Foul Play at the Fair (33 page)

She walked back to her office, wondering if that was what had happened to Chaz. If shit had happened and he couldn’t or didn’t want to face it anymore. It would be totally understandable. But even though he was blatantly uninterested in anything but fishing, she thought the reason went deeper than just being fed up with the slime.

And Liv was beginning to sympathize.

Ted had left a note that he would be out for the rest of the afternoon. A water pipe had burst at the VFW hall where the jack-o’-lantern contest was being held, and he had to confirm an alternate location.

Ordinarily Liv would have joined him and checked it out for herself. But it was time she got used to delegating responsibility. Hard for a control freak like her. But it was time to step back, not try to fix everything herself. Almost time. She had one more thing to do before she washed her hands of the whole mess.

She got in her car and drove out to Andy Miller’s farm.

The Zoldoskys’ truck was gone and so was Andy’s. They were probably at the police station and she’d made the trip for nothing. If she were honest, she was a little relieved; she hadn’t fully figured out how she was going to ask Andy about the blood without accusing him of murder or appearing ridiculous for asking.

She started to turn around, then thought of the barn and the equipment stored there. No one at home.

Don’t do it, Liv. Leave it alone.

But problems didn’t get solved by leaving them alone.

Liv resolutely turned off the engine and got out of the car. Just a quick look around. She walked over to the barn, trying
not to look furtive, and slid the door open. A shaft of sunlight spilled onto the floor. In the daylight it was easy to make out the contents of the barn. She saw the thresher with its big teeth, but the machine she had grabbed onto had been covered again.

She swallowed and gingerly pulled the tarp back. Peered closely at the handle she had grabbed in the dark. She couldn’t really see anything. But she did hear a sound that sent her adrenaline racing.

A truck.

She quickly lowered the tarp and retraced her steps to the door just as Andy’s truck stopped and Serge, Georgi, and Andy got out. They stopped, staring at her as she walked out of the barn.

“Liv?”

Liv forced a smile. “Hi, I was just looking for you.”

Andy came toward her, his expression puzzled. He looked so tired and pale Liv felt sorry for him. She really hoped he hadn’t killed Pete Waterbury. Where was the good of acquitting Junior only to accuse Andy?

“What did you want?”

“What? Oh, I was just out this way and wanted to see how things were going.”

“The maze is ready to open, but you know that.”

“See you later,” Serge said, and he and Georgi left Liv and Andy alone.

“I really came by to see how you were. And to apologize for…”

“I’m fine,” Andy said without conviction. “If that’s all, I have some things I have to do.”

“Okay, sure.”

Liv got back in her car feeling like she had been slapped. She drove back to town, relieved and disappointed. That had been stupid, a wasted opportunity. She knew no more now than she did before; she’d chickened out just when she might have learned the truth. She needed to call Bill.

She reached for her cell; the call went to voice mail. She
considered just hanging up, but asked Bill to call her. At least he could tell her to butt out and she wouldn’t have to be involved any longer.

She worked late but Ted didn’t return. Liv picked up Whiskey, paid Sharise for the second time in two days, and took him straight home. As soon as she opened the door, Whiskey shot inside.

Liv heard something behind her. She turned around. At the same time, her front door slammed shut and something was yanked over her head, cutting out the light from the porch. The bag was scratchy, and it was hard to breathe. And the smell, sickly sweet.

She was seized by strong, large hands. She tried to fight but her arms and legs seemed out of her control. They dragged her into the bushes, and she became disoriented.
So hard to breathe.

Another arm grabbed her feet; three arms. Two assailants. They carried her, then dropped her on a hard metal surface, a truck. Her hands and feet were tied. One man dragged her farther into the truck bed and the other slammed the gate.

After the initial shock, Liv began to think. Not a random act of violence. Someone had been waiting for her.

The truck picked up speed; the metal vibrated beneath her, jarring her bones and her teeth. It hit a bump, and Liv’s shoulder came down hard on the metal. She tried to move, and that was when she realized one of her captors was in the back with her.

Think, Liv. Think.
But it was hard to think with the burlap tickling her nose and the dust clogging her windpipe. And that smell.
Truck, dust, burlap, farm.
Zoldoskys. Andy, Joss, the Weavers, a dozen other people she knew.

Liv made strangling noises and got no response from her captor.

“I can’t breathe,” she yelled over the rattle of the truck.

Still no response.

Where were they taking her? On the highway somewhere.
What were they going to do with her? Kill her? Why? Revenge? One of the Zoldoskys? All of them? Two of them. Three arms. Georgi and Serge and his one good arm. What could they possibly be thinking? Surely they wouldn’t kill her, would they?

But if they killed Pete…No. She needed to stay calm.

Maybe they would hold her for ransom. Good luck with that. She didn’t think she was anybody’s favorite person right now. They might just think good riddance and get on with things without her.

The truck turned again, bumped violently. They’d left the road; they were riding over dirt now. The truck stopped. Liv slammed up against the cab. For a second she thought she was going to pass out. She heard the gate as it was let down; then she was lifted out of the truck. Her feet fell to the ground.

“Let me—” A hand slapped over her nose, pushing the burlap into her face. She tried to suck in breath but she couldn’t take in air. Then nothing.

The rain woke her up. At least, she thought it must be rain. She lay on the ground, stunned.

When she finally tried to move, she couldn’t. Her head was still covered; her hands and feet were tied. She’d been kidnapped. It was coming back to her.

She tried to wriggle out of the bag, using her bound hands to push it off her head. Sucked in cold air when it finally fell away. Let the rain fall on her face. Rain. She was outside.

She looked around. It was dark. Above her, the sky was dark. The rain clouds must be blocking out the moon. And she had no idea where she was or how long her kidnappers would be gone.

She twisted at the ropes that bound her wrists and succeeded only in making the knots tighter. Shivering, she brought her wrists to her mouth, using her teeth to work the knot loose, but it wouldn’t budge.

She gave up and pulled her feet to her chest. That knot
was looser. Painfully, she began to work the wet rope out of the loop. It seemed to take forever, but at last the first loop fell away only to reveal another. With a cry of frustration, she began again. She had to keep brushing her face against her shoulder to get the hair out of her eyes.

She needed to hurry; they might be back any minute.

She worked the last knot out and yanked the rope from her feet. The violence of the movement catapulted her back and she fell into dried stalks of…corn. She was in a cornfield.

No, not a cornfield. The maze. Andy’s maze. She breathed a sigh of relief. Freedom was just a few turns away. She remembered Andy saying there was an entrance and an exit, two ways to get out if she lost her way.

She rolled to her knees. Using her bound hands, she pushed to her feet and immediately fell to her knees. Her feet didn’t seem to have any feeling. It must have been the ropes, because even though she was freezing, it wasn’t cold enough for frostbite. She hoped.

Her second attempt was more successful. She managed to get upright but was struck with a wave of nausea. They must have given her something to knock her out. She stood with her face lifted to the stinging rain, willing her body to be strong, for her mind to clear.

After a few minutes she felt better. She had to move, but which way? She tried to get her bearings, but it was no use.
That’s why they call it a maze; just move.
Using the wall of stalks as her guide, she started forward, the dry stalks scratching and slapping at her hands. She moved as fast as she could and smacked into an impenetrable wall. She reached out to her right, more wall. To her left and groped empty space.

She turned left. She had no idea how far she was into the maze, but there was only one direction to take. There wasn’t even a star in the sky to guide by. Just black, thick clouds as impenetrable as the cornstalks.

She came to another turn. Lightning split the sky. For the briefest moment she saw corn higher than her head; she was standing at an intersection of paths that disappeared into darkness on all four sides of her. A crack of thunder and the light was gone, leaving her more disoriented than before.

She turned left. A scream split the air; Liv screamed in response. Something flew at her in a another flash of light, not lightning, but something wild, jumping and flashing. A hideous face rushed at her and she screamed again.

She ran, a purely reflexive reaction. Fell headlong into cold, wet vines that slapped against her face and settled on her shoulders and back, trapping her. She flailed wildly to free herself, but her hands were still tied and she succeeded only in getting tangled in the folds.

All around her, lights were still flashing.
Strobe
, she told herself. This was just an effect.

She freed herself just as the octopus retreated into the wall of stalks. She followed it, hoping it would lead her out, but it was just a cavity cut out in the wall to house the mechanism.

She backed out. Listened for the sound of someone running to save her—or her captors returning.

And heard a low chuckle. Another effect, she told herself. Just fun and games for fearless teenagers. Something thrashed among the stalks, and she jumped even though she knew it was just more of the Maze of Madness.

“Aptly named, Andy,” she said aloud and felt better for it.

The chuckling started up again, only in a different place. The same thrashing sound. Another laugh slightly louder. Andy couldn’t have made this effect move like that. Someone was out there. And they hadn’t come to help her.

And Liv did something the veteran Manhattan event planner would never do. She panicked. Began to run. Head-on into another dead end. She fought off the prickly leaves. Twisted around. Lost her orientation. Blind in the dark,
she couldn’t tell where she had come from or where she should go.

She stumbled back, crashed against another wall of corn that lit up with hundreds of blinking lights showing stalks infested with crawling spiders. Liv turned and began to run.

The laughter followed her this time. Joined by another ghoul. They were beating on the branches around her. How close were they? It was impossible to tell in the dark surrounded by drying stalks.

She thought she saw a light ahead. And raced toward it. It winked out and Liv fell to the ground.

It knocked the breath out of her and for a few seconds she could only lie there and listen to her own ragged breathing. The rain had stopped; she didn’t know when. But the air was utterly still. And the breathing, she realized, was not just hers.

She lay still, holding her breath, while the other continued slow and heavy. Was it a recording? Was there somebody on the other side of the wall?

She couldn’t stop the whimper that bounced against her throat.

Do not lose control
, she told herself. This isn’t some back alley in a bad section of town.

No, you idiot, it’s worse.
And suddenly all the horror stories of murders in small towns came back in one fell swoop. Right about the same time as the footsteps came nearer.

If she didn’t move…If he didn’t have a light, he might miss her completely. Walk past her. Turn the wrong way. Give up.

The footsteps were getting closer. She drew herself into a tight ball and scooted back against the wall. And fell into empty space. Touched something clammy and nearly screamed. Pulled herself together. She had fallen into one of the cavities carved out for the horror machines. She wasn’t
alone, but she would rather take her chances with the slithery thing hanging alongside her than with whoever was out there in the maze.

She drew her knees up, breathing into them to keep from being heard. Closer. He was coming closer. She pressed against the back of the cavity, held her breath. The footsteps stopped. She thought she could make out two booted feet right in front of her. Was sure of it when they turned to face her.

Please just keep going
, she prayed.
Just keep going.

He took a step away.

Liv started to breath again. Her cell phone rang.

She’d forgotten about her cell phone.

She heard voices. The other kidnappers. She struggled to unzip the pocket of her jacket. Got her fingers on the phone. Didn’t even stop to think whether she should silence it or answer it.

She pressed send.

“Hey, I know I was a bit hard on you this—”

“Chaz, listen to me. I’m in Andy’s maze.”

“What?”

“They’ve put me in the maze and they’re going to find me because of your dumb call. Help me.”

“Liv, are you—”

She was yanked out of her hiding place. Her phone went flying.

Two strong and callous hands grabbed her arms and yanked her to her feet.

Liv lashed out with her bound hands. “Leave me alone. You’re going to pay for that, whoever you are.”

“Liv.”

She knew that voice. Not the Zoldoskys, as she’d suspected. Not Andy.

“Joss?”

No. Not this kind, decent man…whose brother had
come close to destroying his life. And strangely she couldn’t even blame him.