by Rhavensfyre
“Shit, Roy, what the hell are you doing here?” Usually they had minimal staff on Sunday, someone to man the switchboard and an officer to handle any other calls.
“We have a prisoner, remember? Have to rotate officers through 24/7 until we get him moved.” Roy sounded grumpy. He must have drawn a short straw, trying to play fair with his officers and volunteering his Sunday morning so they could have more time with their families. That was one of the things she did like about him. “What about you? Why are you here?”
“I wanted to look at some files while it was quiet.”
Roy raised his eyebrows at her and sat himself down at the edge of the desk she had taken over. “You mean Victoria’s stalker in there? Why?”
Great, now I’m not ever going to get rid of him. Ransom groaned, putting her coffee on the desk and plopping back down in her seat. “I don’t really know. Something’s just bothering me about the whole thing.”
“Again, why?” Roy wasn’t about to let up. “You have good instincts, Ransom. Don’t ignore them. If you think there’s something we’re missing, keep looking until you find it. We have this guy until tomorrow morning. Try to find whatever you’re looking for before then.”
Yeah, but Victoria will be gone by then. That’s not fast enough. Ransom sighed and flipped opened another plain manila folder. The glossies Samuel had given her slid out. Photos from the stalker. Well framed out, semi-professional looking black and whites. The kind you could produce in a home lab. A few smaller photos fell out. These were from the PD. Color shots of the black rose left at Victoria’s house after Samuel had spirited her away. This one they had found in her bed. She leaned forward to get a closer look. The same deep black/red velveteen petals and dark green leaves. They made the blood-red nail polish painted neatly along the tip of each thorn all the more garish in contrast.
Ransom rubbed her eyes and tried not to let her frustration get the best of her. It didn’t help that there was someone sitting in a cell not 40 feet away from her that probably had all of the answers she needed and she couldn’t get them out of him.
Her cell phone started ringing.
Victoria. Her call should have been a welcome distraction, but it also represented the last turn of the hourglass. Ransom glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was only 10:30.
Shit. He’s early. Her timeline had been tight enough as it was, now it was practically non-existent.
“Hey.” Ransom picked up the phone on the second ring.
“Hi,” Victoria answered back. She sounded out of breath, or excited about something. “Guess what!”
“I have no idea.” Ransom shook her head. What was going on out there?
“Samuel had car trouble so he sent Bridget to pick me up.”
Bridget? Ransom leaned back in her chair. “That’s your assistant from work, right?”
“Yes, I had wanted to talk to Samuel on the way back, but that can wait until tomorrow.”
I wanted to talk to him, too. Ransom could practically hear Victoria smiling over the phone. “You said something about lunch. Will Roy let you go so you can come home? I’d love it if you two could meet.”
“Hi, Ransom!” An equally breathless, girlish voice made its way through the phone to her. The two of them sounded like they were having a grand old time.
“Bridget says hi,” Victoria said.
“I heard,” Ransom drawled. How could I have not heard?
“So, about lunch?” Victoria asked again.
“I think I should be able to get out of here by then,” Ransom sighed.
There was no escape. It was either go, or miss saying goodbye to Victoria.
“You know what. Maybe you can help me out. Wait a minute.” She shuffled through the files until she found what she needed. “This guy, Matthew. He’s on some pretty powerful Antipsychotic drugs. When they brought him in they thought he was coming down off of something or withdrawing. Could his medications be causing some of the behaviors we witnessed?”
“They could be. The agitation and restlessness, certainly.”
“What about the hand tremors?” Ransom pulled out another form. Matthew’s signature was a painful scrawl that scribbled across half of the paper. She’d seen 2nd graders with better handwriting skills.
“Dyskinesia? Certainly, why?”
“Just making sure I understand everything I’m reading here.” Ransom frowned at the mess on her desk, her gaze falling on the rose once again. What kind of sick fucker sends black roses? “Look, I’ll get this done and head up in a few, okay?”
“Okay. Hey, Bridget wants to know if you could stop on the way up and buy a case of Pepsi and some fresh hamburger for lunch? I didn’t defrost anything.”
“Sure.” Ransom scribbled down her request on a yellow sticky and stuffed it in her chest pocket. “Is that it?”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“Aww, isn’t that sweet?”
“Fuck off, Roy.”
“Hey, is that any way to talk to your boss?” Roy peeled himself away from the wall he had been holding up.
“It’s a way, maybe not the right way, but it’s a way,” Ransom grumbled, tossing her pen down on her desk.
“I take it you found something odd in the file?”
Ransom rubbed her face, trying to get some feeling back into it after sitting still for so long. “I don’t know. I want to say I’m just being paranoid, I really do. But look at this.”
She slid the photo of the rose over to Roy.
“Okay, so?”
“I have one just like it up at the house. Each thorn painted bright red just like in the photo there. Meticulously painted, Roy. Not a single spill anywhere. That guy in there? He can’t even sign his name. How the fuck did he do this?”
“Good question.” Roy looked down at the photo again. “What’s it painted with?”
“It’s hard. I thought it looked like nail polish. Victoria wears a similar color.” Ransom jumped up. “Oh, fuck!”
“What?”
“Where’s the damn report on the break in? The one at Samuel’s office?”
She found it, then tore through it looking for one specific notation. “What the hell? Didn’t they check for fingerprints?”
“Of course they did. There weren’t any.” Roy was starting to get concerned. Ransom was way too agitated about a simple fingerprint report. “That’s not so unusual. Thieves often wear gloves when they break into places.”
“Yeah? Only this guy isn’t a thief. He’s a freaking nutcase that can’t stop touching himself let alone everything else around him.”
“What are you saying? That he wasn’t the one who broke into the office? We have an eyewitness placing him there.”
“Yeah, we do.” Ransom felt her blood go cold. Her mind raced through a dozen possibilities, from best to worst-case scenarios. It could still be a mistake on her part, it didn’t have to mean what she thought it meant.
But there’s one sure way to find out.
“I need to make a phone call.” Ransom closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and found that calm inside herself that let her forget her fear. There was nothing left but cold anger and determination. For her sake, please let me be wrong.
“Samuel, I need to know why you sent Bridget to pick up Victoria.”
“I did no such thing.” Samuel managed to sound offended and anxious at the same time. “I was actually just getting ready to leave.”
“So, you’re not having car problems?”
“What? Hold on.” A muffled curse followed close behind a louder, clearer one.
“Shit. I am now. What’s going on? Why is Bridget there? Better yet, how did Bridget know where Victoria was?”
“Those are all good questions, Sammy,” Ransom snarled. “I’ll ask her when I get the chance.”
If the woman stays alive long enough to tell me how she orchestrated this whole thing, Ransom added, wisely keeping that thought to herself.
; “Son of a bitch.” She wished she had called Samuel on the office phone, slamming that down on the receiver would have felt so good. Hanging up a cell phone just didn’t have the same impact. “I have to go.”
“Now hold on, Ransom.” Roy caught her mid-stride, pulling her back by the arm before she made it two steps. He pretended to ignore the fact that her free hand went straight for the 9mm at her waist, although his bladder wasn’t quite as brave as the rest of him. “You can’t just go off half-cocked like this anymore. You have that badge. There’s rules.”
Ransom looked down at Roy’s hand, then slowly raised her head. Eyes the color of chipped emeralds and colder than frost stared him down. “Let me go, Roy. You can have the badge. I never wanted it, anyway. But, unless you plan on arresting me, I’m leaving now. Sure, you might make it up there in time. You’ll do your best like you always do, but if that woman hurts Victoria…” Ransom left the rest of her threat unspoken. They glared at each other for far too long. Ransom felt every second counting off in drops of blood. She relaxed her stance, just an iota, and removed her hand from her gun. “Don’t you see? It has to be me. She’s expecting me. Victoria’s girlfriend. Not the entire Sheriff’s department coming down on her. All you’ll do is create a hostage situation. Let me do this, my way.”
Roy dropped his hand. “Fine. I’ll give you a ten-minute head start, then I’m coming in behind you. I’ll even come in running silent.”
“No,” Ransom said, surprising Roy with her response. “Give me twenty minutes, run hot up to the lower gates…then slow it to a crawl. Give me a couple of extra minutes.”
A little extra pressure was always exciting. Like agitating a bottle of champagne, you never knew when the cork might pop.
Ransom left Roy standing in the middle of the Sheriff’s office. He listened for the Jeep, expecting to hear tires peeling out of the parking lot, but there was nothing. That showed a level of self-control that most people would never achieve. Maybe Buddy, but that was it, he thought, heading for his office to get a few things before following behind her.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Erica Ford wanted to puke, listening to Victoria coo over Ransom like a lovesick dove. How sickly sweet these two are. I just can’t stand it.
“Is she bringing the food?” she asked, slipping back into Bridget mode an instant before Victoria turned around to face her. She hated the vacuous woman, all the way down to her clothes and the way she spoke…but she was useful. Everyone trusted Bridget, they thought she was a wonderful person. Perky even. Perky was annoying. Would they still love Bridget if she walked and talked like Erica? She doubted it.
“Yes, she said she’d get here as soon as possible.” Victoria beamed at her protégé. “I still can’t believe that you’re here. It’s so good to see a friendly face after being gone for so long!”
“I know. I’ve missed our lunch dates. I feel like I have been floundering through my classes without your help.” Bridget smiled and suffered through the second enthusiastic hug of the morning. “But I have to admit I’m a little jealous. From the sound of things, it wasn’t all horrible. At least this guy, what’s his name?”
“Matthew.”
“Matthew. Yes. At least he didn’t find you here.” Bridget sniffed and brushed her hair back behind her ear, exposing the colorful bruise gracing her right temple. Victoria’s eyes widened. The horrified expression on her face was exactly what she was looking for, as was the stuttered apology Victoria kept stumbling over. Bridget bit her lip and turned her face away a little. Would Victoria think the gleam in her eye was an attempt to hold back tears? Let her. She was trying not to smile at how easy it was to manipulate the woman. She changed tactics, narrowing her eyes and gazing slyly at Victoria. “And Ransom, I assume she’s sexy as hell if you went after her during all of this. Downright irresistible, I’d have to say.”
The insinuation was clear. Victoria went from apologetic to self-conscious in one hot second. “Bridget!”
“What? Do you think you could just disappear off the face off the earth for a ‘family emergency’ and not tell me the truth without paying for it? I’m supposed to be your friend, and you lied to me.”
Just the right amount of righteous anger and pouting made Bridget sound like she was teasing. Victoria didn’t even hear the threat couched in the friendly banter between them. Bridget shook her head and smiled forgivingly. “It’s okay. Forget I said that. You were in danger and didn’t know who to trust, I get that.”
“I do trust you, Bridget.” Victoria still felt guilty about keeping her in the dark. “I wanted to tell you, believe me. I could have used your sense of humor more than once the last few weeks.”
I’m sure you could have. Bridget realized she was tapping her fingernails against the armchair fabric. She was bored, but it wouldn’t do to let Victoria know that. “Me too. It’s been hell at work without you.”
She took a deep breath and threw up her hands, tossing away her frustration like so much imaginary confetti. “But let’s not talk about work and school. Tell me all about you and Ransom. You know I was teasing you earlier. But really, what’s she like?”
“She’s amazing, and you’re right. She is hot.” Victoria chuckled at Bridget’s all too accurate assessment. “You know, I think I mentioned her to you before, a long time ago.”
“How? I thought you two just met?”
“That’s the thing. We didn’t. Do you remember that night we went out for drinks after your finals?” Victoria made a face. Tequila was evil, and she hadn’t been able to drink the stuff since that night. “We were daring each other to reveal our deepest, darkest secrets, and I told you about that wild weekend I spent with a woman…”
“The one who was in the Navy?” Bridget asked. “She was getting shipped out the next day, wasn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“Wait, a minute. Ransom was that woman? The woman you were so hot to trot about all those years ago?” Bridget was rarely surprised by anything, in fact, she made it a point to always be one step ahead of everyone else around her. Perhaps that was why she didn’t watch what she said next as carefully as she ought to have. “And now she’s a Deputy here in town, with the Sheriff’s department.”
“Yes,” Victoria said, then furrowed her brows at the other woman. She didn’t remember mentioning Ransom’s new job. “How did you know that?”
“Oh, I think I saw the name on one of the reports, you know, when they wanted me to identify the person who broke into the office.”
“Yes, let’s talk about that, why don’t we?” Ransom’s voice came out of nowhere.
Victoria spun around. Ransom was standing just a few feet away from her. Somehow she had made it into the house, through the kitchen and into the living room without alerting either of them to her presence. “What? Ransom what are you doing? It’s just Bridget.” She half stood up, then sat back down. Her heart in her throat, confused and frightened, she watched Ransom step closer, her 9mm trained on the other woman.
“Ransom, please, put the gun down.”
“Victoria, get out of the way.” Ransom’s voice was cold as ice, but the look in her eyes was pure death. “Nice to finally meet you, Bridget. Now. Victoria asked you a question that I would very much like to hear the answer to. How did you know I was working with the Sheriff’s department?”
“I told you, I saw it…”
“Nah. You can do better than that. I just talked to Samuel. He didn’t send you here this morning, which means you have another agenda going on. Talk.”
“Fine,” Bridget snarled. “I saw you two, together, at the station. It was a right nice argument you were having too, until it got all lovey-dovey again. I just wish I was close enough to hear what it was all about. At least that little snit you were having let me follow you up to the house here. Which, by the way…nice place.”
“It’s not mine.”
“Oh, I know that. Samuel’s got his own little box of secrets tucked away, doesn’t
he? Private Investigator’s and hired gun’s on the payroll. Doesn’t it make you wonder what he’s been up to in his spare time? I could tell you.” A feral grin lit up her face.
“Don’t listen to her,” Ransom growled, keeping her attention firmly on the woman who, up until today, was someone that Victoria trusted unconditionally.
“What is she talking about?” Victoria asked.
“Nothing, she’s just trying to get into your head.” Ransom shifted her position to get a clearer shot. She needed Victoria out of the danger zone now.
“Please, Victoria. Just get behind me. All you need to know is that Matthew wasn’t acting alone. He had help. Her help.”
“That’s just ridiculous. Why would she do that?”
“Because she’s the freaking stalker, Victoria. That’s why.” Ransom watched Bridget’s face closely, looking for some kind of tell from the other woman to prove her right. A muscle jumped at the corner of her eye and something closer to hate than surprise flashed through her eyes.
“I wasn’t ‘helping’ anybody. Matthew was just a sorry, sad-ass-sack-of-shit that I thought would be fun to bring into play for a while. Poor little rich boy who played Alice for too many years…until all those pills he loved so much made him crazy. Tell me, Victoria. How long did it take you to recognize him? He didn’t look that bad when I convinced him to leave his posh little rehab clinic. You’re the one who told me how fixated he was on you in school. I enjoyed breaking him, then sending him after you, all ready to cry at your feet and beg for forgiveness. It’s too bad you caught him first, I really wanted to know what would have happened when he realized you barely remembered him. He was quite volatile emotionally.” Bridget smiled at them, a slow, creeping smile that transformed her into a completely different person.
Without warning, she lunged forward. Victoria gasped and took a step back to avoid her. Arms wind milling, her foot tangled in the coffee table leg, Victoria fell backwards.
Ransom launched into action. She lowered her weapon so she could catch Victoria. Pulling her up and around, she dragged Victoria away from the other woman, then swung her weapon in an easy arc to zero back on her target. Fuck. A pistol, very similar to the one she had gifted Victoria, appeared in Bridget’s hand seemingly out of nowhere.