Laying Down the Law

by Delores Fossen

“Sarah,” Karina whispered. She hadn’t meant to say the woman’s name aloud, but Sarah had left only seconds before the lights went out. Whoever was behind this could have taken her. She could be in danger.

  “He’ll kill her if he gets his hands on her.” Willie Lee’s voice was filled with pain and fear for his wife. “Sarah and I are the ones he wants.”

  “Well, whoever he is, he’s not going to get us,” Cord insisted. “Karina, stay close and follow me. I need to get the guard’s gun. Willie Lee, stay here, and use this if you have to.”

  Since her eyes were finally adjusting to the darkness, she saw Cord handing off the IV pole to Willie Lee. That’s when she noticed that Willie Lee no longer had the IV needle in his arm.

  Cord pulled a fire extinguisher from the wall, and he unpinned his badge and handed it to her. “It’s not much, but if you have to, you could maybe stab someone with it.”

  A sickening thought, especially since she had stabbed a man in that diner. Karina prayed she wouldn’t have to do that again. Prayed also that they’d get out of this safely. Certainly by now someone knew something had gone wrong. The Moonlight Strangler couldn’t have bought off every single guard and doctor in the place.

  She hoped.

  Cord and she started moving. Karina did as he said and followed him, staying close while they inched farther and farther away from Willie Lee. Maybe the killer wouldn’t use this chance to go after him.

  A sound caused Cord and her to freeze. A footstep, maybe. And once again, it’d come from the direction of Dr. Kenney. If she wasn’t on the take, maybe she was trying to get to the guard, too. But then, who’d gotten to guard already?

  “Get down on the floor,” Cord said directly against her ear. “We’ll crawl the rest of the way.”

  Maybe because he thought it would be harder for someone to shoot them that way.

  With his badge still gripped in her hand, she went to her knees. Cord, too, and he didn’t waste even a second getting them moving again.

  The floor was tile. Hard and cold. And even though they were moving quickly, it seemed to take an eternity, but it was probably only a few seconds before they reached him. He was definitely on the floor.

  Not moving.

  But she could hear him breathing so he was alive. She also heard Cord when he cursed.

  “His gun’s gone. Someone took it.”

  No doubt the same person who was responsible for him being unconscious.

  Before she could ask Cord what they were going to do next, she heard the clicking sound again. The stun gun. Someone else groaned. But it wasn’t Dr. Kenney or the guard this time.

  It was Willie Lee.

  Oh, mercy.

  She looked behind her and saw him fall to the floor. Cord must have seen it, too, because he hauled her behind some of the machines and moved in front of her again.

  It took her a moment to see him, but there was a man near him. Someone dressed all in black, and he blended right into the shadows and the darkness.

  “Well, well,” he said. “We all meet again. Isn’t this special?”

  God. “That’s him,” Karina blurted out. “That’s the man who attacked me in the barn.”

  “The man who made the phone calls, too,” he proudly admitted. “And sent those texts from God. But I didn’t kill you in that barn, did I? No. Because that was just the appetizer. I wanted to finish the job here.”

  “Who are you?” she asked, her words mostly breath.

  “I’m the Moonlight Strangler, of course. And I’m here to settle an old score. A couple of new ones, too.”

  She shook her head. “That’s not the voice of any of our suspects.”

  The man laughed. “Confusing, huh? Well, I practiced using this voice for a long time, and I only use it for special occasions. Like now. Want to hear my real voice, Karina? How about you, Cord?”

  “Yeah,” Cord snapped. “I want to hear it. Just quit hiding behind that voice and tell me who you are.”

  He laughed again, stepping over Willie Lee, to move closer. And closer.

  Until Karina could see his face.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Rocky.

  Cord knew he shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, Rocky was a suspect, but that only added another knot in his gut. Because Rocky had been living right next to Karina for days before he’d attacked her.

  And now he was here, obviously ready to make another move.

  But what move, exactly, did he plan on making? Or rather trying to make. Because Cord had no intention of letting him get to Karina again. Willie Lee must have thought so, too, because even though he was practically immobile from the stun gun, he was struggling to try to move toward Rocky.

  His brother.

  Cord could see it now. The resemblance. Something to do with the set of the jaw. Too bad he hadn’t noticed it sooner. Maybe then he could have stopped him before it came down to this.

  Rocky was armed, a gun in his right hand. The stun gun in his left. And he wasn’t alone. Cord cursed again for not having checked out the room. Because a man stepped out from behind some of the machines in the back.

  A hired thug, no doubt.

  “I’m so sorry,” someone said. Dr. Kenney. “I had no choice but to help him. He has my sister. He’ll kill her if I don’t help.”

  Well, that explained how Rocky and his henchmen had gotten into the prison with weapons. Or maybe they’d stolen the guns once they were inside.

  “Quit your whining,” Rocky mocked. “Your sister’s fine. We’ve already released her. The effects of the drugs should wear off soon, and she’ll probably call the cops. And if you play nice and don’t make a scene, you’ll live to see her.”

  The doctor made a hoarse sob. “You’re not going to get any help,” she said, and Cord realized she was talking to him. “He has guards on the take, too, and no one will be coming in here to stop this.”

  Hell. That wasn’t what Cord wanted to hear. Of course, Rocky had had a month to set up all of this, and he’d almost certainly covered all the bases. Or at least thought he had. He was probably counting on the doctor to get him and his hired gun out of there when he was finished.

  Rocky’s plan almost certainly included another murder. His specialty. Since he’d been doing it quite well for decades.

  “Doc, you need to get down face-first on the floor, and choose a spot where we can see you,” Rocky instructed. “I can’t trust that you won’t do something to help them.”

  Judging from her glare, she would have tried to do just that. But the hired gun pointed his weapon at her until she did as Rocky had ordered. Dr. Kenney got on the floor.

  Cord kept himself in front of Karina while he stared at this snake. “What do you want?”

  Rocky made an isn’t-it-obvious? huff. He tipped his head to Willie Lee. “I want him to pay for what he did to me. Because of him, I was locked up in a hellhole mental hospital for two years. Abandoned by our father. And then shuffled into foster care only to end up with idiot parents.”

  “Parents who gave you the money to do what you’re doing now,” Cord said.

  Rocky shrugged. “There is that. Money allowed me some freedom, and they were happy to pay me off to get rid of me.”

  “The freedom to hire killers,” Karina snapped. “How could you do this? I trusted you.”

  “Well, Karina-girl,” he said, using the Moonlight Strangler’s voice, “your trust was misplaced. But if you hadn’t hired me, I would have found another way to get close to you. Once I learned you cared for Willie Lee that made you the perfect target. You still are. Because now Willie Lee will get to watch you die.”

  “Why?” Karina asked.

  Because she was pressed against his back, Cord could feel her trembling. Could also feel the fierce hold
she still had on his badge. It might come in handy since Rocky would almost certainly want to try to strangle her. That meant coming a lot closer. In a hand-to-hand battle, he could beat this idiot.

  But not if his henchmen shot Cord.

  That’s the reason Cord kept Karina behind the machines and hopefully out of the line of fire. Of course, there was nothing he could do about Willie Lee.

  His father.

  It wasn’t a good time for that to really sink in with Cord, especially since he might lose him before he even got a chance to work out his feelings for him.

  It was the same for Karina.

  Cord didn’t need another reason to get them all out of this alive, but it was part of this.

  “Why?” Karina repeated. Not a trembling whisper this time. It was a shout.

  “All righty, then.” Not the serial killer’s voice but it was syrupy sweet. “I’ll give each of you one question, just one, and then I get to play. I do like to take my time with that, and I don’t want any talking when I start. Screaming is fine, though.”

  Since the dirtbag had offered it and since Willie Lee couldn’t speak for himself, Karina asked the question they all wanted to know. “Did you plant Willie Lee’s DNA at that crime scene?”

  “No.” And it wasn’t hard to tell Rocky was irritated about that. “That was all DeWayne’s doing, and before I killed him, he said it was to get back at Willie Lee. Of course, he whined and begged a lot before he made that confession.”

  DeWayne was dead. Cord wanted to believe that was all talk, but he doubted it. The Moonlight Strangler wouldn’t have any trouble adding one more body to his list.

  “I don’t like people using me to get what they want,” Rocky added. “And that’s why DeWayne’s dead.”

  “And now you want me dead, too,” Cord added, “because I’m Willie Lee’s son.”

  Damn. The panic crawled through Cord. Addie. Rocky might send one of his thugs after her, too. He prayed his sister was still safe at the ranch.

  “You told Addie you wouldn’t hurt her,” Cord reminded him.

  “Oh, and I won’t. I’m not really interested in killing my own niece, especially after she managed to get away from me. And you, well, I left you in that bathroom because I didn’t want to kill you, either. Of course, that’s all water under the bridge now.” He glared at Cord. “You’ve gotten in the way, and you’ll pay for that.”

  Not if Cord could do something to stop it. But what? He still had the fire extinguisher, and he might be able to temporarily blind Rocky and the thug if they got close enough.

  Rocky looked at Willie Lee, who was still struggling to move, and he kicked Willie Lee in the ribs.

  “Don’t you hurt him!” Karina snapped, and she would have bolted toward Willie Lee if Cord hadn’t pushed her back.

  “Don’t make this easier for Rocky by going closer to him,” Cord whispered to her. “And if the thug starts shooting, get down on the floor.”

  If Rocky heard what Cord had said, it didn’t get his attention. He was still hovering over Willie Lee.

  “Guess you won’t get to ask your one question, big brother. So, let me try to guess what you would say if you could speak.” Rocky tapped his own chin with the gun. “You want to know how I plan to get away with this. That’s what good guys always ask the bad guys. Well, easy peasy. I got plenty of helpers, too, thanks to lots of money and some of the more malleable members of that murder club.”

  Rocky stopped, shifted his attention to Cord and glared at him. “But I have to say, I’m not happy about you killing so many of them. Good club members are hard to find.”

  “You got one of them, Scott Chaplin, killed by going back to that barn where you attacked me,” Karina snapped. “And you must have had another club member with you that day because there was another shooter.”

  “Now, now. You’ve already had your one question, Karina-girl, and Scott was just a necessary casualty. We went there to get those photos and such, but it was too late. The cops had already found them. Besides, Scott was a problem child. You see, he got hurt that night, and it was his blood the CSIs found near the barn. Couldn’t have him around after that. Killed the other club guy, too. Can’t remember his name, but I didn’t want anybody around who might have seen or heard something that day. They didn’t know who I really was.”

  Ironic. The whole time they’d had the real Moonlight Strangler in their midst and didn’t know it. And now, they’d died because of it.

  Rocky shifted his gaze to Cord. “You got a question for me?” He tossed the stun gun on the bed and pulled a switchblade from his pocket. “Make it fast. I’m getting antsy. I need to cut somebody.”

  Cord didn’t want to ask this piece of slime anything. What he wanted was a way out of this.

  And he saw it.

  Willie Lee lifted his hand just a fraction. Another inch or two, and he might be able to grab Rocky’s foot and distract him. Just enough for Cord to launch himself at Rocky and the thug.

  First, though, Cord had to give Willie Lee a few more seconds. He bought him that time with a question.

  “How does Harley fit into all of this?”

  Rocky pulled back his shoulder as if surprised by the question. “He doesn’t. My men chatted with him, and he spewed some nonsense about Willie Lee maybe keeping a journal he wanted to get. Something that had to do with a business they were in a long time ago. I wasn’t interested, so when Harley got away from my men, I didn’t bother sending them to get him.”

  That explained why there was blood in Harley’s place. And as for that old business, it was probably the money laundering. The statute of limitations had long run out on that, but Harley could have still wanted to get his hands on Willie Lee’s journal if there was something to incriminate him in it.

  That wouldn’t have set well with Harley’s wife and in-laws.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t ask about the other attack,” Rocky said. “The one that happened a month ago where I got you.” He smiled that sick smile at Cord.

  “Didn’t need to ask,” Cord retorted. “You drugged both Willie Lee and me, cut me and took us to that church. You let me believe Willie Lee had set it all up so I would shoot him.”

  “Such a clever boy for figuring it all out,” Rocky mocked.

  Just thinking about that hurt Cord. Hell. He’d shot Willie Lee because that’s exactly what Rocky had planned. In Rocky’s sick mind that was probably the justice he wanted.

  Willie Lee being killed by his own son.

  And that had nearly happened. Somehow, Cord would have to learn to live with that. But first, he had to stay alive and get Karina, Willie Lee and Dr. Kenney out of this.

  “Q and A is over,” Rocky announced, smiling. He flicked open the switchblade and started toward Karina.

  However, Rocky didn’t make it but a step when Willie Lee latched on to the man’s ankle. Willie Lee obviously didn’t have much strength yet, but it was just enough to throw Rocky off balance. Rocky made a feral sound of outrage.

  And that was Cord’s cue to get moving. He hurried toward them.

  But he didn’t get far.

  The thug took aim. And he pulled the trigger.

  * * *

  EVERYTHING HAPPENED SO FAST. One second Karina was standing behind Cord, and the next, he’d pushed her to the floor.

  Not a moment too soon, either.

  Because the gunman shot at them, and the bullet slammed into the concrete block wall where they’d just been standing. It wasn’t a blast like normal shots. More of a swishing sound, which meant he was using a silencer.

  Too bad.

  Because if it’d been a regular shot, then someone would have heard it, and while Rocky had said he bought off some of the guards, he couldn’t have bought off the whole prison.

  H
er heart was slamming against her chest now, and the sound of her pulse was thundering in her ears, but she had no trouble hearing Rocky’s command.

  “Kill them all,” he shouted to the gunman. “I’ll take care of my brother.”

  Oh, God. Rocky was going after Willie Lee. And Rocky had both a gun and a knife. Willie Lee was in no shape to defend himself, and she had to help him.

  But how?

  The thug was coming right at them, fast, and he maneuvered around the machines so that he could take direct aim at them.

  But instead, Cord took aim at him.

  Cord pulled the trigger on the fire extinguisher, the white cloud of chemicals going right in the guy’s face. He cursed and staggered back, but still managed to get off another shot.

  The shot hit the floor right next to Karina, the bullet tearing into the tile and sending bits of it flying right at her. Karina automatically scrambled away from it, but Cord didn’t. He lunged at the thug.

  Cord rammed the fire extinguisher into the man’s stomach as hard as he could. He rammed his body against him, too, and both Cord and the man crashed to the floor.

  Karina hurried toward them. Or rather that’s what she tried to do, but another shot came right at her. This one slammed into one of the machines. Metal hitting metal, and the bullet ricocheted, smacking into the wall.

  And this shot hadn’t come from the thug.

  Rocky had fired it at her. And he quickly took aim again.

  “Get down,” Cord shouted.

  Karina did, dropping down next to the machine Rocky’s bullet had just hit. She couldn’t see Rocky’s face now, but she could see Willie Lee. He was bleeding. A cut to his head from the looks of it, and he was still struggling to move.

  However, Rocky wasn’t struggling.

  He made another of those feral sounds and fired another shot. And he didn’t stop there. She saw his feet running straight toward her.

  God.

  There was no place for her to go, and Karina couldn’t help but flash back to the other attack in the barn. Rocky had nearly killed her then before she’d managed to get away. Or maybe he’d allowed her to get away. So that he could kill her now in front of Willie Lee. That other attack could have been some sick mind game.