Ultimate Fear (Book 2 Ultimate CORE) (CORE Series)

by Kristine Mason

  Chloe’s stomach tensed beneath her hand and her breathing changed. She looked up, just as the girl swung her cuffed wrists, catching her on the side of the face. Falling flat on her rear, her cheek stinging, she quickly scooted back as Chloe lunged at her with surprising force. Screaming, Chloe knocked the bucket by her bed, but the tether kept the girl from moving no more than a foot from the mattress.

  Although furious that she’d been struck, that she’d been lulled into thinking Chloe had still been unconscious, what had just taken place was a good thing. A test. A way to know that the efforts she’d gone through to keep Chloe in her place had worked. Still, the girl did have a wicked punch and she’d prefer to not be on the receiving end again.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked over Chloe’s screams, and rubbed her cheek.

  Chloe yanked hard on the tether. “How the fuck do you think I’m feeling, you stupid, sick bitch?”

  “Obviously you’re upset.” She stood and reached for the grocery bags. “And rightfully so, but—”

  “Fucking bitch. Let me out of this,” Chloe demanded, and tried to pull at the belt straps.

  Since this was her first hostage situation, she knew there would be a learning curve. In an effort to give the girl comfort during her stay in the storage unit, she’d made the mistake of cuffing Chloe’s hands in front of her. This would be a mistake she’d rectify before leaving. Thank goodness she’d told Wayne her new job would require her to work evenings and weekends. Cuffing Chloe’s hands behind her back meant she would now have to feed the girl.

  “Your language is appalling. Did you know that the baby you carry can hear? Would you talk like this in front of your child?” She tisked and shook her head. “During my last pregnancy I didn’t play Mozart or any such thing like they suggested in some of the baby books I read, but I did pray aloud. Prayer cleanses the soul and—”

  “Shut up,” Chloe shouted, jerking her body and glancing to the tether and dresser. “I don’t care about your stupid prayers.” A sob tore through her. “Just let me go.”

  “I can’t do that,” she said, pulling a banana and the box of cinnamon muffins from the grocery bag. “I suggest you accept your fate. Here.” She peeled the banana and offered it to the girl.

  “Shove it up your ass.”

  Outrage had her crossing the room and slapping Chloe across the face. “I will not tolerate your foul language. Do you understand?” She hit the girl again, then quickly prayed to God for forgiveness. Never in her life had she been prone to violence. Until today, she’d never struck a soul because she’d lost her temper. Even when her Eltons had been naughty, she’d never spanked any of them. Hands were for loving. But Chloe needed to understand her place. She needed to realize that God had chosen her, that this was her destiny.

  The light from the lantern revealed the defeat in the girl’s eyes. She shifted to the center of the mattress, curled on her side and held her stomach. Chloe’s quiet sobs lessened her temper, but she didn’t regret striking the girl. Chloe could hate her all she wanted, but in the end, the girl would respect her.

  “I’m going to establish a few rules,” she said, setting the peeled banana and a muffin on the blanket near Chloe’s cuffed hands. “You will eat and drink. I will watch you eat and drink. If you do not, then I will make your stay here unpleasant.”

  “It can’t get any worse than this,” Chloe cried.

  “Do you want to bet?” She looked toward the lantern. “If I shut off the lights, this room will become so black, you won’t be able to see the hand in front of your face. Would you like to live in blackness?”

  Chloe’s eyes widened and she looked to the lantern.

  “If that doesn’t bother you, then maybe I should result to torture.” She picked up the hammer she’d used to knock out Chloe, then waved it. “Broken fingers and toes wouldn’t harm the baby, but I imagine it would be very painful. So, pick up the banana and muffin, and start eating.” She rushed to the mattress, gripped the girl’s foot and tugged at her sneaker. “Or maybe I should give you a reminder that I will be obeyed.”

  Chloe kicked her legs and nearly knocked her to the floor again. Maybe she should have cuffed the girl’s ankles, too.

  “Don’t touch me,” Chloe shouted, and picked up the banana. “I’ll eat.” She took a huge bite, then another and another, before finally chewing.

  “My goodness, living on the streets has turned you into a little piglet. Slow down before you choke.”

  Chloe obeyed. But after swallowing, she said, “If I choke and die, you won’t get my baby.”

  She smiled. “Are you sure about that?” After moving to the corner of the room, she rummaged through her diaper bag and found the dissecting kit. “I’ve recently learned I’m pretty handy with a scalpel,” she said, showing Chloe the tools she would use to remove the baby from her body.

  The girl’s eyes grew wild with fear. She stopped chewing her muffin and clutched her stomach. “Y-you’ve done this before?”

  Her mind drifted back to Missy Schneider. To sinking her hands inside the woman and touching her unborn child. “Yes.”

  “Where’s the baby?” Chloe asked, with a catch in her breathing.

  “An angel in the Book of Life wrote down my baby’s birth,” she began, quoting the lines her and Wayne had had etched onto her Elton’s small headstone, “and whispered as she closed the book, ‘Too beautiful for earth.’”

  “He’s dead?” she asked, a tear slipping down her cheek. “What about the mother?”

  “She’s with God.”

  Chloe’s face twisted with agony and she released another sob.

  “Now don’t start crying again. The baby wasn’t meant to be, and died with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. As for the mother, she’s better off with God. I know the pain and suffering of losing a child. No mother should have to endure such a horrible thing. Now she and her baby are in heaven together. There’s no suffering there. Only God’s love.”

  “If you believe that, then why don’t you do the world a favor?” she snarled. “Kill yourself and join them.”

  She chuckled. “Because that’s not my destiny. If I’m dead, who will be the mother to this baby?” she asked, motioning to Chloe’s stomach. “Now finish your muffin and let me finish my list of rules. This bucket will serve as your toilet. If you choose to soil yourself to spite me, you’ll only be hurting yourself. I’ll let you lie in your pee and poop. Do you understand?”

  Chloe bit into her muffin.

  “I’ll take that as a yes. Now, originally, I was going to give you the freedom to move as far as the tether allowed, but since you hit me, I’ve changed my mind.” She nodded to the last bite of muffin. “Finish that.”

  After Chloe complied, she took the keys to the handcuffs from her pocket. “Put your hands in front of you. Good. Now if you make this difficult, I’ll knock you out again. And next time you wake up, you’ll be tied to a chair. After sleeping on the concrete, I don’t think you want that. A bed is what you and that baby are needing. Now, are you going to be good?”

  The girl nodded and, without issue, allowed her to cuff her hands behind her back. “Very good. How about a little water before I leave?”

  Chloe nodded again. After she gave her a few sips from one of the bottles of water she’d stored in the unit, she stood. “One last thing.” She took the gag she didn’t think she’d be able to use from the diaper bag. “Open wide,” she instructed, then tied the gag at the back of Chloe’s head. “Wonderful. Now we’re all set.”

  The cloth gag soaked up the tears streaming down Chloe’s face. “There’s no need to cry. This is a time to rejoice in God’s love. He has plans for us. Soon enough, you’ll be in his loving arms.” She crouched and pushed Chloe’s matted hair from her face. The girl flinched. “Ssh. I promise. You won’t be alone anymore. There will be no more suffering.” She damned the men who had hurt Chloe last night. The girl hadn’t said exactly what they’d done to her, but she suspected
they’d raped her. No woman deserved to be abused in such a manner. Ever. If she hadn’t had her own plans for Chloe, she would have done everything in her power to give the girl justice. Since she couldn’t, she’d have to rely on God, and pray that He would mete out his own form of justice on those men.

  “Yes,” she continued with a smile, “you’re going to be just fine.” She touched Chloe’s stomach. “And this baby…” She couldn’t wait to hold her little boy. “This baby will deliver you from your misery. How do I know this?” With both hands on Chloe’s stomach, she met the girl’s eyes. “The Lord’s angels have been guiding me on my quest. They led me to you. I’ll never forget the way the light surrounded you in that dark alley. And I knew then and there that we were fated to meet. That you were who I’ve been searching for. Don’t be sad. In a few short weeks God’s going to take care of both of us.”

  She stood and walked toward the garage door. “I’ll come back in a few of hours to give you lunch. Get some sleep,” she said, then exited the unit. After closing and locking the door, she quickly moved out of the dark shadows of the storage facility. When she reached the entrance of her building, she raised her head to the sky and let the sun warm her face.

  And thanked God for Chloe. The poor, broken and abused girl who would give her a son.

  Chapter 15

  “HERE’S THE LIST I’ve compiled so far,” Lola said, setting a sheet of paper on his desk. “There’re about three dozen storage units fitting the criteria we discussed. If you want, we can hit a few of these before lunch.”

  Instead of working on their pawn shop investigation, Dante had been searching missing children cases dating back to before the first abduction was linked to the kidnappers. Not wanting Lola to see that, he closed his laptop and picked up the list.

  “Good job,” he said, conscious of making an effort where Lola was concerned. Since he and Jessica were still waiting for Idaho’s DCI to give them the results from Missy Schneider’s crime scene, along with the Marshalltown ME’s autopsy report, he wanted to take the opportunity to make sure he continued with Lola’s training in a way that showed enthusiasm. Even if he held none for their case.

  “If we leave now, we can get through a nice chunk of the list before lunch,” Lola said, and showed him her tablet. “I’ve got all the places mapped, so we can hit them in order. Plus, the names of the owners, the types of units they supply, along with a list of questions and information we might need from them.”

  There went the rest of his morning. “Okay, sounds like a great plan,” he said, forcing himself to sound excited about gaining new leads. “If you’re ready, we can head out now.”

  When she grinned, guilt kicked him in the ass. Lola was eager to tackle this case head on, and all he wanted to do was focus on his and Jessica’s investigation.

  “Sure. Let’s go,” she said. “It’ll be great to get out from behind the desk.”

  He grabbed his keys, then followed Lola out of his office. Rachel met them in the hallway. “I was just coming to see you,” she said to him. “It took way longer than expected, but we finally have the DNA comparison from the hair sample found on the boy from Lamoni to the one from New Brunswick.”

  “Great,” he said, this time with real enthusiasm. “And?”

  “Both samples match.” Rachel handed him the report. “Which confirms—at least with two of the abducted kids—that the same man dropped off the boys.”

  “Excellent. Thanks,” he said.

  “No problem. Let me know when you hear from DCI. I’m anxious for their results.”

  “Will do,” he said, then motioned for Lola to continue down the hall.

  He couldn’t wait to share the news with Jessica. Hell, after last night, he couldn’t wait to see her, period. Being with her—it was as if they were newlyweds again. Every kiss, every smile, every touch was familiar, yet strangely new. He swore he loved her more now than ever.

  Like any married couple, they’d had issues, even prior to Sophia’s disappearance. Looking back, he couldn’t even remember what those issues had been, which not only proved how unimportant they were, but that they shouldn’t allow the day-to-day problems to affect their relationship. Trivial things, like forgetting to pay a bill, or a stop at the post office or to water the garden, weren’t worth the argument. As for Jessica’s obsession with finding Sophia? He would never discourage her again. Since he started working on this case with her, he wanted to join in her search for their daughter. Especially after Phil had called and told them how the reunion between Quinn Joyce and his real parents had gone. He was happy, yet envied the Joyces. He wanted his own reunion. He wanted to hold his daughter again, wrap his arms around her and his wife and never let go.

  “Not to be a Debbie Downer, but unless the DNA results you have match the results found in the Missy Schneider murder— It’s like you found a puzzle piece, only you don’t have a puzzle to match it to.”

  “True,” he said, climbing into his Camaro. “But, it’s better than having no DNA at all.”

  “True,” she repeated.

  “You don’t sound convinced.”

  “It’s not that. Again, you know I’m all about positive energy, but I don’t feel positive about your case. These people have done a great job of covering their tracks. I have a feeling the only way you’re going to catch them is if they slip up or with the use of technology. You know, like the video surveillance from Walmart.”

  Video surveillance. “Why didn’t I think of this sooner? Hang on a sec.” He picked up his cell phone and hit the speed dial. When Rachel answered, he asked, “Can you check the number of toll roads there are leading from Montour, Iowa?”

  “Leading to where?”

  “Any direction. We have the make, model and color of the pickup truck. We also know what day and a general time frame the killers were in Montour. Toll booths have security cameras—”

  “So maybe we can get a hit off the license plate that way. Got it.” He heard Rachel tapping away at her keyboard. “Crap. Iowa doesn’t have any toll booths. But there are plenty of booths in Illinois, if they were traveling from Iowa into Chicago via I-88, a toll bridge if they crossed into Nebraska, looks like a few other toll bridges and that’s about it.”

  “How much of a pain in the butt would it be?”

  “Honestly, not too bad. I’ll make a few calls and see what I can come up with for you. Keep in mind, they could have taken rural roads into another state.”

  Disappointed because he liked this lead, he let out a sigh. “I know.”

  “No worries. I’ll see if I can work my magic.”

  After thanking Rachel, he ended the call, then told Lola what she’d said. “You’re trying to find the puzzle to fit your piece into, I’m just not sure you should go that route.”

  He glanced at her, and tried not to become irritated. “How is this any different from checking dozens of storage companies?” He shook his head, when he realized he was driving home instead of heading for the first storage unit on Lola’s list. After making a quick turn, he drove in the right direction. “It’s all part of the process. I believe these people will kidnap again and we need to go to any length to stop them. I can’t say for sure they murdered Missy Schneider, but my gut says so. There’re just too many coincidences. If I’m right, and they’ve murdered once, who’s to say they won’t do it again? And, if you wouldn’t take my route, which one would you take?”

  When she didn’t answer, he glanced over at her. “Look, you’re still new at this. Like I said before, some sides of investigating are boring and filled with nothing but busy work. This isn’t Magnum PI, where—”

  “Who?”

  “You’ve seriously never heard of the TV show, Magnum PI? It ran during the 80s.”

  “I was born in 1987.”

  Holy shit, was he getting old.

  “Wait, Tom Selleck, right? I remember now. Yeah, he could totally rock short shorts.”

  This conversation just took a wrong tur
n. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I think you get my point.”

  “Did you wear short shorts back in the day, too?”

  He had. He’d also, at one time, let his mom give him a perm and had fantasized about having a mustache like Tom Selleck. Magnum always got the babes. “I’m going to ignore that question and call my wife.”

  While Lola chuckled, he hit the speed dial for Jessica’s cell phone. Before the call went through, another call came in first. “Russo,” he answered, not recognizing the caller. Once the DCI investigator he’d met in Montour identified himself, he filled Dante in on their findings, along with what the Marshalltown ME had discovered during his autopsy. After thanking the man, and requesting that he send his reports to both his and Rachel’s email addresses, he ended the call, then dialed Jessica again.

  “Have time for an early lunch?” he asked.

  “Your timing is perfect. Alex and I just finished an interview. Mind if he joins us?”

  “Not at all. Lola’s with me. Do you have your laptop?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “I just heard from DCI, and the investigator is sending me their reports.”

  “Well?” Jessica asked, excitement in her voice. “Please tell me he’s giving us good news.”

  “Not quite.” He glanced to Lola. “Just more puzzle pieces.”

  *

  The roar of the L thundered from above. Chloe kept her body still. If she didn’t move, if she kept her breathing shallow then maybe the heat wouldn’t be as oppressive. Suffocating. As she lay on the blankets that smelled like sweat and mildew, she took herself back to another time and place.

  Closing her eyes, she remembered the eighth birthday party for her then best friend, Ashley. Ashley’s parents had rented a gigantic bounce house. She’d loved jumping inside, laughing, bouncing into her girlfriends, falling on her butt—until Ashley’s older brothers and their friends crashed the party. When Ashley’s parents hadn’t been looking, the boys had taken over, tossing dodge balls at one another while they dove into the bounce house.