Natasha tensed in her seat, then looked at Veronica. “You know I love you, right? No matter what.”
Veronica nodded and started crying. “I love you, too.”
The door swung open and they heard the slow, purposeful steps of their captor. When he came into view, they both took a deep breath to steady themselves. He ignored both of them as he walked to the camera that had been lying forgotten in the corner. He set it up on the tripod and pointed it at Veronica.
Veronica shuddered, but did not say anything. His insanity did not surprise her anymore. She felt more tears fill her eyes again as she watched him pull a knife out of his back pocket.
Without a word, he systematically cut away Natasha’s shirt and pants so she was left in just her underwear.
Natasha had cringed every time the knife came near her, but there was nothing she could do to get away.
When he was done, he set the knife down next to her and pulled out his gun. He set it next to the knife and then pulled a lighter out of another pocket.
When the items were lined up on the floor next to Natasha, he turned to Veronica.
“So, where should I start? You have three options. I will either use the knife to scar up her face, use the gun to take out her ball and socket joints, or the lighter to burn her arms. Your choice.”
Veronica stared at him aghast as she understood the implications of what he was saying. “What happens if I refuse to pick?”
He grinned evilly and moved closer to her.
He put his face right in front of hers and spoke so softly she could barely hear him. “There are much worse things that I can do to her, and I promise you that I will do them all if you do not chose. Then I’ll do the same terrible things to everyone else that I bring in here. I’ve been a cop for a long time. I’ve seen some terrible things and I will do them all to your friends if you don’t play nice.”
He watched the color drain from her face and then stepped back. “So...choose. Where do I start?”
Veronica’s mouth hung open as she tried to make herself chose.
Her mind was screaming that this whole situation was wrong and she had to be dreaming. She wished like hell that she could wake up, but it was no use.
In an authoritative voice, he spoke again. “You have ten second to decide.”
Veronica wanted to scream.
Natasha caught her eye and then spoke for the first time since the door had opened. “It’s okay. Choose. I don’t want to know what will happen if you don’t.”
The possibilities flew through Veronica’s mind. She wanted to find the option that would inflict the least amount of lasting damage and take the longest to perform.
With two seconds left to the deadline, Veronica finally spoke. “The lighter. Use the lighter.”
He smiled at her like he was proud. “Okay.”
Veronica could feel acid burning in her throat as he leaned down and picked up the lighter.
He turned and looked at her. “Are you sure?”
She could not make herself speak again so she nodded and stared at the floor. She heard the flick of the lighter and squeezed her eyes shut.
Instantly, she could feel him in her face again.
In the same low, quiet voice he had used before, he spoke again. “That’s cheating. You can’t close your eyes. You have to watch.”
She reluctantly opened her eyes again and looked past him to Natasha.
“I’m sorry.”
Natasha looked afraid, but she was not going to break. Not in front of him.
Kneeling down, he turned to Natasha and brought the lighter up again. He flicked it on and the flame bloomed to life.
It was nowhere near her but Natasha had already broken out in sweat. Silent tears started to fall down her face as the lighter moved closer to her left hand. When it was within an inch of her pinky finger, Natasha began to shake.
Veronica could not take it anymore and began to speak. “Why are you doing this? She never did anything to you. I’m the one you hate. Hurt me instead.”
He lowered the lighter and faced her again. “Don’t you get it yet? This is hurting you. This is hurting you more than any physical violence I could do to you. Now. No more interrupting. We’re just getting to the good part.”
He spun back to Natasha and slowly brought the lighter to her left hand.
Within seconds Natasha was screaming in pain.
Veronica nearly threw up as the scent of burning flesh mixed with the smell of the dried blood in her nostrils.
It felt like the screaming lasted for hours.
He would bring the lighter to her hand and burn a piece of it. Then he would take the lighter away and wait for Natasha to stop. Once she had quieted down, he would start burning her again.
Natasha’s entire left hand and arm leading up to her elbow was covered in angry red welts now and the whole room smelled of charred skin.
Satisfied with the work that he had done on Natasha’s left side, he stood up and moved to the knife and gun that were still on the floor.
“Time for another choice.”
Veronica could not stand the idea of putting Natasha through any more pain.
Knowing it was not likely to work, Veronica threw all of her weight to her right side.
When she felt the left side of the chair leave the ground she twisted violently to pick up the third leg. At that point, all of her weight was balanced on one leg of the chair.
The joints around that leg of the chair gave way and she felt herself falling face first towards the ground.
At the last second, Veronica realized that the chair had broken enough that she could now move her right arm. She used it to stop her fall and shove herself onto her back.
She quickly forced her left leg straight while lifting her arms above her head. This succeeded in freeing all of her limbs.
Vicious triumph surged through her as she scissor kicked to a standing position.
◆◆◆
Suddenly, the garage was filled with sunlight as the large garage door was ripped away. The smaller door to the side exploded open at the exact same time.
Knowing police procedure and recognizing the SWAT uniforms of the men and women pouring through the doors, he knew that he would be lucky to get off one shot.
He had better make it count.
As fast as he could, he snatched up the gun still lying on the floor next to him and lifted it. The safety was already off, so all he had to do was aim and fire.
He knew that the moment the gun was pointed at either of his victims, he would be shot, so he did not have enough time to aim properly.
Officer Jack Monroe pointed his gun at Veronica and pulled the trigger.
Less than a second later, a member of the SWAT team opened fire on him.
It only took another second for Jack to hit the ground, already dead from a shot to the head.
◆◆◆
Natasha was screaming loudly, but Veronica was deadly quiet.
There was blood pooling under her and a large stain of it spreading across her torso. As she was no longer wearing her bullet proof vest, this shot had hit its mark.
Two police officers ran forward to catch Veronica as she fell. They gently laid her on the ground, while another cut Natasha free from her chair.
Within minutes, two sets of paramedics entered the garage. The first went to Veronica and wasted no time loading her onto a stretcher. The other went to Natasha and moved more slowly and gently in an attempt to keep her calm.
She was on the verge of insisting that she be allowed to ride in Veronica’s ambulance, but they quashed that idea before she could even voice it.
No one would be allowed to ride in that ambulance. They were going to need all of the room they could get in order to take care of Veronica.
In the end, she meekly allowed them to help her onto their stretcher and wheel her out of the garage. When she got outside, she could see Ben fighting with two men she had never seen before.
&nb
sp; He was trying to get to Veronica, but was being held back from running to her.
Natasha yelled to him, “Ben! Ride in mine. You can find her at the hospital once we get there.”
She glared at the paramedics before they could protest.
When Ben heard her yell, he spun and stared at her in surprise. Clearly, he had not been expecting to see her there.
In any other situation, she might have laughed at the look on his face. As it was, she gave him a grim smile and waved him over.
Ben hurried to them and launched himself into the ambulance seconds after she had been loaded into it.
◆◆◆
The ride to the hospital was tense as the paramedics started to treat Natasha’s arm and Ben tried to reign in his panic.
When they reached the hospital, Ben made sure Natasha was going to be alright before he tried to search for Veronica.
No amount of cajoling on his part would make the hospital staff let him into her room. She was being stabilized and prepped for surgery. Her doctors could not afford to be distracted by a loved one, even if that loved one was a police officer.
Ben was left to sit in the waiting room while they worked on her.
Eventually, word got out that Natasha and Veronica were there and officers from all over the city started to arrive to lend their support and wait for word.
Ben and his friends from the station formed a small knot in the corner as he explained to them what Jack had done and how they had found him. No one wanted to believe any of it, but the fact that Jack had shot Veronica when the SWAT team had found him was irrefutable evidence.
Once Ben had told the whole story, the group disbanded and spread out in the room as they continued to wait for news and tried to come to terms with what had happened.
EPILOGUE
F
or the second time in her life, Veronica woke to the sound of a beeping heart monitor.
This time, she recognized the sound straight away. She felt a panic attack threatening to roll over her as she realized where she was.
She tried to sit up in bed, but screaming pain ripped through her so she let herself drop back down.
She tried to remember how she got there, but everything after the door to the garage opening was fuzzy. Questions were swirling around in her head, but she was afraid of the answers to most of them.
When she had gained control of herself again, she noticed a weight on her left leg. She looked down and found Ben sitting in a chair next to her. His upper body was supported on the bed and his head was resting on her leg.
Fast asleep, he looked so relaxed.
She wondered how long she had been here and if Ben had been by her side the whole time. Before she could stop herself, Veronica reached down and ran her fingers through his hair.
He tensed and woke up with a start. Ben’s head shot up so quickly that she was afraid he might tip out of his chair.
When he realized that she was awake, Ben threw himself at Veronica.
Normally, Veronica would enjoy the force with which he was kissing her, but with the pain currently radiating through her she had to make him stop. She gently pushed him away and he seemed to get the hint.
Once she could finally get Ben to stop staring at her and expressing his excitement at her waking up, she finally got to speak.
“Is Natasha okay? How is her arm? What happened to Jack?”
Ben had known these would be the first questions she asked.
“Natasha’s doing fine. Probably gonna need a lot of therapy, but she’s going to be okay. The doctors say that she’s going to have a lot of scarring on her hand and arm, but there shouldn’t be any permanent damage to her dexterity. And...uh...Jack is dead.”
Veronica sucked in a breath and met his eyes. “Tell me you did not kill him.”
Ben wanted to be offended, but he understood why she would jump to that conclusion. “No. They wouldn’t even let me near the building. The SWAT team leader took one look at me at the scene and told me I could stay, but if I tried to enter with his team, he would lock me in a squad car.”
Veronica giggled at that. “I like this guy already.”
Ben lightly punched her shoulder.
Veronica feigned more pain than she felt and spoke dramatically. “That’s right! Punch the injured girl! Speaking of which, what happened to me?”
Ben looked down at her torso. “When SWAT breached the building, Jack had time to shoot once. Fortunately, he didn’t have time to aim. He didn’t hit anything massively important, but you still needed to have surgery to repair the damage. Looks like you’re gonna be going on another medical leave of absence. At least this time it won’t be a year long.”
Veronica hummed noncommittally.
For the next two hours, She asked questions and Ben told her all about how they had figured out Jack was the killer and what they had done to get her back.
When Ben told her that he had willingly walked into the office of an IA detective, she burst out laughing.
Ben understood her response; he had never exactly been supportive of them in the past.
“I know, I know. It was a bit out of character for me. But these guys were good. I might have to be nice to them in the future.”
When Ben finished his story, Veronica told him what had happened to her in the garage.
Eventually, they both finished their stories, but Veronica had more questions.
“How is everyone else doing? How did they take the news.”
Ben looked grim. “They’re doing about as well as can be expected. Blake resigned. What with him being Jack’s superior officer, the PR asshats were probably gonna throw him under the bus anyways. He doesn’t mind so much. Says that he gets to spend more time with his daughter now. Cheyenne and Tyler are in rough shape. Chey’s gonna have to find a new roommate because she can’t afford the apartment by herself. I think Tyler is considering moving in with her, but only if they move to a new apartment. The whole idea of sleeping in Erica’s old room doesn’t sit well with him. Ryan is as stoic as always. He’s been good at supporting Cheyenne through all of this. There’s a rumor going around that he might be tapped for the new staff sergeant position now that Blake is leaving. Oh, and that rookie, Sam. She transferred to a new precinct. I think she was afraid of being judged because she’s been riding with Jack a lot lately. Mark is alright. He’s been staying at my place to take care of Charlotte and Ace while I was here. Before you protest; you know that he is good with the animals and he does not mind. I think he likes my house better than his own.”
Veronica had remained silent as he told her about everyone.
Ben was staring down at his lap and playing with the edge of her blanket.
Veronica grabbed his chin and made him look up at her. “And how are you doing?”
Ben took a deep breath. “I’m...fine. I’m glad this is all over and we don’t have to deal with a trial now. The families of all of his victims know what happened. We caught Erica’s murderer before she was even buried, and we got to you and Tasha before Jack killed either one of you. I’m glad you’re awake, and the doctors say that you are going to be fine. I’m looking forward to getting back to work. Although, it might be awhile before that happens.”
At Veronica’s quizzical look, he had to explain his last comment.
“They’ve assigned a shrink to come in and give a thorough evaluation of everyone that was close with Jack. They aren’t looking for more psychopaths or anything; they just want to make sure everyone is in the right frame of mind before they carry a gun again. Because I was not only friends with Jack, but dating one of his victims, they are taking an especially close look at me. They’re probably gonna put you through the ringer too. That is...if you want to come back, of course.”
Veronica flashed him a radiant smile. “ Oh, you can count on it. I’m coming back.”
Acknowledgement
This book would never have been written without the invaluable assistance of Cheyenne Bramwell
. Not only did she encourage me to start writing; she always helped me when I wrote myself into a corner, and stepped in as my editor when I could not do it myself.
About the Author
Tabitha J Arment has been a story addict her whole life and is excited to be sharing her own stories with the world. She lives in Arizona with her surprisingly affectionate cat, Simon, and her endlessly energetic puppy, Ella. Yes, they are both named after characters. Guess which. Tabitha is an unapologetic nerd who enjoys doing choreographed fights with lightsabers (or any weapons, really), playing DnD with her friends, and travelling around taking tons of pictures. She has a bucket list as long as this story full of places she wants to see. Thank you for helping her with that buy purchasing this book.
Contact her on-
Twitter: @tjaauthor
Gmail: [email protected]
Website: tabithajarment.com
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