by Terri Reed
Olivia ran up to the entrance.
“Lieutenant, wait,” Lani called as she released Snapper from the back of the SUV.
Seconds ticking away, Olivia’s skin crawled with urgency. Lani and Snapper joined her at the door. Olivia hesitated. Was the door rigged to explode? There was no reason for her to believe Parker would wire an explosive to the entrance to his own building. She reached for the door handle and rattled it. Locked. She pounded her fist against the door.
Lani put her hand on Olivia’s arm. “We need to take this slow. We don’t want to spook him.”
Dropping her hand to her side, Olivia took shallow breaths. For a moment the world spun, then righted itself. “Of course. But what if he’s hurt her?” The thought filled Olivia with an anguish so deep she thought she might be sick.
“We can’t think that way.”
“I’m not cut out for this,” Olivia said.
She’d never enjoyed patrol, but this was worse than anything she’d faced. The unknown, the threat to someone she loved. It was one thing to investigate, following facts and making recommendations, but being out in the field like this was nerve-racking. Why had she ever thought that going into law enforcement was the right decision? Because everyone else in her family had, that was why.
Shaking off the self-doubt, she put a hand over her belly. She needed to stay calm for the child she carried. For Riley and Henry. But how could she remain calm when her heart was torn up thinking that something might happen to Riley? Henry wouldn’t be able to survive if his sister were hurt. Olivia’s heart throbbed.
Lani started buzzing all the apartments on the call box to the left of the door, until finally someone answered the call.
“Yeah, what you want?” a male voice said through the crackle of static from the box on the wall.
“Police. We need to get into the building. Possible bomb threat,” Lani said.
“What?” the man screeched.
“Please unlock the door and leave the building,” Lani said.
The door unlocked.
Olivia paused in the entryway, torn between her desire to charge forward and her need to keep civilians safe. “We should evacuate everyone.”
“I’ll find the building superintendent and have him go floor by floor to empty the building,” Lani said.
Thankful to Lani for her levelheadedness, Olivia nodded. “I’ll take the elevator to the sixth floor and start the evacuation process there before we approach 6C.”
With effort, Olivia remained calm as she raced to the elevator. She checked her service weapon holstered at her back. She’d never fired it in the line of duty. And she hoped today wouldn’t be the first time. Regardless, she unholstered the weapon, keeping it at the ready in two hands as the elevator rumbled upward. She stepped out of onto the sixth floor and took a moment to orient herself.
Apartment 6C was at the end of the hall. The stairwell door opened behind her. She spun, her body tensing.
Lani and Snapper jogged toward her. Olivia let out a breath of relief and lowered her weapon.
“I found the building superintendent. He’s evacuating the lower floors,” Lani said.
“Let’s get this floor emptied,” Olivia instructed. They knocked on doors and urged people to quietly leave the building. Finally, Olivia and Lani approached apartment 6C.
Lani rapped her knuckles on the door.
For a long moment, no one answered. They could hear noises coming from inside the apartment. A faint scream. A slammed door.
“That sounds like probable cause to me,” Lani said. “You good with that, Lieutenant?”
“I sure am,” Olivia said.
Lani motioned Olivia back, then she raised her right foot and kicked in the door.
Parker Wilton ran out from a back room, slamming the door behind him. Snapper barked and growled at him.
Olivia and Lani both trained their weapons at the threat. Parker skidded to halt and shoved his hands into his sweatshirt pockets.
“Hands up!” Lani shouted.
Not complying, Parker backed away from the snarling dog and looked past the two officers. “Where’s Roarke?”
“Get your hands where we can see them!” Olivia commanded.
Parker stared at her for a moment, then lifted his hands with the fingers of his right hand curled around what appeared to be a detonator, his thumb hovering over the trigger. “Do you know what this is?” he taunted. “A detonator. Works like a cell phone. I push this button, it connects wirelessly to a bomb and the whole building goes up in smoke.” He looked at Lani. “Call off your dog.”
“Heel.” Lani gave the sharp command and Snapper returned to her side but stayed standing, ears back and tail high.
Olivia forced air into her tight lungs. “Where’s Riley?”
“She’s fine.” He pointed to the exit. “You need to leave.”
“Not without Riley. Have you hurt her?” Olivia’s voice rose and she inwardly grimaced. It wouldn’t help to panic now.
Parker stared at Olivia as if she had grown a third eye. “She’s okay. I would never hurt her. I love her.”
Stunned by the admission, Olivia tried to make sense of his actions. “Why kidnap her? Why have you been taunting her brother and hurting people?”
Olivia heard a thump from inside the room that Parker had just exited. Olivia held up her hands. “Parker, I’m setting my weapon down.” Slowly, she set her sidearm on the ground and kicked it backward toward Lani. “I’m not a threat to you. Let me see Riley.” She moved cautiously toward the door, skirting around Parker.
Parker spun and grabbed Olivia by the back of the neck, opened the door and pushed her inside. He followed, slamming the door behind him and twisting the lock. Then he pushed a nightstand in front of the door.
Snapper battered the door, scratching and barking.
“Lieutenant Vance!” Lani’s cry penetrated the room.
Stunned, Olivia caught her breath. “I’m okay.”
Riley was nowhere in sight. Olivia stared at the photos of Henry plastered all over the walls with big Xs drawn over them with red marker. There were photos of Riley, as well. But her pictures were grouped together in the shape of a heart. Parker had been stalking the siblings for very different reasons.
Olivia faced Parker. “You haven’t killed anyone yet. Everything you’ve done so far has been fairly minor,” she said. “You need to surrender yourself, now. Before this gets to a point where there’s no turning back.”
Something thumped from within the closet, drawing Olivia’s attention. She lunged for the door, but Parker was faster. He grabbed Olivia, pushing her down onto a chair that had been fitted with an explosive device made with wires and a cell phone.
Olivia’s heart nearly stuttered to a stop. The door shook as Lani tried to kick it open.
“Officer Jameson, I’m sitting on a bomb. Stand down,” Olivia yelled as fear sliced like an open wound through her. Focusing her energy on Parker, Olivia kept her tone calm. “Parker, what are you doing? Where’s Riley?”
The thump came from the closet again. Parker growled and then yanked the door open. Riley sat on the floor, hands bound and black tape over her mouth. She kicked at Parker, but he scuttled backward.
“She’s a feisty one,” he said. “But that’s good. We’re gonna run off together. I have to save her from her brother. He’s a bully. He makes life hard for her. But once he’s dead, she’ll be all mine.”
Anxiety twisted within Olivia’s chest. Remembering what his mother had said about his dissociative amnesia, Olivia wanted to gauge his mental state. “Why do you want to hurt Henry?”
“He put my dad in prison. He deserves to die. He took my father away. Because of him, my dad is dead. If it weren’t for Detective Roarke, my mom and dad would still be married and we’d be one big happy family.”
“Parker, I talked to your mother,” Olivia said in an even, nonthreatening tone. “You don’t remember the night your father was taken away.”
“I do remember,” he insisted. “I remember that officer punching my dad and then throwing him into the car. There was no reason for him to do that. He had no right to take my father from me and my mom.”
“Henry saved your mother’s life that night, Parker. And your life, as well,” Olivia said.
“No, he ruined my life.” Parker paced in front of Olivia. “He ruined everything.”
“Parker, your mother was badly beaten that night. And it hadn’t been the first time. Your father was going to hurt you, too.”
“No!” Parker stopped and rubbed at his head as if his brain was hurting him. He was still holding the detonator.
Maybe the memories were coming back. At least Olivia hoped so. She needed to keep reminding him of the truth. Keep him talking so he wouldn’t do anything drastic. “Your mother was put in the hospital for a long time. Do you remember? You were in foster care. Your dad did that to your mother. He nearly killed her.”
“It didn’t happen.” Parker pounded his forehead with his empty hand. “You’re making that up.”
Afraid she was pushing too hard, she changed tactics. “Parker, listen to me. You don’t want to hurt Riley. You love her. She’s a nice girl. So just let us go.”
Parker froze. His gaze jumped to Riley sitting on the floor of the closet. “No. If she’d only gone out with me, things wouldn’t be like this.”
Riley whimpered.
Shaking her head, hoping Riley would understand, Olivia said, “This isn’t Riley’s fault. And it’s not Henry’s fault. You targeted Riley to get close to her brother, right?”
“That’s how it started,” he said. “Then I really started to like her.”
“What’s your plan?” Olivia pressed. “How will you and Riley live?”
Parker grabbed a duffel bag from the bed. “I’ve got money. I’ve been saving. We’ll be fine.”
He wouldn’t get out of the city. And Riley could get hurt in the process. “Did you plant a bomb at Barclays Center?”
Lips twisting, Parker said, “Naw. I just needed Roarke and his dog out of the way.”
Which left Riley vulnerable with an officer who wasn’t expecting an ambush. “How did you get Henry’s personal cell phone number?”
Parker shrugged. “That was easy.” He used his thumb to point at Riley. “She left her phone out one day in class. Unlocked.”
He squatted down by Riley and caressed her cheek. She pulled away from him and he grabbed a handful of her hair. “So pretty.”
With his back turned away from her, Olivia inched off the chair. If she could tackle him and secure the hand that held the detonator, then she could call to Lani. The officer could break the door in and arrest Parker.
In a swift move, Parker jumped to his feet and closed the distance between them in two long strides. He pushed Olivia back down on to the chair. “Oh no, you don’t!” he yelled. “You’re gonna stay right there.”
Parker grabbed Riley by the biceps and pulled her to her feet. His dark eyes were malicious as he stared at Olivia. “You get off that chair again and I push this.” He waved the detonator at her. “And then we all die.”
Olivia shared a panicked glance with the younger woman. “You don’t want to do that. You don’t want to hurt Riley, remember?”
Olivia could hear Lani talking on the other side of the door, then muted male voices answering. Olivia recognized Henry’s deep timbre. Hope blossomed in her chest. And yet she was afraid Henry’s presence might push Parker over the edge. She needed to keep Parker distracted. “What about Davey?”
“What about him?” Parker said, seemingly oblivious to the voices outside the bedroom door.
“How did the two of you disable Detective Roarke’s body camera at Owl’s Head Park?”
“That was easy,” Parker said. “An EMP. Any dummy could do it.”
The unit’s technology expert had said an electromagnet could have interfered with the feed. Apparently Parker had built himself an electromagnetic pulse device. “No,” Olivia countered. “You’re smart, Parker. Smarter than most. You know there’s no way you’re leaving here with Riley.”
A sudden pounding on the door jolted through Olivia. Parker whipped around and stared at the door.
“Parker Wilton, this is Sergeant Gavin Sutherland of the Brooklyn K-9 Unit. Open this door so we can talk,” Gavin called through the door.
“You don’t get to give me orders,” Parker yelled back. He pulled Riley in front of him. “Where’s Roarke?”
“I’m here,” came Henry’s reply. “Are the lieutenant and my sister okay?”
“Henry, we’re okay for now,” Olivia called to him. “Parker has a detonator in his hand and there’s a bomb in here. No explosives at Barclays Center, according to Parker.”
“Now who’s in control?” Parker yelled. “How do you like it? You made my father go to prison. Now Riley is mine. You took what I love, now I’m taking what you love.”
“Listen, buddy,” Henry said, his voice calm. “Why don’t you open the door and come out. Everyone’s going to the concert tonight. Colt Colton. It should be a great time. You could sit with Riley and her friends. There’s an extra seat since one of the girls can’t make it.”
Parker’s expression changed, revealing the young soul inside him. “Really?”
Olivia could tell he was excited by the idea. He really was a troubled young man.
Then he scowled, looking at Riley. “You think I’m dumb. The minute I open that door, you’re going to arrest me and take Riley away from me. She’s mine now. And you better step back, because I’m coming out with her.” He pushed Riley toward the door. “But if you do anything at all, I hit the button and everyone goes kaboom.”
FIFTEEN
Olivia’s heart pounded in her chest, her pulse roared in her ears. She had to stall, do something to keep the troubled young man from imploding and blowing them all sky high. “Parker, why did you try to break into Henry and Riley’s condo?”
Parker paused and pointed at the simple gold cross hanging around Riley’s neck. “I was hoping I could take that. And then, if she thought she’d lost it and I found it, she’d see I wasn’t such a bad guy.” His face twisted with rage. “But he stopped me. Him and that dog.”
“Why were you following him? You’ve been doing that for months. Did you recognize him when he brought his vehicle into the Tire Mart?”
“I recognized the name. My dad would write to me. And he’d tell me that an officer named Roarke was the one who put him in jail. That Roarke was the reason we couldn’t be together. That Roarke broke up our family.”
“You know that’s not true.” Compassion flooded Olivia. This boy, with his trauma-induced faulty memory, had been brainwashed by an abusive, manipulative father. Parker needed to remember what actually happened so that the truth could release him from this prison of bitterness and his need for revenge. “Your father hurt your mother. He nearly beat her to death, Parker. He would have gone after you, too, if Detective Roarke hadn’t intervened.”
Parker shook his head again. “No, no, no! I’d remember if my mother had been hurt. Don’t say it again. Because I won’t believe it.” He pounded the fist holding the detonator against the wall.
Olivia’s breath froze in her lungs and ice filled her veins. She lifted a fervent prayer to the Lord for some guidance. How could she reach this young man? How could she protect the child growing inside of her?
She wanted to live. She wanted to be a mother and to forge a future for them both. A future she wanted to share with Henry. In a moment of pure clarity, she realized she loved him. He was a man she could count on, a man she could trust with her heart. But there were obstacles in the way.
Their careers. Her investigation.
The baby. He’d already raised one teenager and had said he wasn’t interest in parenting again.
The biggest obstacle at the moment, though, was Parker. If she and Riley didn’t make it out of here alive, there was no future for either of them.
She had to do something to save them all. Then she could figure out what to do about her feelings for Henry.
As Parker reached for the door handle, Olivia’s gaze searched wildly for something, anything, to stop him. There was a baseball sitting on the desk to her right. With two older brothers, she could throw a mean fastball and hit a target.
Parker let go of Riley to grasp the door handle. Seeing her moment, Olivia grabbed the baseball. Parker whipped around as if he sensed her movement. She threw the baseball hard, hitting Parker in the nose. She heard the delicate bones break. The kid screamed and grabbed at his face, the detonator flying from his hand, landing on the rug.
“Now!” Olivia yelled as she threw herself on the detonator.
Parker dove on top of her, clawing at her, trying to get her away from it. She heard the loud splintering of wood as the door was kicked open. The frantic barking of a dog reverberated off the walls.
Snapper latched on to Parker’s leg. He screamed and rolled away from Olivia, batting at the dog biting him. “Get it off me!”
Olivia sat up, clutching the detonator to her chest. Blood from Parker’s busted nose smeared her clothing.
Cody and Gavin’s K-9 both sat in front of the chair, showing their handlers the location of the explosives. From her place on the floor, Olivia had a better view of the small bundle strapped to the bottom of the desk chair with black electrical tape. A shudder worked through her at how close she’d, they’d all, come to being blown to bits.
Gavin and Lani secured Parker, putting him in handcuffs. Snapper backed off, but still growled, making it clear if he resisted the dog would attack him again.