upside down. Is Richard in contact with these
people? Has he made a deal for Ben?' Fontenot closed his eyes. ''Is Ben still alive? ''
Fontenot tried to say something, but his lower lip trembled. He closed his eyes tighter, like he was trying not to see.
'They cut off Debbie's head.' I shouted into his face. ''IS BEN STILL ALIVE?''
'Richard doesn't have enough money. They want it in cash, and he can't get enough. They only gave him a few hours. We got some of it, but not all. That's why Debbie went to see them, and look what they did. We been trying to put this together all day, but look what they did.'.
Something moved behind me. Lucy had come to the door.
She said, 'How much do they want for my son?'
'Five million. They want five million in cash, but Richard couldn't put it together. He's been trying all day, but that was all he could get.'
Fontenot waved at the closet, and cried even more.
A large Tumi duffel was in the closet. It was heavy with packs of hundred-dollar bills, but it wasn't heavy enough.
time missing: 52 hours, 29 minutes
When Myers opened the door, I pushed Fontenot hard into the room. Richard was haggard, with his hair sticking out as if he'd been running his hands over his head all' afternoon. Even Myers looked beaten. Richard
was holding his cell phone with both hands, like a bible. 'Get out. Get them out of here, Lee.'
Pike heaved the bag into the middle of the floor. 'Look familiar?'
A smile flickered at the corner of Myers's mouth. He was probably relieved.
'I'd say they have the money and they know what we're doing.'
Lucy came in behind Joe. Richard's eyes widened and he raked his hand across his head as if it had become a nervous tick.
'They don't know anything. Keep your mouth shut.' Myers stared at him.
'Richard, stop. It's time to stop before this mess gets worse. The wheels are coming off, Richard. Jesus Christ, wake up.'
Lucy was as rigid as a statue. Her legs were tight together, her face closed. Her eyebrows were knitted so deeply that her eyes were hidden.
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'You self-absorbed sonofabitch. Where is my son?' Richard's eyes fluttered like two trapped moths. His mouth hung loose, as if he had aged a thousand years since yesterday. I didn't feel so angry any more; I felt empty, and worried for Ben.
Richard was so scared that I turned to Myers.
'What's Fallon doing, Myers? How are they playing this ?'
Richard screamed.
'Shut up!''
Myers moved faster than I thought he could; he grabbed Richard by the shirt and bent him backwards toward the bed.
'They know. Get your head around it, Richard--they know. Now let's get back to business. Your son is waiting.'
Myers shoved him away, then turned back to the black Tumi bag.
'That's three-point-two million, but they want five. We tried to tell them, but, you know, no one ever believes
you with something like this. DeNice was their answer.' Myers stepped around the money, then looked at me. 'Fallon knows what he's doing, Cole. He's been jamming us all day, pushing it forward to keep us off balance. We didn't even know it was happening until this morning. That's how fast it's been, just this one day. All of it started this morning.'
'Where are you with it?'
'He gave us today to get the money, that's it. Just the one business day. Richard has to call them by nine. That's in eight minutes. Fallon told us not to bother
calling after that. You know what he'll do after that.' Pike said, 'You should have told the police.' Myers glanced at Richard, then shrugged.
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Richard said, 'They were supposed to take him away fr a few days. He was supposed to watch videos and eat
pizza until we came out, that's all it was supposed to be.' Lucy took a step toward him.
'You had him stolen, you asshole! You had your son kidnapped! And you didn't even love him enough to admit it or ask for help.'
