Bones of a Feather - Carolyn Haines [104]
“Sarah Booth is not making the drop!” Tinkie spoke in a very peculiar way. Her words slurred and jammed into one another. She looked at me like a helpless creature who’d been tricked. “Sarah Booth—” She slumped to the pavement, her knees taking the full impact of her fall. She didn’t even utter a groan.
I caught her and held her against my thighs. Disbelief was quickly turning to fury. “What did you do?” I demanded of Eleanor.
“I had to do it,” Eleanor said. “He called and said I had to drug her. He said he would kill Monica. Please, Sarah Booth. I had no choice.”
The bad feeling I’d experienced all evening swelled. “I’m not making the drop.” I wasn’t doing it. I had everything to lose, and Eleanor had lied to me all evening long. There was nothing I hated more than a liar.
My partner leaned against me. Eleanor reached out, but I ignored her and tried to drag Tinkie to the Cadillac. If I could get her inside, I’d toss the money to the parking lot and drive to the hospital. While Tinkie was petite, unconscious she was as heavy as a load of wet cement.
“Are you still there?” The kidnapper almost chuckled.
“We’re here.” Eleanor was crying. “Sarah Booth won’t make the drop.”
“Then Monica dies.”
“No, please!” Eleanor sobbed, but she made no attempt to stop me from opening the back door of the Caddy. I tried to shove Tinkie’s upper body in. She was so limp I couldn’t get leverage.
“He hung up!” Eleanor howled. “He didn’t even give me a chance. He’ll kill her and it’s your fault!!” She hurled herself at me with such force I almost dropped Tinkie. My first impulse was to slap the snot out of her, but I held back, using my final reserve of strength to lift Tinkie into the backseat.
“What did you give her?” I asked Eleanor. “If she’s hurt, I’ll kill you.”
“She’s fine. It was a prescription. He has the antidote. As long as she gets it in the proper time, there won’t be any damage.”
I remembered the empty pill bottle in the bathroom. How long had she been planning to drug one of us? “You and your sister are total liars. I’m not involved in this any longer.” I wanted to say a lot more, about how they were cheats and thieves with no moral compass or compassion. But Tinkie was my priority. I had to get medical help. I wished fervently I was closer to the Zinnia hospital where Doc Sawyer worked. He’d saved Tinkie—and me—more than once.
Eleanor’s cell phone rang again. She answered immediately, then gingerly handed the phone to me. “He wants to talk to you.”
“No.” I arranged Tinkie in the most comfortable position I could manage. Her lips smacked as if tasting nectar and a look of pleasure settled on her features. Whatever Eleanor had given her, it had an upside.
“Sarah Booth?” The male voice came over the speakerphone.
“Screw you.” I wasn’t in a mood to play nice.
“Listen to me. Monica’s life hangs on your decision.”
“I’m not part of this and you can’t force me to be.” I tried not to listen, but I couldn’t stop myself.
“Bring the ransom to the road under the bridge. Park there. You’ll find a rowboat. Put the money in it and wait for my call.”
“Eleanor is making the drop. I’m taking my partner to the hospital.”
Eleanor started to say something, but I slashed my hand through the air in the universal sign for silence so emphatically that she stepped back.
“If you drive away, Monica dies.” The man was cold. “Perhaps of more significance to you, so will Mrs. Richmond.”
I looked at the hint of a smile that touched Tinkie’s face. Was it a smile of pleasure or a grimace? Was she in pain and unable to express it? “What did you give her?”
“The drug is safe if administered properly. An antidote will clear it from her system very quickly, but I wouldn’t rely on the hospital to have it. She’ll be fine, Sarah Booth, if you do what I say.”
Eleanor whispered, “He’ll give us the antidote when he releases Monica. He promised.