“Yeah, I’m guessing Emily Bennett didn’t feel so good, either. And if Amy is dead, you are going to never feel right again.”
We reached the vault door and, sure enough, it was locked with a heavy duty combination lock. Tyler and his new Beretta managed to persuade the combination out of Charley.
We yanked open the door. “Amy! Amy, it’s Sloane,” I called. I went in low, just in case, but I didn’t really think anyone else was there. This wasn’t a trafficking operation. This was just one perverted bastard.
“Sloane?”
I barely heard it, what with her weak voice and my still-ringing ears. But I did, and I raced across the small room to find her shoved into a dog crate hidden under a moving blanket.
While Tyler checked the rest of the room to make sure there were no other girls, I opened the crate. “Come on, sweetheart. It’s over now. You’re safe.”
I put the furniture blanket around her, keeping her warm from the shock, and watched as she crawled back into a corner, as far away from Big Charley as she could get.
“What’s this fucker’s last name?” I asked Tyler.
“Dodd.”
“Charles Dodd, you’re under arrest for the murder of Emily Bennett and the attempted murder of Amy Dawson. You have the right to remain silent,” I began, then finished Mirandizing him. I wasn’t Chicago PD. But right then, I figured I’d do.
“You ain’t gonna arrest me,” Charley said.
“Seems to me I already did.”
“Not if you’re with him. Because I’ve got a lot of paperwork on him and his buddies. Lots of documentation. I’m careful that way. Careful to keep records. Make notes. I write down everything. And I’m a very sharing kind of guy.”
My stomach turned over, and I felt bile rise in my throat. I knew how this would go down. Charley was a murderer, but he’d cut a deal. Because the knights were a much bigger and flashier feather in the cap of the local PD and FBI office. Charley would maybe get sentenced to a dime, get out in three. And the knights would end up in a minimum security facility for the rest of their lives.
Shit. Shit, fuck, damn.
“Oh, yeah. The lady knows what I’m saying,” Charley sang.
There was, however, one way out.
I lifted the Glock. I’d done it with Grier, and this guy was at least as bad. I could do it. Take him out, and save Tyler the way I couldn’t save my mother.
I started to depress the trigger, stopping only when Tyler very firmly said, “No.”
“It’s the only option. He’s right. You’ll do time. All of you.”
“We’ve always known that was a risk,” Tyler said. “I don’t like to lose, but the possibility is inherent in the game. That’s part of the thrill.”
I felt the tears streak my cheeks. “Let me do this. Let me do this so you can stay with me.”
“And destroy you in the process? Do you think I don’t know how much Grier cost you? I’m not letting you add to that. Sloane,” he said gently. “Put the gun down. Call the cops. Whatever happens, happens.”
Slowly, I lowered the gun. And I knew in that moment that I would never love anyone more than I loved this incredibly brave man.
“Oh yeah, that’s what I’m saying,” Big Charley said. “This way’s good, isn’t it, Amy-doll. She’s one of my favorites, and I’ve had so many. So pretty, and then they get thin and they’re just for me. I let them eat off my boots. Lick them clean. Let them suck me off if they’re really good. I don’t fuck them—don’t do that. But I’ve got to keep them under control. Make them supple. Make them touch themselves for me. And if they don’t come, well, they don’t get food. They just get thinner and thinner.”
He droned on, and I wasn’t sure if it was blood loss or if he believed so firmly that he’d get off easy or if he was just plain crazy. All I knew was that I couldn’t take it. All those girls. All that torture.
Amy.
And the thought that he might be out on the street again in thirty-six months. Maybe even less.
My finger twitched on the trigger. I met Tyler’s eyes, then looked at Charley.