“We don’t have enough evidence here. The cops will look into it, but we need more. There are two other paramedics that could easily be guilty. What if there was an emergency call to the Boulet home? One of the men could have seen Stephanie there. We don’t have anything solid to say that Terry is our man.”
“But what about his college connection to Melissa?” Kane offered.
Christina answered for Julian, “It’s the only local university. I would bet half the people in Delta Falls went there.”
Julian agreed with her. “Exactly. We don’t have enough.”
Tori knew there was a fine line between them being right and accusing an innocent man. They needed more proof. “We can go check out his place. We know from Vivian’s dreams that it’s going to be down a gravel road. We have a pretty good description of the basement and the windows too.”
He watched her.
“What if we do some surveillance, and then call in the police if we think we have enough?” she offered.
Vivian agreed. “We can head there the back way and watch for a while. Maybe something from one of my dreams will resurface.”
He didn't like taking the women anywhere near there, but what choice did he have?
“If it matters, I think we should do it,” Justin offered, backing the women up.
“Okay. Kane, you, and Christina are staying here. You’re our lifeline in case something happens. If you get a call from us to alert the police, you call Tom Lester and tell him everything.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
“We need to be careful. No one is approaching this crack pot. If we find it is him, we’re going to call for backup and that’s it. We’re not the cops or Feds anymore. We’re private investigators, and we don’t have a lot of leeway here.” Tori said.
They agreed.
“Okay, let’s take the SUV and hide it somewhere. We’ll hang out in the trees outside his house and hope we don’t get arrested for harassment or stalking.”
They all put on their coats and Christina offered them good luck fist bumps as they passed by her.
Kane waited until they were gone before he said anything, “I hope they find something,” he stated.
“Yeah, me too,” said Christina. “Me too.”
* * *
He went down to the basement and stood there between the three cages. It pained him that he was going to have to eradicate his collection, especially since he worked so damn hard on gathering them.
Between these three lovely women were hours upon hours of watching, observing, and taking notes. It all seemed like such a waste to him.
He stared at each one, and then finally spoke, “I’ve wanted you since college,” he told Melissa. “You never saw me in class, but I used to watch you and wonder if you could ever love me.”
She stared at him with dull eyes that showed the haze of the drugs that he had just given them.
When she didn't reply, he spoke to Bridget next. “You were always so nice to me at the office. You have the prettiest hair, and I knew that you’d be perfect for my collection.”
Bridget’s head lolled to the side, and she didn't have the strength or ability to reply.
Finally, he stopped in front of Stephanie and ran his hand up her leg. “You were my angel. You never made me feel anything less than happy. When you would come see me at the house and take care of my mother, you were sweet. Your husband didn't deserve you, but I did. I will miss you the most.”
Stephanie muttered, barely able to coherently speak.
“Go to sleep. You don’t want to see what’s coming, my treasures. I’m sorry that I couldn’t just set you free, but you’re my collection and no one will ever love you like I do. I promise.”
Bending over, he grabbed the gas can and started dousing the room. “I’m sorry that it has to end this way.”
No one said a word as the room filled with the noxious fumes.
It was time…
* * *
They sat not far from his house and watched. The stalker was now becoming the victim. His car was sitting there and that meant he was likely home. Each of the team scanned for anything that would give them some indication that they were on the right path.
On the way there, they hit the gravel part of the road from Vivian’s dream. That was their first confirmation that they were possibly on the right trail. When they hid in the trees, they had the perfect view of his house and the boarded up basement window. That helped reassure Julian that they weren’t in the wrong place. Since the people at his side were his family, he wasn’t taking any chances with their safety.
“I think this is it,” Tori whispered, as her husband crouched beside her.
He didn't speak. His attention was focused on some shadows moving around the back of the house. Without making a sound, he tapped his brother and pointed towards the motion.
“What is it?”
Julian wasn’t really sure, but he suspected it was Terry Boulet. When he came into sight, he saw what was in his hand and knew that they had a huge problem.
“Shit,” muttered Justin. “He’s going to light the place up!” he hissed.
They all stood. Someone had to stop him from starting that fire.
“Vivian, text Kane and tell him call the cops. We have a problem!” Julian’s eyes never left the suspect as he continued to throw gasoline on the wooden structure. When he pulled out a match, he knew they had little time.
“We gotta move!” Justin stated.
Julian broke from the trees with his brother behind him. He yelled back at his wife to stay there. Unfortunately, his voice alerted the man with the match.
Terry heard the commotion and quickly dropped it before running into the woods. He knew that he had to get away from the two men who were chasing him.
Tori and Vivian saw the flames burst to life, and they knew that they couldn’t sit there while the house went up with the women in it. The fire department would never get there in time.
“We have to save them!” Tori exclaimed, as she too headed from the safety of the trees to get to the building.
Vivian agreed. “We can try the window!”
They raced to it and dropped to the ground. With their feet, they kicked in the wood. The smoke began to billow, and they knew that they didn't have much time. The smell of gasoline wafted from the room below.
“I’ll go in and push them up to you. You’ll have to pull them out,” Tori stated.
Vivian watched her slip into the darkness of the room and she hoped that she was successful. As Vivian heard Tori banging things around, she prayed with all her might.
They had to pull this off!
God! They needed a miracle.
Tori could barely see in the room. As she blinked rapidly and pulled her shirt over her nose, she tried to stay focused at the job at hand.
Luckily, there wasn’t any smoke in there yet, but with the old building being made of wood, it wouldn’t be long. Right then, her concern wasn’t the fire, but the overwhelming fumes. They were making her eyes water and lungs burn in protest.
She knew that she had very little time to get this done. At the first cage, she pulled it open and used the knife in her back pocket to cut the duct tape that was holding the women captive to the bars.
“Come on, Stephanie,” she said, pulling the victim to her feet. “We need to get you out of here, and fast!”
The woman barely acknowledged her presence, but she was able to stumble along with Tori to the window. Immediately, Vivian reached in to pull her up and out. As soon as she was through the small window, Tori went back for Bridget. The scent of acrid smoke began forming in the room.
Time was almost up.
Shit!
Justin and Julian raced after the man and weren’t far behind him in the woods. They knew that they had to catch him and get back to help the women. Somehow, Julian didn't buy that his wife would allow three women to burn alive in the building, and that scared the hell out of him.
> Tori’s safety was a motivating factor to get this done, and fast. Now, he needed to worry about Justin’s wife too. Julian had a sick feeling that together, they intended to play hero.
As Terry Boulet vaulted a tree, both men were on him fast, and they took him to the ground in a pile. Fortunately, the man wasn’t too much bigger than them, and they easily subdued him.
At first, he tried to fight, and then he knew he wasn’t going to win. The Native men had him completely under their control.
“Can you get him back on your own?” Julian blurted in worry.
“Yeah, I can. Just go!” Justin was well aware what most likely was happening back at the house, and his stomach was in a vicious knot. When his brother turned to leave, Justin leaned down to hiss in Terry Boulet’s ear. “If my wife or sister gets hurt, you’re a dead man.”
Julian tore back through the woods as he prayed that his wife wasn’t doing anything stupid or dangerous. As he neared the opening to the yard, he could see the flames shooting through the roof of the building. He knew that the house was going to go up, just like Terry Boulet had planned.
As he rounded the corner, he saw Vivian dragging a prone Bridget towards the grass where Stephanie Hiller was lying.
“Where’s Tori?” he yelled, as he slid to a stop beside her.
“Inside,” she answered, lowering the woman to the ground, before racing back to the window. “We still have to get Melissa, and then we’re clear.”
His heart pounded in his chest as his brain processed that information. His wife was inside a building that was on fire. It reminded him of another blaze and another nutjob who almost stole her from him. Julian never believed that he would be reliving this nightmare over again. “Tori! Hurry up, honey!” he yelled into the window frantically.
Tori was moving as fast as she could. The smoke was getting thicker, and she was beginning to have a hard time seeing. “I’m trying, Julian,” she replied, as she cut the last of the duct tape from Melissa. When the woman wouldn’t respond to her, and she was forced to pull her up over her shoulders in a fireman’s hold to get her to the window. Thank God that she had carried ruck sacks through horrible conditions to get conditioned, or Melissa would be out of luck.
Willing herself on, in the distance she could hear the screaming of sirens and there was some relief. At the window, she immediately felt the weight of the woman being pulled from her body. As she climbed up onto the box, to get herself out, her boot slipped and she started to fall. Before Tori could tumble back into the smoke, her hand was grabbed by a familiar one.
“I have you, honey,” Julian said, pulling his wife up, out, and clear from the structure. There was no way he was willing to lose her. When she collapsed into his arms, he dragged her from the now fully engulfed building. Once more, they cut this one a little too close.
“You’re going to be the death of me, Tori,” he stated. His voice must have shown how close he was to hysteria, because his wife reached up to stroke his cheek.
“I love you, honey,” he whispered.
She coughed, trying to get in some fresh air. “You like adventure, Julian.”
Before he could reply, he heard his brother calling to them.
Justin dragged the fighting man back out of the clearing and towards his family. The sights and sounds were overwhelming, as he searched for his wife. When Terry Boulet tried to break away and lunge towards the women on the ground, Justin had no choice but to knock him out with a well-placed punch. When he fell into a jumbled pile, he focused on his family.
“Shit! Are you three okay?”
Vivian and Tori sat side by side as the first police car pulled up. They were trying to catch their breath and only nodded.
Officer Jersek jumped from his cruiser and raced towards them. “Bridget!” he shouted. “Oh my God! You found her!” He dropped beside her and began to check her vitals.
“She’s drugged,” Vivian answered, checking the other two women.
Pulling in behind his car was the detective’s vehicle and an ambulance. As they all emptied out, the abducted women became everyone’s focus. There were loud cheers amidst the screams of the sirens.
Detective Lester shook his head. “Well, I’ll be damned. Is that the man who did this?”
Julian sat beside his wife, making sure she was okay. “Yeah, it was Terry Boulet. Vivian and Tori pulled the missing women out of the building before he could burn it down. I think that’s proof enough to send him to jail for a very long time.”
“He was going to burn them alive?” Lester asked, horrified.
All three nodded.
Detective Lester promptly pulled out his handcuffs and secured Terry, before he could wake up and get any other ideas.
Tori began coughing even more.
“You need to call for more ambulances,” Justin suggested. “Everyone has to be checked out for smoke inhalation.”
“I already did,” Lester replied. He glanced over his shoulder as more vehicles and media began pulling into the driveway. Suddenly, behind him all hell broke loose. The fire trucks pulled up and firemen began jumping from the back of the vehicles and making everyone move back.
Julian picked up his wife as his brother did the same with his. They moved them towards the incoming ambulances where media was beginning to yell at them from behind the police standing guard.
It looked like it was finally over.
This case was closed. Now, both men could focus on their wives and making sure that they were indeed okay.
The next hour was nothing but pure chaos. An ambulance crew worked on Tori and Vivian, giving them oxygen. When they deemed them to be okay, they were set free. It was far from the end of the entire ordeal. As the commissioner and mayor arrived, they needed to explain the entire situation.
Julian took over and broke it down piece by piece for them. He didn't really think that Mayor Lagerfeld gave a rat’s ass, since his daughter was found alive. Commissioner Anders, on the other hand, was very interested. He questioned them all, just to ensure that there wasn’t going to be anything missed that allowed Terry Boulet to escape the long arm of the law.
When he was completely satisfied with their verbal reports, he allowed the four to move past the throngs of media shouting at them to escape to their SUV. With a glance at his detective, he knew what he needed to do. “I want her back on duty ASAP.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Tom Lester stated, warily.
He shook his head. “She’s an asset, and now that the media got wind of this, we’ll come out looking good when they find out she’s one of us.”
Detective Lester knew to keep his mouth shut. The commissioner had made up his mind and his word was law. “Yes, sir.”
“You made this mess, now get it done, Lester.”
He watched his boss walk away. There was a sick feeling brewing in the pit of his stomach. Detective Lester wasn’t sure if it was because he was about to eat crow and kiss Littlemoon ass, or if he was still worried about what the men had threatened him with the other night.
Either way, he somehow suspected that getting her back was going to be harder than Anders thought.
Inside the SUV, Julian informed the women that they were still going to the hospital. He wasn’t taking any chances that the paramedics were wrong. Both Julian and Justin wanted confirmation from an actual doctor.
“Jules, we’re fine. Just take me home,” Tori pleaded.
When he shook his head, and said nothing as he drove them out of there, Tori let it go. After all, Julian was going to be himself, and this time he had his twin as backup.
“Vivian, we’re going to discuss you risking your life like this when we get home.”
“We are too, Tori.”
The women started laughing. All in all, they didn't care. They were safe and the nutjob was captured.
That’s all that really mattered.
Today, they came out on top and scored one for the good guys.
Some days, you h
ad to take what you could get.
Two Hours Later
Sitting in the hospital, they had the privilege of watching the news plaster the story all over the place. It was both funny and frightening at the same time. Both men cringed when they watched video of the house burning to the ground. None of the four felt bad when a crying Terry Boulet was caught on camera weeping over his lost collection.
In fact, they were all pretty disgusted that he thought of women as objects to be locked away in a cage.
What had them all perplexed was how the news stations had details that they were sure the police didn't release. Once they called Christina and Kane, that mystery was solved. Their own sweet innocent Christina knew how to spin a story and did just that. She had made Littlemoon Investigations the big hero in all this.
On top of it all, there was a direct quote from FBI West, singing of their company’s accolades. It made them sound like sleuthing geniuses. It also made them want to laugh, as Elizabeth Blackhawk gave her friends a proverbial pat on the back from hours away.
As of that minute, they were the talk of the town.
“It’s kind of funny,” stated Tori, as she walked out of the hospital holding her husband’s hand.
“No, it’s really not.”
Vivian opened her mouth to say something, and was promptly cut off by Justin kissing her. If her husband actually thought that a few kisses would silence her, he was out of his mind. For now, she would tolerate it, only because he had really awesome oral skills.
A girl had to choose her battles wisely.
When Tori started to snicker at what had just happened, she found herself being pulled into her husband’s arms. When his mouth came down over hers, she opted not to fight it either. Julian needed the contact, and kissing her husband was one of her favorite past times.
The women just allowed the men in their lives to lead this one. Today, they’d toss them a bone.
Blood Red Rage (LIttlemoon Investigations Book 1) Page 43