The First Victim (21 page)

The girls were starting to wake up, but they were too drowsy to make a run for it.

“Inside,” Billy ordered, ushering Emily out of the van, and pointing toward the house. “And don’t try to get sneaky, by ‘forgetting’ to disable the house alarm. I know the code is
family.
” He pulled one of the girls out of the back of the van, slinging her over his shoulder like she was a sack of potatoes. He followed Emily inside.

As she disarmed the alarm, wondering how the hell he knew what the code was, she looked over. He was carrying Anna. She was dirty, but didn’t appear hurt. She was rolling her head back and forth, trying to wake up.

His partner-in-crime, her original kidnapper, an older man who looked vaguely familiar, came in a moment later, carrying Laurie. Her sister looked like she was sleeping, but then she opened her eyes and looked right at Emily before snapping them closed again.

Emily barely stifled her gasp of surprise. Laurie was awake, but playing possum. Smart girl. This might give them an advantage.

“Upstairs,” Billy said. “I want to do it upstairs.”

Emily went first, leading the way. She climbed slowly, taking a mental inventory of what weapons were available to her upstairs. Her paring knife was under her pillow. The pepper spray was in her purse. Where was the mace? What was the point in having a personal arsenal of Armstrong Security products if she didn’t know where they were? She couldn’t remember where the mace was. She remembered unpacking it, but that was it.

In Laurie’s room she could probably find a nail file and some hairspray. Maybe she’d just throw untoasted breakfast pastries at them. A hysterical giggle slipped out.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” she murmured. This wasn’t the time to antagonize them. She had to figure out how to get the girls to safety.

The third stair from the top groaned in protest every time someone stepped on it. The man carrying Anna huffed and puffed as he neared the top of the stairs. She could use that to her advantage too. He wasn’t nearly as big as she remembered him being. She could take him.

Billy was the problem. He was stronger, younger, fit. He was more of a threat, and Emily knew that he was just as dangerous as the other guy.

“Your room,” the older man gasped breathlessly.

The five of them trooped into the bedroom. The bed was unmade, the sheets still rumpled by Emily and Bailey’s lovemaking session. That seemed so long ago now. Her heart twisted.

Laurie and Anna were unceremoniously dumped on the bed, interrupting Emily’s thoughts. Laurie continued to pretend to be unconscious. Anna struggled into a sitting position, and glared at her captors. Emily had to admire the young woman’s spunk.

While Anna glowered at the men, Emily rushed to her sister’s side. She bent and pressed a kiss to Laurie’s forehead, in a display of sibling affection. She simultaneously slid her hand under her pillow, and palmed her paring knife.

“Touching family reunion,” Billy drawled. “The fun we are going to have with you. I’ve waited forever for this.”

Emily put her hands on her hips and asked, “Why are you doing this?”

The movement allowed her to tuck the knife, blade pointing up, into the back of the waistband of her pants. She tugged her T-shirt down to cover it as she waited for the men to respond.

“I’ve waited my whole life for this moment, Emily.” Billy stepped close.

It was all she could do to hold her ground. Every cell in her body urged her to recoil. She wanted to spit in his smug face like they did in the movies, but knowing her sister was right there, at the mercy of these two sickos, Emily forced herself to stay perfectly still. She couldn’t have done it for herself. She could do anything for Laurie. Her stomach lurched as he caressed her cheek. Gritting her teeth, she balled her hands into tight fists by her sides.
Calm, cool and collected. Calm, cool and collected. Think, Em. Think!
She couldn’t afford to panic. Not now with Laurie’s life hanging in the balance.

“I’ve thought about it,” Billy continued dreamily. “Fantasized about you. How you’d look. What you’d smell like. I always thought cherry.” He leaned in and sniffed her hair. “I was right.”

She couldn’t hide the tremor of fear and revulsion that racked her entire body.

He smiled, pleased by her reaction. “How it’ll feel when I ram into you. What you’ll sound like when you’re screaming for me to stop.” He slipped his hand around her throat and squeezed.

Tears sprang to her eyes from the pain. She offered no physical resistance of any kind. She didn’t lash out. She didn’t even try to pull away. She just kept replaying the chant she’d learned in her first ever self-defense class.
Eyes. Nose. Throat. Groin. Eyes. Nose. Throat. Groin.

“I’ve been waiting all these years for my chance to play with you.” He released his grip on her throat.

Sucking in a greedy breath, she shifted her gaze to the girls on the bed. Laurie was still pretending to be knocked out, but Anna looked poised to fight. Emily shook her head, and the girl sank back down into the mattress.

“I watched, you know. I had a front-row seat and all the lollipops I could eat. That’s why I added them to the dolls, because they remind me of you.”

Emily had no idea what he was babbling about. Jackie hadn’t been holding any lollipops.

“I saw what Pop did to you,” Billy continued in a singsong voice.

“What I’m going to do again.” The older man’s voice was hoarse with a lascivious anticipation Emily recognized.

Her palm burned in response.

His son shot him a look like he should know his place. Chastised, the elder O’Neil cast his eyes downward, confirming Emily’s suspicion that the father wasn’t the one in charge. No wonder the wimp preyed on girls. He was a pathetic excuse for a man. A real man, a man like Bailey, would wipe the floor with him.

If only she could keep them talking. She had to give the cavalry, assuming there was going to be a cavalry, time to get there. Bailey would know she’d left with his dispatcher. He’d have alerted the FBI. They would find them. “Why me?”

Dad looked to his son for permission to answer.

“Tell her, Pop.” He sounded like a little kid requesting his favorite bedtime story.

Dad obliged. “You were a sweet, pretty girl despite the fact that your old man is a first-class jerk. He shows up one weekend, while I’m doing work for your mom and he catches Junior here dissecting minnows on your picnic table. He had the nerve to tell me he was going to insist my brother do something about Billy’s sadistic behavior. As if every fisherman who uses minnows for bait doesn’t do the same thing!” He sounded outraged by the remembered slight.

“Pop, the story’s supposed to be about Emily, not about her dickwad dad,” Billy interjected, his annoyance palpable.

Oliver O’Neil exhaled slowly, trying to recover his equilibrium. “I remember the first time I knew I had to have you. I was doing some odd jobs for your mother, building display cases for those dolls of hers. I’d never seen anything as beautiful as that collection. They were perfect. That’s why I keep trying to make them.”

“You were the best, Emily.” Billy sounded almost reverential as he said it. “I watched you back then. I’ve watched them all, and none of them was quite like you. I’ve tried to find one. One that’s so pure of heart, but full of fight. That one’s at least got the fight.” He pointed at Anna.

Instinctively, Emily scooted over protectively, to stand between them.

He laughed at her.

“But now, now I can have the real, genuine article. After all these years, I finally get to have you. Not so pure anymore, but you’re still a fighter, and that’s what I like best. We are going to have so much fun together.” The singsong quality of his voice freaked her out and sent a chill skittering down her spine.

She stared at him, trying to imagine the ten-year-old boy he’d been when he’d witnessed his father’s depravity. She cast about, searching her soul for some pity for that child, but all she came up with was hatred. It burned in her gut, hot and strong.

He cocked his head and smiled as though he could read her thoughts, as though he relished her hatred for him.

She looked away. Engaging this one was not a smart idea. He was the smarter of the two, crazier of the two, the more evil of the two. She had no doubt about that. He seemed to be feeding off the fear in the room. She switched her attention to the other man, trying to kill time, as she waited for her chance to make her move. “Why did you come back?”

“Sonny boy missed it. Enough time had passed that no one, not even his uncle Freddy or cousin recognized him. All I had to do was lay low. The only person who ever saw me was Zelda, and nobody ever believes her about anything anyway. But then Freddy got suspicious, which is why he had to have his ‘accident.’”

“You should have seen Bailey’s face when he got to the wreck,” Billy interrupted with a chuckle. “Besides it was time to start the game again. Just you and us this—”

A groan interrupted them.

Oliver pulled out a gun and headed toward the door.

Realizing the sound had been the third step from the top of the stairs, Emily called out loudly, hoping to warn whoever it was, “Where’d you get a gun?”

“Shut up!” Billy whispered the warning, pulling out a large hunting knife and slicing the air inches from her face.

Emily gulped. Her tiny kitchen blade would be no match for that weapon. Still, it was all she had. As the two men eyed the door, she slipped the paring knife into her palm, readying herself. Adrenaline pumping, heart racing, she forced herself to stay still, to wait for her chance. She couldn’t blow this. It would be the only opportunity she’d get to save her sister.

A quick glance at Anna, told her that she’d seen the movement.
“Closet,”
Emily mouthed. Anna nodded her understanding and curled her fingers around Laurie’s arm.

Emily inched forward, so that she stood closer to the kidnappers.

“Is somebody out there?” Oliver called out in a voice filled with blustering bravado.

Silence.

“I’ll check it out. You stay here.” The elder O’Neil crept out into the hallway in search of what, or who, had made the noise.

Emily prayed that whoever was out there was ready.

His son peered out after him, his back turned to the room.

This was it, her chance. Every muscle in her body coiled.

Emily launched herself at Billy, propelling him forward with her body weight, and plunging the knife into his shoulder. She managed to catch herself on the doorframe as he fell forward, onto his knees, howling his pain. Staying upright, she kicked at him, her sneaker connecting with his left butt cheek, sending him sprawling. She slammed the bedroom door closed.

“You bitch!” he roared, throwing his body against the other side of the door. “You’re going to pay for that!”

Fingers trembling, Emily forced the top deadbolt into the locked position. Glancing back at the bed, she saw that Anna and Laurie were already off it, and headed for the closet. For once, she was glad she’d been so paranoid after her abduction. Not only had she installed the three deadbolts on the bedroom door, but she’d also put one on the inside of the closet. “Hurry!” she urged. Her hands shook as she tried to slide the second deadbolt across.

He slammed against the door again, making it bounce on its hinges.

She knew the door wouldn’t hold up to that kind of assault for much longer. Throwing the bottom lock into place she rushed to the closet. The two teenagers had crammed themselves in, but there was no room for Emily.

“Lock it from the inside, and be very quiet,” Emily ordered the wide-eyed girls, thrusting her purse at them. “There’s pepper spray in there. Find it. Use it if you have to. I’ll trick them into thinking we all went out the window. No matter what you hear, be quiet. Do you understand?”

They nodded their agreement.

He slammed into the door from the outside again. It made a terrible crunching noise, and all three women flinched.

She closed the door. “Lock it!” she whispered.

She heard metal scrape against metal, as they bolted themselves inside.

“Tell Bailey the frog will keep me safe.”

“The frog?” Laurie sounded so scared, so young.

Leaning her cheek against the door, Emily whispered, “I love you, Laurie.”

A gunshot was fired downstairs, and she could hear men shouting. The sounds of a struggle echoed through the house. The cavalry had arrived!

But Billy was still at the door. “I’m going to kill you, you little bitch!” He slammed against the door again and again.

Emily flew to the window and threw it open just as the door splintered off its hinges.

Throwing one leg out the window, she screamed, “Run! Run!” as though the girls were already outside. He barreled toward her. She was almost out when he caught her arm and yanked her all the way back into the room. She hit the floor with a thud that knocked the breath out of her. Lying there, her cheek against the hardwood floor, she finally remembered where her mace was. It was under the bed. It had rolled there one night when she’d knocked it to the floor after a nightmare.

He looked out the window, peering into the darkness, searching for Laurie and Anna, before turning his attention back to Emily. “You stupid bitch.”

Instinctively she rolled away from the kick he’d aimed at her head. It glanced off her shoulder. She kept scrambling to get away. She headed for the bed. It would provide cover, if she could get under it, and with any luck, she could find the mace.

The shouts and shots continued downstairs, so she knew she couldn’t expect to be rescued any time soon. She scuttled under the bed, hands outstretched, blindly searching for the can. Her fingers closed around it as he ripped the bed away, sending it careening against another wall.

He grabbed her by the hair and yanked her to her feet. She yelped, as the pain tore through her scalp, but she didn’t let go of the mace.

“Think you’re so smart, don’t you?” he mocked. “Well who’s the one in charge now?”

“Me!” She aimed the mace at his wildly darting eyes, and depressed the trigger. Nothing happened. She pressed it again. Nothing.