Terrified (37 page)

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Authors: Kevin O'Brien

Tags: #Mystery, #Thriller

BOOK: Terrified
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The light finally changed, and she started to cross the street. Megan looked to her right—and two cop cars, one after another, were zooming up Broadway with their strobes flashing. The sirens, coming on at the last minute, let out a piercing wail. Traffic stopped. Only a block away, the patrol cars headed right toward her. Megan hurried across the street. Her heart was racing.
“Hold it right there!” she heard someone yell. Then came the loud shrill of a police whistle—competing with the siren.
Megan stepped up on the curb and automatically froze. Her good hand reached out for a light pole to brace herself. She watched the two cops on bikes speed across the street toward her. The patrol cars screeched to a halt—and the sirens suddenly shut down.
“I said hold it!” the policewoman screamed. “Stop right there!”
All Megan could think was,
I’ve stopped
. But then she noticed the unwashed-looking young man in the army fatigue jacket beside her. He broke into a sprint down the sidewalk. A couple of pedestrians screamed as he knocked them aside.
The cop on the bike blew his whistle again, while his partner yelled at the young man to halt. Another cop jumped out of the prowler, into the young man’s path.
Megan tried to get a breath. She turned her back on all the commotion, and walked up to a side street—off Broadway.
Even though her heart was pounding furiously, she started to run.
 
 
“I can’t talk about it, Evie,” Teresa said into her Bluetooth as she watched the road ahead. She’d just passed through one of the main intersections of Capitol Hill. Evie Caletti was a trusted friend, but Teresa couldn’t risk saying anything on the phone that the police might pick up. She didn’t want to get Meg into any more trouble than she was already in. “All I can say is that the cops have been bugging me since last night. They showed up at my door during dinner and
Bachelor Pad.
Then they were at work when I got there this morning. They really have Meg and Josh on the run. The poor kids, I’m worried sick… .”
“Well, you should have seen
The Sally Justice Show
today,” Evie said on the other end. “Sally went on and on, making her out to be a total psycho. She’s practically calling for a lynch mob… .”
Teresa heard a beep on the line, another incoming call, the second in just a few minutes—or maybe the same person, not giving up.
“Was that another call?” Evie asked. “Do you need to take it?”
“No, they can leave a message,” Teresa said, checking the rearview mirror for unmarked cop cars. She figured it was the police calling. She’d given them the slip during her lunch break. They were probably wondering why she hadn’t come back to work yet.
Evie kept talking about
The Sally Justice Show.
Teresa reached the top of the hill and turned in front of the Safeway on Fifteenth. The cemetery was about eight blocks down this street.
“Did Meg ever do anything to make you suspect she had another identity?” Evie asked. “I mean, all that time you were working with her …”
“Nope, I didn’t have a clue,” Teresa admitted. “And I’m still not sure about it, Evie. I’m sure Meg has some explanation… .” She couldn’t tell her friend she was meeting Megan in less than five minutes—and maybe then she’d get the explanation she desperately wanted.
She passed Volunteer Park on her left. The cemetery entrance was just beyond it. Teresa found a parking spot across the street from the tall opened gates. Before she turned off the ignition, she glanced at the digital clock on the dashboard: 2:03
PM
. Teresa grabbed her purse, climbed out of the car, and headed across the street. She didn’t see Megan at the cemetery entrance. “Hey, listen, Evie, I need to scram. I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Keep me posted if you hear anything,” her friend said. “Take care, Teresa.” Then she hung up.
Teresa kept her Bluetooth on. She paused in the driveway entrance, and glanced around the sprawling, hilly cemetery. The majestic, old trees had leaves of red, orange, and gold. Crows flew overhead, some swooping down to pick at the pristine lawn or rest on top of the marble headstones. Teresa noticed a group of people in the shade of a big tree near the cemetery’s highest point. Tourists, probably. If she remembered correctly, that was where Bruce and Brandon Lee were buried.
Megan was late. Teresa wasn’t sure how her friend was getting there. She no longer had a car. Teresa had asked John not to say anything to the police about the white Taurus they’d loaned to Megan. But they hadn’t asked John. They’d questioned one of the mechanics, and he’d told them. The police found the Taurus this morning, parked only a few blocks from work. It was just like Megan to come as close as she could to returning the car so no one else got in trouble.
The only car Teresa saw in the cemetery was a silver SUV, parked about a quarter of a block up—as the roadway curved to the right. It was behind a headstone with a tall, forlorn-looking angel on it. She could just barely make out someone in the front seat. It looked like a man.
Teresa felt a chill, and she turned up the collar to her green blazer. She glanced over toward the street again. She heard kids screaming and laughing in the distance. She dug her cell phone from the pocket of her blazer to check who had phoned earlier. Both calls had been from the work cell Megan had borrowed. Teresa pressed the code on the keypad to retrieve her messages.
Behind her, she heard the SUV engine start up. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw the vehicle crawling toward her. Teresa stepped aside to get out of the SUV’s way.
She was about to listen to the first message when two little kids on bikes turned into the driveway and nearly mowed her down. Teresa jumped up onto the grass, almost tripping. The cell phone flew out of her hand.
“
Beep, beep!
” one of the brats yelled, speeding between her and the SUV. The second kid rang her bell repeatedly. They both wore safety helmets.
The SUV paused at the mouth of the driveway. Teresa barely glanced at it. But she noticed the passenger side window was down.
“Cooper … Taylor … hold up!” a woman called, turning into the driveway after them. She was on a bicycle as well, and slowed down between Teresa and the silver SUV. She wore black Spandex shorts and her blond hair was sticking out in back of her helmet. “Watch out for the cars!”
“Tell them to watch out for the pedestrians, too, sister!” Teresa yelled at them.
The woman paused to stare at her. “Beg your pardon?”
On the other side of the blond cyclist, the SUV lurched forward a bit, and then it slowly turned onto the street.
“They almost ran me over,” Teresa said. “I came here for a visit, you know—not a permanent stay.”
The woman gave her a haughty, indignant look, and started pedaling again. She caught up with her two little brats. The three of them continued up the hill. Teresa could hear the kids giggling and yelling at each other.
“Idiot,” she muttered. She looked down at the grass for where she’d dropped her cell phone. She found it—right next to the driveway curb. She was checking it for damage when she heard a car turn into the cemetery. Teresa anxiously looked up, thinking it might be Megan.
But it was the silver SUV again.
It had come back.
 
 
Megan cut through Volunteer Park. With sweat rolling off her forehead, she raced up the park’s back road, past the tennis courts, the conservatory, and the kiddy park where she used to take Josh when he’d been a toddler. Her lungs were burning. The purse weighed her down, and the way the strap dug into her shoulder, she might as well have been lugging a bunch of bricks. Somehow, all the running had made her finger hurt even more, like the stitches had gotten loose. Or maybe it was just the sweat under her bandage stinging at the wound. Megan was exhausted, and yet she pressed on.
She’d already run out of time. It was 2:05. She prayed Teresa would be late. She’d tried phoning her again a few blocks back, but it had gone to voice mail once more—so she’d hung up. For all she knew, Teresa could already be dead.
Megan pushed herself to the limit and picked up speed as she emerged from the park drive. Crossing the street, she bolted right into traffic. She heard a car screeching on its brakes and the horn blaring. All she could do was wave an apology and keep running down the sidewalk. She had two blocks to go.
Glenn and his partner had her so well-trained that she hadn’t even considered calling the police until now—and it was too late. She could have said someone was being attacked by the entrance of Lake View Cemetery, and the police would have gotten there in time to prevent the whole thing. In addition to saving Teresa’s life, they might have apprehended one of Josh’s abductors. But then the other one—Glenn or his partner—would have killed Josh. She’d seen what they’d done to Candy.
With one block to go, Megan bore down toward the cemetery. She could see the gated entrance ahead on the other side of the street. And she saw a silver SUV turning into the drive. As it passed through the open gates, Megan noticed Teresa in her green blazer, standing on the lawn by a row of headstones. She had her cell phone to her ear.
The SUV had passed her by. Megan wondered if she was wrong about the car. Was it some other silver SUV? Then she realized they wouldn’t grab her on the way in. They’d turn around and get her as they were heading out.
“Teresa!” she screamed—with what little air she had left in her lungs.
But she was still too far away. Her friend couldn’t hear her. Teresa was looking the other way—toward the SUV.
Megan raced down the sidewalk. She waved and yelled at her again, desperately trying to get her attention.
Teresa took the phone away from her ear, and glanced around the cemetery for a moment. Her finger went over the cell’s keypad, and then she put the phone to her ear again.
Megan heard the phone ringing in her purse. She realized Teresa was calling her. Staggering toward the cemetery gate, she reached into her purse and frantically groped around for the cell phone. She finally found it and switched it on. “Teresa,” she gasped. “The SUV … look out… . It’s a trap… .”
“What?” her friend asked.
Megan heard a car engine roar, and then tires screeching. Suddenly, the SUV pulled out in front of Teresa. Megan couldn’t see her friend anymore. “Look out!” she cried into the phone.
The sound of gunshots stopped Megan in her tracks.
The silver SUV peeled out from between the cemetery gates. It turned onto the street and sped away.
Teresa was sprawled on the grass, near a headstone.
Megan clicked off the cell for a second, then dialed 911. She hurried toward her friend.
“Nine-one-one operator,” the man answered.
“Someone’s been shot,” Megan gasped, “by the entrance of Lake View Cemetery, Capitol Hill. I—I think she’s going to need an ambulance… .”
“Ma’am, are you with the victim now?”
“Please, hurry,” was all Megan said, and then she clicked off. At the cemetery entrance she froze. Stunned, she watched Teresa roll to one side on the ground. Megan didn’t see any blood on her. “Teresa?”
Her friend sat up. “Goddamn it to hell,” she muttered, rubbing her elbow. “Did you see that? Some son of a bitch just shot at me!”
“Are you okay?” Megan asked, out of breath. She hovered over her.
Nodding, Teresa rubbed her elbow again and winced. “He was a lousy shot, thank God. I—I just got your message about thirty seconds before he opened fire… .” She caught her breath, and pushed her hair back out of her face. “Look at you,” she said, gaping at Megan. “I almost didn’t recognize you. What the hell is going on, Meg?”
Megan helped her to her feet. She glanced up the hill, where in the distance a handful of people seemed to be staring at them. Obviously, they’d heard the gunshots. One man was hurrying down the grassy slope, and talking into his cell phone. Someone else had jumped into a station wagon, now headed down the winding road.
“What’s going on?” Teresa pressed, dusting the grass off her blazer and pants. “I was just shot at, I deserve to know. Who was that?”
“It has to do with a—a former husband of mine,” Megan explained. “I was married a long time ago.”
“Yeah, I know about that—to a real piece of work, too, it sounds like.” Teresa bent down to retrieve some items that had spilled out of her purse. “You’re all over the news, Meg. So—who are these people?”
“It’s my husband and someone else,” she said, getting down on her knees to help her. She handed Teresa her lipstick and sunglasses. “They broke into the house on Saturday night. They beat me up, hit Josh over the head and took him. If I don’t do what they say—or if I talk to the police—they’ll kill him. It’s like a game with them. I didn’t do anything to Candy Blanco. She was trying to help me, for God’s sake. But they made it look like I’d murdered her… .”
Megan got to her feet, and she helped Teresa up. “But you can’t let anyone know, Teresa, not a soul. If word gets out that Josh has been abducted, they’ll do away with him. It may be a game to them, but they’re serious, sick people. I’m only telling you in case they kill me first. Someone needs to know about Josh… .”

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