Escaping Ryan

by Ring, Ginger

  “They dropped the boxes off in the back. We can unpack them there and then bring them out here. I had hoped the tables would be here in time but they won’t be in until tomorrow.”

  “All right. I wish I would have known—we could have brought some over from Firenza.” Valentina unzipped her coat.

  Arianne pulled out her phone and frowned.

  “Is everything okay?” Valentina took a step in her direction.

  “Yes, I just have to make a call. Would you mind going in the back and opening the boxes? There should be a boxcutter back there.” Her fingers were already moving across the cell screen.

  “Sure. I’d be happy too.” Valentina took one more look around the empty store before heading to the back room. It would take a lot of work to get this place kid ready by next weekend. Maybe Roman would let her borrow Dom again to at least get some of the lightbulbs changed and fixtures repaired. Her boots clipped on the tile floor as she strode into the empty back room. Where were the boxes? From what Arianne said there should be a ton, but all that was there were a few suitcases and totes. What the hell?

  Before she could turn around, a plastic bag went over her head. Panic like she’d never known kicked in. She fought like a wildcat, kicking and screaming, but it was no use. Even her fingernails couldn’t pierce the bag. Valentina gasped for air and the bag sucked in and out with every breath. Where was Arianne? Had she been attacked too? Little flashes of light flickered before her eyes, she was getting lightheaded. Her strength faded. Her last thought was of Ryan as she slid to the floor.

  Ryan

  “What have you got, Ry?” Danny took out a pen and paper.

  “What do all, or least most, of these victims have in common?”

  “Age and that they were young women.” Nate shrugged. “Well, except for LaGrander-Davis, who was in her forties. Still rather young though.”

  “That’s true, but there’s more. She was dating, make that having an affair with, a police officer.” Everyone just stared as he continued. “One of the victims in Dixon was engaged to a cop. Tracy used to date you, Nate. Right?”

  “Yeah, a couple times, but then I met Amy,” he added.

  “Yes, and what was the name of the second girl killed here? The one who worked at the laundromat?”

  Nate’s eyes got big. “Amy.”

  “Right. And your Amy works at a dry cleaners.”

  “Are you saying that someone is targeting women who date police officers?” The chief rose from the table he was leaning against. “That he killed the wrong Amy?”

  “What kind of sick fucker would do that?” Danny asked, disgusted. “And what about the girl killed at the vet clinic? Did anyone here know her?”

  They all shook their heads.

  “I think that might have been by accident. The killer was searching for more etorphine and wasn’t expecting anyone to be there. She was given a lethal dose that sent her into cardiac arrest just like this one here.” Ryan flipped through the photos until he came across the one he was searching for. He tapped it with his finger.

  “Who is she and was she involved with a man in blue?” Nate stood up and glanced as the photo.

  “It says she was single. Same thing might have happened to her as it did to Alyssa. The woman may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Ryan scanned the report. “Woman’s name was A. Manning.”

  “What the hell?” Danny snatched it from his hand. “A. Manning as in A. Man?”

  A few guys still had blank looks on their faces but Ryan knew the name. “It was in the appointment book of the first victim.” He studied the document again. “Name’s Arianne Laura Manning.”

  “Arianne Manning?” Cory, one of the new guys, spoke up. “Isn’t that the name of that new chick in town? The one opening the fitness center and trying to get into everyone’s pants?”

  “Danny, fire up the laptop. Search for any other women who may have disappeared at the time. Enter the names and see what photos come up.”

  The task seemed to take forever but it was just their impatience. This was the first break in the case and they were so close.

  “Nothing. Nothing,” Danny said as she punched in the names. “Wait. Take a look at this.”

  “Holy shit.” Ryan bounced out of his seat. The woman who told everyone her name was Arianne Manning was actually Brittany Smith, another woman who had disappeared around the same time as the unsolved murders in Georgia. Arianne—Brittany—must have stolen the license plates from the dead woman’s car because they matched her name.

  “That’s enough for me. Let’s bring her in. Danny, you call the judge to get a search warrant,” Chief Schneider ordered, and placed his hands on his hips. Excitement ripped through the room. They all wanted to catch the killer, and the fact that she’d been targeting loved ones of police officers just made it that much worse. “Get her home address. Nate and I will go in the front, Cory, you watch the back. No sirens, we don’t know if she’s the one but don’t take any chances. If she is the one, Arianne, or Brittany or whatever her name is, has killed numerous times. Again, don’t take any chances.”

  “Got it.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Looks like she lives about ten miles out,” Danny said as she wrote down the address and handed it to Chief Schneider

  Ryan stood up. “Let’s go.”

  “You stay here,” the chief instructed. “Keep going over these reports. We’re shorthanded with hunting season so I may need you more later. Let these guys bring her in. Danny, you stay here also and find out everything you can on our suspect. I mean everything.”

  “Already on it.” Her fingers attacked the keyboard at warp speed as the guys headed out the door and on the trail of a killer.

  Ryan cursed but knew this wasn’t the time to argue. This woman needed to be stopped. He’d trail behind in his truck if he had to. He pulled out his phone to send Valentina a text but there was already one there from her.

  Hey, handsome. Gone with Arianne to work on the coat drive. See you soon.

  His heart dropped to his knees.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Valentina

  Voices filtered through the silence and her vision blurred. Valentina tried to raise her hand to her face but it wouldn’t move. She couldn’t move. Her feet were frozen in place. After a couple of tries, she was finally able to raise her head.

  Where was she? The room was bare except for a few bags. Weren’t there more before? It came back to her in a rush. She’d been with Arianne and then…panic set in. Her hands were duct taped together and her ankles strapped to the legs of a chair. What had happened to Arianne? Were they in the hands of the Housewife Killer? A scream roared in her throat but her mouth was covered with tape.

  A gust of cold air flooded the room as a door opened behind her.

  “Look who’s awake.” It was Arianne. Her voice dripped with hate. “Poor, poor Valentina.” She reached out a hand and ripped the tape from her captive’s mouth.

  It burned like a bitch but it awoke Valentina even more. “What’s going on? Help me.”

  “Help you? I’m the one who did this to you.” Arianne pointed to her chest with her thumb.

  “Why? I don’t understand.” Where was Ryan? When would he realize she was gone?

  “You took something that was mine. You moved into my territory.” Her eyes were wide like that of a crazy person.

  “What are you talking about? If you want money, just let me call my brother and we’ll get you what you need.”

  “I don’t want money, although I did empty your purse of cash.” She nodded her head to where Val’s handbag lay in a heap on the concrete. “You won’t need it anymore. When people take what’s mine, they get hurt.”

  “I don’t understand. What you are talking about?” It slowly sunk in that she was in the hands of the Housewife Killer, the one everyone thought was a man. Her skin broke out in a cold sweat.

  Arianne pulled up a chair and straddled it. “You
don’t get it, do you? They never do.” She gave Valentina a once over, her eyes going from her toes to her head. “You grew up in some fancy house with nice clothes and a good family.”

  “I may have grown up in a nice house but that doesn’t mean my life was perfect,” she countered.

  “Well, it was nothing like mine, that is for sure.” Arianne’s eyes had a glassy look to them.

  “What was it like?” Valentina’s brain worked overtime to figure out a plan of escape. It was best to keep Arianne talking as long as possible.

  “It was just my mom and me. We were what you would call trailer trash. The men who walked through that creaky old screen door were even worse. Pieces of shit every one of them, but that’s where the drugs came from to fix her habit. They beat her. They beat me too but I was too young to do anything. Until one day.” Her eyes held a faraway look as if she was reliving the nightmare. “Let’s see, I had to be seventeen going on thirty. Anyway, a police officer showed up at the door to check on why I hadn’t been in school. He took one look at me, my methed out mother, our filthy trailer, and called social services. They had nowhere to place me so the officer and his wife took me in until I was eighteen. It was the only place that I ever felt safe, ever felt clean.”

  “I’m so sorry. I’m glad he was able to make your life better though.” Where was Arianne going with this story?

  “I don’t want your pity.” She rose from the chair and sent it flying across the room.

  The woman was a psychopath. Valentina took deep breaths and struggled to remain calm. “So what happened next?” Her fingers were going numb as she tried to pull free from the tape.

  “What happened is that he took a job elsewhere and I had to move out. I was on my own again, but before he left he got me a job at the vet clinic there. It was a good job, but as I was leaving one night, I was robbed. I didn’t have any money and yet some nutcase decides to freakin’ rob me. Punched me in the face and knocked me around.” She circled around the room as she talked, her hands flexing with every step. “Again, it was a police officer who came to save me. He waited with me for the ambulance and then visited me in the hospital. The guy was so handsome in his uniform. It was love at first sight.”

  “Did you go out with him?” The woman’s story kept leading toward cops.

  “Once. We went out to lunch. He was the perfect gentleman. Asking if I was okay and had a place to stay.”

  It sounded like the guy was just being nice and making sure she was functioning after her ordeal. He may have been asked to keep an eye on her by his former coworker.

  “Did you see him again?”

  “I tried, but he kept turning me down. So I followed him. Found out he was engaged. Arianne Manning was her name. She worked at the clinic with me and I never even knew about her involvement with the guy. If he were mine, I’d have shouted it to the world. But she acted like it was nothing to her. I had to get rid of that bitch and then he would be mine.”

  Arianne had taken that girl’s life and name. Valentina let her keep talking, knowing that would give Ryan time to save her. It was clear that she was going to end up like all the others if she wasn’t rescued soon.

  “I didn’t know how to do it, but while watching my favorite television show one night, I got an idea. Etorphine. Just a little dab will do ya. I found that out the hard way. Too much gives a person a heart attack. I like people to know why I’m killing them first, that they were preventing me from having my own safe place. My territory to call my own.” The woman was unhinged and Valentina’s heart raced.

  “Didn’t they notice the drug was gone? Isn’t it locked up?”

  “They rarely use that drug. The vet left his keys for the cabinet behind when he had an emergency call one day. I grabbed it and made a spare while I went to lunch. From then on it was easy. There were no cameras at the clinic. I withdrew the drug with a syringe and no one ever noticed.”

  Her captor was crazy but smart. “Then what did you do?”

  “I went after her. Asked her to help with a charity. Nobody turns that down. I picked her up, stabbed her with the needle, and threw her out of the car and into the river. They searched for a long time but didn’t find her. I don’t know if they ever did. Her fiancé was too upset over the loss and turned me down whenever I asked him out. I hid her wallet until I left town and then I took her name too.”

  “Were there others?”

  “Of course. The high and mighty Elizabeth LaGrander-Davis was a tramp and stepping out with the local police chief. I followed them to the motel that they use to meet at. After the chief left, I knocked on the door pretending to be housekeeping. When she turned around…” She made a stabbing motion with her hand. “Syringe in the neck and then a pillow over her face. You’re lucky. If I still had some, you’d be dead already.”

  That was a relief, but if someone didn’t get to her soon, she would be dead.

  “You’re very smart. So are you and Mr. Davis here together? Did he ask you to murder his wife?”

  “Hell no. The guy wasn’t even in town but he became a suspect. Every time someone went missing, they would question him. When I heard he was leaving town to come here and open shop, I followed. I wore a wig one day and bought a few things to leave at the scenes. We’d never met, but I thought better safe than sorry. And guess what? He became a suspect again.” She smiled and snapped her fingers. “I did make one mistake though. The Amy at the laundromat. She was the wrong one.”

  “What about the girl killed at the vet clinic here?” I have to keep her talking. Please come save me, Ryan.

  “My supply of etorphine was running low. I didn’t think anyone would be there so I picked the locked and went in the back. She surprised me. I had the drug with me and stuck her. The girl went down like a ton of bricks. I wasn’t thinking and gave her all I had left.” Arianne crossed her arms. “She clutched her chest. Had a heart attack. I searched everywhere but couldn’t find more of the drug. I panicked and ran out the front door. Right into the vet, Dr. Hutter. I made up a story, but when Officer Ryan came, I think he suspected me. That’s when I made up the tale about the coats. Everyone always falls for a charity case. Except for me.” She frowned. “No one wants me here.” There was a knife in her hand. Where had it come from?

  “What does any of this have to do with me?” It had to be that she was with Ryan. Of course that was it. She had to keep her talking. Take more minutes off the clock until he found her. She’d sent him a text right before they left the house. He had to come for her. He had to.

  “You took the best one. Ryan Donavan. The guy’s gorgeous. The first time I saw him walk by in his uniform my heart skipped a beat. I had to have him. I even had a date with him.” She grabbed Valentina by the shoulders and shook her before storming off to pace the room. “Then you came to town.”

  Valentina had never looked in the eyes of a psychopath before but she was now. The woman was a lunatic. That she thought being with a law enforcement officer was going to keep her safe and secure was almost laughable. It was the reason she’d been targeted and was about to lose her life. It was a struggle to keep her wits about her and not scream like a banshee. There was no one around who would hear her pleas and it might bring a faster death. Where was Ryan? Where was Roman? Dominic? Anyone? Sweat beaded on her brow and her legs trembled. She scanned the room for anything she could use as a weapon if she was able to get her hands loose. That task looked dimmer and dimmer with every minute.

  “What’s with the suitcases?” Valentina nodded to the bags.

  “Too much heat. I’m leaving town. Just two more to put in the car and then I’ll be moving on. Well, after I kill you, that is.” She took a step toward her and Valentina tried to move the chair back with her feet but it didn’t work. Her brain scrambled for a reason to stall.

  “The bags. You should put the rest in your car first. You wouldn’t want to get blood on them.” Valentina tried to dig at the tape with her finger nails and teeth when her captor was
n’t looking but it wouldn’t give.

  “Smart.” Arianne waved the knife up and down. “Yes, I’d better pack the car first. Then I can go right away. I heard you were a lawyer. Smart. Very smart.” She marched over to a bag and dragged it toward the door. The wheels rolled across the floor and made a thump when she pulled it outside. Her getaway car must have been right outside when they arrived to the store. Was it stolen?

  That task was repeated as she gathered the other bag and carried it out to the car. Valentina heard the sound of a trunk being shut. It might as well have been her coffin being shut as she was surely dead now. No one was coming to save her. She would die alone in some empty building. Valentina tried to move her legs but there was no give. Her wrists had to be bleeding from the stress and strain of trying to pull free.

  She panted. It was hard to get air. Fear like she’d never known raced through her veins. Why had she left the safety of her father’s house, or Roman’s for that matter? What would Ryan do when they told him she was gone? It had been his worst fear, to care about someone only to have them lost to him. Would he ever recover? She hoped so. He deserved better.

  Arianne, or whatever the hell her name was, entered the building and locked and shut the door behind her. The body has a fight or flight response in dangerous situations, and Valentina felt like the fight was over. She couldn’t get loose. But the Caponelli blood that flowed through her veins said the battle wasn’t over yet.

  The Housewife Killer leaned down. Her face calm, her eyes blank. The woman was insane. An icy feeling traveled down Val’s arm at this near death experience.

  “Are you ready to die now?” Arianne’s voice echoed in the quiet room.

  “Not yet, bitch.” Valentina jumped up, chair and all. Her head hit Arianne square in the jaw. It sent her backward to the ground and Valentina landed hard in the chair. Blood ran from the corner of Arianne’s mouth and she used the back of her hand to wipe it off. The sight of it caused her to giggle.