Their superior joined them behind the car and took out a penlight, holding it out and turning it off and on three times. The signal was returned from the far side of the property.
“Here’s the plan. The other team is going to go in through the front, and we’ll cover the back. Remember, he’s armed and won’t think twice about shooting any one of us.” He slipped the penlight back in his pocket.
Randy’s phone vibrated in his vest. His breath caught as he looked at the caller I.D. “You aren’t going to believe this, but he’s calling my cell.”
Chief looked at the screen to read the perp’s name. “Answer it, but you have to keep your cool, Randy. Becca and Jacob’s lives depend on it.”
He blew out a rush of air. With a definitive nod, he clicked TALK. “Hello?”
“How nice it is to hear your voice. If I knew you were coming I would’ve had Becca bake a cake.”
“Danny? Is that you?”
“Don’t play me for a fool Detective Do-Gooder. I’m a cop and a damn good one. Did you think you could sneak up on me and I’d come out with my hands up?” His laughter sent a shiver up his spine.
Chief put his hand out for the phone and held it between them.
“Danny, this is the chief. Can you tell me if Becca and Jacob are okay?”
“I’ve never been better, thanks for asking. Maybe you should define
Randy snatched the cell. “You son-of-a-bitch. If you hurt one hair on her head, I swear you’ll wish you’d never been born.”
“You are in no position to threaten me. You’d be wise to remember that.”
He pushed the phone back in the chief’s hand and stormed off. It took everything in him not to knock down the door and go after the pompous ass-wipe himself.
He rubbed his face and looked back at the farmhouse. “I’m here, Becca. I’m coming to get you.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
A glimmer of hope broke through the shroud of despair that encased her.
Sensation slowly returned to her body. Once she was sure Danny wasn’t looking, she lifted each finger in turn. It felt like someone slowly filled her up with hot coffee, setting her nerve endings abuzz. She blinked back tears of relief.
Danny walked over to the window. He folded his arms across his chest and smirked. “
Becca knew she didn’t have enough strength to knock him down and run for it.
Her captor moved to the zipper of her rain suit and slowly parted it until the cool air hardened her nipples.
“You want to be ready for your lover boy, don’t you?” He chuckled, pushed the jacket off her shoulders, and tossed it on the floor. Next, he freed her arms so they hung limply at her sides.
An ear-popping bang issued from the back of the house. He jumped up and ran from the room. Becca allowed the shudder she’d suppressed to travel through the length of her.
“Sssss....”
“Sssss....” She prayed he understood her muffled response.
“If they think they’ve won, they’d better think again.” Danny stormed in the room, flailing his gun in the air. He stopped in mid-stride and glared at her. “Will you put some fucking clothes on? You’re going to make me puke.” He scooped the jacket from the floor and threw it on her lap, standing there like he expected her to put it on herself. Several seconds passed before he stomped over and wrapped the jacket around her, and pulled the zipper up, tearing the flesh of her breast and forcing it up to the top with her skin still caught in the teeth.
She bit the inside of her mouth to stop from crying out. The taste of blood took her mind off the pain.
The crazed killer strode up and down the length of the room, his finger on the weapon’s trigger.
“This is the police! We have the place surrounded. Come out with your hands up,” a voice through a loud speaker echoed in the farmhouse.
Danny opened the bigger black duffle bag and pulled out a semi-automatic. He stuffed a few extra magazines in the pocket of his newly acquired vest, making it perfectly clear he wasn’t going down without a fight.
He pulled his buzzing cell from his shirt pocket. “I’ve got nothing to say to you. If you’re going to bring out the big guns, I can play that game, too. Oh, and you can kiss your slutty girlfriend good bye.” He tossed his phone. It slid across the floor, coming to a stop under her chair.
“He’s not giving up. The asshole wants a show down.” Randy gritted his teeth.
His boss heaved a sigh.
Randy jerked, startled by the ringing in his hand. “Hello?”
“He’s got a few guns and ammo. Jacob is hurt. Danny thinks I can’t move.”
“Becca?” Relief washed over him and he stumbled back to lean against the car.
“Hurry.”
The line went silent.
His friend rushed to his side. “Becca?”
“Yes, how she got hold of his phone is beyond me.” He chuckled wryly. “Jacob is hurt and Danny thinks Becca can’t move.”
Chief’s expression sobered. “Dammit, he used that blocking drug on them.”
Becca’s partner swallowed hard. “What the fuck did he do to them?”
The shatter of glass pierced the silence. Randy turned to find the muzzle of a gun stuck out the side of the broken pane.
“I want you all to leave and I want it to happen
“Get behind those bushes,” Chief ordered everybody standing by Danny’s car.
Larry hunkered down beside him. “Hey, Chief, now that we have him back here it leaves the front of the house unmanned.”
“Good thinking. I’ll have Jerry and his team go to the front. Maybe we can keep Danny distracted long enough to get those two out before he realizes what’s happening.”
Randy positioned himself like a runner at the starting line. “I’m going with them.”
Chief put a hand on his arm. “You need to stay here. If he wants to talk to you and you’re not here, he’ll know something is up.”
He clenched his jaw.
“Come on, Danny. If you don’t give yourself up now, you got to know this is all going to end badly.” Chief wiped his sweat-beaded forehead with his shirtsleeve. “Why don’t you let Jacob and Becca go? Things will go easier on you in court if you do.”
Danny’s laughter resonated madness. Randy knew he had no intention of handing anybody over to them. The killer was a cop, too, for fuck’s sake. No matter what The Florist did, the rest of his days would be spent behind bars.
