38. Chapter 38
Chapter 38
Dylan
“ H ow could you lose her? You had one job!” I spun in a circle, searching the park for any sign of Elise.
“Will you relax?” Avery answered. “Pete asked me to help grab some of the sponsor’s signs while she helped him clean up the finish area. A couple of people puked all over the results board, so there was no way I was going to take on that mess.”
“You left her with Pete?!” I sprinted in the direction of the finish line. Please let her still be there.
I mowed down a little kid and two ladies in my rush to get to Elise. All I could do was shout an “I’m sorry” and keep running.
When I got to the spot, there were plenty of people standing around talking, but the tables, flags and cones had all been put away. And Pete’s truck was gone. So were he and Elise.
The parking lot. Check the parking lot.
My legs were heavier than lead as I hurried up the hill to check the clusters of cars on the other side. Reaching the top of the rise, I had a full view of the lot.
Empty. The spot where Elise’s car had been, was empty. No, this couldn’t be happening.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Was she calling me? An unknown number trailed across the screen. Not Elise.
“Hello,” I answered, my voice choppy as I jogged down the hill.
“Mr. Harper, this is Detective Fulsom. Your friend, Elise Sudbury, sent me a message a few hours ago, but I was in a court hearing. The building doesn’t have great cell service, and I didn't see the message until a few minutes ago. I’ve tried callin’ her phone, but it goes straight to voicemail. Do you know where she is?”
“Taken,” I choked out. “She’s been taken by Pete. It’s him; he’s the one who killed her dad and Tara, and now, he’s got her. Why couldn’t you check your stupid phone once in a while? She’d still be here if you would’ve just checked your phone.”
I was in the parking lot now, twirling around in useless circles.
“Mr, Harper, I understand your frustration. How do you know Pete has Elise?”
If that guy were here right now, I’d belt him. This was all his fault. But punching him wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t save Elise.
I drew in a slow breath, then said, “Because he knows we've figured it out. He could tell we put the pieces together. Insulin, that’s what got Tara, and Pete knows all about insulin. Ever since he overheard Elise tell me Tara had insulin poisoning, he didn’t let us out of his sight. Then, he found a way to get her alone, and now, she’s gone. Dude, you have to do something!”
“Calm down, Mr. Harper. Have you talked to Elise’s grandmother?”
“I doubt that’s going to help,” I said, even as I sprinted for my car. Bad idea or not, at least it gave me something to do. Hopping into the driver’s seat I huffed out, “Kidnappers don’t stop off to ask their victim’s families to sign a waiver.”
My tires squealed as I sped toward the exit.
“Mr. Harper, what are you doing?” Jerkface barked.
I couldn’t drive like I needed to with this phone between my ear and shoulder. “I’m heading to Elise’s house. Meet me there, and hurry.”
Jerkface began to argue, but I pushed the end call button.
He’d come.
Flipping on my blinker, I checked for oncoming traffic. The past three years, and a whole lot of hours playing a video game that shall remain nameless had prepared me for this moment. Get ready, Pete, because here came Dylan Harper, world’s best street racer, slash, your worst nightmare.
Elise
“Why are you doing this?” my voice came out small and raspy—not as intimidating as I had hoped, but the guy had a gun pressed against my ribs. I was entitled to some fear. In fact, I could do just about anything in this situation, and it would be considered justifiable.
Of course, lowering the truck’s window and shouting, “Help, I’ve been taken hostage by the psycho who murdered my dad,” would probably get me shot.
What if I gouged his eyes out with his tree-shaped air freshener, then shoved the thing down his throat? At this point, the guy deserved anything and everything I could do to him.
“You wouldn’t understand.” Pete’s voice was as hard and frigid as steel.
“So, why’d you do it? Why kill Dad and Tara?” I asked before I lost the courage and we fell into silence again.
“I didn’t kill your dad.” The metal barrel jabbing into my side began to shake. “We had an argument. It was just that. A disagreement between friends. He wanted to come clean, tell everyone about the doping. Couldn’t let him do that. Losin’ my job would put the whole family in the poor house.”
Nope, I was not going to listen to him spew this garbage. “That’s a load of crap.” The gun dug more firmly into my ribs. Sorry, but if I was going to die anyway, at least I’d do it being honest. Besides, even though Pete had taken the back roads, there were still plenty of people around to see if he pulled that trigger right now.
“Yeah, you may not want to lose your job and everything, but this is about a lot more than that. This is about all those trophies and medals and having your picture hanging up all over campus. You can’t stand to have everyone know that you’re a cheater instead of some hero.”
For a moment, Pete took his eyes off the road to glare red-faced at me, his gun biting into my side. Raising my chin, I returned his stare. Tough pal, cheating was cheating. Of course this wasn’t really helping along his confession. Maybe I should opt for a more humble or even scared expression if I wanted him to spill his secrets.
“Look,” I said, ending our staring contest before we crashed into a tree or mailbox. “I know you would never hurt my Dad on purpose.”
Not. You’re obviously a psychopath who should be confined to a straitjacket.
“So, I’m assuming that what happened between you two was an accident.”
Like you accidentally, wrapped your grubby hands around his neck and strangled the life out of him, then tossed him down the cliff.
I had to keep my focus riveted to the homes and business we passed to keep from vomiting at the sound of my own placating words.
Sniffles sounded from the driver’s side of the vehicle. The gun began to shake again, “It’s true. None of this should’ve happened. Dave and I agreed to meet for an early mornin’ run before the Invitational ‘cause he said he had somethin, he wanted to talk over. Should’ve known what was comin’. Dave always was a sap. Couldn’t see how sometimes, we need to make sacrifices.”
I shoved my fisted hands under my thighs to keep Pete from noticing how ready I was to smack him.
“I tried to talk him out of it. Offered to pay the difference between Tara’s old rate ‘n the new one. That woman's a piece of work, I tell you what.”
I bit my cheek to keep from screaming. Sure, Tara was a unique individual, but thanks to him, she was only a vegetable now. A vegetable who was about to be taken off life support. How could he talk about her like that?
“Anyway, things got heated. Before I knew what was happenin’, I belted Dave. He would’ve been fine. Should’ve walked away with just a shiner. But he lost his balance and fell. I watched him go end over end till he was halfway down the mountain. By the time I got down to him, the man was dead. I think he hit a rock or somethin’ ‘cause his head was covered in blood. There was so much blood.”
And now we both shook.
“Why didn’t you call the police or 9-1-1 or something?” I asked through chattering teeth.
Pete’s features hardened. “‘Cause it would’ve ruined all of our lives. Dave wouldn’t’ve wanted that for me or my family.”
He wouldn’t have wanted us to wonder what happened to him for the last year.
“And Tara?”
Pete shrugged. “Kept up with her charade for as long as I could. She was runnin’ her mouth, tellin’ people like you and Dylan things I’d paid to keep quiet. She was a loose cannon, and with her upcomin’ divorce, she and that two-bit husband of hers were too much of a liability.”
Aha, Pete had killed that man.
He gave a grim nod to no-one in particular. “Had to be done. With him and Tara splittin’, there was no way of knowin’ if he’d keep his mouth shut.”
Sheesh. How had this guy gone from the nicest man ever to a homicidal maniac?
“Why didn’t you just dose him with insulin as well?” I croaked. “Why bother shooting him?”
“‘Cause that’d be too obvious.” Pete angled his body toward mine, wearing an excited expression that I wanted to vomit on. “Since it was no secret he ran with a rough crowd, I just shot him and dumped the body. I’m sure if the cops eventually find him, they’ll just chalk it up to him owin’ someone money.
“Tara’s death ended up bein’ a lot more messy than I’d planned.”
How had I ever thought of this disgusting man as an uncle?
“See, at first, I’d planned to give her the insulin right under her tongue or between her toes, you know, do it somewhere that wouldn’t leave a noticeable mark. But then, the wife made plans for us to go up to our cabin for the weekend with some friends without talkin’ to me first. Be suspicious if I told her no, so I had to speed up my timeline ‘n hit Tara with a dose right in a vein. Couldn’t have her runnin’ her mouth any more than she’d already done.”
“Wait,” I interrupted. “How did you know to find Tara at her store that night? She’d been in hiding.”
Pete didn’t answer, his eyes trained on the road ahead, thumb tapping the steering wheel while he chewed his bottom lip. Whatever the answer was, he wasn’t proud of it. Had he found out about Tara’s rendezvous the same way we had, by hacking Dad’s email? The password wasn’t hard to guess for someone who knew him well.
“You broke into my Dad’s email, didn’t you? That’s how you knew. But what about Sven? You would have had to speed the timeline anyway because he would have interrupted you.”
“Not quite.” Pete grinned.
What was I missing?
“Wait, you pretended to be Sven didn’t you? That’s how you flushed her out of hiding.”
“Bingo. That woman had to be stopped, so I got creative.”
We pulled to a stop at a red light, and a young family passed in front of us on the crosswalk. Pete gave them a nod, his expression cheerful. How could he smile after all he’d just told me? If the man could still get a good night’s sleep, there was no justice left in this world.
He didn’t look tired. No bags or dark circles under his eyes.
The jerk caught me looking at him and jabbed his gun a little harder into my side. “That a smart watch?” he asked, gesturing to my wrist.
“No,” I lied. Even though he’d made me toss my phone out the window miles ago, I thought I still might be able to get the watch to send out an emergency signal.
“Hand it over.”
No way was I giving it to him. He wouldn’t dare shoot me with all these people around. The light turned green, but Pete didn’t move. He just sat there, staring daggers at me with his hand outstretched. Honking sounded behind us.
“Don’t be stupid, Elise. Give me the watch.”
What would he do if I tried to make that emergency call right now? Judging by his flaring nostrils, smart idea or not, he’d shoot me. Slowly, I undid the watch and laid it across his palm.
“That’s more like it.” He pressed on the gas and the truck rumbled through the intersection.
My hands trembled in my lap as I waited for the vehicle to get up to speed. If I was going to do something, it needed to be now while there were still plenty of witnesses around. Of course, with how unhinged Pete was, he might shoot me anyway.
The moment he glanced up at his rearview mirror, I grabbed the steering wheel and yanked it. We veered toward a row of cars parked along the side of the road. Pete’s elbow slammed into my face, but I held on until he smashed my head against the window. I reeled back, the steering wheel no longer in my grasp.
The same second as my skull collided with the window, the truck rocked with a crunching impact. Outside, a car alarm blared.
Pete gunned the truck forward, hunching low in his seat. Metal jabbed into my side, making me gasp. I blinked, trying to process what had just happened. My face and head throbbed.
“That was dumb, Elise, really dumb. You have two choices right now. You can either behave, and your grandma will be fine, or if you make this hard, she’ll be the one who pays the price.”
I froze. Images of Pete holding Grandma’s hand while she wept through Dad’s funeral played in my mind. The guy even brought her vegetables from his garden for heaven’s sake. Would he really be so sick as to hurt her too?
Speaking of vegetables, Tara could be taken off her respirator any time now. She’d been his stinking assistant coach, and he’d had no problem offing her. Yes, Pete would hurt Grandma. He might even enjoy it.
“Fine,” I said, though I hoped my blazing glare would cause his head to burst into flames at any second. “By the way, why did you hire Tara?”
Pete actually laughed. “That woman is more trouble than she’s worth. You know, I think she really thought she’d be able to wrangle my job away from me.”
For the first time since getting into the car, his gun lost contact with my torso. And for the first time since I felt it’s steely touch, I drew a full breath.
“I’m sure you can guess how it all went. First, she bullied your dad into giving her a job, throwin’ around threats. A year later, she did the same to me. That’s when I knew she had to go. Wish I would’ve figured that out sooner, then Dave might still be here.”
“So, you’ve been planning her murder for months then.” Again, his gun bit into my side.
“Had to be done. That harpie is the whole reason any of this happened in the first place. If it weren’t for her, me, you, your dad, Dylan, we’d all be just fine.”
She’s not the reason you’re a nut job. You did that all on your own.
“What are you going to do to Dylan?”
Pete thumped the wheel in frustration. “Dang it all Elise, why’d the two of you have to get involved? It didn’t have to be this way.” He wiped at his eyes, then returned his hand to the wheel. “I don’t know what to do. I just know I can’t let you kids ruin everythin’ I’ve worked so hard to build. You have no idea what it took to get to the top. No idea how hard I worked, all I sacrificed. I just…it can’t…” He sniffed then shook himself.
“No more questions,” he barked, turning his focus to the mountain ahead. Now that we’d left the city, we had about thirty minutes before we reached the Delilah Lake trail. From there, it was a good three-hour hike to the top, Mom’s final resting place. Except we were athletes in good physical condition. We’d make it there in an hour and a half easily. For the first time in my life, I wished I wasn’t a runner.
Dylan
I smacked the bogus suicide note against my thigh, pacing Elise’s living room. Every word in it was garbage.
“I just want to be with my mom and dad. I’m really sorry, Grandma,” it said.
This letter was about as fishy as they came. First of all, who leaves a suicide note on their front doorstep? Second, Elise would never do that to her grandma. Right now, the poor lady was wailing in her rocking chair, and maybe I should go over there and comfort her, but she’d be better off if I figured out where that two-faced maggot had taken her granddaughter and brought her home.
Part of the words had been erased and written over. Parking myself on the sofa, I squinted at the page.
“I’m going to be with my MOM,” it said, with Mom in all caps. Huh, what did that mean? I leaned my head against the back of the couch and focused on breathing slowly in and out.
What did I know about Elise’s Mom? She’d died not long after Elise had been born…and her ashes were scattered by Lake Delilah. That was it! I jumped up and bolted for the door.
“Don’t worry, Ms. Sudbury, I’m going to find her and bring her back!” I called over my shoulder before slamming the door closed.
Whump. I ran right into a wall of Detective Fulsom and his bulletproof vest.
“Hold it there, son. What’re you doin?”’
“Lake Delilah, that’s where he’s taken her. We have to go.”
I tried to move past him, but he caught me by the shoulders, holding me with a surprisingly strong grip.
“There’s no time; come on!” I jerked free, but he caught my arm.
“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way, Mr. Harper,” he grunted as I tried to wiggle free. “Believe it or not, I’m not the enemy here.”
“Fine.” I shoved the letter into his chest. “I found this on Elise’s porch. It’s a phony suicide note. I think Pete made her write it because it’s her handwriting, but her letters are usually much more swoopy and nice looking. And there’s a couple of places where her pencil actually ripped the page."
Keeping one hand on me, he held up the paper and scanned it.
“See where he made her do some erasing? It says that she’s going to be with her MOM. I know where that is. She’s talking about where her mom’s ashes are scattered, at Lake Delilah. Now can we go?”
“Just calm down a minute.” Fulsom dropped my arm to reach for his phone, hopefully to call for backup, but I didn’t have time to stand around and wait while they cut through all the red tape.
“Sorry about this, bro,” I said, darting for my car.
“Freeze, Harper!”
I didn’t have time to look and see if the guy had his gun trained on me. With that smooth move you see in all the movies, I slid across the hood and jumped into my driver seat. Unfortunately, my hood now sported a dent in the exact shape of my butt from where I’d pulled a Michael J. Fox.
“Meet me at Lake Delilah!” I yelled out the window, tires squealing.
Hang on, Elise, I’m coming.