“Sounds like someone needs to ease up on the caffeine.” David’s voice held a note of uneasiness beneath the affability.
Removing the phone from his ear, Brad stared at it, then returned it to position. Downing didn’t know Kate was safe. That had to be why he was acting as though nothing had happened. Could he really be so oblivious as to think Brad didn’t know about his involvement with Ramsey?
“Hey, you still there?” The uneasiness gave way to obvious nervousness.
Brad played along. “Yeah. Sorry. Long, hectic day. I’ve been trying to reach you for a couple of hours now. Where’ve you been?”
“I had some things to take care of, but I didn’t see any missed calls from you on my cell. Doesn’t matter. I called because I need to talk you.”
“Shoot.” Which was exactly what Brad wanted to do.
“I’d prefer to do it in person if you can get away.”
Not on your life.
The odds that Downing knew Kate had escaped were good. Brad didn’t know the exact location of the house but, as far as the timeline went, there was an open window. “I’ve got some things going on right now, so I can’t leave. It’s nothing you can talk about on the phone?”
Downing expelled a loud breath of air. “How about just a walk outside your house?”
Brad knew the answer before he asked. The dumb bastard had actually come to his house. “What are you talking about?”
“I know this is going to sound strange, especially since I didn’t come to the door, but I’m in your front yard.”
“I’ll be right there.” And Downing had better pray Brad got better control of himself before he met his soon-to-be-former deputy warden face-to-face again.
Trying to tame his temper, Brad left through the back door just off the kitchen because Downing would be expecting him to exit through the front door. Common sense told him to call Captain Roddingham first, but he was running on pure instinct at that moment.
He came around the corner of his house, saw Downing dancing from one foot to the other next to the trash cans. His insides churning, he debated giving Downing the chance to tell his side of the story before breaking the guy’s nose, but pure rage won out.
Brad waited until he was less than a foot away before he snapped out each furious word. “Did you come to confess or ask for absolution? Because I have to tell you, I’m fresh out of forgiveness right now, and I’ve never claimed to be a priest.”
“Wh-what? What do you mean?” Downing took several steps back, flicked a glance up at the street light. “I don’t know—”
Brad snatched hold of his collar and jammed him against the privacy fence, his face nose to nose with Downing’s. The sick scents of sweat and cologne that had been left on too long permeated his nostrils.
“Don’t. Don’t even think about standing here and telling me you have no idea what I’m talking about. You’ve been helping Ramsey all along.” His muscles tensed, he fought the urge to wrap his hands around his deputy warden’s throat instead of his collar.
“You don’t understand.” Downing coughed and sputtered, trying to pull Brad’s hands away.
“You’re right. I don’t because where I stand there are so many other options besides working with a murderer.” He held up one finger. “And if you think you’re going to convince me you did the right thing, you don’t know me at all.”
As Downing’s mouth worked, Brad thought about punching his fist in the guy’s face. Only a tenuous hold on his control kept him from doing just that. The odds weren’t in Downing’s favor that it wouldn’t happen eventually.
Downing’s breath hitched and for a moment Brad thought he was going to burst into tears. But he shook his head, gained his composure and met Brad’s gaze square-on. “He has my family.”
“And you thought working for him was the best way to get them back?” Brad shoved him away. His hands felt dirty now. “How long have you worked for the Department of Corrections? You know that making deals with criminals never has a happy ending. What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking I’d do anything to save my family.” Downing shouted back at him then straightened his shirt. “But I didn’t come here to fight with you.”
Brad pinned him with a hard look. If the guy actually thought he was going to walk away now, he couldn’t be more mistaken. “It doesn’t matter why you came, David. Kate’s inside.”
The color drained from the deputy warden’s face. “Sh-she’s here? H-how?” He looked like he wanted to bolt. Just to make sure he didn’t, Brad snagged his collar again.
“How? She escaped from the abandoned house you dumped her in. That’s where you left her to wait for Ramsey, isn’t it?” Brad yanked him even closer. “If we hadn’t caught on to your scheme—” He broke off, rage building within his chest wall. Any moment now it would break free, and he didn’t know if he’d be able to tame it.
“You don’t know what this has been like, Brad. I wanted to tell you.”
“Tell me that you were working with a serial killer? Oh yeah, that’s something I’d like to have known before you almost got Kate killed.”
“I didn’t even know she meant that much to you.” Downing tried to pull away but Brad’s hold was brutal.
“That makes a difference? Would it be okay if I didn’t give a rat’s ass about her? Would that make you feel better about what you’ve done?”
Downing’s shoulders slumped. “I only wanted to save my family. I don’t know where they are. I don’t even know if they’re still alive. Ramsey won’t tell me.”
“And I’m sure you’ve been in close communication with him. Is that why you’ve been so willing to work the night shift the last month? Did that give you and Ramsey plenty of time to work out the details of your little plan?”
“I know you’re never going to understand because you don’t have a family.”
“I do have a family, David, and John Ramsey killed one member of it, or have you forgotten?”
Head dropping, Downing mumbled an apology. Then, lifting his head, he fixed his pleading gaze on Brad’s face. “You have to help me.”
Brad wanted to feel sorry for the guy, but it just wasn’t in him. Maybe much later when David was in jail and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Kate was safe, he might be able to summon some emotion beyond fury.
“You’re asking for my help now? After Kate almost died, you actually think I would lift a finger to save you? You could have come to me, David. Any time you could have asked for my help. Instead you took the easy way out.”
“You think it was easy doing what I was doing, knowing I was tormenting an innocent woman? It wasn’t.” He gave Brad’s chest a hard shove but still couldn’t free himself. “It made me sick inside, and I wanted to tell Ramsey to go to hell but he showed me pictures.” His voice broke. “My wife tied up. My little girls crying. Tell me you wouldn’t do whatever it took to protect your family.”
“I’m telling you I wouldn’t put another innocent person in harm’s way, and knowing your wife like I do, she wouldn’t have wanted you to do that. She definitely wouldn’t have wanted you to work with Ramsey.”
“I wasn’t working with him. Stop saying that!” Downing struggled some more, pushing with all his might.
Brad shoved back and the man’s dress shoes scooted over the grass. “We were friends, dammit! You had to have known I would have done anything to help you.” His heart pumping wildly, Brad drew in several deep breaths of the humid air. Torn between sickness and fury, he whirled away, needing distance.
“You can’t even begin to know how much it tore me up inside to do what I was doing.”
“Is that why you told me to back off, that I was making it personal? Things would have been a hell of a lot easier if I hadn’t stepped in to protect Kate. That’s why you wanted me out of the way, isn’t it?” Betrayal stung but coupled with a twisted sense of right, it made him want to vomit. How could his friend think that doing Ramsey’s bidding was better than going to the police?
“Try to put yourself in my shoes, Brad.” David’s voice was starting to grind on Brad’s nerves. “My family is all I have, and I couldn’t risk them dying because I refused to break a few laws.”
Brad pivoted slowly. “Is that how you really see it? Just breaking a few laws? You tormented Kate with the flowers and notes, destroyed her home, took away the safety she once felt there, and if those weren’t enough, you kidnapped her, holding her captive for a serial killer. I’m sure you had a hand in Ramsey’s hospital visit too. I didn’t realize you were such a connoisseur of mushrooms.”
David hung his head, his hands flexing and relaxing. “You’re never going to understand because it wasn’t your family. I suppose this is the point where you call the police. So go ahead. Call them. Watch them arrest your friend.”
“Don’t turn this around on me, David. You,” he jabbed a finger in the center of David’s chest, “crossed so many lines here, and hell yeah, you’re going to pay for each and every one of those crimes. You’re also going to testify against Ramsey and then you’re going to jail. For your sake, you’d better pray you don’t end up at Marsden.”
A tear leaked down Downing’s face. “It’s too late for testifying, Brad.”
The way the words came out—defeated, resigned—caused the hairs on the back of Brad’s neck to stand on end. “You’re not going to take the easy way out. You’ll face Ramsey in a courtroom if I have to drag you in myself.”
Downing shook his head and a lock of sandy brown hair fell over one eye. He didn’t bother to push it back. “Ramsey’s gone.”
Brad slung him away, stared at him like he’d grown a third head. “What do you mean gone? Tell me you didn’t release him.” No, that couldn’t be possible. Brad had seen him sleeping. Two guards had been standing outside his door, two should have been inside. He couldn’t have gotten past that many guards. “The guy was dead to the world on morphine the last time I saw him.”
His shoulders slumped, Downing looked like someone had just kicked him. “I gave him some of my daughter’s Ritalin. It counters the sedative effects of the morphine.”
An invisible hand had punched Brad in the stomach. John Ramsey was a free man, and every woman within a fifty-mile radius was in danger. He doubted Ramsey would go very long without another kill, and since he couldn’t find Kate yet, some other innocent woman would take the brunt of his need.
“Listen to me. You have to understand. Please. Ramsey wanted Kate. Said he’d give me back my family if I just gave him Kate. I’m so sorry, Brad. I’m so sorry.” He fell to his knees, sobbing loudly. “I gave him the key. He said he’d give me my family back.”
“Get up.” When David didn’t obey, Brad dragged him to his feet. “Every life he takes is on you. Their blood will be on your hands and you’ll never be able to wash it off. I hope you can live with that.” He slammed him against the fence again. “Right now I’d like nothing more than to beat you until there’s not a place on your body that isn’t bruised. Just count yourself lucky I live inside the boundaries of the law.”
“Screw you, Brad. You think you’re better than I am because you don’t dare step across a line?” David shouted in return. “But it’s okay if you’re the one who stands over Ramsey as they shove the needle into his vein. You’re just doing your job. No, you’re not. It’s your way of holding court while you vicariously pump in the chemicals. So don’t judge me for doing what I had the guts to do.”
His vision blurred, Brad drove his fist into David’s stomach, dropping the guy he used to call friend to his knees once more. “You keep thinking what you did was right. Maybe it’ll comfort you when you’re facing twenty to life.”
He took a step back, captured his cell phone from his pocket. He didn’t take his eyes off David while he called Captain Roddingham. “I’m here with David Downing. He let Ramsey go. Get someone over here. I can’t leave Kate alone now that I know Ramsey’s free.”
“You going to stay there?” Roddingham sounded like he was chewing.
“Not a good idea. I’ll call you once I know she’s safe.”
“Is Downing in one piece?”
“For now, but your guys had better hurry.”
“We’re on it.” A long pause then. “You be safe too, Brad.”
The captain rarely used his first name. Brad responded to the moment of sentimentality with a clipped “Will do.” Then he leaned down, his lips close to Downing’s ear. “If anything happens to Kate because you let Ramsey walk, you’re not going to have to worry about going to prison.”
The moment Brad walked in through the front door Kate ended her phone conversation with Aaron, who’d been thrilled beyond measure to hear from her and know she was safe. He’d gone on and on about how he wanted her to take some time off, and the look on Brad’s face told her that was going to be a requirement.
She stood, hands rubbing down the sides of his fleece robe. Though she’d spent several minutes in the bedroom regrouping, she hadn’t wanted to get dressed yet. Just wearing Brad’s robe gave her a sense of comfort.
“What’s wrong? Why were you outside?” She chewed on the inside of her cheek, thought about running down the list of presidents just to maintain focus.
Brad tossed his cell onto the coffee table and jerked his head toward the couch. “You’d better sit down.”
“Those words never start a positive conversation. Just tell me what’s happened. Did the police find David Downing? Did he escape?” She laced her fingers together to keep her hands from shaking. Neither one of her questions caused even a flicker of response in Brad’s eyes. That alone told her the news was much worse.
She dropped to the sofa cushion, her legs too unstable to hold her. “I don’t think I want to know.”
Brad joined her on the sofa. “You’re right, you don’t, and there’s no easy way to tell you this.”
“Then just say it.”
“Downing released Ramsey from his restraints. How Ramsey got past four guards and why I wasn’t notified I don’t know, but he’s not at the hospital any longer.”
Ice washed through Kate’s body. The man who’d killed so many women, the same man who wanted her, was now on the loose. And she had no idea if he knew where she was, if he could find her.
She stood. “I have to get out of here. He can’t know where I am.”
Brad reached up and took hold of her wrist. “He won’t know. We’ll go together.”
“No. You have the prison.”
Leave. Leave now.
Her mind repeated the litany but the turmoil inside kept her from concentrating. Where would she go? What if Ramsey found her? She knew self-defense, but could she take him on? Other women had tried to fight him but none had ever won.
“I’m not worried about the prison right now. I can work something out, but I’m not letting you leave town by yourself.”
Kate looked down at his hand holding her wrist then back at his face. Her mouth so dry she could barely speak, she managed to ask, “He’s really out?”
Brad’s lips thinned. “He’s really out.”
Images of the victims flashed in front of her eyes. She’d seen the pictures the police had taken, reviewed the medical examiner’s reports, all in the name of responsible reporting. Now those vivid portraits could possibly be what was in store for her.
No!
She mentally snapped at herself. She wasn’t going to give in and wait for Ramsey to find her. If he wanted her, he was going to have to put some work in. She hadn’t just sat in that house waiting for the killer to show up, and she wasn’t going to make it any easier for him now.
Her decision made, she squared her shoulders and pulled away from Brad’s grasp. She would fight for as long as she could. Ramsey wouldn’t catch her easily. Her father had taught her more than a few tricks about protecting herself when the family had taken their camping trips to Lake Moultrie.
The memory clicked and her mind started working furiously. “I know where I can go. He won’t be able to find me.” The family cabin had been empty for the last couple of years but she was sure it was still functional. The caretaker wouldn’t have let it get run down.
“Us. He won’t be able to find
us
.” Brad stood, his brows lowered into a scowl. “I’m not letting you go alone, Kate, no matter how safe you think you’ll be.”
“What if he doesn’t want to kill just me?” Though the thought just occurred to her, it was a real possibility that Brad was on Ramsey’s radar. Hadn’t Brad been instrumental in bringing Ramsey down? Wouldn’t it stand to reason that the killer wanted revenge?
Brad hugged her, holding her tight against his chest. “I can take care of both of us.” He rested his chin on top of her head. “I won’t let him get to you, Kate. I promise.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on. “I just want this to be over.”
“I know.”
“In the meantime, I believe I left a pistol here earlier. Could I have it back?”
He pulled back to look at her. “Do you how to shoot?”
“My dad taught me. I don’t like to use guns, but in this case I think I’m going to have to put aside my dislike.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
Ramsey stood hidden in the shadows, watching the police units rolling down the street. Any second now Deputy Downing would be in custody, but Ramsey didn’t need him anymore. The guy had done exactly what was needed—led him straight to Brad Jericho’s back door.
Of course he’d have to take care of Downing. Couldn’t allow him to get to talking, maybe make a deal with the DA. Because once Ramsey took care of Kate and Jericho, there was a whole wide world of women ready to be added to his collection. There was no way he was going back to a cell now.
As he watched the cops gather together like birds around a fallen piece of bread, he smiled. An idea had just taken root, and it just might work to free his Kate from the constraints of the overprotective warden as well as eliminate Downing as a potential problem.
He took out a cell phone he’d taken off one of the guards and dialed a familiar number. “There’s something I need you to do, and before you say anything, it isn’t optional, Counselor. In case you didn’t know it I’m a free man, and I know you’re not interested in a visit from me.”
He ignored his attorney’s rushed words on the other end of the line. “Relax, Salli. Once you take care of this you can run away like a scared little girl. I’m not interested in you…unless you don’t feel the need to follow my orders. Then I might become a little too interested.”
Ramsey fixed his eyes on the crisply uniformed cop now escorting Downing to the back of the police cruiser. “Excellent. I’m so glad you’re willing to help.”
Brad didn’t have time for a phone conversation but when the caller persisted, ringing his number three times in a row, he finally answered, albeit with enough bite in his tone to dissuade even the most determined telemarketer.
“Mr. Jericho, I know it’s late but it was important that I speak with you.” The man on the other end of the line sounded out of breath, like he’d just run a marathon.
“I’m listening.” He wasn’t really. All of his attention remained focused on the door of the bedroom where Kate was changing clothes.
“I’m Angelo Salli, John Ramsey’s attorney. At least for now. I just prepared a motion to remove myself that I intend to file first thing tomorrow morning.” His breaths came in even shorter pants. “I just found out Ramsey has escaped. The guy has never liked me, so I’m going to tell you this and then no one will be able to find me until he’s caught.” The words tumbled over one another in the attorney’s desperate dash to release them.
Salli stopped talking for a second, took a drink of something for fortification, swallowed audibly. “Ramsey called me and told me to call you. He implied if I didn’t help him, he’d come after me.”
“And what did he want me to know?” Brad moved away from the hallway so Kate wouldn’t overhear the conversation. His nerves jangled. Was Ramsey outside even now, hiding in the shadows?
“He just said to tell you he’d see you soon. I suppose I should have called the police but I have a family. I couldn’t risk them getting hurt…” Salli trailed off, his breath now coming in short, choppy pants.
“Thanks for the heads-up.” Brad didn’t continue the conversation. He had another, more important, one. He jogged out of his house and down the front steps where the blue lights whirled and David Downing sat handcuffed in the backseat of a cruiser.
“I need to ask him something first. One minute.” Brad held up a finger.
One cop jerked his head toward the back door, giving silent permission.
Brad opened the door and dropped to a squat. “Does Ramsey already know Kate escaped? Did he send you here so he could follow you?”
Downing looked straight ahead. “I think we’ve done all the talking we need to do, Brad.”
“You think so?” If he were back in the squad, he’d have a better chance of beating this out of Downing without drawing attention. But with cops standing around him, his options were limited.
“Did you know it only takes one punch in the right spot to kill a man?”
Eyes widening, Downing tried to scoot away, but he’d been secured in place with the seat belt.
“Yeah, I didn’t think that would be something you’d know.” Brad tapped his own Adam’s apple. “Just one pop right here and your airway collapses like a squeezed beer can. You’ll choke to death in a manner of seconds. Without a tracheotomy, even those cops out there can’t save you. Of course, the trick is to make it look like an accident. You think I know how to make it look like an accident, David?” His voice whisper quiet, he watched his words do what no amount of pain could.
“What do you want from me?” Downing dropped his head low in a vain attempt to protect his throat. “I can’t help you anymore.”
“You haven’t helped me at all, but you can. Did Ramsey follow you?”
Their gazes connected and Downing tried futilely to hold the stare. His will wasn’t as strong and he looked away within seconds. “Yeah. When he found out Kate escaped, he figured she’d come here.”
“Thanks for being so cooperative.” Brad stood, kicked the door shut, and walked away. He’d probably later regret not smashing the man he used to call a friend in the face, but right now he needed to focus his attention on Kate and get her out of his house as quickly as possible.
Kate was already dressed and waiting inside. “Do the police know anything about David Downing’s family?”
“Didn’t ask.” Brad checked the back door, made sure it hadn’t been jimmied. Hoping Kate would stay put without asking any more questions, he moved through the house with his gun at the ready.
“So what did you ask, then?” She was right behind him.
“Nothing all that important. Just something I wanted to know before they took him away.”
Kate snagged his arm, stopping his progress. “What did you ask him?” Her hazel eyes drilled into his soul.
He released a breath that was half agitation, half resignation. “If Ramsey had sent him here.”
She dropped her hand. “Why would Ramsey send him—” She broke off, realization hitting her like a hard wave. “Downing was a diversion, wasn’t he? Ramsey followed him.”
“Yes. Now go back in the living room and wait for me.”
Ignoring the order, Kate pressed herself against his back, one hand hooking onto his belt. “Not a chance. You’ve got the gun.”
“He’s not here. I’m just being cautious.” Brad swept into his bedroom, sliding along the wall to check the closets, the bathroom, then dropping to the floor to check under the bed.
“This would be a lot easier if you weren’t glued to my spine,” he whispered.
“I’m not interested in easier.” Kate two-stepped with him out of the bedroom.
Once the entire house had been checked Brad secured his weapon in the holster he’d clipped to his belt and peeled Kate’s arms away. “It’s okay. He’s not here.”
“But he knows where here is.”
“Which is why we’re leaving now.”
Several shots rang out, a quick successive volley of bullets that had Brad diving behind the sofa, taking Kate down with him and shielding her with his body.
Shouts and sirens joined a cacophony of noises just beyond his front door. Brad pulled Kate to his feet, checked her over for injuries and ordered her to stay put. Once outside, he got a clear look at the police cruiser, riddled with bullets. In the backseat Downing lay slumped to the left, his head pressed against the passenger window.
One cop ordered him to get back inside. Brad backed up as far as his front porch while he watched the commotion. In his long history, Ramsey hadn’t been a big fan of guns. That was one piece of information he’d kept to himself, obviously for good reason.
His gaze swept over the busyness, zeroing in on each face. He couldn’t see Ramsey from this distance but the guy was out there somewhere. Could be anywhere by now, which made the nerves in his stomach ripple.