Victim 14

by KJ Kalis

  A moment later, the door cracked open. It was Bradley. “Bradley, I’ve been trying to call you.”

  “Emily? It’s late. What’s going on? Do you want to come in?” Bradley looked confused. He had on a pair of floppy gray sweatpants and a T-shirt with stains on the front. His hair was standing up in a couple of places as though he’d been nodding off in front of the television or something.

  “I came to warn you. The FBI — they pinged my truck. They know it’s here. They are going to come looking for me.”

  “Well, that’s okay. I’ll just come out and get the garage open for you and you can take your truck out of here. If they come by, I’ll tell them I don’t know anything about it.”

  Emily was surprised at how quickly Bradley adjusted to the information. “That’s not the only problem. They have a location on Lexi Cooper. I have to go. I gotta go now, but I don’t have any GPS. It’s down from the storm.”

  “In this storm? Where exactly are you going?” Emily held up her phone and showed the address to Bradley. He shook his head, “You’ll never make it out there on your own. I’m coming with you. Give me just a second.”

  The door in front of Emily slammed closed. There was nothing else she could do other than run back to the Jeep, waiting for Bradley. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel while she waited. Why did he feel like he needed to go with her? Maybe the roads were unpaved or something? At this point, nothing would surprise her about Tifton. Before she had much more time to consider her options, Bradley opened the side door of the Jeep, sliding in, putting his cane between his knees. “Let’s go,” he said. “Turn right out of the driveway. I know where you’re going.”

  They drove in silence, except for Bradley giving Emily directions here and there to turn right or turn left or to watch out. Emily could hear the GPS beep and then recalculate the route they were taking still searching for a signal that wasn’t there. The rain pounded on the sides of the Jeep, the constant thrum of water hitting the metal roof. Emily leaned forward, using the sleeve of her jacket to try to wipe some of the steam from the window. Bradley reached into the back of the Jeep, grabbing a towel and wiping it for her. She squinted into the darkness, not sure what she was driving into.

  * * *

  When they had been driving for nearly twenty minutes Bradley spoke, breaking the silence, “Listen, on the back of this street you’re getting to, there’s a farm. It’s been abandoned for years. I’m not sure if you want to go to the front door, do you? If not, we can go up this street here,” Bradley pointed, “and then you can go through the woods and approached the house from the back.”

  Emily took her foot off the gas, slowing the Jeep down, a little surprised at Bradley’s thinking. Bradley had a point. Even though it wasn’t her truck, the presence of another vehicle in the driveway if the FBI pulled up would make it nearly impossible for her to leave. In her mind, she saw the two black SUVs blocking the driveway, forcing her to wait, or worse, talk to them. “Yes, let’s do that.”

  Bradley pointed up a side road, “As I said, the farm’s been abandoned for years. No one will be there. I’ll just wait for you here.”

  The Jeep made it through the side road with relatively few problems, bumping over a couple of fallen branches. As Bradley pointed to where the driveway for the abandoned farm was, Emily could see a couple of large buildings in the distance. They were hard to make out, the rain and the storm making it nearly impossible to see where she was going. As she got a little closer, Emily spotted a small farmhouse, the windows black. Bradley was right. There was no one home. They passed an abandoned car in the driveway, Emily’s grip forcing her knuckles white in the darkness. The rear tire had a flat. It must have been left behind when whoever owned the place moved out, Emily thought. Bradley pointed, “You can park right up here, behind the barn. While you’re gone, I’ll see if I can get the barn door open and pull the Jeep inside. I’ll either be right here or have the Jeep ready to go inside the barn.”

  Emily nodded and then squinted, “Where is this house I’m going to?”

  Not being able to see landmarks distinctly left her feeling confused. Maybe they should have gone to the front of Ollie Gibson’s house, Emily wondered. Bradley could have dropped her off. She swallowed, a tingle running down her back. This whole thing, maybe it was a bad idea.

  Bradley pointed. “See that little light in the distance? That’s gotta be the back of the house. You just have to cross the field and a little stand of trees and you’ll be there.”

  Emily nodded, the knot in her stomach growing by the seconds. If she had any hope of beating the FBI and helping Lexi, she had to go now. “Okay. See you in a bit. If I’m not back in an hour, go back to your house.”

  “Okay.” There was a pause, “Emily?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Be careful.”

  The words hung in the air. Emily knew what she was about to do was dangerous, probably one of the most dangerous things she’d ever attempted. In her mind, she pulled up a picture of Lexi with her blonde hair and her wide eyes. If Lexi was in that house, Emily knew she didn’t have a choice. Getting warrants and permission from judges could take hours, especially in the middle of the night. Lexi might not have hours. Emily was her next best hope.

  44

  Cash pounded his fist on the conference room table at the bed-and-breakfast, where he’d been cooped up with his agents for the last two hours waiting for warrants to enter Ollie Gibson’s house. Randy had given them the hair clip they’d found, plus a license plate number. It was all they needed to do a search and hopefully find Lexi. But based on the phone conversation he’d just had, the warrants weren’t coming any time soon. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” he shouted, startling Janet, who’d been sipping on coffee the staff had brought in.

  “What happened?”

  “The storm has the roads clogged up so bad no one can get to any of the local judges to get the warrants signed for at least another hour. By the time they get back to us, it’s gonna be another one on top of that.”

  “And Lexi could be dead by then…” Janet whispered, the color draining from her face.

  “Darn right.” Cash started to pace, rubbing his hand across his forehead. “This is when I hate the judicial system. This girl’s life is on the line and we are sitting here with our thumbs in our mouths.”

  “Is there anything we can do?” Janet asked.

  Cash slumped down into a chair next to her. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

  45

  Emily jumped out of the Jeep, slamming the door behind her, bending forward against the wind and taking off at a trot towards the light in the distance. She couldn’t go too fast, the land underneath her bumpy and rutted. If she wasn’t careful, she’d end up twisting her ankle before she got there. Then, she’d be no help to Lexi, none at all.

  Though the rain slicker kept the water off her back and shoulders, within a minute, the water had soaked through her jeans and was trickling down her face. “At least it’s warm,” she mumbled, stepping over a log halfway. In front of her, Emily could see a stand of trees. It extended around the field in a U shape, ending near where she’d left Bradley in the Jeep. Getting near the edge of the woods, she felt bad for a second, exposing him to problems with the FBI. FBI agents were relentless. When they got their eyes set on you, it was nearly impossible to get rid of them. She hoped that wasn’t the case for Bradley.

  In the woods, Emily stopped for a second, her breath ragged. She stared toward the house, trying to get her bearings. Pulling out her phone from her pocket, she glanced at the GPS just for a second and then stuck it back under her slicker, wiping it off just a little bit. That was the house Mike told her about. It was square and white, two stories. There was a dim bulb on, glowing on the side of the house, probably above a side door. Emily started to move again, stepping over another log, crouching low. If the FBI was approaching from the front of the house, which would be their most likely path in, the last thing she w
anted them to do a spot her in the woods. As she got to the edge of the yard, Emily stopped again leaning her head right and left, using a wet hand to wipe as much water off of her face as she could. There was no use. The rain was coming hard and fast. She heard thunder in the distance. Lightning flashed nearby, sending a crackle through the air.

  Emily crouched low again, half running across the yard and stopping under a window at the back of the house. She started moving to her right, scanning the back of the house and stopping at the corner near where the light was on. She couldn’t go that way without taking the risk she’d be spotted. Emily turned around, hugging the back of the house, her heart pounding in her chest, the whoosh of blood in her ears. She stuck close to the back of the house, the ground squishing underneath her boots, everything soaked with the rain from the storm. She passed under one window, and then another and was just about to dart around the corner when she saw a small window near the foundation. Leaning down, Emily looked inside. It was the cellar of the house. There was a dirty bulb hanging from the ceiling. Emily squinted, her eyes searching the space, trying to focus in the driving rain. Lexi. In the back corner of the cellar, Emily could see the little girl, duct-taped to a chair. Emily’s heart started pounding harder. Lexi looked like she was alive, But for how long?

  Emily’s mind raced. She had to get Lexi and get her out of the house. It didn’t make any sense to go in through the front door. She’d be a sitting duck. Emily turned and glanced around. There was a cellar entrance on the outside of the house, a wooden door secured with a padlock that was nearly flush to the ground. Emily ran over to it and knelt down, pulling a set of lock picks out of her pocket. Fumbling with them in the damp, it took her an extra second to get the lock open, the pick dropping into the mud and then the metal coming apart with a click, slick in her hands. She twisted the lock apart and pulled it off of the phalange flipping the door open.

  Just as she did, she felt something grab the back of her neck yanking her into an upright position. The force flipped her around and she stared into the face of a giant man, his face frozen and angry. Emily didn’t have time to think. Ollie Gibson. Emily kicked and yelled, but he had such a tight grip on her she was unable to break free, dragging her down the steps into the cellar like she was a bad dog coming in out of the rain. Emily’s heart was pounding in her chest. She couldn’t see him. He had her by the scruff of her neck and the back of her coat. She felt her body being carried down into the cellar, the wind whipping into the dank area behind her, the heels of her boots scraping down the steps. He’s going to kill me and kill Lexi, Emily thought, kicking and elbowing him with all she had. It wasn’t enough.

  At the bottom of the steps, Emily felt the man pull her up to face him, just before slamming her with all of his force into the brick cellar wall. Pain seared through Emily’s back and her head as her skull cracked against the rough stone. She slid down, landing in what had to be five inches of water. Woozy, pain shooting everywhere in her body, Emily realized the cellar was flooding. Before she could move, Emily saw Ollie as he stepped back for a second, tall and square, with wide shoulders and big hands clenched by his side. He groaned and then came for her again. She ducked out of the way, scrambling to the side. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lexi kick her feet as if she was hoping that Emily noticed she was there. “Hold on, Lexi,” Emily screamed as Ollie lunged for her again. Emily’s heart was pounding in her chest. She ducked just in time to watch his fist make contact with the brick wall where her head had been.

  As she reached back to pull her gun from the holster, Ollie grabbed her arm, his eyes wild. He hadn’t said anything. He didn’t need to. He was going to kill her. Emily’s mouth was dry. Ollie shoved her to the ground. She landed in a splash, the water moving in waves away from her, feeling his hands wrap around her throat. The only hand free she had was on the left side of her body, not her gun side. Emily panicked as the breath drained out of her, black spots forming in front of her eyes. She was going to die in this basement with Lexi Cooper. Cash would find her body along with the little girl when they got here.

  Without thinking, Emily fumbled in her pocket for the lock picks. She gripped the two of them in her fist and with an arcing motion stabbed the man in the back of his leg, feeling the pointed metal penetrate his pants and his flesh, diving deep into the sensitive muscle. With a yell, the man let go, falling backward.

  With a sweeping motion, Emily pushed herself up and drew her gun, leveling it at him. On his knees, Ollie looked up at her. Emily pulled the trigger, the creep of red blood crawling down his forehead as his body fell face-first into the water, the echo of the shot bouncing off the walls in the small space.

  Emily stood up as quickly as she could and kicked at his body, hoping he was dead. There was no movement. She looked at Lexi, whose body was wriggling. Emily ran over to her, making her way through the water that was flooding the basement. She quickly undid the tape on Lexi’s mouth her wrists and her ankles, “Are you okay?” Emily whispered, seeing the blood on the side of the girl’s head. The little girl nodded and started to cry. Just as she did, Emily heard a noise from upstairs. Footsteps. Yells of, “FBI, we have a warrant!” The FBI. They had gotten the warrants faster than Emily anticipated. She licked her lips and looked back at Lexi, whispering, “The FBI is coming to get you. I want you to yell as loud as you can, so they know you are down here, okay? I’ve gotta go. Stay here.”

  Saying nothing more, Emily ran back the way she came, stepping over Ollie Gibson’s body with a splash, pulling the hood up on her jacket as she ran up the cellar stairs and out into the darkness. She could hear Lexi screaming from behind her and glanced back, knowing the little girl would soon be home.

  From the front of the house, she could hear yells and see the sweep of flashlights. How many agents Cash Strickland had brought in, she didn’t know, but it seemed like a lot more than just the few Mike had reported. Maybe he called for reinforcements? Emily didn’t have time to think. Her mouth was dry. Standing at the top of the cellar in the pouring down rain she glanced left and right, knowing she had to make a run for the woods. As she started to move, she saw the sweep of flashlights behind her and heard yells in the background, “Stop!”

  Crossing the backyard, Emily darted into the woods, following it to the right, knowing the U-shaped line of trees would lead her back to the barn where Bradley was waiting with the Jeep. She didn’t have time to think, her breath coming in short pants. From behind her, she heard more noise, the crackle of branches breaking behind her. She was just ahead of the agents, but she had no idea if they could see her or not. The drenching rain hadn’t stopped and she slipped, falling to her knees, quickly scrambling up and looking over her right shoulder. The flashlights were still coming, the light arcing through the backyard and into the edge of the woods. By their pattern, Emily didn’t think they had any idea who or what they were looking for. She had to keep moving. Scrambling up, she kept going and then heard another voice, “Stop! FBI!” They’d spotted her. Moving as quickly as she could, Emily charged through the woods, veering left and right, hoping to avoid them and the beams from their flashlights cutting through the storm. After a minute or so, she stopped, glancing back. They were no longer coming as hard and as fast, but they were sweeping the woods where she’d been. If she had any hope to get away, she had to keep going. Sucking in a breath, Emily took off at a run again, turning toward the barn. She’d nearly made it out of the woods when she tripped, feeling a crack in her right ankle, searing pain running through her body, even worse than the pounding of her head from getting slammed against the brick wall in Ollie Gibson’s basement. She sat for a second, stunned, then realized if she didn’t get up and cross the yard to the Jeep, they would get her. She would be in Cash Strickland’s hands and likely spend the rest of her life in jail.

  With a grunt, tears streaming down her face from the pain, Emily got up and limped across the yard, opening the door to the Jeep and getting inside. She started it up and pull
ed away without turning on the headlights, without saying a word to Bradley.

  A half-mile down the road, Emily turned the headlights on. Her breath had slowed, only the pain in the back of her head and her ankle still remnants of what she just been through. Bradley’s voice broke through the noise of the rain and the windshield wipers on the glass, “Everything okay?”

  Emily nodded, “Lexi’s safe.”

  Epilogue

  Four days after she’d gotten home, Emily was reading an email from Bradley when Mike brought his computer into the living room where Emily was resting her ankle after having surgery on it. The fall in the woods when she was running from the FBI had broken it in three places and required surgery, something that happened the day after she got home. Mike had been staying at the house with her since the beginning of the case to take care of Miner. Now, he was staying at the house to take care of Emily and Miner while she recovered.

  “Thought you might like to see this.” Mike handed his laptop to her. On the screen was a story from the Louisiana Gazette that headlined, “Tifton Killer Finally Got Justice.” There were two pictures on the screen – one of Cash Strickland next to one of Ollie Gibson. Emily smiled. At least Cash got the recognition he wanted, she realized.

  Emily handed the laptop back to Mike, “I just got an email from Bradley. He said everyone is grateful and that he’s been sleeping better. Even said he got rid of the murder boards in the garage and Carla has been out helping him. I guess Lexi’s doing well, too. Dr. Wiley looked in on her and told Bradley about it.”