“Read it,” said Josh.
“Okay.”
DETECTIVE WILLIAMS,
YOUR ATTEMPTS TO PLAY OUR GAME ARE PATH
E
TIC
. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN YOUR LOVELY WIFE, BUT I’VE DECIDED TO EXTEND THAT INDEFINABLE PLEASURE FOR ANOTHER TIME. NOT TO MENTION YOUR DAUGHTER AND
YOUR
PARTNER, AND OF COURSE
,
THE PRETTY AGENT FRANSON. WHEN I’VE FIN
I
SHED PLAYING WITH THE WOMEN, YOU’LL BE NEXT.
P.S
. CAN YOU GUESS WHERE LOUISE IS HIDING? I’D START IN LOW PLACES.
“Just let the asshole try it,”
said
Sophie, “I’ll put his nuts in his nose with just one kick.”
“Stay focused,” said Manny. “What do you think
‘
low places
’
means?”
“Do you have a basement?” asked Josh
.
“Yeah. But she’s not there and
not in the garage either.”
The group grew silent, but the angst didn’t.
Big
Sampson
came out and sat at Manny’s feet.
The morning was warming, another hot on
e
, and Manny felt the sweat breaking out on his lip like a sudden attack of hives. Hell, maybe it was hives. Stress did strange things to the body. Bad things.
He searched the face
s
of his five friends hoping to see a spark that would help him figure out what Argyle had done with Louise. Nothing.
The black Lab nudged him and started to whine.
Manny put his hand on the dog’s head.
If
Louise
were okay, if
she’d been
spared like he said
(
and psychopaths rarely lie
;
they are too narcissistic for something so trivial
)
,
they had to find her now.
Just because she was alive
at this moment
didn’t mean that Argyle hadn’t added a twist to his game. She could still be in danger.
Sampson
grabbed Manny’s hand gently in his mouth and began to
tug
. He pulled his hand loose and started to scold
Sampson
, then the truth whispered in his ear.
Start in low places.
“O
h,
man. He didn’t.”
Manny turned
,
Sampson
at his heels,
and sprinted into the house, rushing to the spare bedroom across from his and Louise’s room. The black Lab rushed
after
Manny, never missing stride
, barking excitedly
.
By then, the others had reached the room, but not in time to help him rip the large area rug from the floor.
Sampson
began scratching at the
surface
. Manny pushed him away and started feeling along the
hardwood
.
“What are you doing?” asked Sophie.
Manny spoke as he continued to feel along the floor. “When we bought this place, there was a part of the house, this room, that had a crawlspace because the basement didn’t
come over
this far. A design flaw. So they built this trapdoor with a little catch-spring latch that would
—a
”
A small section of the hardwood floor popped up about an inch above the rest.
Sampson
barked even
loud
er,
as
Manny
flipped up the door.
Louise lay in the dirty
trench
underneath the wood
. She blinked up at Manny
,
then the others. She was bound and gagged,
a purple bruise raised on her cheek,
tears streaming from her eyes.
But
she
was alive.
Chapter-66
Manny
quietly
closed the door to his bedroom and moved to the dining room where Sophie, Alex, and the three FBI
s
pecial
a
gents waited
.
The
five friends had
been patient. Good thing
,
because he wasn’t sure he ever wanted to let Louise out of his sight again. He held her until she fell asleep
.
T
he sedative from the EMT had helped, but he liked to think she felt safe because he was there for her, at least this time.
M
aybe it was just the opposite. Maybe she was stronger than
he was
. Maybe she wanted to make sure he was
okay
,
and then she could sleep.
That seemed right.
It was hard to fight off the guilt-ridden feelings he thought he had mastered,
even
controlled.
Not this time
.
T
hey’d touched the right button and opened the door.
He had always been able to justify his workaholic propensities as something he owed the people he’d sworn to protect. To explain away the fifteen-hour workdays, missing some of Jen’s school events, not all, but enough to send mixed messages to his family.
He spent hours on end talking about family and how important it was,
but
then hid behind the Guardian of the Universe syndrome.
What a hypocrite.
He’d been blind to what Stella was going through, and to a great extent what was going on with Gavin. Now
,
one was dead
,
and the other could
go
any minute.
Way to watch over your loved ones, asshole.
Seeing Louise in that
pit
had done things to him in a split second that being a cop for seventeen years never
ha
d. He was
n’t
going to go through that again.
Ever
.
Sophie stepped close
and grabbed his hand in both of hers.
“How’s she doing, partner?”
The emotion caused his throat to tighten
,
and he had to wait a few seconds to answer. “A hell of a lot better than me,” he croaked.
“
Especially
after
finding out that Stella’s dead, on top of this other
junk
.” Manny ran his hand through his hair. “
She’s got a bruised cheek and her wrist hurts, but it could have been worse. If he’d had more time
. . .
”
Sophie released
his hand
and
then
sat
down in the oak kitchen chair.
He’d never felt this tired in his life. It was more than the lack of sleep. It was this screwed-up cop life. What good was he really doing? Shoveling shit against the tide was the pure definition of insanity. And he was nothing if not a dedicated shoveler.
Josh sat down beside him, slapping a cup of vanilla cappuccino
on the table
. “I’ve seen that look a few times
,
and I don’t blame you for what you’re feeling. I’ve been there.”
“Next
,
you’re going to tell me it’s going to pass
,
and I’ll be ready to hit it again in an hour or tomorrow or whenever, right?”
“I won’t have to. You’ll do it yourself. It’s who you are.”
“Did you see her in that
freaking damned crawlspace
?” Manny snapped.
Josh was silent, but his gaze was steady.
Manny looked away, staring at his hands, turning them over. “Maybe it’s time I redefine who I am.”
“Maybe, but what happens when things settle down and you don’t like the new you?”
“It has to
be
better than the old me.”
Alex sat down on his other side, grabbing Manny’s coffee. “Will the new you be drinking this sissy coffee? If not, I could use some more caffeine because I’ve got a
damned
job to do.”
Manny felt the blood burn through his veins as he stood. “What the hell does that mean?”
“What? You need someone to explain it to you?”
“I think you should slap the piss out him for that remark,” Sophie said
.
Alex ignored her. “No one ever said this would be an easy gig. There are only two people on earth that love your wife more than you and your daughter
—
that’s Sophie and me. If you don’t know that by now, th
e
n you’re thicker than I thought.”
“Wait, you can’t talk to my partner like that,” Sophie
,
point
ed
a finger at Alex. “If you aren’t going to slap him, let me do it
.
”
She took
a step
in
Alex
’s direction
.
Manny
put his hand out and held his partner at
arm’s
length
.
Alex
stared at the coffee
. “It killed us to see her like that. I’ll never forget it either. I don’t have to tell you what
Argyle
’s doing, do I? You know how these guys work better than anyone I’ve ever met. He’s hoping he’s messed you up so much that he can do whatever he wants, that he’s already won.
I think
it’s
part of the reason Louise is still alive. He wants you totally on the run.
But if we don’t get up off the floor and stop this
son of a bitch
, who’s going to?”
The silence in the room took on a life of its own.
Manny
scanned the faces of his friends and saw the same
expression
on each
one of them
. The
look
that said
it’s your call
. But this life had never been his call. God had made him this way
,
and everyone knows God doesn’t make mistakes.
It didn’t mean he had to like it. And right now, he didn’t. In fact
,
the only thing
he
liked less was Argyle. He hated even the
idea
of Argyle’s type. Manny had never wanted to see someone pay more than the doctor. Hell was too good for
Argyle
. Maybe Alex was right
:
if not them, then who?
Letting out the tense breath he’d been ho
a
rding, he released his grip on Sophie’s shoulder. “Okay. Go ahead. You can slap him now.”
Josh snickered. “That’s more like it.”
“You’re right
,
Alex,” he said, turning to his good friend,
“
but when this is over, I’ve
got
some things to think about.”
“Fair enough.”
“Maybe you just need a vacation,” said Max.
“Yeah, remember the last one we took?” said Manny.
“Okay, no cruise vacations,” said Josh.
“So w
hat do we have?” asked Manny, running his hand through his hair.
Chloe cleared her throat and flipped open her notepad.
It dawned on him that she was feeling things a little deeper than the others, but he knew she’d get over it
;
they both would
. They had to
.
“Argyle is probably gone. There was a Corvette hijacked and the owner beaten unconscious two streets over. Apparently
,
Argyle got him just as he was going to work. We have an APB out, but that was over two hours ago, so no telling where he is now,” said Chloe.
“Not to mention he probably didn’t keep it all that long,” added Josh.
“Good taste in cars though,”
said
Sophie. “So
,
Josh, do you own a sports car?”
“Minivan.”
“A sexy one, right?”
“Anyway, he’s done this disappearing thing before. It looks like he wanted to get back to Michigan, throw it in our face, and then keep us guessing at what’s next,” continued Chloe.
“Any
more on the deputy he killed?” asked Manny.
“Not really. Divorced. Kind of a loner. Definitely a former patient and probably a lover.
S
he was in contact with him from time
-
to
-
time. According to her cell phone records, she got a couple of calls from that reporter’s phone, the one that Argyle skewered,” said Josh.