"Let"s hope not," I replied. "I don"t want my tax dollars to go to that."
The wind tore at the envelope again and I s.n.a.t.c.hed it up before it could be blown away. It didn"t have a return address. It felt heavy, as if there were pictures inside or a really long letter. I got a bad feeling, and exchanged a glance with Mandy. She must feel it too, because her exhilarated expression was gone and she was frowning. I slid my finger under the edge of the envelope and tore it open.
Photos fell out and fluttered to the ground. I bent over to pick them up and the hair on my arms stood up on end. The pictures were of a girl; she was tied up and had ducttape around her mouth.
The faint smell of cherry wafted from the envelope. Cigar smoke? Something that pa.s.sed from the sender to the letter?
I gathered up the pictures and could feel my eyes grow hot. I wanted to cry and scream all at the same time. I knew the girl in the pictures.
It was Angela.
Chapter 39.
WILLIAMS SUCKED ON A cigar and the end glowed amber. It was a clear night but a slight breeze made the smoke waft away. The girl was pretty in a punk sort of way. She put up a fight but was so small that her kicks did nothing to stop him. He was, after all, a driven man.
Walking back inside, he turned the corner and his breath stopped. She stood defiantly staring at him, holding a piece of wood. Why she didn"t try to run was a mystery, maybe she liked it rough.
"I see I need to work on my bondage skills." Williams pulled on his cigar and let a small grin cross his lips. "Now just put the wood down, you"ll hurt yourself."
"I"m gonna hurt something, you sick perv." Angela stood knees bent ready to strike. She looked like a batter about to hit a home run.
Williams laughed and took a step forward, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "You got me.Please don"t hurt me." This was fun, maybe his subconscious wanted her to get free so he could mess with her, was that why he didn"t tie her up securely?
"I lived with pigs like you all my life, you are just one more man who needs to be taught that you do not have the right to abuse women." Her eyes flashed and Williams took a small step forward as if sneaking up on a scared rabbit. She took onestep back and that was all he needed to let him know that her front was just a cover for her fear.
He lowered his hands and pulled on his cigar one more time. "My father used to say, if you want something done right, you"ve got to do it yourself."
Williams lunged forward and Angela swung, hitting him across the ribs. He did not stop and bull tackled her to the ground, not feeling the pain. She grunted under his weight, and in a matter of seconds he had her hands behind her back and hauled her to her feet.
Angela screamed for help, but he was not worried, this was a bas.e.m.e.nt and her cries would do no good here.
"Yes, that"s it, scream. I like the wild ones." Grabbing her throat he squeezed and pushed her against a wooden support post. Slipping the knife from his hip sheath he pressed it to her neck. She froze.
"That"s right, be a good little girl and hold still." This time he used duct tape and put one strip over her mouth. She was crying and this made him want to kill her. Crying was for the weak and the weak did not deserve to breathe.
"You see, my dear, you are cursed to be submissive to man; you are weaker in every way and need to be ruled. Your only worth is to bear children to keep the human race going and for man"s personal pleasure. But you fight against it, demand freedom, only to miss your true calling."
Taking the knife, he felt for her fifth rib. "You are a slave, you will always be a slave no matter how much power you think you have. Women in power are only there because we let them be there. But it all comes around in the end." Pushing the knife in he let it slide in slow. Angela screamed into the duct tape.And once the knife was all the way in, he yanked it out again. Blood spurted from the wound and stained her shirt.
"There, you will bleed out for a few hours, and you will suffer as you were meant to suffer." Williams wiped the blade on her pants and took another draw from his cigar. He didn"t even drop it in the struggle, more proof that he was the master and she the servant.
Her skin was pale now, the trauma too much for her to handle. She was a beautiful thing, a prize to be proud of, and the makings of a great gift for his prey.
Sarah Steele.
Chapter 40.
I LAID OUT THE pictures on the table at my bed and breakfast, and unfolded the note. Mandy stood at my shoulder, and Rick was lying on the bed, stunned by what he"d seen in the pictures. I was in full-on business mode, and was a.n.a.lyzing the pictures and notes.
Miss Steele, You wanted to play with me, and now here we are. This is Angela, say hi. She is in love with me and I with her. Will you stop our love? You have four hours, if you fail she and I will play ... you like to play, don"t you?
HW.
P.S. Oh, and if you go to the police or your pal Dan, Game Over. This is our game-no cheating!
I read the note three times and looked at the four pictures. I wanted to get the police involved and call in every connection I had. But I knew if this was real, if Hank Williams had kidnapped her, my decision could cost her life. He had unlimited resources, and for all I knew he was watching me now.
"Four hours," I whispered. Picking up my phone, I set the alarm on it. Beep. It began counting down. Every second going by meant Angela"s chances were slimmer.
How had the pictures arrived at my car? Had someone been following me this whole time? I thought about Hannah, how she said she would break me. It had to be her. She probably called Glen or Hank when she left, and told them where I was.
"You need to go to the police," Mandy said. There were tears in her eyes. "They"re equipped to handle things like-"
"Shh," I said harshly. Spreading the photos out and putting my lamplight directly on them, I snapped a picture with my phone of each one. Then I took a picture of the note.
"How can you do this, Sarah? You"re an attorney, not a detective." Her voice shook in anger.
"I can do this," I whispered, more to myself than them. Opening up the envelope, I breathed in the scent again. Cherry. No doubt about it.
Rick sat up. His voice was stern. "There"s no room for error, no chance at forgiveness. You make a mistake and Angela"s dead. Now take the photos to the police."
Some of my old confidence returned. At the sight of Angela tied up and hurting, I"d shut off everything about me and made it all about her. This was bigger than me now. It was time to meet Hank Williams face to face. And I wouldn"t mind if I could get Glen Williams behind bars in the process.
"I"m not taking the pictures to the police," I said evenly. "I have to study them. I have to find out where she is." I looked up at them. Their expressions were frantic. "I have to play the game."
Mandy turned her back to me and slammed her hand against the wall. "You"re going to kill that girl."
I stood up so quickly the chair fell over backwards. Mandy"s eyes widened and Rick tensed up. "I can"t think when it"s so quiet." Going over to my computer, I turned on an old screamo alb.u.m I had to its loudest volume. Mandy gave me a strange look. She knew me better than that. She knew I couldn"t think unless it was quiet.
I picked the chair back up and sat down, bending over the pictures again. Except this time I motioned for them to come close. Rick stood and slowly came towards me, as if he was afraid I would do something. Mandy leaned in right away. Her red hair blended with my blonde on the table.
When Rick bent over the two of us, I mouthed to them, with a mix of hand motions, "take-" I pointed to the pictures, "to police. Place could be bugged." In a motion, I slit my throat. "Don"t come near me again." And then I looked up at them, my soul in my eyes. "Stay safe."
Rick nodded solemnly. Mandy winked at me, then said loudly. "Fine. Then if you want to sentence her to death, I"m not going to be a part of this. See you at the funeral."
I handed her the envelope with everything inside, and blew her a kiss. She hid them inside her purse.
When they walked out the door, I"d never felt so bereft.
And so intent on finding Angela. The clues were at my fingertips, I could feel it. My whole body tingled in tension. It was my turn now.My turn to hunt down Hank Williams.
And I had less than four hours to do it.
Chapter 41.
I WENT TO WHERE I could think the best. At the office, on the bench beside the lake. The fountain ceaselessly sprouted water. It made ripples in the pool and sounded like rain. It was the only music I needed for this. The place was deserted and at this hour I would be shocked if it wasn"t.
I hadn"t had a chance to study the pictures. They were still a mystery. I pulled my legs up and sat cross-legged on the bench, in a lotus position. Time to meditate. I opened my phone and focused all my energy on the images in it. The pictures must"ve been taken on a nice camera, the quality was good. I took them apart centimeter by centimeter, studying every little square.
I shut off my imagination and feelings, and became like a computer, only recognizing objective details.
Her clothes. I noticed she wasn"t wearing her own shirt. It was a b.u.t.ton up blouse with a floral pattern, and Angela wouldn"t have picked it out in a million years. Which means he"d already undressed her. She wasn"t wearing any pants. There was a big, dark stain on the carpet beneath her hips, and what looked like blood running down her leg. She wasn"t wearing any shoes, but I saw them in the corner of the photo.
Her marks. She had bruises on her shins, as if she"d tripped over an obstacle in her path. Too low to be a fence. Too high to be a step. Maybe it was on a car door, like she was forced to enter one. There was a bruise on her cheek as if she"d been backhanded. And one of her toenails was torn off.
Bindings. Her hands were tied behind her, I couldn"t see what with. But I a.s.sumed it was with duct tape, as that"s what covered her mouth and bound her feet.
Location. The building she was in was being renovated. It seemed to be a house, because I saw a closet with a Cat Lover"s Calendar hanging on its door, and the wallpaper trim had cartoon kittens hugging and cuddling with mice. There was a toolbox in the closet, with a power drill beside it. The air seemed hazy, as if filled with sawdust or drywall dust. All of the wooden tr.i.m.m.i.n.g was torn off and thrown in a corner. Loose and twisted nails littered the ground. Angela was standing with a wooden post at her back. Her hands looked to be behind it.
I was pulled into her eyes. They were the only free thing about her. She looked straight at the camera, in pleading agony. That was what got to me.
Hunching over, I broke down in sobs. I didn"t want to imagine what she was going through at this very moment. I knew what was happening, but I didn"t want to believe it was possible. That in this world, a smart, feisty, lovable girl like Angela could be ravaged like this. That she could know such pain and agony in her short life.
Anger overwhelmed me. I covered my mouth with my hands and screamed. The sound pierced the darkness. It broke the stillness. I wailed into the night.
Then, panting, I closed my eyes. All that I"d been hiding, the part of me I"d wanted to destroy, I brought out. It was time to let the darkness out, and use what I kept buried. I had to help Angela, had to stop Hank and his brother Glen once and for all.
I looked at the stopwatch on my phone. Two more hours until she"d be dead.
I stood up and started pacing, taking huge breaths. I thought through every detail, piecing them together like a puzzle.
I was fairly certain she was at the same location I"d been taken to when I was kidnapped. First, because the house was being renovated. And second, because I had seen the same weird color of green carpet lint downstairs that was at her feet.
If she was there, that meant she was only twenty miles from my house. At the most. I"d been drugged, taken there, and put back in my room in less than two hours.
Which meant I had to find all the houses that were being renovated in my area. That would take forever.
But I had someone to call. After dialing, I paced impatiently until he answered.
"h.e.l.lo?" Rick said.
"Are you home?" I asked.
"Yes. Wha-"
"You work in real estate.Don"t large companies pay to move people into town for jobs? I know Micron does it all the time."
"Yeah, most bigger companies that hire out of state contract with relocation services.Why?"
"I"ve got a hunch.See if you can find out what service Williams, Inc. uses. I hope one of the houses they use is the one they took me to."
"That"s a long shot, but I think you"re right, they will have houses and apartments set up for new hires for temporary housing. Let me call a guy, Doug works for a service in town and I"ve done a few deals with him for Williams, Inc. I"m betting they use him as there are only two services like that in town."
"Lets just hope he"s up." It was late but with my luck Doug kept his phone on.
Ten minutes later Rick texted me an address. Delaware Avenue. Number 1123. It was eight blocks from my house and was owned by the relocation service but only used by Williams, Inc. He said Doug was a little drunk but gave him access to their database after he explained what was going on.
A few seconds later my phone lit up. It was Mandy.
"Sarah, I"m gonna go out to look, both of us are. Rick found eight more homes in a twenty minute driving radius of your house, there is no way you can do this alone."
My gut balled up, what if Mandy found the right house first?What if she got hurt? "No, Mandy, I need you and Rick to stay home. I wouldn"t be able to live with myself if you guys got hurt, or worse."
"I wasn"t asking, Sarah. We are already out. Rick has a shotgun and he called the police with all the addresses. I"ll text you three addresses and Rick and I will take the rest. I am on my bike and not in the mood to argue."
I swore under my breath and hung up. Seconds later a text came through with three more addresses. That made four I had to search.
Hold on, Angela. I"m coming for you.
Chapter 42.
I DIDN"T KNOW WHERE to start so I started with the first address I got from Rick. I punched it in on my GPS and hit the gas. I could care less if I got pulled over, tonight I was the hunter.
I had four different addresses and not enough time. I prayed that I found the right house and not Rick or Mandy.Why in the world would he let her go alone? Rick could be a bonehead at times and Mandy had a way of getting her way.
Memories of my father flooded my mind and the look in his eyes when he knew I"d betrayed him. It was the worst moment in my life but at the time I felt nothing. But now, after so many painful years and years in a counselor"s office I learned to control the evil lurking just under the surface.