Silent Night 2 Page 12

  “Ow!” she cried out as she collided with a large metal trash basket. “Oh!” She spun off it. The trash can rolled noisily back into her pursuers.

  Reva lurched onto the selling floor.

  So bright. Christmas decorations sparkling in the night light. Gold and silver tinsel everywhere. Shimmering Christmas balls.

  Like a fairyland, she thought.

  Only this is no fairy tale.

  “Help! Help us—please!”

  “They’re going to catch us!” Pam shrieked breathlessly.

  “Split up!” Reva cried. “Split up! Go!”

  She saw Pam turn, stumble, quickly regain her balance, and push herself off a display case of children’s boots. Reva kept going, running straight, gasping noisily for breath, her chest about to explode.

  She turned. Then turned again. She ducked low, turning and twisting through the maze of display counters and aisles.

  She couldn’t see her pursuers. Had she lost them?

  Into Santa’s World. All red and green, silver and gold. Past the enormous wooden sleigh. Past the reindeers staring glassy-eyed at her as she ran. Past the elves lined up as if waiting for Santa to ascend his gold throne.

  “Help! Please—help!” Reva tried to scream, but her voice came out a hushed whisper.

  Where was the stupid security guard? Maybe there wasn’t one on this floor. Maybe that’s why the kidnappers chose this floor.

  I can’t run much farther, Reva realized.

  She reached a wall, a dead end. With a gasp she took a step back. Then another.

  Which way? Which way?

  A hand touched her back.

  “No!”

  She spun around.

  Santa Claus grinned at her.

  She had backed into a Santa mannequin.

  Just like in my dream, she thought, gasping for breath.

  She started to run again. Around a display of children’s sweaters. Into the toy department.

  “Where did she go?” Danny’s voice, in a distant aisle, sounded confused as he chased after Pam.

  Maybe Pam is getting away, Reva thought.

  She bumped an enormous lifesize Ninja Turtle stuffed animal that guarded an aisle in silent menace. Its head bounced angrily.

  She glanced back. And saw Pres behind her, his dark eyes burning furiously into her back.

  Diane and Danny must have gone after Pam, Reva figured. Got to lose Pres. But how?

  “You can’t get away, Reva! There’s nowhere to run!” He sounded as breathless as she did. She saw that he was holding his side. He must have had a pain in it from running.

  With a powerful heave of her one good arm, Reva shoved the big stuffed animal into his path.

  She heard Pres cry out and stumble.

  Then she made a sharp left, staying low behind a tall display of Lego blocks, ducked behind a long glass display case of slot cars, and flung herself out into the aisle beyond the toy department.

  “Help me! Won’t someone help me?”

  She was hurtling down a long, twisting aisle of budget clothes.

  I—I can’t breathe, she thought. I can’t take another step. I—

  She could hear Pres somewhere behind her. She knew she couldn’t give up.

  With a desperate burst of speed she turned a corner—and ran headlong into someone.

  “Oh!”

  No. Not someone.

  A mannequin. Another mannequin. Not Santa this time.

  A wide-eyed woman with bright red hair, dressed in red and blue ski clothes. Reva cried out as pain shot up her shoulder. The mannequin toppled backward onto another mannequin, which fell onto another.

  A whole row of mannequins, Reva saw.

  All toppling over backward.

  Like bodies, she thought, her chest heaving, her temples throbbing.

  Like human bodies.

  Falling dead, all in a row.

  She gaped in breathless horror as the bodies clattered to the floor, landing in a stiff heap of arms and legs, their solid lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling lights.

  And then, before she could start running again, a hand grabbed Reva’s shoulder and held on.

  Chapter 33

  BYE-BYE

  Reva spun around. “Pam!”

  Pam clung to Reva. She was panting, her chest heaving up and down. Her wet blond hair clung to her forehead. Her green eyes were wide with fear.

  “I—I got away from them,” she choked out breathlessly. “Where is the guard?”

  “There isn’t one,” Reva replied, her eyes on the aisle behind Pam. “We shouldn’t stay here. We have to get downstairs. Come on.”

  They began creeping side by side, cutting from aisle to aisle, staying low, alert for their pursuers.

  Through a dimly lit shoe department. Past a display of running suits and sportswear.

  The store seems so much bigger when it’s empty, Reva realized. I feel as if I’ve been going for miles.

  Nearly to the back of the store now. She and Pam glanced at each other as the cries rang out. “This way! Over here!” Reva recognized Pres’s angry voice. “Diane—they’re over here!”

  “They see us!” Pam cried.

  Reva began to run. “Keep going,” she said, her side aching, her arm throbbing.

  The back wall came into view. Is this another dead end? Reva wondered.

  No.

  The two employee elevators stood just beyond a narrow aisle.

  Reva ran to the wall, gasping for breath. She pushed the button. Were the elevators running? Could she and Pam get on them? Could they get away before . . . before—

  “No!” Reva cried. She suddenly remembered something. “Pam—this way!”

  “Huh?” Pam reacted with surprise, her face red and puffy.

  The elevator on the left hummed to life. Pam stared up at the floor indicator above it as the arrow slowly began to move up from the first floor. “It’s coming!” Pam whispered. “We have to take it!”

  But Reva pulled Pam away. They ducked behind a wide round pillar, pressing their backs against the cool concrete.

  “The employee elevators—they’re broken again,” Reva told Pam, struggling to catch her breath. “I remember. My dad told me they can’t figure out why they keep breaking.”

  “But—but they’re coming!” Pam whispered, grasping Reva’s arm again.

  “Maybe we’ll get lucky,” Reva whispered back, listening to the approaching footsteps. “Maybe Pres and Diane will think we went down. Maybe they’ll try to go after us. You know, jump inside—and fall to the basement.”

  Pam’s face revealed her doubt. “Reva—that’s impossible. We can’t—”

  “Shhhhh!” Reva clamped her hand over Pam’s mouth. “Here they come. Be quiet—and pray.”

  Pressed against the pillar, the two girls watched as Pres and Diane ran up to the elevators, turning their heads to search the aisle. The elevator door on the left slid open.

  “This way!” Pres cried, gesturing to the elevator. “They went down. Let’s go!”

  Reva held her breath and stared hard, afraid to move, afraid to blink.

  Both Pres and Diane leapt into the dark elevator at the same time—and dropped to their deaths.

  Chapter 34

  AN UNWELCOME

  VISITOR

  A low murmur escaped Reva’s lips.

  She stared into the darkness of the open elevator, afraid to move. Were they gone? Were they really gone?

  Had they fallen to their deaths, splattered against the basement floor?

  She listened. Silence. A heavy silence.

  Then Reva gasped as Pres and Diane stepped back out into the aisle.

  They didn’t fall. I imagined it, she realized.

  I wished it.

  The employee elevators must have been fixed.

  “Let’s not panic and act stupid,” Diane scolded Pres. “The girls didn’t have time to take the elevator down. We were right behind them.”

  Pres pushed his
black hair off his forehead with an angry toss of his head. “Then where are they?” he asked, his face bright red, his dark eyes darting nervously in all directions. “Still on this floor?”

  “Yeah,” she replied.

  “Hey—where’d you guys go?” Danny called from several aisles away.

  “Over here, Danny,” Pres called back. “Keep looking. They’re here somewhere.”

  “Spread out,” Diane urged, hurrying back toward the toy department.

  Reva kept her eyes locked on Pres. He lingered for a few seconds, his eyes searching the aisle along the back wall. The elevator door slid shut behind him. He glanced up at the floor indicator as the arrow moved back toward the first floor. Then, cursing under his breath, an angry scowl on his face, he trotted off after Diane.

  Reva and Pam stepped away from their hiding place. “It didn’t work,” Pam whispered glumly.

  Reva chewed her bottom lip. “Who told those idiots to fix the elevator? Couldn’t they leave it broken?” she fumed.

  “Now what?” Pam asked, her voice trembling. She raised her hand and gently touched the purple welt on her cheek.

  “I—I don’t know,” Reva stammered, frozen in fright.

  “They went back to the toy department,” Pam said, turning her glance down the long center aisle. “So maybe we do have time to take the elevator down.” She stepped forward and pressed the button.

  “Maybe,” Reva replied tensely. She raised her eyes to the floor indicator above the two elevators. “It went all the way back to one.”

  Pam jammed her finger on the button again. And again.

  “That won’t make it come any faster,” Reva whispered. She turned back toward the toy department. “Shh. I hear them. Oh, no! I think they’re coming back!”

  Pam frantically pushed the black elevator button. “Hurry. Hurry. Oh, please—hurry!”

  They both watched the arrow above the elevators move slowly up. Two . . . three . . .

  “It’s Pres and Diane!” Pam cried. “They’re going to catch us!”

  Four . . . five!

  The elevator door on the left started to slide open.

  Reva glanced behind them. Pres and Diane were running down the center aisle toward them.

  “Hurry!” Reva cried, pushing Pam toward the opening elevator door.

  Pam stumbled forward. Then stopped.

  “Oh!” Reva cried out as a man in the elevator stepped toward them, blocking the door, blocking their escape.

  She recognized him at once. She recognized the blue sunglasses, the black trench coat.

  The man who had followed her at the mall.

  He raised his black-gloved hand and pointed a small dark pistol at Reva.

  Chapter 35

  “YOU’RE COMING

  WITH ME”

  His eyes hidden behind the cold blue glasses, his face set in a hard frown, the man moved quickly out of the elevator.

  Pam shrank back. A confused cry escaped her lips. When she saw the gun in the man’s hand, her mouth dropped open in alarm.

  Reva sighed loudly and prepared to surrender. He’s working with Pres, Diane, and Danny, she realized. That’s why he was following me Saturday afternoon.

  But to her surprise, the man pushed past her.

  He raised the pistol and called to Pres and Diane, who stood frozen in the aisle, several yards away, startled expressions on their faces.

  “Stop right there! FBI!” the man called.

  Reva and Pam cast dumbfounded looks at each other.

  The FBI? Reva thought. He’s not working with the kidnappers? He’s an FBI agent?

  How did he know where to find us?

  “Get down, girls,” the FBI agent ordered, waving them down with his free hand. Then he took off after Pres and Diane.

  The two kidnappers turned and ran, disappearing into the toy department. Reva heard a loud crash. Someone had collided with one of the displays.

  “Stop right there!” she heard the agent shout to them. “You can’t get out! I have backup downstairs!” He disappeared around a corner.

  Reva heard more footsteps. Angry shouts.

  “I—I can’t believe it,” Pam exclaimed with a shudder of relief. “We’re—we’re going to be okay.”

  “But how did he know we were up here?” Reva demanded.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Pam said, throwing her arms around her cousin’s shoulders. “We’re okay. We’re okay now.” She pressed her hot face against Reva’s cheek. “I’m so sorry, Reva. Really, I’m so sorry,” she said, sobbing.

  “Pam—please—my arm!” Reva cried, recoiling from the pain.

  “Oh. Sorry.” Pam took a step back, wiping her eyes with her fingers. “I’m just so happy it’s over and we’re okay.”

  “What’s over?” a stern voice demanded.

  Reva and Pam both spun around to see Danny standing in the aisle. His eyes burned angrily from one of them to the other. He was breathing hard, his stomach heaving up and down. His black hair was wet and matted to his forehead.

  He raised the silver pistol. “You’re coming with me,” he said through clenched teeth.

  He jammed his finger hard on the elevator button and held it, keeping the pistol poised on Reva and Pam.

  “Don’t try anything,” Danny warned. “I’ll use this gun. I really will.”

  “Please—” Pam started.

  “Shut up!” he shouted, his features tight with fury. “This wasn’t my idea, you know. I just wanted a little extra spending money, that’s all.”

  “Please—” Pam repeated her plea.

  “That’s all I wanted. A little extra for Christmas,” Danny growled. “You’re not going to ruin it! Just shut up—and move! You’re coming with me!”

  Chapter 36

  A SCREAM

  “Lets go,” Danny ordered. He gave Reva a hard shove toward the elevator.

  Reva cried out from the paralyzing pain that bolted up from her broken arm.

  The elevator door on the right slid open.

  Still convulsed in pain, Reva turned in time to see Pam make a grab for the pistol.

  “Hey—!” Danny cried out angrily, jerking the gun from Pam’s grasp.

  With a loud shriek Pam snatched at Danny’s arm, pulled it behind him, grabbed at his waist.

  “I’ll kill you! I’ll really kill you!” Danny screamed.

  He and Pam were down on the floor now, wrestling, hitting each other, uttering sharp cries of pain and fury, twisting over each other.

  “Ohh!” Pam groaned as she made another frantic grab for the pistol.

  Danny drove his fist toward Pam’s jaw, and missed. Pam held on.

  “I’ve got it!” Pam cried. Sprawled on top of Danny, she held up the pistol, then tried to toss it to Reva.

  But Danny reached a hand up and batted the gun away. It clattered over the floor, sliding to a stop at the foot of a display case.

  With a desperate cry Pam scrambled to her feet and dove for the gun.

  “Keep it!” Danny cried breathlessly. “I’m out of here!”

  With a loud groan he jumped up quickly and lumbered into the open elevator.

  Reva shut her eyes tight. She heard Danny scream all the way down.

  The scream ended four floors below in a sickening splat.

  It was a sound Reva knew she would never forget.

  Chapter 37

  “SILENT NIGHT”

  Pam slumped against the display case, the gun dangling from her hand. She raised her eyes to Reva, her face white with horror. “Wh-what happened?”

  “The elevator on the right,” Reva murmured, pointing. “It wasn’t fixed, I guess. The doors shouldn’t have opened. The elevator car was still on the first floor. Only the one on the left was fixed. Only the one on the left.” She took a deep breath, hearing the sound of Danny’s scream repeat in her mind.

  The gun dropped from Pam’s hand and clattered to the floor. Neither girl made any attempt to pick it up.

  Pam
stared blankly at Reva, as if not understanding what had just happened, as if not wanting to understand or believe it.

  “It’s my fault,” Pam murmured.

  “No.” Reva stepped forward to put a comforting arm around her cousin’s trembling shoulders. “No, Pam. You may have saved our lives. He wanted to kill us. You were brave, Pam. You really were.”

  Pam lowered her eyes and didn’t reply.

  The elevator on the left opened, startling them both. Four FBI agents in dark coats, their revolvers drawn, burst out, their faces tense and alert.

  “Are you okay?” one of them asked Reva.

  “Define okay,” Reva replied.

  Pam snickered and squeezed Reva’s hand. “Same old Reva,” she said.

  • • •

  In a short while the agents returned with Pres and Diane in handcuffs. Pres received the news about Danny in silent horror. He flinched, his entire body jolting as if hit by an electric current. But he didn’t utter a sound.

  “No happy ending,” Diane muttered bitterly as she and Pres were taken away.

  The man in the blue sunglasses introduced himself as Agent Barkley. “We have to get you both to a hospital,” he said solemnly. “We’ll radio for your parents to meet you there.”

  A few minutes later Reva and Pam sat in the back of the large gray FBI car as Agent Barkley drove to Shadyside General.

  “I just don’t understand how you knew where to find us,” Reva said.

  Agent Barkley turned to flash her a modest smile. “Some of it was modern technology. Some of it was luck,” he replied.

  “Huh? Come on. Tell me,” Reva insisted.

  “Your phone in the house has a number revealer on it,” Barkley explained. “You know. The readout that identifies the phone number of the person calling.”

  “Yeah. We got it from the phone company a few months ago,” Reva said.

  “Well,” the agent continued, “when the kidnapper phoned your father to ask for the ransom money, the phone number of the store flashed on. So we knew right away that they were holding you at the department store.”