All I could see when I closed my eyes was Derrick Phalen, and no matter how much I tossed and turned, I couldn’t shake the image of him. His missing eyes.
Would I ever? I doubted it.
I was exhausted, tired beyond all belief, and yet I still couldn’t sleep a wink. Back in Manhattan I would have tried listening to certain street sounds, something I did when I needed to clear my mind. Basically, I’d count car horns instead of sheep.
Out here in the woods of Connecticut, however, there was nothing but silence. And it was deafening – at least tonight it was.
Frustrated, I pushed back the covers and reached blindly for my iPhone on the nightstand.
I’d turned it off in the backseat of the taxi after it had started to ring like crazy. Needless to say, some people were a little curious as to where I was, not the least of whom was surely a very ticked-off David Sorren.
But it was only Courtney I felt bad about. Really bad. Although I had texted her to let her know I was all right, I hadn’t responded when she’d written back “Where R U?” Better that she not have to lie on my behalf. Also, better that she didn’t get any more involved in my problems than she already was.
I turned on my iPhone again now. 3:04 a.m., announced the home screen.
Sure enough, there were a half-dozen messages from Sorren and even more from Courtney. I’d continue to ignore Sorren’s messages until morning, but I thought I’d at least listen to one from Courtney. I knew she had to be incredibly shaken up by Derrick Phalen’s murder. After all, she had been the one to send me to him and he had been her friend.
“Nick, it’s me again,” began her message. “Please call me back. Please, Nick.”
I reached for the volume because I could barely hear her, when suddenly the phone began to vibrate.
Shit! What had I pressed?
Nothing. Someone was actually calling me at three in the morning.
I was so worried I would wake up Kate and Elizabeth that I didn’t even bother to check the caller ID.
“Hello?” I whispered.
“Hello, Nick.”
“Who is this?”
I immediately knew I’d heard the voice before, but I couldn’t place it. Right away, he placed it for me.
“I warned you at the diner, Nick, but you didn’t listen,” he said. “You should’ve listened.”
I shot straight up and turned on the light beside the bed.
Jesus. It was the guy from the Sunrise Diner, the one with the gun. The one who’d told me I was in a shitload of danger.
“Do you know what time it is?” I asked.
“I sure do,” he said. “I also know what room you’re in, Nick. It’s the only one in the house with the light on.”
In the middle of the night, he was here.
Chapter 72
I RACED OVER to the small window facing the front of the house. Tearing back the closed curtain, I pressed my nose up against the glass. I didn’t care if he could see me – could I see him?
Was he really out there? It sure sounded like it. And it looked like it, too.
Even with the reflection from the light in the room, I couldn’t miss the shining headlights on the car parked outside in the driveway. But that’s all I could see. Where are you, you son of a bitch?
It was as if he could read my mind and was playing with me. The next second, he stepped out of the darkness, a creepy-as-hell silhouette right in front of his car. His elbow was bent, the phone to his ear.
“You didn’t think anyone could find you out here, huh?” he asked. Only it wasn’t a question. It was a boast. I guess he was impressed with his own skills.
“I’m calling the police,” I said.
“Yeah, just like you did at the diner.”
“This is different.”
“Why? Because you’re not alone in this nice house out here in Disturbia?”
The mere suggestion of Kate and Elizabeth sent a jolt up my spine. All at once my worst fears collided with sheer rage. My body was spilling over with adrenaline. Whoever this guy was, he was royally pissing me off.
“You listen to me,” I said, changing my grip on the phone. I squeezed it so tight I thought it would break in my hand.
“No, you listen to me,” he shot back, cutting me off. “You’re in so far over your head, you don’t know which way is up. You can’t deny that, can you, Nick?”
“Who the hell are you?”
“At three in the morning, I’d say I’m your worst fucking nightmare. Agree or disagree?”
Then he stepped away from the headlights, slipping back into the darkness.
Shit! Where is he? I thought.
And – the far scarier thought – where is he heading?
SPRINTING OUT OF the guest room, I called to Kate and Elizabeth. With one hand I was dialing 911; with the other I was groping for a light switch in the hallway.
Kate beat me to it. Flick!
The hallway lit up brightly as my eyes locked onto hers. She’d come rushing out of her bedroom like her house was on fire. Sweats, T-shirt, panicked expression.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Nick, what’s going on?”
“Yeah, what is it?” asked Elizabeth, emerging from her room at the same time.
They both got their answer as the voice of the 911 operator suddenly chimed in on my phone. It was a woman. Very calm and sure of herself, thank goodness. An emergency professional.
Like that speed talker in those old FedEx commercials, I gave her the address. “There’s a man outside the house,” I said next. “I think he’s about to break in. He’s armed.”
Like a bolt, Kate ran over to Elizabeth, grabbing her hand. “Come with me,” she said. “Right now.”
She led Elizabeth to the stairs heading up to the third floor, the attic.
“Wait, I want to stay with you guys,” Elizabeth pleaded.
“No,” insisted Kate. “You go up into that attic and lock the door behind you. No matter what you hear, you do not open that door. Do you understand?”
Elizabeth nodded, fighting back tears. She reached out for the railing, only to stop and turn around. Suddenly, she dashed down the hall. Just from my voice she knew exactly where I was.
“Be careful, Uncle Nick,” she said, plastering me with a hug. Then she dashed back to the attic stairs, climbing them so fast I almost forgot she couldn’t see the steps.
Meanwhile, Kate had disappeared into her bedroom. I was about to call out to her when she returned.
“What the hell is that?” I asked.
But I could see it plain as day. She was holding a handgun.
My sister!
The Northeast liberal who once referred to the NRA as the Nincompoop Republican Army.
“Things change,” she said. “Here, take it.”
I didn’t merely take it, I grabbed it. “Thanks.” “It’s loaded,” she added.
“I hope so. It’s not much good if it isn’t.”
She rolled her eyes and for a moment we were kid brother and big sister back in Newburgh. But only for a moment.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“We listen. We wait for the police to get here.” If they can find the house…
Edging to the top of the stairs, I peered down to the first floor. Would he smash a window? Shoot the lock off the door at point-blank range?
I stared at Kate, raising my index finger to my mouth.Shhh.
We both held our breath. For a second I thought I heard Elizabeth upstairs in the attic. God, how frightened she must have been.
“What do you think?” whispered Kate after a minute or so went by. “Is he gone or what?”
I was about to answer when we heard it. Only it wasn’t exactly the sound I expected. It was a car’s engine.
Were the police here?
I rushed back to the window in the guest bedroom, staring out at the driveway. No, the police weren’t there.