Deadly Bonds (25 page)

“It fits,” Holt said. “He’d want to keep his son’s memory alive...or even feel his son
was
alive...by keeping his identity active. Can you trace user IDs?”

“Hell, Damian wouldn’t have hired me if I couldn’t do the simple stuff.” Einstein was already typing.

Nobody spoke. All attention was on Einstein and his laptop. Holt’s hand wrapped around hers and she turned her palm over, interlacing their fingers. This had to be the answer. To think Chad would be out there another day, another hour, was unacceptable. She was eager to start her new life with Holt.

“Found him!” Einstein swung his laptop to face Damian, who read the address aloud.

Holt went still beside her. “That’s the street behind my house.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Goosebumps rose on Holt’s skin as he and Noah pulled up to the curb across the street from Chad’s rented house. They’d opted to drive the short distance in case he fled in a vehicle. Max was crossing the alley that ran between Holt’s house and Chad’s in case he escaped from the rear. The house Chad had rented was only two doors down from Holt’s. His skin crawled to think how close Chad had been all this time. To think, Mrs. Mendelson might even have bumped into him on occasion while walking Roscoe.

Noah carefully led the way up the cracked-concrete walkway to the front door and knocked sharply. “Police. Open up.”

Nobody answered. Warrant tucked in his pocket and gun in hand, he tried the doorknob. It turned without resistance and Holt’s spidey-senses went into high alert. The sound of the music and recorded punches and grunts of a video game came from a back area of the house. In the front rooms, there was a noticeable lack of furniture other than a couple chairs and a table
.

Noah did a quick sweep as Holt moved toward the hallway. It was clear. Noah jerked his head toward the hall that led to the back bedrooms, the direction of the video game combat sounds.

Noah and Holt examined rooms as they passed them, heading toward the noise from the back room. Noah entered through the open door of that bedroom first, his gun at the ready. Holt gripped his pistol and mentally prepared himself to face the man who’d tried to take over his life.

As Noah shifted to the side, Holt got a view of the room from the doorway. Chad sat in bed in sweats and a T-shirt, propped against a bare wall. His eyes were glazed. A large, angry bruise covered one cheek, courtesy of Sara and her hammer. Across from him was a wall filled with television screens and equipment and wires going in every direction. It was a set-up similar to the lair he’d arranged in the attic at the Academy.

“Hands up,” Noah said clearly and calmly. “Get off the bed and face the wall.”

Chad ignored Noah and briefly turned his attention to Holt. Otherwise, he didn’t move except for his fingers, which pressed buttons on a game controller. “Welcome to my home. Wanna play?”

“I think I’ve played enough of your games.” Holt’s gaze shifted back to the screen where Deathstalker was taking down a foe. After ending the enemy’s life in one quick thrust of Deathstalker’s tail, Chad grinned.

“You’re under arrest.” Noah proceeded to read Chad his Miranda rights.

Ignoring Noah, Chad struggled to focus his hazy gaze on Holt. “How’s Theo?”

Holt stiffened. “He’ll be fine, with his family.”

Chad sighed. “Yes. I suppose he will. And I’ll be fine with mine.” He made a great show of raising his hands in the air, as if in surrender. The controller still hung from one of them, dangling by the cord, and he slowly moved to put it on the bedside table. That was when Holt spied the tiny capsule there. As if in one motion, Chad put the controller down, scooped the capsule up and popped it into his mouth. His Adam’s apple bobbed. He grinned at Holt. “I’ll be with Josh again soon.”

“Stop!” Holt shouted. “Call an ambulance,” he told Noah. But help would be too late. Chad’s body was already shaking with convulsions. “Another gift from Henry. He must have had a Plan B in place all along.”

It wasn’t supposed to go like this. Families were supposed to be able to face their loved ones’ killer in a court of law. But then, perhaps this was the ultimate justice.

Holt hurried to the bedside and checked for hidden weapons within Chad’s reach. He needn’t have worried. Chad—
Toxin
—was already dead.

* * *

Damian looked up as Holt and Einstein entered his office. “You requested a meeting?”

They took seats across from him. Holt seemed uncertain. His fingers picked at the seam of his jeans. “We have something to talk to you about.”

Einstein’s hands were clenched together so tightly his fingers had turned white. His laptop, an extra appendage he never went anywhere without, lay across his lap.

“Is this about Sam?”

Alongside a police detective with experience in computers, Einstein had spent the afternoon going through the computer system from Chad White’s apartment. On the one hand, Damian was dying to know if Chad had found anything new about Sam. On the other, he’d long ago learned not to hope—it only led to disappointment. Over the past two decades, he’d dreamed of the numerous creative, often deadly, ways he would take down the person responsible for his daughter’s death. And yet, day after day, year after year, justice evaded him. Despite success finding some monsters, he’d failed to find his own.

“We discovered a document on White’s computer that we thought you’d find interesting.” Holt’s hesitance was a red flag.

“But?”

“Please, take what we say with a heavy dose of caution.”

“I always do.” Damian gave a grim smile. “I’ve learned a thing or two over the decades. One of them is not to count your chickens before they’ve hatched. But if there’s something—anything—to what Chad said he found, I need to follow up on it. I owe it to Sam to pursue any lead possible. And it’s been a long time since I’ve had any leads.” Despite his desire to remain impassive, hope flared, so hot and desperate it made his chest ache.

Einstein opened his laptop and typed for a moment. “I just forwarded you the document. It’s a journal, of sorts, begun this past summer.”

“The first entry is the date of my news segment,” Holt explained, “when the press first asked me about SSAM joining the hunt for the killer and he called the tip hotline to proclaim his name was Toxin. That’s when his fascination with me began. He journaled almost daily after that. At first, it was mostly about what he’d observed between me and Theo through my windows.” Holt looked away a moment, clearly upset by the thought of being under a killer’s microscope.

“He only saw snapshots,” Damian assured him. “He wasn’t living your life.”

“Once he got a job at the school, he began writing about Sara and his observations of the Academy. He also made extensive diagrams of the floor plan and crawl spaces of the school. Just as his obsession was spreading from me to her, it was also spreading to SSAM and its members. He indicated it was a hero’s duty to understand his enemies. In his notes about SSAM, most of them were about you.”

“
Me?
Why?”

“Researching SSAM surely led him to information about why you founded this company. It’s no secret that you had a daughter who’d been the victim of a serial killer. Chad White was a father who’d recently lost a child. Just as he thought he could relate to me because we both had sons and had lost loved ones to cancer, he felt a connection with you too. Some kind of bond through a father’s grief, but twisted by his mission.”

“This research...did it go deeper?”

“In October, he apparently found some interesting information online.”

Einstein interrupted. “I’ve searched the links he found and they’re all dead now, the sites obliterated by someone, but Chad copied the information when he found it. He saved it to a computer file.”

Damian nearly squirmed with impatience. “What information?”

“It seems he thought Samantha’s disappearance could have been linked to human trafficking, and in particular, the sex-slave industry. And I have to say, judging by what I could find, he may have been on to something.”

Damian’s heart raced. “Sex slave? But she was found dead. Dental records proved it.” But due to decomposition, analysis of the scene hadn’t been able to determine whether Sam had been sexually assaulted.

“Maybe. Or maybe this ring, which my quick inquiries indicate has been known to operate by stealing healthy, beautiful girls and shipping them to whoever pays the highest price, faked her death and planted evidence that would throw you off their trail when they realized how determined and powerful you were.”

“Are you saying Sam might not have been killed? She might be alive?” Forget a racing heart, Damian feared his had just stopped beating.

Chapter Twenty-Six

December

Sara pinned a white orchid in her hair. “Do you like it?”

Theo grinned. “You look beautiful.”

She took a deep breath. “I feel great. Like the luckiest woman on earth. I get to officially join a fabulous family today.” It had all happened so fast, but, then again, she’d loved Holt for years. Given recent events, there was no reason to wait any longer to begin a new life.

“I’ll go tell them you’re ready.”

“Tell them to give me three minutes. I want to make a quick phone call.” Whether it was nerves or excitement that coursed through her veins, she wanted to share the moment with Cheryl.

“Okay, but Dad says if you want it perfect, it should be at sunset, and that big orange ball is getting closer to the water.”

She laughed and impulsively leaned forward to kiss his forehead. He looked up at her in surprise, then smiled. His acceptance sobered her as emotion pricked at her chest. Elizabeth had created this special boy, and now Sara was lucky enough to love him. “I’m so blessed to have you.”

“Yeah, I’m kind of great. And soon, I’ll even be able to beat you at chess.” He grinned and she laughed again, the bittersweet moment over. “See you in three.”

Theo slid the glass door open and pulled it closed. Her eyes tracked him as he hurried across the small patio of the beach villa Holt had rented in Acapulco. Sand flew up under his bare feet as he ran down the beach toward the pounding surf. Two men waited there—Holt and the official they’d found to perform the ceremony.

Cheryl answered on the first ring. “Is it over? Are you Missus Doctor Patterson?”

“Not yet. Very soon, though.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

Sara sighed. “Just wanted some female support, I guess.”

“Did you find the box I put in your carry-on?”

Sara’s hand went to her neck, her fingers running across the smooth pearls. “I did. Thank you for the
something borrowed.
It almost feels like you’re here.”

“Oh, hon. You know I’d be there if I could.” Cheryl was watching Roscoe for them, and Mr. Cheryl didn’t travel well anymore.

“I know. We’ll be home in a few days, anyway.”

“Oh!” Cheryl exclaimed. “And I have news for you. You received a letter from the school board. Shall I open it?”

Sara smoothed a hand nervously over her dress. “Sure, I guess.”

“Well, I already did, and it’s good news. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have mentioned it today, of course. The school board is dropping its investigation. In light of how you dealt with the three students when Chad held you all hostage, they’ve judged you to be quality material.” Cheryl snorted. “I could have told them that. There’s even talk here of a new drama department. And, apparently Neil talked to them on your behalf.”

“Neil? Really?”

“I spoke to his mother a couple days ago and she’s proud to say Neil has recommitted to studying hard and finishing high school on a positive note. He’s applying to local universities so he can stay close to his family for a bit. Plans to study physical therapy. His backup plan is to go into the Army and train to become a doctor and maybe, eventually, pursue a future in sports medicine. Claire said he was influenced by the Toxin investigation and his dad’s bullying and wants a career that will make the world a better place.”

“Good for him.” She didn’t doubt that he’d make it work.

“It’s good all around, so go out there and make it the best day ever. Holt’s waiting.”

And Sara had been waiting forever for him. “I’ll call you soon.”

“It’d better be as
Mrs
. Patterson.”

* * *

Holt’s breath caught and he squeezed Theo’s hand.

“Told you,” his son said smugly.

“You were right, she
is
beautiful.”

Sara closed the door to their villa and gave a little wave. She was a vision in a white sundress with delicate lavender-colored flowers printed on it. She’d left her hair down and it caught in the breeze, lifting tendrils and sending them dancing across her shoulders and bare arms. Her bouquet of white orchids matched the one in her hair.

“She’s ours now?” Theo asked.

“She’s ours. Forever.”

As she walked down the beach toward him, the hem of her skirt playfully swirled around her slender legs. Just like that day months ago, at the school picnic, when she’d walked back into his life. This time, he’d make sure she stayed.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from
Dark Deeds
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