The Chain(39)
“Yes?” Helen says between breathy gasps of panic.
“You better be working on the money and the target. I’m sending you a picture of Amelia. She’s sleeping, she’s OK.”
“Let me talk to her!”
“She’s sleeping. I’m sending you a picture.”
When the picture goes through, Rachel destroys the phone and walks into her house.
She makes a cup of coffee and begins monitoring the Dunleavys’ activities through their mirrored home PC. No e-mails or texts to the cops.
At midnight, Rachel’s iPhone rings. “Hello?”
“Rachel?” a voice whispers.
“Yes.”
“I’m not supposed to call you, but I want you to know that my boy was released an hour ago. He’s with us now!”
“You got your boy back?”
“Yes. I can’t believe it! I’m so happy! He’s safe and he’s back with us in the house. I was afraid to hope but…he came back.”
“But…so…is there any way you can release Kylie now?”
“I can’t. You know I can’t. The Chain has to continue. You have to trust the process. If I break The Chain, the blowback will begin. I’ll be in danger, my boy will be in danger, and you and Kylie will be in danger.”
“Unless they’re bluffing about that.”
“They’re not the kind of people who bluff. I think they would enjoy it if it all went wrong and we started killing one another. You saw what happened to that family.”
“Yes.”
“They told me about one time years ago when someone defected, and the punishments went seven levels back along The Chain before it sorted itself out.”
“Shit!”
“But I want to let you know that you’re one step closer to getting Kylie back. It’ll be over soon, Rachel, it really will.”
“Oh God, I hope so.”
“It will.”
“How did you do it? How did you get through it all? How did you find the strength?”
“I don’t know, Rachel. I suppose you just have to imagine that moment when you’re together again with Kylie. Everything you do, every choice you make, is a means to that end, you know?”
“Yes.”
“There was an incident when we took Kylie, something terrible. Nothing happened to her, she’s fine. But I had to do something awful, and the old me would be in agony about what I did back there. But you know what I feel? I feel nothing. Nothing but relief. I did what I had to do and I got my son back. And that’s all there is to it.”
“I think I understand.”
“You just have to hold on a little bit longer.”
“I will.”
28
Saturday, 12:07 a.m.
Mike Dunleavy looks at his wife sobbing and curled up in a fetal position on the bathroom floor. He lies down beside her and he begins to cry too.
He puts the gun on the floor. There’s no reason now to be walking around the house with a loaded gun.
The gun is useless. There’s nobody to kill.
“How’s Toby?” Helen asks him, tears flowing down her face.
“He’s asleep. I told him Amelia was going to stay at a friend’s house for a few days.”
“Did he believe that?”
“He didn’t care. He just wanted to know where his archery stuff was. I told him it was safe.”
“Do you think it’s OK to pray for God’s help?” Helen wonders.
“Are we going to do this?”
“We have to.”
“We don’t have to. We could go to the police.”
“They’ll kill her if we go to the police. The woman who has her is a monster. I heard it in her voice. We’re the worst parents in America. You know those people who overdose in the front seats of their cars? We’re dumber than that.”
Helen begins weeping again. Great, big breathy sobs, like she’s dying. He looks at her face in the dim light coming through the bathroom window.
She seems frail and broken, utterly lost. He has no words.
“How can Amelia sleep without Mr. Boo?” she asks.
“I don’t know.”
“We’ll get her back, won’t we? Tell me we’ll get her back,” Helen says.
“We’ll get her back. We’ll do everything we can. If I have to kill every one of those scumbags, we’ll get her back.”
29
Saturday, 5:38 a.m.
It’s still dark out but perhaps it’s a little lighter in the east. Kylie can’t sleep. She hasn’t slept at all since she managed to get the wrench.
The adrenaline has been pumping all night and sleep was impossible. She’s going to get one shot at this and she’s going to have to take it.
The plan is simple. All the best plans are simple. Aren’t they?
Get in the boat, find the whale, kill it.
Get in the boat, find the shark, kill it.
The man or woman is going to come down the steps with a tray holding a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice. He or she is going to bend over to set down the tray. Then he or she is going to take the cereal bowl and orange juice off the tray.