“No!” Ryan tried to run, but she was no match for his uncanny speed. Dragging her into the barn, he chuckled softly and barred the doors behind her.
At first she couldn’t see a thing. The darkness yawned emptily around her, smelling of damp wood and straw. As Ryan picked herself up from the floor, a dim light began to focus in one far corner, and a lantern threw ghostly shadows up the drafty walls.
“Oh, God, who are you? Where’s the police?”
Helplessly she felt her arms twisted behind her as he forced her to the back of the barn. She didn’t even have time to brace herself for the fall—as the yawning hole appeared without warning in the floor, she hurtled through it and landed on a cushion of cold, prickly straw. Dazed, she scooted back into a corner and blinked against the gloom. She could see the ski mask, floating in the hole above her head, and as she felt a movement near her feet, she realized she wasn’t alone. Terrified, she watched as a human shadow pulled itself from the darkness and began to glide toward her, a flickering lantern held high above its head.
“Ryan McCauley”—the voice sounded amused, echoing through the blackness, sending chills up her spine—“so glad you could join us.”
“Who—who are you? Where’s Marissa?” Her voice shook uncontrollably, filling the space with her fear.
“Marissa?” The shadow moved closer, pulsing up the damp stone walls. “Well … of course she’s not here … but I’ll take you to her.”
“The police,” Ryan murmured. “Where are they? They called and—” She froze as the approaching figure stepped out at last into a sickly pool of yellow light. “Oh, my God … Charles …”
“You do want to see her, don’t you?” he asked smoothly, a faint smile creeping over his face. “Just to be together again …”
“What are you doing here? How did you know about Marissa? How—” She broke off as her eyes probed her shadowy surroundings … as they swept over the piles and piles of clear plastic bags … the snowy drifts of powder inside … “What—”
“Come on, now, Ryan, surely you’ve watched enough TV to recognize drugs when you see them.” Charles laughed softly. “Marissa recognized them. She even took pictures of … shall we say … a business transaction?” He set the lantern down carefully on the floor, but his smile never wavered. “Thank goodness I picked up that film in time. Thank goodness I believed her when she said she’d uncovered a scandal. Otherwise … a lot of people would have been in a whole lot of trouble.”
Ryan’s mouth fell open. “You! You were selling drugs on campus and Marissa found out! You’re the one she took pictures of—it was you all—”
“No, no, no.” Another chuckle, as if the whole matter were unbearably comical. “I’m too smart to be photographed, Ryan. It’s just too bad everyone isn’t as smart as me.”
“Then … who …”
“It was a perfect little setup, you have to admit.” Charles crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. “Basing the whole operation right here in this boring little town—who would have thought it would be so easy? We couldn’t let Marissa ruin it, now, could we? Not with all the millions at stake. It was only fair … she tried to stop us … so naturally … we had to stop her.”
“You killed her!” Ryan screamed. “You killed my sister!”
Charles’s face registered exaggerated distaste. “Ryan, I’m surprised at you! I have more class than to dirty my hands with something so unpleasant—especially when there are other people around who are so good at it!”
She saw him staring into the space above their heads … she saw his smile widening … and as she looked up, she saw the lumpy coat fall away … the ski mask peeling back from the shadowed face. And suddenly she was back again, back at the river that horrible day, trying to rescue Marissa, Marissa’s terrified screams echoing over and over in her head—“sleeve—sleeve”—and Ryan had tried so hard to hang on, had tried so hard to keep hold of Marissa’s sleeve …
Only she hadn’t been saying sleeve.
Swallowing water, fighting for her life, Marissa hadn’t been saying sleeve at all …
And now, as the black ski mask fell through the air and landed at her feet, Ryan saw Steve grinning down at her.
Chapter 21
No …” Ryan murmured, “no … I don’t believe this …”
As the shadows swayed around her, she strained against the wall and fought for air. Sobs caught in her throat, and she choked them back down again as she saw Charles and Steve exchange satisfied glances.
“Do you think I could have had a life,” Steve said reasonably, “wondering just how much Marissa knew? I thought I saw her that day with her camera, but I couldn’t be sure … not till she told Charles she had evidence of something that was so important. We were talking about my whole future … my reputation … all my new prospects … even my bank accounts. I couldn’t let her destroy what I’d worked so hard for. There was too much tied up in everything … way too much at stake.”
As Ryan stared at him numbly, he shook his head and shrugged.
“But it wasn’t just me. She would have ruined a lot of people’s lives. So you have to weigh the consequences … one life for all that money. All that freedom. There’s really no decision when you look at it that way, is there? We did the only thing we could do.”
Charles shook a finger condescendingly. “And then Marissa got you into it, Ryan. How were we supposed to know how much she’d told you? Steve went through as many of her things as he could after she died … as many of your things as he could when no one was in the house … but how could we really know what you knew? Maybe there were things you repressed about Marissa’s accident … maybe you would have remembered them later on.… How could we live under that shadow, always waiting for you to remember? You wouldn’t talk to anyone about it. You wouldn’t confide in anyone. So I decided to come for a little visit. But you didn’t trust me, either, did you? Not until you got really scared.…”
“And you were so easy to scare.” Steve sighed. “It takes time to drive someone right out of her mind … to make it believable. You felt so guilty about Marissa, it was almost too easy. A few unfortunate accidents … a tape from Marissa’s answering machine at school … some great disguises … and then that necklace I grabbed at the last minute … an afterthought, really. The game’s not nearly so much fun when there’s no challenge. And you were so good at helping us, too … everyone thinks you tried to do yourself in. Charles and your mother heard you say you wanted to die.…” He bit his lip and tried to hold back a smile. “So no one will really be surprised when you kill yourself … for real this time.”
“It was the film.” Charles patted his coat pocket. “These photos. We couldn’t really be sure Marissa had proof until you remembered the film. And now, of course, we can’t afford to keep you around.”
Ryan made a desperate move toward the ladder, but Charles caught her and pushed her back down.
“Uh-uh, now, Ryan, don’t be a bad girl. You wanted for it all to be over, didn’t you? So we’re really doing you a favor. We’re helping you be with Marissa again.”
“You can’t do this,” Ryan choked. “Think about Mom—”
“But I am thinking of her.” Steve looked perfectly at ease. “I’m thinking what a wonderful life we’ll have with all that money … her being so destroyed by the untimely deaths of her two daughters, that she’ll be the perfect little wife … always do what I say … always depend on me and please me so I don’t leave her. She’s my perfect cover. I should really thank you, Ryan. Sacrificing yourself for our happiness. But then, you always were such a good girl.” He stretched languorously and flexed his fingers. “Well, I better get to work. There can’t be a suicide till we cut through that ice.” He started to say something more when there was a series of thuds behind him, as if someone were pounding on the barn door. As Steve disappeared from view, Ryan lunged at Charles. The struggle lasted only a minute—as she fell back once more into the corner, Charles
pointed his gun at her and cocked the hammer.
“Come on, Ryan, don’t be stupid. It’ll be so much more romantic to fling yourself into the river than to shoot yourself in the head.…”
“Please let me go,” she begged. “I won’t say anything, I swear! You’ll never have to worry—we can pretend none of this ever hap—” She broke off at the sudden disturbance of voices overhead. It sounded as though there was an argument going on, and as the voices came nearer, she cringed back into the shadows and tried not to look at Charles’s pistol.
“Where is she?” a stern voice demanded, and as Ryan gazed up fearfully, another face hung there, disembodied, in the empty blackness, caught in a feeble web of lantern light.
Ryan’s heart turned to ice. She felt tears on her cheeks, and a cry lodged in her throat.
“Ah, Bambalina,” Mr. Partini said gently, “why couldn’t you mind your own business, eh?”
“Oh, my God—Mr.—oh, my God—”
“I never want to hurt you”—he spread his hands helplessly—“but there’s no other way! Ah, why you hurt me so much, Ryan—another bad, bad heart-ache!”
Over the toymaker’s shoulder Steve looked anxious. “We better get to work—we have appointments—”
“I try to keep you out of it,” Mr. Partini said sadly. “The toys … you want to deliver … I always say no. You never find out they hide the cocaine … you and me, we stay good friends. Who would ever think this sister of yours would be snooping around? That she could cause so much trouble for all of us?” He shook his head—“No, Bambalina …”—I never think this will happen, eh?”
“Mr. Partini, please! You’ve got to help me! You’ve got to do some—”
“Take care of her.” He nodded to Steve, then motioned to Charles with one frail hand. “I no like my friends to suffer.”
He and Steve both twisted around as a flurry of snow and ice swept through the barn … as raised voices shouted from the front.
“Now what?” Mr. Partini snapped, and as Charles started up the ladder, the old man looked down with an amused smile. “How nice to have so many visitors today!”
Before Ryan could even scream, a body plummeted down through the trapdoor and lay motionless in the straw.
Chapter 22
Jinx! Oh, Jinx—what have you done to him!”
Ryan knelt beside the still figure … saw blood smeared over the dirty straw. “You’ll never get away with this! I’ll make all of you pay—I swear—”
“Ah, poor Ryan.” Mr. Partini shook his head. “Why didn’t you just kill the boy outside, eh, if it make her so upset—”
“What! Did you say Ryan!” And as Mr. Partini was pushed roughly aside, Winchester peered down, stricken. “Ryan—my God—what are you—”
“I hate you!” Ryan screamed. “How could you do this! How—”
“What is she doing here?” Winchester demanded. He was staring at Charles, and even in the dim light his face was unnaturally pale. “What are you doing to her? Why is she down here—”
“There, there, delivery boy, calm down.” Mr. Partini chuckled softly. “You got lots to do—customers are waiting, eh?”
“You can’t do anything to her—” Winchester turned to the old man, his voice bewildered. “She doesn’t know anything about anything—she told me so—”
“Yes, yes, and of course you believed her.” Mr. Partini nodded patiently, waving one hand. “But now we know different, eh? And so …”
“You can’t,” Winchester whispered. “You never said anything about this … you promised no one would get hurt.…”
“But Marissa got hurt.” Charles gave a derisive laugh. “How did you think that happened so conveniently?”
“She fell.” Winchester’s voice was numb. “She had an accident and fell … through … the …” As his voice trailed away, he shook his head slowly. “No. No … I don’t believe you.…”
“Is a matter of survival.” Mr. Partini shrugged. “Survival of the fittest. When you became one of us, I thought you understood—”
“I made those deliveries for you because I didn’t know what they were at first,” Winchester said flatly. “I only thought they were toys—”
“But you stayed. And your loyalty is touching.” The old man put a hand to his heart. “Don’t you agree, boys.”
“Loyalty had nothing to do with it. You threatened to hurt my family. To burn down my father’s business. I didn’t have a choice.”
“And you don’t have one now, as far as I can see.” Charles raised his eyebrows and met Steve’s expression with a smug smile. “Your job is to take orders. So take them.”
Winchester was staring from one to the other, as if he couldn’t believe what was happening. “Look … I’ve done everything you wanted … but you can’t hurt her, do you understand? You can’t—”
“Poor little brothers and sisters …” Mr. Partini shook his head solemnly, wiping invisible tears from his eyes. “Poor little ones … such nasty accidents that kids can fall into—”
Charles climbed up and handed the gun to Winchester. “We’ll be back in a few minutes, so keep them nice and quiet. Oh … and Winchester … don’t screw up.”
The voices faded eerily into the black cavern of the barn. There was a shriek of wind … and then … deathly quiet.
Ryan gazed up at Winchester through a blur of tears. She could feel Jinx rousing, trying to lift his head. As he moaned and turned over, she looked down and wiped the stream of blood from his nose.
“Jinx—are you all right?” It seemed such a hopeless thing to say as she put one hand to his cheek. “Did you break anything?”
“Dammit, McCauley,” Jinx mumbled, pressing a fist to his gushing nose, “what the hell have you gotten us into this time?”
“They’re going to kill me,” Ryan said, surprised at how calm and resigned she sounded. “They’re going to throw me in the river and make it look like suicide—they’re going—”
She jumped back with a scream as Winchester landed lightly beside them. He started to lean over Jinx, but Ryan shoved him away.
“No! Don’t you touch him! You leave him alone!”
“There’s a back way,” Winchester said quietly, motioning them to hold their voices down. “Mr. Partini’s gone, and Charles and Steve are on the other side of the barn, so they won’t see you. Here’re my keys. I want you to take my truck and—”
“Your truck?” Jinx murmured. “That old thing’ll never make it—”
“Use the radio to call the police. Don’t hang around, understand? Just get out of here!”
“But—but what about you?” Jinx had sat up now and was trying to get his bearings. “We can’t just leave you—when they find out you let us go—”
“No.” Winchester gave a faint smile, shaking his head. “They’re going to kill me anyway. Now, hurry—we can’t waste any more time.”
“It was all planned, wasn’t it?” Ryan peered miserably into his face, “that night when Charles let me out of the van. He really was trying to kill me—”
“I was supposed to find you—to get you to trust me—so maybe you’d talk and tell me what you knew. Steve and Charles had both tried to get you to open up to them, and they thought you might confide in me.…” Winchester’s face darkened. “I never wanted to hurt you, Ryan. You have to believe that. And I didn’t lie about wanting you to stay that night. I’ve liked you for a long time. The only reason I ever went out with Marissa in the first place was to try to meet you.”
Ryan swallowed a lump in her throat. She looked at Jinx in panic. “We can’t just leave him—”
“It’ll be safer for you if I can distract them. Go on.” Winchester grabbed her elbow and jerked her to her feet. “They’ll be back any second—hurry—”
They got up the ladder and raced to the other end of the barn. As Winchester held the lantern high, Ryan spotted a door camouflaged in the rear wall of one of the stalls, and she reached nervously for Jinx while Winchest
er struggled with the rusted latch. Without warning the door blew open on a blast of icy wind.
“This way!” Winchester herded them through. “Keep running—whatever you do, don’t stop! Don’t come back!”
As Ryan saw the door closing, she was seized with a sudden premonition of tragedy. “No!” She tried to wedge herself in the doorway. “Come with us! You’ve got to come with us—”
She felt Jinx pulling her, saw the quick flash of tenderness in Winchester’s eyes as he thrust her away from the door.
“Take care of her, Jinx!” he said. “Now, run!”
Ryan couldn’t even see where they were going. The wind tore at them from all sides, pelting them ruthlessly with ice and snow. As she slipped and stumbled, Jinx forced her to her feet and dragged her on.
“I think I see the truck!”
“Where?”
“We’re almost there—come on, Ryan—just a little more—”
As tow truck suddenly appeared through the white, swirling eddies, Ryan flung open the door and fell inside.
“We’re going to make it!” she said breathlessly. “Oh, hurry, Jinx—hurry!”
Beside her Jinx fumbled the key into the ignition and gave it a turn. Nothing happened. Casting a wild look at Ryan, he slammed his fist against the dash-board and turned the key again. The engine ground slowly several times, then stopped.
“Damn!” Jinx pumped the accelerator … jiggled the key. “Try the radio!”
Ryan looked at him helplessly. “I don’t know how to work it!”
She saw him start to lean toward the dashboard—she saw his door suddenly burst open—but before she could scream, Charles had Jinx around the neck, bending him backward out the door.
“Bad idea,” he sneered at them. “Tricks like that make me very … very angry—”
“Get out of there!” Outside Ryan’s window Steve pounded the roof with his gun and put his other hand on the door. “I’m going to enjoy this, Ryan”—he pushed his face to the glass, his features grotesquely distorted—“even more than I enjoyed killing Marissa—even more than—”
Fatal Secrets Page 15
