“That’s fine. We’re not going anywhere. Oh, and I need you to come alone. If I see one squad car, Jess dies and I’ll live stream it on social media. I’ll let everyone know that it was your fault. Got it?”
“I got it,” Corrina said, her foot still hard to the floor. Three and a half miles to go.
“Good. And don’t dally. If I get bored, there’s no telling what I’ll do.”
He sounded like he was going to end the call, but Corrina needed him to stay on the line. “Why Jess?” she asked.
Three miles.
“I’ll explain all that when you get here.”
“Can’t you tell me now?”
“Patience, my dear. All will be revealed soon.”
The call ended, and Corrina immediately hit McCrae’s number. She was relieved when he picked up.
“Seth Benning is Fifteen-X,” she told him, “and he’s got Jess Duffey. I’m almost at his place now.” She gave him the address. “He wants me to come alone, so don’t come in heavy-handed.”
“Are you crazy? You can’t go there without backup. At least wait for me. I’m already on my way.”
“I can’t,” Corrina said. “You know what he’s capable of. I’ll be there in two minutes.”
“Then at least leave your phone on so I can hear what’s going on.”
“Okay, I’ll call you back the moment I get there.”
Corrina hung up as Piuma Road appeared on the left. She took the turn, and the satnav told her she had seven hundred yards to her destination. At four hundred, she pulled over. She opened the trunk and put on her body armor, then took out the shotgun and loaded it with six rounds.
Benning wasn’t expecting her for an hour, which gave her a chance to scope out his home. She decided to go for a rear assault, so she left the road and cut across the wasteland.
She saw the property minutes later. It was a two-story, wooden house, with a separate garage around the back. Through the almost-naked trees, she could see a silver van parked at the back.
Corrina studied the place, looking for signs of life, but there were none. Benning was probably in the basement with Jess.
The thought spurred Corrina on. She called McCrae and let him know she was in position.
“Please, think about this,” he said. “If he wants you to go alone, he’s not planning on giving himself up. Wait for me to get there. I’m about twenty minutes out,”
“If I wait, Jess could die. I can’t let that happen.”
“If you don’t wait, you could die. He’s expecting you, Corrina. You think he’s gonna let you walk up to the house armed to the teeth?”
It was a valid point, one she’d overlooked. She’d been so focused on rescuing Jess that she hadn’t properly considered her own strategy. She knew she had the element of surprise, but the longer she dawdled, the more likely it was that Benning would be on the lookout for her.
She had to act fast.
“Sorry, McCrae, but I have to do this. I’ll keep the phone on but I’m muting you now.”
Corrina swiped her phone screen and set the speaker volume to zero, then put it in her pocket.
He’s expecting you.
McCrae’s words rang in her ears, and Corrina knew that if she went in with the shotgun, Benning would disarm her somehow. Maybe he’d have a gun to Jess’s head and force her to relinquish her weapon. In that case, she’d need a backup. She had her Glock, but he’d insist she hand that over, too. She never carried a backup piece. Some agents did, and a few cops, too, but she’d never needed one.
Until now.
Maybe McCrae was right. Maybe she should wait for him. At least she could get his weapon and secrete it on her body somewhere.
She took her phone out to tell him about her change of plan, but something stopped her.
A sound so faint she barely heard it. Corrina strained her ears, holding her breath as she tried to catch the noise again…
There!
She wasn’t imagining it. The sound was real, and it was coming from the direction of the house. A woman’s scream.
Corrina knew she had to move in now. If she waited any longer, there was no telling what Benning might do to Jess.
She crept closer to the house, the shotgun at her shoulder. A blanket of yellow and russet leaves covered the ground, rustling with her every step. The noise came from the house again, a little more pronounced this time, but not loud enough to be heard from the road.
Corrina quickened her pace, crouching as she ran to the storm doors at the rear of the property.
She was five yards away when the next excruciating cry reached her ears.
She was four yards away when she found agony of her own.
* * *
Benning wiped the blood from the blade and replaced it on the table.
“Smarts, doesn’t it?” He inspected the cuts he’d made in Jess’s belly. Three arced lines around her belly button that met to form a crude letter. “C for cancer. Your father’s gift to my mother, and now my gift to you.”
Jess’s make-up had smeared. What little she wore, anyway. Her mascara ran down her cheeks, following the tracks of her tears. She’d had a little lipstick on, too, but that had washed away with the saliva and spittle from her screaming. She looked wretched.
Just what he wanted.
Seth pinched her cheeks and turned her face toward the camera. “Smile for Daddy.”
Jess squeezed her eyes shut, as if seeking solace in the darkness, but Seth knew there was none to be found. Darkness was where the pain lay. Every night he saw his mother’s torment, her grimace when the constant ache spiked. Perhaps now that he’d avenged her, the nightmares would stop.
“What next?” Seth asked himself aloud as he walked back to the table. He’d already taken her ears, but he’d save the tongue and eyes for later. “Fingers and toes, or should I wait until Corrina gets here for that?”
Jess’s face screwed up in anticipation, her tears almost constant now. “No,” she managed. “Please, no.”
“Beg all you want, but it’s going to happen whether you like it or not. Your father made my mother die slowly, in agony, and I’m going to do the same to you.”
He picked up the pinking shears and moved down to her feet. “Maybe one,” he said, and brought the blades together.
Jess howled and thrashed about as much as her restraints would allow, which wasn’t much.
“One down, nineteen to go. I’ll save the rest for later. Right now, it’s time to do the ironing.” Seth returned to the bench and switched on a steam iron. “It won’t be long. These things heat up real quick. Time to get rid of those wrinkles on your thighs.”
Seth spat on the hot plate and was rewarded with an angry sizzle. He played out the extension cord and held the iron next to Jess’s leg. “They say the heat—”
A buzzer sounded. Seth returned the iron to the bench and went to check a bank of CCTV screens in the corner of the basement. A smile spread over his face when he saw the view of the back yard. Corrina Stone, special agent, lying on the ground with one leg stuck in the man trap, its steel jaws clamped around her shin.
“Corrina, you’re early. Something tells me you weren’t being truthful on the phone. I’m gonna make you pay for that.”
He picked up a small metal box. It had a single red button in the middle, and an antenna sticking out of the top.
“Won’t be long,” he smiled at Jess, and bounded up the stairs into the kitchen.
He’d told her to come alone, but he didn’t trust her. That’s what the box was for. He reached the back door and opened it a crack.
“I’ve got a remote detonator in my hand with a dead man’s switch!” he shouted. “You shoot me, the whole place goes up.”
There was no reply. More importantly, no sniper bullet took his head off, so he opened the door fully and held up his left hand, the one with his thumb on the button. There was a shotgun near Corrina’s right arm, just out of reach, but she seemed more concerned with
the trap that had clearly broken her lower leg. He could see that her shin was at an unnatural angle to the rest of her leg. Seth slowly approached her and kicked her weapon away, then stooped and picked it up.
“Make no mistake, I’m ready to die,” he told her. “You scream, you shout for help, you make a sudden move, I drop this and we all go up. You, me and Jess.”
“Just get this fucking thing off me,” Corrina growled.
“You got into it, get yourself out of it.”
* * *
Corrina knew her leg was broken before she hit the ground. She’d never known anything so excruciating. To top it all, the shotgun had fallen from her grasp when the steel jaws clamped shut on her leg, and it remained tantalizingly out of reach.
Now Seth Benning was holding it.
“I know you’ve got a pistol, too,” he said. “Hand it over, nice and slow.”
Corrina knew she had no choice. If she tried to draw on him, he’d drop the box he was holding. If it really was wired to blow the house, she and Jess would die. If it wasn’t, it would give him two hands on the shotgun and he’d blow her brains all over the yard. Neither option was appealing.
She slowly removed the Glock from her shoulder holster with her finger and thumb and tossed it away.
She cursed herself for not listening to McCrae. She should have…
Corrina suddenly remembered the phone in her pocket. The call would hopefully still be connected. If it was, McCrae would be listening in. All she had to do was stall Benning for another fifteen minutes or so and he’d be there.
“You asked me to come alone and I did,” she said through gritted teeth. “Why set traps everywhere?”
“Not everywhere, just three. I knew you’d either come in the front, the back or the basement. Sheesh, for a cop, you’re not that smart.”
“I’m FBI, not a cop.”
“Whatever. Just hurry up and get yourself out of that thing.”
Corrina steeled herself. The pain had subsided to a constant ache due to the adrenaline coursing through her, but that wouldn’t last for long. Every tiny movement sent a jet of fresh pain through her body, even getting herself ready to pry open the trap. She got her fingers in position, the steel slick with her blood. After three deep breaths, she tugged the jaws apart. It moved an inch, then snapped back into position as her strength gave out and her fingers slipped off the metal. She cried out and fell on her back, her eyes screwed shut as fresh waves rushed through her.
“This is ridiculous.” Benning threw the shotgun aside and took hold of one side of the trap. “Grab the other side and pull on three.”
“Wait! I need a minute,” Corrina sobbed. It wasn’t hard to feign distress. She’d never felt so awful in her life. She was supposed to be the rescue party, and now she was one of the hostages.
Soon to be one of the victims.
She was determined not to let that happen, but her situation seemed hopeless. She was unarmed and had a mangled leg.
She could do nothing about her injury, but she could find something to defeat him. A sharp stick, perhaps a heavy object when he took her inside.
But that didn’t take into account the box he was holding. Even if she somehow managed to subdue him, she’d have to make sure he maintained pressure on the button, or else she’d end up killing them all.
Was that his plan all along? Was death his escape? He must know she’d have backup of some sort, either waiting nearby or en route. How exactly did he hope to resolve this?
His story was titled Fifteen Times a Killer, and so far, they had thirteen chapters. Which meant she and Jess would be the last two. This was his end game, but she needed to know what his final play was. If she could determine that he had plans for the future, it meant the detonator was a hoax.
She also needed to know why he’d chosen her.
“I’m number fifteen, aren’t I?”
“No,” he said. “Jess is. You’re fourteen.”
Corrina grimaced as another spasm of pain tore through her. “But why us?”
“I’ll tell you when we get inside. Now grab that side and get ready to pull.”
She’d used up another valuable minute, bringing McCrae at least a mile closer, but if she stalled any longer, he’d suspect she was up to something. She gently shifted her body to get a good angle on the trap, then grabbed her side. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“On three. One…two…three!”
Corrina leaned back as she pulled and felt the pressure on her broken leg ease. She was slowly moving it out of the way when her head exploded with stars. Benning had gripped her pants and yanked her leg clear of the trap.
“There,” he said. “Now get up.”
Corrina looked up at him. “You expect me to walk on this?”
“Walk, hop, it’s up to you. The alternative is I drag you by that leg. Make up your mind, quickly.”
Faced with little choice, Corrina rolled onto her stomach and brought her good leg up to a kneeling position, then pushed up with her arms and arched her back. As she did so, she spied the Glock nestling in the leaves a yard from her right hand. Benning was armed with nothing more than the detonator. Should she test his resolve, see if he really was willing to die?
“Don’t even think about it,” Benning said from behind her. She felt the muzzle of the shotgun against her ear, and all thoughts of reaching for the handgun were gone. He must have picked the weapon up while she wasn’t looking.
She pushed herself to a standing position, her face contorted. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
She heard Benning take a couple of steps back and she hopped around to face the house, each bounce sending another dagger through her. He had the gun trained on her and had moved out of reach in case she lunged for him, but that was the last thing on her mind. She needed to stay alive until McCrae got there.
Unable to keep her balance, Corrina crashed to the ground once more. A shockwave hit her, and she rolled onto her back. “I can’t do this.”
“Well, I suggest you find a way, because if you’re not in the house in two minutes, I’ll shoot you where you lie.”
Corrina believed him, and while the thought of a quick end to her misery was welcoming, it wasn’t just about her. Jess needed help, but more important, Connor needed his mother.
She got up on one knee again and dragged herself toward the rear door, cursing with each movement.
“I’d go around that one if I were you.”
Corrina saw a second trap protecting the back door. Putting her hand on that would probably take her arm off. She gave it a wide berth, and it took forever to cover the remaining few yards. Once she made it to the door, though, she had three steps to climb.
Before she could think about how to navigate them, Benning solved the problem for her. He grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up, kicking the door open as he dragged her inside the house. Corrina screamed at the punishment, but he was oblivious.
After taking a quick look outside, Benning closed the door and locked it, then took hold of Corrina’s jacket once more and hauled her toward the door to the basement.
“This is gonna hurt,” he warned her, and before Corrina could react, she found herself tumbling down the wooden stairs. She heard and felt another crack as she bounced from step to step, but before the pain could register, her head smacked against the concrete floor and her world turned black.
* * *
McCrae slammed on the brakes and screeched to a stop next to Corrina’s vehicle, then jumped out and ran into the undergrowth, knowing that every second counted.
He’d heard her screams, but no matter how much he shouted at the phone, she hadn’t answered. He did hear her speaking to someone moments later, but the words were barely audible. He suspected it was Benning. Because he hadn’t heard from Corrina since, it couldn’t have turned out well.
Spurred on by that thought, he sprinted through the trees until he spotted a roof a hundred yards ahead. He slowed, and moments later he was catchin
g his breath as he surveyed the rear of the wooden structure.
The bear trap near the basement doors drew his eye. If that was what had caused Corrina to scream, she would be in bad shape. SWAT was six minutes behind him, with paramedics also racing to the scene.
He couldn’t wait for them, despite warning Corrina to wait for backup.
Weapon drawn, he slipped through the trees and into the yard. As he approached the trap, he saw blood on the vicious teeth.
Fresh blood.
Corrina’s blood.
McCrae carefully skirted the metal contraption, his eyes on the windows of the house as he approached the door.
He was three yards from it when his foot came down on metal.
* * *
“Wakey, wakey!”
Corrina jumped as the water cascaded over her head. Her reaction sent a bolt of pain through her, reminding her instantly where she was.
“Come on, we haven’t got all day. I know you’ve got friends on the way. You’re not stupid enough to come here without telling anyone where you are.”
Corrina’s head spun. A dull, throbbing ache consumed her, but she couldn’t pinpoint the source. It felt like her entire body had been through a car crusher. She tried to move her arms, but they were fastened behind her. It felt like police-issue handcuffs, and they were wrapped around a sturdy metal pipe.
“If you know they’re coming, why not give yourself up now?”
“Because I’m not done yet,” Benning said.
“But after you kill us, what then?”
If she could figure out what he had planned, she hoped to be able to talk him out of it. There wasn’t much else she could do under the circumstances.
“I haven’t decided. Maybe I’ll blow my brains out, or I might just put my hands up and walk out of here. I’m sure to get lots of visitors in prison. Psychologists would be lining up to find out what makes me tick.” He walked over to the bench and picked up the box with the red button. “I would threaten to blow us all to pieces, but what the hell do I know about explosives? I made this from parts I found in a junk yard. Pretty neat, huh?” He pressed the button a few times, then tossed it back on the bench.
Corrina was pissed at herself for being taken in so easily. “Is that what this has all been about? Attention? Didn’t Mommy give you any?”
Fifteen Times a Killer Page 29