Obsession (32 page)

Abe thought a moment. “You're going to have to tell her something, especially since she's expecting Melissa to show up tomorrow. Let her know you've called the police, but downplay it as much as you can for now, and tell her I'll send someone over to pick up the journal in a little while. Let her know that the officer who comes over will want to ask Tyler a few questions, just to see if he remembers anything other than the name he heard Melissa mention on the phone.”

Toni relayed the message and once again hung up the phone.

“Tell me about Melissa's journal,” Abe said. “Did she write in it a lot?”

“Every day, about everything.”

“That's good. There may be something in it that will help us. Once I get someone to pick it up, I'll start reading through it right away. I know it's probably very personal, but right now we can't worry about something like that. We'll also get someone over to the park to see if we can find anyone who saw anything, although it may be too late to learn much there.”

The doorbell rang then, and Abe offered to get it. “It's going to be OK. You and April just take a deep breath and relax. There will probably be two officers. I'll walk you through it, so don't be nervous. When we finish with them, I'll help you make those calls to Melissa's friends, and then I'll get that journal and start reading.”

Toni nodded, grateful for his presence and his knowledgeable assistance. She couldn't imagine having to face this ordeal without him, and she couldn't imagine losing Melissa.

The thin, rough blanket that covered her did nothing to ease the cold she felt deep inside. In some ways, the blanket made things worse, scratching her bare legs. If only she had worn long pants today instead of shorts. If only she hadn't answered the phone at Tyler's, or gone to the park, or gotten into Carlo's car… but she did, and now here she was, the ropes around her ankles and wrists feeling tighter with each passing minute. How long had she been here, lying on her side on this lumpy, uncomfortable cot? The blindfold over her eyes prevented her from knowing whether it was daylight or dark. With her hands tied behind her, she couldn't turn onto her back, and her left arm was beginning to feel numb. Awkwardly, she struggled to roll onto her stomach, which helped only slightly.

She strained to hear a sound—any sound. Being alone in the darkness was the most terrifying thing she had ever experienced. Still, she reminded herself, it was better than what could have happened. She shivered as she thought of Carlo's hands on her when she had first gotten into his car. She was sure he was going to rape her, right there in front of the park, but he hadn't. Before she could scream or reach for the door handle and get out, almost before she had even realized she was in danger, he had grabbed her and held a knife to her throat, then forced her to climb into the back seat of the two-door car. After flipping the front door locks, he told her to lie down and keep quiet. The only sound she had made for the next few minutes was a soft, whimpering cry. Then the car had stopped. Melissa had tried to peer out of the window from her prone position, but before she could see enough to identify where they were, Carlo was blindfolding her. The next thing she knew, her hands and feet were tied together. In a matter of about fifteen minutes, she had gone from being an excited fourteen-year-old girl, hesitantly climbing into a shiny red sports car driven by a handsome Hollywood talent scout, to a terrified captive with no idea whether she would live or die, or what she might suffer in the process.

How could she have been so stupid? She had asked herself that question countless times both as she lay blindfolded in the backseat of the car during the remainder of the drive, which she estimated at anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour or more, and as she lay here on a cot that smelled as awful as it felt. Why hadn't she talked to Toni first, or at least insisted that Carlo come to the house, instead of going alone to meet him at an almost deserted park? What would happen to her now? Did anyone have any idea where she was? Were they looking for her? Would they find her in time?

Fighting tears, she rolled back onto her side just as she heard a door open and shut. Not having seen the place where she was being kept, she couldn't visualize where the door was in relation to her own position, but she was sure it must be in an adjacent room. She strained to hear every sound, identifying more than one set of footsteps and at least three voices. One of them was Carlo's. It was a voice she knew she would remember for the rest of her life—however long that might be.

“What took you so long?” she heard Carlo say. “I fell asleep waiting for you. Don't worry, everything's under control. She's right in there.”

Melissa's skin crawled as she realized Carlo had been sleeping in the next room the entire time, as she lay, tied up and helpless, on this filthy cot. But maybe it was a good sign that he had left her alone. Maybe that meant he wasn't going to hurt her or…

She froze as she heard another door open, this time very close by. “So you really did it,” said a loud male voice heavy with sarcasm. “Gee, I hope she didn't put up too much of a fight for you.”

She heard Carlo laugh. “Hey, nothing to it. It was like reeling in a fish. She was even easier than the Greene kid. With her I had to promise love and romance in sunny California before she'd give me the time of day.”

“Yeah, and look at all the trouble that one brought us. I suppose you're going to get this one pregnant too?”

Carlo laughed again, and the door closed. Melissa shuddered at the unknown man's question even as she concentrated on listening to what they were saying. Her heart leapt when she heard a woman's voice, even though it was too soft to make out the words. Surely a woman wouldn't allow any harm to come to her. This must all be about a ransom. But what did they expect to get? She and Toni weren't poor, thanks to their father's wise planning over the years, but they certainly weren't rich either. So why had she been singled out?

As she wriggled again in a vain effort to get comfortable, the blindfold slipped up slightly and she was able to see a faint slit of light. Anxiously, she rubbed her face against the bed, over and over, until the blindfold was high enough that she could see out from under one side. She glanced around the tiny room. It was dirty and totally devoid of furniture, except for the cot where she lay and an old wooden chair. A lone light bulb hung from the ceiling, dimly illuminating the room. It appeared that she was in a very old cabin somewhere—if only she knew where. The room didn't even have a window.

The door opened again, and Melissa caught her breath. Footsteps approached, but they were too light to belong to Carlo or the man with the loud voice. Peering out from under the blindfold, she saw the figure of a woman come into view.

“Hey, kid, you need to go to the bathroom or anything?”

Melissa was puzzled. The voice was familiar, but she couldn't place it. Tilting her head up, she caught sight of the woman's face, and found herself looking into the eyes of her dad's former secretary.

“Lorraine,” she gasped, “what are you doing here?”

“Well, well, aren't you the clever one?” The woman grabbed her, digging her nails into her arm as she tugged the blindfold back into place and tightened the knots. “Don't think it's going to make any difference knowing who I am. You won't be telling anyone about it, I guarantee you. Now, do you need to go to the bathroom, or not?”

“Yes. But why—”

“Just shut up while I untie your feet. I'm going to walk you to the bathroom, but don't even think about trying anything. Look, it wasn't my idea to bring you here, OK? So just play it smart. There's no sense in your leaving this world any sooner than you have to. Do you understand?”

Melissa nodded. Her heart hammering, she allowed the woman she had called Lorraine to walk her to the bathroom, hoping she would at least leave the ropes off her ankles when she brought her back to bed, but she didn't. She gave her a few sips of water, then retied her and went to rejoin the men. Once again Melissa lay in the dark and listened to the voices in the next room.

“Now that you two are here, I'm going out for a walk,” she heard Carlo say. “I'm sick of being cooped up in this place. I need some fresh air.” Another door slammed, and Melissa heard Lorraine's voice, although she couldn't make out what she was saying.

“That guy's nothing but trouble,” the man said. “I know you had a thing for him once—that's why we brought him in. You're finished with him though, aren't you? I used to think he might be useful to us somehow, with his good looks and smooth talk. But between his drinking and his bad temper, he's becoming more of a liability than an asset. He blew it with the Greene girl, you know that? Thought he was so smart, dumping her in the middle of the lake at night when she was too weak to make it back to the beach, and then sitting there in the boat and watching, just for kicks, while she went down for the last time. He's a sick man, really sick. If he was going to kill her, why didn't he just do it and get rid of her somewhere else? We just about had everything under control after the Matthews autopsy, and then the girl's body turns up on shore, and wham! A full-blown investigation.”

Lorraine spoke again, but Melissa couldn't tell whether she was agreeing with the man or defending Carlo.

“Yeah, I know,” the man with the loud voice continued. “Technically, she drowned. There's no actual proof of anything else, just like with the heart attack for Matthews, but there are too many
loose ends now, too many unanswered questions, especially with Matthews's daughter and her lovesick sidekick—Abe, of all people—nosing around. Once that Greene girl was identified, I knew we were in trouble. All these years of playing it safe, and good old Carl had to mess us up. And now this. Where does he get off making these kinds of decisions without checking with us first? A stupid move like this could end up bringing the Feds in. That's all we need.”

The man paused, and Lorraine said something as Melissa wondered who Carl was. Had he meant to say Carlo? If only she could hear what Lorraine was saying, maybe then she would understand what they were talking about.

The man went on. “I say we do it as soon as he gets back, while the others aren't around. Those three buffoons are likely to go soft on us, and we can't afford to make any more mistakes. There's just too much at risk. I've poured years of my life into this operation, and I'm not about to see it go down now. Our only hope is to get to Abe before the cops get to us. He's our ace in the hole. As soon as we take care of old Carl out there, I'll call Abe and tell him what we expect from him, unless he wants to go down with us. You can stay here with the kid while I'm gone.”

The outside door opened then, and Melissa heard Carlo's voice. “Turning into a nice night out there, full moon and everything. Nothing like a walk in the moonlight to make a guy feel… romantic, if you know what I mean.” He laughed. “Hey, listen, why don't you two go ahead and take off? I'll stay here and… take care of our little fish. She just might be getting lonely in there.”

“You've been drinking,” the other man said.

“Sure,” Carlo answered. “Why not? Puts me in a more romantic mood.”

“Come on, Lorraine,” said the other man, his voice filled with disgust. “Let's take off.”

No, don't go
, Melissa cried silently.
Please, don't leave me here alone with Carlo. Please!

The door to Melissa's room opened, and she heard Carlo's footsteps approaching the bed. The smell of alcohol assailed her nostrils, and she tried to move away as Carlo sat down beside her.

“What's the matter, little one? You don't like Carlo anymore?” He grabbed her arms and leaned toward her until she gagged from the smell of his breath. “I think you'll like me again before the night is over.”

“Get away from me. Don't you touch me!”

“Oh, you're not going to fight me now, are you? I saw how you looked at me when you climbed into my car. I'm not such a bad looking guy now, am I? Why not just make it easy for both of us and—”

His voice stopped mid-sentence, and his grip on her arms loosened. Suddenly he was on top of her, heavy and unmoving. Terrified, Melissa began to scream.

“I'll get him off of her,” she heard the man say. “You shut the kid up. She's making me nervous.”

“You heard him,” Lorraine said as Melissa felt Carlo's body being lifted off hers. “You'd better shut up if you know what's good for you.”

“But… what happened?” Melissa's voice was shaking as she choked back the tears. “What happened to Carlo? What did that man do to him?”

“The same thing he'll do to you if you don't keep your mouth shut. Carl didn't play it smart, and he paid the price. Raymond did you a favor.”

Melissa understood then that Carlo—or Carl—was dead, and from what she had heard earlier, it had something to do with the way he had handled Julie's death as well as the fact that he had brought her here without the others' knowledge or approval. What she didn't understand was why Lorraine was involved. The few times they had met she had not seemed the type, but Melissa was sure it wouldn't do any good to ask, so she took Lorraine's advice and kept her mouth shut.