Michael Baden - Skeleton justice

Elena waved at her in annoyance, like a mother hushing her clamoring children. "Never mind who this is," she said into the phone. "You need to go to this Web site: www.the-disappeared-dot-com. You will be interested in what you see there."

Manny looked up at the camera. Could Jake see her now? Hear her?

"Dr. Rosen?" Elena coughed, then continued. "Do you see what I see? Good. Then you also see the list of other people you must get to tune into this Web site, starting with Lucinda Bettis and the others, as well as the Sandovals. And expect your phone to start ringing. Because we've sent an e-mail from the Vampire to every news outlet in the city. And we've given your phone number as the contact person. Only you can explain why this is happening."

Elena paused for a moment as Jake responded to her, careful to stay out of range of the camera. "Well, I think you understand why I can't tell you where they are, Dr. Rosen. But you're a clever man. That's why we chose you. I'm sure you'll rescue them… eventually."

Then Elena grabbed her husband by the arm and pulled him out of the room.

The door to safety slammed shut.

They were alone with the pit bull.

Jake cradled the phone to his ear, all the while staring at his computer screen. This must be what it's like to suffer from visual agnosia, that rare condition in which your visual acuity is perfectly good but you can't make sense of what you're seeing.

He had first thought the voice directing him to this Web site was pulling a hoax, but he had checked it out just to be safe. And now, instead of the blank screen or porn site he had expected, he saw with horrifying clarity the woman he loved and her client, hands tied behind them, in an empty room with a large cage that had some kind of animal in it.

And this was apparently a live feed. When Manny shook her head on the screen, that meant that at the very same moment she was shaking her head in a room where he could see her but not find her. When she had looked up and stared directly into the camera, straight into his eyes, her terror had been as immediate as if she were sitting across the desk from him. His heart felt crushed by it. He slammed down the phone as if that would end Manny's fear.

Jake couldn't bear to look at Manny and couldn't bear to look away. But there were words on the screen, too, running in a column beside the streaming video. He dragged his eyes there to read the text. As he read, the bile rose in the back of his throat. The Vampire was planning on torturing Manny and Travis and broadcasting this live over the Internet for all the world to see. And this monster expected him to participate in the spectacle, provide the color commentary for an act of madness. Well, forget that.

He'd see to it that this live feed was blocked and deprive the Vampire of the publicity he craved. He'd shut down this Web site, and then he'd find Manny. Jake reached for his phone again, but before he could lift the receiver, it rang.

It was the same woman. "Hello, Dr. Rosen. By now you understand what is happening here."

"I understand, and I'm not participating in your madness."

"Don't make that decision until you know all the ramifications, Doctor."

A knot of dread tightened in Jake's gut. "What do you mean?"

"You have one hour in which to contact each of the Vampire's victims. Tell them to log on to the site. Your friend the detective can help you with all the phone numbers you need. Once there, they must click the 'Contact' button to send an e-mail that verifies their presence. Do the same for the Sandoval family. Once everyone is watching, the show begins."

"And if I don't?"

"Then Ms. Manfreda and Travis Heaton will be executed with a single shot to the head before your eyes. You have sixty minutes from the end of this call."

The phone clicked off.

Manny could see Travis's arms trembling, his eyes wide with fear. He went into another spasm of coughing. Her own throat was raw and she felt like crying, too, but she couldn't. She had to remain calm, make a plan. Hysteria wouldn't help them.

Manny glanced up at the camera. Jake was watching, but so was Elena. Even if she couldn't think her way out of this mess, Manny wouldn't give that woman the satisfaction of seeing her fall apart.

Could Jake see what was in the cage? Did he know what was happening here? Or would he not understand until the timer released the door and the dog charged out? She looked down at her bare legs and arms. Now she understood why Elena had made her wear this ugly dress. She was totally exposed, totally vulnerable.

"What are we going to do?" Travis asked in a soft voice. "Are we just going to stand here and wait for the door to open?"

"Don't panic. That's the most important thing." Manny tried to speak with confidence, but inside she was shaking. Being attacked by an animal, eaten alive. It was as if Dr. Costello had sensed her worst fear. Couldn't he have chosen something else to make his point?

She looked around the room. Surely the door must be locked, and there was only the one window, heavily barred. And absolutely nothing to use as a weapon. Except maybe the cage itself. Could they use it to bludgeon the creature, even if they couldn't force it back inside? Did she have it in her to kill a dog, even one that was trying to kill her? In a way, the dog was a victim, too. Some say pit bulls aren't inherently vicious. But there was no mistaking that this dog had been crossbred to be bigger, and trained to kill. It had been mistreated and punished from birth to turn it into a crazed fighter. She felt sorry for it, but she couldn't undo the damage.

"Why did they untie our legs but not our hands?" Travis asked.

"They want us to be able to run from that thing, even though there's no place to hide, no way to escape. It'll provide more excitement." Manny twisted her hands. The rope was definitely loose. It was as if they had been tied to hold them still just long enough for the Costellos to get away and the cage to open. Everything had been planned for maximum drama.

"If we could get these ropes off quickly, we might be able to use them to tie the cage shut before the timer springs the lock." Manny's voice sounded choked and uneven to her own ears, like it had years ago at her first trial. What she wouldn't give now to have her terror inspired by a two-hundred-pound man in black robes instead of an eighty-pound dog with teeth so big, they jutted out of its mouth.

She'd seen bigger dogs, but she'd never seen an angrier one. Lean and muscular, the dog circled endlessly in the cage. It probably hadn't been out in days. Mycroft went bonkers whenever he was cooped up on a long car trip. Imagine what this much bigger breed, which craved exercise as much as food and water, must be feeling. It wanted out, and when it got out, nothing would stop it from venting its manic energy.

The look on the dog's face drove every rational thought out of Manny's mind.

"Do you think we can gang up on it?" Travis asked.

Manny glanced over at him, and for a terrible, selfish moment she was glad that Dr. Costello hadn't taken her plea seriously and released the boy. A terrified, weakened kid wasn't going to offer much defense, but it was reassuring not to be facing this thing alone.

Manny thought about what Travis had said. "If one of us can distract him, the other might be able to subdue him. But whatever we do, we can't run. Running will just incite his instinct to hunt."

"So if we just stay still, it'll leave us alone?"

Travis sounded pathetically hopeful, the way she used to when she begged her father to promise lightning could never strike their house. Just say it and make it so, Daddy.

Her father used to tell the reassuring lie. Manny couldn't. "Let's work on getting our hands untied."

They backed up to each other and Manny worked by touch to pick open Travis's bindings. As she struggled, they talked.