Cold Threat

by Mary Stone

  I’ve been in doctors’ offices with better taste, Ellie thought.

  She turned her attention to the other side of the room, which was a little more welcoming, with books lining several shelves and a small sitting area for reading. Arthur kept talking, walking next to her as she wandered. Was he trying to steer her away from the reading nook? He’d certainly lost interest in Jillian. “Your house is beautiful. Are you the first owner?”

  “I had it built almost ten years ago. Best decision I ever made. You have no idea how special it is to live in a space that’s created especially for your personal interests.” He was preening. Boasting. “I sold the land left over to a developer and made a killing off my meager investment.”

  “You’re a smart man.” Ellie moved around the room, noting when Arthur stiffened slightly. A smudge of something dark red on a side table caught her attention. Ellie stepped closer to the table. “What’s that?”

  “What?” Arthur sucked in a breath. “Please don’t go over there. The chair is a family heirloom.”

  “It’s not the chair that has my attention.” She glanced at Jillian and back at Arthur. He fidgeted when Ellie took another step toward the table, and she scanned the small area, trying to find anything out of place. Light glinted off a statue on a shelf, catching her eye. A lion with the head worn smooth so it shone, while the rest of the piece was dull.

  Could it be? Her grandfather had something similar in his home, and she used to play with it when she was little.

  “This bookshelf is amazing,” she said, stepping closer. “Are you a fan of the classics? I see you have—”

  “What are you doing?” He rushed forward in a panic, his arms reaching for her.

  Ellie’s hand connected with the lion’s head before he could stop her. She went to lift it, as if to admire the piece, but it didn’t budge, only tilting forward.

  The bookcase slid open, revealing a heavy steel door that resembled a bank vault entrance.

  Behind her, Jillian gasped.

  Arthur froze with his mouth dropped open, his hands only an inch or so from her.

  Ellie slid to the side, getting out of his reach while moving the hem of her jacket so he could see the butt of her gun. “Don’t even think about it,” she said, her hand touching the cool metal.

  He remained still, eyes wide and panicked.

  She gestured at the table. “Whose blood is that on the leg of the table?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Continuing to face him, she moved closer to the table. It certainly looked like blood, but something else caught her eye. Against the baseboard, on the thick carpet, lay a single gold heart-shaped earring with three tiny colored stones grouped together in its center. “Hey, Reed?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you see what I see?”

  Jillian nodded, her eyes narrowed. “Looks just like the earrings she’s wearing in all her photos.”

  Arthur’s jaw clenched as he looked back and forth between them, his forehead growing shiny with sweat. “Lots of people wear earrings.”

  Ellie shook her head, fighting the urge to tsk at him. “These aren’t department store earrings, Fink. They are very unique.”

  “You can’t look around in my house. You need to leave.”

  “You invited me in.” She took out her phone and dialed Fortis’s number. “And that blood evidence gives me probable cause.”

  “I’m calling my lawyer.” Arthur moved to leave the room just as Fortis answered.

  “Hands where I can see them.” She drew her gun, pointing it at Fink with one hand as she held her phone with the other.

  Arthur turned back around, his hands held up in the air, tilting his head to the side as he frowned. “I know where I’ve seen you now.” He shook his finger at her. “You’re that lunatic who jumped off the Ashley Bridge after that thug.”

  “Don’t shoot anyone,” Fortis warned from the phone speaker that was pressed to her ear.

  “I won’t.” Her gun didn’t waver as she trained it on Arthur Fink. “But there’s blood and a vault door hidden behind a bookcase, along with an earring that matches the ones a missing person connected to my John Doe case was known to wear. I have reason to believe that Arthur Fink is holding Valerie Price hostage in a locked room against her will.”

  “Taryn,” Arthur whimpered when she said Valerie’s name.

  Ellie frowned, keeping her eyes firmly on him.

  There was a long silence, and in a tone that told her Fortis didn’t really want to know, he said, “And how did you find this hidden door, Kline?”

  “I don’t trust this man not to burn down the house, so I’m sending Jillian to come pick the warrant up.”

  Fortis sighed and grumbled, “You’re right, it’s better not to ask. What’s your location?”

  She rattled off the address, waiting while Fortis put her on hold. When he came back on the line, his voice was still calm. “Backup is five minutes out. Don’t let Jillian leave until they’re there, got it?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And Kline?”

  “Yes?”

  “Good work, Detective. Same with the Coggins case. You’re shaping up to be a first-rate detective.”

  An hour later, Arthur Fink was sitting at his kitchen table in handcuffs, speaking with his lawyer in hushed tones.

  Waiting for the warrant on the front porch, Ellie’s patience was rewarded as Jillian pulled up to the curb in her Audi. A black and white with “K-9 Unit” on the side in gold letters sliding in right behind her.

  Jacob stepped out of the driver’s seat with Duke hot on his heels. “I hear you could use a hand.”

  Some of the nerves balled up in Ellie’s stomach unraveled at the sight of her old partner. “There are enough hands here, but I’ll take two more.”

  Jillian rushed up the walkway and handed her the warrant. “It’s only for a cursory search of all the rooms in the house and whatever is behind the door.”

  “If we find any damning evidence in plain sight, they’ll issue a more thorough warrant and send a crime scene team,” Jacob added.

  “Perfect.” Ellie walked into the house and handed the warrant to Fink’s lawyer. “Tell him to open the door.”

  “I can’t,” Arthur sniveled, almost wailing. “I can’t do that.”

  His lawyer read the warrant and shook his head. “You don’t have a choice.”

  Fink sighed and dropped his chin to his chest, his earlier bravado gone, a shell of the pompous, arrogant man he was when they walked up on his front porch the first time. “The combination is the house numbers in reverse.”

  “Seriously?” Ellie and Fink’s lawyer said in unison.

  Fink nodded, moaned, and covered his face.

  Ellie gritted her teeth and walked away. There was arrogant and stupid, and then, there was Arthur Fink.

  The metal dial on the door was cool to the touch, even through her gloves. With trembling hands, she twisted it to the right until it landed on the five, then twisted it to the left one full revolution. She paused and turned to Arthur, who was watching her with fists clenched. “Is it four numbers?”

  “Yes, four,” he choked out.

  She nodded, breath coming faster in her excitement, her lips dry. She forced herself to slow down, repeating the numbers out loud before she continued. “Five, five, four, one.”

  When the dial stopped on the last number, she held her breath.

  There was an audible click as the locks tumbled open.

  Automatically, she pushed open the door, raising her gun. It opened soundlessly, revealing a short landing built entirely of stainless steel. The stairwell was surprisingly bright and clean, and nothing like the dank, frightening space she’d expected.

  She grabbed the railing and stepped out on the platform, her footfalls echoing in the small space. To her left, there was a small lift with enough room for one person.

  Or two if you were carrying an unconscious woman. />
  Jacob cleared his throat and shook his head as she turned to him. “I’m not getting on that lift.”

  “I was thinking the same thing, not wanting to plummet to my death. There’s no telling if he has traps set up on these stairs too, though.”

  “That’s why we’re here.” Jacob sent Duke down first, and they waited until he came back, tail wagging. “Go ahead.” Jacob put his hand on her shoulder. “I’ve got your six.”

  “I know.” Ellie drew her gun, taking the stairs one at a time, Jacob following. At the bottom, they were met with another heavy door. Ellie used the same numbers, and the door unlocked, swinging easily on well-oiled hinges. “Not very smart.”

  “Or he never thought he’d get caught.”

  Ellie stepped through the doorway and pushed aside fabric leaves that hung like an ivy curtain. She stopped and stared, her mind unable to absorb what was in front of her.

  A modest front lawn, surrounded by a short, white picket fence and dozens of fake trees. The walls were painted with varying hues of blue, fooling her eyes momentarily into thinking she was outside under a sky that went on forever.

  Ellie reached out, her hand connecting with a painted concrete wall, and the illusion was shattered. “What in the world?”

  “If I didn’t know we were in a basement,” Ellie nearly jumped when Jacob spoke, “I would swear we were in someone’s front yard.”

  Nearly immobilized with shock, Ellie’s gaze ran over the front porch of a small house. “He built a house in here?”

  “It’s a wall. He just built it like the façade of a house.”

  “Jacob, this is so sick.”

  “You’re telling me.”

  She felt like Alice in Wonderland must have after she fell down the rabbit hole. “If she’s in there, there’s no telling what kind of mental state she’s in.”

  “You should go first.” Jacob nodded toward the front of the house. “The last thing she’ll want to see is a man.”

  “If she knows what Arthur Fink looks like at all.” Ellie indicated the cameras that followed their every move. “I have a feeling the little weasel didn’t give her a chance to bash his brains out, or he wouldn’t be alive to tell the tale.”

  “You’re probably right.”

  Ellie left Jacob in the mock yard, carefully making her way up onto the porch. Trying the doorknob, she was surprised when it turned. Forcing away the pit that was growing in her stomach, she opened the door and stepped inside, her gun drawn but pointed at the floor.

  The entry room was exactly like she’d expect to find in any house. Artificial light poured in the windows to illuminate a large living room furnished with the standard couch and coffee table in front of a television. A doorway that led into a cozy kitchen. She could see the fake yard through the kitchen window above the sink, and at the other end of the room, a narrow hallway led to a closed door.

  “Valerie?” she called out. “Valerie, it’s the police. Ellie Kline, Charleston PD. No one is going to hurt you. Can you let me know if you need help?”

  She waited, listening intently for anything that would give away Valerie’s location.

  Silence.

  And the steady, painful beating of her heart banging against her ribs.

  “Please be alive,” she whispered, taking another step forward, and another, until she reached the door at the end of the hall. “Valerie? I’m opening the door. Don’t be scared. It’s going to be okay.”

  The doorknob was cold to the touch, and as she twisted it, she held her breath.

  Pushing the door open, it swung inward silently, revealing a small bedroom that was decorated in an explosion of nauseating pink. Every surface was a shade of pink, the only other color a stark, soulless white. The bedspread was half on the floor, half on the bed, and the small door that led to a bathroom stood open. “Valerie?”

  Silence.

  One step at a time, she edged closer to the bathroom door, ready for the frightened woman to leap out of the darkness. Ellie was prepared to subdue her without harm if it came to that, but she didn’t want to. The young woman been held captive for so long, she might sympathize with her abductor.

  Ellie reached blindly into the bathroom to flip on the light switch. Fluorescent lights flooded every inch of the room.

  She froze in the doorway.

  Screws and brackets from a missing towel bar dangled from the sheetrock. Across the room, the bar was still wrapped in a towel in a heap on the floor. A crimson smudge ran down the drywall, wide at first, then tapering off inches from the tile. A small pool of blood spread over a single twelve-inch tile and collected in the grout.

  “There was a struggle.”

  Ellie jumped and spun, starting to raise her gun before she realized it was Jacob. Clutching her shirt over her heart, she glared at him. “You scared me.”

  “She’s not here.”

  Ellie shook her head. “No, she’s not.”

  “It’s not that much blood. She could still be alive.”

  “I don’t know what to think.” She pointed, letting Jacob poke his head in the doorway so he could see without stepping into the bathroom and compromising the integrity of the scene. “The smear running down the wall could be from fingers. See how it’s rounded at the top? If there are usable prints, we can prove without a doubt that he held Valerie here.”

  “He held someone here.” Jacob’s dark brown eyes were intense with restrained anger.

  Ellie took a deep breath. “I think he held more than just one person here. This house was built almost ten years ago, and Valerie has only been missing for two. She probably wasn’t his first captive, and if we hadn’t caught on to him, she wouldn’t have been his last.”

  Jacob signaled to Duke as they exited the fake house. “Do you think he’ll tell us what happened to her?”

  “No, I don’t.” She left the basement in a hurry, climbing up the stairs, Jacob and Duke right behind her. She was livid, but she didn’t say a word to Arthur Fink. It wasn’t worth destroying the case against him, and if she spoke, she’d lose it.

  Fortis answered his cell phone on the first ring. “Did you find her?”

  “No, but I’m sending you some pictures for the judge. I’m going to need a warrant for every inch of this house. She was here, and she was alive recently.”

  Fortis sucked in a quick breath, and she knew he’d received the photo she’d texted. “What in the hell? I’ll call the judge right now. He’s probably at dinner, but he’ll want to see this.”

  “Thank you. I have a feeling we don’t have much time if we want to find her alive.” Ellie ended the call.

  Behind her, Arthur let out a wail of despair. There was a thump as his head hit the kitchen table. He cried out in agony but started banging his head on the wood, as the officers shouted and rushed in to stop him.

  Once the warrant was issued, his house would be seized for evidence collection, and she knew without question that Fink’s computers would share all his dirty little secrets with the world. Arthur Fink was about to find out that there were certain things his money couldn’t protect him from.

  And it looked like Arthur Fink knew he was going to prison.

  Ellie didn’t care if he beat his own brains in, as long as it was after he got a prison sentence. After she made sure he was never allowed to hurt another woman again.

  15

  It was nearly eight that night when a text came through on Ellie’s phone, letting her know the car service had arrived at her building.

  She checked her reflection one last time and smoothed her hands down over the emerald green dress before grabbing the matching clutch and dashing out the front door. When she opened the door in the lobby, the blast of cold air gave her pause, but it was the sight of the man standing near the black limo that stopped her in her tracks.

  “Nick.” Ellie stepped into his embrace. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

  “I hoped it would be a nice surprise.” He kissed the top of her head, gru
mbling when she pulled away.

  She gave him a fake stink eye. “Or were you worried I would bail at the last minute?”

  He shrugged, flashing her a white smile. “I’m going to plead the fifth.”

  “Smart choice.”

  He slid a finger under her chin and leaned down, kissing her tenderly. “I’ve missed you.”

  His lips were hot against hers, the taste of him sweet and familiar. When he pulled away, she stole another quick kiss and sighed when he wrapped a silver shawl around her shoulders.

  “I didn’t know what color your dress was, so I went with this. I hope it’s okay.”

  “Thank you. I didn’t have time to shop for a new dress this week.”

  His fingers moved over the strap, touching the skin beneath. “Works for me. I love this color on you, it matches your eyes.”

  “Maybe people will notice that instead of how exhausted I look.” She took his hand and let him help her into the back of the limo. Sliding in beside her, he pulled her into his arms. Relaxing into the cushioned seat, she rested her head on his shoulder and fought the urge to close her eyes. “I’m sorry I haven’t called this week. I’ve been buried.”

  “I heard.”

  She sat up straight. “You did?”

  “Not really, but I heard that something went down, and there was a pending investigation, but the entire thing has been hush-hush.”

  “There’s nothing to tell. Not yet.” Ellie sank farther into the cushy seat, her head falling back as she envisioned Ben and Valerie as they were before going missing. “A couple came up missing, and the man was found shot to death shortly after. His girlfriend is still missing, and a search led us to the man who’s kept her captive for who knows how long.”

  “How long was she missing?”

  “Two years.”

  Nick recoiled. “The horror she must’ve experienced.”

  “We didn’t find her.” Ellie’s voice cracked as she spoke the words. “That’s why everyone is keeping quiet on this. We seized everything in the suspected abductor’s house, and the tech guys are combing through every last file on his computer. It’s going to take time, and I’m afraid—” Her voice caught again.