Line of Duty (Fog Lake Suspense Book 4)

by Christy Barritt

  “And then?” Luke continued to pry.

  “I didn’t think I was going to make it, but I just kept running for as long as I could. But the more I ran, the more lost I became. I didn’t think I was going to get out of the woods alive.” She shuddered and glanced out the widow, drawing in a shaky breath.

  “How did you end up here?” Jaxon asked.

  “I managed to find a road. I kept walking along the edge of it, and I eventually reached the town.”

  “Is there anything you can tell us about the man who abducted you?” Luke asked.

  “No, I really couldn’t tell much about him.” She drew in another shaky breath and squeezed her eyes shut.

  A nurse bustled in and began checking her vitals. Maybe the lull in the conversation would be good, would give her time to collect herself.

  As soon as the nurse left, Luke quietly asked, “Could you identify him if you had to?”

  Marissa shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “If we showed you some pictures, could you tell us if any of the faces look familiar?” Luke asked.

  “I suppose.” She shrugged. “I could try at least.”

  Luke pulled out his phone and hit the screen. He then handed the device to Marissa, and she began to scroll through.

  She stopped on one photo. “This man. He looked like this man. Except, there was something different about him.”

  Luke took the phone from her, and he and Jaxon looked at it.

  Patrick Finnegan’s picture stared back at them.

  Had Patrick been behind this the whole time? How was that even possible if he had just flown into town the day before?

  “I need to put an APB out for him and call for some backup,” Luke muttered.

  He didn’t need to say any more. Jaxon knew they had a deranged killer running loose here in Fog Lake.

  Now this man had Abby in his grip. Anger—and worry—flared inside him at the thought.

  Abby tried to breathe, but air only entered her lungs in short, pathetic spurts. As much as she tried to control her panic, it didn’t matter. Nothing worked.

  The man slowly thudded down the stairs, remaining silent. The shadows concealed him, masking his features.

  But the fear he caused was all too real.

  There was something familiar about him, but Abby didn’t know what. His voice was . . . she’d heard it before somewhere. But it almost sounded like he tried to disguise it now. Just like he was still trying to conceal his identity by wearing that hat, that beard, that jacket.

  “I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.” He paused in front of her.

  “I don’t know why you want to punish me. I’m telling you, I didn’t do any of this on purpose.”

  “Sin doesn’t have to be purposeful.”

  Abby wasn’t sure about the truth in that statement. She only knew that this man was convinced his words were the truth. There was no way that she was going to change his mind. Her only hope was that she might be able to escape.

  She tugged her arms and her legs again, but it was no use. The ropes around her were too tight, too thick, too strong.

  “If you let me go, I won’t tell anybody.” Abby’s words were desperate. She wasn’t even sure if she meant them. But she was willing to try anything right now to get away, to avoid the torture that she knew was coming.

  There was nothing to stop him from carrying through with his threats. He would break each of her bones until she went as limp as a rag doll.

  “I’m trying to figure out where I want to start,” the man said.

  “By letting me go?”

  He chuckled. “I have to admit, you’re persistent. That’s probably how you get away with things so often.”

  “I’m telling you, I don’t try to get away with anything.” Fear clawed into her voice.

  “Most sinners don’t realize what they’re doing. It’s like boiling a crab. It happens so gradually that you don’t realize that eventually you’re going to be cooked.”

  “I still don’t know why you’re targeting me. Plenty of people sin. In fact, we all do.”

  “Somebody has got to be the example for all those other women out there.”

  “Why me? Why not Patrick? Why don’t you hold him responsible?” It wasn’t that Abby wanted this man to go after Patrick, just that she needed to buy herself time. Maybe if she did, Jaxon would find her.

  Please, Lord . . .

  Her breath caught at the thought of Jaxon. How could she have come to care about him so quickly, so deeply?

  When she thought about their kiss, everything in the world felt right. It was just for a moment, but a moment was enough. But she meant what she said when she told him that she didn’t deserve him.

  If she got out of this situation alive, Abby wanted to have a long talk with him. She wanted to work out all the issues that plagued her. If she did, maybe she would have a chance for happiness again.

  Maybe.

  The man reached behind her and touched her finger.

  Abby sucked in a deep breath.

  She waited. Anticipated the pain. Waited for him to fulfill his threat to break every one of her bones.

  Her heart pounded in her chest.

  Thump. Thump. Thump.

  The man gripped her fingertip. Tugged it. Toyed with her.

  A cry escaped from her lips.

  He seemed to like the sound. Even in the dark, she saw him smile.

  This man was sick. Really sick.

  “Now, let the fun begin,” he muttered.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Jaxon grabbed his phone and typed in a few things. A moment later, he showed the screen to Marissa. “Is this what the man looked like?”

  She took the phone from him and shrugged. “Maybe. It was hard to see his face, like I said. But there are some similarities.”

  “Who is it?” Luke asked.

  “This is Patrick’s father. Abby showed me a picture of him on the computer this morning. Said he seemed like a nice guy. He even called at one point about a month ago to express his condolences over everything that had happened because of his son.”

  Luke clucked his tongue. “I’m not sure what sense this is all making.”

  “I’m not sure how I could’ve seen this guy face-to-face and not put it together.” Jaxon’s jaw tightened as he remembered the encounter he’d had with the man at his house when Abby had first arrived—the man who’d been looking for his dog.

  The Executioner had walked right up to his doorstep, and Jaxon had been clueless.

  “Don’t beat yourself up over it,” Luke said.

  “He was right there, Luke. I didn’t even see it. He even had that mustache and beard. I didn’t recognize him.”

  “The important thing is that we find this guy now. In order to do that, we may need to find Patrick so we can figure out how he thinks.”

  “That’s going to be a challenge since we’ve been looking for him for the past twenty-four hours with no luck.”

  “Maybe our luck is about to change.” Luke glanced at his phone. “It looks like someone sighted Patrick.”

  As the light from the stairway hit the man’s face, Abby gasped. “Mr. Finnegan?”

  She blinked, certain that she was seeing things. This could not be Patrick’s father. Why would he be the one who was behind this?

  “You didn’t suspect it was me, huh?” he chuckled.

  “Why would I? You were nothing but kind to me when you called.”

  “I was trying to feel you out. I could tell you felt no remorse. That’s when I knew I had to do something.”

  “You don’t know me. You don’t know how I’ve been feeling. About how much sleep I’ve lost as I’ve been thinking this through. You have to believe me.”

  “My days of believing people are done. My first mistake was when I married my first wife, Hazel.

  Abby pulled in another trembling breath. She was just delaying the inevitable, yet the questions burned in her head.
“What happened with Hazel?”

  “She cheated on me. I caught her. I made sure the two of them paid.”

  Abby felt more air leave her lungs. “You killed her?”

  “It was a simple house fire that they both happened to get caught in. No one even suspected that I had done it. It was better that way. I couldn’t raise Patrick with a mom who would betray us like that.”

  “Couldn’t you have just gone through counseling or something? Don’t get me wrong, it was a terrible thing she did to you. But setting the house on fire?”

  “Hazel threatened my manhood with her actions. She was poised to ruin my reputation. Somebody else could have taken over the life that I’d worked so hard to build. I couldn’t let that happen, especially since I sacrificed everything for my wife. Look at the thanks I got.”

  Even though it was hard to see, Abby sensed his growing agitation. His actions seemed quicker, tighter. His breaths were shallow and fast.

  “What do you mean by sacrificing everything?” she asked.

  “I was set to go to college, but then she convinced me to marry her.”

  “Convinced you?”

  “She said she was pregnant.”

  “Do you think she said that just to get you to marry her?” Abby tried to put the pieces together.

  “I know she did. She was never pregnant. She just wanted to get away from her family, and I was an easy way to do that. I knew within six months of marrying her that I’d made a terrible mistake.”

  “I still don’t understand why this means you’re coming after me.”

  “Because women like you need to be stopped.”

  “But I tried to end things with your son. Why aren’t you trying to punish him?”

  “Because men are powerless in front of women. He was your puppet.”

  “That’s not true. He was the one calling most of the shots. At least, he was until the day I broke up with him.”

  The man’s hand flew across her face. “Silence! Enough talking. Now I need to carry through on my promise to break your bones one by one.”

  Pain throbbed in her cheek, and tears pushed themselves out.

  “I’m not Hazel,” Abby whispered.

  “You don’t have to be.”

  But as the Executioner reached for her hand again, suddenly the whole room shifted. What was going on?

  Chapter Forty

  Jaxon and Luke climbed into Luke’s SUV and rushed to the area where Patrick had been spotted. As they did, Luke made several phone calls, trying to trace Ron Finnegan’s financials and see if they could track him down that way.

  As Jaxon thought about it further, those cabins that had been closest to him had been empty. He should’ve seen this sooner. When that man came down the shoreline looking for his dog and then Jaxon had seen the closest cabins were unoccupied, he should’ve put the pieces together.

  He would have to kick himself later. Right now, he just had to concentrate on finding Abby.

  Luke ended the call and turned toward him. “You really care about her, don’t you?”

  Jaxon stared out the window, trying to make sense of his feelings. “I do. I know it probably seems too fast, but I do.”

  “Situations like this can accelerate things.”

  “You sound like you speak from experience.”

  “I never expected to meet Harper and feel the way I did, either.” Luke and Harper had met while tracking down a serial killer also. The last thing Luke had wanted was to fall in love with a journalist—but he had. And he’d fallen hard.

  “We’ve got to find her, Luke.” Jaxon’s voice waivered as he fought to control his anxiety.

  “I know. I’m sorry that I even took my eyes off her for a moment, but—”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore. We just need to find her.”

  They pulled up to the scene and saw another sheriff’s cruiser. The deputy stood beside someone—Patrick Finnegan. The man was bundled in what almost looked like a snowsuit. His face was red, probably from the cold. A small tent was set up in the distance.

  Patrick must have been staying there while he was in town.

  Luke and Jaxon rushed over to him, and Luke lit into him. “Where are they?”

  “Who are you talking about?” Patrick stared at them as if perplexed.

  “Where are Abby and your dad?” Luke demanded.

  “My dad? Why would you be asking about my dad?”

  “Because your dad grabbed Abby,” Luke growled.

  Patrick’s face paled. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would he do that?”

  “You tell us,” Jaxon said.

  Patrick ran a hand through his hair and shook his head before letting out a long, heavy sigh. “Oh man. How could I not have seen this?”

  “Seen what?” Luke said.

  “My dad has always carried a chip on his shoulder for women. He’s never spoken highly of them, especially not after my mom died in a housefire.”

  “What happened?”

  “It was electrical.” Patrick shifted, as if uncomfortable. “There was another man there with her. Not my dad.”

  Patrick’s face went even paler, almost as if he was for the first time exploring the possibility that it hadn’t been an accident.

  “Did your dad ever say anything to you about Abby?” Jaxon asked.

  “Nothing positive. He just grumbled about how he told me so. How I should’ve never fallen for that woman.”

  “Where might your dad be now?” Jaxon fisted his hands at his side and used every ounce of his self-control not to be more aggressive than he should.

  “I don’t know.” Patrick’s words came out fast, hurried—nearly frantic. “I have no idea. I didn’t even know he was here.”

  “Why are you here at the lake now?” Luke pushed.

  “Because I’ve always loved the water. My dad and I used to rent a houseboat every summer—”

  “A houseboat?” Luke asked.

  Jaxon and Luke exchanged a glance.

  “Yes, that’s right. A houseboat.” Patrick shrugged, the skin between his eyes knotting in confusion.

  Luke grabbed his radio. “We need to find Al. See if he’s renting any houseboats right now. Then we need to get a police boat out here to search these waters.”

  “Wait . . .” Patrick froze. “Do you think my dad rented a houseboat and grabbed Abby?”

  Luke said nothing.

  “You have to understand one thing,” Patrick said. “My dad has trouble seeing because of his cataracts. I really hope he didn’t go out on a boat, especially not with the wind and fog like it is now.”

  Jaxon and Luke glanced at each other again. They had no time to waste.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Abby felt the room rocking back and forth. As it did, Mr. Finnegan flew against the wall and muttered something beneath his breath.

  “What’s going on?” None of this made sense. Where were they, and why was everything moving?

  “We must’ve hit something,” Mr. Finnegan muttered.

  Hit something?

  A boat, she realized.

  Suddenly everything made sense. They were in a houseboat of some sort, on one of the lower levels. The windows had been blacked out somehow.

  As Abby continued to turn sideways, she realized this wasn’t good. The first trickle of water crept in through the ceiling. She pulled with her hands and feet, feeling trapped. Because she was trapped. She was helpless to escape.

  “You’ve got to let me loose,” she said. “Please.”

  Mr. Finnegan pushed himself to his feet and shook his head. “No, I can’t do that. This wasn’t the way I planned it, but it’s the way it’s going to have to be.”

  “Please! You can’t leave me down here to die.”

  He staggered toward the stairway, which was no longer upright. “Sometimes things have a way of working out for the best. You won’t be hurting anybody else anytime soon.”

  A deep cry escaped from Abby. She couldn’t die like
this. As more water rushed in, she pulled at her bonds again. It was no use. They were too tight, and there was no way she could grab anything to let herself loose.

  Or was there?

  As the boat tilted even more, items began to pummel the area around her. They fell from the tabletop drawers beside the couch that had once been in front of her.

  Another jolt, and the couch landed near her feet, barely missing her.

  Her breaths came even faster, as she realized she was in even more danger than she had anticipated.

  She glanced around, desperate to see the items that had fallen out. One object caught her eye as a sliver of light caused it to glimmer.

  Was that a . . . pocketknife?

  It appeared to be.

  Abby strained to reach it. If she could only grab it and manage to open the blade . . . maybe she could cut through the ropes.

  It was the only option she had right now. At least it was something. The possibility was better than no hope at all.

  Ten minutes later, Luke and Jaxon were on a police boat. The weather had turned frigid, especially out here on the water. As the wind swept over the lake, everything around them seemed to frost over. It wouldn’t surprise Jaxon if it snowed again a little later.

  Not only that, but the waves had also picked up. As the front of the boat collided with the moving water, everyone on board bounced, their bodies jarring uncomfortably. Jaxon didn’t care. Not now. All he could think about was finding Abby.

  He scanned the lake around them. He knew there were mountains at the perimeter, along with a few docks jutting out from the shoreline. But the fog had settled again. Nature wasn’t going to be their friend right now. In fact, their visibility was almost zero.

  “He couldn’t have gone but so far away from the shore,” Luke shouted over the motor.

  “My gut tells me we don’t have much time.”

  “Then we better kick this into high gear. But we’re going to need to watch for rocks.”