The Marquesa's Necklace (Oak Grove Mysteries Book 1) (11 page)

Even with a late start, the parking spot I found near the library was one of those that let you load the meter for long-term parking, so I wouldn’t need to run outside every two hours to feed it. A good way to start the day, especially if the dark clouds carried through with their threat. As I slid the laptop out of the passenger side seat, a stray sunbeam escaped the heavy cloud layer and lit up the front of the building.

I’m rather proud of our library. It’s one of the Carnegie libraries, and although Oak Grove has shrunk, population-wise, the town has managed to keep the library going, and not turn it into a museum like some cities. The original building is an imposing four-story sandstone structure. The town has added on to the building, but managed to retain its character.

Even as a little girl, I felt awed by the steps leading to the main entrance. Most of my time was spent on the fourth floor, which housed the children’s books. Now, I practically lived on the first and second floors, where the non-fiction books are shelved. Once in a while, a trip to the basement, where the old magazines and newspapers are kept was necessary. The space served as a bomb shelter back in the 1960’s, but all that old food is gone now, and the space has been remodeled and made useful again.

I climbed the stone steps, smiling, counting them as I had habitually done all those years ago. As a teenager, the library became my second home. One, two, three…fifteen. There is now a wheelchair ramp in the back, but the steps are unchanged. It might be a good day to make a trip to the fourth floor for old times’ sake.

Janine was busy with a customer at the front desk, but waved as I settled into one of the tables in the back and went to work. This promised to be interesting—helping one of my authors figure out how to write a romance that takes place entirely at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. This would be a more collaborative effort than normal, because she wanted it to be as realistic as possible, and would be coming to me frequently to figure out details. Not my usual style of work, but I looked forward to the challenge.

The pavement was wet when I strolled back outside, tired but happy with my progress. The rain had switched to a slow drizzle, and I buttoned up my sweater before hurrying down the stairs. Dolores’ happy little chirp when I pushed the button to unlock her sounded like a friend welcoming me home.

I wasn’t paying attention to the sparse traffic on the street or the car that pulled in beside me, so it was a surprise to hear my name called.

“Harmony! Just the person I needed to see!”

I smiled automatically. “Hello, Eric.”

He climbed out of his car and leaned on the roof. “Can I ask you for a favor?”

“What’s that?”

“I need some help in picking out a gift for Sarah. You know her better than me. Can you give me some ideas?”

We both ducked as a loud clap of thunder rolled across the sky.

“Not here,” I said.

He grimaced. “Definitely not here. How about meeting me at the Wrangler Buffet? They do a dessert only option in the afternoon, I hear.” He grinned. “My treat.”

There went my grocery shopping expedition, but for Sarah, I agreed. She had been my friend forever and I knew how she felt about Eric. Besides, I wasn’t going to pass up free brownies and chocolate ice cream.

I was licking the last of the syrup from my spoon while he refilled my ice tea and his soda at the counter. “Want some more ice cream?” he asked as he set down the drinks.

“No way. I’m going to overdose on sugar if I eat any more.” I took a sip of my tea. It tasted off, but the ice hadn’t had time to chill it to the perfect temperature. That wouldn’t take long. I stirred it idly to speed up the process. “So what are you thinking about buying for Sarah?”

“Just a little gift, nothing expensive. I thought about a nice bracelet or something.”

I took another sip of my tea. It was colder already. “She would like that.”

“I can’t remember if she wears more silver or gold.” He coughed. “I’m usually not looking at her jewelry.”

Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all. “So what are you looking at?” I teased.

“Her eyes. Her beautiful eyes.” he answered without having to think about it.

Bonus points scored. “Well, she wears both but silver is her favorite.”

He nodded. “I hoped so. I spotted the perfect bracelet at a store in Pittsburgh. It’s delicate chains woven together into what reminds me of Celtic knots.” He leaned forward. “You won’t tell her, right?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die.” I picked up the ice tea and drank some more. My throat was dry all of a sudden, and there was a furious buzzing in my ears. It must have been the ice cream. And then I got hit by a massive headache, but it was no brain freeze.

He leaned across the table. “Harmony?”

Why was he leering at me? I stood, wobbled a bit, and he was right beside me, grabbing my arm.

“Are you all right?” he asked

No, I wasn’t. I was dizzy and started to sweat. He slipped an arm around my waist. “I’ll take you home,” he said. “Sarah can come get your car when she gets off work.”

I remember wondering how he knew where I lived, but I allowed him to take me out to his car. He opened the door for me and when I slid into the passenger seat he fastened my seat belt for me. I needed to close my eyes for a moment and make the pinwheel in my head stop turning. And why was he chuckling?

Chapter Fourteen

Cold, I reached to pull my blankets up around my neck, but my arms wouldn’t respond. I tried wiggling my fingers, and they worked, but something bit into my wrist when I tried to move my hands. The world wasn’t spinning anymore, so I cautiously opened my eyes.

And closed them again. I needed to wake up. I tried to turn over and look at my alarm clock, but nothing moved. All I saw was a bare tile floor when I opened my eyes. I blinked rapidly trying to focus, but the dim light made it hard to see anything. If I put my glasses on, things would be clearer. I closed my eyes for a second, hoping that would help.

When I woke up again, I realized my legs weren’t responding. Nothing happened when I tried to move them. On the edge of panic, I sat back, took several deep breaths and tried to calm myself.

Wait—I was sitting? I looked down at my legs. As my eyes adjusted to the lack of light, I tried to raise my left foot, but my ankle was attached to the chair. My right leg was in the same predicament.

Reality slowly made its way into my addled brain. My wrists, too, were bound to the chair with some sort of plastic strap, pulled so tight I had no wiggle room. And a cord of some sort wrapped around my chest and held me snugly against the back of the chair.

But somehow I was falling off a cliff while a neon-pink sun shot a kaleidoscope of orange and green flames towards a purple ocean. I jerked awake and opened my mouth to yell for help. At the same time a bright light burned into my eyes, blinding me. The yell turned into a scream, which turned into a muffled grunt when something was jammed into my mouth.

“’Bout time you woke up,” a man’s voice said. A rough hand lifted my chin and a light was shone into my now tearful eyes, one eye at a time. I started to gag. “Promise not to scream, I’ll take that rag out of your mouth.” I nodded, and coughed as the musty air hit my lungs. Then I gasped, and swallowed hard to clear my throat.

The flashlight was turned off again leaving the room darker than ever. I tried to see who was there with me, but could only make out the vague outline of a figure standing close by. I squirmed in the chair, and the man laughed.

“Unless you make like Houdini, you ain’t goin’ nowhere,” he said. “And now that you’re awake, I gotta do this.” A dark cloth waved in front of my face for a moment and settled across the bridge of my nose, covering my eyes. He fumbled behind me, tying it securely. Then his hands were on my face, adjusting the material. His breath, as he leaned over me, smelled of stale cigarettes and alcohol. One hand rested on my right cheek for a second and then a sharp slap bounced my head against the back of the chair. “Just so you know I ain’t kiddin’ around. One noise out o’ you and the gag goes back in. Comprende?”

I tasted blood on my lip where I had bit it. Tears leaked from my eyes, but were quickly absorbed by the blindfold.

“Now be a good little girl and stay right where you are.” He chuckled, and I wanted to hit him where it would hurt the most. “I’ll be checking on you.”

I listened as his footsteps grew muffled. Had he left? I sniffed, trying to stop the tears, and listened harder. In the distance, it sounded as if he was carrying on a one-sided conversation, but I couldn’t pick up on the actual words. That meant he would be too far away to see what I was about to do.

Slowly, I lifted just my left hand to test the give of the plastic tie that strapped me to the chair. Not much, but with any luck I could slide my wrist down about an inch. Hopefully I could drag the binding down with it. I remembered the arm of the chair narrowed near the end.

God, it hurt! The plastic cut into my skin as I tried to move. It didn’t give at all and each attempt made it bite deeper into my wrist. Finally, I gave up. But only on that side. Time to try my right hand. It might have been my imagination, but when I tested it, it seemed a little looser.

I was making progress—at least I thought I was—when footsteps approached. Frustrated, I stiffened and stopped. I sensed a bright light in front of me through the blindfold.

“You’ll be having company pretty soon.” I felt him reach out and touch my swollen lip. “Too bad about that,” he said. “Such a pretty face. No wonder Hennessey fell for you.”

“What’s Jake have to do with this?” I whispered.

“Not for me to tell you. But I guess you’ll find out soon enough.” He adjusted the blindfold. It had slipped and I’d hoped to be able to see soon. I wanted to scream with frustration, but that would earn me another hard slap, and the gag back in my mouth. The footsteps walked away, but didn’t go as far. “I’ll be over here if you need anything.” There was a plop and a squeak, not far enough away for me to go back to work on my right wrist.

Time for Plan B. Who knew how long I had before someone else arrived? What excuse would convince him to untie me? Then I realized I didn’t need an excuse.

“I need to use the bathroom.”

He grunted. “Not going to happen.”

I waited a minute. “Please?” I asked, trying to sound like a little girl. “I really have to go.”

That earned me another grunt. “Toilet ain’t working. And there’s no paper.”

I wiggled my butt in the chair. “I don’t care,” I said between artificially-clenched teeth. “It’ll air dry. Please?”

He sighed. I think I was getting to him. But my plan was interrupted by the sound of a car nearby. He flicked off the flashlight—I knew because everything seemed even blacker than before—and I heard him stand up and move. I wished I knew where he went. This might be my chance.

But then one of his hands was across my mouth and his lips were pressed to my ear. “Not a peep outta you,” he whispered. His hand stank as bad as his clothes, and I gritted my teeth and breathed through them to keep from gagging.

A door opened and closed somewhere, and my captor tensed. Then all I could hear was the sound of air being pushed in and out of his lungs. It was only a moment but seemed like forever.

Then a light struck my eyes through the blindfold. “She give you any problems?” asked the new voice. My stomach churned. I recognized that voice. Eric Wolff.

“Eric?” I asked tentatively.

“That name is as good as any,” he said.

I should have trusted my instincts. “What’s going on?”

He didn’t answer right away. The scent of his aftershave alerted me to his closeness, and then the blindfold was yanked off. I blinked and tried to see his face. All I could see was his chest. “What happened to her lip?” he asked.

“Just a little love tap. Let her know who was in charge,” the first man told him.

“Huh.” Eric squatted down in front of me. I caught my breath as he pulled out a large knife and waved it in front of my face. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have too. Now behave yourself.”

The knife slashed downward, and the plastic strap around my right wrist fell away. He moved a few inches, and the left one hit the floor. He grabbed my left hand and pushed up the sleeve of my sweater, and shook his head.

None of my self-defense training prepared me for this kind of situation. As Eric knelt down to cut the straps from my ankles, I imagined how good it would feel for my foot to make contact with his face. But there was the issue of the knife, the cord pulled tight around my chest, and the other man. I wasn’t that good.

So I sat quietly, shaking my arms to get the blood flowing. With a sinister grin, Eric put the tip of the knife to my throat and stared at me. He caught my chin with his other hand so I couldn’t look away from him as he drew the knife down between my breasts. I wasn’t expecting him to lean over and push his mouth against mine, and when he did, it hurt my already-injured lip.

Instinctively, I tried to pull back and push him away. Because I was still tied to the chair, my efforts were ineffective. “Damn, not the usual reaction to my kisses,” Eric said. “Perhaps I should try again.” The knife was back at my throat. “Maybe this time you’ll play along.”