Stillness ensued, except for the muffled music lightly reverberating throughout the old walls.
Her anger had mostly dissipated. She was about to return to the bar when she heard the sound of a door creaking. The distinct sound resonated from the far end of the hallway that led into a storage area. She cautiously walked through the entryway of hanging glass beads that had once been stylish from a time long ago, but now forgotten.
A slightly open door leading to the alley tapped the frame in rhythm with the evening breeze. Streetlights flickered through the narrow opening.
“Hey.” A voice whispered next to her.
She was startled by the sound of Jordan’s voice so close to her ear and couldn’t believe that she didn’t hear him approach.
Jordan looked like a ghostly apparition with his light hair reflecting the dim lighting.
Emily motioned to him to the door leading outside.
He nodded.
The storage room smelled of moldy boxes and stale beer kegs. A gust of wind grabbed the door and swung it open with a loud crack against the building.
The outside air was a welcomed reprieve.
Jordan followed Emily to the alley. Stacked liquor boxes tied securely were the only things that greeted them. Down on the far end of the walkthrough were large garbage dumpsters. However, once out of the building, the pungent smell of refuse filled the air.
No one was in sight.
Where did the two men go?
Emily instinctively thought of her small Beretta tucked into her ankle holster. She walked to the end of the alley, not sure what she was looking for, but being thorough nonetheless.
“Em, no one’s here. C’mon let’s get out of here.” Jordan stated simply without sarcasm, but with a slight hint of urgency in his voice.
Emily knew he was right, but something was wrong. The energy in the air felt static and foreboding. As they walked back to the outside door, the man and woman from the bar pushed their way out.
The tall man barked in her face, “Who are you?”
Jordan stepped up next to Emily and took her hand playfully. “We were just looking for somewhere a little more private, if you know what I mean.”
“I saw you two in the bar. You look like cops.” The woman pushed Jordan back. Her face hardened.
“Hey man, you don’t have to be like that.” Jordan said.
“Why were you two watching us?” She demanded. Her eyes darted from Emily to Jordan. Her gaze narrowed.
“We weren’t watching anyone but each other.” Jordan explained.
“Bullshit.” The woman seethed.
Emily tried to move inside the building.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” The man asked, but clearly didn’t care about the answer.
“Can’t a girl use the restroom?” Emily tried to sound casual.
“Nice try sweetheart.” He pulled a gun out of his jacket and aimed it directly at Emily’s face. It forced her to retrace her steps into the alley.
The man’s partner roughly pushed Jordan up against the wall, catching him off guard. She drew her weapon and pressed it against his back.
“This isn’t good…” Jordan grimaced.
* * * * *
Consecutive photographs snapped as the man and woman emerged from the car in front of the motel. The lens zoomed in close to identify the man’s face as several more frames advanced.
Jonathan DeBeers stumbled toward his motel room with a skinny brown-haired woman in tow. Both laughed and giggled in between squeezing and caressing each other. The woman had on a mini-skirt too short for anything but sex.
Rick sat in the SUV and watched the couple. During the entire display, he thought that this guy wasn’t a mastermind in fire setting techniques.
How could Emily be so far off with her profile?
He knew the answer.
She was pissed off at him and it clouded her judgment. He couldn’t blame her. If the roles were reversed, he would probably react the same way.
What was he thinking?
He wasn’t.
Now he would have to wait until everything blew over. They had been through too much to let one misstep overshadow everything they had together. All the completed cases, cryptic clues, and near death experiences with serial killers brought them closer together. They could work though anything. It would take time.
DeBeers went inside the motel room. Rick watched the light turn on and shadows pass by the window. After a few minutes, it went dark.
CHAPTER FORTY- NINE
Sunday 2000 Hours
The barrel of the gun kept Emily’s focus, but she noticed the safety engaged. It allowed her an extra few seconds to formulate a plan – not a full-proof plan, but just enough time to get the upper hand. It would only work if Jordan did his part.
She scanned to her right. Jordan’s face pressed up against the building distorted his usual chiseled looks, but his piercing eyes caught hers directly. He actually winked at her with the usual light humor behind it. If his eyes could talk, they would say ‘go for it, I am right behind you’.
Emily’s body tensed. Every twitched muscle sent the skin sensations to a magnified level, until it caught up with her racing thoughts. Whoever this couple was, it did not matter. Their next stop was jail, if Emily had anything to do with it.
She waited for the right second. Patience was not only a virtue, but also a pillar for life and death.
“Who are you?” The man demanded as he pushed his sour face closer to Emily. His teeth clenched, jawline muscles tightened.
The gun wavered slightly to the left and the barrel dipped forward.
A battle cry escaped Jordan as he cracked the back of his head into the face of the unknown woman. He scuffled with her as they both fought for the gun.
Emily seized her moment.
She took one-step back with her left foot, raised her right foot, and thrust forward in a stomp kick motion. A direct contact impacted the man’s stomach. He catapulted backward with a startled expression, eyes wide, with a slacked mouth. He managed to utter only expelled air, followed closely with a weak groan.
Emily doubled up her attack with another kick to the face.
The offensive move had propelled the man even farther backward onto the bottles. The gun flew from his grasp and clattered across the ground.
Glass and liquor spewed everywhere.
Emily picked up the gun and spun around. She yelled at the woman, “Put the gun down now!”
The woman still had a look of shock imprinted on her face from the orchestrated attack, as blood flowed freely from her nose.
Gin and vodka perfumed the air.
“I have no problem splattering your brains all over the wall!” Emily never took her eyes from the woman. “You don’t want to test me.”
Emily stood her ground and was prepared to do whatever it took under the circumstances.
“Uh…” Was the only word uttered from the feminine half of the crime duo.
Her gun dropped to the ground.
Emily kicked the gun to Jordan. She didn’t know what angered her more, being taken by surprise, or the fact that the couple was on some kind of crime spree.
Jordan composed himself, straightened his shirt and jacket. “Thanks…” He picked up the gun.
With one quick motion, Emily flipped two heavy-duty zip ties from her pocket, still aiming the firearm at the couple. To Jordan, she said, “Secure them.”
“Aye-aye captain.” Jordan swiftly moved inside the storage area and pushed the man over to one side, slipping the ties over his wrists. With a quick tug, he was secured but still moaning.
To the woman, Emily ordered. “Turn around and face the wall.”
Not questioning the instructions, the woman turned and Jordan slipped the ties over her wrists and secured them.
A small packet dropped from the woman’s pocket.
“What do we have here?” Jordan said as she stooped over and picked up a bag of drugs. �
��Don’t you know that this stuff is illegal?”
“Screw you…” The woman spat out in disgust.
Emily watched, contemplating the next move.
A police siren shrieked and headed in their direction. Obviously, someone at the bar heard the commotion and called the cops.
“Let’s go…” Emily instructed.
Jordan stuffed the drugs into the woman’s pocket. He directed the woman and man into a caged section in the corner, which was a secure inventory area designed to keep high priced booze safe and employees honest. It sat empty.
“Who are you? You’re not cops.” The woman insisted, her eyes narrowed and filled with hatred.
Jordan shut door, affixed the lock, and kicked the side of the cage for good measure. “Of course we’re not cops… duh…” He smirked and turned to Emily.
With her shirt, she wiped down both firearms. She wasn’t worried that the local cops would dust for prints and identify them, but she wasn’t taking any chances either.
Jordan double-checked the door of the cage.
“You’re not going to get away with this!” The woman screamed.
Jordan leaned toward the cage. “I think we just did.”
The sirens abruptly stopped in front of the bar.
Emily tossed the guns next to the doorway. “Let’s go…”
Pushing through the back entrance, Emily and Jordan hurried down the alley and around the corner.
The radio crackling with the usual police lingo echoed behind them.
Jordan mumbled, “How’d they get here so quickly?”
“We’ve got to lay low until the commotion dies down.” Emily scanned all the nearby structures.
Two buildings over was an abandoned restaurant that had seen better days. The front windows boarded up concealed the interior, but a side entrance had a simple wooden door that was easy for Jordan to jimmy open.
They slipped inside the empty restaurant, shutting the door quietly behind them.
The decayed stench of the old building, along with some remnants of moldy food, accosted them.
Emily stood motionless taking in her unfamiliar surroundings, making sure that they were indeed alone.
Movement from outside alerted both of them as two uniformed police officers jogged by, apparently looking for more suspects or checking out the perps story.
“What do you think, about a half an hour and then they’ll all be gone?” Jordan whispered.
“Unless they really want to write an in depth police report.” Emily smiled.
Jordan laughed. “Thanks again for saving my butt back there…”
“I’m used to it.”
“You are… quite amazing Ms. Stone.”
They stood next to the entrance in close quarters. Emily could smell Jordan’s soap on his skin from his morning shower. She watched him in the dim light; his eyes remained riveted to her. Taking a breath, Emily suddenly felt warm and slightly claustrophobic. She knew that Jordan had a crush on her, but it seemed more like a strong friendship bond to her, rather than sexual tension.
“You never know what you can do until you’re pushed to the limit.” She rambled, feeling uncomfortable.
“Humble as well as beautiful.” Jordan said with a serious tone.
Emily shifted her weight slightly and wasn’t sure what she felt at that exact moment. Even with the sarcasm and wisecracking, Jordan was handsome, intelligent and capable. He understood her point of view with crime and her undeniable passion to hunt down killers.
“I… I don’t know if that is entirely accurate.” Emily feebly replied.
Jordan moved closer to her.
Emily didn’t object or move away.
Jordan slipped his right hand around her back and pulled her close. He leaned in slowly and gently kissed her on the lips.
* * * * *
It had been twenty minutes after the sleazy couple had left the motel room. Rick still sat in the SUV determined to complete the stake out, or find something that would shed some new light on the cases.
As he waited for the suspect to return, he passed the time on his laptop. He stared at the computer file with all of the emails he had received concerning Leo Brown. He had read each one several times, but felt helpless. That man had almost killed Emily once and could still get to her at any time.
It angered him. It got under his skin and made him steam. He wanted to hunt down the killer and put a bullet in him. This person now had put a wedge in between them.
Rick looked up. He watched the motel room for any movement.
Nothing.
It was quiet and deserted. He knew that this wasn’t the arson killer, but like Emily, he wanted to make sure that nothing fell between the cracks of the investigation.
With a burst of energy, Rick opened the car door and stepped out. He watched the parking lot as he approached the room. He quickly searched for anyone that wasn’t supposed to be there.
Deserted.
The motel was rundown and the owner didn’t see fit to update the locks to keycards. The guests didn’t seem to care either. It made it easier for Rick as he fished out a motel master key from his pocket, courtesy of Jordan. If Rick was going to have to sit in a car outside and take notes on this suspect, he was going to make sure that this fire starter would pay for his criminal activity – one way or another.
Taking one last look around, Rick inserted the key and with a couple of quick twists opened the door. It took only seconds before Rick was inside the room. The smell of sweat and dirty linens made Rick’s stomach churn. The sheets strewn on the floor along with empty beer cans and one mostly empty bottle of flavored vodka, rounded out the appearance of a love shack.
Careful not to touch anything, Rick systematically searched for incriminating evidence. Nothing popped out at him, but he knew all the clever hiding places in a motel room. He looked inside the Bible in the nightstand drawer.
Nothing.
He didn’t want to touch anything on the bed so he took a clean looking t-shirt from the floor and made a makeshift glove before he pulled up the mattress.
No luck.
He took a quick look inside the closet, chest of drawers, and the bathroom.
Empty handed and frustrated, Rick stood in the middle of the room slowly scanning the small area. He kept coming back to the bed. Hesitantly, he dropped to his knees and looked under the bed.
The motel room door burst open and slammed shut. The outline of a tall man stood at the threshold.
CHAPTER FIFTY
Sunday 2310 Hours
Emily felt warm and safe as the dire circumstances dissolved from her perspective. Her body relaxed as she enjoyed the soft kiss from Jordan. It didn’t shock her that he took advantage of their moment alone after a stressful encounter. She was surprised that he was such a great kisser, gentle but firm and commanding.
For as wonderful as Emily felt physically, her heart and spirit belonged to Rick. She gently pushed Jordan away. “Jordan, I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression.” She realized how hollow that comment sounded after she had said it. Her sentiment seemed to resonate around the abandoned room. “I may have been giving you mixed signals.” The more she tried to explain her feelings to him, the worse it sounded.
Jordan released his hold from her waist. Gently, and then slowly his hands and arms returned to his sides before he gathered his wits about him. He didn’t say anything at first, but Emily could see the embarrassment and hurt behind his vivid blue eyes.
Jordan finally responded. “I’m sorry that I stepped out of line in our friendship. Some of these cases cause high emotional responses… and I guess… that I just got caught up in the moment.”
Emily felt awful because she respected him. Even with his annoying repartee, she was glad that their paths had crossed. “Jordan…” She gently touched his arm.
“No need for explanation.”
“Deep down, you know how I feel about you and nothing can ever change that.” She smiled.
“How do you feel?” Jordan kept his gaze even and for a moment unreadable.
It wasn’t the conversation that Emily wanted to discuss. Personal feelings and relationships take away from her strong focus. More lives were at stake. She had to keep alert and vigilante at every turn.
“I don’t think that this is the appropriate time Jordan.” She spoke softly and carefully. “You know that we have a special bond, but that’s as far as the relationship is going to go. I’m in love with Rick.” She paused for a moment. “But I’m not going anywhere, at least I don’t think so yet. I’ve always got your back.” She tried to let him down gently because she knew that he wanted more from her.
“Sure… I know that you’ve always got my back, and you know that I would be there any time for you.” He watched her forcing his voice to sound upbeat. There was still a sting of hurt in his demeanor with his shoulders slumped forward and his facial expression downturned. “I guess I was a little too late, just bad timing, but I’m okay with that.” He smiled.
The sound of a police radio neared the building, chirping in between quick broadcasting lingo.
Both Emily and Jordan froze.
“I think we should stay here a while longer until the cops clear out.” Emily looked around in the dark.
Jordan hesitated. He continued to stand at the previous location as if his feet were encased in cement.
Emily felt relieved to move away from the uncomfortable tension. Finding a bench, she didn’t bother to wipe away some of the filth from it before sitting down. The seating was actually more comfortable that it looked. She scanned the room to keep her mind off personal feelings, and to the pass some time before they could leave safely.
Heavy dust encrusted the entire wreckage of what once was a restaurant.
Jordan took up a seat on the other side of the bench.
They both sat in the darkness, each lost in their own thoughts.
Emily tried to change the subject. “I think it’s safe to say that McCain isn’t our arson guy. I just can’t get a solid read on this profile for some reason.” She looked down, clearly frustrated.
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