“I was standing a good twenty-five feet away, but she was small. I couldn’t see her hair, but there was no way that frame was male. She had breasts. I would bet they were fake. I can tell a fake set from a mile away.”
The doctor’s sub had fake breasts.
“Secure this room. No one gets in or out. I mean no one. This is a crime scene. I’ll have a forensic team here in fifteen minutes.” He started for the door that led to the hallway. He couldn’t be so far behind.
“All right, Lieutenant. Where are you going?”
“I’m going to find out how she took Karina out of here.” He was minutes behind her. The question was had the killer been waiting outside? He rather thought not. He would bet his life that the killer had been in the locker room, too. If Starr was in on it, then there was no way she took down Karina on her own. Even if she managed to drug her, that little stick creature couldn’t pick her up, couldn’t get her into a laundry bin.
How many people had been in that bin? At the very least Karina and the killer had been rolled out.
He turned right and saw the door that led to the loading dock. Using his boot, he kicked it open. He wasn’t about to add his fingerprints. The crime scene would already be a nightmare.
Fresh air hit his lungs as he stepped on the dock. There was a ramp that moved down toward the lot. There were four light posts, none of them with working illumination. Most of the visitors parked in the front lot. No one was out here. He turned to his left and there was the damn laundry bin.
Fuck, if she died, he would lie down beside her and never get up. Nothing would matter if he failed her.
He jogged around, looking for anything, anyone. He was in the middle of the city, but it was quiet. Too damn quiet. He could hear the freeway in the distance. He looked around for security cameras, anything that would tell him what car she’d been dumped in. Nothing. They’d placed cameras in front to catch people coming in and out. Because the victims had been at more than one club, they assumed they needed to check members, not employees, so the employee entrances had been left alone. Big mistake.
He pulled his cell and called it in, requesting a forensic team. It was time to come out of the darkness. He had to get everyone he could on finding her before it was too late.
If the killer followed his pattern, he would take her somewhere quiet, play with her for a while. The previous victims had been tied up prior to death. The patterns were intricate, requiring time and space.
He hated the thought of Karina being tortured, but he would take it over her being dead.
He heard a quiet cursing and then the slamming of a door.
Moving as quietly as he could, he turned the corner into the lot on the side of the building.
And then he remembered the doc’s car. On the second night they’d been at the club, he’d followed Master Will out to get a look at his ride. The doctor drove a bright red vintage Mustang. He’d thought it was a sweet ride at the time, and now that fucker stuck out like a sore thumb.
And so did the woman who was trying to get the trunk closed.
“Damn it. Damn it.” She sniffled, obviously panicking. Even in the low light, he could see it was Starr. She had changed. She was wearing a bland uniform, her hair in a baseball cap. She stood at the back of the car, trying to shove the trunk down. “Stupid old car.”
He stopped. Was Karina still in the trunk? Was she even alive?
The trunk lid popped open again and Starr bit back a cry. She shoved it down as far as it would stay and began to reach into her purse.
In the background, he could see Sean starting around the corner.
“Cut her off!” Derek yelled and then sprinted for the suspect.
Starr screamed. He could see her startled eyes and then she turned to run, but he was on her. Derek didn’t give a flying fuck that he might hurt her. He tackled her, sending her right to the pavement.
“Check that trunk,” Derek called out.
“Let me go!” Starr struggled underneath him. “Let me go. He made me do it. He was going to kill me if I didn’t do it. Let me go!”
“What the fuck is going on?” Sean asked as he jogged to the car. The trunk had popped back open.
“Karina’s gone.”
“Yeah, I got that from Li. You think she did it?” Sean asked as he pulled the trunk fully open.
“I don’t have her.” The woman under him gasped and her words were spat out as she cried. “He took her. I was just supposed to drive his car. Please don’t hurt me. If you just let me up, you can have some of the money. We can work this out.”
“It’s not Karina, Derek,” Sean said. “It’s Will Daley and he’s alive. Unconscious, but alive.”