Mixell had likely been alerted, either by the sound of the door opening or Harrison’s car coming up the driveway. He was also seated facing the dining room entrance. The odds of surprising him and getting a clear shot with Maddy in his lap were low, plus he didn’t want to risk Mixell’s reaction to his sudden entrance, with a knife near his daughter’s throat.
Harrison slid the pistol inside his waistband behind his back, then moved slowly into Mixell’s view at the dining room entrance. Mixell spotted him immediately.
“Hello, Jake.”
Mixell spoke in the same casual tone he had used after Harrison confronted him in Afghanistan after he had killed his second prisoner.
“Lonnie.” Harrison kept his voice steady, despite his rising trepidation for his daughter.
“Hands in the air,” Mixell said, “and turn around.”
Harrison complied, and Mixell noticed the pistol stuck behind him.
“Put your weapon on the floor and kick it over to me.”
Slowly, Harrison pulled the pistol out as he faced Mixell again, then placed it on the floor and kicked it across the room.
Mixell smiled and spoke to Maddy. “It’s your turn.”
She hesitated, her eyes going to her father.
“Go on,” Mixell urged. “We need to see who reaches the end first. This car represents you.” He touched one of the small plastic cars on the game board with the tip of his knife. “And the other car represents your mom. We need to determine who lives and who dies.”
Harrison recognized the board game, one that the three of them — Mixell, Christine, and himself — had played often as children: The Game of Life, which Harrison had bought for Maddy a few years ago.
Maddy spun the wheel, then moved her car six spaces.
“You’re cheating,” Mixell asserted. “You moved an extra space.”
“I did not! The wheel says six, and I moved six spaces!”
“You moved seven.”
“I did not! I started here” — she pointed toward her original spot — “and moved six spaces!”
“You started here,” Mixell replied, pointing to a space one spot behind where Maddy had started, “and you cheated, moving an extra space. You know what happens to cheaters, don’t you?”
Maddy shook her head, her eyes filling with tears.
“Have you heard of the Code of Hammurabi? It’s an ancient code of laws often described as an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. When one man takes something important from another man, he gets to do the same.” He kissed Maddy on the cheek. “You don’t understand what I’m talking about, but your father does.”
“I didn’t cheat,” Maddy said, her words barely audible.
“I’ll tell you what,” Mixell said. “I’ll spin for you.”
He moved her game piece back to the space he had pointed out, then turned the wheel slowly, stopping on the number five.
Maddy moved her car five spaces, then looked at Mixell with her hand still on her car. He nodded, and she released her game piece.
“Oh my goodness!” Mixell’s voice shifted to a sweet, lilting tone. “This is perfect, since we’re running short on time.”
Maddy had landed on a stop sign labeled Safe Route on top and Risky Route on the bottom, with the path to the end splitting into two roads.
“Only we’re going to change the options. One route is for Maddy, and the other one is for Angie.” He looked at Harrison. “Your father gets to choose.”
“That’s enough, Lonnie,” Christine said as she stared at Mixell with a hateful look. “Let her go. She has nothing to do with this.”
Mixell laughed. “Oh, no, Chris. I’m going to hurt Jake the same way he hurt me. I’m going to take away something important from him.” He turned to Harrison. “But I’m a compassionate man, so I’ll let you choose who dies. Your daughter.” He pointed the knife toward Maddy’s neck, then slowly toward Angie. “Or your wife.”
Maddy burst into tears, no longer able to hold back her fear, her body trembling as sobs escaped between deep breaths.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” Angie said. “Dad’s not going to let anything happen to you.”
“Shut up!” Mixell yelled. He placed the knife against Maddy’s neck, his focus still on Harrison. “You’ve got five seconds to decide or your daughter dies.”
“Let her go!” Harrison shouted.
“Is that your decision?”
Harrison’s eyes met Angie’s. It was an impossible decision to make, choosing between the two persons he loved more than anyone else in the world.
“It’s okay, Jake,” Angie said, her voice quavering. “Just kill this son of a bitch and take care of Maddy.”
“It appears we’ve reached a decision,” Mixell announced. “Of course, it was made by Maddy’s mom instead of her cowardly father.”
He pushed his chair back and stood with Maddy before him, a firm grip on her left arm and his knife hand resting on her shoulder. After guiding her a few feet, he stopped behind Angie’s chair, where he released the girl. She ran to Harrison as Mixell placed his hands on Angie’s shoulders, the knife still in his right hand.
“Maddy, go to your room,” Mixell said, “and don’t come downstairs until morning. If you happen to have a phone upstairs, don’t call anyone until tomorrow. If you do, I’ll kill your mom and dad, and it’ll be your fault.”
Maddy stood behind her father, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, the side of her face buried into his back. She was sobbing hysterically now, and Harrison felt her tears soak into his shirt.
“I’m not as heartless as you think,” Mixell said.
“Go upstairs,” Harrison said gently but firmly, “and wait until your mom or I come for you. Understand?”
He felt Maddy nod as she slowly released her grip around his waist. Then she ran upstairs, crying the whole way until her bedroom door slammed shut.
Mixell grinned and slid the flat side of the blade across Angie’s throat. Her tears broke free and streamed down her cheeks. “Jake…”
Mixell looked down at Angie, then quickly back to Harrison. “After all these years, she’s still quite beautiful. I have to admit that I was jealous. And angry. For the second time, you took the woman I wanted. First Chris, then Angie. Although both are attractive, their personalities are different. Angie is more” — he paused as he searched for the right words, moving the knife in little circles only an inch from her neck — “emotional. So animated and full of life.”
“Let her go, Lonnie. Angie has nothing to do with this.”
“You still don’t get it,” Mixell snarled. “She has everything to do with this. You brought her into this the moment Trish died.”
Harrison had always thought Mixell’s revenge was focused on him, payback for reporting him to their superiors and for testifying against him at his court-martial. But things had changed when Trish was killed, after Harrison stood behind her with a pistol to her head. It was Mixell’s bullet that had done the deed, but that didn’t matter to him.
Mixell had crafted a similar situation tonight, standing behind Angie with a knife to her neck. If he had his way, Angie would end up dead on the floor, just like Trish.
Searching for a way to save Angie’s life, Harrison considered charging Mixell, hoping to surprise him. But he concluded it wouldn’t work. Mixell would slice her neck open the instant he charged.
His only option was to talk Mixell out of his plan, refocus his anger.
“I’m the one you want,” he said. “I’m the one who sent you to prison, not Angie.”