and tell everyone what you know.”
He opened the windows in the truck and closed the doors. He smiled and kissed Naomi, who cried and begged him again to change his mind, asking him to take her with him. “Good night, Naomi. Take deep breaths. Make it easy on yourself.”
Peggy examined the knots in the rope that held her to the steering wheel until he turned off the lights in the garage and shut the door behind him. It was completely dark, impossible to tell how to negotiate the ropes. She leaned her head back against the seat and waited.
“Don’t give up,” Naomi urged her. “We may still have a chance if your friend comes looking for you. Try not to breathe.”
Peggy laughed. “Not breathing is a little hard. But you don’t have to worry. The carbon monoxide from this truck isn’t going to kill us, because there isn’t any.”
“What are you saying? Are you already delirious?”
“This truck is electric,” Peggy explained. “As soon as we think it’s safe, we can turn on the lights and get out of here. I want to make sure he’s gone and not still watching, until he thinks we’re dead.”
“Thank God!” Naomi cried out. “You’re a genius, Peggy.”
“Thanks. But I really didn’t do it to save my life except in a roundabout way.”
“It doesn’t matter. It means I’ll get to turn in that selfish, stupid, immoral—”
“That’s true.”
“How long should we wait?”
“I’m not really sure. I can’t see my watch.” Peggy figured it didn’t matter how long it was. Until they got free of their ropes, they couldn’t get out of the truck unless she wanted to try to drive that way. The chances were, insurance wouldn’t cover her backing through the garage door, even if it
So she concentrated on the ropes and told Naomi to do the same. The rope was the thin, plastic-coated kind that was difficult to get apart when it was tied tight. She’d used it to tie up trees a few years back after a bad ice storm.
Peggy thought about everything Abekeni said while he was getting rid of them. He didn’t know about Holles being released yet or that his cottonseed evidence wouldn’t hold up to forensic investigation. But when he did, he was going to realize Holles was still an obstacle.
She couldn’t help but notice how cold and methodical he was about killing her and Naomi. She had no doubt he would be as cold about killing Holles. She was surprised he didn’t think about it in the first place. Perhaps he thought the police might be too suspicious if another Feed America director died right away.
What would his plan be? She considered some ideas while she worked on the knots he used to tie her to the truck. How would he try to get rid of Holles?
“I got the knot out!” Naomi said in triumph.
“Quick!” Peggy encouraged. “Turn on the light so I can see my hands. We should alert the police. Abekeni might try to kill Holles when he finds out his plan to frame him for Luther’s death didn’t work.”
But Naomi opened the truck door and got out. “I’m sorry, Peggy. I know you mean well, but I can’t do this to Abekeni. You don’t realize how terrible his life has been because of his father abandoning him. I’m going to apologize. Maybe there is still time for us to get away.”
“Don’t be silly, Naomi! This is your only chance to straighten things out.”
“I’m sorry,” the girl said again as she took the keys from the ignition in the truck and put them in her pocket. “I don’t want to hurt you, just slow you down a little. With any luck, Abekeni and I will be gone before anyone finds you here.”
“Well, you’ve done it now, Margaret Anne!” Peggy said in the quiet that was left after Naomi was gone. She was still tied to the steering wheel, but now the truck wasn’t running, so she couldn’t back through the garage door even if she wanted to.
What was left? There was always an alternative if one looked for it. She continued to stretch and strain to get her hands free. Then she recalled that the garage door opener was in her pocketbook. She didn’t think about having to use it, smug in her knowledge that her position wasn’t lethal. She only had to figure out a way to get it out with her pocketbook on the floor.
She pushed off one shoe and used her foot to feel around in her pocketbook. She felt the garage door opener, but she couldn’t pull it up with her sock on. She took off her other shoe and used her left foot to take the sock off her right foot.
She got the sock off and used her toes to grab hold of the opener. She was trying to push it up her leg to her lap where she could push on it with her elbow, but it kept sliding down her leg.
She pushed hard on it with the ball of her foot and heard the sound of the garage door opening behind her. She didn’t know how it was possible, and she didn’t care. All she had to do was figure out how to attract some attention and get out of the garage.
Peggy thought about ways to get attention from people in the house. She tried beeping the horn and was immediately sorry she hadn’t checked it out sooner when she’d noticed there was a problem. It wouldn’t work at all.
“All right,” she promised herself. “That’s on my to-do list as soon as I get out of here.”
But without the horn, what was left?
She knew her father was still awake. If she could get him to notice that something was wrong, that might do it. The only other creature in the house likely to hear her was Shakespeare. She didn’t know how well her voice would carry, but she started yelling for him. “Shakespeare! Come on, boy! Come on, Shakespeare! Come on, boy!”
