Fear Read online

  “Yeah,” she said with a sigh. “Let’s go, Parker.”

  Ryan followed her out of the captain’s office outside to the parking lot filled with squad cars. “We’ll wait ‘til we get there before we decide what our plan of attack is, but for now, let me do the talking, alright?”

  “Sure, no problem.” Traci shot him a doubtful look, which Ryan noticed and laughed off. “Hey, it’s my first night. For now I’ll let you lead. I’m still learning the ropes. The academy can’t teach me how to handle a real disturbance. They can only do hypothetical situations.”

  Traci looked at him, gaining more respect for the man for allowing her to lead and admitting that he didn’t know how to handle everything. Many rookies, in her experience, had the opposite view; they figured they were invincible and knew the procedures. Ryan didn’t have that attitude and would make her job of training him that much easier.

  She pulled up outside the house, and called in on the squad car’s radio that they had reached their destination. Receiving confirmation, she and Ryan exited the car and walked up the steps to the porch.

  They could hear the screaming coming from inside the house, and Traci saw Ryan visibly brace himself for a possible confrontation, but he held back as he had promised. Traci knocked on the door loudly, hoping the people inside would hear it over their screaming, and was instantly rewarded by the silence that fell over the house.

  “Weaton City Police; open up,” Traci called as she knocked again. “We were called about a disturbance at this residence.”

  Finally, the door whipped open, and Ryan felt himself jump a little as Traci faced an angry man nearly three times her size. Remaining calm, she said, “Sir, I’m Officer Vetters and this is Officer Parker. Is there a problem here?”

  The man glanced at Ryan and smirked. “Naw. I got no problem. How ‘bout you, Pretty Boy? You got a problem?”

  Traci glanced at her partner to gauge his reaction and was happy to see that his earlier skittishness was nowhere to be found. Instead he just stared at the man, his icy eyes unreadable. “I have a slight problem, but maybe you could help me with it, sir,” Ryan said. “My problem is that we got a call that there was a fight going on here. Is there anyone else in the house right now?”

  The large man just smirked at Ryan, not backing down from Ryan’s unwavering gaze. “I’m here by myself. It must have been the TV. I was watching one of those action movies. You know; lots of screaming and loud noises.”

  Traci noticed Ryan didn’t take his eyes off the man for a second. The man had ignored her and turned all of his attention to Ryan. “Sir, we need to have a look around the house to make sure there’s no one else here,” Traci said firmly, trying to take the man’s attention off her partner.

  He barely spared her a glance before waving the two inside. “Sure, no problem. Like I said, I was just watching a movie.” Traci went into the messy living room, Ryan close behind her still keeping his eyes on the man.

  “So what’s your name, sir?” Traci asked as she glanced around the room for signs that another person had just been there.

  “Gordon Woods.” The big man kept his attention focused on the male cop. Officer Parker, huh? He has rookie written all over him. And the chick would be easy to handle once I get rid of this Parker kid. He’ll put up a fight though. I need to get his gun from him. While he was thinking, Traci had felt her red flags go up. Normally in a domestic abuse case, the wife or girlfriend would not run away from the cops when they arrived. She had a feeling that Mr. Woods was hiding something.

  “Officer Parker, I need to talk to you outside for a moment. We have to report in to the station.”

  Ryan finally turned his attention from Gordon Woods to face his partner. “Sure. Mr. Woods, would you wait in here for a moment while my partner and I call in?”

  Gordon nodded, sneering as Ryan allowed Traci to go out ahead of him before turning his back on the man. As soon as the cop’s fierce gaze was turned from him, Gordon struck, grabbing Ryan around the neck and snatching the gun from the holster. “Don’t say a word, cop,” he said.

  Ryan gulped as he felt the cold steel of his gun pressed against his temple, and he stopped struggling. “What do you want?” he asked, hoping he was able to keep the fear from his voice. “My partner is going to be back in here in a second, and then where will you be?”

  Gordon squeezed harder around Ryan’s neck until Ryan started seeing black spots in his vision. “I’ll be right here with you as my shield. You picked a bad day to be a cop, kid.”

  Traci didn’t notice right away that Ryan didn’t follow her out of the house. She called in to the station to get some backup before she realized that Ryan was still in the house. “Oh God,” she said softly, almost in prayer. Ryan was in trouble, and as the senior partner, he was her responsibility. “This is Officer Vetters; I need that backup here now! We have an officer in need of assistance at 1432 Water Street.” She didn’t wait for the confirmation before she headed back into the house only to be faced with Gordon Woods holding a gun to her partner’s head.

  “Mr. Woods, you don’t want to do that,” she warned as she aimed her gun at him. She tried to gauge whether Ryan was hurt or not, but she couldn’t read anything behind his eyes. Woods tightened his grip on her partner’s neck, and she could see Ryan fighting for air.

  “I think I really do. Ryan and I were just spending some quality time together, and I would hate to have to cut it short because his partner did something stupid.” He loosened his grip, and laughed as he felt his captive becoming weaker.

  I’m sorry, Ryan. I should have been paying more attention. “Mr. Woods, right now we don’t have any serious charges against you. Don’t change that by killing a cop.” Traci hated that she sounded like she was pleading with him, but there was nothing she could do about it. “I called for backup; they’ll be here any second now.”

  Woods growled in frustration, dragging Ryan further into the house, Traci following and keeping her gun trained on him. “Mr. Woods, you don’t have to do this,” Ryan said softly, his voice sounding hoarse. “You kill a cop and your life is over.” Ryan gasped as the man again tightened his grip, cutting off his oxygen.

  Traci watched helplessly as Ryan clawed frantically at the large arm that kept him from breathing. She nearly panicked as she noticed Ryan’s struggles growing weaker, “Stop! You’re killing him! I’ll shoot if you don’t stop,” she warned him.

  Woods just laughed. “I’d like to see you try. You’d hit your boy here, and he’s too pretty to go down like that.” Despite his words, Woods let off the pressure to allow Ryan to breathe.

  Ryan was finding that it was getting more difficult to think, but was immensely relieved to hear sirens nearby. He looked at Traci, too tired to block his fear. Traci froze, the hopelessness in Ryan’s eyes doing more to freeze her in her tracks than the iciness that had been there earlier.

  Ryan tensed as he heard several footsteps coming into the house. Great, I haven’t even been a cop for a day, and already I need rescuing. Great start, Ryan. The other officers entered the room where they witnessed the tense standoff. “Back off or I’ll shoot the rookie!” Woods yelled.

  Traci saw Ryan’s eyes clearing as he had a more constant oxygen intake, and she hoped he would be able to get out of this in one piece. “Mr. Woods,” he said calmly. “You are an idiot.” Traci, and all the other cops in the room tensed as Ryan slammed his heel into the top of the suspect’s foot.

  Woods, not believing that the rookie cop would fight back, was surprised enough that he relaxed his grip; it allowed Ryan to swing an elbow hard into his stomach and duck out of his hold. “You little…” he yelled, aiming the gun at Ryan preparing to shoot. Before he could pull the trigger, Traci squeezed off a shot, hitting the man in the shoulder, causing him to drop the gun. Several officers ran to the man, and cuffed him, dragging him out of the house as they read him his rights.

  Traci ran to Ryan, “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fi
ne,” he snapped. He looked up at her from where he sat on the floor, and she saw that the icy wall in his eyes again hid his emotions.

  “You did everything right, Ryan. I shouldn’t have left without knowing you were following me.”

  Ryan shrugged, unwilling to let Traci take the blame. “I should not have taken my eyes off of that man for one second. There was something off about him from the moment we got here. I should have listened to my instincts.” He shook off the lingering feelings of embarrassment and fear and turned his attention back to the task at hand. “So what’s the procedure for something like this? We didn’t really cover it in Domestic Abuse 101,” he tried for a joke, but it fell flat.

  “We need to give our statements about what happened, and I need to turn in my gun for the IA investigation since I shot the guy.”

  “None too soon either. That guy should have been shot years ago, it would have solved a lot of problems,” Ryan said darkly.

  Traci looked at her partner doubtfully. He still hadn’t made any attempt to stand up, and dark bruises were forming around his neck where the man had nearly choked the life out of him. “Are you sure you’re okay? You need to get checked out by the paramedics. They’re outside. If we don’t go out there soon, they’ll be coming in here.”

  “Why did he do it?” Ryan asked, suddenly sounding lost.

  “I don’t know, partner, but we’ll find out after we make sure you’re okay. Can you stand up?”

  Ryan nodded and stood. Swaying on his feet for a moment as the adrenaline rush ended and the dizziness set in from the period without oxygen. Traci noticed, and reached out to steady him as they walked slowly out into the street. “Is he okay?” One of the other officers asked.

  “He’ll be fine, Tom. He’s just a little shaken up. I think he’s going through the adrenaline crash right now.”

  “I’m right here, you know,” Ryan said with a hint of annoyance creeping into his voice. “I can answer for myself.”

  “Okay, then. How are you feeling, Ryan?”

  “I’m feeling fine. The dizziness is going away.” He pulled away from Traci and walked the rest of the way to the paramedics by himself, albeit a little unsteadily. He was examined, and they said the lingering dizziness would leave within the next few minutes as he was allowed unrestricted airflow.

  Traci and Ryan then gave their statements to the detective who showed up to check the house for Woods’ wife, and they got back into the car and headed for the precinct. “I’m going to need a new gun,” Ryan said as he leaned wearily into the passenger seat. “CSI took mine as evidence because Woods had it.”

  “We’ll get you a new one later,” Traci assured him. “We need to go talk to the captain, and then you need to get home and get some rest. We’ll have a lot of paperwork to do for this tomorrow night.”

  You got away from that one, Ryan. I thought Woods would have enough sense to drag you out of the house before your bitch partner came back. I have other ways of getting to you, and they will not fail. Did you tell your partner about me, I wonder? For your sake, I hope you didn’t. I would have to punish you severely for that, and you really wouldn’t like the punishment. I think it’s time for another warning. This one wasn’t direct enough. You’ve had enough quiet. You’re mine, and it’s time for you to realize it.

  ELEVEN

  Ryan entered his apartment wearily after his first long night of work. The Captain had been understandably upset at the situation, and had ordered Ryan and Traci to do some practicing with self-defense. Unfortunately, Ryan didn’t think it would do any good, since he was already trained in self-defense and he’d still let Woods get the drop on him. If he hadn’t had the stupid gun, I’d have taken him down a lot sooner. He changed into a pair of sweats and a T-shirt before making himself some food.

  He walked past his door several times before he noticed the familiar looking envelope that had been pushed under the door. He groaned. Not again. Picking up the envelope, Ryan opened it. He looked at the contents in shock. Somehow the stalker had gotten a photo of Woods holding the gun to his head. Ryan stared at the photo for several minutes before he was able to think about what the photo meant. “He’s a cop,” he said softly. It had to be true. There were no civilians other than Woods at the scene.

  Ryan turned the photo over in his hands to see if there was a message and he read: CATCH YOU LATER. “This was a set-up,” he whispered in shock. Somehow the stalker had been able to plan on Ryan showing up at the scene. I should call Traci, or the captain. They need to know what’s going on. He mentally kicked himself. Shouldn’t have touched the stuff without gloves. Oh well, if he’s a cop, he wouldn’t have left prints anyway. Pushing away his thoughts, he reached for his phone and took out the card Traci had given him with her contact information.

  The phone rang three times before Traci answered, sounding groggy. “Hello?”

  “Traci? Sorry to wake you. It’s Ryan.”

  “Hey, partner. What’s up?” Traci asked, sounding more awake.

  Ryan hesitated, not sure how to bring up the latest note. “I, uh, got a picture and note from my stalker.”

  “I’ll come over. I only live about ten minutes from you. I’ll be there in eleven.”

  “Thanks, Traci. I really need to show this to you, I appreciate it,” Ryan said before hanging up the phone.

  “That’s what partners are for, kid,” Traci said to herself as she quickly threw on some clothes and ran out the door. They would call the captain only if both she and Ryan felt it was necessary, or that it would do any good. She drove as quickly as she could to her partner’s apartment. She had recognized the building address when he gave her his information, and had a friend who lived in the same building. I wonder if Sue knows him. She thought idly as she drove. She reached the apartment building about ten minutes after leaving her own place.

  Now which apartment number was he? She checked the registry and saw that he was on the second floor in apartment 239. After pressing the button for his apartment and Ryan buzzing her in, Traci ran up the stairs and knocked on his door. Ryan opened immediately, and she was glad she had come. Ryan looked pale, causing the bruises around his neck to stand out vividly, and he seemed on the verge of a breakdown.

  “Ryan, calm down. Let me see the picture.” He handed it to her mutely, and she gasped, understanding immediately why her partner had reacted the way he had.

  “You know what this means, right?” he asked softly. Traci thought he sounded scared, and she shook her head. Not out of denial, but in disbelief. Ryan answered his own question. “My parents were killed by a cop.”

  Traci didn’t answer, but she turned the picture over and read the message on the back. “‘Catch you later’? Does that mean what I think it means?”

  “We were set up on that call,” Ryan said, still speaking softly. He hadn’t looked at her since she’d entered the apartment.

  “Ryan, look at me,” she commanded gently. “We’re going to figure out who it is. We’ll talk to the captain. I’m sure he’ll let us work on the case.”

  Ryan shook his head, the lost look in his eyes becoming the icy gaze that she recognized. “The captain sent us out there. I can’t be sure he wasn’t involved. He was in the department when my dad was.”

  “Is that why you trust me? Because I couldn’t have been here when your father was?”

  Ryan nodded. “Partially. I also have to trust someone, and I saw the look on your face when you saw Woods holding that gun to my head. That wasn’t faked.” Ryan turned and punched the wall in frustration. “I can’t even trust the captain. I started to let him in, and he’s a potential suspect.”

  “Ryan, he wasn’t there, how could he be the stalker?”

  Ryan just looked at her as if she should know the answer. “Think about that for a second, Traci. He could have easily bribed another cop to take the picture for him. He wouldn’t have had to be there in person.”

  Traci nodded, and went a step further. “In fact, even if
the captain isn’t your stalker—which I honestly don’t think he is—the stalker would most likely have not been there. If he set up the situation with Woods to get you, then he wouldn’t have risked being on the scene if something went wrong. Woods could have recognized him.”

  “You know that means that I have more than just one person to worry about, right? If this guy has the resources and abilities to stage the disturbance call, and to bribe other cops, that means he could do it again.” Ryan rubbed his eyes wearily, and Traci thought he looked older than he had when she’d met him the previous night.

  “You should talk to your uncle about this. You never know, he could have some idea of who in the department would have wanted your father dead.” She noticed Ryan flinch a bit at her statement, but he didn’t comment.

  “You’ve been a cop longer than I have. What do you suggest?”

  “A little light reading, perhaps?” Traci said lightly, hoping to get Ryan out of the dark mood he was in.

  “You mean the files?” Ryan asked. “How do we get access to them?”

  “We may have to talk to the captain for that.” She held up her hand to stop Ryan’s objections. “Just hear me out, okay? Yes, Captain Riever was in the department at the same time as your father, but I believe him when he says he didn’t know him personally. He was completely entranced with your story last night, and you didn’t see the look on his face when you were finished.”

  “What look?” Ryan asked, looking up at Traci again.

  “The look that said he would love to get his hands on whoever dared to threaten one of his people. It doesn’t even matter that you had just become one of his people, he obviously felt a connection to you last night, and I think he can be trusted.”

  Ryan searched Traci’s face for any signs of doubt and found none. He sighed as he replied, “Okay. We’ll talk to him. I just hope you’re right.” Ryan left unsaid what both he and Traci were thinking. If the captain was involved, they would be tipping their hand to the man they were trying to catch which could lead to him striking out.