Deadly Sins: Wrath

by Cheryl Bradshaw

  I wasn’t trying to evade his questions. I was trying to remain useful, in hopes he would include me in his search instead of shutting me out like he usually did.

  “If I tell you the guy’s name, I want to be with you when you question him.”

  He sighed but didn’t respond to my request. “Out with it.”

  “I didn’t lie. She never mentioned his name. I got it from Laurel, Maddie’s new lab assistant. It’s Brandon Miller.”

  “How did Laurel know his name?”

  “She set them up on the date.”

  He nodded. “Huh.”

  “Have you two met?”

  “Laurel? Yeah. She’s ... young. Has a lot of growing up to do, but Madison seems to like her. Then again, she has a soft spot for the fixer-upper types.”

  His tone indicated he included me in that bunch.

  “Anything else?” he asked.

  “She ended the first call after saying someone was following too close.”

  “Any idea who?”

  I shook my head.

  “What about the vehicle,” he said. “Did she get a look at it?”

  “She said it was a truck, and the driver was trying to ‘get frisky.’ Her words. She didn’t seem too concerned though. She just wanted to get away from him.”

  He leaned back in his chair, ran a hand across his brow. “Or her. What about the second call?”

  “She said the truck passed her, hit the brakes, and then she swerved and ended up in a ditch to avoid hitting him. She didn’t seem to think it was intentional, but admitted she couldn’t be sure. While we were talking, a car pulled up behind her. A woman walked up, asked her if she was okay. I told Maddie to let me speak to her. It sounded like Maddie had handed her the phone, and then the line went dead. I called back. It rang several times, but no one answered.”

  “Strange.”

  “You still haven’t given me any details about what you know so far.”

  He smirked.

  “You know I’m not going away,” I said.

  He tapped his short, fat finger on the desk. In the past when I’d offered to work together on a case, I’d always been answered with a resounding “no.” To him, we weren’t on equal ground and we would never be. This time seemed different though, like he was mulling over the possibility, since the woman he was searching for was Maddie.

  He typed something into his computer keyboard, reached for his eyeglasses, and stared at the monitor. Then he shot out of his seat, stuck his head out of his office, and yelled, “Calhoun, you there?”

  “Sure am.”

  “Get in here.”

  Nick Calhoun, a detective and a man I had dated years earlier, strolled into Coop’s office and looked at me the way a person did when greeting someone at a funeral. “Hey, Sloane. You all right?”

  “Not really.”

  “We’re doing everything we can to find Maddie.”

  I thumbed in Coop’s direction. “Are you? Coop won’t tell me anything.”

  Nick and Coop exchanged glances, and Coop said, “Let’s go for a drive.”

  Nick frowned at me, and the two men walked down the hall together, leaving me parked in the chair in Coop’s office. Annoyed, I stood, intending to charge after them. I hadn’t made it out of the office before Coop’s voice thundered down the hall.

  “Sloane, you coming or what?”

  I sprinted down the hall. “Where are we going?”

  Coop glanced at the receptionist and walked outside. He turned toward me. “You should work on lowering your voice. People in other states can hear you when you talk sometimes.”

  It was a trait I didn’t like about myself, one I was working on, but I wasn’t always aware of when I was doing it. Having grown up in a boisterous household around my dad’s brothers, if I didn’t increase the volume, I wasn’t heard.

  I took the volume down a few notches and tried again. “Where are we going?”

  “Good hell, you don’t need to whisper. Then I won’t be able to hear you at all.”

  “Are you going to answer my question?”

  “Why can’t you just be grateful I’m allowing you to tag along?”

  “I am.”

  He fiddled with the keys in his hands. “Well, I suppose you’ll find out soon enough.”

  “Find out what?”

  “Madison’s not the first woman to go missing. She’s the second in the last twenty-four hours.”

  Maddie woke to find herself in an unfamiliar room, lying on a bed. With the exception of some light coming through a small, rectangular window on the wall opposite her, the room was dark. She sat up, resting a hand on her throbbing head, trying to recall what had happened. The last thing she remembered was her car slamming into a ditch and a woman asking if she was okay.

  Yes.

  The woman.

  It was all coming back now.

  Sharon had drugged her.

  Where am I, and why?

  She needed answers, but one of her hands was zip-tied to one of the vertical slats in the headboard, giving her limited mobility. She scooted up as best she could and began feeling the wall behind her with her free hand, hoping she’d get lucky and find a switch. No such luck.

  A female voice said, “Hello?”

  Maddie glanced around, noticing a faint shadow on what appeared to be another bed in the room. “Who’s there?”

  “My name is Rebecca. Rebecca Preston.”

  “Were you—”

  “Drugged too? Yeah.”

  “Chloroform?”

  “Think so, at first.”

  “What do you mean at first?”

  “She injected you with something when she put you in here, so I assume she did the same to me.”

  “Does she say anything to you?”

  “Not much. She just peeks in, and then walks out.”

  “Where are we?” Maddie asked. “Any idea?”

  “In the basement of a house, as far as I can tell.”

  “Have you tried talking to her?”

  “Every time. It doesn’t matter.”

  Maddie leaned against the headboard. “How long have you been here?”

  “I’m not sure. Less than a day.”

  “How long have I been here, in the room with you?”

  “You arrived late last night.”

  “I don’t remember anything.”

  “You were awake when she brought you in,” Rebecca continued, “but disoriented. Sharon injected something into your arm, and you tripped out for a while. Then you fell asleep.”

  “Who is she?” Maddie asked. “Any idea?”

  “I don’t know. I was hoping you did.”

  “How were you taken?”

  “I was loading groceries into my car. She pulled up next to me and asked if I knew of a good Mexican restaurant in the area. She got out of her car while I was giving her directions, and the next thing I knew, she had shoved a white cloth in my face. I blacked out and woke up here, tied to the bed.”

  Chloroform didn’t last long, ten to fifteen minutes on average, with a period of disorientation at the end, followed by a severe headache, like the one Maddie was enduring now. Given its short span of effectiveness, it made sense why Sharon would switch to something longer lasting.

  “Which grocery store were you at when it happened?” Maddie asked.

  “Maxwells.”

  Maddie did the math. Maxwells was approximately ten miles from where she had crashed, which meant nothing, yet.

  “Do you have any idea why Sharon took you?” Maddie asked.

  “I don’t. You?”

  “No, but this isn’t just some random thing. She knew my name.”

  “You really think we were targeted?”

  “No other explanation makes sense to me right now. Why else would she drug us, bring us here, and tie us to the bed?”

  “Who knows? None of this makes sense to me.”

  “Are there others? Have you seen or heard anyone else in the house si
nce you arrived?”

  “A few hours ago I heard someone walking around above me, and then it went quiet, probably when she left to get you. When I arrived here, it wasn’t dark yet, but the only thing I could see through the window in our room was grass. She’s cruel, you know? It’s like she lacks compassion or something.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I pounded on the door for a while, begging her to let me out. She came downstairs, stopped in front of the door, and just listened to me melt down without saying a word. I ranted for a good ten minutes, and then she started laughing.”

  “Weird. Then what?”

  “She went inside the room next to me for a couple minutes and started talking. I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but I didn’t hear anyone else so I assumed she was talking to herself at first. Then several minutes after she walked back upstairs, I heard ... well ... I thought I heard ... I mean, I could have sworn I heard someone moaning. Not sure if it was a man or a woman, but someone else is in the room next to us.”

  If true, if Sharon was going around the city “collecting people,” Maddie wondered if there was a commonality between them, something to explain whether they were chosen on purpose or picked at random. “What do you do for work?”

  “I manage a bank downtown. What about you?”

  “I’m a medical examiner,” Maddie said. “Are you married?”

  “Divorced. Two years. Been dating a guy who lives in Nevada for about a year. He wants to move in together, which would mean I’d have to relocate. I’m considering it.”

  “Kids?”

  “One. He plays football for the University of Utah. Are you married? Do you have any kids?”

  “No husband, no kids.”

  The Q&A session continued for several minutes until Maddie said, “I had hoped we would find a similarity between us, something to explain how we ended up here, but I can’t seem to find anything.”

  “So what do we do next?”

  “We figure out how we’re going to get the hell out of here.”

  Laurel wore a round, silver nose ring and had a black infinity tattoo on the back of her neck. Her long, black hair was styled in two French braids, giving her the look of a gothic polygamist. She sat behind Maddie’s desk with her feet kicked up on the top, reading a book and chomping on a piece of gum. I could see why Maddie liked her. She hadn’t even said anything yet, and already I didn’t care for her attitude, or the fact she didn’t seem the least bit worried about Maddie’s whereabouts.

  “Get your feet off the desk,” I said.

  She glared at me like she was a prison inmate and I was the warden, and then she smiled at Nick like she wanted to take him inside her cell and lock him in there with her. She gestured her head toward me and asked Nick, “Who’s she?”

  “Sloane,” I replied.

  Her demeanor immediately changed, and she removed her feet from the desk. “Oh, hey. Good to meet you. Maddie talks about you all the time.”

  Coop did his infamous eye roll and said, “What can you tell me about your friend Brandon?”

  “Umm ... he’s not my friend. He’s my husband’s friend.”

  “But you’ve met him, right?”

  She shrugged. “I’ve been around him a few times. Why?”

  “You set him up on a date with Madison,” Coop said. “Why would you waste her time on a guy you didn’t know?”

  “Well, I thought they might hit it off. He’s single. She’s single. Guess I was wrong.”

  “How do you know what happened?” Coop asked.

  “Brandon called my husband after their date was over. Said she went ape shit on him.”

  “He assaulted her when she was trying to leave,” I said. “What woman wouldn’t retaliate?”

  Laurel looked confused. “I don’t know anything about ... well, that’s not what he told us.”

  “Of course he didn’t,” I said. “Why would he make himself look bad?”

  “There are several Brandon Millers in the area,” Coop said. “You can save me time by giving me an address.”

  “Why?”

  “You’re aware Madison is missing, right?” Coop asked.

  She nodded. “Yeah, it’s all over the news. Her and that other woman. Rebecca something. You don’t think Brandon had anything to do with it? He’d never do something like—”

  “How can you be certain what he would or wouldn’t do?” I asked. “You just admitted you don’t even know the guy very well.”

  “Enough.” Coop jabbed a finger at Laurel. “I need an address.”

  “What are you going to do with him when you find him?”

  “It’s not your concern.”

  “But you won’t arrest him, right? Not without probably cause.”

  Patience spent, Coop leaned over the desk, towering over Laurel. “It’s probable cause, and I don’t have time to entertain your concerns, nor do I care to, so you can either comply or you’ll be the one who gets arrested.”

  Streaks of light projected through the tiny window, giving Maddie the opportunity she’d waited for—the chance to look around. The room had a fresh smell to it, like a new layer of paint had been brushed across the stark white walls. There were three twin-sized beds dressed in nothing but fitted sheets. A five-gallon bucket was off to one side of the room, a toilet seat resting on top. A label affixed to the front of the bucket read “Lightweight Loo.”

  Disgusting.

  No way I’m taking a crap in that thing.

  Rebecca rested on top of one of the beds, her body curled into a ball, facing away from Maddie. She had long, curly, blond hair and a petite frame. She appeared to be about the same height as Maddie.

  Three beds.

  Two women.

  Would a third be joining them?

  “Hey, Rebecca, you awake?”

  Rebecca rolled over and opened her eyes. Her cheeks were bright red, her face wet like she’d been crying, but she hadn’t made a peep. The situation had the opposite effect on Maddie. Instead of shedding tears, she stewed, contemplating how hard she was going to punch Sharon in the face once she found a way out of her predicament.

  “I was kinda hoping this was all just a bad dream,” Rebecca said. “I hate to say this ... I mean ... I’m sorry you were taken, but I’m glad I’m not alone anymore.”

  “I think I just heard a door close upstairs and a vehicle back out of the driveway.”

  “Yeah, I heard it too.”

  “We might be alone. We need to make a plan, find a way out of here.”

  “There is no way out. Even if we could free ourselves from the zip-ties, the window is too small for us to fit through, and the door is solid wood and secured with a deadbolt.”

  “We need to try, at least. I have an idea. The slats on the headboard are old and worn. I might be able to kick you free of the one you’re tied to if you can move the bed closer to me.”

  “I ... I don’t know. Even if we’re free, we still can’t get out, and then what do we do when she comes back and sees what we’ve done?”

  It seemed Rebecca had already accepted their fate.

  “We have to try, Rebecca. She won’t expect us to be free the next time she opens this door. And when she does, we’ll be ready.”

  For the next several minutes, Rebecca worked to scoot the bed toward Maddie until she got close enough for Maddie to kick at the slat Rebecca was tied to. After several tries, the wood split in two. Rebecca was free.

  She rubbed her wrists. “I can’t believe it! Thank you!”

  “Now I need you to do the same for me.”

  “I don’t think I have the strength you do, but I’ll try.”

  It took a while, but eventually Maddie was free.

  “Now what?” Rebecca asked.

  Now it was time for a little reconnaissance. Maddie walked across the room, stood beneath the window. “I need you to give me a boost.”

  “How?”

  “With your hands. If you can get me high enoug
h, I can grab onto the window ledge and at least try to get a good look at our surroundings.”

  Rebecca interlaced her fingers together and held them out.

  “When I step on your palm, push up,” Maddie said. “I can do the rest.”

  Maddie placed her foot into Rebecca’s hands. She shot her body toward the window, missing the ledge by a couple inches on her first try.

  “You were so close,” Rebecca said.

  “Let’s try again.”

  The second time, Maddie gripped the ledge, but couldn’t pull herself up.

  “Again.”

  This time her grip was right where she wanted it. She lifted herself up, dead-hanging for several seconds before losing her grip.

  “Wow, you’re strong,” Rebecca said. “See anything?”

  “Not much, a white fence and a Volkswagen Beetle in the driveway. It looks like there might be another house next to this one, but I could barely make it out before I—”

  A long, steady moan stopped her from finishing.

  “There it is again!” Rebecca said. “It’s the same sound I heard before.”

  Maddie put an ear to the wall. “Hello? Is someone there?”

  Seconds passed in silence, and then the moaning started up again.

  “You’re right,” Maddie said. “No way to tell who’s in there. Even if it’s someone in the same situation we’re in, we have to help ourselves before we can help anyone else.”

  Maddie walked back to the bed, picked up the broken slat, and glanced at Rebecca.

  “What are you doing?” Rebecca asked.

  “If we can break a couple of these off, we’ll both have ourselves a weapon.”

  “And you plan to, what, stab Sharon with it?”

  Hit. Stab. Maim. Any and all of the above.

  “I plan to do whatever inflicts the most damage.”

  Maddie inspected the slats, looking for a loose one. “This one should do it.”

  She positioned herself on the bed, raised her foot, and slammed it down, and the slat came free. Holding the finished product in her hand, she said, “Not bad, eh?”

  The slat looked exactly as she’d hoped it would—a jagged edge on one end, an edge sharp enough to stab through the skin if enough force was applied. Pleased with her first creation, she replicated it a second time, and then handed one to Rebecca.