“How is she?”
“She’s a little freaked and pissed, but that’s normal. She’s in the other bedroom resting.”
“Can I go see her?”
“In a minute,” he said. “First I want to know what happened that made you push the panic button. And before you answer, remember that if the danger to your ex-wife has increased, the danger to me and my partner has increased too.”
“I understand.” And I did, but I had to be careful not to say too much until I saw Amy. “I came across some information that led me to believe that the threats made against Amy were real.”
“Have you considered going to the authorities? Our firm can make that easier for you. We can hook you up with a top-notch lawyer, have someone meet you here if you’re afraid of being spotted contacting the law.”
“I’m thinking about it, but I can’t do it yet. I need to see Amy, okay? I need to discuss this with her first.”
“I see. Go ahead. Down the hallway to the right.”
“Thanks, Tom.”
“Wait until you get the bill before you thank me.”
I stood up from the table, taking the coffee with me. I didn’t want to drink it, but it made a good prop, made me seem more relaxed than I actually was. I walked down the hall past the bathroom and the bedroom Tony Dee was using. I knocked on Amy’s door, but didn’t wait for her answer. The time for acting cool and relaxed was over and I didn’t want to waste any more time than I had to.
Amy was sitting on the bed, head in her hands, an unwatched TV playing in the background. When I approached, she looked up. Her face was completely drained of color and her skin showed every wrinkle, line, and mark. It was as if she were aging before my eyes. As I opened my mouth to speak, she put her index finger across her lips to quiet me. She tapped in something on her BlackBerry, then handed it to me.
“Listen,” she whispered.
I put the phone to my ear. “Amy, this is Peter. Please do as I ask and do it the way I tell you to do it.” It was Peter Moreland. He spoke breathlessly, his voice was cracking, struggling to say the words. “You must get out of wherever you are and come with Kip or I’ll be killed. When you get on the road, start heading north on the New York State Thruway. When you get close to Stewart Airport, call this number. If you go to the police or are followed, he’ll kill me and he says to tell Kip he will also kill Renee. He’s serious, Amy.” Then there was some static.
“That’s right, Amy, I’m not kidding,” Jim said. I pictured him grabbing the phone away from Moreland. “Do what your sorry excuse for a husband said to do. How could you leave a guy like Kip for a cowardly piece of shit like this guy? My respect for you has taken a nosedive. Oh, yeah, to prove to you I’m serious … ”
There was a brief pause, a gunshot, Peter Moreland screaming, then nothing. I handed the phone back to Amy.
“How long ago did you get that message?”
“Half an hour ago.”
“I’ve got to get out of here,” I said.
She didn’t move. “Is Renee-”
“Yes, the girl from the restaurant.”
“Do you think he killed Peter? It sounded like he-”
“No, not yet, but he will. He’s killed before.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to Peter on my account.”
“Too late, Amy. We need to try and make sure nothing else happens to him.”
“Kip, who are these people? What the hell is going on? What does Peter have to do with-”
“Jim, the guy who’s got Peter, was a student of mine. He and Renee were in the class when the other kid took us hostage. We got close after that. Jim got me back in shape, taught me how to shoot. It’s complicated. I thought he was harmless, but … ”
“Harmless! He has Peter and god knows what he’s done to him.”
“I know. I know. That’s why you’re here. He threatened you and I had Meg hire these guys.”
“They got me out of bed at four in the morning, knocking on my door, saying they were the fire department.”
“I had to do something to protect you.”
“You want to protect me? How about staying the fuck out of my life?”
“After today, I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Fine.”
“I have to get out of here, Amy.”
“I’m coming too.”
I knew better than to argue. “Just follow my lead,” I said.
We came out of the bedroom and found Tom McDonald still sitting at the table. He seemed surprised to see us and a bit wary.
“Everything all right?” he asked, getting to his feet.
“No, the guy, Jim, who’s after us, he just called me.”
McDonald tensed. “Yeah?”
“He says he’s got a rifle trained on the back of the house and I don’t think he’s lying. He described how far the shades were pulled down, their color and everything.”
“Did he mention the girl, Renee?”
“She’s there with him. She got on the phone after he was done talking.”
His hand went right to his holster. “There’s only the two of them, right?”
“Just Jim and Renee, that’s right,” I said.
“Okay, you and Amy get down low and stay here while I get Tony Dee up. Don’t move. You got me?”
“Clear as a bell.” Amy nodded in agreement.
As soon as McDonald tapped on the bedroom door and stuck his head inside to wake his partner, Amy and I took off. We had a little trouble with the front lock and that gave McDonald time to figure out what was going on. He screamed for us to stop and as we finally got outside, I heard his footsteps coming up behind us. The door closed in his face and that gave us the time we needed to get down the stairs and into Isaac’s car ahead of him. We were pulling away just as he reached us. I took a peek in the side view mirror. McDonald looked pretty pissed off.
I waited until we were nearly back to the highway before speaking. “Listen, Amy, Jim’s dangerous and he will do the things he says he will. He killed Haskell Brown.”
“Oh, my god!”
“None of this is about you, really. You and Peter are involved only because you are connected to me and Peter to you. Saving Renee is only part of why I’m going. Jim is my personal nightmare. I have to go. You don’t. I can go by myself. Maybe I can talk Jim down. He does have this worship and adoration thing about me and maybe-”
“Will he kill Peter if I don’t go?” she asked, her voice sharp as a razor. “The truth.”
“Maybe, but he might kill him anyway.”
“I’m coming.”
“Are you sure? All you need do is say the word and I’ll drop you off. You’ll be safe.”
“Of course I’m not sure. Who would be? But I’m coming just the same.”
The rain had let up and the traffic had thinned. I pulled onto the Whitestone Expressway and moved easily into the flow of traffic. It was probably the last easy thing I would ever do.
Fifty
It was around noon when I pulled off the main road and onto the thin strip of crumbled blacktop leading to the abandoned bungalow colony. Overgrown hedges, their leafless and twisted branches like tangles of natural barbed wire, scraped against both sides of the car. The approach was eerily similar to that of the old berry farm down in Brixton. I had a sense that whatever was about to happen would produce more damage than a concussion and wounded pride. Writers have a knack for the endgame. That’s how many of us begin our books, knowing the end. Then we write to it. There was no scenario I could envision that left any of us-Amy, Renee, Moreland, or me-alive, let alone unscathed. Jim had painted all of us into a corner, himself most of all.
Up to that point, we had done exactly as we’d been told. As we approached Stewart Airport-like Hardentine, an old Air Force base-Amy called her husband’s cell. It was Jim who answered, and Amy got hysterical when he refused to let her talk to Moreland. She had been okay during most of the ride, her fury directed at me keeping the bleakness of the situation at bay.