Free Choke: A Thriller by Dani Amore Page B

the floor.
    Crawling slowly toward the sound, he moves down a short hallway and peeks into another room.
    It is a racquetball court.  And next to the court is a television, with an announcer talking.
    A photo is splashed across the front of the television.
    It’s him.
    Vincent.

60.
    Annabel and Bonnie, their mouths duct-taped shut again, are walked slowly to a tennis court in the dark.  Miles Lucas walks behind them, the muzzle of his gun pressed firmly against the base of Bonnie's skull.
    With their backs against each other, Annabel and Bonnie are forced to sit down directly in the center of a tennis court.
    The killer takes the tape off of Annabel's mouth.  With his gun pressed against her temple, the killer speaks to her.
    “Your daddy's here, hon.”
    “Mommy.”
    Bonnie tries to answer, but she can only manage a muffled comment through the duct tape.
    “Call your Daddy, darling.  He'll come running and save you from the bad man.”
    “Daddy,” Annabel says softly.
    “You're going to have to speak up, dollface.”
    “Daddy,” she says again, a little louder.
    “I hate to have to do this; I'm really anti-violence.  But if you're not going to work with me, you leave me no choice.”
    Miles takes a knife from his waistband and puts it against Bonnie's cheek.  He presses hard enough so the point sinks into her skin, and a small rivulet of blood starts creeping down her face.
    Annabel screams at the sight of the blood.
    “That's better,” Miles says.
    He then disappears into the darkness beyond the center of the court.

61.
    Vincent hears his daughter screaming, and starts running toward the sound.

62.
    Detective Ponko is riding with Lieutenant Reynolds in the squad car.  She is on the cell phone.
    “No sign of Lucas?  The door was open?”
    She listens for a beat.
    “Keyes was there,” she tells Reynolds. 
    “Any sign of where they might have gone?” Ponko says into the phone.
    She listens.
    “I don't care if it's just a hunch.  The Valley View Tennis Club?  Give me the address.”
    She jots something down and disconnects the call.
    “Guys at Mile Lucas’s place found a bunch of bills for The Valley View Tennis Club next to a newspaper article about a car crash years ago in Cedar Grove.”
    “Car crash, huh?” Reynolds says.
    “Turn right up here,” Ponko says.  “I had a lesson once at that club.”
    “How’d that work out for you?”
    “Let’s just say it didn’t take.”

63.
    Vincent bursts through one of the side doors that opens onto the tennis courts.  He races straight to Annabel and Bonnie.
    “Daddy, watch out!”
    Suddenly, the lights are switched on, and the entire court is bathed in bright light.
    Vincent turns and Miles Lucas is standing along the back wall, his hand on the light switch.  In his other hand is a gun, pointed directly at Vincent.
    “Drop the gun, Vincent.”
    Vincent places his gun next to him on the ground.
    “Step away from them.”
    Vincent responds accordingly as Miles approaches.
    “I'm proud of you, Doc.  You made it this far.  I gave you just enough credit to figure this much out.”
    “Let them go.  Put a bullet in my head right now.”
    Annabel whimpers.
    “Just let them go.  They have nothing to do with your mother's death.”
    Lucas gives Vincent a sick smile.  “Ah, so you figured it out?”
    Vincent nods.  “I remembered there were rumors about Kristin having been pregnant, but everyone thought she had an abortion.  I realized that may not have been the case.”
    “How dare you even mention my mother?  The woman you killed with your cowardice.  You make me sick.”
    Bonnie is working her hands, trying to get them free from the duct tape.  Annabel is crying now, sobbing.
    “Believe me, I've never forgiven myself for the accident.  That's why I studied psychology.”
    “So you could strut around, acting like a celebrity?  Helping athletes like Vicki Lee and Demetrius?  You're suddenly an expert on staying cool under