The shelves were flimsy and useless. The other junk lying around wouldn’t help. The only possibility was the chair. She hefted it. It was sturdy and might be of some use, but it would be awkward to handle in the confined space at the top of the steps.

She lifted it over her head and brought it crashing down, again and again, until finally the legs loosened and she wrenched them free.

Then the rungs at the back received the same treatment until she held only the solid seat in her hands.

She raced up the stairs and pounded at the lock with the makeshift battering ram. The frame splintered. She paused to catch her breath before continuing. Finally, the lock gave and the door popped open.

She tossed the seat down the stairs, took the final step into the foyer, and dashed to the kitchen. A phone rested on the counter. She picked up the receiver and put it to her ear.

There was no dial tone; the phone was disconnected.

Annie raced for the back door, flipped the lock, and pulled the sliding door open. She dashed into the bright sunlight, spun around, and saw a house to her left, another to her right.

She went left, ran up the side of the house where she was held prisoner, then jumped a hedge to the front lawn of the neighbor’s house.

She pounded at the door, keeping an eye behind her in case Tammy returned. She had no idea if anyone was home, but she knocked again.

Finally, the door opened a few inches, stopped by a security chain. A wrinkled face sporting a curious look appeared in the crack. The old man had a sparse covering of snow-white hair and he cupped a hand behind his ear. “Whatever is the matter?” he asked.

“I need to use your phone. It’s an emergency,” Annie said, a pleading look on her face.

The man stared a moment, a faint frown taking over his brow. He looked Annie up and down and then closed the door. The chain rattled and the door swung open.

“I guess it’ll be okay,” the old man said, as he stepped back and waved her in. “Martha don’t like anyone tracking about the house, but she ain’t here right now and you sure look like you been through something.”

Annie stepped inside. “Thank you.”

The man pointed down the hallway. “Go on into the kitchen there and help yourself. It’s hangin’ on the wall.”

Chapter 50

Friday, 12:24 p.m.

JAKE LOOKED AT his cell phone and frowned. It was an unknown number. He answered it, tucked it between his shoulder and ear, and put his hands back on the steering wheel.

“Jake Lincoln,” he said into the phone.

“Jake, It’s Annie. I’m okay.”

Jake’s heart jumped and he brought his left hand up to the phone, leaning forward in his seat. “Where are you?”

“At the north end of the city, near Main and Broad.”

Jake looked in the mirror, touched the brake, and pulled into the left hand lane. “I’m on my way,” he said, as he pulled a U-turn, heading back the way he’d come.

Since Jake had last talked to Hank, he’d been driving around endlessly, looking for Tammy Norton’s car in the area where Annie’s cell phone had been found. He wasn’t far from her, and he listened while Annie gave him her exact location.

“I’ll be there in five minutes. Don’t go anywhere.” He hung up, touched the gas and swerved around a slow-moving vehicle.

Four minutes later, he pulled up in front of a small, clapboard house and looked around for Annie. She streaked out from behind a thick bush, opened the door, and got in.

“Am I glad to see you,” she said.

Jake grinned and leaned over while Annie kissed his grin. “Me too,” he said. “What happened?”

The grin vanished from Jake’s face, replaced by a worried look as Annie told him in as few words as possible how Tammy had abducted her and how she escaped.

“Did you call the police?” Jake asked.

“Not yet. I called you first.” She reached for Jake’s phone and called Hank. Whenever the detective was available, going through him was always the fastest way to get things moving.

“Hank will be here in a few minutes,” she said, after she spoke to the cop and hung up. “He’s sending some cruisers as well.”

Jake explained about Geekly’s call, the search of Tammy’s house, and how Annie’s cell phone had been recovered.

“She has to get rid of my car,” Annie said. “She might’ve returned to her house to get it.”

“And when she finds a house full of police, and cruisers all over the street, she won’t stick around.”

“Exactly,” Annie said. “Then she’ll have no choice. She’ll return here to finish me off.”

Jake glanced through the windshield, then in the rear-view mirror. “We should get this car out of sight in case she comes back. We don’t want her to know you escaped.”

He pulled from the curb, spun around, and drove to a side street. They got out and worked their way back, stopping beside a massive oak tree across the street from the house.

Jake kept an eye in the direction he expected Tammy Norton to come from. “Do you know whose house that is?” he asked.

“I didn’t stick around long enough to find out. The phone was disconnected, and it seems to be vacant for one reason or another, although it’s still full of furniture. It’s been empty awhile, because she held her husband here before she killed him.”

“She planned it well,” Jake said.

“Almost well enough.”

Jake took a step back and grabbed Annie by the arm, pulling her toward him. “I think she’s coming.”

A dark-blue car came down the street. Jake squinted out from behind the tree. “It’s her.”

The Ford slowed and turned into the driveway. The garage door wound upward, the car pulled in, and then the door closed.

Jake looked up and down the street. The police were nowhere in sight.

“She’s going to find out pretty quickly I’m gone,” Annie said. “As soon as she gets in the house, she’ll see the broken door.”

Jake looked at Annie in alarm. “And then she’ll run, and they might never find her.”

Annie glanced at the house then back at Jake. “We have to stop her.” She looked thoughtfully toward the house. “I think she has a plan. Someplace to go where it’s safe after she leaves here. She might disappear forever.”

Jake ran the options through his head. They could go into the house and hope to overpower her. That was dangerous. She was armed. They could wait for the police. Not a great option. Maybe they could follow her in the Firebird. Not such a great plan, either.

He looked at Annie. “Any ideas?” He could almost see Annie’s mind at work.

“If we can’t stop her,” Annie said. “Maybe we can slow her down.”

“How?”

“Get your car,” she said, turning and racing toward their parked vehicle.

Jake followed her, reached the Firebird, and they hopped inside. He started the car, the tires squealing as he spun it around.

Annie sat forward in the front seat and pointed. “Drive to the house.”

He hit the gas and the car surged forward and then slowed as he neared the house.

“Pull into the laneway and park against the garage door.”

Jake frowned.

“It won’t hurt your baby. Just touch the door gently and stop. That’ll keep it from opening.”

Jake wasn’t keen on the idea but it was a good plan. He pulled into the driveway, eased forward, and stopped, the front bumper firmly against the garage door.

“We’d better get out of the car,” Annie said, opening the door. “She’s going to be as mad as a hornet when she finds out.”

“Odds are, when the door doesn’t open, she’ll come out the back door of the garage to see what the problem is.”

“Or maybe she’ll try to ram it.”

That worried Jake. If Tammy tried to force her way through when the door didn’t open, it could cause damage to his vehicle. But it would be a small price to pay to capture a killer—one who had threatened his wife.