She heard the jingle jangle of keys. Someone was coming. The sound came from over her shoulder, so she must’ve been facing away from the door. She didn’t want them to know she was awake and alert. She had played possum in the car. Until she figured out what to do, she was going to take that tack. She rolled back to where they had left her.
She heard the ca-chunk of the key in a lock, then the drawing aside of some sort of bolt, and made it back just in time to hear the door open. It scraped along the dirt floor. It sounded like wood. She made herself focus on the details not to be afraid.
The door must have been ajar because the air stirred the ashes and the dirt, but it felt cooler, blowing her hair from behind. The man’s shoes scuffed in the dirt. He must have a flashlight or phone light because she saw a sudden brightness through her blindfold, so he was shining it in her face.
“You and me have to have a little talk,” a man said. His voice came from up above. He was standing above her, near her feet. He sounded tall.
“Where’s my partner?”
“None of your business.”
“Is she here? Is she alive? You better get her a doctor if she needs one. Who are you?”
“It doesn’t matter who I am.”
Bennie took a flyer. “Well, you’re not Ray because I know his voice. So you’re either Ernie or Mo. Which one are you?”
“None of your business.”
“I say Ernie.” Bennie kept her tone strong, though she felt anything but. She’d been a lawyer for a long time, so she knew a thing or two about criminals and the way their conspiracies worked. She would have to use all of her legal superpowers to manipulate these guys.
“Whatever. I’m not here to answer your questions.”
“Please take my blindfold off, Ernie. Let’s be real. I know who you are, and you’re going to kill me anyway. But you’re in a bigger jam than you know. And I can help you get out of it.”
“Ha!” Ernie burst into derisive laughter. “They said you were somethin’ and they weren’t kiddin’.”
“No, they weren’t. I’m not something, I’m somebody. My name is Bennie Rosato, and I’m one of the best criminal lawyers in the entire country. If you’re smart, you’ll hear me out. Most times I charge a fortune for what I’m about to tell you. You want some free legal advice?”
“Shut up and—”
“If you watch TV, you know the shows talk about somebody being guilty or innocent. But that’s not true in real-life criminal law. The way it works in real life is that guilt is proportionate. In other words, there are degrees of guilt.” Bennie kept going because he didn’t stop her. “The person who killed Todd is the most guilty. He’s going to jail for a long time. He might even get the death penalty. But the two guys who didn’t kill Todd, they’re not as culpable as the man who stabbed Todd—unless one of them solicited the killer to kill Todd. So you’re either the actual killer or you got manipulated into killing Todd.”
“You don’t know jack.”
“I know the law, and all you have to do is listen. Ray is the one who had the big bad problem and he’s the one who wanted Todd dead. He’s the one who wanted to cover up the electrical issues, in cahoots with his brother-in-law, Mo. They’ve been cutting corners at PowerPlus. They’re the ones who benefit and get paid. I’m betting Ray solicited you, or Mo did. You’re just the enforcer. You’re the muscle. The one they send to do their dirty work.”
“You have it all figured out.”
“I kind of do. Because it’s not that hard to figure out. It’s just common sense. I’ve known a lot of security types in my day, and they fall into two categories. They’re either former cops or former criminals. My boyfriend is a former state trooper. My firm investigator is a former cop. You’re not a cop. I can tell.”
“You’re chatty.” Ernie chuckled again, and Bennie realized it was a habit, when he was nervous.
“And that’s why I make the big bucks. As I was saying, I don’t think you’re a criminal, but I bet you’ve been a bouncer. You can handle yourself. If trouble breaks out on the factory floor, you can handle that too. You make about sixty grand a year. They make a helluva lot more. They’re higher-ups, relatives. They’re taking advantage of you right now.”
“And how’s that?” Ernie’s voice was heavy with sarcasm.
“Ray didn’t come talk to me because he knows me. He doesn’t want me to know that it’s him. I haven’t met you, so he sent you in. I’m betting that’s the pattern. He keeps his hands clean. He sends you to do the bad things. But if he sent you to kill Todd and you did it, don’t take the fall for him. And if he’s telling you that killing me and my partner is going to make your legal problems go away, don’t listen to him. Because the exact opposite is the law.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes. You want my advice? Right now, you can just go. You have a car. You should drive it away. You should tell that genius Ray to do the same thing, and Mo too. Flee the jurisdiction. You’ll be out of the country before they find you. Don’t kill any more people, especially not me and my partner. Because if you kill three people, two of them very well-known lawyers, there’s going to be hell to pay. And all three of you are going to pay it, equally.”
“What’s the password to your computer?”
“Ernie.” Bennie tsk-tsked. “I’m worried you didn’t listen to my lecture and it was a really good one. I laid it out for you. Completely, totally free.”
“What’s the password?”
Bennie didn’t like the new anger in his tone. “Why do you want to know my password? What could possibly be in my laptop that you need? If you’re in my computer, you’re going to be bored to tears. It’s full of legal briefs.”
“Did you send that email to the cops or not?”
“You mean the email that Mary asked me to send? So you were listening to our conversation in the house. You overheard us.”
“Did you send it?”
“Yes,” Bennie lied. In fact, she hadn’t sent the email to Detective Lindenhurst. She’d wanted to get Mary moving and she figured she’d send it from the car, but then she and Mary had been attacked. “We didn’t want to waste any time getting it to Lindenhurst. We knew it was only a matter of time until they arrested Simon. We wanted to beat them to the punch. The cops know everything—”
“I don’t believe you.”
“The email told about the fire at Bethlehem Bank, and I attached Simon’s emails warning about the wiring at Jarrat and Crowley’s. Simon put you on notice. He knows all about it too.” Bennie laid it on thick. “We told him at the hospital today. He probably told the cops already.”
“What’s your password?”
“The cops will charge Simon, but they’re going to investigate what we told them, they have to. They know me personally. I’m a certified BFD. That’s why I’m telling you. You should leave us and run—”
Suddenly Bennie felt a vicious kick to her stomach. She cried out instinctively, curling into a ball to protect herself. It was no use. Her hands were still behind her back. Ernie kicked her another time, on her hip. On her back. On her upper arm. She could hear him grunting with effort, then he stopped.
Bennie lay panting in agony. Her entire body ached. Adrenaline poured into her system, leaving her shaking. Dirt dug into her cheek. Her eyes watered reflexively from the pain. She hurt too much to regroup. She had to think of something. She had to work on him. She told herself he kicked her because she must have gotten to him.
“Now you gonna tell me your password? Or do I have to beat it out of you?”
Bennie mustered her strength to speak. “If you keep this up, I’m not going to help you anymore.”
“Ha!” Ernie laughed abruptly, then kicked her again.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Mary regained consciousness only slowly, then forced herself to wake up. Something inside was telling her she had to stay awake. She couldn’t give in yet. She couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t give in to hopelessness. If she gav
e up she would die. She had heard what they said. She was somewhere, and the two men would kill her. She started to wake up more and heard them talking in the other room. There were still two men, Ray and not-Ray.
“Why didn’t you get the password?” one man asked. It was Ray.
“She wouldn’t give it to me.”
“You couldn’t get her to give it to you?”
“She wouldn’t.”
“So smack her around.”
“I did. She wouldn’t give it up.”
“But she told you the cops know everything? She said she sent the email to the cops?”
“Yes and she said they told Simon. Simon knows too.”
“You’re so stupid.”
“Why am I stupid?”
“She told you she sent the email. So why wouldn’t she give you the password then?”
“I don’t understand.”
“The reason she wouldn’t give you the password is because you would find out that she didn’t send the email.”
Mary tried to make sense of what they were saying, but she couldn’t. They were talking about an email of some sort. Whether it was sent to the police. She had no idea what they meant. She didn’t know who the she was they were talking about. It must’ve been the bigger one. The woman she was with. She couldn’t remember who that was. It was strange. If she was with another woman, they must have been friends. Why couldn’t she remember? What was wrong with her brain? What have they done to her? She tried to keep listening to the men. They sounded angrier than before.
“Maybe she just didn’t want to give me the password.”
“No. That bitch lied to you. She didn’t send the email. The cops don’t know anything. They arrested Simon. It was already on the news.”
“Simon knows. She told Simon.”
Mary’s head turned at the name Simon, as if her body knew something that her brain didn’t. Simon was a name she should know. Simon was somebody she knew. She tried to think who. But she knew it was somebody. It came to her then, a little boy’s face. Then a man’s. It was Simon. She had known him when he was little. Simon was an old friend of hers.
“And so what?”
“Simon’s going to tell the cops.”
“And what are they going to do about it?”
“They’re going to investigate it. They have to, don’t they?”
“Of course they don’t. They’re not going to believe him. He won’t have any proof. They know he’s under arrest and he’ll say anything. And anyway, he doesn’t even have his lawyer anymore. Even if he gets a new lawyer, the lawyer’s going to tell him not to talk to the cops. So he’s not going to tell the cops anything.”
“The new lawyer can tell the cops. They’ll investigate it, they have to.”
Ray scoffed. “No they don’t. They’re cops. They have their boy. They’re not gonna look at anybody else. They think Simon did it. We set him up perfectly. It was a great plan and it worked.”
Mary felt a tingling as she listened. The men were talking about Simon and about lawyers. Suddenly she realized that she was a lawyer. Simon was a friend. She was Simon’s lawyer. She couldn’t figure out which man was talking. They were talking so fast she couldn’t follow. Or she just couldn’t follow because they were saying so much. She couldn’t process the information even though she understood the words. It was like a flood of words and back-and-forth that she couldn’t understand all at once.
“They figured it out. It didn’t work that great.”
“It was just a fluke that they figured it out. It was a fluke that Simon went to the lawyer and a fluke that bitch acted like she was working for us when she was working against us. You should’ve seen her at the meeting, full of herself, bossing everybody around. She loves it. I can’t stand bitches like that. Todd hated her too. She worked him over. I have half a mind to go in there and beat the shit out of her.”
“So why don’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why don’t you go in? Why do you send me in?”
“You know the answer to that. Because she knows who I am.”
“So what’s the difference if she knows who you are?” Not-Ray sounded angry again. “We’re going to kill her anyway. That’s what you said. You said I’m going to kill her anyway. And she figured out who I am.”
“No she didn’t.”
“Yes she did. She knows my name.”
“How?”
“She took a guess.”
“She knows about me?”
Mary thought Ray said that. She was losing track of who was talking when. She tried to think of something to do to save herself. It hurt too much to move. She couldn’t even string a thought together. Her face felt wet and stickier than before. She was bleeding into the blindfold. The cloth stuck to her eyes as the blood dried. She blinked and blinked but more blood ran in. The thought nauseated her.
“I don’t know,” not-Ray said. “We didn’t talk about you. She knows it’s me.”
“Whatever. Why are you getting so paranoid lately?”
“I’m not paranoid.”
“Yes you are. You’re griping. You on your period?”
“It’s just that with Todd we had a plan. We had it planned out. This isn’t planned out. And now we get two new people. Women.”
“Stop with that. They’re lawyers.” Ray was getting testy, too.
“She’s a famous lawyer, isn’t she? She’s famous?”
“What are you talking about?”
“She’s famous.”
“She’s not that famous if you didn’t know who she was.”
Not-Ray fell silent, and Mary could hear some walking around. She remembered they were in a cabin. The floor must be made of wood. But the cabin seemed small. They were right outside her door. They weren’t worried about her hearing because they were going to kill her. She was going to die in some horrible way. She began to feel the emotion she hadn’t before. Stark, cold terror.
“Did she tell you she was famous?” Ray asked. “Were you talking to her?”
“No.”
“You were gone awhile. You were talking to her, weren’t you? What did she tell you? That she’s rich and famous? Did she offer you money?”
“Yeah, she offered me money.”
“How much?”
“She didn’t say. She just said that she’d pay if we let her go. Her and her partner.”
“She said that?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
“She wanted to know how the partner was. She doesn’t want us to hurt her.”
Mary heard it clearly, more clearly than before. Wherever they had walked to was closer than it was before. They had said her partner. The other woman, the bigger woman, must’ve been Mary’s partner. Mary remembered in a flash. Her partner was named Bennie Rosato. An image materialized instantly in her brain, an image attached to the name. Tall, blonde, athletic. Bennie Rosato was her partner. She knew Bennie Rosato. She had known her a long time. Not as long as Simon but she knew her.
“She asked about her partner? That’s touching. She’s probably gay for her.”
“Why you gotta say that?”
“Say what?”
“That she’s gay?”
“It’s the way she acts. Bossy.”
“My sister is gay.”
“Is she bossy?”
“All sisters are bossy.” Not-Ray chuckled.
“Whatever. Listen. Go in and take a picture of DiNunzio.”
Mary knew that name. It was her name. She remembered that her name was Mary DiNunzio. She had a partner named Bennie Rosato. She had an old friend named Simon Something. She was a person. She started to feel more and more human. She existed as a human being because she knew other people. Otherwise she was just a bloody mess that could barely breathe.
“Why do you want her picture?”
“Just go do it.”
“Why? Why do I have to go take her picture? It’s disgusting.”
/>
“That’s the point.”
“So why can’t you do it? She doesn’t know you. She won’t recognize you. Why do I have to do all the dirty work?”
“What’s gotten into you?” Ray raised his voice.
“I don’t like the way things are going. I think we should get out of here. I think we just should go.” Not-Ray raised his voice, too.
“And leave them here?”
“Yes. Just leave them. If they die, they die. But it’s not like we killed them. I killed them.”
“You’re losing your nerve. Sack up.”
“I’m being smart. We got away with Todd. We might not get away with these two. Why put ourselves back on the hook? We killed Todd to get off the hook.”
Mary pricked up at the name Todd. She knew that name. She couldn’t remember the details and something told her there were a lot more details. But Todd was connected to Simon. The police thought Simon killed Todd, but Ray and not-Ray had killed Todd. And they had been working with a third man whose name she didn’t remember.
“We’re not doing that. We wait for Mo. He’s on the way. Then we kill them. He’s going to help us get rid of the bodies. He’s bringing lye and all. He knows a place in the woods where no one will find them.”
Mary tried to breathe but she was starting to pant from fear. It was because Ray and not-Ray were talking about lye. About burying her. About her and Bennie’s bodies. Suddenly she realized what upset her so much. It wasn’t that she and Bennie would be dead. It was her family. She remembered she had a family. A mother, a father. A husband, Anthony. Their faces floated into her consciousness. She knew what they looked like. She knew what it felt like to hug them. To hug them back. She even knew the way they smelled. She had a family. They all loved each other. It would kill them if she died.
“I think people are going to find them,” not-Ray said, louder. “We’re gettin’ greedy.”
“Now you’re being paranoid.”
“It’s not paranoid. I don’t think it’s a good plan. I think we should just go. DiNunzio’s going to die. She’s bleedin’ out. Rosato’s never going to get out of the smokehouse. She’s going to die in there. No one will find them.”