Blackout (33 page)

“She’s going to kill Ma!” Betty cried. “And she wants a million dollars.” She sank back into the chair, exhausted and despairing.

“We can get it, can’t we?” Donald asked, taking his eyes off the monitor to look at Betty. “It’s the only way to save Alice.”

At that moment, Maxwell and Katherine entered. The administrator was breathless, her cheeks pink. She looked like she’d been running. Betty realized she hadn’t even thought to inform them of the situation.

“Betty, are you all right?” Katherine asked while her eyes darted to the video screen.

“Yes. No, no, I’m not. She’s going to kill Ma, Katherine. I don’t know how to stop her.”

Maxwell put his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll think of something,” he said, his tone calm and reassuring.

Betty’s eyes remained glued to the monitor. They all watched silently for a few moments, mesmerized by the tableaux on the screen. Alice remained seated, and Betty Senior lay motionless. Brenda got up and gazed out the window again.

“There,” Maxwell exclaimed. He turned to Jerod. “Is someone out back—could they shoot her through the window?”

Jerod shook his head. “She’s real careful to stay behind the curtain.”

“But with a walkie-talkie you could tell a sharpshooter when,” Maxwell insisted.

“Too risky. Might hit Grandma or Allison.”

“You have any other ideas?” Betty asked her nephew, sure that he didn’t.

“I’m sorry, Aunt Betty. No, I don’t. But Chief Threadgill should be here any minute. Maybe he can think of something.”

“He’s going to grace us with his presence now?” Betty asked bitterly. “How charming of him.”

They had stopped locking the door, and Allen entered the room to confer with Jerod in a corner.

“Aunt Betty,” Jerod said, coming over to the monitors, “you must be aware of the dumbwaiter in Grandma’s bathroom. That might be a way for Allison to escape. Or for me to get into the room.”

“I didn’t even think of it,” Betty said. “I wonder if she knows about it.” Her mind churned with possibilities. If Alice could get out of there, Brenda might not kill Ma because her leverage would be gone.

Jerod said, “Nancy told Allen she pointed out the dumbwaiter to Allison the first day she was on the job. She showed her around the basement.”

“I wonder if she remembers?” Betty said. “She went into the bathroom a few minutes ago, but Brenda stood in the doorway the whole time. Maybe I can get Brenda to let me talk to Ma and get a message through to Alice.”

At that moment Yolanda poked her head into the room. “Anyone seen Alice? I need her to help with the anniversary party.”

Everyone remained still for a moment, staring at the activity director.

Maxwell regained his composure first and led Yolanda out into the hall, speaking quietly to her. Betty was glad she didn’t have to hear his explanation.

Before they all fully recovered, the chief of police entered the room. A huge man, he immediately dominated the space, and for the first time, Betty realized how many folks were in Katherine’s office.

“Who are all these people?” he demanded without saying hello. He glared at them, looked at the video monitor for a moment, then said, “Okay, everyone, I need this room cleared. We’ll handle it from here. Jerod, take them all somewhere else.”

“I’m not leaving,” Betty said. “That’s my mother.” She pointed at the monitor.

“All the more reason for you not to watch. Sorry. We can’t have civilians getting in the way. Jerod?”

“Mr. Threadgill,” Betty said, deliberately omitting his title. “I said I’m not leaving. I tried to get you interested in this case before, and you didn’t believe me. So I’m not going to let you come in here now and order me around. I’m staying in front of the TV screen until it’s over. In the meantime, you can work on meeting Brenda’s demands.”

“I’m not leaving, either,” Donald said. “I set this up, and I’m here for the duration.”

The chief glared at both of them.

“This is my center, and I’m staying, too,” Katherine said. She sat down behind her desk and took off her shoes.

The chief turned so red that, for a moment, Betty was afraid he might have a stroke. He stalked over to Jerod and Allen near the door and talked to them in a low voice. Then he approached Katherine, and Betty could hear some of what they were saying about raising the million dollars and arranging for Brenda’s other demands.

The door opened again and Maxwell came in with a tall, slender man. He had a baseball hat in his hands and wore jeans and a plain white T-shirt. Betty took an involuntary step toward him, then stopped and looked at the monitor.

“Everyone,” Maxwell said, “this is Sam Armstrong. He’s come to take Allison home.”

The phone rang in Betty Senior’s room. The old woman blinked, Alice jumped, but Brenda merely stared at it and let it continue three more times before picking it up.

“Hello,” she said calmly, then listened. Her eyes shifted to Alice, and she smiled slightly. “Hold on a minute,” she said into the phone and covered the mouthpiece. “Your father’s here.”

“Oh,” Alice said softly. Her stomach lurched and she put her hand over it as if to steady it. It seemed as if years had passed since the accident, but it had been less than three months. She felt like a different person entirely. If only she could get away! She remembered the dumbwaiter again.

Brenda continued speaking into the phone. “How are the rest of the plans going? Uh huh. Okay.”

Alice stood up and started toward the bathroom.

“Where are you going?” Brenda asked sharply.

“In there,” Alice pointed.

Brenda shook her head. “Sit down.” She spoke into the phone again. “As you were saying…”

Slowly, Alice sat back in the chair. Then she stood up again. “I really need to—”

“For crying out loud!” Brenda slammed the phone down. “Go. Go.” She shooed her with her hands but followed her into the bathroom, closing the door behind them. Embarrassed, Alice used the toilet since she couldn’t think what else to do. Brenda studied the tiny window a moment, then began opening cabinets, ignoring Alice. When she got to the dumbwaiter door, Alice held her breath.

Brenda opened the door and took a step back. Then she stepped forward and looked inside. The ropes hung tautly in the empty space. Taking the gun out of her pocket, Brenda listened for a moment. She motioned to Alice. “Come over here and pull this thing up.”

Hastily, Alice zipped her pants and flushed the toilet. “I don’t know how it works,” she lied.

Brenda took another step backward and kept the gun trained on the opening. “Pull on the rope, hand over hand,” she said impatiently.

As Alice did so, the wheel mechanism made a horrible screeching noise, and she realized she never would have been able to use it. Brenda would have heard.

Alice’s breath came in short gasps from excitement as she continued to haul up the box.
Would someone be in it?
She had a sudden vision of her father appearing to rescue her and Betty Senior.
Maybe there’d be a gun. Or a policeman.

The box came into view. Empty. Alice swallowed her disappointment. Slowly, Brenda lowered the gun and put it in her pocket again. An urge to run and jump on her overcame Alice, but something held her back.
I’m so afraid
, she thought. Then she got mad at herself as they left the bathroom. That might have been her only chance. Now if she tried something, Betty Senior could get hurt. She wouldn’t let herself think about what Brenda had planned. It was too much to grasp. And she’d said she would let Alice go if they met her demands.

Alice couldn’t look at Betty Senior as Brenda dialed Katherine’s office. She felt time running out, making her body seem heavy, her mind sluggish.

“All right, then. Everything’s set,” Brenda said. “No. No, I’m not going to tell you when. Just stand by.”

Alice glanced at the clock. Only two hours had passed since she’d talked to Aunt Ginny, but she felt as if she were as old as Betty Senior now and just as helpless. The realization of what was about to happen made her mind scramble for some way, any way, to stop it.

Even if I get hurt
, she suddenly thought.
I can’t live the rest of my life if I don’t try to stop her.

She planted both feet on the floor, put her hands firmly on the armrests of the chair and leaned slightly forward.

When Brenda returned the receiver to its cradle and stood up, Alice stood up, too.

“Sit down,” Brenda growled. She suddenly became agitated. Her hands clenched and unclenched, eyes blinked rapidly. Alice could hear her fast breathing in the quiet room.

Alice hesitated. Brenda removed the gun from her pocket and pointed it at her.

Alice didn’t move. “I’m your ticket out of here. You can’t hurt me.”

“She’s right, you know,” Betty Senior said, opening her eyes all the way and glaring at Brenda.

An ugly smile crossed Brenda’s face. Then she pointed the gun at Betty Senior and said, “Sit down. Or I’ll shoot her now.”

She was looking at Betty Senior, and in one quick movement, Alice grabbed her gun arm and swung the woman around so they were facing the window, away from Betty Senior. They struggled frantically, their arms over their heads, Alice holding Brenda’s wrist as hard as she could with both hands. She kept trying to kick Brenda and finally managed to wrap her leg around one of Brenda’s. Her foot in its high heel gave way, and they both went crashing down sideways onto the floor, Alice still holding on to Brenda’s wrist.

Betty Senior screamed, but it sounded faint because of the blood pounding in Alice’s head. She panted and gasped for breath. Awkwardly, she began swinging Brenda’s arm against the floor, trying to knock the gun out of her grasp, but the other woman continued to hold the gun firmly in her hand.

Alice let go with one hand and brought it back to punch Brenda in the face. As she did so, Brenda pushed Alice away. Alice felt the strength draining out of her. Every muscle in her body screamed in protest. She couldn’t get enough leverage to hit Brenda, so she tried grabbing the flailing left arm, still banging the right one on the floor.

Suddenly, Brenda gave Alice an enormous shove and ended up on top of her, almost pulling her right hand away from Alice’s grip. Alice used her last remaining strength to pull backward on that hand as hard as she could, then pushed to smash it into Brenda’s face.

Then the gun went off.

Betty and Donald watched in horror as Alice tackled Brenda and they disappeared from the monitor’s view.

Betty ran out of the room, Donald on her heels. She could hear Ma screaming as she approached her room. Joyce stood in front of the door, looking scared to death.

“Out of the way,” Betty shouted. She reached for the door handle and rattled it. “Donald, do something!” She pounded on the wood. “Hurry!”

She stood aside as Donald fumbled with the ring on his belt, chose the right key, and inserted it. After he turned the key and tried to open the door, it didn’t budge. “Bolted from the inside,” he muttered. He slammed into the door with his shoulder, but the heavy oak didn’t even groan. Betty slapped it in frustration while Donald took a screwdriver from his carpenter’s belt and shoved it into the doorjamb above the bolt. The wood splintered and finally gave way. Donald pushed the door open. Betty ran inside as the gun went off.

Rushing around the bed she saw Brenda on top of Alice. She grabbed the woman’s shoulders and pulled her away, surprised at how easy it was. Brenda lay on the floor while Alice stared up at Betty, her mouth open, eyes dazed.

“Did I kill her?” Alice asked, rolling over and getting up.

“I hope so,” Betty surprised herself by saying. “Ma, are you all right?”

“It’s a wonder I didn’t have another stroke,” Betty Senior said. “But I’m fine. Thanks to Alice.”

Brenda groaned. Allen raced into the room, picked up the gun, and checked it out. Betty and Alice moved out of his way.

Alice looked up from brushing herself off and saw her father in the doorway. “Daddy!” she yelled and rushed at him, arms open wide. He caught her in a giant bear hug, and they seemed to cling together for a long time.

Betty smiled at her mother.

Allen helped Brenda to her feet. Betty saw the huge bruise forming on her temple.

Sam and Alice stood to the side as Allen cuffed Brenda, and he and the chief led Brenda away. She was muttering something about death, but Betty couldn’t make it out. The chief told Jerod, who had entered the room without Betty noticing him, to get statements from everyone.

Betty went to Alice and took her hand. “How can I ever thank you? How did you do it?”

“I couldn’t let her ki…, um, hurt Mrs. Cranston. But I was so afraid. I remembered hitting your arm in the kitchen, Dad. I was scared the same thing would happen again. But then I saw if I didn’t do anything, she’d… she’d murder Mrs. Cranston.” Alice looked away from all the staring eyes.

“So I tackled her,” she said softly. “I thought she was going to kill me. But somehow I managed to grab her hand with the gun and hit her in the face with it. It must have dazed her. When I hit her, the gun went off. I don’t know where the bullet went. Maybe in the ceiling?”

With everyone else, Betty gazed upward and saw the bullet hole next to the camera lens in the light fixture.

Alice groaned and seemed to sink toward the floor. Before she fell, her father helped her into a chair.

“It’s over. It’s all over now,” he murmured.

“Except the memories,” Alice said.

Betty took her mother’s pulse and listened to her heart.

“You have to come down to the station to make a statement, I’m afraid,” Jerod said to Alice. “About today, and about what happened in Missouri. I’ll need you to accompany her, sir,” he said to Sam.

Alice nodded and stood up. She went to Betty Senior’s side and bent to kiss a wrinkled cheek. “Good-bye,” she said softly. “I’ll come see you before we leave town.”

She turned and politely said good-bye to Katherine and Maxwell, who hovered in the doorway.

Alice embraced Betty.

“Thank you, Alice,” Betty said, her voice catching.