Taken Read Online Free PDF Page B

lady, Kate. That’s why this is going to work, once you learn the method.”
    A phone bleats, jolting me in the seat. My phone this time. He pauses, cocking his head. “Let it go,” he instructs. “Your voice mail will get it. Then we’ll see who it is.”
    The phone rings six times and then goes silent.
    “Two minutes,” he says, settling back in my chair. “Relax.”
    I’m watching the digital clock on the VCR. Never thought a second could take so long to elapse, as if time itself has become molten. Tick, tick, tick —but of course there’s no actual sound. No comfort from an old-fashioned clock.
    When a little more than two minutes has passed, the man in the mask stands up. He moves a few steps to his left, the gun pivoting as he moves, unerringly aimed at my heart. He retrieves the nearest phone and returns to my chair. Settling in, getting comfortable. Mocking me with a small, satisfied smile. With his left hand he thumbs a number.
    “Surprised?” he asks. “I know your voice-mail code, Kate. I know everything.”
    He pauses, listening to the prompts, thumbs a button on the receiver, listens some more.
    “Somebody named Jake,” he says, disconnecting. “Wants to know if you located Tommy. Would Jake be the guy at the snack trailer by any chance?”
    I wait.
    “You may respond,” he says.
    “Yes.”
    He tosses the phone at me. It hits the middle of my chest, right between my breasts, and falls into my lap. “Pick it up,” he says. “Call him back. Tell him the kid was at home when you got here. All is well.”
    I scroll to Jake’s number, am about to key it in.
    “Wait,” says the man in the mask. “This is your first test, Kate. Convince him. Convince me. If you fail, if you try to get cute, end of story. You and your son are both dead. Got it?”
    I nod.
    “Proceed.”
    The connection opens almost immediately. “Jake Gavner.”
    The phone is so slippery with my own sweat that I have to grip it with all my might. “Jake? Um, this is Kate Bickford returning your call. Just wanted to let you know Tommy is fine. He was here when I got home, playing a video game.”
    “Great. Give him my best.”
    “Thanks, I will.”
    “Helluva a game he had.”
    “Sure was. Helluva game.”
    “Hey, put him on. I’ll tell him so myself. Maybe give him a rain check for that ice-cream sundae.”
    For an awful moment my mind goes totally blank. I’m aware that the man in the mask is studying me with interest, as if curious to know whether I’ll pull this off. Whether I’ll live to make another phone call. The studied indifference is a pose—it has to be—but it says he doesn’t care one way or another. Live or die, my choice.
    “Sorry, Jake. Sent him to the shower.”
    “Well, don’t be too hard on the kid. Isn’t every day a boy gets a game-winning double.”
    “I’ll be sure to tell him that. And thank you, Jake. I appreciate it.”
    “Next time the dog is on me. With extra kraut.”
    “Thanks. Bye.”
    A moment after disconnection the phone slips from my nerveless hands. With a deft move the man in the mask retrieves it, checks to make sure I’ve really disconnected.
    “I’m impressed,” he says. “You’re good. Even I believed you.”
    The flood of relief makes tears come, but I fight it. Determined never to weep again in the presence of this vile man. This monster in my house, sitting in my chair, holding my phone. Holding my son.
    “You should know that every call to this address is being monitored,” he says. “So if you tried something silly, I’d be informed. If, for instance, your friend Jake had said he’d like to drop by for a little post-game nooky with the widow Bickford, I’d know about it.”
    Nooky. A word so sly and ugly that it makes my jaw clench. I’m not a prude, but certain words have that effect on me. Get over it, Kate, I urge myself. Do not react. Don’t allow him any more control over you than he’s already got.
    “As you’ve no doubt already figured