Lisa Gardner - The Survivors Club

His hands were inside her shirt, on her lace-covered breasts. He didn't squeeze, didn't stroke. Just let his hands rest on her chest as if to prove his point-he held the power to do anything he wanted to her body. And there was nothing she could do to stop him.

“Well,” the man said briskly, “I have one last chore to attend to. A little present for David, one not even he's expecting. Should be lots of fun for everyone, especially me. Wish me luck, dear. If all goes as planned, I should have a few moments to come back and play.”

Now his fingers did move. She pressed her cheek against the dank wall. She did her best not to vomit.

The man chuckled. “See you soon, Meg.” He kissed her on the neck. Then he resumed his toneless humming as he ascended the stairs.

The moment she heard the door click shut, Meg released her pent-up breath. She sagged against the hard-packed dirt floor, her legs trembling, her arms screaming with savage pain. She cried a little, but her tears were short-lived. He hadn't given her any water since her kidnapping, and she couldn't afford the loss of moisture.

She sniffled, she took a deep breath and then she tilted her head up toward a wall anchor she couldn't see. When she pulled forward, nothing happened. But as she'd twisted away from the man's fingers, she was sure she had detected the slightest wobble. If the anchor moved a little now, then maybe, over time, it would move a lot.

It wasn't much, but it was all she had. Meg, the human pendulum.

David Price was coming. David Price was coming. Meg started swaying.

Lieutenant Morelli sat in the living room of the Pesaturo home. Toppi had whisked Molly upstairs the moment the lieutenant had arrived. Now Lieutenant Morelli spread out a map on the living room floor and went straight to business. She gazed at Tom, Laurie, Jillian and Libby somberly. She told them, “This is what we're going to do. We want the meeting in public, so we can properly monitor it, but we also want it semiprivate to reduce the risk of pedestrian interference.”

“You mean hostages,” Jillian murmured.

“We like this residential park.” The lieutenant tapped the green square on the map. “Direct street access that can be easily monitored. We close off all the side roads, of course, and shut down the park to the general public. The park itself is an open, green space, meaning it's easy to monitor with few places to hide-”

“You mean in case the College Hill Rapist is setting up an ambush,” Jillian said.

This time, the lieutenant paused long enough to give her a stern look. Apparently, in the state police officer's world, civilians were to be seen, not heard. Well, that explained Griffin. “We can also position snipers on rooftops here, here and here,” the lieutenant continued curtly. “In other words, we will have a bead on David Price at all times during the three hours.”

“If you shoot him, what happens to our daughter?” Tom asked.

“Given the situation, our snipers will have to radio for permission to use deadly force.”

“What does that mean ?” Laurie asked.

“It means we understand Price holds valuable information and we'll do our best to conduct the operation accordingly.”

Jillian spoke up. “But under some circumstances, you would authorize use of deadly force.”

“We're professionals,” Lieutenant Morelli said firmly. “We know what we're doing.”

Jillian, Tom, Laurie and Libby exchanged glances. They thought they knew what that meant. The snipers wouldn't kill David Price if he still appeared controllable. But if it looked like he was getting away… If the state police had to weigh the life of one woman against a convicted serial killer who would definitely return to his murderous ways should he ever get free…

“The state marshals will be in charge of transferring Price from the ACI to the park.” Lieutenant Morelli resumed speaking. “Transporting prisoners is their job and they know it best. Given the extreme situation, we will provide police escort and we will follow a predetermined, secured route. Upon arrival at the park, the state marshals will turn Price over to two state detectives for the duration of the meeting.”

“He'll be in street clothes?” Laurie asked.

“Price's lawyer will deliver clothes for the visit by four this afternoon. We will thoroughly inspect the articles of clothing, of course, as well as conduct a full search of David Price.”

“His wrists and ankles will be shackled?” Tom asked.

“Absolutely. His ankles will be bound. His cuffed hands will be secured to his waist with a chain. His mobility will be extremely limited, I assure you. Now then, I want to talk about Molly-”

“I don't want him to touch her!” Laurie cried.

“We plan on keeping them ten feet apart at all times.”

“How about the length of the park,” Tom growled.

“We may increase that distance at our discretion,” the lieutenant replied.

“In other words, if David is acting hinky…” Jillian murmured.

“We won't let Molly anywhere near him,” the lieutenant finished for her.

Tom sighed heavily. His big shoulders sagged, his face was haggard. It was obvious he hated the idea of what was to come, and it was obvious he felt he had no other choice.

“Now,” Morelli said briskly. “About Molly's escort-”

“We'll take her!” Tom said instantly, head popping up.

“We would prefer that you didn't-”

“Hell, no! Not an option. This is our daughter… granddaughter we're talking about. Molly needs us, she depends upon us. We will be there at her side every step of the way.”

“Mr. Pesaturo, we understand your concern. But this is a potentially volatile situation. We feel it would be best to minimize the number of civilians involved and maximize the number of experienced professionals.”

“Too bad. I'm her father. I'm not leaving her side.”

“Mr. Pesaturo, it would be my honor to escort Molly-”

“I'm her father!”

“And I have two daughters of my own!” Lieutenant Morelli's voice finally rose angrily. She caught the emotion, leveled her tone. “Mr. Pesaturo, we don't know what Price's true intentions are. We suspect, however, that they involve a great deal more than simply saying hi to his long-lost daughter. If he springs something, what are you going to do?”

“Kill the bastard.” Tom saw her look and hastily added, “In self-defense, of course.”

“And what about Meg?”

“I don't… I don't know.” His shoulders sagged again. Meg had been missing nearly six hours now. Six long, uncertain, fearful hours. Tom whispered, “What would you do?”

“I don't know,” the lieutenant answered gently. “I suspect none of us will know what to do until the moment it is asked of us. But the point is, there may be split-second decisions that need to be made, and as someone experienced in these matters, I'm better equipped to make them.”

“This is ridiculous.” Laurie again. “We're doing exactly what he wants.”

Lieutenant Morelli didn't say anything.

“Isn't there something else you can do? Some way you can force him to tell you where Meg is? To give us the rapist's name?”

“He's in prison for life,” Morelli said. “That's already the maximum penalty this state allows.”

“But prisons do have punishments,” Jillian spoke up. “Protocols, procedures for when prisoners get out of line.”

“Inmates can be LFI-locked and fed in, meaning they must remain in their cells even during mealtimes. It's ACI's version of solitary, except the inmate remains in his original cell. Or, in cases where an inmate routinely disrupts prison life, he can be reassigned to Super Max, where inmates are confined to their cells twenty-three hours a day. In other words, they lose all the perks still offered in Old Max.”