Body Double: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel

fried chicken and all the forbidden foods she had denied herself ever since Dwayne had said that pregnant women reminded him of cows. Meaning
she
reminded him of a cow. For two weeks afterwards, she’d eaten nothing but salads, until one day she’d felt dizzy and had sat right down on the floor in the middle of Macy’s. Dwayne had turned red-faced as worried ladies gathered around them, asking again and again if his wife was all right. He kept waving them away while he’d hissed at Mattie to get up. Image was everything, he always liked to say, and there was Mr. BMW with his cow of a wife in her maternity stretch pants, wallowing on the floor.
Yes, I am a cow, Dwayne. A big, beautiful cow carrying your baby. Now come and save us, goddamn it. Save us, save us.
    A footstep creaked overhead.
    She looked up as her captor approached. She had come to recognize his tread, light and cautious as a stalking cat’s. Each time he’d visited, she’d pleaded with him to release her. Each time, he had just walked away, leaving her in this box. Now her food was running low, and the water, too.
    “Lady.”
    She didn’t answer. Let him wonder, she thought. He’ll worry whether I’m okay and he’ll have to open the box. He has to keep me alive or he won’t get his precious ransom.
    “Talk to me, lady.”
    She stayed silent. Nothing else has worked, she thought. Maybe this will scare him. Maybe now he’ll let me out.
    A thump on the dirt. “Are you there?”
    Where else would I be, you asshole?
    A long pause. “Well. If you’re already dead, there’s no point digging you up. Is there?” The footsteps moved away.
    “Wait!
Wait!
” She turned on the flashlight. Began pounding on the ceiling. “Come back, goddamn it! Come back!” She listened, heart thudding. Almost laughed with relief when she heard the creak of his approach. How pitiful was this? She was reduced to begging for his attention, like an ignored lover.
    “You’re awake,” he said.
    “Have you talked to my husband? When is he going to pay you?”
    “How are you feeling?”
    “Why don’t you ever answer my questions?”
    “Answer mine first.”
    “Oh, I’m feeling just
dandy
!”
    “What about the baby?”
    “I’m running out of food. I need more food.”
    “You have enough.”
    “Excuse me, but I’m the one down here, not you! I’m starving. How are you going to get your money if I’m dead?”
    “Stay calm, lady. Rest. Everything’s going to be all right.”
    “Everything is so
not
right!”
    No answer.
    “Hello?
Hello?
” she yelled.
    The footsteps were moving away now.
    “Wait!” She pounded on the ceiling. “Come back!” She beat on the wood with both fists. Rage suddenly consumed her, a rage like nothing she had ever known before. She screamed, “You can’t do this to me! I’m not an
anima
l
!” She collapsed against the wall, hands bruised and throbbing, body wracked with sobs. Sobs of fury, not defeat. “Fuck you,” she said. “Fuck you. And fuck Dwayne. And fuck all the other assholes in this world!”
    Exhausted, she collapsed onto her back. Drew her arm across her eyes, wiping away tears. What does he want from us? By now, Dwayne must have paid him. So why am I still down here? What is he waiting for?
    The baby gave a kick. She pressed her hand against her belly, a calming touch transmitted through the skin that separated them. She felt her womb tighten, the first quiver of a contraction. Poor thing. Poor . . .
    Baby.
    She went very still, thinking. Remembering all the conversations through the air grate. Never about Dwayne. Never about money. That made no sense. If the asshole wanted money, Dwayne is the person he has to go to. But he doesn’t ask about my husband. He doesn’t talk about Dwayne. What if he hasn’t even called him? What if he hasn’t asked for any ransom at all?
    Then what does he want?
    The flashlight dimmed. The second set of batteries was dying. Two more fresh sets to go, and then she’d be in permanent darkness. This time she did not panic as she reached into the grocery sack and tore open a new package. I’ve done this before; I can do it again. She unscrewed the back, calmly slid out the old batteries, and inserted the new. Bright light beamed out, a temporary reprieve from the long good-night she feared was coming.
    Everybody dies. But I don’t want to die buried in this box, where no one will ever find my bones.
    Save the light, save the light as long as you can. She flicked off