Where Truth Lies (21 page)
G
race’s head snapped back toward the woods. “Are you sure?”
“Yes! Look at his face. He’s turning around.”
Denise was right. The man in the blue parka was the man she and Denise had talked to a little over two hours ago at the Bucks County Playhouse. The same man they had turned to for help. The town’s mayor. Matt’s good friend.
Denise sat down. “I can’t believe it. He was one of the volunteers who searched the county for my sister, did you know that?”
“No.” Grace was still too stunned to make any further comments.
“I voted for that son of a bitch.” Denise’s voice had turned thin and cold. “I not only voted for him, I
campaigned
for him.” She let out a dry laugh. “Mr. Good Guy, always ready to help, like Fred, except that Fred is the real thing and George is a phony. And a murderer,” she added, her voice trembling with rage. “God, what I wouldn’t give to go down there right now and beat the living shit out of him.” She turned to Grace. “Do you suppose he knew about Buzz’s new plans when we went to see him at the playhouse?”
“He had to. How long are the plays?”
“Two hours at most.”
“He would have gotten out of the Playhouse at ten o’clock, taken his wife home and gone right out again, on some pretext. Or he could have waited until she was asleep.”
“I want to kill him,” Denise said fiercely. “I want to kill him with my bare hands.”
“He’ll get what’s coming to him, Denise. For now, we have to stay calm. And we have to catch them red-handed.”
“You mean, the fact that they’re walking through those woods with a shovel on their shoulders isn’t proof enough?”
“Matt was planning to wait until they started digging and that’s what we’ll do.”
But Denise was itching to get her hands on her sister’s murderers. “What if they can’t remember the spot and can’t dig?
What if they leave?”
“They won’t leave. As far as they know, Buzz is planning on putting those bulldozers to work first thing in the morning, remember? They’ll stay here all night if they have to, so don’t worry about them leaving. They can’t afford to.”
She moved around, switching her weight from one hip to the other. “Do you recognize the other man?”
“No, but I haven’t had a good look at him yet.”
The mayor and his mysterious partner were still walking around aimlessly, sometimes turning around in circles or stopping to look at a spot on the ground before resuming their walk.
“They stopped,” Grace said.
“Again? At this rate, we
will
be here all night.”
“I think they’re on to something. See? They’re lining some landmark up with the house.”
The sound of muffled, excited voices reached them. “This could be it, Denise,” Grace said in a hushed voice. “I think they found the grave.”
As if on cue, the two men removed their jackets and began to dig.
Grace jammed her hand into her bag and started searching for the phone. Her hands were shaking and her heart beating so fast, she thought it was going to jump out of her chest.
“Hurry!” Denise urged.
“Relax, will you? It’s going to take them a while.”
“Not at the speed they’re going.” She grabbed Grace’s bag. “Here. Let me. You’re shaking like a leaf.”
“I have it.”
Both reached for the phone at the same time, then watched in dismay as it flew out of their hands and over the edge.
“No!” Grace lunged after it, making a desperate attempt to catch it in midair. She, too, would have gone over the edge if Denise hadn’t caught her in time.
“What are you trying to do? Kill yourself?”
Grace watched the phone roll down the rise. She prayed that something would stop its descent, a stone, or a branch, but nothing stood in its way as it rolled farther and farther out of her reach. At the clearing down below, it finally stopped.
The men turned around, momentarily frozen. The taller one turned his head a fraction and said something to his companion who shook his head before he resumed his digging.
“Why did you have to do that?” Grace asked in a furious whisper.
“You were taking forever.”
“And I told you that we had plenty of time. Didn’t you hear me?”
“You think this is my fault? You think I threw your phone over the edge on purpose?”
Grace took a deep breath. What were they doing? Bickering when they should be uniting. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m more jumpy than I realized.”
Denise, who was always quick to forgive, nodded. “And I was overly anxious.”
“No harm done. We’ll use your phone.”
Denise brought her big beach bag onto her lap and started going through it. After a few seconds, the searching became a little more frantic.
“What’s wrong?” Grace asked. “You did bring your phone, didn’t you?”
“Of course, I brought it. I can’t function without my cell phone.”
She pulled out a thermos, more foam cups, two sandwiches wrapped in Glad wrap, two cans of orange sodas, her knitting, three flashlights and half a dozen batteries.
“You brought your knitting?”
“No, I didn’t bring my knitting. This is where I keep it and I just didn’t bother to take it out.”
Grace looked at the items spread out on the blanket. “Where’s the phone?”
“I don’t know.” Denise looked miserable. “In my haste, I must have left it in my other bag when I switched from one to the other.” She looked up. “I’m sorry, Grace. I ruined everything.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“How are we going to call the police?”
Grace didn’t reply. Down below, the men were still shoveling. They had slowed down a little, but were still going at a fairly good pace. How much more they would have to dig depended on the depth of the grave.
“I’ll go get my phone,” Grace said.
“Are you insane? It’s only a few feet from them.”
“I’ll be quiet. Besides, they’re too occupied right now to pay attention to anything that’s going on behind them.”
“I don’t know about that. You saw how they turned around just a second ago.”
“Whatever they think they heard, they probably figured it was an animal of some sort.”
“You’ll be in the open. One glance in that direction and they’ll see you.”
“I’ll crawl, and stay behind cover as much as possible.”
Denise let out a low groan, but Grace was already lying on her stomach, pushing herself forward with her elbows. The sound of dry leaves under her seemed to make a racket, but she was the only one who heard it.
As she continued to crawl, she tried to gauge the distance between her and the phone, which she could see clearly. Hopefully, it hadn’t gotten damaged in the fall.
She stopped and looked around. The more direct route to the clearing was completely barren, but if she kept to the right, she would remain out of sight.
She made a quarter turn and moved as quietly as the conditions allowed. Pine needles dug into her face and palms, but she ignored the sting. She had no idea what Denise was doing. Probably biting her fingernails.
Hidden by a thicket of mountain laurel, she continued her slow descent, peering through the foliage from time to time. She could hear the sound of the shovels hitting the dirt and the grunt the two men made with each stroke.
She was only a few feet from her phone. She would need something to pull it to her. A stick, or a branch.
From her prone position, she broke a branch off the laurel bush. Then, crawling out in the open, she extended her arm. The tip of the branch touched the phone.
She would have to get a little closer.
She gave one last push. This time she was able to position the branch behind the phone. All she had to do was pull it toward her.
But just as the phone began to move, a booted foot stepped on it.
Grace froze.
“Well, well, Ms. McKenzie,” a familiar voice said. “Funny meeting you like this.”
Grace looked up into the unemotional eyes of Chief Josh Nader.
“I
’ll take that,” the chief said, bending to pick up the phone. He pressed a button to check Grace’s last call, then, satisfied that she hadn’t yet gotten through to the authorities, he shut it off and slipped it in his pocket.
Still flat on her stomach, Grace stared up at him in total shock. Unable to utter a single word, she looked from him to the mayor, just behind him, and then back at the chief. She couldn’t find the words to express all the emotions she was feeling right now.
The chief glanced around him. “Who’s here with you?”
She swallowed past the knot in her throat. “No one. I came alone.”
He might have bought it if, at that precise moment, Denise hadn’t lost her footing. She caught herself, but it was too late. Josh had seen her.
“Well, well. If it isn’t the mighty duo.” He took out his gun and waved it in her direction. “Come and join us, Denise.”
Without a word, Denise walked down.
He nodded toward her bag. “I’ll take that, too.” She started to walk toward him but he stopped her. “Just slide it over. You,” he added, pointing the gun at Grace. “Stand up. And no fancy stuff unless you want to find yourself with a hole in your head.”
When both women were side by side, the chief went through the bag. “Where’s your phone?” he asked, looking up.
“At home. I forgot it.”
“Likely story. George, frisk her.”
As George approached Denise, she gave him a menacing look. “Don’t you dare put your filthy hands on me, you slime. If you do, I’ll bite your nose off.”
George threw a hesitant look at his partner.
“She’s not going to bite your nose off, George. She’s just mouthing off. Frisk her.” To Denise, he added, “You move one muscle and you’re dead.”
“Stand still, Denise,” George said. “I’ll make it fast.”
He did. After a thorough check of her pockets, he backed off. “She’s clean.”
“You plan a stakeout and you forget your phone?” the chief scoffed. “How stupid is that?” Not really expecting an answer, he turned to the mayor. “Go finish filling the grave.”
“Why don’t
you
go and fill the grave?” George protested. “I’m tired. It’s a wonder I didn’t already have a heart attack.”
“Stop complaining and hurry. We’ve got to get out of here.”
Grumbling, George walked away and the chief returned his attention to Grace and Denise. “How the hell did you two figure this out?” he asked Grace.
As Denise shot her a quick glance, Grace gave an imperceptible shake of her head and hoped the chief wouldn’t catch it. Their lives may not be worth much right now, but Matt had to be protected. “Guess we’re smarter than you think.”
“What you are, Ms. McKenzie, is a pain in the ass, but not for much longer. Who did you tell about your little detective work?”
Grace tried to look sincere. “I was going to tell Matt. I even tried to enlist the help of your good friend here, but you refused to let Matt out.”
“Stroke of genius on my part.” He turned to Denise. “What about you? You’ve always had difficulties keeping that big mouth of yours shut.”
“I didn’t know anything until Grace dragged me up here after we left the Bucks County Playhouse.” Unlike Grace, she was unable to contain her anger and indignation. “You miserable bastard,” she lashed out as if a spring had been released. “You’re a disgrace to that uniform, and to all of humanity.”
“Save it, Denise.” The chief turned toward the woods, where George had filled a bag with what Grace presumed were Felicia’s remains. He had already started to shovel the dirt back into the now-empty grave. “How are you making out?” he asked.
“Almost finished.” George sounded out of breath.
“Why didn’t you send an anonymous letter to my parents to let them know where Felicia was buried?” Denise was determined to speak her mind. “All we wanted was to give her a proper burial.”
“You’re getting on my nerves, Denise.”
Grace touched her arm. “Not now, Denise.”
“Listen to your partner in crime. At least, she’s got
some
common sense.”
Behind them, George let out a grunt as he dragged a large plastic bag to the car, an old Chrysler. As he heaved it into the backseat, Denise could no longer hold her emotions in check. She covered her face with her hands and started to sob.
George leaned against the car, catching his breath. “What now?” he asked.
“Open the trunk,” the chief instructed.
George popped the lid. The chief waved his gun. “Inside. Both of you.”
Grace half expected Denise to protest, but she didn’t say a word. She climbed in and moved toward the back to make room for Grace.
Grace wasn’t as accommodating. Once in that trunk, their fate was sealed. Josh and George would take them to another secluded area and kill them.
“No way,” she said as Josh motioned for her to follow Denise. As she talked, she readied herself for the same kick that had served her so well on her first night in New Hope. This time, she would aim for the gun. Hopefully she’d send it flying and would get to it before George could.
“Josh, watch out!”
The warning came just as her foot shot out. Remarkably agile, the chief foiled the blow, turning away from it. Angered by her audacity, he backhanded her, hard enough to take her breath away. “Get in the trunk, dammit.” He jammed the barrel of the gun into her stomach and gave her a shove. “Or you’re going to find out what a long and painful death a bullet in the gut can bring.”
She climbed in next to Denise. Maybe between the two of them, they would come up with some sort of escape plan.
The lid came down. The latch clicked, and darkness engulfed them.
“We’re not moving,” Denise said.
“They’re probably discussing where to take us.” As her eyes began to get accustomed to the dark, she saw Denise run her fingers along the lid. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for the release latch. There’s got to be one. All cars have one now.”
“Only recent models do, and this one is at least twenty years old.”
“You’re right.” Denise let her hand fall.
At that moment, Grace heard the crank of the starter. Then the car began to move, slowly at first as Josh drove along the unpaved path, then faster as he turned onto the open road.
“We’ve got to come up with a plan,” Grace said. “If we don’t, they’ll kill us.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“At the moment, not much. I thought that when Josh opens the trunk again, we could come out kicking and screaming.”
“What good will that do?”
“It will catch them off guard.”
“Then what?”
“Then we zero in on Josh because he’s the one we have to worry about. He’s tough, he’s ruthless and he’s armed.”
“You can’t discard George. He’s not about to stand still while we overpower his partner.
If
we manage to overpower Josh, which is very unlikely.”
Grace turned to look at her friend. “Are you giving up, Denise? I didn’t think that was your style.”
“Who said anything about giving up?” Denise did a few contortions, struggling to reach the cuff of her jeans. “You see, Josh’s plan to kill us doesn’t really matter because…”
Her hand came up, holding a gun. “I’m going to kill him first.”
