Riley Thorn and the Corpse in the Closet by Lucy Score
38
11:44 a.m., Tuesday, August 18
“What’s your problem?” Kellen asked Nick as he slumped in the passenger seat of the cruiser. “You found your missing person. Doesn’t that mean you get to take the rest of the week off and drink beer in your underwear?”
Nick frowned at his phone. “Riley’s not responding to my texts. She should have made it to her parents’ place over an hour ago.”
“Maybe Scary Granny abducted her,” Weber teased.
“GPS says she’s there on her parents’ street.”
Weber snorted. “You’re tracking your girlfriend?”
“It’s consensual tracking. She can digitally stalk me too,” Nick said defensively.
“I’m sure she’s fine. There’s a waiting period after the glitter bomb before this guy makes his move. He wouldn’t move this fast.”
“A. The guy has killed three people that we know of. He’s obviously not right in the head. So if he wants to deviate from his fucking timeline, he will. B. You reminding me that she’s being targeted by a nutcase maniac isn’t helping. Can’t this piece of shit go any faster?”
He hit redial and listened as it rang a few times before going to voicemail.
“Maybe she just left her phone in the car,” Weber said. His voice was calm, but Nick noticed that he was accelerating.
“Drive faster,” Nick insisted, hitting redial again.
His gut was telling him something was off.
Three minutes later, they turned onto Dogwood Street and screeched to a halt. Riley’s Jeep was parked in the middle of the street, doors open, engine on, in front of the neighbor’s house.
The fence between the Thorns and the Strumps lay on the ground. Daisy the cow was taking a gigantic cow crap in the middle of the Strumps’ driveway.
“Is that cow sparkling?” Weber asked.
“Fuck me.” Nick jumped out of the car and pulled his gun. Weber did the same, and together they ran low toward the house. The front door was open. The living room looked like last call at a strip club with a truckload of glitter. There was one spot on the carpet that was completely clear. A large, Gabe-sized spot.
“Goddammit,” Nick muttered.
“What the hell happened in here?” Weber asked grimly.
“Call for backup. Riley!” Nick shouted.
But there was no response. The house was empty. Riley was gone.
They cleared the house and returned to the yard to wait for their backup.
“He’s got her,” Nick said, pacing through a bed of already half-crushed flowers.
“Whose cow is this?” Kellen asked as the glittery Daisy gave him an affectionate headbutt in the gut.
“Nicholas.”
Nick jumped, and Weber let out a girly yelp of surprise.
Elanora seemed to have materialized on the ruined lawn out of nowhere.
“You will take me to my granddaughter,” she announced.
“Love to, lady, but I don’t know where she is,” Nick snarled.
She held up a pale, wrinkled hand. “You will find her and take me to her. She’s in danger.”
“Gee, you think?” he snapped.
“There is no time for sarcasm, young man.”
Weber’s phone rang. “What have you got?” he barked.
Nick’s phone rang. He stabbed at the screen. “Now’s not a great time, Penny.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” Mrs. Penny said, obviously not having received Elanora’s memo on sarcasm. “Seeing as how we’ve got a Code Sparkle Poo.”
“What are you babbling about?”
“Your girlfriend just got dragged into Channel 50’s studio by a gun-toting lunatic. It’s definitely a code Sparkle Poo.”
He tensed. “How do you know that?”
“You pay me to follow your girlfriend. I follow your girlfriend,” she said. “I followed her to her parents’, saw the whole thing go down. Bad guy showed up to leave a package and ended up tranquing Gabe and abducting Riley and that helmet-headed hyena who lives next door. I’ve got Gabe with me. He’s a little woozy. We followed your bad guy across the river. Looks like he’s planning something pretty big.”
Fuck.
“Why are you just now calling me?”
“I got so excited I dropped my phone under the seat. My hands were all greased up from hashbrowns. Just now fished it out.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“We’re figuring out a way inside,” Mrs. Penny said.
“Do not do anything stupid before we get there,” Nick shouted into the phone.
He disconnected, and Weber did the same.
“We gotta go to Channel 50,” they said in unison.
They jogged back to Weber’s cruiser.
“I will join you,” Elanora said, appearing next to Weber. Weber jumped and slapped a hand to his chest.
“Fine. Whatever. Get in,” Nick said, pushing Weber out of the way. “This time I’m driving.”
He didn’t wait for his passengers to close their doors before revving the engine and throwing the car in reverse.
“We’ll get to her,” Weber promised.
Cold dread settled in Nick’s gut. The suspect had deviated from the pattern, which meant anything could happen. And Riley was unarmed and unprotected.
“What did you get?” Nick asked, fishtailing onto the Rte. 83 on-ramp, lights on and sirens wailing.
“Jackson Neudorfer was a high school junior who committed suicide a few years back. Looks like bullying was involved. Had a little brother named Hudson, who just so happens to work at Channel 50.”
“Fuck me,” Nick muttered, riding the ass of a pickup truck and laying on his horn.
“Language, Nicholas,” Elanora huffed from the back seat.
“Call Mrs. Penny,” he said, throwing his phone in Weber’s lap. “She’s the eyes on the scene. Looks like a hostage situation.”
“Great. Just what we need,” Weber complained. “The paperwork alone will take weeks. Wait. Is Mrs. Penny the purple-haired fool who ran the ring of vigilantes and smashed her minivan into the fountain?”
“That’s the one,” Nick said grimly.
“Fuck me. Drive faster.”
* * *
The cruiser screamedup Sixth Street and came to a halt just inches from the police barricade. Only a handful of cops were on the scene. Nick was already out of the car and running toward the building by the time a uniform started yelling that they couldn’t park there. Weber badged them through the barriers, and Elanora followed at a disapproving distance.
“What have we got?” Weber snapped at one of the uniforms.
“Looks like a hostage situation inside. No contact with the suspect yet. Still trying to identify him.”
“Hudson Neudorfer,” Weber said. “He’s an employee. Any idea how many hostages?”
“They were wrapping up the live morning show, so it’s a full house in there,” one of the officers reported.
Fists clenched at his side, Nick stared at the hideous building that separated him from Riley. He needed to get inside. He spotted Gabe on the other side of the police barricade leaning heavily against an SUV.
“Nicholas,” Elanora said, appearing at his side.
“Gah! What?”
“Riley will diffuse this situation,” she announced calmly. “But she’ll need your help to do it. You must get inside.”
“I’m working on it,” he promised.
She nodded grimly and disappeared into the crowd.
“Let him through,” Nick snapped at the closest officer and pointed at Gabe.
Gabe headed his way listing hard to the side.
“You okay there, Titanic?” Nick asked.
“I will be fine,” Gabe promised, slurring his words. “It was just a horse tranquilizer.”
“Where’s Penny?” Nick asked.
Gabe pointed to the building. “Inside.”
“Fuck. Show me.”
