A Case of the Heart (24 page)

Liz regretted the inability to act on her first instinct to hit the guy where the self-defense instructors suggested but Pirelli had a vice grip on her that didn’t give her any choice but to be another one of his victims. Another part of her wanted to be there with those kids and keep them from harm anyway she could.

He pushed her toward the house and banged on the door. His squared face was scarred with bad acne and sweat dripped off his forehead even though the temperature was barely above freezing. He was tall and gangly, reminding her of the hooded figure she had seen in the parking lot. He had a firm grip on her arm, and his anger made him even stronger.

Liz heard but couldn’t turn to see the squeal of car tires coming to a stop then a car door slam.

Nancy opened the door and peered around. “Liz!”

Pirelli pushed Liz inside, slamming the door just as Alex reached the first step. Alex hit the front door as Pirelli locked it behind him.

“Pirelli!” Alex yelled, fury and frustration laced his voice.

Liz had never heard Alex out of control on a call before.

Pirelli growled a small chuckle and walked from room to room ransacking them one by one. She wished the money was still there so he could find it and this would be over.

Liz gathered the children together with John and Nancy. “Is everyone okay? How long has Pirelli been here?”

“Yes, just a little scared. He’s only been here a short time.” The boys looked at her with wide eyes as John answered for them. “He just wants his money. I’ve heard him on his cell phone. There’s someone making him very nervous.”

“Alex is here which means there will be more cops coming soon. We just need to wait him out.” Liz paused and noticed the tension in Nancy’s face, but she was being strong and held back her fear. “Nancy, I’m sorry.”

Nancy brushed away Liz’s apology with a wave of her hand. “He doesn’t seem to mean us any harm.” Nancy glanced down at the boys to see that they’d heard her for their reassurance. “He might be as scared as we are.”

John looked at the boys and then to Liz. He moved closer to her so the boys couldn’t hear. “He says he has a gun, and I’m not going to call his bluff.”

Liz didn’t want to put him to the test either. Whether he had a weapon or not, he was in a dangerous frame of mind. “Just try to stay out of sight as much as possible. I’ll try and keep Pirelli occupied.”

Pirelli paced, looking outside and making phone calls. He spoke so quickly and softly Liz couldn’t make out what he was planning.

John moved a step closer to Pirelli. “Believe me, we wouldn’t risk the safely of these boys if we had anything to give you that would get you to leave us here unharmed.” His voice cracked with anxiety.

Pirelli walked up to Scotty. He bent down and stood nose to nose with him. Scotty gave him a blank stare, trying not to act scared, but Pirelli was scaring Liz so she knew Scotty had to feel the same way.

“I’m gonna ask you one last time. Where is it?”

“We told you, Officer Demas took it,” Scotty told him in an unwavering voice.

Scotty’s glazed look was actually convincing, and Liz was impressed with his composure. She might not have done so well. Pirelli got to her in a big way. Harris and Sanders were emotional wrecks with dependencies, but Pirelli was dark and hollow inside. As if nothing he had to do would faze him, as long as he got what he came for.

Pirelli snorted. “Demas.”

He grabbed Scotty by the shirt, looking at him with those ghostly green eyes. “You’re full of it.” He yanked Scotty closer to him. “You think the cops would trade you for some coinage?”

Scotty began to falter, and he looked toward Liz.

Pirelli scoffed. “You’ve never been worth so much.”

He abruptly let go of Scotty’s shirt and walked to the window. His phone rang. He scowled when he read the caller ID but took the call.

Liz hated to think of what he was planning. She had to get Scotty some place safe.

She touched his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

He was a few inches shorter than Liz, but after the way he stood his ground with Pirelli, he looked older than his twelve years.

Scotty looked at her with confidence. “Yeah, I have God with me, remember?”

She smiled and looked over at Pirelli. Scotty watched him too.

“Go stand with John and Nancy on the other side of the room.”

Scotty nodded and went to the others who sat at the far end of the room, huddled together on the couch.

Pirelli kept his eye on them but was too preoccupied on the phone and didn’t seem to care, at least for the moment.

She slowly sat down on a small couch by the front window, opened a curtain and peered out. Another police car had joined Alex’s. The officers stood together talking and looking up at the house. Alex went to his car and stared at the house, then walked back to the other patrol car.

Pirelli noticed her interest with the goings-on outside and pushed Liz aside to see. “Where’s Demas?” His voice was raspy and low, and his eyes narrowed into slits.

She didn’t answer and didn’t look at him.

He moved in closer. “You and Demas thought you had me, didn’t you?” His mouth curled into a snake-like grin.

She got up her nerve and drilled him with a dark gaze, prepared to connect with the cold and hollowness she found in them. “It’s not over yet.” That was bold, maybe too bold.

He didn’t get angry like she feared, but got a kick out of it instead. He grunted and spit on the floor as he walked into the kitchen. The tinkling of glasses being knocked together and food thrown on a counter let her know he was distracted. She opened the curtain again and saw two cops behind their car doors, holding radios, and Alex with his cell phone.

When the phone rang, Pirelli came strutting in. His presence brought out a fear in her that she couldn’t contain, and he knew it. She could tell by the sneer and crinkle in his eyes when he looked at her.

Pirelli grabbed the phone. He grunted, then waited and mumbled Alex’s name. “Get it, and they walk. If not, I got all day.”

He paused, listening. “I got nothing to lose here. I get slammed either way.”

He listened again and then shouted angrily into the phone and cursed Alex’s name. He threw the phone over on the couch next to Liz. The negotiations were obviously not going well, which meant the cops would have to take some kind of action. She didn’t want to be consumed by fear, so she closed her eyes and prayed. She heard his footsteps but kept them closed.

“Do you think your prayers are gonna help, sosh?” He shook his head and laughed. “God doesn’t care.”

She opened her eyes and met his gaze. “Why do you feel that way?”

He stared at her for a long time and then at the cops outside. They both knew they would end up hauling him off to jail, where he had been so many times before.

“I figured that out real quick when my mom left. She got tired of getting beat by my dad.”

“I’m sorry,” Liz said with true sympathy.

“Yeah, me too, cuz then he started beating me.”

Liz lowered her head. She couldn’t count how many times she’d heard similar stories. But it never stopped making her hurt, not even for Pirelli, a guy who caused grief for those around him because of his pain. But God teaches about hope and forgiveness. She lifted her head to face Pirelli.

“God does care.” Liz’s voice was steady which surprised her.

He turned to her and threw his hand down to his side and strutted over. He got in her face and stared right through her as he whispered, “Nobody cares.”

Pirelli stood upright and wiped his stubbly mustache and beard with his thumb and forefinger. He turned to leave the room. “Don’t waste your breath, sosh.”

“Oh, I’m not. I’m praying for you.” And she did, with all of her heart. She prayed for a man who was a drug dealer, thief, and holding her and four other innocent people hostage. She did it because Liz knew God cared just as much about Richard Pirelli as He did about her.

He stopped, looked over his shoulder and stared at her. But it was different. His eyes didn’t feel as cold, and his face drained of hate, just for a moment.

More time went by. It had been hours since she had been dragged into this nightmare. Liz looked over at the Bowies and the boys. Scotty and Jimmy sat close together, fear glimmering in both their eyes. Liz wanted to reassure them everything would be okay, but felt so helpless.

Pirelli was waiting for something. His cronies, or a deal that the cops weren’t agreeing to, or maybe he just liked having control. But the worst of it was, he was desperate.

He kept busy talking on the phone with his partners in crime and keeping his eye on the cops outside while he continued to pace. He pretty much ignored his hostages, which Liz was grateful for. He looked at her a couple of times, giving her that crusty look to see if it still got a reaction. But since her prayer, it didn’t affect her the same way.

The sound of police radios and a blur of loud voices caught her attention. She could hear Pirelli’s flip phone shut and the pound of footsteps as he came through the kitchen.

“Get the others and go outside.” He motioned with his hand toward the door.

“What’s going on?” Liz didn’t trust him, but his demeanor was different. Something had happened.

“It’s either the drug lords or the cops.” Pirelli looked over her head, outside. “I’ll take my chances with the cops.”

“That bad, huh?”

“You have no idea, sosh.”

Chapter Thirty

Jake drove up to the Bowies’ house, and Alex briefed him and two other patrolmen. Under Alex’s direction, they formed a perimeter around the house. Alex opened the door of his squad car for protection and took position when suddenly he saw the Bowie’s and Harris boys walk out of the house. Alarm prickled down his spine as Alex called out to the others.

“They’re at the front door. Let’s move.”
Where is Liz? God, let her be all right.

“Go.” Jake replied. “I’m right behind you.”

The pounding in his chest warned him to keep it together, to separate his emotions from the job he had before him. He maneuvered across the front of the house, moving slowly, listening and waiting. He rounded the corner of the porch, then walked up the steps to the house.

Liz stood in the doorway. Her face was drawn with apprehension but softened when she saw him. He reached for her, and pulled her from the danger he felt sure was just inside the door behind her. When she was past the threshold, he coaxed her down the steps and directed her toward his car.

He followed her, running to his patrol car for safety just as Jake and another backup officer passed by them and ran up to the house. They came back out minutes later with Pirelli in cuffs. Pirelli kept his head down, he almost looked remorseful.

“What happened in there?” Alex asked looking from Pirelli to Liz and back again.

Liz was watching Pirelli too. But the calm in her voice told Alex something good had happened. “He made a choice. The right ones.”

“I see one, what’s the other choice?”

“He just may have listened, at least a little, about Christ.” She turned to look at Alex. “At least I hope he did.”

The Bowies and Harris boys were directed into police cars. The concern of having just been through an unbelievably harrowing experience showed in their gaunt faces. But they were safe. Everyone was safe and the criminal was captured. Alex’s eyes darted from Pirelli to the Bowies and the boys to Liz. His eyes stopped there.