Susan Donovan: Take a Chance On Me

"I don't know what the hell's going on, Reg, but if that's what the lady said, then she had a reason. Bring him in. He's got a vet practice in Annapolis. I'll deal with all this later, okay?"

"Okay. So what's going on with you? Is everything all right?"

Thomas laughed into the phone. "God no, everything's not all right. Everything's messed up. I'm an idiot. Reg, look-how does a man convince a woman that he's more sorry than he could ever say, that his life would be nothing without her?"

Regina sighed. "Lord, Tommy. What have you done now?"

"Either of you move, I start shooting."

Aaron got out of the car. He backed to the motel room door not two feet away from the parking spot, and inserted the key, never taking his eyes from them.

He ushered them quickly inside.

He locked the door and flipped on the overhead light. Then he closed the drapes, making sure there were no gaps in the folds of musty fabric.

Emma's gut tensed as she scanned the evidence of Aaron's dive off the deep end. Empty Jack Daniel's bottles were knocked over on the dresser and floor. The threadbare room was littered with chip bags and scribbled-on bits of paper-sports bets. A pair of dirty underwear was flung over the lampshade.

"Nice crib," Leelee said.

He laughed, then pointed the gun at the floor in front of the dresser and television. "You. Smart-ass. Sit down over there." He put the gun at her temple. "If you move, I kill you."

Leelee nodded, and slid down onto her bottom.

"You." Aaron grabbed a scarred wooden chair from near the window and pointed the gun at it. "Here." He held it for Emma.

"Now listen up, girlies. Here's the game plan." Aaron poured himself a drink with the gun pointed at Leelee and his eyes darting back and forth between the women. He slammed back the whiskey and hissed between his teeth.

"It's going to be your basic murder-suicide. Leelee kills you-" He pointed at Emma. "Then kills herself. And the insurance money is mine."

"Insurance?" Emma's mouth fell open. "This is about our life-insurance policies?"

"Why, yes it is!" Aaron mimicked her surprise. "Thank you again for being kind enough to keep me as your beneficiary."

"Oh, God." Emma closed her eyes. It was the only thing he'd asked for in the divorce settlement, that they'd remain beneficiaries on each other's policies for two years, a guarantee that at least one veterinary practice would thrive if anything were to happen to one of them. Since they'd gone into debt together in residency and later as business partners, she thought it was equitable.

And now he was going to kill her for it.

"You don't have to do this," Emma said calmly. "We can work something out. I won't go to the police. No one has to know-"

"Shut up!" he screamed, waving the gun in her direction. At that moment, it occurred to Emma that the man in front of her was a stranger. She knew nothing about him. Maybe she never had.

And she'd be damned if she'd let him hurt two innocent children.

"This is not going to work, you know," Leelee said from her place on the floor. "They have insurance investigators and criminalistics people like on CSI. It'd be a no-brainer to figure out you did it for the money."

"Shut… the… fuck… up," Aaron whispered. "Do you want me to blow your head off? Is that it?"

Emma was trying to get Leelee's attention-because shutting up sounded like a real good idea right about now. But Leelee wasn't looking.

"Besides, your bitchin' new ride is right outside for the world to see."

Aaron stalked toward her. Emma willed the girl to be quiet. "And what's my motive?" Leelee continued. "I'm the Carroll County Middle School Geography Bee champion, for crying out loud!"

Aaron clicked off the safety and stuck the gun to Leelee's mouth. "This will shut you up."

"I'm pregnant!" Emma screamed.

Aaron turned his head and stared at Emma. Leelee gasped and sat up straighter.

"What?" they both yelled at the same time.

"I'm going to have a baby, Aaron. Please let us go. Don't kill us. I'll give you everything I have if you just let us go."

Aaron cocked his head, as if considering her offer. "Who's the father?"

Emma swallowed, her eyes darting from Leelee's shocked face to Aaron. Then back to Leelee-the girl had begun to furiously saw her wrists against the little metal drawer pull behind her back.

"The father is Thomas, my fiancé."

"Fiancé?" they both yelled.

"Yes."

Aaron stared at her with narrow, ugly eyes, and Emma checked quickly to see that Leelee almost had her hands free.

"Pops and I will sell the farm and give you all the profit." Emma's voice was soft and steady as she held Aaron's gaze. "It's worth a fortune to developers now- millions, Aaron. Think about it. That would be so much better than whatever my insurance might be worth. And you can have it all."

As a sickening smile spread across his face, Emma knew she had never been more frightened in her life. It was eerie seeing an Aaron who wasn't Aaron-gutted out and hollow. Her stomach clenched again.

"You lying whore." With that, his open hand cracked across her mouth, and Emma's head swung around from the force.

"Buttwipe!" Leelee shot up from the floor and lunged at Aaron.

In her swimming vision, Emma watched Leelee make a single upward slice with her forearm, knocking the gun from Aaron's grip. The gun went sailing over the bed just as Leelee jumped Aaron, knocked him back on the mattress, and straddled him, hitting and punching wildly.

Emma was on her feet, ready to do whatever she could to beat Aaron to a pulp and get them out of there, when the door was bashed open and two men stumbled in. They both had guns.

"Hey-it's a party," said the uglier of the two.

Thomas raced down the lane, gravel and dust flying around the Audi like a swarm of hornets. He saw Emma's truck, and his heart soared-then sank. The driver's side door was flung open, and Beckett was standing in the driveway-in tears.

"Beck?" Thomas flew out of his car and ran to the old man. He grabbed him by the shoulders.

"They're gone. Something happened. I think he has them."

"Emma's gone? Leelee?"

"Aaron's got 'em."

"What do you mean he's-"

"Here." Beckett handed him a fine-grained black leather wallet. "Hairy had it in his teeth when I got back from the Super Fresh just a minute ago. The dog was going nuts-spinning and jumping and crying. I think Aaron has the girls."

"Did you look-?"

"House. Barn. Everywhere. They're gone."

Thomas looked down at the mishmash of tire prints in the gravel. Hell if he could tell if another car had been here. Then he saw the deep cuts in the stones, like somebody's feet had been dragged across the lane.

"I'm calling in." Thomas ran to the car, yelling over his shoulder. "How long ago, Beck? How long ago do you think?"

He shook his head. "I've been home no more than five minutes. That's all I can tell you."

Thomas dialed Reg and told her to get an APB on Aaron Kramer. He flipped open the wallet and started reading from the expired Maryland driver's license.

"White male, DOB 6-14-67, five-nine, one fifty-five. He's got brown eyes, brown hair. He's-"

Thomas stopped. He stared at the little picture at the top right corner of the license and turned it in the light. He imagined what that clean-cut man would look like in a scraggly beard and a pair of blue contact lenses.

"He's Larry. Oh, fuck."

"Who's Larry?"

Thomas dumped the contents of the wallet onto the front seat and started looking for something-anything-that might indicate where Aaron had taken them. He found two condoms, two obviously stolen credit cards, a few bucks, and a handwritten receipt for a motel room-paid up until tomorrow.