Corrine returned with a martini in one hand and a White Russian in the other—Nick’s favorite.
Neither said anything as she handed it to him. He sipped it as she sat two cushions over.
“What do you think I’m going to tell you that I didn’t tell your brothers in blue?”
He shrugged. “Guess we’ll see. You’d have a better idea than I would.”
“If you think I’m hiding something from them, you’re wrong. I want them to find him as much as anyone. Actually, I’d like them to give me five minutes with him. I’d tear him to shreds for everything he’s done.”
Nick took another sip. “That makes two of us.”
She arched a brow. “Are you, the police captain, admitting you’d harm a man if given the chance?”
“We’re just shooting the breeze, Corrine. Two friends talking.”
Her expression twisted in confusion.
He finished his drink and set the glass on the table.
“You want another one?”
Was she trying to get him drunk so he’d say something stupid? He shook his head. “I’m good. Thanks for the drink.”
She nodded and continued working on hers.
“Any ideas where Dave would go?”
“Like I told your guys, I have no clue. As far as I know, he’s never been to Washington. If he has ties here, he kept them from me.”
Nick nodded. “Has he been temperamental in the past? With you? Anyone else?”
“Are you trying to say I put my kids in danger?”
“I’m just trying to understand the man. The more I know about him, the better the likelihood that I can make an educated guess as to where he might be with our daughter.”
“He has no more of a temper than anyone else. In fact, he’s usually the most easy-going guy around. Tells a lot of jokes and loves to make people laugh.”
“Really?”
“You don’t believe me?”
“That hardly sounds like the type of guy who goes on a killing rampage. Or has a kid who is a sexual predator.”
“Would you lay off Mason?”
“Why do you always defend him? You should be more worried about our daughter.”
“You think I’m not? I moved here, getting her away from them, didn’t I? Leave Mason out of this.”
“Okay, okay.” For now. Something didn’t sit right with him about the way she always defended the kid. It never had. But he’d have to get her talking about other things first.
They sat in silence. It wasn’t quite comfortable, but it was closer than they’d been in a long time.
“Kids still sleeping?” Nick finally asked.
Corrine nodded. “They fell asleep really late, even Hanna.”
He hated that they had to deal with this. It made it all the more important for him to get what he could out of his ex. “Has Dave ever done anything to hurt any of the kids before?”
“What? No! How could you even ask that?”
He stared at her.
She threw her arms into the air. “I mean, don’t you know I’d never allow that?”
“So, all this—coming all the way here, shooting up a school, blowing up part of it, and abducting Ava and Zoey—it’s completely out of character for him?”
“Yes! Like I said, he was always easygoing and funny. I can’t think of a person who didn’t love him.”
Nick frowned, trying to put all the pieces together. “People don’t usually act so far from their personality. Did you see any signs that he was hiding a temper? Or maybe had a quiet side?”
She was silent for a moment. “Well, at home he liked his solitude. Loved reading and spending time online. Maybe his jokes were covering something else up. I don’t know. But I never got the feeling anything was wrong. I mean, if anyone would, it’d be me.”
“If you were living with him, yeah.”
“I told you, we weren’t living together.”
“You don’t have to keep saying that anymore. You’re back here and we have fifty-fifty custody of the kids.”
She frowned, obviously believing that if she admitted to living with the psycho, he would go for more than that. Living with him had broken their agreement.
Nick grew impatient. “I need to get going. If you think of anything, tell me or the officers who were here. He needs to be caught.”
“You think I don’t know that?” she snapped.
There was the Corrine he knew so well.
He rose. “Just let someone know. All I want is to bring him to justice before anyone else gets hurt.”
Intimidation
Ava pressed her ear against the door. Dave was still ranting. It didn’t sound like he was hurting Zoey. Just yelling a lot.
She hated when he got like that. It was always behind closed doors. Dave put on a good show of being the funny guy that everyone liked, but it was all a lie. He even hid it from her mom most of the time. But as soon as all the adults were away from him, he turned into a different person. A horrible one. Although, Ava never would have guessed he was capable of killing people.
His yelling had stopped, for now. She pressed her ear to the door in several different places, still not hearing anything.
Ava scooted away and leaned against a wall. She needed to find a way to get the cuffs off. Not only did they dig into her ankles, but they made it impossible to walk, much less fight.
Stupid jerk. She never should’ve been nice to him. For her mom’s sake, she’d tried to hold back her snark and attitudes. If she could go back in time, she’d give him an earful. Actually, if she could just get the handcuffs off her legs, she’d let him have it.
Some things were easier said than done.
She hoped he would leave again. Zoey and she could search for the key. Then they could leave. Get as far away as they could, then get help. Tell the cops where Dave was staying.
Ava imagined a dramatic arrest, then everyone heaping praise on them for surviving to stop a monster. They would be famous. She closed her eyes and let herself get lost in the fantasy. It was all she had to hang onto.
The door next to her flung open and slammed against the wall.
She jumped and glanced over.
Dave glared at her. “What are you doing on the floor?”
“Sitting here. What does it look like?”
He hit her across the face. “Don’t give me lip. I’m sick of all your attitude.”
Ava covered her cheek, where it was already warm and throbbing from the slap. “Attitude? I’ve always been nice to you.”
“You, nice? You’re about as sweet as poison.”
Her mouth dropped. “At least I don’t tell stupid jokes that people only pretend to think are funny.”
He slapped her across the other side of her face, then grabbed her arm, squeezing hard, and forced her to stand. “I wouldn’t mess with me if I were you.”
She cried out. It felt like he was ripping her muscle. “Stop.”
“No, you stop. I’m the one in charge here. You have to listen to me.” He dragged her over to the bed and threw her on it. “Stay here.”
Ava glared at him and struggled to sit up. “When are you going to take these cuffs off?”
He grabbed her other arm and squeezed just as hard. “You don’t get to ask questions. Stay here.”
She blinked back tears, refusing to let him see how easily he was getting to her. “I’m hungry! Bored!”
Dave made a mock-sympathetic expression and managed to apply more pressure on her arm. “Oh, is the poor baby having a hard time functioning without her phone? This’ll be good for you, especially if we finally get rid of that chip on your shoulder.”
Ava struggled to get free of his grasp, but he dug his fingers deeper. Tears fought all the harder, but she wouldn’t let him see them. She spit in his face.
Shock covered his expression for a moment, then he shoved her on her back while swearing at her and wiping his face. “You’re going to regret that.”
“No,
I won’t.” Ava spit again, though it wasn’t much since her mouth was so dry from having gone so long without eating or drinking anything.
He grabbed both her arms and shoved them back underneath her.
Her arms felt like they were going to pop out of the sockets. Sharp pain shot through them like nothing she’d experienced. She bit her tongue to keep from crying out.
“You will learn to obey me! I’ll wait as long as it takes.” He forced her arms back further, like he was actually trying to pull them from the sockets.
It took all of Ava’s strength not to scream.
“Are you ready to cooperate yet?” His nostrils flared and spittle flew from his mouth, spraying onto her face.
Ava gave a slight nod.
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”
She nodded more dramatically.
“I said, I can’t hear you.”
Ava fought to breathe normally. She would agree to just about anything to get him to let go of her arms. “Okay.” Her voice came out quiet and pinched.
“Okay, what?”
She fought the threatening tears and squirmed to try to ease the pain in her sockets. “I’ll cooperate.”
“Good.” He let go of her.
Relief washed through her, though the pain didn’t fully go away. She shook out her arms and took a deep breath, still fighting the stupid tears. She would not let him see her weakness.
Then she noticed her knees were between his legs—right where she could knee him in the balls.
Dave was talking, but Ava couldn’t focus. She could knee him and then shove him, but then what? He might pin her down again, harder. Her arms throbbed where he’d squeezed and her shoulders ached horribly. Then there was the matter of the cuffs on her ankles.
Stupid, stupid jerk.
In one quick motion, she hefted both her knees up and nailed him in the crotch as hard as she could. She had one chance, and she wasn’t going to waste it.
His eyes widened and he stumbled back for just a moment. Then his eyes fixed on her and his whole face tensed.
Terror ran through Ava. She scrambled to sit up and rolled over to the other side of the bed. It shook as Dave’s weight thrust down on it. Ava swung her feet to the floor and scooted as fast as she could.
Dave’s fingers wrapped around her arm again. This time, he dug his nails into her skin. He yanked her back and pulled on her hair for an extra grip. “You’re really going to regret that.”
Strike
Heart pounding, Zoey finally loosened the last tie. She kicked her feet and jumped up. She was free!
Somehow, Dave hadn’t noticed the tape removed from her mouth when he had been yelling at her. Also, in all his pacing and raving, he hadn’t walked behind the chair to notice her hands were now free of those ropes.
As soon as he went into the room where Ava was, Zoey had worked on her last two ties. They’d been tough, but thankfully not impossible, to undo.
In the other room, Ava cried out.
Zoey glanced around for something she could use as a weapon. Anything would work. Unfortunately, none of the junk looked helpful. Even the chair had been secured to the ground. That sicko had thought of everything.
Ava cried out again. Zoey flinched. She ran over to the kitchen, just in case Dave had left a knife lying out. Or anything. Anything would do. She didn’t have time to rummage through the drawers and cabinets.
Something crashed against a wall in Ava’s room. Zoey bolted out of the kitchen and into the room.
He had the girl pinned to the bed with his back to Zoey.
She had the element of surprise on her side, not that it would do her good for long. Her entire body ached and her head still throbbed. Once he figured out what was going on, he would easily overpower her.
Still, she had to do what she could. Between her and Ava, they might be able to overwhelm him. They had to. There was no other option.
Zoey clenched her fists and prepared to attack. She ran at him and threw all her weight against his back. He stumbled to the side, his arms flailing. She nearly fell on top of Ava, but managed to catch herself and lunge toward Dave again.
He turned to her, his eyes wide.
“Didn’t expect to see me, did you?” Zoey balled her fist and punched him in the nose. Blood sprayed out and he reached for it.
Ava sat up, sniffling and rubbing her arm. Her face was tear-stained and her eyes puffy. A red handprint colored one cheek.
Zoey turned back to Dave and flung herself at him again, this time knocking him off the bed. He landed with a crash and dust flew into the air.
She rolled off the bed and landed on him. He gasped and clutched his stomach.
Ava appeared and punched him in the chest and face. He tried to roll and grab at her but couldn’t reach with Zoey sitting on his stomach.
Everything turned into a big blur of hitting and dust flying. Somehow Dave managed to shove Zoey off him. He lunged for Ava again, but Zoey jumped on him from behind and managed to pull one arm behind his back.
He flipped around and knocked Zoey to the ground. She landed on something hard, and dust flew into her mouth and nose. It took a moment to recover, and by then Dave had Ava’s hands pinned down.
Zoey grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked his head back as far as she could. He let go of Ava, but she couldn’t pull him off her.
Ava sat up, punching and scratching Dave. Zoey held her grip on his hair, keeping his head back as far as it would go. Her arms ached more with each moment that passed. She wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.
He swore at them, struggling against them both.
Zoey’s mind raced. Ava didn’t look like she had much more energy than Zoey did. The likelihood of them knocking him out and being able to get away were waning by the moment.
She had to do something different. But what? She looked around, not getting any ideas. There were no more weapon options in this room than out there.
The ropes. They could tie him up, get away, and send the cops to find him, wrapped up like a present.
Zoey rose and stepped away.
Ava’s eyes widened.
Zoey brought a finger to her lips, then mouthed, “Trust me.”
Dave rolled closer to Ava and pinned her arms. “I shouldn’t have given you so much freedom!”
She spit in his face.
Zoey spun around and bolted for the chair. The ropes all lay on the floor. She scrambled for them and raced back to the room, where Dave now had Ava cornered next to the bed.
Zoey held up the ropes, but Ava couldn’t see around him. She ran toward him and dropped the ties on the ground just before pulling Dave away from Ava. Her muscles and joints burned, but she ignored them. Just until they had him restrained.
He spun around and bit her in the shoulder.
She gasped as the sharp pain radiated out from the area.
Dave hit her in the jaw, then the temple.
Zoey stumbled back, hardly able to think. Her body was starting to feel like mush. Lifting her arm would be impossible.
He was going to win. Then what? What would he do with them after this? Kill them? Torture them?
She couldn’t let that happen. Ava needed to get back home to her parents, and Zoey needed to return to her family, too. No. Giving up wasn’t an option. No matter how impossible it seemed.
If nothing else, everyone would know how much she’d fought for them and for Ava.
With one last burst of energy, Zoey threw herself at him, her fists flying. He grabbed one of her wrists—it stung something fierce because of the rope burns—but she fought him. She put everything into it, and they both crashed to the ground.
Dave landed on top of her and wrapped his hands around her neck. “I should’ve done this back at the school!” His grip tightened.
Zoey struggled to breathe. She wrapped her fingers around his wrists and pulled, but it did no good. She still couldn’t get any air.
“Hey Dave!”
He turned toward Ava, who held a broken baseball bat. She swung it at his head but missed. He let go of Zoey’s neck and stumbled backwards.
Search
Alex bit back a yawn and rubbed his bleary eyes. He’d been staring at his laptop for what felt like days. It had probably only been two or three hours, but he hadn’t taken his attention from it even once in that time.
He was determined to find something on Dave. Anything. He’d gone through his various social media profiles, at least what was public. There wasn’t much to gather.
The prick posted mostly bragging posts about his travels. He’d been to every major continent and loved posting selfies. Especially at beaches with bikini-clad women in the background or right there with him.
With two hours of searching, Alex hadn’t been able to find a single post about being anywhere near Washington state. It was kind of strange, actually. He’d posted pictures practically everywhere else.
But not the area he chose to attack a school? It was almost too convenient.
Alex scrolled down more. He had to be close to a post that would give a useful clue. Or there weren’t any, and he was wasting his time. The screen turned blurry, or rather, his vision did.
He got up and stretched. As much as he didn’t want to take a break, he needed to. After walking around and eating a quick snack, he went back to the computer and took a deep breath.
Maybe Nick had learned something. He pulled out his phone and wandered over to the window, listening to it ring. Alex stared outside, focusing on evergreens in the distance.
Nick’s voicemail came on, instructing him to leave a message.
“Hey, it’s me. Just checking in. Call me.” Alex ended the call and stared at the screen.
There had to be something more he could do. He’d already written a quick blog post about the incident, pleading with his readers to get the word out. With Dave being a flight attendant, he might have had an easier time getting out of state than most. The three of them could be anywhere. Anywhere.
Alex’s stomach lurched. And Dave had shown that he had no problem killing adults. But why take Zoey? And leave her bloody shirt behind? Did he think she would take care of Ava? Or did he have much darker plans?
Against All Odds Page 10