Praying for Time

by Carlene Thompson

  Vanessa had already changed into her pajamas and was watching television in Grace’s upstairs room when her cellphone rang. She was surprised to hear Wade Baylor’s voice.

  ‘Wade, is something wrong?’ she asked anxiously.

  ‘Not really wrong. I contacted Zane Felder’s lawyer, John Dawson, in Portland. He gave me quite a bit of information. He said the grandfather left Zane a piece of land with a house on it just outside of the Portland city limits. The house is old and in bad shape, but the condition of the bequest was that if Zane accepted the land, he couldn’t sell the land or tear down the house for at least five years.’

  ‘Isn’t that a strange thing to put in a will?’

  ‘From what I understand, Zane’s grandfather was strange. So is his grandfather’s lawyer, a guy named Enoch Snyder. What a curmudgeon! Anyway, Zane accepted the bequest with the five-year condition. That was over four years ago.’

  ‘Is there something special about the house?’

  ‘No. I think it had been in Zane’s family forever. Dawson told me that Zane’s grandfather didn’t like him. He thought Zane was a weirdo, but he didn’t have any other close relatives. He thought Zane would turn down the bequest rather than pay taxes on an old wreck, but Zane didn’t. I called Libby. She didn’t know anything about it. Zane seemed to keep it a mystery, which in light of the circumstances – Roxanne being held captive in Portland and Zane being Brody’s best friend – seem suspicious to me. I want to see the house. I also want Roxanne to see the house. Maybe she can tell if she ever spent any time there.’

  ‘You want her to go to a place where she might have been held captive?’

  ‘Yes. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need to know. I thought we could go tomorrow.’

  ‘We?’

  ‘You, Roxanne, and me. I also asked Libby to join us since it’s Zane’s house. Or rather hers – he left his entire estate to her except for forty of his fifty-one percent of Blackbird. That goes to Brody. Anyway, will you ask Roxanne? And emphasize how important this is. She might be more receptive to you than to me.’

  Vanessa hesitated and took a deep breath. If Roxanne had been held prisoner in the house, going into it might be traumatic for her. However, if Brody had been the one who kidnapped her, and Zane was his best friend who’d inherited a house no one ever entered, the possible implications were clear. Vanessa remembered Roxanne telling her about the men who’d abused her. Not one man – men. Could one of them have been Zane? Could there have been even more who came to that house? They had to know.

  ‘I’ll ask her, Wade. You know she’ll be reluctant, but I think she’ll realize how vital this is and go along with it.’

  ‘Thanks, Vanessa. Tell her how sorry I am to have to ask this of her.’

  Vanessa looked at her sister huddled in the SUV. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘Yes.’ Roxanne wore jeans, a pink sweater and a jacket. Her hair was full and long, shining golden in the winter sun, and she’d put on lipstick, blush, and mascara, but she still looked slightly ill and scared. ‘I wish we didn’t have to do this.’

  ‘It won’t take long and Wade thinks it’s important that we see this house of Zane’s.’

  ‘I told you I was kept in different places.’

  ‘But you said you were in the last place the longest. And you walked out of it without a blindfold. You might remember it.’

  ‘Yeah. Maybe.’ Roxanne stared out the side window for a minute, then asked, ‘Why do you think Grace is so cold to me? She acts like she doesn’t want me near her.’

  ‘Grace isn’t in good shape physically or mentally. She’s not the Grace you knew.’

  ‘Yes, but she’s nice to everyone except me. Why?’

  Vanessa looked at Wade driving in the patrol car ahead of them and tightened her hands on the steering wheel. ‘When you disappeared, Roxy, the family fell apart. No one blamed you—’

  ‘I think Dad must have.’

  ‘To be honest, Dad was so shocked he said things he didn’t mean, like maybe you brought it on yourself. He didn’t mean it. Anyway, Mommy was already drinking fairly heavily, Dad drank a lot after his father died but he’d gotten sober, then when you vanished he started drinking again, and we were all devastated. Every day we hoped there would be news of you and every day we were disappointed. Grace held it together with her usual strength, but I think we only saw an act. Inside she was torn apart like the rest of us. Then Mom got completely out of control and was confined to her room with a nurse. Dad was a mess, too, and he fell down the stairs and broke his neck. Grace really loved Dad. After his death, I saw her begin to go downhill. She couldn’t handle Mom anymore, even though we had nursing help. She had to have Ellen legally declared incompetent and sent her to a permanent care facility. It was for Mom’s own safety. Then Grace developed Alzheimer’s. This year, I would have had to make other arrangements for the running of the company. I hadn’t told her, but she knew.’ Vanessa sighed. ‘In my opinion, because Grace isn’t thinking clearly, in some way, she holds you responsible for the downfall of her family.’

  ‘Oh, God.’

  ‘I said it’s because she isn’t rational. Five years ago, she wouldn’t have reacted this way to your homecoming, but she’s not the strong woman she was five years ago. Please try to be patient with her, Roxy. And don’t take it personally. Nothing that happened to our family is your fault. Nothing.’

  ‘Maybe I did ask for what happened to me.’

  ‘Then every fifteen-year-old girl with a good figure who wears a bikini is asking for it. Does that sound reasonable?’

  ‘Well, no.’

  ‘Then stop feeling guilty.’

  ‘I can’t but I’ll stop talking about it. How much farther is it to Portland?’

  ‘Around fifty miles. Why, do you need the restroom? When you were little, we couldn’t drive farther than thirty miles without you needing the bathroom.’

  Roxanne laughed. ‘I got bored in the car. I wanted to stop.’

  ‘We all knew that, but Dad would stop, anyway. It was the one thing you did that got on Mom’s nerves.’

  ‘Mommy was incredibly lenient with me. Too lenient.’

  ‘You looked like her. You still do. And you acted like her. I was more introverted like Dad. And you were her baby. I think she’d been told that after me, she couldn’t have more children. Then years later, there you were! Her miracle child!’

  ‘Were you jealous?’

  ‘Not at first. As I got older and Mom favored you so much, I admit I resented you a little. I resented her a lot.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Once again, it wasn’t your fault. Anyway, do you need the restroom? I can call Wade and ask if we can pull over at a fast-food place.’

  ‘No, I don’t need the restroom. I’m just getting nervous. I really don’t want to go to this house.’

  Vanessa looked at her and smiled encouragingly. ‘I’m sure we’ll go in, find nothing, and be out in fifteen minutes. Don’t worry, Roxy.’

  An hour later, Wade pulled his patrol car into the driveway of a ramshackle two-story house that looked as if it dated from 1920. The roof was steep and covered with green asphalt shingles that were beginning to shed onto the patch of weeds that served as a lawn. The porch sagged and two of the steps were missing. An upstairs window bore a long, wiggly crack. A rutted gravel driveway ran beside the length of the house. Vanessa and Roxanne looked at the house, then at each other and started laughing.

  ‘Oh, lord, the police think that could have been a prison?’ Roxanne asked. ‘It looks like it’s going to fall down any minute!’

  Wade got out of his car and motioned to them. As they were emerging from the SUV, a blue compact car whipped to the curb. In a moment, a flustered-looking Libby Hughes rushed toward them. ‘What’s this all about?’ she demanded. ‘I don’t understand. Why are you interested in Zane’s house?’

  ‘Zane lived here?’ Wade asked in surprise.

  ‘Oh, of course he didn�
�t! Look at it. His ogre of a grandfather left it to him. I just found out about it.’

  ‘Have you been here before?’

  ‘Once. Last summer we got out and walked around the house to see the beautiful view from the back yard. You’d never believe it and you can’t even see it from the street. The view, that is. This lot is almost two acres. That’s why there aren’t any houses crowding this one. Zane asked me if I’d like to live in a nice house on this lot. I said yes. I had no idea he already owned it.’ She looked earnestly at Vanessa. ‘Zane’s grandfather was a mean, crazy old coot and he didn’t like Zane so he must have saddled him with this place as a joke. And now it’s mine, I’m told. Zane left me almost everything. Can you believe that?’

  ‘Yes. He loved you very much, Libby.’

  ‘And he was the love of my life. I’ll never marry anyone else.’ She looked down at her engagement ring, then back at Vanessa. ‘Why are you here?’

  ‘Yesterday I told you we were coming here,’ Wade said.

  ‘But you didn’t say why. Are you trying to make trouble for Zane?’

  ‘I think it’s a little late for that, Libby.’

  Her big eyes filled with tears and Vanessa put her arm around Libby. ‘I think Wade is trying to be very thorough because Zane was a murder victim. He’s certainly not trying to cause trouble. He said something that came out wrong. Don’t be upset. Do you want to go inside the house with us?’

  Wade shot her a quick, annoyed glance, but Vanessa didn’t care about anything except soothing Libby’s feelings.

  ‘OK, although I don’t know what you’re looking for.’

  ‘Neither do we,’ Wade said. ‘Let’s hope there’s nothing to find.’

  Zane’s grandfather’s lawyer Snyder had left the front-door key in a rusty mailbox that was near to falling off the house. He opened the creaky screen door with torn mesh and inserted the key into the door-handle lock. He had trouble turning it. ‘This hasn’t been used for a while,’ he said. Finally he wrenched it to the side, there was a groaning sound as the bolt slid back, and he shoved open the door.

  Wade led the way into a shadowy living room. Thin blinds over the windows let in enough light to show the years of dust and cobwebs covering a scuffed hardwood floor and old furniture that probably dated from the Forties. In corners wallpaper had come loose and hung in dirty desolation.

  ‘Oh my gosh,’ Libby breathed. ‘This is gross!’

  ‘I’ll say,’ Vanessa agreed. ‘I wonder how long it’s been since anyone lived here.’

  Wade looked at Roxanne. ‘You said when you got free, you ran upstairs and out the front door. Does any of this seem familiar to you?’

  Roxanne glanced around and shook her head. ‘I was so frightened and I felt weak and sick. All I remember is seeing a door and opening it. I’m sorry.’

  ‘Don’t be sorry. You were right to get out as soon as possible.’

  ‘You were in here?’ Libby asked, looking bewildered.

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe. We’re trying to see if I remember anything.’

  ‘Well, no one’s been in this room,’ Libby said. ‘It looks like it hasn’t been touched for decades.’

  Wade nodded. ‘Let’s go upstairs.’

  ‘No! Wait!’

  Everyone looked at Roxanne.

  ‘When I escaped, I ran upstairs, not down,’ she reiterated.

  ‘So you want to check out the basement?’ Wade asked.

  Roxanne nodded, albeit hesitantly.

  ‘OK, but I don’t want to spend a minute more in here than necessary.’

  They walked to the back of the house. The electricity was turned off in the property, and in the kitchen Wade pulled out his flashlight and shone it on a back door opening to the outside and another door leading down the basement stairs. ‘Everyone follow me and watch their step.’

  Before they reached the bottom of the flimsy stairs, odors floated up to Vanessa. Patchouli and sandalwood. Cedar was the strongest. There were others, fainter, but those three she knew immediately. Incense, she thought. Someone had burned incense in this basement. Walking into the basement, Wade’s flashlight flicked over walls painted black and black-painted wood covering the small windows. The light then caught the shine of brass. Wade focused the light and before them stood a thick brass stick about four feet high with a fat, black candle wedged in the top. Beyond it stood three more.

  ‘Whoa,’ he said. ‘What are these?’

  ‘Floor candle holders,’ Vanessa said. ‘They use them on the set of Kingdom of Corinna.’

  Beyond the candle holders was a long, carved chest. On top stood a boom box with labeled tapes beside it. Without touching them, Vanessa surveyed the tapes: ‘Indra’ by Thievery Corporation, ‘Tubular Bells’ by Mike Oldfield. Beside the boom box sat three incense burners, and several pieces of leather. Wade slipped on latex gloves and lifted one, inspecting it closely. ‘Is this a mask?’ he finally asked in disbelief.

  ‘It’s a sado-masochistic mask,’ Vanessa said. ‘So’s the other one. Pick up that piece of leather beside it. That’s a sado-masochistic halter. There’s also a ball-gag. The other thing is a cat-o’-nine-tails whip.’

  Wade stared at Vanessa. ‘How do you know all of this?’

  ‘I live in Hollywood.’

  He looked at her in disapproval.

  ‘Oh, Wade, I read a lot!’ Vanessa managed to laugh despite the circumstances.

  ‘Geez. Give me good old Everly Cliffs any day,’ he muttered. Then he flashed the light in the other direction. Everyone went silent at the sight of a bed covered in black velveteen. A canopy loomed over the bed, the velveteen covering it and dipping into fringed edges. The bed stood against a wall where chains were attached to wall hooks. At the end of the chains were metal cuffs.

  ‘What the hell …’ Wade breathed.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ Libby gasped. ‘A bed? A black bed and chains?’

  ‘It’s an S & M chamber,’ Roxanne said tonelessly, her face colorless. ‘I used to lie naked on that bed, blindfolded, my wrists in the cuffs, the collar around my neck, my feet tied with rope, the incense burning – especially the cedar – music playing – blasting – feeling the whip hitting me – not hard enough to cause cuts, only welts – and then … and then a man with a hood would … would get on top of me and …’

  She turned, bent, and vomited onto the floor.

  SEVENTEEN

  Wade called the county police, and while Roxanne sat on the front seat of the SUV, taking deep breaths and trying not to be sick again, Libby paced around wringing her hands, tears streaming down her face. ‘I don’t understand,’ she told Roxanne for the tenth time. ‘I don’t understand. The lawyer says this house belongs to Zane but that stuff in the basement can’t be Zane’s. It can’t!’

  ‘We don’t know what’s happening yet. We have to wait for the county police.’

  ‘What are they going to do? Take that disgusting trash out of the house? Did you see those chains? That whip?’

  ‘Oh, please,’ Roxanne moaned. ‘Don’t talk about it.’

  Libby immediately kneeled at Roxanne’s feet. ‘Oh, honey, I’m sorry. But you know Zane didn’t have anything to do with what happened to you in that basement—’

  Roxanne heaved again, Libby toppled backward, and Vanessa grabbed her sister’s hair and held it away from her face. ‘It’s OK,’ Roxanne mumbled in a few seconds. ‘It’s just dry heaves. Can’t we leave?’

  ‘No. I’m sorry,’ Vanessa soothed. ‘We have to wait but not for long. The police are here.’

  First one patrol car pulled up and in two minutes another. The uniformed officers gathered in a huddle and spoke with Wade, a couple of them occasionally glancing over at Roxanne. In a minute, Wade came back to the women. ‘I’m going downstairs with them but you have to stay. I’m sorry, Roxanne.’

  She stood shakily and nodded.

  ‘What about me?’ Libby almost wailed, still kneeling.

  ‘They might have a couple
of questions for you, Miss Hughes. It would be better if you wait, too.’

  ‘Oh Lord, help my soul. As if my poor Zane getting murdered wasn’t bad enough, now he’s suspected of doing sick, perverted things.’ She put her head in her hands. ‘I can’t stay! I can’t stand it!’

  Wade cast Vanessa a despairing glance then walked back to the other officers. Vanessa knelt across from Libby. ‘Honey, I know none of this seems fair but the police need you—’

  ‘OK!’ she snapped. ‘If that’s what everyone wants, I’ll stay!’

  ‘Thank you so much, Libby. That will be a real help.’ Vanessa stood and looked at Roxanne. ‘How are you doing?’

  ‘All right, considering. I didn’t remember that place until I saw it. Maybe I didn’t let myself remember it.’

  ‘I’m sorry that you had to see it.’ Vanessa scanned the neighborhood. ‘There aren’t many houses around here. It looks like it used to be a nice place to live but fell out of style. There isn’t one even semi-new house here.’

  ‘It’s quiet. Very few neighbors.’

  ‘Do you remember any of this from when you escaped the house?’

  ‘Not a thing. It was dark and I was in a panic, waiting for someone to grab me and drag me back to that house. It seemed I ran for a long time, though, before the woman picked me up. Then we drove for a while. I got out of the car. Thank God, I ended up near the bus station.’

  ‘Yes, thank God.’ Vanessa paced in a circle. ‘They’re taking pictures and gathering evidence, but it feels like they’ve been in there forever.’

  Finally they emerged from the house and Wade walked to Vanessa’s car. ‘I think they got everything they need. They’ve already gone over Zane’s apartment with a fine-tooth comb. Now I’d like to see Brody’s place.’

  ‘Brody’s? Why?’ Vanessa asked.

  ‘He might have left something that would tell us where he is.’

  ‘He’s in Everly Cliffs. You know that.’

  Wade stared at her but said nothing.