Foxy Roxy Part 38

Roxy let that absurd remark hang in the cold air as Henry walked closer with the Great Dane.

She said, "I didn't take you for a dog person."

"He's not mine," Henry a.s.sured her. "I was going to return him to his rightful owner this evening and reap my reward, but things seem to have gotten out of hand. Maybe I'll just turn him loose on a highway and hope he has the brains to get himself home. Dogs can do that, right?"

He stopped about ten feet away. The Great Dane strained forward on his leash to sniff Roxy. His tail was high and wagging. His tongue hung out, giving his face a goofy smile.

Roxy must have tightened her hands into fists, because Henry said, "Now, now. Do I have to show you this?"

He lifted the edge of his sweats.h.i.+rt to show the b.u.t.t of a handgun. The revolver was tucked into his belt.

Roxy forced herself to relax her hands. "Where's my daughter?"

"You'll see her in good time. First we have business to transact."

"Forget that. I know what you're capable of, Paxton. So I want to see Sage, or you won't get the statue."

He shook his head, smiling a little. "It doesn't work that way, I'm afraid."

"Okay, then, where's your crew?"

"My crew?"

"You can't move this thing by yourself. It's very heavy. It probably weighs at least a ton. You'll need help."

"I very much doubt that."

Roxy shrugged. "See for yourself. It's outside."

Henry considered her information for a moment, as if finally realizing she might be speaking the truth. Then he said, "Let's take a look, shall we?"

Roxy led the way, listening to Henry and the dog behind her. The dog leaped around on the ramp, happy to be outside. When they reached the back of the truck, Roxy tugged aside one edge of the tarp to show the large sandaled foot of the statue.

"See? He's seven feet tall, made of solid marble. The two of us couldn't get him into your van if we worked all night."

Henry began to frown. He reached up and put one hand on the statue's foot. He gave it a shove, but the dead weight didn't budge. "How did you get it up there?"

"The winch." She pointed. "Plus I had help. I can winch it down to the ground, but after that, we're on our own."

Henry contemplated the problem. Finally, he said, "You planned this, didn't you?"

"I did what you told me to do. I can't help it if you're unprepared."

"I'm not leaving without the Achilles."

"And I'm not leaving without my daughter."

"So," Henry said at last, "what do you suggest?"

"We need help. If you don't have a weightlifter on speed dial, I could call the guy who works for me."

Music from the bar across the street wailed while Henry considered her proposition. "Can he keep his mouth shut?"

"He's trustworthy."

Henry made his decision. "Okay, call him. But the same rules apply."

The amiable dog came over and nuzzled Roxy's hand. She patted his neck without thinking. But she shook her head. "I'm not going to help you, Paxton. Not until you show me Sage. I want to know she's all right."

"She's fine."

"No. I'll make a trade with you now. Show me Sage, and I'll get you some muscle."

Henry walked away from the truck to think. The big dog resisted going with him-he wanted to stay with Roxy-but Henry yanked the leash. The dog dug his forepaws into the gravel. Henry stopped short, his arm pulled tight. He let fly a curse and dropped the leash. Startled to find himself free, the dog shook his entire body as if shaking off bathwater and then galumphed around in a circle.

Roxy ignored the dog and trained her gaze on Henry. "I'll keep my side of this bargain, Paxton. You can have the statue. It's brought me nothing but bad luck since I first put my hands on it. But I want Sage. I want to see her now, and then I'll call my guy to help load."

Henry said, "If you think you can double-cross me, you'd better think again. I've got years of strategizing under my belt, you know."

Through gritted teeth, Roxy said, "I believe you. I don't care about the statue now. Just give me my kid."

Henry shrugged. "Okay. This way."

He led her back into the cavernous mill, and they walked past the cargo van, across the vast floor. The place was very cold-somehow colder than outside. The air of abandonment made Roxy's teeth chatter. She clamped her jaw tight, though, determined not to let Henry guess how truly terrified she was.

Henry led the way to the farthest corner of the building, where some office s.p.a.ce had been created with corrugated walls and heavy gla.s.s windows. Someone had tried to smash one window, but it hadn't shattered. A starburst of cracks emanated from a center. When Roxy looked closer, she saw it was a bullet hole in the gla.s.s.

Henry pushed the unlocked door open and stopped. "Watch your step. There's some junk on the floor."

It was very dark. Underfoot, Roxy accidentally kicked a clutter of scattered textbooks, open pages fluttering. Pencils and a torn notebook lay in a circle, as if Sage's backpack had been upended and shaken out. The sight of it brought a hot rush up from Roxy's heart.

They were in some kind of supervisor's office with a set of iron spiral stairs that led upward. Henry went over to the stairs, bowed slightly, and said, "After you."

Roxy grabbed the hand railing and started up. She itched to kick Henry's head. Maybe knock him to the floor below. Maybe she could overpower him, she thought. She longed to beat the s.h.i.+t out of him.

But there was Sage still to consider. Roxy felt her way up the stairs, straining to see in the darkness.

On the second floor she found herself in a kind of viewing room with a huge plate-gla.s.s window that overlooked the mill floor.

She glanced around the small s.p.a.ce. "Where is she?"

Henry pointed. "Bathroom."

Roxy darted forward, pus.h.i.+ng her way through a narrow door. On the floor, huddled in darkness, lay a lumpy shape.

"Sage," Roxy whispered, and she flung herself down next to her daughter.

Sage struggled up, and the gleam in her eyes was fierce. She made an awful noise in her throat, and Roxy reached to remove the tape from her mouth.

But Sage yanked her face away and shook her head, tears springing to her eyes. The tape had been partially torn from her cheek already, and Roxy could see her skin had torn with it.

"Oh, baby." Roxy cupped Sage's cheek. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

Sage nodded fiercely, then shook her head, then tried to laugh. But she began to choke, too, and Roxy calmed her with hands on her shoulders. "It's okay," she soothed. "Don't try to talk. We'll be out of here in a minute, I promise."

Sage nodded, but her gaze left Roxy's face to look over her shoulder, and her eyes hardened.

Still on her knees on the cold concrete, Roxy turned to Henry. "Honest to G.o.d, Paxton, if you've hurt her, I'm going to kill you dead."

He smiled. "No need for that. You can see she's perfectly fine."

"I'm taking her out of here now."

"Let's wait until-"

"No, we're going now."

"Make your call first. Do you have your phone?"

Roxy whipped her phone from her jeans and punched Loretta's number.

Henry said, "Put it on speaker, so we can all hear what you're saying."

Holding Sage upright with one arm, Roxy put the phone to her ear with the other hand. She prayed Nooch would answer.

It was Loretta who picked up right away.

"Lo," Roxy said, "I need to speak to Nooch."

"He's eating me out of house and home!" Loretta cried. "The sooner you get him out of here, the less chance I'll kill him."

"I need to talk to him right away, Loretta. It's important."

"All right, all right. But you owe me for an entire pan of stuffed sh.e.l.ls."

Nooch's voice came next. Amiable, as always. "Hi, Rox."

"I need you to borrow Loretta's car."

"Huh?"

"Tell Loretta you need to borrow her car," Roxy said curtly. She kept her eyes on Henry's face as she spoke. She gave the rest of her orders directly, listing Henry's rules. "Do you understand, Nooch?"

"Yeah," he said, but he still sounded confused. "You want me to come tonight?"

"Right now," Roxy said. "Right away."

Henry put his hand on the handle of the gun in his belt. "Hang up."

Roxy obeyed, praying that Nooch had got the message straight. She pocketed her phone and helped Sage to her feet.

Henry didn't protest. But he didn't make any move to a.s.sist, either. Roxy hoisted Sage upright before she realized the teenager's ankles were taped together. Her hands were cuffed behind her back, too. It was a struggle for Sage to move at all-she could hardly shuffle her feet-but she was determined.

Roxy could feel her daughter shuddering with cold, too, so she buffed her arms and roughly rubbed her back as they stumbled toward the spiral stairs. Roxy went first, essentially dragging Sage downward.

On the main floor of the mill, the Great Dane came loping out of the darkness, delighted to see Sage. He jumped up on her, and all of them nearly fell to the concrete floor. Roxy shoved the clumsy dog away and headed for the cargo van, half dragging Sage with her.

When they reached the van, Sage was breathing heavily through her nose. Frightened by how labored her daughter sounded, Roxy sat her down in the open door and tried to loosen the tape around her mouth. Sage cried out, but held still so Roxy could continue. Roxy winced each time a tiny bit of tape came free. But for Sage, the pain must have been intense. Tears rolled down her cheek and she kept her eyes squeezed tightly shut, but she didn't protest.

Behind them, Henry said, "How long will it take for your a.s.sociate to arrive?"

"Fifteen minutes," Roxy guessed. "Maybe half an hour."

"And you guarantee he won't be bringing the police?"

She shook her head. "You heard everything. He's on probation, see. If he gets caught committing any kind of crime, he'll go to jail. I'm trying to keep him out of trouble. We don't want the cops involved."

"Convenient for me," Henry remarked. "What's he on probation for?"

"a.s.sault. But it was a long time ago."

Roxy had worked half of the tape free and then slipped her finger into Sage's mouth. Out came a sodden hunk of cloth. Sage sucked air gratefully and leaned against the open door of the van as if exhausted. She pulled a grimace at the stench of gasoline still hanging around the vehicle.

A heavy quilted blanket lay on the floor of the van-the kind of blanket movers used to wrap furniture. Roxy grabbed it and bundled it around Sage as best she could manage. Then she set to work on freeing Sage's ankles.

Sage's voice was barely a croak. "Good news, Mom."

Roxy's heart nearly overflowed. Trust Sage to find the silver lining in the middle of a kidnapping. "Oh, yeah? What's that?"

"I got my period."

Roxy's first reaction, oddly enough, was disappointment. Then, seeing the relief in Sage's battered face, she hugged her daughter.

"That's enough of that," Henry said. "She's comfortable enough for the moment. Let's you and me start to get the Achilles off your truck. I want to get out of here."

Roxy hardened her heart and stood back from Sage. "In a rush all of a sudden?"

"Things haven't exactly gone according to plan," Henry conceded.

"Ever since you killed Kaylee, you mean?"

Henry didn't answer, but he narrowed his eyes. Sage sat very still, listening.

Henry jerked his head. "Let's go, Roxy."

She hated leaving Sage behind. But she obeyed and walked with Henry back to the loading dock.

Out of Sage's earshot, Roxy said, "I a.s.sume you killed Kaylee because you figured out she saw you shoot Julius."