The man died quickly, Gibson thought, as he noticed the two bullet holes in Herman’s shirt, directly over the man’s heart. Because he was shot in the heart, Carl Herman bled very little after death.
The beam moved over the gun laying on the ground near Herman’s right hand. It was an old .38, and the open glove box inside the car was likely where it came from.
Sheriff Gibson, a lanky man in his fifties, walked back over to his deputy, Rob Bolan, and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Looks like you had no choice, son.”
Sheriff Gibson was the last official to arrive on the scene. There was a state trooper car that was a canine unit, the local coroner from the neighboring town of Northridge, and a DEA agent, a gray-haired man who looked tired enough to lie on the road and go to sleep.
The sun was only an hour away from rising as they finally loaded Herman’s body onto a stretcher, and rolled it into the morgue wagon.
The forensics team had done their work, and when they came across the envelope that contained six-thousand dollars and the ounce of pot, it confirmed what they already knew from his arrest record. Carl Herman was a drug dealer who tried to graduate to cop-killer, and got what he deserved.
For his part, Rob had said as little as possible. He looked to be in shock, and he was, but not to the extent to which he appeared outwardly. As a combat veteran, he was no stranger to viewing, or delivering, sudden death.
He had once promised Alice that he would protect her, and he’d meant it. They had been together for five months when he came across an old alert bulletin with her photo on it.
Learning that she was wanted for killing several child molesters had stunned him, but discovering that she had also murdered a federal agent had devastated him.
He had still been in the army and over in Afghanistan when Alice, who was actually Sandra Jenkins, went on a rampage in New York and Georgia in a quest to find her daughter.
Kimmy, who was actually Chrissie Jenkins, had been abducted by a man who sold children for a living, sold them to other men as if they were baseball cards.
Rob had not one shred of sympathy for the men that Alice—who the newspapers at the time referred to as Vigilante Mom—had killed in her quest to get her daughter back, but learning that she had also killed a DEA agent was gut-wrenching.
He loved her, loved her deeply, and if it hadn’t been for the extenuating circumstances revolving around the agent’s death, he might have turned her in, maybe.
There were witnesses to the shooting, people looking out of their windows, and they all said that the DEA agent, Samuel Roberts, never identified himself, but just drew his weapon.
Samuel Roberts had also been dirty.
When they went to the Robert’s house to deliver the sad news of his death, they discovered that Roberts had been living in a home worth nearly a million dollars. A large sum of cash was discovered in a safe deposit box, and his wife fled the area right after the funeral, but not before she dug a hole in the backyard, as if she had retrieved something that had been buried for safekeeping.
And yet, dirty or not, Samuel Roberts had been a federal agent, and his death, and the deaths of others were charges hanging over Alice’s head.
***
Rob reached her at home before she had a chance to learn of the shooting. She was still home because she had the late-morning shift, while her Aunt Dawn was at the diner, and Kimmy was playing at a friend’s house down the block.
He took her by the hand, led her to the sofa in the living room, and told her that he had shot a man dead, just hours earlier.
Concern and sympathy clouded her beautiful face as she asked him if he was all right, but he answered her by telling her his victim’s name.
“Carl Herman?” she repeated, and he could tell that the name pricked at her memory, and when she realized a moment later the circumstances under which she had last heard it, her face turned white and she began to cry.
“Oh my God,”
“I know, Alice, I know who you really are. I’ve known for months. Carl Herman knew too. He spotted you yesterday and was coming here to turn you in for the reward. That’s... that’s why I killed him. I killed him because I love you, and I’ll do anything to keep you safe and by my side.”
“You know that I’m Sandra Jenkins? Why didn’t you turn me in?”
Rob got down on one knee, took out the ring box, and showed her the diamond.
“I love you, baby. You can call yourself Alice, Sandra, or even George for all I care, but I love you and I want to spend my life with you.”
Alice stood up from the sofa and gazed down at Rob with a look that was equal parts of joy and horror.
“Marrying me would ruin your life and... I have to go. I have to get my daughter and run. Carl Herman might have told someone about me. People could be headed here right now to arrest me and take my daughter away to a state facility.”
Rob stood and caressed her cheek.
“You could just run away from me, never see me again?”
“I... I have to, I can’t lose my daughter.”
“I have a place you can hide until we know if anyone else is coming.”
“Where? Your dad’s cabin?”
“Yes, stay there for a week, and if anyone shows, I’ll call and warn you.”
“What about my aunt?”
“She must know who you are, right?”
“She does, she’s the aunt of my late husband and she took us in when I had run out of places to hide.”
“How well did you know her?”
“We’d never met before, but she took us in and gave us a home, and there was a real Alice Johnson too, who was her husband’s niece, but she died five years ago. Aunt Dawn said she hadn’t seen her since she was a child, and she could always claim that she didn’t know she died.”
“All right then, it sounds like she’d be in the clear if things went bad, but stay at the cabin, please? We’ll tell everyone that you went away on vacation and that I decided to stay because of the shooting. If Carl Herman told anyone else about you, they’ll be rushing here to claim the reward. If no one shows soon, then, I would say you’re safe.”
Alice plunked herself back onto the sofa and wiped at tears.
“My life is such a mess, and what’s worse, is that I’m screwing up my daughter’s life too.”
Rob sat beside her and took her in his arms.
“You’re not alone anymore, do you understand that? I love you, and come what may, we’ll see it through together.”
She stared at him in wonder.
“Let me see that ring again.”
He brought out the ring, and then slid it on her finger.
“I love you... Sandra.”
“I love you too, Rob Bolan.”
“Will you marry me?”
“It would be insane.”
“It’s an insane world. Will you marry me?”
“Yes, someday, I hope to, someday,”
They went up to the bedroom, locked the door, and for a little while, they kept the world at bay.
CHAPTER 27
With their home in Dallas compromised, Elena was moving the PREY headquarters to a new location.
She sat beside Violet, as Violet followed along behind a white van that had the rest of the women in it.
Violet had been filling Elena in on her past, and Elena was surprised by what she was hearing.
“Your sister shares the gift as well? That’s amazing.”
“She’s my identical twin, her name is Viola.”
“Where is your sister? I’d like to meet her as well.”
Violet took a deep breath before releasing it in a huff.
“I don’t know where she is, but she made contact recently and let me know that she was all right. Until she called, I thought that one of those monsters had taken her, and that’s why I began hunting them down. I was trying to find her.”
“I take it you two aren’t very close?”
&nb
sp; “We look exactly alike, and I love her... but we’re different.”
“Where did you two grow up, in Dallas?”
“No, we grew up not too far from where we’re going. I wound up in the Dallas area because I followed one of the predators onto a train, and when I confronted him, he began talking fast, babbling, and asked me if I’d been sent to kill him by a man named Prophet.”
Elena searched her memory.
“I’m not aware of any serial killers dubbed, Prophet.”
“I don’t know if he’s a killer or not, but he was trying to recruit the man. The man said that Prophet had evidence against him, but he still turned him down. I think this Prophet is doing something similar to what you’re doing with PREY.”
Elena shivered.
“An organization of serial killers would be horrific, but unlikely to occur since they’re predominantly loners.”
“That’s true, but I believed him, and what happened at your home was proof, wasn’t it?”
“Possibly, I could see that they were predators just as you could, but I’d still like to run their DNA to find out who they were.”
“You can do that?”
“I have someone who can, and we’ll have the results in a matter of weeks, but tell me, what does this Prophet look like?”
“The man never actually saw him. He was contacted online, and Prophet told him that he knew others like him. I didn’t care about any of it. At that point, I just needed to find my sister.”
Elena placed a hand on Violet’s shoulder.
“I hope you’ll stay with us. The girls and I will welcome you like family.”
“Thank you; and it’s nice not to feel so alone anymore.”
***
Jessica was standing on the porch of the home that Tyler Davidson had donated to Elena Colt’s foundation.
The van pulled into the driveway first. Cassandra was driving, with Mia seated beside her, and Kelly, along with the sisters, Lisa and Laura, were riding in the back. Following the van was the car driven by Violet, with Elena beside her.
The vehicles had to maneuver around a delivery truck before parking, as new bedroom sets were being placed in the previously empty rooms upstairs.
The women piled out and stared up at the large house, where a plaque beside the door read, WELCOME TO THE MARY LANGDON HOME FOR BATTERED WOMEN
Elena gestured at the house and echoed the plaque’s sentiment.
“Welcome to our new home, ladies.”
Jessica greeted them with a smile as she joined them by the vehicles and gave Elena a kiss on the cheek.
“The men from the furniture store are just about done setting up the new bedrooms, and I’ve stocked the refrigerator and pantry.”
“Thank you, dear, I know this was all a bit sudden.”
The two delivery men emerged from the home and Jessica walked over and signed the paperwork while giving them a tip for a job well done. One of the men, the driver’s helper, pulled out his phone to begin playing a game as he got back in the truck.
The driver, a middle-aged man, was about to join him, but then stopped, turned around, and walked back over to stare at the women.
Of the seven of them, only Elena was unscathed. Violet had a bruise on her chin where Simon had punched her, while Kelly’s forearm was stitched from the bullet wound she’d received.
Lisa had a cast on her wrist, while Laura had one on her leg, and both Cassandra and Mia wore bandages, Cassandra on her left shoulder, and Mia on her right leg, and also her side, but those were hidden by her blouse.
In total, they looked like they had survived a train wreck, and given the plaque near the front door, the delivery driver had concluded that they were a group of battered wives and girlfriends.
The driver looked as if he wanted to cry as he spoke to them.
“Maybe it’s not my place to say anything, but, I’ve got five sisters, and three girls of my own at home, and the thought of someone hurting them the way you ladies... what I mean is... oh hell, I’ll just say it. You women have got to learn to fight back, you hear me?”
Cassandra walked over and kissed him on the cheek.
“That’s good advice, and thank you,”
The man blushed, tipped his cap at them, and rushed back to his truck to drive away. When they were certain that he could no longer see them in the truck’s mirrors, they all broke out in peals of laughter and headed inside.
***
Jessica and Elena were together in the first floor room that Elena decided would become her new office.
Jessica had been introduced to everyone, and now that they were alone, she had a question to ask Elena.
“That girl, Violet, what’s her story?”
“She shares my gift.”
“She can distinguish human predators by sight?”
“Yes, which is rare, believe me, and rarer still is the fact that she doesn’t fear them.”
“There’s something familiar about her, I feel as if I’ve met her before.”
“She saved my life, all of our lives, but we’re still at risk as long as Numerical is alive.”
“Violet seems to like you a great deal.”
“She’s stayed by my side while the others were busy cleaning up after the carnage that Numerical and the other men made of our home in Dallas.”
“Despite the circumstances, I’m glad you’re here.”
Elena gazed at Jessica, studying her.
“You look well, dear, very fit, and much happier than the last time I saw you.”
“I am happier, and my husband is nearly back to full health. He’s walking without a limp and feels much stronger.”
“That’s good, and I’ll drop by soon to see those babies of yours.”
“We also might have made contact with my husband’s brother, a man named Michael Wheeler, but we won’t be able to meet with him until he returns from a business trip to Europe.”
Elena smiled.
“Things are looking up, but what about work? We could use you and your husband’s help in tracking down Numerical.”
“I’ve actually been given an outline of the evidence that the task force has gathered, and sadly, I don’t think they’re even close to catching him.”
“But you could, I have no doubt of that, not given what you’ve accomplished in the past.”
Jessica held up a hand.
“I’m willing to offer advice, but I don’t want to get too deeply involved, at least not so involved that my husband and I become targets.”
“Numerical will keep killing. He’s killed fifty women and you know as well as I do that he’ll kill again unless he’s stopped. You could stop him, Jessica, you and your husband have stopped monsters like him before.”
“Yes, we’ve done our part, don’t you see that?”
Elena sighed.
“I know you’re afraid for your husband’s safety, but we can’t change what we are, Jessica, and just as Numerical and men like him won’t stop until they’re forced to, we too have to keep going, otherwise, we would shrivel up, and they would win.”
Jessica sniffled, and when she spoke again, her voice was hoarse.
“When I was younger, I used to crave the challenge, the thrill that came from stopping bastards like Numerical, but it’s not a game, it’s real life, and it asks so much of you.”
“It gives much too. How many people have you saved over the years, dozens? Possibly hundreds, when you factor in the future victims that never became such. It’s life versus death, my dear, life versus death, and by living to the fullest of your abilities, the life you save is your own, spiritually speaking.”
Jessica smiled.
“Thank you, Elena; it’s so nice to have someone that I can talk to about these things.”
“You’re welcome, dear, and thank you for getting the house ready for us.”
They stepped out of the office and found Violet sitting on the stairs, as if waiting for Elena. She was dressed in black jeans and a
black top, but wore no makeup, and her long hair was tied back behind her. Jessica took a good look at her and realized that the girl was a beauty, and if she ever dolled herself up, she would be stunning.
“Do you like your room, dear?” Elena asked, and Violet nodded yes.
Elena was saying goodbye to Jessica at the door when Violet called to her.
“Dr. White?”
“Call me Jessica, Violet.”
“All right, um, Cassandra told me that you had twins. Could you bring them by sometimes? I like babies.”
“I’ll bring them with me the next time I visit, okay?”
Violet smiled.
“Okay, and thanks,”
Elena walked Jessica to her car and Violet came out onto the porch, looking about as if she were on guard duty.
“She doesn’t let you out of her sight, does she?”
“Not for very long, I think I’m becoming a mother figure to her, and in truth, I’ve much to teach her.”
“I think you’ve found a Protégée.”
“She may walk in my path someday, but if anyone fills my shoes in the coming years, I’ve a feeling it will be you.”
Jessica looked shocked by the suggestion, but then she smiled.
***
At the house, Jessica’s husband was playing host to their neighbors, Jack Beck and Beck’s daughter, Heather. Maggie and Jace were there as well and they were all enjoying the refreshing coolness of the pool, on what was a hot summer day.
Jack Beck returned from a swim and saw his host scrutinizing him.
“Yeah, those are bullet wounds, and I nearly died the same as you, kid.”
“Thomas Lawson hinted that you were in Special Ops, is that true?”
“More or less, but you know what I mean, I’ve done some asking around and I know that you’ve done some work for Tommy. That man is as Fed as they come, but most of what he does is under the radar. I’ll say this for him, he’s got a hell of a nose for talent, and if he picked you for missions, well then, you’re as deadly as they come.”
“I haven’t felt very deadly since I was shot, but I almost feel back to normal.”
“Are you still working for Tommy?”
“I don’t know. Jessica wants me to quit.”
The TAKEN! Series - Books 13-16 (Taken! Box Set Book 4) Page 26
