No Ordinary Killer (22 page)

“I’m just beginning,
Samantha.”

“What? I’m Sarah you asshole.
Who the hell is Samantha?”

“Samantha Brown. You’re
pressing down on her grave right now.”

Sarah looked into the glazed
eyes of the man she thought she knew. He slid his fingers around her throat and
slowly squeezed. Fear gripped her. “You don’t have to do this shit. I’m freely
giving you all I got. So why the fucking punch and why are you choking me?”

“Watch your mouth.”

The next blow hit her square
in the jaw. An electric jolt shot to the back of her head. “Please, stop it.”
He drove into her and for the first time she didn’t want what he had to offer.
She struggled to get free, but he punished her time and time again. She tried
screaming, but her jaw refused to move and she moaned her agony as loud as she
could. Dazed and in great pain she lay back as he removed a razor from his bag.
How come she hadn’t notice the bag before? “What … why?” she managed to
whisper.

He wasn’t hearing her. He
pulled her hair with his left hand while moving the razor across her scalp. Her
long hair peeled away like a banana. He tossed clumps of golden strands to the
wind. She couldn’t feel her legs. He continued to sit on her chest, making
breathing nearly impossible.

She closed her eyes … his
torture took control….

* * *

Dallas woke to darkness. Training took hold, she
remained still. She closed her eyes and listened. Wind whistled sporadically
and she felt the cold breeze it caused. Tree branches clattered together and
what sounded like loose shingles snapped in rhythmic response. If she were to
guess, she was in some type of shed or old house.

How did she get here? “Cooper?” She whispered, then
regretted speaking out loud. If the killer was near, she had just alerted him
she was awake. She knew better. It had to be night. Cold gripped every inch of
her body, she shivered.

“Dallas?”

“Oh my God, is that you Cooper?” She struggled to see
anything in the pitch black, but she couldn’t make out a single shape.

“Uh … yep. Where are you?”

“To be honest, I truly don’t know. I woke minutes
ago.”

“Don’t move, keep talking and I’ll find my way to you.
Oh, damn.”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“My head feels like punching bag that got hit too many
times. I have a splitting headache.”

“You guys—“

“Yeah, I know … are such babies.”

“I’m freezing and my shoulder hurts like hell. I’m on
the ground to be honest with you. It feels and sounds like we’re in a shed or
old building, but I don’t think it has a floor. It’s packed dirt and if I were
to venture a guess, it’s near frozen.” He bumped into her bad shoulder and
Dallas jumped. “Ow, take it easy there detective.”

“Sorry. Damn, it’s darker in here than the bottom of a
four-hundred foot well.”

“I’ll have to agree with you there. You have any idea
where we are and how we got here?”

“Last thing I remember is being pistol whipped. It’s
been good night Irene until now. How about you?”

He moved up alongside her and pulled her into his
chest. She paused, then leaned into him. “I got tired of waiting so I decided
to come looking for you. I found you lying on the ground. When I stopped to
check on you someone came up behind me and pressed a chloroform cloth against
my nose and mouth. Here I am, unable to see a damn thing and not sure how I got
here or why.”

“It’s at times like this that I wish I smoked.”

“Excuse me? It’s a disgusting habit if you ask me.”

“Our captor took no chances and emptied my pockets. My
guess is he did the same to you, too. One thing a smoker always has is a
lighter or matches. I’d give a gold nugget for either.”

“How big is the nugget?”

“You telling me you—“

“Don’t laugh, but I have matches.”

“You have matches. Right. And I have a steak dinner in
my back pocket, too.”

“You have to promise you won’t laugh.” Dallas moved
her hand over her belt.

“Hey, I won’t laugh if you have matches hidden somewhere
on your body.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Cooper. I have a
ten-year-old nephew, Joshua. Well, he’s not really my nephew, he’s my best
friend’s son. He calls me his aunt. Anyway, he gave me this great gift last
year for Christmas.”

“And this is relevant how?”

“Be patient. I’m getting to it. You see, he’s enamored
with
Get Smart
.”

“Oh, the 2008
Get
Smart
movie with Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway? I expected it to be dumb,
but I actually enjoyed it.”

“Hmm, you a move buff, too?”

“Can’t beat a good movie. I hate advertisements so
much that I’d rather see a movie five times than watch a show on TV and suffer
through the ads.”

Dallas chuckled. “Well, I couldn’t agree with you
more. But the
Get Smart
I’m talking
about is the old TV series with Don Adams as Maxwell Smart.”

“How old is your nephew?”

“Very funny, Cooper. My point is he has the complete
series and watches them all the time. He loves their gadgets and creates his
own. He makes me things to use … on-the-job.” Dallas couldn’t help laughing.

“Like what?”

“Well, I was just getting to that. What would you say
if I told you he made the belt I’m sporting? I wear it because … well, it makes
him happy. It’s that simple. He comments on it every time he sees it.”

“Oh, sporting huh? The buckle that says ‘Girl Power’?”

“You noticed?” She released a soft giggle. “Yes, and
before you laugh too hard you should know he hid matches inside my girl power
belt buckle.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“No, I’m really serious. But that’s not all, Mister
who bet a gold nugget for matches. He also … well—“

“Don’t stop now.”

She could hear the smirk in his tone. “Remove the belt
and I’ll explain.” He didn’t say a word before moving his palm up her arm and
pausing lightly on her breast.

“I suspect this is a bit too soft for a belt buckle.”

“Very funny, Mr. Reynolds. Behave yourself.” She held
still and smiled, a rush of heat followed his touch in spite of the cold. He
slowly moved his palm across her ribcage before settling on the belt buckle.

“I do believe I’ve found it, Agent 99. What would you
have me do with it now?”

“Very funny.” She waited for him to slide the belt
free from her waist. “Now I know you’re going to find this hard to believe, but
there is a peg to push down which releases the bottom tray. Inside you’ll find
matches.”

“I’ll be damned.”

“Don’t do anything yet. This is the unbelievable part.
Feel along the belt and you’ll find … here,” Dallas slid her fingers over his
hand and guided him along the belt until she found a straight peg. “Find these
and push them so the belt becomes rigid.”

“I’m failing to understand what we’re doing here.”

“Be patient, Cooper. Just do it and I’ll explain it as
we go.”

 
“I learned at
an early age to never argue with a woman on a mission.”

“Like I haven’t heard that one before.”

“Ouch.”

“Well, don’t sound so damn patronizing. Sexist
comments just don’t cut it with me.”

“I was trying to be funny, Dallas. I figured it would
keep us from thinking about our predicament and the damn cold.”

“Now I’m thinking about our predicament and the damn
cold. Thank you very much.” She hoped her tone apologized for the earlier
crack.

“There you have it, we were better off with you being
on a mission. Okay, now that this belt is stiff like a cane, what exactly are
we creating here?”

She smiled, even though she knew he couldn’t see. “You
ready to be impressed?”

“Yep.”

“Promise you won’t laugh?”

“Lady, if this thing sang Dixie, I wouldn’t laugh.”

Dallas chuckled. “When you pushed the pin into the
slot, it not only fastened the belt into a stick, but it released a small
amount of lighter fluid into the wick that is strung throughout the belt.”

“No way. Are you saying we just created a torch?”

“You catch on quickly, Maxwell.”

“I’ll be damned.”

“The rough sides of the belt buckle will work like
those of a matchbox—“ Light burst from makeshift torch. “You might find
something to wrap around the lower edge, just in case the metal starts getting
hot. It’s not all that bright, but it beats the hell of total darkness.”

“I’ll be damned. This is great. Remind me to thank your
nephew—“

“Joshua.”

 
“Joshua. Damn,
this thing is incredible. How old is he?”

Dallas smiled. “He’s ten and amazing to say the
least.” She glanced around, accessing their situation. “Now that my eyes have
adjusted, I’d say we’re definitely screwed.”

“Stay put. I’m going to walk the perimeter and see if
I can find a weak….”

“Why’d you stop talking? What’s wrong?” Dallas
scrambled to her feet and stared at Cooper’s back. His shadow cast against the
wall he faced.

“Damn.”

“What,” she asked bumping into him and stopping dead
in her tracks. “Tell me you know something more than me about bombs or booby
traps.”

“This looks like something conjured up by Braddock in
Missing in Action
.”

“I don’t agree. It’s more like
Rambo
.”

“You might be right. I think we need to look around
for another way of departing.”

Dallas chuckled. “That wasn’t exactly the best word to
use. How’s the torch holding up?”

“Amazing. I need to get me one of these.”

“I’ll have him make you one with
Boy Power
engraved on it.” She laughed out loud.

“Hell, if that’s what it takes, I’ll wear it.” His
laughter filled the cold, dead room. “You know, someone went to a lot of
trouble to detour us, tack us down, and get us here relatively alive.”

“I’ve been thinking the same thing. It’s like we are—“

“Detained momentarily?”

“Right. It’s going to take us a while to get out of
here but we both know we will soon or later. I’m hoping that’s sooner than
later, of course. So the purpose of this—“ Cooper’s raised hand made her freeze
in position. Once he pointed to his ears she heard it. Scraping … scraping …
then a low growl. Cooper blew out the makeshift torch and she clung to his arm.
A yip and another growl revealed there were more than one.

“Wolves would be my guess,” Cooper whispered.

“I don’t think whispering will help any,” Dallas said
in a level tone. “They hear better than both of us. They can smell us, too. The
good news is they are out there and we are snug as a bug in here … sort of.
Maybe we should look around for something to burn and start a fire.”

“We’ll burn the place down and the wolves will have a
feast.” He relit the makeshift torch.

“Listen boy scout, we have ground at our feet. We keep
the fire low and there are no worries that this cute little cabin will have to
burn down.”

“What exactly do you suggest we use for kindling?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet. Let’s continue
checking out this place—“ The scratching continued as did the growling and an
occasional yip.

“What about breaking down this old wagon for wood?”

Dallas looked it over. “Looks like an old rock bed.”

“A rock what?”

“You know a flatbed on wheels. Pull it with a tractor
through the fields and toss rocks on it. It’s actually called rock picking. I
helped my cousins do it once in Wisconsin. It’s only fun for a while, then it
gets pretty tiring. Didn’t know they picked rock in Montana, though.”

“Could be used for—“

“We can use these stones to create our camp fire. Come
on Daniel Boone, let’s—“ The scratching on wood turned into digging. Fear
gripped her resolve.

“We have two choices and we’d better decide quick.
One, we find a way to get ourselves high enough the wolves can’t reach us. With
your shoulder, that’s not looking too good. Or two, we build a fire and hope
that keeps them at bay. But if we can’t keep it going, we face—“

“Cooper, they’re digging under the door.”

“Damn, woman, I can see that.”

“Well, what you’re not seeing is the booby trap or
bomb. They trigger that and it could blow us all to hell.”

“Well, I’d rather go up in a blaze of glory than be
wolf chow.”

“You really think that comment is helpful? I mean,
really, Cooper. We are two intelligent, trained for any emergency detectives.
Think of something, but get us the hell out of here!”