Silence.
Except for… tapping. What of? A faucet dripping into a sink?
I stopped breathing again.
The tapping didn't stop, but became louder and more insistent. I turned my head toward the basement window. A face, in deep shadow, peered at me through the dirty glass. Hair stuck out in all directions and the mouth opened and closed like a puppet. One hand made weird gestures. I drew a sharp breath, but before I could scream recognition hit me full force. It was Delores.
My exhale would have been a sob of relief, but the decomposing leaves I'd stirred up at the bottom of the window well provoked a sneeze. Delores had her finger to her lips. Yeah, yeah, quiet, I got that. The words she mouthed, however, were incomprehensible. I shook my head and she closed her eyes with an expression of labored patience and tried again, slower. This time I understood. Greg had been there, but she thought he wasn't there now. If she was right, he would come back soon. Considering I'd landed in the window well looking for a place to hide from pursing footsteps, chances were good he'd returned. I had to hurry and be very cautious.
Then she added something more. Her mouth seemed to form Sarah's name. Sarah was there, too? That couldn't be right. I shot her a quizzical look then sneezed again. She rolled her eyes. What she said next I understood: Be careful. Be quiet.
I heaved myself out of the well and crawled under the bushes, listening. Soft footsteps came rapidly toward me and I froze like a rabbit.
"Thea? Thea? I know you're here somewhere. It's me, Juliet." She whispered so loudly, she might as well have stood in the middle of the driveway with a bullhorn. I edged out of my hiding place, startling her.
"Oh, Thea, thank God!"
"Shh," I hissed and grabbed her arm, pulling her down next to me. "How did you know I was here?"
"I followed you." She picked dead leaves out of my hair. "Eww."
"What? Why?"
"I was worried about Delores and came to look for you." She brushed at my shoulder, her nose wrinkled in distaste.
"Stop that." I pushed her hand away.
"When I went to your house and you weren't home I thought you might be at the farm, so I went out that way and caught sight of you careening down the road. When you didn't turn to go to the farm I followed. I left my motorcycle by your car. I figured if you were being cautious I should be, too."
I had to give her credit for clear thinking. "Delores is here," I whispered.
"You found her!" She clapped her hands and bounced.
"Shhh!"
"How did you know?" She hugged me, then turned me loose, her nose wrinkled again.
"I'll explain later." Or not at all, to avoid looking like an idiot. "Do you have your cell phone?"
"No. It's at home, charging."
"Damn." I took a breath. "Okay, look, we have to hurry. Greg may be back soon."
"Greg?" She blinked in confusion, then her eyes widened. "Shit. You mean he's the one who killed Valerie?"
I nodded.
"Why didn't you say anything earlier?"
"Maria's harangue interrupted me." Fortunately.
"Why's Delores here?"
"I don't know. I'm guessing she came to talk to Greg. Maybe he called her. We'll ask her about it later. Right now we've got to get her out of here."
We ran to the back door of the house and cautiously tried the knob. Locked. We tried the front. Locked as well. Remembering the keys I'd found, I sprinted to the outbuilding with Juliet close behind. The key ring was back on its nail, but the only key remaining was to the tractor. In frustration, we went back to the window well and Delores.
"Does this window open?" I mouthed to her.
She looked at the frame and nodded. The latch was inside at the bottom of the small window, but she had difficulty with it, and used only her right hand. After a moment she disappeared from view. Sarah took her place. Juliet and I exchanged stunned looks
Sarah glanced at us before setting to work on the latch. If the look on her face was any indication, she was straining hard. She stopped and looked over her shoulder then moved aside. Delores replaced her and grabbed the latch with her right hand and yanked. Her expression tightened as if she was in pain, but even so she managed what Sarah could not. With a screech of protest, the window opened. We all sighed with relief, but it was short lived.
"Take our hands, Delores. We'll pull you up," Juliet said.
"Can't," she panted, the pain obvious in her voice. "I think the bastard's broken my arm. It's swollen and hurts like hell when I try to move it."
"I can come up," Sarah said.
"Like hell you will," Delores snapped at her. Sarah shrunk back. "She'll run right to Greg."
"No! No, I won't!"
Delores rolled her eyes. "I've been listening to her bleat all afternoon. If it weren't for this arm she'd be trussed up and gagged."
"But he loves me," Sarah wailed and held up her left hand. Aha! That's where the other diamond ring ended up. "He asked me to marry him last night at the hospital. I snuck out and came here like he told me to. He loves me!"
"Don't even bother," Delores said to us. "She doesn't understand being tossed down here with me is not a sign of love."
"He does too love me," she said. "He wanted me to keep an eye on you while he was gone."
"You're dumber than a box of rocks," Delores said.
"He told me Valerie forced him into proposing to her and the whole other thing was her idea, too." Sarah directed her last comment to me, and I had no idea what she was talking about.
"We're wasting time," Delores said. "We need to get out of here."
Juliet grabbed my arm. "Why don't I go down through the window and help lift her through? After all, I'm taller than you. And stronger."
"Okay." I didn't think it was such a hot idea. We could hurt Delores more in the process, but there seemed no other way. Besides, Juliet was more than capable of trussing up Sarah, if need be.
I backed out of the bushes to give Juliet room to maneuver. She grunted as she squeezed through the awkward opening.
So intent was I on Juliet's efforts that I didn't notice the approaching footsteps. Before I had time to react a large hand clamped over my mouth and nose. A metallic click sounded dangerously close to my ear as I was dragged away from my sister and friend. Juliet's voice sounded a million miles away.
"Okay, I made it. Thea? Thea?"
Chapter Twenty-Two
It was Greg.
He dragged me away from Juliet and Delores. The hurried, backward movement and what was surely a gun against my head kept me from struggling. I was certain he intended to haul me to the pasture and shoot me at the spot where I'd found Valerie. Instead, he halted less than fifty feet from where he'd grabbed me.
His face rested lightly against my hair and he spoke in a calm, quiet voice. "I'm going to take my hand off your mouth. If you say one word or try to run I'll shoot you. Understand?"
Oh yes, I understood. I nodded quickly. Running was out of the question. The convulsive shaking of my legs made it almost impossible to stand. He bent down and retrieved something from the ground. I risked a glance. A rake? Gardening tools don't kill people, people kill people.
Shut up, Thea.
He gave me a push in the ribs with the business end of the gun, forcing me toward the house. I was amazed my legs obeyed and amazed we went right back to the bushes where he'd found me. His mouth was once again by my ear, but Juliet's impatient snarl cut him off.
"Thea, I said we're ready. Where are you?"
I pressed my lips hard together.
"Get down in the window well and shut the window," he whispered. "You even look like you're trying to get through it and I'll shoot you."