“Oh my gosh, yes. I’m an idiot.”
“No, you aren’t. Tom, none of us are detectives or trained to notice things like that. We would have no reason to notice or even to…” Perri stopped mid-sentence, thinking.
“What? What, Perri? Did you think of something? Something Nina said, or what?” Tom’s eyes had a pleading quality, willing her to have information that would save Nina. It rent Perri’s heart since she didn’t have anything definite to tell him, but she did have an idea.”
“This may be nothing, but,” she got up and trotted into the bedroom. She retrieved the camera from the nightstand next to her bed and returned to the parlour. She turned on the camera, “Right after I got in bed I scrolled through the photos I took today, mainly just scanning them to see if they turned out alright. I didn’t look at them closely because I always upload them to my computer at home where I can get a better view of them, maybe if we go through them now we’ll see something.” Perri slid back across the satiny fabric of the divan and said, “Sit over here where we can both see the photos clearly. Let’s look for anything strange, anything that stands out. Heck, I don’t know what I’m saying, let’s look at the photos.”
After Perri had displayed each photo in the review screen long enough to get a good look, she scrolled back two photos, then another two photos. She hadn’t picked up on it at first, but somewhere in the frame of several of the pictures was the same man. Sometimes close, sometimes further away. It wasn’t just walking by the canal or only in the park. He was at both of those locations, including in the photo she took of the flat-bottomed canal boat they were about to board; he was leaning on the railing next to the ramp. The photo that chilled her was one of the last photos at the ghost walk, the one she took of Tom and Nina standing together, arm in arm, smiling. The man was standing just behind Nina. There were numerous people standing around, but he was standing a few feet from Nina’s left, Tom was on her right. He was looking at her sideways, but was trying to be unobtrusive by keeping his head facing forward.
Perri’s throat got a little dry and her heart beat faster. She could feel the skin on the back of her neck contracting. She glanced at Tom. He had pulled the camera in front of him, close to his face and was staring fixedly at the photograph. Perri went to the sink in the bathroom and filled one of the cut glass tumblers with water. She shook two more ibuprofen caplets out of the bottle and handed them to Tom, who swallowed them down and drank the entire glass of water in one go.
Tom picked the camera up again and went back through the images. “This is the guy. This is the one following us.” Speaking to the camera as though it could hear and answer, he said, “I’m glad I know what you look like now buddy. Pretty soon, you’ll know what I look like too.”
In a cautious tone, Perri said, “I don’t want to be defeatist, but we don’t know for sure this man took Nina.” Tom opened his mouth to object but Perri held up both hands, palms outward, “I know. That being said, I can’t imagine how a solitary person would just happen to go to all the same sites and attractions we did, in the same order, unless he was following us.”
“He wasn’t in the one you took of the restaurant, was he?” Tom asked as he punched the review button.
“I only took the one, and it was just of the front of the restaurant and the sign, no one was in the photo.”
“That doesn’t mean he wasn’t there. He surely must have been hanging around because he showed up at the ghost walk at least two hours later.”
He handed the camera back to Perri. “We have to show these photos to Archer. There’s no reason I can imagine why someone would be following us around Richmond, Virginia other than the incident at the event last weekend.”
“Right. And, you might ask Archer if he thinks it would be worthwhile to show the pictures to Eleanor.”
“Eleanor?”
“Yes. She saw the man who was asking about the knife at the event, remember? Eleanor was supposed to come to the event last Sunday to see if she could spot him but never made it there since the man showed up at her house and used a whole roll of duct tape to fasten her to a pole. She’s seen him at least twice.” Perri realized her mistake too late, “Oh crap, Tom, I’m sorry, I…”
“It’s ok, Perri. It could be worse. The guy may have attacked Eleanor, but he didn’t kill her. That’s something. But you’re right! I’m all caught up in this I didn’t even think about Eleanor being able to recognize the man. His face is pretty clear in several of these photos. If this is the same guy, she should be able to tell.”
Perri intended to reply, but yawned instead.
Tom stood and shuffled to the mantle over the fireplace. “Ok, look, it’s quarter to four, we can’t do anything just yet. I’ll get a shower, then I’ll stay out in the parlour. I’ll shut the door to the bedroom so I won’t disturb you. As soon as it’s a decent hour, I’ll call Archer. Try to get a little sleep.”
“Not terribly likely, but I’ll try. I want to be able to contribute tomorrow and getting no sleep won’t help.”
Tom gathered some fresh clothes from the wardrobe and gimped back toward the bathroom door. “We’ll find her, Tom.”
He could only muster a wan smile and closed the door behind him.
Perri crawled back into her bed. Before she turned the light off, she took in the entire room again and marveled at how much things could change, and how different everything could look, in only a matter of minutes. She turned off the light and sank down into the pillows that didn’t offer nearly as much comfort now as they had a few hours before.
Chapter 27
Nina was taken completely by surprise. One moment she was helping a woman who had fallen just outside the door to the courtyard and the next her mouth was covered, as well as something thrown over her head, and being carried off. At first, she had been caught off guard and befuddled that she hadn’t managed to cry out louder than a cat mewling. When she finally managed to get her wits about her, she was already in the back seat of a vehicle traveling to who knows where.
She couldn’t tell what the thing over her head was, but it felt like a cloth bag or some kind of fabric knapsack. The long belt of her robe had been used to tie her wrists together. Her requests to know who these people were and what they wanted went unanswered. There had to be at least two people, because one was in the back seat holding her down and one was driving. She was sufficiently scared and frantic already, but when she consciously thought about her arms being restricted, confined so she couldn’t move them, the claustrophobia threatened to overtake the fear at being kidnapped. She felt a wave of heat rise in her back and wash over her shoulders and neck. She let out a strangled yelp.
The person sitting in the seat and leaning over her shifted. She heard a man’s voice say, “I hope I’m not smothering her. Hurry up.”
A woman’s voice responded sharply, “Just shut up. I can’t drive too fast or we’ll get pulled over. We’re almost out of the city limits now. Pipe down and keep her still.”
‘Just what the heck is going on here?’ Nina thought to herself, then out loud, “What do you WANT?” She struggled as the panic wiped out thoughts of being reasonable. She jerked her legs and kicked at the door panel. She began screaming, over and over. Her throat burned but she took a new breath and screamed again.
“Shut her up! Right now! I just passed a police station and she’s screeching like a stuck pig.”
“I’m trying, just drive.” The man leant down close to Nina’s head, “Please just be quiet, it’ll be better, just be quiet.”
Nina had exhausted herself and collapsed in a heap on the floorboard of the car as it traveled to its unknown destination. It seemed like an interminable length of time. She had no idea how long it had been. She wondered if Tom and Perri were looking for her yet, for what good that would do them. How would they ever find her out here, wherever ‘here’ was going to be.
The man and woman were talking to each other, but Nina couldn’t hear everything that was sai
d over the roar of the tires, which were now traveling over gravel or some kind of rubble. It worried her, but on the other hand, why bring her all this way to kill her if that’s what they wanted. But what did they want? She remembered the knife then. This was about the knife. The stupid knife. She hated the knife and wished she’d never seen it. She thought to herself, ‘If I had the knife, right now I’d gladly give it to them and make them promise I’d never see it again.’ Except she didn’t think it to herself, she said it out loud. Not very loud. Not so loud they heard what she said, they just knew she was talking.
“I think she’s babbling now. We should just about be there.” The man sounded relieved.
The gravel road became a bumpy road, but the woman didn’t slow down much. Because of the speed, the car slammed into occasional potholes with astonishing force and a tooth-jarring kerchunk. The claustrophobia having improved, with the same type of response Nina had when she hit a pothole while driving, she fired off a snarky comment, “You’re going to get a flat. Does she always drive like this?” Nina asked from beneath her makeshift hood.
“What was that?” The woman’s voice was clear in the back seat; she must have looked back. “What’d she say?”
Nina took a little satisfaction in having irked the woman into a response. She considered addressing her directly about her lousy driving but decided maybe it wasn’t a good time.
The man responded, “I don’t know, I can’t understand her either.” Then, very close to her face, “Settle down. Please.”
This threw Nina a little bit. The man sounded almost pleading, as though the last thing he wanted was to upset the woman. Not bad information to have.
Nina could hear branches scraping both sides of the car, as though the road had significantly narrowed. ‘Not used much,’ she worried. The sounds of scattering rocks and clods of dirt thumping the undercarriage got louder as the driver made a couple of jagged turns in quick succession and stopped abruptly. The sudden stillness brought back most of the fear. Now something else was going to happen, but she had no idea what.
The driver’s side door opened and slammed. Nina let out a pathetic whimper and was immediately mad at herself. She heard a low, “Shhh” as the man opened the door and stepped out.
The woman’s voice came through the door, harsh and meaning business, “Get her out, now! Come on, scoot.”
Nina tried, but with her hands tied, she mainly shuffled back and forth over the hump in the middle of the floorboard, not making any progress. She felt hands around her ankles just before she was pulled roughly through the open doorway. The woman didn’t stop at the end of the seat to let her get her feet under her, instead she yanked her right out the door, Nina’s back scraping over the frame of the car and slamming flat onto the rocks. The back of her head knocked against the frame. Even though it was dark under the hood, Nina saw little pinpoints of white light and the wind was knocked out of her.
She was concentrating on catching her breath when she became aware of an ongoing disagreement between her two captors. They were trying to keep it quiet but not really succeeding. She tried to focus on the words, but they had walked away from her and all she could make out was a hum. Their impromptu squabble was interrupted by a deeper male voice calling to them from some distance away, “What is the problem out here? Do I need to come out and act as referee?”
The argument ceased immediately. Nina had rolled to her side and used her fists to push to a sitting position. Suddenly, she was yanked backward by her shoulders, her upper arms being squeezed hard. “Stop it.” The woman held on to Nina but loudly whispered to the man, “Get over here and help me get her inside.”
‘Well,’ Nina continued to talk to herself. It helped to keep her somewhat calm. ‘It seems I’m not in the middle of a woods on the rim of a newly dug grave. Must be a house or other building.’ That was some comfort. Maybe.
A different pair of hands took her left upper arm, the same pair clutched and squeezed her right arm. She turned her hooded head to her right, “You’re hurting my arm. Do you have to pinch it in half?” She snapped.
The woman jerked her arm as she spoke. “You keep your mouth shut for now. You’ll get your chance to talk in a few minutes. Save it until then.”
Nina followed where she was led, stumbling over the steps and the threshold. She heard a door close behind her, followed by a dead bolt being thrown. The two marched her through the room. The hands turned her around, like the blindfolded person in a game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, and told to sit down. Nina was backing up to feel the edge of a chair behind her before she sat when the woman pushed her backwards. She sat hard into a wooden chair, her knuckles rapping against the wooden spindles of the back.
She leaned forward, “Can you take this sack off my head and untie my wrists? My hands are numb.”
She heard the voice of the man who had called from the house. “Turn her chair to the wall and take it off,” he said to one of the two captors. Then to Nina, “Don’t turn around, dear. If you do, we’ll need to put the hood right back on you and we may have to tie it on around your neck. So if you want it off, do as you’re told.” He paused. “Do you agree?”
“Yes, ok, just take it off.” Nina was wrenched out of the chair again. She heard the legs scraping against the floor before she was shoved back down into it. She heard footsteps, rustling, and then felt the cold of metal as either a knife or pair of scissors was slipped under the belt that tied her hands.
The new male voice said, “Don’t cut it, we may need it again.”
The blade was removed and replaced by tugging at the knot. It took some time. The knot had been snug and her struggles against it had only made it tighter. Finally, it came loose and the belt was removed. Nina rubbed her wrists and pulled her robe over her thighs. She had pajamas on, but the bottoms were shorts and she felt exposed. “Can I have my belt back? I’d like to hold my robe closed with it.”
“No, dear, we may need it again and I’d like to keep it handy.”
The hood was suddenly yanked off. The person removing it stood behind her, the canvas-like fabric scraped against the tip of her nose. The room wasn’t brightly lit, but it took a few moments for her pupils to accommodate to the change. Nina looked at the wall in front of her, about three feet away. It was plaster, painted a pale yellow. It looked a little crumbly and when she looked at the floor, there was a dusting of plaster chips along the wide baseboard and wood plank floor.
She didn’t turn her head, not much anyway, looking far to the left and right, pushing the limits of her peripheral vision. To her left against a wall and facing her, she could see the end of a settee, delicate wooden chair-back with striped fabric cushions providing enough seating for four people. Above it was a painted portrait of a woman, but Nina couldn’t see enough of it to get any detail. To her right was a large armchair, facing toward the center of the room. Upholstered in a brown velvety looking fabric, the seat and back appeared highly padded and had a matching footstool. The large armrests were partially upholstered with the same fabric, the lower portion of the arm was a reddish wood, like cherry or mahogany.
“Now.” The voice sounded relaxed, comfortable, in total command. Nina pictured him reposing in one of the overstuffed armchairs, feet up on the stool, pipe in hand. Just a country gentleman enjoying a visit. All that was missing was the crackling of a fire and some tea…
Her thoughts were interrupted by the man saying, “I have a request, and I need you to comply with my request.”
“What request?” Nina asked warily.
“You have something very important to me and I want it. My request is that you give it to me. It’s very simple.”
“I don’t have anything of yours.” Of course, Nina knew what he meant, but wanted to see what he said. How much did he know? And if he knew anything, how did he find out?
“I think you have it, or if you don’t have it and you can get it.” Nina could hear him uncross his legs and put both feet on the floor. �
��Let’s not play a game. You purchased the knife that I was supposed to get. It is mine and I expect you to relinquish it to me. If you want me to reimburse your costs I will gladly do so but I want the knife.”
“I appreciate your offer. The problem is that I don’t have it. I did buy it, but the police took it away. I don’t have it.”
“But you can get it.”
“Why would you think that?” Nina turned her head a quarter turn.
“Keep facing forward if you don’t want the bag over your head again. I can imagine it isn’t pleasant feeling like a condemned person being led to a scaffold.”
“Why are you threatening me? How do you hope to not get caught after this?”
“That isn’t your concern. Your only concern is to get the knife to me.”
“I don’t have it! I told you that. I never got it back.”
“You were supposed to get it back from the police.” The man said calmly.
“Yeah, but you snatched me right out of my hotel only a few hours after we found out ourselves. Did you think they were going to teleport it to us?”
This gave the man pause. After an uncomfortable silence in which Nina imagined scathing looks being delivered to the man and woman, he replied, “My…assistants apparently jumped the gun. That’s unfortunate, but I think we can work out a solution.”
“Such as?”
The man chuckled softly, a warm and not unpleasant sound if it hadn’t been part of a kidnapping. “That’s what I want you to work on, dear. I’ll give you some time to think about it.” There was a momentary silence before Nina heard footsteps approaching and the bag went back over her head. She startled but was immediately grasped by the arms and lifted from the chair. “We’ll talk again at another time. Good night.”
The hands pulled her around the chair and forward again. “Where to now?” Nina inquired, trying to ease her fear. There was no answer. She could tell she went through a couple more rooms, the two leading her had to turn sideways and sidestep through the doorways. She heard another door open and was guided down four steps which ended in grass. Not the door she entered first. This confused Nina; she thought she was going to be locked in a basement but she was clearly outside now. She began to sweat and her heart pounded.
Buried Roots Page 15
