Sue, page 24
“That’s more like it.” He reached out his hands to her. “Come here, baby.”
Timidly, she rose on shaky legs. She couldn’t go for the knife; he’d be ready for that. If she could get to her purse in the front room, she could slip her hand around the gun inside and shoot him right through the bottom of the bag. All it required was a little pretense. She’d take him in her arms, act like she was glad to see him.
But before she had the chance, he reached out and grabbed her wrists, pushed them down at her sides and held them there in a tight grip. Lifting her head, she looked up into his face. His vivid blue eyes glittered with unfathomable emotion. The long-awaited moment was upon her. Isn’t this what I’ve dreamed of, longed for? He bent to kiss her, moved his sensuous lips over hers, slipped his tongue inside her mouth, tasted her as if she were a rare delicacy.
And she felt...nothing. Except disgust.
“Thank god,” she gasped with relief.
He misunderstood her sentiment. “I know, it’s like old times, isn’t it? Oh, Susie. Sweet baby,” he groaned. “Open your robe. I want to look at you.” He released her arms.
“No.” She pulled the garment tighter around her body.
“No?” He put his hand on her chest, shoved her back onto the bed. “What the hell’s wrong with you? I said open your fucking robe.” He glared at her as he fingered the knife hilt.
Shaking, she did as he said.
“Take it off and lean back.” He raked her body with his eyes and licked his lips.
She complied, revulsion crawling its way up her throat.
“Hey, they did a damn good job patching you up. Scar isn’t even that bad.” Zeke stroked the front of his jeans with his thumb as he regarded her.
Kicking out suddenly, she caught him on his left knee and sprang from the bed. He lurched but didn’t fall, and stumbled after her, snatching her back by the hair. “Son of a bitch! That hurt like hell!” He landed a vicious punch to her stomach, right over the old stab wound. Her midsection bloomed with pain and she crumpled to the floor, cradling her belly.
Zeke rubbed his knee, put his weight on the leg, tested it. He pulled back his right foot and kicked her in the ribs. Then he backed away, watched her as she gasped for breath on the floor.
“This isn’t how things were supposed to go,” he complained. “You always did know how to ruin a moment. Did you think you were going to take me? You?” He paced a few times, then gripped Sue’s arm and jerked her to her feet. “Get dressed. And make it quick.” He shoved her toward the dresser.
Struggling to stand, she pulled on underwear and jeans, wept as she slid her arms into a shirt and carefully tugged it down over her head. He picked up her shoes and threw them at her. They bounced off her legs and landed nearby.
Leaning against the doorjamb, he lit a cigarette and watched her. “You just don’t think, Sue. You haven’t gotten any smarter, that’s for sure.” He inhaled deeply and blew smoke in her direction. “And what the hell did you do to your hair? It looks terrible. So drab and dull.”
She dropped to the floor and bent over to put on her shoes. The pain subsided to a dull ache. Once her laces were tied, she used the dresser to pull herself into a standing position. Then she turned to face Zeke and received a shock. The cigarette dangled loosely from the corner of his mouth, and Gray Baby was in his arms. He stroked the cat roughly, staring at Sue with challenging eyes. “I asked you a question, Einstein.”
“What? What was the question?” She hated the pleading tone in her voice.
“What was the question?” he mocked. “I asked you about your hair. Why’d you ruin your hair?”
“The red just didn’t look right on me.” Please put my cat down.
“I liked it.” He looked down at the cat cradled in his arm, ran his hand over her back, pulled lightly on her tail. She complained with a mild meow and struggled to escape. He held her tighter. “Nice pussy.”
“Let her go, please.” Rage bloomed inside Sue, but she covered it with a shaky, disingenuous smile. “Look, why don’t we go into the living room, sit down? I’ll fix something to drink. We have a lot to talk about.” If he fell for it, she could escape out the back door.
He stared at her for a long moment, Gray Baby writhing to escape his grasp. Slowly and deliberately, he took the cigarette from his lips and moved it toward the animal’s eye. Sue’s breath caught in her chest. Her cell phone rang, interrupting them. Her eyes went to the desk where it lay. “I need to answer that.”
“No! No, you don’t. You’ve watched too many movies, Sue,” he scolded. He dropped the cigarette to the floor and ground it into the carpet with the toe of his boot. “Hey, do you think cats can fly?” With a quick movement, he tossed the cat into the air. Gray Baby yowled as she twisted to right herself, landed on the mattress with claws splayed, then streaked under the bed. She mewed nervously from her hiding place. Sue closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of gratitude.
The phone rang a few more times before the call went to voice mail.
“What we’re going to do is go for a little ride,” Zeke said. “I have something to show you. If you really want to talk, there’ll be plenty of time for that.” He looked at her with an expression of remorse so phony she almost laughed, but there was nothing funny about the situation. “I’m sorry as hell I had to come down on you like that. But you know better than to attack me. You know how quick my reactions are.”
Sue’s face was a mask of horror. Her mind raced to find a way out.
Her phone rang again, splitting the air with insistence. Zeke snatched it up, banged it on the desk a few times, then broke it into two and threw it down. “I hate that fucking ring tone. It’s stupid.” He stomped on the pieces, crushing them under his heel.
He took Sue’s arm in a tight grip and led her toward the living room. “Now, get your keys and let’s hit the road. Grab your purse too; I’m going to need that bank card.”
Relief washed over Sue as she stumbled along beside Zeke. I’m going to blow your brains out. All she had to do was distract him long enough to unzip it and slip her hand inside.
They stopped at the coffee table; Sue picked up her keys, and slipped the strap of the purse over her shoulder. As it banged against her hip she felt the satisfying heft of the gun inside. Zeke still held one arm in his iron fist. He spun her around to face him.
“There’s one more thing I need to do before we leave.”
Sue’s mind was on the weapon at her side. “What?”
“This.” He slammed her in the temple with his fist. “Can’t have you trying to run, can we?”
She almost toppled from the blow and he hit her again. This time her legs gave way and she slumped, nearly collapsed. He wrapped a strong arm around her and shuffled her out the door.
Chapter 45
Will hung up the phone with a look of concern on his face. He pressed redial and hung up when it went straight to voice mail. He considered the situation. The information he’d just received shouldn’t be delivered in a message. He got up and poked his head into Roxie’s office. “I just got off the phone with Jordan at the department.”
Roxie looked up from her work. “What’s up?”
“Early yesterday morning a girl was nearly grabbed over in Clear Lake. To make a long story short, some guy jumped in her car and pointed a big knife at her, told her to drive. Instead she bailed, and so did he. She ran out into the street, hollering for help, and he took off in the other direction. The police dusted the car and came up with Zeke’s prints.”
“Oh, Will. No! Have you called Sue? She needs to know this.”
“I tried but there was no answer.” He flipped his phone open and called Melvin. “Hey, it’s Will. Is Sue with you?”
“No. I’m home studying. She was supposed to go to the gym and then stop by her parents’ house. Why?”
Will told him the news.
“Zeke was in Clear Lake? That’s only two and half hours away.” There was the mild clunk, the momentary distortion of a phone being dropped and picked back up. The pitch of Melvin’s voice rose a notch as he spat out the words, “Are they sure?”
“Positive. They pulled his prints. I tried to call Sue and didn’t get an answer.”
“Let me call her folks and I’ll call you right back,” Melvin said.
Within a couple of minutes, Will’s phone rang.
“She left their house an hour ago. Maybe she’s in the shower or something,” Melvin said. “I’m heading over there.”
“Me too. I’ll meet you at her apartment.” Will disconnected and shot Roxie a look. “It’s probably nothing to worry about, but I just want to be on the safe side. Keep trying to call her, okay? Try not to scare her if she answers. Just because Zeke is still alive doesn’t necessarily mean he’s after her.”
“I understand.” She reached for the phone as Will hurried out.
He stopped by his office, slid his weapon into his shoulder harness, pulled on a jacket, and hastened out the door.
Will arrived at Sue’s before Melvin. Her car was gone, but the door to the apartment hung wide open. He pulled his gun and got out just as Melvin slid to a stop in front of the house and jumped from his vehicle. Will cocked his head toward the open door and Melvin’s gaze followed. His eyes widened. Reaching back inside, he pulled his gun from under the seat.
Without a word, they crept onto the porch from different angles. Will pressed against the side of the house and leaned in slowly to peer inside. “Sue?” he called. “Are you home?”
Melvin stared at Will from the other side of the open doorway. “I’m going in.”
They moved inside cautiously. The front room and adjoining kitchen were empty. “I smell cigarette smoke,” Melvin commented.
“Get behind me, Melvin.” Will tiptoed down the short hallway and stopped at the bedroom door. “Oh, shit!”
“What?” Melvin crowded in behind him.
Sue’s cell phone was crushed on the floor beside the black smear of a ground-out cigarette butt.
Melvin turned to Will, his features contorted with anguish. “He’s got her. Oh, god, Will. He’s got her!” He began to hyperventilate and reached for his inhaler.
Will put a hand on Melvin’s shoulder. “Come on, breathe. Breathe, buddy. We don’t have time for this right now.”
Melvin took a few hits of his medicine, closed his eyes, and gathered his strength. His throat unlocked and air slid like magic down into his lungs. “I’m okay,” he said, holding up a hand. “I’m okay now.”
Will wandered into the hall, quickly searched the rest of the small apartment. “They haven’t been gone long. It’s still warm in here, even with the door hanging open. We just have to figure out where he’s taken her.” He paced back and forth as he called Roxie and told her what he’d found. “Call the police and get them over here. Tell them what’s going on. We’re not sticking around to wait for them.” He snapped his fingers as something occurred to him. “I have to go.” He hung up and turned to Melvin. “Remember that cemetery where they found her car the first time?”
“You think he’s taken her there?” Melvin’s eyes were moist as he struggled to hold his emotions in check.
“It’s worth checking. Let’s take my car.” As they reached the door, Gray Baby tried to slide out, but Melvin pushed her back inside. They pulled the apartment door closed and headed out.
Chapter 46
Sue slowly regained consciousness. She was in the passenger seat of her car, Zeke at the wheel. He glanced over at her. “Feeling better, Bunny?” he asked solicitously, a feral grin on his face.
Sue’s head was pounding. Pressing a hand to her temple, she looked out the window. They were moving through town, taking back streets. “Where are we going?”
“I thought we’d take a little trip down
Memory Lane. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” His voice was almost tender. “I’m not sure what you mean. Are we leaving town like we did before? Going to be gypsies again?”
“Ah, Susie. Those days are long over.”
“Are we stopping at the ATM? You said you wanted money.” Sue had two plans. First, she’d enter her PIN backwards in order to notify the police a robbery was taking place, and second, she’d get her gun.
Zeke squelched her ideas. “I’ll get the money later, on my own.”
“But you don’t know my PIN.”
He took his eyes off the road long enough to give her a scornful look. “Oh, Susie. Are you really that slow? I will know it by the time we’re finished. In fact, you’ll be telling me everything I want to hear. Everything!” After reaching the edge of town, Zeke turned onto the highway for a short distance and then onto a country road.
Sue’s thoughts were still foggy from blows she’d taken to her head. “Where are we going?”
“Like I told you,
Memory Lane. You know why I call it that?” It abruptly dawned on her where they were headed; the old abandoned house. She groaned and tried to sit up straight. She was aware of the seat belt across her chest, and the purse strap digging into her shoulder. But her handbag was wedged between the seat and the door.
She said nothing, still trying to order her thoughts, and he reached out to smack the side of her head.
“I like to be answered when I ask a question, Sue. You know that.”
Her head swam. “Yes, I know.”
“Then what are you waiting for, you retarded sack of shit? Why do I call this
Memory Lane?” “Because we’ve been here before?”
“That’s right. And I’ve got a special treat planned for you. Can’t wait for you to see.”
“You know, I never stopped loving you, Zeke. I’ve missed you like crazy.” Sue appealed to the narcissist in him, hoping he’d let down his guard.
He gave a short laugh. “I’m not stupid, Sue. You hate my guts and I know it.”
Sue gritted her teeth. How does a person talk to a lunatic? “No, no, that’s not right. You just took me by surprise, showing up out of the blue like you did. But when you kissed me, it really rocked me to the core,” she said, reaching her hand slyly for her purse. It was jammed in so tight. She found the zipper and slowly tried to unzip it little by little, soundlessly. “You have to understand where my mind was. For a long time, I thought you were dead.”
He paused, slowed the car a little. “What?”
“They found your body, burned up in a fire.”
With a dismissive jerk of his head, he flung his hair off his brow. “Oh, that. Yeah, I had to die.”
“You staged it?” Sue couldn’t hide her surprise. “But there were two people.”
“I know. It had to be done. Everything worked out great. I was getting bored with little Anna anyway. And the guy who filled in for me was just some idiot freak I found on the streets. It was perfect.” He stared at the road ahead, deep in thought.
Sue studied his face. “You killed them?” It wasn’t really a question.
“No! I didn’t have to. The fire did it.” He reached into his jacket pocket for a cigarette, slipped it between his lips, and lit it. With a sardonic grin he thrust the flame toward her, wove it back and forth close to her face. She recoiled, pulled hard against the door to avoid being burned. Zeke shifted his gaze from the road ahead and back to Sue, a glint in his eye. He quickly tired of the game and slipped the lighter back in his pocket before continuing, “Of course the rope I used to tie them up was a definite factor. Man, they sizzled and popped! Just like bacon on a spit. Did a lot of screaming, too. It was kind of a trip.” A brief sad look crossed his face. “I was sorry to see the building go, though. It was a beauty.”
Don’t listen to his sick words, but keep him talking. “It’s where we spent the first night of our trip together.” She forced a note of affection into her voice, hoping he would fall for it. “One of the best nights of my life.”
“Yeah, I remember,” he said with enthusiasm, as if he’d briefly forgotten the current circumstances. “We cuddled up in the back of the van. You were all over me that night, Sue. Couldn’t keep your hands off. That was back before you lost your appeal.” He winked at her. “But I know how to bring it back; you’ll see. I’m actually excited about you again.”
He took a deep drag and blew the smoke in her direction, causing her to cough lightly.
“That bothering you, princess?” He shot a look at her. “You’re such a pain.”
He rolled the window down a few inches and flicked the cigarette out. She kept finessing the opening on her bag. They were almost to their destination. If she could just get a hand inside her purse, she could blast him when he opened the passenger door to get her out. But the zipper itself was crimped and she couldn’t seem to slide it past the bend.
Chapter 47
Will drove like a speed demon with Melvin hanging onto the armrest. He gave a defeated sigh as they approached the old cemetery. Sue’s vehicle was nowhere to be seen.
“See if they parked behind that hedge,” Melvin suggested, “or pulled into the field.”
Will whipped the car around and they eyed the area, but found nothing. Stopping the car, Will draped his arms over the steering wheel and stared straight ahead. “I was so sure he’d bring her here.”
“Wait! I know where they might be,” Melvin said. He told Will about the old farmhouse where Sue had taken him that summer.
“Give me directions.” Will slammed the car into gear.
Chapter 48
“What are you doing over there?” Zeke grabbed her thigh and squeezed it hard.
“Ow, Zeke.” She tried to pry his fingers loose. “Please. I was just scratching my leg.”
“Don’t get any ideas about jumping out of the car.”
“I wasn’t. I’m trying to make you understand I want to be here with you.”
He released her thigh and gave her a knowing look. “It’s pretty damn funny listening to you lie your ass off. Almost makes me want to laugh. Somehow I never spotted your great sense of humor in all the time we spent together.”
