The Last Straw (The Jigsaw Files #4) - Sharon Sala Page 0,53
partner right under his own nose.
When he finally heard their voices inside the apartment, he tensed. The expectation of seeing Jade Wyrick in the flesh was a sensual high. The first time she walked into the bedroom, he got hard. And just watching her walk, seeing the glint in her eyes, he could only imagine how she was processing what she saw. And then she walked out before he had a good chance to come at her unobserved. He was silently cursing his luck when she and Charlie came back.
Looking at Charlie Dodge from up close and personal was intimidating. He was one big son of a bitch. Sonny had always wanted to be taller. But he’d had to settle for shoe lifts and toning up the rest of his body instead.
He was silently cursing the situation in general when Charlie suddenly left the room.
Yes!
He moved down a few steps, still waiting, watching...
Oh, God, let this happen...
Wyrick was standing in the room with her back to him as he pulled the syringe from his pocket, popped the cap and made his move.
Just like all of his other girls, she never heard him coming. He had the needle in her neck before she knew what was happening, and then she was on the floor.
He could hear Charlie talking in another room, and had no time to hesitate. Ignoring his own pain, he reached down to pull her up and throw her over his shoulder, but she was taller than he was, and all arms and legs.
Son of a bitch! He couldn’t lift her!
Now he was in a panic. With only one option, he slid his hands beneath her arms and began dragging her into the closet, then into the passageway. He closed the door behind them, then began dragging her unconscious body down the passage, inches at a time.
* * *
Allen Carson answered Charlie’s call on the second ring.
“Hello, Mr. Dodge. This is Allen. Do you have any news?” he asked.
“Not yet. Wyrick and I are in Rachel Dean’s apartment and we noticed there are no windows in her bedroom. We know you said you did not change or alter the exterior of the building in any way, but it’s strange not to have windows there. Did you, by chance, close them up?”
“No. It’s just the way the floors got divided. We worked with the original windows, positioning them in the rooms that would be best served with exterior and interior light. There are several apartments that wound up that way, both in the front and the back. The windows are where they are. And anyone with an apartment on the backside may or may not have a window in their bedroom. The people who lease here always know in advance, and make their choices.”
“Okay...that answers our question for now. Thanks a bunch,” Charlie said.
“Anytime,” Allen said.
Charlie walked out of the living room into the hall.
“Hey, Wyrick!” When she didn’t answer, he thought nothing of it and just jogged back down the hall. “Wyrick! Allen said nothing was changed!”
Then he entered the bedroom and it was empty.
“Wyrick, answer me, dammit!”
Total silence.
Then he saw the drag marks in the carpet leading into the walk-in closet and his heart stopped.
“Oh, hell, no,” he muttered and pulled up the tracking app for her that she’d put on his phone.
The blip came up moving south on this level. But that was away from him. Something she would never do without letting him know. Now his entire focus was on finding her.
The drag marks into the closet ended at the shelving, and he began pounding on walls, then pushing and pulling on shelves, trying to find a trigger to open an access, but nothing happened. Getting desperate, Charlie yanked everything from the shelves, then started kicking and tearing at the entire cabinet until it began coming apart.
Then he grabbed shelves with both hands, pulling at the wood, cutting his fingers and palms until they were bloody and slick, making it harder to get a grip. The blip was moving farther and farther, and panic set in. He began kicking at the wall, stomping it and kicking it until there was a hole.
When he saw light inside the access, he grabbed sheetrock, pulling it away in chunks, and then the plaster and lath behind it, pulling it away until what was left of the hidden door suddenly swung inward.
Seconds later Charlie was inside the passageway, running and shouting Wyrick’s name.