by Diane Bator
“I tried to get close to make sure she really was Paulina so I could convince her to testify and put her into witness protection. Once she’s safe, I can say she escaped. If he finds her, he’ll kill her. If I don’t find her, he’ll kill me.” If it really was Maddox who was after her. After talking to Katie, he was even more convinced it was Margaret running the show.
His sister gasped. “Why would you do that? Why let her go if some psychopath has that kind of hold on you? Do you think she’ll take you with her or something?”
“No. Right now, she hates me, which is why she broke my wrist.”
“Katie broke your wrist?” Hannah dropped her head back against the seat. “Please tell me you’re making all this up and the police fired you months ago for being insane.”
“I don’t have that good of an imagination.”
“Unfortunately, that part’s true.” She started the car. “How did you get yourself into this? Didn’t you think this through before you decided to play double agent?”
“I was undercover, not a double agent. I thought I did.” Danny sighed. “I was going to get her in witness protection, but Maddox moved faster than I did. Someone in Packham tipped him off.”
When Nate’s truck drove past them, Ray’s smiling face peered out the window. He waved and beckoned them to follow.
“Well, at least there’s one thing you can always count on.” Hannah gave a soft laugh. “Uncle Ray’s coming for dinner.”
“That’s because you spoil him. You’re a great cook. He’ll keep coming until he can’t get out here anymore. You should serve liver more often. He hates liver.” He paused. “Come to think of it, so do I. Don’t serve liver.”
Hannah gave a tired smile and squeezed his good hand. “Be careful, Danny. I’m scared one day I’m going to wake up and you won’t be there anymore. After losing Mom and Dad, I don’t know what I’d do without you, and I don’t want to have to find out.”
Chapter 30
Katie
“I hear you have my money.” The voice on the phone sent an icy sweat down Katie’s back, especially since it wasn’t Maddox’s.
“Who is this?”
A low chuckle shook her eardrum. “An old friend who’d like very much to see you again.”
“Margaret.” Katie’s hands shook and her breath came out in short puffs. Was that why Al had taken her business card? “What do you want? Where’s Maddox?”
“Indisposed. You have two days, forty-eight hours, to get my twenty million back into my bank account, little girl, before I’m forced into action.”
She wanted to vomit. “I don’t have it.”
“Then you’d better be able to get it.”
Katie held the phone in a death grip long after Margaret had hung up. Her money? Where was Maddox? Had she missed something?
“You okay, babe?” Laura set the phone in the base for her.
“Great.” She wiped her sweaty palms on her pant leg. “I’ve been threatened twice in one day and it’s not even closing yet. Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“Who was it?”
Katie sat on the stool and blew out a breath. “Al and Chevy’s boss. I think.”
“That Maddox guy? I’ll call Ray.” Laura reached for the phone.
“No.” Katie grabbed her hand. “I’ll deal with it. Don’t worry.”
At five thirty, Laura left the bookstore. She offered Katie a ride, but she refused. If Al and Chevy came back, she wouldn’t let them hurt her friends. She’d faced them with Ray and Laura too many times already. Al and Chevy wouldn’t let them escape a second time, especially if Maddox or Margaret came along. Things would get even uglier.
She peered out the front windows, seeking the Town Car, surprised the two thugs hadn’t followed her to Hannah’s house earlier. Going there wasn’t one of her smartest moves. She’d endangered even more innocent lives.
The more time she spent behind the bookshelves, Katie felt it less likely Maddox would find her. Instead, he’d sent Danny Walker who found her with ease and was her biggest problem, aside from Al and Chevy. Until Margaret’s call. Margaret had sat in on meetings and been involved in a lot of things at DMR, but she’d never called Katie directly. Maddox had.
Five minutes later, she closed the front door behind her, clicked the lock shut and wondered if she’d ever see the store again. With a quick glance up and down the street, she walked toward Cooper Street to the century-and-a-half old house she shared with Hilda.
Her brain rattled with ugly thoughts which kept her looking over her shoulder until she realized with a start she was nearly three blocks beyond her street. “How did that happen?”
The sign in front of her read “Bishop Street.” Father Sam was right. Mary drew her like a magnet, even when she hadn’t made a conscious decision to come.
The Virgin Mary statue came into view beneath the huge spruce tree, with no sign of Father Sam. Her heart beat a little faster. Did the statue have a hand in Father Sam calling Maddox? If she appeared on his front lawn again, would he call DMR? She hoped he was away from the house and far away from Al and Chevy, whom she wouldn’t wish on anyone.
“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the time of our death.” The phrase played on a continuous loop through her mind while she walked across the lawn and ducked her head beneath the branches of needles. It was the only prayer she remembered and it didn’t exactly comfort her.
She sat on the ground, hidden behind the statue and the tree, and hoped no one had seen. Tears blazed trails over her cheeks as she pressed her face against the statue’s solid robes.
“Please, Mary, I need your help. I have nobody left to turn to.” Katie wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I haven’t been to church since I was a kid.” She ducked even lower at the sound of a car. “Please, you have to help me. Maddox—Margaret—they’ve all found me, no thanks to Father Sam. Sorry, I hope he doesn’t have you wired so he can listen to us from the house.”
How many secrets could the statue tell after standing there for thirty years? Probably thousands. She studied the weathered blue folds of the statue’s shroud and the gentle peach of her hands, which looked soft enough to hold. She reached out then blinked and looked again. The hands were cheap plastic with nothing tender about them. Fear of death was making her hallucinate.
Or was she finally going crazy?
“What is it about you? How do you do it?” She leaned forward. “You draw people in like a magnet. I used to do that too. I could draw men in with just a glance. Maybe that’s why Danny scares me so much.”
A car door slammed and Katie peered around the tree at a woman with a large shopping bag who walked toward the house across the street. She blew out a relieved breath and rested her forehead on the statue. “I’m scared of him. Danny. What is it about that man? He drives me nuts, stalks me and yet I can’t stop thinking about him. So what do I do? I beat him with a wrench. Classy move, huh?”
She toyed with a dead flower that lay on the ground. Someone’s offering to the Madonna. “We can’t be together, you know. I’m not sure where my loyalties are, let alone his.”
On the brisk walk home through the corridor of old trees, she opened her eyes to the little town around her. Trees that had once shaded the sidewalks were now six-foot tall totems. Hundred-year-old brick gingerbread houses lined narrow streets. Quaint shops wore colorful window displays. The scents of peonies, phlox and geraniums bordered flagstone sidewalks. The windows of the Presbyterian Church on the corner, carefully polished leaded stained glass, shone.
All of them made Packham unique.
All of them kept her here and gave her something to live for.
She paused at the bottom of the steps dug into the lawn in front of Hilda Clayton’s brick house built in 1856. The house on the little hill was perfect, right down to the beveled glass windows and white lace curtains. Something out of a dream she’d once had.
Katie blinked back tears and made her way up the front steps. She had
no idea what to cook for dinner but longed for ice cream and apple crisp for dessert while she still could.
After dinner she’d call Danny so they could talk. If nothing else, he might protect her while she sorted out what to do next.
Inside, Hilda set tea cups upside down on matching saucers on the dining room table. “Oh, good. You’re right on time. Be a dear and take down the other teapot for me, will you?”
Katie’s stomach sank. “Why?”
“There’s an emergency writing group meeting tonight, remember? I told you earlier. We’ll have a quick dinner then set up. I’m expecting a large crowd.”
“I forgot.” More like evicted it from her mind. Maybe she could catch the last bus out of town if it wasn’t too late.
If only she wasn’t afraid of where she might end up.
Chapter 31
Katie
By seven, the Packham writing group had returned along with a few friends. Laura and Ray were notably absent and Katie avoided being in the living room while everyone settled. She couldn’t deal with the meeting on top of everything else.
Mimsy waved her toward the same seat she’d gotten trapped in last time. “Come and sit down. You’ll love this. We’re having this meeting just for you.”
An icy prickle ran in a wave down Katie’s spine. “Excuse me?”
“Edie and I had a great idea.” Hilda jotted down the list of attendees. “We plan to do a prompt tonight on what we should do about your problem with the mob guys.”
The chorus of nods and clucks from the rest of the group made Katie’s blood freeze. Her jaw dropped as she looked from face to face. Rumors sure spread fast. “You all know about that?”
“Yes, and we all want to help.” Father Sam sat perched on a stool between Reginald and Edie with a cookie in one hand and a notebook in the other.
Katie pointed a finger at him and glowered, astonished he dared set foot in the house. “You’ve already helped enough. You who told them where I was. Why on earth would I want your help now?”
“You have it all wrong.” His rheumy blue eyes widened. “All I told them was that you would come by to visit Mary again. She’s the one who told me to call when you were on your way.”
“Who did? Laura?” Katie stared as though he were a talking potato. “Did Laura call you when I left the store?”
“Mary told me.”
“Mary. Oh, I’m going to have words with her.” When she remembered Mary was a plastic statue, she covered her eyes with one hand. She’d definitely end up as crazy as Father Sam and the rest of them before long.
“Relax, Katie. We’re all doing this to help you,” Penny sat on the couch next to her husband who gave a little wave.
Katie closed her eyes, unable to muster up any enthusiasm, no matter how hard she tried.
“Okay, folks. You have fifteen minutes to write about how to solve Katie’s problem.” Hilda announced. “Katie, grab your notebook and a pen so we can start.”
“I don’t think I can do this.” A wave of dizziness washed over her. While everyone else bowed to scribble in their notebooks, Katie wandered into the kitchen.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the time of our death. What was she thinking? Why buy a store in a weird little town like Packham? She could have caught the bus to Buffalo the next morning and run off to some exotic island or stayed in Newville and buried herself in some faceless corporation. Maddox wouldn’t have found her in either place. But no, she took a wrong bus and got sucked into the outer vortex of Hell, also known as Packham.
What was wrong with her?
She should call Danny now. At least he’d take her away from the writing group.
The only rational thought she’d come up with all day was these people were paid actors hired by Maddox to drive her insane. She peered into the living room at the motley crew whose pens scratched on blue-lined paper and rejected that idea in a heartbeat. Maddox wasn’t that imaginative and his wife preferred a more direct approach.
His wife. Why had Margaret called the store? Was she really Al and Chevy’s boss now?
She brewed a cup of chamomile tea and popped a couple of painkillers. Life on the run was definitely not what she’d expected. A sigh welled in her soul and escaped through her lips. A tiny bit of tension went with it, but not enough. She shut her eyes and breathed her way toward a stress-free moment until the buzzer rang and jangled her nerves.
Hilda poked her head around the corner. “Come and hear what we’ve written for you.”
Holy Mary, Mother of God...
Sharp pain shot through Katie’s jaw and up the side of her head. She’d clenched her jaw so hard she’d probably cracked a tooth. She cradled the cup of tea in her icy hands and hoped she wouldn’t get the urge to throw it at anyone. Bracing herself, she wandered into the next room with a stomach full of dread. This would be a long night.
…pray for us sinners…
“I want to go first.” The young man with the piercings wriggled in his chair as though bugs crawled all over him. “Danny Walker was alive. Barely. He’d been hit in the head, covered with honey and left for dead in a pile of fire ants.”
“Oh, that’s gross.” Penny scrunched her nose.
...now and at…
“I’ll go next.” The older man with the pipe sat up straight. “I have a much better solution. I think we should kidnap Danny and hand him over to this Maddox fellow. He’s a traitor to Katie as well as to the people of Packham.”
…the hour of our death.
Mimsy rolled her eyes. “Oh, honestly. Kidnapping? Isn’t there enough unlawful behavior going on around here lately?”
“I suppose you could do better?”
“Sir Daniel rode his white steed through the village looking for the fair Lady Paulina who was nowhere to be found. Unbeknownst to him, the good people of the town had smuggled the beautiful woman out under the cover of night to a secluded tower guarded by a ferocious, fire-breathing dragon.”
Lord, have mercy.
Henry snorted and leaned back with his arms folded across his chest. “That’s great. Now all we need is a horse and a bloody dragon. Those should be easy to come by. We’ll just hop onto the Internet.”
“Don’t be such a smart-aleck.” Mimsy tapped his arm.
Hilda interrupted the bickering. “Let’s move along.”
Katie, dizzy and nauseous with disbelief, was ready to run if things got any uglier. She shot a stern look at Hilda. Everyone seemed to have heard about her confrontation with Danny. This whole meeting was a waste of the one thing she didn’t have much of. Time.
“Give me a chance.” Edie stood up to read hers. “The entire town showed up on Danny’s doorstep, torches and tools in hand like a scene out of Frankenstein,. Two strong men grabbed him, threw him into a cart trussed up like a goose and paraded him around town as a warning to others not to mess with the local townsfolk.”
Katie’s jaw dropped and gasped. “No!”
Edie sat down. “You’re right. We don’t have a cart.”
“I have a wheelchair at the home,” Mimsy offered.
Henry piped up. “I have duct tape and rope.”
“That’s enough.” Katie’s jaw dropped. “Don’t you people get it? This is isn’t some stupid novel. If you did any of these things, you’d go to jail. All of you.”
“Would we have to share a cell?” Father Sam asked.
Edie bit her lower lip. Her eyes welled with tears. Most of the others exchanged guilty glances and bowed their heads.
Katie blew out a breath. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I don’t want you getting in trouble on my behalf. These guys are killers. They won’t hesitate to hurt any of you.”
“But Katie—” Hilda started.
“No.” Her teary eyes pleaded. “Please, Hilda. Everyone. I’ll take care of this myself. I don’t want any of you to get hurt because I screwed up. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
“You wou
ldn’t have to. They’d kill you.” The young man stepped up and twisted his hands. “There has to be something we can do.”
“No.” Katie was touched by his concern. “Not really.”
“We just want to help.” He bowed his head and shuffled his feet.
“No. Just go home.” Katie walked up the creaky old stairs and packed her belongings. There was nothing left for her here.
Ray could run the store.
Hilda could get another tenant.
Danny…Danny might still chase her for a while, but even he had to give up eventually.
The house seemed unusually quiet. Normally, game shows blared from the television downstairs. Tonight there was only darkness and silence. The meeting was over. The writers had cleared out in record time and Hilda had retired to her room. Something was going on downstairs. Katie had a gut feeling she wouldn’t like it. She pulled on loose pants and a sweatshirt and crept to the top of the stairs.
She peered out the window. The street light that usually shone through the blue lace curtains was out and the night was blacker than Hilda’s coffee. She shivered. It didn’t matter. The cover of night wouldn’t save anyone anyway—least of all her or Danny.
For all she knew, the men hunting for her were out there. Her only solace was neither Chevy nor Al could see her. She strained to catch a glimpse of a glowing cigarette or the telltale flash of a lighter or cell phone, anything that gave them away.
Her paranoid breath fogged up the glass and blocked her view of the world. A crash from downstairs made her gasp. She padded across the cold hardwood floor and reached out in the inky darkness for the hockey stick. Katie choked down the lump that clogged her throat. Hugging the wall with her back, she avoided the center of the stairs where the creaks were loudest. She slid step by step to the lower level, tightening her fingers around the hockey stick, blade end up. The smooth wood was cold and did nothing to make her braver.
Was she holding the stick the right way? How would she catch whoever rattled through the living room in the dark and what on earth would she do if she did?
