CHAPTER TEN
A/N Thank you ArrancarRayflo, I got hung up and couldn't shake loose. I appreciate the push! Thank you to everyone reading. I tend to be a perfectionist and if I hit a snag, it upends me sometimes. We are back on track now and full steam ahead!
"Toss one more damned hanger and I'll send you straight to hell." A low menacing voice rumbled just behind her.
Ice clogged her veins and stilled her heart. She heard the unmistakable click of a hammer being drawn on a pistol. Cold metal, colder than the ice in her veins drilled through her skull. Shirley drew a shaky breath as she felt the bite of the gun sight as it broke the skin on the back of her neck. A thin trickle of blood raced down her spine. This was the end of her life. She was going to die now.
"Step down. Put your hands behind your back and lace your fingers together." Seth kept the barrel of the gun in the center of her neck. His fingers itched to just squeeze the trigger and be done with the old bat.
She offered a silent prayer as she followed Seth's quietly snarled instructions. This quiet fury terrified her to the core of her being. She thought to herself, this is what a rabbit feels like waiting for a cobra to strike. Her heart hammered against her ribs causing her teeth to crash into each other. Terror coated her palms with a sheen of sweat causing her fingers to slip apart. She hastily wove them together and squeezed so hard her knuckles shown stark white against the thin skin.
"If I had my way, you would be food for the animals by now. But the Boss says we may need a hostage, so you get to keep breathing…. Unless you do something else stupid." He pressed harder causing the flow of blood to continue.
Jordan was waiting outside the laundry room door. He wore an expression of utter disgust. "Why are old broads ten times more trouble than young ones? All you had to do was stay quiet. Now look at this mess. If any of us survive this it will be a miracle."
" One of us will not survive. I guarantee it." Seth gave Shirley a toothy smile as he twirled her around to face him. "In fact, this is your last night on this earth. I'd tell you to enjoy it, but it won't make a bit of difference to me if you beg, or go quiet as a mouse."
Her mouth was so dry she could barely form words. She was not going down without a fight. Shirley squared her shoulders as a familiar sensation settled on her right shoulder. She drew a shaky breath and rolled the dice. Rizzoli's did not just lay down and give in! "Young man, my niece is a homicide detective. If you murder me, she will hunt you to the end of time."
"Is that so?" Seth chuckled. "Did you hear that, Jordan? This broad has connections. I guess we should let her go so we won't get in trouble with the law."
"In case you missed it, lady, this is Tennessee. Your Boston niece has no jurisdiction here. She can't touch us." Jordan assured with a throaty laugh. "The long arm of the law aint that long."
Shirley cocked her head to the side listening intently. "Rain is coming, will your knee hold up?" She asked Jordan.
"How did you know…"The old bat must have seen him rubbing it, or heard him complain to Seth. "My knee is the least of your concerns right now. I'd save all that compassion for myself if I was you."
"Down the rabbit hole, Alice." Seth threw back his head and roared with laughter.
Outside Angela and Frost were spinning in circles. "Where did she go? She couldn't have just vanished! Oh God, Jane is going to kill me. We had her and lost her."
"Take it easy Mrs. R. She may have heard something from one of the men and had to lay low." Frost heard the words leave his mouth, but didn't believe a syllable.
"I don't have super powers or anything, but I know something is wrong. It's too quiet. Like how the wind gets before a really bad storm. I tell you detective, we are now in the eye of the storm. Poor Shirley is inside whirling around in the funnel cloud."
Frost strained to hear any sound at all. Nothing. He looked from Angela to the empty street to the chalet now cloaked in inky black shadows. Jane would kill him if he didn't do something to help her aunt. He looked at Angela again and made up his mind. He pulled a .22 from his ankle holster and passed it to Angela. "I'm going to sneak up to that window and take a look inside. You stay here, out of sight."
"You can't leave me here alone." She protested. "What if they sneak up on me and grab me too?"
"Fine, come along, but stay behind me and don't make a sound." He was so going to be back on traffic duty once Jane got here and saw him leading her Mother into a dangerous situation.
She made the universal sign for zipping her lips and held the gun out in front of her ready for anything. "Let's get those scum suckers."
Twin pools of light froze the pair in mid-stride. Jane was on them in an instant. "What do the two of you think you're doing? Ma get in the car with Maura and go back to the chalet. Frost and I will handle this." Jane held up one hand in front of her mother's face. "Not a word. Ma, this is deadly serious. These creeps play for keeps. Go to the chalet with Maura. I can't worry about all three of you at one time. Please."
Angela relaxed her hold on the .22 and placed it in Jane's outstretched hand. She knew Jane was right, but she didn't want to miss the rescue. The one chance to see her daughter in action and she was being sent home like a misbehaving child being grounded and sent to it's room. "Please, Jane be careful."
"We will Ma. Please go on. I need to know you and Maura are safe and sound. We'll bring Aunt Shirley back. I promise." Jane pressed a kiss to her mother's cheek.
Angela returned the kiss and did as her daughter asked. She opened the passenger door and fell into the car. "Some vacation this has turned out to be."
"Everything will be fine. Jane is an excellent detective and so is Frost." Maura started the car, grateful for the almost silent engine. "Before we can open a bottle of wine, the three of them will be back and the bad guys will have been turned over to the Gatlinburg Police." She squeezed Angela's knee then drove into the night.
Jane motioned right and watched as Frost made his way to the far corner of the chalet. She waited until the Cadillac had disappeared up the hill before making her way to the near corner. She silently counted to three before drawing her weapon and making for the front door. Frost was right beside her his own weapon ready. They stood silent listening for the slightest sound. Nothing came to them except the natural sounds of the mountain. A finger of dread pricked her scalp. Something was wrong. She gave Frost the go ahead nod and watched as he kicked open the front door splintering the frame.
As one they burst inside weapons in front, fingers on the trigger ready to fire. The chalet was silent as a tomb. Jane inclined her head to the left and covered her partner while he made his way across the dark room. She waited for his signal then joined him outside the kitchen. As one they burst into the empty room.
One by one, they searched every room in the chalet ending in the laundry room. Shirley's sunflower bag lay on the floor, but no sign of Shirley or her captors.
"How did they slip past us?" Frost asked after a more intensive search.
"They didn't. They were already gone by the time we got here. Question is, where did they go in the dark?" As she was speaking, Jane had been turning in a slow circle inspecting the tiny room.
Where indeed. Shirley is in more danger than ever as she fights to stay calm. The big boss isn't happy with this latest wrinkle….