The Hostage (19 page)

“Where’s Drake?”

Rod eyes opened halfway. His skin was pale and he looked very sleepy.

“I need an ambulance in here,” Sarah shouted toward the stairs. “Now!”

She turned back to Rod and lifted his head. “It’ll be okay. We’ll get you out of here. You did good. You saved Drake’s life. We’ll find him, we’ll find him.”

Parkman came up behind her. “Paramedics are coming in now.”

She nodded at him. Then she leaned in closer and asked Rod if there was anything he could tell them that would help. She caught the slight nod of his head. She leaned in closer to his mouth to listen.

“They left … ten minutes ago. He has … Drake.”

Sarah turned and looked at Rod. “Okay, I’ll get him. You take it easy. Here come the doctors. Go get healthy now, okay. We’ll see you when you’re better.”

Two paramedics rushed in. Sarah held his head a little longer and then got out of the way.

Parkman started for the stairs and Sarah followed, leaving Elmore’s basement behind. Just before she reached the top of the stairs she looked back at the cell she had been in and saw the brown box of panties in the back corner that Elmore had given her to wear when she had arrived.

Disgusting.

She knew the police would dig up everything they could on Elmore. That meant digging up the property surrounding his home and letting his victims have proper burials. Maybe then they could rest in peace.

In the kitchen, Spencer was on his cell phone asking someone on the other end for everything they had on an Elmore Justin Ackerman. He said he needed it yesterday and then dropped his phone into his suit jacket’s inner pocket.

Parkman and Spencer debated where Elmore would’ve taken Drake. Sarah listened as they covered public transportation like trains leaving Toronto, the Greyhound Bus or even the Toronto International Airport.

We’re running out of time. Drake’s life hangs in the balance.

Sarah hadn’t eaten since she had gotten to Elmore’s. Her stomach growled and she bent a little at the pain. She had to eat soon, but she wouldn’t eat anything from Elmore’s kitchen.

“This is such shitty luck,” Spencer said as he slapped the countertop beside him. “Drake just got away from Monika and her sick family with his life, only to be kidnapped by a psycho. Now he’s a hostage somewhere and we can’t even catch a break.” He stopped talking when his face lit up with something. “Maybe this has something to do with Ferenci? He may be still involved.”

Sarah looked down at her shoes. She’d completely forgotten about the guy who wanted to kill Drake at the baseball game.

“Sarah?” Parkman said.

She looked up at him.

“Can Vivian help us on this?”

She shook her head. “I haven’t heard from Vivian in days. She’s been strangely silent.”

“Why’s that?”

“I don’t know, but I’m sure she’ll tell me soon enough. What I do know is,” she held a finger up, “where Elmore took Drake. I think I’ve figured it out. Parkman, Spencer, bring a couple men and let’s go. I’ll tell you everything on the way.”

Chapter 33

Spencer drove south toward Toronto, the car’s lights flashing on the roof. He took liberties with his driving that only cops could, driving on the wrong side of the road at times and running red lights.

Sarah observed from the backseat, a place she hated to be under any other circumstance. The backseat of a cop car always sucked.

“Are you sure Elmore didn’t say anything about the location of his studio?” Spencer asked.

Sarah shook her head. “No, I’d remember. He said nothing about where it was, only what he did there to the girls.”

“I called it in,” Spencer said. “I’ve got my best guys working on Elmore’s public records to find what properties or businesses he may own and where they are.”

“All I remember is that it’s downtown Toronto.”

“We’re hitting the top of the 427 south, so we’ll be downtown in five to eight minutes. Hopefully my guys get me something by then.”

Parkman sat beside her. He leaned closer. “You doing okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“You know, after what happened in Europe, I was pretty scared when you didn’t come off that plane. I called everybody I know and I called in any favors I could, but came up empty. It wasn’t until you showed up at the Rogers Centre when I heard anything about you being in Toronto. How could Rod be that powerful?”

“That’s the crazy thing about people like Rod. Too much power and no accountability, no consequences. Rod has no governors, nothing holding him back.”

Parkman nodded and looked out the window. After a moment, he glanced back at her. “Why do you think Vivian has been silent? In Europe, she was getting even more involved. She made you pass out just to keep you from being shot.”

“I know. It’s confusing, but I have a theory.”

“What’s that?”

Sarah looked down at her hands. “Her original goal has always been to catch Armond Stuart. She gave me a couple safe tasks to accomplish before going after Armond. Once I’d boosted my confidence, I was ready and she knew it. Now that Armond is dead, she’s done. She can rest in peace.”

“Okay,” Parkman interrupted. “What’s next?”

“That’s just it. There’s been a lot of danger along the way. Many times she’d lead me to the fight, but it was me who did the fighting. I just feel that her job is over now that Armond is gone.” Sarah met his eyes. “I might not hear from her again.”

“You really think so?”

She nodded.

“Then why send you after Drake? How does he fit in?”

“Because, he would’ve been another casualty of the fraudulent immigration ring that Armond was a part of. If she could save one more life …”

“I disagree,” Parkman said. “She did send you to save Drake, but it also netted you Elmore, who from what we’re gathering, is quite the disgusting psychopath. He’s preyed on women for too long. If you didn’t come to Toronto, Elmore would still be doing what he’s been doing for years.”

Sarah thought about it for a second. “Maybe you’re right. And maybe I came not just to save Drake, but to be with Drake.”

“
Be
with Drake? What does that mean?”

Sarah looked away. What she felt inside was so foreign to her that she didn’t know what her face would show Parkman.

The radio in the front seat crackled. Spencer clicked a button and talked rapidly.

“Got it!” he shouted.

“Got what?” Sarah asked.

“We know Elmore’s studio is in the Entertainment District at the corner of Duncan and Richmond Street. Units are on their way, but they’ve been ordered to stay back a few blocks until I give the go-ahead. We’ll be in that area in minutes. Hold on.”

Chapter 34

Elmore slapped the steering wheel hard.

“Why did I think I could ever control someone like Sarah? Fuck, she has single-handedly ruined everything I’d spent years building.”

It further infuriated him that he couldn’t find a parking spot. Downtown Toronto on any given day was always a test of patience and today Elmore had little. After circling for what felt like an hour, he found a parking lot that allowed him to park near the back by workmen who were tearing up a street.

Summertime in Toronto wouldn’t be summer without construction going on all over the place.

Then he smiled to himself. Drake lay in the trunk. The jackhammers were cutting into cement fifteen feet from his car door. No one would be able to hear Drake with the cacophony of men at work. Elmore had stopped on the way downtown and pulled into the back of a gas station to put duct tape over Drake’s mouth and cuffs on his wrists. With enough shouting, Drake would attract someone’s attention from the trunk soon enough if his lips weren’t sealed.

Taking one final look around, Elmore got out, locked his car doors and started walking the two blocks to his studio. He’d always kept the studio legal and aboveboard so it covered his ass with the tax man. There had to be something to explain the income from Japan and how it got generated in the first place. Because it was registered to him, that meant the cops would find it easily, but would they come there first? He felt they’d focus on his house first.

Maybe he needed to call a lawyer. He had the money. He could stop the cops from entering his house. Probable cause, search warrants and illegal entry were all things he needed a lawyer to deal with. If they searched his house, they’d have enough to charge him right away. An investigation would ensue and that’s where things would get bad.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have left the house. When Sarah ran away and disappeared so quickly, his urge was to get out and get out fast. But if he was still at home, he’d be able to stop illegal searches. Would Sarah’s word alone be enough for them to walk into a private residence? How long did search warrants take to process?

“Damn her,” he said out loud.

Two women wearing business suits and carrying briefcases walked by and looked at him.

He passed them and didn’t look back. Fuck them if they think he’s crazy.

When everything was over, he would hunt Sarah down and find her. Whatever it took, he would catch up with her. But he would only want one thing from her then and that would be to watch the last breath cross her lips.

It’s too late now. You’ve run. You have to keep running. Who knows what’s going on back at the house?

The front of his studio looked normal. No one watched him or his premises. He waited a full two minutes and then ran across Duncan Street to the side of the building.

The L’Amore Photo Studio sign sat with pride on the door. For a brief moment, he reminisced of all the beautiful young things who had walked through that door. How many had he taken home and used for pleasure for so many wonderful years, he couldn’t remember. Those were the days. Now his studio would serve as a temporary shelter for his captive before he fled to the airport to leave the country. Maybe he should think about going to the Hamilton International Airport and taking a domestic flight to Vancouver and then flying internationally after that. Would they monitor every airport across the nation for one man?

After looking up and down the alley and satisfying himself that no one watched, he fished out his keys and inserted them into the door. The locked clicked. Elmore pushed the door open fast and stepped up to the alarm panel to enter the four-digit code to deactivate it.

But the alarm panel remained unlit.

Did I forget to arm it the last time I left?

He’d only forgotten once before. He was very anal about things as serious as that. There was no way he forgot. Couldn’t be. Someone had to have turned it off, but who?

There was no way the police could already be here and broken into his business just to re-lock the door and let him walk in.

So who was here?

He turned around slowly and surveyed the main foyer area. Two doors led to the back. One was the staging area photo room and the other was a hallway that ended at the bathroom. The little light coming in from the outside was enough to see into each doorway.

“Hello? Anyone here?”

Someone knocked on the door. Elmore jumped and snapped his head toward the door, his heart suddenly beating as fast as the jackhammers by his car.

Fuck!

If it’s the cops, they would’ve seen him enter. If it wasn’t cops, then who could it be?

Curiosity drove him to step up to the door and grip the handle. He took a couple deep breaths and pulled the door open.

A man in a long trench coat filled the door, each shoulder brushing the doorframe.

“Can I help you?”

Elmore thought about grabbing his gun.

Something cold touched the back of his neck. He jerked away and spun to look at who was behind him. An old man, probably in his sixties, aimed a long gun at Elmore’s face.

“What the fuck—”

The man in the doorway shoved Elmore further into his studio. The old man with the gun moved out of the way.

“You are a stupid human being,” the old man said.

“Who are you people?” Elmore asked. “What are you doing at my studio?”

“Who I am doesn’t matter. I’m here for Drake. Where is he?”

“Who the hell is Drake? This is a photo studio. I have shoots planned for this afternoon.”

The old man looked at the large man in the overcoat and nodded. The huge man stepped closer, lifted his arm and brought his fist down hard and fast. So fast, Elmore didn’t have a chance to move. The brick of a fist connected with his nose. A blinding flash of light swept across his vision and pain erupted throughout his face. He felt the gush of blood before he saw it. Both eyes watered to the point where the men standing in front of him were a blur. He could not believe the pain. His face was on fire.