by Diane Bator
“They’ve got my nephew.”
“Who is an undercover cop and led them to me.” She leaned on the counter. “Like I said, we don’t know for sure they have him.”
“Would you rather wait for body parts to arrive in the mail? I hear those mob guys do stuff like that. What do I tell Hannah and the kids?”
“Ray.” She wanted to console him, but no words would help.
“Hey, gang. I brought muffins.” Laura breezed through the door with a familiar cardboard tray and three paper coffee cups. “Uh-oh, what’s going on?”
Ray cleared his throat. “Danny was kidnapped.”
Katie groaned. “We don’t know that for sure.”
“And the bad news is?” Laura set the coffee and treats on the counter.
“Have a little respect, will you?” Ray scowled.
“Sorry.” She opened the white paper pastry bag. “Doesn’t he work for the guys who are trying to kill Katie? Aside from the fact he’s Ray’s grandnephew, why should I care if he’s missing?”
A strained silence took over the room. Katie covered her face with her hands. “I can’t think.”
“You need food and a cup of coffee.” Laura handed her a cup.
Ray slurped his coffee and pawed through the muffins. “You didn’t get chocolate chip ones? I love chocolate chip muffins.”
“I asked. They didn’t have any.”
“But—”
“You ungrateful old goat.” She stared at him in disbelief. “Next time I’ll call Jo before I get there and reserve a chocolate chip muffin just for you.”
“Is it too much to ask for one lousy chocolate chip muffin? It’s my favorite kind and the whole bloody town knows it.”
Katie touched his shoulder. “Relax, Ray. We’re worried too. Danny seems like a smart guy. Whatever he’s into, he’ll get out of it. Maybe he met with Maddox and can’t use his phone.”
“Or maybe he lost it in a struggle,” Laura suggested.
“Laura.” Katie shot her a glare.
“What? These guys are associated with the mob. You were one of them. Do you think they’d actually send body parts in the mail?”
“Stop it,” Ray growled. “We’re not going there again.”
“There has to be a rational explanation for him taking off.” Katie’s head pounded. “I’m sure it has to do with this case.”
“What am I supposed to do in the meantime? My nephew is missing and could be dead.”
“Try his cell again and keep in touch with his office. Maybe he’ll call in to check messages.”
“Let’s hope so.” Ray frowned.
Laura shrugged. “Maybe you’ll get a package from Maddox.”
Both Ray and Katie groaned then Katie nudged her aside. “You need to tidy the shelves and quit making us both crazy. Better yet, go home. I was going to tell you not to come in anyway.”
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” Laura put her hands on her hips.
“Yes. You’ll be safe at home. Al and Chevy won’t know where to look for you.”
“But I’ll miss all the action.”
Ray wandered the store. “Danny wouldn’t go anywhere without his phone.”
“Did Nate or Hannah find it at the house?” Katie asked.
“No. Not yet.”
“Then you don’t know he doesn’t have it with him.” Her reasoning sounded right but felt wrong. “Danny will turn up. Sometimes people need a little peace and quiet to think.” She wanted to add “like me” but bit it back.
Ray huffed. “Not Danny. He’s always got that blasted phone on. It even rings at the dinner table, like last night.”
“He got a phone call last night?” Katie sat up straighter. “Why didn’t you mention that before? Who called him?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. He said he had a meeting. He wouldn’t let me go along as backup either. I should’ve insisted or at least called when I didn’t hear from him.”
Laura’s brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you?”
“I fell asleep in my armchair.” His face reddened. “My phone fell under the cushion and I couldn’t find it until Hannah called.”
“Is that when you found out he was missing?” Katie asked.
“Yeah. He wasn’t home when she got up this morning and she wanted to know if I’d talked to him. Come to think of it, she said he wasn’t back before she went to bed last night.”
Katie thought aloud. “We saw him at about three yesterday.”
Ray narrowed his eyes. “He was with the whole family for dinner last night. Hannah wouldn’t let him drive back to Newville with a head full of painkillers, but Danny got that call at dinner and had to go out. I drove so Hannah wouldn’t get mad. I don’t know how he thought he’d get home without walking. I’m surprised Hannah didn’t send Nate after him. The kids must have distracted her.”
“Where did he go after that?”
“The last time I saw him was when he dropped me off at the home around nine thirty and left for his meeting.” His face fell. “Nate said he went out to the Quonset this morning and found my car.”
Laura hugged him. “We’ll find him, Ray.”
“Yeah.” His jaw twitched. “Or get pieces of him by registered mail.”
Katie shook her head. “Maddox’s more brazen than that. He wouldn’t return the car. If Al and Chevy took him last night, we’d already have bits of—”
“Good morning, folks.” The mailman, Chuck, walked through the door amid a chorus of door chimes. “I have a parcel for you, Ray.”
Katie gasped. Holy Mary, Mother of God...
Laura took one look at the box and crashed to the floor, flinging her muffin clear across the room. It bounced on the floor at the bottom of the back door.
Katie exchanged a horrified glance with Ray, torn at whether to be more concerned about Laura or the contents of the package. She crouched on the floor beside Laura’s inert body and tapped her face and called her name. Neither had any effect other than reddening her cheeks.
“Maybe if we put her feet up it’ll send the blood back to her brain.” Chuck set his bag on the floor with a thud.
“What’s the point?” Ray snorted. “She probably hasn’t had blood up there in forty years.”
When Katie glared, he hobbled off to get a chair from the back room then returned with both the chair and a salt shaker. “In the old days, people used smelling salts for ladies who fainted. We don’t have smelling salts, but maybe this will help.”
“I guess it’s worth a shot.” Chuck waved the cardboard shaker beneath Laura’s nose. Several grains of salt trickled out and sprinkled her upper lip.
“I don’t think that’s gonna work either.” Katie pulled the shaker away. “You’d better stop before she inhales it.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
She scanned the room for anything to use to wake Laura. The muffins and coffees sat on the counter only a few feet away. “Help me sit her up.”
The two men lifted Laura by the shoulders while Katie grabbed a coffee cup and waved the steaming cup beneath her friend’s nose.
Laura’s eyes fluttered. “Oh, I love amaretto.”
Ray groaned. “You know you’re an addict.”
“I’m glad you are.” Katie smiled. “It worked like a charm to wake you.”
“What happened?” Laura struggled to sit upright. “There was all that talk about body parts and then that package arrived.”
Chuck picked up his mailbag, studied Ray’s parcel then looked at Laura. “What did you think was in here anyway?”
“Body parts.” Her body went slack. Katie caught her before she hit the floor.
Ray nudged her. “Now cut that out.”
Laura blinked several times. “I just thought about Danny and...” She wobbled. “I’m good. What was in the box?”
“I didn’t open it yet,” Ray said. “We were busy trying to wake you.”
All four of them turned to the box on the counter. A
dark red stain seeped through the cardboard and onto the counter. Chuck frowned. “Why would Ray get body parts in the mail? You know that’s illegal.”
“His nephew’s a cop,” Laura said. “He’s involved in a nasty case and some mob guys kidnapped him.”
He gave a soft whistle. “And you think I delivered part of his body? Man, the guys at work aren’t going to believe this. Could I take a picture? My phone has a camera.”
“There’s something familiar about that box.” Ray furrowed his brow and reached out a tentative finger to swipe at the red goo seeping through the brown paper wrapper. He brought the finger to his lips and licked it.
Laura shrieked. “What are you doing?”
Katie gagged. “Are you nuts?”
“Homemade raspberry jam.” Ray grinned. “It’s from a friend in New England. I told her she needs to pack the jars better so they don’t break. I guess she forgot.”
Katie blew out a breath, relieved it wasn’t blood, especially Danny’s. She sipped her coffee and burned her tongue. Even that hurt less than thinking something awful had happened to Danny. Aside from the broken wrist she gave him.
Ray packed the intact jam jars in a plastic bag and threw the rest in the trash. “I’ll get Hannah to pick me up and we’ll search for clues. Maybe Danny left a note or something.”
Katie scrubbed the new stains off the counter, happy it wasn’t blood.
This time.
Chapter 34
Danny
Danny’s vision blurred. He blinked several times to clear his head.
The room was dark and musty.
His arms and legs were bound to a chair.
His mouth was covered with tape.
He needed help and wished he’d confided in Ray or Hannah. Or at the very least reached Leo. Across the room, someone snored.
As a dark figure moved closer to him, a sharp pain in his arm made him wince.
His head lolled to one side and he slipped back into darkness.
Chapter 35
Katie
Ray hadn’t called by closing time.
Laura offered Katie a ride home, but she declined and walked away from the bookstore. Her body vibrated with nervous, pent-up energy. Her head swam with visions of Danny, her parents and Maddox. She needed to escape the horror swirling inside her head. While she couldn’t outrun the thoughts forever, a good jog might help her think. The air grew thick with fog and she hoped it wouldn’t get thicker.
The instant she unlocked the front door, she knew something was wrong. The house stood quiet and still with none of Hilda’s usual blaring television or radio shows. She loved to listen to talk radio shows and yelled it out with the best of them, though no one actually heard her. Once or twice Katie walked in on her arguing with one of the show hosts over the phone.
She called out twice but was met with more silence.
Danny was missing, Maddox knew where she lived and to hear nothing from Hilda since the night before was far from comforting. Hilda was the one person who could give Maddox and his men full access to both Katie and her room.
Her heart skipped a beat and her gaze darted up the stairs to her room. Al and Chevy had said their boss was a woman. Hilda would be more wary if a man showed up, not a woman, which meant she could be in danger.
This was no time for fear. Drawing in a deep breath for bravery, she ran up the steps two at a time and paused at the top. The bathroom and her room were empty. Nothing was disturbed. Nor was there anyone inside the tiny closet only Hilda could cram into.
She chided herself for being so paranoid, though she had every right to be. Going for a run would give her a chance to look for both Hilda and Danny, as well as burn off nervous energy before she exploded.
Katie's heart pounded while she changed into a pair of track pants and a long-sleeved shirt. She decided against leaving a note, in case Al or Chevy found it, then locked the door and tucked her key in her shoe. Her hands shook from nerves and the damp air. Looking around for any signs of trouble, she walked down the stone steps to the street and willed Danny to walk past.
A steady drizzle had fallen all day and left the sidewalks wet. The ground glittered in the light of the street lamp. She started off at a paranoid walk, checking over her shoulder every few seconds to make sure no black cars followed.
She pictured Chevy and Al shoving her into the back of the car, where Maddox waited with champagne, eager to get both her and his money back. They’d toast the life she’d once had and the one she’d lose when he killed her with his bare hands. She’d rather ride in the trunk with her hands tied than sit next to him in the limo ever again.
She hoped with all her heart Maddox or Margaret, or whoever was in charge now, didn’t have Danny. Maddox had honed his methods of torture through the years and she knew exactly what he’d do to Danny if they didn’t execute him right away. If someone else was in charge, the game would change completely, depending on who had control.
Her thoughts darkened and, thrown off stride, she bumped into a clump of bushes. She forced the negative thoughts out of her head. If her raw emotions took over, Al and Chevy would get her before she could defend herself. Keep focused. Stay alert. She didn’t want to kill herself by simply going jogging.
Her shoulders relaxed as she let her body’s natural rhythm take over. Breathe. Her running shoes slapped through shallow puddles. Litter bobbed like toy boats in her wake. Normally she hated to be cold, but today she welcomed the chill on her wet feet. The fresh night air on her face made her more alert and made her thoughts flow freely. What mattered most was she was alive, for now, even if she was toying with danger.
Katie ran down street after street. The light, misty fog thickened and began to close in on her. The stark trees became eerie shadows under the streetlights. The outlines of the houses faded and bright porch lights dimmed. Cars parked along the roads became dark hulks with no defined features. Shrubs that lined the sidewalk grabbed at her out of the dark.
The fog disoriented her. She shivered and wanted to go home and hide under her bed. Where was she?
Holy Mary...
Katie slowed her pace. She turned around and headed in what she thought was the right direction. To calm down, she made a game out of reading street signs.
None of the names were familiar anymore.
Her heart and lungs competed to see which would burst out of her body first. She thought of slowing to a walk but would be even more afraid of the spooky night. Where were the signs or landmarks to guide her home?
...Mother of God...
Katie laughed. “I’m lost? Seriously? Maddox wants to kill me, Danny’s missing and I’m lost. That figures.”
Al and Chevy had to be somewhere in the darkness. She was wet, cold and so lost she’d even be happy to see them. Briefly. At least if they had Danny, she’d have a better chance of seeing him again.
Panic seized her until a light up ahead caught her attention. A store? A car idling in a driveway? The light was too bright to be an ordinary house light. Relief relaxed her even as rain pelted her.
When she drew closer to the light, a beacon of hope, it dawned on her where she was. The glowing object became clearer until she made out Father Sam’s statue. She stopped three houses away. Nothing else was visible in the dense fog.
…pray for us sinners…
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Katie forgot the rest of her prayer. She stumbled through the rain on weary legs and stopped next to the giant spruce tree. Water trickled down her face and soaked her shirt, but she didn’t care. She knelt in the soupy mud and rested her head against the warm statue. “Thank you.”
The statue glowed like a miniature lighthouse. Katie searched the statue for a cord or a receptacle for batteries. Nothing. Her source of power remained a mystery.
Katie sat on the wet ground to catch her breath then stood, spirit renewed. She knew where she was and that someone watched out for her, even if it was a plastic statue. More importantly, she kne
w how to get home.
She walked back to Main Street then headed toward Cooper Street and the house she shared with Hilda. The rain had soaked her from head to foot, but she wasn’t about to let Mary down the way she’d let herself down. After a hot shower, she’d call around to find Hilda then call her parents. She needed them to know she was all right, even if not for much longer.
Faint footsteps caught her attention. Who, besides her, would be crazy enough to go anywhere in this lousy weather? Maybe someone on their way to the 7-Eleven. Katie tried to be rational, but her mind whirled. Were they following her? She could zigzag to different streets, but it was safer to stick to the route she knew. Behind her was nothing except thick fog and footsteps.
No vehicles passed. No headlights lit the street. Blood gushed in her ears and blocked the sound of her footsteps. Her breathing came in raspy, uneven gasps and she blinked back an onslaught of tears. Where was Mary now? Why would she rescue Katie only to abandon her to the fog and Maddox again?
“Katie?” Someone called out in the gloom. A man. “Katie Mullins?”
“Who are you?” Her stomach clenched as she wheeled around. “Stay away from me.”
A flashlight beam appeared out of nowhere, blinding her for several seconds. Fear nauseated her and she fought the urge to run off like a scared chicken.
“Officer Bobby Holland. Hilda got worried when you didn’t come home. She says you’ve had some problems lately.”
Katie shielded her eyes and squinted until she saw the baby-faced officer. Her knees wobbled. “Am I ever happy to see you.”
“I’ve got Katie.” Bobby spoke into his walkie-talkie. “Call Hilda and tell her I’ll bring her home.” The radio crackled in response. “Come on. My car’s around the corner. What are you doing out on a night like this? Don’t you know you could get lost in this fog?”
“Yeah, I figured that one out.” They were less than a block from the cruiser, yet she hadn’t seen the red or blue flashing lights before now. “Luckily, I found Father Sam’s place.”
