Chapter 11
Hawke
I need this over. I need to know he will never get to her again. The best laid plans can go wrong. Now that she’s mine. I want him out of the picture, so we aren’t looking over our shoulders.
I want to give her back the freedom and life that was stolen from her.
Wine and dine her, take her on dates to her favorite places where she no longer needs to worry who’s watching.
On vacations to all the places she talked about going, like Paris and London.
I want to give her all the attention she’s been missing since the first hit and run.
Over the last two days, she was able to piece together information from her college and others within a hundred-mile radius where women were attacked and raped.
The name and description of the attacker was always different, but the MO seemed similar enough to match.
The change in appearance easy enough to be a disguise.
The attacker would ingrate himself into their study groups, build a friendship, start coming to their home.
A male student who needed tutoring. Then lover.
Then the breakup. The woman has a tragic accident, moves away, or disappears and whatever project she was working on is gone with her.
Five women are missing. Laney would have been six.
He deserves to be taken out before he hurts someone else. This is my fault. I should have ended him the first time I saw marks on her throat. Someone like that never changes. They just learn to hide their actions better.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. Pulling it, I glance at the screen. Vance. “We need to take this. It’s the boss.”
She nods, taking a seat at the breakfast bar. I’ve noticed it’s her chair of choice because it’s easier for her to slide off onto her feet, rather than pushing up off the couch. I sit next to her.
“What’s up?” I ask when Vance’s image appears.
“Everything okay with you two?”
“Yeah. Something wrong?
“There’s been a break in our research and a breach here. We caught and stopped the breach, but it makes me uncomfortable.”
I stiffen. “Explain.”
“Allen isn’t the computer talent Delaney is.
He left a trail a mile wide for us to follow when he accessed the hospital records.
But he now knows she was moved under Halo Security protection.
Someone, we think it’s Allen, has been trying to access our systems to find Delaney.
He was looking for your name too, Hawke. ”
“What about your research?” I ask.
“Seems Allen Riven is related to one of the city council members. Who just happens to be married to a doctor at the hospital where Delaney was taken after her latest attack.
“We believe his uncle may be in on some of Allen’s scams and rape’s or it’s vice versa. We aren’t sure who the lead is currently.”
“What do you mean?”
“We found rape accusations from years ago when his uncle, Paul Riven Jeffries was in college in another state. Most were dismissed for lack of evidence. One came close to going to trial until the victim pulled out and disappeared. Her car was found at the bottom of a lake a couple years after. She was still in it. He’s also had some questionable business deals and donations that gave him the money to run for office in the first place. ”
They have contacts and access to information from the hospital. The massage therapist pops in my head. Give me your email and I’ll send you some videos.
“The medical massage therapist worked at the hospital where Paul Jeffries wife works. She wanted to send me videos. She asked for my email. I told her to send them to the office and they’d forward to me.
I never got them. Could someone have given her information thinking she needed to contact us for medical purposes? Could she be helping Allen?”
I hear Evie in the background. “On it.”
“Send the team to get Laney. Set a trap for Riven to come here looking for her. I’ll handle it.”
“Thought that’s what you’d say. We’re double checking a couple things, but I have a team getting ready to deploy to you. Not taking any chances.
“No,” Laney speaks up. “We stay together. I want to be here when Allen comes. I want to look him in the eye and tell him to go to hell. I’m tired of running and hiding. I want this over.”
“No. I need you safe.”
“My plan will probably accommodate you both,” Vance interjects. “I don’t just want Allen. I also want his uncle. I want a recording, documentation and video. I want to nail both their asses. We can do that at the cabin with all our surveillance. And we can activate from here.”
“This is the same Paul Jeffries who’s running for governor? He’s Allen’s uncle?” Laney asks.
“Yep. His reputation behind the scenes is sleazy. But no proof, and no witnesses willing to speak up. He puts on a good front.”
“You think this is a joint scam, or are they just covering each other’s backs?” I ask.
“I’m thinking a little of both. One of the victim reports from the Jeffries files said she thought there was a second younger man who also raped her. But she was in and out with the drugs she was given and couldn’t give a description or what they called a viable account to prosecute.”
“They’re a tag team,” I snarl.
“My thoughts, too. I want them both. We’ve found that two of the women who filed complaints against Jeffries have disappeared.
We suspect they’re dead. One of the other girls Laney identified as a potential victim of Allen’s is living under a different name and is talking with us.
We may be able to convince her to press charges.
With two of you, some of the others may feel strong enough to come forward as well.
Meanwhile we try to contact Jeffries’ victims.”
“I think you should have me talk with the women.” Laney says.
“I’m a victim, too. They might relate better with me than an alpha male, especially since women always seem to be blamed or told it was their fault anyway.
Maybe I could get them to join a joint lawsuit.
It might be easier since none of us would be on our own in the fight. ”
Vance studies her for a moment then a small smile flits across his face before he nods. “Good idea. We’ll get it set up.”
“I was lucky he didn’t rape me the night he left marks on my neck. I had a few self-defense moves to rely on that Hawke and Frank taught me. I caught him off guard and got away.
“I can’t identify the hit and run driver, but I’d know Allen’s eyes anywhere. He had something on his face, some kind of disguise on his cheeks and nose the day he pushed me down the stairs, but I know it was him.
“I want to do whatever I can to take these bastards down for the rapes and murders they did get away with. Let’s set a trap and get this over with before they do this to anyone else.”
Vance walks us through the info leak he proposes and the backup support he’s organizing. We agree to another twenty-four hours of the office trying to find them, before we set everything in motion for a trap. Then schedule our next check in.
Laney heads to the bathroom. There’s a weariness in her as she makes her way across the room.
Opening the second pantry, I make my way through the hidden door to the panic room. It will be my first choice of protection if we’re breached.
I grab the BuddyStrap that’s hanging from the wall. Depending on what Vance learns overnight, I could carry her on my back tomorrow and let her get some fresh air.
If we need to make a run for it in the mountains, the strap will be handy and I’d still have my hands free. Next, I snag two ballistic vests and two smaller cushions for the breakfast bar stools before heading back upstairs.
I go over my preparations. I can’t miss anything. Laney’s life depends on me.
I double check all our security before I hear the shower shut off. I tap once. “Am I too late to get my back scrubbed?”
She laughs. “Not if you hurry up. And its gonna cost you a hair dry.”
“My pleasure. I love brushing your hair,” I say pushing through the door. God, she’s beautiful. Eyes sparkling, smile on her face as she turns the water back on and pushes the shower door open for me.
I will protect you. I will end this, my love. Then I’m going to marry you, I promise her and myself.