SO what do we do, just stand around here staring at each other until Edmund shows up?” Vanessa asked.

“That’s about it,” Hal replied.

“Well, I’m just going to keep on doing what I was doing before…” She returned to the pile of sweaters she’d earlier started to fold, anything to keep her mind occupied. Knowing that someone was planning on killing you that day was terrifying. If she gave in to the panic, she’d be useless. She envisioned herself as a weeping heap in the corner of the room. Terrified and cowed wasn’t a good look for her.

The phone on the counter began to ring. Vanessa reached for it and Hal stopped her.

“Check the caller ID first.”

She leaned forward and read the number.

“It’s my house.” She frowned and looked up at Grady. “Who’d be in my… oh.”

“Well, I guess we know where,” Grady said to Hal, then nodded to her. “Pick it up, Ness. If it’s Dent, sound surprised that it’s him. Don’t let him know we’re onto him.”

“Hello?”

“Vanessa. It’s Maggie.”

Maggie’s voice vibrated with fear.

“Maggie, what are you doing at my house?” She shot a confused glance at Hal.

“I’m supposed to be luring you here, because-”

Vanessa heard the sound of a struggle, then a slap before Maggie cried out.

“Maggie? Maggie? What’s happening?” Vanessa cried into the phone.

“Maggie isn’t playing by the rules, so she took a penalty,” a mocking male voice told her.

“Who is this?” Don’t let him know we’re onto him…

“This is your worst nightmare, baby,” Edmund crooned, and Vanessa grimaced at Grady. She pointed to the phone and nodded. It’s him.

“I’ve had a lot of nightmares lately,” she said. “Who is this?”

“You’re going to have to come on over here and find out for yourself. But you come by yourself, you hear? Do not call the old man or the guy who’s been banging you.” He snickered. “I saw his clothes in the closet upstairs. It must be nice and cozy around here at night.”

“What do you want?” she asked curtly.

“I want you, here, in this house, in nine minutes. I know it takes eleven minutes to walk from your shop to this house because I timed it. I’m giving you nine. For every minute you’re late, your mother will have another hole in one of her body parts. A foot, a hand, maybe shoot off a couple of fingers. If you don’t come at all, I aim for the heart. I see anyone but you coming this way or anywhere near this house, I kill her. Come now. I’ll be watching for you.”

“Listen-”

“You’re down to eight minutes, Vanessa, and so is your mother.” He hung up.

“I have to go,” she said. “He’s going to kill Maggie if I’m not there in eight minutes.”

She ran for the door.

“Hold up there.” Grady grabbed her arm as she ran past. “I can’t let you just walk in there.”

“I have to. He’s going to shoot my mother.”

“If you go into that house, Ness, he’s going to shoot you, too,” Hal told her.

“You’re the survival expert, right?” She turned to Grady. “You figure out how to save us both.” She shook herself free. “I have to go. He said he’d be watching for me.”

“Ness, where’s your cell?” Grady asked.

“It’s in my bag.” She pointed to the counter.

He grabbed her bag and dumped the contents onto the floor. He picked up her phone and dialed a number. His cell rang inside his pants pocket. He answered his phone as he handed Vanessa’s phone to her.

“Leave the call open in your pocket so we can hear what’s going on. He’s going to have to be in the front of the house, so try to keep him there to give us time to get in through the back.”

“How do you know he’ll be in the front of the house?” she asked.

“You just said he told you he’d be watching for you. He’ll only be able to see the street from the front door or from the living room.” Grady turned to Hal. “There’s a stretch of woods that runs behind her house. You know where we can cut through to get to her yard?”

Hal nodded.

“All right, let’s go.” Before Grady opened the door, he kissed Vanessa soundly on the mouth. “Keep the phone open, and keep him talking for as long as you can. He’s got to be feeling pretty clever right about now, so let him brag. Keep him talking, Ness. Act like you’re impressed that he found you, whatever strokes you think his ego needs. Keep him focused on you. Keep your interactions with Maggie to a minimum.”

Vanessa nodded and started out the door. “What if he’s already shot Maggie? What if he just shoots me when I walk through the door?”

Before he or Hal could answer, she shuddered and said, “I have to go.” She fled out the door, with both men at her heels.

“We can cut through the Eakinses’ backyard,” Hal said.

Hal and Grady were right behind her, but when she took off to the left toward Cherry Street, they turned right for the street that ran behind it.

Vanessa ran. She was scared to death and her heart was racing so fast she thought she was going to have a heart attack before she ever made it home.

Then he’ll think I’m not coming and he’ll shoot Maggie, she told herself.

She talked to herself the entire time.

Why am I doing this? I can’t not. I can’t let him kill her because he can’t get to me.

What if he kills me? Grady won’t let him kill me.

Grady and Hal. They’ll save us.

How? How are they going to save us?

By the time she reached her house, she was scared out of her wits.

Don’t let him know I’m afraid. Let him brag, Grady said. Keep him talking. Let him brag. Act impressed. Keep him talking…

Unless, of course, he shoots me the minute I walk through the door, she thought as she walked up her front steps on wobbly legs. Maybe I should have waited until we came up with a Plan B…

She pushed open the front door and stepped into her foyer. Edmund Dent stood at the bottom of the stairwell, Maggie in front of him, a gun to her head.

“Edmund?” Vanessa asked as if she hadn’t known who had summoned her. “Edmund Dent?”

“Yup.” He pushed Maggie away from him, into the living room and onto the sofa.

Vanessa kept her focus on Edmund.

“Bet you never expected to see me again,” he taunted.

She shook her head. “How did you find me?”

He smirked. “It was easy. Your old lady left behind some very talkative neighbors everyplace she went. And she’s pretty talkative herself. ‘Hello, I’m looking for Vanessa Keaton… we’re having a high school reunion and it wouldn’t be the same without her.’ “He mimicked a woman’s voice.

“You… you made that call?” Vanessa asked, then turned to Maggie. “Maggie, couldn’t you tell that that ‘Shannon’ person was really a man?” Before Maggie could answer, Vanessa had turned back to Edmund. “You had her fooled. She really thought you were a girl named Shannon, even though I told her I didn’t know anyone named Shannon.”

“Yeah, pretty clever, I thought.”

Vanessa nodded. “I have to give you that one.”

“Thanks.” He sat on the bottom step and waved the gun. “I want you to sit over there with your mother. I want to tell you a story.”

Vanessa moved slowly and backed onto the sofa. She made no move toward Maggie, nor did she make eye contact with her.

“So tell me a story,” Vanessa said.

“When I was a kid, I was very small. And I stuttered. Everyone made fun of me, knocked me around. Nobody ever stuck up for me, except for one person. Know who that person was?”

Oh, shit, she thought. I think I can see where this is going…

Aloud she said, “Who, Edmund?”

“The man you sent to prison. The man who died there, beaten to death like a dog. My cousin Eugene.” He stared at her through flat black eyes. “You should have taken it, Vanessa. Whatever you did to make him put you in your place, you should have taken it. You had no right to call the cops on a family matter. You should have taken it, then worked it out with him later. It’s your fault he’s dead, Vanessa. The Bible says an eye for an eye, right?”