“Wait.” Ash held up a hand. “And I’m not doubting you, Delia, but you’re saying he brings in girls after hours?”
“Yeah. Girls that don’t work here. He doesn’t do it with the employees. We would tell and he’d get fired. But we’ve all seen him bringing his dates. I swear he must drug them or they would be smart enough to get away from him. It’s not like the maze is that hard.”
The words “he must drug them” stuck out in Ash’s mind. That would mean Kevin needed to get his drugs from somewhere and it was probably a whole hell of a lot easier to get young women to take prescription drugs illegally than it was to convince them to take something like cocaine or meth. After all, doctors prescribed those drugs and some of the girls had probably already taken stuff like that when they’d been given a script by a medical doctor or even their dentist. But if Kevin was lacing those drugs with other things there was no telling what happened.
“It’s just Kevin that does this?” Ash questioned, needing to clarify this point. “He’s not renting out the space to other people and letting them use it for fantasy role playing?” The idea of that was just revolting. Ash could hardly keep from grunting in disgust at the idea of a man who would do that to a woman.
“Yes. Just Kevin,” Delia confirmed. “And I only know… I—uh—I caught him going up one time. I was closing that night. I don’t close very often. But I saw him going into the maze with someone who wasn’t an employee and I sort of started poking around.”
“And you never told anyone?” Maybe this was just a little too convenient. Ash could not help but be skeptical about just about everything. “You should have told the police a long time ago.”
“When Kevin was already buddy, buddy with that guy Caprico?” Delia gave a savage shake of her head. “No effin’ way!”
Caprico again. Delia was right. It was more than a little terrifying to think of dealing with Caprico in any context. Much less one where he had a motivation to shut you up. Look what had happened to Mindy so far.
Mindy. Ash frowned. “Are you sure Mindy shouldn’t be down here by now?”
Delia glanced at her phone. “I don’t know. Maybe she’s really up there looking for the kid’s binky.”
“Is there a way to find out?”
Delia was reaching for a walkie talkie when they both—no the whole building—heard a huge crash out in front. It sounded as though the parking lot had just been hit with an enormous hunk of metal.
Ash didn’t wait for Delia. He sprinted to the entrance doors and shoved his way outside. The midday heat hit him like a battering ram, but more than that, the sight of a huge hunk of safety glass sitting haphazardly in a twisted mess a few yards from the door was enough to give him pause. What in the hell?
Had it just fallen off the castle façade? Ash approached cautiously as he tried to take in the sight of what appeared to be a very large mirror. Except it wasn’t a mirror. It didn’t reflect. Instead, it was translucent in a vague, thick sort of way. There were multiple panes and all were presumably made of safety glass.
“Hey! Lady, don’t jump!” Someone in the parking lot began to leap up and down, waving his arms and shouting. “She’s on the edge. She’s going to jump!”
Ash bolted from his spot beneath the castle overhang to the parking lot. Then he turned and looked up at the castle’s jagged sort of façade. There were turrets shaped like gargoyles and swirling bits of fake granite, but there was only one tower with a central viewing window that was now on the ground right in front of Ash. And through the enormous gap where the hunk of safety glass had once been lodged, was Mindy Hall.
“Ohmigod, Mindy!” Delia shouted suddenly.
Ash grabbed Delia. “Go inside and evacuate that maze. I don’t want anyone else getting near that tower chamber. They might fall too!”
Delia whimpered, but Ash’s tone countenanced no argument. This was his marshal voice. The one that gave orders and those orders were obeyed. Delia sprinted back inside the building and moments later, the emergency exits opened and people streamed outside.
Ash needed help. But calling 911 wasn’t going to cut it. No doubt someone already had in this age of cell phones. But that would only bring Caprico. Ash was sure of it. There was something going on. Something very nefarious.
“Mindy,” Ash called out. He waved to her. “Sweetheart, step away from the edge.”
She looked down at him. He was directly below her. There was no way to see whether or not someone was behind her or not. It was impossible to say if she was alone or if the room was crowded with tourists. Her face was pale and her hair fluttered in the hot breeze. The sun was glaringly hot and so high that it nearly blinded Ash as he tried to look up at Mindy.
“Baby, back away from the edge. Okay?” Ash had a feeling it wasn’t possible, but he figured it was a place to start.
Mindy cleared her throat. “I can’t go on.”
“What?” Ash had talked to her a few hours ago. Hell. He had woken up with her in his arms. This wasn’t her. “Mindy, baby, are you sure?”
Someone looked at him as though he was out of his mind. But Ash could see Mindy’s eyes huge in her face. This was not about the jump. This was something else. Ash put his combat boot against the hunk of safety glass and shoved hard. The shrieking sound of the metal and glass moving across the pavement was ear piercing, but Ash didn’t care. He needed a clear field because there was no doubt in his mind that Mindy was about to fall.
“Baby, look at me,” Ash told her firmly. “It’s okay. You do what you have to do.”
“Don’t be stupid!” Mindy’s voice was tinged with panic, but her words were leaden. They weren’t hers.
“Mister, what in the hell are you doing?” A man tried to shove Ash aside. “Lady, it can’t be this bad! Back away from the ledge. All right? Just back off!”
Ash put his shoulder into the unhelpful Good Samaritan and sent him flying backwards. “Stay out of this!”
“Get away, Ash!” Mindy whimpered. “I have to jump now. I have to go. I have to…”
She shrieked in terror and for just a split second, Ash could have sworn he saw a hand or some kind of movement around and behind her. Her body jerked as though she’d been shoved and she lost her balance and fell.
Ash braced himself. But Mindy managed to grab hold of the ledge and was hanging. The cacophony of the people behind Ash was deafening. He wanted to tell them all to shut the hell up but he couldn’t. He had to focus. Mindy was clinging to the exterior of the castle trying to use the wavy and contoured cement façade as a sort of climbing wall. But she had nowhere to go and her legs were dangling precariously with no foothold and little hope of one.
She was crying. Her body was tense. She was so tiny. So light. Lighter than a feather. Ash felt his heart breaking for her. He loved her. And what a flipping time to figure it out too. When she was dangling above a stone walkway about to fall.
“Mindy, listen to me,” Ash spoke firmly and calmly. “I’m right below you. Trust me, Mindy. You know I’ve got you. You’re not that high. Can you lower yourself just a little more? Can you use the building like a little climbing wall?”
“I can’t. Ash, please,” Mindy moaned. “I’m supposed to die.”
She didn’t believe that. But Ash figured there was no better time to say what he needed to say anyhow. “Mindy, I love you. Don’t say that. Just let go. I’ve got you, baby. I promise.”
He heard the sharp intake of breath as she gasped. Then he watched her hands let go of the building. Ash braced himself. He fell back a step and then snatched her from the air. He curled his body around hers and the force of her fall sent them both tumbling to the ground. Cement and asphalt ground against his skin. He felt his shoulder hit hard and his hip. He tucked his head against hers and held tight as they rolled until their momentum just suddenly stopped.
The parking lot was a mess. People everywhere. Tourists freaking out. Sirens and fire engines and who knew what else. But Ash just held tight to Mindy
. He whispered words of love and encouragement as he took a mental inventory of his own body. Not bad really. Big bruises—yes. He was going to be covered in them. Dislocated shoulder—that was a given. But nothing broken. And the woman in his arms was still breathing. Whimpering and sobbing quietly, but alive. And right now, that was the only thing Ash cared about.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
He loved her? Funny how Mindy could fall out of a freaking building and land on the guy and that’s the only thing that her mind could latch onto. He loved her. Ash loved her. How was that even possible? The man had to be out of his mind if he thought that loving her was a good idea. Mindy was a mess.
“Mindy?” Someone was pulling on her eyelid. “Mindy Hall? Hey there, can you open your eyes? There we go.”
Mindy felt dazed as she complied. She hadn’t actually been aware that her eyes had been closed. She just felt the man holding onto her. Ash had not let go. Not even now. They were on the ground together. It was hot. God, the pavement was burning her arms where it barely touched the only exposed part of her body.
“Ash, let go. We’ve got her.” A voice. Familiar. Lowell. “Ash, come on buddy. Let’s get you some medical attention.
“No. I’m good.” Ash’s raspy voice made Mindy feel so much better. He was fine. He would be okay. She had not realized how worried she was about that until the relief flooded in.
Of course, that meant she started crying again. Someone was picking her up, taking her away from Ash. She whimpered and tried to cling to him. Then she heard him groan. Her vision was dazed. The sunlight was brutal. There were people and colors and sounds everywhere. Bullhorns blasting words at the gathered crowd and shouting coming from somewhere.
“Come on, Mindy. Let go of him.” Lowell’s voice again. “We’ve got to get him some medical attention. Your savior is in dire need of some bandages.”
“Fuck off,” Ash growled.
Mindy rolled off Ash’s body and sat up. Her world seemed to right itself and come sharply into focus. She was almost sorry that it had. It was total chaos. There were so many fire trucks and EMS vehicles that for a moment it was hard to orient herself in the mirror maze parking lot. Then she looked up and saw the central tower of the castle complex. Except, it looked weird because there was a gaping hole where the slightly tinted viewing window used to be.
They were perhaps ten yards away from the front entrance of the castle, which was recessed. They’d evidently rolled down the little incline and onto the blacktop, which was why it was burning her skin so badly in the blazing afternoon sun. When Mindy swept her gaze back away from the castle toward her position in the parking lot, she spotted the window where it had fallen from above. Someone—Ash she remembered—had kicked it aside so she wouldn’t fall on it.
An EMS worker hustled to put down light colored blankets on the hot pavement. Mindy felt relief as someone else helped her and Ash off the blacktop and onto the blankets. He was sitting up too. His right hand was cupping his left shoulder and his face was tight with pain. But he was staring at her as though he was waiting for her to tell him it was all right.
Mindy reached up with a sore hand and bruised knuckles and lightly stroked his cheek. “I love you so much and I will never be able to thank you enough for what you did.”
He caught her hand with his and held it to his face. The back of his hand was a patchwork of road rash and bruises. But he gently held her hand in his and moved it to his lips to kiss her palm. “I love you, woman. And God knows someone has to keep you out of trouble. If this keeps up, I’m going to drag you to the courthouse to get married tomorrow. Then I’m putting you in a pack and carrying you around with me to make sure I’m on hand when the next disaster strikes.”
There were laughs and giggles from those EMS workers near enough to hear. They were all working diligently to use antiseptic and cream on Ash’s various wounds. Then someone went to touch his shoulder and he snapped like a rabid beast.
“Dislocated,” Ash grunted.
The EMS workers exchanged looks. “You’ll have to go to the hospital to have that set, sir.”
“Where’s Younger?” Ash was muttered. “And Duke, dammit. Didn’t they get my texts?”
“We’re right here, you big dummy.” A man with brown hair that fell over his ears and forehead and a sprinkling of freckles on his nose stuck his head around a uniformed EMS worker. “Would you like some help?”
Mindy didn’t know what to say as two giant-sized men not unlike Ash descended upon the scene. They grabbed hold of Ash’s left arm and started muttering to each other. One was blond while the other was a masculine brunette. Both could have had successful football careers for their mere shape. While the EMS workers protested, the two brutish-looking guys wrenched Ash’s arm out and up.
Ash groaned, but it was the popping noise that made Mindy cringe in horror. She started to cry again. This poor man had probably led a wonderful life before she’d come along and turned it into a non-stop horror film.
Now the EMS workers busied themselves with putting ice packs on Ash’s shoulder and wrapping them into place with elastic bandaging. They were glaring at Ash’s friends as though they couldn’t believe someone would just do a field operation like that without proper medical equipment.
“There,” Ash finally said. “Now I do not require a trip to the hospital. And yes. I’ll sign a waiver so none of you get in trouble if my arm suddenly turns gangrenous from circulation issues and falls off.”
Mindy sucked back a gasp. “What?” Your arm will fall off?”
“No, sweetheart.” He gazed at her with such tenderness that Mindy suddenly felt as though they were the only two people in the world. “I’m going to be just fine. Just a little banged up. How are you?”
“What do you mean how is she?” Sergeant Caprico burst onto the scene, pushing his way past the emergency workers and reaching down to grab hold of Mindy’s arm.
She felt as though her world was caving in. She was not going back to that interrogation room. She was not letting him do this to her again.
“Don’t you touch her!” Ash scrambled to his feet and put himself between Mindy and Caprico before reaching down to help Mindy to her feet as well. “Don’t you even think about it.”
From the fringe of the mess, Mindy spotted a redhead with a pale face and an army of freckles. She was scribbling furiously on her pad of paper and taking pictures with her digital camera. Hilary Allenwood. Everyone in Branson knew Hilary Allenwood. Mindy wished she could tell the reporter she didn’t want this to make the front page. But there was no doubt in her mind it would.
Caprico put his finger right in Ash’s face. “You don’t get to tell me what to do, Forbes. I’m the officer of the law here. Not you.”
“Watch yourself, Sergeant,” Lowell growled from behind them. “I don’t see Sellers here to protect you today and that would make me the officer in charge of this scene.”
“You? You’re working with this half-assed private investigator and the town whore?” Caprico straightened up and Mindy saw him look toward Hilary Allenwood. What was that about?
“She’s not the town whore,” Ash fired back. He was so angry he was practically vibrating.
“No?” Caprico shoved his jaw aggressively toward Ash. “Well, I have a complaint of vandalism and a charge of criminal trespass from the manager. He states he saw Mindy up there in the tower today working to unfasten that window. He’s had a maintenance request in to get it fixed, but she got up there and pushed the window out for her little suicide show. Shameless exhibitionist if you ask me.”
“Fortunately, nobody is asking you,” Lowell retorted. He swung his gaze to Mindy. “Who else was in that chamber behind the glass, Mindy?”
Mindy felt as though she was back up there standing on the edge. “Kevin Eads. He had a gun. He made me write a note. A suicide note. Then he kicked the window out and stood there and made me jump.”
“I saw someone,” Ash said roughly. “Right before she
went over the edge and managed to catch herself.” Ash glared hotly at Caprico. “And if she really tried to jump, why in the hell would she have gone to so much trouble to stop herself to just hang there? It’s not even a big enough distance to make sure you’d die. It wouldn’t be a death fall. It would just cripple you. Who does that?”
Caprico gave an arrogant shove. “Someone trying to get attention, obviously. That’s what this whole thing is about.” Then Caprico glared at Mindy. “You’ll be lucky if we don’t charge you for this whole operation. You’ll be paying fines for the rest of your life. You’ll have to…”
“That’s enough,” Lowell snapped. He pointed at Caprico. “You need to leave. Now. I’m going to recommend you be suspended pending an Internal Affairs investigation.”
“What?” For the first time, Caprico looked nervous. Maybe just a little. A cracking of that arrogant mask he always wore. “You must be joking. I’ve been working on this case for years!”
“A case of what?” Lowell asked sardonically. “Corruption in the mirror maze?”
Ash snorted. “Corruption aided by Mr. Kevin Eads who buys drugs from you laced with something special to make his dates nice and confused before he turns them loose in the mirror maze and stalks them before having forced sex?”
Mindy felt her mouth fall open. The EMS workers went silent, all of them staring at Caprico as though he’d just sprouted a cobra head. Even Detective Lowell looked surprised. Lowell glanced at Ash and rubbed the back of his neck.
The darker haired guy—Younger someone had called him—shook his head in disgust. “That’s just pathetic. Really pathetic. It does call into question what sort of police sergeant Mathias Caprico is though. Don’t you think, Detective Lowell?”
Lowell pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment. Then he glared at Caprico. “Go back to the station. Now. And I swear to God, if I don’t get a call in ten minutes or less that you are parked in the common room waiting for me to get back, I will put out an APB for you, your car, and pretty much anyone you know until you are remanded into custody.”
Rock Wolf Investigations: Boxset Page 91