Perry let himself into his sister’s house that evening. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been wound so tight. Stress had the muscles in his shoulder blades burning, and the pain crawled straight up his spine to his head. He stared at Dorine and Denise, lying in the living room watching TV.
“Mom, Uncle Perry is here,” Dorine screamed, rolling onto her back and letting the words wail so that they vibrated off the walls and pierced his already-throbbing head.
“Dorine, was that necessary?” He scowled at his niece, who looked at him upside down from the floor before rolling back and resuming watching her show without answering.
There was a pounding down the stairs and Dani flew into the living room and into his arms. Ever since her almost abduction, she’d been clinging to him. And he couldn’t pull her tight enough into his arms. If he prayed for anything, it would be that he be given a thousand more chances to hug her like this.
“Kylie won’t answer her phone for me,” Dani whispered, still clinging to him when Megan walked into the living room, wiping her hands with a dish towel.
“There’s supper left if you’re hungry,” Megan offered.
He hadn’t given thought to food all day. “Thanks,” he said, nodding to Megan. Possibly some food would recharge him. He lowered his head, breathing in Dani’s strawberry-scented shampoo. For a moment he was thrown back to the little girl who would cry in Megan’s arms when she scraped her knee or when she fell out of a tree. Fixing those aches and pains had been a hell of a lot easier than taking care of the pain and fear that had Dani trembling in his arms now. “She’s not answering my calls, either,” he said into her hair.
Another reason he knew he was wound tight. He hadn’t been able to get over to Kylie’s last night and today she’d been MIA. He had half a mind to drive over to the FBI field office and demand to know where the fuck she was. Not knowing twisted his gut and left him convinced there was only bigger trouble looming just ahead. If things were okay, Kylie would be with him.
Dani pulled away, remaining at arm’s length, and stared up at him with sad green eyes. “Did you two have a fight?” she asked, almost whispering.
“No,” he said, shaking his head and wrapping his arm around her as he headed for the kitchen. “What’s for supper? Anything good?” he asked, changing the subject from Kylie.
“I made cheeseburgers,” Megan announced, leading the way to the kitchen. She handed him a plate that she’d piled with a mound of fries next to two burgers. “Of course they aren’t as good as when you make them on the grill.” Even her smile showed her exhaustion.
His family was suffering from this case. The sooner he wrapped it up, found the prick who had also ripped five other families in Mission Hills apart and also made it clear his intentions to stalk Perry’s niece, the better life would be for all of them. Perry almost felt guilty accepting the seat Dani pulled out for him and the food Megan put in front of him.
“Where’s Diane?” he asked, grabbing one of the burgers as his stomach growled.
Megan took a seat next to him, and Dani slid into the chair on the other side of him.
“She’s got some term paper,” Megan explained, dipping a tea bag into hot water and looking noticeably more worn-out than she usually looked. “I told her to be home by ten, but she’s at the library with some friends.”
“She’s got forty minutes,” Dani announced, leaning back to see the wall clock. “Shouldn’t those two go to bed?” she asked her mother, jabbing her thumb in the direction of the living room.
“Yes, they should.” Megan gave her daughter a pleading look.
“Get your sisters up to bed,” Perry told Dani, talking with his mouth full of burger. He gave her a look, ready for her to argue, but obviously the stress that had descended on the household took the fight out of all of them.
Dani sighed heavily and scooted the chair back from the table, forcing it to scrape loudly across the floor. Megan cringed and dabbed her tea bag with more energy when Dani left them alone.
Perry put the first burger away and stared at his sister, noting the lines at the edges of her eyes and the dark circles underneath. Megan was a pretty woman, overworked and determined to raise intelligent young women. He was proud of her but knew at the moment she wasn’t doing shit to take care of herself.
“Why don’t you head up to bed, too?” he suggested. “You look like shit.”
Any other time Megan would have been ready with a comeback, but when she sighed he almost felt bad for picking on her. Putting his hand over hers, he didn’t move it when she gripped his larger hand with a fair amount of force.
“I’m scared, Perry,” she whispered. “Did you see this morning’s paper?”
“Yup.” He hated how the media was making it a hell of a lot easier for Peter to do his job than it was for Perry to do his. Although that was the way it was most of the time. But the paper announcing the most recent murder, recapping the disappearance of the others, and labeling Peter as the high school girl murderer, was throwing the community into a panic. “We’ll nail him.”
“I’m scared for Dani,” Megan whispered, her eyes moist when she looked at him. “He’s already targeted her. What if he tries to take her again?”
“He won’t succeed,” Perry said firmly. Thankfully, the press didn’t get ahold of the fact that a picture of Dani was left in Lanie’s hand when she was found. “What do you think of sending her-”
“No!” Megan interrupted, yanking her hand from Perry’s and lifting her teacup. She stared hard at Perry over it. “I’d be scared to death he would snag her from anywhere I sent her,” Megan stated. “I did talk to the principal over at the high school today. I know they’ve put several cops on permanent duty over there to protect the kids while they’re switching classes or out in the parking lot, but I am still scared something could happen.”
“Nothing will happen.”
“You can’t swear that to me,” she pressed.
He stiffened. The day his sister didn’t have faith in him would be the day all hell would break lose. “Like hell I can’t,” he growled.
The girls paused at the bottom of the stairs, peering into the kitchen, their innocent faces full of curiosity as they stared from their mother to their uncle. It wasn’t often he and Megan argued about anything. And they weren’t arguing now.
“Go to bed,” Megan instructed, trying to sound firm, but the life was gone from her voice. “I love all of you,” she added, her voice softening.
“Love you, too,” each of them mumbled.
“Upstairs. Now,” Perry emphasized, getting the three of them to jump and hustle up the stairs. He looked earnestly at his sister. “There is no way in hell that monster will get anywhere near Dani again. You have my goddamn word on that one, Meg, and if you doubt me for a fucking minute-”
“Quit cussing and I believe you,” she said, leaning back in her chair and bringing her cup to her lips. “Eat your supper. You’re no fun when you’re grouchy.”
Perry swallowed a bite from his second burger. “The food is good.” He knew he was grumpy but didn’t see it going away anytime soon.
His phone vibrated against his hip and he grabbed it, feeling his mood sour even more when it was his partner, Carl. “What’s up?” he asked with a mouthful of food.
“Are you planning on pulling the night shift tonight?” Carl asked, apathetic to Perry’s curt manner.
“Probably.”
“Just checking. Give me an hour, okay? Mom is cranky tonight and I’m going to chill with her until she settles in, but then I’ll hook up. Any word from Blondie?”
“Her name is Kylie, and no.” Perry ignored the interest in Megan’s eyes when she shifted her attention to him and suddenly made a show of listening. He dropped his burger on his plate and grabbed a French fry. “It doesn’t feel right, though, man. I’ve got a sensation I can’t kick.”
“Just because you haven’t heard from her?” Carl didn’t pause to let Perry speak. “Go with your hunches, man. They’re usually right.”
It wasn’t the first time Perry had heard that from his partner. Any other time Perry would advise Carl on listening to his own hunches, paying heed to the electrical charges in the air when he felt them. But tonight Perry didn’t give a damn about coaching his partner.
“Yup,” he said, shoving the fry in his mouth and swallowing after barely chewing. He slid his chair back, managing to make less noise than when Dani shoved her chair from the table and headed to the refrigerator. He didn’t need a beer, especially if he was returning to duty, but damn, he wanted one and almost growled when there weren’t any in his sister’s fridge. Grabbing the gallon of milk, he placed it on the counter. “Meet me over at Megan’s when you head out. I’m staying here until I return to duty.”
“Gotcha, man,” Carl said, and hung up.
“Why haven’t you talked to Kylie?” Megan asked before Perry could put his phone back on his belt.
“Because she hasn’t answered my calls,” he snapped, knowing his sister didn’t deserve him being a pain in the ass.
Perry grabbed a large glass out of the cabinet and filled it with cold milk. He downed half the glass, refilled it, then returned the gallon to the refrigerator.
His sister watched his actions. “You really like her, don’t you?”
“Doesn’t matter. She’s not sticking around.”
He hated the way his sister studied his face whenever she decided he wasn’t telling her everything she seemed to feel she had a right to know.
“Is she really a college student?” Megan asked.
Perry didn’t answer but set his cup down and sat, returning his attention to his food.
“Seems to me if she were, you would be willing to say so,” Megan said, apparently content to carry on the conversation on her own. “I haven’t seen you worked up like this in a long time.” She held up her hand, as if he would actually comment. “And I know you’re worked up over this murderer. We all are. But more than that has you bugged, Perry. You forget how well I know you.”
“I told you it doesn’t matter. She’ll be leaving.”
“How soon?”
“I don’t know.”
Megan nodded, placing her cup on the table and leaning on her elbows. She stared ahead, letting the silence grow for a few seconds. “There are days when I really miss David.”
Perry wasn’t ready for that one. She hadn’t mentioned her husband in ages. Perry knew the love between the two of them was something unique and special that few ever got to experience. He leaned back, studying her for a moment.
“He was one hell of a guy,” Perry said finally.
“Seems to me, if someone has a chance at what David and I had, they should go for it, no matter what stands in the way.”
Perry should have known she was setting him up. He returned to his food. “I’m sure you’re right,” he mumbled, knowing she would press until he said something.
“I like Kylie.” Megan was watching him. He could feel her gaze burning into the side of his head. “The girls like her, too. Dani doesn’t think she’s a student, though. She’s pretty perceptive. You’ve said so yourself.”
“Yup.”
“Fine.” Megan stood, moving behind him in the kitchen as she started acting busy, although it was her way of preparing for her next attack. “Let’s say she isn’t a student. Just for the sake of argument. And let’s say she is going away, for whatever reason, from here soon,” Megan mused, obviously content again to carry on the conversation by herself. “I bet if you made your feelings known, and I know you, Perry, I bet you haven’t told her how you feel about her, the two of you could work something out.”
Perry stuffed the last French fry into his mouth and stood with his plate, bringing it to the counter. Then downing his milk, he set it next to his plate. Grabbing his sister’s shoulders, he turned her around, staring into her concerned expression. “Thank you for supper. You’re a jewel to feed me like that. I’m going to go watch TV and try to calm down a bit. This conversation is over.”
She nodded once, looking anything but done with what she might want to say. Footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Perry let go of his sister and tapped her nose. “Enough talk of this, okay?”
His phone rang again as Dani appeared in the doorway, looking at both of them as if she suspected they had quit talking because she joined them.
Perry shifted his attention to his phone and looked at the small screen. Kylie’s name glared at him. He flipped the phone open, turning from the two of them and heading into the living room.
“Why the hell haven’t you been answering my calls?” he demanded, hissing into the phone although too aware of Megan and Dani following him.
“I’ve been busy.” Kylie’s cold tone twisted his stomach into a mean knot. “There’s a meet behind the bowling alley at ten o’clock. I’m supposed to go with him this time. Be there. I want this bust to be yours.” She hung up before he could say anything.
“Goddamn it,” he howled, hurling his phone at the couch.
“Perry,” Megan said cautiously.
He sprung around, glaring at them. Dani edged closer to her mom, looking wide-eyed at him. Megan’s expression wasn’t much different.
“Sorry,” he grumbled, turning his back to them and pacing the length of the living room, dragging his hand over his hair. “What time is it?” he asked, but then walked over to the couch and picked up his phone to check the time.
“Quarter till ten,” Dani said. “What’s wrong, Uncle Perry?”
“Megan,” he said, adjusting his gears quickly. It wasn’t the first time he’d been sent out without knowing shit about the scene. And he’d done just fine under those circumstances. “Call Diane. I want her home now.”
“She’s supposed to be home at ten.” Megan tilted her head, this time looking as though she wouldn’t press.
Damn good thing.
“Call her and tell her to get home now,” he ordered. “I want all of you upstairs. No matter what, you will not answer the door or come downstairs. I’ll lock up before I leave and I have a key. I’ll come back when I’m done.”
“Are you going to go catch him, Uncle Perry?” Dani asked, her eyes suddenly moist when she took a cautious step toward him.
“I sure hope so, baby.” He reached for her, pulling her into a tight hug.
Megan hurried into the kitchen and he heard her talking to Diane in the next minute.
He’d driven over to his sister’s in his squad car, and took off toward the bowling alley a few minutes later. After putting a call in to Carl, filling him in on what was going on and struggling to answer his questions about Kylie being FBI as quickly as possible, he could get off the phone. Perry slowed and turned into the small strip mall parking lot across the street from the bowling alley. It was almost ten.
Parking alongside of the narrow, long brick building, Perry cut his lights but left the squad car running as he got out and popped the trunk. He grabbed a flashlight, continually shooting furtive looks across the street where he had a decent view of the entire lot on both the front and back sides of the bowling alley. It was set off the road far enough, though, and the parking lot surrounding it large enough and not well enough lit that movement could occur in the shadows and he might miss it. His position was temporary.
With his hood as a shield, Perry placed his flashlight on the edge of the car and pulled out the bulky body armor. Memories of wearing it over to Kylie’s, of the look on her face when she first realized he had it on and then her failed attempt to appear uninterested when he stripped out of it in front of her, came to mind as he ran his fingers over the thick, heavy protective wear. He didn’t bother putting it on under his shirt this time. This wasn’t undercover work, and he wasn’t trying to impress anyone.
Was he out to impress Kylie that night?
God, it seemed centuries ago when he broke into her home. At the time he’d thought only of proving to her that no alarm system would keep him away from her. He was pulling macho bullshit, which now almost proved an embarrassing memory. It had proven effective that night, though. What he wouldn’t do to turn back time, remove himself to a period when his heart didn’t weigh so heavily in his chest. If they played their cards right, even though he hadn’t seen the entire deck, tonight was the night.
Kylie could very well be on a plane tomorrow heading out to her next assignment.
Perry fought the overwhelming urge to hurl the protective armor across the dark lot.
“Focus, motherfucker,” he growled. Shut down. Turn all emotions off. He’d pulled off not feeling for years, acting like a machine, taking care of his family and his city. He would keep doing just that.
Something stirred behind him and he grabbed his flashlight, unclipping the holster snap on his belt that secured his gun at the same time as he turned around. Two teenagers, a boy and a girl, appeared from behind the adjacent building, squinting and covering their eyes when he flashed the beam in their faces.
“Head home, now,” he growled.
“We weren’t doing anything wrong.” The boy had his arm draped around the girl, both of them looking not much older than Dani.
Perry ached to knock some parents upside the head for allowing their kids out this late, and obviously unchaperoned enough they could wander this far from a residential area or any business that was open.
Perry breathed in the smell of pot and lowered the beam enough to allow them to focus. The teenage girl wouldn’t meet Perry’s gaze, but the cocky boy, obviously thinking his idiocy would impress his girlfriend, stared at him boldly with bloodshot eyes.
“You don’t do as you’re told right now, that will change.” Perry made a show of taking a step toward them, which was obviously enough to break the bravery in the boy. He hesitated. Perry nodded toward the street. “Head home and walk along the sidewalk instead of in the shadows. Or do the two of you not know about a killer who loves little girls like your girlfriend there?”
That snapped the girl’s attention to Perry’s face. She looked shocked and then tugged at her boyfriend. “Let’s go,” she whispered.
“I’m not scared of the asshole,” the boy announced, but was already heading away from Perry to the street.
“But you better be scared of me,” he muttered under his breath.
He needed a fucking vacation. When did he get it in his head that bullying children protected them? Probably when they started acting like morons.
Shrugging into the bulletproof vest, he pulled the Velcro tight around his front as a patrol car slowed in front of him and signaled to turn into the parking lot across the street. The two teenagers started walking faster away from him and the other police car. Perry ignored them and focused on the number on the squad car.
“Franco, I’m going to take you down, motherfucker,” He scowled and reached inside the vest into his shirt pocket to pull out his Bluetooth. Perry placed a call into Dispatch while closing his trunk and walking around to the driver’s side. “This is Unit Number Seven. I’m returning to duty.”
“Ten four,” the dispatcher said. “Please hold, will advise.”
He started to tell her he’d received a tip but was put on hold. He shifted into drive and pulled out of his semi-secure hiding place, glancing at the clock on his dash. It was just after ten. If Franco was Peter he couldn’t believe the guy would use one of the city’s squad cars to commit such a heinous crime.
“Unit Seven, what is your ten twenty?” Dispatch asked when Perry pulled out into the street and cut across to the bowling-alley parking lot.
As he turned in, he spotted Kylie’s hybrid entering from the side entrance at the other end of the lot.
“This is Unit Seven,” he said, searching the lot for Franco’s squad car. “I’m at the bowling-alley parking lot. I received a tip earlier-”
“Unit Seven, report to the station, please,” she told him, cutting him off.
“Is Unit Six on a call?” Perry asked, ignoring her request. He wasn’t going anywhere.
“Stand by.”
His phone beeped in his ear, and he picked up the handheld, checking the screen to see who the caller was. Then not waiting for Dispatch to return, he switched over.
“Tell me what’s going on,” Perry demanded, relieved as hell Kylie was calling him.
“Get the hell out of sight,” she hissed.
“Where is your meeting point?” He turned and drove along the side of the building, cutting his lights and crawling toward the other side.
“I called you so you could get your arrest. You deserve that much. So just stay on your toes.” She sounded so cold, so distant.
He hated thinking she had shut down because she knew she was heading out. It was one thing knowing he needed to shut down just so he could handle her leaving. But for some reason it hurt like fucking hell knowing she was capable of the same coldheartedness.
“Kylie,” he growled, creeping around the building and spotting Franco parked on the other end, his lights also cut. At Perry’s distance, he couldn’t tell if Franco was even in the squad car.
“Save your speeches for your lady cop friend,” Kylie snapped, the coldness in her tone increasing and so noticeably bitter that Perry brought his car to a stop.
“What lady friend?”
“The one you were hanging all over last night at the crime scene. You know, I thought I knew you better. Funny how well I can profile, yet I nailed you so wrong. Personally, I can think of a lot more romantic locations to flirt with someone than a scene where a young girl was killed.” She hung up on him.
“I wasn’t hanging on her-” Perry slammed his dash when he heard the click in his ear.
Suddenly it was clear as glass why Kylie hadn’t answered his calls all day. He had seen her leave the crime scene last night and apparently she had seen more than he wished she’d seen. Fucking little mousy bitch. Perry was disgusted by the female cop’s behavior as much as Kylie was. And any other time he might have found some warped amusement in learning Kylie got so pissed when she was jealous.
At the moment, though, he didn’t find any fucking humor in it.
His phone beeped in his ear again and he accepted the call. “I want to know right now-”
“Perry, this is a secure line,” Rad growled into Perry’s ear. “What are you doing?”
“Rad, I got a call earlier from Kylie.”
“I just got a phone call, too. Why the hell are you horning in on Unit Six’s beat?” Rad demanded. “He’s got backup in place and calls complaining you’re running with lights and messing up their game plan.”
“Like hell I am.”
“Report to the station now. We’ll discuss this when you get here.”
Perry frowned when he got close enough to Unit Six to tell there was no driver in it. A quick glance around the parking lot showed no other cars, marked or unmarked, anywhere around him.
“There’s no backup. Unit Six is unoccupied.”
“Flynn, report in now or I swear to God I’ll-”
Perry would take his reprimand later. He hung up on the Chief, red flags popping up all over the place as he pulled up behind Unit Six. Franco was moving in on Kylie. Perry didn’t know what the hell the bastard had told Rad to convince him to yell at Perry, but he had to be pretty damn convincing. And a psychopath getting ready to make the cut could convince God to his knees if he wanted.
Perry had thrown his car into park, opening his door, when his phone made another sound, informing him he just got a text message. Reaching over and grabbing the phone, he pushed the button to take the text and read the block letters on the screen.
If I call again, start recording. Kylie had sent him the message.
“Crap,” he hissed, impending doom closing in around him as he dove at his glove compartment and yanked everything out of it until he found the small device he could hook up to his phone to make it record conversations. Then snapping it to his phone, he jumped out of the car. As he gripped his phone in one hand, sweat drenched his palm. He slapped his gun at his waist and sprinted around Unit Six.
His phone started ringing in his ear again. Perry glanced at the screen in his hand. It was Rad calling him back. Perry knew it wasn’t the first time he’d been insubordinate when he sent the call to voice mail, and if he was wrong, he would take whatever disciplinary action Rad wanted to dish out to him, but if he was right, he was about to take down Franco. It would get really fucking ugly before it got better.
Perry reached the front of Franco’s car when he spotted Kylie’s hybrid. She was parked where she’d been parked the last time. Again a flashback of interrupting her meet, not understanding what it was she was about, hit him as hard as if a flood had just released. It didn’t knock him off his feet with the clarity of it. This time Perry saw the reality in the situation. Kylie sat, planted as bait, ready to take on a monster. And it appeared she was fucking alone while doing it.
There better be FBI agents sitting and waiting, or he’d take down that field office, starting with fucking Athey.
A dark shadow appeared in the bushes behind Kylie’s car at the same time sirens sounded in the distance. Hell, maybe Rad was quicker than Perry gave him credit for. The chances were strong the sirens were unrelated, but Perry would love an audience when he nailed Franco to the fucking wall.
The shadow moved quickly, coming up alongside Kylie’s car at the same time the black Suburban appeared at the other end of the parking lot.
“Fucking hell! There are two of them.” Perry barely grunted out the words when he heard Kylie cry out. Whoever was alongside her car had just dragged her out of it as the Suburban pulled up alongside her car.
Her cry was stifled quickly when the person in the shadows shoved Kylie into the back of the Suburban and slammed the door shut. Perry damn near ran backward when Franco bolted to his squad car. The motherfucker had just abducted Kylie and would now run to his car and make a show of trying to catch her.
Perry turned, hauling ass back to his car. His phone rang before he reached it and he pushed the button, willing it to be Kylie.
“Why are you doing this?” he heard her wail.
“Shut the fuck up, bitch.” The outraged male voice sounded too fucking familiar.
Perry leapt into his car at the same time that Franco squealed out of his hiding place. His phone beeped, indicating another call, and Perry cursed. He couldn’t take a call while recording. Glancing down, he saw it was Carl.
“Where the hell are you, man?” Perry asked the darkness of his car as he left his lights off and followed Franco around the corner of the building. He could really use his partner right now, or that supposed backup to truly exist. This was going to be one hell of a bust, and witnesses were always good, especially when taking down a cop who’d been on the force for as long as Franco had.
Perry would kick himself in the ass later for not noticing an insane child molester walking among them, right under their fucking noses, all these years.
Carl pulled into the parking lot in his own car when Perry made it around the corner. Franco was ahead of him and the Suburban was leaving the lot. Perry struggled to listen to the noises he heard in his ear while cutting across the dark lot and pulling up alongside Carl. Fortunately, he knew to ask questions later. Carl parked his car, jumped out, and climbed in on the passenger side, barely managing to shut the door before Perry hauled ass after Franco and the Suburban.
“What the hell is going on?” Carl demanded, struggling with his seat belt.
“Kylie just got picked up. The Suburban is ahead of us and I just witnessed Franco yank her out of her car and throw her into the backseat of the Suburban. I’ve got her on the phone now, recording it, but she isn’t saying anything.”
“Put it on speaker,” Carl suggested. “Is that Franco?”
“Yes, and the motherfucker is mine,” he growled, merely glancing when Carl picked up the handheld between them and pushed the button to send it to speaker. “What the fuck?” Perry howled when Franco didn’t turn out of the lot but instead squealed to a stop and turned his car sideways, completely blocking the exit.
“What the hell is he doing?” Carl yelled.
“You won’t get away with this, John,” Kylie said through the phone.
“John?” Perry and Carl asked at the same time.
Franco stopped his squad car, completely blocking the exit as Perry slowed. Perry turned on his headlights, blinding Franco, whose face was twisted into a determined scowl as he glared at them.
“I don’t fucking believe it,” Carl said, his accent growing thicker. “What does he think he’s doing?”
“Get the camera out and start snapping pictures,” Perry demanded. “And then hold on tight. We’re going for a ride.”
Carl yanked the digital camera out of the glove compartment, pulling it out of its case quickly and holding it up in the air as they slowed in front of Franco.
“Smile pretty for the nice man,” Carl said, a sneer in his tone.
“Keep taking pictures,” Perry ordered, and accelerated, bypassing Franco’s squad car and running his own car over the curb and onto the grassy median toward the street.
“Oh, crap!” Carl yelled. “He got out and is pointing a gun at us.”
“Keep taking pictures,” Perry yelled.
“He’s aiming a gun at us!”
“Then take pictures and duck!”
A shot exploded into the night and Carl howled just as the car bounced over the curb and hit the street.
“Son of a bitch,” Carl swore, bouncing sideways next to Perry as he tried turning around and ducking at the same time.
“Come on, sweetheart,” Perry whispered, searching the street ahead of them for signs of the Suburban. “Tell us where you are.”
“How in the hell do you think you’re going to get away with this?” Kylie asked, her voice tinny through the speakerphone.
“Are you kidding?” John Athey laughed. “We’ve got the perfect setup, darling. You’ve got no backup, and your police lover is grounded. I saw to it. Kind of has its advantages when you can tell the cops in the town what to do. Not to mention a Suburban that can’t be pinned to anyone.” His laugh was sinister. “Got to love a car auction and then never registering the vehicle,” he added as if he were telling a good joke.
“You killed all those girls,” she accused. Kylie wasn’t laughing.
“Not your problem anymore.”
It wasn’t exactly a confession. Perry prayed she would get him to say exactly what they needed to nail the bastard to the cross right alongside Franco. He couldn’t believe this. Not in a million years would he have guessed John Athey and Franco were in this together. They did have the perfect setup.
Only one problem. There was no such thing as perfect, and Perry would see them both dead before the night was over if he couldn’t successfully pull off an arrest. First he needed to find them, and before Kylie got hurt.
“You’re wrong, John. This is my problem, and even more so now that I know you’re guilty. This is the same SUV that tried abducting Dani and I bet we’ll find where Perry shot at it. You’re Peter. You might as well admit it. I’ve got to take you down. Do you realize how serious a punishment you’ll face for this?”
“Are you seriously as dumb of a blonde as you come across?” John demanded. “You don’t get it, sweetheart. There is no one coming to save you. Do you think you can simply say, ‘You’re under arrest,’ and I’ll pull over?”
“There is someone coming to get me. He’s right on your ass as we speak. And I’ll give him the honors of slapping the cuffs on you.”
“What are you talking about?”
Kylie squealed and Perry gripped the steering wheel so hard the car swerved and Carl gave him a nervous glance.
“Keep it cool, man,” Carl said, his voice calm as he watched Perry.
“I’m cool.” Perry would take the bastard’s life with his bare hands. If the son of a bitch laid as much as a finger on Kylie…
“Don’t say a fucking word,” John yelled through the phone. “Not a goddamn word.”
“Why are we pulling into a car wash?” Kylie asked.
“I said shut the fuck up!” John bellowed so loud it distorted through the phone.
“Car wash. Car wash,” Perry repeated. “Where the fuck is a car wash?”
“Are you sure we headed the right direction when we left the bowling alley?” Carl asked. “There are several car washes up and down this street.”
Perry didn’t want to think they were losing her. John was right on one thing. There wasn’t any backup. He did hold the power to eliminate any help for Kylie. Or he did up until he made the mistake of messing with something Perry viewed as his. He would fight for Kylie’s life, and then he would fight for her. His sister’s words picked an odd time to pop into his brain, but he agreed with her advice now. Kylie was worth laying his heart on the line for. She would become part of their family, one way or the other.
As soon as he found her.
“If you’re wired…,” John hissed. “You fucking bitch. I was just going to make you disappear. No offense but you’re a bit too old for my tastes. But if you’ve screwed me, I swear to God the last thing that fucking cop prick of yours will hear are your screams as I torture you until you die. He can live with those memories while he rots in prison for the murders of all those girls.”
“You’re going to do that in a car wash?” Kylie asked. “That convenience store will have witnesses all over the place. And I bet the drive-through at McDonald’s across the street will offer at least one or two people who will see you, too. And why would Perry go to prison?”
Kylie screamed at the same time that the sound of flesh hitting flesh made Perry’s blood boil.
“McDonald’s,” Carl yelled. “We’re going the wrong way. McDonald’s is in the other direction.”
Perry pulled a U-turn in the middle of the street, forcing a couple cars to a screeching stop, and turned on his lights while gunning it. He hauled ass down the street, yelling at Carl to call Dispatch.
“Whatever it takes!” Perry demanded. “Get backup on the scene now. Tell them whatever you have to tell them.”
Carl didn’t argue or ask for advice on what to say but fumbled with his phone while the digital camera fell to the ground at his feet.
Perry focused on the golden arches when they appeared ahead of him and Carl. He saw the convenience store Kylie had mentioned and then spotted the car wash. There weren’t any sounds coming through the phone anymore, which made Perry’s blood curdle. He didn’t want to think about what John might have done to her to make her quiet.
Perry squealed to a stop in front of the car wash, slamming the car into park before it had fully stopped. He spotted the Suburban and the open driver’s-side and passenger door didn’t look good at all. His heart swelled into his throat and he trembled when he grabbed his gun, pulling it free as he climbed out and headed around his squad car.
“Cover me,” he yelled to Carl, and held his gun out, aiming it toward the ground, while he searched for Kylie. “Athey, where the fuck are you?” he yelled.
“Perry!” Kylie howled, her high pitch sounding full of fear and panic.
At least she was alive.
Perry ran through the stall, looking both ways on the other side of the car wash, until he spotted them at the edge of the lot.
“Stay right there,” John ordered, gripping Kylie against his chest while walking backward, the gun in his hand pointed at Kylie’s head.
Her hair was messed up and her expression looked panicked, but otherwise she didn’t look hurt.
“Are you okay?” Perry asked her, an overwhelming sense of calm hitting him. Something told him John wouldn’t kill her. It would be murder one, and there wouldn’t be any way out of it. Perry was convinced the man was too much of a survivor for that.
“I’m fine,” she said, also sounding too calm.
“Get back in your car,” John ordered, taking the gun from Kylie’s head and pointing it at Perry.
“It’s over,” Perry told him. “Franco is under arrest. The FBI has been contacted.”
As if to back Perry, sirens approached, growing louder by the second.
“Backup is here. Put down the gun.”
“Like hell.” John pushed Kylie forward, causing her to trip and fall to the ground.
Perry lunged for her just as the shot rang through the air.