“Cash in your chips?” Corey said.
“Don’t you remember our partnership agreement?” Todd said. “In the event of the death of one of the partners, full ownership of the company automatically goes to the surviving owner.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Corey shouted.
“Settling up, my man,” Todd said. “With everybody, including our good buddy, Leon. I realized that he’s the perfect fall guy. A fugitive on the run kidnaps an old friend’s family for ransom-”
“Todd, please!” Simone shouted.
“-and the whole plan apparently goes terribly wrong,” Todd continued. “The incinerated remains of Corey Webb, his loving wife, and Leon Sharpe are discovered in a housing subdivision burned to the ground in the south suburbs. . poor Sharpe, must have tried to torch the evidence of what he’d done and got trapped himself in a fire that blazed out of control.”
The mention of fire raised the hairs at the nape of Corey’s neck. He pounded his fists on the door. “Let us out, damn it!”
Todd paused. “Hmm, now that’s interesting. You’re supposed to be cuffed. What’re you, like, Houdini? You keep escaping from tight places.”
“Damn you, Todd, open the door!” Simone screamed.
“Anyway,” Todd said, “as for our deaf little Webb girl. . who knows where she is. . but if I find her around here, I know certain people who’ll pay good coin for a pretty little orphaned girl.”
Shouting, Corey kicked the door repeatedly. The wood shuddered, splintered.
“How much you wanna bet you’ll roast long before you bust out of there?” Todd asked.
Todd’s voice sounded distant; he was leaving.
A second later, Corey smelled, distinctly, the pungent odor of gasoline. His heart trip hammered.
“Todd!” he shouted.
“Personally, I think I’ve got the high hand on this one,” Todd said, voice fainter. “Think I’m going all in. .”
A door slammed.
And Corey heard the crackle of flames.
72
To make Shaggy Man happy, Jada ate the can of peas while he stood over her and watched.
The sweet, big black dog that had found her in the woods had worked its way through the knot of other dogs around her and come to her side, sticking its wet snout in her face, sniffing at the can and licking her chin. She fed the dog some of the peas, and it gulped them without chewing and begged for more.
I have to eat, too, doggy, she said, and swallowed a forkful of the peas. They were cold, and she actually didn’t like peas as all-spinach was her favorite vegetable-but Shaggy Man grinned.
If it makes him happy to see me eat, then I’ll eat, she thought.
She didn’t want to see him angry again. He did not seem to be a scary, bad man like the Giant or Mr. Leon-a bad man wouldn’t have so many nice dogs in his house-but the fact that he was so disturbed gave her the feeling that he might hurt her without really meaning to hurt her, and in a way, that was almost as frightening as everything Giant had done.
Between her and the dog at her side, they finished the entire can of peas. She put the fork on the table. A yawn escaped her.
She went to cover her mouth as she yawned, but Shaggy Man suddenly seemed upset again. He started speaking.
She thought he said, Bedtime.
She nodded eagerly, and said it, too: Bedtime. Yes, bedtime. I want to go to bed.
She really was tired, too, “absolutely exhausted” as Daddy would say sometimes when he came home from work, but what she was thinking was that if Shaggy Man took her to a bedroom, she would be alone, and alone, she could finally use the cell phone.
He picked her up from the chair, as if she were an infant. He carried her through the house, though the sniffing, licking, probing pack of dogs. As he walked down a hallway lined with stacks of phone books, he stepped through several piles of doggy doo-doo, like he didn’t even see them.
Gross, she thought, holding her nose. Mom would have a conniption fit if she could ever see this man’s house.
He pushed open a door and brought her into a dark, musty-smelling room. He switched on a lantern on the dresser.
It was a room for a baby. There was an old looking crib covered in dust and cobwebs, and the walls had faded pink wallpaper with leaping white unicorns. An old box of Huggies stood beside the dresser.
It didn’t look as if any of the doggies had been in there, though. There was no poop on the carpet and no pee-pee stains.
He placed her inside the crib, cobwebs wrapping around her arms and neck.
I’m not a baby! she wanted to say to him, but she knew he would not understand. So she kept quiet. She curled up her legs to try to fit inside on the dusty bedding, the phone pressing against her hip.
The dogs tried to come inside the room, but he shooed them away, waving his arms frantically. They waited outside in the hallway, dozens of sets of eyes gleaming curiously.
Shaggy Man dug a diaper out of the box of Huggies. He stared at it, and then looked at her. He was frowning, totally confused.
He thinks I wear diapers? Jeez, she wanted to scream.
But she took the diaper from him, anyway. He smiled, and his lips moved.
Good night, he said.
Good night, she said, and waved.
He backed out of the room and fastened the door behind him.
Finally, she was alone.
She counted to fifty. When he did not come back, she felt safe digging out the cell phone.
Hands shaking, she pressed the power button. As the screen brightened, she hoped the phone didn’t make any beeping noises that Shaggy Man might hear.
Her parents had taught her to call 911 in case of an emergency, but she wanted to call Daddy first. She had decided that he was probably at home, wondering what had happened to her and Mom.
She punched in the number for their house. Out of habit, she put the phone against her ear.
She would not be able to know if Daddy answered the phone, but they had voice mail, and that would pick up if he didn’t. She counted off ten seconds, and then she started talking:
Daddy, it’s me, Jada, Mom and I have been locked up all day with bad people, Mr. Leon and a giant, they’re partners, Daddy, and we need help, Daddy, we need you, I got away and I’m at a house on a lake, and there are dogs everywhere in here, and I hope you can find me, I’m with a disturbed man in his house on the lake, and I need you. .
Jada looked up, her words wilting in her throat.
Shaggy Man was standing in the doorway, and he looked furious.
73
Soon after the crackle of flames came foul black smoke. Serpents of it slithered underneath the door and inside the bedroom, writhed around their legs.
Corey coughed. He knew they had only a few minutes before smoke inhalation would kill them.
He turned to Simone, saw the same grim knowledge reflected in her eyes. Without needing to exchange a word, he boosted her on his back, her arms hooked in his.
She weighed maybe a hundred and thirty pounds. Not heavy. But in his battered condition, it was like having a refrigerator strapped to his back.
He clenched his teeth, ignored the pain.
She slammed both feet against the door, the impact rocking him forward. He heard the door rattle-but it held.
She hit it again. Wham.
Wood cracked, the best sound he’d ever heard in his life.
Wham.
More breaking.
On his back, Simone was panting, her frantic breaths roaring in his ears. Tendrils of smoke curled around them. Corey held his breath, lungs feeling as if they would implode.