Deadly Deception (36 page)

She held the gun on him as he took backward steps until he reached the room where Jennifer was held.  She motioned him to the wall at the right side of the door.  "Put your hands up high and face the wall.  Closer. Press yourself against it.  Good, boy."

She moved to a position so she could see inside the room.  Inside was the twin bed bolted to the floor, a small dresser with four drawers, a toilet and a sink.  The walls were covered with blue foam soundproofing.

"You bastard.  You kept her locked in there like an animal?  What have you done to her?  Where is she?"  She was close to losing it and struggled to keep her temper in check.  Still pointing the gun at him, she ordered him to turn around.  Frankie noticed a subtle change in his expression.  Gone was the haughty, smug look he had before.  Replacing it was alarm.  Finally, he seemed to realize how much trouble he was in.

"Look, I didn't hurt her.  I swear.  I took good care of her.  I brought her healthy meals and plenty of water and milk.  I even gave her pre-natal vitamins. I swear I didn't hurt her."

"Where is Jennifer?"

"She pretended to have labor pains and when I went in to check on her she kicked me and ran.  I don't know where she is.  I just know she's ..." The rumbling of a garage door opening above them broke his train of thought.

"Who uses your garage besides you?"

"Fuck you." His fear dissipated. "That's David.  You're dead now.  Once he takes care of you, he'll find Jennifer and kill her, too."

"Wrong answer."  She jerked her small stun gun out of her pocket and jabbed him in the neck.  His head bounced against the wall, and then he slid to the floor as he lost consciousness.

She slipped to the wall next to the staircase to listen and wait.  It wasn't long before she heard the house door to the garage open, then slam shut.  She heard a dragging sound, and grunting as David dragged something down the steps. When he reached the landing and walked into the room, she greeted him with her gun drawn.

He dragged Lane's limp body into the room, his gun pointed at Lane's head.  "Drop it, bitch, or he gets it now instead of later."

She slowly lowered the gun, and then placed it on the floor near the staircase.  "What's wrong with Lane?  What did you do to him?" 

Wordlessly, David drug Lane over to a chair, then pulled some rope out of his pocket and held it out to her. "Get over here and tie him to the chair.  And do a good job because I'm watching you."

Taking the rope from David, she leaned down to wrap it around Lane's waist.  Frankie held Lane's wrist to check his pulse.  It was a little slow.  She then tied his hands behind his back, as David directed.  God, how she wanted to get Lane out of there and fast. 

"Tighter.  Tie the rope tighter," David shouted.

She pulled at the rope.  If she pulled on it any tighter, it would cut off the blood flow to his hands. 

She didn't know what she would do if anything happened to Lane.  Why hadn't she told him she loved him?  How many times had they made love and the words were on the tip of her tongue, but she lacked the courage to say them?  Was she so afraid of getting hurt that she'd missed her chance to tell him? 

Frankie pretended to adjust the rope as she leaned in close to Lane's ear. "I love you, Lane.  I love you so much, baby."

"Move away from him."  He sent her an icy glare and then noticed for the first time that Dr. Caine lay unconscious by the room where Jennifer was kept.  "What the hell happened to him?"

"It was his naptime."

"Smartass, where is Jennifer?  Or should I say, where is your
cousin
?  Isn't that what you called her at the hospital?"

"You might want to reconsider the eavesdropping thing.  In most circles, it's considered to be pretty rude," said Frankie.  She backed up a step when his hand fisted, his face a glowering mask of rage.

"You're going to find out how very rude I can be.  Let's go check on the good doc.  You go first."  He pushed her toward the other end of the room where the doctor still lay on the floor.

Behind them, Lane moved.  He shook his head back and forth as he fought the grogginess. What the hell did Chambers have in that hypodermic?  He blinked several times, trying to focus.  Whatever the drug was, it was wearing off.  He looked around.  Where was he? 

It was then he noticed Frankie at the far end of the room with David Chambers who was holding a gun on her.  Dr. Caine was slumped on the floor and David was checking his wrist.

Lane quietly pulled at his arms, and then realized he was tied to the chair with rope. Stretching his hands, he tried to loosen the rope around his wrists.  It stretched a bit, but not enough to free him. He kept working at it.  Lane watched as David brought Frankie back to the sitting area near him.  He shoved Frankie onto the sofa, and then he glanced at Lane.

"Well, look who's conscious, Mr. Lane Henderson. Did anyone ever tell you that you needed to exhibit some control over your bitch of a wife?"

Lane returned his glare and said nothing.  A muscle clenched along his jaw.  He wanted to kill him.  If he hurt Frankie, he would.

"I bet I could teach you a thing or two about breaking in the little woman.  A couple of good beatings and the promise of more can work miracles to improve a wife's behavior."

"Yeah, you're a big man, David Chambers. I saw up close and personal what you did to those two little girls.  You're such a big man, you pick on little girls."  Lane taunted him to get his attention away from Frankie.

"Shut up.  You don't know what you're talking about."  Provoked, he shifted toward Lane and moved in front of him.

"Let me introduce myself to you.  My name is Lane Hansen and I'm a detective who knows you're guilty of at least two murders, maybe more.  Any minute the county sheriff I work for, who was supposed to meet with me an hour ago, is going to storm this house with the SWAT Team.  What do you think about that, big guy?"

"You're a liar!"  He swung his arm wide and back-handed Lane hard.  Blood sprayed from Lane's nose and mouth.  Frankie jumped to her feet.  David spun around to face her and screamed, "Sit down, bitch!"

Lane spit blood at David and jerked against the rough rope that bound his wrists.  He gritted his teeth and pulled at the rope until it cut into his flesh.  He had to get free before David hurt Frankie.

Frankie glared at David defiantly, and hissed, "Any wimp can hit a man who's tied up.  Just like a sissy who beats up little girls.  That's you, David.  You're a bully who targets little girls."  She purposely taunted him to distract him from Lane, who now strained at his bindings, his arm and chest muscles bulging.

David raced to the sofa.  The second he swung his arm at her, she ducked, then popped up into position and kicked the gun out of his hand.  It landed on the floor and slid under a chair.  Stunned, he grabbed for her but she moved.  He caught her by her ponytail and knocked her to her knees and held her there.

Lane roared at David, "You son-of-a-bitch, leave her alone.  Fight me like a man!"  Hurling insults as he rocked back and forth in the chair, Lane twisted his wrists until the blood slickened and loosened the rope.

"Shut up!" screamed David, who was still holding Frankie by her hair.

"Come fight
me
, big guy.  What's the matter, are you afraid?  You chicken shit!  Are you scared I'll kick your sissy ass?"  As he shouted, Lane twisted and turned his wrists to free himself from the rope.  It was loosening.  He was almost there.  Lane clenched his jaw, made fists with his hands and made a fierce pull at the rope.  It broke!

David's attention shifted from Frankie to Lane.  This was a mistake.  She used the opportunity to slam her elbow upward into his groin.  He screamed and clutched himself.  She didn't stop there.  She knew she couldn't.  He could recover and kill her and Lane. 

Frankie grabbed David's thumb, bending back his wrist until he howled in pain.  Jerking his arm behind his back, she dropped him to the floor.  Still gripping his arm, she pushed her knee into his back as he struggled beneath her.  But he was too strong.  He struggled and got his wrist out of her grip, then flipped over on his back, wielding a powerful punch to her face.  He sat on top of her, pinning her to the floor.

Lane flew across the room, slamming into David with such force; it hurled them both across the room.  Lane threw a punch and heard a satisfying crunch that was the sound of David's nose breaking.  When David's hand instinctively went to his face, Lane locked his wrist behind his back and twisted until David screamed in pain.  Lane shoved his weight into his knee that was now pinning David to the floor.

"Baby, are you okay?" Lane called to Frankie who was now at his side.

They heard sirens then the front door slammed open.  Three members of the SWAT Team followed by Sheriff Tim Brennan flew down the stairs.

"So you were telling the truth about the SWAT Team?"  Frankie asked.

"Actually, I was bluffing.  But I can't say I'm unhappy about handing these two bastards over to them." 

A large man dressed in a SWAT uniform relieved Lane and soon had David in handcuffs.

Tim looked them both over, noting the blood spreading across Frankie's white tank top and Lane's wrists that were raw and bleeding.

"There are a couple of ambulances outside.  You and Frankie
both
, go get checked out.  And that's an order."  He watched them climb the stairs, then walked the extent of the room and looked into the room where his daughter was held.  He said a silent grateful prayer that she was safe.

Outside, the road was filled with emergency vehicles with bright flashing lights.  Officers were using the SWAT vehicle to ram the security gate open.  A deputy waited to stretch yellow crime scene tape across the opening at the end of the driveway.

Lane held Frankie close to him as they walked toward the ambulances.  As they neared the first vehicle, they overheard two EMTs talking. "This guy got very lucky.  Guess he was holding his gun as he entered the woods.  He tripped over a tree root and involuntarily pulled the trigger as he was going down.  Looks like a through-and-through wound."

 Once they were close enough, they noticed there were people inside the ambulance.  A man was lying on a gurney as an EMT tended to him, a young woman with long blonde hair sat on another gurney next to him.

"Oh, my God.  That's Jennifer!"  Frankie ran to the ambulance and jumped inside.  She pulled her cousin to her and stroked her hair.  "I can't tell you how glad I am to see you."

"Me, too.  I'm sorry about all of this, Frankie."

"Your dad and I were so worried about you. Seeing you here alive and healthy is such a blessing." 

The EMT asked Frankie to get out of the ambulance so he'd have more room to help Paul who had an oxygen mask on his face and tubing in his arm leading to a bag of blood dangling overhead. Frankie kissed Jennifer on the cheek and got out of the vehicle.