Chapter 4/17
The scream tore through the night shattering the peace. They sprung apart and turned to the house. The scream came again. As one, they raced back inside.
"Gun?" Charlie shot a glance at his partner. She shook her head. She'd dressed for a dinner date, not a crime scene.
"You?"
He grimaced, shrugged a no then produced his knife.
Although Dani had given him back the weapon, she hadn't realised he still felt the need to carry it at all times. Her eyes glanced from the wicked blade to her partner's still face and nodded.
Reese kicked off her shoes; creeping round the house in high heels wasn't an option. Together they left the room.
"We stick together on this, my knife is no arsenal."
Dani quickly turned and picked up one of her stilettos. The heel was a work of art, and, wielded correctly, as dangerous as an ice pick. She raised her eyebrows at him, and watched as he assessed the situation. He was back in work mode she realised. The charming romantic who had held her in his arms a few minutes ago was gone; in his place was the intelligent survivor who had got away from Nevikov unarmed and alone.
He took a quick step toward her, removed the shoe from her grasp and handed over his knife.
"You can do more damage with this," he said quietly. "Turn the light on from the bottom of the stairs, your eyes will be adjusted by the time you reach the top."
The scream had sounded as though it had come from the floor above them and there was a stairway at either end of the corridor leading up. They separated, Crews heading to the right hand flight, Reese to the left.
Crews took a quick look behind him as he flicked the switch on his staircase. Dani had just turned on hers and was heading up the stairs. He hefted the shoe, adjusting its weight in his hand then headed up to the next floor.
Poking his head cautiously around the riser, he could see the full length of the corridor. Up here the carpet was a rich burgundy, the walls a soft yellow that gave the whole place a rich opulent feel. Along one wall ran a series of four doors, widely spaced. He supposed this would be the master bedrooms, dressing rooms etc. The doors were all closed.
He waited, a minute, two, no sign of his partner. The corridor was deathly quiet; the only sound he was aware of was that of his own breathing. Where the hell was she? He held back the temptation to call out for her. What if she had reached the floor first and had been caught by whoever had screamed? - or whoever had caused that scream.
Edging forward, he tested the first door. The handle turned easily as though recently oiled. He pushed the door open a fraction; the room inside was pitch black. Carefully he slid his hand inside and felt for the switch, moving out of the doorway as soon as he saw the lights come on. Not a sound came from inside. Crouching down, he eased the door further open and took a quick look. Empty.
Creeping along the corridor, Charlie checked each room with the same result. In his mind echoed one thought 'not again, not again, not again'. With just one room to go there was no sign of Reese, no sign of who or what had screamed. His hand reached for the last handle and suddenly the lights went out.
Dani took the stairs carefully, Crews' wicked blade held in front of her ready to strike if necessary. Half way up she thought she heard a noise. Stopping, she tried to ease her breathing, listening hard for a repeat of the sound.
It came again, a soft sighing sound but she couldn't pin point its location. Was it ahead or behind her? Was it Charlie already in the corridor above? She hesitated then took a few steps back down to the lower corridor. All was clear. She moved to the rail and looked down into the foyer below, scanning for a possible cause – nothing. Then the sound must have come from above. Quietly she started her ascent again, senses tuned to any sound or disturbance.
Without warning the lights went out. Dani froze, and then something rushed past her so close she lost her balance. With no light to guide her she flung out her hand, Charlie's knife caught against the wall even as her foot slipped from under her sending her tumbling.
It felt like she had caught every step on the way down, sharp edges dug into her arms and legs and finally her head came up against something solid and she remembered nothing else.
Crews heard the sound of something falling off to his left. The stairs? Dani? He called out, getting no reply. The corridor was pitch black; shoving his partner's stiletto into his jacket pocket Charlie groped his way to the wall, his hand sliding up and down searching for a light switch. Agonising minutes later he felt the switch under his fingers and flicked it. Nothing happened. Charlie didn't swear often, but that didn't mean he couldn't be fluent when challenged. He gave a master class in the moments that followed as he carefully made his way along the wall. Suddenly there was nothing under his foot; he'd found the stairs.
With one hand against the wall for balance, Crews made his way slowly down the carpeted stairs, his footfalls virtually silent, until he struck something soft eliciting a moan from the object.
"Reese? Reese?" He crouched down, hands feeling forward until he reached obvious female flesh. A rapid exam showed him that his partner was lying at an awkward angle against the wall. Quickly he searched for his cell, the screen light a feeble blue in the darkness. In the brief time it stayed alight, he shone it on her face. Her eyes were closed, her breathing seemed okay and yet he didn't like the look of the way she was twisted. Something broken? The screen died, and he pressed the button again and made to dial out. No Signal flashed at him and he gritted his teeth.
"Don't go anywhere, Reese. I'll be right back," he muttered, then he was edging his way down the stairs, along the lower hallway until he reached the wider stairs leading down to the lower hall and front door. He could just about make out the open front door, a slightly less dense darkness than that of the huge foyer. Beside that, he knew, stood the flashlights.
Moments later he was rushing back up the stairs to where Reese still lay, though now she was obviously awake and in pain.
"Crews?"
"Right here," he replied, dropping to one knee beside her. "Stop moving, you might have broken something. Reese, Dani stop…"
Dani had already swung herself around and was now sitting, elbows on knees holding her head in her hands. "What the hell happened?"
"You tell me," Charlie replied. "I got to the top floor, you didn't make it. I got near the end of the hall and the lights went out, then I heard you."
"Someone passed me in the dark. Couldn't tell who, just a rush as they went by and I lost my footing."
"Which means there has to be two perps involved," Charlie said quietly.
"Someone pulled the fuses?" Dani replied.
"Seems so. The lights are out all over the building. I need to get you to a doctor. Let's go. My phone won't pick up a signal out here, so we're on our own. Once I get you seen to I'll get back up and we'll come search this place top to bottom."
Charlie saw her bridle even as he mentioned doctors, but he didn't care. He'd lost her once and he wasn't taking any chances with her this time. No one got to hurt his partner; someone was going to pay.
She let him help her up, protesting every inch of the way, then complained when her ankle gave way.
"Hold this," Charlie ordered, shoving the flashlight into her hands, and for the second time that night he swept her up into his arms.
"Put me down," she growled. "Crews, put me down this instant!"
"We've had this conversation, Reese, the answer this time is no."
"Detective Crews, I'm your superior office and you'll damn well do as you're told. Now put me down!"
Charlie strode on taking no notice of his partner's ranting. "Shine the flashlight onto the stairs or we'll both need treatment."
From close to his ear, Charlie heard the distinct growl that he associated with his partner and frustration, and smiled. The beam from the flashlight lit the stairs enough so that he made his way down with relative ease.
Within moments he'd got her out to the car, propped her up against the door then helped her slide into the passenger side. By now her face had paled and she winced as he eased her down onto the seat. About to go around to the driver's door, her voice stopped him. "Crews, my shoes!"
For a moment his mind went blank, shoes?
"Crews they cost me a hundred bucks, I'm not leaving them here."
Charlie heard the words and understood the meaning. She wanted control over something this night, even if it was only his retrieval of her shoes. He'd give her pretty much anything, and fetching her stiletto was a small price to pay to get her to the hospital.
He handed her the one that had been in his pocket then turned and ran back into the house. It took him a few moments to find the other discarded shoe, and then he was back.
She'd managed to get the one shoe on, but it had taken its toll. When he sent the beam of his flashlight onto her, he could see she had her bottom lip in a tight grip between her white teeth. Without a word he carefully slipped the other onto her bare foot, his fingers gentle. She felt so damn fragile, so tiny that his fingers circled the soft skin of her ankle with room to spare.
He drove fast, one eye on his cell until it picked up a signal. Calling in what had happened, he let his mind go over what had occurred that night. Was someone camped out in the house? The CSI hadn't been all over it as yet, and it was a huge building. Had whoever attacked Reese that night been responsible for the deaths? More than ever Charlie wanted to search the building, look into the previous owners, check out the web site and who had access. But most of all, he wanted Reese well and by his side again.
Glancing across at Dani, Charlie noticed her eyelids beginning to droop.
"Dani? Dani, talk to me. You can't sleep, not yet. Dani?"
He took one hand off the wheel and pinched her arm, hard.
"What?" she mumbled.
"Gotta keep awake, Dani. If you have concussion you can't sleep, okay?"
Her voice was indistinct as she tried to answer him.
Crews floored the accelerator, sending his car flying down the road. At every opportunity he talked to her, touched her, shook her and with every passing moment his fear grew. Hitting traffic he set the sirens blaring, weaving through traffic like a man possessed. Calling ahead, he notified the hospital that he was coming in with a possible head trauma.