Hearts on Fire 9: Her Shadows of Light(26)
Brighid began to cry. She couldn’t help it. She felt so badly for those women. To know they’d suffered such horrible deaths and that she was going to be suffering, too, made her cry harder.
“Shut up. Shut up!” he yelled at her and threw the pictures across the floor. He started tossing things and breaking things in a fit of rage. Then he turned on her and straddled her body. He shook her shoulders and spittle hit her lips and her eyes as she gasped and held her breath, waiting for him to kill her right now this second.
“I am darkness. I am evil, and the fire I have burning within me will be shared with you, and we will be one.”
“Oh God no. No, I will not share your evil.” She screamed at him, feeling a fight in her and a determination to not cower and lie there in defeat. She would die fighting his attack on her body and what he believed was his ability to take her soul. She was not a religious person, but damn, did she turn to God right now in this moment and beg for the strength to get through this, to fight him in a way that altered this madman’s plan to kill her slowly and with fire.
They had to be looking for her. Her men, Tobin, the investigators. It had to be late. Hours must have passed.
“God, help me. Help me, God.” She cried out as she pushed upward, trying to get him off of her and show she would fight him till the end.
“Don’t bring God into this. He can’t help you. He has no power like I do.”
He smacked her face, and she screamed for him to stop.
She could tell that he had lost his mind. At any moment he was going to pop and lose it. She knew it.
He eased his body down over hers and began to lick her skin. She shuddered with disgust and hatred for this monster and his sick, delusional mind. Her whole body tightened and convulsed in disgust and horror. She kept screaming and cursing at him until her voice cracked and burned. It felt like sand paper, and she could hardly breathe.
“This body will be mine. I will fill it with darkness and then light it up with the power of the fire within me.”
She shook her head. “Like God, I am light. There is no darkness within me, only light, a good, pure, sacred light. You can’t ever have me. You won’t ever own me,” she threatened, not even knowing where the words came from but only feeling the determination to not let him defeat her and break her mind and soul.
He roared as he rose up and slammed his hand down onto her chest. He began to swing at her, striking her in the mouth, the chin and neck, making her cry for mercy. Then he was up and off of her, pacing and running his fingers through his hair. She’d frazzled him, but it had cost her. She was losing her focus again. She begged to remain alert and awake, yet her body yearned for darkness and rest. She was losing this battle. Why wasn’t anyone looking for her?
* * * *
“There has to be something, some place, a safe house, a rental somewhere where this guy is staying,” Investigator Voigt said. “You’re already going to jail for insurance fraud, personal damages to all your victims. If anything happens to Miss Murphy, you’ll be a lifer in jail, and that’s if her boyfriends don’t kill you both first. So start thinking of locations. It’s getting dark. He took her over seven hours ago. We want answers. We have all the evidence we need on the computer system, in your hidden files, and that private laptop for real business numbers. Where did this Stark guy take Brighid?”
“I don’t know. I swear to you I have no idea. There is no safe house. We didn’t even know his name until recently. He’s out of control. No one was supposed to get hurt,” Lenny yelled back at him.
Trent shoved Lenny back into his chair.
“Let’s look over credit card statements and bills. Maybe there was a charge there for something, his monthly bills and expenses?” Investigator Gregory Voight said as Jeffrey started scrolling through the records and everything they had on Lenny and Ray.
Buddy Landers was listening to all of this, and his concern for Brighid grew stronger. His phone started ringing around four thirty. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was his cousin calling.
“Hey, Ronie, what’s up?” he asked as he looked away from Lenny and Ray. He wanted to strangle these guys but was relieved Tobin and his brothers weren’t here right now or blood would be shed.
“What did you say? Where? Oh shit, thank that son of yours and be sure to stay clear of the house.” Buddy closed up his cell phone.
“I think we just got super fucking lucky. That was Ronie, my cousin, seems his boy was driving into school with his girlfriend this morning and a black van cut him off and made him swerve. He turned around to see where the guy lived and was going to confront him when his girlfriend stopped him. Turned out the guy lives in a rental on the same block. Billy saw the driver put the van in the garage. I’ve got the address. The kid says it was a black van with the word delivery on it in white. He heard about the APB that was out on the van as he got out of football practice.”
“God, I hope this is where this asshole is and that Brighid is okay. Let’s head there now. Call Tobin and let him and his brothers know. They’re on that side of town now and can move in slowly. We’ll be there in ten minutes,” Trent Landers said, and Buddy made the call.
* * * *
They were standing outside of the pickup truck. Pat was running his fingers through his hair, feeling like a madman to be out of control like this. For every minute that passed, this psycho serial arsonist- murderer could be inflicting pain on their woman.
“I can’t take this. I’m losing my fucking patience. I can’t focus. It’s been seven fucking hours. Seven,” Pat exclaimed.
“I just can’t believe this is real. I can’t,” Reece said and then slammed his hand down on the front hood of the truck.
“I cannot believe that no one saw this black van,” Tobin said. “We even have the fucking picture posted on all the main highway information signs throughout town and the emergency broadcast system. By now the majority of citizens in this town should have seen the pictures.”
“Maybe he took her out of town immediately? If that’s the case, they could be anywhere,” Rusty said.
“But someone would have seen them. There’s highway and, yes, some remote areas, but it’s a distinctive van,” Pat said.
“A stolen van from what the investigators gathered. The owner was definitely not connected to this operation,” Tobin said.
“Well, you basically shook him until he pissed his pants, so, yes, he’s wasn’t involved,” Reece said, and Pat chuckled.
“Poor guy did nearly piss his pants,” Rusty said, and they all got quiet.
Then Tobin’s phone rang. They all watched as he answered it.
“What? Holy shit. Okay. Do you seriously want us to wait?”
“What is it? What’s going on?” Reece asked.
Tobin disconnected the call. “Get in. We’ve got a location. Everyone will be there in ten minutes tops.”
They got into the truck, and Tobin explained about Buddy and Trent’s cousin, some young kid who had called in about seeing the van this morning.
“Why did he wait so long to tell anyone?” Rusty asked.
“The kid was at school then at football practice. Buddy said he heard about the van and the description over the radio, and he called his dad.” Tobin gunned it down the highway to the location. Before he made it around the corner, he slowed the truck down and parked it a few houses away.
“What a fucking break. Thank God that kid wasn’t some airhead and actually paid attention to what’s going on around him,” Reece added.
“What’s the plan, boss?” Pat asked as they all stared at the house. Pat could hear everyone’s low breathing as they just stared at it.
“It’s getting fucking dark. We should move before we lose the last bits of light.”
“But what if he hears us come in and then hurts her, kills her?” Rusty asked.
“We should check that garage first. Make sure it’s the right place,” Reece said.
“Let’s get out. Reece, Rusty, I want the two of you to come in behind us. Pat and I are law enforcement,” Tobin said to his brothers as they all got out of the truck.
“We have our guns, too. We’re trained and legally carrying,” Reece stated firmly.
Tobin licked his lips and then looked to the right at the other houses.
“Okay, as quiet as possible, let’s move in. Reece, Pat, take the back entrance. Rusty and I have the front. We do a sweep of the house and listen for any signs of the location where he’s keeping her,” Tobin said to them as they checked their weapons.
“In the other cases, he kept them in a dark basement. That’s what I read in those reports,” Pat said to Tobin. Reece swallowed hard, and Rusty clenched his teeth.
“We do a quick sweep of the first floor and listen. If they are in the basement, we go slowly as to not alert him to our presence. If need be, we charge the basement stairs and get down there as quickly as possible. Got it?” Tobin asked, and they nodded.
“Let’s do this. Let’s get our woman back,” Pat said, and they agreed as they slowly, expertly, like trained men, infiltrated the house.
* * * *
Brighid felt the hands digging into her thighs and her hips. She started to moan and grunt in pain.