Strangers in the Night (26 page)

Abbie dropped the mask. The clothing meant nothing. Still, why would the ski mask even be out this time of year? There wouldn't be snow in the area for another four to five months.

“Abbie?” Dawn called.

Great. How was she going to explain why she'd gone into the mudroom? There was nothing she could do but reveal her whereabouts. “I'm right here. I was admiring your mudroom. My parents have one too.”

Dawn eyed her warily. “It keeps us from tracking dirt through the rest of the house. Things get pretty muddy around here— especially in the rainy season.”

Abbie stepped back into the kitchen. “Sounds like the coffee is ready.”

Instead of pouring coffee, Dawn stepped into the pantry and picked up the ski mask, which was now lying in front of the shoes.

She tossed the mask into a bin full of hats and fastened her gaze on Abbie.

“I—” Abbie swallowed around the lump in her throat. “I hate to say this, but I think Keith might be the one who shot at me.”

“He didn't shoot at you.” Dawn walked into the living room and lifted the lid on the rolltop desk. Opening one of the small drawers, she pulled out a gun. Abbie could have sworn it was the one Jake had purchased for her. The one she thought Skye had stolen.

“It was me.”

“I don't understand.” Abbie took a step back as Dawn advanced.

“I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, Abbie,” Dawn said. “I like you. I tried to warn you, but you bought the place anyway.”

“You wrote those notes?” Pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.

“I had to stop you.”

“And what about Barbara? Did you kill her?”

Sadness etched her face. “I had to. She recognized Keith and me.”

“You're Valerie.” Abbie couldn't believe she hadn't seen the resemblance before. Dawn looked older than the girl Abbie had seen in the photo, and she had lost weight. Still, Abbie should have made the connection between Dawn and Barbara's friend. “But you were taken hostage.”

“Yes and no. The abduction was all part of the plan. Now, turn around. We're going to take a walk.”

Dawn was going to kill her, and Abbie had to find a way to stop her. All Abbie could think to do was to keep her talking and look for a way out. “Killing me isn't going to help matters.”

“I have no choice.” She waved the gun. “Outside. Now.”

Abbie turned. She saw the coffeepot on the stove, lunged forward, and grabbed it. In the next instant, she threw it into Dawn's face.

Dawn screamed and lifted her arms in defense. Abbie slammed against her, knocking her into the counter. The gun flew out of her hand and landed on the floor. Abbie scrambled for it and managed to get to her feet and turn the gun on Dawn.

Dawn struggled to get up but slipped on the coffee and grounds that now covered the floor where she lay. Red splotches appeared on her face, neck, and arms where the scalding coffee had burned her skin.

Abbie stepped back, still reeling. Her breath came in snatches. “Stay where you are.”

“Help me.” Dawn sobbed as she stretched out her arm. “It hurts—”

“Don't move. I'll call for help.” With the gun still aimed at Dawn, Abbie picked up the phone. “I'm at the B&B in Cold Creek. I need the police here right away. It's urgent.”

Abbie kept the gun trained on Dawn and used her free hand to steady herself. “Where is Emma?”

Dawn shook her head. “I don't know.”

“You're lying.” Abbie's hand shook as she waved the gun at the woman. “You took her.”

“If I tell you, will you let me go?”

The words shook Abbie to the core. She held the gun firm. She would have promised Dawn anything at that point.

“Please.” Dawn gasped, her face twisted in agony. “If you turn me over to the police, I'll deny everything. Let me go now, and I'll tell you where she is.”

Abbie lowered the gun. “Tell me.”

“She's in—” Dawn shifted onto her hands and knees. Groaning in pain, she stood, took two steps toward Abbie, and collapsed.

Abbie jumped back. “No—no. Where is she?” Her screams went unanswered.

Jake had been with Jeff when he got the garbled message over his radio. “It's Abbie,” Jeff shouted back at him. “She needs help.” The two men raced toward the B&B. Fear coursed through Jake's veins as he conjured up all kinds of scenarios. Had she found Emma? Had Abbie been hurt?

Throwing open the door, he stopped at the threshold. Dawn lay on the floor at Abbie's side. The gun he'd bought or one like it lay on the floor and Abbie had a hold of Dawn's lapels, shaking her and screaming at her to wake up.

He pulled Abbie off Dawn, and she immediately began beating on his chest. “She did it. She took Emma. She took my baby and she killed Barbara.”

“Shh.” Jake pulled her close and stroked her back. “Calm down, Abbie. It'll be okay. Just tell us what happened.”

It didn't take long to sort things out, but even then Jake had trouble processing Abbie's story. Dawn came to and began writhing in pain. The ambulance arrived and the medics were able to give her something to sedate her. Between the agonizing screams, Dawn accused Abbie of ruining her life.

Abbie sat beside Jake now, silent and withdrawn. She wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the door. The medics had strapped Dawn to the stretcher after covering her burns with cool wet towels. “She knows where Emma is. She was going to tell me if I let her go. Now it's too late.”

“No, it's not.” Jake put his arm around her. “We'll find her.”

We'll find her
. Jake's words settled into her mind. She turned to look into his eyes. Those blue, blue eyes. In them she saw hope, and she felt her resolve strengthen. He was right. They would find Emma. She couldn't give up. Not now.

Before leaving, Jeff promised to work on Dawn to get her to confess.

“Dawn started to tell me where she'd hidden her. She said Emma was in…something.”

Jake nodded. “We should search the B&B—we didn't before. There's a good chance Emma is here or at least close by. Think about where Dawn might hide her.”

The search team, buoyed by the fact that Emma had likely been hidden close by, began to go through the town again, beginning with the bed and breakfast. But Emma wasn't at the B&B.

Within the hour, police had arrested both Dawn and Keith. Dawn confessed to killing Barbara and trying to kill Abbie. The money from the bank robberies had been buried in various places around the Victorian. The satchel Keith had put in his pickup was one of them. They had taken the money out of the suitcase and stored it in the pantry, where the police found it. Keith refused to tell them where he'd buried the rest of the money, saying he might be willing to make a deal with the DA. Abbie voiced her concerns about Cassie, and Jeff made arrangements to have her picked up from school by a social worker.

By the following day they'd covered the area around Cold Creek two more times and expanded the search to include the woods and hunters' blinds around Bear Lake.

Abbie felt certain that Dawn had been the one to cut Emma's hair and abduct her, but Dawn was now denying it, saying she'd only said that to get away. Abbie didn't know what to believe. Dawn had changed her tune about the bank robberies as well. Now she insisted that Keith had taken her hostage and forced her to join him.

Keith told the authorities that Dawn had been the one to instigate the robberies and that there had been a dozen of them overall.

Abbie, of course, didn't care about any of those things. She just wanted Emma back.

Emma had been gone for three days, and searchers were talking about giving up. Abbie dragged herself to her bedroom after Jake insisted she get some sleep. How could she sleep when Emma was out there somewhere? She felt cetain Dawn had taken Emma and she felt just as certain that Dawn would have taken care of her.

The tears came again, along with her constant prayer to keep Emma safe.

Abbie was about to drift off when the thought came to her. She needed to talk to Dawn personally. Maybe she had read Dawn wrong all along, but she'd seen the woman interact with her daughter. She was a mother.

Abbie quickly dressed, and after calling Jeff, received permission to visit Dawn.

“She's still at the hospital,” he told her, and said he would meet her there.

Seeing Dawn, her face, hands, and chest covered in bandages, filled Abbie with empathy. She had disfigured the woman—perhaps for life.

But she was going to kill you
.

“What do you want?” Dawn glared at Abbie when she came in.

“I know you took Emma. I also know that you don't want Emma to get hurt.”

“You don't know anything.”

“I know you love your daughter. I know that you killed Barbara and tried to kill me to protect your family—to keep from losing her.”

Dawn turned to face the wall.

“Dawn, you're a mother. Please. Tell me where Emma is. She'll die if she doesn't have food and water, and you're the only one who knows where she is.”

“You should have gone away. I tried to warn you.”

“I know that now. But Dawn, if I hadn't bought Cold Creek, someone else would have. Do you really think you could have kept everyone out?”

“When we realized that Barbara knew who we were, Keith wanted to pick up and move. Just like that. I wanted to stay. We had friends here, and Cassie was doing so well in school. I had to do something.” Dawn turned back toward Abbie. “What's going to happen to Cassie now?”

“I suppose she'll be placed in foster care and maybe adopted out.”

Dawn sighed heavily and closed her eyes.

“Please, Dawn. Think about how you would feel if someone took Cassie. You'd know how desperate I am.” Abbie swallowed hard. Did Dawn's silence mean she was reaching her, or that Dawn had closed her out?

“We're not that different, you and I. After my husband died, my mother-in-law decided I wasn't fit to take care of Emma. She went to the authorities and was granted custody.” Abbie went on to tell Dawn about the kidnapping and how she had run from the law for two years. “I decided it was time to stop running.” Abbie licked her lips. “You and Keith committed some serious crimes. I have a feeling that if you cooperate fully, things will go better for you.”

“We'll both be facing life in prison.”

Abbie hoped so, but aloud she said, “Maybe not. There might be a possibility for parole.”

“I'll tell you where Emma is, but you have to promise me something.”

“What? I can't undo what's been done.”

“Take care of Cassie for me.”

Abbie covered her mouth, tears clouding her eyes. “Of course.”

“Promise. No lies. I don't want Cassie to suffer because of what Keith and I did.”

“I promise.” Abbie would have promised her the moon to get her to talk.

“I was taking good care of Emma. I even read to her a couple of times.”

“Where is she?”

“There's a root cellar about a hundred yards from the B&B where there used to be a house, but it burned down. Isabelle will know which one I mean.”

“Thank you.” Abbie gripped the bedrail and glanced over to where Jeff was standing on the other side of the curtain. He nodded at her and hurried out of the room, calling for help on his radio as he went.

“Cassie.” Dawn grabbed at Abbie's sleeve. “Promise.”

“I will do everything I can for Cassie.”

“Bring her to see me.”

“I will if I'm allowed.”

Abbie ran after Jeff and rode with him in the patrol car. He had already phoned Isabelle to learn the exact location of the property Dawn had described. The trip lasted fifteen minutes at the most; to Abbie it seemed like hours. Jake had been told as well and was there when she and Jeff arrived. Jeff ordered her and Jake to stay put while he and an officer opened the panel covering the root cellar. The cellar was lit by a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling.