My Everything (18 page)

Ben lived with an awful lot of guilt, none of it deserved in Grace’s opinion.

She finished dressing, rewrapped her arm and began to comb her hair. Despite the conditioner she’d used, her comb still got caught in the tangles.

One of these days she was going to cut her hair, one of these days, but not today. Not when she could still feel Ben’s hand gripping her curls, pulling her head back to look at the mirror. Demanding that she watch him make love to her.

Grace closed her eyes and stood still for a moment. The comb slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor. Grace hoped with every fiber of her being that she’d see Ben again, that he would find Angel safe and sound, and that nobody would die today.

Grace heard a knock at the bathroom door, and she opened her eyes. It was her watchdog. He cleared his throat.

“I just got a call. They found the girl.”

Angel waited to
move until the sun peeked over the mountains to the east. Even though the neighborhood looked like a scary place, people would still get up and go to work, and kids would still go outside to play. She believed without a doubt she would find someone to help her. She’d made it this far. Luck was on her side.

She’d managed to remain awake for about an hour after he drove away. Angel figured if he didn’t come back in an hour, he wasn’t coming back. Eventually, her eyes grew so heavy she nodded off. She hadn’t slept in a couple of days unless you counted the time she’d spent drugged out of her mind. Angel had no idea how long that had been. She only knew she hadn’t had a shower or changed her clothes in forever. She smelled like it, too. Between her stay in the basement closet and the climb across the black, rotting roof tiles, she was filthy.

It didn’t matter. Even if the police took her for a runaway, they’d still help her. That’s all she cared about. Just so he couldn’t come back and get her again.

Angel lifted her head and looked around. The sidewalks were still empty although a few cars drove along the street in front of the house. Careful not to skid off the side, she slid down the slope of the roof on her stomach in the direction of the back porch and the trellis.

She could see where the roof flattened out over the porch, but she was going to have to feel for the trellis with her feet. Dangling half her body off the edge of the roof, she managed to bang into the wrought iron with her legs. She felt around until she found foot holds then she climbed down onto the porch.

Angel started off through the weedy, overgrown yard when she realized she had to pee, really, really bad. She looked around, found a dying shrub in a corner to hide behind, then pulled her shorts and panties down and squatted. As she heard the hot stream of urine hit the dusty ground, tears filled her eyes. Angel swallowed hard, tried to hold them back, but the night had taken its toll and violent sobs shook her.

She shouldn’t have to do this. Nobody should have to do this.

Angel finished up and pulled her clothing back together. Hiccupping, she wiped her tear-streaked face with filthy hands and peeked out the back gate into the alleyway. It was vacant. She looked both ways then sprinted to the closest end. The alley opened onto a one-way street. Angel looked to the right and the left.

Weren’t most businesses on corners? Even in a neighborhood like this there must be some businesses. A coffee place, a food mart, a gas station, something. She decided to walk to the left, against traffic. That way if a police car happened to come by, she could flag the officers down.

Please God, she begged, send a cop this way. Now would be a very good time, before anything else happens. It took six long blocks for her to spot a police cruiser.

Angel waved her arms and screamed, “Help me!”

She practically threw herself in the path of the vehicle. When Angel saw the lights go on and the car pull up to the curb, she fell to her knees. Both officers climbed out and approached her.

Stuttering and sputtering, her voice cracking, she wailed, “Please help me! My name is Angel Sanders. I was kidnapped from Austin, Texas, and I want my mom!”

Grace threw open
the passenger door before the police cruiser came to a stop. She hopped onto the curb and sprinted toward the collection of rescue vehicles.

“Angel,” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “Angel, where are you?”

Angel poked her head out of an ambulance. For a moment, she appeared dumbstruck.

“Grace? Grace?”

The girl bolted from the back of the ambulance, past several paramedics and police detectives and ran straight into Grace’s arms. The two embraced so tightly that if it wasn’t for the dirt on Angel no one would have been able to tell them apart. Heedless of the smudges on Angel’s face, Grace kissed her repeatedly and dried her tears with her own sweatshirt while she smoothed the girl’s tangled hair.

“It’s okay, love, I’m here,” Grace said. She held Angel, petted her, and rocked her gently back and forth. “It’s okay. It will be okay.”

“Where’s my mom?” Angel asked.

“She’s on her way, sweetie, on her way.”

Angel peered around cautiously then whispered in Grace’s ear, “Where’s Ben?”

Grace held the girl at arm’s length and stared into her eyes.

“You know? How do you know?”

“I know Ben’s alive,” Angel whispered. “He told me. The man told me.”

“We need to tell the police, sweetie, right now.”

“But what if he hurts Ben? I don’t want anyone to hurt Ben.”

“Ben already knows who it is. He knows, Angel. He’s looking for him right now. He’ll be careful. He has Tom with him and a detective.”

“It’s her brother, isn’t it, Julie’s brother, the one we never met?”

“Yes,” Grace said, “It is. How did you know?”

“I figured it out from some of the stuff he said.” Grace couldn’t miss the hint of pride in Angel’s voice.

“You little shit.” Grace gave her an affectionate pinch. “You’re a chip off the old block.”

Angel giggled. “I’m just like my brother, huh?”

“Very much like your brother,” said Grace. She lifted Angel’s chin and looked her over with a critical eye. “Did he hurt you, sweetie? Did he…? Angel, did he rape you?”

Angel shook her head. “No, he didn’t hurt me. He scared me, but he didn’t hurt me. He kept me drugged for a few days, and I don’t remember much but I’m… I’m…” She hesitated. “I’m sure he didn’t rape me.” Then she looked right into Grace’s eyes. “My brother’s alive. That’s worth everything to me, everything. I want him to stay alive.”

“Me too,” said Grace. “That’s why you’re going to tell the police each detail you can remember, no matter how trivial. Okay?”

Angel nodded. Grace took her hand and led her back toward the paramedics and the waiting police officers. Partway there, Angel stopped. “Grace, how’s my boyfriend? Robbie got hit on the head.”

“He’s fine. He has a concussion, but he’s going to be fine.”

“Grace‍—‍” Angel tugged on Grace’s hand, “‍—‍what are you doing here?”

“That, my darling, is an interesting story, and I’ll give you the long version as soon as you finish with the police.”

“Pinky swear?”

Grace smiled and wrapped her little finger around Angel’s. “Pinky swear.”

At eight a.m.
an SUV from the Napa County Sheriff’s Department made a right turn off Highway 12 and followed a long, winding private drive. It pulled up to the front door of a substantial Tudor-style home.

Ben exited the vehicle before the driver brought the car to a complete stop. He was up the front steps in a heartbeat, pounding on the heavy oak door without hesitation. Tom joined him on the porch. He stood flanking him on one side, the detective on the other. The sheriff’s deputy stayed behind with the vehicle.

Julie’s parents lived on a thickly wooded estate in the Valley of the Moon above the town of Sonoma. Cell phone service was spotty and Ben hadn’t heard a word about Angel. The place was so isolated that if Ben didn’t know better, he’d think the Smithsons were deliberately hiding from someone. He was surprised the property wasn’t patrolled by armed guards. He beat on the door again, in no mood to be patient. He wanted answers, and he wanted them yesterday.

“Coming! Hold your horses!” The door was thrown open, and Paul Smithson’s distinguished face appeared. He turned dead white at the sight of Ben McCall standing on his doorstep. He glanced at Tom Ryan and then at the sheriff’s vehicle in his driveway. “Jesus Christ!”

“Who is it, honey?”

“Ben.”

Susan Smithson appeared at her husband’s side. She stared at Ben in shocked silence.

“Paul. Susan. May we come in?” said Ben.

“Of course,” Susan said.

Susan led them into the living room.

“Ben, we thought you were dead,” said Susan, wringing her hands. Her face had grown as pale as her husband’s. “I feel like I’m seeing a ghost. What on earth are you doing here? What’s going on?”

“When you disappeared, we assumed the worst,” Paul said. “God, it’s good to see you. Sit down.”

He stuck out a hand in Ben’s direction. Ben’s own hand felt like a lead weight hanging at his side, but he forced himself to shake Paul’s hand. He knew these people. He’d married their daughter. They were supposed to mean something to him. They were not suspects.

Ben cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to arrive unannounced. Forgive the surprise, but it was unavoidable. I… We have a situation and we need your help. Where is Roger?”

The silence in the room was so thick Ben thought he could cut it with a knife.

“Roger?” Susan clutched at her throat. “What could you possibly want with Roger?”

“He’s on the East Coast,” Paul said. “It’s the usual thing you know. He’s off doing research, involved in his books.”

“No,” said Ben, fighting to keep his voice even, “he’s not. He suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, and he’s been in and out of state hospitals for twelve years. Right now, he’s somewhere in Southern California where he’s suspected of murdering two men in cold blood. He attacked a young woman in a hotel room in Pomona. And he’s got my sister Angel. So if you have any idea where he is, tell me before Detective Byrne here takes you into custody and forces you onto a plane to Los Angeles where you’ll be charged with aiding and abetting. I’ll ask you again. Where is your son?”

With a cry, Susan Smithson collapsed onto the floor. For a few seconds, it didn’t register, then her husband dropped down beside her.

“Help me get her onto the couch,” Paul said. “This is quite a shock.”

The men lifted the prostrate woman to the couch. Her husband hurried to the kitchen and returned with something that looked like old-fashioned smelling salts and a glass of water. He waved the smelling salts beneath his wife’s nose.

She shoved them away with the words, “Stop, Paul,” and sat up under her own power. Ben helped her to drink.

“You could have told me.” He tried and failed to keep the accusation out of his voice. “I married your daughter. She should have told me. What do you think I would have done, for God’s sake? Walked away? I loved Julie, damn it! I loved her! I would have been there for her, supported her. Helped in any way I could. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because…” Paul raised his hands, as if making a gesture of surrender. But he threw Ben’s accusation right back. “He’s our son. We didn’t want him to become an object of ridicule or embarrassment. And we didn’t want to put him in a position where he had to be normal. Normal is something Roger can never be. It wasn’t fair to him. It wasn’t fair to Julie. You would have understood when you had a child of your own.” He glared at Ben. “You would have understood when your baby was born.”