Sable Quinn Trilogy Boxed Set

by K. J. Dahlen

  "Think positive," Sable chided. "As long as Micah was alive they would do what he said. He was definitely the alpha male. Now that he’s gone, they would have to plan their next move. They would have written everything down so as not to forget a step. Maybe their notes are in these papers." Sable pointed to the papers on her lap. "Maybe we’ll finally get a break. If we can figure out what they have planned, maybe we can put a major crimp in them. It may not stop them altogether, but maybe we can slow them down enough to catch them."

  "I think you’re reaching for the moon and you’re going to come up short," Nick warned. "There may be nothing useful in that bunch of papers."

  "I know," Sable admitted.

  "We could call in their position and have the local police along with SWAT take them out," Nick reasoned.

  "By now they’ll know we found them. They will simply pick up what they can carry and move to another location," Sable told him.

  "In the last five minutes?" Nick asked incredibly.

  Sable was quiet for a moment. "I would."

  "What do you mean?"

  "They will have known the moment they walked into the room that we’d been there. Micah would have taught them to detect the fact they had been found out immediately. By now they are on their way to another chosen spot to set up camp."

  "You seem to know an awful lot about the way Micah thinks," Nick told her after he thought about what she said.

  "I know," Sable admitted. "It scares the hell out of me, but it’s what I would do given the circumstances."

  "You’re probably right but I’m going to call them in anyway," Nick said as he reached for his phone.

  A few minutes later Nick turned his car around driving back to the warehouse. They were met by police and SWAT teams. Red and blue lights flashed while Nick and Sable watched SWAT people enter the building. Ten minutes later someone called clear.

  Nick and Sable entered the warehouse and went straight to the office near the front of the building. Sable noted the empty spots where the sleeping bags had been. Everything personal had been removed. Looking over at Nick, Sable didn’t say a word.

  A few minutes later they were back on the road going back to their offices. When they arrived, Sable spread the papers she had collected on the table and began looking them over. Nick and Max joined her. At first they didn’t really know what they were looking at. Each page told its own horrific story. They didn’t seem to be in any sense of order.

  "What do we have here?" Max asked. He was revolted by the pages and he didn’t really understand why they even existed.

  "I think this is what Micah and the boys have been doing all these years. This is a record of their kills," Sable announced.

  "But why would they keep them?" Max asked.

  "Most serial killers keep a memento of their murders. Micah taught his sons to kill effectively and efficiently. This must be their own mementos."

  Max sat down looking at the papers. "It’s going to take months to track down all of these cases."

  Sable picked up one of the pages and examined it closer. It was a copy of a newspaper article about a fire that destroyed a trailer house. The occupant, Abbey Larsen, was found burned to death inside. "This is about the fire that supposedly killed Abbey."

  "What’s on the back of the page?" Nick asked.

  Sable turned the page over and found a shadow on the paper. Holding it up to the light she could see the letter G on the page. She picked up another page and held it up to the light. She found another letter on the back.

  Grabbing a roll of tape she took the letters over to the window and began taping the pages to the glass. When she had them all up she took the time to look at them. Randomly they didn’t make any sense to her.

  Then Sable began to see a pattern. She began rearranging the letters. When she was finished, the message made her skin crawl.

  The letters on the back of the pages read, Kill Richard, Gabriel, Emma, Greg, Jill, Sam, Shawn, Micah and Sabella.

  Sable turned to look at Nick. "This isn’t Sam and Shawn’s mementos. This is Micah’s master plan. He not only wanted to murder his own parents and grandparents, he was going to murder his children and himself."

  "My god, the man was totally insane," Nick said. "I wonder if the boys know what their father had in mind."

  "I have a feeling that if they did they would have found a way to kill him before he could kill them. I can’t see them just accepting the fact that Micah was going to kill them," Sable reasoned. "Not without a good reason at least."

  "I can’t imagine any reason being good enough to let someone murder you," Nick told her.

  "Why the whole family?" Max asked. "I mean why murder his entire family? That doesn’t make any sense."

  "Nothing Micah ever did made any sense." Sable turned to look at the letters again. "Wait a minute." She took down one of the pages and reviewed the article on the other side. It was an article of a murder that happened almost ten years ago. "Something doesn’t make sense here."

  "Why?" Nick asked.

  "If this truly is Micah’s master plan, then he’s been planning to wipe out his entire family since the very beginning." Sable turned looking at Nick and Max. "He killed Richard twenty years ago and he thought he killed me back then too. I barely survived but he didn’t know that until he came back six weeks ago."

  She pointed toward Richard’s name and her own. The letters were different than the rest. Jill’s name was darker as well. "He had time after Jill’s murder to darken the letters in her name before he died."

  "Do you realize there are fifty pages up there?" Nick asked. "That would mean that from the beginning he had this in mind."

  "Not from the beginning. Sam, Shawn, and I weren’t part of the equation until after we were born. In the beginning it was only supposed to be thirty-five murders. He had to add another fifteen to cover the three of us. But it was his intent to kill his entire family from the beginning," Sable said.

  "Again, the question is why?" Nick asked.

  "Who knows the answer to that question? There was something wrong with Micah from the day he was born. It just didn’t come out until he met up with Richard."

  Nick glanced at the clock on the wall behind Sable. "We should get going if we’re going to assist Scott Black."

  "While we’re gone can you look up some of these cases? I’d like to know exactly when Micah came up with his plan to murder his family," Sable asked Max. "Maybe if we can find out what happened to him to get him thinking the way he did, we can come up with some answers as to why he felt the need to murder everyone."

  Half an hour later they pulled up to Scott Black’s front door. Again the bodyguards came out to show their presence. The man who opened the door this morning gave them a glare and opened the door again. He led them down the hall to the game room where Scott waited for them.

  Scott didn’t have the cocky look on his face this time. He told them all to sit down. "Curt, I’d like you to meet FBI agents Nick Ramer and Sable Quinn. Nick and Sable meet my head of security Curt Halvorson."

  Sable turned to Curt and smiled. She noted that he didn’t look very happy, but she wasn’t here to please him. She was here to try to save Scott’s life.

  "What exactly are you planning to do tonight?" Scott asked as he watched Nick and Sable.

  "We’re here to stop Sam Reardon from killing you," Sable told him.

  "But that’s what I’m here for," Curt complained. "I’m the head of security for a reason."

  "We aren’t trying to take that away from you," Nick told him. "We’re here to assist in stopping him."

  "Scott told me he doesn’t even know this Sam guy. What makes you think he’s coming here anyway?" Curt asked.

  "Scott’s name is on a hit list Sam’s father gave him," Sable told him. "Sam and his brother have already murdered four men on the same list and the only other man left besides Scott is missing. We don’t know what happened to him yet."

  "And just who is Sam’s fath
er and what does he have to do with Scott?" Curt asked.

  "Sam’s father is Micah Reardon. He was in court the day Scott was acquitted. He saw your employer get away with his crime and he, in his own twisted way, has decided to extract what he considers is justice," Sable told them.

  "But I haven’t seen the inside of a court room for twenty-seven years," Scott protested.

  "I know but Micah never forgot what he saw in court. He watched your case get dismissed because the prosecution hurried your case before they had all the evidence. All six cases happened when he was a teenager."

  "This doesn’t make any sense. Why would anyone care about a twenty-seven year old case?" Scott told them.

  "Micah Reardon turned out to be a serial killer. Why he picked these six cases is anybody’s guess," Sable argued. "We know he murdered four of the six men on his list. We’re trying to save your life by stopping his son from killing you."

  "You sound as if this is personal for you," Scott mentioned as he studied her. "What does Micah Reardon mean to you?"

  Sable raised her head staring at him. She really didn’t want to answer his question because she knew if she did it might complicate their case but she had always been an honest person and Scott needed to know the truth. "Micah Reardon is the man that fathered me. Sam is my half brother."

  Scott rose to his feet and backed away from her. His face wore a stunned look. "Are you crazy? Get out of my house!"

  Nick stood. "Mr. Black, please listen to us. Your life is truly in danger."

  "Get out of my house. Get out now. My security force can handle whatever happens tonight, if anything does happen. How the hell do I know you aren’t part of the plot to kill me? How do I know you aren’t in league with your brother? The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree you know. If your brother is after me because of what his father saw, how can I know you aren’t too?" Scott shouted.

  Nick stood, his anger at Scott was visible is every line of his body. "If she were working with her brother, why on earth would she come to warn you? I can vouch for Sable’s character if that’s what’s bothering you."

  "Just get out of my house," Scott ordered.

  Curt stood to escort Sable and Nick. Nick didn’t say another word as they walked to the front door. Before he opened the door Curt turned and glared at Sable. "Is this guy really that dangerous?"

  Sable shrugged her shoulders. "We think so."

  "Are you’re sure he’s coming here tonight?"

  "Yes, we’re sure."

  "What makes you think so?"

  "Tomorrow is Micah’s birthday. His sons are going to celebrate his birthday by murdering his family."

  "Does that include murdering you? Is that what you’re telling me?"

  "That’s what we’re telling you."

  Curt thought about their conversation for a moment then told them. "Come with me." He turned and walked down the hall to the kitchen. From there he opened a door. They found themselves in a small room where several cameras showed the view from several areas of the house and grounds.

  "If you stay in here, Scott will never know you’re here. From here you can see everything. If this guy is as crazy as you say and if he shows up tonight, you’ll know it."

  "Thanks," Nick told him as he took off his jacket and sat down to study the screens.

  Sable turned to Curt asking, "Why are you letting us stay when your boss threw us out?"

  Curt crossed his arms over his chest and told her, "Scott is my boss but he’s also my friend. You didn’t have to come here to warn him, but you did. You didn’t have to tell him Micah was your own blood, but you did. Scott is a good person despite what he does for a living. Some people have a problem with what he stands for but I don’t. Pedaling human flesh in movies is not what some people like, but they don’t have to like it."

  Sable smiled. "Thank you for believing us. If the sun rises tomorrow morning and there’s been no attempt on Scott’s life, we’ll leave him alone."

  "If for some reason this guy gets past me and the others, you get him before he gets to Scott. That’s all I ask."

  "You can count on that," Sable promised.

  Curt turned closing the door behind him. Sable sat down next to Nick and studied the screens. From here they could see the entire house and grounds. Now all they had to do was wait.

  Chapter Eight

  Hours later the sound of glass breaking brought Sable straight up in her chair. She’d been dozing but now she was wide awake. She listened carefully but she didn’t hear it again. She scanned the screens for any movement, but she didn’t see anything amiss. "Nick, wake up. We’ve got trouble."

  Nick sat up from his spot on the sofa. "What’s wrong?"

  "I don’t know but something is going on."

  "What do you mean?" Nick joined her at the screens.

  "I don’t see anyone anywhere."

  "And that’s bad because?"

  "I mean I don’t see anyone. Where are Curt and the other bodyguards?"

  "Wait a minute…" Nick said. "What’s that?" He pointed to a shadow moving along the wall to the game room.

  Sable stood up and grabbed her weapon. "Let’s search the entire house. We need to know what’s going on." She snapped off the light.

  Nick grabbed his weapon following her. They opened the door quietly and waited for a moment. When they heard no sound, they advanced. Nick went to the right while Sable went to the left. They circled the island meeting at the door going outside. Sable glanced out the back door and found someone lying on the sidewalk leading to the garage. She glanced at Nick holding up a finger. She ducked out quickly and checked the guard. She quickly checked for a pulse but didn’t find one. The guard was dead. She grabbed her weapon and joined Nick in the kitchen.

  "One guard is dead outside the back door." She whispered.

  "I peeked into the hall but there’s no one out there." Nick told her quietly

  "Ok, let’s go."

  Each of them took a side making their way down the hall. Nick took the left side and Sable the right until they met in the living room. Sable checked the front door, finding it slightly ajar. She took the time to push it open and check the outside. She found a guard lying on the steps. His crumpled body told her he was dead. She quickly ducked back inside the house. She locked the door and continued her search.

  When she rounded the corner, she saw Nick coming out of the game room. When he shook his head, they both turned toward the master bedroom. Down a short hall was the door to Scott’s bedroom. Along the hall were two closed doors. Sable motioned to Nick and stepped toward the door on the right. Nick took the door on the left.

  Without making a sound, Sable opened her door and stepped into the room. Panning the small area she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. She was about to step over to the bathroom door when she heard a scuffling sound in the hall. She rushed to the door in time to see Nick wrestling with a shadowy figure. When Nick’s gun fired, the other man took off. Sable barely had time to glance at Nick before she took off after the other man. She went back down the hall to the living room. Carefully scanning the room she didn’t notice any movement so she retraced her steps backward to the door of the game room. She stepped inside, scanning the room with her gun drawn.

  She made her way around the perimeter of the room but nothing moved. When she got to the window she noticed it was ajar. Glancing outside she saw a shadow running across the lawn. She got off a round but the shadow didn’t stop. "Damn," She swore.

  Snapping on a table side lamp she observed the room. Curt was laid out on the floor. She went over to him and felt for a pulse. When she found one, she went over to the bar and grabbed a cloth. Soaking it in cold water she went back to where Curt laid and began wiping his face. A few minutes late Curt moaned and opened his eyes.

  "What happened?" he groaned.

  "Someone got into the house. I don’t think he got to Scott but he murdered the two guards outside," Sable told him.

  "Damn." Curt
swore as he got to his feet. "Let’s check Scott."

  Leading the way to Scott’s bedroom they saw Nick standing outside the door. The door was locked. Nick was arguing with a terrified Scott on the other side. When Nick saw Curt walking down the hall, he stepped aside. Curt pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and announced he was coming in.

  When the door opened, they saw Scott standing beside his bed holding a towel to his neck. "The little bastard was here, right here in my bedroom. He had a knife to my throat. He told me it was my night to die. He ran off when we heard the gun shot." He motioned toward the window. "He got out the same way he came in." He glared at Curt. "Where the hell were you? You’re supposed to be my bodyguard."

  "I was knocked out in the game room," Curt told him. "I was making my rounds when someone ambushed me from behind. I never even heard him. I woke up after Sable chased him off."

  Scott glared at Nick and Sable. "What the hell are you two doing here? I thought I asked you to leave."

  "I asked them to stay." Curt admitted. "I wanted the extra help if this psycho decided to try and get inside the house."

  "Well guess what, genius, he got inside the house. He almost took me out," Scott ranted.

  "Oh would you quit whining?" Sable told him. "At least you’re still alive to tell the tale. Two of your bodyguards can’t say the same thing."

  "The bastard had a knife to my throat," Scott yelled as he wiped a dab of blood from his neck.

  "We heard but at least you’re still alive," Nick told him. "I don’t think he’ll be back so you should be safe." He turned to Sable. "We need to review the security tapes to see what we missed." He glanced at Curt. "You need to call the police to report the break in and murders."

  "You’ll find one body just outside the back door and one on the front steps," Sable told him as she holstered her weapon. She joined Nick and together they went back to the security room. They switched off the security tapes. They replayed the hours recorded on the disk. Fast forwarding to the last twenty minutes they found what they were looking for.