She closed her eyes the same instant the front door opened and Danny stepped inside. He dropped something heavy on the floor before shutting it behind him.
“I think it’s time for you to wake up.” Danny put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed, lifting her upper body from the couch and pushing her back down hard, before leaving her once again. The unmistakable sound of tape being pulled from a roll broke the silence.
She lay in wait of the perfect moment. His footsteps grew closer.
“Ah!” Becca bolted upright.
He stumbled back into the coffee table and fell to the ground. She lunged forward, the door knob in her grasp.
“No!”
Danny’s hand clamped around her ankle and pulled her to the floor. She kicked out with everything in her to get free.
“You fool. Haven’t you learned by now you’re not going to get away from me so easily?”
He flipped her over, knocking the wind from her lungs. She gasped for air, coughing and blinking to clear her vision. Becca froze.
Danny now knelt beside her, syringe in hand. “Enough of the fun and games. You just pissed me off one too many times.”
The sudden crunch of tires against gravel stole his attention. He slipped the syringe back inside his vest pocket and then picked her up and ran to the bathroom where he dropped her in the tub. Her head connected with the faucet, and the world started to spin.
“Hello? Is anybody here?”
Becca recognized Jacob’s voice and opened her mouth only to have Danny stuff a towel in it. Sweat dripped from his face and fire burned in his eyes as he took his gun from the back of his pants and aimed it at her head.
“Hello?”
“You shut the fuck up,” he snarled. “I hear one noise out of you and your buddy out there gets it.” He slipped out of the room and closed the door behind him.
Her hand went to the source of jolting pain and came away bloodied. She pulled the towel out of her mouth and pressed it against the wound. Slowly, she moved out of the tub only to end up flat on her ass. The room spiraled, sucking her into a black hole of nothingness.
Randy sat at the counter in Danny’s hideout. Every single aspect of the room had a purpose, from the portable incinerator to the tall coolers used to preserve the flowers. Unfortunately, he ended up empty-handed when it came to the good doctor’s elusive journal. An element, he believed, would answer many of the questions swimming in his head. The cylindrical case was another item not found. There was an endless supply of surgical gloves, wet wipes, duct tape, and rain suits. Not one thing told him where Danny might have taken Becca.
Suddenly the door burst open and Jeffery ran in. “Something is wrong! If that bastard hurts him...!”
Randy slid off the barstool and held a hand up to halt his tirade. “Slow down.” He walked over to Jeffery, who stooped with his hands on his thighs attempting to slow his breathing.
“Jacob...something wrong...I feel it.”
“What makes you think that? Where is he?”
“That’s just it.” He straightened his stance and threw his hands up in the air. “He left over an hour ago to grab some clothes from my place.” He began pacing. “He’s not answering his cell.” With an air of drama, he put his fist to his mouth and choked out a sob.
Randy took hold of the distraught lover’s shoulders until the guy looked at him.
“We’ll find Jacob. Right now you need to calm down and focus. It’s possible there’s a very simple explanation. Remember, cars break down, phones die, and so on.”
Jeffery shook his head in earnest. “No, you’re going to have to trust me on this. I sense something isn’t right.”
“Well, then let’s grab a couple of men and take a ride over there.” Randy ushered Jacob’s lover from the room. “Why don’t you try his number more time?”
Jeffery held his cell phone between them and pushed redial, letting it ring until it went to voicemail. “Jacob, I’m here with Randy. You need to call us when you get this message. We’re on our way over there. I’m very worried about you.”
Chapter Twenty-three
“Fuck!”
Becca startled awake to a phone connecting with the wall and pieces of it flying around the room. She was no longer in the bathroom but gagged and tied to a kitchen chair, and this time she wasn’t alone. Jacob now sat across from her. Blood dripped from a nasty gash at his temple and his chin rested on his chest. He appeared to be oblivious of anyone or anything around him.
Danny ran toward her. “We have to get out of here now!”
She squeezed her eyes shut preparing to die. A flood of relief brought tears to her eyes as Danny cut the tape from her wrists and ankles. Her joyous moment was short-lived when the all too familiar cool metal of his gun pressed against her forehead.
“You’re going to help me get him to my truck. I got no time for fucking games. If he’s not out there in less than five minutes, I’ll put a bullet in both of you and fly out of here solo.” He pushed the gun against her skin. “Understood?”
Becca nodded, unable to respond with the tape still stretched across her mouth. She shifted her attention to the window. Why the sudden urgency to get away? Randy? Are you coming for me? None of it really mattered if she didn’t do what he wanted. She dropped to her knees and began frantically pulling at the tape wrapped tightly around his ankles.
“For fuck’s sake!” Danny shoved her aside and ran his blade between Jacob’s ankles, biting into shin flesh, too.
The tape muffled Jacob’s pain-filled cries. The slice must have been excruciating, but his eyes remained closed.
“You take the other side.”
His menacing tone quickened Becca’s step. They literally dragged Jacob outside and into the back of the SUV—ironically the precinct’s vehicle. Do I dare take the tape from my mouth? No, he’s already teetering on the edge. I’ll wait it out.
Seconds passed before the passenger door opened. “Get over, you’re driving.”
Becca scrambled over the console and slid in behind the wheel while Danny put the keys in the ignition and started the truck. The entire time he kept his gun trained on her.
“Drive. When you get to the road don’t stop, just turn right and step on it.”
Where are we going now? She glanced in the mirror and saw Jacob in the exact same position they’d left him. What set Danny off? A phone call? A message? Please let this mean help is on the way.
Randy punched the wall. “Dammit!” The feeling of déjà vu was becoming all too familiar. He stooped to pick up a part of what once was a cell phone. Pieces of it lay strewn across the floor amidst broken furniture and puddles of blood. He swallowed the lump in his throat at the prospect of Becca being hurt.
Chief grabbed hold of his shirtsleeve as he ran past him toward the door. “Come on! Let’s go! They can’t have more than a four or five minute lead.”
Randy squelched the rage rising up in him and sprang into action, reaching the SUV at the same time the chief did. He barely shut the door before gravel flew up from under the tires and the car lurched forward. Chief flipped on the lights, following the strip of rubber at the end of the lane, and then stepped on the gas.
“Where could they be headed in this direction? There’s only farm land for miles.” Randy strained to see the passengers in passing vehicles.
“Danny can be somewhat anal when it comes to details. Trust me, he knows exactly where he’s going.”
Randy shrugged. “Maybe not. How could he know Jacob would show up? If it wasn’t for Jeffery’s message, we would’ve arrived unexpectedly.” He smacked the dash. “Why did I ask him to call?”
“Give yourself a break, kid. We had no way of knowing he’d take Becca there.”
Randy raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t think he planned to. He probably got wind of the dogs coming and didn’t know where to go, so he went to the closest place he knew.”
“Look, up ahead.” Chief pointed at fresh skid ma
rks turning into a storage unit facility. There had to be a hundred of them, side by side, row upon row.
Chief pulled in at a portable office. A sign on the door stated: Call for Assistance.
“Get the guy with the keys over here right away,” Randy barked the order at the officers in the back seat. “We’re going to need a few men out here or we’ll be days going through these entire units one at a time.”
Becca couldn’t shake the mounting despair after leaving the storage unit. By now a team of officers were going from one unit to the next in search of her and now Jacob. They’d have no reason to suspect Danny’s clever diversion. He had her driving down a dirt road towards an old farm house with a For Sale sign at the end of the lane.
Did Danny already know about this place? Surely he can’t be winging it as he goes along?
Jacob now moaned much of the time, undoubtedly in a great deal of pain from his various injuries.
“Pull in around back.” Danny straightened in his seat. The second she put the truck in park, he reached over and took the keys. “Get out and help me carry him inside.”
Physically and emotionally drained, it took everything in her to help carry him to the house. The old wooden door swung open with a kick, and they brought Jacob inside. Sparse furniture littered the main floor they passed through to lay Jacob on an threadbare sofa.
He waved the gun under her nose. “Grab a chair.”
Reluctantly Becca did as asked, knowing full well it was meant for her. Danny held her firmly in place with strength belying his size. This time he wrapped the tape from torso to ankles, leaving her no chance of escaping.
Once he’d finished with her, he pulled another chair to sit between them. He slipped his hand in the side pocket of his khaki’s. Everything seemed to freeze in place once he held the syringe up between them.
“Now, I do believe I’ve bought us a little time to do things properly.”
Jacob looked over at her. “Becca,” he rasped.
“How wonderful of you to come back to us. Your timing couldn’t be more perfect.” Danny flew from his chair and drove the needle into Jacob’s arm, injecting half of the clear liquid.
She screamed into the tape. Jacob’s body bucked once before becoming completely still. Oh, my God, no!
Danny smiled devilishly and turned Jacob’s head to face her. The blocker had done its job. Not enough to kill him, but seemingly the right dosage to render Jacob a virtual prisoner in his own body.
Becca made a futile attempt to get free from her bindings as Danny stood and sashayed across the room, needle in hand. Every expression, every move of her captor resonated shear madness. His laughter chilled her to the core. The Florist smiled and straddled her.
“You look like you have something to say.” With no regard, he ripped the tape from her face, drawing blood.
“Danny, please, you don’t have to do this. Jacob hasn’t done anything wrong.”
He snarled. “Oh no? That prick took the only man I have ever loved from me. He deserves everything I have planned for him, and more.”
“Danny, I’m begging you not to use that on me. I’ll do anything you tell me to do. I can help you get away. I have a little money tucked away. It’s all yours, just please—”
He traced her bleeding lips with his index finger and held up the syringe between them, spurting out a little stream of the drug. “It wouldn’t be fair if Jacob has all the fun, now would it?”
He kept his gaze trained on her while he jabbed the needle in her arm. A scream died in her throat and her muscles relaxed until she couldn’t even part her lips.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“This is ridiculous. We’ve been at this for over an hour and we’re no closer to finding them than we were when we started.” Randy paced back and forth.
Chief’s radio crackled. “Chief, come to unit seven-two-four.”
Randy clutched at his chest as he climbed in the truck with the chief and tore off to find the unit. Several officers huddled in front of open bay doors.
“What do we have here?” Chief asked and stepped.
A tall, plain-clothed detective ushered him forward. “It’s Danny’s truck.”
Randy ran into the unit and looked in the windows. “Empty.” He took a pair of gloves from his vest pocket and put them on before opening the back hatch. Bitter bile rose in his throat as the stench wafted out. Someone’s blood stained a large patch of rug. Whose blood is it?
His boss put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “I know what you’re thinking. If one of them is dead, don’t you think he would’ve left the body rather than cart it around with him?”
Randy nodded, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Maybe they’re not dead, but one of them is bleeding badly. A person can only lose so much blood and survive.” He walked over to the passenger door and carefully opened it. The driver’s seat was also bloodied. “I wonder if Danny drove or if he forced one of them do it?”
A glint of silver on the driver’s side floor mat caught his attention. Randy rounded the front of the truck and swung the door open.
“It’s a ring—Becca’s pinky ring. She’s letting us know she’s alive.” A rush of adrenaline urged him to look for further evidence. “She had to be the one driving.”
“That means it’s Jacob who’s hurt.” Chief raked his fingers through his hair.
“Does this mean you’re done with me?” The silver-haired caretaker jangled his key ring.
Chief shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”
“I’ll go look up the file on this unit. Back in a flash.”
“Jerry, call in and find out if Danny has any other vehicles registered in his name.”
Jerry jogged over to one of the squad cars.
“Now what? We were probably minutes behind them when we got here. Now they’ve got at least an hour’s lead.” Randy started to pace yet again, frustrated beyond words.
“You’re forgetting Danny’s a cop. He knows to stay out of sight. My guess is that’s he’s not gone far at all.”
With her entire body rendered useless, all she could do was look from side to side with her eyes. Thankfully Danny left them alone in the room. Her sense of time had vanished along with her motor skills. It seemed a lifetime had passed, but it could easily have been a matter of minutes.
Danny had positioned her to face Jacob, who reclined on the sofa still as a corpse. If it wasn’t for the slight rise and fall of his chest Becca would’ve thought him dead. Waiting for Danny to come back was almost as torturous as not being in control of her body.
Like a slideshow, photos of the seven crime scenes played over and over in her mind. Jacob already assumed the position on the sofa. If she had any hope of maintaining even a tendril of sanity, she couldn’t let her mind go there.
Did Randy see my ring on the floor of the truck? Does he have any idea where we are?
Danny meandered into the room freshly showered and wearing clean clothes.
What kind of killer does that?
He rubbed his hands together, looking from Jacob to her and back to Jacob. A devilish smirk played on lips as he squatted next to her, his face a whisper from hers.
“I hope you enjoy the show today. None of this would be possible if it weren’t for your meddling. Thank you.” He tilted his head back and laughed.
Her attempt to move away from the garbage spewing from his mouth proved futile. Danny sat back on his heels and dangled a large needle threaded with fishing line.
Oh my God, no! Please, oh my God, somebody please help us!
Danny took great pleasure in seeing sheer terror in the eyes of Ms. Hoity Toity Detective. He swung the polished steel instrument in front of her face back and forth, back and forth. Big, fat tears spilled onto her flushed cheeks, and he leaned forward to lick them away, jumping back just in time to miss the puke spewing from her mouth.
He laughed so hard tears came to his eyes. Things were moving along even better th
an he’d hoped. All color drained from her face, and yellowish, green spittle dripped from her chin.
“Aw, I’m sorry darlin’. If that was enough to make you sick just wait ‘til you see what happens next.”
He looked down at Jacob. “It’s time for you to pay the piper. Did you really think I’d just sit back and let you take Jeffery from me? Lord knows what kind of crap you’ve poisoned his mind with about me. I’ll be sure to set things straight in due time, but first thing’s first.”
Danny scooped up the smaller black bag and set it next to the couch. He then straddled Jacob and sat on his chest. Was it fear or anger he saw in Jacob’s eyes? He shrugged.
Once he’d put on his gloves, he took a pack of baby wipes from the bag and set them on Jacob’s chest. With two fingers, he pulled the man’s lips out and held them together.
“We’ll just see how well you can use your mouth after I’m through with you.”
Danny curled his lip in a snarl as he pushed the needle through and out the bottom, drawing the long thread out dramatically. “Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Jacob’s pupils were so big he couldn’t see the color of his eyes.
“Perfect.”
Danny set to work, stopping every few stitches to look into Jacob’s frozen features. “Are you going fucking nuts in there? I sure hope so. You’re not such a pretty boy now, are you?” He took a wipe and cleaned the blood from his mouth.
Becca stared blankly. What he wouldn’t give to read her mind. “Are you enjoying the show, honey? I need a drink. Can I get you something while I’m up? No? Okay, don’t say I didn’t offer.” He got up from the sofa and stared down at Jacob. “How about you, buddy. Want a drink?” His hand fluttered to his mouth. “Oops, how rude of me. I guess you can’t. ”
His laughter rang off the walls on his way to the picture window. He looked out across the lush meadows. The smile froze on his face, and he squinted against the setting sun to see between the trees.
Killer Scents Page 11