by Dale Mayer
“What’s that?”
“A redhead.”
They both stared at the woman and her bright orangey-red hair and her silken white skin.
Nico asked, “Remind you of anybody?”
“Yeah, especially over the passage of time,” he said.
“But we already knew this was our guy,” Nico stated.
“No,” Miles said. “We didn’t know that our guy was picking women from his own life. We were assuming that he was picking them and giving them to somebody else.”
“Right,” Nico said, frowning at that fine distinction. “So, did he hate her then? Is he picking up women that he wants to suffer and then selling them off?”
“That’s an interesting idea,” Miles said. “Hard to say though. But we can add that to our list of hypotheses.” He brought up his notes and quickly added in the girlfriend’s name while her death was added to the files. Then he said, “Oh, this is interesting.”
“You’re saying that a lot lately,” Nico said. “What do you have now?”
“She was beaten to death.”
“By our suspect?”
“Nobody was ever caught for it. He was locked up as a suspect at the time but released.”
“Then it could be where he started?”
“Maybe,” Miles said, “but I’m wondering how much we really don’t know about this case. It seems like every time we come up to one layer, more layers are underneath.”
“But other than that, what other reason could there be?”
Miles shook his head. “I don’t even want to hazard a guess.”
“I do,” Vanessa said from behind him. “Several in fact. He might have hated her because she had an affair, and he beat her to death. He might have loved her, and she spurned his advances, so he beat her to death. Or he had nothing to do with her death, and it was her death that spurred him to kill off more like her.”
“But why would anybody who loved her want to kill everybody else that was in her image?” Miles asked.
“It could be because they were in her image, and they shouldn’t be alive if she wasn’t. Maybe he saw them as pale copies,” she said as she stared at the photo in amazement. “That’s seriously a close likeness to me, isn’t it?”
“But you’re sure he said that another man was coming to check you out?”
She nodded, but her gaze didn’t leave the photo. “That’s what he said.”
“Any reason to believe he was lying?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “But is there any reason to believe him either? Like I said, maybe he’s doing this to punish her. Maybe for dying?” When the men stared at her in surprise, she shrugged. “Who knows what’s in the mind of somebody like this?”
“True enough.” Miles got up and pulled out a chair for her. “Get off that leg,” he scolded lightly.
She rolled her eyes at him. “Who knew you were such a nursemaid?”
At Nico’s chuckle, she turned to him and said, “I doubt you’d be any different.” But she sat down and surveyed the food. “This looks like guy food.”
“And I thought of you too,” Nico said, motioning toward the big Greek salad.
Her eyes lit up. “Okay, now you’re forgiven.” She served herself a large bowl of salad and took the smallest of the pies.
The men tucked into the rest of it.
“What do you mean by punish her?”
“Just because somebody dies doesn’t mean that the people left behind are ready to let them go,” she said. “I mean, obviously we are only making conjectures as to who and what he is, but there could be a lot of reasons. And maybe he hated her. Maybe his love turned to hate because his world shifted at that point. And maybe what had been all bright and sunny had turned dark and ugly after her death. And now he’s killing her over and over again.”
“Or making her suffer the way he suffered?” Miles added.
“That’s quite true,” she said. “But, until we have a chance to ask the psychopath, we won’t know.”
“And we’re assuming that he was serious about another man coming,” Nico said.
“Right,” Miles answered, “so we should find out who that man is, and there has to be some communication between them.”
“And how do we find him?” Nico asked, turning to Vanessa. “Did Ambrose give you any idea where the buyer was coming from or how far away he was traveling? Anything?”
She shook her head. “Not that I remember. There wasn’t anything in the apartments?”
“Not the one where he held you. That place was pretty cleared out by the time the police got inside. But I do have photos that were left on a table in the apartment across the hall, his temporary home away from home,” he said, bringing them up so she could see them.
She winced when she glanced down. As they went through several, she said, “That’s my house. That’s on the way to work. That’s just outside my apartment.” Then she shook her head. “I don’t see anything in these that indicates another man.”
“No,” Miles added. “I don’t either.”
“What about the airports?” she asked.
“Sure,” Nico said, “but you know how many men come through the country every day? And, of course, the buyer could have come on the ferry, or he could have had his own boat, and he could have been just on the mainland coming in from the outside of town.”
“Right, and he didn’t try to pretty you up or do anything like that?” Miles asked.
She shook her head. “No, I don’t think he was invested in how I looked, outside of the fact that I was the look.”
“Interesting,” Miles said yet again. “So he wasn’t worried about your value going up or down depending on how you looked.”
“No, I don’t think so,” she said as she took several bites of the Greek salad.
“Well, there will be a reason,” Nico said. “We just haven’t figured it out yet.”
“No, not yet,” she said.
Just then Miles got a phone call. He picked it up to find it was Ryker.
“We have a citizen contacting the police, saying that a man kidnapped a redhead right off the street.”
“A redhead?” He turned to look at Vanessa. “Where?”
“That’s why I’m calling. It’s literally between the two apartments, Vanessa’s home and where she was held captive. At that one corner. If you go out the front door to the left, it’s almost at the end of that corner.”
“Did the traffic cameras pick it up?”
“Yes, it’s him, although we aren’t getting a clear shot of his face, but unfortunately it looks like it’s Vanessa’s sister.”
“And where did he go with her?”
“He appears to have gotten into a vehicle. We have the license plate, and we’ve tracked it around the corner and another corner again.”
“Please tell me that you didn’t lose it?”
“We haven’t lost it, but it’s parked and sitting at a coffee shop behind the building.”
“How far away?”
“Not far.” He gave Miles the address for Ambrose’s third apartment.
“But he knows we know about his third apartment. He probably shot that detective inside his apartment himself.”
“So it’s a trap. I’m hoping that’s the case,” Ryker said. “You need to get over there fast.”
Immediately Miles hung up the phone, then stood and briefly explained to Vanessa what had happened. Hearing the eerie silence beside him, he turned.
She had a wide-eyed and horrified look on her face. “Was it Ruby?”
“We’re not sure, but it’s possible,” he said.
She looked over at Nico. “Please go with Miles and save my sister.”
Nico nodded. “The guard outside will stay with you.”
She stared at him. “I don’t want him to stay. If Ambrose has Ruby, let me come.”
“And what good will that do?” Miles asked, but he already knew the answer.
“He can take me again in exc
hange for my sister.”
“That’s not happening,” Miles said. “He won’t get to either of you.”
“Wrong,” she whispered sadly, shrinking in on herself with her arms wrapped tight around her knees and rocking back and forth. “He’s already got her.” He hated to leave, but he had to. He bent down and gave her a hard kiss. “Stay safe and stay inside, please.” And he turned and walked out with Nico.
As soon as Miles was outside, he told the guard to get inside and to not let anybody else in unless it was him or Nico. “And I don’t care if it’s the high commissioner. Nobody comes in, got it?”
The guard nodded. “Got it.”
And they took off toward the third known apartment. They went out the back way across the large green space where Ruby liked to sit and headed into the other building.
Chapter 12
Vanessa looked up at the guard with watery eyes and said, “Sorry you’re on babysitting duty again. I hope you don’t mind.”
“It’s all good,” he said comfortably. “Hey, look at that food.”
“If you missed lunch, feel free,” she said. “My appetite’s definitely gone.” Then she got up. “I gotta put on coffee. Will you have a cup?”
“Sure,” he said.
She walked over to the coffeemaker and put out another small pot. As she smiled at the guard, she said, “I really appreciate you looking after me.”
“Hey, it’s not a hardship,” he said. “It’s what I do.”
“Are you a guard all the time?”
He shook his head. “No, just most of the time.”
“Okay,” she said. “Well, those of us who need it appreciate it.” She sat down and forced herself to take a little bit more of the salad. But that’s about all she could do. She wasn’t even dressed yet. “While the coffee drips, I’ll get dressed, and then I’ll come back and eat some more.” With a smile, she disappeared into her room.
Then she quickly dressed and returned to the kitchen, but there was no sign of the guard. She froze and looked around the living room and then realized he had to be in the bathroom. As she headed toward the bathroom, it was empty. Under her breath, she whispered, “Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.” She hadn’t even gotten the guy’s name, had she? She racked her brain, thought he was called Sammy. “Sammy, where are you?”
But there was no answer. His plate was half empty, as if he’d stopped midbite. And she realized he’d probably been called to help Nico and Miles at the other apartment. She walked out onto the small balcony and stared across the green space. She was hoping she would see Sammy racing over there to help the other two men but saw nothing. He’d left her alone, so there had to be a damn good reason. As she headed to the front door though, she realized it wasn’t even locked.
Immediately she threw the bolts on and turned around with her back to the door, eyes closed and whispering, “Please, please, somebody come back.” But there was no answer to her soft call, and there was no sign of Sammy anywhere. It’s the only thing that made sense though. She hadn’t checked to see if maybe somebody from the hospital had gotten mad that he was here and maybe he’d been phoned and told to get back to work at the hospital. She quickly swiped the bolts and opened the door with a bright smile, expecting to see him standing there. But he wasn’t.
She groaned and stepped back inside, then shut the door and relocked it. With her back against the door, she slowly slid to the floor. “Now what the hell is going on?” She pulled out her phone and sent a message to Miles. I don’t know where you are, she typed, but the security guard disappeared.
She waited for an answer and realized there was none. And he had probably put his phone on Silent so as not to disturb whoever was hiding out at the other apartment. Caught between a rock and a hard place, she sat here motionless for a few minutes, sending a text to the local detective on this case, while hoping that her sister was safe. She didn’t know who to even call next, but, as long as she sat here and didn’t bring back any of the people who were helping her sister, that’s what was really important. She was safe. Somebody had to help Ruby.
As she sat here though, she thought she heard a sound outside. She got up and looked out the window to see a fight going on outside the main front entrance. She studied the men but didn’t recognize any of them, and none of them were Sammy. But she couldn’t take her eyes off of it. Finally it seemed like the disturbance calmed down, and the men went on their way. And, if nothing else, it had taken her mind off everything else for a few moments. Now though, she returned to worrying, her panic worse than ever.
She headed to her bedroom, chilled even though it was a warm day, and reached for a sweater that she had flung on the back of her chair. It almost always lived there. She was pretty good about putting away most of her clothes, but this sweater was the coziest one that was way too big and came down way too long. It was stretched and outsized and faded in color and full of little hairy bits all over, and she absolutely loved it. She refused to get rid of it at any time.
As she headed back toward the kitchen, intent on pouring herself a cup of coffee, she heard another sound. She immediately bolted toward the front window and then stopped and realized the sound had come from behind her, like a door closing. She headed back to the bedroom ever-so-slowly but found nothing there. But the closet doors were open. The front hall closet was closed though, and beside it was a big double-doored closet, where the washing machine and dryer were. Slowly she opened it. And nothing was there.
As she turned and walked away, a man called out, “Boo.” His arm snaked around her neck and tugged her up tight against a hard chest. She fought like crazy, but she could barely even breathe. And then a hard voice spoke in her ear and whispered, “Boo-hoo. You’re caught again. Now you’re mine.”
And before she lost consciousness in his chokehold, she realized her captor … was Sammy.
Miles and Nico were on either side of Ambrose’s third apartment door, and, so far, they hadn’t seen anybody. Just as they thought they heard a sound, Miles leaned forward and turned the knob and pushed it open. The two of them lunged into this apartment, one going high and one going low, and searched. The techs had finished working on this crime scene, but this apartment was empty. Miles and Nico quickly searched the front rooms and headed to the bedroom. They found Ruby tied up on the bed in the same way as her sister had been. He raced over and quickly cut the binds holding her, then rolled her over gently. “Ruby? Wake up.”
Her eyelids fluttered open. She stared up at him in surprise. And then she seemed to realize what had happened, and she bolted upright. “Go, go, go,” she said. “You have to go back.” He stared at her in shock. “I was a diversion,” she screamed. “Go back! My sister. They’re after my sister!”
Nico stared, but Miles was already in motion. His heart pounded fast against his ribs as he bolted back the way they’d come. It had never even occurred to him that it was a ruse to get him away from Vanessa. He knew he should have listened to his gut and not left her alone, but she’d insisted on them doing anything for her sister. But he had left Vanessa alone with Sammy. Damn it. There was a good chance that poor guard was dead too now.
As he turned around the corner, he saw Nico and Ruby racing behind him. He came bolting around the corner and headed up to the front door, taking the steps two at a time. Then he crashed through the double front doors. There was no sign of Sammy, but then he should have been inside her apartment anyway. He pushed Vanessa’s apartment door open, stepped inside and froze. An empty hollowness greeted him. And he knew—he knew inside—that whoever it was had already grabbed her. There was a note on the floor, just a piece of scrap paper, that floated down to lay on top of the carpet. He picked it up very carefully on one corner and read the note as Nico and Ruby came running inside.
Too late.
Miles could almost hear the silent laughter running through the apartment. He didn’t dare believe the note, but, as Nico and Ruby raced through the place, screaming and yelling for Vanes
sa, Miles knew that they were already too late. He stood outside onto the front steps, studying the traffic and the traffic lights and the traffic cams. “Maybe without Ross …” He had his phone and Ryker on the other end already. “It was a trick,” he snapped. “They took Vanessa.”
“Shit. We’re on the traffic cameras.”
“Nothing is happening out front.”
“He took her out back.”
Miles raced back inside her apartment. “Send me the feed,” he said. He opened up his laptop and grabbed the link off the chat, then brought up the feed as Vanessa was carried, seemingly unconscious, out the back door. But it was the man carrying her that made his heart freeze. “God damn it,” he said. “The man carrying her is Sammy, the guard.”
“What?” Nico came racing and took a look behind his shoulder. “Damn. How did he do that?”
“I don’t know if that’s the buyer who was after her or if that’s the man that we’re looking for,” Miles whispered under his breath. “Or whether they just got to Sammy somehow.” He was busy following feeds to see that they got into a vehicle, and the license plate had been removed, but it was enough that he could see the make and model of the car. And, with Nico checking, they realized Sammy had a vehicle just like that one registered to himself.
“So, he’s using his own vehicle. I’ll suggest that he was paid a hell of a lot of money to do this then.”
“We need to be on the road after her,” Miles said, picking up his gear. He tossed a look at Nico. “You drive. I’ll follow the feeds.” They were in their vehicle within thirty seconds, refusing to take Ruby, but had waited long enough for her to make calls to get picked up. When two officers snagged her up and promised to take her to the hospital, then Nico and Miles were already on the road and out after Vanessa. The traffic cams sent a thousand feeds all the time as they searched left, right, at every intersection, following Sammy’s car slowly through them all.
Finally the vehicle pulled into an underground parking lot. They were less than two minutes behind, and that’s when they lost track of him. Miles immediately ordered names and contact information from Ryker for every apartment in the building.
