Sue (31 page)

He stared at her for a long moment,
Gray Baby writhing to escape his grasp. Slowly and deliberately, he took the
cigarette from his lips and moved it toward the animal’s eye. Sue’s breath
caught in her chest. Her cell phone rang, interrupting them. Her eyes went to
the desk where it lay. “I need to answer that.”

“No! No, you don’t. You’ve watched too
many movies, Sue,” he scolded. He dropped the cigarette to the floor and ground
it into the carpet with the toe of his boot. “Hey, do you think cats can fly?”
With a quick movement, he tossed the cat into the air. Gray Baby yowled as she
twisted to right herself, landed on the mattress with claws splayed, then
streaked under the bed. She mewed nervously from her hiding place. Sue closed
her eyes and breathed a sigh of gratitude.

The phone rang a few more times
before the call went to voice mail.

“What we’re going to do is go for a
little ride,” Zeke said. “I have something to show you. If you really want to
talk, there’ll be plenty of time for that.” He looked at her with an expression
of remorse so phony she almost laughed, but there was nothing funny about the
situation. “I’m sorry as hell I had to come down on you like that. But you know
better than to attack me. You know how quick my reactions are.”

Sue’s face was a mask of horror.
Her mind raced to find a way out.

Her phone rang again, splitting the
air with insistence. Zeke snatched it up, banged it on the desk a few times,
then broke it into two and threw it down. “I hate that fucking ring tone. It’s
stupid.” He stomped on the pieces, crushing them under his heel.

He took Sue’s arm in a tight grip and
led her toward the living room. “Now, get your keys and let’s hit the road.
Grab your purse too; I’m going to need that bank card.”

Relief washed over Sue as she
stumbled along beside Zeke.
I’m going to blow your brains out.
All she
had to do was distract him long enough to unzip it and slip her hand inside.

They stopped at the coffee table;
Sue picked up her keys, and slipped the strap of the purse over her shoulder.
As it banged against her hip she felt the satisfying heft of the gun inside.
Zeke still held one arm in his iron fist. He spun her around to face him.

“There’s one more thing I need to
do before we leave.”

Sue’s mind was on the weapon at her
side. “What?”

“This.” He slammed her in the
temple with his fist. “Can’t have you trying to run, can we?”

She almost toppled from the blow
and he hit her again. This time her legs gave way and she slumped, nearly
collapsed. He wrapped a strong arm around her and shuffled her out the door.

Chapter 45

Will hung up the phone with a look
of concern on his face. He pressed redial and hung up when it went straight to
voice mail. He considered the situation. The information he’d just received
shouldn’t be delivered in a message. He got up and poked his head into Roxie’s
office. “I just got off the phone with Jordan
at the department.”

Roxie looked up from her work.
“What’s up?”

“Early yesterday morning a girl was
nearly grabbed over in Clear Lake.
To make a long story short, some guy jumped in her car and pointed a big knife
at her, told her to drive. Instead she bailed, and so did he. She ran out into
the street, hollering for help, and he took off in the other direction. The
police dusted the car and came up with Zeke’s prints.”

“Oh, Will. No! Have you called Sue?
She needs to know this.”

“I tried but there was no answer.”
He flipped his phone open and called Melvin. “Hey, it’s Will. Is Sue with you?”

“No. I’m home studying. She was
supposed to go to the gym and then stop by her parents’ house. Why?”

Will
told
him the news.

“Zeke was in Clear
Lake? That’s only two and half
hours away.” There was the mild clunk, the momentary distortion of a phone
being dropped and picked back up. The pitch of Melvin’s voice
rose
a notch as he spat out the words, “Are they sure?”

“Positive. They pulled his prints.
I tried to call Sue and didn’t get an answer.”

“Let me call her folks and I’ll
call you right back,” Melvin said.

Within a couple of minutes, Will’s
phone rang.

“She left their house an hour ago.
Maybe she’s in the shower or something,” Melvin said. “I’m heading over there.”

“Me too.
I’ll meet you at her apartment.” Will disconnected and shot Roxie a look. “It’s
probably nothing to worry about, but I just want to be on the safe side. Keep
trying to call her, okay? Try not to scare her if she answers. Just because
Zeke is still alive doesn’t necessarily mean he’s after her.”

“I understand.” She reached for the
phone as Will hurried out.

He stopped by his office, slid his
weapon into his shoulder harness, pulled on a jacket, and hastened out the
door.

Will
arrived
at Sue’s before Melvin. Her car was gone, but the door to the apartment hung
wide open. He pulled his gun and got out just as Melvin slid to a stop in front
of the house and jumped from his vehicle. Will cocked his head toward the open
door and Melvin’s gaze followed. His eyes widened. Reaching back inside, he
pulled his gun from under the seat.

Without a word, they crept onto the
porch from different angles. Will pressed against the side of the house and
leaned in slowly to peer inside. “Sue?” he called. “Are you home?”

Melvin stared at Will from the
other side of the open doorway. “I’m going in.”

They moved inside cautiously. The
front room and adjoining kitchen were empty. “I smell cigarette smoke,” Melvin
commented.

“Get behind me, Melvin.” Will
tiptoed down the short hallway and stopped at the bedroom door. “Oh, shit!”

“What?” Melvin crowded in behind
him.

Sue’s cell phone was crushed on the
floor beside the black smear of a ground-out cigarette butt.

Melvin turned to Will, his features
contorted with anguish. “He’s got her. Oh, god, Will. He’s got her!” He began
to hyperventilate and reached for his inhaler.

Will put a hand
on Melvin’s shoulder.
“Come on, breathe. Breathe, buddy. We don’t have
time for this right now.”

Melvin took a few hits of his medicine,
closed his eyes, and gathered his strength. His throat unlocked and air slid
like magic down into his lungs. “I’m okay,” he said, holding up a hand. “I’m
okay now.”

Will wandered into the hall,
quickly searched the rest of the small apartment. “They haven’t been gone long.
It’s still warm in here, even with the door hanging open. We just have to
figure out where he’s taken her.” He paced back and forth as he called Roxie
and told her what he’d found. “Call the police and get them over here. Tell
them what’s going on. We’re not sticking around to wait for them.” He snapped
his fingers as something occurred to him. “I have to go.” He hung up and turned
to Melvin. “Remember that cemetery where they found her car the first time?”

“You think he’s taken her there?”
Melvin’s eyes were moist as he struggled to hold his emotions in check.

“It’s worth checking. Let’s take my
car.” As they reached the door, Gray Baby tried to slide out, but Melvin pushed
her back inside. They pulled the apartment door closed and headed out.

Chapter 46

Sue slowly regained consciousness.
She was in the passenger seat of her car, Zeke at the wheel. He glanced over at
her. “Feeling better, Bunny?” he asked solicitously, a feral grin on his face.

Sue’s head was pounding. Pressing a
hand to her temple, she looked out the window. They were moving through town,
taking back streets. “Where are we going?”

“I thought we’d take a little trip
down

“I’m not sure what you mean. Are we
leaving town like we did before? Going to be gypsies again?”

“Ah, Susie.
Those days are long over.”

“Are we stopping at the ATM? You
said you wanted money.” Sue had two plans. First, she’d enter her PIN backwards
in order to notify the police a robbery was taking place, and second, she’d get
her gun.

Zeke squelched her ideas. “I’ll get
the money later, on my own.”

“But you don’t know my PIN.”

He took his eyes off the road long
enough to give her a scornful look.
“Oh, Susie.
Are
you really that slow? I
will
know it by the time we’re finished. In
fact, you’ll be telling me everything I want to hear.
Everything!
”
After reaching the edge of town, Zeke turned onto the highway for a short
distance and then onto a country road.

Sue’s thoughts were still foggy
from blows she’d taken to her head. “Where
are
we going?”

“Like I told you,

It abruptly dawned on her where
they were headed; the old abandoned house. She groaned and tried to sit up
straight. She was aware of the seat belt across her chest, and the purse strap
digging into her shoulder. But her handbag was wedged between the seat and the
door.

She said nothing, still trying to
order her thoughts, and he reached out to smack the side of her head.

“I like to be answered when I ask a
question, Sue. You know that.”

Her head swam. “Yes, I know.”

“Then what are you waiting for, you
retarded sack of shit? Why do I call this

“Because we’ve
been here before?”

“That’s right. And I’ve got a special
treat planned for you.
Can’t wait for you to see.”

“You know, I never stopped loving
you, Zeke. I’ve missed you like crazy.” Sue appealed to the narcissist in him,
hoping he’d let down his guard.

He gave a short laugh. “I’m not
stupid, Sue. You hate my guts and I know it.”

Sue gritted her teeth.
How does
a person talk to a lunatic?
“No, no, that’s not right. You just took me by
surprise, showing up out of the blue like you did. But when you kissed me, it
really rocked me to the core,” she said, reaching her hand slyly for her purse.
It was jammed in so tight. She found the zipper and slowly tried to unzip it
little by little, soundlessly. “You have to understand where my mind was. For a
long time, I thought you were dead.”

He paused, slowed the car a little.
“What?”

“They found your body, burned up in
a fire.”

With a dismissive jerk of his head,
he flung his hair off his brow. “Oh, that. Yeah, I had to die.”

“You staged it?” Sue couldn’t hide
her surprise. “But there were two people.”

“I know. It had to be done.
Everything worked out great. I was getting bored with little Anna anyway. And
the guy who filled in for me was just some idiot freak I found on the streets.
It was perfect.” He stared at the road ahead, deep in thought.

Sue studied his face. “You killed
them?” It wasn’t really a question.

“No! I didn’t have to. The fire did
it.” He reached into his jacket pocket for a cigarette, slipped it between his
lips, and lit it. With a sardonic grin he thrust the flame toward her, wove it
back and forth close to her face. She recoiled, pulled hard against the door to
avoid being burned. Zeke shifted his gaze from the road ahead and back to Sue,
a glint in his eye. He quickly tired of the game and slipped the lighter back
in his pocket before continuing, “Of course the rope I used to tie them up was
a definite factor. Man, they sizzled and popped! Just like bacon on a spit.
Did a lot of screaming, too.
It was kind of a trip.” A brief
sad look crossed his face. “I was sorry to see the building go, though. It was
a beauty.”

Don’t listen to his sick words,
but keep him talking.
“It’s where we spent the first night of our trip
together.” She forced a note of affection into her voice, hoping he would fall
for it.
“One of the best nights of my life.”

“Yeah, I remember,” he said with
enthusiasm, as if he’d briefly forgotten the current circumstances. “We cuddled
up in the back of the van. You were all over me that night, Sue.
Couldn’t keep your hands off.
That was back before you lost
your appeal.” He winked at her. “But I know how to bring it back; you’ll see.
I’m actually excited about you again.”

He took a deep drag and blew the
smoke in her direction, causing her to cough lightly.

“That bothering
you, princess?”
He shot a look at her. “You’re such a pain.”

He rolled the window down a few
inches and flicked the cigarette out. She kept finessing the opening on her
bag. They were almost to their destination. If she could just get a hand inside
her purse, she could blast him when he opened the passenger door to get her out.
But the zipper itself was crimped and she couldn’t seem to slide it past the
bend.

Chapter 47

Will drove like a speed demon with
Melvin hanging onto the armrest. He gave a defeated sigh as they approached the
old cemetery. Sue’s vehicle was nowhere to be seen.

“See if they parked behind that
hedge,” Melvin suggested, “or pulled into the field.”

Will whipped the car around and
they eyed the area, but found nothing. Stopping the car, Will draped his arms
over the steering wheel and stared straight ahead. “I was so sure he’d bring
her here.”

“Wait! I know where they might be,”
Melvin said. He told Will about the old farmhouse where Sue had taken him that
summer.

“Give me directions.” Will
slammed
the car into gear.

Chapter 48

“What are you doing over there?”
Zeke grabbed her thigh and squeezed it hard.