by Ivy Nelson
He smiled kindly at the woman. “That would be great. I doubt I’ll be much help with work, but I wouldn’t mind the company.”
Adara left to order some dinner and Bradley stood to pace. They had to find her.
Fifteen minutes later, his cell phone rang. He answered, praying to hear Darci’s voice on the line. Instead it was Michael. “It’s Kaden, he took her.”
“What? How did you find that out?”
“Security footage at the country club. I threatened to get the press out there if they didn’t let me look at it. She left with him around two this afternoon. Looked like two people leaving together but I could see the fear in her eyes. She might not have even recognized him. He grew a beard, put on some weight, but it was him. I stared at the son of a bitch’s picture for weeks trying to figure out how to convict him all those years ago.”
Rage was clear in Michael’s voice.
“How do we find her? Do you have enough to get the police involved? Where the fuck is Peter?”
“Probably. I’m calling my captain now. I just wanted you to hear from me first. Peter’s rental car is in the parking lot but he’s not here. I’m wondering if something happened to him too. I’m still scanning footage. Look man, I understand that she’s pissed at you, but I also know she loves you. So, I’m going to find her, and you two will work this out.”
“Thank you. I’m not leaving my office until you call me again.” Suddenly an idea occurred to him. “Can you get me a screen shot of Kaden taking Darci?”
“I could. The footage is digital. What do you want that for?”
“Just humor me.”
“Don’t try to be a hero, Bradley. Leave finding her to the police.”
“If he kidnapped her, he’s going to take her some place private, right?”
“Probably,” Michael answered hesitantly.
“I want to see if the senator knows where that might be. My guess is some family property that isn’t being used or something, but I need something to show the senator when I ask.”
Michael sighed. “You’re not confronting him. It’s a good idea though. Is the senator there?”
“Not right now, but I can have him here in fifteen minutes. He’s in the capitol.”
“Do that. I can be there in ten. I will be the one to question the senator. I mean it, Givens.”
“Fine. I’ll get him here.”
“This is preposterous.” The senator said twenty minutes later as Michael slid the picture in front of him.
“This picture proves nothing. You can’t even be sure it’s Kaden.”
“Senator, your nephew raped Darci eight years ago. We believe he’s been stalking her and that he’s killed three women,” Michael said.
Sean Atleigh’s face reddened, and he clenched his fists. “How dare you make such outlandish accusations,” he shouted.
“It’s not outlandish, Sir. The rape allegations are on file, and this picture proves he’s got Darci. I did a quick check, he’s working for a temp agency. What happened? Did the family cut him off after the accusations?” Michael leaned against the desk he was standing in front of and waited for the senator to respond.
“I don’t have to stand here and listen to this bull shit. Givens, I can’t believe you would draw me into this,” the senator said, turning his head to where Bradley was seated on the couch.
“Sorry, Sir. But the fact is, something has happened to Darci, and I’ll do whatever it takes to find her. I understand you want to protect yourself and your nephew, but her life could be in danger. If you could just give us some clue as to where he might be.” Bradley stood and moved toward the senator. “Your family has several properties in the area. Does he have access to any of them?”
“He’s not even supposed to be in D.C. Like I said, you don’t know that’s him.”
“So just give us a list of your properties and we’ll check them out. If it isn’t him, we won’t find anything. If you don’t want to cooperate fine, but you don’t get to yell at me when the media is hounding you about why you’re involved in a murder investigation. I know they’ll catch wind of the story when I go find a judge to sign a warrant at this hour.”
Michael kept his tone friendly, but Bradley could tell he was feeling anything but.
The senator’s shoulders sagged. Even a whiff of such a scandal would tank his campaign before it even got started. Bradley’s involvement was hurting him enough.
“Fine, but you’re not going to find anything. He rounded the desk and picked up a pad of paper and scribbled on it.” He tore the sheet of paper off with more force than necessary and shoved it at Michael.
“Thank you for your help, Sir.” Michael stepped out to make a phone call. Bradley stood silently in front of the senator for a moment.
“Son, you’re treading on dangerous ground right now. If you’re going to run my campaign, I need to be able to trust you to shield me from this sort of thing.”
Taking a deep breath, Bradley reached into his jacket and withdrew an envelope.
“Actually Sir, I won’t be running your campaign. I’m sorry but I’m resigning effective immediately.” He held the envelope out and for a moment Atleigh left him hanging.
“You don’t know what you’re doing, Brad. This will be the end of your career.”
“I highly doubt that, Sir. But even if it is, there are more important things in life than this career.”
“I’m disappointed in you.”
“I appreciate all of your support over the years, but it’s time for me to move on and pursue the things that are most important.”
Michael came back before the senator could respond.
“We’re sending police to both properties. It’s sticky because we’re crossing state lines, but if she’s at one of them we’re going to find her.”
“What do we do now?” Bradley asked.
“All we can do is wait. They won’t approach if he’s there. Thanks to surveillance we have his license plate number. If he’s got her, we’ll call in a tactical team to go in the safest way we can.”
“I want to be there.”
“I can’t let you do that. I promise I’ll keep you informed. For now, we just wait.”
“I guess I’ll go clean out my office.”
Michael raised an eyebrow. “Adara’s gonna be pissed.”
For the first time since Michael had shown up, Bradley laughed.
The senator cleared his throat and Bradley turned to face him again.
“Sorry again, Senator. I’ll leave my keys when I’m done. If you want building security here while I pack my office, I’ll call them.”
“I still trust you son. I just don’t understand why you think you have to do this.”
“I don’t expect you to understand.” Without saying another word, Bradley turned and left the senator’s office.
He hadn’t expected to feel so at peace about this decision, but he did. He was doing the right thing. Michael sat at Adara’s desk when they got back to Bradley’s office. Bradley told her what he had done. As Michael predicted, she was pissed. But she also understood.
“If I could take you with me, I would, but I don’t quite have a plan yet,” he told her.
“I know, boss. But I think you know I can’t stay here either. I’ll probably give notice soon. I’ve got some money saved up.”
He shook his head. “Don’t leave because I’m not here. You’re good at your job.”
“I think you know I disagree with a lot of what the senator supports. But now isn’t the time to discuss this. You’ve got other things on your mind.”
Adara was right. They needed to focus on finding Darci. But they really couldn’t do anything until they got a phone call. He left Michael and Adara at her desk and went to his own office to box things up.
Chapter Forty-Four
Kaden made Darci drive deep into Virginia to a secluded cabin. She tried to engage him in conversation, but he continued to point the gun at her and refused to
answer her questions.
She didn’t want to show him fear, but it was hard when she had the image of Elise in her head. That was something she had a lot of questions about. How had he gotten her into his apartment with no one seeing?
When they pulled into the driveway, he made her get out and he shoved her along the gravel driveway and up the stairs with the gun at her back.
“Kaden, why are you doing this?”
“Because you fucking ruined my life,” he spat, finally answering one of her questions.
“How did I ruin your life? You’re the one who raped me, and you didn’t even get convicted.”
“Just shut up. Sit in that chair and don’t fucking move.”
Darci sat where he was pointing but kept talking.
“I don’t understand this, Kaden. If you’re going to kill me anyway, you might as well answer my questions.”
“Fine, you want to know how you ruined my life? After you and your little campus cop boyfriend filed a complaint against me, I got kicked off the softball team.”
Is he seriously murdering women because he got kicked off a team? What the fuck?
“Then,” he continued, “the university quietly convinced my family that the school wasn’t right for me, so my parents refused to pay for anymore tuition. Uncle Sean pulled some strings to get me transferred to a different school across the country.”
“That doesn’t sound like a ruined life.”
“Well no, but some stupid cunt at the new school heard about your little story and made up one of her own. I guess politics are more important than family, because they cut me off and refused to help me. I got away from her lies too, but I had to make my own way. My parents gave me some money and basically told me they wanted nothing else to do with me. It was almost impossible to find work, even now, I can barely get a temp agency to hire me.”
“Sounds like you deserved it. I didn’t make anything up and you know it, Kaden. You raped me.”
“Just shut up. You’re a whore and you know it. You tempt men with your kinky role play fantasies and then when they give you what you want you cry rape. Lying, fucking, whore.” He hissed the last words and Darci cringed.
He set down the backpack he had taken out of the truck. “I’ve been carrying this around with me for a few weeks now. I was beginning to think I would never get an opportunity to use it with all that security following you. Luckily my girl hates you as much as I do and was able to help me out.”
Fear bubbled in Darci’s stomach as he spoke. “Use what? Who’s your girl?” she whispered.
He pulled items out of the bag. Rope, a set of small knives, maybe scalpels. She couldn’t watch anymore, so she closed her eyes and tried to fight back the tears. She was going to die.
• • •
It felt like forever before Michael got a phone call, and Bradley was going crazy.
He packed his office up, turned in his keys, and waited. Finally, a call came in.
All he could hear was Michael’s side of the conversation.
“Jesus man. We’ve been worried sick. Where the fuck are you? Darci’s still missing but we know who has her.” It must be Peter. Bradley mouthed to Michael for him to put it on speaker.
“Some bitch came running up to my car screaming that she had lost her kid, so I jumped out to help her look. When we got behind a building, she busted me over the head. I woke up in the hospital. I’m pretty sure it was Tessa, or Theresa. Whatever the fuck her name is. I feel like an ass for not recognizing her. Find our girl damn it. I’ll be there as soon as the damn nurse comes back with discharge papers.”
Michael ended the call and the two men left the Hart building to head back to Michael’s place to wait for news. It came a half hour later.
“His truck has been spotted at a cabin. It’s secluded but we’re sending a team in. They’ll beat us there so come on you can ride with me,” Michael told Bradley when he got the update.
Five minutes later, they were in Michael’s SUV racing towards a cabin in Virginia. Bradley called Peter to update him while Michael drove.
When they got close to the cabin, they came across a tactical team setting up out of sight of the property. Michael pulled over, ordered Bradley to stay in the vehicle and hopped out to talk to the man in charge of the scene.
Bradley rolled the window down to listen.
“We sent one man in to scout the perimeter, detective. Your man is definitely in there with a woman matching your friend’s description. We’ll have to be careful going in. The plan right now is to surround the place with a few snipers before making contact to negotiate but there may not be time for that. He’s got her strapped to a chair in the main room and it looks like he’s planning harm for sure.”
Bradley felt sick. He knew he couldn’t rush in and rescue her. He had to just wait for them to do their jobs.
Michael spoke next. “Is there no way to just burst in and surprise him? He’s not a fan of confrontation and as long as we wait until he’s out of arms reach of Darci we could take him down.”
“It’s an option we’re considering. I’m waiting until my men are in place to make the call.”
Michael nodded but didn’t respond.
The cabin was located off a long gravel road. The team of men were making their way slowly through the woods on either side of the road to surround the cabin. It felt like it was taking forever. Bradley wanted them to run, but they had to be perfectly quiet, so they didn’t spook the lunatic inside the cabin.
He was angry with himself for not insisting that security keep watching her. He could have forced the issue, but he hadn’t wanted to be overbearing when she was upset with him. It didn’t seem like the right way to win her back. Now, he was just praying his mistake wouldn’t cost her life.
He couldn’t take it anymore, he had to get out of the car.
He opened the door and stepped out.
“Damn it, Bradley I told you to stay in the SUV,” Michael said in a tone just above a whisper.
“What’s going on?” he demanded.
“Nothing yet. We’re waiting for the men to get in position.”
The team leaders radio crackled, and a static laced voice said, “in position,” followed by a second voice repeating the same thing.
The leader spoke into his radio. “Do you have a visual on the suspect?”
“Team Alpha has a visual, but he’s too close to the hostage to take out safely. Looks like he’s got a knife.”
“Fuck.” Bradley swore and Michael sent him a glare.
“If you get a clean shot, you have permission to take it.” He received confirmation from both teams.
“Now we wait.” Bradley swallowed. It took all of his willpower not to race down the path to the house and bust down the door.
Chapter Forty-Five
Darci lost her battle not to cry, and the tears were flowing freely now.
Kaden was pacing back and forth in front of her. He had tied her to the chair but had yet to hurt her. She felt like that wasn’t going to last long.
Along with the scalpels he had laid out other scary looking tools and a hunting knife. He brandished that.
“I’ve been waiting for this for seven years,” he said as he stopped in front of her. He used the knife point to trace a line down her cheek.
“Don’t cry. I thought you liked it when men did mean things to you. Isn’t that why you write that disgusting blog and go to those parties with all the other whores?”
“That’s consensual and completely different,” she managed to get out through her tears.
The backhanded slap came from nowhere, landing forcefully on Darci’s cheek. Her head snapped back. She jerked her hand instinctively to cover her face, but the rope prevented her from doing so.
“Shut up. I’m going to do dirty things to you and you’re going to enjoy it. If I think you’re not enjoying it, I’m going to start cutting you.”
“Please don’t do this,” she begged.
The hand holding the knife flew towards her and a searing pain shot through her arm as the blade sliced across her shoulder.
“I said you better fucking enjoy it. If you want to die right now keep crying.”
He laid the knife on the table next to the chair and reached for the button on his jeans. “Let’s see how well you suck cock,” he sneered.
Darci shut her eyes, shaking her head as the pain grew worse, and blood flowed down her arm.
“No, no, no.” She was repeating it when the door flew open.
“What the...” Kaden began.
“Hands in the air!” shouted a man in tactical gear. He had a gun aimed at Kaden’s chest.
Kaden didn’t listen. Instead he lunged for the knife on the table.
The gunshot was the last thing Darci heard before her world plunged into darkness. She wasn’t sure how long she was out, but it couldn’t have been long.
Strong arms lifted her from the chair. They must have cut the rope off her.
“Bradley?” she whispered.
A low voice chuckled.
“I knew you were in love with him.” She opened one eye, and it was Michael’s face staring down at her.
“I’ve got you, sweetheart. Close your eyes. An ambulance is here and so are Bradley and Peter.”
“He was going to kill me,” she murmured.
“I would never let that happen. Hush now. You’ve lost a lot of blood.”
He carried her out of the house where lights were flashing. The world was getting blurry fast, and Michael placed her on a stretcher. She tried to fight the blackness, but it was swallowing her. Just before things went dark again, she saw Bradley standing over her.
• • •
The next time Darci opened her eyes, she was in a hospital room. Bradley was sitting next to her. “Bradley?” she said. It came out a hoarse whisper. Her throat was dry.
“Darci. You’re awake. Thank god.” He scooted his chair closer to her and picked up her hand.
“What are you doing here?”
“Where else would I be. I didn’t stop loving you just because you left.”
