Cry Mercy

FIFTEEN

The steam rose off the asphalt in waves. Emme pulled the elastic from her ponytail and reworked it to raise her hair off the back of her neck, then did the same for Chloe.

Leave it to me to pick the hottest day of the year for a trip into the city. Way to go, she grumbled to herself.

“Where's your friend, Mommy?” Chloe asked.

“He'll be here soon, I'm sure.” Emme and Chloe stood well inside the zoo gate, holding hands and watching the crowd filter in. It was nearly eleven thirty, but already the temperature was rising toward ninety, the humidity keeping pace. “I called him on my cell phone before we left to tell him we'd meet him here, instead of the Tiger Terrace.”

“What's the Tiger Terrace?” Chloe kicked a little pebble with her foot, then followed it to where it lay, and kicked it again. Emme grabbed her by the shoulder before she could kick it out into the stream of tourists coming through the zoo gates.

“It's a place where you can buy food and eat. At least I think it is. Like a restaurant.”

“The place where Trula didn't want us to eat?”

Emme looked up and saw Nick walking toward them. She couldn't help but smile. He looked happy to see her, and in spite of the heat, looked cool as the proverbial cucumber. She wondered how he did that.

“Trula was afraid we'd eat hot dogs,” Emme said, her eyes still on Nick.

“Why is she afraid of hot dogs?” Chloe asked.

“Because sometimes they have things in them that might not be good for you.” Nick said as he joined them. “Hi, Chloe. I'm Nick, your mom's friend.”

“I know what's in hot dogs, do you?” Chloe asked solemnly, looking up at him.

“Nitrates?” he replied.

“No, beef.” She turned to her mother. “Why doesn't Trula like beef?”

“Trula does like beef. What Nick said-nitrates-aren't good for people and some hot dogs have them.” Emme looked from Chloe to Nick. “Why are we having this conversation?”

“Because someone is curious. But for the record, I'm betting the Tiger Terrace has other things besides hot dogs,” Nick said.

“But we have a picnic,” Chloe pointed to the cooler on wheels that stood next to her mother's feet. “Trula made it.”

“So your mom told me on the phone.” Nick nodded in the direction of the cooler.

“Trula only likes special food,” Chloe told him.

“So what's in the special picnic basket?” he asked.

“Turkey sandwiches. Salad. Grapes. Cookies. Water.” Chloe counted off the contents on her fingers.

“That does sound special,” he agreed.

“That's cause the turkey is free grown,” Chloe confided.

“Free range,” Emme corrected.

“Right.” Chloe nodded. “That.”

“There are some tables over here under the trees,” Emme said, pointing. “I suggest we take one of those while there's still one to be had. In this heat, I'm thinking the tables in the shade will be the first to go.”

Nick grabbed the cooler. “You lead, I'll follow.”

“Trula was mad because she didn't know we were going on a picnic and she didn't have time to make us more food,” Chloe said as they began to unload the basket.

“Judging by the weight of this cooler, I'd say she did just fine,” Nick observed.

“Trula dotes on Chloe,” Emme explained. “Actually, she dotes on all of us there at the foundation.”

Nick placed the cooler on the designated table and opened the lid. Chloe dove in.

“But mostly on me, ′cause I'm special.” Chloe handed Nick a bottle of water. “She said to make sure we remember to drink a lot of water today because it's going to be a scorcher.”

Nick bit back a laugh and took the bottle. “Well, she's right about that. It's already hot.”

“Maybe too hot to be at the zoo,” Emme said.

“No, it's not,” Chloe held up her bottle and her mother twisted off the top for her. “It's going to be just right.”

“The animals might be a bit mopey,” Emme told her. “Some of them don't like the heat.”

“But some do, right?”

“I suppose some do,” Emme nodded and passed out the sandwiches, hers and Nick's on rolls, Chloe's on a biscuit, just the right size for a four-year-old appetite.

They chatted through lunch, and after they finished and cleaned up the table, Nick found an information stand that had a map of the zoo and several brochures.

“Here, Chloe, let's decide where we'll go first,” he said.

Emme checked her watch. Lori and Henry should be arriving any minute. She stood for a better view of the gate.

“Do you have the photo that Ali sent you?” Nick asked.

“No, but I remember what they look like,” she assured him.

“Look, Nick, giraffes.” Chloe pointed excitedly to the brochure. “I never saw a real giraffe.”

“Yes, you did,” Emme reminded her, never taking her eyes off the gate. “In San Diego, remember?”

“I was too little then.” Chloe shook her head. “I don't remember.”

Chloe turned her attention back to the brochure and the map, chatting happily about the animals they'd see.

“No sign of them yet?” Nick asked after another ten minutes had gone by.

Emme shook her head.

“How much longer before we can see the animals, Mommy?” Chloe tugged on her arm.

“Soon, sweetie. Just be patient for a little longer.”

“I have been very patient.” Chloe pulled on Emme's arm until her mother was bent at the waist and they were face to face.

“Yes, you have.” Emme smoothed back Chloe's hair. “But I think we have to wait a little longer. I don't know why they're so late.”

“You always say it's rude to be late.”

“And it is. Unless you're stuck in traffic, which they might be.”

“Then they should call you. You always say-”

“Chloe, how ′bout you and I go take a look at the Rare Animal Conservation Center.” Nick held up the brochure. “Look, here are some of the animals we might see there.”

He squatted down, the brochure open, and Chloe leaned over his shoulder. “What's that one?”

“That is a blue-eyed black lemur,” he read.

“Its eyes are very big.” She pointed to the animal. “Are they really blue?”

“How ′bout we go find out?”

“Mommy, can we go to see the… what was it again?”

“The blue-eyed black lemur.”

“That. Can we go see it?” Chloe asked excitedly.

“You and Nick go on. I'll wait here.” Emme crossed her arms over her chest. Chloe wasn't the only one feeling impatient. “But you must stay with Nick. Promise.”

“I will.” Chloe grabbed his hand. “Which way?”

Emme watched as her daughter disappeared into the crowd with Nick and felt just the slightest bit of unease. She could count on the fingers of one hand the number of people she'd let Chloe go off with alone. Steffie, of course, and recently Trula. Other than that… had there been anyone else she'd trusted enough? She didn't think so.

She checked her watch again. Lori and Henry were now thirty minutes late. Of course there could be traffic-after all, they were driving down from Connecticut, and it was a Saturday in the summer. Lots of people on the road, heading off on vacation. They'd turn up sooner or later. She returned to the bench where they'd had their lunch and sat on the edge of the table.

After another twenty minutes had passed, she dialed first Lori's phone number, then Henry's, leaving a message for each and hoping that one of them would be listening to it before much longer. She was getting hotter and more annoyed with each passing minute. She took a bottle of water from the cooler and placed it on the back of her neck, cursing the heat and the fact that the website for Conroy, Pennsylvania, had neglected to mention anything about humidity.

To pass the time, she put in a call to Steffie. It had been several days since they'd spoken, and she wanted to keep an eye on what was being said in Silver Hill. The last she'd heard, everyone in the department was still buzzing about her abrupt departure. Steffie'd made up some story about Ann being very ill and staying with some friends.

“So does everyone think I'm still dying?” she asked when her friend answered.

“Pretty much, yeah, I'm afraid they do,” Steffie admitted. “At least if you die, they'll stop asking.”

“I guess that's one way of looking at it,” she muttered, still not sold on the idea. “But I'm not dead yet, right?”

“Right,” Stef cheerfully told her. “So we still have a little wiggle room as far as your story is concerned. I just want everyone to eventually stop asking me. I'm not real comfortable lying all the time but it was the first thing that came out of my mouth. I wish I could take it back, but it's too late now.”

“Stef, I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I should have thought this all through so much more thoroughly. I was just in such a panic…”

“Hey, don't worry about it. Given the alternative, well, the lies are a very small price to pay for your safety, and for Chloe's.” Stef had assured her. “Really. It's okay.”

Emme was just about to apologize again when her phone announced that she had a text message.

“Stef, I'll try to get back to you later. I need to check on something.”

“Okay. Just keep in touch. And give my girl a big hug for me,” Steffie said before she hung up.

Emme pulled up the text message:

Having car trouble and had to turn back. Sorry won't be able to make it today. Will get in touch when we have wheels. Henry

“Well, could you maybe have waited a little longer to let me know?” she grumbled aloud, and shoved the phone back into her pocket. She was just about to hoist the cooler when she saw Nick and a very animated Chloe coming toward her through the crowd.

“We've been stood up,” she told Nick. “I just got a text message from Henry. Car trouble. They had to go back. He said they'd be in touch.”

“Funny he didn't call and talk to you,” Nick said, “but at least he let you know they weren't going to show.”

“He probably was embarrassed to speak with me after making us wait so long. Besides, it seems kids would rather text than talk anyway.”

“At least we're getting an afternoon at the zoo out of it,” he pointed out. “How about I take that cooler out to my car and then we head off to the African plains? Chloe and I have been reading about it.”

“I think they have giraffes,” Chloe said hopefully. “I'm pretty sure they do.”

“All right.” Emme opened the water bottle and took a drink. “If you don't mind hauling the cooler, we don't mind waiting here until you get back. And Chloe can tell me all about the rare animals she saw.”

He smiled, lifted the cooler, and winked at Chloe. “Five more minutes, kiddo,” he told her, “and we'll be on our way to the African plains.”

It had been so much easier than he'd imagined.

“What do you think?” he'd said, in his most concerned voice. “Do you think Belle really is missing, like this investigator says?”

“Yeah, I do,” Henry had replied. “We do. Did you see Lori's post on the message board? Lori and I are going to drive down to meet her and Belle's uncle today in Philadelphia.”

“Yeah, and it got me thinking, you know, about Belle trying to find Donor 1735 and her talking to Aaron and stuff. I hadn't said anything on the message board, ′cause Belle had asked me not to, but she thought she'd found him, and-”

“She did? She told you that?”

“Yeah. Do you think I should tell the investigator?”

“Absolutely. That's the stuff she needs to know. Tell me what Belle told you, and I'll be happy to pass it on to her and Belle's uncle.”

“Actually, I'd feel better talking to her myself, you know, in case she has some questions or something.” He tried to sound tentative. “Do you think I could hook up with you guys somewhere and tag along?”

“Sure. Definitely. Hey, man, it'll be great to finally meet you. I can't wait to tell Lori. She'll be so excited.”

“I'm excited about meeting her, too.”

He'd picked a rest stop that was almost always deserted-“It'll be easier for us to find each other if there are fewer people around. Not so easy in a crowd.”-and had been delighted to find no one when he arrived. He parked at the back of the lot, near the trees, and waited. He set the stage-his car door open, his feet sticking out as if he was taking a nap. When he heard the car approach, his fingers closed around the handle of the gun he'd borrowed from the bottom drawer of his father's desk. Henry had appeared first, as he'd hoped. He couldn't have written the scene better if it had been for a movie.

“Hey, buddy, wake up.” Henry had grabbed his right foot and given it a friendly shake.

Had the flash from the barrel of the handgun even registered before the first round struck him in the chest? Had he heard the crack, understood what was happening?

Confused, Lori had seemed frozen, half in, half out of their car, as she watched her brother collapse like a balloon losing air.

“Henry?” Finally, she got out of the car and got a good look at the heap on the ground. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. She probably hadn't even felt the crack to the back of her head with the butt end of the gun.

He tidily placed Henry in the Dumpster behind the restroom area, and Lori, still out cold, in the front seat of the car that would before long carry her to her destiny. Their long lost brother hesitated over the license plate of Henry's car. If he was going to remove it, he'd have to be fast. It was getting late and he could no longer count on no one needing the rest stop. He pulled on thin rubber gloves and removed the plate, then opened the glove box and took out the insurance card and the registration. He threw them into the trunk of his car along with the wallet he'd already lifted from Henry's back pocket, Henry's cell phone, Lori's handbag and laptop.

He closed up Henry's car and locked it before stripping off his gloves and tucking them under the front seat of his car.

“That oughta do it,” he said to Lori, who was just beginning to moan slightly as she started to come to.

He duct taped her wrists together and put a strip over her mouth, then strapped her in with the seat belt and closed and locked her door. Whistling, he got in behind the wheel and started the engine. Driving north, he thanked his lucky stars that he was having such a good day.

He opened the sunroof to let in light and fresh air, and turned on the radio just in time to hear the beginning of one of his favorite songs. Damn, but it was a fine day.

Lori stirred beside him, and he smiled. The day was about to get even better.