Too Far to Say Far Enough: A Novel (39 page)

“Tell me some more,” I said.

“I turned it on when I got back because I thought Desmond might call me. It rang just now and it wasn’t Desi—it was
Elgin.
He said he’s going to get me back because now he has help.”

She thrust her face into her hands and rocked. I’d seen that more times than I wanted to, in every woman who came to us in danger of losing her sanity.

“Okay, listen to me, Flannery,” I said. “I’m going to call Officer Kent. See?” I put my phone in front of her covered face. “I’m calling his number. He won’t let Elgin get near you.”

Hank pulled Flannery back into her chest and raised her eyebrows as I waited for Nick to pick up.

“This is about Elgin,” I said to her. “Whole separate thing.”

I wasn’t sure now that it actually was, but if I didn’t keep it that way in my head I was going to be rocking right beside Flannery.

The call went to voice mail. I turned Flannery’s phone over and brought up her call history.

“Nick, it’s Allison,” I said. “Flannery heard from Elgin. Here’s the number.”

I rattled it off and asked him to call me. When I hung up I heard a car door slam. Flannery convulsed in Hank’s arms.

“It’s okay,” I said, running to the foyer.

I had no idea whether it was okay or not. It wasn’t. When I peered through the curtain Detective Kylie was getting out of his car.

“Hank,” I said, tearing back into the living room, “take Flannery upstairs.”

“Is it Elgin?” Flannery said.

“No, baby.” I bulged my eyes at Hank. “It’s a detective friend of mine. I need to talk to him alone.”

Hank practically picked Flannery up and stuffed her under her arm to get her up the steps. Even though the doorbell was on its second insistent ring I waited until I heard Flannery’s door close before I let Kylie in as far as the foyer. The thought that he might be coming to tell me Desmond’s lifeless body had been found washed up on the beach was only just joining the surreal circle in my head when he greeted me with, “Nothing on your boy yet. Search and rescue has covered everything, but the Coast Guard is still on it.”

“He’s not out there,” I said.

Kylie rubbed the back of his head. “Kent says there’s evidence he was taken, but we know it wasn’t by Marcus Rydell.”

“Oh, come
on—
”

“We picked Rydell up for questioning just before dark last night, before your son disappeared, and we had him in an interrogation room until four this morning.”

I could feel beads of perspiration gathering on my upper lip. I had to think, and I couldn’t let Kylie see that I was anything but reassured by that news.

“What did you pick him up for?” I said, but as soon as I said it, the sweat broke out on my palms too. Bad idea. Any minute my phone was going to ring and I was going to be told how to bring Sultan his betrayers. I needed to get Kylie out of there.

“You know, I don’t even care about that right now,” I said. “I just want my son back. Thanks for coming by.”

Of all the frustrating conversations I’d had with Detective Kylie, he chose that one to look at me as if he saw me. The defensive mask fell slowly from his face.

“We’ve been tailing him,” he said, “just in case you were right about seeing him here.” He kept his eyes on me. “Nothing suspicious until yesterday afternoon when we got him on surveillance opening a package he got in his PO box. Cell phone. Probably a burn phone.”

It would be too obvious if I didn’t ask the question. I wiped my now drenched hands on the seat of my jeans and said, “It’s a crime to get a cell phone in the mail?”

“No. But it’s suspicious. Plus he was driving a red Mustang we
know
he doesn’t own. Listen, I know you’ve been up all night.” He pointed his chin at the church pew behind me. “You want to sit down?”

“No,” I said too fast. “But I do want to
lie
down, so—”

“We followed Rydell out to Ponte Vedra. When he parked at a public beach and walked up A1A in fifty-mile-an-hour gusts and hid under the steps of a vacant rental, we thought it was time to bring him in.”

“Then he didn’t take Desmond,” I said.

Kylie’s voice was even. “Why aren’t you relieved?”

“Because somebody did!” I said.

“Who?”

A phone rang, and I recoiled like I’d been snakebit. Kylie pulled his cell out of his shirt pocket and barely took his eyes from me long enough to look at the number.

“Fifth time this morning,” he said, more to himself than to me.

“Go ahead and take it,” I said.

He shook his head and dropped the phone back in his pocket. By then I’d managed to grab a few of my wits.

“You’re right,” I said. “I’m so exhausted I can’t even think.”

He waited, eyes alert. It was the first time I ever thought that in there someplace, Detective Kylie might be a good cop.

“If your son … Desmond, yeah?”

I nodded.

“If Desmond was abducted, Allison, and you get a ransom call—”

“Which would be pointless since I’m practically broke—”

“—you need to let us know. Call Officer Kent if that’s who you want to talk to, but don’t think you can handle this by yourself because that never works out.”

“I know I can’t handle it by myself,” I said.

It was the only truth I could tell him right now. But it wasn’t the only truth he was seeing.

“I’m going to send Kent over here to stay with you,” he said. “If you do get a call, he’ll know how to handle it.”

“Great,” I said. “That would be, yeah, do that.”

“He’s not back on duty until four, but I’ll get him in.”

“Mmm. Thanks.”

He gave me a look that had probably torn confessions out of tougher suspects than me, but I held on until he was out the door. I let myself fall against it and listened as his car left Palm Row.

“Coming down,” Hank said from the top of the stairs.

Flannery was already at the bottom, holding her arms out to me. “Is he going to help find Desmond?”

“Absolutely.” I hugged her close and looked at Hank.

“I’m thinking that just to be on the safe side with this Elgin thing, you and Flannery ought to go to Second Chances. Close the shop and hunker down with the Sisters and when Nick Kent gets here, I’ll send him over there.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Hank said. “And you?”

“I’ll wait here for Nick. Kylie’s sending him over.”

My cell rang in the living room. I went cold.

“I need to get that,” I said. “Y’all go ahead.”

The call was on its third ring when I picked it up and pulled out the charger cord. My hands were so slick with sweat it shot out of my hand like a bar of soap and shot into Flannery’s path. She picked it up.

“Miss Allison’s phone,” she said into it. “She’s right here—”

I snatched it from her and retreated to the bookcase, pressing it hard into my ear.

“Bad choice, Ms. Chamberlain.” The voice was more menacing than before.

I looked over my shoulder. The kitchen door was swinging.

“I’ve done everything you told me,” I whispered.

The back door closed.

“You let that cop in.”

“Cop.”

I groped at my memory. Kylie wasn’t wearing a uniform, and his car was unmarked.

“My mistake,” the voice said. “Detective. That’s worse, Ms. Chamberlain.”

Hank’s car started out front. I waited until its voice dissolved into the traffic on Cordova before I said, “I got rid of him. I didn’t tell him anything.”

“How do I know that?”

“Because he left. If I’d told him about this, he’d still be here, tapping my phone … You said I could talk to Desmond after I went to the nursing home.”

“He’s in transit right now.”

“To where? Here?”

Silence.

“Please,” I said. “Just tell me what you want me to do.”

“Bring the betrayers.”

“What betrayers?”

“Do we have to draw you a picture, Ms. Chamberlain? Oh, wait. You’ve already seen it.”

His muted laugh crawled under my skin.

“What picture? What are you talking about?”

Silence again. This time I stared into it, and saw the bloody portraits on the auto shop wall.

“You know,” he said.

“The women in exchange for Desmond, that’s what you want.”

PleaseGodpleaseGodno—

“You’re getting ahead of yourself,” he said. “Get them all together in one place. I will find you.”

I stared in horror at the phone when he ended the call. I was already getting them into one place.

Fingers shaking almost beyond my ability to tap in the number, I called Hank. She didn’t answer. I hung up and headed for the door, but I stopped before I opened it. If Sultan or whoever was calling me knew I’d let Detective Kylie in, the house was being watched, so either he or his informant would try to follow me.

But that didn’t mean he’d succeed. A motorcycle could go places a car couldn’t.

I broke every traffic law in St. Augustine, short of driving right down St. George Street. I cut across it at Orange Street and then shot inside the square that housed Faux Paws and White’s Jewelry and pushed the Classic between White’s and the Silver Feather just as a woman in the Crystal Clear Gallery poked her head out the door.

“Sorry,” I said. “Wrong turn.”

I parked the bike illegally next to a Dumpster and ran until I hit the next mall, beside the schoolhouse. The usual crowd of souvenir hunters let me disappear among them until I came out two doors from Sacred Grounds. For once I was grateful for their hunger for junk. I took a breath and pretended nonchalance as I made my way down the sidewalk. The only thought in my head was
PleaseGodpleaseGodpleaseGod.

I was about to make the final leg up the stairs to Second Chances when Patrice hissed to me from the front porch.

“Hank needs you inside,” she said.

I ducked under the railing and followed her in. Hank was at the same far table where she and Liz and I had talked a two-day lifetime ago. Flannery was crying again.

“It was Elgin, Miss Allison,” Flannery said when I reached them.

“What was?”

“On your phone when I answered it.”

I closed my eyes. “Flan, no. How could you even tell? It was disguised.”

“It’s a software voice changer. He used it all the time on his smart phone when … it was
him
!
You have to believe me.”

“I do.” I closed my eyes and breathed. “Hank.”

“Yeah.”

“Who’s upstairs?”

“Mercedes and Jasmine and Ophelia. I was about to call Liz to bring Zelda over here and then head to Sacrament House to get Rochelle. Gigi’s here, in the kitchen.”

“Don’t,” I said. “Leave Flannery with Mercedes and you go find Chief or Kade and tell them what’s going on so one of them can take care of Flannery.”

“Al,” Hank said, “I don’t
know
what’s going on.”

“I’m not sure I do either, but just do it okay? Trust me?”

She gave me a grim nod.

“Take Flan up the inside stairs.”

“Right. Where are you going?”

“I’m going to Liz’s place to get Zelda.”

She didn’t ask me why. I wasn’t sure I knew, except that I had to make it look like I was rounding up all the “betrayers.”

Hank and Flannery cut to the inside hallway that led to the stairs and I went to Gigi in the kitchen.

“Don’t ask me any questions, Geege. Just tell me if there’s a back entrance.”

She simply bulged her eyes and pointed. I emerged into the alley just as my cell rang. It was the same number.

“I’m trying,” I said into the phone. “You have to give me time.”

“Mama?” a thick, young, frightened voice said.

“Desmond?”

“I’m at Sacrament House, Mama,” he said.

And then the phone went dead.

The only thing that kept me from tearing up the steps of either of the houses when I got there was that Desmond hadn’t said which one he was in. When the curtain parted in the front window of Sacrament One and the too-big cream-colored palms came through and waved, I ran for it, shouting his name.

His hands disappeared from the window, but it wasn’t Desmond who opened the door and shut it behind me. It was Elgin Wedgewood.

“Surprise,” he said.

Without the voice disguise he was far less convincing. I felt like I could take him out at the knees again, just as I had before. Hope rose as I turned to the window to see my son, and found Sultan between us. In his hand was a gun, just like the one Nick Kent carried. Maybe it was smaller, but it could have been an AK-47, as large and murderous as it looked to me.