Donald is close; Emily can almost feel him breathing on the back of her neck. She backs away from the broken window and retreats into the shadows once again to wait before her next move. She stares at a far western corner of the warehouse where the shadows are thick and appear to be moving. The more she stares at the dark corners, the more sinister the shadows become. She curses herself silently for not remembering to bring a flashlight, but it would only act as a bright beacon to direct Donald right to her.
Emily blinks twice and notices that the shadows have changed again. It seems that they have shape shifted into another creature. This time the shadow transforms into a human form of evil. Donald walks toward her out of the shadows reborn from the depths of darkness. He sees her but doesn’t fear her conventional weapon.
Emily steps from her shadow cover and aims the firearm directly at Donald. “Stay right there. Don’t move.”
“You’re not going to shoot me.” Donald smiles wickedly and licks his lips.
“And what planet are you from?”
“I have the answers you so desperately have searched for your entire life.” He stops and stares at her wanting to rip her neck from her shoulders to reveal blood and bone.
“I don’t care about your psychotic delusions.” She touches her cell phone that is attached to her belt. It gives a couple of distinct beeps alerting her that no signal is available.
Donald smiles wider, “No signal?” He is clearly enjoying the cat and mouse repartee.
“Get down on the ground now!” She takes a couple of steps toward him.
Donald obeys and slowly drops to his knees. “You don’t want to hear what I have to say?” His black eyes pierce through her soul with the intensity of an aggressive bird of prey.
“About how screwed up your life was as a child and how you can’t stand women in authority and that’s why you’re driven to kill? I don’t think so.”
Donald moves into a praying stance with his palms together and continues, “Did you know that your parents didn’t have to die?”
Emily stops.
Donald could see that he had hit a very delicate nerve with her. “I know who killed them and why.”
“There’s no way you could know.”
“I know that the only thing that was stolen was your mother’s wedding ring.” He reaches into his pocket slowly and retrieves a wedding ring. He tosses it toward Emily. “Go ahead read the inscription.” He recites it with a dramatic flair, “My one and only true love. How quaint.”
Emily feels like she was struck by a cement truck and then run over by a runaway train. Her heart aches and her stomach feels overwhelmingly acid. No one knew about her mother’s ring.
Donald laughs, and it echoes eerily through the warehouse. “So I’ve got your attention now?”
Emily tries to maintain her authority. “But how?”
Interrupting Emily, he says, “How do I know? Because I heard it straight from the killer’s mouth.”
Emily relaxes her arm muscles just for a moment to regain her composure, when a physically powerful force grabs her from behind. She’s in a bear hug and can’t seem to catch her breath, but she manages to hold onto the gun. She squeezes a couple of rounds off causing them to ricochet off of the cement walls but missing any intended target.
Emily could hear Donald laughing across the room as she struggles to free herself from an unknown assailant. The unknown perpetrator easily picks her up and slams her face down on the floor. The gun clatters out of her hand and skids across the room into the shadows. Her shoulders and chest are burning and she can feel the salty liquid that her lip and gums are bleeding. She gasps but her lungs are empty.
The perpetrator yanks her to her feet and holds her right arm taunt just before the breaking point. Emily turns to face her attacker and can’t believe that she’s staring into the face of Leo her personal trainer.
Barely able to breath, Emily says, “Leo?”
“I’ve waited your whole life for this moment to finish the job.” Leo exclaims with enthusiasm. “You see my first kill was suppose to be a family and you weren’t there. I’ve tracked you down all these years later and waited for the perfect moment to complete my first kill. All of the others don’t count until you’re dead. Don’t you see?” He looks at Emily with contempt and love at the same time. “Don’t you see why I have to do this?”
* * * * *
Rick is seated behind the wheel of the sergeant’s car driving through town looking at every pedestrian’s face. Mike is checking in on the radio with the other officers, but there have been no visuals on the Donald or Emily.
Rick says, “Where is Emily? She couldn’t have just disappeared. You know her, and you know this town. Where would she have gone? Think!”
Mike is frustrated too, but he keeps going over in his mind where she would have directed this killer. He says, “It has to be a place where she knows the layout well and away from any innocent bystanders.”
Rick takes a hard turn and says, “What about buildings, storage facilities, or warehouses? Anything out of town or under construction?”
“Of course.” Mike realizes exactly where she would have gone. “How could I be so stupid?”
“Where?”
“There’s a building just outside of town that used to be the training facility for the Porter County Sheriff’s Office.”
“Which way?”
“Take a right here.”
Rick cranks a hard right and continues driving fast.
Mike explains, “It’s a big processing plant that was closed down thirty years ago, and then the county took it over for training purposes. About five years ago we moved our training exercises into town. They are going to tear down the old building to build more offices.”
“Emily knows this building?”
“Yes, she trained there with the rest of us when she was a police officer. And she knows it well.”
“How long until we get there?” Rick is stressed as he accelerates.
“About fifteen minutes.” The sergeant alerts the rest of the team and all patrol officers in the vicinity to meet them at the warehouse.
* * * * *
Chapter Sixty-Four
Monday 1430 Hours
Emily’s mind is reeling in all different directions from the new information. She tries desperately to process everything in some logical order, but it just keeps coming back to the death of her parents. She is now staring into the eyes of her parent’s killer, and it’s someone that she’s known for a more than a year. Someone that she has invited into her home and thought was her friend. She can’t comprehend how this is possible, but the evidence of her mother’s ring says differently.
Before Emily can organize her thoughts, Leo punches her in the face, and she falls backwards. From her peripheral she could see Donald take a seat to watch the performance. She was right about there being two serial killers and each one had his own demons to exercise. Her immediate aches and pains are secondary to survival. She waits for another attack from Leo because she knows his weaknesses from training, as he knows hers too.
Leo lunges forward and grabs her hair. He begins to drag her across the filthy floor. The pain is excruciating and makes thinking clearly nearly impossible. Emily takes her opportunity to grab Leo in a right wrist hold by bending his hand backwards. He instantly lets go of her as she connects a stomp kick into his groin.
Leo screams out in pain, “You bitch!”
Emily scrambles to where her gun slid into the shadows. She desperately looks for the loaded weapon, but to no avail. Leo knocks her down on her back and is on top of her wrapping his large fingers around her throat. He’s preparing to strangle her out of sheer frustration and rage. Emily is no match for this muscular personal trainer. To her right, she sees one of the metal pipes. She estimates that she can’t quite reach it with the tips of her fingers. The only choice she has is to dig her thumbs into Leo’s face. He loosens his grip from her throat for just a moment. The room
spins around her.
The oxygen begins to return to Emily’s head and she begins to think more clearly. She doesn’t take another moment to think, but grabs the pipe and swings it directly at Leo’s head with a thud. He drops to his right side as blood gushes from his huge gapping wound. His eyes roll around in his head, and then he becomes extremely still.
Getting to her feet, Emily rushes Donald with the pipe.
Her adrenaline is surging. She blinks in surprise to see Donald almost face down in a praying position and mumbling. Emily yells, “Get up!”
As if in a trance state Donald continues to mumble an undecipherable chant, unaware of her commands.
“Get up now!” She repeats ready to strike at any moment. She wants to see his face when she bashes his skull.
Slowly Donald begins to raise his body, but instead of standing up he plunges a hunting knife into Emily’s abdomen with such a force that he could barely retrieve it. Instead of finishing Emily, he decides to go to Leo. Donald drops to his murder partner’s side. His demeanor changes to a concerned friend in almost a tender manner as he focuses on Leo’s gushing wound. He gently tries to stops the bleeding. He feels helpless. Leo slowly begins to come around and his killer friend helps him to his feet.
Emily staggers a couple of steps as blood soaks the front of her shirt. Her body has a strange humming sensation and her legs feel weak. She knows that she doesn’t stand a chance against these two men. She makes her way to the secure location of a storage closet and locks her self inside. It’s the only chance she has to survive her attackers unless she bleeds to death first.
She slowly slides down the wall and sits in the corner prepared for anything that comes her way. She tries to press against her wound to slow the bleeding. It seems to help a little bit. She hears pounding noises from outside her safe haven. No doubt that the killer duo is trying to find her. She tries her cell phone again, but there is still no signal.
Emily doesn’t feel scared anymore, just alone. It’s a somewhat consoling feeling. Now she uses her newfound inward comfort of knowing that she isn’t alone in her life anymore. Everyone has to die alone, but her comfort is knowing that she is loved. She closes her eyes and thinks about Rick and their short time together, trying desperately to relive every moment. Her body relaxes as she slumps to the side and gradually fades out of consciousness.
* * * * *
Chapter Sixty-Five
Monday 1500 Hours
Two of the backup teams of police officers arrive just seconds before Rick and Mike screech up to the front of the building. They are then followed by several patrol officers slamming to a stop in front of the old warehouse building with sirens still blaring. Emily’s rental car is parked on the far side of the building in front of a Toyota pick up truck. Rick is somewhat relived that they were correct in finding where Emily went, but terrified of what they will find inside.
All of the officers grab the appropriate shotguns from their vehicles to prepare for any type of attack; Rick and Mike follow suit. The entire law enforcement force separate, some covering the back areas, while others enter the building. Rick and Mike make their way into the main entrance.
Two patrol officers cover the back of the building just as Leo tries with slowed success to climb from a window cutting his arms and legs on the barbwire. The large muscular man continues to have some difficulty navigating himself through the opening. The officers draw down on him and get him into custody without incident. They report to the other group that one is in custody.
Mike leads the group inside the warehouse. He feels an adrenaline surge as the stakes are raised exponentially. He feels tremendously alive and glad to be a police officer at that exact moment.
Rick stays at the sergeant’s side; he’s not as familiar with the building and moves forward with caution. He can see why Emily would pick this old musty building to trap Donald. There are so many hiding places and ways to corner a murderous beast.
The two groups decide to split up and head in opposite directions. Before they can disperse, Donald emerges from the shadows pointing a Glock directly at the police officers and yelling some incoherent rhetoric of finally being free. Rick wasn’t sure what psychopathic remark he made just before Mike unloaded two shotgun blasts at his chest. Donald was dead before he hit the ground. He was splayed out on the concrete with two large holes where his chest used to be – indeed now he was finally free.
It was over. Rick heard over the police radio that another male suspect was safely in custody. He felt relief that this whole incident was finally over and his cases were officially solved and closed forever.
Mike remains standing in the position where he fatally shot Donald. He doesn’t move or even take a breath. The unsettling feelings come rushing forward that he just took another human life.
Rick gently takes the shotgun from his frozen hand. “It’s okay, it was a clean shoot.” He understands what the sergeant is going through. He was also involved in a shooting when he was only on the force for three years. You never get used to killing someone no matter how evil they are to society.
Two other officers quickly inspect Donald to make sure he’s definitely dead. They shake their head in confirmation.
Rick realizes that he hasn’t seen Emily during all of the commotion. Snapped back to reality, he says, “Where’s Emily?”
The other officers begin to spread out to look for her.
Rick begins searching for her, “Emily! Emily!” He notices a hunting knife on the floor with blood on the blade. “Oh my God, Emily.” He frantically searches the warehouse.
One of the patrol officers gets Rick’s attention. “Sir, there’s blood over here.”
Rick and the two patrol officers follow the blood trail to a closet door where it suddenly stops. He tries the doorknob, but it doesn’t budge.
Rick orders, “Help me get this door open.”
They begin to pry the door open with metal pieces found around the warehouse. After a little more effort the three men manage to open the door enough and then burst it wide open. Emily is slumped over in a corner with her stomach and chest soaked in crimson blood.
Rick pushes past the officers and drops to his knees. “Emily.” He says gently and he cradles her in his arms. To the officers he yells, “Get an ambulance now!” He checks her pulse. It’s weak, but she’s alive. He tries to stop the bleeding from the deep puncture wound with pressure.
The officers call in the request immediately and then give him space.
Emily’s eyes flutter open and she looks at Rick. “Hi”, she says weakly. “What took you so long?”
“We got them.” Rick could barely hold back his tears.
“Donald?”
“Dead.”
“Good.” She coughs.
“Just hold on. The ambulance is on its way.”
“Rick, I want…”
“It’s okay just be quiet, I’m right here.”
Mike appears at the doorway and sees the extent of Emily’s injuries. His eyes hold Rick’s grief stricken stare, and he immediately knows that it’s not good news. He backs away from the door to give them privacy.
Emily begins, “No, I want you to know.”
Rick interrupts, “You’ve got plenty of time to tell me everything. Let’s just get you to the hospital first.”
“Nothing in the past has mattered as much as meeting you.” Her voice weakens, “You gave me life.”
Rick’s voice cracks, “Emily you’ve given me more than you’ll ever know.”
Emily closes her eyes and feels that everything is as it should be in her life. She squeezes Rick’s hand, “I love you.”
Rick hugs her close as her body goes limp in his arms.
* * * * *
Chapter Sixty-Six
Monday 1530 Hours
High above the California rocky sea bluff soars a Peregrine falcon. The intensely beautiful predator catches the light wind thermals as it relentlessly hunts for its next victim. It move
s with the graceful speed of a well-rehearsed dancer, but with the extreme hunting skills of any large jungle cat. The falcon is one of the most feared among the bird kingdom.
Circling back around the high bluff, the falcon spots a small nesting bird with three tiny babies. It is a feast of epic proportions for the bird of prey. It gains speed and drops down on the unsuspecting mother bird. Instead of grabbing the bird by the neck in a death grip with its fierce claws, the falcon instinctively changes directions away from the nest. It continues to fly south until it’s no longer visible with the naked eye. It’s gone. It’s free.
The small bird’s nest with hungry babies survives without ever knowing their intended fate. Their lives continue without incident. Everything seems balanced in the bird kingdom, at least for now.
* * * * *
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Monday 1545 Hours
The law enforcement investigative spectacle moves swiftly around Mike. The ambulance and more patrol cars crowd the street around the warehouse. Mike remains numb as he leans against a patrol car, not completely aware of the events that are going on around him. Leo has been taken into custody, he stares confused at Mike through the backseat window of the patrol car. The police car slowly moves away like an old movie ending.
The coroner technicians roll a gurney out of the warehouse with the body of Donald inside a heavy plastic bag. The only thing that Mike can think of at the moment is that the serial cases are finally closed. No more women will be brutally murdered in Santa Cruz. In his mind, he ponders, at least not for the time being. Evil is out there in the world, and it will eventually find its way to Santa Cruz again, and even to a small town in Indiana. The technicians slide the gurney into the van and shut the doors.
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