Stolen Lives: A Detective Mystery Series SuperBoxset (41 page)

Before she stepped back out into the hallway Cooper took a second to let the room’s atmosphere sink in. The light pinks of the sheets and bedspread, the stuffed animals stacked in the corner, all of it suggested a young girl’s room, and not the woman she interviewed the day before.

A picture rested on the nightstand, encased in a silver, rose-studded frame, which caught her eye. The picture was taken outside on a sunny day in a park somewhere. The woman was Kate Wurstshed, but the man she was with had his face scratched out beyond recognition.

Cooper tightened her grip on the frame, and her fingertips flushed white. She stepped out in the hallway once more, her movements more deliberate. She moved quickly, her footsteps silent as she approached the door at the end of the hallway.

She paused when she reached it, noticing the flicker of a light that escaped underneath the crack of the door. She pressed her ear to the side of the doorframe and listened, keeping her breath still, but heard nothing. She reached for the handle, the bronze knob unlocked like the other two. Her heart rate spiked as she felt the click of the lock’s mechanism.

When the door opened it revealed a staircase. A fluorescent glow of the flickering light at the bottom of the stairs flashed sporadically. Cooper aimed her pistol down the steps, waiting for any movement, but all she saw was the broken light that flashed with the consistency of a strobe light.

On her first step the stair groaned loudly, and Cooper cursed under her breath. The flickering light agitated the pounding of her head, but she managed to keep a straight line on the way down and kept the pistol in her hands steady, though she felt the desire for her body to tremble.

Every step revealed more of the basement underneath. At first she saw nothing but the bare concrete of the floor, but when she neared the bottom and turned the corner, the tip of her pistol lowered. “Jesus Christ.”

A twin mattress bare of any sheets was pushed up against the side of the far wall, and a waste bucket sat in the corner. The flickering light was that of a battery-powered lantern. But it was the wall opposite the bed that drew the majority of her attention. She walked to it slowly, her eyes growing wider with every step.

Writing, in what looked like red crayon, covered the wall from floor to ceiling. Most of the scribbles were so small she couldn’t read it until she was only inches away. Everything was written in the form of letters, all of them beginning with “My love,” “Lover,” or “My betrothed.” Cooper reached out her hand and ran her finger along gritty texture the crayon left behind.

Cooper stepped back, taking in all of the groupings of letters on the wall, but the flickering light made them hard to see. What few snippets she managed to read suggested graphic content between two lovers, and a violent obsession. She reached for her phone, dialing dispatch. After two rings she received an answer. “This is Detective Cooper. I’m—”

The pressure that gripped Cooper’s throat choked the words from her lips. She dropped the pistol and instinctively grabbed the hands wrapped around her throat. She was flung violently from side to side, and she struggled to free herself from the vice-like grip squeezing the life from her. The assailant slammed her head against the wall, and Cooper felt a hot burst of warm liquid spout from the point of impact then trickle down her forehead. Her knees buckled, and she dropped to the floor, her assailant falling with her, straddling her waist and pinning her down.

The blurred face of Kate Wurstshed flashed in time with the flickering light. She snarled, her eyes wild with bloodlust. “You shouldn’t have come here, Detective. This wasn’t something you should have seen.” She tightened her grip on Cooper’s throat, and the flashes of lights were suddenly replaced with black spots that grew with every strobe. “You’re not as smart as he thought you were.”

Cooper reached for Kate’s left wrist, and with what strength she had left, twisted it from her neck, which relieved the building pressure in her head, and Kate yelped in pain. She took advantage of the momentum and bucked her hips, flinging Kate off and rolling the two of them across the basement floor. She felt the hard smack of concrete against her knees, elbows, and skull, but Cooper didn’t let up.

On the last rotation across the basement floor Cooper pinned Kate down. “Enough!” Kate thrashed and kicked, and the night of whiskey combined with the morning that lacked food and water weakened her enough for Kate to overpower her.

Cooper landed on her right shoulder, and the room spun. She scrambled to her hands and knees, the floor shifting uneasily as she searched for Kate in the flashing strobe of the lamp. She blinked repeatedly and heard the thump of feet against the staircase. Cooper reached for the gun and sprinted up the steps, wheezing with every breath.

Her vision cleared in the hallway, but Kate was nowhere in sight. She kept the pistol aimed, her joints stiff from the fight, and a limp hindered her gait. The bedroom and bathroom doors were open, and she paused before passing, checking both before heading to the living room. She hugged the wall, peering around the corner.

A gunshot fired, and Cooper ducked back behind cover, the bullet thumping into the drywall. Cooper stayed low and jumped from the corner, finger on the trigger, but holding her fire once she saw Kate had fled to the front yard.

Tires squealed, and Cooper took chase, bursting from the front door, the sight of her pistol aimed at Kate’s taillight. She holstered her weapon and sprinted to the car. She reached for the radio and floored the accelerator, flipping on the sirens and lights. “This is Detective Cooper. I am in pursuit of a red Volkswagen sedan. Suspect is Kate Wurstshed. She is armed and currently headed west toward Interstate 17. Requesting air support and backup.” Cooper jerked the wheel hard left, blowing past a stop sign and triggering a pedestrian to jump out of her path.

“Copy that, Detective. We have units heading your way.”

Two streets later Cooper had the back of the sedan in her sight. Kate swerved across lanes, blew through traffic lights, and had already sideswiped a number of vehicles on the road, nearly crashing both times. Cooper kept tight in her chase, traffic parting from her presence.

Another squad car appeared on Cooper’s left and joined the pursuit. The thump of helicopter blades sounded over the din of sirens, and the radio blared the chopper’s view from above. “Suspect has switched directions and is now heading north on Chester Street.”

Tires screeched, and Cooper felt the tug of the wheel as the weight of the car shifted, and her shoulder slammed into the door, flinging her in the other direction as she straightened out. Every muscle in her body tightened as she floored the accelerator. Her knuckles flashed white on her grip on the steering wheel. Her eyes remained glued to the back of Kate’s car, which maneuvered dangerously through the streets.

The chopper pilot’s voice updated Kate’s position. “Suspect is now heading east on County Road 36.”

Cooper mapped Kate’s trajectory in her head, and she suddenly realized where she was heading. She snatched the radio, screaming into it over the sound of her engine and siren. “This is Detective Cooper. Suspect is heading to Baltimore Storage on Highway 86. I repeat, suspect is heading to Baltimore Storage on Highway 86. All units should converge at that location.” Cooper tossed the receiver in the passenger seat, and the radio filled with confirmation as she followed Kate east.

The police had cleared most of the roads, stopping traffic and getting innocent lives out of the way before any more blood was shed. Once they veered onto Highway 86 a tire spike had been set up, but she watched Kate veer off the side of the road, nearly flying off the coastline and into the ocean to avoid them. Cooper picked up the radio. “I’m coming through. Move the spike!”

Officers scrambled to rip them off the road, and Cooper swerved and missed with only a few inches to spare. She exhaled, but her muscles tightened at the sight of the storage unit. She watched as Kate’s car skid to a stop and then she sprinted inside, gun in hand.

Tires slid across the loose gravel, and Cooper parked right next to Kate’s sedan. She slammed the car door shut just as the fleet of police vehicles pulled in behind her. She pulled her pistol and pointed to the far end of the property. “I need this place locked down now! I want officers on every exit!”

Hurried nods answered back, and no one questioned the authority in her voice. Then, amidst the chaos, Hart appeared. “Hey, you all right?”

Cooper heaved her chest up and down, attempting to catch her breath as the storm of officers covered the exits, establishing a perimeter. “We need her alive. No one shoots unless fired upon.”

The rookie nodded and sprinted into action faster than Cooper expected. Once they received word that the exits were sealed, Cooper led the squad, Hart right behind her, into the long halls of the facility. She stopped just before the entrance, looking back to Hart. “Unit forty-one. That’s where we’ll find her.”

Cooper reached for the light switch in the hallway and flicked it on, the power restored and the fluorescent lighting evaporating the darkness. Cooper inched forward, pistol raised, with at least a half dozen officers behind her. Despite her confidence of where Kate was hiding, they cleared each open door methodically, not willing to risk the chance that she was wrong.

When they reached the turn in the hallway where the unit was located, Cooper paused at the corner, peeking around the edge. Hart darted to the opposite side of the hall’s entrance, and once both confirmed the hall was clear they pressed forward.

The police unit glided through the halls seamlessly, and when they approached storage locker forty-one, Cooper held up her hand, and everyone stopped. “Kate? It’s Detective Cooper. I need you to slide the gun out into the hallway and put your hands in the air.” Silence. “Kate, listen to me. You don’t want to do this. I can help you. Let me help you.”

The laughter was soft at first but grew steadily louder. “I never wanted your help, Detective. Everything I did was an act of love. I did it for him.” Kate’s voice echoed from the empty storage unit, her tone an eerie calm.

Cooper poked her head around the corner and saw Kate on the mattress, pistol still in hand, staring at the blank wall across from her. Before she second-guessed herself, Cooper looked to Hart and mouthed, “Stay here.” Hart scrunched his face in confusion then fear as Cooper slid in the room. Kate glanced up at her when she entered but made no sudden movements.

“I thought he’d be here.” Kate said, her shoulders sagging, staring at the wall with a face drenched in longing. “I thought he’d wait for me.”

Cooper lowered her weapon and stepped forward slowly, carefully. “Who is he, Kate? Maybe we can find him. Together.”

Kate glanced back over to Cooper. The stoic indifference had disappeared and was replaced with the chaotic stare from the basement. “I still don’t know what he sees in you. I don’t know why he picked
you.
I gave him everything he wanted. He loved
me.
” Her knuckles flashed tighter over the grip on the pistol. “He said so.”

Cooper continued her slow shuffle forward. “If he loves you, then he’ll come. But until he does, why don’t you come with me, Kate?” She reached out a hand, though she was still several feet from Kate’s position. “Let me help you.”

Kate looked at Cooper, smiling. “You have no idea what’s coming.” She pressed the pistol to her temple and squeezed the trigger.

Chapter 8

Cooper sat in the dirt with her back against the outside walls of the storage unit. She leaned her head back, and the sun highlighted dry, speckled blood that crusted over her nose and cheek from the altercation with Kate.

Hart followed the gurney that wheeled Kate’s body into the ambulance, her features dulled by the white sheet that covered the remains. Once it was loaded he walked over and knelt down to eye level. “You all right?”

Cooper looked at his shoes and noticed that they were far less expensive than the pair he wore the day before, and the crisp new shirt and pants had been replaced with clothes that were still presentable, but the colors were lightly faded, and the cuffs and collar were frayed at the edges. “I see you wore something you didn’t mind getting blood on today.”

Hart extended his hand, and Cooper grabbed it as he helped her off the ground. “Yeah, I figured I’d save the good stuff for church on Sunday.”

Cooper examined some of the bloodstains on her own shirt and nodded. “Probably a good idea. No reason to piss off the man upstairs any more than he already is.” She caught the last glimpse of the ambulance before it disappeared down the highway, and she made her way to the squad car.

Before she got behind the wheel, Hart walked over. “You sure you’re okay to drive?”

“I’ll be fine.” Cooper shut the door and started the engine, rolling down her window as Hart walked back over to his car. “Hey!” Hart stopped and turned around. “Thanks for having my back, partner.”

“Clearing some of your stuff off of my desk would be thanks enough.”

Cooper smiled and pulled out of the storage unit’s parking garage and headed back to the station. The ride back was much slower than the ride there, and with the adrenaline subsided it took all of her strength to keep both hands on the wheel and her eyes open. She tried to keep a tight grip on the wheel, because every time she loosened it, she felt her hands shake.

Unanswered questions plagued her mind the entire drive back, and by the time she reached the station her head was screaming. She immediately went back to her office and stared at the tangled mess of suspects on the wall. She took Kate’s picture and plastered it in the center and studied it in silence until Hart entered.

“Hey, the captain wants to see us.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Cooper replied, her gaze still locked on Kate’s picture. She stepped closer, examining the smile on the woman’s face. “She really thought he loved her.”

When Cooper and Hart stepped into the captain’s office, he was leaned back in his chair, feet on the desk, his clothes messy and baggy around the tired frame that barely kept them in place. “Close the door.”