Chapter 28
“Memphis,” Dover barked into the phone the moment it rang. She had been holding her cell phone as she wove back through traffic toward her office.
Dex sat in the passenger side relaying information to Danny. They sent a patrol car to Bailey’s home until they knew what was happening. The crime scene team was finishing up at her brother’s apartment, and Knox had sent Memphis to find Fox.
“He’s in a warehouse of some kind. He’s not good, but he’s still alive,” he said.
Dover felt her grip on the steering wheel loosen slightly. Alive was good. She could deal with the rest.
“There’s some kind of contraption that is attached to his neck with a strap,” Memphis continued. “He said something about one of the Andersons being there? Edmund? I guess you know who they are. The outside of the building said ‘import/export,’ but I couldn’t see much more.”
“The Andersons are in the import/export business. Shit, they own half this city.”
“Sorry, I’ll try to get more. I need to go.
Thayer has my phone if you need to find me before I call you again.
I don’t want to scare you, but hurry. Fox said he was coming back.
” She heard the phone disconnect as she pulled back up to her office.
She left the car in a no parking zone and told the desk sergeant to threaten anyone who wanted to move it.
“We need the tax rolls for any property owned by the Anderson family or their companies,” she called to one of the tech people on the way by. “And we need a building map of Boston.”
She continued into the incident room where no less than twenty law officers worked. They spanned from Boston police to FBI. It looked like a beehive, and she couldn’t help but feel like the queen bee.
“Here’s what we know,” she said, walking to the whiteboards. “One Brooke Sullivan was found dead. Time of death is estimated to be less than an hour ago.
“Also found at the scene was Knox Monroe with a head wound. Not found was Fox Addams who is now believed to have been taken by an unknown perpetrator.” She wasn’t sure how you explained information like Memphis had without sending red flags up everywhere.
“The bartender verified that Brooke Sullivan was the woman at the bar. Further intel has led us to believe she has been in contact with a man with the last name of Anderson. We’re led to believe it is Edmund Anderson,” Dex continued.
“We will be treating this individual as a person of interest at this time. I already have tech combing the footage around the latest bar and the others for this individual.”
She nodded at him gratefully as a man with an armful of papers and a rolled-up map came rushing through the door.
“I have the records you requested,” he said breathlessly. A table was cleared so he could lay everything on it. Dover and Dex leaned over the map unrolled across the table.
“Dom, you take the south side,” Danny said, ripping off a stapled sheet.
“Kyle, you’ve got north.” He continued to divide up the town records.
“You two, get this up on a board so we can mark it,” he instructed two junior officers.
“Blue for personal, red for business.” He snatched up a box of magnetic flags and followed the map to the front.
“Thanks, Danny. I’ll go update the captain,” Dover said.
“And I’ll check on how the CCTV stuff is going,” Dex said, following her from the room. “I’ll also see if Thayer has heard anything more,” he added quietly. She reached out and squeezed his arm before moving down the hallway. She had never been more grateful for family than right now.
Knox was stomping across the foyer when she turned the corner.
He looked like he’d gone three rounds with a bear.
There was a large patch on the back of his head.
He wore a pair of sunglasses betraying the status of his concussion.
His jeans still had blood on them where he landed at the edge of the blood pool when he hit the ground.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, coming to a stop in front of him. “You should be at the hospital.”
“Hospitals are bullshit. What have you heard from Memphis?”
“They’re not bullshit. It’s obvious you have a concussion.
I don’t need you dying on me.” He simply gave her a glare, or so she imagined he did.
It was hard to tell through the sunglasses.
“He’s in a warehouse hooked up to some sort of machine.
I would guess it’s the same one that strangled all of our other victims.”
“Do you know which one?”
“Do you think I’d be standing here talking to you if I did?”
He crossed his arms over his chest and stood silently staring at her.
Or looking over her head. She had no idea.
He stood there long enough, she moved to go around him.
She had only taken a step when one of his hands wrapped around her upper arm.
For a second, before he started talking, she had a fleeting thought about how his hand dwarfed her arm.
“I might have an idea of where he could be,” he said.
“Then why are we still here?” Breaking his grip, she broke into a brisk walk to the front doors. Knox followed behind, climbing into the passenger seat of the car still parked on the curb. She would call Dex or Danny in a little while to explain where they were as soon as she knew.
“That time Dex and I followed Brooke, we think she ducked into a warehouse near the water,” Knox continued. “It didn’t look like they were used much anymore, but the doors were locked. That’s why we thought it was so strange that she could just disappear like that.”
She parked near the bar they had followed her from. Knox needed to retrace his steps from that night. They wove several blocks over to where the streets looked more abandoned.
“This is the one. I’m almost positive,” he said.
Looking up, she saw an old sign that had once read Anderson Import/Export.
Several letters were now lost to the weather and time, but there was no mistaking who it belonged to.
They climbed from the car, and Knox tried the door.
“It’s still locked solid. But these tire tracks going inside aren’t that old. ”
“There should be several dock height doors around the other side,” she said.
“This one would have been the tradesman side. They would have unloaded on the other side.” They jogged to the end of the block and around the back.
There were doors, but they were all covered in corrugated metal and locked tight.
“Here, help me get some of the metal off. I just need a hole,” Knox said.
He climbed up to the loading dock and started pulling on the loose panels.
She joined him and soon they had a sizable piece removed.
Unfortunately, there were large solid wood doors standing behind the metal.
“Move back.” She stepped back and watched as he started to rub his hands together.
“Don’t burn the block down,” she warned.
He smirked and threw a large fireball at the wood part of the door. “Just the door this time,” he said as he began building another one.
“We should wait for a warrant.”
“I mean, we were, but then we found this door missing,” he said as the door caught fire. “We were afraid someone one inside was hurt.” He threw one more fireball for good measure. “Did you hear that? Sounds like someone in distress.”
“You’re a little too good at this.” But she didn’t argue anymore. She wanted to find Fox more than anyone. If she had to commit breaking and entering to do it, so be it.
The second loading door caught on fire as they watched. She didn’t worry too much about burning the building down. These old warehouses were made of stone and had survived worse than they could dish out.
“About damn time you showed up,” Memphis yelled the moment the doors were cool enough for them to step inside. “He’s behind this wall. There has to be some hidden door in it.” He popped back through the wall.
“His gift is much better than mine,” Dover grumbled as she felt along the wall searching for a hidden door. “Wait, I might have found something.” Her hand traced a groove in the stone. She found a small depression in the rock that a key could fit in.
“We need a sledgehammer or something to get through this door,” Knox said. “Do you have anything in your car? Something big enough to blow a hole in the door lock.”
“A shotgun?”
“That would work. Go get it while I look around for a key.”
Dover raced back through the burned-out doors. She didn’t stop running until she was back to her car. Jumping inside, she squealed away from the curb while pressing numbers on her phone. When it began to ring, she put it on speaker phone and tossed it onto the seat.
“Dex,” she yelled when he answered. “We’ve found him. Get everybody to the warehouse you followed Brooke to. He’s trapped behind a hidden door in the stone. The back freight doors are open. Hurry.”
She didn’t wait for him to respond before jumping from her car next to the burned doors. Grabbing the shotgun from the safe in the trunk, she raced back inside.
“They’re on the other side of the room,” Knox said when she joined him. “They won’t be hit.”
She pulled two shells from the box of ammunition and chambered the rounds.
There was no time to even consider the damage that might be done to their ears.
She just aimed at the depression and pulled the trigger.
The gun sounded like a cannon going off, but it did the job.
Using his shoulder, Knox managed to push the door in.
“Over here,” Memphis called.
Dover’s gaze swept over the room. There was some kind of mural on one wall behind a table. A glass wall separated the room in half. It had a glass door that was propped open with a chair.
Inside the chamber was her brother. He was standing on a chair with a leather strap wrapped around his neck. Blood poured out of his nose and down his naked body.
“He’s been trying to self-soothe, I think. Hence the blood,” Memphis said.
“I’m sorry.” Their gazes met as her brother stood on a stool trembling still at the hands of a madman. “I didn’t know.”
“He can’t move, or this thing tightens. I can’t see how to stop it. Knox, do you see anything. You’re better at physics. Hang in there, Fox. We’ll figure it out.” They moved to the box in the wall. Their voices were too quiet for her to hear as they tried to find a solution to the contraption.
“I’m right here.” She brushed his arm gently. “Everyone is rushing over here. Someone will know how to stop this. In the meantime, we can hoist you on Knox’s shoulders.”
“He’s bound to be good for something.” Fox smiled.
“You know I would say something,” Knox said from the other corner. “But this time we’ll let it slide.”
“I was just telling him he can always stand on your shoulders if he needs,” she said.
“Hell, yeah, he can. Anytime, brother.”
Fox swayed, and they all rushed at him when the strap tightened another notch.
“Hey, hey. I said not to move,” Memphis chastised gently.
He moved to the wall and stuck his head outside.
“I think I hear the cavalry. Hear the sirens, Fox? You’ll be out of here soon.
Just hang on a little more, buddy.” The sirens grew louder.
“Well, this is where I leave you. There’s no way I can explain this.
Call me first chance.” He slowly shimmered away.
“I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that,” Dover said.
“Wait until he starts doing it just to jack with you,” Knox grumbled.
“Dover?” she heard from somewhere in the main part of the warehouse.
She gave a sigh of relief as Dex stepped inside the outer room.
He took one look at the situation and turned around to start barking orders.
A perimeter was set up outside the room which limited the number of people rushing inside.
“You. We need bolt cutters. Let’s go,” he barked. Two firemen rushed into the room carrying their gear. Two more EMTs followed behind.
“We need to be careful,” Knox snarled. “Every time he moves, it tightens.”
“We need a ladder,” one of the men shouted. Soon a large one appeared through the door. “We’ll get above it and sever the cable. I need to make sure we can cut it with one go just to make sure.” They set up the extension ladder against the wall and climbed up to survey the cable.
“Go get Moose.” A few minutes later a man easily as big as Knox walked through the door. “We need that cable cut in one go. Can you do it?” Moose climbed up and studied it.
“If he can’t, I will,” Knox responded.
“I’ve got it,” Moose said. He took the cutters and eased them toward the cable. Knox positioned himself next to Fox. Dover wondered if the man would really lift her brother higher with his bare hands if he had to. “I’m going to count to three. Are you ready.”
Dover’s gaze met Fox’s gaze once more. His nose was still bleeding, but he looked calm. “Ready?”
“I love you.”
“Shut up and tell me that when this is over.” She nodded at him. “He’s ready.”
“Here we go. One. Two. Three.” On three, the fireman gave a huge grunt and cut through the cable. Fox fell from the top of the chair, but Knox was there to catch him. The cable whipped across the ceiling as it unspooled on the other side of the room. “Watch out!”
Knox somehow managed to block both Dover and her brother from the cable until the firemen could get it under control.
“Sir,” one of the EMTs said, stepping into the room. “We need to get in there.”
“Where’s the ambulance?” Knox followed them out of the room with Fox cradled in his arms. Dover debated between following and making sure the room was processed.
“Go,” Dex said, ushering her out. “I’ve got this, and Danny is on his way.
” With a grateful nod, she hurried to the ambulance.
She found it to be crowded with Fox stretched out on one of the gurneys.
An IV was already taped to his hand, and Knox was arguing about the gash that had reopened on his head.
“We’re heading to Mass Gen,” the EMT said.
“I’ll meet you there. I need to talk to him as soon as possible.” She turned and snapped at one of the patrolmen. He immediately jogged over to her. “I need a ride. And I need lights and siren.”