I'll Walk Alone - Mary Higgins Clark [107]
He had planned to kill Zan and make it look like a suicide. In a way this was better. She would never get over losing Matthew for good.
When he thought about it, that was infinitely more satisfactory than putting a bullet through her heart. How much fun it had been all these years, even before Matthew was born, being able to observe almost every moment of Zan’s life at home whenever he wanted to tune in. In these last two years, he had loved being able to watch her lying in bed, hear her sobbing in her sleep, then waking up in the morning, and, not knowing he was watching, reach over and touch Matthew’s picture.
It was eleven o’clock. He dialed Gloria. But she did not answer her cell phone. Maybe she was already on the way into New York, and on her way to the cops?
The thought terrified him. What could he do? Where could he run?
Nowhere.
At 11:30 and then at 12:30, he called her again. By then his hands were shaking. But this time she answered. “Where are you?” he demanded.
“Where do you think I am? I’m stuck here in this damn farmhouse.”
“Were you out?”
“I went to the store. Matty just isn’t eating anything. I got some hot dogs for his lunch. What time do you want me to meet you?”
“Eleven o’clock tonight.”
“Why that late?”
“Because there’s no need to do it earlier. And by then, Matthew will be sound asleep, so you won’t have to lock him up alone for too long. I’ll have all the money. It might raise too many questions to wire it. You can take your chances on carrying it through airport security or sending it parcel post to your father, but this way you’ll know you have it, Brittany…”
“Don’t call me that! You shot that priest, didn’t you?”
“Gloria, I need to remind you of something. If you still have any thoughts of going to the police and making a deal, it won’t work. I’ll tell them that it was you who begged me to kill that good old man because you were stupid enough to blab to him in confession. They’ll believe me. You’ll never go scott free. This way you still have a chance of doing what you want to do, to have a career. Even if you cut a deal, you won’t get away with less than twenty years. Believe me, there isn’t much of a market for either actresses or makeup artists in prison.”
“You’d better have that money with you.”
He could tell that if she had had any intention of going to the cops, she was wavering. “I’m looking at it right now.”
“Six hundred thousand dollars?” she asked. “All of it.”
“I’ll wait tonight while you count it.”
“What about Matthew saying I took him from the stroller?”
“I’ve been thinking about what you said. He was just three years old. There’s nothing to worry about. They’ll think he’s mixed up about whether his mother or someone else, meaning you, took him that day. You know they arrested Zan last night? The cops don’t believe a word that she’s saying.”
“I guess you’re right. I just want this to be over.”
You’re making it easy for me, he thought. “Don’t leave around any of the stuff you wore when you looked like Zan,” he said.
“Stop worrying. Every bit of it is packed. Did you get my airline ticket?”
“Yes. I’m sending you by way of Atlanta. It’s better if you don’t have a direct flight. I’m just being careful. Use your own ID when you fly from Atlanta to Texas. You’re booked on the 10:30 Continental tomorrow morning from LaGuardia to Atlanta. That way if you want to send the money to your father, parcel post, which I think is a good idea, you’ll have time to do it. I’ll meet you in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn on the Grand Central Parkway. I made a reservation for you there.”
“I guess you’re right. And like you say, if I meet you at eleven o’clock, I only have to put Matty in the closet at 9:30.”
“Exactly.” Then, making his voice sound tender, he added, “You know, Gloria, you are a superb actress. These times you’ve been out, you’ve not only looked like Zan but you moved like her, too. I could see that in the photos