She softened her voice. “I’m trying to understand why you did it, Eddie.” Would using his real name help her situation?
“I’d been visiting my dying aunt, and I had a few beers before heading home. If I’d been caught drinking and driving one more time, I would have lost my license, maybe even done some jail time.”
Eddie’s confession both excited and terrified her. Determined to hide her fear, she tried to keep him talking. “So, in addition to drinking and driving, and hit and run, you decided to add kidnapping because you’d already screwed up? Is that why you took the baby?” She shouldn’t accuse him like this, but she needed to hear the whole story.
“No!” He raked his left hand through his hair while holding the rifle with his right. “I never wanted to hurt anyone. But when the woman asked me to check on her baby, something hit me, and I thought if I took the baby, it would solve my problems.”
“How was kidnapping going to solve your problems?”
“Clara was going to leave me,” he said, the pain evident in his voice. “She wanted children so badly, and I hadn’t been able to give her any. We’d talked about adopting, but we couldn’t afford it. I couldn’t lose her, so I took the baby because that’s the one thing Clara wanted.”
“Did it actually solve your problems?” Amy couldn’t understand his twisted reasoning.
“Sort of.” He paced a tight line in front of her. “At first, she was angry with me and insisted I take the baby to the police and turn myself in. But it was late and storming, so I promised I would do it in the morning. But by the next morning, she’d grown attached to the baby. I told her if I turned myself in, I’d go to jail and she’d lose meandthe baby. I convinced her that we could be a family.”
“I bet that secret has been a difficult one to keep, with pictures of Cassey Young plastered everywhere.”
“We never dared take the baby anywhere. One of us always stayed here with her, usually Clara. She’s a homebody, anyway.”
“Do you work?” How had they been able to take care of Cassey?
He shrugged. “After Lance fired me from the band, it took me a while to find work. I wasn’t sure we could afford to keep the baby, but I finally found factory work, and we’ve been getting by.”
Amy had the confession she wanted. But would she live to testify against Eddie? Her stomach clenched at the thought of not making it out of this barn. Eddie obviously regretted what he’d done. But could she convince him to do the right thing and turn himself and Clara in? Did she even dare suggest it?
Planting his feet in front of her, he ceased his pacing. “Why did you have to come snooping around?” The anger in his eyes matched his gruff voice as he once again pointed the gun at her.
“I had to find some answers,” she said more calmly than she felt. “Ben has suffered more than any man should have to endure.”
“You should have kept your nose out of it. Now, I’ve got to decide what to do with you.”
Amy’s heart sank, and a weight settled in her stomach. “Whatareyou going to do with me?”
He scratched the back of his neck. “I don’t know.”
“Look, Eddie, the car accident was just that, an accident. I know you didn’t mean to kill Melanie Young, and I can tell you’ve had a hard time living with that this past year. And I don’t think you want to hurt me. You’re not that kind of person.”
At least she hoped he wasn’t.
“I’m not a murderer!”
Amy flinched at his words. Was he trying to convince her, or himself? How many times had he said those words in the past year?
He stepped closer, pressing the gun at her temple. “This is all your fault.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip to hold in the scream that clawed at her throat.This is it.She wrapped her trembling arms around herself, certain her racing heart would explode before the gun did.
Would it be as fast and painless as the movies portrayed? Would Ben ever forgive her for letting them get away with his daughter? Or Kallie for leaving her?
Swearing, Eddie spun around and walked to the corner of the barn.
The breath, Amy didn’t realize she’d been holding, rushed out in a sob. Clapping a hand over her mouth, she blinked away the rush of tears.
He kept a close eye on her as he searched the dark recesses of the barn. Returning with a long rope, he knelt and set the gun down behind him. “Turn around.”
With sharp, rough movements, he tied her hands behind her back. Then grabbing her shoulders, he dragged her to the support beam of the barn. After he tied her with her back to the beam, he stood, breathing heavily.
Amy wasn’t sure whether to be relieved he hadn’t shot her, or terrified of being left out here to die a slow death of thirst, starvation, and freezing temperatures.
