Conduit

by Angie Martin

  He looked at the box and laughed. “I know what you’re thinking, but we’re not taking much with us. Just a few boxes of clothing and some non-perishable food to get us started when we get there. I’ll take care of finishing the packing and loading the car. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

  “Where are we going?”

  David smiled. “It’s a surprise, but you’ll love it there.”

  Of course it was a surprise, Emily thought. He wouldn’t reveal a location to her on the off-chance she found a way to communicate that information to someone else.

  “I have our house all ready for us. The ranch sits on a hundred acres, so we won’t have to worry about neighbors. The kitchen is huge with lots of cooking space and cabinets. Our bedroom is much bigger than the one here, but overall it still has a quaint, cozy feel.”

  “I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but isn’t it a little soon for us to share a bedroom? I barely know you.”

  “I understand your apprehension. I keep forgetting that because you invited me into your mind, I know you already, but you haven’t had the same opportunity to get to know me.” He clapped his hands. “But I have a wonderful dinner planned for us tonight, which will give us some uninterrupted time together. I know you love wine, and I bought you both red and white because I don’t know which you prefer. After a few glasses, we’ll know each other so well that it won’t be too soon for anything.” He took several steps toward her and lifted his hand to her arm.

  Emily jerked her arm back when his fingertips grazed her skin. His jaw twitched and hardened. He stepped forward and closed the gap between them.

  Reminded of the monster that lurked so near to the surface, Emily attempted to diffuse him. “I’m sorry, David. I...I’m just nervous. Even though I’ve felt you in my mind, this is the first time I’ve been so close to you.” She raised her eyes to his. “I really want to get to know who you are and feel comfortable around you.”

  David’s tense shoulders dropped. “You will, Emily. It’s only lunchtime, so we have plenty of time to spend getting to know each other before we leave. That should put you at ease about sharing a room with me. Are you hungry?”

  The quick change in subject told Emily she had no choice but to follow his lead, not only in this matter, but in everything else to come. With the idea of sharing a room with David still looming in her mind, her stomach revolted at the thought of food. “I’m not hungry quite yet,” she said. “Maybe a glass of that wine would be good.”

  “You can have whatever you want.” He lifted the box from the table and set it in a corner of the kitchen on top of a few other boxes. “I don’t have any wine glasses, but I got some plastic ones for you. I know they’re far from romantic, but they will have to do until we get to our new house and get some glasses for you.”

  “I’m not above using plastic wine glasses.” She pulled out a chair from the table and sat down. He had thought of everything, even not allowing her to have a wine glass that she could break and use as a weapon against him.

  The cork on the wine bottle popped and Emily jumped. David looked in her direction. She regained her composure and smiled at him. Her eyes lowered to her hands, avoiding his stare so he couldn’t see the fear brewing in her soul. She had to start playing his game instead of being frightened by shadows and ordinary sounds.

  She didn’t know what she would do if he touched her again but from the look on his face when she moved away from him earlier, she couldn’t make that mistake. If she wronged him in the slightest manner, he would turn on her. At least she wouldn’t have to pretend too much longer. Jake should find her soon. He had to find her, before David took her out of Kansas and the darkness consumed the last of her.

  David placed a plastic goblet filled with red wine in front of her and sat down at the table. “I’m not much for wine. I prefer hard liquor myself.”

  “I didn’t used to like wine, but it grew on me over the years,” Emily said. She sampled a small sip. It tasted bitter and strange, but she didn’t want to offend him. “It’s very good,” she said. She lifted the glass to her lips and took several more drinks.

  “I’m glad it’s satisfactory,” he said. “If there’s a particular kind you like, let me know and I’ll get it for you next time.”

  “Maybe when we get to the new house, we can go shopping together and I can show you what I like.”

  David’s face soured. “Emily, don’t try to trick me.”

  “I wasn’t—”

  “Don’t deny it. You’re trying to make me comfortable and trusting so I’ll take you somewhere where you can try to get away. I expected this might happen at first, so let’s get some things straight now.”

  He reached across the table and grabbed her hand. His grip tightened with the growing anger in his eyes. Her hand twisted beneath his and she gritted her teeth.

  “There are rules, Emily, rules you are expected to follow at all times. I don’t want to hurt you, but I won’t tolerate you breaking the rules.”

  Emily shivered under the weight of his stare. The monster threatened to emerge from its hiding place just beneath the surface of his hard eyes and the darkness grew to an unmanageable size in her mind. His grip on her hand increased until she thought he might crush her bones in a single squeeze while the darkness spun in her mind, a cyclone of evil ready to destroy her.

  “I won’t break the rules, David,” she said. “Just tell me what they are and I’ll follow them, I promise.” She placed her other hand on top of his. “I want to make you happy.”

  He loosened his hold on her hand. “We can go over all of the rules when we get to the ranch. For now you need to know that if I leave the house, you’ll be fully restrained so you can’t try to leave. Your arms and legs will be restrained at night as well. The handcuffs won’t be very comfortable at first, but once you prove to me that you won’t do anything stupid, we can talk about letting you sleep without them.”

  Emily swallowed her fear and remained calm. “If that’s what you require of me, then I won’t fight you on it.”

  “That’s good, because you’ll do what I tell you at all times and without question,” he said. “Our trip to the new house will be much easier for you if you remember that.” The anger in his eyes softened. “I want our relationship to be mutual, and it will be, but I’m not blind to the fact that it will take some time for you to love me like I love you. Just don’t make me hurt you, Emily. I really don’t want to do that.”

  “I don’t want that either,” she said. She pulled her hand away from his and rubbed at the pain. The way he kept saying that he didn’t want to hurt her scared Emily as much as the evil behind his eyes. Hurting people came naturally to him, and she did not want to be his next victim. She wondered, however, if hurting her was an inevitable action, whether or not she broke his rules. He seemed to already blame her for anything he would have to do to her.

  Lionel’s words about how David had tortured his victims over several hours came back to her. It seemed like years had passed since they took on this case, but here she sat, in front of the same man who did those horrible things that were only words last week. Emily lifted her wine glass and drained the contents. She wanted the nightmare to end, and if it took a few glasses of wine to help her deal with it until Jake found her, so be it.

  David smiled at her. “Are you sure it’s wise to drink so fast considering you haven’t eaten anything today?”

  At his words, something shifted in her mind. Her face warmed and she lifted her hand to her flushed cheek. She turned her head, but the room seemed to move in the opposite direction.

  David’s smile widened. “Are you okay, Emily?” he asked.

  Emily planted her palms on the table to steady her trembling body. “I don’t know,” she said. “I feel kind of strange, but it feels...” She moistened her lips. The sensation of her tongue moving across her dry lips was greater than anything she had ever felt before, as if nerve endings she never knew existed suddenly came a
live. “It feels...”

  David rose from his seat, and she did the same. She tried to move out of the kitchen toward her bedroom to get into bed and rest, but her weak legs refused to take her there. She leaned against the wall next to the hallway.

  He walked over to her. “How does it feel?” he asked, more with curiosity than concern.

  “Did you give me something?” Though he didn’t respond, she remembered the aspirin she took earlier and how her headache still beat against the side of her head. “I didn’t take aspirin, did I?”

  “I was going to wait until dinner to give it to you, but after seeing you, I couldn’t wait any longer.”

  “What did you give me?” she asked. While upset at his deception, she had difficulties expressing her anger in her voice.

  He ran his fingers over her chin, and tilted her head toward him. He stroked her electrified skin with his fingertips, lulling her into a calm state.

  Even though his sensual touch comforted her, part of her mind still tried to fight him. Fear drove tears down her cheeks, but her body stirred with desire. “What did I take?” she asked.

  “Something to help you relax so you can enjoy our time together. Don’t cry,” he said. He cupped her face and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. “I don’t want you to be nervous or scared, and there’s no reason to be. I’ve waited far too long to be with you, Emily. I just couldn’t wait another second.” He lowered his head and touched his lips to hers.

  Emily accepted his kiss without hesitation. A small voice in her mind told her to push him away and try to escape, but she couldn’t seem to control the pleasure that came with his kiss. Her fingertips caressed his cheek, despite her disgust at her actions.

  His hands traveled across her back with light touches that woke up her body. Every touch, every second of his kiss drove through her nerves and into her core. Though she knew he used a drug to control her and make her more pliable, it didn’t help her struggle against him.

  David broke the kiss and walked around behind her. He swept her hair off her shoulder and ran his fingers from her jaw, down her neck, to her shoulder. His lips moved to her ear and he whispered, “Tell me you want me.” He lifted the strap of her dress and lowered it off her shoulder. His fingers teased the freckled skin on her shoulder, leaving behind a wake of goose bumps.

  She didn’t want him, her mind screamed. With every touch she died a little more inside, but the drug begged him to keep going. Even if she had the willpower to stop the drug from controlling her body, his rules required her to do everything he told her without question and she forced the words out. “I want you, David,” she said.

  “I knew you did.” His mouth found the side of her exposed neck and he took his time kissing down to her shoulder. The palm of his hand touched her neck, and he wrapped each finger around her skin until his hand covered her throat.

  The darkness enveloped her mind and almost comforted her. Giving into it, Emily leaned her head back on his shoulder and closed her eyes. His hands ran over the front of her dress and down to her stomach. He explored her body over the material of her dress, and she arched her back, pressing her torso into his hands.

  Even though her body responded to him, the little bit of sanity left undamaged by the drug wanted to know why his touch felt so good. “What did you give me?” she asked again.

  His breath warmed her ear again. “Ecstasy,” he said. “It feels good, doesn’t it? You’re enjoying this far more than I thought you would. The drug is only telling you what you already wanted and allowing you to experience this without fear. Before long, you won’t need anything to know you want to be with me.”

  She wanted to shout that she didn’t want him, she never wanted him, but the drug forced her body to respond. No longer sure of what was real, her face contorted and her thoughts twisted in her mind.

  David dropped his hands to the sides of her thighs and dug his fingers into her skin. “Let’s get you out of this dress,” he said. He tugged upward on the sundress and raised it toward her hips.

  Cool air kissed the newly exposed skin at the tops of her thighs, and Emily regained a bit of control. She whirled around and stepped back from him. She immediately recognized her mistake of pulling away and her body trembled with fear.

  Anger flashed in his eyes. He snatched her arm and dragged her toward him. “Maybe I didn’t give you enough of it,” he said.

  She squirmed under his grasp. “No, it’s not that,” she said. “I just don’t want to rush into anything. I...I want us to take our time, David. I want to get to know you first, and it really scares me that we’re moving too fast.”

  “We have nothing but time,” he said, “so we’ll rush into whatever I want. Remember the rules, Emily.”

  She faltered for a moment. The effects of the ecstasy surged through her mind, blending with the darkness.

  David pulled her body snug against his and the anger vanished from his face. He touched her cheek and stared into her eyes. “I remember the first time you let me into your mind. It was the most amazing sensation, and it’s only gotten better since then. Right now, I can feel your emotions. I can feel every part of you. I can almost read your thoughts.”

  She let go of all of her thoughts except those of David. She switched her thoughts of him to positive ones. If he was that deep in her mind, she couldn’t let a stray thought set off his anger. “I feel you in my mind all of the time,” she said. “There’s not a moment that I don’t feel you.”

  He smiled at her revelation. “See? We’re part of each other now and we always will be. Nothing can sever our connection. We are meant to be together.” He softened his voice. “There’s no reason for you to worry about rushing into something. I won’t hurt you. I only want to explore this amazing connection between us. We both want this, we both need this.”

  His hypnotic words floated through Emily’s hazy mind. There were no more ways to delay unless she wanted to suffer the same fate as the other women. She needed him to believe she wanted to be with him. She stood on the tips of her toes and instigated a kiss.

  “That’s more like it,” he said, in between kisses.

  Emily slammed her eyes shut. She let him, and the drug, take control of her again.

  Chapter Sixty-six

  After following the light for twenty minutes, Jake found the house where David had Emily in a rural area just outside of town. He stopped the Jeep in front of a rickety mailbox worn from time and weather. He climbed out of his Jeep and walked to the front of a long, dirt driveway. Jake’s eyes followed the gravel path to a white farmhouse in the middle of a tree cluster. The light brightened and he felt Emily’s presence for the first time since leaving Marta’s shop.

  The light Marta gave him as a cue to find Emily beamed from the house, confirming her location. The darkness in her mind eclipsed the light and Jake wondered what it meant for her safety. Much stronger than Emily, the same evil he sensed at Cassie’s home threatened to overcome her.

  Jake dialed Cassie’s number on his cell phone and she picked up on the second ring. “Did you find her?”

  “Yeah,” he said. He gave her the address listed on the side of the mailbox.

  “Okay, I’m calling Uncle Leo now.” She paused. “Jake, are you near the house?”

  “I’m at the end of the driveway, quite a ways from the house. He won’t be able to see me out here.”

  “Good,” she said. “Stay there and don’t go near the house. Wait for Uncle Leo and Shawn to come with backup and they will get her out of there. Don’t try anything yourself.”

  “They have to hurry.” He disconnected the call so Cassie could get the address to Lionel. He leaned against the back of his Jeep and stared towards the driveway. The light Marta had him follow dissipated like smoke from a blown-out match. He closed his eyes, but couldn’t sense Emily the way he normally did.

  Jake focused on what little bit of her he could find, and tried to bring the feeling of her back. Every time he found her, her p
resence immediately faded. He dug deeper into his mind and felt a flicker, a tickle, which he recognized as Emily.

  Stepping away from the Jeep, his feet inched down the driveway. The closer he got to the house, the more he picked up on Emily’s presence. Terror controlled her mind, and panic set into his heart. He could no longer wait for the cops to show up. His legs raced down the driveway, faster than he had ever run before.

  Chapter Sixty-seven

  Lionel walked behind Shawn through the alley, careful to plant his feet in Shawn’s exact footsteps. Though Bill’s crime scene unit had already scoured the alley for evidence, Lionel wanted to preserve the scene as much as possible in case they missed something.

  Evidence had not yet come back from the lab and ballistics, and they still waited on return calls from the jurisdictions in which Cassie said David killed other women. Instead of banging their heads against their desks at the station, Lionel decided they needed to take a look at the scene where Cassie had been shot. They were in the hospital with Cassie while Bill’s team searched the alley with Aurelio and Timmons, and though he had the upmost confidence in them, he still felt the need to do another search.

  Lionel’s eyes swung back and forth in a deliberate pattern, but he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Bill had already made a second trip back to collect Emily’s car keys from the trash bin, a piece of evidence they were unaware of until Cassie relayed the details of the exchange.

  They had also checked the alley for Sam, in case he witnessed anything, but his tarp and shopping cart were long gone. He most likely relocated to another part of the city where dead bodies didn’t land in his backyard. If the killer did not plead guilty and the case went to trial, they would perform large sweeps of the city to find Sam so he could testify. They also had his statement and session with the sketch artist on video just in case they were unable to locate him.

  When they reached the end of the alley, Shawn said, “There’s nothing else here.”