Dungeon Games (23 page)

She knew something he didn’t. “What girl?” She sighed. “Starr. Of course. You’re going to pin everything on Will Daley.”

“Hey, he’s the one who got himself into this freaky crap. After Starr tells the cops about how he liked to beat her, they’ll believe anything. You know as well as I do that perception is the key to getting a conviction. Kevin taught me that. I knew I had to come down here and handle you because I’m pretty sure there’s paperwork in that box Grant sent you. He said there were some files in there. Kevin always kept a second set of records. I couldn’t let you find out about the policy. I’m the secondary on Kevin’s life insurance, but I’m not on yours at all. Once you got your hands on that money, I wouldn’t be able to get it away.”

She had to die before she could claim the policy in order for Terry to get the money. She would have very likely claimed it and set up some sort of charity to help at-risk kids. It would have been a worthy way to honor her husband.

She had to give it to him. The cast worked. No one would think he could do this much damage with a broken arm. A cast was easy to fake with nothing more than a sock and sticky gauze bandages. Unless someone touched it, they wouldn’t know it wasn’t hard. That was what she’d felt when he hugged her. His arm had been soft where she should have felt the cast.

“How do you know Starr?”

He moved down her body. She shivered because she hated the feel of his hands on her. The ropes shifted and she could feel him twisting, making new knots. Her torso was completely frozen, but he hadn’t tied her lower legs yet. She just had to wait for the right time. “She’s from the neighborhood. I went to school with her. Caught back up when she worked on a boat I was sailing for some rich guy. She’s the one I broke my arm over. She came back to New York with me and we hatched this plan to get the money. She got a job at the therapist’s office so if the cops look, they’ll find records of me coming in every couple of days. She also found the Daley guy. He’s perfect. He’s got a whole hidden life. He lies to everyone in his circle. He’s perfectly set up. I can see it now. ‘But he seemed so normal.’ Yeah, that’s how all serial killers seem. They’re going to find your body in his house and his system full of drugs. He got high. He got violent. He got sloppy. That’s the only way to catch serials. By the time his trial starts, my girl and I will have a sweet new boat and we’ll be in St. Lucia, far away from here.”

“You left Will alive?” She felt bad for the doc. He’d been trying to explore his nature and it had gotten him in trouble, maybe dead.

He shrugged a little. “Sure. It’s better to have him alive and protesting. He won’t remember a thing and I made sure he doesn’t have an alibi for the other girls I did. You know that was the funniest thing of all. I thought I would hate it. I thought that killing those other girls was just smart. I thought I would tie them up and shoot them, but when I looked into that first girl’s eyes, I wanted my hands on her. I wanted her to know it was me killing her, judging her. And somehow, she became you, dear sister. She morphed into you.”

He’d gone way off the deep end. “This is not going down the way you want it to.”

He adjusted the ropes and pulled out his cell, frowning at it.

“She’s supposed to be here, isn’t she?” Karina walked through the plan. Maybe Starr was in another room, but then why would he keep glancing back at the door, checking his phone. Someone had to get Will’s car home. They wouldn’t risk coming together. If Starr got pulled over, she could claim her boyfriend was just drunk. She couldn’t get away with two bodies.

So she was missing in action. More time for Karina.

“It won’t work if he’s not here. You have to time this just right, Terry. If you’re even a little bit off, the cops are going to figure it out.”

His jaw tightened and he stood back up, looking out the window. “No. They won’t even bother. I’m handing them a great case. The cops will run with it. They’ll look like heroes for stopping this guy at five. I’ve taken little trophies from each girl and Starr hid them here. They’ll also find the rice. I thought that was pretty funny. She used to work at an amusement park. She ran a booth where she wrote people’s names on grains of rice. The stupid fuckers still haven’t found them. I laid out everything.”

It might have actually worked, except there was no way Derek let the little things slip. Maybe it was time to disrupt Terry’s calm. She needed him close. She didn’t need her hands to hurt him. She just needed to get her feet close enough.

“They found the rice, Terry. Why do you think Lieutenant Brighton has been living with me? He moved in the day after they found Amanda King’s body. He isn’t my boyfriend. He’s a cop and he’s looking for me right this second. There’s no way he buys this.”

He stared down at her. “No.”

“Yes. You watched me before. Did I have men over?”

“You went to that club all the time. It had too much security. I had to get you to go somewhere else. I met the mom of that girl. She told me she was worried about her daughter because she was into freaky stuff. That was when I came up with my plan.”

Oh, god, she’d been the reason for Tanya’s death. “I’m sure after she was killed, you were the one who sent her to me.”

“I did. I had to get you on the outside. I don’t care if your friend is a cop. He’s still going to see what I want him to see. Hell, I’ll even give him a call in the morning and he can tell me the sad news of my sister-in-law’s death. I’ll cry and shit and tell him I always knew you would come to a bad end. I always knew those clubs would be the death of you. Once I tell him about your background, he won’t question it. No one gives a shit about addicts, Karina. I’ll tell him about the arrests and what a piece of shit you were as a kid and he’ll shrug and probably think the world is better off.” He hissed through his teeth as he looked at his phone again. “Fuck this. I’m not waiting.”

“You need that car parked in his drive.” Karina thought through the situation quickly. Anything to keep his hands off her throat. “We’re in the city. Someone’s going to notice when his car gets here. You can’t go until she’s here. Think about it, Terry. What if she broke down? It could be hours. How do you explain that his car got here after my time of death? They can tell. You know that.”

He kicked her right in the gut. Karina moaned, but it was better than getting strangled to death.

He turned away.

Think.
She looked around as much as she could. Will Daley’s house was neat and uncluttered. Damn tidy men. It didn’t give her much to work with. With sheer force of will, she turned herself on her back, biting back a moan against the pain. She was grateful her arms were a little numb now. She curled her legs up and swung them. Up and toward her abs, tightening them. Rolling ball. Thank god for Pilates.

And for working out four days a week and learning karate. She rolled until she had momentum and then planted her feet. It was just enough to let her roll and get to her knees.

She would love to see Derek’s perfect, “never has to go to the gym because no one ever tried to kill her” sub do that. She would probably be crying prettily and waiting for her man to save her.

Derek was going to have to get used to something different.

“Leslie, where the hell are you? I thought you were right behind me and now you’re not answering your phone.”

As quietly as she could, she brought one foot up and then the other.

That was when she saw the lights. Red and blue and coming ever closer. He didn’t have the sirens on, but he had to run the lights at the speed he was moving.

Derek was almost here.

“What the fuck?” Terry turned to the window.

Karina took her shot. She couldn’t take the chance that he would off her before he ran. She brought her head forward and full-on head-butted the fucker. She practically saw stars but managed to stay on her feet.

Terry groaned and his hand went to his head. Karina saw those lights stop in front. She had to make it to the door. She couldn’t run, but she was determined. She shuffled as fast as she could.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. “No, you don’t, bitch.”

Without a thought, she brought her head back. He’d left her with one weapon and she could use it until her skull broke. She made contact and his hand fell away.

“Fuck!”

“Derek! Derek!” He might not know what room she was in. The house seemed small but she wanted him to know exactly where to find her.

She was tackled from behind and went down hard.

“Not on your life. I’m getting out of here. Maybe they’ll be too busy trying to save you to come after me.” He pulled a knife out.

Karina twisted again, turning and knocking into a floor lamp that rattled and fell. She pushed back, her heels moving her along the hardwood floor.

Terry snarled and was just about to the bring the knife down when a gorgeous little red dot appeared in the middle of his chest.

The SWAT guys were going to get a show from her.

“I wouldn’t move. They really like to shoot people.”

The door burst open and she heard the dulcet sounds of her lover screaming for Terry to stand down.

“Drop the knife or give me one good excuse, asshole.” She couldn’t see him, but she heard his feet moving across the floor.

Now that her Dom was here, she was more than willing to let him handle things. His gorgeous face came into view. She heard the knife thud against the floor.

“Are you all right?” She heard other officers rushing in and then Derek knelt down beside her. His hands went to her forehead. She winced as he touched a spot on her head. “We’re going to need a bus.”

That was the last thing she wanted to do. She didn’t want an ambulance. She wanted him to take her home, not get put through a slew of invasive medical tests she didn’t need. “I don’t need to go to the hospital.”

His mouth firmed stubbornly as he started undoing the ropes. “You’re going.”

“Hey, this was all consensual, officer.” Terry had put his hands up. “My girl here is into some heavy bondage. We just came to a friend’s house to play a little.”

The detective who had followed Derek in was already pulling Terry’s hands behind his back and slipping the cuffs on him.

Derek’s eyes narrowed. “You should be very happy I don’t shoot your balls off here and now.”

The arresting officer had Terry firmly in hand. Fisher, if she recalled. He was a young detective under Derek’s command. They had moved fast. “If you want, I can always turn my back. You know the SWAT guys love a good castration.” He started to pull Terry along. “I don’t think anyone’s buying what you’re selling, buddy. Do you want to make this official, Lieutenant?”

Derek shook his head. “I want to take care of her. You handle the trash, Fisher.”

“I would take care of her, too.” Fisher winked her way. “You’re looking good, Mills. What the fuck was this idiot thinking coming after you? No one takes Karina out. Moron.”

“Eyes to yourself, man. She’s the victim, damn it. Get me something for her to wear. And you read him his Miranda rights.” Derek started untangling the ropes, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was studying the pattern, figuring out the fastest way to get her out, looking anywhere but her eyes.

“Derek?”

“I’ll have you out in a minute and you are going to the hospital. Take a deep breath. When the feeling starts to come back, this is going to hurt.” His words were tight as though he was forcing himself to speak.

“I’ve brought some clothes for our lovely piece of bait.” Liam smiled down at her, dropping a bag on the floor. “One of the female officers had her gym clothes in her squad car. I knew you’d make it, darlin’. Damn. What did you do to your head? Did you head butt the fucker? Nice move.”

Derek frowned at Li. “Could you go and wait for the ambulance? And make sure my people know she’s not talking tonight. They can take statements in the morning. Fisher and I both saw him trying to kill her. With that and Starr’s statement, we’ll be able to hold him no problem, but she doesn’t need to go anywhere but the hospital and home for tonight.”

He was being a little dramatic. Yes, it had been traumatic and she’d been scared, but she could handle it. Her job alone had taught her to be cool under pressure. He should know that. “Derek, I’m fine. I have a bump on my head and my arms hurt like hell, but I can certainly talk. Where’s Daley?”

She wouldn’t call him Master Will where anyone could hear. That was not for vanilla ears. He’d done nothing wrong except get caught in her drama. She would try to mitigate the damage for him in any way she could.

Derek helped her sit up as he unwrapped her breasts. Terry must have studied up because he’d done a fairly decent job of imitating Shibari. “He’s on his way to the hospital, too. He seems to have put up a hell of a fight before they took him down. I have no idea what they gave him. Something worse than you.”

“I think it was a sedative they gave me. The way Terry talked they gave Will some drugs. They wanted them in his system when you found us here.” She managed to not scream as the blood rushed back into her arms.

Derek noticed anyway. “Fucker. If he damaged nerves, I’ll kill him.”

He wouldn’t because he was one of the good guys, but he seemed to regret it at this point. “Won’t you please hold me?”

He stopped. “Karina…”

Her heart dropped. The case was over. He didn’t want anyone to see him touching her in anything but a helpful capacity. It was over.

She hadn’t expected that. She’d told herself she had, but she hadn’t. Somewhere in the back of her head, she’d thought that he would come around. He would see that she was right for him.

He didn’t.

She could hear a siren now. The ambulance.

More cops walked in, including the Rangers, and suddenly there was no more private talk. She was hauled up and given time to change. She found herself in Will Daley’s rather opulent bathroom.

Karina stared at herself in the mirror. She could see the marks on her face and rope burns on her body.

But the hole in her damn heart hurt far worse.

Chapter Twelve