What Burns Within (53 page)

“Aaron, it’s time for us to end this,” Ashlyn said.

He turned and looked at her. “Harlot. Whore. You have not been saved from your wickedness.”

“Well, if you let the girls go, maybe you can help me with that.”

“You’re beyond help. They have to die before sin takes hold, or they will be separated from God forever.” His eyes were bulging.

The girl trying to choke him, who was too weak to have any real effect, bit his cheek and he screamed, letting go of the other girl as he turned and punched the one behind him. She fell back. For a moment Aaron was clear, but he was turning. Ashlyn fired, but he twisted enough for the bullet to strike his shoulder.

His eyes blazed as he ran toward the window. The girl in the tank had slipped beneath the water, but Aaron was getting closer to the last girl, the one on the bed.

“Whoever gives one of these little ones a cup of cold water will not lose his reward. See? This is my blood, poured out for you,” he said, holding a stained hand up for the girls to see, licking it. “He who loses his life shall find it.”

“There’s no way out of this.” Tain grabbed the girl who’d fallen on the floor and pushed her behind him. Ashlyn could just see her still wriggling, trying to get back into the room as another officer pulled her from behind. Tain moved toward the tank slowly, and she nodded. He put his gun away and reached down to lift the body of the girl from the water.

“If I cast myself from this height, He will summon a thousand angels to carry my body to the earth.”

Ashlyn still had her gun trained on him. “Aaron, let’s talk about this. You need to—”

He jumped through the screen, screaming as his body fell from view.

“No. Christ,” Ashlyn swore, rushing to the window. “Call an ambulance.”

“You mean call a coroner,” Sims said, stopping beside her. “Look at his neck.”

“But the girls…” Ashlyn said, turned around. “Shit.”

Tain was kneeling by the girl who’d been in the water, performing CPR.

Craig was finding it hard to wait, not knowing what was going on, when the alarm sounded.

Quinlan again jumped on the truck beside him. “It’s a medical call, not a fire.”

“That’s still good news. Ashlyn identified the suspect. Hopefully they arrested him.”

Quinlan nodded. “Good. I assume it wasn’t one of my men?”

“Your guys are all clean, as far as the arsons and abductions go.”

“What about the rapes?”

“We still aren’t sure about that.”

As they pulled in, Craig saw Adrian’s face go white and then he looked at the vehicles already there, police cruisers, Tain’s car, Ashlyn’s….

Quinlan put his hand on Craig’s arm, which was the only thing that kept Craig from racing forward. He drew a shaky breath as Quinlan called out the orders, leaving Craig nothing to do with the scene.

The men Quinlan had ordered in disappeared into the building. Craig moved beside Adrian.

“You’re a cop, aren’t you?”

“That bad as a firefighter, huh?”

“No. Just…with everything happening and Quinlan shielding you. You’re okay as a firefighter.”

“Good. Because if you even think about telling anyone, I’ll have to arrest you.”

Adrian looked at him. “How many have you got working the arson case?”

Craig shook his head. “I’m working the rape case.”

“You mean…Ashlyn, she’s bait? Man, maybe it’s just as well I thought you guys were an item. I don’t think I could take a girl who puts herself at risk like that.”

The first group of men were returning now, a girl on a board, followed by another girl on a board, and then two girls walking down with firefighters, being led toward the paramedics who’d arrived.

When the last group came down, Craig almost swore. Not dead, but not good either. He looked up from the ashen face to see Tain, Ashlyn with her arm around him, telling him something.

She looked up and their gazes met.

Then the forensics team arrived, and a group of them were sent around the building.

“Where’s Aaron?” Adrian asked Ashlyn.

Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She shook her head. One of the other officers came forward and asked for Ashlyn’s gun.

Adrian’s eyes widened. “You shot him?”

“I didn’t kill him.”

“This is just a formality,” the officer told her. “No deadly force. All accounts say it was completely justified, that maybe you should have popped him in the head.”

Ashlyn turned back to Adrian and Craig, but before she could say anything Quinlan grabbed Adrian by the shoulder and pulled him away, out of earshot.

“What happened up there?” Craig asked.

“Baptism of death.” Ashlyn turned around, her eyes resting on Tain, who was bent over the front of his car, his shoulders taut. “I’ve got to go talk to him. He really wanted this to end clean, you know?”

“If you didn’t kill him—”

“He jumped out the window. Broke his neck and splattered like an egg. I don’t figure him for our rapist, but we’ve got no way to know for sure now.”

“Unless we catch someone else,” Craig said.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about me. I won’t be home for hours.”

WEDNESDAY

“Craig. Wait up. There’s a call for you.”

He set his bag down and went back to get the phone.

“You just leaving?” Ashlyn’s voice. Still heavy, with exhaustion he guessed.

“On my way home,” he told her.

“I’m still at the station.”

“Any idea when you’ll be done?”

He heard her breathe out. “Not a clue. Likely won’t be long, but I might have to sit through another round of questioning.”

Exhaustion and guilt. “If you guys need anything, call. I got some sleep last night. How’s Tain?”

“He’ll be okay.”

“Good.”

Craig hung up and saw Quinlan walk over.

“Good thing you have the next four days off.”

“You thinking more guys are putting it together?”

“Just maybe it’ll give you a chance to get this guy.”

“I hope so. Hey, you know the place we get our pagers from? What’s the name of the guy who handles the account?”

“Rob Kearns. Why?”

Craig shrugged. “Just checking everyone connected.”

Paul Quinlan stared at him for a moment. “Do they teach you how to lie, or does it just come naturally?”

Craig smiled. “Not natural enough if you know I’m doing it.”

Dennis Hawkins sighed as he slumped down on the bench across from her, the little diner humming with the morning rush. It was an out-of-the-way place, the kind of truck-stop diner that he never took Lori for even knowing existed. “What is it this time?” he asked her.

“Can I order you something? The breakfast special?”

“I can’t stay. What do you want?”

She wrapped her hands around her mug of coffee, staring down at the table for a moment before she looked up at him. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s a first.”

“Really.”

He swallowed, studying her face. He’d heard it all from her, believed everything, until he’d realized he’d never had a clue what she was really after from him. Dennis shrugged.

“Then I trust there won’t be any problems.”

He started to get up, but she reached across the table and put her hand on his.

“I went back to Vish. Promised him I’d quit or take a desk job. It’s…it’s what he wants, you know. And it’s all I’ve got left, really.”

He stared at her, willing her to say more, tip her hand if necessary, but not really sure what to say to that.

“I always loved him. I loved you too. You probably don’t believe that I’m even capable of it,” she said with a thin smile. “But it’s true.”

“Lori, I—”

“No, just let me say it. I had to look at my priorities and my future.”

“You mean I no longer had anything to offer you.”

“I mean you said you didn’t want me anymore.”

“It was never like that. Just not being threatened. I’m not going to abandon my wife and tear everything apart because you say you’re going to go public.”

“I’m not going to do that.”

“So I have nothing to worry about?”

“No, not a thing.”

“Then I hope things work out. I can see about a transfer you know.”

She shook her head and waved her hand. “There’s only one thing I want. Just one last call.”

He looked at her face. Some of her color was back, and the black circles under her eyes were fading. Her energy was bubbling again. Not boiling like it usually did, but starting to simmer.

“I’ll let you know.”

This time when he stood, she didn’t stop him. He turned and walked away.

“What on earth can they still be talking about?” Tain muttered.

Sims returned, passed him a bottled water and set one down in front of Ashlyn.

“Deciding whether or not to suspend me, I’d guess,” she said.

“You?” Tain shook his head. “Christ, Ashlyn, if you hadn’t done what you did, that girl would have been dead for sure.”

“Any word on her condition?” Sims asked.

Ashlyn held up two empty hands. “Not so far.”

“Seems almost unfair, bringing Taylor Brennen out of that and subjecting her to the circus she’ll face in court now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“John-John filed some sort of suit. I’ve been summoned as a witness,” Tain told Ashlyn, picking up an envelope from his desk and waving it in the air. “If there’s any justice at all for her, he won’t be her dad, or she’ll at least get to stay with Nick Brennen, where she belongs.”

“You think he’d want her, if she wasn’t his?” Sims asked.

“Taylor is Nicky’s sister. That counts for something,” Ashlyn murmured.

“I’d want to keep her,” Tain said.

Ashlyn’s nose wrinkled. “I’m having trouble picturing you with kids, Tain.”

“If I can raise a dog, I can raise a kid.”

She laughed. “Kids do more than go fetch.”

“So does my dog.”

“True. Your dog finds dead bodies in the woods.”

“See? Raising him to follow the family career path.”

“Yeah, but as I recall, your dog has a personality.”

“Very funny.”

“You know what I still don’t understand?” Sims said. “How did they connect?”

“They were all Catholic,” Tain responded. “I talked to the parents at the hospital. Seems our man made customized religious charms or pendants for all these girls over the past few months.”

“What about Maria’s family?” Ashlyn asked.

“They had him come to the church to take an order. That’s how he saw her.” Tain looked over as Daly and a group of senior officers entered the room. “Here we go.”

Ashlyn stood, her eyes fixed on Daly’s face. He gave her a tiny nod.

Once they’d dealt with the compliments from their superiors and a press conference, Daly intersected Ashlyn. “Come to my office.”

She followed wordlessly, sinking down in her chair.

He went to his locked drawer, removed her gun and passed it to her.

“No suspension, huh?”

Daly shook his head.

“What did that cost you?”

“Nothing. On this case, under the circumstances? You didn’t even use deadly force. Every single officer at the scene backed you up, and a girl made a statement.”

Her eyes widened. “They’ve got one talking already?”

“Angie. Taylor hasn’t said a word, and Maria hasn’t stopped screaming. From what the doctors said, he almost killed her.”

Ashlyn felt her lip curl. “He was spouting that religious garbage right to the end, you know?”

“Guess he never heard of ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill.’”

“Well, if someone had to die today, I can live with it being him.”

“Go home. Get some sleep. You’ll feel better after a few days off.”

“After we close the rape case.”

Daly shook his head. “I’m pulling you out. It’s too much right now.”

“Right now, almost everything I own is at Craig’s. I’m either sleeping there, or supervising a move.”

He looked at her for a moment, face blank so she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “Craig doesn’t have a shift to night anyway, so you shouldn’t be in any danger.”

She stood up, reached for the door and then paused. “Any word on Lindsay?”

“Critical condition. Every hour she holds on increases her chances.” Daly nodded toward the hallway. “You’d better go before Craig sends out a search party.”

Craig listened to the message again, trying to place the name, and then it clicked.

He dialed the number and glanced at his watch, consoling himself with the idea that any average family would be up by now.

A voice yawned a greeting into the phone.

“May I speak to Ryan Lewis please?”

“Hang on.” The phone clunked against a hard surface, and then a voice yelled for Ryan to come to the phone.

Another voice answered after a moment, the voice Craig vaguely remembered.

“This is Constable Craig Nolan. You called and left a message for me.”

“Hey, yeah, sorry to call at home. I was away camping until yesterday, and that’s when I heard something. You haven’t…have you already caught the guy?”

Craig rubbed his forehead. “No, not yet.”

“Well, this might not be anything.”

“That’s okay. Whatever you heard, I’ll check it out.”

“Okay, well.”

Craig could hear him moving, sounds in the background getting quieter and louder simultaneously, as though he was moving away from a blender in the kitchen and toward a stereo. Then the music stopped, just as Craig placed the album as
The Rising
, which left him to wonder where his copy had gotten to.

“You know how I told you about the house on the corner?”

“I hope you didn’t go over there, snooping around.”

“No, no, nothing like that. But the people who live there, they have a nephew about my age, Tommy. He stays with them sometimes when his mom has to work. When I got back from camping he was there, so he came over and we got talking.

“He was telling me about this guy he saw in the alley the other night. Says this guy was there…” He paused. “You know.”

“Enlighten me.”

“You know. Jerking off. In the lane right behind that woman’s house.”

“Did he get a good look at him?”

Ryan rattled off a description, generic as it was.

“What night was this?”

“Sunday night.”

“He see anything else, like a car?”

“That’s the thing. There was a car parked down at the end of the alley, blocking it. Really pissed off Tommy’s family because they couldn’t get in. Tommy wrote down the make and model and license plate number and said they should call someone, have it ticketed or towed.”