Vicious

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

His head was splitting, and he felt nauseous. His arm—pinned against the floor of the backseat—was dead asleep. But Leo didn’t dare move a muscle.

He didn’t want them to know he’d regained consciousness.

He remembered the deputy clubbing him with the nightstick. The next thing he knew, he’d found himself lying on the filthy floor in the backseat of a car. His head was behind the driver. Allen Meeker’s voice had come from outside the vehicle. “Hold it, hold it!” he’d called. “There’s something back here by your tire….”

Leo had heard the clatter of a metal object hitting the driveway. The two men had muttered to each other, and then the car doors had opened. “Is he dead back there?” Allen had asked.

“Might as well be,” the deputy had replied.

“Why didn’t you stash him in the trunk?”

“I got a shitload of stuff in the trunk. He’s fine back there. He can’t get out. The door and window controls are up here. C’mon, move your ass. She’s getting away….”

Leo hadn’t any idea where he was. He’d opened his eyes briefly and noticed a crisscrossed thin steel grid separating the front seat from the back. The car smelled like sour milk and stale coffee. He’d heard the doors shut, and the engine starting up. He’d felt every little bump and divot on the driveway, but he’d remained still.

Up front, they’d started talking about how Allen would take Susan Blanchette and her son out on a boat in the morning. Leo hadn’t really been able to follow the conversation. In fact, he’d blacked out for a spell.

The next thing he knew, he’d been jostled awake by the rough, stomach-churning ride. The windows had been totally black on either side of the car, and Leo hadn’t been able to see a thing outside. After a few grueling minutes, they’d finally stopped and Meeker had gotten out of the car. The cop switched on his high beams, and Leo glanced up again. It looked like they were in the middle of the woods someplace. He felt a cool breeze wafting through the driver’s open window.

He heard someone approaching that same window. “I don’t think she knows anything,” Meeker whispered.

“Bullshit,” the deputy grumbled. “She knows about Prewitt’s mother. She knows someone lured you here to Cullen. And then the kid abducted you. She’s a gnat’s eyelash away from figuring out you’re Mama’s Boy. She’s got to go, Allen.”

Leo kept his eyes closed and remained perfectly still. The cop had just confirmed what Jordan had been saying for most of the day. Allen Meeker was Mama’s Boy.

“We can kill her together,” the deputy said eagerly. “There are plenty of closets over at the old Chemerica plant. We can stick her down the hall from that sweet little bitch I’ve saved for you. We’ll do them both tonight—and take our sweet-ass time about it. But first, a few chores. I’ll need your help changing the tire on Jordan’s Civic, and then you can drive it back to the Prewitts’ cabin. I have a stash of cocaine on me. Wouldn’t it be a nice touch if I planted some blow in Jordan’s glove compartment? When we finish with the girl, we’ll dump her body in the woods behind the house. I’ll torch the place in the early morning and then call the fire department. They’ll find what’s left of the two dead guys inside the burnt-out cabin. They’ll think they were freebasing when things got out of hand. And whatever you and I do to that tasty teenage morsel, they’ll blame on the dead boys.”

“You think of everything, don’t you?” Meeker grumbled.

“Well, I had time to ponder it after I dumped Sleeping Beauty in the back there,” the cop said. “Now, you can take Susan to the Chemerica plant and lock her up until later tonight, or we’ll finish her off right now and dump her body at the plant for safekeeping. Either way, we have less than an hour to get to Rosie’s and pick up the kid. Tell Rosie that Susan’s at home, and I’ll back you up on it. First thing in the morning—while I’m calling the fire department—you go sailing with the little brat. You’ll have a little accident out there on the bay. We’ll go over the details later. But the result is this: Susan’s lost at sea, the dead kid washes up on shore, and you survive. Then you and I can become a team….”

“There’s no reason why Mattie has to be killed,” Meeker whispered. “He’s a toddler, for Christ’s sake. He doesn’t know anything….”

“Okay, okay, fine, we’ll let the kid live,” the cop grumbled. “That’s your thing, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“You spare the boy. With every job you pulled, you always left behind a motherless son.”

There was a pause—and neither one of them spoke. Leo held his breath. For a second, he thought Meeker might have been staring at him and somehow noticed that he was awake. Leo’s eyes fluttered open just a sliver, and he could make out Meeker’s silhouette as he leaned close to the driver’s window.

The man heaved a weary sigh. “Okay, let me take care of Susan—alone. I’ll drive with her out to the old plant and kill her there. We’ll come back for the body later tonight.”

“All right then,” the deputy said. “But I get first crack at the girl. Like I told you, I have some cocaine—and condoms, too. We’ll have ourselves a regular party.”

Leo realized the girl he’d referred to—that “tasty morsel,” the “sweet little bitch”—was Moira. He tried to remain perfectly still.

“You know how to get to the plant?” the cop asked.

“Yeah,” Meeker answered. “I remember from when I was here in ninety-eight. Afterward, I’ll swing by Rosie’s and pick up the boy. Then I’ll meet you at the cabin.”

“It’s going to be a long night working and partying,” the deputy said. “How exactly do you plan to keep the kid out of our hair?”

“I’m sure Jordan’s pal didn’t use up all the sleeping pills.” Meeker answered. “We’ll find them.”

The deputy chuckled. “You’re getting into this now, I can tell.”

“See you in an hour,” Meeker said.

Leo opened his eyes. Meeker had walked away from the window.

“Sorry to take so long, honey….” he heard him say in the distance. Then a car door opened and shut. Something was rattling on the other vehicle as it took off down the road.

Leo listened as the rattling noise grew fainter. He carefully reached behind his head and felt for the door handle. He gave it a gentle tug. Nothing. The cop had said he controlled the locks, but Leo had figured it was still worth a try.

“You awake back there, asshole?”

Leo didn’t answer him. He didn’t move.

“Hmmm,” the cop grunted.

After a moment, Leo felt the car moving again—over the bumpy road.

As Susan steered down the crude, narrow trail, she glanced in her rearview mirror at the idling patrol car. She kept waiting for the deputy to start following them. Or had they decided that Allen would kill her by himself?

He said he’d taken so long with the deputy because they’d gotten into an argument. “This cop insists you and I go to the Skagit County Police precinct in Anacortes to answer questions while he files a report,” he explained. “Christ, all I want to do is go home with you and Mattie. Where is he, by the way?”

“He’s all right,” Susan said, watching for rocks and other obstacles in the road ahead. “We were in town earlier today. One of the hotels has a babysitting service. I left him there while I went looking for you.”

She’d be damned if she’d make it easy for him to find Mattie. But then, it really wouldn’t be too difficult. Rosie at the store was probably wondering why she hadn’t returned yet. Susan prayed the nice lady would hold off calling the local police about it.

“Well, you were right,” Allen said, tipping his head back. “It was like you said. What a goddamn nightmare! These two teenagers ambushed me on the road. They were holding me prisoner in the basement of that cabin. I don’t know why—maybe for some kind of sick, cheap thrill. Jesus, it was horrible….”

“You poor man,” Susan murmured.

She wondered if he saw through her lies as clearly as she saw through his. She probably should have asked for some details, but she didn’t want to hear any more fabrications. She didn’t have it in her to feign gullibility and concern.

“The deputy shot one of the kids in self-defense, and the other got away,” Allen said. “Those were the gunshots you heard.”

Susan just nodded. She came to a stop as the dirt trail merged into Carroll Creek Road. She nervously fiddled with the loose indicator handle. “So I take a left here?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Allen answered, cracking his window a little. “The deputy told me about a shortcut. We have to look for Coupland Ridge Trail. It’s another one of these pain-in-the-ass, little dirt trails, but it’ll cut our travel time in half—which is okay with me. I just want to get this over with.”

Susan turned onto Carroll Creek Road. She figured this remote route he talked about was where he planned to kill her.

“Jesus, I need a shower,” he said, sniffing himself. “I also need about four aspirin and a very tall drink. Would you look at the clothes I scraped up? Sons of bitches stripped me. I was gagged and tied up, practically naked….”

All Susan could do was click her tongue against her teeth and shake her head. She figured whatever he’d suffered at Jordan Prewitt’s hands hadn’t been nearly enough to make up for what he’d done to that boy. It was all she could do to keep from spitting in Allen’s face.

She checked the rearview mirror and noticed the cop car emerging from the darkened forest. But the deputy turned in the other direction—toward the Prewitts’ cabin, or perhaps to wherever he’d hidden that poor girl.

“There it is,” Allen said, pointing to a dirt path coming up on their right. “The cop said to ignore the sign….”

The small wooden placard read: COUPLAND RIDGE TRAIL – NO MOTORIZED VEHICLES.

Nodding, Susan veered onto the narrow pathway. She felt as if she were driving to her own execution. She thought of those people who were forced at gunpoint to dig their own graves. She felt like one of them, compliant, doing whatever she could to buy a little more time.

As she maneuvered the Toyota over the rugged, winding trail, Susan knew she didn’t have much time left. From the way the deputy had talked, he’d already killed Jordan’s friend or had him locked up someplace so they could do away with him later. That girl shared the same fate. Susan wondered if they planned to stop there. Would they spare Mattie?

“You aren’t saying much,” Allen observed. “I guess you’ve had a pretty rough day, too, huh?” He put a hand on the back of her neck.

Susan cringed inside. She stared at the dirt road ahead and pushed harder on the accelerator. “Yes, I was very worried,” she said tonelessly. She thought about picking up speed, switching to cruise control and jumping out of the car. But she could break her neck in the jump, and Allen might walk away with just a scratch. She considered bracing herself and smashing into a tree—aiming on the passenger side. No, with the car wrecked, she’d be stranded, unable to help Mattie or any of the others.

“Susan, slow down,” Allen whispered. He braced his hand on the dashboard. “Goddamn it, I said, slow down.”

She glanced at Allen and found him glaring back at her. She realized so many women had taken their last breath staring into those same cold green eyes.

Susan eased off the accelerator. Up ahead, she noticed a high chain-link fence with a large gap in it. “Is this our shortcut?” she asked.

“Past the break in the fence you’ll see a driveway,” he said. “Take a right.”

She followed his instructions—and the wheezing, rattling Toyota made it over a big bump just before the gap in the fence. Merging onto the pavement, she turned right and started down what must have been a private driveway at one time. Rocks, tree branches, and trash littered the long strip of cracked, potholed pavement. In the distance, she noticed a little shack that looked like a guard house. Beyond that stood a squat, decaying, two-story beige brick building. It must have been the old Chemerica plant, where the deputy had that girl “tucked away” in one of the closets.

Susan started to slow down. “Is this our shortcut, Allen?” she repeated.

“No, I lied about that,” he murmured. “There’s a girl who’s in trouble here….”

Susan stopped the car just past the decrepit little guard house. She glanced at Allen again. Those eyes that had been so cold moments ago were now brimming with tears. He looked so tortured. He kept shaking his head. “Oh, God, Susan…”

She wondered if he was actually going against the deputy’s plan to murder this helpless teenage girl. Was it possible Allen had a decent streak and he wanted to rescue her? He put his hands over his face, and he let out an agonized cry. She’d never seen him cry before.

“You mean you really want to save her?” Susan heard herself ask. She switched off the car’s ignition. She started to fidget with the indicator handle again. “You’re not going to kill her—or me?”

He wiped his tears away and then gazed at her. “Then you know….”

She nodded. “I was outside the Prewitts’ cabin while you were talking with Deputy Shaffer. I heard everything. It made me sick….”

“I never wanted to hurt you, Susan,” he said. “I thought for you and Mattie, I could change.”

Susan slowly shook her head at him. “Then it’s true. You killed all those women. You snatched them away—right in front of their little boys. Then you beat them and strangled them.” She shuddered. “The night I first met you, I was with Mattie outside that restaurant. I had car trouble. You did something to my car, didn’t you?”

He glanced down at the floor of the car and then nodded.

“You were going to kill me—like the others,” she said. “Why did you change your mind?”

“You were different….”

Susan shook her head. “That’s not why,” she whispered. “I remember now. The lawyer’s paperwork was on the front seat of my car—where you’re sitting now. You asked me, and I told you about the lawsuit—one and a half million dollars. Then you invited me to join you for Thai food. Up until that point, no one had seen us. You were going to take me away from Mattie and kill me….”

She glared at him, but he wouldn’t look at her. Slouching in the passenger seat, he rubbed his forehead.

“You faked that call to Triple A in the restaurant’s parking lot, didn’t you?”

He nodded. “I called them for real when you and Mattie were cleaning up in the restroom of the Thai place.”

“The idea of that one and a half million changed your mind, didn’t it?” Susan asked. “You figured on holding off for a few months, so you could play the dutiful husband and stepfather. What did you have in mind for later—an accident for Mattie and me? Why kill me in that parking lot, when you could do the same thing later and end up with a million and a half? Was that the plan, Allen?”

“Maybe at first,” he admitted. “But you’ve changed me, Susan. I’m different from the guy who killed all those women….”

Susan just shook her head in disbelief.

“Haven’t I been a good fiancé?” he continued. “Haven’t I been good to Mattie? That cop, he wants me to kill you—and Mattie. I took you out here so we could get away from him.” Allen nodded at the old, abandoned chemical plant in front of them. “I figured maybe we could find this girl he’s got trapped in there. Then I’d let you take the car, and the two of you could go to the state police. As for me, well, maybe you’ll just let me disappear….”

Susan stared at him. He had to know she wouldn’t let that happen—not after what he’d done. He seemed so tormented and tired. He still wouldn’t look at her.

“Now that we’re here,” he whispered. “The more I think of that helpless, scared teenage girl, trapped in there, probably crying for her parents—” He shook his head. He had tears in his eyes. “The more—God help me—I want to kill her….”

Horrified, Susan edged back from him. She tightened her grip on the indicator handle—now, almost completely unscrewed from the steering column.

“I don’t expect you to understand, Susan,” he said, a coldness creeping into his voice. “I can’t help it. She’s so close. Knowing she’s practically within my reach, I’ve got to do her. That cop, he knows me. He has my number. He knew I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this. He wants you dead. And I’m sorry, but he’s calling all the shots here.” He gazed at her and half smiled. “I want you to know, I got him to agree that Mattie won’t be harmed. He’ll be okay.” He gently patted her knee. “I—I’ll give him a nice toy.”

Susan held the thin steel rod in her grasp—one more twist and she’d have it freed from the steering column.

“I meant it when I said you’re not like the others, Susan,” he said. “Prove me right and make it easier for both of us. Don’t struggle. It’ll be quicker….”

Suddenly, he lunged toward her.

Susan tried to recoil, but he grabbed her around the throat. He shoved her against the car door, and she let go of the indicator handle. He started choking her. Susan kicked and struggled. All the while she tried to grab the rod on the steering column. But it was just out of her reach. Her hand fanned at the air.

She couldn’t breathe. The more fiercely she fought, his grip only got tighter. He was practically on top of her now. He had this cold, calm look on his face. His eyes seemed dead. He brushed his lips against hers.

With every ounce of strength she could muster, Susan pushed him back. But one of his hands was still on her throat.

Grabbing the indicator handle, Susan wrenched it away from the steering column and slashed the metal rod across his face—just missing his right eye. Allen shrunk back and howled in pain. She’d made a deep, bloody laceration down his left cheek.

Susan pulled the keys out of the ignition—just as he started to lunge at her again. Recoiling, she flung open her door and staggered out of the car. She ran toward the old, neglected building. It was all boarded up—except for the broken windows on the second floor.

She glanced back at Allen as he crawled out of the car. He held a hand over the wound on the side of his face. Blood seeped through his fingers. He could hardly stand up straight.

“Goddamn it!” he bellowed. “You’re going to die in there, Susan! You and that bitch are going to die in there!”

Susan turned toward the darkened warehouse and ran.

Leo felt the car take a turn. Then the road changed. For the last five or ten minutes, the ride had been relatively smooth. But they were driving over gravel now.

He had a feeling they were back at Jordan’s cabin. He also had a feeling—a terrible notion—that they’d killed Jordan. But he couldn’t think about that now or he’d start bawling. Besides, he wasn’t positive his friend was dead. Meeker and the cop hadn’t actually mentioned killing Jordan. All he knew for sure was that he and Jordan were supposed to be found dead in the burnt-out cabin tomorrow morning—and it would appear as if they’d killed Moira while on some cocaine binge. Meeker’s fiancée had a death sentence hanging over her head, too.

And here he was, lying in the back of this smelly cop car, unable to do a thing about it. The car doors were locked, and the mesh screen separated him from the deputy in the front seat. All he could do was play ’possum and wait until the creepy cop stopped the car and opened the back door. Then he could either attack the cop or make a run for it—or both. But Leo didn’t have anything he could use as a weapon. Meanwhile, the deputy had a gun and a nightstick and God only knew what else.

Leo felt a few more bumps in the gravel road, and then the patrol car came to a halt. He heard some static from the police radio. “Hey, Nancy, you there?” the cop asked.

It didn’t exactly sound like the way they talked on TV police shows.

“Corey, we have a noise complaint at 2113 Louise Court,” the woman said through a hiss of static. “Some teenagers are having a wingding. I also got a call from Rosie at Roadside Sundries. She’s closing up the store in ten minutes. Seems she’s been babysitting for that Ms. Blanchette’s little boy. Ms. Blanchette was supposed to be gone for only fifteen minutes, she said—and that was over an hour ago….”

“Tell Rosie not to get her panties in a twist,” the deputy said. “I’ve found Ms. Blanchette’s missing fiancé, and I found Ms. Blanchette, too. They’re both at the house on Twenty-two Birch, and everything’s copacetic. Either the fiancé or I will be over in about twenty minutes to pick up the kid. Tell Rosie to sit tight. As for the noise complaint, I’ll check out Louise Court when I get around to it. Okay?”

“I’ll pass the word on to Rosie,” the police operator said.

“Over and out,” Shaffer said. Then the static died. “You awake back there?” The deputy banged on the mesh screen. “Hey, kid…”

Leo let out a drowsy groan. He heard the ignition shut off, and then the front door opened and shut. After a moment, the back door opened by his feet. “C’mon, hotshot, it’s the end of the line for you….”

His eyes half closed, Leo watched the deputy lean into the car and reach for his leg. Leo kicked his foot at Deputy Shaffer’s face, but missed and hit his shoulder. Still, he stunned the cop, who reeled back and fell to the ground.

Leo crawled out from the back of the patrol car.

“You little shit!” Shaffer growled, scrambling to his feet.

Out of the corner of his eye, Leo saw the cop pull out his nightstick. Leo tried to run but suddenly felt the club come crashing down on the side of his head.

His legs went out from under him, and he slid down on the gravel. Dazed, he tried to get up, but couldn’t.

The deputy grabbed his foot and dragged him across the gravel toward the cabin. Through his jeans, Leo felt stones and pebbles digging against his backside. He tried to yank his foot free, but he was too weak and stunned. He felt utterly helpless. His vision was blurred. He tried to focus on the cop, but he could only hear his voice.

“C’mon in here and join your buddy,” the deputy said.