Gerald looked at Daniel. “I’ll slip her a note when I bring the pill in the morning. I’ll tell her not to take it and that you’re coming at midnight. I’ll tell her to leave the patio door unlocked and that you will knock twice.”
“Good, good, Gerald. Will she be able to walk?”
“I think so. We’ve only been giving her the poison for two days. She is very sick, though. Randall wants her to die in three more days so the dose has been strong. But the good thing is they can’t give it to her all at once or it won’t look like she died of the flu.”
“All right. If she doesn’t take it tomorrow, she might feel better. I’ll figure out a way to get her off the estate between now and tomorrow night.”
“Can you drive?”
“Yes. I learned during my Rumspringa.”
“Rumspringa?”
“Yes, that’s when we get to go out and see if the Amish way of life is really for us.”
“Okay, then. My car is parked in the garage behind the house. It’s a white Bentley. Here are the keys. If you go right down the path from Rachel’s room you’ll come to the garage. It should be open, but if not, this key opens the door. And this big one is the ignition key.”
Gerald started away and then he turned. “Thank you for being here, Daniel. I don’t know why you would do such a thing...”
“I prayed, Gerald, and this is what the Lord told me to do.”
“Well, however it happened, you have to get her out of here. If you don’t, my grandmother will have us all killed.” He turned and slipped away into the darkness.
Chapter Thirty-One
The Fading
The next morning Gerald came to Rachel’s room with her pills and the ginger ale. He was shocked when he saw her lying in her bed. Rachel looked very sick. Her face was pale and her hair was wet from perspiration and lay plastered against her skin. There was a rash on her neck and left cheek. He knelt beside her bed and took her hand. As he did, he pressed a piece of paper into it and folded her hand around it so it could not be seen. Rachel started to say something but Gerald gave a slight shake to his head. Then he spoke loudly. “How are you this morning, Rachel?”
“I don’t feel well at all, Gerald. I’ve been throwing up and...”
Rachel blushed. “...I have to use the toilet a lot. I have a terrible headache and I feel very weak.”
Gerald glanced around. The door had closed behind him. He leaned closer to Rachel as though he was going to kiss her cheek and as he did he whispered in her ear. “Read the note and don’t take the pills.”
Then Gerald leaned back from the kiss and spoke loudly again. Rachel was staring up at him, wide-eyed.
“The doctor says it’s some sort of flu, Asian or something. You need to get a lot of rest and drink fluids. And don’t forget to take your pill for the morning sickness.”
Gerald stood up and walked toward the door. Before he left, he turned and smiled. “I hope you feel better soon, Rachel.”
His lips mouthed the words “the note,” and then he turned and left.
*****
Rachel waited for a few minutes and then turned over to face the wall. She was trembling. She quietly opened the note and read the words.
Don’t take the pills. They’re poison! Try to eat something today. Daniel is coming to get you at midnight. Leave your patio door unlocked and be ready. He will knock twice.
Rachel’s heart leaped.
Daniel! Daniel is here. Oh, thank you, Lord!
She began to weep. As she did, she heard a noise and turned over. Two men were standing by her bed. One was dressed in black slacks and a black turtleneck. He was powerfully built and towered over her. There was another man standing beside him in black slacks, a pullover sweater, and a houndstooth jacket. He looked familiar. Then she remembered. Gordon Randall.
“Hello, Rachel.”
Rachel’s heart skipped a beat. “Hello, Mr. Randall. What are you doing here?”
Randall smiled, and the look in his eye sent a cold chill down Rachel’s back.
He reached out and took hold of her arm. His grip was like a steel trap. The note fell out of her hand onto the bed.
“I see Gerald has given you a message.”
“Let go of me! You’re hurting me!”
Rachel began to struggle and scream. Randall reached in his pocket and then put his hand up and covered her mouth. There was a piece of cloth in the palm of his hand and Rachel noticed a faint chemical odor. Then the lights went out.
Randall picked up the note and scanned it. He turned to the second man. “Go get Augusta. I need her now!”
The man hurried out the door. In a few minutes, he returned with Augusta trailing behind.
“What’s this all about, Randall? You interrupted my breakfast. Why, what’s happened to Rachel?”
“Good morning, Augusta. Sorry about your breakfast, but we have a slight change in plans. You see, Gerald was planning to help Rachel leave, and I had to make an executive decision. What I need now is somewhere we can put her where we can lock her in.”
“We have a safe room where we can go if anyone tries to break into the house.”
Randall motioned to the second man, and he picked up Rachel like an empty sack. The two men went out the door and followed Augusta down the hall. She stopped in front of an undecorated section of the hallway wall and flipped open a large, ornamental light switch cover. Behind the cover was a keypad. Augusta punched in four numbers and a section of the wall slid back, revealing a door. She opened it and went through into the space behind. A light came on and she motioned the two men inside.
The room was small and sparsely but luxuriously furnished. There was a small kitchen area and a desk with a phone. A television set was mounted in one wall and two beds stood against the other. Two large leather chairs and a couch completed the furnishings.
Randall pointed to the first bed. “Put her there.”
Randall’s cohort carried Rachel to the bed and laid her down. She was still unconscious.
Augusta watched the procedure with alarm. “Now what do we do, Randall?”
“We keep going with our plan. Only instead of keeping her in her room, we keep her here until she’s too sick to move. That way she can’t leave and no one can interfere. When she’s in the last stages, we put her back in her own bed where someone can find her after she’s dead. We’ll have to dose her intravenously because Gerald warned her about the pills. In the meantime, my men will watch the house but stay out of sight. According to Gerald’s note, someone named Daniel is coming to Rachel’s room at midnight to take her away. I assume that would be Daniel King, Rachel’s Amish boyfriend. He’ll find someone else there instead.”
Augusta gave Randall a puzzled look. “How do you know about Daniel King?”
Randall slipped the note into his pocket. “Augusta, you pay me well to do my job. I have to know every detail about the subject of my investigations. Daniel King is a neighbor of the Hershbergers and has known Rachel since she was a small girl. That is the only Daniel that Rachel would know. When I was looking for the Hershbergers, the local postmistress in Paradise told me everything I needed to know about their family and friends. Now, is this room perfectly secure?”
Augusta nodded. “Yes. You have to know the code to open the sliding panel.”
“What about that phone?”
“It’s a direct line to the Old Greenwich police station.”
Randall reached down and pulled the phone cord from the wall. “Not anymore.”
Randall turned to the other man. “Headley, no one comes in or out of the grounds without my knowing about it. And nobody, I mean nobody, comes near this part of the house. And I want you to be ready in Rachel’s room at midnight to intercept our would-be rescuer.”
“Affirmative.”
Headley turned and left the room.
Randall turned back to Augusta. “Does anyone else know about this room?”
“Only Gerald and my butler.”
“Good. Tell your staff that Mrs. St. Clair is very ill and she is not to be disturbed. I don’t want anyone going to her room. Is there a bathroom in here?”
Augusta pointed to a door at the back of the room. “Through there.”
“Good, we have everything we need. No one comes in or out of this room except me.”
“That’s fine, Randall. But what about Gerald?”
“I’m afraid Gerald will have to stay under what we call ‘house arrest’. My man will be stationed by his room, and he will remain incapacitated until all this is over.”
“Fine, do what you have to do. I’m happy to stay out of this. The whole thing is very upsetting. I didn’t know it would get so...so complicated.”
“You’re not getting cold feet are you, Augusta? We are in way too deep to back out now.”
“No, no, Randall...I will be fine. I think I’ll go to my room and have a drink. Just let me know when it’s over.”
“Fine, Augusta. A drink is probably a good idea—settle your nerves. I’ll drop by later to collect my check.”
Augusta left. Randall waited for a moment to make sure she was gone and then pulled a small walkie-talkie from his pocket. He thumbed the switch and spoke into the microphone.
“How’s everything going with our little backup plan, Jamison? Both of the St. Clairs are getting antsy. Gerald has already betrayed us and I can see that Augusta is beginning to crack. The probability that she might turn on us is high.”
The speaker crackled and a tinny voice answered. “Don’t worry, our presents for the St. Clairs are being placed right now. This property has at least five propane tanks that I counted. If they explode, the house will go up like a torch. But I don’t understand, Colonel. Why blow the place up?”
Randall chuckled. “Most likely we won’t. But there is another party involved. My professional sense tells me he is preparing to double cross us. I have some very incriminating tapes linking this man to a desperate plot to eliminate the St. Clairs. When I send them to the police, along with a note describing the location of the bombs, some very uncomfortable light will be shed on our man’s schemes—just a little payback to Michel Duvigney for thinking he could betray me.”
“Good, very good.”
Randall smiled and clicked off the device.
*****
Rachel awoke with a pounding headache. She was lying on a bed in a room she did not recognize. Someone had left a light on in the bathroom and a dim light came into the room under the bottom of the door. Rachel sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. The room began to spin and she nearly blacked out again. One of her legs suddenly cramped and the pain was so excruciating she almost cried out. She could feel her stomach begin to cramp. She looked around desperately and saw an open door that looked like it led into a bathroom. She lurched to her feet and stumbled toward the door. Before she could get there, she fell to her knees and vomited. Her stomach twisted and she retched until she was completely empty.
She crawled into the bathroom and found some toilet paper, which she used to wipe her mouth. Then she pulled herself erect at the sink and ran cold water into the basin. She dipped her hands into the water and splashed it on her face. She staggered back into the main room and collapsed on the bed.
As she lay there, she heard a click. She looked over to see Randall and the other man entering the room. Randall was smiling but it reminded Rachel of the pictures she had seen of great white sharks. The other man had something in his hand. It looked like a hypodermic needle. Randall stepped close and forced her down on the bed.
“Hello, again, Rachel. Sorry about the heavy-handedness in your room, but I have a job to do. You see, you have become a real problem for the St. Clairs.”
Rachel looked into Randall’s eyes. There was an evil there that chilled her heart. “Are you going to kill me now?”
He nodded to the other man who felt for a vein on Rachel’s arm and then inserted the needle. “It will take a few more days, Rachel, but yes, I am going to kill you.”
*****
Daniel King crept up the steps to the French doors that led into Rachel’s room. The bushes around Rachel’s patio created good cover and Daniel was able to get close to the house without being observed. He tried to be absolutely quiet, but the hard crust on the snow crunched under his feet. The new moon was up and a low scud of clouds dimmed its already wan light. He looked around and then softly knocked twice on the glass door. There was no answer. He knocked again and then tried the handle. It was unlocked and the door swung open under Daniel’s hand. He stepped inside into the dark room.
“Rachel, are you here?”
Daniel heard a noise and then something went over his head from behind and tightened around his throat. His hands went to his neck. There was a thin cord there that was being held so tightly he could not get his fingers under it. It cut deep into his skin, and whoever was holding it was incredibly strong. Daniel desperately tried to turn his body and get his shoulder against his assailant’s chest. He managed to get a little leverage and threw himself against the attacker with all his might. The assailant lost his footing and stumbled out through the open door onto the patio. The noose around Daniel’s neck loosened a tiny bit, and he could breathe again.
Daniel reached up and grabbed his opponent’s wrists. He struggled to break the man’s hold, but he felt himself weakening. Then he remembered something that he used when he had to lay a horse down. He pulled forward with all his might until he felt the man resisting. Suddenly, Daniel planted his feet and pushed his body sharply backwards. As he did, he reached under the man’s knee and pulled it up.
His attacker slipped on the icy crust of snow and fell heavily against the wrought iron bannister that ran around Rachel’s patio. Daniel felt the cord on his neck release and slide off and he turned quickly. His attacker was lying awkwardly against the pointed fence. The man’s mouth opened, a groan came out, he jerked spasmodically, and then went limp. Daniel took some gasping breaths. Then he cautiously moved closer.
The man was very big and he was dressed in black clothing. He had slipped and fallen against one of the decorative wrought iron posts, and it had rammed upward into the back of his head. His body hung limply against the fence, and he did not move. Daniel grabbed the assailant’s arm and felt for a pulse. There was none. The man was dead.
A shock went through Daniel’s frame.
I have killed a man!
And then he remembered why he was there. He ran back to the open door and ducked inside. He waited until his eyes adjusted to the dark and then he looked around the room. The bed was empty. Rachel was gone! He stood there desperately trying to decide what to do. Suddenly, he heard a noise from somewhere in the house and panic gripped him. He ran out the door, and stumbled down the steps, staggering towards the barn like a drunken man. His heart was a sledgehammer in his chest and then the reality of what had just happened swept over him and he fell to his hands and knees and vomited. He crouched in the snow like an animal, shaking, and then he struggled to his feet and leaned against the house until the sickness passed. He turned for a moment, looking back at the mansion that was looming above him like a dark, evil castle in the pale moonlight. “I’ll come back for you, Rachel. I’ll get help. Hold on!” Then Daniel King turned and ran into the darkness.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Hopeless
Gordon Randall stared at the body hanging limply on the wrought iron bannister, the garrote still clutched in one hand. It was very clear what had happened. He could see the marks of the scuffle in the snow and the place where Headley’s boot had slipped. He motioned to the two men standing with him, and together they lifted Headley off the fence. Randall motioned toward the door and they carried him into Rachel’s room.
Randall pointed to the bathroom. “Grab a towel and wrap it around his head. And then we’ll put him in one of these blankets and take him out to the cottage before it gets light.”
Randall shook his he
ad in disbelief while Jamison fetched the towel. Headley had been his best man since the days they fought side by side in the jungles of Vietnam. It was almost beyond comprehension that a highly trained, special-forces soldier had been taken out by an Amish farm boy. They bundled up Headley’s body, and then Randall went back out on the patio and shined his flashlight around. It was still well below freezing, so the blood from the wound had coagulated quickly and there was only a small amount on the patio to be cleaned up. Randall looked at his watch. It was 1:30 a.m. The moon had gone down and it was cloudy, so there was little chance that anyone would see them. He went back inside and they picked up the body and carried it to the patio door.
“Walk along the edge of the patio under the roof where there’s no snow. I don’t want to disturb King’s tracks.”
The three men muscled the body along the edge of the patio until they reached the path. The bricks had been cleared of snow by the grounds crew the day before and the men did not leave any tracks as they carried Headley to the spot where the SUV was parked. They put the body in the back.
Randall turned to the third man. “Rose, I want you to go back and sanitize the room. Wipe down the fence and make sure there is no blood anywhere. Step in Headley’s tracks and leave the mark of your boots, but don’t obliterate the boy’s tracks. We have to have evidence he was here. If the police come out, we’ll tell them that you were the one who fought with King and kept him out of the room. Knowing the local boys, they won’t get here until tomorrow and maybe not even then. After you’re done, lock the room up tight. We’ve got to get some more men in here, so when you’re finished with the room, call some men you can trust and have them drive up from the city as quickly as they can. I need at least two, three would be better.”
“Got it.”
Randall and Jamison climbed into the SUV and headed toward the cottage. Jamison shook his head. “It must have happened fast. Headley was good, real good.”
The Amish Heiress (The Paradise Chronicles Book 1) Page 24
