Personal Justice (26 page)

The nylon rope was tough and unyielding, but it was no match for her will. The woven strands broke loose one by one, until finally, the ends fell free.

Still a long way to go.

She listened for any sound from upstairs, but all was quiet.

Her legs were next. They were tied to the chair, but with the rope now slackened, it was an easy task to arch her back and slip them off the end of the chair legs.

She rolled to her side and struggled to her feet, standing at an awkward angle. Her hands were bound to the back of the chair, but now she could move them enough to work at the knots.

The nylon cord clung stubbornly to itself as she fought with it. Then finally something slipped and she got a better grip. She continued her battle with the rope until it fell away, the chair tumbled loose, and she was free.

Almost.

She still needed to get out of this room, the stairs leading up to freedom the only way.

She touched the back of her head and looked at her fingers. There was no blood. She had a mild headache, and the spot that struck the floor was tender to the touch, but she shook it off and concentrated on her escape.

Annie was almost certain Tammy had driven away earlier, but she wouldn’t bet her life on it. She crept up the stairs and sat on the narrow top step, her ear to the door. There was no sound.

She tried the door handle. It turned but the door wouldn’t budge, locked from the other side.

She leaned back and struck the door with her shoulder. It rattled and stayed solid. She held her breath, listening for signs of anyone in the house, but heard nothing.

Her continued effort to break the door down was getting her nowhere. There was no room to stand on the upper step and it was impossible to strike the door at the height of the lock using her shoulder. There must be a better way, and she needed to find that way before Tammy came back to finish what she started.

Annie ran down the stairs and looked around frantically, searching for something she could wedge into the lock, or anything that would serve as a battering ram.

The shelves were flimsy and useless. The other junk lying around wouldn’t help. The only possibility was the chair. She hefted it. It was sturdy and might be of some use, but it would be awkward to handle in the confined space at the top of the steps.

She lifted it over her head and brought it crashing down, again and again, until finally the legs loosened and she wrenched them free.

Then the rungs at the back received the same treatment until she held only the solid seat in her hands.

She raced up the stairs and pounded at the lock with the makeshift battering ram. The frame splintered. She paused to catch her breath before continuing. Finally, the lock gave and the door popped open.

She tossed the seat down the stairs, took the final step into the foyer, and dashed to the kitchen. A phone rested on the counter. She picked up the receiver and put it to her ear.

There was no dial tone; the phone was disconnected.

Annie raced for the back door, flipped the lock, and pulled the sliding door open. She dashed into the bright sunlight, spun around, and saw a house to her left, another to her right.

She went left, ran up the side of the house where she was held prisoner, then jumped a hedge to the front lawn of the neighbor’s house.

She pounded at the door, keeping an eye behind her in case Tammy returned. She had no idea if anyone was home, but she knocked again.

Finally, the door opened a few inches, stopped by a security chain. A wrinkled face sporting a curious look appeared in the crack. The old man had a sparse covering of snow-white hair and he cupped a hand behind his ear. “Whatever is the matter?” he asked.

“I need to use your phone. It’s an emergency,” Annie said, a pleading look on her face.

The man stared a moment, a faint frown taking over his brow. He looked Annie up and down and then closed the door. The chain rattled and the door swung open.

“I guess it’ll be okay,” the old man said, as he stepped back and waved her in. “Martha don’t like anyone tracking about the house, but she ain’t here right now and you sure look like you been through something.”

Annie stepped inside. “Thank you.”

The man pointed down the hallway. “Go on into the kitchen there and help yourself. It’s hangin’ on the wall.”

Chapter 50

Friday, 12:24 p.m.

JAKE LOOKED AT his cell phone and frowned. It was an unknown number. He answered it, tucked it between his shoulder and ear, and put his hands back on the steering wheel.

“Jake Lincoln,” he said into the phone.

“Jake, It’s Annie. I’m okay.”

Jake’s heart jumped and he brought his left hand up to the phone, leaning forward in his seat. “Where are you?”

“At the north end of the city, near Main and Broad.”

Jake looked in the mirror, touched the brake, and pulled into the left hand lane. “I’m on my way,” he said, as he pulled a U-turn, heading back the way he’d come.

Since Jake had last talked to Hank, he’d been driving around endlessly, looking for Tammy Norton’s car in the area where Annie’s cell phone had been found. He wasn’t far from her, and he listened while Annie gave him her exact location.

“I’ll be there in five minutes. Don’t go anywhere.” He hung up, touched the gas and swerved around a slow-moving vehicle.

Four minutes later, he pulled up in front of a small, clapboard house and looked around for Annie. She streaked out from behind a thick bush, opened the door, and got in.

“Am I glad to see you,” she said.

Jake grinned and leaned over while Annie kissed his grin. “Me too,” he said. “What happened?”

The grin vanished from Jake’s face, replaced by a worried look as Annie told him in as few words as possible how Tammy had abducted her and how she escaped.

“Did you call the police?” Jake asked.

“Not yet. I called you first.” She reached for Jake’s phone and called Hank. Whenever the detective was available, going through him was always the fastest way to get things moving.

“Hank will be here in a few minutes,” she said, after she spoke to the cop and hung up. “He’s sending some cruisers as well.”

Jake explained about Geekly’s call, the search of Tammy’s house, and how Annie’s cell phone had been recovered.

“She has to get rid of my car,” Annie said. “She might’ve returned to her house to get it.”

“And when she finds a house full of police, and cruisers all over the street, she won’t stick around.”

“Exactly,” Annie said. “Then she’ll have no choice. She’ll return here to finish me off.”

Jake glanced through the windshield, then in the rear-view mirror. “We should get this car out of sight in case she comes back. We don’t want her to know you escaped.”

He pulled from the curb, spun around, and drove to a side street. They got out and worked their way back, stopping beside a massive oak tree across the street from the house.

Jake kept an eye in the direction he expected Tammy Norton to come from. “Do you know whose house that is?” he asked.

“I didn’t stick around long enough to find out. The phone was disconnected, and it seems to be vacant for one reason or another, although it’s still full of furniture. It’s been empty awhile, because she held her husband here before she killed him.”

“She planned it well,” Jake said.

“Almost well enough.”

Jake took a step back and grabbed Annie by the arm, pulling her toward him. “I think she’s coming.”

A dark-blue car came down the street. Jake squinted out from behind the tree. “It’s her.”

The Ford slowed and turned into the driveway. The garage door wound upward, the car pulled in, and then the door closed.

Jake looked up and down the street. The police were nowhere in sight.

“She’s going to find out pretty quickly I’m gone,” Annie said. “As soon as she gets in the house, she’ll see the broken door.”

Jake looked at Annie in alarm. “And then she’ll run, and they might never find her.”

Annie glanced at the house then back at Jake. “We have to stop her.” She looked thoughtfully toward the house. “I think she has a plan. Someplace to go where it’s safe after she leaves here. She might disappear forever.”

Jake ran the options through his head. They could go into the house and hope to overpower her. That was dangerous. She was armed. They could wait for the police. Not a great option. Maybe they could follow her in the Firebird. Not such a great plan, either.

He looked at Annie. “Any ideas?” He could almost see Annie’s mind at work.

“If we can’t stop her,” Annie said. “Maybe we can slow her down.”

“How?”

“Get your car,” she said, turning and racing toward their parked vehicle.

Jake followed her, reached the Firebird, and they hopped inside. He started the car, the tires squealing as he spun it around.

Annie sat forward in the front seat and pointed. “Drive to the house.”

He hit the gas and the car surged forward and then slowed as he neared the house.

“Pull into the laneway and park against the garage door.”

Jake frowned.

“It won’t hurt your baby. Just touch the door gently and stop. That’ll keep it from opening.”

Jake wasn’t keen on the idea but it was a good plan. He pulled into the driveway, eased forward, and stopped, the front bumper firmly against the garage door.

“We’d better get out of the car,” Annie said, opening the door. “She’s going to be as mad as a hornet when she finds out.”

“Odds are, when the door doesn’t open, she’ll come out the back door of the garage to see what the problem is.”

“Or maybe she’ll try to ram it.”

That worried Jake. If Tammy tried to force her way through when the door didn’t open, it could cause damage to his vehicle. But it would be a small price to pay to capture a killer—one who had threatened his wife.

“Okay. We’ve slowed her down,” Jake said. “Now what?”

“We hope the police get here soon,” Annie said. “I’m fresh out of ideas.”

Jake glanced down the street. There were no cars around. It had been several minutes since he called Hank, but the cop was nowhere in sight.

He pulled out his cell phone and called the detective. “Where are you?” he asked, when Hank answered.

“I’m about five minutes away,” Hank said. “I don’t know how close the cruisers are, but I told them to leave their sirens off. We don’t want to warn her.”

Hank chuckled when Jake told him what they’d done to slow her down. “Get out of sight,” Hank said. “We’ll take care of her.”

Jake hung up and spun around as an engine sounded from inside the garage. Tammy was leaving. The garage door motor hummed. The door shuddered and shook as the motor howled and worked uselessly. The door scraped up an inch and stopped. The motor died, then started it’s persistent whine again.

Annie followed Jake and they jumped the hedge onto the neighbor’s lawn and crouched down out of sight. They watched as Tammy came from behind the garage, brandishing a pistol in one hand. She stopped short when she saw Jake’s car in the driveway.

The killer spun around, glancing in all directions, her face flushed with anger. Then she opened the driver side door of the Firebird and looked inside, probably hoping to find the keys in the ignition.

She slammed the door and looked toward the street, her brows in a tight, angry line.

Jake knew Tammy had no way out except by foot. He looked around anxiously for Hank as the killer tucked the pistol into her waistband and started off on a steady jog down the street, moving away from where the Lincolns watched helplessly.

Chapter 51

Friday, 12:45 p.m.

ANNIE WATCHED the woman who had kidnapped her and threatened their lives disappear down the sidewalk. She was getting away.

“We have to follow her,” she said, looking at Jake. “Or she might be gone forever.”

Jake frowned at Annie a moment, then nodded and stood to his feet. “Stay behind me,” he said, leaping into a jog.

“Wait,” Annie called. “Give me your keys.”

Jake stopped, turned back, and frowned as Annie caught up to him. “What for?”

“I’m going to cut her off. I think I know where she’s headed.”

Jake dug in his pocket, pulled out his key ring, and handed it over, a reluctant look on his face. “Be careful.”

“Follow her,” Annie said, pointing up the sidewalk. “Don’t worry about me.”

“I’ll call Hank,” Jake said. “I’ll stay on the line with him until he gets here.”

Annie turned and raced back to the Firebird, hopping in. She had only driven the powerful machine a couple of times in the past. Usually, she let Jake do the driving, or used her own little Escort.

But today, there was no choice.

The engine roared when she turned the key. She dug for a lever below the seat, tugging it forward to accommodate her normal legs rather than Jake’s long ones.

The garage door shuddered and thumped as she put the vehicle in reverse and backed up carefully. She gave it a spurt of gas and the car leaped back, faster than she expected, and she was on the street, facing away from the direction the killer had fled.

She knew Tammy would be desperate now, and desperate people do desperate things. The woman was in a panic, with no choice but to get out of the subdivision and get to Main Street as fast as possible.

At least, that’s what Annie was counting on.

Even at the rate Tammy was running, it would take her several minutes. Once there, Annie was afraid the killer would try to hijack a car. And if Tammy found herself cornered, it might end up as a hostage situation. That would put even more people in danger and must be avoided at all cost.

Annie needed her plan to work.

She spun the wheel, worked the car into low gear, and touched the gas, glancing in the rearview mirror as the car jumped forward. She saw Jake’s back, now almost out of view.

She clung to the steering wheel, managed to find second gear, eased the clutch out, and took a quick right-hand turn without slowing down.