Chapter 22
“Hey buddy. Thanks for picking me up.” Craig tossed his suitcase in the trunk of Dennis’s car.
“No problem. Glad I was home.”
“Me too. I wanted to surprise Kelly.” He opened the passenger door and crawled inside.
“Uh . . . too late,” Dennis said, as he closed the driver’s door.
“You told her?”
“You didn’t tell me it was a surprise.”
“When you said she wasn’t there, I figured you wouldn’t see her.”
“I left her a note.” Dennis replied, as he cranked the engine.
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll just be glad to see her.” Craig stretched his legs and settled back into the comfort of fine leather. Only the best for Dennis. “Man, those airplane seats are cramped.”
“Are you kidding? You didn’t fly first class?”
“I had a seat. I met this nice older lady. Her family brought her to the airport, she was flying to see her son. Since her daughter couldn’t go to the boarding section, I showed the woman the ropes. Mary was her name. Sweet thing, scared to death of flying. We boarded the plane, I had a chat with the flight attendant, and she promised to take care of the woman.”
“You old softy,” Dennis teased. “I don’t recognize you anymore.”
“You’re one to talk. Your mother taught you manners, too. You would have done the same thing.”
“Give up a seat in first class? No way.”
“Right.” Dennis might tease him, but Craig knew his friend would have done whatever he could to ease the older woman’s mind.
“How did she do?”
“Mary? Fine. The flight attendant said she was a lot of fun after the first ‘Totty’. That’s what she called her drink. Bourbon.” Craig chuckled, remembering the laughing crew regaling Mary’s first flight experience. He didn’t mind sitting in the back so much after that. He was on his way to see Kelly.
“Kelly tell you about her trip home?” he asked Dennis. “Her boss has already found a replacement.”
“Yeah. Things at her job went fine. I figured you talked with her every night.”
“I did. It’s been a long three weeks.” Craig studied Dennis, noticing the way his body had tensed when he answered. “Something up?”
“Did Kelly tell you she ran into Robert? Meaning he found her at her favorite Starbucks right down from her apartment?”
“Some coincidence.”
“I don’t believe in coincidence where that guy is concerned. He’s an asshole.”
“He’s creeping about town, stalking Kelly? Maybe I better have a chat with old Robert.” If the guy thought he had any claims to Kelly, Craig would set him straight.
“The jerkwad didn’t like it at all that she was living in my apartment. When he finds out about you . . .”
“You think he might do something stupid?”
“That guy is off his nut. He still thinks he has a shot with Kelly. The dumbass acts like they just had a little spat. Hell. Kelly found him with his wife. She said Robert was furious. I don’t trust that guy.”
Fear clawed at Craig’s gut. The instant need to protect Kelly surged through his blood like a lightning bolt. “You don’t think he’d harm her, do you?”
“I don’t know. According to Sandi, she lives in the apartment next to Kelly, Robert has a temper.”
Craig’s fists tightened, his blood pounded at his temple. “Has he ever—”
“No. If he had, I’d know. And I would have already torn him apart. You don’t have to worry about Kelly. She’s tough. She would never let a guy take his anger out on her.”
Craig’s mouth tightened with loathing. “If he tries anything— Hell, I’ll take care of him before he gets a chance. Maybe it’s time I meet up with this Robert character and explain a few things.”
“You want my opinion, that guy needs to get the shit stomped out of him for what he did. The guy has balls, approaching Kelly again.”
“If he doesn’t want them cut off, he’d better stay away from her.” Craig’s low growl was filled with contempt. Kelly belonged to him, or soon would. That bastard better not come anywhere near her.
“You’re the man for the job. I’d help, but I’m sure you don’t need any.” Dennis chuckled.
“Doesn’t this car go any faster?”
“Impatient, are you?” Dennis glanced his way with a smirking grin.
“You might be my best friend, but I won’t hesitate to punch you. It’s been entirely too long since I’ve seen her.”
“Hang on, man.” The engine hummed as Dennis stomped the throttle, molding Craig to the leather seat.
Within twenty minutes, Dennis arrived at the parking lot of his apartment building. Craig jumped out of the car before the engine stopped.
“Hey. Don’t you want your bag?”
“Nope, I’m taking her to the Hyatt.”
“Think you can wait that long?”
“I have to,” Craig shot back. “Once I get her alone, she won’t be coming up for air.” He heard his friend’s chuckle as he hurried to the elevator.
“Want some time alone? I can wait in the hall.” Dennis leaned against one wall, his shiny shoes crossed at the ankles. His body relaxed as if bored, but his eyes danced with mischief.
“As soon as I see her, I’m throwing her over my shoulder and we’re leaving.”
“Cave man style, huh? She’ll love that.” The tone of his voice said otherwise.
“Can’t this elevator go any faster?” A bell dinged and the light signaled the tenth floor. It took all his willpower not to jump out and run up the remaining flights of stairs. The elevator doors opened to an attractive couple. “We’re going up,” Craig nearly growled. The man’s brows rose in question.
“You’ll have to excuse my friend,” Dennis said. “He’s in a hurry to see his lady love.”
The woman smiled and said, “In that case, don’t let us disturb you. We’ll wait.” Her escort’s frown remained.
When the doors closed, Dennis laughed. Craig turned to see his buddy shaking his head. “I’ve never known you to be rude.”
Hell. He shoved his hand through his hair. He had been rude. That wasn’t like him. He bordered on obsession. His fixation on Kelly had him reduced to agitation and bad manners. His mother would kick his butt. He was a man possessed. In love. If he didn’t see Kelly soon, he’d bust.
Finally, the doors opened to Dennis’s floor. He rushed from the elevator with an urgency he couldn’t explain. He’d missed Kelly, couldn’t’ wait to see her, but for some reason, a thread of anxiety bloomed in his chest. And it wouldn’t go away until he saw Kelly.
He reached for the doorknob and found it unlocked. His love was on the other side of that door. He flung it open, eager to see her.
“Kelly!” Finding the living room empty, he hastened down the hall to her bedroom. “Kelly!” No answer. He’d probably find her in Dennis’s shower. The inkling of shedding his clothes and joining her popped into his head. Just as quickly, he reminded himself this wasn’t his apartment, and Dennis was right behind him. His friend might not be too keen on the idea of him and Kelly getting crazy in the guy’s personal space.
He peeked his head into Kelly’s room to be sure she wasn’t there. His heart stopped. At first he thought the woman on the floor was Kelly, then he saw the dark hair.
“Dennis! Christ!”
Blood trickled from the woman’s temple. Craig placed two fingers on her throat, feeling for a pulse.
“What is it man? You scared the hell out of me, bellowing like that.”
“Who is she?”
“Oh my God!” Dennis rushed to the woman’s side. “Donna. She’s my secretary.”
“What the fuck happened? Kelly!” Craig yelled again. He tore the room apart looking for her, then ran down the hall searching every room, his chest pounding with dread. When he returned to the bedroom, the woman on the floor was still unconscious. Dennis had a cell phone in his hand, giving someone the apartment address.
“I called 911. The police and an ambulance will be here in a few minutes.”
Craig shoved one hand through his hair, ready to rip it from his head. “What the hell happened here? Where is Kelly?”
“You stay with Donna. I’ll check downstairs to see if anyone saw anything.” Just as Dennis rushed out the door, the woman moaned.
“Take it easy, now. You’re going to be okay.” Craig tried to comfort and reassure her in a calm voice, while dread raged within.
She raised a hand to her temple and Craig grasped it.
“Does it hurt?” What a dumb question. The woman was bleeding, of course she hurt. “I’m sorry. You have some blood there.”
Her eyes flew open, terror filled their depths. She jerked and tried to shove him away. He wondered if she thought he was the one who’d attacked her.
“Calm down. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“You don’t understand,” she said, her voice filled with terror. “Who are you?”
“I’m a friend of Dennis’s. My name is Craig.”
“Craig? I know you.”
He’d never met her, but being his buddy’s secretary, the woman must recognize his name. Her gaze darted about the room, bordering panic.
“You’ve got to help her. He took her.”
Hairs stood up on the back of Craig’s neck. “Who?”
“Kelly. You’ve got to help her.”
Agony sliced his heart, and anguish obstructed his throat. Still, he managed to get out the words. “Where is she? What happened?”
Dennis rushed into the room before she answered. “The doorman saw a man he thought was suspicious. The description he gave sounds a lot like Robert.”
“Robert?” Craig ground his teeth so hard, pain shot through his jaw.
“I heard her screaming,” Donna said, with shaky breaths. “I ran inside. He had her pinned on the floor.”
Every word out of Donna’s mouth drove the cutting sting deeper.
“I tried to conk him on the head with a vase. He caught me.” She shuddered. “Oh my God. He. . . he hit her with his fists.”
He’d kill the son-of-a-bitch. Fury filled every quaking pore in Craig’s body. He barely noticed the EMT team enter with a stretcher. While the team tended the woman, he stalked to the living room. His blood boiled. A volcano of wrath smoldered inside, scalding every nerve. He shook with rage.
“Sir, may I have your name?” Craig whirled around so fast, the officer slapped his hand over his gun.
“This is my apartment, Officer. My name is Dennis Williams. The woman in there is my secretary, and another woman has been kidnapped.”
Dennis had taken charge, saving Craig from himself. The shape he was in, he could have done something stupid and gotten shot.
While Dennis talked with the officers, Craig stood listening, seething in a hazy cloud of rage. Twenty strained minutes later, he was ready to explode. No leads. No results. Kelly had been abducted and he had no idea where the bastard had taken her.
Helpless.
He couldn’t stomach the feeling.
One thing was for damn sure. He would not stand around and wait.
He would find the fucker. And when he did . . .
~ ~ ~
Joey liked to pretend that Robby was his brother. Sure was nice to have an older brother to hang around with. He hated home. Mom let that guy do anything he wanted, and most times he wanted to hit her. Joey couldn’t stand it. If only he was bigger.
So, he stayed gone. Mom didn’t care. Mom didn’t want him around her drunk boyfriend either. He swung his stick from side to side, smacking blades of grass. It was getting tall. Sometimes he and his friends would find things in this big old lot. Not many people came by this part of town. His friends hadn’t found anything good in a long time.
Car headlights beamed in the distance, catching his attention. Looked like it was headed this way. Maybe their luck would change. Or maybe the car would just drive on by. Wasn’t nothing around here but that spooky old house across the street.
As he thought about the house, the car slowed and then stopped right in front of it. Wow. Maybe someone was moving in. It had been empty for as long as he could remember.
“Hey.” He ran to his friend Robby.
“Find something, Runt?”
Joey didn’t like it when the others called him Runt. He didn’t mind so much if it was Robby.
“Look over there.” Just as Joey pointed to the car, a man got out. He looked all around before he shut the car door. “What’s he looking for?”
“Probably nothing,” Robby said and shrugged.
“How come he’s doing that?”
“Doing what?” His other friend, Jimmy, came over to see what they were looking at.
“That guy over there,” Joey pointed. “He keeps looking around.
“Looks suspicious,” Jimmy said.
“Suspicious?”
“Yeah. Fishy.”
“Yeah, suspicious.” Joey echoed.
The man finally walked to the back of his car and opened the trunk. He lifted something heavy out of the back.
“Look! It’s a body!” Joey got so wound-up he almost lost his breath.
“Calm down, Runt.”
“It ain’t no body,” Jimmy said.
“Then what is it?” Joey scrunched up his face. Jimmy thought he knew everything.
“I don’t know.” Robby answered, but he kept staring.
“What are you guys looking at?” Billy and Dirk came over too.
“That guy over there has something.” Jimmy told them.
“Looks like a body.” Joey had seen enough TV programs with people acting just like that man over there. Fishy. Suspicious.
“A body? Really?” Billy asked.
“Let’s go find out.” Dirk took off, Joey right behind him.
“Wait.” Robby stopped them before they got running good.
“Why?” Joey asked in disappointment.
“If it is a body, the guy could be a killer.” Robby never said nothing like that before.
“You think he could be a killer?” The idea scared Joey.
“He ain’t no killer,” Billy sneered. “And that ain’t no body.”
“Who says?” Jimmy asked.
“Says me.” Billy answered. “What would a killer be doing around here?” They stood, facing each other down.
“Maybe he owns that spooky old house. Maybe he keeps bodies in there.”
“Let’s go see.” Dirk tried again.
“There ain’t no bodies in there.” Billy said, with a mad face.
“Hey, guys. Look.”
All eyes stared across the street. An arm dangled down out of the blanket behind the man’s shoulder. Joey gasped.
“A body.”
“Are we gonna call the cops?” Billy asked.
“Why would we call them?” Dirk snorted.
“No. We should see what this guy is up to. If he does have a body, then we can call the cops.” Robby started across the lot and the others followed.
They ducked low as they ran across the street. Even though it was nearly dark outside, they didn’t want to get caught.
“Stay close, Runt.”
Joey stayed on Robby’s heels. Robby ran fast, but Joey could run fast too. He made hand signals to Billy and Dirk. They snuck around to the other side of the house. Robby found a crate and quietly placed it under a window and turned it over so he could stand on it. Joey wasn’t tall enough to see in the window, so he stayed on the ground.
“Keep watch while I peek inside.”
“Okay.” That was an important job. He looked to the front and he looked to the back. The coast was clear. After several minutes, Joey couldn’t stand it any longer. “Do you see anything?”
Robby climbed down from the crate. “Naw. No body.”
“Shucks.”
“Come on. Let’s find the others.”
They crept around the back, making their way to the other side, and found Dirk and Billy with their faces plastered against a window.
“Anything?” Robby asked.
“You can see the stairway from here. He went up the steps.”
“Do you see a body?” Joey asked.
Dirk hopped down. “Nope. Just him. And he was carrying something.”
“A body,” Joey said.
“Where’s Jimmy?” Robby asked.
“Round front.” Dirk stuck his thumb in that direction.
“Billy, you stay here. Let us know if you see him come down.”
“Okay.”
Joey followed Robby and Dirk to the front of the house.
“Jimmy,” Robby called in a loud whisper.
“Here I am.” Jimmy was crouched on the porch.
“You see a body?” Joey asked excitedly. Somebody had to see a body.
“He carried the body up the steps.”
“Yes,” Joey cried. His fist pumped the air before Robby slapped a hand over his mouth.
“Quiet. You want to get us caught?”
“No.” Joey sniffed and swiped at his nose.
“What we gonna do, Robby?” Jimmy asked.
Robby got that look on his face that meant he was thinking. “We’ll wait. The guy has to leave sometime.”
“Then what?”
“We’ll sneak inside.”
“We gonna look at the body?” Joey remembered to whisper this time.
“We’ll look to see if it’s a person in there.”
“I saw an arm. It’s a body.”
“The guy could still be alive,” Robby told Jimmy.
“What if he’s dead?”
“Wait till we find out. You keep watch,” Robby told Jimmy. “Billy is on that side. Dirk, you go to the back in case he comes out that way. Stay out of sight. We’re going on the other side.”
Joey followed Robby back to the window he’d looked in the first time. He climbed up on the box and Joey kept watch.
Time passed slow when all you did was wait. Joey was tired and ready to call it quits when Jimmy came flying around the house.
“He’s coming. Duck.”
Robby scampered down, all three hid in the bushes. The door at the front of the house slammed and they heard boots clonk down the porch steps. Robby stuck his head up. A car engine started and headlights flashed down the street. The car drove away.
“Let’s go.” Robby took off.
They ran to the front and met Dirk and Billy at the steps. When they reached the front door, Robby put his finger to his lips.
“We don’t know if anyone else is in there, be quiet.”
Joey nodded his head so fast he hoped it wouldn’t fall off. His heart beast so hard he thought it might jump out of his chest.
Robby opened the door and they crept inside.
“I always wondered what was inside this place,” Billy said. “Looks like an ordinary house.”
“What did you expect it to look like?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Maybe like those ghost houses you see on TV.”
“It’s just an old house,” Robby said. “But they left a lot of stuff here.”
An oil lamp sat on a table, providing light in the room. A couch, a chair, and a rocking chair were there. The book shelf against one wall still had some books.
“Someone needs to stay and keep watch.” Robby said.
“Not me,” Dirk objected. “I want to see the body.”
“Billy, you keep an eye out.”
“Okay.” He went to a window and peeked out from the side.
“Stay together,” Robby told the rest of them. “And just in case, grab something heavy.”
“What for?”
Robby grabbed a piece of wood that looked like a cowboy statue. “In case I have to clobber someone.”
“Like who?”
“Hush, Runt.” He started across the room, walking slowly so he wouldn’t make a sound.
They reminded Joey of burglars, like the shows he’d seen on TV, with guys sneaking around and breaking into someone’s house to rob it. Robby was in front, Joey next, Jimmy behind him and Dirk bringing up the rear. Robby peeked around the door frame, then stepped into the kitchen. Wasn’t nothing there. Maybe the man left to buy some food.
Another doorway led to the next room and the next. They found themselves where they’d left Billy at the bottom of the steps. He stood at the window and gave a thumbs-up sign that everything was okay.
Robby looked at each of the boys with him and again and put his finger to his lips in a shushing motion. Then he put one foot on the stairs.
“Robby, do you suppose the stairs creak, like in spooky houses on TV?”
“You watch too much TV, Jimmy.”
Joey thought his heart couldn’t beat any faster. He held his breath as he climbed the steps. A moan sounded from upstairs.
“Was that a ghost?” Jimmy sounded as scared as him.
“Naw,” Dirk said. “Ain’t no such thing as ghosts. Sounded like a moan. Maybe that’s the body.”
“Then he ain’t dead.”
“Dead men can’t make a sound. Right, Robby?”
“That’s right, Runt. Maybe someone’s hurt.”
“Maybe he tied someone up.” Dirk said. “Let’s hurry up.”
“We have to be careful,” Robby snapped back.
They proceeded carefully up the steps and Dirk complained again.
“At this rate, the man will be back before we find the body.”
Another moan, and then a crack came from the closed door at the top of the stairs.
Robby slowly opened the door.