Crushing (23 page)

That night both Detective Holbrook and Detective Summers made their rounds of our houses in their unmarked police car. My parents were shocked at the idea that Holden could have something to do with Lindsay’s disappearance, but in a way, they were relieved. There was a suspect now, and he wasn’t out there anymore. He was in rehab. They would question him, and the detectives assured us they would keep him on lockdown until he got out and could be officially charged with breaking and entering, at least.

Veronica’s attorney dad had apparently reacted badly to the fact that she was being questioned. He had eventually calmed down. I think she had been secretly pleased that he had acted so parental. Normally he relied on her to take care of him. Laken’s parents were upset but hadn’t completely freaked out, so life was not back to normal, but everything seemed more in control, finally.

Monday was going to be a tough day all around. Dom wasn’t speaking to me, I couldn’t tell Gage about the Holden thing, and I had an important golf match that Coach Cliff had texted me about, asking if I was ready for it. I really wanted to get back to some sort of normalcy, so it was time to sit down with the parental units and discuss.

I went downstairs, and my parents were cuddled on the couch watching their favorite show. I wondered if other people’s parents still cuddled after twenty five years of marriage. It was cute and weird at the same time.

“Hey, got a sec?” Thankfully my brothers had finally gone back to school. They had been making the commute back and forth to classes with my parents gone and all the craziness that was going on. I loved them, but this kind of conversation was better done without them here. I was pretty sure it was going to be a hard sell, and their input would not be helpful.

My dad pointed the remote and shut off the TV. “Sure, princess. What’s up? You okay?” They both looked immediately concerned.

“Yeah, fine. I just wanted to talk to you both about tomorrow and the rest of the week?”

“Sure, honey. What’s up?” my mom asked.

“Well, I know things have been a little crazy, and I understand why you’ve been worried, but now that they have handled the whole Holden thing, I would like to come out from under house arrest.”

“I don’t know, sweetie. They haven’t arrested him or anything. They aren’t totally sure.” My mom looked worried still.

“I understand that, but he’s locked away, and well, there are a few things that make it important for me to drive.” I paused and took a deep breath. I didn’t even want to think about this, let alone talk about it, but it had to be done. “You understand that Dom is upset, right?”

They both nodded and my mom sighed. “Poor baby.”

“Mom . . .” I warned.

“I know, I know. I’m worried about him, is all,” she said. “I know it’s your choice, sweetie.”

“I could get a ride from Gage, but if I show up at school or the match tomorrow with him, that would be upsetting for Dominic and not very nice, right?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” My dad agreed.

“So can I please drive myself tomorrow? Coach really wants me to play. I’ll text you when I get where I am going and when I’m leaving. Lots of people will be around, so it should be fine.”

My dad let out a big sigh. “All right. I know you want life to get back to normal. You’ve been through a lot. We’ll give it a try.” He nodded again.

“Thank you!” I flung myself at them with my arms wide open. Yes! Freedom!

#

I hadn’t driven my car in forever. I whizzed down the highway to school with the windows down and the music from my phone blaring through the speakers. A freedom I missed so much more than I realized.

Life was finally getting back on track, and I could relax. Some. I still had the Dominic situation to deal with, and, of course, Lindsay had not been found. But if Holden had something to do with it, maybe he would tell the police something and they would find her. She had to be alive. Anything else I just couldn’t think about.

When I pulled into the parking lot at school, everything seemed a bit off, and then I understood why. The difference, of course, was that Gage’s and Holden’s cars were both noticeably absent. Dom’s truck was there, but no one was hanging out in the parking lot like normal. It still creeped me out a little bit to be there. I went through the day sticking close to the girls.

I was looking forward to playing in the match this afternoon. It seemed like such a regular thing to do. When I went to my locker before I had to leave for the match, I found Gage leaning on the locker next to mine.

“Hey, you ready to kick some butt today?” he asked.

“Yup, where were you earlier? I was wondering if you were going to make it.”

“I had a meeting with the attorney this morning. The charges were officially dropped, and I’m all clear.” He tugged on the end of my ponytail that was sticking out of the back of my hat. “Thanks for that. Again.”

“Well, can’t have my white knight behind bars, now, can I?”

“I don’t think I’m anybody’s idea of a white knight, Rory.” He frowned. “I’m more of the bad guy you should stay away from. I’ve told you that.”

“Are we back to that? What about the fact that you stopped Holden when he was attacking me? How are you still the bad guy after that?” I asked. I hated that he thought so poorly of himself.

“We never left that. Anyone would have done the same. It doesn’t make me a good guy. We’re going to be late.” He pushed away from the locker and started toward the parking lot. He was beyond frustrating. This is what I didn’t understand. This is part of why it took me so long to figure out how I felt. He blew so hot and cold. I never knew where I stood with him. We walked through the front doors of the school to the parking lot.

“You need a ride?” he asked.

“No, I’m happy to be driving myself, thank you,” I snapped at him.

“Sure it’s not because you’re worried that Mr. Perfect will see you with me?”

“Actually, that’s one part of it, but not for the reason you’re thinking.” I didn’t really have time to explain this to him right now.

“What do you mean?” He looked wary.

“I told him I can only be his friend. That I don’t feel about him the way he feels about me, so . . .”

“When did you do this?” His mouth tightened “This was not about Saturday, was it?”

“What are you talking about? You mean you think I told him that because of our date on Saturday?” I couldn’t believe he was mad about this. After all the hassle he gave me about Dominic. Seriously?

We had reached my car. He looked down and frowned. When he looked up again he had that same expression on his face as when he’d ended it at Running Latte.

“I made a mistake. I never should have taken you out Saturday night. Rory, I’m sorry if I led you on. I was so grateful for what you did.”

Anger burned in my throat. I wanted to yell at him, but I knew it would just make it worse. Instead, I just called him on his ridiculousness.

“So you were grateful. That’s why you kissed me? A lot.” I crossed my arms over my chest because the urge to smack him upside the head was so strong.

He looked away. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. You’re my friend, and I took advantage. I was so happy about finding Bailee and learning about the Cosgroves dropping the charges.”

I could see he was trying to get me to believe him. Obviously he still thought he was like his father. He believed my being with him would give me some kind of bad reputation or that he would hurt me somehow. I didn’t know what had happened to set him off, but I didn’t have time for his nonsense right now. I had a match to play, and I would handle this later.

“Well, for your information I told Dominic how I felt when he dropped me off—
Wednesday
afternoon. After I had my little meltdown. It had nothing to do with your kissing me or our date. I know you think your kissing is so fabulous it defies reason, but I made the decision about Dominic way before.” I glared at him. “I hope that isn’t too hard on your ridiculously huge ego. You know what? I liked you a lot better when you didn’t speak.” I got in my car and slammed the door. How was I in love with someone so aggravating?

I drove myself to the match and kept finding myself exceeding the speed limit. If I got a speeding ticket now, I could kiss my driving privileges good-bye. I knew my parents would grab at any excuse, and that would be a good one. I slowed down.

I had a great time at the match, and even though I was furious with Gage, I played really well. I played with one of the juniors, so it was easier to focus on my game, and I enjoyed smacking the heck out of the ball.

Dominic and Gage were careful to avoid me throughout, and it was a relief. Irritating boys. Too bad I wasn’t cut out to be a nun. Getting rid of the men in my life sounded like a lifestyle I could embrace at the moment.

As soon as the match was over, I made my way to my car. I quickly texted my parents. I knew they would start calling every five seconds if I didn’t let them know I was on my way. The parking lot was almost empty. I hadn’t realized how late it had gotten. My group had been the last to come in. I had been with some younger kids who were fooling around and taking their time, and now it was almost completely dark.

I pulled onto the road and cranked up my music again. I was really going to enjoy my forty-minute drive home. I had forgotten just how much I loved driving, and I had especially missed my little car. I patted the steering wheel and sang along to the radio.

I couldn’t completely enjoy my freedom, though. Lindsay lurked in the back of my mind. They had to find her soon. I would talk to Veronica, and we would volunteer every day if we had to. I sighed and tried to think of what else could be done. Maybe we could start talking to more people in neighboring towns.

I looked up in my rearview mirror and saw that someone was right on my tail. So rude. I sped up. What was wrong with people? This was a two-lane highway. It wasn’t like the freeway. The car sped up and stayed with me. What in the world? Could they be any more annoying?

I slowed down. The car slowed down too, but stayed inches from my car’s bumper. I sped up and moved over to the right. Maybe they just wanted to get by. I waved my hand out the window motioning for them to go around. On this deserted stretch of highway they had plenty of room.

Flashing lights came on and were practically blinding me through my rearview mirror. Crap. It was a cop. I didn’t think I’d been speeding, had I? I let my foot off the gas and looked down at my speedometer. Huh. I pulled over, and the flashing lights moved with me.

I dug around in my purse trying to get my license while I rolled my window down. “Officer, I don’t think I was . . .” The flashlight in my face kept me from seeing anything. I went to lift my hand to block my eyes, when pain exploded in my head and then . . . nothing.

My head was pounding. My stomach was churning. I didn’t want to open my eyes. Was I sick? This did not feel like my bed. I was lying on something hard. There was a strong moldy, rancid smell. I started to gag. As I rolled over, my body heaved, but nothing came out. What was happening?

I cracked my eyes open. No light. I had to check to see if my eyes were actually open. I held my hand up, and I couldn’t see anything. Where was I? It was freezing. I pushed myself up into a sitting position. The ground felt damp and slightly muddy.

My memory started to come back. I had pulled over. I remembered the flashing lights, but that was it. Where was I now? I should be at home or in a hospital bed, shouldn’t I? My head pounded and my thoughts were scattered. I was thinking in slow motion. I tried to stand up, but my head hit something. I reached up and touched a ceiling. I could sit but not stand. Not good. My stomach pitched and tears pricked my eyes. Asthma made me claustrophobic. I hated being anywhere with limited air. How small was this place? How did I even get here? Did that police officer bring me here?

My breath started to come out in puffs. Fear crawled in my stomach. I had to slow my breathing. I could not afford an attack now. I felt around. Just dirt. My purse with my inhaler was too much to hope for. I still couldn’t see anything. I patted up and down my body. I still had my golf clothes on. My head hurt, but nothing else seemed wrong. I tried to take a deep breath and be thankful for that.

I needed to figure out where I was. My arms and legs were shaking, but I got on my hands and knees, wobbling and crawling, trying to find a way out.

I heard groaning coming from somewhere in this space. My heart started racing. Someone was in here with me.

“Hello?” I could hear rustling, but then it stopped. If it was some kind of rodent, I didn’t know if I could keep from freaking out. Did rodents groan? I didn’t think so, but they were creepy little suckers, and you never knew.

I scooted along the wall feeling my way. My heart was in my throat. Was it a good idea to let them know I was here? What if it was whoever put me here?

“Who’s in here?” I called out.

More rustling and a small sound that sounded like someone trying not to cry.

I kept moving along the wall slowly. I realized the groan had been a girl’s voice. There was no way it could be . . . could it? “Lindsay?”

“Who’s there?” Her voice was small and so weak I could barely make out what she said.

“It’s Rory Atherton. Lindsay, is that you?” I started scooting faster along the wall. My head was pounding, but I had to keep moving.

“Yes, it’s me. Oh my gosh, Rory,” she said, starting to cry.

“Don’t cry. I’m here. I’m coming.” I started to crawl toward the voice as fast as I could. “I can’t see.”

“Here. I’m here,” she called. Her voice was getting louder.

I reached out and felt something. Material. I grabbed on and pulled myself to her. She was trying to sit up. I pulled her into my lap. I grabbed her arms and started rubbing up and down.

“Lindsay. Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

She grabbed hold of my arm. “Oh, Rory, thank God.”

I hugged her to me, and she grabbed me around the waist. She started bawling and clutching at my clothes. I held her to me and just rocked her in my lap.

“Shh. It’s okay. I’m here. You’re okay.” I just kept repeating those words hoping they were true. I couldn’t believe it was her. I was so thankful she was okay. Well, as okay as she could be. Tears ran down my face. It must have been awful. I couldn’t see much of her to see what kind of shape she was in, but right now I was just thankful she was alive.

She was still crying and snuffling. “How did you get here? Did he grab you too?”

“Who? Did who grab me? Holden?”

“No, Mr. Cosgrove.”

“Mr. Cosgrove grabbed you?” What was she talking about? It wasn’t Holden? “Are you kidding?”

“No. That night I saw flashing lights and pulled over. He must have knocked me out. I woke up here, and it was him.”

“Yes, me too.” My hands were shaking. I didn’t want to think about what all this meant. The hair on my arms was standing up. The idea that Mr. Cosgrove had been living his life like he was a normal person while having Lindsay locked up here made me feel like throwing up. How terrifying to think someone who had been in my home was capable of something so disgusting.

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” I asked.

I felt her whole body shudder. My eyes hadn’t completely adjusted to the dark yet, but the smell coming off her was not pleasant. She must be filthy. Poor thing.

“As long as I did what he said, he didn’t hurt me. He got mad the last time. He said I was useless. He told me I had to be perfect. I needed lessons.”

“What kind of lessons?” Did I want to know?

She snuffled. “He said I was immodest and dressed inappropriately. He called me names. Said I wasn’t a lady. He has this whole room upstairs. Like a shrine with pictures of some woman.” She shuddered. “Rory, it’s so creepy. The last time when I cried, he hit me and shoved me back in here.”

What kind of sicko was he? I thought. Had there ever been a sign indicating he was this kind of creep? He’d always had this way of looking at me that made me uncomfortable, but this?

I rubbed her arm. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to get ourselves out of here,” I said.

“No, we’re not.” She sounded resigned.

“Why are you saying that? We’re together. I’ve found you. We’ll find a way,” I insisted.

“He’s going to kill me now that you’re here. I know it.”

“You can’t think like that.” I couldn’t allow her to go there. I couldn’t allow myself to go there.

“When I woke up here, there was another girl. She was nice. I think she’d been here a while. He took her out, and she never came back.”

I sucked in a breath. A trickle of fear ran down my spine. That must have been the girl they found on the beach. I was not about to share that little bit of information. “Okay. Well then, we have to figure out how to get out of here. We can do this.”

“Rory, I’ve tried. There’s no way out of here. He’s going to kill us.”

I knew in my heart she was right. If I didn’t get us out of here, and soon, we were both going to die. My head was pounding and my whole body was shaking, but I couldn’t give in to it. “Stop that. We are going to find a way. What is this place?”

“I think it’s an old tenant house. I’m pretty sure we’re in a root cellar. There are some steps on one wall on the other side, but the door is locked, and the door and the lock are strong. The rest of the house is falling apart though.”

“All right. Does he come in here a lot?”

“No. Every four or five days. Before you came it had been a long time.”

“Okay.” I rubbed her arm some more. “How long have I been in here? Do you know? Was I passed out for a long time?”

“A few hours at least. It’s hard to tell time down here. I think it’s late though. The sun’s been down awhile. During the day there is some light. Not a lot, but I can tell when it’s daytime.”

We heard noises upstairs. I could hear footsteps over our heads. Suddenly we heard a metallic click, and light spilled across the room. Lindsay started to whimper, and she shrank into herself. I wedged myself in front of her as much as I could. The shakes came back full force.

He sauntered down the stairs holding an old lantern over his head for light. He set it down on the floor. I could feel Lindsay tense up behind me.

“Rory, I’m so glad you’re awake. I’m in need of some information.” He was smiling a creepy little smile that made my blood run cold. It was so weird to see him now. I had never liked him before, but now I knew he was a psychopath.

“I don’t know anything,” I said, fear sliding down my spine. How could he act like this was normal?

“Well, that’s simply not true.” He laughed. “I have a feeling you are a wealth of information.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr. Cosgrove. Please, just let us go,” I begged. Why would he do this? It didn’t even make sense.

“Oh, I don’t think I’m going to be doing that, now. But I do need you to answer my questions, or we’re going to have a whole other set of problems, hmm?”

“All right.” What did he want? I didn’t know anything.

“Where is the necklace that you were wearing Saturday night?”

Oh crap. My heart went into overdrive. Cold sweat popped all over my body. The necklace. I had been wearing it at the clubhouse. I had to think. Could he know the police had it? They wouldn’t have told anyone that, right? I had to keep him thinking the police were clueless. “In my jewelry drawer at home.” My voice came out high and cracked. Damn. He needed to believe me.

“How did you come by the necklace?” he asked.

Better to stick as close to the truth as possible. I had no idea where Lindsay had gotten it, and I didn’t know what she had told him about it. “I found it in my drawer the other day.”

“Did you know who it belonged to?” His voice was silky smooth. We could have been discussing a golf game, he seemed so relaxed. I hoped he couldn’t see right through me.

“No. I thought one of my friends had left it there. It went with my dress, so I wore it.”

“I see. Yes, that dress. We will have to discuss that at a later time.” He glared, then clapped his hands together. “All right then.” He started to make his way up the stairs again, taking the lantern with him.

“Ladies, don’t get too used to each other’s company. One of you will be leaving soon. Rory, here is water for you. I don’t advise sharing. Lindsay won’t be here long. Her lessons have not been progressing as I had hoped.” He rolled something down the stairs and snapped the door shut. I heard the lock slide home.

I scrambled over to where I thought the water had landed. I felt around frantically. There. I grabbed it and crawled back to Lindsay. “Here. Can you hold it yourself? Or do you need me to hold it for you?”

“He’s right, Rory. You should keep it. He’s going to kill me.” She was crying again.

“Stop that, right now.” I shoved the water bottle at her. “Take this.”

“Okay. Thanks.” She was trying to suck up the tears, but I could tell she was having a hard time. I ended up having to open it for her and hold it too. She was so weak.

“Go slow,” I told her. “You don’t want to throw it up.”

I could feel her nod.

“I want to go home,” she said quietly. “I was fighting with my mom before this happened, and now all I can think about is saying I’m sorry.”

“You’ll get to do that,” I assured her. “I have an idea.” While he had been standing on the stairs, I had gotten the whisper of an idea. It wasn’t a great idea, but it was something.

“Rory, don’t do anything dumb. You don’t want to make him mad.” Her whole body gave another big shudder.

“I’m going to do more than make him mad. I need to take a look at those stairs. Be right back.”

I felt my way over to the steps. They were made of wood and were open to the area below. Hmmm. I slowly felt my way up them, testing the handrail and each step as I went. Finally—just what I was looking for. A loose stair, just about in the middle. Perfect.

I pulled. Loose but still attached. I pulled some more. It started to come looser. Yes. I pulled and pulled. My fingers were getting splinters, and I was pretty sure I’d broken every nail. Finally it came off. It made a bit of a screeching sound. I stopped and ducked under the steps. Nothing happened. He must not have heard.

I was able to wiggle the nails out pretty easily since the steps were old and the nails were loose and rusted. I laid the step back where it went but a little bit forward. Hopefully, when he stepped on it, his momentum would pitch him forward. I would give him a little help, but I was counting on the loose step to do a big part of the work. I made my way back to Lindsay.

“What made you think to do that?” she asked.

“When I was eight, I fell down the stairs in my grandma’s basement because of a loose stair. When I woke up, I thought that’s where I was. I figured it might work here.”

“Rory, you’re amazing.”

“Nope, I just have a way of attracting trouble. Can you walk, or do you need my help?”

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Under the stairs.”

“Maybe a little help?”

I put her arm around my neck and kind of lifted/dragged her. We made our way slowly to a spot directly under the stairs. I propped her up against the wall.

“You may have to run at some point. I’ll help as much as I can, but do you think you can?” I asked.

“If it means getting out of here, I know I can.”

“You might want to cover your ears for this next part,” I warned her.

“What are you going to do?”

“You’ll see.”

I could make her out better now that my eyes had adjusted to the dark a bit, and I could see her hands cover her ears.

“Get ready to move as fast as you can when I say. I’ll help you. Here we go.”

I sucked in a deep breath and let out my most bloodcurdling scream, and then just kept at it. I used to do this to my brothers to get my way. They couldn’t stand it and would do anything to make me stop. Did I mention before that I got my way a lot? Yup. I think the word they used was tenacious.

I just kept screaming. I heard footsteps moving quickly above my head. When I ran out of air, I just took another breath and kept going. After the third breath, the door at the top of the stairs flung open.

“What’s going on down there?” he yelled.

I kept going. I hadn’t done this in a long time. Good thing it was like riding a bike.

“Stop that screaming!” he shouted.

I kept my eyes on the loose stair. I heard him start to make his way down. Come on. Come on. Two more. One more. There. As soon as he stepped on the loose stair and it started to tilt, I reached between the stairs and pulled one of his ankles. He stumbled forward and rolled the rest of the way down.

I heard a thud, a load groan, and then silence.

I came around the stairs. He looked like he was out cold.

“Lindsay, get up. We have to run,” I shouted. “Come on.” The light was filtering down from above, and I could see her slowly making her way to me. “Hurry!”