Adelle Laudan - Killer Scents

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. Someone’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.”

With her entire body rendered useless, all she could do was look from side to side with her eyes. Thankfully Danny left them alone in the room. Her sense of time had vanished along with her motor skills. It seemed a lifetime had passed, but it could easily have been a matter of minutes.

Danny had positioned her to face Jacob, who reclined on the sofa still as a corpse. If it wasn’t for the slight rise and fall of his chest Becca would’ve thought him dead. Waiting for Danny to come back was almost as torturous as not being in control of her body.

Like a slideshow, photos of the seven crime scenes played over and over in her mind. Jacob already assumed the position on the sofa. If she had any hope of maintaining even a tendril of sanity, she couldn’t let her mind go there.

Did Randy see my ring on the floor of the truck? Does he have any idea where we are?

Danny meandered into the room freshly showered and wearing clean clothes.

What kind of killer does that?

He rubbed his hands together, looking from Jacob to her and back to Jacob. A devilish smirk played on lips as he squatted next to her, his face a whisper from hers.

“I hope you enjoy the show today. None of this would be possible if it weren’t for your meddling. Thank you.” He tilted his head back and laughed.

Her attempt to move away from the garbage spewing from his mouth proved futile. Danny sat back on his heels and dangled a large needle threaded with fishing line.

Oh my God, no! Please, oh my God, somebody please help us!

Danny took great pleasure in seeing sheer terror in the eyes of Ms. Hoity Toity Detective. He swung the polished steel instrument in front of her face back and forth, back and forth. Big, fat tears spilled onto her flushed cheeks, and he leaned forward to lick them away, jumping back just in time to miss the puke spewing from her mouth.

He laughed so hard tears came to his eyes. Things were moving along even better than he’d hoped. All color drained from her face, and yellowish, green spittle dripped from her chin.

“Aw, I’m sorry darlin’. If that was enough to make you sick just wait ‘til you see what happens next.”

He looked down at Jacob. “It’s time for you to pay the piper. Did you really think I’d just sit back and let you take Jeffery from me? Lord knows what kind of crap you’ve poisoned his mind with about me. I’ll be sure to set things straight in due time, but first thing’s first.”

Danny scooped up the smaller black bag and set it next to the couch. He then straddled Jacob and sat on his chest. Was it fear or anger he saw in Jacob’s eyes? He shrugged.

Once he’d put on his gloves, he took a pack of baby wipes from the bag and set them on Jacob’s chest. With two fingers, he pulled the man’s lips out and held them together.

“We’ll just see how well you can use your mouth after I’m through with you.”

Danny curled his lip in a snarl as he pushed the needle through and out the bottom, drawing the long thread out dramatically. “Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Jacob’s pupils were so big he couldn’t see the color of his eyes.

“Perfect.”

Danny set to work, stopping every few stitches to look into Jacob’s frozen features. “Are you going fucking nuts in there? I sure hope so. You’re not such a pretty boy now, are you?” He took a wipe and cleaned the blood from his mouth.

Becca stared blankly. What he wouldn’t give to read her mind. “Are you enjoying the show, honey? I need a drink. Can I get you something while I’m up? No? Okay, don’t say I didn’t offer.” He got up from the sofa and stared down at Jacob. “How about you, buddy. Want a drink?” His hand fluttered to his mouth. “Oops, how rude of me. I guess you can’t. ”

His laughter rang off the walls on his way to the picture window. He looked out across the lush meadows. The smile froze on his face, and he squinted against the setting sun to see between the trees.

Flashing lights slowly passed by only to reappear seconds later. A SUV now sat idling out front. Danny stepped away from the window.

“Fuck!” He scrambled for a plan of action. His gaze zeroed in on the truck, and he blew out a rush of air as he watched the SUV carry on down the road. “Phew!”

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Look, over there.” Randy pointed at the old Brinkly homestead. “I think I saw him.”

“You think you saw who?” Chief’s gaze followed the direction he pointed.

“Back up to the gap between the trees.” Adrenaline gushed through his veins as he straightened in his seat. “He was standing right there in the picture window.”

Chief rolled his eyes in obvious disbelief. “I don’t see anything. Besides, those windows haven’t been cleaned in years. How could you see anything through them?”