Slumbered to Death (17 page)

Luke’s bad feeling hadn’t budged all day. Concentration had been difficult during class, and chemistry wasn’t the sort of thing one could pay half a mind to. But no matter how hard he tried to push it away, the feeling that Sadie was in danger wouldn’t leave. He could almost hear her voice telling him he was worrying too much, but even her imaginary teasing didn’t make a difference.

“I bet she’s bored,” Abby commented. They sat at the table together, Abby with the newspaper and Luke with his ever-ready supply of books. “I would be if I had to listen to someone’s life story.”

“I’m sure Sadie will find a way to make it interesting,” Luke said. He never worried about Sadie and boredom. As the saying went, she could make a root canal fun.

“What’s our Hal up to tonight?”

“Coming over, I think. He wanted to be here to hear Sadie’s play by play of the case.”

“Hal’s a nice boy,” Abby said.

“Mm,” Luke said.

“He should find a nice girl.”

Luke glanced up. “I thought you didn’t believe in pairing people off.”

“Who said that? I love a good romance. Who doesn’t? All I ever said on the matter was that finding a mate doesn’t complete anyone. Some people seem to think that marriage is the end-all. Marriage is what you make of it, like anything else in life. I’ve never been married, and yet I’m content and fulfilled.”

“Yes, but not for lack of takers, hmm, Abby?”

She assumed a demure expression and folded her hands over the paper. “Tut, tut, one should never kiss and tell. Let’s say I had a sufficient string of beaux and leave it at that.”

“Heartbreaker,” Luke accused.

She rapped his knuckles with a spoon. “You shouldn’t tease old people. It warms the blood and makes us cranky.”

He returned to his studies with a smile. They read in silence a few minutes. “When does your girlfriend return from the USSR?”

“It’s just called Russian now.”

“I know, Lucas. That was my attempt at a pop culture Beatles reference. Apparently I can’t pull those off.”

“She was supposed to come home next week, but I had an email from her today and she’s delayed her return. There are family issues, and things are up in the air.”

“What if she never comes back?” Abby asked.

“I guess we’ll break up.”

“Sounds like true love.” She returned to her paper. The easy silence stretched. Luke was making strides in his work. Abby stood to refill her tea. He yawned and stretched.

“That man, Edmond Hankins, his obituary is in the paper today,” Abby said. “Of course it mentions nothing about him welching on his wife and children, the weasel. People are always presented more kindly in death.”

Luke’s eyes fell on the paper. He scanned the obituary upside down and froze mid-stretch. He grabbed the paper and turned it upright.

“What is it?” Abby asked.

“Edmond Hankins was Canadian.”

“Well, that’s unfortunate, but not everyone can be an American.”

“No, I mean if he was Canadian, how was he a US army ranger?”

Abby blinked at him, her mouth a round “O” of surprise. Luke pulled out his phone and texted Sadie. Too impatient to wait for a response, he called her instead. There was no answer.

“Something’s wrong.” He closed the phone and dashed to his feet.

“I’ll come with you,” Abby said.

“No,” Luke said. There was no way he would let Abby come and risk her safety, too. “Stay here in case she calls or comes home.”

“Should I call the police?”

“Ask Gideon,” he said. He was sure Gideon would know what to do. At the very least, he would take care of Abby. Luke grabbed his keys and sprinted from the house. He ran into Hal, literally. They made an “oof” sound as they collided.

“Is this your manly way of saying you need a hug?” Hal asked. “I prefer it when you use your words.”

“I think Sadie’s in danger. You coming?”

“I’m in,” Hal said. He jumped in the car. Luke took off without buckling his seatbelt, a first. “Where are we going?” Hal asked.

“Ben White’s house. Something is wrong. I don’t think Edmond Hankins was in the army, and Sadie won’t answer her phone.”

“If I drove to a woman’s rescue every time she refused to answer my calls, I would spend a lot more time in the car,” Hal said.

Luke ignored him. Hal’s go-to defense mechanism was humor. People who didn’t understand that might find him callous, but Luke knew it was cover for a big heart.

“Can’t you drive any faster?” Hal asked.

“Yes,” Luke said. He forced his foot down on the pedal. Speeding felt wrong and unnatural, but Sadie’s life might depend on it.

“Whoa,” Hal said as they rounded the bend and Ben’s mansion came into view.

“Pretentious,” Luke muttered.

“I was thinking swanky, but pretentious works, too. What’s our plan?”

“We have no plan,” Luke said. “The plan was to show up. I thought I would think of something on the way over. Didn’t happen.”

“Do we know for sure something is wrong?” Hal asked.

“No, it’s this feeling I have. That and the obituary.”

“I say we play it dumb. We were out for a drive, and thought we would say hi to Sadie.”

“You and I were driving together and stopped by a complete stranger’s house to say hi to Sadie,” Luke clarified.

“We can’t get enough Sadie; she’s our lifeblood. If he knows her at all, he’ll understand.”

“It’s all we’ve got, so I guess we’ll go with it,” Luke said.

“We’ll be polite but firm. We need to see Sadie, and we won’t take no for an answer,” Hal said. He knocked on the door. Ben White opened it with a smile.

“Hi, we were wondering if we might see Sadie,” Hal said. “We were in the area and needed to talk to her. I’m her Dad’s doctor, and it’s important that I get in touch with her. I see her car. Is she here?”

“Of course. Come in,” Ben said. He stepped aside and granted access to the living room. “She’s right there.”

Sadie sat on the couch, looking perfectly normal. Luke began to feel silly until he realized the expression on her face wasn’t irritation with him. Instead she was staring, clearly trying to send him a message. What was it?

“Sadie, sweets, everything okay?” Hal asked.

“Everything is fine. I’ll check on Dad later. You guys can go.” She smiled and sent Luke a few significant blinks. Something was off about her, but what?

“Why don’t you come with us?” Luke suggested. “You must be hungry.”

“Ben took good care of me, and I really can’t get away. We’re all tied up here.”

Ding, ding, ding!
Though she practically hit him over the head with it, Luke finally got it. Where were her hands? They were tied behind her. Hal should get out of the house and call the police. He would stay to keep an eye on Sadie until help arrived. “On second thought, maybe I’ll stay. You go ahead, Hal. Tell Gideon we’ll see him soon.”

“I’m not sure about this, but I think the gig is up,” Hal said. Luke turned to look at him and saw the barrel of a gun pressed to his temple. With a rush, he relived all the jealousy of the past few weeks and regretted it. He loved Hal. How had he let Sadie almost come between them?

“Ben,” Sadie said. “Don’t do this. Please put down the gun.”

How did she remain so calm? Luke had no air. He couldn’t have uttered a peep if he wanted to, yet Sadie sounded like they were discussing the weather.

“But, Sadie, think how much fun it will be to have them as part of the game,” Ben said. “An interesting twist, don’t you think?”

“No, I do not think,” Sadie said. “I don’t approve of this at all. You said it was between you and me. This is unfair. I thought you were fair, Ben.”

“I am fair,” Ben said. He seemed genuinely hurt by the accusation. “But I am also the creator of this game. The creator gets to change whatever he wants; that’s the rule.”

“That is not a nice rule,” Sadie said.

“Be that as it may, it stands. Now, how best to have fun with these two?”

“I’m a little behind,” Hal said. “Can someone catch me up? I thought Vic Hutchens was the bad guy.”

“Sadie, do you want to explain? You do it so beautifully,” Ben said. He turned to smile at her with the pride of a collector bestowing affection on a long-sought artifact.

“Ben has been having some fun with us,” Sadie said.

“Start at the beginning,” Ben prompted. “In Nebraska.”

“You knew him in Nebraska?” Luke finally found his voice.

“No, but he knew me,” Sadie said. “He asked for my hair.”

“And you didn’t give it to him?” Hal said. Thankfully Ben didn’t pick up on his sarcasm.

“No, she didn’t.”

“Would any of this have happened if I had?” Sadie asked.

“Of course. This ending was inevitable, but it would have been the polite thing to do,” Ben said. “I give so much and ask so little in return. Then you left without a word, without warning. Imagine my surprise when I showed up in your apartment that night and found it empty.”

Sadie swallowed. She would need a long time to come to terms with the fact that he had been watching her sleep for months. “So Ben followed me here and concocted his story about needing help.”

“You were never in the army,” Luke said.

“No, I was. That part was true. I wasn’t a ranger, though. I tried to be. My father wanted me to be. But I failed the psychological exam.”

“Shocking,” Hal said.

“I thought so,” Ben said.

“Edmond Hankins was never in the army,” Luke said. “He was Canadian.”

“I don’t like you,” Ben said.

“Really?” Hal said. “He told me he thinks you’re keen.”

Ben pressed the barrel farther into Hal’s temple. “I’m starting not to like you, either.”

“Let’s focus on the conversation at hand,” Sadie said. She shot Hal a warning glare. Did he have a death wish? Why was he provoking the crazy out of Ben? He pressed his lips together in an apparent attempt to stop talking. “Ben killed Edmond Hankins to further his story. He gave me a phony list of old army buddies and that led me to two more names. Of course Ben, being the smart man he is, had already pre-selected these men as targets and led me to them on purpose. He killed Roy Mueller, kidnapped Vic Hutchens, and planted my music box at his house.”

“Don’t forget the notes,” Ben said.

“Yes, the notes. He also left me the army patch and sneaked into my room. While we were downstairs. He’s very good at sneaking around.”

Ben beamed. “You’re so sweet, Sadie.”

“Earlier, Vic Hutchins broke free of his bindings and tried to escape. Ben made it seem as if Vic had broken into the house. He knocked him out and tied him up again. That’s when I noticed the hair.”

Fearing that Hal would say something like, “Yes, Ben does have luxuriant hair,” she hurried on, “Apparently Ben keeps a hair reminder of all his victims.”

Ben clucked his tongue. “Sadie, I don’t like that word.”

“Opponents,” Sadie amended.

“Better,” Ben said. “I knew from the first moment I saw you on television that you were my next worthy adversary. People think you’re dumb because you’re pretty, but you’re smart. This has been some of the most fun I’ve ever had. Thank you.”

Sadie refused to say, “You’re welcome.” Her lack provoked him. He turned his attention to Hal and Luke.

“Now, for the fun. You like both these men. Not as well as you like me because they could never understand or love you like I do. You and I are meant to be; I think we can agree on that. But you seem to have some sort of affection for these two, and for that reason I’m going to let you choose which one lives and which one dies.” He lifted the gun from Hal’s temple, but her relief was short lived because he positioned himself in the center of the room, facing the two men, Sadie to his back. “You have precisely sixty seconds to choose. And because of what we mean to each other, I’ll take the kill shot with one bullet. I won’t let the loser suffer.”