“Now, here’s what we’re going to do, Mr. Moss. As you can see, the rain looks to be picking up, and none of us really wants to catch a summer cold. You, we don’t care about, but none of us wants to get sick. Now, having said that, this is what you’re looking at. You’re going in that hole, which will hopefully someday be my swimming pool. It’s full of mud, water, and a few dead animals that drowned during that horrendous rain this past week. You won’t be able to climb out once you’re in there. Did I mention that the pool, this monster hole in the ground, is fourteen feet deep all around?

“If you don’t answer us, we’re going to push you in the pool. And then we’re going to give you some company.”

Nikki turned to Kathryn and told her to bring the special bins to the side of the pool. The girls hustled to give Kathryn a hand.

“Do you want to see what’s in the bins, Mr. Moss?”

Moss raised his head and wiped the mud out of his eyes and mouth. His heart rate ratcheted up. He struggled to appear uncaring but knew he wasn’t pulling it off. “Not particularly. Probably something insane because you are all insane to kidnap someone like me. I’m a public figure.”

“No you are not. At this point in time, you are a public joke. This whole town now knows the story of your wife. What kind of man beats a woman and holds her prisoner? Only a sick, demented person like you, you filthy son of a bitch. You are a power-hungry mongrel,” Annie said loud enough to be heard above the rain, which was coming down even harder. “Go easy on yourself and tell us the passwords.”

“Go to hell,” Moss bellowed.

Annie threw her hands in the air. “Well, we tried to be nice. Show him what’s in the bins, girls! Be careful now,” she warned.

The girls advanced close to the pool and undid the heavy-duty lids of the hard plastic bins. But they didn’t remove them. They waited expectantly.

Myra stepped forward. “Bin One is full of water moccasins. Bin Two is full of rattlesnakes, and Bin Three is full of copperhead snakes. We weren’t sure if cottonmouths were the same as water moccasins, so we got some of those, too, because they do look different. They are in Bin Four. There are twelve of the pesky little devils in each bin. They go in the pool with you. Do you want to rethink your attitude and cooperate or not?”

Jesus Christ, Moss asked himself, who are these looney tune people? Moss could feel his insides start to crumble. He could hear the rattlesnakes rattling inside the bin.

“Time’s up,” Harry said as he shoved Moss into the muddy water.