Someone skittered into the hole under the assumption that it would provide safety, and Tyler fired a shot into his face, proving the assumption false.
Light streamed down through a bloody floor that had begun to resemble Swiss cheese, while the gasps of the dying, mixed with the moans of the wounded, amid the pounding sounds of retreating feet.
***
Mr. Brown was inside the office and could not believe what he was seeing.
He had them, he had all three of them right where he wanted them, and there was no way out.
How the hell did they survive all those damn bullets?
The sound of running footsteps approached the door and Brown grabbed up his pistol, along with a sawed-off shotgun. When the door opened, two large men in body armor filled it, blocking out the light, and then came towards him.
He cried out in fright, while firing both barrels of the shotgun and watched the men fall to the floor and die. He was laughing with glee until he remembered, and then he felt like a fool.
The two on the floor were the actors he had hired to impersonate the devils with the body armor; they had not only fooled Darnell, but now him.
More footsteps approached and the fake Darnell crept into the room. Brown hired him the moment he saw his headshots, the man looked so much like Darnell that even now he felt like shooting him.
“Mr. Brown, shit, you killed Toby and Kevin.”
It was the exact wrong thing to say, and Brown shot the fake Darnell four times, killing him.
A banging sound came from behind and Brown spun in time to see the base of the wall break in, then, more wallboard crumbled, and the real Darnell stuck his head through the hole.
“Oh shit,”
***
A shaft of light exploded at the other end of the narrow channel, and then he watched as Darnell disappeared into it.
He crawled closer to Tyler, and saw that his friend was looking worse.
“How are you?”
“I’m hanging in there, but I need a doctor,”
“Follow me; it looks like Darnell made an exit.”
They crawled along the tight space, which had become slick and sticky with the dripping blood of the dead men above, and he could tell that Tyler was now in pain, as he grunted from the exertion.
When they reached the office, they saw the two dead men dressed in faux armor, and the look-a-like dressed as Darnell, and realized how the trap must have been set-up.
Tyler sat leaning against a wall as he took out his phone.
“I’m calling Lawson, while I’m doing that, you hunt down Darnell.”
He hesitated to leave.
“You’re sure you’ll be all right?”
“I’ll make it, now go, get that son of a bitch for Szabo.”
“Keep your gun handy, there still might be men lurking around,”
“I’ll be ready for them.”
He left Tyler, went out into the hallway and saw a steel door open at the end of the corridor that led outside.
As he crossed the threshold, four shots sounded and he heard a man screaming in pain. It was coming from the darkness of the trees.
He discovered Mr. Brown lying against the base of an oak, sitting in a puddle of his own blood, his gun lying a yard away. He was still alive, but mortally wounded, and he guessed that it was intentional. Darnell had wanted the man to suffer.
Darnell was big on torture. Szabo had learned that lesson.
Brown gazed up at him with dimming eyes and then managed to raise a finger, indicating east.
In gratitude, he was going to end the suffering, but Brown died before he could aim his weapon.
He headed east as indicated, toward the outer buildings and saw Darnell in the distance, a greenish figure in the darkness through the lens of the visor’s night vision. After steadying his gun in both hands, he took careful aim, and fired.
***
Twelve hours later
Tyler had lost a considerable amount of blood, but was expected to fully recover and was due to return home the next day.
Lawson’s team handled the clean-up under the flag of national security and made certain that the truth of the incident would never see the papers or TV.
He and Jessica were staying until Tyler’s return, and would be leaving the following afternoon, and while Kari visited Tyler in the hospital, they said goodbye to Jace, as he walked towards his rental.
“Thanks again, Jace, and keep in touch.”
“I think Lawson will see to that,”
Jessica kissed him on the cheek.
“Kari and I enjoyed the company, and felt safer with you here.”
“That was the idea, but I missed all the fun, by the way, any news on Darnell?”
“No, it looks like he may have gone underground.”
“He shows up, you call me,”
“I’ll do that.”
***
1:37 a.m.
He had left the house soundlessly, and made the trip without being observed, then, he slipped past the Do Not Trespass signs and walked the path through the trees.
Behind him, the Penny Lanes Bowling Alley sat dark and devoid of life, but he was headed for one of the outer buildings, where he knew someone could be found.
The shot he fired on the previous night had wounded Darnell in the heel of his right foot, causing him to stumble and fall down an embankment. When he caught up to him, he found him lying unconscious and bleeding from his scalp.
He restrained him, picked him up, and placed him inside one of the crumbling storage buildings with a gag in his mouth, and his wrists and ankles secured to metal pipes.
He had plans for Darnell.
He was going to pay for what he did to Szabo, and he was going to pay in kind.
When the metal door screeched upon opening, he heard Darnell stir, then, he turned on the lantern and gazed at his face.
Darnell’s eyes spoke of hate, but they also spoke of fear, and when he walked over with the blowtorch, and then lit it, fear won the day.
As Darnell panicked and fought frantically to free himself from the restraints, he watched him without a shred of pity showing on his face, as memories of Szabo’s last moments flickered through his mind.
“What you did to Szabo... what you had done to him. That crossed the line.”
Darnell didn’t hear him.
Darnell wasn’t aware of anything but the white hot flame getting closer to his eyes.
But then, the flame went out,
In relief, Darnell slumped against the wall, huffing around the gag, soaked in the sweat of fear.
Their eyes met, and he spoke to him again.
“I’m a better man than this,” he said, and there was a tone, a texture of surprise in his voice.
He took out his gun, shot Darnell twice in the head, and then went home to his pregnant wife.
TAKEN! – PUT ASUNDER
by
REMINGTON KANE
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to Charlene Coble, TAKEN!’s first fan.
Thanks Charlene!
CHAPTER 1
Sand Island, New Jersey
A family member was getting married and Jessica and her husband made the trip to New Jersey for the wedding. Jessica’s young cousin, Virginia Wessel, was to marry Craig Morgan.
Virginia’s father, George Wessel, wed Jessica’s aunt while he was a struggling software engineer, but in the intervening decades, Wessel had started his own company and become quite wealthy.
Despite the fact that it was early December, the temperature was expected to climb into the sixties, and sunlight sparkled off the waters of the Harborton Bay.
The wedding was taking place on Sand Island, an artificial island resort, and George Wessel had rented the entire eight-story hotel for the guests, as well as the bar located within it, a nightclub named, Perpetuity.
The ceremony was to take place inside the hotel’s ballroom, but the bride insisted on moving it outdoor
s when the day dawned bright and warm.
Jessica was sitting at a table with her husband, while people watching the other guests inside the club, when she spotted a pair of familiar faces. They were a young couple, the woman was Asian and the man, blond, and they were smiling and holding each other’s hand.
“Carly, Michael, hi,”
Carly Zhang looked over at them and grinned.
“Dr. White, oh, it’s so good to see you, and you also, sir.”
He smiled. “Hello Carly, Michael,”
Carly pointed at Jessica.
“Wow, you’ve gotten big, when is the baby due?”
“In a few weeks, and it’s babies, not baby, we found out that we’re having twins.”
Carly shrieked.
“Oh my God, oh that’s so great, congratulations, but what are their sexes?”
“That we don’t know yet; we want to be surprised.”
“You must be so happy,”
“We are, and also a bit overwhelmed,”
“I want to congratulate you on your book too. I read it last week and it was fantastic. It actually reads like a novel.”
“That was intentional. I wanted people to know what it’s like to be inside the mind of a serial killer.”
“You certainly did that, Doctor. There were times that I shivered while reading it, but I also couldn’t put it down.”
Jessica grinned.
“That’s the best compliment I could ask for.”
“Are you two friends of the bride or the groom?” her husband asked.
“The groom, sir, Michael was Craig’s fraternity brother.”
“Virginia is my cousin, my mother and her mother were sisters,” Jessica said.
Michael grinned. “Small world, huh?”
“Too small,” Jessica said, as she spotted yet another familiar face.
The others followed her gaze and saw an older man entering the club with a little girl holding his hand. The man was Brendan Ryan, a billionaire industrialist, and the child was his granddaughter, Samantha.
Samantha was dressed in a pink lace dress that fell to her ankles, while atop her head was perched an intricate hat with real flowers, attached to it by the use of decorative hat pins with honey bees at their tips. The ensemble made her look like a tiny adult.
When Samantha spotted him, she released her grandfather’s hand and ran towards them.
“Mr. White!”
“Hello Samantha, how are you?”
“I’m good, what are you doing here?”
“The bride is family, but say hello to Jessica, Carly, and Michael.”
Samantha looked up at Carly and Michael.
“Hello, are you friends of Mr. White?”
Carly smiled.
“Yes we are sweetie, but his name isn’t really Mr. White,”
“I know, but that’s what I call him, and are you friends of his first wife too?”
Carly sent Jessica a confused look.
“First wife?”
Samantha took his hand and explained, as she pointed at Jessica.
“She’s his first wife, but I’ll be his last,”
“Oh really?” Jessica said.
“Someone has a crush on you,” Carly told him in a singsong voice, and then she began leading Michael away. “Goodbye Doctor, sir, and good luck.”
Brendan Ryan walked over and greeted them with a smile.
“Dr. White, I see that you’re expecting, congratulations.”
“Thank you, Mr. Ryan, and is Mrs. Ryan with you?”
“No, unfortunately she was under the weather, but I felt the need to make an appearance anyway. George Wessel is a close business associate.”
“He’s my uncle, although my aunt and he are divorced now.”
Brendan Ryan looked pensive for a moment, but then spoke to him.
“There’s something that I’d like to speak to your wife about, would you be kind enough to watch Samantha for a few moments?”
“Certainly, come along Samantha,”
Ryan watched them as they walked away.
“I’ll never be able to thank your husband enough for saving Samantha from that kidnapper, and my granddaughter likes him a great deal, and it seems mutual, which gladdens me. The child has so few friends, no, that’s not right, actually Samantha has no friends.”
Jessica looked at him carefully.
“Something is bothering you, what is it?”
“We didn’t just happen to meet today. I learned you would be here and made a point of coming. I wanted to talk to you... concerning your earlier warning about my granddaughter’s... problem.”
“Has something happened, sir?”
“Lately, I’ve seen signs, signs that tell me that Samantha may not be quite normal.”
“What sort of signs?”
Ryan sighed.
“This is difficult to speak of,”
In a voice barely above a whisper, Jessica asked a question.
“Has she harmed someone?”
“God no, however... she’s had several pets over the last few months, but they either ran away or mysteriously disappeared, or so I thought, until I discovered Samantha with their remains.”
“I see.”
“While I can’t, won’t, believe that she killed her parents, I do believe that you’re correct when you say that she’s different, that she has problems, and I’d like your help.”
“What would you like me to do?”
“I’d like you to begin seeing her, as a psychiatrist,”
“Sir, I’ve never treated a child, perhaps you should look for a specialist.”
“I tried that three times. She refuses to say a word to anyone, but she’ll talk to you. She likes you and your husband a great deal.”
“My husband is fond of her as well, and he believes that she’s a good person.”
“Fine, then if you won’t help her for my sake, than please do so for his. Prove your husband right and keep my granddaughter from straying down the wrong path.”
“I’ll discuss it with my husband and then I’ll give you an answer, alright?”
“Yes, and thank you, Doctor, I love that little girl to death.”
Jessica smiled.
“That’s good to hear, because only love can heal her.”
***
Samantha swung her legs back and forth as she sat perched atop a bar stool sipping on fruit punch.
“What is your grandfather discussing?”
“Me, he found me in the woods while I was dissecting animals.”
“Why did you do that?”
“I wanted to see what was inside. I think it scared him.”
“I think you’re right. I also think that it’s not like you to be careless enough to get caught.”
Samantha broke eye contact, and then dug into the small purse on her shoulder.
“Look, Billy got me a new phone, and this one takes pictures, but I kept the same number.”
“How is Billy doing?”
“He’s sad a lot. He misses Maria, and so do I.”
“About those animals...”
“Yeah?”
“You shouldn’t kill them.”
“Why? They’re not people,”
“They’re innocents, and killing the innocent is wrong,”
“Like the way Jack killed Maria?”
“Similar, yes.”
Samantha said nothing for a while as she sipped the rest of her drink, but when she was finished, she spoke.
“I won’t kill animals again, only bad people, okay?”
He smiled.
“Define, ‘bad.”
***
Standing nearby, Skye and Cassie Quinlan watched Jessica’s husband with great interest.
The twins were nighttime hostesses at Perpetuity and were professional partyers. The vivacious blondes had tripled the club’s attendance with the under-thirty crowd and placed Perpetuity on the map for hot nightspots.
Skye grabbed her sister
’s arm excitedly.
“Is he the hottest thing you’ve ever seen, or what?”
“I thought I would faint when he walked past us, did you see the way he moves. It’s like he’s made of silk,” Cassie said.
“And those eyes, if he wasn’t so hot they’d be scary.”
“And he’s tall; you know that I love them tall.”
“He’s married to that pregnant blonde, and I guess the little girl is his too.”
“Married or not, I’ve got to have him.”
“You mean we, there’s no way he’ll turn us both down.”
“How do we get him alone?”
Skye smiled. “Leave that to me, but first, we have to keep the wife busy.”
***
Inside the hotel, two men entered the indoor pool and closed the door behind them. After taking a seat at a poolside table, they began to talk.
The Sand Hotel pool was thirty meters long, heated, and positioned below a glass dance floor that sat fifteen feet overhead, at the peak of summer, the pool was a massive attraction to visiting tourists, who could be dancing one moment and then walk down a curving ramp for a swim the next.
The pool was so popular during the summer that it often had a waiting list and required three full-time lifeguards.
One of the men was the groom-to-be, Craig Morgan. He was shorter than the other man was, but still above average in height, with dark hair and eyes.
The other man had prematurely white hair with a body that proclaimed his youth. His eyes were an intense ice blue, and he was dressed in a suit, but wore no tie.
He simply went by the name of Blake.
Blake pointed up at the dance floor, where a maintenance worker appeared to be checking the lighting system.
“He can’t hear us up there, can he?”
“No, not with that glass floor between us,”
“This pool must attract the perverts; anyone in it can look right up the ladies skirts when they dance.”
“They’re probably all wearing bikinis.”
“Yeah, you’re right, but so much the better, huh?”
“I’m not here to talk about women; I want to know if you’re ready to act.”
“As soon as George Wessel shows, the countdown begins, but are you sure you want the hit to take place right after the wedding?”
“Yes, that’s very important.”
The TAKEN! Series - Books 9-12 (Taken! Box Set Book 3) Page 16
