When All The Girls Have Gone(49)

"Look, there was nothing you or the other members of the club could do and every chance that someone would slip up and accidentally alert whoever we were hunting. It's so easy to get careless with a text message or an e-mail."

"Okay, I get that. I don't like it that you felt you had to keep secrets from me, but I understand it."

"I'm sorry."

"Never mind," Charlotte said. "What did you hope to accomplish by disappearing for a while?"

"I thought that if I went off the grid I could somehow force the bastard to reveal himself. I wasn't sure how that might happen, but I assumed that when he couldn't find me online, he would come looking-expose himself. And then, the next thing I knew, Louise was dead."

"So you sent the coded message warning the other members of the club."

"I had no choice. I thought that I'd been wrong all along. I decided that it was one of our targets who'd hacked my computer. After Louise was murdered I was afraid everyone in the club was at risk."

"When did you realize Trey Greenslade was the killer you were hunting?"

"I didn't realize it until I woke up in this damn basement." Jocelyn groaned. "He was always on my list, but I could never find a way to tie him to any of the rapes that occurred in the years after I was attacked. He was too careful. I knew I had to have some solid evidence before I could go to the police. The Greenslades are still the most powerful family in Loring."

"Did you know that Louise went to Loring the day she died?"

"Not until Greenslade told me that he was sure she had picked up the old evidence box that day."

"Max and I assumed she went there to talk to Briggs, but Briggs denied it."

"You can't believe anything that bastard told you," Jocelyn said.   





 

"Yeah, we figured that out right after he tried to kill us."

"Oh, God, Charlotte, I swear I didn't want you to get involved-"

"You shouldn't have kept secrets from me-starting with that stupid investment club. Whatever made you think you and your pals could get away with playing female avengers? Didn't it occur to you that sooner or later one of your targets would figure out what was going on?"

"Yes, that's why we set up the escape plan."

"Oh, yeah, that worked well, didn't it?"

"You know, I could do without the lectures."

There was some real energy in Jocelyn's voice now. She no longer sounded so despondent, Charlotte thought.

"Sorry." She looked around. "So, you've been here longer than me. Any thoughts on how to complicate the lives of those two creeps upstairs?"

Jocelyn hitched herself up against the wall. She held up her bound wrists. And then, like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, she separated her hands. Charlotte saw that she had slit the duct tape. In the shadows it had not been apparent.

"Ah," Charlotte said. "I knew you hadn't been sitting around down here feeling sorry for yourself."

"I found an old fishing tackle box in the corner," Jocelyn said. "There was a knife inside."

"Where is the knife now?"

"Tucked into the waistband of my jeans under my shirt. The problem is that we're dealing with two guys who have guns."

"Lucky for you I was a Girl Scout."





CHAPTER 63




"There were two of them in the car." Max studied the photos on Ethel Deeping's phone.

"Yep." Ethel watched him anxiously. "I saw the other man when Charlotte opened the rear door to get into the backseat. One man at the wheel, one in the back. What's more, I think the s.o.b. in back had a gun. Can't be sure, but if you enlarge the photo you can see something in his hand."

"It's a gun," Max said. "You got the license plate. Good work."

"Figured you might need it. You're a PI. You can run a license plate, right?"

He looked at her. "Don't believe everything you see on television."

"But you can find out who owns that car, can't you?"

"There are ways, legal and illegal. But the fastest way is legal." He took out his phone.

"Who are you calling?"

"The Loring Police Department. There's a detective there who has an interest in this case."

Detective Walsh took the call.

"Trey Greenslade? Damn. Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you absolutely certain we're talking about a kidnapping?" Walsh said.

"I'm sure," Max said. "If you can't help me, say so."

"And you'll go find some illegal online outfit who can get you into the DMV database for a price, right?"

"Not necessary," Max said. "I've got a few connections. If you can't get me the plate, I'll call someone I know who can get it."

"Hang on," Walsh said.

He came back on the line a short time later.

"This doesn't make any sense," he said.

"Just give me a name."

"The vehicle is registered to Nolan Briggs. I told you about him. He's the fucked-up son of Egan and Roxanne Briggs. How the hell is he involved in this thing?"

"You know junkies," Max said. "They'll do anything to get the cash they need for their next fix."

He nodded a quick thanks to Ethel and went swiftly outside, still on the phone as he headed for Anson's SUV parked at the curb. Anson was in the front seat, waiting.

"But junkies are unreliable," Walsh said. "If you're right about Greenslade, he's a strategic planner. Why would he take the risk of employing an addict to help him kidnap a woman?"

"Maybe he thinks he has some leverage he can use to control Briggs," Max said. "Maybe he has a reason to think that he can trust him, at least for the time being."

"What reason?"

Max thought about the pictures on the mantel at the Briggs house. Then he thought about what Detective Atkins had said about Roxanne Briggs. A fine-looking woman in her day. But she got pregnant the year after she graduated from high school. Never could figure out why she slept with Briggs. He was too old for her and with her looks, she could have done better.

"We can go over the details later," Max said. "Right now we need to find Charlotte. At this point Greenslade doesn't know we've ID'd him."   





 

"Unless Charlotte Sawyer told him."

"Charlotte is smart. She'll keep quiet. Obviously Greenslade took a few precautions, though. He used Nolan Briggs's car-probably hoping that would throw us off the trail if someone did get the license plate."

He opened the driver's-side door of the SUV and got behind the wheel.

"I've got to go, Walsh. I'm headed for Loring. I'll be there in a couple of hours."

"Wait, any idea where Greenslade might have taken Charlotte?"

Max fired up the engine and pulled away from the curb.

"Someplace where he feels secure," he said. "A location where he thinks he can control the situation and the environment. He was a sales rep for years. He likes to know the territory."

"Why would Nolan Briggs help him? Because Greenslade can supply him with an unlimited supply of drugs?"

"I'm sure that's a factor, but there's something else at work here," Max said. "Pretty sure Nolan Briggs is Trey Greenslade's half brother."





CHAPTER 64




"This had better work the first time," Jocelyn said. "We won't get a second chance."

"It will work," Charlotte said.

But she knew that Jocelyn was right. The plan, such as it was, absolutely had to work the first time.

"You know I've always admired your optimistic attitude," Jocelyn said.

"Bullshit. You've always considered me naïve."

They were standing in utter darkness because a short time before, Jocelyn had succeeded in smashing the low-watt bulb in the ceiling light fixture. It hadn't been a simple task because she had been trying not to make any more noise than necessary in the process. By positioning herself halfway up the wooden stairs she had been able to use the handle of an old mop to shatter the bulb. The faint tinkle of broken glass had evidently been muffled by the heavy plank flooring overhead because their captors had not bothered to check on the situation.

They had taken up positions on either side of the old wooden steps, not daring to move because there was no way to know when the door would open and one of their captors would appear. They had to be in position and ready.

"I've never thought of you as naïve," Jocelyn said. "Just, you know, maybe too inclined to look for the good in other people."

"Uh-huh."

"I still can't believe you hired a private investigator."

"I thought I made it clear. I'm not a client," Charlotte said. "Max and I are partners in this thing. His client is Louise's cousin."

"Still, I can't believe you got involved with a private investigator," Jocelyn said.

"It wasn't like there were a lot of viable options. Your best friend was dead under what both her cousin and I considered mysterious circumstances and the police were not displaying any great interest in the death. And then I find out that you are not in that Caribbean convent learning to think tech-free metaphysical thoughts. What was I supposed to do?"

There was a short silence from the other side of the stairs.

"Louise was a very good friend, but she wasn't my best friend," Jocelyn said after a while.