Violated

by Arnold, Carolyn

  Zach came out of his room a few doors down from Jack’s. He reached Jack’s door before the rest of us, and we all fell silent as Zach pressed his ear to the door.

  It took less than a second before he nodded and whispered, “She’s in there.”

  “I’ve got a keycard for the room from the front desk,” Grafton said, speaking low and holding it in front of him.

  Zach, Paige, and I made eye contact briefly before I took it from Grafton and put it into the lock.

  I took time to look at my fellow team members, Sam, and Grafton. We all readied our weapons, except for Sam, who wasn’t carrying.

  “You have to stay out here,” I said to him, and he nodded.

  I opened the door slowly, fully expecting the chain to be engaged. My suspicion was correct, and I threw my shoulder into the door, putting all my muscle behind it.

  “FBI!” I cried out as we breached the room, the five of us filing in, all armed and ready to take down a killer.

  Paige was immediately behind me because the entrance from the door into the room itself was too narrow for us to walk side by side.

  Leslie turned to us, a smirk on her lips. She was braced over Jack, holding a knife dripping with blood. Jack wasn’t moving beneath her, and his eyes were closed.

  “No!” Paige screamed.

  It was the flicker in Leslie’s eyes that set me into action. I squeezed the trigger, and the bullet hit her in the left temple as she was starting to crouch down to take another stab at Jack. The force of the blast caused her to fall on top of Jack, the blade dropping from her hand and harmlessly coming to rest on the carpet.

  Paige ran past me and pushed a wide-eyed Leslie off Jack.

  Grafton took Leslie’s pulse and shook his head. “She’s gone.”

  I stared down at the woman who had been responsible for so much death but who had suffered so much pain.

  “He’s not responding, Brandon.” Paige’s eyes were pooling with tears as she held Jack’s hand and looked up at me. “Oh my God, Brandon, we can’t lose him.”

  “We need an ambulance…”

  I was aware Sam was in the background on his phone, but it was like all movement stopped in that moment. I got down on the carpet next to Jack and so did Zach.

  “Do you think our lives are in danger?”

  “We took that risk the second we donned a badge.”

  “Come on, Jack,” I said to him, “you’re too damn stubborn to die. Now fight!”

  -

  Chapter 49

  THE TEAM WAS IN THE waiting room at the hospital, as were Sam and Grafton, waiting for word of Jack’s condition.

  Grafton was talking to Paige, and while I hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, I overheard their discussion.

  “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” he said.

  “I appreciate the apology, but it’s behind us now.” She squeezed Sam’s hand but still spoke to Grafton. “You came through when it mattered.”

  Grafton nodded and smiled.

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The shooting back at the hotel flashed through my memory. Leslie had been my second kill in as many years with the FBI. Some officers might consider it a badge of honor, but I didn’t view it that way. I’d rather these creeps face justice in court, followed by a long prison sentence. If they rotted behind bars, so be it; at least then I wouldn’t have pulled the trigger and taken a life.

  But I knew Leslie’s death couldn’t be helped. It was a good shoot, and if I hadn’t fired when I did, Jack’s body would have accompanied Leslie’s to the morgue. As it was, he’d lost a lot of blood.

  A male doctor in teal surgical scrubs came toward us. We all hurried to meet him partway.

  Paige reached him first, and I stepped up beside her, as did Sam, Zach, and Grafton. My legs felt weak beneath me, and lightheadedness washed over me. I tried to read the doctor’s expression, his body language, but my instincts were firing amiss.

  “Tell us he’s okay,” I said.

  Paige looked over at me and put a hand on my shoulder.

  “He’s lost a lot of blood, and the knife cut into his intestines.”

  I didn’t like the pallor of the doctor’s face or the way his posture had him hunching forward.

  “His blood pressure went quite low a number of times during surgery,” he continued, “and we thought we’d lose him, but—”

  “But we haven’t?” Tears streamed freely down Paige’s face. “Right?”

  I could only imagine what she was feeling. I knew she would be blaming herself, even if she hadn’t been the one to stab Jack. If she hadn’t come out here, Jack would never have been here.

  The doctor’s face softened, and he nodded.

  All the air whooshed out of my lungs at once. Was I seeing what I wanted to see?

  “He’s got a long road to recovery ahead of him,” the doctor added, “but he’s going to be fine.”

  “Yes!” I hugged Zach and then turned to Paige. She had parted from an embrace with Sam, and I caught his eye past her. He nodded, and I wrapped my arms around Paige.

  “We should have known better than to think anyone could knock Jack down,” I proclaimed. “He’s too stubborn of a bastard.”

  We all laughed, even Sam and Grafton.

  Somehow everything had turned out all right. Paige had gotten her closure, and we had stopped a killer.

  -

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  -

  Preview of Ties That Bind

  The hunt for a serial killer begins…

  Detective Madison Knight concluded the case of a strangled woman an isolated incident. But when another woman’s body is found in a park killed with the same brand of neckties, she realizes they’re dealing with something more serious.

  Despite mounting pressure from the sergeant and the chief to close the case even if it means putting an innocent man behind bars, and a partner who is more interested in saving his marriage than stopping a potential serial killer, Madison may have to go it alone if the murderer is going to be stopped.

  -

  Chapter 1

  SOMEONE DIED EVERY DAY. Detective Madison Knight was left to make sense of it.

  She ducked under the yellow tape and surveyed the scene. The white, two-story house would be deemed average any other day, but to
day the dead body inside made it a place of interest to the Stiles PD and the curious onlookers who gathered in small clusters on the sidewalk.

  She’d never before seen the officer who was securing the perimeter, but she knew his type. The way he stood there—his back straight, one hand resting on his holster, the other gripping a clipboard—he was an eager recruit.

  He held up a hand as she approached. “This is a closed crime scene.”

  She unclipped her badge from the waist of her pants and held it up in front of him. He studied it as if it were counterfeit. She usually respected those who took their jobs seriously but not when she was functioning on little sleep and the humidity level topped ninety-five percent at ten thirty in the morning.

  “Detective K-N-I—”

  Her name died on her lips as Sergeant Winston stepped out of the house. She would have groaned audibly if he weren’t closing the distance between them so quickly. She preferred her boss behind his desk.

  Winston gestured toward the young officer to let him know she was permitted to be on the scene. The officer glared at her before leaving his post. She envied the fact that he could walk away while she was left to speak with the sarge.

  “It’s about time you got here.” Winston fished a handkerchief out of a pocket and wiped at his receding hairline. The extra few inches of exposed forehead could have served as a solar panel. “I was just about to assign the lead to Grant.”

  Terry Grant was her on-the-job partner of five years and three years younger than her thirty-four. She’d be damned if Terry was put in charge of this case.

  “Where have you been?” Winston asked.

  She jacked a thumb in the rookie’s direction. “Who’s the new guy?”

  “Don’t change the subject, Knight.”

  She needed to offer some sort of explanation for being late. “Well, boss, you know me. Up all night slinging back shooters.”

  “Don’t get smart with me.”

  She flashed him a cocky smile and pulled out a Hershey’s bar from one of her front pants pocket. The chocolate had already softened from the heat. Not that it mattered. She took a bite.

  Heaven.

  She spoke with her mouth partially full. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

  “The call came in, I was nearby, and thought someone should respond.” His leg caught the tape as he tried to step over it to the sidewalk and he hopped on the other leg to adjust his balance. He continued speaking as if he hadn’t noticed. “The body’s upstairs, main bedroom. She was strangled.” He pointed the tip of a key toward her. “Keep me updated.” He pressed a button on his key fob and the department-issued SUV’s lights flashed. “I’ll be waiting for your call.”

  As if he needed to say that. Sometimes she wondered if he valued talking more than taking action.

  She took a deep breath. She could feel the young officer watching her, and she flicked a glance at him, now that the sergeant was gone. What was his problem? She took another bite of her candy bar.

  “Too bad you showed. I think I was about to get the lead.”

  Madison turned toward her partner’s voice. Terry was padding across the lawn toward her.

  “I’d have to be the one dead for that to happen.” She smiled as she brushed past him.

  “You look like crap.”

  Her smile faded. She stopped walking and turned around. Every one of his blond hairs were in place, making her self-conscious of her short, wake-up-and-wear-it cut. His cheeks held a healthy glow, too, no doubt from his two-mile morning run. She hated people who could do mornings.

  “What did you get? Two hours of sleep?” Terry asked.

  “Three, but who’s counting?” She took another large bite of the chocolate. It was almost a slurp with how fast the bar was melting.

  “You were up reviewing evidence from the last case again, weren’t you?”

  She wasn’t inclined to answer.

  “You can’t change the past.”

  She wasn’t hungry anymore and wrapped up what was left of the chocolate. “Let’s focus on this case.”

  “Fine, if that’s how it’s going be. Victim’s name is Laura Saunders. She’s thirty-two. Single. Officer Higgins was the first on scene.”

  Higgins? She hadn’t seen him since she arrived, but he had been her training officer. He still worked in that capacity for new recruits. Advancing in the ranks wasn’t important to him. He was happy making a difference where he was stationed.

  Terry continued. “Call came in from the vic’s employer, Southwest Welding Products, where she worked as the receptionist.”

  “What would make the employer call?”

  “She didn’t show for her shift at eight. They tried reaching her first, but when they didn’t get an answer, they sent a security officer over to her house. He found the door ajar and called downtown. Higgins was here by eight forty-five.”

  “Who was—”

  “The security officer?”

  “Yeah.” Apparently they finished each other’s sentences now.

  “Terrence Owens. And don’t worry. We took a formal statement and let him go. Background showed nothing, not even a speeding ticket. We can function when you’re not here.”

  She cocked her head to the side.

  “He also testifies to the fact that he never stepped one foot in the place.” Terry laughed. “He said he’s watched enough cop dramas to know that it would contaminate the crime scene. You get all these people watching those stupid TV shows, and they think they can solve a murder.”

  “So is Owens the one who made the formal call downtown, then?” Madison asked.

  “Actually, procedure for them is to route everything through the company administration. A Sandra Butler made the call. She’s the office manager.”

  “So an employee is even half an hour late for work and they send someone to your house?”

  “She said it’s part of their safety policy.”

  “At least they’re a group of people inclined to think positively.” She rolled her eyes. Sweat droplets ran down her back. Gross. She moved toward the house.

  The young officer scurried over. He shoved his clipboard under his arm and tucked his pen behind his ear. He pointed toward the chocolate bar still in her hand. “You can’t take that in there.”

  She glanced down. Chocolate oozed from a corner of the wrapper. He was right. She handed the package to him, and he took it with two pinched fingers.

  She patted his shoulder. “Good job.”

  He walked away with the bar dangling from his hand, mumbling something indiscernible.

  “You can be so wicked sometimes,” Terry said.

  “Why, thank you.” She was tempted to take a mini bow but resisted the urge.

  “It wasn’t a compliment. And since when do you eat chocolate for breakfast?”

  “Oh shut up.” She punched him in the shoulder. He smirked and rubbed his arm. Same old sideshow. She headed into the house with him on her heels.

  “The stairs are to the right,” Terry said.

  “Holy crap, it’s freezing in here.” The sweat on her skin chilled her. It was a refreshing welcome.

  “Yep, a hundred and one outside, sixty inside.”

  When she was two steps from the top of the staircase, Terry said, “And just a heads-up—this is not your typical strangulation.”

  “Come on, Terry. You’ve seen one, you’ve—” She stopped abruptly when she reached the bedroom doorway. Terry was right.

  -

  Chapter 2

  THE HAIRS ROSE ON HER ARMS, not from the air-conditioning but from the chill of death. In her ten years on the force, Madison had never seen anything quite like this. Maybe in New York City they were accustomed to this type of murder scene but not here in Stiles where the population was just shy of half a million and the Major Crimes
division boasted only six detectives.

  She nodded a greeting to Cole Richards, the medical examiner. He reciprocated with a small bob of his head.

  Laura Saunders lay on her back in the middle of a double bed, arms folded over her torso. But the one thing that stood out—and this would be what Terry had tried to warn her about—was that she was naked with a man’s necktie bound tightly around her neck. That adornment and her shoulder-length brown hair provided the only contrasts between her pale skin and the beige sheets. Most strangulation victims were dressed, or when rape was a factor, the body was typically found in an alley or hotel room, not the vic’s own bedroom. For Laura to be found here made it personal.

  Jealous lover, perhaps?

  “Was she raped?” Madison asked.

  Terry rubbed the back of his neck the way he did when there were more questions than answers. “Not leaning that way.”

  “And she’s in her own house,” Madison added.

  The entire scenario caused Madison pain and regret—pain over how this woman’s life had been snuffed out so prematurely, regret that she couldn’t have prevented it. For someone who faced death on a regular basis, one would think she would be callous regarding her own mortality, but the truth was, it scared her more with every passing day. Nothing was certain. And with this case, the fact that the victim was only two years younger than she was sank to the pit of her stomach.

  Terry kneaded the tips of his fingers into the base of his neck. “There is no evidence of a break-in. Nothing seems to be missing. There’s jewelry on her dresser and electronics were left downstairs. There is also no evidence of a struggle. Though, her clothes were strewn on the main level.”

  Madison moved farther into the room to study Laura and the tie more closely. It was expensive, silk, and blue striped. Her eyes then took in a shelving unit on the far wall, which housed folded clothes, an alarm clock, and a framed photograph.

  She brainstormed out loud. “Maybe it was some sort of sex game that got out of hand. Erotic asphyxiation?”