Bones of a Feather - Carolyn Haines [94]
Eleanor looked at us with horror. “They aren’t involved in this. They came to help with the insurance claim. That’s all. They’re going home today.”
“If you want your sister to die, keep talking.”
I motioned Eleanor to silence. It was clear whoever had Monica watched everything that went on at Briarcliff. I went to the window and looked out. There was no way anyone could see inside the house. Briarcliff rode the highest bluff in Adams County. The sole vantage point was miles away across the river.
“Good,” the kidnapper said. “I repeat. Be on that bluff at six o’clock this evening. Have your cell phone in your hand. I’ll call with further instructions. Just have the money ready to move.”
“Okay, I’ll—” Eleanor staggered and held out the phone. The line was dead.
She raised the phone to her ear, unable to accept the call was over. “I didn’t get to speak to Monica. What if she’s dead? What if he’s already killed her?”
My own heart squeezed at her plight. Patting her lightly on the shoulder, I took the phone and turned off the recorder. “We’ll demand to speak with Monica at six. At least now we know when the next call will come. We can begin to make plans.”
“What plans?” Eleanor was frantic. “What can we do?”
“Leave it to Tinkie and me. We’ll put the money in the trunk of your car and gather up equipment.” Binoculars, cameras, rope, duct tape. I hated it that the kidnapper had included us in the instructions. He knew we were with Eleanor, and he’d figure a way to keep us busy while Eleanor made the drop. The good news was he didn’t consider us as enough of a threat to fear Eleanor was working with the authorities on the abduction.
Eleanor twisted her watch, revealing raw, irritated skin that looked as if she’d repeated the same action over and over again. “I can’t miss a call. I have to stay here. What if he calls the house phone instead of my cell phone?”
Even Tinkie relented and lost some of her frosty attitude. “He won’t call back until six, Eleanor. You have nearly three hours to ki—to use up.”
Eleanor was about to jump out of her skin. “Go.” I propelled her toward the kitchen. “Eat something. Rest. Everything depends on you. You have to be ready.”
“What will you two do?”
“Prepare for tonight.”
“How?”
“Don’t worry. We’ll handle it.” I put her in front of the refrigerator and opened the door. “Food first. You’ll need to wear some comfortable slacks and walking shoes. There’s no telling what this guy is going to demand. Whatever it is, we have to be ready.”
“Okay.”
She was zombielike as she finally left. Taking a deep breath I turned to Tinkie. The pink tinge on her cheeks was not from flirting with a handsome man. She was highly agitato, as my hero Kinky Friedman would say.
“We should leave now,” she said. “We’ve been lied to enough. We didn’t agree to involve ourselves in a kidnapping, and the case we agreed to take is a fraud.”
“I know.”
“But you’re going to stay, aren’t you?”
I nodded. “Eleanor is about to implode. The sisters should be punished for what they’ve done. And they will. Tinkie, if we walk away and Monica dies, I won’t be able to live with myself. What happens if we don’t show up on the bluff at six? Will the kidnapper allow Eleanor to explain that we quit? Bottom line—we’re in this like it or not.”
“I don’t ever want to hear you say I’m pigheaded.” She tried to hide her worry behind a smile. “I don’t have a good feeling about this, Sarah Booth. You’ve always said when a client starts lying, it’s time to pull the plug. Eleanor and Monica have lied to us the entire time.”
I couldn’t argue against her logic, but I could make a plea to her heart. “I’d do the same to save Dahlia House. And you would for Hilltop.”
“I’m not sure that’s true. You got a job to save your home. Insurance fraud wasn’t the first option that jumped into your brain.” She lifted the coffeepot and began to rinse it out. Once it was brewing, she said, “Let’s have a cup and think through what we need to do.”