Murder by Yew (An Edna Davies Mystery #1)(63)

“Shoes, get up here. We need you to do something. And you there, woman, try harder to find that boy. You’re not getting out of here ‘til you do, and we ain’t got all day.”

As she watched Shoes climb the stairs, Edna thought it would help if Dee and Zach were convinced that at least part of their plan was working. “Wait. Before you lock me in again, may I have some water? I’m not feeling well.”

“That so?” Zach chuckled, then said with a sneer, “You’ll get your water after you find the kid.” With that, he stepped aside to let Shoes pass, then slammed the door.

Edna heard the key turn in the lock before she switched on the penlight again and began to crisscross sections of the cellar she hadn’t already explored. She pointed the small beam into every nook and cranny she could find. Once, she thought she heard voices again in the ductwork but didn’t take time to go behind the boiler to listen. She was getting frantic. Where was Danny?

Having lost all track of time and shivering from the cold, she finally ran out of places to look. The search ended near a double-wide wooden door. She knew from having a similar one in her own house that it concealed the stone steps of the bulkhead. Her heart leapt. If the bulkhead was unlocked, she could go get help.

She played her light over the frame. Both sides of the flimsy partition were constructed of wide, ancient-looking slats. Instead of a latch, a rope knot stuck out of a small hole in the lefthand panel. It was a makeshift handle, the likes of which she hadn’t seen in a long time. Whoever used this door last had gone out through the bulkhead, or the long end of the rope would have been hanging out on the cellar side. The beam from her penlight began to fade as she reached for the knot and pulled on the rope.

“No!” A small voice shouted as the rope was yanked from her hand.

“Danny?” She said the name almost to herself, then repeated it, louder this time. “Danny!” She grabbed for the knot again as the light in her hand dimmed, then died. “Danny, it’s Edna Davies. It’s Mrs. Davies.” She dared not speak too loudly for fear of being overheard by the people upstairs.

She tugged again on the rope, feeling some resistance, but managed to pull it out of the boy’s grasp. Opening the door just wide enough to slip through, she groped in the dark, trying to find Tom’s grandson. “Danny.” She kept repeating his name, hoping he would recognize her voice without his hearing aid.

Finally, she felt cloth and grabbed for a better hold, but he wriggled free and scrambled upwards, out of her reach. The stone steps were damp and cold from rainwater leaking through the slanted bulkhead at the top of the long narrow stairs. She could hear the storm raging above their heads. “Danny.” She almost shouted, wondering again how much he could hear.

Sensing a sudden movement to her right as he tried to dash past her, Edna lunged out with one hand and grabbed his arm. It was a lucky grasp that caught him just above his elbow. She held on and pulled him to her. “Danny, Danny,” she crooned, folding him in her arms. Only then did he seem to realize she was a friend and stopped struggling. With a strangled cry, he folded his arms against his chest and curled into her warmth. Rocking back and forth on the cold stone steps, Edna cooed and shushed as Danny shivered and sobbed in her arms.

They hadn’t been huddled together long when Edna heard scratching over her head. Snuffling and hard breathing were followed by a loud bark, then another. Danny squirmed out of her arms and started banging on the wood of the bulkhead with the flat of his hand. “’ank, ‘ank,” he shouted.

Hank? Was it really his dog?

As the barking continued, Edna thought she recognized him too, but how in the world …

“Danny?” That was Mary’s voice. What was she doing here?

“Mary!” Edna shouted.

“’ank!” Danny yelled.

“Edna?” Mary’s voice seemed to be just on the other side of the seam in the bulkhead doors. Hank stopped barking.

“Yes. I’m down here with Danny. Can you get us out?”

“There’s a padlock. I’ve got to get something to pry it open.”

“Be careful. There are two men upstairs with Dee.”

Mary’s tone was quieter when she said, “I know. I just talked to them.”

Twenty-Two

At the sound of Edna’s and Mary’s voices, Danny had stopped banging on the boards and climbed back into Edna’s lap. His small arms went around her neck, and his soft cheek pressed hard against hers. For what seemed like an eternity, all she heard was the rain drumming on the wood above her head as she hugged the boy to her and tried to keep him warm.

“Edna?” Mary had returned. “I can’t find anything to use as a pry bar, so I’m going to try to shoot off the padlock. I need you and Danny to move way over to your left as you face my voice.”

A minute after doing as instructed, Edna heard the shot. Danny’s head was beneath her chin with one of her hands over his ear, pressing the other against her chest. She had only one hand free to hold over one of her own ears, but the sound wasn’t as loud as she had expected. Would Dee or Zach have heard it upstairs in the house? She started to hope they might escape.

Seconds after the gunshot, she heard the rattle of metal against metal before the door above her was lifted and a deluge of rain fell into the opening, soaking her back. Then Hank was there wagging his tail, licking her face and trying to get to Danny.