Random Acts of Iniquity

by Christy Barritt

  “Me and Holly?” Chase jerked his gaze toward me and shook his head. “Having Holly face this guy is out of the question.”

  “I agree that it’s not a good idea.” Wilson let out a sigh and seemed to move on. “We also found Kari Leblanc at the office complex where he was hiding out.”

  “Was she okay?” Chase asked.

  “She appeared to be fine. We have her in custody at the station now.”

  Everything in me wanted to go down to the station and help figure out what was happening. But this was one area that I couldn’t insert myself into without an invitation. That invitation had to be from Wilson or Chase, not from Dahlman.

  “He really said he’ll talk only to Holly and me?” Chase finally said.

  “That’s correct. The two of you together.”

  Chase let out a long breath and glanced at me. I nodded to let him know that I was okay with it. Finally, he frowned and raised the phone back to his mouth.

  “We’ll be there in a half an hour,” he said. “But, if at any point I feel like things are going south, Holly is out.”

  “I would expect nothing less.”

  Dread and excitement collided inside me. I was going. Maybe I would get answers.

  But doubt also clouded my thoughts.

  That had seemed easy. Almost too easy, hadn’t it? Or had we really outsmarted this man?

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  I fidgeted as I prepared myself to talk to Lars Dahlman. Though I wanted to talk to him, I couldn’t deny that facing the man who’d abducted me sent shivers down my spine.

  “You don’t have to do this.” Chase paused outside the door to the interrogation room and looked me straight in the eye.

  “I know. I want to. I want answers.”

  He stared at me another moment before nodding. “If at any time you want out, you just let me know. There’s no pressure on my end for you to be in there.”

  “I appreciate that, Chase.”

  I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans. Yes, my jeans. There was no way I wanted this man to get any satisfaction by seeing me in a dress. I still got a sickly feeling in my stomach when I thought about that house he’d trapped me in.

  Together, we stepped into the room. My stomach turned as Dahlman came into view.

  He looked so smug as he sat there . . . which again made me pause. Something just didn’t feel right about all of this.

  “So you figured it out.” Dahlman smirked.

  He didn’t have dark hair as I’d expected. He must have been wearing a wig when he posed as Felix. At the moment, he looked so normal with his square face and light-colored hair. He wasn’t sweaty or disheveled. No, he could very well be doing a job interview right now.

  And he had an accent. A Norwegian accent. He’d masterfully sounded All American when I’d heard him talk before, both as my abductor and as Felix.

  “It took you long enough,” Dahlman crooned, lounging back in his chair.

  Chase scowled as he took a seat across from him. “You think you’re the smartest man in the room, don’t you?”

  “I think I am?” Dahlman’s eyebrows shot up. “I am the smartest man.”

  “But you were caught.”

  His smile dimmed—but only a little. “You all got lucky.”

  I may have let out a little snort.

  Dahlman’s gaze traveled to me. “Good to see you again, Holly. I was quite sad that our time together was cut short. Your chicken pot pie smelled exquisite.”

  Queasiness rose in me, which I was sure was his desired effect. “You’re sick.”

  “I prefer to say brilliant.”

  Chase squeezed my knee beneath the table before opening a folder he had brought with him. “So, you ran the Axon Corporation. You knew my brother.”

  Dahlman smiled again. “That’s correct. I was so sorry to hear about his passing.”

  “Why didn’t you just kill me?” I blurted. I knew I probably shouldn’t interrupt, but the question burned in my mind. Asking it was the only way to relieve the sear of the flames, to find any relief.

  Dahlman leaned closer. “Because sometimes there are better things to do than kill. Sometimes, it’s better to watch your target slowly die inside.”

  His words turned my stomach. He was sick and twisted. And suddenly, I just wanted to be away from him. But first I wanted to hear him out.

  “Why have all of these casualties if Chase and I were the target?”

  He grinned again. “Because that’s what makes it fun. I figure out what I need to do. I put a plan in place to accomplish it. And I always say it’s better to kill two birds with one stone, if possible. So I looked at the people who could help me, I found the cracks in their lives, exploited them, and it was truly a win-win—for me.”

  People were just pawns in his game.

  Kurt Casey’s death meant nothing to him, nor did Barbara’s. Definitely not Hayden’s.

  And I was sure if I had died, that would also mean nothing to him—not as long as he got what he wanted.

  This man was a psychopath. Thank God, he’d been caught.

  Now I just prayed that this was truly over.

  * * *

  Chase and I met in the hallway an hour later, after we’d finished talking to Dahlman. I thought I’d feel better. Instead, I still felt uneasy, and I couldn’t shake the feeling.

  “It seems like a slam dunk, Holly.” He paused in front of me and lowered his voice as we stood in the dim space. “He’s pretty much owned up to everything.”

  “That’s great.” I heard the uncertainty in my own voice, though I willed it not to be there.

  Chase twisted his head. “Why don’t you sound happy?”

  I shrugged, wondering how much to say. “I don’t know. Something just feels off. Am I the only one who senses it?”

  “I’m not sure what could be off. Everything seems to be lining up. Maybe it will just take a while for it to sink in that the guy who did this to you has finally been arrested.”

  I nodded, realizing the truth of his words. “You’re probably right. I’m just overthinking things.”

  He squeezed my arm. “This should all be over, Holly. All of it. We have reason to celebrate.”

  I tried to smile, but my lips didn’t cooperate. “I know. That’s amazing, isn’t it?”

  “It is. Now, do you want to talk to Kari?”

  “I’d love to.”

  “Good. Maybe she has some of those final answers we’ve been looking for.”

  I could only hope.

  But as we stepped toward a different interrogation room, another memory begged for my attention. I paused, but only for a minute, as a flashback hit me.

  I was back at the house. My captor had stepped inside. I was about to serve him dinner. He put his hand on my waist.

  As he did, I heard another sound.

  My heart thrummed in my ears as I tried to remember, to erase any doubts.

  It was the sound of the camera moving, wasn’t it?

  Had someone else been watching the whole exchange?

  I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure that I hadn’t imagined it all.

  But I didn’t like the bad feeling that had returned to my gut.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I stared at Kari across the table. I’d decided to keep my realization to myself—for now. I needed to know if I was making up things out of the fear I’d missed something or if it had been an honest memory. I still wasn’t sure.

  Instead, I focused my attention on Kari. She looked better now than she had when I’d last seen her. She appeared to have showered. Her hair was clean. Her skin no longer had smudges of grime. The flannel shirt and jeans she wore appeared to be new.

  Chase sat beside me, but he didn’t say anything. He waited for me to start instead.

  “Has anything you’ve told me been the truth?” My throat burned as the question left my lips.

  Her chin trembled. “Yes, what I told you last time was true. My dad was the biological h
alf-brother of your father, and that’s how I managed to track you down.”

  “Were you involved with Lars Dahlman?” Chase asked.

  “No!” Her face fell. “I mean, yes. Kind of. It’s confusing.”

  “What does that mean?” Chase said. “What’s so confusing about it?”

  Kari let out a long sigh and leaned back in her chair. “I mean, this guy approached me a couple of weeks ago. He had a police badge and told me he needed my help.”

  “You believed him?” I asked. She didn’t strike me as the naïve type.

  “He seemed legitimate. There was nothing about him that raised any red flags.”

  Chase leaned back and crossed his legs, as if settling in to hear a long story. “What happened next?”

  “He told me he would be in touch when the time was right, but that it involved some crimes that had been going on in the Queensgate area. He told me that there could be some corrupt officers, so I shouldn’t mention this to anyone. He said he was with Internal Affairs.”

  We waited as Kari seemed to compose herself. Either she was a great actress or this had really shaken her up. Her motions were jerky. Her voice trembled. Her gaze skittered around the room.

  “He showed up at the motel that morning and said he needed to get me out of there before anyone else arrived. He took me back to his office and told me I had to stay there until he knew I’d be safe.”

  “What about the blood on the floor of the motel room?” Chase asked. “How did that get there?”

  That was a great question. I’d almost forgotten about that.

  “He had a bag of blood. I don’t know where it was from or what kind it was. He said he needed to make it look like I’d been snatched. Said otherwise, I’d look guilty.”

  I had to practice the suspension of my disbelief as I listened to her story. I wasn’t sure I bought it.

  “So he took you back to the house. What then?” Chase continued. “Did you ask him any questions about the nature of his investigation?”

  “I wanted to, but I just tried to keep my mouth shut.” Kari’s chin trembled. “My mouth always gets me in trouble, and I decided to change that. I didn’t want to make a mess of things this time.”

  Of course. This was the one time she’d decided to behave. Still, she might only be alive right now because of that, so I couldn’t complain.

  “What happened next?” Chase asked. “What did he say he wanted you to do?”

  She drew in another shaky breath. “He said I was going to be framed for this crime, the one where Holly was abducted. He was trying to make sure I stayed safe. He said some corrupt cops were going to make things dicey for a while and that he might eventually need my help. The next thing I knew, the police barged in, and we were both arrested.”

  I wanted to believe her. I really did. But Kari lied effortlessly. Who was to say she wasn’t doing that now?

  Her story was big. Outlandish. Slightly unbelievable. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t true.

  I glanced at Chase, trying to tell if he bought what she tried to sell. I couldn’t read his expression. I could only see that he was being cautious.

  “What are you going to do with me now?” Kari’s eyes were wide with fear as she stared at Chase.

  “That’s for Detective Wilson to decide,” Chase said. “He’s heading up this case.”

  “Will I go to jail?”

  “I guess that depends on whether or not your story checks out.” Chase stood and glanced at me. “Come on, let’s get out of here. We have other work to do.”

  “Wait!” Kari called.

  We froze and turned back to her.

  She let out a long breath. “I don’t know if it’s important or not, but this guy was talking on the phone to someone else. Talking a lot.”

  “You think he was working with someone?” Chase asked.

  Kari shrugged. “I have no idea. At the time, I thought he was talking to his contacts with Internal Affairs. But now that I know the truth . . . he could have been talking to anyone.”

  I needed to tell Chase about my memory, I decided. Even if I was wrong . . . he needed to know.

  But before I could share, his phone buzzed. He punched a couple things on his screen and frowned. He held up his phone for me to see.

  A video played there

  A video of Drew. My ex, Drew.

  He sat on a couch in a retro-style living room holding his head as if it hurt.

  All the air rushed out of my lungs.

  Someone had abducted Drew, I realized.

  My instincts had been right. Lars Dahlman was working with someone.

  This wasn’t over yet. Far from it.

  * * *

  I paced the hall of the police station while Chase questioned Dahlman again. Another crew had been sent back to the house where I’d been found to see if Drew was there. I knew he wouldn’t be. It didn’t fit into this game that had been so carefully planned.

  Drew? Why in the world had Drew been involved with this? It didn’t make sense.

  I paced still, feeling like I was beside myself.

  What were we missing? Who in the world could Dahlman be working with? Would he really give up that information?

  I couldn’t make sense of things, but I desperately wanted to.

  Please let Drew be okay. I kept praying the prayer over and over again. The thought of something happening to him . . . it crushed my spirit.

  He was innocent in all of this. I was the one who stuck my nose into other people’s business. I usually got myself in trouble.

  But not Drew. He was a good guy.

  I glanced at the time on my phone. How long was Chase going to talk to Dahlman? What had they found at that house?

  Not knowing was killing me.

  As much as I wanted to believe they’d rescued Drew and everything would be okay, I knew better.

  Dahlman and his accomplice were playing a twisted game, one in which they were always the champions.

  Finally, Chase stepped out of the interrogation room, a stormy expression on his face.

  “What did you find out?” I rushed.

  “That man is as smug as they come,” Chase seethed. “He seems to be enjoying this.”

  “Did he tell you where Drew is?”

  “No, of course he didn’t. He said he doesn’t know.” Chase held out his phone. “But we just got another video.”

  I looked at the screen. Drew sat on the couch, a dazed expression on his face still. Then he held up a sign to the camera.

  My life will be spared in return for the lives of Chase and Holly.

  I sucked in a breath. What?

  He picked up another sign.

  Wait for further instructions.

  Drew looked at the camera, still holding the signs. At once, he broke character and yelled, “Don’t do it, Holly!”

  Then the screen went black.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “There’s no way you’re going.” Chase sliced his hand through the air.

  “He’ll kill Drew if I don’t.”

  “If you do go, they’ll kill you too.” Anger came in waves off Chase as he paced the conference room. Other detectives, including Wilson, were in the room, along with the police captain. They all tried to figure out the best plan of action.

  The house where I’d been kept had been checked and found empty. We didn’t know where Drew was being held, and as quickly as the IT guys tried to trace the source of the message, everyone in the room knew it would do no good.

  Dahlman and whomever he was working with . . . they were tech geniuses. They knew how to reroute signals and maximize their capabilities for the ultimate confusion.

  And that left us at their mercy.

  “I want to go,” I repeated. “I can’t let something happen to Drew. He has nothing to do with this.”

  “Neither do you.” Chase’s nostrils flared as his emotions ran high. “You can’t go.”

  I didn’t blame him for his strong feelings
. But there were other issues at play here. “Chase . . .”

  “Wait.” Wilson stood from his seat at the table. “This might be the only way we can get to this guy.”

  “It’s a horrible idea.” Chase still stomped back and forth.

  “It’s the only idea that would work,” Wilson said. “We can protect you both.”

  “We can put gear on you,” Captain Myers said. “Tracers. Microphones.”

  “This person will figure it out.” Chase stubbornly shook his head.

  Captain Myers raised his head, his gaze zeroing in on Chase. “Then what do you suggest?”

  “I don’t suggest anything.”

  I stepped forward, knowing my opinion meant nothing. Still, I needed to speak. “All I know is that we have to move quickly. We don’t know how much time we have.”

  “We can’t be hasty. We need to figure out who he’s working with.” Chase raised his hands into the air. “Who have we missed? It’s not Kari. We have her in custody. Have we searched this guy’s bank records? Talked to neighbors to see who he’s been hanging out with? Have we searched to see who else is left over from Axon that he might be working with?”

  “We’re covering all of those angles,” Wilson said. “Answers are slowly coming in.”

  “Have you found out anything?” Chase asked.

  “No, not really. There was one man who came over to Dahlman’s place a few times, and a woman who showed up on occasion, according to neighbors. It doesn’t give us much to go on.”

  “We can’t check his social media, because we can’t trust anything we find online. It’s hard to know what to believe, for that matter.” Chase’s entire body looked tight as he said the words. This was all getting to him.

  He’d thought it was over.

  But maybe it was just starting.

  “We have another video,” Wilson announced, sitting up in his seat and holding up his phone. “This one was sent to the department.”

  Everyone gathered around to see it.

  It was Drew. On the couch he held up another sign.

  You have one hour to get here. Instructions will be texted to Chase. Follow them exactly.