Page 35 of Dirty Cops Next Door

“It would seem Avery was prepared for us. Somehow…” His words broke off and he banged his fist on a table to relieve some of his frustration. “Somehow he’s managed to take Eric as a hostage.”

He wouldn’t look at me for a long time as I sat there, my feelings turned off, my mind blank, my body nothing more than a shell. My consciousness had flown away, taken me to a land of nothing where sights and sounds did not exist. Only the sound of my own heartbeat existed and it was still beating out a single name. Eric.

“Toni? Come on, sweetheart, come back to me. Please.” I felt David’s hand on me and I looked up at him, everything still numb but sharper, more real.

“What? What did you say?” I swallowed hard, hoping he’d say something else this time. Maybe this was all a dream and I was still at the hospital, in bed beside Grant, still asleep.

“Avery has Eric in the house and he’s using him as a hostage. We thought he’d have run by now, but he went in a totally unexpected direction.”

“No, no, that’s not Eric up there. Eric went to bed before I left the house last night. He wrote a paper and then he went right to sleep. That’s not Eric.” I shook my head, not willing to believe it. Eric had been in bed when I left him. None of this was real!

“Toni, it’s him. I saw him with my own eyes; it’s Eric.”

“You’re sure it’s not his son?” I knew my eyes were begging him to give me that sliver of hope because it was all that was going through my mind, it can’t be Eric!

“No, it’s definitely Eric.”

“But...” I was going to say, maybe he’d been mistaken in the darkness but Mark was light where Eric was dark. He was also a few inches taller and heavier than my brother. “What are we going to do?”

“Right now, you aren’t going to do anything, you’re going to sit here and wait for me to think of something. We haven’t figured out where Mark is, if he’s in on it, what they have in that house, if anything. There might be more men in there that would make it difficult to enter. We just don’t know. So right now, please stay nearby. I had to let you know what was happening, but don’t split my attention, okay? It could cost Eric his life.” He softened the blow of his words by taking my hand and kissing the knuckles.

I could only watch him, numb. He was insane if he thought I was going to sit here and wait for him and the SWAT team, or whatever the local branch was called, to go in and save my brother. My phone started to vibrate in my pocket and I took it out.

“Toni, are you alright?” Bee’s sweet voice came over the line in a rush as soon as I hit the button.

“Yeah, I’m dealing with it. I think!” I watched David stand up and walk out of the back of the van, likely thinking I was distracted for now.

“You let them do what they need to do, you hear me? They’re trained in this, Toni. I’ve only just found you, don’t make me lose a friend this early on. Besides, I like you. You keep your head!”

“I’ll try to,” I said, but I was distracted, wondering how much longer it would be before the sun rose. I stepped out of the van, scanning every square inch of the property and the surrounding area.

I’d driven Eric over here once since he’d gotten in trouble that first time. I hated every moment he’d spent with Mark, even more so now as I got a good look at the monstrosity of a house he lived in. What kind of deranged mind had built such a place?

I stared up at it, feeling kind of sorry for the kid now. He couldn’t help who his parents were, and if he’d only ever been taught bad choices, well, maybe he did need to be around a kid like Eric to help him see there was a different path in life. I let Bee continue her stream of directives as I walked, keeping my head low and my voice lower. I was just another bystander walking by, don’t look at me, I thought as I passed each one.

I walked by each tree in the yard, my feet brushing through piles of fallen leaves that hadn’t been raked up. Why did the man have so many trees? Was it a screen or something? I kept making sounds of assent and agreement as I swished through the leaves softly, slowly, until I made it to the back of the house.

Not a single person had stopped me, not a single one questioned where I was going or what I was doing. I stood behind a tree, looking up at the second floor of the house. Avery had been in one of the windows with Eric, but I couldn’t see them now. I wished I had a gun!

I’d never bothered to buy one, I wouldn’t know how to use it even if I did have one. I might be a southern girl, but my daddy had never introduced me to those things. Not all of us are raised to spit and shoot, but now I almost wished I had been.

I wasn’t sure what I had planned but when I arrived at the back of the house and saw a basement door, I knew I had a way in. I’d figure out what to do once I got inside.

“Bee, David’s waving at me, I need to go.” I hated lying to the other woman but I knew she’d only alert David if I told her my plan to save Eric myself.

“They’re going in soon, I’ve heard the chatter on the radio. You just stay put until they bring you your brother. It won’t be long now. I’ll pray for you all, my friend.” She waited until I said thank you and goodbye before hanging up.

“I might need to do a little praying myself,” I whispered aloud, then dismissed the idea. I hadn’t really been on speaking terms with any of that bunch since my parents died. I’d been raised Catholic, but had lapsed soon after Mom and Dad were taken from us.

Another pain I had to bury. I breathed deeply and closed my eyes, willing my heartbeat to slow down, willing my breathing to slow as I reached for the doorway.

“Ahhhhhh! You can’t take him! You can’t take him!” a high-pitched voice screeched out as I entered the dark room and a wall of muscle tackled me to the ground. Strong fingers wrapped around my throat and began to squeeze as a light came on over my face.

I blinked as Mark’s headlamp blasted my eyes, making me squint as I gasped for the little bit of air his fingers allowed me. The world was starting to go dark around the edges, a darkness that the light piercing my eyes couldn’t penetrate. I’d never quite felt fear like I did as Mark stared down at me in shock.

“Toni?”

His fingers began to loosen on my throat and I gulped in air.