Part 42 (1/2)

”Hang on, buddy,” he said. ”I'm coming.”

Misty froze with her hand on the kitchen door. Down the hall, Whiskey was moaning like his foot was caught in a wolf trap.

She felt like she'd grabbed a live wire. Whiskey would only go mad like that for one person.

She heard the SUV pull into the garage. The engine revved and the garage door began going down. Whiskey let out a mournful howl.

She ran down the hall and around the corner. Whiskey was pawing a bedroom door. She flipped the lock and threw the door wide.

”Seth,” she said.

Her son lay on the floor, hands and feet bound by plastic handcuffs. He'd been kicking the door. A sock was stuffed in his mouth, tied with a rag. His eyes popped.

The windows were boarded up. And if Seth couldn't run, they were trapped.

Misty dashed back to the kitchen, grabbed a pair of scissors from the knife rack, and raced down the hall again. She heard the door from the garage bang open. She hurried inside and shut the bedroom door.

Whiskey was wagging his tail, licking Seth in the face and moaning so wildly he was practically singing. Misty knelt and began sawing at the plastic handcuffs that bound Seth's feet. They were zip ties, thick and incredibly tough. Hands shaking, she snapped them clean through.

”Get up,” she said breathlessly.

Seth scrambled to his feet. Out in the house, men's voices filled the living room. Keys dropped on a table.

Across the house, a man said, ”Hey, the door. Murdock, the k.n.o.b on the wife's door is...”

Misty grabbed Seth, ran out the door and straight across the hall into another bedroom. This one had curtains on the window, not boards. She jammed the scissors in the back pocket of her cords. She climbed on the bed, opened the window, and punched the screen out.

”Climb. I'll boost you,” she whispered.

Seth couldn't talk with the gag. He looked terrified. But he nodded to her and mumbled what she knew meant ”You first.”

”No. Go, Seth.”

He turned to the window and put his bound hands on the sill. The door burst open behind them.

Misty spun. Murdock filled the doorway. A pistol hung in his hand.

”Seth, go!” she shouted.

But she saw Seth's face, and her heart sank. Scared though he was, he looked torn, desperate not leave her there.

Murdock let his wet gums and little teeth show. ”Seth, don't go.”

Vance appeared in the doorway, out of breath. He adjusted his do-rag. ”s.h.i.+t, the kid got his feet loose again.”

Misty felt a watery moment of panic. Then, slowly, she pulled her blouse down over the back pocket of her cords.

Murdock grabbed Whiskey by the collar and simply put the barrel of the gun against the dog's head. His eyes looked like a shark's, blank and avid. His mouth stretched. Revoltingly, he was smiling.

”Your mom will be second,” he said to Seth. ”And you couldn't live with your mom getting killed all because of you.”

Seth climbed down.

Jo twisted her wrists against the plastic handcuffs, trying to loosen them. She couldn't. Her hands were bound to the steering wheel at ten and two, like she was about to have a lesson at the d.i.c.k Cheney School of Driving and Interrogation. In the pa.s.senger seat, Calder tucked her hair behind her ear and sent another text message. Her tough-cookie face looked strained and drawn. And blistered.

The door from the house opened. Murdock and Vance came through, leading a woman and a boy in his early teens. Vance kicked at a big s.h.a.ggy dog. The dog jumped and circled, head low, ears pulled back. It immediately put itself between the kidnappers and the boy.

What kind of people took a boy and his dog?

Seth's mouth was gagged and his hands bound with plastic handcuffs. He blinked as though the garage light hurt his eyes. His T-s.h.i.+rt hung loose from coat-hanger shoulders. He had a head of coppery hair and his father's ice-chip eyes. He looked at his mom.

Misty Kanan was Riva Calder's doppelganger. She was compact and lithe. Her caramel hair fell across her face in a sheet. Though she looked wrung out, her eyes were large, dark, and br.i.m.m.i.n.g with alarm. She seemed to have a kind of crazed determination. Her gaze swept the garage. She was looking for an out, for an escape. And she was keeping herself between the kidnappers and her son.

Murdock shoved her toward the Tahoe. She shrugged him away with disgust on her face, as if his hand were slimy. Then she registered that the SUV was her own car. She saw Calder in the pa.s.senger seat, face bruised and burned.

Compa.s.sion and worry overtook her. ”Oh, no.”

Misty's gaze turned to Jo. Her eyes seemed to record Jo's every feature, for a police Identi-Kit drawing or for future revenge. A Beanie Baby could have read the message in her stare. Die, b.i.t.c.h.

Murdock pulled Misty toward the back of the Tahoe. Seth deliberately b.u.mped into him, throwing a shoulder like a power forward driving downcourt. He was trying to get Murdock away from his mom. Jo felt a hitch in her breathing. Brave, reckless boy.

Murdock shoved him. Misty practically spit at him. ”Don't touch my son.”

Brave, reckless woman.

The men opened the tailgate of the Tahoe and bundled the Kanans inside. Vance kicked the dog away from the vehicle and swung the gun at him.

Seth screamed behind his gag and lunged at Vance.

”No, Seth.” Misty scrambled out of the Tahoe.

Murdock picked her up and tossed her back in. He shook his head at Vance. ”Don't, dumbs.h.i.+t. No gunfire.”

Vance was holding the gun sideways, like he was a character in a movie. He lowered it reluctantly. Then he kicked viciously at the dog. Jo heard his boot connect with the dog's ribs. The dog yelped and ducked away from him, stumbling toward the corner of the garage.

”Stop being stupid,” Murdock said. ”Put the gun on the wife.”

Sullenly Vance stood outside the tailgate while Murdock grabbed rags and zip ties from the garage cabinet.

Misty turned toward Calder. ”Riva, are you okay? G.o.d, what's going on? How did they get you...” Her gaze bounced toward Jo. She saw the plastic handcuffs tying Jo's hands to the wheel. ”What... Riva, what's-”

”Shut up, Misty.”