One Summerhill Day (The Summerhill Series Book 1) (21 page)

Chapter Thirty-Three

Lynn Palermo stepped on the gas as the car crossed the border from Pennsylvania into New York State. “This time, we’re going to finish this thing. We need that money. And we could have gotten it a while ago if your stupidity hadn’t sent the police after us. Only because of your actions have we had to sit back and wait until the time was right.”

“Yeah, well, I got a nice trip to the sunshine state. Worked fine for me.”

“I had to send you away.” Lynn glared at him from the side. “Never mind. Focus on today.”

“We have everything we need. We should be able to get in and out of Summerhill in a couple of hours. You’re sure you know where she lives?” her companion asked.

“I know everything about her. I’ve studied the maps of the town, so I know where all the banks are. We just have to convince her to give us the passwords. We have her credit card numbers and her social security number, so as soon as we get her ATM passwords, we’re set. We’ll hit as many as we can and withdraw as much as we can, then we’ll drop her somewhere and leave.”

“I’ll take care of her when we find her. She’ll scream the passwords to me. Let me handle it.”

“Oh, yeah, right. Like you did in Buffalo or on the Thruway? You paid way too much money to secure the help to leave those notes. Then you were supposed to take care of everything on the thruway, but you let her get away.”

“How the hell did I know the State Troopers would be after her?”

Lynn yelled at him. “They weren’t after her. They were after you. You shouldn’t have played around with her. You should have just stopped her and forced her to give you the information we need.”

He grinned. “I was just having a little fun with her. I could almost see the tears in her eyes when I passed her.”

“Fool. If you’d done it right, we wouldn’t be in the fix we’re in now. I didn’t want you to hurt her. All I wanted was her passwords.”

He glanced at his shaking hand, then put it under his other arm, trying to stop the tremor. “I know, I know.”

“I’ll handle her this time.” Lynn stared at the road in front of her. Bruce had told her all about Caitlyn’s money, and she deserved to have some of it after spending so many years working with bitchy nurses and doctors. Her time had come, unfortunately for Cait.

He pressed on his hand even harder. “You’re going to have to handle her,” he said through shaking lips. “I need a fix and it’s getting bad. You should have shared the last one with me.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll be in and out of Summerhill in no time. And I’ll take care of getting what we need from Caitlyn Dalton.”

“It’s Caitlyn McCabe now.”

Lynn took a long drag off her cigarette before she flicked it out the window. “Whatever. Won’t matter soon.”

***

Ryan walked into his grandfather’s house. He needed a little encouragement to do what he planned to do today. Fresh from the shower, he had dressed carefully and shaved, putting on the cologne Caitlyn had told him she liked. He didn’t know exactly what he was going to say, but he was going to apologize to Caitlyn and go from there. First he would explain everything about Erin and Chad, then he hoped she would accept his apology and let them start again.

He had to. He loved her. The more he was away from her, the more he missed her, the more he wanted her. But she had turned him down when she was out walking her dog, so he had to ask his gramps for a little advice.

“Ryan, my boy. Come on in.”

He couldn’t help but smile every time he saw his grandfather. “Hi, Gramps.”

“Good to see you. Did you get back with that nice Scottish girl yet?” He pointed to the seat next to him at the table. “Sit down, sit down. What do you have there?” He grinned when he noticed the two containers in Ryan’s hands.

“Oh, Lorraine sent some soup for you and some muffins.”

“Well, store the soup in the fridge for later, but set those muffins right down in front of me. Have one yourself. What kind did she send me?”

“Blueberry.”

“Blueberry? My favorite. She bakes a mean muffin, your stepmother does.” He grabbed a napkin and set a muffin on top of it.

“They are good. I already had one, Gramps.”

“Well, fine, fine. More for me.” He chuckled, patting Ryan’s arm. “Your father isn’t coming?”

“Dad said he’d stop by later.”

“What seems to be the trouble today?”

“No trouble, Gramps.” He stared at his grandfather, suddenly registering how old Gramps was getting. What would he do when he passed away? He just loved talking to him. Yeah, sometimes he was a little goofy, but most of the time, he had so much wisdom to share. “I was just wondering…”

“Aye?” He bit into his muffin.

“I was wondering if you had any advice for me. I’m going over to Caitlyn’s to apologize, and I want to make sure she doesn’t slam the door in my face.”

Gramps laughed and took another bite of his muffin, finishing his mouthful before he spoke. “That’s an easy one.”

“It is?”

“Aye, don’t you know? Flowers or diamonds. And based on a policeman’s budget, I would suggest flowers.”

“Flowers? Really? That’s it?”

“Hell, yeah. Women go crazy for flowers. Every time I got in hot water with your grandmother, I brought her a bouquet of flowers. She liked the really colorful ones.”

“But aren’t roses expensive?”

“Who said anything about roses? Other types of flowers work just as well. Women don’t care as long as they smell nice and are colorful. And don’t get just one, get a whole bouquet. Stop in to see the florist on Main Street and tell ‘em you want it for your girlfriend. Hell, Jerry does them all the time. Tell him I sent you, and he’ll know exactly what you want. You think you’re the only guy to ever get in hot water with his woman?”

“And they always work?”

“Well, not always. I recall one time your grandmother ripped them out of my hands and threw them at me.” He laughed.

“Gram?”

“Yeah, I came home late one night smelling of perfume. She thought I had another woman. It took more than one bouquet that time. I had to go for diamonds.”

“Gramps? You didn’t cheat on Gram, did you?” Ryan couldn’t keep the stunned look on his face. He just couldn’t imagine it. He’d always thought their marriage the perfect union.

“Hell, no.” Then he whispered. “But I did go to one of them strip clubs outside of Buffalo. Never went again. Hot-tempered woman made me pay dearly for that one.”

So Ryan stopped at the florist on Main Street. He walked in and sighed with relief when he realized he was the only one in the shop.

“Hey, Three.” Jerry said. “How are you? Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Hi, Jerry. I need something for a special girl, so Gramps sent me to you. He said you’d know what I need.” Shit, how embarrassing was this? Thank God no one else was around.

Jerry leaned toward him. “In trouble with the girlfriend, huh?” He winked at him. “Got just the thing for you. Coming right up.”

Ryan paid for his flowers and carried them out to his car. Shit. He saw a cruiser coming toward him and damn if it didn’t slow down.

Jake rolled his window down and yelled out, “Don’t you look pretty carrying those flowers? Where’s your nice dress?”

Ryan glared at his brother. “Fuck off, Jake.” He climbed into his car, the echo of his brother’s laughter following him. Didn’t matter. If it worked, it was worth it.

***

Caitlyn was huddling in the garage to get a bit of protection from the wind while Lucky searched for the right spot to do her business. A strange car pulled into her driveway and she peered through the front windshield to see who it was.

Lynn.
Shit
. She reached in her pocket to dial 911, but then remembered she had left her phone in on the counter.

“Lucky, come here.” Lucky scampered over as soon as the car pulled in. Caitlyn ran through the side door and almost had it shut when a burly hand reached out and wrapped around the door, forcing it open.

“Caitlyn Dalton, how nice to see you,” Lynn’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

Caitlyn backed into her house, knocking over an end table as soon as she hit it. William advanced toward her, so she ran toward the glass door. He grabbed her and threw her down into the chair, then stood over her sneering.

“I got her, Lynn. She’s all yours.”

Caitlyn clung to Lucky, trying to protect her. “What do you want, Lynn?”

“Your money. Very simple. Hand over everything you have—your wallet, your passwords, everything.”

“My wallet is right there on the counter, but I don’t have much cash.”

Lynn grabbed her purse and rummaged through it, taking what she wanted. “And your passwords?”

“Passwords for what?”

“For your checking accounts. Bruce said you had two different ones, and I want the cash from both. I’m going to the ATM from here.”

Caitlyn made a quick decision to give her whatever she wanted. It was only money, and she didn’t like the thug holding onto her shoulders. “Fine, here they are.” She repeated the numbers and Lynn wrote them down.

“Good, now just to make sure you aren’t lying about these numbers, you’re coming with us. William, tie her up.”

Caitlyn let Lucky go and stood up. “What? I’m not lying. You know me, Lynn. Leave me alone.”

“No. Tie her up, William.”

William grabbed her wrists and Caitlyn kicked him, catching him in both shins.

“Ow, you stupid bitch.” He swung and punched her in the face hard enough that the chair she was in fell over to the side. Pain shot through Caitlyn’s face as blood started to drip from her burst lip.

“William! Tie her up and don’t knock her out. I need her.”

“Well, she kicked me.” He tied Caitlyn’s hands together.

“Really, you baby? She kicked you? Let’s go.”

Lucky chased them all the way out the door, barking.

***

Ryan pulled into Caitlyn’s driveway and noticed her garage door was up, her car still inside. That was odd. She usually kept it closed. Maybe she was having trouble with the opener. He knocked on her door, squeezing the flowers in his hands. Nothing.

He pressed the doorbell in case she was upstairs and hadn’t heard his knock. Nothing. He pulled his phone out and texted her, but she didn’t answer. All he heard was a low-pitched whining. A few minutes later he heard her puppy scratching at the door. Jeez, she probably wouldn’t be happy to see her door all scratched up.

Then all the pieces fell together and he stopped to stare at her car. Where the hell was she anyway? She wasn’t here, but her car was, so she couldn’t be at work. He could hear her dog inside, so she definitely wasn’t walking the dog. He dialed her number and he could swear he heard her phone ringing inside. Not at home, but she didn’t have her phone? She always carried it with her in case she’d be needed at work. He tried the door and was surprised to find it wasn’t locked. Something was definitely wrong—she never left her door unlocked.

He opened the door and the dog flew out past him, chasing around her entire yard, front and back, looking for Cait. Leaving the door open so the dog could return, he stepped into the hallway. What he saw sent a surge of sickness to his stomach. A chair and an end table were overturned—as if she had been running away from something or someone. He moved closer, and it was as if a fist hit him square in the gut.

There was dark fluid on the floor.

Blood. Shit. Her stalker was back.

***

Caitlyn squirmed on the floor in the back seat of the car, trying to loosen her bindings, but to no avail.

Bill Jenkins yelled at her. “Quit your wiggling, bitch. If we get pulled over, I’ll shoot you before you have time to scream.”

“Stop yelling at her,” Lynn said. “Every time you turn around and look at the floor back there, you look suspicious.”

“You need to get me my fix. I told you that.”

“And I told you not yet. We have to hit as many ATMs as we can. They’ll be on to us quick and we have to be on our way out of town way before they get on our tail. As soon as we have what we need, we’ll stop in the city so we can get enough to hold us for a few days.”

“And what are we going to do with her once you have the money?”

“Stop the car and leave her by the side of the road. We’ll be long gone by the time they find her. We’ll find some deserted back road.”

Caitlyn tried her best to scream, but the sound was completely muffled by the duct tape over her mouth. She couldn’t budge her hands either. Her head hurt from all the times Bill had slapped her, but at least Lynn hadn’t let him punch her again.

Tears rolled down her cheeks. Her situation was hopeless. No one would miss her until she didn’t show up at work tomorrow.
Loki, where are you?
She stared at the ceiling in the car. Many, many prayers to God had already been said, but hadn’t Loki told her he was her guardian angel? No, guarding angel. That’s right. If so, where the hell was he? Some guard she had. If he’d done his job, these fools would never have gotten into her house.

Loki, God, somebody help me!