Take the Key and Lock Her Up by Lena Diaz Read Free Book Online Page B

ignoring Tuck’s shout, telling her
     to wait. An unarmed civilian was chasing an alleged murderer who probably was armed. Waiting this time wasn’t an option. Buchanan’s life was at stake.
    Tracking someone through the woods wasn’t a skill she’d ever mastered, but she didn’t
     need to be an expert to follow the trail Buchanan and the suspect had left behind.
     The grass was matted down, and little branches were broken all along the path.
    She burst out of the woods into a clearing and skidded to a halt. Twenty feet in front
     of her, Devlin and the suspect were locked in combat, rolling back and forth on the
     ground. She leveled her gun at them.
    “Police, freeze—both of you!”
    Devlin wrapped his hands around the man’s head and jaw and gave a mighty jerk. A sickening
     crack echoed through the trees. The suspect slumped to the forest floor, unmoving,
     his neck twisted at an impossible angle. Devlin slowly climbed to his feet. He crossed
     the clearing, passing Emily without looking at her. His jaw was clenched tight and
     his entire body seemed taut, like a bowstring ready to snap. He continued into the
     trees and disappeared back toward the road.
    Emily rushed to the suspect, checking his pulse even though she knew he was most likely
     beyond any help she could give him. As she’d feared, he was dead. Her gun hand began
     to shake. She holstered her weapon and bent to the side to get a good look at the
     suspect, or victim, or whatever label applied in this situation. This was definitely
     the man she’d passed on the highway a few hours earlier, the same man who’d shut the
     basement door in her face. At least they had the right guy this time.
    She checked his pockets. No wallet. Nothing to identity him. She took a picture of
     his face. If a fingerprint scan didn’t yield results, maybe she could get the local
     FBI office to run his picture through their fancy facial-recognition software.
    When Emily emerged from the trees by the road, Tuck and Mrs. Hawley were sitting on
     the hood of Tuck’s car. He was speaking to her in low, soothing tones. She seemed
     much calmer now. Then again, Tuck hadn’t pointed a gun at her like Emily had.
    Devlin leaned against the tailgate of his truck a few feet away, looking deadly and
     dangerous. The image was certainly accurate. He truly was dangerous. Lethal. His unreadable gaze briefly met hers before shifting to the other
     woman.
    Emily halted beside the car. “Mrs. Hawley, the suspect is . . . he’s dead, ma’am.
     It’s over.”
    Tuck gave her a questioning look. She shook her head. She’d tell him the details later,
     when the victim wasn’t around.
    The young woman’s brows drew down. Maybe she was still in shock. She didn’t look relieved.
     Instead, she looked . . . confused, and scared.
    “What do you mean it’s over? Are you saying you found him?”
    “The man who was driving the truck? Yes, we . . . found him. He’s dead.”
    Hawley waved her hand, as if what Emily had said was irrelevant. “Yes, yes, I heard
     you. What about the other one?”
    Devlin straightened, suddenly on alert. “ Other one?”
    Hawley shrank away from him. He sighed and leaned back against his truck, as if he
     was used to eliciting that kind of reaction.
    “I don’t understand,” Emily said. “Was there a second man in the truck with you?”
    “No, no. The truck driver was the one who abducted me and drove me back and forth
     between the different locations.”
    “Different locations?” Emily breathed.
    “From that house where you saw me to the cabin to that other place. But the driver,
     he’s not the one who . . .” She squeezed her eyes tightly shut. “He’s not the one
     who . . . hurt me,” she whispered miserably. “He was the assistant .” She shuddered.
    Emily stared at her in horror. Tuck looked just as stunned as she felt. Devlin looked
     . . . intent, like a predator waiting for his prey.
    “‘Cabin’? ‘Other