CHAPTER 10
Abigail's mind worked faster than it ever had before.
Naomi was lying.
About Victoria coming. About the gun. About everything.
The hand in the pocket. The bulge.
She had a weapon. Or she was signaling to someone.
Abigail had to think. She had to act.
“Okay,” she said, keeping her voice steady. “Okay. Let's go. Through the service entrance.”
Naomi's face lit up with relief. Or was it triumph?
“Good. Good. Follow me. Stay close. And don't make a sound.”
She turned toward the door.
Abigail's eyes darted around the room. The phone. The lamp. The heavy glass ashtray on the coffee table.
She had to do something before they left the room. Before they got to wherever Victoria and Marcus were waiting.
As Naomi reached for the door handle, Abigail made her move.
She grabbed the glass ashtray and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of Naomi's head.
Naomi cried out and crumpled to the floor.
Abigail didn't stop to check if she was okay. She ran to the phone and called the front desk.
“Security! There's a woman in my room. She's working with the people who are trying to kill me. Send help. Now!”
She hung up and ran to the door, locking it and pushing the heavy dresser in front of it.
Then she backed away, her heart hammering, and looked at Naomi.
The younger woman was groaning, trying to get up. Blood was trickling from a cut on her scalp.
“You... you hit me,” she mumbled.
“You tried to kidnap me,” Abigail said, her voice shaking but strong. “Or worse. You were leading me to them, weren't you? Victoria and Marcus. They're outside, aren't they?”
Naomi's eyes filled with tears. But they weren't tears of regret. They were tears of rage.
“You stupid old woman. You had no idea what you were doing. If you'd just come with me, it would have been quick. Painless. But now? Now Victoria is going to make you suffer. She's going to make you beg for death before she's through with you.”
The door rattled. Someone was trying to get in.
“Abigail!” a voice called from the hallway. It was one of the police officers. “Mrs. Riley! Open up!”
Abigail ran to the door and moved the dresser. She unlocked it and pulled it open.
Two officers rushed in. Their guns were drawn.
“Where are they?” one of them asked.
“Victoria and Marcus. They're outside somewhere. Naomi was leading me into a trap.”
The officers looked at Naomi, who was still on the floor.
“Is she armed?”
“I don't know. She had something in her pocket.”
One of the officers knelt down and carefully pulled Naomi's hand from her pocket.
He pulled out a small canister.
“Pepper spray,” he said. “And a taser. She was planning to disable you and drag you out.”
The other officer was talking into his radio.
“We have a situation. Suspects Victoria Marsh and Marcus Reid are believed to be in the vicinity of the hotel. Requesting backup. Now.”
He turned to Abigail.
“Mrs. Riley, we need to get you out of here. To a safe house. Somewhere they can't find you.”
But Abigail was looking at Naomi.
The younger woman was laughing. A bitter, ugly sound.
“You think this is over? You think arresting me changes anything? Victoria is already gone. She and Marcus are long gone by now. And they're not going to stop. Not ever. They're going to hunt you down, Abigail. They're going to take everything from you. Just like you took everything from them.”
Abigail knelt down beside her.
“Where are they, Naomi? Tell me. And maybe I'll ask the judge to go easy on you.”
Naomi spit at her.
“Go to hell.”
The officers pulled Abigail away.
“Come on, Mrs. Riley. We need to move.”
They took her out through the service entrance, just like Naomi had planned. But this time, she was surrounded by police.
They drove her to a safe house on the edge of the city. A small, unassuming house in a quiet neighborhood.
“You'll be safe here,” the officer told her. “We have officers watching the house twenty-four hours a day. No one gets in or out without us knowing.”
Abigail sat down on the couch. She was exhausted. Physically. Emotionally.
Spencer was in jail.
Naomi was in custody.
But Victoria and Marcus were still free.
And they wanted her dead.
That night, Abigail didn't sleep.
She sat by the window, watching the shadows, waiting for the monsters to come.
At three in the morning, her phone rang.
It was an unknown number.
She almost didn't answer. But something made her pick up.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Abigail.”
Victoria's voice. Cold. Smooth. Like honey and poison.
“I was so sorry to hear about Naomi. She was a useful tool. But ultimately, disposable. Just like everyone else in my life.”
“Victoria. Where are you?”
“Oh, I'm not far. I've been watching you, Abigail. I watched them move you into that little safe house. I know exactly where you are.”
Abigail's blood ran cold. She looked out the window. The street was dark. Quiet.
“You're lying.”
“Am I? The house on Maple Street. Number 1427. Pale blue siding. White picket fence. The officer outside is drinking coffee. He's been on duty for six hours. He's tired. He won't see us coming.”
Abigail stood up and backed away from the window.
“What do you want, Victoria?”
“I want what's mine. The twenty million dollars. And I want you to suffer for what you did to Spencer. He was weak, but he was mine. And you took him from me.”
“You'll never get the money. It's in a trust. You can't touch it.”
Victoria laughed. A soft, dangerous sound.
“I don't need to touch the trust. I just need you to sign it over. And you will. Because I have something you want. Something you need.”
“What are you talking about?”
There was a sound in the background. A man's voice. Groaning.
“Bring him,” Victoria said.
A moment later, she spoke again.
“Abigail? I want you to talk to someone.”
Another voice came on the line. Weak. Pain-filled.
“Mom? Mom, is that you?”
Abigail's world shattered.
“Spencer? Baby, are you okay?”
“Mom, they got me. They broke me out of holding. Victoria... she's not playing around, Mom. She's crazy. She's going to kill me if you don't do what she says.”
He was crying.
“Please, Mom. Please help me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything. Just please don't let her kill me.”
Abigail's resolve crumbled.
This was her son. Her child. No matter what he'd done.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked Victoria.
“Good. I knew you'd see reason. Here's what's going to happen. Tomorrow morning, you're going to go to your lawyer's office. You're going to dissolve the trust. You're going to take the money out in cash. Or wire it to an account I'm going to give you. And then you're going to come meet me. Alone. No police. No tricks.”
“And if I do that? You'll let Spencer go?”
“Of course. I'm not a monster, Abigail. I just want what's mine.”
“Let me talk to him again.”
“Mom?” Spencer's voice was desperate. “Mom, please. Just do what she says. I don't want to die.”
The line went dead.
Abigail stood in the middle of the safe house, the phone still in her hand.
She had a choice to make.
She could call the police. Tell them everything. Let them handle it.
But if she did that, Victoria might kill Spencer.
Or she could do what Victoria said. Dissolve the trust. Give her the money. And hope that Victoria kept her word.
But she knew Victoria wouldn't keep her word.
A woman who planned to bomb a hotel didn't let witnesses live.
If she gave Victoria the money, they would both die.
Abigail sat down and thought.
And slowly, a plan began to form.
It was dangerous. It was crazy. It could get them both killed.
But it was the only chance she had.
She called Arthur.
Then she called the detective in charge of the case.
May you like
And she told them what she was going to do.
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