stood on a chair to call out.”
Jamie woke up and went immediately to his toys.
“At least one of us doesn’t mind this confinement,” she said.
“So it would seem, but he needs sunlight and fresh air.”
“He’ll get it. They can’t keep us here much longer.”
“Are you sure? Sometimes I think they’ll kill us.”
“I’m not sure, Mandy, they couldn’t.”
“They killed Harry, didn’t they?”
DeeDee made a face. “I hoped you wouldn’t think of that.”
“With Harry gone, there’s no one to miss me. I have no family. My mother is in a nursing home with Alzheimer’s and doesn’t know me when I’m there. I could disappear, Jamie, too, and no one would notice.”
“Cyn Wu.”
“She could say something, but nothing would come of it. I’ve no ties, no roots.”
“Stop it, Mandy. You’re scaring Jamie. And none of it is going to happen. I have a husband, children, grandchildren. Lots and lots of people know me and miss me already. My roots are deep. I’m sure Dragon and his lady are already trying to figure out what to do with me-and thereby with you. They’re in deep doo-doo.”
Mandy sighed. “I hope you’re right.”
“I know I am.” She played with Jamie a few minutes. “When this is over, I hope I can have some role in his life. He’s a wonderful boy.”
“He has only me. Even if he gets a father some day, he’ll need a grandmother and grandfather.”
DeeDee beamed. “Thank you, Mandy, it’s so nice of you.”
“First chance I get, I’m declaring you and Walter his Godparents.”
The lock in the door rattled and Uberreich came in with breakfast. Apparently she had thought about being attacked, too, and brought one of the Ninjas with her. He emptied the chamber pot and trash and brought fresh water. There was a lot of glaring all around, but not one word was said.
After breakfast, DeeDee climbed on a chair to look out the window. “All I can see is the sky and tree tops. I need something higher.” They moved the table and she climbed up on it. “That’s better. Now I can see the gate and part of the grounds.”
“Any activity?”
“It’s still too early, we’ll have to wait.” She looked again and gasped. Her own van, DeeDee’s Flowers emblazoned on the side, was delivering the flowers for the banquet. At least the shop was working without her.
It was the longest day of Byerly’s life. To distract himself he tried to think of metaphors for slowness. Time moved as slowly as…no, that’s a cliche. Time moved as slowly as…yeah, a politician accepting responsibility for his mistakes. He shook his head. Probably the only good thing Justin Wright ever did in his life was Jamie, and he refused to acknowledge him.
At mid-afternoon he drove over to Patties Parties. Gertie Leventhal had agreed to smuggle him into the estate as part of her catering crew. Josh Kinkaid was to come, too. Only he hadn’t shown. Nervous time increased exponentially for Byerly. Josh knew the right address. He’d sworn to be there. Then where the hell was he? His role was vital.
Byerly stewed. He could almost feel his nerves snapping, one by one. The last Patties Parties truck was ready to head for the castle. He had to go. He’d think of something when he got there. Then, as he climbed into the van, he saw Josh race up in his Porsche. “Where have you been?”
“Sorry, I’ll explain later.”
At the castle he and Josh crawled out of the back of the van and hurried into the greenhouse. No sense in either of them being recognized, Josh especially. Darryl the floriculturist was nowhere in sight.
“How long do we have to wait?” Josh asked.
“Till dusk anyway.”
He seemed none too happy with that, but said, “I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Where are you going?”
“Around, check things out. I used to live here, you know.”
“If someone recognizes you, we’ll be-”
He watched Josh walk away, then kicked the side of the wheelbarrow, hurting his toe. Yes, dammit, he was getting upset. After last night’s rantings, he’d promised himself to stay cool, on top of things-for Doreen’s sake. But this spoiled, inconsiderate kid was testing his resolve. Josh acted like he didn’t want to be here and didn’t care what happened. What did he expect? Josh Kinkaid was so self-absorbed and unconscious he’d let his own mother live on the street, hadn’t he?
Around five o’clock Justin Wright drove up in two limousines with a quartet of motorcycle cops. Joy Fielding emerged from the front entrance. He was too far away to see her face, but she wore a long gown of bright red with lots of skin. Victor Dragon was beside her in his tux.
The ninjas opened the limousine door, and Wright and his party got out. The woman with him must be his wife. Dr. Joy descended the steps, engaged in bussing all around. All they needed was the Marine Band and Hail to the Chief. Maybe next year, God forbid.
Josh returned, still antsy. “Do we really have to wait till dark?”
“Close to it.”
He made a face, then saw a car pull up to the front door for valet parking. “Would you look at them wheels, a Jag no less, looks new.” Mercedes, Beamers, Caddies, Lincolns and other luxury cars began to arrive. He cited the virtues and faults of each. “Hey, the valet parkers are falling behind. I’m going to help out.”
“No, Josh, stay here.”
“You know me and wheels.”
Damn!
Josh returned a few minutes later. “Why do I have to wait till dark to throw that rock?”
“You can hardly stand out there in broad daylight throwing rocks at somebody’s house.”
“I did when I was a kid, come on, let’s go.”
Byerly felt like kicking him, not the wheelbarrow. “There’s another reason. You ought to be able to figure it out. They are to blink the light in the tower if they get the message. How can we see it unless it’s nearly dark?”
“Then use another signal.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, wave a hankie or something.”
“I’ve already written the note and tied it to the rock.”
“Then change it. Look, Walt, I gotta get out of here. I’ve something important to do.”
His anger flared, but he forced himself to tamp it down. He needed Josh to throw the rock. No way could he heave it far enough and hit that window. Lord, he was disappointed in this kid.
Under Josh’s impatient eyes he untied the note from the rock, really a piece of brick, changed it and retied it securely. He handed it to Josh. “Please don’t miss.”
“ No problema, I’ve done this lots of times. I told you I got in trouble for-”
“Just don’t get in trouble again.”
They both stepped outside and looked around. There was activity at the front of the hose, but no one looked their way.
“Here goes nothing.”
Josh took a full windup, like a baseball pitcher, and threw. The brick arched through the air, straight for the window. It looked high enough and far enough. Byerly’s hopes rose.
It clattered against the wall, missing the window to the left.
“God!”
“I’ll get it next time.” He took off across the lawn to retrieve the rock.
DeeDee figured Walter would cancel his plan to throw in a message, since she already knew the plan. But when she heard the clatter against the tower, she knew what had happened. Walter couldn’t be sure she was in the tower and went ahead with his rock.
