Killer Scents (20 page)

Chief squeezed his
arm
before addressing Jacob. “
Keep going
until you feel we are directly across from the building, and then
drive
a straight line across the field. I think Becca’s life is more important than a few rows of
posies
.”

Jacob nod
ded
and slipped back behind the
wheel
. He didn’t go much further before
turning. He
c
ame
to a stop after crushing
only a dozen or so
of the vibrant yellow blooms. He frowned and
hopped
down, parting the tall stems.

“Look at this.” He moved to one side to show them tracks already carved between the rows.”

Randy
jumped
out of the truck and dropped to one knee. “These two fat ones look like they came from a truck.” His fingers slid down the grooves of the third track, “Shit
! A
motorcycle.”

Chief was already on the radio relaying their discovery.
Not long after, the field swarmed with men, making their way through the field. The building sat hidden behind a cluster of lilac trees
.
It had
a double door to accommodate a motorcycle, and cement pad where only an oil stain remained.

A couple of men in welding masks ground the locks. Armed spec
ial task force officers stood at each door and signalled, weapons drawn. The doors flew open with a bang, and silence permeated the
space
as Randy took it all in. Danny’s big black motorcycle sat in the center of the
room
.

He saw no
sign of Danny or Becca aside from the remnants of bloodied tape
. The
pool of blood under a leather masseuse table
was
still warm to the touch.

“Fuck! While we were chasing those fucking dogs, Danny took Becca out of here. Where the hell did he take her now?”

Chapter Twenty-two

Becca forced her eyes closed while Danny paced back and forth in front of the so
f
a where she lay. Keeping up the ruse of being unconscious bought her a little time to come up with an escape plan. She tried to decipher Danny’s gibberish as his sanity unravelled with each passing moment.

She held her breath, feeling the couch dip under his weight, his hot breath on her face almost her undoing. Danny snapped his fingers in front of her face, and she prayed none of her muscles twitched. Her stomach churned with the musky scent
of his aftershave tickl
ing
her nose, the threat of
her
puking imminent.

“I’ll be right back, darlin’, and then we’ll get started.” His footsteps faded across the wooden floor, followed by the opening and closing of a door.

Please God, show me a way out of this nightmare.

She dared open her eyes a sliver to glance about the room, careful not to change her position. All she could see out the windows were trees.
She concluded
they were in a cabin of sorts
.
Given the worn furniture and photos that littered the room, someone lived here.

The only hope she had of making it out of this situation alive was to outsmart him.
Overpowering definitely wasn’t happening.
Sure, she
gave him a nosebleed
, but he recovered in seconds and had the presence of mind to put a chloroform soaked cloth to her face.

She was pretty sure the cops were hot on Danny’s trail. What other reason could there be for leaving the setup where he had everything at his disposal? Becca
committed
the room’s layout
to her memory
. She had no choice but to
try and get away
soon, before he had a chance to use the drug.

Danny had her at a huge disadvantage. He knew where they were
;
she didn’t even know if there was a back door. It would be stupid to risk running off blindly. No, she needed to be patient and stick to her plan, and with a little luck
,
save her own life.

She
closed
h
er eyes the same instant the front door opened and Danny stepped inside
. He dropped
something heavy on the floor before shutting it behind him.

“I think it’s time for you to wake up.” Danny put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed, lifting her upper body from the couch and pushing her back down hard, before leaving her once again. The unmistakable sound of tape being pulled from
a
roll broke the silence.

She lay in wait of the perfect moment. His footsteps grew closer.

“Ah!” Becca bolted upright.

He
stumble
d
back into the coffee table and
fell
to the ground. She lunged forward, the door knob in her grasp.

“No!”

Danny’s hand clamped around her ankle and pulled her to the floor. She kicked out with everything in her to get free.

“You fool.
Haven’t you learned by now you’re not going to
get away from me so easily?”

He flipped her over,
knocking the wind from her lungs
. She gasped for air,
coughing and blinking to clear her vision
.
Becca
froze
.

Danny now knelt beside
her, syringe in hand. “Enough of the fun and games
.
Y
ou just pissed me off
one
too
many times
.”

The sudden crunch of tires against gravel stole his attention
.
H
e slipped the syringe back inside his vest pocket
and then
picked her up
and ran to the bathroom where he dropped her in the tub
.
H
er head connected with the faucet
,
and
the
world started to spin.

“Hello? Is anybody here?”

Becca recognized Jacob’s voice and opened her mouth only to have Danny stuff a towel in it. Sweat dripped from his face and fire burned in his eyes as he took his gun from the back of his pants and aimed it at her head.

“Hello?”

“You shut the fuck up
,
”
h
e snarled. “I hear one noise out of you and your buddy out there gets it.” He slipped out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Her hand went to the source of jolting pain and came away bloodied. She pulled the towel out of her mouth and pressed it against the wound. Slowly
,
she move
d
out of the tub only to end up flat on her ass. The room spiraled, sucking her into a black hole of nothingness.

Randy sat at the counter in Danny’s hideout. Every single aspect of the room had a purpose
,
from the portable incinerator to the tall coolers used to preserve the flowers. Unfortunately
,
he ended up empty
-
handed when it came to the good doctor’s elusive journal. An element, he believed
, would
answer many of the questions swimming in his head. The cylindrical case was another item not found.
Th
ere was an endless supply of surgical gloves, wet wipes, duct tape, and rain suits. Not one thing told him where
Danny
might have taken Becca.

Suddenly the door burst open and Jeffery
ran in. “Something is wrong! If that bastard hurts
him
...
!
”

Randy slid off the barstool and held a hand up to halt his tirade. “Slow down.” He walked over to Jeffery,
who stooped with
his hands on his thighs attempting to slow his breathing.

“Jacob...something wrong...I feel it.”

“What makes you thin
k
that? Where is he?”

“That’s just it.” He straightened his stance and
threw his hands up
in the air. “He left over an hour ago to grab some clothes from my place.” He
began
pac
ing
. “He’s not answering his cell.” With an air of drama
,
he put his fist to his mouth and choked
out
a sob.

Randy took hold of the distraught lover’s shoulders until
the guy
looked at him.

“We’ll find Jacob. Right now you need to calm down and focus. It’s possible there
’
s a very simple explanation
. Remember,
cars break down, phones die
, and so on
.”

Jeffery
shook his head
in earnest. “No, you’re going to have to trust me on this. I
sense
something isn’t right.”

“Well, the
n
let’s grab a couple of men and take a ride over there.” Randy ushered Jacob’s lover from the room. “Why don’t you try his number more time?”

Jeffery held his cell phone between them and pushed redial, letting it ring until it went to voicemail
. “Jacob, I’m here with Randy. You need to call us
when
you get this message. We’re on our way over there. I’m very worried about you.”

Chapter Twenty-three

“Fuck!”

Becca startled awake to a phone connecting with the wall
and
pieces
of it
flying around the room. She was no longer in the bathroom
but
gagged and tied to a kitchen chair, and this time
she wasn’t alone. Jacob now sat across from her
.
B
lood dripped from a nasty gash at his temple
and
his chin rest
ed
on his chest
.
He appeared to be oblivious
of anyone or anything around him.

Danny ran toward her.
“We
have
to get out of here now!”

S
he squeezed her eyes shut preparing to die. A flood of
relief
brought tears to her eyes as Danny cut the tape from her wrists and ankles. Her joyous
moment was s
hort
-
lived
when
the all too familiar cool metal of his gun pressed against her forehead.

“You’re going to help me get him to my truck. I got no time for fucking games. If he’s not out there in less than five minutes
,
I’ll put a bullet in both of you and fly out of here solo.” He push
ed
the gun against her skin. “Understood?”

Becca nod
ded
, unable to respond with the tape still stretched across her mouth.
She
shifted
h
er
attention
to the window.
Why the sudden urgency to get away?
Randy
?
Are you coming for me?
None of it really mattered if she didn’t do
what he wanted
. She dropped to her knees and began frantically pulling at the tape wrapped tightly around his ankles.

“For fuck
’
s sake!” Danny shoved her aside and ran his blade between Jacob’s ankles, biting into
shin
flesh
, too
.

The tape muffled
Jacob’s pain-filled cries
.
The slice
must have been
excruciating
,
but
his eyes remained closed.