"You ordered them," Daniel said.

"You can't prove it."

Daniel placed both hands on the table and leaned in close to Arnie's face. "Tom Hudson," he spoke the name slowly.

"Is that suppose to mean something?"

Daniel nodded. "He's the snitch in our department working for Boyd-and now working for you. He's talking his head off to save his own hide."

Arnie didn't say anything, but Daniel could see he wasn't quite so pompous anymore so he pushed further. He tapped the photos. "When a jury sees these photos and hears Tom's testimony, there'll be a cell on death row with your name on it."

"I want to see my lawyer," Arnie spouted.

"Well, Arnie," Russ said. "That high-powered attorney from Austin you called hasn't shown up. Guess you're not his number one priority." Russ opened a door and a man stepped in. "This is Wendell Groves, a court-appointed attorney."

"Get that idiot out of my sight. He doesn't know the first thing about being a defense attorney."

"Are you refusing counsel?"

"You're d.a.m.n right."

"You heard the man," Russ said to Wendell. "Your services aren't required."

"Are you sure, Mr. Bishop?" Wendell asked.

"d.a.m.n sure."

Wendell quietly left.

"I wanna go back to my cell," Arnie muttered.

Daniel got into his face again. "Listen, you sleazebag, you're not going anywhere until you tell me where Bear is. Do you understand me?"

"It's too late anyway." Arnie glared at him.

"What?" Daniel strained to catch what he was saying.

"It's too late," Arnie shouted. "Can't you hear?"

"Why is it too late?" Daniel asked.

Arnie glanced at the big clock on the wall. It was eleven forty-five. "He was supposed to kill her by midnight."

"Kill who?"

Arnie stared directly at Daniel, a sly smile on his thin lips. "Sarah Welch."

The blood drained from Daniel's face and he could feel it seeping from his body, leaving him defenseless and weak. He jerked up and tore out the door with one thought on his mind-to get to Sarah.

He ran out the building to his car. As he backed out, Russ yanked open the pa.s.senger door and leaped in. Daniel turned the siren on and they blared through the night.

"Slow down, Daniel," Russ said. "You'll kill us both. I'm trying to get Chad on the phone." Russ frantically poked out numbers on his cell phone. There was no answer.

Daniel pressed his foot down, praying, hoping she was still alive.

Hang on, Sarah.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

DANIEL WAS OUT of the car before it came to a complete stop. He went in with his gun drawn; Russ was a step behind and backup was on the way. They found Mac and another officer first. Daniel felt for the pulse in the officer's neck.

"He's dead," he murmured in a stiff voice.

"Mac's still alive," Russ said, and called for an ambulance.

Daniel ran toward the house, not thinking, just reacting with steel-like precision.

"Let me go first," Russ appealed. "We don't know what we'll find in here."

"No. I have to do this. Cover my back."

"Daniel..."

Daniel wasn't listening. He wasn't feeling, either. He was frozen inside and he let his training, his cop instincts, take over. Slowly he moved to the front door. The lock was broken and swung open easily. He stepped inside the foyer, looking around, an eerie quiet permeated the place and he moved to the den then... He stopped dead at the scene in front of him and a sharp, paralyzing pain shot through him.

"My G.o.d," Russ uttered as he took in the b.l.o.o.d.y sight.

Daniel fell down by Drew, trying to keep his emotions at bay. "Drew, buddy," he whispered, feeling for a pulse. He was still alive. Air gushed from Daniel's lungs.

"Chad's alive-barely," Russ said as he checked him and moved to Ron. "G.o.ddammit. Ron's dead."

"Buddy, can you hear me?" Daniel asked.

"D-D-Danny."

"Yes." Daniel swallowed. "It's me."

"H-h-he killed her. I'm sorry."

Daniel had to swallow again. "Where's Sarah, buddy?" Where is Sarah!

"He killed her," Drew said again.

His heart slammed into his chest, restricting his breathing. "Who killed her?" he asked with a tremor in his voice.

"D-D-Daniel," Drew gasped. "I'm sorry."

Sirens could be heard in the distance. "Hold on, buddy. The ambulance is coming."

"I'll check upstairs," Russ said.

"No." Daniel got to his feet and took the stairs two at a time. The bedroom door was locked and he kicked it in with his foot. He took the room in at a glance. Claude stood with an arm around Sarah's neck, a gun pointed at her temple. Sarah had a bra and jeans on and her hair was in disarray. She was alive, was all he could think. She is alive.

"h.e.l.lo, Detective," Claude sneered. "You're a little early."

"Melvin Jenkins," Daniel said, holding his gun squarely on him. It finally came together in his head as Boyd's words played out a sickening echo. In ways you'll never imagine. The rapist and murderer was Claude, alias Melvin Jenkins, alias Bear, Drew's caretaker. A violent scenario put together for revenge-revenge against him. The thought threatened to cripple him, but he fought it. He had to get Sarah away from him.

"Let her go," he said, his words sharp. "This is between you and me."

"Wrong, Detective." Claude laughed. "It's between you and Rudy. I'm just the messenger."

"And you'll die his messenger."

"Don't think so. I'm walking out of here very much alive."

"Hear those sirens?" Daniel brought his attention to the sirens that were getting closer. "For you to walk out of here alive you'd have to be G.o.d."

"No one's going to touch me as long as I have her." He tightened his arm around Sarah's neck.

Sarah's face was sickly white and Daniel refused to look at her. He couldn't. He had to stay focused on Claude. "You're not walking out of this room so you might as well let her go."

"Come on, Detective." Claude laughed again. "You think I'm scared? You saw what I did to those other girls and I'll blow Sarah baby's brain all over this wall right in front of you. Now put the gun down."

Daniel's gun never wavered. "You shoot her and I'll shoot you. You're not getting out of here."

"You're not fooling me, Daniel, with your tough-cop act," Claude said, his eyes glittering with contempt. "You wouldn't harm a hair on Sarah's head. You've had the hots for her for so long it's pathetic."

"Let her go and we'll settle this man to man."

Claude grunted. "In your dreams, Detective."

"Why'd you drag Drew into this?" Daniel had to have an answer to that.

"He was always calling Rudy for drugs so he decided to make good use of Drew's habit-to get back at you."

Daniel frowned. "Drew's on drugs?"

"Heroin, big brother, his real medication," Claude told him. "He's never been off of it except for the time he was in the hospital."

"But..."

"Got you, hmm, Daniel? Rudy's been Drew's drug source since college and you never suspected. You never questioned why Drew wore long-sleeved shirts even in the summer, even when you went fishing. He was getting so thin and you worried he wasn't eating enough. h.e.l.l, he wasn't. He was shooting up heroin all the time. When Boyd wanted me to finagle my way into Drew's life, Drew was doing the stuff every now and then. But I made sure he was able to get it every week, then every other day and now the poor thing is hooked so bad what brains he had are totally fried."

A rage swelled inside Daniel.

"What's the matter, Mr. Narcotics Cop, the truth too hard to take? Little brother might be an idiot but he knew how to hide his habit, especially from you."

"Why did you have to shoot him?"

"b.a.s.t.a.r.d has a soft spot for Sarah baby and tried to stop me," Claude replied. "Drew does exactly what I tell him as long as I reward him with heroin, like last night. I had to find out if Sarah was here so Drew pretended he'd run away, but I drove him. You thought Drew needed his medication because he was nervous and jittery. All he needed was a fix and he wasn't getting it until I had my information."

The rage turned into a blazing inferno. "You've been giving him heroin instead of his medication?"

"You got it."

"You son of a b.i.t.c.h."

"Your mother almost ruined our plans with her crazy idea of a home for Drew. I told him he'd better change her mind or he'd never get any more heroin. Enlisting your help is Drew's solution to everything because he knows you'll do anything for him."

The rage burned out of control.

"I'm the one who took care of the idiot while you and your parents went on with your lives. You were more than happy to hand over the responsibility and now I'm getting my reward-more money than I ever dreamed about and I don't have to put up with the idiot anymore."

"Stop calling him that, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

Sarah could see Daniel was close to the edge and she knew she had to do something. Claude's arm was so tight around her neck that she could barely breathe, but her legs were free. She tried to gauge if she could get her heel into his crotch. She didn't think she could with any degree of force.

"Drop the gun," Claude shouted and tightened his arm even more.

Sarah gasped a ragged breath and Daniel slowly laid his gun on the floor.

Even though breathing was difficult, Sarah managed to turn her head slightly. She opened her mouth and bit into his bicep as hard as she could.

Claude jerked, cursing, "G.o.dd.a.m.n b.i.t.c.h." He didn't release her, but it gave Daniel the opening he needed. He made a dive for Claude and they tumbled backward onto the floor-Claude's gun landed on the carpet. Sarah crawled away, frantically trying to reach it.

Claude drove his fist into Daniel's stomach. He withstood the blow and landed a punch to Claude's jaw. Back and forth they exchanged blows. Claude was bigger and stronger and Sarah didn't know how long Daniel could last. She reached the gun and picked it up.

Daniel was on his stomach, his arm outstretched to reach his gun. Claude had both of his hands linked together and applied blow after blow to Daniel's head. Daniel kept inching toward the gun.

Sarah closed her finger around the trigger and a loud boom resounded in the room, then another. Claude slumped to the floor, blood running from his torso. Daniel grabbed his gun and swung to his feet, staring down at Claude.

Russ squatted and checked Claude's pulse. "The b.a.s.t.a.r.d's dead. Good riddance."

Sarah didn't even realize Russ was in the room. She sat on the floor still holding the gun, unable to move, then she started to shake.

Daniel dropped down beside her and gently took the gun from her. She flew into his arms.

"You okay?" he asked in a shaky voice.

She nodded. "Did I...did I..."