Two FBI agents and two San Francisco Police Department detectives talked quietly in Ricks kitchen. Josies apartment was now a crime scene. The FBI had already issued an APB for Josie and Cummings, along with a vague description of a late-model, dark sedan. Rick had provided police a detailed statement about the nature of his relationship with Bennett Cummings, the threat hed received, and his suspicions that Josie had become his target. Bea had already arranged for the /Herald/ to run a front-page story on Josies disappearance in the morning edition. Police had put out a bulletin to be aired on the late news that very same night.
In the midst of all the activity, a detective had taken Rick aside and asked, If you were so concerned something would happen to her, why did you leave her alone?
There was no satisfactory answer to that question. There never would be.
Rick had asked himself a hundred times in the last three hours how he could have let this happen, and with each passing minute the black tentacles of self-hate got tighter around his throat. Certainly, Josies family over there on the sofa wasnt comforted by the fact that Rick had only intended to take the dog out for a few minutes. They didnt care that Rick had assumed he himself was the target, not Josie. The truth was, he had left her aloneand took the bodyguard with him!and now she was gone. He had failed to keep her safe.
Rick now understood that the uneasy feeling from earlier in the week had been his intuition talking. When hed raced back to Josies apartment to find her asleep in the tub, that was his warning. Yet he didnt listen. /He didnt fucking listen!/ Come here a minute, man. Teeny wrapped his arm around Ricks shoulders and guided him past the dozens of people gathered in his living room and into the study, shutting the door behind them. Dont go there on me, Rousseau, Teeny said. Dont you dare go there.
Rick stayed silent.
If you want to get Josie back, then you stay right here, you stay alive and aware, do you hear me? Teeny got down in his face. You keep your mind sharp and your thoughts positive. That evil self-destructive shit has no place in your world anymore. It doesnt belong here. Josie deserves better from you.
Like she did earlier tonight, when I left her.
Teeny put both his hands on Ricks shoulders, shaking him. I dont want to have to kick your ass, but I will. Stop it. /Now/.
Rick took a deep breath. I hear you, he whispered.
Good. Teeny straightened and smiled. Now, heres the good news, man. One of my sources came through for me, found out that Cummings drove at least part of the way in his gardeners car. We got a plate and a description.
Good, Rick said.
Were going to find her, Teeny said.
Rick nodded. I know we will.
Thats what Im talking about.
There was a knock on the study door. It was Bea. Excuse me, Teeny, but you just got a call on your cell. She says its important.
Rick and Teeny hurried back to the dining room, where Teeny had set up a kind of command center. He grabbed the phone from the glass tabletop.
Worrell, he said. A second later, frowning, he handed the phone to Rick.
Its Gwen Anders, he whispered. Shes hysterical.
Rick took the phone. He didnt have a spare second for her. I cant talk right now, he barked.
Rick! Its my fault! I did it! I just saw the news report about Josie Sheehan being abducted! Gwen began to sob.
What? Rick stopped breathing. You have Josie?
No! No! Cummings came to my house and put a gun to my head! I told him about Josie! I told him she was your girlfriend! Its my fault!
Rick handed the phone back to Teeny as Gwen sobbed. Send somebody over there to get her, Rick said. She has a statement to make.
Teeny looked incredulous. What the hell does Gwen Anders know about Josies disappearance?
She told Cummings all about her.
Teenys eyes flashed. /Fuck!/ Rick kept his voice down so Josies family couldnt hear him. Just get Gwen over here so she can talk to the cops.
Rick turned away. There was so much blistering rage in him right then that he wanted to throw something across the room just to see it explode. He needed something to crush, to smash, to rip apart with his hands. He wished it could be Gwen.
Shed cried so much in the last few hours that the blindfold was soggy.
Her mouth was dry and her jaw hurt from being forced open with the gag.
Her wrists were rubbed raw from whatever kind of rough rope hed used to restrain her. Josie had to pee so badly she didnt think she could hold it another second. And whatever drug hed given her had made her terribly nauseous.
She heard nothing. No sounds of a TV or water running or someone walking around. Nobody breathing. Wherever she was, it smelled clean, like a hotel. But it had none of the background noise of a hotel, just a faint sound of cars in the distance.
Have you decided to cooperate?
Josie would have hit the ceiling if she hadnt been tied down. He must have been next to her the whole time, staring at her! She nodded her head as much as she could, given the restraints.
Here is our agreement. The man came very close, and Josie could smell his alcohol-saturated breath. You will do what youre told. You will not scream or try to escape. I have a gun and I plan to shoot you at some point, but the better behaved you are, the longer Ill delay the inevitable. Do you agree?
Josie didnt care much for that arrangement, but she nodded.
She felt the man move behind her and his hands touch the back of her head. The blindfold fell away and the light hurt her eyes. The gag went next. Then the man started cutting the ropes. As soon as she was able, Josie jumped to her feet and tried to run. She slammed straight down into the carpet. The office chair was still tied to her ankles.
So impatient.
Josie twisted her body to look at him. He certainly looked the partin his sixties, distinguished, arrogant, filled with hate, a handgun in his belt. You must be Bennett Cummings, she said He smiled as he cut the ropes from her feet. You know about me.
Yeah, Josie said, wiping the drool off her chin and rubbing her jaw.
Youre the psycho whos after Rick.
Charming way to phrase it, the man said, gathering the cut ropes off the floor. Of course, youve left out a few pertinent details.
I know about Margot. It was an accident. Rick is a good man.
When Cummings straightened up, his eyes were filled with loathing. You poor, gullible, naпve, stupid thing. He shook his head, then placed the pile of rope on a nearby side chair. He yanked the office chair away and put it up against the wall. He pulled the gun from his belt, cocked it, and pointed it at her. Get up. Ill show you your accommodations.
Josie scrambled to her feet, but her legs felt like Jell-O. She almost fell, but he caught her.
Miss Sheehan, my back cannot withstand dragging you around any more than I already have, so please try to stay on your feet. He turned her body around and shoved the gun into her right kidney. The bathroom is this way.
Josie relieved her bladder, noting the sore and bruised spot on the back of her thigh where Cummings had jabbed her with a needlethe last thing she remembered before waking up bound and gagged. She splashed cold water on her face and swished out her mouth. She also ran water over her scraped and bloody wrists and patted them dry with a fluffy white towel.
There were no windows in the bathroom, just a small linen closet and truckloads of the finest marble and granite money could buy. Wherever she was being held captive, it was top-of-the-line all the way.
Josie took a moment to steady herself before she opened the door. She breathed deep. The reality was that Cummings had a gun. She didntand even if she did, she wouldnt know how to use it. So she would have to find another way to deal with him. Josie figured the longer she stayed missing the more intense the search for her would become. So she had to stay alive as long as possible, doing whatever was necessary, until Rick found her.