Silent Night 2 (13 page)

Pam struggled to raise her head. But the effort proved to be too much for her. Wincing in pain, she closed her eyes and lowered her head back to the driveway.

“You're alive!” Reva repeated. She cradled Pam's head in her hands. She stroked Pam's damp, tangled hair.

“I'm not so sure,” Pam groaned.

“We've got to get you inside,” Reva said, shivering. “Do you think you can stand up?”

“Let's give it a try,” Pam replied shakily. “I-I've been tied up. My legs, they were completely numb.”

Reva helped pull Pam slowly to her feet. Then, allowing Pam to lean on her, Reva slipped an arm around her cousin's waist and guided her up the driveway to the house.

“They—they knocked me out. I was just coming to when they
heaved
me out of the car,” Pam said as Reva lowered her onto the dark leather couch in the den. “I hit my head on the pavement. I guess I blacked out again.”

“Lie down on the pillows,” Reva instructed Pam
moving a soft satiny pillow behind Pam's head. “That's it. I'll get you a glass of water.”

“Thanks,” Pam said, shutting her eyes. “I-I'm still a little dazed, I think. I'm very shaky. You know? Everything's trembling. My heart is racing.”

“I'll call Dr. Simms,” Reva said, heading toward the kitchen. “And your parents. They'll be so happy!” And then she added, “I'll call the FBI too. I have their number right by the phone. And the Shadyside police.”

Reva hurried to the kitchen. She filled a glass with cold water from the dispenser in the refrigerator door.

As she started to return to the den, she cried out, startled to find Pam right behind her. “Hey—you scared me!”

“Sorry,” Pam murmured, lowering her green eyes.

“You should lie down, Pam.”

“I don't want to be alone,” Pam said fretfully. “I'm so . . . shaky. I'll just sit down at the counter.” She pulled out a wooden kitchen stool and climbed onto it.

“What happened?” Reva asked, watching Pam gulp the water. “How did you get away?”

“They had a big fight over what to do with me,” Pam replied, working nervously at the tangles in her hair with one hand. “There were two of them.”

“Yeah? Did you get a good look at them?” Reva asked, leaning her hands on the white counter.

“No.” Pam shook her head solemnly. “They had me blindfolded the whole time. I only heard their voices.”

“Did you hear their names?” Reva asked eagerly.

Pam shook her head again. “No. They were careful.”

“Did they beat you up or anything?” Reva asked, her face tightening with concern as she studied Pam carefully.

“It—it was
horrible!”
Pam cried in a trembling voice. “I was so scared, Reva. They threw a coat over me and hit me hard on the head. In the stockroom. When I woke up I was in a bed somewhere. All tied up. Blindfolded and gagged. I—I thought they were going to kill me. I really did.”

“Take it easy, Pam,” Reva said softly.

Pam let out a sob, her skin pale in the kitchen light. “The man, he really wanted to kill me. He was very hotheaded, angry all the time. Really out of control. The girl sounded too frightened to kill me. She just wanted to get rid of me. They argued and argued.

“Finally they decided to dump me on your driveway and leave town as fast as possible,” Pam continued.

“They left town?” Reva's expression was one of surprise mixed with relief.

“Yeah. They're gone,” Pam said. “I heard them say they had a friend in Canada. They were going to go up there and lay low for a while.”

Pam smiled for the first time. “I'm so glad. I'm so glad they're gone, Reva.” Her shoulders shook. She lowered her head into her hands and started to cry.

Reva hurried over and put a calming hand on her cousin's trembling shoulder. “You're okay now,
Pam,” she whispered. “You're okay. They're gone. And you're okay.”

Pam was still crying softly when Reva heard the footsteps.

Heavy footsteps in the front hall.

Oh, no!
Reva thought, raising a hand to her mouth.
I left the front door wide open!

The footsteps grew louder.

Pam heard them too.

She jerked her head up, her eyes wild with fear. “They came back!” she cried in a choked whisper.

B
oth girls froze, their eyes locked on each other as they listened.

The footsteps were in the back hall now.

Pam uttered a low gasp, her shoulders still trembling.

Reva pulled a copper frying pan off its hook on the wall. Gripping the handle tightly, she held it high, preparing to use it as a weapon.

The footsteps drew closer. Closer.

From the hallway Reva heard heavy breathing. “Who—who's there?” she managed to stammer.

A few seconds later Victor appeared in the kitchen doorway. At first he saw only Reva. Gesturing
to the hall, his eyes narrowed in confusion. “The front door—it was wide open,” he said. “I was worried—”

“Victor!” Pam cried. She dropped down from the stool.

“Pam! I don't believe it! You—you're okay!” Victor's handsome face showed surprise, then happiness. He ran across the room and wrapped his arms around Pam, and they hugged.

A happy ending for all, Reva thought, watching them. Pam is so innocent. She doesn't even wonder why Victor came over here.

This works out fine, Reva thought, a pleased smile crossing her face as she watched Pam and Victor hold each other. This saves me the trouble of dumping Victor.

“Hey, break it up, you two!” Reva cried. “We've got to call Pam's parents!”

• • •

On Saturday afternoon Reva got a postcard from St. Croix from her brother, Michael. On the front was a white beach shaded by palm trees. On the back Michael had printed:

We took a boat and went snorkeling at Buck Island. Then Josh and I rode the waves into the beach for two hours! My bathing suit got filled with sand. I miss you. NOT!

Reva stared at the palm trees. It looked like a nice beach. She imagined the sound of the soft waves rolling onto the sand. She pictured the turquoise
water. She could almost smell the coconut suntan lotion.

“That little creep Michael has all the luck!” Reva cried bitterly.

She glanced out the living room window. The sky was nearly as dark as night. A freezing rain was being blown in all directions by a howling, swirling wind.

Reva sighed. It's the Saturday before Christmas, she thought wistfully. I have no choice. I have to go out and buy presents.

Pulling on her hooded poncho, she made her way to the garage. Then she drove her red Miata to the Division Street Mall.

The storm hadn't kept the shoppers at home. Reva had to circle the underground parking garage three times before she found a place to park.

She pushed her way impatiently through the crowded stores. The smell of wet wool filled the air. Babies were crying. People juggled bulging shopping bags and umbrellas. Everyone looks so rain soaked and bedraggled, she thought.

Bouncy Christmas music jangled from loudspeakers in every store. Reva wandered into a long, narrow shop called The Cozy Corner. It had an entire wall of earrings, mostly plastic and glass.

Reva knew she would never shop in a store like this for herself. But when it came to buying presents for others, she never liked to spend a lot of money.

She stared at the wall of earrings. These earrings are all so tacky, Reva thought, examining a pair
shaped like little Hershey bars. But they're perfect for Pam.

She saw plastic earrings shaped like food. She picked up a pair of peanut-butter-sandwich earrings, then quickly replaced them.

Moving sideways, she made her way down the long display. A pair of plastic banana earrings caught her eye. No, she thought. Those are too gross, even for Pam.

Reva was nearly to the end of the display wall when she noticed a dark-haired man in a black trench coat. He was standing a few yards away, leaning against a low display case filled with silver and plastic bracelets.

His round, blue-lensed sunglasses caught the light. Hands shoved in his trench coat pockets, he had been staring at Reva, but he glanced away immediately when she stared back at him.

His straight black hair fell over his forehead. He was good-looking, Reva thought. He looked a little like Elvis Presley. She wondered what his eyes were like behind the blue shades.

He doesn't seem to be shopping, Reva observed. Maybe he's waiting for someone.

She bought a pair of long, dangly glass earrings, paying for them with her American Express card. Then she made her way out to the center court to look for a menswear store.

A nice, boring tie for Dad, she thought, ducking out of the way of a swinging umbrella. Poor Dad. He spends a fortune for his clothes. But everything he buys is so dull and conservative.

A few moments later she was sifting through a
table of ties at Brooks Brothers. Gazing up, she was surprised to see the guy in the blue sunglasses again. He stood outside the store, staring in at her through the window.

Why is he looking at me like that? Reva wondered.

And then she had a chilling thought: Is he following me?

No. No way. She scolded herself for being so jumpy.

You're still a little freaked because of Pam, she told herself. But you've got to cool it, Reva. Just because you see the same guy twice doesn't mean he's following you.

And just because he's staring into a store window doesn't mean he's staring at
you.

As she handed a blue- and black-striped tie and her American Express card to the clerk at the cash register, she glanced warily to the window. The young man was gone.

See? she thought, feeling foolish. You scared yourself for no reason.

But a few minutes later, as she was examining blouses at Silk Casuals, she saw him again. He stood a few aisles away, hands in his trench coat pockets, head lowered, black hair falling over the front of his blue glasses.

He
is
staring at me, Reva realized. I'm not imagining it.

He followed her to CD World.

Walking fast, bumping people out of her way, she tried to lose him in the crowd at the Food Court. But glancing back, she saw him steadily making his
way toward her, keeping his distance, his dark glasses trained on her.

As she hurried down to the parking garage, Reva realized she was trembling all over.

Who is he—one of the kidnappers? she wondered.

Did they tell Pam they were going to Canada just to throw everyone off? To make us lower our guard?

She kept glancing nervously behind her, her boots clicking loudly on the hard concrete floor as she started to run through the rows of parked cars.

Did they lie to Pam?

Are they following
me
now?

Are they planning to grab
me
next?

R
eva tapped her long purple fingernails on the glass perfume counter. She raised her eyes to a woman who had been trying to get her attention for nearly five minutes. Look at the nose on this woman, Reva thought scornfully. You could hang a coat on it. Haven't you ever heard of plastic surgery, lady?

“Can you recommend a fragrance?” the woman asked, smiling anxiously at Reva. “Something different. My husband is tired of my old fragrance.”

Then maybe you should take a bath, Reva thought. She almost burst out laughing. I really crack myself up, she told herself.

“Try this one. It's brand-new,” Reva said, picking up a small sample spray bottle. “Hold up your wrist.” Or should I just spray it on your nose?

She sprayed a mist of the cologne on the woman's wrist. The woman sniffed it, tilting her head in concentration.

Don't sniff too hard, Reva thought. You could inhale your entire arm!