answer I’m going to give you pain. Do you like pain?”
“I don’t know where she is. You give me too much credit. I’m not that good at finding people.”
“Ah, but you’re friends with Evelyn, aren’t you? Her grandmother lives next door to your parents. You’ve known Evelyn all your life. I think you know where she is. And I think you know why I want to find her.” Abruzzi got up and went to the stove. He turned the gas on, got a poker from the fireplace, and held it into the flame. He tested the poker with a drop of water. The water sizzled and evaporated. “What first?” Abruzzi said.
“Should we poke out an eye? Should we do something sexual?”
If I told Abruzzi Evelyn was in Miami, he’d go down there and find her. Probably he’d kill her and Annie. And probably he’d kill me, too, no matter what I said.
“Evelyn is on her way across the country,” I said. “She’s driving.”
“That’s the wrong answer,” Abruzzi said. “I know she boarded a plane for Miami. Unfortunately, Miami is a big place. I need to know where she’s staying in Miami.”
The Bag held my hands on the tabletop, the guy in the Nixon mask cut my sleeve away, then held my head, and Abruzzi held the hot poker to my bare arm. Someone screamed. I guess it was me. And then I fainted. When I came around I was on the floor. My arm felt like fire, and the room smelled like pot roast cooking.
The Bag dragged me to my feet and set me on the chair again. The most horrifying part to all this was that I honestly didn’t know where Evelyn was staying. No matter how much they tortured me, I couldn’t tell them. They’d have to torture me until I was dead.
“Okay,” Abruzzi said. “One more time. Where is Evelyn ?”
There was the sound of a motor revving outside, and Abruzzi paused to listen. The guy in the Nixon mask went to the window, and suddenly lights blazed through the curtains, and the green van crashed through the picture window in the front of the house. There was a lot of dust and confusion. I was on my feet, not sure where to go, when I realized Valerie was driving the van. I wrenched the side door open, threw myself inside, and yelled at her to
Valerie still had her mouth and hands duct-taped together, but it wasn’t slowing her down. She barreled down the dirt road, hit the highway, and skidded onto the bridge approach. My fear now was that she’d dump us into the river if she didn’t slow down. There were chunks of wallboard stuck to the windshield wipers, the windshield was cracked, and the front of the van was smashed.
I ripped the tape off Valerie’s mouth, and she let out a howl. Her eyes were still wild, and her nose was running. Her clothes were torn and dirt-smudged. I yelled at her to ease off the gas, and she started to cry.
“Jesus Christ,” she said between sobs. “What the hell kind of a life do you lead? This isn’t real. This is fucking television.”
“Wow, Val, you said
“Damn fucking right. I’m fucking freaked out. I can’t believe I found you. I just started walking. I thought I was walking back to Trenton, but I got turned around somehow. And then I saw the van. And I looked in the window and saw them burning you. And they’d left the keys hanging in the ignition. And… and I’m going to throw up.” She screeched to a stop at the side of the road, opened the door, and heaved. I took over the driving after that. I couldn’t take Valerie home in her present condition. My mother would have a plotz. I was afraid to go to my apartment. I didn’t have a phone, so I couldn’t get in touch with Ranger. That left Morelli. I turned into the Burg on the way to Morelli’s house, and on a long shot, went a block out of my way and drove past Pino’s.
Morelli’s truck was still there, plus Ranger’s Mercedes and the black Range Rover. Morelli, Ranger, Tank, and Hector were in the lot. I pulled the van in next to Morelli’s truck, and Valerie and I tumbled out.
“He’s in Pennsylvania,” I said. “In a house on a dirt road. He would have killed me, but Valerie drove the van into the house and somehow we got out.”
“It was fucking awful,” Valerie said, teeth chattering. “I was so fucking scared.” She looked down at her wrists, still wrapped in duct tape. “My wrists are taped together,” she said, as if it was the first she noticed.
Hector produced a knife and slit the tape, first on me and then on Valerie.
“How do you want to do this?” Morelli asked Ranger.
“Take Steph and Valerie home,” Ranger said.
Ranger looked at me, and our eyes held for a moment. Then Morelli slid an arm around me and eased me up, into his truck. Tank boosted Val up next to me. Morelli took us to his house. He made a phone call and some clean clothes appeared. His sister’s, I imagine. I was too tired to ask. We cleaned Val up and took her home to my parents. We made a fast stop at the hospital emergency room to have my burn bandaged, and then we went back
