More Than a Lawman

by Anna J. Stewart

  “Move!” Officer Castillo pushed Eden out of the way, shoved the bottle across the table and plucked the laptop out of the growing, massive puddle. “Oh, that’s not good.” The smell of smoke permeated the room, making the officer’s eyes water.

  “I’ll get paper towels.” Eden scooped up her purse and darted for the door. She scurried the long way around to avoid Pearson in the nearly empty bull pen. She didn’t dare look behind her as she raced for the back exit.

  Reckless or not, she wasn’t leaving Cole out there on his own. He had always had her back. Now it was her turn to have his.

  * * *

  Cole pried open his eyes. His mouth felt dry, his throat raw. His head... Oh, man, he felt as if he had a ten-bottle hangover before the bottles had been smashed over his skull. The distant hum of a generator buzzed in his ears. He felt cold and shivered.

  Where the—

  He attempted to sit up, but he couldn’t move. Tucking his chin into his chest and straining up, he saw he’d been strapped down onto a gurney with leather restraints. He tried to pull free, but he only managed to rattle the steel railings trapping him. His breath escaped in bright white puffs. He arched his neck, shifted his torso as far as he could, only to realize he’d been hooked up to what he could only describe as a distillery. Blood was being pumped out of his body, through the tube in his arm, faster than he could have liked. A gurgling echoed in the otherwise silent room.

  Cole took a long, deep breath. The temperature bit into his skin. He’d been plunged into Eden’s nightmare. And like Eden...he wasn’t alone.

  An identical gurney on the opposite side of what looked like a freezer held the prone form of a familiar face.

  Jeff Cottswold.

  And his container of blood was almost full.

  Cole swore and arched again, biting back a scream as pain shot through his head. The door snapped open.

  Jenna, along with a male, sandy-haired version of herself, stepped inside.

  “Detective,” Jenna said. The friendly, innocent expression of the woman he’d met at the community center had faded behind cold, stark detachment. “I suppose you’re hoping for an explanation.”

  Cole shrugged. “Really couldn’t care less right now.” There wasn’t any need to explain bat-crap crazy, and Jenna’s pupils were definitely spinning in that detached-from-reality look.

  He glanced at Hector. “I know you.” He searched his memory. He’d seen this guy before. But where?

  “Might not recognize me without my tool kit.” The smile did it.

  “Glen.” The lab tech who took Eden’s blood in the hospital. He frowned. That made no sense. “Why were you there? Why take the risk?”

  “A test,” Jenna said. “When we heard Eden had been found alive, we needed to know how much she remembered. Hector’s worked off and on in that hospital for years. No one pays him any attention.” She smiled. “He’s invisible.”

  “And what if Eden had recognized you?”

  “He’d have blamed it on the drug, of course. But we didn’t have to.”

  “She never even blinked as far as I was concerned,” Hector said.

  “What’s with the IV?” Cole wished the pain in his head would subside. Maybe then he could think clearly enough to see a way out of this mess. Instead his concentrating on the pain was only making things worse. “It’s not like I’m your type.”

  Jenna buttoned her thick coat and shivered. “No, you’re not. But you and your team were getting just a little too close. We decided it was time for them to be focused on finding you, instead of us. We’ll let this go another couple of hours. By then, you’ll be too weak to do anything to save yourself and we’ll be out of the state.”

  “Don’t suppose you’d like to tell me where you’re headed?” He twisted his wrist one way and then the other, but the restraints weren’t budging. “You know, in case I surprise everyone and live.” Like Eden had. Eden.

  “Suffice it to say we’ve found a clinic that’s not nearly as restrictive when it comes to experimental treatments.” Jenna wandered over to Jeff and trailed a finger along the length of tubing.

  “Why did you take Eden?” His teeth began to chatter. The cold was sinking into him as quickly as the blood was draining from him.

  “She wouldn’t leave us alone. She wasn’t supposed to learn a lesson. She was supposed to die.”

  “Then why call me and tell me where to find her?” The band around his left wrist loosened a bit. When neither Jenna nor Hector responded, he craned his neck to look at them. “Finding her alive, along with the other bodies, reopened the case. You have to see that.”

  “The cold must be getting to him,” Hector muttered. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “Why on earth,” Jenna asked with amazement shining in her eyes, “would we have called the police?”

  “Because—” There was no because. It was the one thing in this case that had never made sense and now he knew why.

  He and Eden had it wrong. These two weren’t proud of their killings. They didn’t care what anyone else thought about what they were doing. This was all about getting what they wanted: their victims’ blood. Eden was an inconvenience. One they’d attempted to get rid of. “So you’re not show-offs.”

  “Do we look like we need a good ego stroking?” Jenna asked. “Eden St. Claire ruined a perfectly fine plan with her endless whining about the victims. They served a greater good. They helped to advance science. They died for a purpose.”

  “I’ll be sure to share that with their families,” Cole said with as much sarcasm as he could muster and thought of Agent Simmons’s sister. The agent might end up with closure, if Cole lived, but would an explanation be enough? It wouldn’t be for Cole. Now, as the horror of what these two people had inflicted on their victims was made clear, he began to understand Eden a little bit more. “Your mother would be so proud.”

  “Our mother understood the importance of sacrifice,” Hector blasted. “And so did Jenna eventually.”

  “So this wasn’t your idea, Jenna?” Cole glanced at her in time to see her flinch. “Weren’t in any rush to become a vampire?” He had to keep talking. Had to stay awake. Had to keep hoping Jack would come bursting through those doors at any minute.

  “I admit the idea took some getting used to.” Jenna looked lost in the past. “But I couldn’t deny that the program my mother started gave us the means to find what we needed. It was a sign, you see. From her. She’d provided the avenue to find the right donors. People no one would miss. But then they closed the church and we had to find another way.”

  And there Cole followed, around the last bend to insanity.

  “Then you really didn’t call the cops so the bodies would be found.” But someone had wanted Eden found. Alive. Someone with a vested interest in her future, someone who knew her every move, knew about Chloe and cotton-candy perfume and flowers...

  The return of Chloe’s killer hadn’t started with Simone and the violets.

  This had all started with the phone call that led him to Eden.

  Which meant Eden—and Simone and Allie—were still in danger.

  He pulled harder against the restraints. He had to get out of here. He had to get out of here in one piece; at least long enough to warn Eden.

  “Whatever you’re babbling about won’t matter much longer.” Jenna smiled. “You were so understanding, so compassionate.” She walked over and touched his arm. “Thank you for that.”

  “Why? Why all of this?” He needed to stall. To let the air in the freezer continue to drain free through the open door. “Why the freezer? Why the cold?”

  “We like as pure a donation as possible,” Hector answered. He checked Jeff’s line and gave his sister a nod. “The Propofol is enough to knock you out, but the cold temperatures keep
our donors sedated longer without tainting what we need.”

  It was like being lectured by Jekyll and Hyde.

  “But what about the reason behind it all? I don’t get it.” Cole twisted, trying to keep them both within view.

  “Is it so wrong to want to live?” Jenna asked.

  “It can’t be that simple.”

  “Why can’t it be?” Hector demanded. “We came into this world together. I wasn’t going to let her leave without me.”

  “I guess that would have been too much to ask.” Cole imagined the lives that would have been saved.

  “Didn’t you hear me? I said I wanted to live,” Jenna spit.

  “Your life isn’t worth any more than the lives of your victims,” Cole said. His mind spun again. His vision was going gray, as if he was losing consciousness. Quick—a flash of color. He saw a figure by the freezer’s open door. Of red-tinged blond hair and sparkling blue eyes. Eden.

  He closed his eyes. He was seeing things. “What gives you the right to decide who deserves to die?”

  “I’m alive,” Jenna said, as if it explained everything. “I should have died when I was a baby, I was so sick. But our mother prayed and prayed and I was saved. And we, or rather Hector, was given the knowledge he needed to keep me alive. I’m only the start, Detective Delaney. Once we prove this treatment works, it’ll help hundreds, thousands of other patients. And they’ll have us to thank for it. All those people won’t have died in vain.”

  “No offense, but I’d love to see the faces of the vics’ relatives when you share that theory with them.”

  “Yes, well, we don’t always get what we want,” Hector said. “Jenna, step back. I need to crank up this pump and put the good detective out of his misery. It’s time we moved on with our plans.”

  * * *

  The second Eden entered the broken-down church, she knew she’d found them. There was a charge in the air, an energy, something she could feel surrounding her. That and the fact she’d seen the bus parked out back, motor running.

  The various hoses and electrical wires that were connected to the bus led via the rear door of the building into the kitchen, which had been another tip-off.

  She held her phone out, record button on as she heard voices drifting through the echoing freezer. She’d made her way quietly around the counters, past the refrigerator and the ancient stove that looked to be housing a family of rats.

  The lights were dim, but bright enough for her to see. There were still no sirens. She’d been counting on Castillo and Pearson to raise the alarm sooner rather than later. The fact that she’d boosted a patrol car, with GPS, from the parking lot should have increased their response time. With everything going on, the station was operating with a skeleton crew. Still, now was as good a time as any to put her increased faith in Cole’s fellow officers to the test.

  “But I haven’t finished interrogating you yet.” The sound of Cole’s voice surged through her, warming her heart. She exhaled in relief. He was alive.

  Eden pulled her stun gun from her waistband as she tried to follow the conversation. She bent down outside the walk-in freezer and set her phone on the floor, microphone aimed toward the occupants.

  She peered around the metal door, waiting for Jenna and Hector to turn their backs to her. Eden, stun gun at the ready, waited for her chance.

  Out of the blue, she heard car doors slammed outside. Voices yelled. In the distance, sirens blared.

  Eden closed her eyes. Worst timing ever.

  “Go see who that is!” Jenna ordered her brother.

  Eden tensed, thumb on the button. The second she saw Hector’s foot cross the threshold, she stepped out and plunged the prongs into his stomach. The sound of lightning times a thousand crackled in the air.

  She counted to five before she dropped her arm, enjoying the smell of ozone as it mingled in the icy air. She shoved Hector hard and sent him sprawling backward into the freezer.

  He landed, twitching, at his sister’s feet.

  Jenna backed up as Eden moved in. All these months, all the people they’d killed, the terror they’d inflicted...but nothing sent the anger washing over her faster and stronger than seeing Cole—the man she loved—strapped down.

  “Eden—” Cole’s voice lacked its normal strength. “Be careful.”

  “You won’t hurt me.” In the blink of an eye, Jenna had shifted into some kind of pathetic poor-me character. “I’m sick.”

  “You got that right,” Eden replied.

  “Get me out of these things.” Cole rattled his restraints against the bars, a mix of fury and humiliation crossing his handsome face. She rushed to his side.

  “Careful. You’ll break your wrists,” she said as she unbuckled him and lowered the railing. She looked over her shoulder at a pathetic Jenna, who stood, silently, huddling into herself.

  “And here I thought you’d be needing my help.” Cole shook his head, obviously trying to clear his mind. “They pumped me full of that sedative.”

  “I know.” She touched his face. “Cole, I’m so sor—”

  He kissed her, hard and quick, holding on to the back of her neck with disturbingly weak fingers. Then he stared into her eyes. “I’m the one who’s sorry. Loving you means loving all of you. You wouldn’t be who you are if you hadn’t done what you did.”

  Eden grinned. “I should drug you more often. That sounded so nice.”

  “Eden! What the...?” Jack arrived first, followed closely by Lieutenant Santos and Pearson.

  “I’m thinking about getting my name changed to that.” Eden sighed and backed away from Cole to let the others in. “Eden, what the— has a kind of ring to it. Did Castillo catch on to my ruse, or did you track the car?” she asked.

  She locked her eyes on Jenna and amused herself by hitting the Taser’s on button every so often. Funny how she could make the woman twitch without even touching her.

  “Give me that.” Jack ripped the stun gun out of her hand. “Both. Honestly, Cole, if you don’t marry this woman we’re going to have to lock her up somewhere. She’s an absolute menace.” But he hugged Eden tight nonetheless.

  “Like the state can afford it,” Lieutenant Santos said. He pushed his officers aside to let the EMTs in.

  “You want to marry me?” Eden called out to Cole as she was dragged backward out of the freezer and engulfed in two pairs of arms. “Hey, where did you guys come from?”

  She would have known Simone and Allie’s embrace anywhere.

  “Where we always are,” Allie sob-laughed. “Right behind you.”

  “You owe me a case of wine,” Simone said. “For all the years you’ve scared off me this last week. And I want the expensive stuff.”

  “Yeah, whatever. Where’s Cole?” Eden craned her neck to peer around them.

  “Jeez, one minute they’re on, the next they’re off. It’s like a reality show with these two,” Allie joked.

  “Do you think he really would marry me?” Eden found herself falling into a dream she’d given up on decades ago.

  “Well, I sure don’t,” Simone said. “But why don’t you find out.” She pushed Eden toward the freezer, Eden’s onetime nightmare. Now a place that held the most promise.

  She looked on as Bowie and Pearson hefted Hector off the floor and cuffed him, hauling him out of sight.

  The EMTs bandaged Cole’s arm after disconnecting him from the Batsakis siphoning machine. Eden reached for Cole’s hand. “Is he okay?” she asked one of the paramedics.

  Jeff Cottswold’s stretcher was being carefully wheeled from the freezer, the monitor they’d hooked up for his vital signs beeping loudly. A good sign.

  “He’s got a possible concussion, various contusions and severe loss of blood,” one of the EMTs said. “And he’s definitely been drugged with so
mething. We’ll get him into Emergency.”

  “I’ll go with you.” Eden wouldn’t let go of Cole’s hand.

  “No.” Cole shook his head, the lack of color in his face more disturbing than she would ever admit. “No, you hate ambulances as much as you do emergency rooms.”

  “True.” Eden nodded, but she stepped closer and clutched his uninjured hand against her chest, took a deep breath and embraced the fear. Because Cole would be there to catch her. “But I love you.”

  Epilogue

  Two weeks later...

  “I can’t believe you quit your job, Eden.” Simone straightened the platter of turkey-and-Swiss pinwheel sandwiches for the fifth time in as many minutes, before moving on to rearrange the napkins and plastic forks. The Major Crimes squad room had been transformed into party central with balloons and streamers in an effort to celebrate Agent Simmons’s release from the hospital.

  “I can,” Allie piped in as she entered with a pink bakery box overflowing with doughnuts, a line of officers trailing behind her as if in a trance. “What choice did she have when the Sac PD offered her a consulting gig?”

  “It’s not official yet.” Eden didn’t want to get ahead of herself. The chief still had to sign off on it, but with Cole, Jack and their lieutenant joining forces to recommend she work with the group of detectives overseeing cold cases, it was a sure thing. The only caveat? The blog had to go. But she’d be given a new one, an official one, sanctioned by the police department.

  She thought it’d be harder to let her blog go, but when she thought about it, what she’d be able to do in return made the loss worth it. “If it happens, they’re going to give me rules.”

  “In writing,” Cole said as he strode in. “Preferably in triplicate. It’s all part of my evil plan to be able to use her brain at a moment’s notice.”

  “That’s why he’s marrying me,” Eden joked and rolled her eyes in mock contempt. “For my brain.”

  “So it’s marriage, is it?” Allie glanced over as the officers and detectives began flooding in to sign the oversize card for Agent Simmons.