At the Stroke of Madness

CHAPTER 66

Maggie woke slowly. Her head throbbed. Her legs felt numb, tangled, somewhere underneath her. It was pitch-dark despite her attempt to open her eyes. No use. It was too dark. She couldn’t move her arms. Couldn’t begin to untangle her legs. She could barely move her hands and tried to feel around the small, smooth space above her. Whatever he had shoved her into, it was too tight to move.

Too tight and cold. So very cold.

That was when she heard the motor kick on. That was when she recognized the electrical hum. That same hum she had heard when she first entered the house.

Oh, God! He had put her in the freezer.

She couldn’t panic. It wouldn’t help to panic. She couldn’t have been in here long or she wouldn’t have woken up. She had to remain calm. She tried to twist her legs out from under her. It was useless. They were shoved in tight. Even her arms couldn’t move more than a few inches to the side. It felt like she was squeezing herself down into the chest tighter and tighter. That couldn’t be possible.

She needed to stay calm. She needed to breathe. It was already difficult to breathe. How much air could she possibly have inside here? And the cold. God, it was unbearable.

Her fingers hurt, but she balled them up into fists and pushed on the lid. There wasn’t even enough room to pound. She remembered her weapon. Yes, she could shoot some holes in the lid. Of course, why hadn’t she thought of that? She patted down her jacket. She tried to feel her pockets. And despair came quickly with the realization that, of course, he wouldn’t have tossed her revolver in with her.

It was useless. She started to scream “help” as loud as she could. Over and over again until her throat felt raw. She shoved at the lid. She slammed her fists, now numb from the cold. She kept slamming them into the lid until she could feel what must have been blood dripping down into her face. And all she could think about was that the only person who might know where to look for her was back in her car with a cell phone that had a dead battery.