False Pretenses - Kathy Herman [95]
“It would be a huge mistake to double-cross me on this.”
Pierce looked over at Zoe and rolled his eyes. “Why would we do that?”
“Now that’s the spirit. Because I never forget people who mess with me. I eliminate them—and their friends—with a great deal of pain.”
The line went dead.
Pierce dropped the phone on the air mattress and shot her a look of disdain.
“At least he believes we’re going to wire the money,” Zoe said.
“Vanessa must’ve told him that. But he obviously got to her.” Pierce’s eyebrows came together. “There’re only two ways he could’ve gotten this cell number, and we know he didn’t get it from Ethan.”
“I wonder why Vanessa didn’t tell him where we are. I know how scary he can be. If he threatened her, she wouldn’t have lasted two minutes before she told him.”
“I can’t answer that. I do know this: He’s going to be furious when the hundred thousand doesn’t show up in his account. And if he hasn’t already killed Vanessa, he will. And then he’ll come after us.” Pierce threw his hands in the air. “I sure hope getting your new life was worth dying for, Zoe.”
Vanessa watched her feet as she moved gingerly along the narrow, weed-covered path, barely visible between two rows of sugarcane stalks. How much time had she lost when she fell—one minute—maybe two? Where was Shapiro? How far could he have gone? What if he spotted her and was staying out of sight, waiting for the right time to make his move?
It felt as if she’d been walking for miles. Where was the road? Had the field angled off in a different direction without her being able to tell? Or did the road not come this far south?
Lord, please guide me out of here!
She stopped for a moment and listened carefully, the only sounds the distant rumble of thunder and the drip, drip, drip of rain draining from the leaves. Had the storm emptied itself?
Vanessa started walking again, her hands in front of her, protecting her face from being cut by the sharp leaves—and then suddenly, there was nothing but air. She put her hands down and couldn’t believe her eyes: She had reached the end of the row and was looking at the log fence that marked the Langley property.
Thank You, Lord!
Wasn’t she facing due north? That meant she needed to run to the log fence and climb over it, then turn right and follow the perimeter of the woods around to the open area behind the manor house. She and Ethan owned only fifteen acres. How far could it be to the house?
She stuck her head out just long enough to look to the left and then to the right. Where was Shapiro? If he had come to the end of his row and still hadn’t seen her, would he have given up, turned around, and retraced his steps back to her car?
Or would he assume that Ethan had reported her missing, that an APB had been put out on her car, and decided to walk the three miles back to town? Or had he called someone to come get him?
Everything in her wanted to dart out of this cane field and run as fast as she could to Langley Manor. But what if Shapiro was waiting, expecting her to surface—would he shoot her in the back? And if he chased her to the manor house, wouldn’t Zoe and Pierce be in grave danger too?
Vanessa sighed. Why was the Lord testing her faith again? Why had He allowed this life-threatening situation? Hadn’t she passed the test when she stayed faithful to Him, even after she witnessed Drew’s senseless murder—and endured those agonizing hours when Ethan was pursued by Drew’s killer and she didn’t know whether she would ever see him again?
Her thoughts flashed back to that Memorial Day afternoon when she sat out on the screened-in porch with an elderly friend, Tessa Masino, waiting for search and rescue to find Ethan.…
“Tessa, why does God have to test our faith?” Vanessa said. “Why do I need another trial? Why does Ethan? Haven’t we been through enough?”
Tessa tucked Vanessa’s hair behind her ear the way her mother often did. “It seems