Chapter Twenty-Two

“Put the gun down Thomas and we can talk.” Chris wanted to de-escalate the situation without getting anyone hurt. “You put the gun down and let her go and we won’t have to shoot you.”

“You’re in no position to make demands detective! Now Back up!” Thomas yelled at Chris but glared at Matthew.

“You heard him Chris clear the team out so it’s just us.” Matt watched as Chris pushed the team back and out of sight. Chris then came back to stand beside Matthew.

“It’s just us four now Thomas, put the gun down so we can talk.” Thomas eyed Chris suspiciously as he spoke. He pulled the gun out from behind Samantha but didn’t put it down.

“I think it’s fine in my hand detective, say what you need to say…” Thomas kept the gun close should he need to shoot the detectives in front of him or even Sam. Matt put his gun into its holster, but Chris kept his trained-on Thomas.

“Let her go Thomas, and we’ll make sure you get out of here alive,” Matt spoke to Thomas but looked at his daughter, she was scared, and he desperately wanted to comfort her.

“And if I don’t detective Riley?” Thomas laughed and it infuriated Matthew, if he could have, he would have shot Thomas right then.

“If you don’t things will end very badly for you, that I promise.” Matt looked to Chris and then back to Sam, they needed to do something soon. Chris could feel his friend’s anger and see Sam’s fear and he wanted so desperately to put an end to it all for them.

“What’s it going to be Thomas? Are you letting her go or are we really doing this?” Chris was even-toned when he spoke he needed to keep a straight head, as he was the one with a gun pointed towards his friend’s daughter and her captor.

Thomas thought for a few moments, about what the detective had said and weighed his options. He knew he wasn’t going to get out of this a free man, but the question was to spend the rest of his life in prison or die and take Samantha with him? He knew he should have listened to his brother, but he had wanted to prove himself strong and capable. He’d wanted to show William that he could do things on his own and that he didn’t need his big brother. Thomas had his mind made up… he would go out fighting and would take Detective Riley’s daughter with him. He pulled the gun back behind Sam again and shoved it into her back before pulling the trigger. By the time Matthew heard the sound, he watched as blood sprayed out of Sam’s stomach. Chris heard his friend shout, and he pulled the trigger of his gun, shooting Thomas in the head. He and Sam went down together, she fell forward, and he fell backward both lying in a growing pool of blood. Matt and Chris rushed forward, Chris kicked the gun away from Thomas’s body while Matt removed the ropes binding Sam’s wrists and cradled his daughter in his arms. He removed the tape and Sam coughed up blood, he grabbed his radio and called for help as he applied pressure to her wound. Sam tried to speak but her father stopped her, she desperately wanted to tell him she loved him. Instead, Matthew spoke, he told Sam he loved her, and that help was on the way. Chris was heartbroken at the sight before him, he wished he would have just shot the bastard when he first walked in.

Soon the paramedics came, and they load Sam onto a stretcher and rushed her to the hospital for emergency surgery. Matthew went along while the others stayed behind and collected the evidence. Dr. Crawford loaded up Thomas’s body as well and wheeled it to the coroner’s van, William watched everything from the shadows. He silently wept for the loss of his brother, he should never have left him, and he cursed detective Riley and his team. He would make them, he would kill Sam and he would avenge his brother, even if it meant giving up his own life in the process. William watched as the van drove away taking his brother from him, it pained him to know that he was the cause of his brother’s death, he walked away swearing vengeance.


**PRESENT DAY**


“I watched as they took you away…trying to save your pathetic life…as though you were better than my brother.” William seethed with anger as he spoke, “I watched as they loaded him up the body bag and all into the van as though he were garbage…” If he could have he would have killed Sam right then and there but he’d let his anger get the better of him.

“He should have listened when they told him to put the gun down, that was his mistake!” She knew better than to goad William, she knew what he was capable of.

“Maybe so love…maybe so but it was my fault for not killing you then and being done with it all…” He turned toward the small table and grabbed a cloth and the leather gag, before Sam could say another word, he shoved the cloth into her mouth. He then placed the gag over it tightening the buckle, try as she might, she couldn’t move away and could make little to no sound now.

William turned toward the small table again and grabbed a knife from it, he sliced Sam across her left cheek similar to what Thomas had done months ago. He then sliced into her upper arms and thighs until he was satisfied with his work. Sam had passed out due to the blood loss and the trauma, so William took the time to administer another sedative and get some rest himself. But before he laid down in front of the door, he removed the gag from Samantha’s mouth she’d be out for a while yet. God, she was beautiful and fierce and if it wasn’t for the fact, he was a serial killer and she was a cop, he would have fallen for a woman like her. But things were what they were and there was no changing that, he would have his vengeance and he would see detective Riley suffer.

Matthew and the team worked late into the night processing everything from his daughter’s apartment. All of the drinks in her fridge as well as the teas and coffee in her cupboard had tested positive for sedatives. William had made sure that no matter what she drank she’d be dosed and ready for the taking. All of the syringes they gathered had similar compositions and they were all medical-grade drugs that William had put together. Based off of what Nick had said William and Thomas took time to perfect the dosage and composition. Each one was used for something different from pain relief to sedatives, including the medically induced coma Nick went into. There were various knives and bandages left behind as well as rope and tape throughout the apartment. Matt saw the pictures where William had left the wrist restraints on the bed, it pained him to know that his daughter had been subjected to pain and torture again. He also noted where they had mentioned that the bedsheets were missing, he just hoped it meant they were used to move her to the new location. The other alternative was that they were used to dispose of her body, but he knew the way William had spoken that she was still alive. If he had to wager a guess William moved her in the sheets to avoid suspicion and leaving an evidence trail. Matt put the files down and went back to his office to grab his keys, he needed to see his daughter’s apartment for himself, and he desperately needed to go back to his own apartment and get some sleep and clean up.