachel saw nothing that resembled a driveway. From somewhere in the distance came the raspy bark of a fox.
Nelson hadn’t gagged her, which probably meant no one was close enough to hear her scream. Did he have a gun? Where was it? If he didn’t have a gun, she stood a chance of escaping. He wasn’t much bigger than Rachel, and she was strong, in good shape. Her heart raced with excitement.
He took away that hope when he leaned into the car and removed a pistol from the glove compartment. He stuck the gun into his waistband.
She had to get Nelson to talk, keep him talking until she figured out how to free herself. “What is this place?”
A mocking smile contorted his face. He wore no makeup, and he was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. The wig alone had been his disguise, enough to deflect the attention of anyone passing on the road who might be looking for a boyishly handsome young man with close-cropped dark hair. Rachel caught a whiff of mint on his breath, an aroma so familiar and harmless that it made her mind reel with the insanity of the situation.
“This,” he said, “is the place where you’re going to die.”
Chapter Forty
“You think they’ve got Rachel in there?” Brandon whispered.
“Anything’s possible. Let’s find a way in.”
Guns drawn, they edged around the corner to the back of the building, staying close to the wall so they couldn’t be seen from the second floor. Tom was betting Jordy and Rita didn’t know they were here. Where was the entrance to the second floor stairwell? If the only way to get up there was through the shop, they would have to take a different approach and call for backup.
Tom blew out a breath of relief when he spotted two doors at the rear of the building. Slowly, quietly, he turned one knob. Locked. Probably the door into the shop. He stepped over to the other, three feet away. Again, he took care to make no noise when he tried the knob.
It turned.
Tom gave the door a gentle push. The hinges creaked, and he jerked his hand away.
They waited, listened. Tom heard no sounds from upstairs, not even the murmur of a TV set. He stepped into the dark stairwell, keeping his gun up, praying the steps weren’t as noisy as the door. He felt Brandon close behind him. The door at the top of the stairs was closed, but a strip of light glowed along the bottom.
Tom and Brandon were halfway up when Rita screamed from above, “He’s got a gun. He’ll shoot you. Don’t come—” She broke off as if a hand had clamped her mouth shut.
Tom froze. Who was with her? Jordy, Perry Nelson, both of them? Was Rachel up there too? He leaned against the wall, Brandon beside him. What the hell would they do now?
***
Instead of wading through the thicket of weeds in front of the house, they followed what Rachel recognized as a deer trail that wound around the side of the structure to the back.
She could barely walk with rope tying her ankles, but she exaggerated the difficulty, deliberately stumbling again and again as Nelson, cursing and sweating, dragged her along the path. Only his painful grip on her arm kept her from falling. Perspiration trickled down her face and back.
He ran out of patience after her third or fourth stumble. “Damn it, Rachel, stay on your feet.”
“How can you expect me to walk with my ankles tied? If you want me to go faster, untie me.”
“Aw, fuck it.” She heard a snick and a flashlight came on, a shock of clear, bright light. He pulled a folding knife from his pants pocket and pressed a button to make the blade pop out. “Don’t get any ideas about running when your feet are loose,” he said. “You try it and I’ll shoot you in the back.”
When the knife sliced through the rope, the blade caught on Rachel’s sock and nicked her left ankle, but she sucked in a breath and didn’t let him see a reaction.
Nelson stood and tucked the knife back into his pocket. “You don’t have anybody to blame for this but yourself, Rachel, I hope you know that. You wrecked my life. I lost everything because of you. The girl I was going to marry. Law school. I’ll never get any of it back. I’ll always be that crazy guy who shot the animal doctor. Well, now I’m about to take your life away from you. How does it feel, Rachel? Huh?”
You’re not taking anything away from me. She would find a way out of this, if she could buy enough time. “If it’s me you’re after,” she said, “why did you have to torment Michelle? What has she ever done to you?”
“That snotty bitch had it coming. Do you think I didn’t notice her sitting in the courtroom every day? Watching me, looking at me like I was a piece of shit, passing judgment on me. They all pass judgment.” Drops of spittle flew from Nelson’s mouth and hit Rachel’s face. “Psychologists, psychiatrists. They sit around deciding who’s crazy and who’s not, who’s going free and who’s going to rot in the nuthouse. They don’t have any idea how easy they are to fool.”
“You’re a little confused, Perry. You’re not thinking clearly. My sister has nothing to do with the hospital or your treatment.” Rachel couldn’t stop herself from adding, “Anyway, you are a piece of shit.”
He pulled back his hand and hit her hard enough to knock her to her knees.
***
Tom crept up the stairs, slowly, expecting Jordy to throw open the door and fire on them at any second. As he and Brandon got closer, Tom heard Rita and Jordy arguing in low, urgent voices. They might have Rachel in there, bound and gagged, a prisoner. If Perry Nelson was with them, he could be armed like Jordy.
Tom and Brandon couldn’t wait on the stairs forever. As long as things stayed quiet, maybe the best tactic would be to wait for backup. Tom could stay here and send Brandon outside to call for reinforcements.
Tom was turning to give Brandon the order when Rita screamed, “Jordy, don’t!” Something hit the floor with a thump.
A split second later Tom heard a gunshot.
He charged up the stairs, swung a booted foot, kicked the door open. Jagged strips of wood flew into the tiny sitting room and landed inches from Jordy and Rita. He was on top of her, pinning her to the floor, trying to wrestle a pistol from her hands.
“Drop it!” Tom shouted.
Rita let go and Jordy caught the gun when it fell free. He scrambled off her, and still on his knees, hooked an arm around her neck and jammed the gun barrel against her temple. “I’ll shoot her,” he said. “You back off right now or I’ll blow her brains out, then I’ll shoot myself, and you’ll never find Dr. Goddard.”
Chapter Forty-one
Behind the dark bulk of the farmhouse, the back yard was a broad cleared space flooded with moonlight. Why had Nelson brought her to the back instead of taking her in the front? To avoid trampling the weeds near the front door, leaving a visible sign that someone had been here?
Rachel stared at the squat hovel enveloped in darkness. She would not die there, alone. She would not die where rats could feast on her body. She was going to live a long life. With Tom. With the family they would create together.
She had slowed their progress as much as she could, but she didn’t dare make Nelson angry enough to hit her again. He might knock her out next time, and she couldn’t risk that.
The shadow of an owl glided over them, broad-winged and silent, and Nelson flinched as if he thought the bird might attack him. He wasn’t invincible. He could be scared too.
&
nbsp; She had to stall him while she collected her thoughts, came up with a plan. She couldn’t reason with a lunatic. Begging him would get her nowhere. Taunting him would get her killed.
Say something. Flatter him. Trying to calm the tremor in her throat, she said, “Aren’t you going to tell me how you did it? You fooled all of us. Me, the police. We didn’t know it was you.”
Nelson chuckled. The ugly, self-satisfied sound ended abruptly. “Didn’t the snake tell you anything? You were supposed to make the connection. Are you so fucking stupid you couldn’t figure it out?”
“Oh, I did, I finally made the connection then.” Rachel rushed on, stroking his ego to stave off his anger. “I couldn’t forget that drawing you sent. I’ll admit it scared me.”
“That damned snake was a bitch to get hold of. Then it didn’t even bite you.” He jerked her arm, kept her moving. “Why the hell didn’t you sit down at your desk?”
So he wasn’t all-seeing, all-knowing. “You didn’t do your homework, Perry. If you had, you’d know I’m not in my office much. Morning’s for patients and surgery. Paperwork has to wait until after lunch. Michelle’s been using my desk since Monday. Didn’t you know that?”
“Shit,” Nelson spat out. “One more thing that dickhead got wrong. Couldn’t even get your damn schedule straight. Fucking idiot. Serves me right, though. What could I expect from a guy I met in a nuthouse? I should’ve known better.”
In the moonlight Rachel saw a mask of frustration and fury on his boyish face. “Who? Who was giving you information about me?”
Nelson didn’t seem to hear. He turned his eyes to the star-speckled sky as if imploring heaven to hear his complaint. “It could have been perfect. My plan was perfect, I had it all worked out, every step of the way. He’d do his part, I’d do mine, and nobody would ever connect us. But that fucking imbecile couldn’t get a goddamn thing right. I got rid of that girl for him, then he didn’t have the stomach to take you out.”
“That girl?” Rachel felt as if a vise had squeezed all the air out of her lungs. “What girl did you get rid of?”
“You ought to know, you found her body.” Nelson chuckled again. “That worked out better than I expected. Perfect timing. That’s the only damned thing that’s gone right.”
He tightened his grip on Rachel’s arm and yanked her forward. “Come on.”
“Who are you talking about? Who’s helping you?”
“Helping,” Nelson said with a scoffing laugh. “All that idiot knows how to do is get a door open without a key. And he’s got a real mean talent for throwing magazines on the floor and moving picture frames around on a wall. I had to do the real work.”
Rachel couldn’t take time to absorb his answers, but she had to keep throwing questions at him. She didn’t want him to force her into that house, didn’t want to be swallowed by the shadows around it and the darkness within. “What’s the real work?”
“Getting rid of women who can’t mind their own fucking business. Now it’s your turn. Jordy was supposed to get rid of you after I’m back in the hospital, but he pussied out, so here I am, doing everything myself. But like my dear old grandmother used to tell me, life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. I’m going to enjoy taking care of you myself.”
***
Tom and Jordy stared into each other’s eyes while Rita whimpered in Jordy’s stranglehold, his arm around her neck, pressing her against his chest. A strand of her bright hair fell across one eye and stuck to her tear-dampened cheek.
Tom kept his pistol trained on Jordy’s head, the only exposed part of his body.
Brandon edged into the room, gun raised, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Tom. In the small space, no more than six feet separated them from the pair on the floor. Tom caught the sour odor of the sweat that poured off Jordy’s body and soaked the collar and armpits of his denim shirt. Panic exploded in Jordy’s eyes as his gaze darted between the two deputies, and his gun wavered as if he couldn’t decide where to aim.
“Come on now, Jordy.” Tom kept his voice level, casual. “You know you don’t want to hurt Rita. You mean a lot to her, she’s told me so, and she means a lot to you. You don’t want to let her down. She deserves better than that.”
Jordy glanced down at Rita’s terrified face. She whispered, “Please, Jordy. I’m on your side, I’ve always been on your side. You can still make this right. I’ll help you.”
“It’s too late, don’t you see that? It’s gone too far.”
With Jordy distracted, Brandon shifted a couple of feet away from Tom, to the left.
“What are you going to do?” Tom asked Jordy. “Let Perry Nelson get away scot-free while everybody blames you?”
Jordy jerked his head up. “How do you know about him? Did he kill Dr. Goddard already?”
Any satisfaction Tom might have felt at guessing correctly vanished in a wave of despair. Nelson had Rachel, and he intended to kill her. “Where are they? Where did he take Rachel?”
“I asked you how you knew about Perry.” Jordy ground the gun barrel against Rita’s temple, and she cried out and tried to push his hand away. He looked down at her as if shocked that he’d hurt her.
Brandon moved again, closing in on the two from the side.
“I’m sorry,” Jordy told Rita, pulling the gun away. “I’m sorry, honey.”
A raving lunatic, Tom thought. Jordy’s unpredictable emotions made him every bit as dangerous as Nelson. But Nelson was the one who had Rachel, and Tom didn’t know where he’d taken her.
He concentrated on distracting Jordy’s attention from Brandon’s movements. Calmly, Tom answered Jordy’s question. “I put it together. I knew you and Nelson were in the same hospital at the same time, but that didn’t mean anything until I had a few other pieces of information. You were at the concert the night Brian Hadley died—”
“That damned picture,” Jordy blurted. “If Shelley’d never seen that picture and started asking questions, she’d still be alive.”
“And Rachel made me realize Nelson was the one harassing her and her sister,” Tom went on. “Was it all Nelson’s idea? Did the two of you plan the whole thing before you got out of the hospital? He’d help you, you’d help him.”
Before Jordy could answer, Rita protested, “That guy bullied Jordy into it. Jordy was already scared because Shelley wouldn’t leave him alone. She kept showing up at his sister’s house in Manassas and asking him questions. She pushed him right over the edge.”
“Then you met Perry Nelson in the hospital?” Tom asked Jody. A real meeting of minds: two psychopaths in search of reinforcement. “Is that how all this started?”
“That’s right.” Rita’s face lit up with hope, as if she believed she was winning Tom over. “Perry Nelson took advantage of him when he wasn’t strong enough to say no. He got him to talk, then he threatened to tell the police if Jordy didn’t go along with him.”
Jordy nodded as if agreeing with everything Rita said. “Once Perry killed Shelley, he said I didn’t have any choice, I had to get rid of Dr. Goddard for him. I went in her sister’s office, but I couldn’t kill Dr. Goddard. I just couldn’t.”
“You see?” Rita said to Tom. “Jordy’s a good person at heart. He was supposed to kill Dr. Goddard this weekend, when Perry Nelson was back in the hospital and nobody could blame him. But Jordy likes her, he never would’ve hurt her. You have to believe that.”
The whole scene felt surreal to Tom, Rita pleading for him to forgive and trust Jordy while Jordy held a gun to her head. “Nelson’s got Rachel now, doesn’t he?” Tom asked.
“Yeah, he took her,” Jordy said, his voice turning mournful. “He knew I wouldn’t kill her, so he has to do it himself before he goes back to the hospital. I’m supposed to meet him, though. He told me I have to help him after he’s got her.”
“Where are they?” Tom demanded. “Where did Nelson take Rachel? Just tell me and this will all be over.”
“If I tell you, Perry’ll kill me.” Jordy�
��s face puckered, he squeezed his eyes shut and tears spilled down his cheeks.
Brandon shifted closer. He froze when Jordy opened his eyes.
“Honey,” Rita said, “if they catch Perry Nelson, you’ll be okay, you can get help, and he’ll be in prison, he won’t be able to get to you.” She looked at Tom. “I know where they are. Jordy was going to shoot himself, and he wanted me to tell you—”
“They’ll put me in prison for killing Brian.” Jordy wailed like a child, sobbing now, pressing his face into Rita’s red-gold hair. “I don’t want to go to prison. I’d rather be dead.”
“Jordy, honey,” Rita crooned. “don’t say that. You’ll get through this. I’ll help you. I’ll never let you be alone.”
Brandon was almost there. Tom saw Rita’s gaze flick toward Brandon, and for a heart-stopping second he thought she would warn Jordy. He saw her consider it. He saw her decide against it, and he breathed again.
“Why did you help him get away with killing Brian?” Tom asked Rita. “Why would you let an innocent man go to prison for it?”
Her face went slack with shock, and her mouth fell open. “What—How—”
“I know everything,” Tom said. “I just don’t know why you did it.”
She burst into tears, her body shaking with sobs as Jordy held her against him. “It was all my fault. Jordy just wanted to keep Brian from hurting me. I told him to throw the damned thing in the river. I didn’t know he was going to put it in Vance’s car.”
“Shut up!” Jordy cried. “Don’t tell him that stuff.”
Brandon took a step toward them, and this time Jordy caught the movement. He swung his gun toward Brandon.
Tom sprang forward and landed on top of Jordy and Rita, knocking them both flat.
Chapter Forty-two
Rachel twisted her hands behind her back, rubbing her wrists raw in an attempt to free herself. The sisal rope had loosened, but not enough. Not nearly enough.
What was Nelson planning? Why were they just standing here? She got the feeling he was waiting for something—for someone?—before he could carry out his plan for her. That meant she still had some time, if only a little.
Bleeding Through: A Rachel Goddard Mystery (Rachel Goddard Mysteries) Page 28
