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He was holding his gun and came at her. “Your fucking aunt messed up everything!”
Before she could utter a word, he pistol-whipped her across the face. Her teeth clamped down on her tongue, filling her mouth with the bitter taste of blood. Her jaw throbbed. Had he cracked it?
It took all her willpower to raise her head and confront her attacker. “Good.”
He snarled and hit her again. With each consecutive blow, she wondered which one might be her last, when death would claim her and sweep her away for good. She’d join her mother and be happy and at peace.
“Who are you? Why are you doing this?”
His face fired red, and his nostrils flared. “You really have no idea how much I’ve suffered because of you.”
“I… I don’t, but I can?—”
He lunged toward her, and she flinched, hating herself for it, but it was on instinct like a beaten dog withdrawing from an abusive master. He latched his hands around the arms of the chair. An elaborate snake tattoo wound around his left wrist. Leaning in close to her face, he said, “Take a good, long look.”
She took in the hardened contours of his face, his wild eyes, and inhaled the stench of beer and cigarette smoke. No matter how hard she concentrated, she couldn’t place this man.
He must have sensed she had no idea, and he pushed off the chair, nearly sending her flying backward. “You really don’t know who I am. You carried on with your life, not giving me a single thought.”
A lie might help him feel better. She certainly was lost for who he was, and people didn’t think of those they didn’t know. To admit to this would only anger him further.
“Let’s try this again. I’m going to make a little video of you with my phone. You’re going to say this: ‘He will kill me next time.’”
She shivered, her entire body trembling. As much as she contemplated death, she really didn’t want to die.
FORTY-SIX
“Lowell’s obviously hiding something here. As you said a moment ago, he’s shady as hell.” Amanda paraphrased, but the point was made.
“I have no doubt. Now whether he’s behind all of this or not, he’s conceded his intentions weren’t pure coming down here.” Trent slapped the folder they had taken into the interrogation room onto his desk.
This case was clearly getting to him like it was her. It was four fifteen Tuesday afternoon and nearing thirty-six hours since Katherine was taken. It had been silent since the botched ransom, and the odds of getting Katherine back alive were slipping away. Even if Lowell hired the shooter, he’d shown initiative before. It was possible he would again. He might have developed a love for killing. They needed something substantive to shake Lowell into talking to build up more against him. “Okay, we’re going to get on Lowell’s phone history, especially now that we believe he may have commissioned all this. His criminal record and his public grudge against Katherine should help get that approved.” She spoke with a confidence she didn’t necessarily feel. “We ask the front desk clerks at Sunny if they ever saw a white Ford van in their lot since Lowell checked in. Better still, if someone came to visit Lowell in one.”
“I like that angle. We can’t prove he took the bus. He threw out the ticket. What’s to say he didn’t get a ride with a friend from New York down here?”
“Exactly.”
“Glad to find you guys here.” It was Malone, and he’d aged years in the last few days. Though she wouldn’t be surprised if the same applied to her too. She’d been too busy to look at herself much in the mirror.
“The bad news keeps coming,” he said.
And there was that lead weight again, sinking in her gut. She didn’t even have the energy to form the question.
Malone wet his lips. “May received another call, and he emailed a video. Katherine’s alive, but it’s not good. She looks quite beaten up, even worse than before.”
“If I get my hands on this guy, I’m going to—” Trent clenched his jaw and balled his hands into fists.
“Get in line,” Malone told him as he brought up the video on his phone for them to watch.
Amanda had to fight turning away at the sight of Katherine’s bruised and bloody face. She barely had a voice when she said, “He will kill me if you don’t do what he says.”
“There’s nothing there to give us any indication where he’s holding her,” Trent said. “Other than it’s dark like with the photo.”
Malone shook his head. “This person seems determined to keep his location a secret.”
“What did he say on the call?” Amanda’s breathing slowed, as if her next inhale was contingent on what Malone was going to say.
“He wasn’t happy about the police presence. Said if May doesn’t do exactly as he says the next time, he won’t hesitate to put a bullet in Katherine’s head.” Malone paused, his cheeks flushed. “He says he’ll be calling May within a couple of days and telling her where to drop the money.”
