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CAUGHT IN A KILLER’S CROSSHAIRS
Were it not for her cop neighbor, widowed mother Madison Jacobs would be dead. Thankfully, Detective Brody Philips interrupts an attempt on her life in the nick of time. But the would-be killer hasn’t given up, and each tick of the clock brings the madman closer to finishing what he started. Brady vows to catch the serial killer plaguing the sleepy Virginia town…especially when he realizes the danger has followed him from the big city. With everyone around him at risk, it’ll take everything Brody’s got to do his duty and keep Madison and her son safe.
“I’m going to keep an eye on you, Madison. Make sure you stay safe,” Brody said. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I wish I felt so certain.” What about Lincoln? What if the man who attacked her came back and tried to harm her son? She couldn’t bear the thought of it. Perhaps she should simply take Lincoln and go somewhere, anywhere.
“We’ll catch him, Madison.” Brody’s voice sounded confident, reassuring. It was as if he could read her mind.
Just then, they pulled up to her house.
With each step she took toward her back door, nausea rumbled in her gut. Could she face this nightmare again? She swallowed as they stepped inside, trying to stay strong. Brody led her to the foyer.
“I’ve got you,” he said, a reassuring hand on her arm.
CHRISTY BARRITT
loves stories and has been writing them for as long as she can remember. She gets her best ideas when she’s supposed to be paying attention to something else—like in a workshop or while driving down the road.
The second book in her Squeaky Clean Mystery series, Suspicious Minds, won the inspiration category of the 2009 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Suspense and Mystery. She’s also the co-author of Changed: True Stories of Finding God in Christian Music.
When she’s not working on books, Christy writes articles for various publications. She’s also a weekly feature writer for the Virginian-Pilot newspaper, the worship leader at her church and a frequent speaker at various writers groups, women’s luncheons and church events.
She’s married to Scott, a teacher and funny man extraordinaire. They have two sons, two dogs and a houseplant named Martha.
To learn more about her, visit her website, www.christybarritt.com.
Race Against Time
Christy Barritt
www.millsandboon.co.uk
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My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation.
He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior—from violent men You save me.
—2 Samuel 22:3
This book is dedicated to my mom, Louise Mohorn, a beautiful soul inside and out,
and someone I aspire to be like. I love you!
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
EPILOGUE
DEAR READER
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
ONE
As soon as Madison Jacobs stepped into her house, the sound of ticking crept from an unknown crevice and reverberated in her ears. She froze at the front door, car keys still in hand, and listened. She usually came home to the solitude of a quiet house.
So what in the world was that noise?
She’d only been gone twenty minutes—long enough to drop her son off at preschool and return home. Each tick tightened her nerves, winding them with more tension than a spring.
Lincoln must have left the timer going on one of his toys, she realized. Didn’t that windup dragon make a similar sound? Yes, it did.
Madison let out an airy laugh, shook her head and closed the door, shutting out the bright rays of sunshine from outside. Of course, one of her son’s toys was to blame. What else did she think it was? A bomb? She chastised herself again for her out-of-control imagination.
Out of habit she clicked the lock on the front door into place. Being a single mom for the past three years, she tried to err on the side of caution. After depositing her purse and keys on the marble-topped table in the foyer, she glanced at her watch and saw she only had one hour before she had to meet with her next client. She had to get showered and changed out of her yoga pants and T-shirt—and fast.
As she started down the hallway toward the bedroom in her ranch house, the ticking intensified. She paused at the bathroom door. Was that where the sound came from? Reaching inside the bathroom, she flipped on the lights. Her blue-and-yellow lighthouse-themed room came into view. On the bathroom counter between the faucet and the soap dispenser sat her son’s old-fashioned egg timer. Had Lincoln actually taken her advice to brush his teeth for two minutes this morning? Perhaps he’d accidentally set the clock for longer.
She picked the plastic device up, noting it was set to chime in twenty minutes, and twisted the handle until the bells jangled. Her nerves seemed to stretch tighter at the sound.
But if her son had set the timer before they’d left this morning, why hadn’t she heard anything? She remembered their rushed departure. The TV had been on, Lincoln had been singing his favorite preschool song, and she had been frantically trying to urge him out the door.
Her schedule was tight today and she couldn’t afford to even start it a minute late, knowing if she did her tardiness would have a domino effect and put her behind on all of her appointments.
She tossed the timer into a drawer that overflowed with hairbrushes and toy boats, and then hurried across the hall to the spare bedroom-turned-office. Finding her calendar, she checked her schedule one more time and reviewed her assignments for the day. Just seeing the jam-packed list made her feel weary. But she had to squeeze in as much work as possible. Making ends meet as a single parent was becoming harder and harder.
She closed the calendar and, wasting no more time, went into the master bathroom. After showering she towel dried her shoulder-length honey-blond hair and threw on some khakis and a button-up white top. Five minutes later she’d applied make up, grabbed her camera from her office and started down the hall. She had fifteen minutes to get to her appointment. Time would be tight, but she could do it.
She froze midway down the hall and placed a hand on her hip.
What was that sound?
She shook her head. It couldn’t be…
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.
Fear pricked her skin.
The timer? She’d turned it off. Thrown it in the drawer.
Was she hearing things? The sound was subtle, subdued. Maybe the device had started again in the drawer? The thing was cheap, often turning off in the middle of one of Lincoln’s time-out sessions. Had it turned on by itself now?
She sighed and stepped back into the hallway bathroom. Flipping on the light, she yanked the drawer open and found the timer exactly where she’d thrown it. She picked it up and shook her head. Cheap thing. It had been free, sent as a part of an advertising campaign for some new company in town. What was that slogan? Don’t Let Time Run Out on Our Special? Clever.
Before she could twist the plastic white timer off, the bell jangled.
Madison jumped, dropping her camera bag onto the tiled bathroom floor. Papers detailing today’s work scattered all over the room. Hand over her heart, she laughed at herself. Silly woman. Jumping at nothing.
She dropped the timer back into the drawer, shaking her head. Why was she so skittish? And over something so silly?
She caught a glance of herself in the mirror over the sink, noting the circles under her eyes. She’d been working too much lately, worried too much about finances. She leaned toward her reflection and wiped a streak of mascara under her eye. As she turned to leave, something in the mirror caught her eye.
She glanced at the reflection of the shower curtain behind her.
Her heart froze.
A man stood there, a knife in his hand. Before she could scream, he grabbed her.
* * *
Brody Philips always considered sweat a good measure of hard work. If that was the case, then his jog this morning should earn him a vacation. He continued on his ten-mile run, nearly finished now. The hot and muggy day couldn’t even be eased by the gentle breeze that floated from the Chesapeake Bay.
The part of the Bay he lived by wasn’t the sandy beach area. Instead, marsh grasses jutted up and little streams filled with tadpoles and crabs meandered between the foliage. Herons and egrets made their homes in the sun-bleached wetland area. Finally the grasses subsided until the glorious blue of the bay shone in the distance.
His house—actually, his cousin’s house that had been kindly loaned out to Brody for the next several months while his cousin was stationed with the army in the Middle East—stood in the distance. He passed the home of his one and only neighbor on the secluded street.
He’d met her once. Madison Jacobs. She’d come over that first week after he’d moved in to introduce herself. She seemed nice enough and certainly she was easy on the eyes. But Brody hadn’t moved here to make friends, not even acquaintances, really. He’d moved here to get away from everything about his past in New York.
The secluded little Virginia town was the perfect spot for his self-imposed hiatus from his old life. He’d taken a job as a detective for the county’s sheriff’s department, one that was considerably slower paced than his former position in the Big Apple. Aside from his job, he avoided most of the townspeople when possible and whenever he needed a dose of anonymity, he visited the nearby city of Newport News or headed to Virginia Beach.
His neighbor had seemed to take the hint and hadn’t bothered him since that first introduction when he’d moved in. The woman—pretty with her sun-kissed skin, natural blond hair, and sparkling blue eyes—would smile tightly and wave as she passed him in her SUV coming and going. The action wasn’t overly exuberant, but appeared to be more of a forced courtesy.
Perhaps he should have been friendlier when she’d rung his doorbell, toddler and cookies in tow. He’d taken one look at her and known that getting to know her better would be way too tempting. Instead, he’d done the opposite and offered as little information about himself as possible before insisting he was in the middle of something so she’d go home. Her eyes had changed from friendly to perceptive and then annoyed as he’d closed the door. Good. It was better that way.
As his feet hit the dusty road, rocks crunching beneath him, a sharp, high-pitched sound split the air.
Brody slowed his pace and wiped the perspiration around his face with the bottom of his T-shirt. Was that a scream? Or was it the shrieking call of one of the marsh birds?
He glanced at Madison’s house. Her car was in the driveway, but he didn’t see her anywhere. She must be inside, either chasing her toddler or doing some work. He couldn’t be positive, but his best guess was that the woman worked at home.
His jog slowed to a walk, and he kept his ear attuned for any more sounds. Nothing. He must have imagined the earlier noise.
He tried to be satisfied with that, but he wasn’t convinced. He was a detective. His finely trained instincts told him to stay on guard.
Something crashed in the distance. The sound had definitely come from Madison’s house. His muscles tensed. He should go back to his house, get his gun. But everything in him screamed to get to her house, that time couldn’t be wasted.
He ran across crunchy grass toward his neighbor’s brick ranch. His gaze scanned the house as he approached. Nothing appeared out of place. The closed shades made it impossible to see inside.
He crept onto the wooden porch, grabbing a baseball bat left on a rocking chair. Slowly he twisted the brass handle of the front door.
Locked.
Something else crashed inside. A woman cried out.
He pictured Madison’s pretty face and imagined the horrors that might be going on inside. Adrenaline surged in him. He backed up and, on the count of three, charged forward. His shoulder impacted with the door. Wood split, cracked, then crashed.
The foyer stood before him. Dust and wood particles settled to the tile floor. Then an eerie quiet filled the space.
“Hello? Anyone home?” Brody stepped over the door, his ears attuned for any telltale signs. Bat in hand, he peered around the corner into the hallway.
A shadow passed by a door in the distance.
Sucking in a deep breath, he braced himself for whatever was to come.
* * *
Blurry. Fuzzy. Jumbled.
The drugs—whatever the masked man had injected into her—caused Madison’s thoughts to swirl. Fight it, Madison. Fight it. She couldn’t let herself fall into unconsciousness. The rope around her neck would choke her if she did. She had to resist the urge to close her eyes. Fight death. Fight for life.
Her head bobbed forward and the rope dug into her neck. She jerked back. Gulped in a breath.
Lord, give me strength.
But her limbs felt like gelatin. The stool she stood on wobbled. The man who wanted her dead would return and finish his cruel game.
A moan escaped her, the sound guttural, desperate.
Her head fell forward again. She gagged. Pulled her head back. Gasped for air.
Lincoln. She blinked, trying to find focus. She had to fight this for him. The boy couldn’t lose two parents before he reached the age of five. Tears pricked her eyes as her son’s sweet face flashed in her mind. She needed to be there for him, to comfort him when he got hurt, to tuck him into bed at night.
Her tears made breathing hard. She couldn’t let herself fall into despair. She had to stay strong.
But how long could she stand here? How long before the drugs kicked in and knocked her out completely? Was there any hope of surviving?
Her eyes darted around the room. Where had the man gone? And had she heard a crash or imagined it? What was the madman planning next?
Her head dipped. Her airway constricted.
Not much longer.
She jerked her head back, fighting to stay lucid. But tiredness closed in on her.
A figure appeared in the doorway. Not again. What would her attacker do this time? She cried out, tried to back up. The rope tightened around her neck.
“It’s just me.” The man rushed toward her.
Madison blinked. Her neighbor? Or was this a hallucination? Maybe she’d already drifted into an unconscious state and the drugs were playing tricks on her mind.
“Madison.” He muttered the word. His arms encircled her waist and raised her up. She gulped in breaths, thankful for relief.
But her relief was short-lived. Her head whirled. Blackness closed in on her.
“Don’t fade now. I’m going to get you down. Do you hear me?”
She nodded, but it was already too late. Everything went dark.
TWO
The nightmare from Brody’s past flooded his mind, making nausea roil in his stomach. Horrifying images and intense emotions flashed through him, each one feeling like a sock in the gut. He blanched before pushing the thoughts away. No time to dwell on that now. If he didn’t act quickly a woman could die in his arms.
His gaze searched the room. He had to find something to cut his neighbor down from the ceiling. But if he released her to search for a knife, she’d choke.
His heart racing, he continued searching with his eyes, looking for something…anything.
Nothing. Just some clothes on the dresser. A hair brush. Shoes. Pillows. Typical bedroom items.
Think, Brody. Think.
His muscles strained. The woman was a deadweight in his arms. She’d lost consciousness and it was only a matter of time before she lost her life.
Adrenaline surged through him. Not again.
He looked at the ceiling fan that held the rope and made a split-second decision. Still holding Madison with one arm, he grabbed the fan’s motor. Using all of his strength, he jerked down on the device.
The ceiling cracked.
He gripped the motor tighter and, yanking up his legs, let his weight do the rest of the job. The entire fan tumbled to the floor, himself and Madison with it. He didn’t bother to brush off the plaster that covered them. Instead he grabbed the rope around his neighbor’s neck. He pulled the noose until it widened enough to jerk it off. Then he went to work on the ties around her wrists.
She lay limp in his arms. He did a quick examination. Red, raw skin surrounded her neck. Torn shirt. Bleeding forehead. But she was breathing. Thank goodness she was breathing.
Any minute now an ambulance and the sheriff should be here. He’d grabbed a phone from a table in the foyer and hit 911 before proceeding down the hallway.
He gently shook the woman. “Madison? Madison? Can you hear me?”
She moaned.
What exactly had happened in here? Had the woman—who had seemed mild mannered enough—flown into a rage before deciding to end her own life? Could that be what the sounds were that he’d heard? It was the only explanation that made sense.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
“Help’s coming,” he whispered, pushing the woman’s hair back from her face. “Help is coming.”
He only hoped they’d get here fast enough.
* * *
Brody paced the hospital hallway, waiting for the doctor to give him the go-ahead to speak with his neighbor about what had happened. The rubber soles of his athletic shoes squeaked against the shiny linoleum floor, the noise offset by the sound of machines beeping and nurses murmuring and a lunch cart rattling.
He couldn’t get the image of Madison hanging by a rope attached to the ceiling fan out of his mind.
It reminded him so much of Lindsey…
He squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t go there. He had to ignore the memories that slammed into his mind with enough force that an ache began to throb at the back of his head.
Instead, he replayed the events from today. What would drive a woman with a small son to try and commit suicide? He knew her husband had died in an auto accident a few years ago. His cousin had told him that much. Had Madison, who always seemed so pleasant and warm, decided she couldn’t take it anymore? He would never have guessed her to be the type, but he’d also learned in his years as a detective that you never knew what went on behind closed doors. The most put-together person could in reality be a total mess, just be a master at disguising it.
Something nagged at Brody. Though it appeared his neighbor had tried to commit suicide, something felt wrong. He remembered the noise he’d heard as he jogged outside her home. It almost sounded as if she was being attacked. The noise must have been coming from Madison, though, because there was no evidence to suggest foul play.
“Detective Philips?” The nurse behind the counter called him. He could tell by her gaze that she found him attractive. He knew enough to be able to read that from her wide smile and doelike eyes.
He stepped forward. “Yes?”
She dangled the phone toward him. “The sheriff wants to speak to you.”
He crossed the hall and took the phone, giving the nurse a brief smile. “Detective Philips here.”
“Just wanted to let you know that we found a suicide note. I don’t know what Madison did before hanging herself. The house is a wreck. But it’s definitely an attempted suicide.”
Brody wasn’t sure why he felt disappointed. He’d wanted to believe his neighbor wasn’t capable of wanting to end her own life. He didn’t know her, but perhaps he’d made up his own version of what she’d be like. She seemed to have everything so together, to be such a loving mother. She wouldn’t purposely leave her son an orphan…would she?
“Thanks for letting me know.” He cleared his throat. “What did it say?”
“Basically that she loves her family, but she can’t get over the heartache of losing her husband. Poor girl has had a bad run of luck since Reid died. I’ve known her since she was in diapers. I never thought I’d see this day. Never.”
“No one ever does.”
“Be kind to her, you hear? I’d be there myself, but I’m on my way to a drunk-driving accident. You tell her I’ll be checking on her later.”
“Of course.” He handed the phone back to the nurse, careful not to smile back again and give the woman the wrong idea.
So, it had been a suicide attempt. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. He still wore his jogging clothes. He hadn’t had time to go home and change. The sheriff had ordered that he go with the paramedics to the hospital and write up a report. For some strange reason, Brody wanted to hear what she had to say for herself. He’d lost his mom to cancer at fifteen years old, and he couldn’t respect anyone who tried to end their life. It was a cowardly way out.
The door to her room opened and a young doctor with a receding hairline stepped out, clipboard in hand. “You can see her now. She’s still not one hundred percent, so go easy on her. You only have a few minutes. She needs her rest.”
Brody nodded, nausea rising in his gut as he stepped into Madison’s room. His gaze went straight to the woman in the hospital bed, her hair fanned beneath her, an IV in her arm, dullness in her eyes. She didn’t bother to smile as he approached.
As he touched the metal bed railing, he cleared his throat. “Madison.”
She nodded. “Detective Philips.”
“I need to write up a report.”
She touched the sensitive skin around her neck and looked toward the window. Her hand then moved to her temple until finally she looked at him. “I’m sorry. I don’t think the drugs have worn off yet. My mind is…not right.”
She’d taken drugs before hanging herself? Had the medication not worked fast enough? He’d never understand some people. He pulled out his notebook and a pen, and tried to keep any judgment out of his voice. It wasn’t like he had any room to judge anyone, not after everything he’d done. “Drugs, you said? What did you take?”
Some of the dullness left her eyes and she straightened slightly. Her gaze fully focused on him now. “What did I take? I didn’t take anything. A man injected me with something.”
Brody rotated his shoulders back. “A man?”
“You thought I was trying to kill myself?”
“There was a suicide note.” His gut instinct had been right. There was more to this story. Had her attacker been in the house when he had broken in? He had to tell the sheriff, get the deputies to start a search. Maybe there was some evidence that hadn’t been destroyed by the crew of paramedics, firefighters and sheriff’s deputies roaming her place.