Deadly Double
By
Adrianne Byrd
Chapter 1
“Kidnapping is a federal offense,” Dr. William Hayes muttered into the dark October night. From the stolen laundry van, he took a deep breath and wished like hell he had a cigarette. Maybe a jolt of nicotine would stop his hands from shaking.
A pair of headlights beamed in his rearview mirror. Frightened, William tensed as his breath hitched in anticipation of the Atlanta police. A moment later, he slumped against the headrest when a car traveled past him.
Keystone mental Institute loomed in his side view mirror. “I’ve lost it,” he mumbled, and then reached for the glove compartment. In the back of his mind, he held the crazy thought that a pack of Benson & Hedges would magically appear. Even that didn’t make sense; he’d stopped smoking years ago.
William removed his white cap and ran a shaky hand through his dark hair, then met his blue gaze on the rearview mirror. “You’re going to jail,” he told himself. The traffic light turned green, and he took a left out of the hospital’s parking lot.
The white uniform was a little too snug for his liking, and the glue from his fake beard itched like crazy, but right now he had to force both to the back of his mind.
His anxieties mounted as he caught every red light in a two-mile stretch. Fulton Country also seemed to be crawling with police cars. The pressure to obey the speed limit was intense.
A soft moan floated from the back of the van. Was she waking up? “Dear God, not now.” He instinctively glanced back, fearful of what he might see, but relaxed when nothing met his gaze.
A horn blared.
He jumped and eased off his brakes when he saw that the light had turned green. The car behind him moved into the left lane and flew past him.
“Another cop car.” He shook his head and had a devil of a time convincing himself that it wasn’t an omen.
Thirty minutes later, he pulled into the Oil Drop repair and drove to where the cars, vans, and trucks were either waiting for repair or pickup.
William parked next to another Machemehl Cleaners’ van, shut off the engine, and collapsed against the headrest. For a few minutes, all he could do was listen to his heart pound against his rib cage.
Another moan accompanied a rustle of movement, and William was instantly alert. The night was a long way from being over and, if he wanted it to end without the click of handcuffs, he needed to get on the ball.
He unhooked his seat belt and rushed to the back of the van. In a large roll-away tub of clean sheets, William stared down at the drugged woman he’d just snatch from Keystone.
Silvery moonlight streamed through the back square windows and gave the caramel beauty’s sickly pallor an angelic glow. Then again, maybe he still viewed her through the eyes of a lovesick twenty-one-year-old.
He brushed away a thick lock of black hair in order to study her heart-shaped face and smooth cheekbones. Sixteen years had done little to change her features...and her effect on him.
A barrage of tender emotions attacked his conscience, but he pushed them all aside and focused on the task at hand. He leaned over and checked her vitals.
Her faint but steady pulse comforted him and gave him the courage to continue as planned. Inches from the tub, William retrieved his leather duffle bag and quickly changed out of his white uniform and into loose jeans and a flannel shirt.
He glanced out the back windows and assured himself that the lot was empty before he opened the doors. When he did, a gush of cool air whipped inside. Another soft moan fell from his patient’s lips, and William prayed the night’s elements wouldn’t further damage her condition.
Jumping down from the van, he rushed over to his parked Lincoln Navigator, tossed his duffel bag into the front passenger seat, and opened the back door. He quickly returned to the van and extracted his patient from the tub.
Her deadweight was a challenge, but he summoned the strength to carry her to his vehicle. The backseat was already prepared with clean sheets and pillows, and he made quick work of getting her situated.
Another trip to the van, and he erased all evidence of his thievery, especially his masterful job of hot wiring. Who knew this rebellious teenage skill would come in handy again?
A few minutes later, he was on his way. The moaning increased in both duration and frequency and, again, William found himself worrying.
“We’re on our way.” He said. “Don’t worry. It won’t be long now.”
More moaning.
Small droplets of rain splattered the windshield and quickly turned into a heavy downpour.
“This is now an omen,” he recited with little conviction. He turned onto I-85 south and estimated that he would reach Pine Mountain in the next half hour; but ten minutes into the drive, he rolled to a stop behind a long, curving line of traffic.
The moans transformed into restless whimpers, then finally “Josephine” was whispered from her cracked voice.
William’s heart squeezed at the name. He turned in his seat to glance at the woman lying behind him.
She fidgeted while her head tossed restlessly among the pillows.
“Shh, now. Try and get some rest.”
She quieted down.
He eased back around in his seat and expelled a long, tired breath. There was no point in continuing to beat himself up about the night’s events. What was done was done. It was too late to turn back. He would have to stay the course.
Minutes later, his vehicle approached flashing blue-and-white lights. Dread seeped into his body as gloom and doom monopolized his thoughts at what looked like some kind of police checkpoint. His head slumped into the palm of his hand. “Lord, help me.”
Chapter 2
After eighteen hours, Dr. Meredith Bancroft decided to call it a night. Life as a workaholic had its drawbacks; then again, so did being married to one. It was nearing 2:00 a.m., and Meredith wouldn’t be surprised if she beat her husband home again.
A zombie, she headed toward one of the exits, carrying her briefcase, with her arms loaded down with patient charts. Hopefully, she would get a chance to review most of them while she worked at the institute’s sister location in Duluth.
Meredith had been at Keystone since the day they’d opened the doors thirty years earlier. Back then, it was a big deal for an African-American woman to make partner in such a large organization. It was the first of many milestone for her.
“Calling it a night, Dr. Bancroft?” a male voice boomed down the hall.
Meredith turned and spotted Theo Watts, a charismatic man who looked more like a football player than a male nurse, waving from the opposite end of the empty hall. “Yeah. You guys try not to work too hard.” She waved back.
“Nah. You know how we are on third shift. We’re about to give Alana her farewell cake. You’re not going to join us?”
“No. I’ve already said good-bye and gave my gift. Right now I just want to get home and crawl into bed before my pager starts buzzing.”
He laughed and gave another departing wave. “Then go and catch some Zs. I’m sure you’ll be back here before my shift is over.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re probably right. Night.” Turning, Meredith pushed through the doors of the institute and stepped out into the wet, velvet night. Cursing her luck for not having an umbrella, she bolted down the dark sidewalk like a fireman five minutes late for a fire.
“If I get home by two-thirty, I can squeeze in about five hours of sleep,” she muttered under her breath. Then she remembered that she needed to feed the cat, pay a few bills online, take a shower and God help her if her husband wanted to have sex. “Maybe four hours.”
Meredith reached the employee parking deck as her mind raced with more stuff she
either had to take care of before going to bed or before she made it back to work at eight in the morning.
The light rain picked up velocity, and she was completely drenched by the time she reached her black BMW. After fumbling for her keys, she pressed the unlock button from a key chain remote. Sliding behind the wheel, she dumped her briefcase and charts into the passenger seat.
“I thought that you would never get off.”
When the cold steel pressed against Meredith’s temple, she gasped as her gaze flew to the rearview mirror. The stranger’s face was obscured, but his presence was immeasurably terrifying. “What are you doing here?” Her hand trembled as she placed it over her heart. “What do you want?”
The intruder laughed, and Meredith’s skin became a blanket of goose bumps at its high cackle.
“I tell you what,” the intruder’s silky voice said with an eerie calm. “Why don’t you just hand me your security badge?”
Meredith swallowed. “I can’t do that.”
“Of course you can,” the stranger said, leaning forward. “Or I can just shoot you and simply take it.”
Meredith shivered, and her heart swelled with fear. “What is this all about?”
“You don’t need to concern yourself with that right now. Just hand over the badge.”
Think, Meredith. Think.
“How do I know you won’t kill me once I hand it over?”
“You don’t.”
Meredith swallow again and tried to make out her captor’s features in the rearview mirror. However, the night cloaked the figure as though they were one entity.
“I’m going to count to three,” the voice informed her. “One—”
“Okay, okay.” Meredith’s hand fluttered to her breast pocket and snatched off her ID, which also double as a security badge, and held it up. Immediately, it was snatched from her fingers.
“Now, that wasn’t so bad.”
Meredith swallowed and pretended she didn’t hear the added coldness to the stranger’s voice.
“Hand me your keys.”
“What?”
“Come on, come on. I don’t have all night.”
Trembling, Meredith quickly found her keys, but hesitated before handing them back.
“Don’t try me. I will shoot.”
Meredith handed over the keys.
The dark figure emitted another cold laugh.
“Good girl. Now, we’re going to get out of the car together. ¿Comprende?”
Drawing a deep breath, Meredith nodded. Since she was still breathing, she held more hope of actually surviving the night.
“Okay. On the count of three, we’re going to open our doors slowly. You do anything foolish, and you’re dead. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“All right. One...two...three.”
Meredith opened her door. A few minutes later, she was standing in the rain at the trunk of her car.
“Get in.”
She didn’t move. Instead, her eyes darted around in search of something ot someone to save her.
“My patience is wearing thin,” her mysterious captor droned in what seemed like a bored voice.
“I’m extremely claustrophobic.”
A silver of moonlight gleamed against the gun. “Well, how do you feel about being shot?”
Meredith gave the small trunk a quick survey before drawing a deep breath and climbing in. Carefully, she curled her five foot seven frame in order to fit before glancing up again. This time, the moonlight streamed across her captor’s face.
“Good-bye, Doctor.”
Two quick, muffled shots ended Meredith’s life.
The closer William drew to the swarm of blue-and-white lights, the sweatier his palms became and the harder his heart tried to wedge itself in the middle of his throat. As he approached the first police car, the caught sight of red-and-white lights, then orange and white.
“An accident,” he mumbled under his breath, then relaxed. Soon after, he felt guilty for having felt relieved when someone was probably hurt.
“Help me,” the woman’s soft voice said. “Please.”
“Shh, now,” he comforted, and gave a quick glance behind him. As he drove through the thicket of blinding lights, he swore his entire life passed before his eyes. Might as well. His actions that night were surely another form of suicide.
As his vehicle inched along the highway, William was finally able to make out an overturned car near the concrete median. A few feet from that, a white truck had its driver side smashed in, and the road was covered with shards of glass.
He made a quick prayer that no one was hurt; but seconds later; he saw a covered body being lifted into an ambulance. William’s gaze remained glued on the image until the paramedics closed the rear doors.
A loud bang directed his attention to the hood of SUV, and his gaze jumped to a police officer in a rain slicker.
“Keep it moving. Keep it moving,” the cop yelled, as he waved him through.
William rolled his eyes and eased off the brakes. He had just kidnapped a patient and he was rubbernecking an accident in front of the police. Great.
When he passed by a slew of officers attending the accident and directing traffic, he couldn’t escape the feeling that everyone was really watching him, wanting to see how far he was going to go with this. He glanced up through the rain at the ink black sky and sighed with relief when a helicopter and a bright spotlight didn’t appear.
After he passed the accident, traffic dissipated like magic, and twenty minutes later a large, painted sign welcomed them to Pine Mountain.
“We’re almost there,” he said over his shoulder. He didn’t expect a response, but realized his patient hadn’t made a sound since they were back at the accident. While wrestling with whether he should pull over to check on her, the faintest whisper reached his ears.
“Josephine.”
Another killer strode through the halls of Keystone Mental Institute. Hidden safely behind a doctor’s coat and a stolen ID badge, the imposter made it easily into the secured area of the hospital.
The killer’s steps slowed as laughter tumbled down the hallway. Instinctively, the intruder ducked into a nearby room.
“We’re sure going to muss you guys, too,” Alana responded.
A few seconds later, their voices grew faint, and the killer waited a little longer before stepping out of the room. With a renewed sense of urgency, he rushed down the hall in search of Michelle Andrews in room 1526.
More voices drifted down the hall.
Fifteen twenty.
“That had to be the best red-velvet cake I’ve ever tasted,” a woman praised off in the distance. 1522 1524.
His objected was to kill the girl and meet his partner downstairs in ten minutes.
His hand closed around the knob of room 1526 just as someone was emerging from around the corner.
The killer ducked inside the dark room with a large measure of relief and waited for the hall to fall quiet again.
Something was wrong. The silence.
Turning away from the door, the killer removed the gun from inside the lab coat.
The silence grew deafening.
Reaching out blindly, not daring to switch on a light, the killer sucked in a gasp of disbelief when his gloved hands discovered an empty bed. For the first time that night, fear seized him.
“Goddamn it, Josephine.”
Chapter 3
Turning onto a dark graveled road, William slowly maneuvered his Navigator up a rocky incline. Unable to see through the surrounding fog, he clicked off his high beams and caught sight of a deer as it dashed unto a thicket of trees.
The road was littered with deep potholes, and the patient’s muttering became clear sentences with each jostle of the backseat.
“Josephine. Stop calling me...Michelle. Somebody help.”
Her distress tugged at his heartstrings. “I’m doing all I can,” he promised.
Finally, they approached the end of t
he unpaved road where a two-story, blue-gray wooden house materialized as if by magic. In the dark, it looked like something tight out of a horror movie, but in actuality, William knew it to be filled with love and many happy memories.
He rolled to a stop in front of the closed garage door and grabbed the remote from the visor. After jabbing the open button several times, he was mystified why the door refused to budge.
“Great,” he mumbled. Cutting off the engine, he climbed out of the vehicle.
At least the rain had diminished to a light drizzle, and he didn’t have to worry about his clothes sticking to his body. When he reached the garage, he struggled to open it manually, but remembered his brother, Larry, telling him that the partition had jammed sometime before his leaving for vacation, and he wasn’t going to call a repair service until his family retuned shortly before Christmas.
“Damn.”
William jumped at the clap of thunder but relaxed when lightening flashed and illuminated the house. When he turned back toward the SUV, the raindrops suddenly quickened, and the wind picked up speed.
“Just get her in the house,” he said, feeling a new wave of frustration seized him.
After rushing to the vehicle’s back door, he wrenched it open. If he hurried, he could get them both inside before they were soaked completely. He climbed in and positioned himself to lift her when what he saw stopped him in his tracks.
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