through the data I've collected.'
'Whatever works,' he drawled.
He didn't understand, but then she didn't expect him to. She closed her eyes again, ignoring him now, and once again
concentrated on her breathing.
Another couple of minutes passed, and she began to let the bits and pieces of the puzzle come together. Ironically, it was something that John Paul had said that got her mind racing.
'What did you mean?' she asked.
'About what?'
She stretched her legs and then turned to him. 'The first rule of an operation is not to lie?'
'No, I said tell as few lies as possible.'
'Yes, that's what I meant. Why is that a rule?'
'Lies can come back to bite you… trip you up. So…'
She took it from there. 'So, if you stick to the truth on all the little things that don't matter, you won't get tripped up. Oh, my God,
of course.'
She was suddenly as excited as a kid in a toy store. She unzipped her jacket pocket and pulled out a soggy map.
'I'm such an idiot. Monk could have read about the property in the paper, and when Carrie asked him where he was taking her,
he came up with that name. I assumed he was lying. Why wouldn't I assume that? He'd lied about everything else, but John Paul, what if he was telling her the truth?'
Her babbling worried him. 'Are you getting punchy?'
She smiled. 'Yes,' she said. 'But it still all makes sense anyway.'
'What are you trying to tell me?'
'I think I know where Carrie and those other women are.'
Her announcement gained his full attention. 'You think you know? How?'
'Carrie told me where Monk was taking her.'
One eyelid dropped. 'And you're only now mentioning that fact?'
'Hear me out,' she said. 'I thought he'd lied to her. I told you my aunt left me a message on my machine, and I erased it, and
you heard my question to Cannon, didn't you?'
'I heard you ask him if there was a water problem.'
'And Cannon said, no, not at Utopia. I also asked him if the spa owned a house in the mountains.'
John Paul nodded. 'I remember his answer was no.'
'Because he said no, I didn't ask any other questions about the house. Carrie called it a retreat. I assumed that everything Monk told her was a lie. But what if it wasn't?'
'Why would you think he was telling the truth about their destination?'
'It's what you said. Why lie when you don't have to? Lies have a way of coming back to bite you.' She repeated his very words. 'Monk already had grabbed her, right? And he'd already told her his name. She was meekly going along, probably without a care in the world. But she called me on her cell phone from the ladies' room. And I doubt she would have told Monk she'd made the call. There wouldn't have been any reason.'
'If Monk had told her where he was really taking her, he wouldn't have let her out of his sight.'
'He couldn't go with her into the ladies' room,' she pointed out. 'And he might not have known she had one of her cell phones
with her.'
'One of her cell phones?'
Avery nodded. 'She carries two at all times. Carrie's a workaholic, and it makes her crazy if the battery runs down. Besides,
she uses one for personal and the other for business.'
'She could just carry an extra battery.'
'Oh, she does,' she said. 'So what do you think?'
'The truth? I think you're reaching.'
'No, I'm analyzing the data, and I think we have at least a fifty percent chance I'm right. We have to check it out.'
'You know where this house is?'
While he opened the map, she told him about the old gentleman who sat with her in McDonald's.
'Yeah, I see the circle he made.'
Avery then told him about the couple who were fighting over ownership. 'The judge is supposed to decide soon which one of
the thoroughly unpleasant couple gets the house. He also told me the place has been vacant for weeks.'
John Paul slowly nodded. 'Okay, it's worth a look. Break's over. Time to move.'
'We've got to get to a phone. That's the first order of business.'
'No,' he whispered. 'The first order of business is staying alive so we can get to a phone.'
And that, he knew, was easier said than done.
Chapter 23
Now that the three women were finally ready to leave, they were immobilized with fear.
It was four o'clock in the morning, and they estimated that they had approximately two hours before dawn. They huddled
together at the kitchen table, dressed for the forest in layers of clothes, sipping hot tea to fortify them against the night air.
A frigid breeze poured into the kitchen from the hole in the pantry wall.
'What if Monk put down trip wires or something?' Carrie asked. 'What do we do then? We won't see them in the dark.'
They all worried about the possibility, and then Sara said, 'I don't think he'd take the time to climb up the side of the mountain.
I'm sure he thinks he's got us locked in tight.'
Carrie was so scared, she was trembling. 'Listen,' she whispered. 'If I don't make it…'
'Don't talk like that. We're all going to make it,' Sara said, but her voice lacked conviction.
'Let me say this,' Carrie insisted. 'If I die, I want you two to promise me you'll make the police find Avery and protect her.
Call my husband,' she added. 'Tony will want to help keep Avery…' Her voice caught on a sob, and she couldn't go on.
'Focus on one worry at a time,' Sara suggested.
'That's right,' Anne said. 'Concentrate on climbing down the rope.'
Carrie nodded. 'Yes, all right.' She pushed her teacup away and stood. 'We should go now. No more stalling.'
Anne grabbed Carrie's hand. 'Everything is going to be fine. You'll see.'
Smiling, Carrie squeezed her hand. Uh-oh. Anne's eyes were getting that glassy look. She had probably taken one of her pain
pills. When Carrie had searched the upstairs for a way out, she'd noticed the bottles of medications lined up on Anne's vanity. There were enough to start a small pharmacy.
'Did you remember to put your medicines in your jacket?' Carrie asked.
'Yes, of course I remembered.'
