by Sharon Dunn
She didn’t know anything yet for sure. Even as she tried to convince herself that her fear was unwarranted, thoughts of the threat that had been made against Bethany only days ago overwhelmed her.
Lexi stirred at her feet and looked up at her.
The phone rang so suddenly, she nearly dropped it. She pressed the receive button expecting to hear Mrs. Witherspoon’s chirpy voice.
“Valerie?”
Normally, Trevor’s voice would have brought a sense of relief, but not this time.
“Oh, Trevor.” She still couldn’t let go of her fear.
“Listen, I don’t think Murke is going to show. I got your text. Where is your patrol car at right now?”
“I’m not too far from the warehouse district where we first saw Murke.”
“Is everything okay? You sound upset.”
Invisible weight pressed on her heart. “Trevor, I...think I’m going to drive back home real quick.” She wouldn’t be able to let go of this distress until she saw that Bethany and Mrs. Witherspoon were safe and sound.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s just...I’m worried about Bethany. I need to check on her. It’s probably nothing, but Mrs. Witherspoon called and hung up...and now she’s not answering her phone at all.”
“I’ll meet you over there,” Trevor said, concern saturating his voice.
“It might be nothing...” said Valerie.
“We can’t take that kind of a chance with Bethany, can we?” Trevor said.
“No, we can’t.” She liked the way he used the word we and how willing he was to drop everything just to check on Bethany.
Valerie left the abandoned auto shop and stepped out onto the street. Lexi’s ears perked up as her attention was drawn up the block. A black dog crawled out from underneath a pile of old tires and rubble.
To the trained eye, the dog was clearly not a German shepherd. But children eager to help her find Rio could have easily made such a mistake. The dog offered them a passing glance as it slinked away.
Valerie jogged back to the patrol car, stashed Lexi in the back and slid into the driver’s seat. As she pulled away from the curb, she glanced in the rearview mirror at a woman pushing a baby carriage up the sidewalk. Anxiety twisted her stomach into knots.
The car gained speed and she prayed that Mrs. Witherspoon and her precious Bethany were okay.
* * *
Rising tension bunched the muscles at the back of Trevor’s neck. Traffic moved at a snail’s pace as the streets filled up with commuters. He never should have separated from Valerie. If he had just stayed with her, they could have gone back to her house together.
He and Jackson had staked out the truck stop for over three hours. The only good thing that had made the morning not a total waste of time was that one of the waitresses had remembered serving Murke the night before. If this was Murke’s new favorite hangout, they’d catch up with him soon enough.
His thoughts drifted back to Valerie. While Lexi provided some protection, he didn’t like the idea of her being in the patrol car alone after what had happened last night. The dog would be no help at all if someone decided to run Valerie off the road.
Three cars behind him, Jackson Worth sat in his patrol car with his dog Titan. He had offered to go with Trevor to check on Valerie and Bethany.
The cars came to a complete halt behind a red light. The traffic was so backed up in this part of town, it would be several light changes before he even got through the intersection.
Valerie had sounded so afraid over the phone. His longing to be with her and comfort her made him want to jump out of the car and run the rest of the way to her house.
He gripped the steering wheel. Of course that wasn’t rational. Even with the cars moving as slowly as they were, he couldn’t run the mile or so to her house faster than driving.
Trevor shook his head. He’d had lots of irrational thoughts like that in the days since he’d met Valerie.
He had always thought of himself as a guy with two feet planted solidly on the ground, a reasoned and dependable problem solver. Not so, when it came to Valerie.
He gripped the steering wheel with clammy palms. If anything had happened to Bethany...
Valerie hadn’t said anything on the phone, but when she had suggested that Mrs. Witherspoon might not be okay, the first thought he had was of the Serpent.
His stomach clenched.
He looked out the window at the clear blue sky. The concern could be over nothing, too. Maybe Mrs. Witherspoon had just dropped her phone and couldn’t get to it.
He glared at the red light, willing it to change.
* * *
Valerie pulled up to the curb of her house and jumped out of the patrol car, opening the back door so Lexi could get out, as well. No strange cars were parked on the street. The neighborhood was quiet. Unlike the neighborhood she patrolled, this area of town had mostly working couples without children, and senior citizens.
Only the sound of sprinklers and a car pulling into Mrs. Witherspoon’s apartment building parking lot disturbed the silence.
On her drive over, she had tried Mrs. Witherspoon’s phone number several more times. Each time the call went to message, the weight on her chest increased until she felt like she couldn’t breathe at all.
Lexi’s feet tapped on the sidewalk as they made their way toward her front door. Valerie twisted the doorknob and stepped inside.
“Hello, Mrs. Witherspoon? It’s me, Valerie.”
The ceiling fan twisted above her, making a slight whirring sound.
Valerie’s throat constricted as her heartbeat drummed in her ears. “Mrs. Witherspoon?” Her voice cracked. “Beth—any?”
From this angle, it didn’t look like anyone was in the kitchen. Still, the hair on the back of her neck stood up. Bethany’s stroller was by the door. Mrs. Witherspoon hadn’t stepped out with her.
She walked toward the sliding glass doors with Lexi trailing behind her. The dog stopped suddenly and made a noise that was somewhere between a whine and a growl.
Bethany’s bottle was on the counter, and there was a pot on the stove with steam rising out of it. Valerie ran around the island. Mrs. Witherspoon lay crumbled on the floor, not moving. Had she had a heart attack?
As she kneeled to check for a pulse, Valerie’s mind raced at lightning speed. Where was Bethany? Mrs. Witherspoon was alive but unresponsive.
Valerie rose to her feet, intending to look for Bethany. Her finger touched her shoulder mic as she prepared to call for an ambulance for Mrs. Witherspoon when she noticed the sliding glass door to the patio was open. Valerie commanded Lexi to search the yard. A woman stepped out from behind her patio curtains and slid it shut, trapping Lexi outside. The woman ran toward Valerie.
Valerie had only a second to register that it was Arianna holding a canister of something. The Serpent lifted her hand and sprayed Valerie’s face. The sting was instantaneous. Her nose and eyes felt like they were on fire.
She heard Lexi scratching frantically at the patio door. Her bark was muffled by the glass.
Unable to breathe and with limited vision, Valerie reached for her gun even as she reeled backward toward the island.
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Arianna grabbed her hand and twisted it, trying to pull the gun free.
Her eyelids felt like they had hot acid poured on them. She closed her eyes against the pain. She held on to the gun while Arianna clawed at her arm.
Arianna grabbed Valerie’s shoulder mic, ripped it off and threw it against a wall.
Behind her, she could hear the pot boiling. She reached back for it and flung it toward where she thought Arianna was.
She was rewarded with a blood-curdling screech. Hot water sprayed across her arm, as well, and she let go of the gun involuntarily. She heard it hit the floor, but couldn’t see where it landed.
As she struggled to orient herself with limited vision, Arianna grabbed her by the hair and dragged her across the room. Va
lerie tried to twist free. The swelling inside her mouth and nose made it hard to breathe. Arianna pushed Valerie to the floor and bound her hands and feet with what felt like a scarf. She could barely keep her eyes open from the pain.
As she listened to Lexi’s frantic barks outside, Valerie’s anger intensified. She could not give up. All she had to do was stay alive until Trevor got here.
“What have you done with Bethany?” Her voice didn’t even sound like her, filled with agony and terror.
“The same thing I am going to do to you,” Arianna retorted.
Terror collided with her resolve at every turn. She would not let herself think about what might have happened to Bethany. “They will catch you.”
“Fires are accidents, my dear, and that is what this is going to look like.” Arianna spat out her words.
The Serpent’s voice chilled Valerie to the bone. An image flashed through Valerie’s head. Arianna had been wearing gloves when she stepped from behind the curtain. Even if anything from the fire survived, there would be no evidence that Arianna had ever been here. Valerie had been lured here. It was probably Arianna who had made the phone call after knocking out Mrs. Witherspoon.
Arianna patted Valerie’s bound hands. “Don’t worry. Those will come off once the fire gets going. We don’t want any signs of foul play, and I have a way of making sure you don’t escape the fire.” When Arianna stood close, Valerie could see where the hot water had burned the Serpent’s arm. Her shoulder was soaked with water, as well.
The Serpent’s voice grew a bit more distant as her heels tapped back into the kitchen and Valerie could hear her moving around in that room. “Your foolish old housekeeper left the stove on and it caught on fire. You came home and tried to stop the fire, but were overcome by smoke inhalation.”
In the living room, Valerie struggled to break free of her bindings. Her instinct was to close her eyes against the pain from the pepper spray, but she forced them open. Every time the Serpent turned her back or looked away she wiggled her feet, loosening the bindings.
Arianna poured oil on a dishrag, turned the flame up on the gas stove and set the rag beside it. Flames shot up from the stove.
“I have fellow officers coming.”
“Sure you do.” As the flames spread across the countertop, Arianna poured more oil and added newspapers and magazines to the growing fire.
“They will be here any minute,” Valerie said.
Arianna cackled.
What was keeping Trevor and Jackson, anyway? They should have been here by now. She had to hold on.
Though she held her feet together to make it look like she was still bound, all she had to do was slip out of the loose restraints. Her hands were tied more tightly behind her back. She pulled the fabric and twisted her hands to loosen the restraints.
Arianna retrieved her purse and pulled out a hypodermic needle.
Valerie had a feeling it contained the same drug that had been used on Lexi a few nights ago. If she was not able to move, it would indeed look like she had come through the door and been overcome by smoke inhalation. The flames on the countertop grew higher as the room filled with smoke.
Arianna moved toward her with the needle pointing straight up. Valerie could see her gun sitting on a chair by the island. The flames had engulfed most of the island as bits of burning debris fell to the floor.
On the other side of the island, Mrs. Witherspoon coughed. Would she wake up in time?
Valerie’s vision was still fuzzy as though petroleum jelly was smeared across her eyes. Arianna drew closer.
She had to wait for the exact moment to pounce on Arianna. Too soon, and the Serpent would have time to move away. Too late and the needle would be embedded in her flesh, poison sinking in and paralyzing her.
Still standing, Arianna lifted the needle. Valerie had expected her to kneel on the floor beside her. Valerie worked free of her loose bindings and scooted away as Arianna brought the needle down toward her shoulder.
She grabbed Arianna’s foot, pulling her off balance. Arianna crashed to the floor, but didn’t drop the needle. Arianna lunged toward Valerie, but she angled out of the way and scrambled across the floor toward the gun.
Though her eyes still stung, her vision started to clear.
Arianna grabbed her foot. The grip was like an iron claw around her ankle. Valerie flipped back over and kicked Arianna, landing a blow to her burned shoulder. Arianna let go of her. Valerie coughed from the accumulating smoke as she ran to grab the gun by the island. Mrs. Witherspoon groaned and coughed. She must be coming to.
Lexi howled at the sliding glass door.
Valerie wrapped her fingers around the gun. Arianna pounced on her. The gun flew out of her hand. The two women scrambled across the floor toward the gun.
A stack of magazines by the kitchen island caught fire. The smoke thickened.
Arianna retrieved the gun and jumped to her feet. She pointed the gun at Valerie, who was still on her knees.
“Fine. I’ll shoot you if that’s the way you want it.” She lifted the gun and took aim.
Valerie’s breath caught as she stared down the barrel of the gun. What would happen to Bethany if she wasn’t around to take care of her? Where was she now?
Lord, keep her safe. Whatever happens to me, keep that little girl safe.
Arianna’s lips curled into a sneer. She put her finger on the trigger.
Trevor burst through the door with Jackson on his heels. He fired two shots. Arianna slumped to the floor.
Jackson kneeled on the floor beside the dying woman. He leaned close to the Serpent while she whispered something to him. Her body went limp and motionless. He called for an ambulance and then grabbed a wool throw from the living room and began to swat at the fire.
Trevor gathered Valerie into his arms.
Valerie was shaking uncontrollably. She clung to Trevor while her heart pounded against her rib cage and her thoughts raced at lightning speed. “I need to find Bethany. I need to find my daughter.”
Trevor let her go and rushed over to put the fire out. “Get out of the house.”
Valerie stumbled toward the stairs. “I have to find Bethany.” She still couldn’t see clearly. She reached out for the banister which guided her to the top of the stairs. She held a hand out and pushed open the door of her bedroom.
Bethany lay in her bed. As Valerie drew close, Bethany did not stir or cry out.
Valerie fell to her knees, weeping and shaking. She heard the shrill scream of ambulances and fire trucks growing louder.
SEVENTEEN
Though his first instinct was to follow Valerie up the stairs, Trevor helped Jackson subdue the flames that were spreading across the kitchen counter. His gut twisted from thinking about what might have happened to Bethany.
Arianna lay prone and lifeless on the floor. When Trevor came around the island, he saw Mrs. Witherspoon on the kitchen floor. He kneeled. The older woman still had a pulse. He lifted her up and carried her outside.
Lexi howled and barked, clawing at the door.
Trevor found himself longing to be with Valerie. Was Bethany upstairs? Was she safe or had the syndicate made good on their threat and harmed her? His heart ached over the possibility.
“We need to get everybody out of here.” Jackson opened doors and windows as the ambulance and fire truck sirens wailed through the city, growing louder and closer.
Trevor raced up the stairs. He found Valerie on the floor of her bedroom clinging to Bethany. The little girl was motionless in her arms.
His chest squeezed tight. “Is she...?” He couldn’t say the words, his throat tightened with pent-up anguish.
Valerie looked up at him. Her green eyes glazed with tears.
Bethany lifted her head off Valerie’s shoulder and turned to look at Trevor.
“She’s all right.” Valerie’s voice faltered. “She slept through the whole thing.”
A flood of love and joy that he had never known before brough
t tears to Trevor’s eyes. He wrapped Valerie and Bethany in his arms. They were safe.
He couldn’t imagine life without the two of them. He didn’t know what he was to Valerie. His feelings for her were stronger than ever, but what did she think of him?
Valerie’s eyes were swollen. He could see the effects of pepper spray.
“We need to get you ladies downstairs and outside until the smoke clears.” He led the two of them downstairs.
When they got downstairs, Arianna’s body was being loaded onto a stretcher.
Trevor helped Valerie over to the ambulance where Mrs. Witherspoon had come to. The older woman held an oxygen mask to her face and had a blanket around her shoulders. She greeted Bethany and Valerie with a fierce hug.
Valerie repeated over and over, “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Trevor spoke to one of the EMTs. “Valerie was sprayed with pepper spray.”
“The effects will wear off in about forty-five minutes.” The EMT rose to his feet and opened a drawer in the back of the ambulance. “I have some drops to help cleanse your eyes.”
He took the drops from the EMT. “Valerie, I got something for your eyes.”
Valerie handed Bethany over to Mrs. Witherspoon and turned toward him. “Thank you. They’re still stinging.”
She tilted her head back. Standing close to her, he touched her cheek and put the drops in. She bent her head and blinked.
“Better?”
She nodded.
Lexi came bounding around the house. Someone must have let her out of the backyard. She ran past Trevor, not even seeing him.
As Valerie kneeled beside him and spoke soothingly to the dog, he realized that was the bottom line. Even if Bethany and Valerie would welcome him into their lives, the dog didn’t totally trust him. Lexi would do the job she was trained to do, but she had not given any indication that she had bonded to Trevor. She tolerated his presence because she was such a well-behaved dog, but he was still an outsider to her.
Valerie stroked the dog’s face and ears. “Poor girl, I know you wanted to help me.” The dog licked Valerie’s face.
