Chapter 5 Lori
LORI
Lori’s heartbeat had picked up speed at Sally’s story. Even her palms felt sweaty as she listened to the horrific events that happened to Sally unfold.
“I woke up tied to a chair in my ex-husband’s hunting cabin,” Sally said, her voice shaking now.
“There was a man there. Not Bradley as I expected. Someone I’d never seen before, and he was going to kill me.
He told me as much. Said it would look like a suicide.
That I’d been so distraught over the divorce that I’d driven up to the cabin and.
..” She couldn’t finish. “There was a notepad on a table beside me and a pen. He wanted me to write a note.”
“How savage,” Tessa hissed. “How did you escape, Sally? How did your ex-husband end up there in the woods?”
“The man was telling me that I would write the note, and if I didn’t, he’d go after my brother and his family.” She swiped at the tears running down her cheeks.
Lori took a tissue from her purse and handed it to Sally.
“Then, to my surprise,” Sally used the tissue and continued, “Bradley burst through the cabin doors. At first, I thought he was there to kill me himself. But he knocked the other man out and untied me. He told me to run. Told me which way to head to get to the road. He gave me his phone with the location of the cabin pinned and told me to call the police once I was safe.”
“That must’ve been so confusing and terrifying for you,” Lori said softly.
“My heart was pumping so wildly, and my fight or flight had kicked into high alert. At that point, all I could think of was escaping,” Sally said.
“But still I hesitated because I didn’t trust Bradley.
He used to love playing cat and mouse with me during his drunken nights.
He’d make me run and hide, then hunt me through the house. It was one of his sick games.”
Her eyes were distant now, lost in the memory.
“Sally, I can’t believe what you went through.” Tessa’s voice was filled with emotion. “I’m so sorry we’re making you go through this again.”
Sally gave Tessa a tight smile as if she’d hardly heard her words.
She was reliving that terrifying day. “When Bradley started dragging the man to the chair I was tied up in, I saw the open door, and I ran as fast as my shaking legs would go into the woods. As soon as I got far enough away, I called the only person I trusted. Elias. He was already tracking me down. He’d put a tracker in my locket.
” She touched the pendant around her neck, a delicate silver piece that looked like an antique.
“It was my grandmother’s. I never take it off. ”
“What happened then?” Tessa asked.
“Elias told me to find a spot to hide and talked me through how to cover my tracks. I was just about to hide in a ditch that was covered by a huge fallen log when I heard it.”
Sally closed her eyes, and tears leaked from beneath her lids.
“Heard what?” Tessa and Lori, now so caught up in the story, asked in unison.
“I heard Bradley’s voice shout frantically, ‘Run, Sally, run.’ Then a gunshot rang out.
I ducked into the ditch and stayed there, frozen.
I heard footsteps right above me. There was a scuffle.
Then a voice. A male voice that I’ll never forget.
It was the voice of the man who had kidnapped me.
It was gravelly, like the man had something wrong with his throat.
He said, ‘Your parents are going to be so disappointed in you.’“
Sally pushed her head back and took a shaky breath.
“He was the one who killed your husband,” Lori guessed.
Sally didn’t reply to Lori’s question but continued the story, “I heard Bradley scream. And then this awful sound, like someone was puncturing something over and over. I covered my ears, and then a thud vibrated through the ground. Then the footsteps disappeared into the woods.”
“Oh, Sally,” Lori said, instinctively reaching out to grab Sally’s hand again.
“My phone vibrated,” Sally continued, gripping Lori’s hand so tightly it hurt.
“It was a message from Elias. ‘I’m right near you.’ I messaged back telling him what I’d heard.
My hands shook so badly I was surprised I could type.
” She swallowed and wiped the rest of the tears away.
“Elias told me to stay exactly where I was and not to move. There were more footsteps. More angry voices. But I had my hands over my ears so they were muffled. A gunshot rang out so close to where I was that, even with my ears covered, it was deafening.” She sniffed. “And then it went deathly quiet.”
Tears were rolling down Sally’s cheeks again, this time unchecked.
“I can only imagine how scared you must’ve been,” Lori said, her heart aching for Sally.
“I sat there with my legs drawn to my chest, trying not to breathe too loudly. I was sure it was my last day on Earth. Then my phone buzzed again. ‘You can come out.’ But I didn’t move. I couldn’t.”
“I don’t blame you for that,” Lori told her.
“I heard Elias call my name. ‘Sally, you can come out. It’s over.’ Only then did I move.” Her eyes blanked, and her face fell. Lori handed her another tissue, which she took and absently wiped at the tears. “What I found made me physically ill.”
“If Elias was there with you, how were you found alone with your husband’s body?” Tessa asked. “All the reports said you were the only one there when the police arrived.”
“Elias told me to call the police,” Sally explained.
“He said he had the hitman and was taking him back to Barstow headquarters, where they would deal with him and the Lanes. He told me not to mention any of what had really happened. He told me to tell the police that when I didn’t hear from Bradley, I got worried and went to look for him, and that’s when I found him dead in the woods. ”
“Your fingerprints were on the hunting knife,” Tessa stated. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes. When Bradley untied me from the chair, I grabbed the knife he’d cut the ropes with and held it out at him. I thought he was going to kill me. So my prints were already on the murder weapon before it was ever used on him.”
“I don’t understand, as it never said what the evidence was that got you exonerated,” Tess said.
“As it turned out, even hitmen don’t trust the Lanes,” Sally said with a bitter laugh.
“The man had recorded everything. The recording proved my story. And Barstow had the man in their custody. The Lanes were terrified of what Barstow had on them, on their son, and about the hit they’d put out on me. ”
“So they gave you a big payout to keep you quiet,” Tessa said.
“No. They gave me back what was mine,” Sally corrected.
“My company, my money, everything they’d stolen from me.
By then, all I wanted was to get away from Boston.
Away from the Lanes and all their connections.
I wanted to come home and be close to my brother.
” She cleared her throat and gathered herself.
“So I sold them my company. I didn’t want the invisible strings that were attached to it because of the Lanes.
After what had happened. I started seeing them and the people they were associated with in a whole different light.
One that I didn’t want to be seen under or associated with. ”
“I don’t blame you,” Lori told her. “I don’t think I’d want to keep it either, or associate with people like that, and trust me, I really do understand.
One of my late husband’s business partners was not who he presented himself to be, and his family was also the type of people no one wanted to associate with. ”
“It just goes to show you,” Tessa stated. “You never really know someone, no matter how close you are to them.”
“So Elias was your bodyguard, and his company gathered information about the Lanes,” Lori clarified. “I wonder if that’s why…” She stopped as her eyes caught the warning in Tessa’s, and she turned back to Sally. “Did you keep in touch with Elias or Barstow when you came back here?”
“A few times. One time was to help Carrie.” Sally looked from Lori to Tessa. “The information that Elias had gotten on the Lanes helped your mother put Judge Whittaker away. He was associated with that family.”
“That’s right, you testified for my mother in the case against Judge Whittaker!” Tessa remembered.
Sally nodded. “That man was so crooked. I went to school with him. Well, he was in the same year as my older brother, Jim. Even back then, he was horrible, but he was good-looking and charming, so he was everyone’s darling. I even dated him for a while in high school.”
“What happened?” Lori asked.
“He was a little too handsy and cruel for my taste,” Sally said with a shrug. “I dumped him after a few months.”
“How did you end up testifying for my mother’s case?” Tessa asked. “I mean, what made you come forward?”
“I had information from Barstow about Judge Whittaker’s dealings with some of the Lanes’ clients,” Sally explained. “I couldn’t mention the Lanes by name, but I was able to give evidence about one of the cartels the judge was helping.”
“Okay, but why did you bring that forward?” Tessa asked, looking confused.
“I was in a support group here in Nantucket for abused women. The judge’s wife was part of the group, and we became very good friends. I was the one she’d call when she needed help after her ‘clumsy falls,’“ Sally explained, her eyes sparking with anger at the memory.
Tessa nodded. “That poor woman suffered so much at his hands.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied Sally. “I know you went through a lot, Sally, but I have to ask. What happened in high school? You got expelled for putting a girl in the hospital.”