Safeguarding Kelly(48)
Author: Zoe Dawson

 

Only an hour had passed, and Jason felt that Serena’s compulsion to kill her victims like her brother had been killed gave them a very small window in which to save Kelly. They were running out of time.

 

“Blake says that Serena comes from a small town in California,” Derrick said urgently. “She and her brother were fostered there by a couple who had a small medical practice.”

 

“What town? What was the name of the couple?” Austin asked, his eyes scanning his computer screen as he frantically typed.

 

“He doesn’t know,” Derrick growled, his frustration coming through the phone lines. Jason felt the tight rein on his patience slip. He couldn’t lose Kelly, not after he’d found her again, not after they had made plans and he’d bought a ring to make her his for the rest of their lives.

 

“Amber—” Kai said, the three of them working together like a well-oiled machine.

 

“Already on it. Looking into the foster database. Hang on.” After several minutes, she called out, “Garrett. Dr. Eli and Rebecca Garrett. Shepherdsville. It’s about twenty minutes from here.”

 

“You have an address?” Jason bit out. She rattled it off. He went to rise but was stopped by Kai. It was clear she felt the rigid tension in him. She squeezed hard, telling him she was right there with him, but she was the boss, and they would do it her way.

 

“Do we have any corroboration?” Kai said, restraining Jason with her hand on his shoulder. She met his gaze, hers focused and determined, her spine ramrod straight. “She’s an important member of our team and we’re not going to make a mistake here.” She took a deep breath, the strain on her face showing the burden of leadership, but from what he could tell, she was up to the task. He could trust this woman. “Let’s not go running off just yet.” He wasn’t the kind of guy who lost control easily, but the adrenaline was pumping through him, and he had to get to Kelly. He couldn’t look Kiko in the face and tell her that Kelly was gone. It wasn’t happening.

 

Just when he was about to lose it, Austin cried out, “I’ve got Dr. Moore’s phone pinging at the last tower into Shepherdsville on all the dates that the victims went missing.” He paused and shouted, “It’s pinging now! Right now! She didn’t try to cover her tracks there.”

 

“Arrogant bitch,” Amber said with narrowed eyes. Every agent in there was poised for action.

 

“Okay, let’s go. I’ll contact the local authority but will tell them to contain the area and wait for us.” Kai ordered.

 

 

 

 

 

Kelly jerked awake, grunting hard at the pain, the dizziness. Full-blown panic gripped her, and it centered around her child. Where was she?

 

Gritting her teeth at the agony, she opened her eyes and blinked several times. She was looking out the windshield of a vehicle at an old rundown house. The white paint had peeled from the clapboards, revealing the gray wood. The roses beneath the empty, broken front windows had gone wild, flush with pastel blooms against the house's ruined exterior, sun-bleached garden gnomes dotted the path to the entrance, the concrete path overgrown with grass, dandelions and clover poking through the cracks. Once decorative pots, their colors were washed out and were filled with dead plants, lifting and dancing on the breeze. Off to the side was a swing set, its metal dull with age and corroded in places, one of the swings hanging by a single chain that rattled with the wind.

 

Kelly twisted awkwardly to look in the back seat, but Kiko wasn’t there and there was no car seat. Where was she!

 

Cold sweat slicked over her face and body, sour with the scent of fear. She went to move her hands and found them immobilized by duct tape around her wrists. She dragged her bound fingers across her forehead and into the damp tendrils of her hair, finding wet, sticky blood.

 

Serena came out of the house, leaving the door open behind her. She marched to the car and Kelly could see the gun in her hand. She raised it and motioned for Kelly to get out of the car, her face devoid of any emotion except a scary kind of burning rage.

 

Kelly was no longer her friend, a mother, or her patient’s parent. She was a hated medical professional who somehow carried the blame for her brother’s death. It was irrational, but grief did terrible things to people.

 

She was alone here with a serial killer, in the middle of nowhere.

 

Just as Allen, George, Emily, Carla, and Michael had been. God knew who else.

 

No, she wasn’t alone. Jason would find her.

 

She had to stall for every moment, giving NCIS as much time as possible to locate her. She reached for the car handle, opened the door, and stepped out.

 

“Serena,” Kelly said. “What did you do with Kiko?”

 

Serena looked puzzled for a moment as if the question was in a foreign language. “I didn’t touch her. She’s still at your home.”

 

Breathing a sigh of immeasurable relief, Kelly now knew she only had to worry about herself. Her child was safe with Jason since he had said he was almost home. She had to hold onto that.

 

“Walk.” Serena kept the gun on her with unwavering calm.

 

“You don’t have to do this. You’re a doctor for God’s sake. You took an oath to do no harm. Let me go.”

 

Serena laughed low and darkly, sending a chill down Kelly’s spine. “Oath? We all took an oath, and my brother is dead! Now move!”

 

She walked toward the open door that seemed like a doorway to doom, the smell of grass and dead plants scraping the air.

 

She made it to the door and stepped inside, and she caught a whiff of—

 

She clamped her bound hands to her mouth as her stomach heaved. She bent over, putting her head between her knees, and gagged as terrible images flashed behind her eyes. Blood. Pain. Screams. Wrists straining against their bonds. There was nothing in her stomach to come up, leaving her choking, coughing, as her body did its best to reject the possibilities that continued to bombard her.

 

“Move,” Serena ordered. Serena put a hand on her shoulder and Kelly jerked away from Serena and bolted for the door. She lunged after her, catching hold of Kelly’s hair and jerking her back hard enough to make her teeth snap together. Kelly shrieked, in anger and pain, and twisted toward her, lashing out with her feet, kicking at Serena’s knees, her shins, any part of her she could hit.

 

Serena’s lips pulled back against her teeth in a feral snarl, and the back of her hand exploded against the side of Kelly’s face, snapping her head to the side, bringing a burst of stars behind her eyes and the taste of blood to her mouth. The room seemed to swirl once around her, and unable to use her arms for balance, she staggered sideways and fell. On her knees, she tried to scramble for the door, never taking her eyes off it, willing herself to stand, to run, to get away. Adrenaline pumped through her like a drug, driving her forward even when Serena caught hold of her bound wrists and hauled her up, wrenching her arms in the sockets.