When the Heart Lies (22 page)

Veda leaned on the top of the shovel she held, gave him a distrustful stare, and reached out for Max’s hand. “Lakeside, huh. I’ll take him. He’s no problem. Him being here will put Kinsley’s mind to rest, I know that. C’mon over here with me, baby. You can play with Colt until your mommy comes home.”

Max slipped his arm around Veda’s leg and hugged her as he buried his free hand into his tired eyes and rubbed.

“I’ll go get his things.” Wayde hustled to the truck and back, gave her Max’s things, and got back to the house.

Remy’s big ol’ Caddy was already in the driveway. Wayde entered quietly and in a low voice began giving Remy, who sat sipping coffee at the kitchen table, directions. “I’ll take care of Kinsley. Be quiet now. I don’t want Savannah waking up.”

Remy scoffed. “Shit, Savannah ain’t gonna wake up. I could fuck that girl twice, and she’d still be passed out.”

He smacked the back of Remy’s head as he walked past him to the bedroom. “Get some supplies for the cabin ready. Put them in the back seat. We’re gonna need the trunk.”

Kinsley was on the floor where he’d left her the previous night, unconscious from the whack on the head. He kicked her in the ass with his boot. She made a few sounds, but clearly, she wasn’t coming around any time soon. He bent over her and poured half the glass of water
he’d picked up from bedside table directly over her mouth and nose. With her first breath, she sucked the water into her lungs. Instinctively, she lifted her body from the floor and turned on all fours, hacking and choking.

“Good, you’re awake.” He stepped behind her, pulled her head back roughly, and stuffed a cotton sock into her mouth. Next, he bound her mouth with duct tape. Panicking with increasing fear, she started to flail wildly. He seized her by the arm and yanked her up. She tried to peek out of the room to see if Max was in the house, but she couldn’t tell. Hoping to find some ounce of humanity in him, her eyes begged and pleaded for mercy.

“Here’s what’s happening. You’re gonna get some things together, just necessities. Don’t think about sneaking out the door or the window. Remy or I’ll be watching.” He pointed to the tape. “You’re not gonna take that off either. I found the bitch’s audio buds. And she’s gonna regret spying on me. I’m no dummy, I had a hunch she might be listening. Gathering something to use against me if things ever got too hot for her. She’s got nothing on me. I been real careful. The only thing she hears is what I want her to hear. I learnt a long time ago, ya can’t trust no woman.”

Kinsley had no idea what he was talking about, and it scared her.

“If I let you go, you gonna fight me?”

She shook her head.

“Good, ‘cause I got that boy of yours, and if you want him safe, you’ll do what I say.” He jerked her around a bit and then released her arm with a shove.

She put her hand on her mouth again, motioning to him. She wanted the tape off.

“I said it ain’t comin’ off. You got five minutes. Get some things together.”

Her eyes widened.

“Get a move on. Remy has everything almost ready.”

She shook her head violently, pleading again. Remy scared her. Her stomach churned. If she puked, she’d choke to death. When Wayde left, she quietly closed the crack in the open doorway. Immediately, she reached under the dresser and grabbed the pills. The bottle slipped from her shaky hands and bopped from one to the other until it finally settled. She rushed to the closet, pulled the remaining pills from the jacket pocket she had hidden them in, emptied them into the bottle without further incident, and then searched around for a place where he wouldn’t find them.

The tampon box.

With haste, she shook the tampons out and placed the pills deep inside. So the box would still appear full, she replaced some of the tampons, and then she threw the box and her purse into a duffel bag he’d thrown on the floor for her. All remained quiet outside the door. Max couldn’t be in the house. She sat down on the bed. Her head was pounding from a lump half the size of a big-mouth gumball. Her nostrils flared as she sucked a breath in deeply. Air passed in and out of
her lungs, but her mind wouldn’t believe it and panicked anyway. She was positive she’d suffocate.

Wayde and Remy entered the room; Wayde held a gun, Remy a rope. Expressionless, helpless, and hopeless, she looked up at them.

Wayde’s eyes were glassy and focused. You could almost read the treacherous plan building behind them. “Get on your stomach.”

She lowered herself to the floor and rolled over onto her stomach.

“Hands and ankles tight,” he said to Remy in a quiet, controlled voice; the embodiment of a soldier who couldn’t let the enemy hear.

Remy bent down and started tying her.

“You got your car pulled around the back?” Wayde asked.

Remy nodded.

“I’m gonna go check and make sure we got everything we need. Go ahead and wrap her up in the quilt.”

Her eyes opened wide with fear, and she faced Wayde hoping to change his mind. He simply walked out of the room.

Remy leaned in close to her. “Got you now, Queenie.” He smiled, swaying his head slowly back and forth over her face.

He moved rapidly, and she turned her face to the side. Like a dog, he barked piercingly into her ear. She winced as sharp pains zipped though her head. He rolled her into the old musty quilt. When he placed it over her face, her mind was thick with dread. Her thoughts were no longer fast and unrestrained, but sluggish and morose. A voice invaded her thoughts, telling her repeatedly to go to sleep don't struggle and you won't even realize you're suffocating to death. She heard Wayde come into the room.

“Get the God damn quilt off her face. We need her alive, at least for the time being.”

Her only considerations were of Max. She may have written his death sentence by bringing him to Wayde’s and given it her stamp of approval with her insolence toward him last night.

“Now, I want you to listen to me, you understand?”

She nodded.

“When Remy carries you out and puts you into the trunk, I don’t want you to move. No kicking or nothin’ while you’re inside either. Quiet as a mouse. If you want your little boy alive, that’s what’s gonna happen. Understand?”

A twinge of relief, Max was still alive. She nodded in agreement.

“Get her into the trunk, Remy, and then get the God damn blanket off her. We’re leaving here at seven-thirty sharp.”

~ ~ ~

Jackson drove past Wayde’s house at a slow pace, studying the area before he continued down the road to meet with Veda. Dew from the overnight rain covered the windshields of Wayde and Savannah’s vehicles. The morning was damp and dreary, but the day promised to be hot and humid. The sun hid behind the grey, overcast sky, already heating the heavy air.

Eight o’clock on a Sunday morning wasn’t the opportune time for the questioning of neighbors. It seemed they were early risers, though. The lights were on, and a light mist of steam filtered from the clothes dryer exhaust duct that stuck out from the side of the trailer. As he pulled in, three dogs came up to the truck door, barking. They didn’t appear to be vicious. A man opened the front door of the trailer just as Jackson rolled down his window. A woman stepped up behind the man.

He held his badge out of the truck’s window. “Police business. I need to step out and talk to you.” He motioned his head toward the dogs. The man called them off. He got out and walked to the door holding his hand out. Reluctantly, the man shook it.

“Sorry about bothering you so early on a Sunday morning, but the matter is pressing. My name’s Jackson Pierce. I’m a private investigator under the jurisdiction of the Le Grand Police Department.”

The man took a good look at him and craned his neck around to get a better view of the truck. “All the way over here?”

He pulled out Olivia’s card. “If you'd like to give this woman a call over in Le Grand, she can verify my reasons for being here.”

The woman stepped out in front of the man. “Scott, don’t bother with that. Mr. Pierce, I’m Veda. This is my husband, Scott. C’mon in.”

Scott frowned with a shrug and moved aside letting them pass by.

“You’re here about Kinsley aren’t you, Jackson? Scott, I told you something was wrong.”

Hearing her use his name with such familiarity made Jackson wonder if Kinsley had told her about him. He didn’t let the thought linger. He was more concerned with the task at hand.

Scott put his hand against the back of his neck, stretched backward, and closed his eyes. “Well, you may have been right this time, Veda, but I’ve always been taught to keep out of people’s private business.” Scott motioned Veda over to the coffee pot and nodded toward the chair offering him a seat. “I don’t know much about those people. Most of your talkin’ is probably going to be with Veda.”

Veda moved around the kitchen in a hurry. In no time, there was coffee along with biscuits and jelly for the three of them. All remained untouched. She wiped her brow with the
back of her hand that held a colorful dishtowel and dropped like a rock into the chair across from him.

Jackson waited. When her breathing settled, he spoke. “Veda, you seem to know that I’m here about Kinsley. Why?”

She leaned in over the table and spoke at a brisk and anxious pace. “I’ve been worried about her for months. Nothing ever seemed right with him and her.” She stopped abruptly and bit her lip. Picking at it, she glanced at Scott.

He looked from one to the other. “Please, anything you know will be helpful. She said the two of you were friends, and she trusted you. She’s not in any trouble. I just want to be sure she and her son are safe.”

Veda’s mouth opened, and her forehead wrinkled. “Well, Max is safe. He’s here with me. He’s in Colt’s room playing. Wayde brought him down early this morning. I happened to be comin’ in from the barn. He said she was going back to Lakeside. Seemed a little odd actin’ to me, but he’s always a little strange.”

He motioned for her to wait a minute, took out his phone, and called Olivia. “Olivia, I don’t have time to talk. Can you get Lakeside on the phone? Find out if they’ve received any word on Kinsley coming in today. I’m going up to the house in a few minutes.”

“Jackson you need a reason to—”

He cut her short. “I’m at the neighbor’s. Wayde dumped Max here.” He hung up and turned back to Veda. “What do you mean by odd acting? More than usual?”

“Yeah, like he was in a hurry to get back to her. I ain’t talked to her since the day she got home the last time. That was near the end o’ summer.” She started to bite at her nails. “I should’ve called someone. He always made excuses why she couldn’t talk to me. Only time I ever saw her was in the truck with him when they dropped Max off, but …” She glanced over at Scott.

With a frown, Scott pulled at his neck again. “It’s my fault she never said anything. I told her to mind her own business.”

“Don’t worry about that. Just talk to me now. Is Max safe with you until someone comes for him?”

Veda nodded, but she looked like she was seeing a ghost and nodding from fear.

“I only want you to release him to someone from Le Grand PD. Okay?”

“Are we in any danger here?” Scott asked.

“I’m relatively sure you’re not, but I’m going to send someone over to watch the house before I leave the area just to put everyone’s mind at ease. I might need to talk to you again. Here’s my cell number, in case you think of anything you forgot to mention. Doesn’t matter how insignificant something may seem, call me.” His cell rang back. “Olivia? Wha’d you find?”

“The staff at Lakeside has no information about her coming in.”

He ran his hand up his chest, cleared his throat roughly, and searched his jeans pockets for his roll of futile relief. All empty. “I’m going up to the house. Send some back-up. I need someone at the neighbor’s, too. Get Xavier on the phone, and fill him in right away.” He snapped his phone closed and sat despondent for a moment before he addressed Scott and Veda. “Okay folks, thanks for your help. I need to run. I’ll have someone update you as soon as I can, ma’am.”  He nodded, stood, and headed toward the door.

Veda’s mouth formed a smile, but her face grimaced. She stood cross-armed and head tilted next to her husband as she watched Jackson get into his truck and whispered under her breath as he pulled away.

“Damn. So that was Jackson.”

“What?” Scott asked.

“Nothing.”

~ ~ ~

Nick ran into the emergency room. He spotted Xavier standing at the nurse’s station and went to him. Out of breath and frantic, he held the counter with both hands, gasping for air as he spoke. “Dad, is she…?”

“She’s alive. They’re with her now.”

Nick blew out a gust of air so strong the action made his cheeks puff.

Xavier appeared grim. “She had a stroke.” He placed his hand on his forehead with his eyes to the ceiling. “I don’t know what happened. She was talking to Carolyn.” He clasped Nick’s shoulder. “She didn’t look good, Nick. I’m not sure …”

“Dad, don’t think that way. Sit down. I’ll find out if I can get any new information.”

Xavier sat hunched over on the hard wooden bench as Nick headed off. His cell rang and rang. When the nurse glanced up from the desk and tilted her head with wide eyes, he finally answered. It was Olivia. “Olivia, this is a bad time. I’ll call you back.”