Framed, p.16
Framed, page 16
“You’re not going to do either.” Jessica’s voice was rough and scratchy. Air ground across her vocal cords like sand.
“Oh, but I am. See, you’re an intruder, and I have the right to defend myself and my property from a threat inside my home.”
He held her hair in one hand and stretched with the other. When he straightened again, he had a knife and a smile.
“I’m going to enjoy this so much.”
17
Jessica screamed as loud as she could. It hurt like hell. Her throat burned like she’d swallowed fire. But that was nothing compared to what she was sure the man would do.
“I feel like I should introduce myself,” he said, yanking her hair back to meet her gaze. “I’m Silver. It’s so nice to meet you, Ms. German. It’ll be even nicer to kill you.”
“You’re not going to get away with this,” she hissed.
He grinned wider and licked his teeth. He sucked in, baring his incisors like a rabid dog. “Why are you wearing this mask? Did you think it would hide who you are?”
Jessica had forgotten about the mask. When she put it on, she felt strong, powerful, invincible. Now, she just felt scared. Death was coming for her, and nothing was going to stop it. Not the mask or her strength or anything.
“This was a gift. From someone who knew what I was walking into.”
Silver snickered. “They should have saved their money and told you not to come here instead. What did you think you were going to do? Beat me?”
“I am going to beat you,” she growled.
Silver laughed. He paused and shook his head, then laughed harder. He laughed so hard he released her.
Jessica took advantage of the momentary freedom and pushed away from him. She scrambled to her feet and tried to find a way out. An escape.
“There’s no escape,” Silver said with a snort. “You’re not leaving here unless it’s in a body bag. You know too much.”
“You’re not going to get away with this. Not with killing Karli and not with the other woman you killed. You’re going to jail.”
“Nope. But thanks for asking.”
He moved closer to her, cornering her by the kitchen. He was between her and the only escape. She looked around for another way out. There was a fire escape, but she didn’t know how to get out onto it. Or if it was in good enough shape to get down it and away from him.
Silver lunged at her, swinging the blade in his hand while she was distracted. It caught her forearm, slicing into her flesh.
She cried out, clamping her other hand over it. The cut wasn’t deep, but it was enough to sting. Before she could react, he swung again, cutting into her bicep.
Jessica needed a weapon. Something she could use to fight back. She yanked open a drawer, hoping to find something sharp. Or at least something solid to block his attacks.
The drawer was empty.
She moved back and pulled the next one. Towels. He watched her as she retreated farther into the apartment, yanking drawers and finding nothing useful. Even the brick he used to kill Karli would have been something, but she didn’t know where he’d put it.
Silver laughed when Jessica got to the last drawer and still came up empty. She moved around the island, finally seeing a path toward the door.
“Tsk, tsk. Did you really think it would be that easy?” he taunted as he hurried back to the other side of the island, once more blocking her exit.
“Aren’t you worried about Raina’s ex coming to get you? If I could find you, what makes you think he won’t?”
“He’s already been here,” Silver admitted. Half a second later, he realized what he said. “Bitch.”
Jessica filed the information away. “If he’s looking for you, he’ll be back.”
“I’m not important enough for him to worry about right now. Not when he has bigger issues.”
“Like what? What does he do?”
“Do you really think I’m going to tell you anything?”
“You already confessed he was the one who sent you after Karli. And he’s after you now. And you told me about the first woman you raped and killed.”
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing you’re not going to live long enough to tell anyone else what you know.”
“I—”
Sirens screeched outside the window. Jessica paused, listening for them to draw closer. She was saved! The police would find them and arrest him for Karli’s murder. And Jessica could tell him about everything else.
“Dammit!” Silver shouted. His eyes went wide, frantically scanning the room.
He moved away from Jessica, leaving space for her to escape. She moved toward the door, but he jumped back in front of her, blocking her again.
Jessica kicked him, surprising him with a swift blow to his knee. He went down with a shout, howling and holding his knee. She kicked his arm, a sickening crunch sounding above his shout before he grabbed for his arm.
“You fucking psycho!” he shouted. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
She wanted to laugh. He sliced and diced her and she was the psycho?
He tried to push to stand, but his knee gave out. He cursed and tried to use his arm, swearing again when it didn’t support his attempt, either.
Footsteps echoed through the hallway outside the apartment. Before Jessica could do anything else, the door slammed open and police swarmed into the room.
Two officers went to Silver, and two went straight to her. Jessica put her hands up and opened her mouth, but Silver beat her to an explanation.
“Officers, thank God you’re here. She broke into my apartment and tried to kill me. I managed to get the knife away from her and I cut her, but it was only because she was going to kill me like she did that nice lady who used to live across the hall from me. Please, help me.”
“Liar!” Jessica shouted.
“Stop talking,” one of the officers barked.
“Thank you, sir. You have to listen to me. He—”
“I said stop talking,” the officers shouted. He twisted Jessica’s arm behind her back and grabbed her other arm, dragging it to meet the first.
“Ow!”
“Jessica German. You’re under arrest for the murder of Karli Sloane. You have the right to remain silent.”
“What? I didn’t kill her! He killed her. I came here because he’s the one who called nine-one-one. He called before I was in her apartment. The only way he would have known she was dead was if he killed her. You have to believe me!”
The officers near Silver were looking at his arm. One radioed for an ambulance to treat his injuries.
“What about where he cut me? He said he was going to kill me. He killed another woman, too. His father went to jail for it, but he confessed to me.”
“Shut up,” the officer behind her said. He snapped cuffs on her wrists. “You have the right to an attorney.”
“I don’t want an attorney. I want you to listen to me. He killed my friend. He was going to kill me. Arrest him, not me!”
They all ignored her. The one officer continued to read Jessica her rights, and the others tended to Silver like he was a victim instead of the one they should be arresting.
Jessica wanted to scream at them. To get them to listen to her. To tell them they were arresting the wrong person. But instead, she was done. All the fight she had in her was gone. Running for weeks and fighting for her life and trying to prove her innocence had finally caught up to her, and she was just done.
Tears filled her eyes and overflowed onto her cheeks. She closed her eyes against the exhaustion and pain and frustration and just cried. She cried for Karli and Raina and Holly. She cried for herself. She cried for Braden and Taylor. She cried for the woman Silver killed when he was a teenager, and all the others he didn’t tell her about. She just cried, letting it all out while the police officers stood there and ignored her, trusting the evil man who claimed to be a victim.
She would never be free again, but Silver would be. And Jessica would never forgive herself for not having proof of his crimes. For not getting justice for Karli.
Braden’s foot bounced as they drove through the streets toward Karli’s building. He wasn’t sure why there was a pit in his stomach, but he had a bad feeling about going there.
He still didn’t know where Jessica was. He got a text from Stacey that she’d seen Jessica and Jessica was okay. She wouldn’t tell him where she saw Jessica, or if Jessica said anything that would help him find her. It wasn’t enough for Braden, but it was better than nothing.
They finally arrived at Karli’s old building, and Braden jumped out with Wray. The call was for assistance for two people. One had lacerations that needed to be patched, and the other needed to go to the hospital for a more extensive evaluation. They were headed to Karli’s floor, a few apartments down from hers, according to Wray.
“You okay?” Wray asked as they climbed the stairs.
Braden shook his head. “I want to be out there looking for her, not here. She’s alone. And because the fucking cops won’t do their fucking job and find the person who actually killed Karli, Jessica’s out there somewhere.”
“I get it,” Wray said. “It was the same with Stacey. They questioned her for hours. And even now, she’s convinced that Oscar dude didn’t kill himself. She said his daughter was sure of it.”
“Seriously?”
Wray nodded. “Yeah, but I keep telling her not to talk about that because she’s the only suspect they have. They only let her go because they think it was a suicide.”
“Stacey’s not that person. I can’t see her ever getting angry enough to kill someone.”
“Jessica, too.”
“Too bad PD doesn’t think the same.” Braden turned the corner of the stairs and spotted four cops in the hallway. He exchanged a glance with Wray and moved toward the group.
“What’s going on, gentlemen?” Wray asked.
“We finally caught the woman who killed her friend. She came back here when she found out this was the guy who called nine-one-one,” one of the cops said.
Braden’s blood went cold. Jessica. He turned his head, everything around him moving in slow motion. Jessica was inside the dirty apartment, her hands trapped behind her back and secured with handcuffs. Officer Shitface and Officer Dickwad were guarding her like she was going to be able to run.
Two other cops were talking to a man sitting on a dingy, stained couch. He was supporting his arm, which was bent at an awkward angle. His leg was straight out in front of him.
“Braden,” Wray said, loudly. He smacked Braden’s chest, bringing him back to reality.
Braden looked into the apartment again and caught Jessica’s gaze. Her gaze was hollow, broken. Her shoulders were slumped. She was bloody and dirty and absolutely destroyed. And all Braden wanted to do was drag her out of there and hold her until it was all over.
“Jessica,” Braden breathed. He rushed toward her, knowing Wray would handle the other patient.
Officer Dickwad stepped in front of Braden. “No.”
“Fuck you. Move.”
Office Shitface joined him. They crossed their arms and blocked Braden’s path to Jessica. “This is an active crime scene.”
“And I’m the fucking tooth fairy. What the fuck do you think we’re doing here? We were called. And I’m going to treat her for her injuries. Or should I have some of your brothers in blue arrest you for denying her necessary medical treatment?”
The two officers exchanged a glance. Officer Dickwad stepped to the side with a grumble, barely giving Braden enough space to squeeze between them and reach Jessica.
“Are you okay?” he asked, opening his med kit.
She shook her head. “He killed Karli. He told me. He described the entire thing to me. But they don’t want to hear it.”
“He described it?” Braden asked. His heart flipped, and his gut churned. The sick son-of-a-bitch taunted her with the truth, and she just had to sit there and take it.
“I’m so sorry. And this is shitty timing, but I need you to know I did not call the police. I didn’t turn you in. I never told them where the safe house was.”
“I know. Stacey told me. I’m guessing Damon knew somehow. He must have been watching you. Or had Silver watching you. I don’t know.”
“Damon?”
Jessica nodded. “He told me Damon put him up to all of this. He said Damon hired him to kill Karli. But something went wrong because now Damon wants to kill him.”
“Well, that’s interesting news.”
“I’m not sure how it helps me, though.”
“It probably doesn’t. Someone tried to kidnap Raina yesterday morning. She said she thought she recognized him from the building. I didn’t think of it until now, but it could have been the same guy.”
Jessica nodded. “I know. Stacey told me about that. He didn’t admit it to me, but I figured it was him. Is Raina okay?”
“She’s fine. As much as she can be. She fought him off. But he said something about letting two women get away, so he probably was following one of us and is the reason the cops found the safe house.”
“This is all so messed up. And I was here. I was right here. I didn’t record anything he said. The things he told me… He’s sick Braden. He said he thinks he was put on earth to kill people.”
Braden’s gut clenched. Jessica was alone with the psycho. He could have walked into a very different scene. As much as he hated that the PD didn’t do more to find the truth, he was grateful they showed up when they did and that Jessica only had a few lacerations on her arm and bruises on her body.
“Did he hurt you anywhere else?” Braden asked as he wrapped the second bandage on her arm. He’d cleaned the cuts, which thankfully weren’t too deep, and held them together with bandages and covered the whole thing with gauze.
“Just dizzy and sore. He dragged me around by my hair and threw me on the floor. My back hurts like hell, and I probably have a concussion.”
“Jesus,” Braden breathed. He eyed the man who was playing up his injuries for Wray. Braden had half a mind to give him a few more. From what he could tell, the man deserved a whole lot worse than he got.
Jessica nodded. “God, Braden, I hate him. He even saved the brick he used to kill her. It was something Karli loved. A treasure from her grandfather.”
“He saved it?”
“Yep. He showed it to me.”
“Where is it? If it’s here, it’ll have Karli’s DNA on it, and they can prove he killed her.” Braden palpated Jessica’s skull for tender spots where the killer tugged her hair too hard. She winced but didn’t complain.
“I don’t know where it is. When he got the knife, he must have put it somewhere.”
“They should be trying to find it. They told me they don’t have the murder weapon.” Braden turned to the cops who were watching them carefully. “Hey, shit-for-brains. The brick the fucker used to kill Karli Sloane is somewhere in this apartment. How about you two do your damn jobs and fucking find it?”
“We’re making sure she doesn’t escape.”
Braden snorted. “Really? She’s in cuffs, and there are four officers in the hallway. You have that little faith in your coworkers that you think she’s going to get past all of them?”
They exchanged another glance, then Officer Shitface walked toward the hallway.
Braden turned his focus back to Jessica. He looked into her eyes and held her gaze for a long minute. “I am so sorry you’re going through all of this.”
She nodded, her eyes watery. Her chin shook. She swallowed roughly.
“He’s not going to get away with what he did. Now we know who he is and what he’s capable of. Dex and his team will find out everything about him and make sure he never hurts anyone again.”
“He’s pure evil, Braden. He kills for fun. And if he’s involved with Damon, there’s no telling what else he’s capable of. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
“I’m right here, Jessica. I’m not going anywhere.”
“I love you,” she blurted.
Braden took a step back, instinct. He looked around, realizing everyone in the room heard her words. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, when Officer Shitface spoke.
“Well, what the hell is this?”
“What is that? I’ve never seen that before,” the man Wray was tending to said. “Where did that come from?”
“Did you plant this in his apartment so he’d look guilty?” Officer Shitface asked Jessica.
Jessica looked past Braden to the officer, and her entire body sank like someone pulled a plug on a bounce house.
Braden turned and found the officer holding a brick and staring accusingly at Jessica.
“Glad we finally got the murder weapon,” Officer Dickwad said. “Now, there’s no way she’ll get away with what she did.”
Jessica sank to the floor and sobbed.
18
Jessica’s gut burned like she’d swallowed fire. It consumed her, filling her with hot, blinding rage. As she cried, it built. Expanding from her stomach to her lungs and thighs, then to her throat and calves. When it reached her head and feet, she lost it.
“He killed Karli! She was my best friend in the world, and he took her away from me. He’s a murderer. He killed before Karli. He ran a woman down on the side of the road and raped her, then let his own father take the blame for it and go to jail. He’s the one who used that brick, a brick Karli saved from her childhood, to kill her. He told me how he waited until she’d been home a little while, then went into her apartment and smashed her on the back of the head. He wanted to rape her, too, but he thought he’d get caught. He’s a monster.”
“She’s lying,” Silver barked, his face twisted like he was in anguish. “I didn’t know that woman across the hall. We said hi once or twice, but I had no reason to hate her. To kill her.”
“He was hired to do it. Raina… Someone tried to kidnap Raina yesterday morning. It was him. Call Marcus,” Jessica breathed, turning to Braden. “Marcus can show Raina his picture. She can ID him.”
