Then, nothing.
The good news was that her captor had not tightened the plastic band around her wrists. She still had a little slack. She rolled over and began to work on the band, flexing and relaxing her wrists. After a few minutes her lower arms began to feel numb. She stopped for a while, started again. After ten minutes or so it felt as if she might be able to begin to work her hand free.
When she had been dropped on the floor she'd felt a small puddle of water. She rolled over and over until she was on top of it. She angled her body so that her hands got wet. The water was freezing. She had never done well in science classes, but she figured that this might be a good thing, if it helped her hands contract and not the band.
She took a deep breath, bracing against the pain she knew was coming, and started to twist her wrists out of the plastic band. No dice. She wet her hands a second time. They were growing numb again, but she couldn't stop.
The third time she tried, she felt the band slip over the base of her thumbs. With great effort she pulled her right hand out of the plastic band.
Lucy stood up, a little shaky, pulled the tape from her mouth. She gulped the cold air.
There was virtually no light in the room. With her hands out front, she felt along the wall. It was a small room, a cellar of some sort. Stone walls. There was a bench, a couple of old chairs. Everything had a deep layer of dust on it. She felt her way over to the door, listened for a while. Silence. As gently as possible, she tried to turn the knob.
Locked.
Chapter 90
The trail of blood stopped about twenty yards into the woods, where the forest became thick and tangled before dropping into a steep gorge.
Jessica and Bontrager shone their flashlights into the ravine, but the beams were instantly swallowed by darkness.
'Albrecht is hurt pretty bad,' Bontrager said.
'If this is Albrecht's blood.'
Bontrager looked at Jessica, then back at the blood trail, which was quickly being washed away in the drizzling rain. 'You're right. We don't know if this is Albrecht's.'
'We have to call it in, Josh.'
Bontrager hesitated a second, no longer. He ran back to the road, called PPD dispatch, identified himself and their position. Dispatch would contact the closest emergency services agency and police K-9 units.
Jessica returned to the road. They stood on the shoulder.
'I'll stay here,' Bontrager said. 'I'll wait for the search team.'
'It's over, Josh. Even if Mike Drummond keeps his word, they're going to put all this together.'
Bontrager took a few steps away, thinking, turned back.
'Okay. Here's what happened. I was following a lead. I saw the vehicle, pulled over, discovered the blood. I called it in. Before I could get back to my car I was ambushed. This is why I'm a little unclear on the details after that.'
'No one is going to buy that.'
'Maybe yes, maybe no. We'll worry about that later.'
Jessica considered the scenario. 'Are you sure?'
'Yeah,' Bontrager said, planting his feet apart. 'Make it look good.'
Jessica took a step back. 'Josh…'
'I know you box, so try not to kill me.'
Jessica put on one of her wool gloves, hesitated. This was getting deeper and deeper. 'Are you sure sure?'
'You're talking me out of it.'
Jessica reared back and threw the punch, pulling it a little. It caught Bontrager on the right side of his jaw. Bontrager reeled back, nearly toppling over.
'Wow.'
She had bloodied his lip.
'Jesus Christ. Are you okay?'
Long pause. 'I'm fine. I may never sing with the opera again, but I'm fine.' He reached down, gathered some dirt from the side of the road, scuffed up his suit coat.
Jessica looked from the van, back to Josh, then up Sawmill Road. According to the map she was about a mile away.
She wanted to tell Josh to call or text her, keeping her in the loop, but it was not a good idea. That would put everything on the record. 'You sure you're all right?'
Bontrager rubbed his jaw, which was already starting to swell. 'Go.' Jessica checked the action on her Glock, snapped it back into her holster, and started down the road.
Chapter 91
The smell of just-turned earth fills my senses. Each shovelful brings with it a plaintive voice: a plea of innocence, a shout of unrepentant pride, a wail of sorrow. I hear them all.
With the swing of his crimson hammer Kenneth Beckman took Antoinette Chan to the other side. His wife Sharon had helped. They too smell the earth now, rich with fur and blood and bone. They are joined by Preston Braswell, Tyvander Alice, Eduardo Robles, Tommy Archer, Dennis Stansfield, so many others. The earth always reclaims.
Tonight, in this place, white skeletons pass through the gloom. They are all around me.
There is one more note to play. I hear the player coming, creeping through the night. I push the sounds of murders past from my mind, listen for the footfall as it approaches.
There. Can you hear it?
I hear it.
One more note.
My instruments are ready.
Chapter 92
Jessica walked down the road in a darkness so pure and complete that she could not see her own feet. The drizzle made the going even slower. Her only guide to the road was the white stripe on either side, along with the compass app on her phone, which she was reluctant to use. It seemed to put a spotlight on her. According to the GPS, she would be coming up on the parcel in a few minutes.
She passed a drive every so often, a gravel lane that snaked back into the woods.
When she came to the rear entrance to the Briarcliff Cemetery she saw that it was unmarked. Instead there were two fieldstone pillars, connected by a chain with a padlock on it. On one of the pillars was a rusted sign warning that trespassers would be prosecuted. Jessica clicked on her Maglite, aimed it at the ground, and headed into the cemetery.
The only good thing about walking through the woods was that she was now somewhat sheltered from the rain. Before long she came up to the southern end of the graveyard. She couldn't see far, but she did see lights in
