The Arrangement [Box Set] (34 page)

He picked up the phone that sat on the bedside table and dialed the number for Herb’s home office.

—Herb, it’s Frank. Listen. I just got a call from April. She’s waiting for me at the Motel 6 in Leesburg. Room three-twelve.

—Thank you, Frank, April said.

—It’s nothing, Frank said. I’ll have to go with them. You and your friends go get the girls and then get as far away from here as you can.

—Will they try to hunt us down?

Frank looked long and hard at her before replying.

—They probably will. You just lay low, stay off the grid as long as you can. Contact me when you feel safe and I’ll tell you as much as possible. I’ll try to convince Herb and Walter to let you go but it won’t be easy.

—Thank you, Frank. You’re a good friend.

Frank nodded. —Just don’t forget our promise, he said.

—I won’t.

IX

M
IDGE STAYED IN THE BEDROOM
with April while they waited for Herb and some security guys to drive by and pick up Frank. Two cars came by and Midge watched from the window as Frank ran out from the house and got into the front vehicle.

—Walter was probably in one of those cars, she said.

—Let’s hope so, April said.

—It’s now or never.

April nodded. She looked at her friend.

—Thank you for your help.

—It’s about time someone stood up to these guys, Midge said.

—I just wish it didn’t have to be me.

—At least you’ll always know you stood up to them. You won’t have to live your life thinking you allowed yourself to be utterly used.

—I don’t know about that, April said. I let them do pretty much whatever they wanted to me.

—But now you’re making a stand.

—I have no choice.

—But still.

Midge looked very sad then. April thought she might cry. She sat on the side of the bed.

—I gave them my whole life, April.

—You did the best you could in the situation you were in.

—Did I? I don’t know. I let them use me like a doll. I was a complete slave to those men and to every client they tried to win for the last couple of years. I let them do literally anything to me, April. You wouldn’t believe what they’ve tried.

—I’m pretty sure I would, April said, thinking back on some of her own experiences over the last few weeks.

—It was only just beginning for you, April. I know you’ve been through a lot with them already but it would only get worse. Believe me. I can’t even mention some of the things I’ve let them do to me.

—Like what?

Midge shook her head. —I’m sorry, April, but I won’t say it. I’ll never tell. It’s too humiliating even to think of.

April smiled gently at her. —I understand, Midge.

—I don’t know that you do, but I’m grateful to you for pretending.

—Midge. Don’t be too hard on yourself. We’ve all been put in the same situations. We’ve all got the same secrets to live with.

—I even let them take my children away, Midge said.

She had a distant look in her eyes and wasn’t even listening to anything April said anymore.

—I let them take away my babies. What kind of mother allows that? My children don’t even know me anymore. I lied when I said they still loved me. They don’t. They love Herb and Kit. They act like Kit’s their mother. They know technically she’s not, but she has such an influence on their lives now that she might as well be. Sometimes they come here to The Oaks and don’t even visit me. They just spend time with Herb and Kit. And Frank allows it.

—Midge. I’m so sorry.

—Just listen to me, April. You don’t be afraid of the costs. You don’t worry about what might happen. You just get your two little girls and get the hell out of here. You get as far away from this place as you can.

—You can come with me, Midge. I’d take you anywhere with me.

Midge looked at her sadly for a long time. That’s very kind of you to offer.

—I mean it, Midge. Come with us.

Midge was already shaking her head.

—It’s too late, April. You can still make it but I’ve been here too long. If you’re treated like a slave for long enough, after a while you become a slave. You no longer think about freedom. You just think about the life of slavery that you live and how you can keep going.

April didn’t know what to say. She walked over to Midge and held her in her arms. Midge hardly responded at all.

—I’ve got to go, she whispered in Midge’s ear.

Midge nodded and with a final compassionate look at her friend, April left. Downstairs, Jack and Jimmy were waiting where she’d left them.

—We were getting worried, Jack said.

—Sorry. That took longer than I thought.

—We heard cars around the front.

—They’ve been sent on a wild goose chase.

—Midge created a decoy?

—Her husband Frank did.

—Are you sure we can trust him? Jack said.

April thought of Frank and the kiss he’d given her before he’d left.

—We can trust him, she said.

She led them back down to the bottom of the property and they cut through the forest till they got to the back of the Kingsley lawn.

—Ok, April said when they got there. Kit Kingsley is in there with my daughters. At least as far as I know. Frank got rid of Herb and Walter and some of the security guys but I have no idea who else is in there. I presume there’ll be some sort of security with Kit.

Jack nodded. —We won’t have long before the others are back. I say we go in through the back of the house, same as we did at Midge’s. We’re armed so we can confront whoever’s in there, take the kids, and run. It’ll only take us a few minutes to get back to the truck and then we’re out of here.

—For good, April said.

—For good, Jack said.

April was about to start running for the back of the house when Jimmy grabbed her by the arm.

—Not so fast, he said. First check your gun. You might need to use it.

They each took out their handguns and checked them. Jack and Jimmy confirmed theirs were loaded and ready to go. April didn’t know what to do with hers so she just held it. She was too busy thinking about her daughters to concentrate on anything else. She was so close to them she could feel it. All she wanted was to feel her two little girls in her arms, where they belonged. She prayed nothing would go wrong inside.

If either of them got hurt, she would never be able to forgive herself. If she failed to recover them and had to leave empty handed, she would never forgive herself. If anything happened that meant she wasn’t able to raise her two children, she would never be able to forgive herself.

All she’d ever wanted was to give them the kind of love and security she had never known and now was the moment where she would find out if she would be able to do it.

X

A
T THE BACK OF THE
Kingsley’s house, close to the pool, was a slated cedar door. It was locked but Jimmy was able to pick it open with a small pick he carried in his wallet. It led to a dressing room and sauna.

They were on a lower level of the house and found a tiled staircase at the back of the dressing room that led up to the main floor. It looked like it was only used by staff. Jack led the way, carefully listening before opening the door at the top of the stairs. There was no one there and they proceeded into a dark room that seemed to be used solely for washing and folding laundry.

—Where do you think the kid’s are? Jack whispered to April.

She didn’t know. She’d never even been in this house before and she knew it probably had over a hundred rooms spread out over its four spacious floors.

—I don’t know, she said, helplessly.

—Ok, Jack said. We’ll clear this corridor, and then the rest of the level. Once it’s cleared we’ll go up to the next level and so on. Ok?

April and Jimmy nodded. They left the laundry room for a long corridor. It was well lit but entirely silent. They listened at each door before opening it. The rooms seemed to be all for services, there was a boiler room, a staff room, two staff offices, a storage room, a wine cellar, a workshop where antique furniture was being stripped and restored. All of them were empty.

—This isn’t the main living space, Jimmy said.

—No, April agreed.

At the end of the corridor was a steel door with a small circular window in it. Behind the door was a large kitchen, like what you’d expect at a restaurant. It was brightly lit but again seemed to be empty.

—We’ll have to go through it, Jack said. It’s the only way.

They opened the door and stood at the entrance for a few moments before Jack led the way through. The kitchen seemed to be completely empty but it was so large and there were so many areas hidden by equipment that they could easily walk into someone if they weren’t careful.

—Where is everybody? Jimmy whispered, but no one answered.

At the far end of the kitchen was a double door that swung open in both directions and led into an oak-paneled hallway that was clearly the beginning of the main living area.

—Ok, Jack said. This is it.

They went through the doors and down the hall. April looked back the way they had come and noticed a small, red light close to the ceiling above the kitchen doors. She realized it was a security camera, pointed right at them.

—Shit!

Jack and Jimmy stopped.

—What is it?

She motioned toward the security camera and the two men immediately saw what she was worried about.

—Oh, shit, Jack said.

—Maybe no one’s watching it, Jimmy said. All the guards might have gone out after that decoy.

—We better hurry, Jack said.

They moved quickly to the end of the hall they were in and into the grand hall of the house. There was a wide staircase that swept around and up to an open landing on the second floor. The hall was darker than the other parts of the house they’d been through but April could see that there was light on the second floor. She made for the stairs.

—April, Jack hissed. We have to clear this floor first.

She paused but just then she heard crying from above and continued at a run up the stairs.

—April! Jack hissed again but she ignored him.

The crying sounded like Mary and there was no way she was going to ignore it. She didn’t care about the consequences anymore. She’d been too cautious, looking out for herself and her own interests all the time and completely neglecting her children. She’d let that awful school take them from her because she’d been too cautious, because she’d been trying to play by the rules, and she was no longer willing to do it. She raced up the stairs in the direction of the crying.

Jack and Jimmy looked at each other desperately but they knew there was nothing they could do but follow her. She wouldn’t listen to them now, not when she could hear her own four-year-old daughter crying. They ran after her up the stairs.

She reached the top and swung around, looking in all directions at once. She thought the crying was coming from down another hall and ran toward the sound. She rounded a corner and saw a glow of light coming from one of the bedrooms near the end of the corridor. She heard the crying again. It seemed now that it was both Lucy and Mary who were crying.

Jack and Jimmy were a few yards behind her.

—Wait! Jack called to her but it was too late.

There was no way she would stop now. She sprinted to the end of the corridor and around to the room from which the light was coming. And there they were! Lucy and Mary were sitting on a plain bed in the austere little room, holding each other and crying softly as if they thought there was no point crying any louder because no one would come.

The next few seconds seemed to happen so slowly that April would remember them as long as she lived. Lucy and Mary looked up at her and their little eyes widened visibly. They were like deer caught in headlights, and she knew that they recognized her. Mommy, they wailed and she was running toward them before the word had even left their lips. She spread out her arms like a great eagle in flight and wrapped them both in an embrace so powerful she might even have hurt them.

They didn’t mind, though. They clung to her with equal zeal, sobbing into the soft skin of her neck and crying out her name, over and over.

She didn’t even care that they weren’t the only people in the room. She didn’t care that Kit and three armed men were standing against the wall, waiting for her with guns drawn like guards in a prison.

—Hush, my babies, hush, she said again and again while the two girls gripped onto her.

She looked around and saw that all was lost. Jack and Jimmy had their guns pointed at the three guards but the guards had the upper hand. One of them had a sawed-off shotgun pointed at April and her two young daughters. There was no way anyone could argue with that.

Through her tears she saw Jack and Jimmy drop their weapons and surrender to the guards. One of the guards spoke into a radio and another arrived carrying a set of keys.

Kit’s raspy voice was so shocking to April that it hit her like a slap on the face.

—I was wondering when you would show your face, she said. I was beginning to wonder if you cared about these two girls at all.

April looked up at her and realized it had all been hopeless from the beginning. There was no way she could walk into Kit Kingsley’s house and take her children back. People like the Kingsley’s didn’t lose. That was why they were who they were. They planned for everything, they stacked the deck in their favor, and people like April never stood a chance.

—Jack, she said but there was nothing for him to say back to her.

The guards forced Jack and Jimmy away down the hall, led by the man with the keys. They were going to be locked up somewhere in the house. April wondered what might happen to them when Herb and Walter and the other men got back. She clutched as tightly as she could to the girls as Jack and Jimmy were escorted away to another room in that massive house.

—Say goodbye to your friends, Kit said, her voice sounding more evil than anything April could remember. You’re not going to be seeing them again.