Hide & Seek - James Patterson [96]
Then I heard another sound. Strange. Well, one of the kids was definitely up.
Then a louder noise, as though a bed were being moved around.
And finally, what sounded to me like a muffled scream or yell. Was I hearing things?
I got up quickly and hurried across the bedroom to the door.
I listened there for half a second.
Nothing more.
Then another muffled sound, this one farther away it seemed. I couldn’t tell exactly where. Allie? Was Allie up for some reason?
I hurried outside into the upstairs hallway. The light was out, and I switched it back on.
No one was there. Not Jennie. Not Allie.
False alarm? Probably so. Things in the country always seemed to go bump in the night. Creaky floor-boards, loose shutters, branches against a window.
I decided to check on the kids anyway. Maybe somebody was sick, or maybe one of them was having a nightmare. Goodness knows, they’d been through enough.
I gently opened Jennie’s bedroom door, the first one, next to mine.
Jennie was gone!
I ran as fast as I could down the hallway to the front left bedroom, which had a choice view of our horse pastures.
I yanked open the bedroom door.
Allie was gone too!
CHAPTER 120
THERE’S AN EXPLANATION for this. Has to be.
But I was frightened as could be.
I ran down the stairway loudly calling out their names, “Jennie! Allie! Where are you two? Where are you?”
There’s a simple explanation.
No one was in the front hall, or the living room either.
But I could see a light coming from the den. Okay, the kids were in the den.
“Jennie? … Allie? … Is something the matter?”
I ran toward the den, clipping a pile of books on the edge of an old hallway table. The books fell loudly to the floor.
I turned the corner into the den, and I stopped. Everything stopped. All time, all forward progress, all sense of fairness and goodness in the universe.
Stopped.
Will was standing there with the kids.
I stared at the black hair and beard, but I knew it was definitely Will.
He had a gun, and he had Jennie and Allie, and the gun was loosely pointed at them.
“Hello, Maggie. Long time, huh?” Cool as could be. Psychopathic as they come. “Good to see ya.”
“Are you two all right?” I asked the kids.
“We’re okay, Mom,” Jennie said. “We’re okay. We’re fine.”
“They’re okay,” Will said. “What’s the big problem? Haven’t you heard of visitation rights?”
I walked further into the room. My heart wouldn’t stop pounding.
Will was there. Will was alive.
“I hate you!” I said. I couldn’t stop myself from saying it.
“Hate you too, darlin’. Hate you more. That’s why I’m here,” Will said and smiled. “Been hating you and hating you, for a long, long time.”
I stopped myself and stared at him. I tried to be calm. “Why did you dare come here, Will? After all that’s happened.”
“Oh, lots of neat reasons. First of all, just to see the confusion in your eyes, the fear. I love that look. Makes me feel good all over.”
“That’s because you’re a coward.” I told him what I really thought.
“No doubt. I think you’re right. That’s exactly why I’m here. I’m afraid to go on living the way I am. That’s it.”
“You wouldn’t hurt them. Why would you hurt them?” I asked him.
Will shrugged. “Because they’re yours. Because you fucked me up even worse than I was. I could function before you. Now, Maggie—shut up. I mean it—shut the hell up.” He pointed the gun at Allie. My little boy was trying not to cry but he was starting to shake. There was nothing I could do.
No one spoke, and will smiled at the silence. He nodded his approval. Controlling son of a bitch.
“Okay now, here’s what we’re going to do,” he finally said. “You all lie on the floor. Facedown. Keep very still. Everybody on the floor. Let’s play a game, Allie.”
“Says who?” Jennie suddenly turned and shouted at him. “What, so you can kill us all a lot easier? That’s what you’re here for, isn’t it? You punk! You piece of crap.”
“Jennie,” I tried to quiet her. Then I realized what she was doing, at least I thought I did, hoped