“That’s too bad,” said Sophie. “It looks like you’re out of luck.”
“Keep your smart remarks to yourself,” said Graham. “We’re in this together. If you don’t help me, I’ll tell the boss what you did, and we’ll both suffer the consequences. I’m not joking. Is that what you want?”
“No,” said Sophie.
“Well then, let’s stop arguing and start thinking,” said Graham. He groaned. “I can’t believe we’re actually trying to figure out how to dispose of a corpse. Why don’t we just hide her somewhere until we figure out what to do with her? I noticed there’s an old shed near the edge of the woods. We could put her in there.”
“It’s up to you,” said Sophie.
“Okay, but what about Lisa?” said Graham. “This catastrophe will be pointless if we come back and she’s gone.”
“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen,” said Sophie. She reached down and grabbed a handful of Lisa’s hair, compelling her to stand up. “You’re coming with me. I’ve got just the place for you.”
She dragged Lisa down the hall until they stopped in front of a door. Sophie opened it. Lisa found herself staring into a small room. She couldn’t see the interior very well in the dim light, but the floor was so cluttered that it looked like the contents of several dumpsters had been emptied inside the room. On the far wall, she saw a broken window with jagged shards of glass sticking out around the frame.
“Here’s where you’ll stay,” said Sophie, nearly ripping Lisa’s hair out of her head as she shook her. “I won’t be gone for very long, so don’t get any funny ideas. Oh, and if you were thinking about climbing out the window, let me show you something.”
With some difficulty, she made a path through the junk, pushing Lisa in front of her. When they arrived at the window, Sophie shoved Lisa’s face up to the opening. Lisa looked down. Molly’s body lay on the ground below, drenched in rain and hideous with the pallor of death. Lisa had been in such a state of shock before that she hadn’t noticed the horrifying transformation. She gasped and tried to turn away, but Sophie’s grip on her hair prevented her from moving.
“Take a good long look,” said Sophie. “That’s what happens to people who annoy me.”
She flung her away, and Lisa caught herself just in time to avoid striking her head on the ground. Trembling, she raised herself on her hands while Sophie paused in the doorway, a sardonic smile appearing on her brutal face.
“Just between you and me, I’m pretty sure Graham will eventually change his mind about letting you go,” she said. “It’s too much of a risk. You know what that means, don’t you? You’re going to die here.”
She slammed the door.
Lisa collapsed and stared into the darkness. She listened to Graham and Sophie’s muffled voices as they removed Molly’s body. The rain continued to fall. Nothing felt real. The past belonged to a different girl, the present was a nightmare, and the future didn’t exist.
Although she didn’t know the details of the arrangement Graham intended to make for her release, she realized her fate rested squarely in the hands of her father, and he had already proved he didn’t care about her. She doubted he would even try to get her back. Sophie would kill her without any hesitation, and she would join Molly in her makeshift tomb. She would never see Josh again.
She lifted her hand to her chest and gathered the necklace into her fist, twisting the delicate chain around her fingers and squeezing the aquamarine teardrop until its edges dug into her flesh. It didn’t belong to her anymore. Josh’s mother had given it to someone else—someone who no longer existed. With a spasmodic jerk of her wrist, she snapped the chain and dropped the necklace onto the floor. It was over. Shutting her eyes, she slipped into oblivion.
Chapter 19
Around midnight, Josh left the intensive care unit and walked downstairs to disrupt the dreadful monotony of waiting. His mother’s condition remained unchanged. He looked for Shannon and found her asleep, slumped over a table in the empty cafeteria. He decided not to wake her. If she could rest, so much the better. He doubted he would ever sleep again. It felt like an eternity ago when he and Lisa had stood on the balcony outside the ballroom and fantasized about the future.
He had told Lisa he would call her in the morning, but he desperately wanted to talk to her. The temptation quickly became irresistible. Feeling slightly sheepish, he paused outside the chapel, removed his cell phone from his pocket, and called her. Immediately, a phone started ringing quite close to where he was standing. With a premonition of doom, he approached the chairs near the fountain, reached between the cushions, and retrieved Lisa’s cell phone.
He was staring at it in bewilderment when the doors at the end of the lobby slid open and Richard strode in with an aura of restrained fury. He was speckled from head to foot with mud, and his clothes were shabbier than ever. His eyes flashed ominously, and when he noticed Josh, his scowl deepened.
“What are you doing here?” he said.
“I was just about to ask you the same thing,” said Josh. “My mom took a turn for the worse earlier this evening, and now she’s in the intensive care unit with pneumonia. I was at prom with Lisa, but we came over here to visit, and—”
“Lisa was here with you?” said Richard.
“Yes, but she went home a few hours ago,” said Josh. “Richard, the most awful thing happened. The man from the restaurant is dead. Graham was there, and a woman I haven’t seen before was with him. I heard them talking. Graham was being all weird around her, almost like he was trying to impress her.”
“I was wondering how long it would be before Erica made her tragic appearance,” said Richard, nodding his head. “It was only a matter of time before she materialized.”
“How did you know her name?” said Josh in astonishment.
“What do you think I’ve been doing for the past month?” said Richard. “I made it my personal mission to learn why Peterson wanted that unfortunate wretch dead. Well, it turns out he is—or was—the husband of a woman named Erica, who happens to be none other than Peterson’s daughter.”
Josh assumed he was still guessing.
“Are you sure?” he said. “Why would Peterson—”
“Murder his son-in-law?” said Richard. “I wondered the same thing, but it’s actually quite simple. From what I was able to gather, Erica had a contentious relationship with Peterson, and he resented her for it. If he couldn’t have her, then no one could, so when he got out of prison, he knocked off her husband.”
He sounded triumphant, but Josh couldn’t share his satisfaction. He was too shaken by the events of the evening. His mind wandered back to the motionless line on the screen, and he suppressed a shudder.
“I guess we’ll probably never know for sure,” he said. “I’m glad Lisa wasn’t there.”
Richard became agitated once again.
“So Graham didn’t see the two of you?” he said.
“No, I don’t think so,” said Josh. “He was already in the room when we got here. He might have seen me at some point, but he couldn’t have seen Lisa.” He looked down at the cell phone in his hand. “This is hers. She must have dropped it while she was waiting for her mom. I’ll give it back to her when I see her tomorrow.”
“You’ll be lucky if you ever see her again,” said Richard.
Josh looked up, and Richard’s expression made his blood run cold.
“What do you mean?” he said.
Richard surveyed Josh as if he couldn’t decide if he should elaborate. Josh watched him, a creeping sensation of dread infiltrating his mind. Finally, Richard shrugged.
“The time has come,” he said. “I’m afraid your childhood is over. I wanted to protect you like I protected your dad, but there’s no point. You have to live in this world, and you won’t stand a chance unless you know the truth. Sure, maybe you’re scared of Graham in a theoretical sense, but—”
“Is Lisa okay?” said Josh.
“You’re worried abou
t her,” said Richard, looking gloomier than ever. “That can only mean one thing. You love her. I assume your relationship with her progressed rather quickly after I left. Josh, giving your heart to another person is a risky business at the best of times, but it’s highly inadvisable when there’s a crowd of vindictive killers on the prowl. You shouldn’t have done it.”
“What happened to her?” said Josh.
Richard laid a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.
“I don’t know all the details, but I’m going to talk to the idiot who’s responsible for this mess,” he said. “You’re welcome to come along, but consider yourself warned: the more you learn about the situation, the more you’ll question yourself. Trust me, there’s nothing worse than looking back across the wreckage of your life and agonizing over the choices you’ve made.”
“I can handle it,” said Josh. He felt too sick with fear to say anything else. His only comfort was the realization that Richard tended to exaggerate. They took the elevator up to the second floor. Richard found the office he was looking for and opened the door without knocking. Josh saw Lisa’s father huddled at the desk with his face buried in his hands.
“Andrew, I got your message,” said Richard.
Lisa’s father raised his head.
“You’re too late,” he said.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Richard, pulling Josh into the office and slamming the door. “You called me less than an hour ago, and I got here as quickly as I could. What’s the catch? If Peterson wanted her dead, Graham wouldn’t have offered to make a deal. Why don’t you pull yourself together and tell me what’s going on?”
“This shouldn’t have happened,” said Lisa’s father. “Richard, where have you been? I’ve been calling you for weeks. If you’d picked up the phone even once, this whole thing could have been avoided. Graham wants the notebook, and if I don’t give it to him soon, he’s going to—”
“Kill her?” said Richard.
“Well, he didn’t actually say what he was going to do,” said Lisa’s father. He looked at Josh, a flicker of resentment appearing in his eyes. Josh suspected he blamed him for bringing Lisa to the hospital in the first place, and he almost felt like he deserved it. “Why is he here? You’re going to damage him irreparably.”
“I’m educating him,” said Richard. “Don’t worry. He’ll be fine. It’s not the first time I’ve entrusted him with vital information, and I doubt it will be the last.”
Josh wanted to blurt out the truth about the notebook, but he didn’t dare. He bitterly regretted his decision to destroy it. He told himself he was a coward; he could have hidden it somewhere, but he had gotten rid of it because he had been afraid. He tried to prepare himself for the chaos that would result when Richard discovered what he had done, but Richard seemed preoccupied with something else.
“Andrew, this doesn’t make sense,” he said. “Graham didn’t know Lisa would be here. Besides, he doesn’t do the dirty work himself. He gets other people to do it for him. Peterson would never trust him with something this complicated, and he certainly wouldn’t hesitate to describe all the gruesome things he intended to do to your daughter if you didn’t cooperate. Something else is going on.”
“What’s your point?” said Lisa’s father.
“Graham has gone rogue,” said Richard. “Peterson isn’t behind this kidnapping.”
Lisa’s father didn’t look impressed.
“I could have told you that myself,” he said. “Graham indicated as much when he originally asked me for the notebook, but who cares? Lisa is still gone. Even if we manage to get her back, she’s never going to be the same. I had such high hopes for her, but now she’s ruined forever. This is all my fault. I refused to listen to her and left her crying in the lobby. If I hadn’t done that—”
“Andrew, stop acting like this is the end of the world,” said Richard. A savage smile appeared on his face. “We finally have the leverage we need. Graham is an imbecile. I knew he’d panic when he lost Sabrina. I’m calling his bluff. Lisa will be fine, as long as he doesn’t kill her by accident. All we have to do is play our cards correctly, and we’ll finally be able to get some decent information about Peterson.”
Josh couldn’t believe his ears. He finally understood why his father was so disgusted whenever Richard mentioned Peterson. It was Richard’s way of reducing every situation to the same level and dismissing the individual struggles of everyone involved. Josh couldn’t decide if Richard was playing a game, or if he was delusional. Either way, he was determined not to let him get away with it.
“Maybe instead of worrying about Peterson, we should be worrying about Lisa,” he said in a voice he barely recognized.
“I am,” said Richard. “Stop being impatient and consider the future. If Peterson ever finds out she’s in the position to undermine Graham, she won’t ever be safe again. You may think I’m being selfish, but I’m doing what’s best for her. We need to strike now if we want to have an advantage later when it counts.”
“But you’re treating Lisa like an inanimate object,” said Josh.
“Of course I am,” said Richard. “That’s the whole point. Even though Graham isn’t nearly as scheming as Peterson, he’s still a crook. We have to deal with him on his own level, and that means viewing Lisa as a tool. We can’t afford to get all mushy about her. That would play right into Graham’s hand. He wants to trade Lisa for the notebook. Fine, but I want to trade for information: question for question and answer for answer. I’ll give him what he wants, but for a different price.”
“What about Lisa?” said Josh.
“Oh, don’t worry about her,” said Richard. “When Graham realizes she’s worthless, he’ll have no reason to keep her around. He probably can’t wait to get rid of her. She’s a tremendous liability. For everyone’s sake, it’s much safer to take her out of the equation entirely.” He turned his attention to Lisa’s father. “Let’s stop wasting time, Andrew. I assume Graham gave you instructions?”
“We have a meeting place at the park by the river,” said Lisa’s father. “He told me to be there at two o’clock with the notebook.”
Richard glanced at his watch.
“That gives us less than two hours,” he said. “That’s hardly enough time. Graham’s got no clue what he’s doing. Fortunately for him, I’m going to help him out. Okay, here’s how this is going to work. I’m going to meet him at the park with the notebook, and—”
“No, you’re not,” said Josh. “It’s gone.”
Richard turned slowly, and Josh saw a flame kindling in his eyes. He held his breath. As much as he hated to admit it, he was intimidated by Richard, even though he knew he would win if it came down to a fight.
“What did you just say?” said Richard.
“The notebook is gone,” said Josh. “I got rid of it. I burned the pages. There’s nothing left.”
Richard seized him by the collar of his shirt and shoved him against the wall. Leaning forward with a menacing glare, he shook him.
“I told you to keep it safe,” he said. “What kind of idiot are you that you can’t follow simple instructions?”
“I did what I thought was best,” said Josh, resisting the impulse that prompted him to fling Richard away. “I don’t care if it’s part of my family’s history. I’m not going to be defined by it. I hate what it’s done to the people I love. It’s your life, not mine, and I don’t want to have anything to do with it.”
“You don’t have a choice,” said Richard. “You can deny it all you want, but it’s going to catch up with you eventually, whether you like it or not.”
“Only because of you,” said Josh. “I was doing fine until you came along and ruined everything. I don’t know why you think the whole world revolves around you. I can’t believe you’re actually planning to use Lisa as a bargaining chip.”
“Well, so much for that idea,” said Richard, releasing Josh. “Thanks to you, we don’t have anything Graham wants. This is precisel
y why I tried to impress upon your ignorant mind the value of the notebook. All you had to do was listen to me. When are you going to realize I’m never wrong?”
Josh looked from Richard to Lisa’s father.
“You must have something that would satisfy Graham,” he said. “You experimented on my mom for months. Maybe you don’t remember all the data you collected, but you could still tell him what you did and what happened. Isn’t that what he really wants? What information is there in the notebook that you couldn’t explain to him?”
Richard and Lisa’s father exchanged a glance.
“What do you think?” said Lisa’s father.
“I don’t know,” said Richard. “Graham would be a fool to trust me, but we might as well try. If this doesn’t work, we’ll have to hope his nonexistent conscience kicks in and prevents him from doing anything horrific. I’ll go to the park and meet him. He won’t be expecting that, and it will make him nervous.”
Lisa’s father sunk back into despair.
“What good will that do?” he said. “We’re never going to get her back. Graham’s got to be smart enough to realize the game will be up as soon as Nora finds out.”
“She’s not going to find out,” said Richard. “From your incoherent babbling on the phone, I gathered she believes Lisa is with you. It’s your job to make sure she continues to believe that. You don’t need to worry about Graham snitching on you. He’s probably just as eager to keep this secret as we are.”
“What if Lisa tells her?” said Josh.
“She won’t,” said Richard. He spoke confidently, but Josh thought he looked uneasy. “I’ll talk to her about it. If she understands the consequences of speaking up, I think she’ll be more than happy to forget about the whole thing. That being said, she might need space to process everything. You shouldn’t expect too much from her.”
Josh thought Richard was being despicable, and he was baffled by the indifference of Lisa’s father. He felt like pointing out that neither of them seemed to care about Lisa, but he thought better of it. There was no point in antagonizing them. However, he didn’t intend to participate in a conspiracy to silence Lisa.
The Patient from Silvertree: Book One in the Silvertree Series Page 25
