He pounded on Laurel’s front door. There was no answer and the door was locked. He walked around the house. As he neared the back, he heard the dogs barking. He tracked the sound and pecked on a window. A dog nosed open the draperies and looked out at him. It was the long-haired female, but something was wrong with her face. The eyes—they were inflamed, pouring water. When he circled the house, he’d spotted a dog door: He went back to the main door, tried it to find it locked, and knelt at the dog door, calling to them. He could still hear their frantic barking, but they didn’t come near the door. They were shut in a room. He considered crawling through the dog door, but he was too big. He walked back to the front of the house, muttering angrily to himself. Laurel and Audra could be inside the house hurt, or even worse. He considered finding a rock and throwing it through the front window. Then he saw a splash of color beneath a layer of snow near the driveway. He stiffened, his first thought that he was seeing a bloody body. He rushed to it.
Reaching down, he started to laugh in relief. It was a teddy bear. A melon-colored teddy bear, not much more than a foot long. But where had it come from? The house. But why was it here?
He picked up the bear and walked back to the driveway, studying the snow. Blurred tire tracks lay in front of his car, but they didn’t go all the way into the garage. He shuffled around to the side of the garage and looked into the uncovered window. Laurel’s Cavalier. He went back and studied the car tracks, then saw a patch of snow that looked as if it had been churned up by some kind of struggle.
Suddenly Neil was certain Laurel and Audra had been taken away in another vehicle, a full-sized car, and not too long ago judging by the width of the tracks and their depth in the snow. Either Audra had left the teddy bear in the yard as a message or she’d dropped it and not been allowed to pick it up. He knew who had taken them. He just wasn’t sure where.
2
“Unless you want to carry me over to that bale of straw, you’ll have to wait a minute,” Monica told Crystal.
“Why?”
“Because my legs have gone numb. Let me get the blood flowing again.”
“It’s a trick.”
“Oh, dammit, Crys, what difference does a few seconds make?” Monica fired back. “After all, you’ve been planning this for months, haven’t you?”
“Only since I went to see Angie.”
It’s my turn, Laurel thought. Monica was clearly exhausted, her husky voice rough as sandpaper. “All these years I’ve thought so often about that night here with Faith,” she said. “How about you, Crystal? Did you keep picturing it like I did?”
Crystal looked at her in confusion, as if Laurel had just presented her with a difficult math question to answer. “I don’t know. I guess I did sometimes.”
“I dreamed about it. None of us ever talked about it. I’ve always wondered if anyone else dreamed about it, too.”
“I don’t dream,” Crystal said flatly.
“I dream,” Audra volunteered.
Crystal’s face softened. She lowered the gun from Monica’s temple as Audra grabbed her attention. “What do you dream about, sweetheart?”
“Mostly about good things, like having a puppy or playing the piano as good as my daddy. But sometimes I have bad dreams. I had a bad dream tonight. I went to Laurel’s room. She said even grown-ups have bad dreams.”
“You won’t have bad dreams when you’re with me,” Crystal said firmly. “We’re going to have such a good life, Audra, although I think I’m going to change your name to Bettina. Do you like that name?”
Audra opened her mouth. Laurel knew she was going to protest. She squeezed the child’s hand. Crystal seemed completely caught up in her and took another step in Audra’s direction. She didn’t even notice Monica moving toward her slowly and silently. “It’s a beautiful name,” Audra said obligingly. “Lots better than Audra. How did you think it up?”
Bless you, Audra, Laurel exulted silently. Just keep her focused on you.
“When I was little, my grandmother read me a book about a girl named Bettina. Later she gave me a lovely porcelain figurine and I named her Bettina. I told people she’d been stolen, but she wasn’t. She’s safe, hidden in the old farmhouse here. When you’re my little girl, I’ll give her to you.”
“Really?” Audra beamed.
A board creaked. Crystal whirled to see Monica lifting a hand, ready to land a karate chop on Crystal’s wrist, making her drop the gun. She was a second too late. Audra screamed at the explosive sound of the gunshot. Then Monica fell.
3
Neil wasn’t about to call Wayne Price at this point and tell him he thought Audra had been kidnapped. Instead, he tried to figure out where Audra and Laurel could have been taken. He sat in the car for five minutes, thinking. There had to be a logical place, one that wouldn’t easily spring to mind if the police were searching for someone. It would be somewhere away from town, somewhere secluded.
Somewhere that had special meaning for the killer.
He hit his forehead with the heel of his hand. “Idiot, where else?” he yelled at himself. He started the car and backed out of the driveway, then headed for the Pritchard farm as fast as the slick roads would allow, constantly picturing that hangman’s noose he’d seen in the old barn. Dear God, he prayed, don’t let someone be putting that to use.
Ten minutes later Neil turned into the rutted lane leading to the farm. A couple of times the car skidded perilously close to the edge. With each slide his breath nearly stopped. If he slipped into a ditch, he’d never get the car out without the help of a wrecker, and he didn’t have time.
The wind blew harder, slanting the snow. His windshield wipers worked at top speed, but still it was hard to see. This was the kind of night he’d create for a scene in one of his books—the kind of night that never had a happy ending.
As he drew near the farm, he saw two vehicles ahead. He pulled up to the first one and looked at it closely. A dark blue Chrysler New Yorker, an older model, ten years on it at least. It was empty and covered with a light layer of snow. He pulled forward about thirty yards. The second car huddled under a blanket of snow. It must have been here for hours.
Leaving his own car running, Neil got out. A blast of cold air hit him so hard it nearly knocked him sideways. Bitter snow strafed his face and he had to shield his eyes. Bracing himself, he walked to over to the second auto. No one appeared to be inside, but he couldn’t tell much about the car itself except that it had a strange mound of snow on top.
He used his sleeved arm to brush aside the mound of snow on the roof. Lights. Emergency vehicle lights. “Oh, God,” he muttered, frantically wiping away more snow. As the car emerged, his mouth went dry. It was black. The side bore the insignia of a badge with “Ohio County Sheriff’s Department” written inside. A police cruiser.
Stumbling, Neil ran back to his own car, jumped in, and picked up the cell phone. Now the police would listen to him.
4
Audra continued to shriek as Monica slowly collapsed on the cold dirt floor. “Shut her up!” Crystal shouted.
Laurel knelt and put her arms around the little girl. “Hush, baby. Don’t scream anymore. It just makes her madder.”
Audra immediately stopped screaming but she drew long, shuddering breaths and Laurel’s stomach clenched when she heard a slight rattle in the child’s chest. She’d barely escaped pneumonia earlier in the week. What would tonight do to her?
Crystal bent over Monica. “It’s just her shoulder.”
“Are you sure?” Laurel asked, shaking with cold and shock. “Is she breathing? Is she conscious? How bad is it?”
“Do I look like a doctor?” Crystal flared. “She’s breathing. I told you it’s just her shoulder.”
“Crystal, you have to stop the bleeding.”
Crystal looked at her as if she were crazy. “Why?”
Laurel cast frantically in her mind for an excuse. “Because you wanted her to die like Faith did. That can’t happen if she b
leeds to death.”
Crystal’s gaze darted around the room. For the first time she didn’t look sure of herself. She seemed like the slightly inept, vulnerable Crystal Laurel had always known. “What should I do?”
“Apply pressure to the wound.”
“How? You do it.” She stood up looking at Monica as if she were some kind of disgusting insect.
“Stand here while I help Monica,” Laurel told Audra.
“No,” Crystal said. “She comes with you. I don’t want her to run off.”
Audra clung to Laurel’s hand as they walked to Monica’s body. My feet are completely numb, Laurel thought. My body doesn’t even feel like it’s my own anymore. Monica and I might possibly have overpowered Crystal before, but I don’t know how we can do it now.
As they neared Monica, Audra gasped. She wore a white dress coat, the coat she must have worn to Denise’s visitation, and blood spread across the right shoulder.
Laurel knelt, unbuttoned the coat, and turned to Crystal. “I need something to press against the wound.”
Crystal looked affronted. “Well, I don’t have anything.”
Audra took off her wool scarf. “Here. It’s not dirty.”
Laurel smiled at her. “Thank you, honey.” Did I have her bravery and presence of mind when I was eight? Laurel wondered. No. She’s more like Monica. She’ll grow into a strong young woman.
Laurel pressed the wool against the small wound in Monica’s shoulder. She wondered if the bullet had gone straight through flesh and muscle or whether it had hit bone. It seemed to her the flow of blood was slowing, but maybe it was only being absorbed by the wool of Audra’s scarf. In a moment, Monica’s eyelids fluttered. “Monica, can you hear me?” Laurel asked anxiously.
“I can hear you,” Monica answered weakly. “But I feel like hell.”
“Don’t talk like that in front of Bettina,” Crystal snapped. “Sit up, Monica.”
Laurel looked at her pleadingly. “Oh, Crys, can’t she just rest?”
“She’s got an eternity to rest after this. Get up!”
Laurel and Audra helped Monica to her feet. Her face hadn’t an ounce of color except for her burning green eyes. She staggered but regained her footing.
“How do you like not being in charge?” Crystal asked her. “Now I’m the boss.”
“I was never the boss.”
“Yes you were. You made us all dance to your tune.”
“Oh, God, Crys, when are you going to stop blaming me for everything that’s happened to you?” Monica asked.
“Never. You’re all responsible, but you the most. I explained that to you, but you never listened to anyone else in your whole life.”
“You’re wrong, Crystal. I listened to my father. He was the most important person in the world to me and he threw me away, just like Chuck threw you away. I went to a woman who didn’t want me and let me know it every day of my life. Yes, I enjoyed being leader of the Six of Hearts. It was the only time I felt like I had any control, that anyone really listened to me. And I enjoyed scaring you all with that occult nonsense. But I never meant for anyone to get hurt. And Crystal, I didn’t hurt anyone. You did.”
“Shut up.” Crystal’s face took on that strange, hard look again. “You’re on your feet. Climb up on the bale of straw.”
“Crys, she’s wounded,” Laurel tried.
“She won’t be in pain much longer. Go on, Monica.”
Monica closed her eyes briefly. Then, pressing Audra’s scarf to her shoulder, she stepped onto the bale. “Now put your head in the noose.”
“Crystal?” Audra ventured.
“Mommy,” Crystal corrected.
Audra’s lips parted but she forced out, “M-Mommy, please don’t do this to her. It’ll make me cry.”
“I cried the first time it happened. I cried for days. But then I stopped. So will you. Monica, I said to put your head in the noose.” With a resigned expression, Monica used her left hand to slip the noose over her head. Crystal moved the kerosene lantern about a foot away from the bale of straw, then took Laurel’s hand. In the other she held her gun. “Now, Bettina, you hold Laurel’s other hand. Then we’ll do the chant.”
Laurel, who now felt on the verge of collapse, moaned. “Oh, God, Crystal, not that.”
“Yes. It has to be just like before.”
“I don’t even remember the chant.”
“I do. I’ve said it every day since Faith died. I’ll go through it once, then you repeat, just like we did that night. You either do it, or I’ll shoot you.” And she will, Laurel thought fearfully. “Ready?”
Crystal began pulling them around in a circle, repeating the words Laurel now vaguely remembered:
“Hail, the Lords of Darkness. In the name of the rulers of the earth, the kings of the underworld, rise to this place. Open the gate and bring forth your faithful servant, Esmé Dubois, who died for doing your work among the God-worshipers. Azazel, Azazel, scapegoat released on the Day of Atonement, its destination hell. Appear before us, Esmé and Azazel. Appear before the Six of Hearts, your modern-day servants. Let us bask in your glorious presence.”
The lantern created jumping shadows, hollowing eye sockets and cheeks. Wind whistled around the old barn. Audra looked terrified. Monica and I might deserve this, Laurel thought, but not Audra.
Crystal looked around at them. “Now, you begin to chant, too.”
She began circling, chanting. Audra said nothing, but Laurel joined in. She was so dizzy and weak she could hardly stand on feet she couldn’t feel anymore. Audra flashed her a look that clearly said “traitor” because the child thought she was cooperating completely. Actually, she had a plan. A poor plan, but better than nothing. By holding Crystal’s hand, she had some control over her movements. Maybe if she could muster enough strength, she could keep Crystal from kicking over the lantern or knocking Monica off the bale of straw.
They began to circle again. “Hail, the Lords of Darkness. In the name of the rulers of the earth, the kings of the underworld…”
Thirteen years ago. The cold. The dancing shadows. The chant. Laurel looked up at Monica. She was swaying, just as Faith had done. But this time Laurel wasn’t sitting helpless on the floor.
Laurel thought she heard something outside, something above the wind. Imagination. Wishful thinking. Then she heard something again. Someone running in the snow? A muffled voice. Audra’s gaze flew to hers. She’d heard it, too.
They finished the chant. Thirteen years ago they had finished the chant together once before the fire. That meant—
Summoning all her strength, Laurel jerked on Crystal but she was too late. Crystal’s booted foot suddenly shot out and she kicked over the lantern. Audra screamed as fire ate the straw on the floor, making its way to the bale on which Monica stood.
Between the kick and the jerk Laurel had given her, Crystal was off balance. She staggered backward and fired the gun. This time Laurel and Audra both screamed.
Monica flung herself violently to the right and at first Laurel thought she’d been hit. Then she saw the fire licking at the bale, igniting the clumped pieces of straw. Just like Faith, Monica was falling in her attempt to avoid the flames. “Hang on to the rope!” Laurel screamed. “Monica! The rope!”
Monica’s gaze met hers and Laurel saw her reach with her left hand for the rope. Oh, God, she doesn’t even have the strength of both hands, Laurel thought. She’d been shot in the right shoulder. Still, Monica clawed frantically with one hand, keeping herself from being choked by the noose.
“Damn you!” Crystal screeched at Laurel. “You pushed me. But you can’t stop me!”
Monica shrieked. Laurel glanced at her. Monica’s right pant leg was on fire. “Crystal, we’ve got to get her down!” Crystal looked at her coldly.
Laurel turned loose of Audra’s hand and lunged forward, into the flames, just as she had thirteen years ago. She grabbed futilely at Monica’s legs.
“Don’t move!” A man’s voice, Lau
rel thought. “I said don’t—”
She looked back. Crystal whirled, pointing the Glock at a man in uniform. A shot. Then another. Crystal screamed and dropped the gun. Another shot.
Crystal weaved and fell backward into the flames.
Epilogue
Laurel’s eyes snapped open. For a moment she thought she was in the freezing barn while Monica stood on a bale of straw with her head in a noose as flames licked at her legs. Her heart raced until the scene changed. She was lying in a warm, narrow bed. Across from her, mounted on the wall, sat a television. Light streamed through a window on her left. A hospital room.
Something pushed gently against her right thigh. She looked down. Neil sat on a chair beside the bed, bent at the waist, sleeping peacefully. She reached down and touched one of his sandy curls. So soft. She ran a finger down his cheek. Slowly his smoky blue eyes opened and he stared at her. Then he smiled. “I was afraid I’d never see those beautiful amber eyes again.”
“I don’t know about beautiful, but you never would have seen my eyes open again if you hadn’t come to the farm. How’s Audra?”
“Fine. Griping that she had to spend another night in here for exposure. By the way, she’s one forceful little girl. She wouldn’t rest until I roused a locksmith, went back to your house, got the dogs, and took them to Dr. Ricci. He says their eyes will be sore for a day or two, but otherwise they’re fine.”
“Thank goodness. What about Monica?”
“All right. Shot in the shoulder but no bone damage. Some first-degree burns on her legs. Suffering from exposure, of course, but she’ll be all right.”
“Crystal?”
“She’s been taken off the critical list. She fired at the police but didn’t hit anyone. One of them got her in the leg. She dropped the gun, it went off, and she was shot in the chest.” He sighed. “I think it might have been better if she had died considering what’s ahead of her.”
In the Event of My Death Page 32
