At The Stroke Of Madness Part 20

CHAPTER 64.

Maggie couldn't see a vehicle, but there were enough outbuildings to store several. Had he gone to work already? Or if not work, perhaps he had a cla.s.s. Maybe he was even back at the rock quarry, helping Watermeier and Bonzado. What a pathetic twist. The killer not only returning to the crime scene but helping to process it. Simon Shelby had stood by and watched, actually even helped at times, while they sorted through his mutilations, his butchery.

The acreage was well maintained. All the buildings were whitewashed, the gra.s.s and meadow cut short, no discarded old equipment. One of the buildings looked like it had huge solar panels on its sides, renovated for perhaps a workshop.

She made her way to the back door but hadn't peeked inside any of the windows yet. She decided to knock. Make sure he was gone, despite her certainty. And she slid her Smith & Wesson under her jacket, in case someone answered the door. When no one did, she tried to the k.n.o.b, surprised to find the door unlocked.

She brought out her revolver again and swung the door open. She stopped to listen. Other than an electrical hum of an appliance, she couldn't hear anything. She entered slowly, watching, looking, searching as she eased down the hallway. She came to the kitchen first on the left. She glanced in. Nothing out of the ordinary. The electrical hum was coming from the old chest freezer in the corner. She continued down the hallway. An open stairwell was to her right and she looked up. Nothing.

She could see the living room beyond the stairwell, or perhaps a parlor, furnished like a showroom with what looked like antiques, lace doilies and curtains. She got to the entrance and was paying such close attention to what was in front of her that she didn't hear him come up from behind. She didn't hear him until it was too late.

Maggie turned just as something came crashing down on the side of her head.

CHAPTER 65.

Luc didn't like waiting.

He wished Agent O'Dell had allowed him to bring Sc.r.a.pple along. He didn't like being without the dog. They went everywhere together. And he really didn't like hearing Sc.r.a.pple's howl of abandonment coming from the living room window as they drove away.

He tried to see beyond the trees. He tried to look down the path where Agent O'Dell had disappeared. He didn't understand why she hadn't driven up, or at least, walked up the driveway. She was being very secretive for someone who kept telling him not to worry. She reminded him of Julia. Before she moved to D.C. his daughter had always been going off checking stuff, stuff she probably shouldn't have been poking her nose into. Maybe that was just what law enforcement people did. Maybe it was in their blood. Although he and Julia did share some of the same blood.

He scratched his head, pushing back the beret and looking again to see if he could make out where in the world Agent O'Dell was now. He held up the cell phone. She said fifteen minutes. Well, it was close to that now, wasn't it? He glanced at his wrist, only to remember that he had stopped wearing watches long ago when he could no longer understand them. Numbers had become useless to him. He couldn't even write out a check anymore. They probably would have shut off his electricity months ago if he hadn't had the foresight to set up all the automatic withdrawals for his bills. Hopefully the money wouldn't run out before his time ran out.

He looked out the car window again and this time felt a slight panic as he tried to remember why he couldn't recognize anything. Oh, jeez! Where the h.e.l.l was he? He twisted around in the car, trying to find something he recognized. Then he held up the black object in his hand. He was holding it so tight it had to be something important, but d.a.m.n it, he couldn't remember what the h.e.l.l it was.

CHAPTER 66.

Maggie woke slowly. Her head throbbed. Her legs felt numb, tangled, somewhere underneath her. It was pitch-dark despite her attempt to open her eyes. No use. It was too dark. She couldn't move her arms. Couldn't begin to untangle her legs. She could barely move her hands and tried to feel around the small, smooth s.p.a.ce above her. Whatever he had shoved her into, it was too tight to move.

Too tight and cold. So very cold.

That was when she heard the motor kick on. That was when she recognized the electrical hum. That same hum she had heard when she first entered the house.

Oh, G.o.d! He had put her in the freezer.

She couldn't panic. It wouldn't help to panic. She couldn't have been in here long or she wouldn't have woken up. She had to remain calm. She tried to twist her legs out from under her. It was useless. They were shoved in tight. Even her arms couldn't move more than a few inches to the side. It felt like she was squeezing herself down into the chest tighter and tighter. That couldn't be possible.

She needed to stay calm. She needed to breathe. It was already difficult to breathe. How much air could she possibly have inside here? And the cold. G.o.d, it was unbearable.

Her fingers hurt, but she balled them up into fists and pushed on the lid. There wasn't even enough room to pound. She remembered her weapon. Yes, she could shoot some holes in the lid. Of course, why hadn't she thought of that? She patted down her jacket. She tried to feel her pockets. And despair came quickly with the realization that, of course, he wouldn't have tossed her revolver in with her.

It was useless. She started to scream "help" as loud as she could. Over and over again until her throat felt raw. She shoved at the lid. She slammed her fists, now numb from the cold. She kept slamming them into the lid until she could feel what must have been blood dripping down into her face. And all she could think about was that the only person who might know where to look for her was back in her car with a cell phone that had a dead battery.

CHAPTER 67.

Adam found Maggie's rental parked off the road but no one was inside. Did she know about Simon? How could she? He pulled his El Camino in behind the Ford Escort and jumped out, heading through the ditch until he thought of something. He ran back to the pickup and grabbed the pry bar from the back.

He barely got to the trees before he saw Luc Racine, wandering behind one of the buildings. The old man looked lost. Adam started to call out to him, then stopped, looking around for Simon. He had called the funeral home before he drove out here, hoping he'd catch Simon and be able to confront him in public. But they told him Simon had called in sick, and that alone sent a wave of panic through Adam. Simon never called in sick.

Now he wished he had tried to get ahold of Henry again, but each time he had tried, Beverly told him Sheriff Watermeier was in a very important meeting and could not be disturbed. That his deputy had been instructed to handle any emergencies.

Adam made his way to Luc, staying in the trees and watching for signs of Maggie or Simon. When he was close enough, he called to Luc in a low voice, "Mr. Racine. Hey, Luc."

The old man turned around so suddenly he almost tripped. His eyes darted everywhere and Adam worried he might be having one of his blank moments.

"Over here, Mr. Racine." He came out from the trees and walked to Luc, his eyes watching in all directions.

"Oh, Professor, it's you. You scared me."

"Sorry. Where's Maggie?"

"I don't know. But I think I heard someone in this cabin over here."

"Have you seen Simon?"

"No, no, not at all. We need to find Maggie. I just don't have a good feeling. I think she's been gone too long." He was shifting from one foot to the other, back and forth in almost a nervous dance.

"Okay, calm down. We'll find her. Let's check in here."

They couldn't see in through the windows and the door was locked with a chain and padlock. Adam used the pry bar, twisting and pounding at it until finally it broke open. The light in the room was dim. Adam thought it looked like a cozy cabin, except for the shelves that lined the walls. Shelves with rows and rows of jars and crocks that reminded him of his own lab back at the university. Then he noticed the bed in the far corner. Someone moved under the covers.

The woman curled up and strapped in the bed jerked awake. She cried out when she saw them, smiling and laughing. Then suddenly she winced and cried out with pain.

CHAPTER 68.

Maggie felt the exhaustion. She needed to think. She needed to stay calm. No good would come from panic. Her hands throbbed with pain. That was good, good that she could still feel something even if it was pain. Yes, it was good that the cold bit into her skin, that it hadn't gone totally numb. Good that she could still hear her teeth chattering and feel her body shivering.

Shivering was the body's way of warming itself. Soon she'd be too tired to shiver, her blood too thick, her heart and lungs too slow to respond. Even her brain would become less efficient as she crossed the boundary into hypothermia.

She tried to remember what she could expect. She tried to remember what happens during hypothermia. If she could remember maybe she could look out for the signs and fight them.

She knew it was possible to survive several hours in extreme cold, but how many? Two? Three? She couldn't remember. What else was there? She needed to remember.

Soon the cold would shut down her metabolism. Her lungs would take in less oxygen and her breaths would become fewer so that it would look like she wasn't even breathing. That was good, because there couldn't be much air in this freezer. Oh, G.o.d! Would she suffocate before she froze to death?

She knew the same was true for her heart rate. It would slow down, too, which seemed impossible at the moment. It seemed so loud, hammering in her ears. But it would slow to a faint, almost inaudible rate, so that if someone were to feel her pulse, he might not feel one at all.

She kept telling herself that she had plenty of time until they found her. But who would come looking for her? Other than Simon the only person who knew she was here was Luc Racine. Would he come looking for her when she didn't come back to the car? Would he call for help? Oh, d.a.m.n! How could he call for help? And again, she remembered that she had left him with a dead cell phone. What did it matter? He might not even remember where he was or who she was.

The panic clawed at her. She resisted the urge to beat her fists against the walls of the freezer again. She told herself that panic was also good. It was when the panic subsided that she'd need to start worrying. Although by that time she might not care.

She tried to concentrate again. She wanted to go through the list of things to expect. It would keep her mind working.

What other things were there? Oh, yes, the lack of oxygen would trigger hallucinations. They could be visual or auditory or both. She might see people when there was no one there at all. Or she might hear someone talking or calling to her, but it would only be her mind playing tricks on her.

There was also the sudden and extreme heat. Yes, heat after the cold. It was one of the cruel paradoxes of severe hypothermia. There was supposedly a burning sensation that made victims want to tear off their clothing and rip at their skin. No problem there. She couldn't move enough to do either. Ironically, the heat was one of the last things they remembered before losing consciousness. That's if they could remember.

Amnesia would eventually chip away at the brain. Maybe it was the body's last defense, a sort of odd blessing to replace the memory of pain and cold with a simple void.

She could feel her muscles already getting stiff. They throbbed and ached from the shivering. She tried to think of warm things. Maybe Gwen was right. Maybe she did need a vacation. And she tried to imagine a beach, hot sand between her toes, the sun beating down on her skin, warm, refreshing waves washing up against her. If not a beach then maybe her hands wrapped around a steaming mug of hot chocolate while her body cuddled into a thick down comforter while she sat in front of a roaring fire. So warm she could curl up, curl up and...sleep.

She was so exhausted. Sleep sounded good. She closed her eyes. She could feel her breaths coming slower, more and more shallow. The pain in her hands had gone away. Or maybe she simply couldn't feel the pain anymore. The panic had subsided. She felt it slipping away. She was so very tired, so sleepy. Yes, she'd close her eyes. Just for a moment or two. It was so dark, so quiet.

She'd allow herself to sleep. Just for a little while. She'd sleep under the warm sunshine. She could hear the waves splashing, a seagull up above. From somewhere in the back of her mind, someplace where her brain had slowed down but hadn't stopped working, from somewhere there came a faint whine, a soft, almost inaudible alarm insisting she open her eyes, pleading with her to not give in to the darkness.

At the same time came the realization that she had already stopped shivering. And she knew it was too late.

CHAPTER 69.

Luc searched every room of the house and still hadn't found Maggie. Where in the world was she? Sheriff Watermeier seemed convinced Simon Shelby had taken her with him. His deputies searched the surrounding woods while the State Patrol were said to be setting up roadblocks.

Luc could still hear the ambulance's siren as it whined up Whippoorwill Drive. One of the paramedics said it looked like the woman named Joan had been poisoned. What if Simon had poisoned Maggie?

He fidgeted, wringing his hands, then raced back up the stairs to check closets and corners he knew he had already checked. The whole time he kept thinking that she had saved him once. He couldn't possibly let her down. He didn't even know how long it had been since she left him in the car. Simon could have taken her hours ago.

"Luc?" Adam was in the hall between the kitchen and the stairwell. "Any sign of her?"

"No. I've looked everywhere."

"Henry's put out an APB on Simon. If he has her with him, they'll find and stop him."

"I just don't have a good feeling about this."

"She's a tough woman. She can take care of herself."

But as he said it Luc could tell Adam hadn't convinced himself.

"What kind of madman does this?" Luc hated that the panic was still caught like a lump in his throat, making his voice crack. "Out back in the trees there's a bunch of white packages of frozen meat or something. He just threw it all out there to rot. What kind of a crazy man does something like that?"

"Wait a minute." Adam started searching again. "You say he threw out stuff from a freezer?"

"Yeah, piles of it. It was back-" But he saw it at the same time Adam did. They raced to the chest freezer in the kitchen corner, both of them hesitating and looking at each other almost as if they were as afraid to open it as they were hopeful.

CHAPTER 70.

Out of the darkness Maggie thought she heard a hum, a faint whine that wouldn't go away. That kept getting louder, though was still in the distance. An annoying whine. Was it a voice? Was she only imagining it? Hallucinating?

She was too tired to care.

Her eyelids burned as a flash of light came at her, then was gone. Laser beams, another flash and then darkness.

"Gone."

Yes, they were gone as quickly as they came at her.

"She's gone."