Web of Deceit (17 page)

“You need to get
on 93 South. We’re going to Kings Landing, just east of Norwell.”

“OK.”
Yes
!!!
I get to open her up on the highway.
A confident smile stretches across her
face.

“Are you all
right?” Beth asks, feeling jealous.
I wish I could’ve handled his pride and
joy like this.

“Yeah,” Joanna
says with a giggle. “I can’t afford one of these with my salary, and I can’t
decide which is more exciting. Her smooth performance or the expression on
Elliot’s face when he finds out I drove his ‘baby.’ ”

“Yeah,” Beth agrees.
“It will be fun to watch his reaction.”

The ringing of
Beth’s phone awakens her mind to the problem at hand. “Hello?”

“Hi, it’s
Symphony. The lady at the front desk said that she only has two security guards
on duty tonight, but she can spare a couple bellboys.”

“I’d rather not
take the chance. Hey, I think that Floyd’s shift starts soon. He’s the night
doorman. He’s been there as long as I can remember and he’s definitely
trustworthy. Have them …”

Bleep. Bleep.
Bleep.

Beth’s
call-waiting interrupts.

“Hey, I have
another call. Tell them to switch Floyd with a bellboy and call me back …”

Bleep. Bleep.

“… if there’s a
problem.” Beth presses
Send
to pick up the other line. “Hello?”

“Beth, it’s
Elliot.”

“Thank God. Where
have you been?”

“Sarah was taken,”
Elliot says. “So Elizabeth and I chased after her with a nurse from the
hospital. Bottom line, the nurse was involved and somehow she jammed our
phones, causing them to die. Praise God, he sent Edwin to our rescue and we’re
safe. We lost the car that had Sarah, so we came to the police station. I’m
sorry I didn’t call sooner, but Edwin left his phone home.”

“Man, I’m glad you
guys are safe,” Beth says. “Joanna and I are on our way to Mrs. Freedman’s.
Symphony and I found Jade. After talking to her, I’m convinced Mrs. Freedman’s
behind this entire thing. She is doing horrible things with drug-induced
hypnosis.”

“Stop by the
police station and pick me up. I’ll have a warrant ready.”

Beth glances out
the window. “You’ll have to meet us there. We’re already en route, and I don’t
want to lose any more time than I already have.”

“OK, I’ll get
dropped off at my car and meet you there.”

“Uh … yeah … about
that. Symphony has the jeep. She needed to take Jade and Vicky to safety. So
Joanna and I took your car,” Beth says in an optimistic voice.

“Oh .. well, just
give me her number, and I’ll see if she can pick me up.”

After giving
Elliot the number she says, “All right. Be safe, and …”

“Be careful with
the car; she’s got a lot of power and those country roads may be icy.”

“Don’t worry about
your baby; we won’t let anything happen to her.” Beth messes with Elliot.

“Yeah, it’s not
the car I’m worried about. It can be replaced.” With that Elliot disconnects
the call.

“Is he mad?”
Joanna asks as Beth closes the phone.

“No,” Beth
answers, puzzled. “There’s something different about him.” She pauses a moment
to think about it. “He’s not worried about his car. He’s concerned with the
car’s power on the icy roads.”

“Wow. Maybe Mrs.
Freedman got to him.”

“No, compassion is
not her thing. I think it may have been Sarah’s parents. All day, tragic things
have been happening to their daughter, and their faith in God stays strong.
Even Sarah gave God the glory when she escaped from the moving van. She said
God gave her Bible verses to guide her. Things like that don’t happen. I’m
starting to wonder if God really is on her side.” Beth ponders Elliot’s new
attitude.

“Yeah, my friend
who fixed Chip today gave all the glory to God. And to be honest, it shouldn’t
have been that easy to fix him.”

“What was wrong
with Chip?”

“He was hypnotized
into believing a tiny mechanical spider was injected into his brain,” Joanna
says, “which caused him severe pain unless he did what was commanded.”

“Man, after
talking to Jade that sounds like Mrs. Freedman’s handiwork. Is he OK?”

“Yeah, we
pretended to operate and take that part of his brain out,” Joanna says. “We
convinced him it was such a minute part that he wouldn’t even know it was gone.
Then we pretended to put a shield around it so it can’t happen again.”

“Wow, that sounds
easy enough.”

“Yeah, it was more
difficult than that. But Dale prayed to God throughout the entire procedure. It
was different though. He was talking to God like he was right next to him and
like he was a friend more than an untouchable being.”

“Sarah talks to
God like that too. I’m starting to think there are more believers in the world
than I thought.”

“Yeah, and at
times like this, it’s almost bothersome to think what will happen if they are
right,” Joanna says with concern.

“Yeah, like life
in hell forever.” Beth gazes out the window avoiding any further conversation
about life after death. She watches the South Boston lights fade as they
journey deeper into the cold, dark night.

Reclining in Frank’s
desk chair, Elliot places the phone on the receiver and picks it up again to
dial Symphony.

“Hello?” Symphony
answers in a skeptical tone, unsure of the caller ID.

“Symphony, it’s
Elliot. I need to catch up with Beth. Can you pick me up at the police station?”

“Yeah, I can be
there in fifteen.”

“Thanks,” he says
before realizing Symphony already ended the call.

Elliot approaches
the desk where Elizabeth and Edwin are answering questions. The officer
interviewing them is preparing an exhausting, detailed report. “Symphony is
going to pick me up. You two stay here until we get back.”

“That shouldn’t be
hard to do,” Edwin says. “After we’re done filling these forms out, they said
they have a series of traffic cameras and mug shots to go through online to see
if we can recognize Catrina’s
Cadillac
or the Subaru Sarah was taken in.”

“Great, I need to
go in the other room and get a warrant then I’ll take off. I’ll let you know as
soon as we find Sarah.”

Elizabeth stands
to her feet. “Stay strong and lean on Jesus. Remember you’re no longer alone;
you’re a child of God now. Everywhere you go Jesus is right next to you.”

“Thanks.” Elliot
bends to embrace Elizabeth with a hug. “For everything.”

Elizabeth returns
the hug and responds with a smile. “Of course, but it wasn’t me, you know. God
was just blessing me to let me be a part of it. Be careful, we’ll be praying
for you.”

Elliot returns the
smile and then dashes to Captain Aims’s office.

Knock knock!

“Come in,” the
gruff voice behind the door responds.

As Elliot enters
the office, the captain gets out of the chair behind his desk. “Thank God, son.
I’ve been worried sick. Joanna called a little over two hours ago saying you
were missing.”

“We think we know
who’s behind this, and I have to meet Joanna and Beth at her house with a
warrant.”

“Sweet. It just so
happens I got one all ready for you.” Captain Aims pulls a document out of his
desk. “All we have to do is fill in the blanks. I knew you’d be back with
answers.”

“Thanks,” Elliot
responds while reaching over the desk and taking the warrant.

“No problem. I’ll
get a team together, and the minute you need back up, we’ll be there. Need
anything else?”

“Yeah, my phone’s
dead. You wouldn’t have an extra phone, would ya?”

“Absolutely!”

Knock knock!

“Come in.”

“Sorry to bother
you, sir. But there’s a girl here for Elliot,” a young-looking officer says.

“Yeah, hey—Ralph
right? Come in here for a minute.”

The shy rookie
enters closing the door behind him.

“Do you have a
cellular phone?” the captain inquires.

“Yes sir, right
here.” Ralph lifts it up to show Captain Aims.

“Good. Do you have
my number on that?” the captain asks.

“Yes sir. I have
the station’s numbers as well. Are you sending me on a case?”

“No, give it to
Elliot and get back to work. His phone died. He’ll get it to you tomorrow.”

Disappointed, the
eager rookie hands his phone to Elliot and leaves the room.

“Thanks,” Elliot
follows Ralph out and then closes the door behind him. “Thanks for the phone,
and don’t worry. You’ll be on a case before you know it. He likes you. I can
tell.”

“Thanks for the
pep talk. The girl said to meet her in the Jeep.”

Minutes later,
Elliot joins Symphony in the parking lot. “Hey, Symphony, thanks for the lift.
Where can I drop you off?” Elliot gets in the Jeep to drive.

“I’m going with
you.”

“People are dying,
Symphony. It’s not safe for you to go.”

“I live in
Dorchester, Elliot. You know, ‘Death Chester.’ I’ll be fine,” Symphony says.
“Besides, every time something bad has happened over the past couple of days,
you’ve been there. So you’re either the unluckiest person I ever met, or you’ve
somehow gotten caught up in this web of destruction. Either way, if Beth and
Sarah need help, they need someone they can count on—me.”

“How are you gonna
defend yourself if someone comes at you with a weapon?”

“Got it covered.”
She makes light of the situation as she picks up a bat from the backseat while
smirking.

“A bat?”

“It was a gift
from Jade and Vicky,” she jokes. “But, seriously, I can handle myself. Besides,
I have a detailed address with landmarks. You need me. Jade says it’s easy to
get lost on the way.”

Elliot watches her
facial expressions as she pulls every card she has to go with him. “OK,” he
concedes. “You can come.” Elliot takes a glance out the rear window before
backing up. He notices Symphony’s motionless face.
Oh, God she’s so sad.
What can I do? ‘Be her friend,’ responds an inner thought, ‘as I have been
yours.’
  Elliot sees a vision of Jesus on the cross in his minds eye.

“Off route,” the
GPS announces as Joanna takes a wrong turn.

Beth tosses up her
hands. “I don’t get it. This is the third time. I can see the destination.” She
points at the GPS small color screen. “But I can’t find the road to get there.”

“I have trouble
with mine sometimes too. It ends up being one of two problems. Either it’s not
updated, or there’s a path that the GPS thinks is a road,” Joanna turns the
high beams on and drives slower. “Maybe if I zoom in.” She taps the GPS touch
screen several times.

“Why don’t I do
that?” Beth becomes ill watching Joanna multi-task while driving on the icy
roads.

“Maybe the address
is wrong.”

“Good point. I’ll
call Symphony. “Beth scans with the down arrow until she comes across
Symphony’s name and presses
Send
.

“Hello, Beth.”

“Hi, is Jade there?
I’m having trouble finding the road.”

“No, but I can
help,” Symphony says. “Where are you?”

“We’re on
Hullenbeck Road,”

Symphony scans
down the sheet of instructions. “After you turn right on Hullenbeck, you’ll
come to a yield sign; take a sharp left onto Nigel drive. After two miles
you’ll come to a Y in the road, keep left—that road turns into Castle View.”

“Thanks, and have
Elliot call me when he gets here.”

“OK.” Symphony
ends the call.

“We need to turn
left at a yield sign.”

“We already passed
a yield sign.” Joanna slows down enough to do a U-turn in the middle of the
narrow country road and then regains her speed.

“You should keep
it slow,” Beth says. “It’s a sharp …” Her heart skips a beat and her stomach
goes to the floor, “…right.” She scowls at Joanna.

“We were closer
than I thought,” Joanna says with a grin.

“Obviously,” Beth
agrees, unamused. “When we reach a Y in the road you need to veer left. That
will turn into Castle View road.”

“Stay left here,”
Beth reminds Joanna as they reach the Y.

“Arrive at
destination on left in 2.5 miles,” the GPS says.

“Oh. Look who
decided to join us again,” Joanna says as she gives an angry gesture to the
GPS.

“We should find a
place to hide the car and then walk the rest of the way.”

“Good idea, but so
far there aren’t any pull-offs and the ditches are steep and close to the
road,” Joanna says, focused on the road ahead.

“Arrive at
destination on left in 1.5 miles,” the GPS warns.

Joanna shakes her
head. “Great, as if there wasn’t enough pressure, this thing’s on an automatic
count down.”

“When we get half
a mile away, just park as close to the edge as you can.”

“You only say that
because you’re not the one driving Elliot’s baby.”

“I think I see a
pull-off up ahead.” Beth leans forward.

“No, I think it’s
a driveway.”

“Pull into it; if
someone’s there we will pretend we’re lost.”

Joanna starts down
the long driveway. “I don’t see any lights. Do you?”

“No,” Beth
answers. “It is an old, abandoned shack, and with all these evergreens around,
it makes the perfect hiding place. Pull over here. I’ll call Elliot and tell
him where to park.”

“While you do
that, I’ll see if I can find a trail.” Joanna gets out and slinks towards the
dark woods.

Joanna returns in
five minutes. “Man, the woods are thick.” She reaches into the car and unhooks
the GPS. “I hope this thing stays charged for a while.”

“Good idea. Is
there a mute?”

“Yes.” Joanna
leads Beth towards the very tall evergreens that surround the cottage. “Did you
get in touch with Elliot?”