Killer Scents (21 page)

“You take the other side.”

His menacing tone quickened
Becca’s
step. They literally dragged Jacob outside and into the back of the SUV—ironically the precinct
’
s vehicle.
Do I dare take the tape from my mouth?
No, he’s already teetering on the edge
. I’ll
wait it out.

Seconds passed before the passenger door opened. “Get over, you’re driving.”

Becca scrambled over the console and slid in behind the wheel while Danny put the keys in the ignition and started the truck
. The entire time he
kept
his gun trained on her.

“Drive
.
W
hen you get to the road don’t stop
, just
turn right and step on it.”

Where are we going now?
She glanced in the mirror
and saw
Jacob in the exact same position they
’d
left him.
What set Danny off? A phone call? A message? Please let this mean help is on the way.

Randy punched the wall. “Dammit!” The feeling of
déjà vu
was becoming all too familiar
. He stooped to pick up a part of what once was a cell phone. Pieces of it lay strewn across the floor amidst broken furniture and puddles of blood. He swallowed the lump in his throat at the prospect of Becca being hurt.

Chief grabbed hold of his shirtsleeve as he ran past him toward the door.
“Come on! Let’s go! They can’t have more than a four or five minute lead.”

Randy squelched the rage rising up in him and spr
a
ng into action, reaching the SUV
at
the same time the chief
did
. He barely shut the door
before
gravel flew up from under the tires
and
the car lurched forward. Chief flipped on the lights,
follow
ing
the strip of rubber at the end
of the lane,
and
then
stepped on the gas.

“Where could they be headed in this direction? There’s only farm land for miles.” Randy strained to see the passengers in passing vehicles.

“Danny can be somewhat anal when it comes to details. Trust me, he knows exactly where he’s going.”

Randy shrugged. “Maybe not. How could he know Jacob would show up? If it wasn’t for Jeffery’s message, we would
’
ve arrived unexpected
ly
.”
He
smacked the dash.
“
Why did I
ask him to
call?”

“Give yourself a break, kid. We had no way of knowing he’d take Becca there.”

Randy raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t think he planned to. He probably got wind of the dogs coming and didn’t know where to go, so he went to the closest place he knew.”

“Look, up ahead.” Chief pointed
at
fresh skid marks turning into a storage unit facility. There had to be a hundred of them, side by side, row upon row.

Chief pulled in at a portable office. A sign on the door
stated: Call for Assistance
.

“Get the guy with the keys over her
e
right away
,
” Randy
barked the order at
the officers in the back seat.
“
We’re going to need a few men out here or we’ll be days going through these entire
units
one at a time.”

Becca couldn’t shake the mounting despair after leaving the storage unit
. By now a team of officers were going from one unit to the next in search of her and now Jacob. They’d have no reason to suspect Danny’s clever diversion.
He had her driving down a dirt road
towards an old farm house with a For Sale sign at the end of the lane.

Did Danny already know about this place? Surely he can’t be winging it as he goes along?

Jacob now moaned much of the time, undoubtedly in a great deal of pain from his various injuries.

“Pull in around back.” Danny straightened in his seat. The second she put the truck in park, he reached over and took the keys.
“Get out and help me carry him inside.”

Physically and emotionally drained, it took everything in her to help carry him to the house.
The old wooden door swung open with a kick, and they brought Jacob inside. Sparse furniture littered the main floor they passed through to lay Jacob on an
threadbare
sofa.

He waved the gun under her nose. “
Grab a chair
.”

Reluctantly Becca did as asked, knowing full well it was meant for her. Danny held her firmly in place with strength belying his size. This time he wrapped the tape from torso to ankles, leaving her no chance of escaping.

Once he’d finished with her, he pulled another
chair
to sit between them.
He
slipped
h
is hand in the side pocket of his khaki’s
.
E
verything seemed to freeze in place
once he held
the syringe up between them.

“Now, I do believe I
’
ve bought us a little time to do things properly.”

Jacob look
ed over
at her. “Becca
,
”
h
e rasped
.

“How wonderful of you to come back to us. You
r
timing couldn’t be more perfect.” Danny flew from his chair and drove the need
l
e into Jacob’s arm, injecting half of the clear liquid.

She screamed into the tape. Jacob’s body bucked once before becoming completely still.
Oh
,
my God, no!

Danny smiled devilishly and turned Jacob’s head to face her. The blocker had done its job
. Not enough to kill him, but seemingly the right dosage to render
Jacob a virtual prisoner in his own body.

Becca made a futile attempt to get free from her bindings as Danny stood and sashayed across the room, needle in hand. Every expression, every move of her captor resonated shear madness. His laughter chilled her to the core. The Florist smiled and stradd
led
her.

“You look like you have something to say.” With no regard, he ripped the tape
from her face, drawing blood.

“Danny, please, you don’t have to do this. Jacob hasn’t done anything wrong.”

He snarled. “Oh no? That prick took the only man I have ever loved from me. He deserves everything I have planned for him, and more.”

“Danny, I’m begging
you not to use that on me. I’ll do anything you tell me to do. I can help you get away. I have a little money tucked away. It’s all yours, just
please
—”

He
traced her bleeding lips
with his index finger
and held up the syringe between them, spurting out a little stream of the drug. “It wouldn’t be fair if Jacob has all the fun, now would it?”

He kept his gaze trained on her
while he
jabbed the needle in her arm. A scream died in her throat
and
her muscles relaxed until she couldn’t even part her lips.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“This is ridiculous. We’ve been at this for over an hour and we’re no closer to finding them than we were when we started.”
Randy paced back and forth.

Chief’s radio crackled. “Chief, come to unit seven-two-four.”

Randy
clutched at his chest
as he climbed in the truck with the chief and tore off to find the unit. Several officers huddled
in
front of open bay doors.

“What do we have here?” Chief asked and stepped.

A tall, plain-clothed detective ushered him forward. “It’s
Danny’s truck.”

Randy ran into the unit and looked in the windows. “Empty.” He took a pair of gloves from his vest pocket and put them on before opening the back hatch. Bitter bile rose
in
his throat as the stench wafted out.
S
omeone’s
blood
stained
a
large patch of rug.
Whose
blood
is it?

His boss put
a hand on
his shoulder
and squeezed
. “I know what you’re thinking. If one of them is dead, don’t you think he would’ve left the body rather than cart it around with him?”

Randy nodded, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Maybe they’re not dead,
but one of them is bleeding badly. A person can only lose so much blood and survive.” He walked over to the passenger door and carefully opened it
.
The driver’s seat was also
bloodied
. “I wonder if Danny drove or if he forced one of them do it?”

A glint of silver on the
driver’s side floor mat caught his attention.
Randy rounded the front of the truck and swung the door
open.

“
It’s a ring
—Becca’s
pinky ring. She’s letting us know she’s alive.” A rush of adrenaline urged him to look for further evidence. “She had to be the one driving.”

“That means it
’
s Jacob
who’s
hurt.” Chief
raked his fingers through his hair
.

“Does this mean you’re done with me?” The silver-haired caretaker jangled his key ring.

Chief shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”

“I’ll go look up the file on this unit. Back in a flash.”

“Jerry, call in and find out if Danny has any other vehicles registered in his name
.
”

Jerry jogged over to one of the squad cars.

“Now what? We were probably minutes behind them when we got here. Now they’ve got at least an hour’s lead
.
” Randy started to pace
yet again
, frustrated beyond words.

“You’re forgetting Danny’s a cop. He knows to stay out of sight. My guess is
that’s
he’s not gone far at all.”