Pretty Broken Dolls by Jennifer Chase
Chapter Fifty-One
Friday 2310 hours
Katie knew that whoever had grabbed her wasn’t going to kill her because they would have done it by now. His arm was wrapped tightly around her neck and she clawed at it with her fingernails and began to struggle. She broke free, falling to the ground and grabbing her gun at the same time. Aiming it at her attacker, she said, “Back up! Who are you?”
The man stepped into the light and she saw his face clearly—it was Agent Campbell. He looked frazzled and skittish. His clothes were torn. There was blood on his face and now on his arms. His eyes darted back and forth as though he was expecting to be ambushed.
“Campbell?” said Katie.
“You have to believe me, I didn’t know.”
“What are you talking about?” She stood up, gaining her bearings and taking control of the situation. “I have to save Lizzy.”
“I knew you would flush out the killer. I knew it…”
“Start talking right now. What are you doing here?” She scanned around them in all directions. Spotting a garbage can, she saw some rope inside.
“Keep moving. Now!”
“Detective, you have to believe me.” He moved as she ordered.
“I don’t have to believe anything you have to say. You’ve lied to me from the beginning. You’re not going to hurt anyone else. Understand me?” she said, reaching for her cell phone. Pressing a familiar saved number, Katie dialed McGaven. Nothing happened.
“You’re going to release Lizzy, now.”
“You don’t understand,” he stammered.
“You set up this entire thing—it’s obvious that someone in law enforcement set this up. That was your mistake. The victims. The crime scenes. Stalking me. Setting this entire thing in motion. Beating up the security guard. You’ve gone too far. Are you setting me up now? You are despicable.” She detested him and everything he had put the victims through.
“I didn’t do any of these things.”
“Why are you here, then, huh?” Katie tried to keep her wits. “If you didn’t do it, which you did, why are you here?”
“I got a text from you.”
“What?” she said, blinking in surprise.
“You sent me a text saying to meet you here.”
“I don’t believe you,” was the only thing she could say. “Turn around, now!”
“What are you doing?”
“Turn around so I can secure you and get to Lizzy… and I’ll let the police sort all this out.” Katie pointed the gun directly at his head. “Believe me, I know how to use this and won’t hesitate.”
He complied as Katie tied his hands behind his back using the rope in the trash can.
“Why are you so sweaty?” she asked.
“My car broke down and I hurried here.” He turned around to face Katie. “I didn’t do this. I may have done some things that I’m not proud of, but I didn’t kill anyone or set anyone up.”
“I have to say the text messages were a nice touch,” she said sarcastically. “I’m the bait,” she mocked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about—I haven’t sent any texts. You don’t understand, this is all I have. This job. When they put me on suspension my life was over. I found you, Katie Scott, I knew that you would find the killer.”
Katie patted him down and found he had a gun. “What’s this?” she said and took it.
“Think about it! I have no reason to track down female military K9 officers!” He turned to her. “Why would I do that? I have no connection to the military. Why, Katie? Ask yourself!”
Katie really studied Campbell and saw him as a scared and desperate man. She believed him about his job, but… he fit every part of the profile for the killer. The military K9 connection had to be something from his past—something they weren’t aware of yet.
“You do believe me,” he said. “Don’t you?”
“If it’s true what you’re saying, who else would have the same access as you, the skills, capability, knowing what the next steps were?” Her mind raced in several directions. For some strange reason she thought of Jared Stanton and how his parents were the closest people to him, but they were the ones who had killed him and disposed of his body. These cases and victims were close—like family? Close like friends? K9 handlers and trainers—a close-knit group. She saw the crime scenes and Darla Winchell on the Ferris wheel—why? Why was it this particular location? Did it hold something personal to the killer? The murder location wasn’t just a convenience like in the Stanton case. Katie guessed it was someone who had either an abusive past and wanted someone to pay that took something from them—based on the humiliation of the posed victims. Everything in her gut dismissed Agent Campbell as the killer as she studied him.
It had to be someone who knew everything that Agent Campbell knew…
The list of names that Sergeant Serrano had emailed from the training videos… R. Rodriguez… S. Davis… D. Haley…
Katie flashed back to when she arrived at the fairgrounds crime scene and approached her uncle. Of course! He had introduced her to Agent Campbell’s rookie agent.
“I want you to meet Agent Dawn Haley,” said Sheriff Scott.
“It can’t be… but…” Her mind whirled with everything she had read in the reports, the crime scenes, the autopsies with the layered bruising on the chests, the victims’ backgrounds, military K9 training, and what Sadie Caldwell said describing a person with a slight build moving onto Jeanine Trenton’s property. As Agent Haley beamed with enthusiasm at the fairgrounds—obviously a perfectly planned pretext—Katie suddenly remembered seeing a Band-Aid on her right index finger which she carefully tried to keep from view. Of course! Someone who was close to Agent Campbell and knew everything about the cases—watching and waiting. Someone who knew everything about Katie. Watching. Waiting. The pieces of the murder puzzle were steadily being put into place. “DH stands for Dawn Haley,” she said.
Several shots rang out in succession. The bullets ricocheted from the buildings and pinged from metal parts of the rides making a variety of musical noises.
Katie instantly hit the ground and began crawling, army-style, away from the shots. The guns still held aloft in her hands, she commando-crawled on her elbows, moving to a covered area underneath a food kiosk with oversized pictures of hotdogs and iced drinks painted on the side.
“I know it’s you, Agent Haley,” Katie shouted and took aim in the direction where the shots originated. She remembered her fake smiles and overenthusiastic gestures.
Glancing to Agent Campbell, she saw he was bleeding out from being hit in the neck—no doubt the carotid artery. She had seen soldiers bleed out in less than a minute before on the battlefield but she couldn’t let it slow her down or stop her from saving Lizzy. There was nothing that she could do for him. Another unnecessary death.
Katie rolled onto her back and inched away even further. To her best estimation, the bullets were coming from the west and from a higher elevation—probably from a ride.
“What’s the matter, Dawn? You wash out from military K9? Is that what this is all about?” Katie kept moving, skinning her exposed legs against the asphalt. She could now see the Ferris wheel and Lizzy about halfway up. The ride was now stationary, which meant that she was safe for the moment until Katie could safely get to her.
“Someone a victim in your family? Something horrible happened to them at a fair?” called Katie as she searched her mind through the articles Denise had brought her. There was a murder at one of the new fun house exhibits.
Two more bullets struck the building just above her.
“Wow. You figured that out all by yourself. I thought you were supposed to be a better profiler than that. Fairs and carnivals were supposed to be a place for family and fun,” Dawn said.
“But not for you. Who was it, Dawn?” Katie tried to gain more time keeping her talking so that she could get to Lizzy.
“She was my mother,” Dawn said with hatred. “A miserable, abused drug addict. I would watch her apply hideously heavy makeup that she thought looked beautiful before she went to do her sex business. But… nobody should be a victim to rape and murder. May she and her killer rot in hell.”
“So she didn’t take care of you—love you—is that what this all about? C’mon, Dawn, you’re a walking serial killer profile. And the wash out at the military training. Poor you. That’s so boring. Tell me something that I don’t know.”
“You don’t know anything!” she yelled and her voice cracked.
Got her…
Katie knew that now Dawn was emotional, she could make a mistake. That’s where Katie’s strength would come from—the killer’s mistake would give her the upper hand. It was the way it had to be.
“You weren’t cut out for K9. It takes special, intelligent people with a true bonded relationship with a dog.” She waited for the next bullets so she could see the muzzle flash. Bracing herself on her back and holding her aim steady between her knees.
Like clockwork, two shots fired again in her direction with a fiery flash.
Katie fired back with three shots in quick sequence.
It was unclear if she had hit Agent Haley or not. It was quiet and then finally…
“I didn’t wash out!” the agent yelled. “It was taken from me. They lied! I never washed out! If it wasn’t for the precious Jeanine and those others, I would have made it without any problems. It was because of them. I didn’t wash out!”
“Seems to me you did,” said Katie as she moved closer to the ride. There was another ride near the Ferris wheel that flung people up and down that she could use as her cover.
“Once I found out you solved cold cases and were a military K9, I couldn’t resist. That was my only mistake. I should’ve killed you a long time ago. It would have been so easy—and your death would remain a cold case.”
Katie thought that Dawn was getting closer and moving in on her. She slipped her cell phone from her bra strap and pressed McGaven’s number, clumsily typing with a bloody hand, 911 fairgrounds.
Katie had to move fast. The thought of that height on the Ferris wheel made her nauseous and weak in the knees. By her estimation, she could climb up to Lizzy and free her, with the other ride covering her for about a minute, maybe two. It would have to be long enough and she would have to make the climb hoping that the ride would shield her.
Katie got to her bloodied knees, stayed low, took the moment, and ran as fast as she could. Bullets sprayed all around her, hitting the metal ride. It sounded like a massive slot machine reverberating. There was a reprieve as the bullets momentarily ceased as Dawn was taking the time to reload another magazine.
With luck as well as strength, Katie made it to the Ferris wheel. She crept to the side of the ride. She knew that she couldn’t take both guns and climb at the same time, so she tossed Agent Campbell’s gun up to where Lizzy was helplessly waiting. She heard it clatter as it dropped inside the cab.
“Lizzy,” she said softly.
To her relief, Lizzy moved and nodded down toward her. “I’m okay. I can’t get loose.” Her voice was weak and Katie knew that she was hurt, but would never concede to the pain or defeat. Lizzy was one of the toughest people she knew.
Katie could see that her wrists were tied to the metal pieces next to her head. She wouldn’t be able to free herself without Katie’s help.
A bullet whizzed by, seeming to come from farther away from her than the previous ones. Dawn must be circling around and trying to come up from behind—in an ambush.
Katie took the opportunity to climb. It was difficult barefoot and in a dress, but she finally got her rhythm hand over hand on the metal pieces that spread out like a spider, making it easy to get to the cab. She ordered herself not to look down. Heights were one of her fierce enemies and it invited a host of unwanted feelings to bombard her. Fighting her lightheadedness and dropping stomach, she continued with fortitude.
When Katie reached the cab, she climbed over and sat down next to Lizzy. She knew she had only seconds, not minutes, to free Lizzy. The knots were complicated, like the nautical ones from the Darla Winchell crime scene.
Lizzy was only wearing jeans and a bra and Katie could see that her friend’s chest was already bruising—her mind flashed back to Darla Winchell’s chest in the medical examiner’s office. She knew that they didn’t have much time and that Lizzy needed medical attention immediately. Her breathing was erratic.
“I can’t untie these knots,” said Katie as she began to panic.
“In my… pocket… that stupid penknife…” she said weakly.
“You still have that?” Katie quickly retrieved it and began cutting. It was slow going and she was only able to get one of Lizzy’s wrists free.
The gunfire began again. This time coming from the opposite direction from before. Dawn was on the move.
Katie knew that the only way she could save Lizzy and get out alive was to leave her friend and divert Dawn away from them both in order to take control of the situation.
“Lizzy, I’ll be back, okay?”
She smiled weakly and nodded.
She hated leaving Lizzy in that condition and tears welled up in her eyes, but there was no other way to defuse the situation. Climbing over the side of the ride, Katie began to climb back down—which was harder than she’d expected. Her feet were numb, making it difficult to feel the metal bars. Her arms were weakening and she could feel her heart race in her chest.
Two more gunshots sounded—getting closer.
Katie hurried.
In her haste, halfway down, she took a misstep, losing her balance and dangling precariously. She made the worst mistake and looked down. The ground wavered and appeared to be more like an abyss than fifteen feet. Her hands were sweaty and her grip was weakening by the second the lower she got. As she reached out, she missed the bar and plunged. Her left wrist hit a piece of the ride on her way to the ground. She hit the pavement hard, reverting to a tuck-and-roll method she had learned in the army, her head dizzy, making it impossible to see her surroundings clearly. The ground acted like a magnet, keeping her body pinned to the asphalt. Her stomach dropped and became queasy. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get up so she rolled over onto her stomach, attempting to push herself up. Her head was heavy and her ears still rang from the impact, but she was relieved that she was on the ground.
“Not so fast, Detective,” said Agent Haley. “Pretty pathetic, but that’s what all you military jerks are—at least in my eyes.” She stood over Katie with her gun pointed down at her.
Katie realized she had lost her own gun when she fell and had no idea where it was.
“You want to know why I killed those women?” she sneered.
Katie couldn’t turn her head to look at her, but she wasn’t going back down or give in to the enemy.
“Huh? You know why? Because I could—that’s why.” She laughed. There was no cutesy voice and wannabe agent of law and order now; there was only hate, rage, and revenge on her mind. Agent Haley was a shell of a person and wasn’t interested in finding herself.
“That sounds more like a coward to me,” said Katie holding her ground.
“Oh, I know I’m not high-minded like you, but now I get to rid the world of special army princesses who always get what they want,” she crowed and managed to give a chuckle. “But I got my revenge before I killed them. Terrorizing them to remove their tattoos, to remove everything related to their K9 time. They didn’t deserve it. It wipes everything away. I know I will sleep better.”
Katie managed to turn her body to face the agent. She was dressed in army fatigues despite not being in the military—more than likely having been expelled on a dishonorable discharge. She didn’t know for sure, but it didn’t matter at this point.
“That’s good. You should look at the person who’s going to shoot you in the face.”
“No matter how hard you try, you’re never going to change your past. It is what it is… you’re the daughter of a murdered drug addict.”
“She had me when she was addicted and on the street.” She stepped closer. “When I was taken away, she never looked for me. She always told me that I would be nothing. She just left me there so that those monsters could have their way with me in foster home after foster home. Her demise was an inspiration to me. It was only fitting that those women got what they deserved in that way. Publicly.”
“You have a chance to rise above that situation, Dawn. You can do it right now. Show the world that you are stronger and better than all the others…”
She shook her head adamantly as if she tried to convince herself that she never got a fair shake. “I am better than the others, my mother, and I’m better than you. Goodbye, Detective Scott.”
A shot was fired, but not from the agent’s gun; it had come from above. Lizzy had shot the junior agent with Campbell’s gun.
Katie leaned back against the ride, relieved, tired, and glad that everything was over. She looked at the woman who could’ve had a life, but let her past overtake and corrode her. Her wide open, lifeless eyes stared upward to the stars—she was dead. The bullet had pierced her chest and blasted her heart into pieces.
Sirens approached.
“We’re going to be okay, Lizzy,” she said. Closing her eyes, she tried not to let the tears fall but they did.
Katie could hear voices yelling and the sound of police-issue boots hitting the pavement and heading in their direction.
“We’re here!” yelled Katie. “It’s okay…”
McGaven finally appeared with John at his side followed by several deputies. They rushed to Katie and helped her up. “You okay?”
“I think so,” she said, feeling dizzy as her surroundings whirled like the nearby merry-go-round. “Get Lizzy to the hospital… and there’s a wounded security guard near the employee area… Oh, and Agent Campbell is dead.”
The officers and John began to rescue Lizzy from the ride, gently lowering her to safety.
“We need a couple of ambulances,” McGaven ordered the deputies. “Now!” He turned back to Katie. “C’mon, let’s get you out of here.”
“I never want to go to the fair again,” she said. “Ever.”
McGaven wrapped his arm around her, to help her walk. “Nice dress. What happened to your shoes?”
“A funny story…”