Once Hunted

by Blake Pierce

  He took the pistol out of his jacket and attached the suppressor to it. Then he surveyed his surroundings with a small flashlight. He was in a large storage room. A couple of kayaks lay across supports, and their paddles were hanging on the wall. There were dozens of boxes on metal shelves—doubtless everything one could want for a vacation on the water.

  A faint sliver of light came from beneath the door on the other side of the room. He opened it slowly and saw that it led into a hallway. A stairway went up to a landing and then turned out of sight.

  Before he could start on his way up the stairs, he heard a sound from above—a door opening, he thought. Had someone heard him after all? Or was this just a routine late-night check of the premises?

  A light turned on over the stairway, and he backed into the shadows under the stairs. The footsteps sounded light—the woman or the girl, Orin suspected. Then she came into view on the landing—the woman he had thought to be an FBI agent. She looked young and inexperienced, relaxed and unwary as she came down the stairs on what she must have thought was a routine check. She hadn’t even drawn her gun from the holster on her hip.

  He was briefly tempted to torment her with bullets as he had the others. But no, this killing had to be quick and efficient. It was purely a practical matter. Gratification must come later.

  He stepped out of the shadows and raised his gun. Time slowed down as she turned her head to see him. Her mouth fell open with surprise, but before she could utter a sound he fired a round straight into her forehead.

  Her eyes wide, she wobbled on her feet for a moment without falling. Then she tottered forward, and he was able to dart toward her and catch her in his arms. He lowered her silently onto the stairs and listened.

  Had anyone heard the muffled shot?

  If they had, he was ready.

  If they didn’t, even better!

  His gun ready, he climbed up the stairs toward his unsuspecting prey.

  CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

  April was playing a game on her laptop when she heard footsteps in the hallway behind her. A moment ago, Darlene had gone out that way to take a routine look around downstairs.

  “How’s everything, Darlene?” she asked, without bothering to look around.

  When no reply came, she turned around and saw a man standing in the open doorway.

  She knew who it was. She could never forget that face. He’d made himself look different, with darker hair and some stubble on his chin. But she could never forget those cold, malicious eyes—not after he’d tried to kill her back in Fredericksburg.

  She jumped to her feet. Panicked thoughts crowded through her brain.

  How could this be? Her mother had flown south, first to South Carolina and now to Florida, in hot pursuit of this same man.

  This can’t be real.

  But after a few stunned seconds, she realized that this was real—and that the man had a gun at his side.

  April turned toward her father, who was in the same room watching sports on TV.

  “Daddy!” April screamed.

  April’s father turned his head, gaping in disbelief upon seeing the intruder. April could tell that he hadn’t even begun to grasp the danger they were in.

  He stood and asked, “Where is Agent Olsen?”

  He sounded more indignant than alarmed.

  The man sneered and chuckled, flaunting his gun.

  “You killed her!” April cried. “You killed Darlene!”

  The man shrugged, as if out of modesty.

  “As chance would have it—yes, I did,” he said.

  Then he lifted the gun and pointed it at April’s father.

  No, April thought. I can’t let him kill Daddy.

  She picked up her laptop, reared back with it, then hurled it as hard as she could at the man. He ducked, and it barely missed his head. Then he whirled around to face her.

  “Huh-uh, baby,” he said. “You’re not getting the best of me this time.”

  As he started to raise his gun toward her, April dived behind a stuffed chair. She actually felt the wind that the bullet made passing her shoulder. She gasped. She’d been physically attacked more than once, but she’d never been shot at before. She knew that he wasn’t aiming to kill her—at least not yet. She’d already be dead if he’d wanted her to be.

  Still, the idea of being shot at really pissed her off.

  From her position on the floor, she could see her father creeping across the floor toward his briefcase. She knew that was where he kept his own large and menacing pistol.

  Why couldn’t he have had it handier? she thought.

  Regardless, she knew that she had to keep the attacker distracted long enough for Daddy to get his weapon. She threw her whole body against the chair in front of her, knocking it over. The man turned to look at her.

  Standing square in front of him and risking a bullet, April reached for a large vase sitting on a stand. She picked it up and threw it at him. He bent down, and the vase flew over his back, then crashed into the floor and burst into pieces.

  The distraction had been just enough to allow April’s father to open the briefcase and pull out his pistol. April thought it looked pretty small and pitiful in comparison to the gun the man was wielding. And Daddy didn’t look at all confident with it. His hands were shaking as he tried to take aim.

  But the man’s attention was still on April. He didn’t seem to have noticed what Daddy was up to. April had to keep it that way. She yanked a large framed picture off the wall, rushed toward the man, and swung it. She successfully knocked the gun out of his hand, and it skidded across the carpet.

  He was glaring at her, not at her father. April stared back, holding her breath, hoping that her father would seize his opportunity and blow the man away.

  *

  Orin kept his eyes on the girl as he backed toward where the gun had fallen. He knew from the last time he attacked her that she was feisty, smart, and brave. It was going to be fun to bring her down at last.

  Before he could reach his weapon, he heard a shot ring out, followed by the thud of a bullet entering the wall behind him. He whirled around. Sure enough, the girl’s father had a gun of his own—a measly little .22-caliber pistol. He was pointing at Rhodes, gathering his nerves to take another shot.

  But he looked much more frightened than Orin felt.

  In fact, Orin wasn’t scared at all.

  He could see in the man’s eyes that he didn’t have what it took to shoot someone, whether fatally or otherwise. No, the girl’s father wasn’t the least bit like Orin. He was too timid, too cowardly. Orin guessed that he’d inflicted plenty of emotional pain in his life, and that he was a bully in his way. But he wasn’t the kind of bully who had the stomach to inflict actual physical pain, much less really kill someone.

  Orin broke into a merry, jig-like dance. The father fired a shot that missed him wide, then another, then another. Orin was laughing now, feeling as safe as if no one was shooting at him at all.

  The father’s aim grew more erratic. Orin’s only worry was that he’d accidentally shoot and kill his own daughter, spoiling Orin’s plans for revenge. Orin counted five shots, then abruptly rushed toward the man. He snatched the gun out of his hand and pointed it back at him. Keeping the man in his sights, he began to move toward where his own weapon had fallen.

  Then he heard the girl screeching behind him, and she was suddenly pummeling him from behind with her fists. The hits came hard and fierce. He shook her off, then turned and fired a shot that deliberately missed her, but only barely. He knew it was the last bullet in the .22.

  The girl took a step backward, giving Orin the chance to get to his own gun and pick it up. Then he raised his weapon and aimed it—not at the girl but directly at her father’s head. The girl gasped and backed away, in terror for her father’s safety.

  Holding the man’s empty revolver in his left hand, he rushed forward and slammed the butt into the side of the girl’s head. It was a hard blow, but not hard
enough to knock her completely out. All he wanted to do was subdue her.

  And he could see that he’d succeeded. She staggered, but her gaze was still locked on his, and still defiant. Even so, she was dazed enough now not to be a threat, at least for a few moments. And a few moments was all he needed.

  He threw the empty revolver aside, brandishing his own much more formidable CZ P-09 semiautomatic. He quickly removed the suppressor. He wasn’t worried about noise anymore, not in this out-of-the-way place. Noise would add spice to the pain and terror he was going to inflict.

  Swinging his gun back and forth between father and daughter, he motioned April and Ryan toward a pair of straight-back chairs.

  “The two of you—sit right there,” he said.

  April made a threatening move, but Orin pointed his gun at her father.

  “Don’t even think about it,” he said. “Sit.”

  They both obeyed. With his free hand, Orin reached into his jacket pocket for his roll of duct tape. His next task was to bind them to the chairs.

  But then what?

  His revenge wouldn’t be complete if Riley Paige didn’t get here. He was starting to doubt that she was really on her way at all. Fortunately, he’d had her cell phone number for quite some time. She was just a phone call away.

  First, though, he had to immobilize his victims. He couldn’t leave that girl loose for long. Still holding the gun in one hand, he pulled a length of tape loose with his teeth.

  In a tone of mock hospitality, he said, “I want you both to make yourselves comfortable. This is going to take a long time.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

  Riley climbed into the driver’s seat of the car she had just commandeered at the military airport near Chincoteague. But before Bill could get in the passenger side, she snapped all the doors locked. Bill’s mouth dropped open with shock as he stared through the window at her.

  She hated to do this to Bill. As soon as they’d found Orin Rhodes’ warning on the dead man’s body in the Everglades, Bill had pulled every string he could to fly them both back here right away.

  Rhodes had warned Riley not to tell anybody of his impending attack on her daughter and ex-husband. It was a warning that both Bill and Riley had taken seriously. That was why they hadn’t called in a SWAT team.

  Bill hurried around to the driver’s window. Riley opened it just a crack.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Bill said. “I’ve got to come with you!”

  “You can’t, Bill. I’m sorry, but you can’t. If we were dealing with any ordinary killer, we could go in together. But Rhodes isn’t ordinary. We underestimated him. He sent us on a wild goose chase just so he could get to April. And now he really will kill her if I don’t come alone.”

  “But he doesn’t have to know,” Bill said.

  Riley shook her head miserably.

  “He will know, Bill. He’s been predicting my every move since this whole thing began.”

  Before Bill could protest further, Riley rolled up her window and drove away. She knew Bill would try to follow her. But first he’d have to get his hands on another car to use. Also, she hadn’t told him the exact address where April and Ryan had gone. He could find out by calling Quantico, but that would take some time. She hoped she had enough time to resolve this horrible situation by herself.

  As soon as she was on the highway, her cell phone rang. She accepted the call and heard a voice that was full of mockery and contempt.

  “Riley Paige, as I live and breathe! How long has it been since we’ve talked? Why, sixteen long years, I believe! And then it wasn’t under the happiest circumstances. We’ve got so much making up to do. Where are you? I’ve been expecting you.”

  “Are they alive?” she demanded.

  “Of course,” he replied. “We’re all just sitting here together. Waiting for you. How soon do you expect to arrive?”

  Riley bit her tongue. She knew that she mustn’t tell him that she was only a few minutes away from him. For all he knew, she was still back in Florida. She needed to keep him in the dark.

  “Well?” he said. “Don’t you have anything to tell me?”

  Riley felt a tsunami of emotion at his jeering tone. But to her surprise, the emotion wasn’t dread or fear. She wasn’t going to allow herself to be frightened. For too long, she’d tried to understand this man and his grief for his girlfriend. She’d even tried to empathize with him. And somewhere inside, she’d blamed herself for the monster he’d become.

  But those feelings were gone now. The emotion that was sweeping through her now went far beyond anger. It even went beyond Orin Rhodes. She felt blind fury toward every single monster she’d ever hunted down, especially those who had tormented her and the people she loved.

  She’d had enough of it. Orin Rhodes was going to experience the full weight of years of pent-up fury. She was filled with raging bloodlust, the likes of which she’d never felt before.

  She began to speak in a low, murderous growl.

  “Listen to me, you pathetic little bastard. You like other people’s pain, don’t you? You like the way bullets hurt. You like to take your time. But believe me, you’ve got no idea what the word pain even means. You’re going to find out, though. And I’m not using bullets. I’m going to hack you limb from limb, starting at your toes and fingers and working my way in to your torso. I’ll make sure you don’t miss a moment of it. And before you die, you’ll see me holding your still beating heart before your open eyes. Do you hear me?”

  She heard a coarse chuckle.

  “Oh, I hear you loud and clear. I look forward to seeing you try.”

  Orin Rhodes abruptly ended the call.

  Riley stepped on the accelerator. She knew she had no time to waste.

  CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

  Orin Rhodes took a ferocious swing at the bound man’s face. He hit him so hard on the left cheek that his own fist hurt. The pain felt good. It was good to let off some steam. The truth was, Orin felt frustrated.

  He’d just ended the call to Riley Paige, and he knew that she was on her way. But how long was it going to be before she got here? If she was still in Florida, her arrival could be hours away.

  But how could he have found out her whereabouts? She’d never have told him over the phone. And to that extent, she had an advantage over him.

  Not that it was much of an advantage. For the time being, he had absolute power over two lives that he knew she held dear. Still, he had to rein in his impulses. He wanted so much to shoot both father and daughter time and time again, relishing every moment of their pain. But he had to keep them alive for now.

  He looked over at the daughter’s face. With her mouth taped shut, she was staring at him and her father in stark terror. Her expression heartened him a bit. He wouldn’t even have to hit her to cause her pain. All he had to do was keep right on tormenting her father.

  The man’s head had fallen forward, and he was whimpering softly through the tape on his mouth. Orin seized him by the hair and lifted up his face.

  “Were you listening to that phone call?” he said in a sneering tone. “You didn’t hear what your ex told me, did you? She told me to be her guest, and to beat you up to my heart’s content.”

  With that lie, he drew back his fist, ready, and landed a blow to the man’s chin.

  He wondered how long he should keep him alive before killing him.

  CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

  Riley found the address and stopped the car outside the elegant vacation house. When she opened the car door, she noticed how quiet everything was. But as peaceful as the scene seemed to be, Riley knew that violence and terror hid just inside those walls.

  She slipped out of the car and pushed the door shut as quietly as possible. She saw that lights were bright on the second floor, and she also saw some lights on in the third. The first floor was dark.

  She wondered what was the best way to go in. Charging in through the main entrance wouldn’t be smart. It w
ould be better if she could get in unnoticed—if that was possible. She moved closer to the house to check for other options. She quickly found that a door to one side of the garage doors was standing ajar.

  She felt a chill as she realized that this was where Rhodes himself had gotten in. Was he still there? If he was gone already, was anyone inside still alive?

  She turned on her flashlight and walked into what appeared to be a storage room. She paused and listened carefully. She heard nothing. The whole house was absolutely still. That felt wrong to her—dreadfully, sickeningly wrong.

  She opened the door at the opposite side of the room. Light poured in from above. Lying on the stairs nearby was a crumpled corpse that had tumbled down from a landing. Moving more closely, she saw that it was Darlene Olsen, the agent Lucy had sent to protect April and her father.

  Riley felt a flash of guilt. She should have known that the young, green agent would have been no match for Orin Rhodes. And now all of her promise and potential had been cut brutally short.

  But this was no time to fall into regret. Still keeping as quiet as possible, she made her way over and around the body and continued upward, step by careful step.

  At the top of the stairs, she walked through an open door into a hallway. Lights were on everywhere. As she moved down the hall, she took quick glances into the kitchen and dining room as she passed them. She saw no one. With rising apprehension she crept toward double doors at the far end of the hallway.

  When she stepped into the living room, she saw them—Ryan and April. They were both bound by duct tape to chairs in the middle of the room. Their mouths were taped shut. Ryan’s head was bowed, but April was staring wild-eyed at her mother.

  Riley rushed over to her daughter. As delicately as possible, she pulled the duct tape off her mouth. Riley was about to exclaim for joy when April interrupted her with a sharp whisper.