“My name is George Dodd. But I’m sure you’ve guessed that by now.”
Jake leaned against the walnut tree’s trunk and watched through the open door as Chloe began her class. Ten minutes into her scheduled hour, his phone rang. Gray had the address of George Dodd’s Seattle residence. Jake immediately paged Max, stationed in the parking lot to watch the Porsche in case Dodd decided to target it. Max took over guard duty for Chloe, and Jake broke speed limits on his way to Capitol Hill.
Gray was waiting for him on the sidewalk outside a run-down apartment building near downtown Seattle.
“This is the address you have for Dodd?”
“Yup.”
Jake ran a quick, assessing glance over the old building’s worn facade. “It doesn’t look like Dodd. He’s obsessively neat and clean.”
Gray shrugged. “Maybe he chose this place on purpose because it’s the direct opposite of his usual living space.”
“Could be.” Jake followed Gray into the small foyer. “What floor is he on?”
“Third. Apartment 302.” Gray looked at the elevator’s grimy buttons and shook his head. “This thing’s older than dirt. I say we walk up.”
“Good plan.”
The third floor of the building had six doors opening off the hallway. The walls were painted institutional green and matched the worn green carpet on the floor. Both men drew weapons, taking opposite sides of the door to Apartment 302.
“You got a concealed-weapon permit for that thing?” Gray asked.
“Yeah.”
“Just checkin’. Wouldn’t want to have to arrest you.”
“Oh, hell. Just open the damn door.”
Gray grinned, banging on the door panel. “Open up. Police.”
No one answered.
Gray knocked once more, repeated his words, and was again met with silence.
Jake bent, slipped the knife from his boot sheath and lifted an eyebrow in silent inquiry.
Gray rolled his eyes, looked up and down the hallway and nodded.
It took only seconds for Jake to open the door.
“You know, Morrissey, even cops can get busted for breaking and entering,” Gray said as they walked into the small apartment.
“No one will ever know,” Jake promised.
“No one except you—and you’ll probably blackmail me.” Gun drawn, Gray moved swiftly across the unit and cleared the bathroom. “Nothing here. In fact, this place doesn’t look like anyone lives here.”
“Not in the living room. But the bedroom sure as hell does.”
“What’s in there?” Gray strode to the doorway of the bedroom and stopped abruptly. All four walls were covered with maps, sheets of closely printed notes and blown-up photographs. Some of the photos were of a young man in a Marine uniform, smiling proudly. One wall held pictures of Jake, both alone and with Chloe. What surprised Gray were several photographs of Chloe’s grandmother.
He stepped inside the room, registering the desk pushed against the far wall, and the computer, monitor and printer atop the dust-free surface. No papers were stacked on the desk, no clutter of pens or paper clips were strewn across the polished wood.
Jake’s phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, he flicked it on. “Hi, Chloe. What’s up? Chloe?”
Gray turned from his study of one of the maps to look at him.
Jake stopped talking. “What the hell?” He listened for a second, then covered the mouthpiece with his fingers and jerked his head toward the door.
“What’s going on?” Gray followed him into the hall and closed the door.
“Chloe’s phone is on and I can hear her talking to a man. I think it might be Dodd.”
“Shit.”
They ran down the stairs, through the lobby and outside. Jake fished in his pocket for his keys and tossed them to Gray. “You drive. I’ll keep the line open.”
“Where is she?” Gray turned on the ignition and shifted the car into gear.
“Liberty Hall.”
Please, Jake, answer your phone. If he didn’t pick up, the call would be switched to the automated answering service.
“We’re going for a walk. You will remove the tape from your grandmother’s mouth and place the scarf over her hands.” He gestured with his gun at the crumpled gold silk on the floor at Winifred’s feet.
Winifred’s gaze, steady and strong, held Chloe’s as she carefully pried loose the tape. The skin beneath was reddened and she winced as the tape came loose.
“Sorry, Gran,” Chloe murmured.
“Not your fault.” Winifred shifted her gaze to George Dodd when Chloe bent to pick up the scrap of silk. “Where are you taking us, Mr. Dodd?”
“To the Bell Tower.” He smiled and Chloe’s skin prickled with warning. There was no humor in his smile. “I’ve arranged a place for you there.”
Chloe glanced at Winifred as she carefully wrapped the gold silk around her wrists, concealing the connected loops made of small ties, the kind that came with garbage bags. They effectively bound her hands together. Her grandmother shook her head, a slight, nearly imperceptible movement. Chloe narrowed her eyes to acknowledge the message that she should bide her time, then stepped to the side, facing their captor.
Dodd noted the scarf. “Very good. Chloe, you will walk ahead of us while your grandmother walks with me. Any attempt on your part to summon help will result in my having to shoot her. We’ll take the South Annex stairway up to the Bell Tower.” He gestured Chloe forward.
She crossed to the door and opened it.
“Remember, not a word or your grandmother dies.”
Chloe nodded. “You want me to walk ahead of you all the way to the Liberty Hall Bell Tower?” she asked, speaking more loudly than usual.
He glared at her. “That’s what I said. Outside. Now.”
She pulled open the door and stepped into the empty hallway.
Jake, please be listening.
Eight
“He’s taking them to the Bell Tower at Liberty Hall.”
“Which end of the building is that?”
Jake visualized the map he’d used to find Chloe’s office the first day he’d taken her to lunch. “South end. I think there’s a ground-floor entrance.” He checked his watch. “Damn it. We’re still at least fifteen minutes away.”
Gray looked at the traffic around them and turned left, accelerating up a residential street. “Maybe we can shave a few minutes off the time.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his cell phone, handing it to Jake, then quickly downshifting while scanning the intersection ahead of them. “Call it in to the PD. And tell them to alert UW campus security that we have a hostage situation at Liberty Hall.”
Dodd waved Chloe and Winifred ahead of him into the tower. The room was octagonal, and each wall had wide glass windows, giving it the appearance of a lighthouse tower. The ceiling had a round opening, and high above, the automated bell hung, silent. A deep window ledge created a waist-high shelf that circled the room.
Chloe’s gaze swept the space as she searched for an advantage, but there was nothing. No furniture, no drapes or blinds on the windows.
Only one object sat in solitary splendor on the window ledge directly across from them.
Gran’s birthday clock. How did it get here? Puzzled, she looked at Dodd and found him watching her, a small smile on his thin lips.
“Ah, you recognize the clock, Chloe?”
“Yes, it was a birthday gift for my grandmother. How did it get here?”
“I brought it, of course. I took it from the house before I intercepted the limo driver and appropriated his car to collect Mrs. Abbott from the cruise ship this morning.” He nodded approvingly. “Most accommodating of you to make plans that fit so perfectly with mine. Sit down on the floor, Mrs. Abbott.” He waited until Winifred complied, then turned to Chloe. “Turn around and cross your wrists behind your back.”
Chloe reluctantly obeyed, conscious of his firm, unwavering grip on the handgun.
He slipped a plastic tie around one of her wrists and threaded a second through the loop before he yanked the first one tight. Then he circled the second around her other wrist. Chloe winced at the pinching and bit back a cry of pain when he pulled it snug.
“Sit on the floor next to your grandmother.”
Chloe did, and he swiftly looped and tightened nooses around her ankles, binding the ties together with a third length of plastic. Then he did he same thing to Winifred.
George Dodd stood and smiled down at them. “I suppose it’s only fair that you understand what’s going to happen to you.” He glanced at his watch before walking to the rosewood clock. He turned the clock so they could see the back and opened the small door to expose the intricate workings. A whitish-gray substance now filled the entire space and a small object with wires leading from it was attached to the flashlight battery installed for the alarm.
A sense of dread overwhelmed Chloe. “What is that?”
“Dynamite. More specifically, dynamite from Jake Morrissey’s company. It needed to be Jake’s dynamite that destroyed you, Chloe, just as it was his dynamite that killed my son. You see the importance of the continuity and connection, don’t you? Revenge isn’t complete without all the parameters clearly defined.”
Oh, God. He’s completely crazy. Jake, are you listening? Hurry!
He checked his watch again. “I must leave you. It’s time. You have precisely ten minutes. When the hands on the clock reach twelve, the battery will send electricity through the alarm to the detonator cap and set off the dynamite.” He smiled benevolently. “Don’t worry. You won’t feel a thing. Only Morrissey will feel—he’ll suffer when you’re gone. I’m sorry to have to use you, but this was the only way to punish him.” He looked out the window. “The Bell Tower at McGyver Hall has a perfect view so I can watch Jake Morrissey as his world explodes.” He turned and walked to the door. “Goodbye, ladies.”
And he left, quietly closing the door. The sound of his footsteps as he moved quickly down the stairs faded away.
“Gran, reach into my pocket.” Chloe rolled to her knees and shifted closer to Winifred.
Winifred didn’t question her. Instead, using both hands, she pulled the cell phone out of the square pocket of Chloe’s full skirt and held it steady while Chloe bent over.
“Jake! Jake, are you there?”
“Chloe, thank God! Are you all right?”
“Yes. But Dodd put dynamite in Gran’s clock and set it to go off in ten minutes.”
“I heard.” Jake’s curse carried clearly over the phone. “Can you get out of the room to safety?”
“Our hands and feet are bound together. I don’t think we’d make it down the stairs and away from the building in time.”
“Tell me about the clock.”
Chloe studied it. “Antique, glass face, musical figures on top. And it was modernized with a battery-operated alarm at some point.”
“He’s using the battery for ignition.” Jake’s mind raced. “You said it has a glass face?”