Page 87 of Cooper’s Passion

“Negative. There might be a basement or something the drone can’t penetrate.”

“Okay. Guys, we’re ready. Zane and Samson, tradesmen entrance. I’ll pick the lock,” Cooper offered, and approached the front door, where Amaury and Haven were already waiting.

“Not necessary,” Amaury whispered. “Door’s unlocked.”

“Careful,” Cooper cautioned. “Could be a trap.”

Gun in one hand, he reached for the door handle, but Haven stopped him.

“I’ll go in first, Son. Stay behind me,” Haven ordered, and was already swinging the door open, rushing into the dark interior.

Cooper was behind him. They covered each other, going from room to room, Amaury and Yvette on their heels. When a sound came from the back of the house, Cooper aimed his gun in that direction, but it was only Zane who appeared, followed by Samson.

“All clear in the back,” Zane confirmed.

“Upstairs?” Cooper motioned to the stairs, ready to ascend, when he realized that the stairs only led halfway up to the top floor. The remainder had been destroyed by a fire. He stopped in his tracks. “Thomas? Can your drone see what’s going on on the second floor? There’s no access from the first floor; stairs are damaged.”

“Give me a sec.”

Meanwhile, Cooper motioned toward the others. “Garage?”

Amaury turned to a door and opened it by a sliver, peering inside. A second later, he swung the door open and rushed inside, Yvette on his heels. By the time Cooper followed them, Amaury was already giving the sign for the all-clear.

“White van is empty,” Amaury reported. “No sign of the victim or the serial killer.”

“There’s a door,” Yvette announced.

Cooper approached. “No lock.” He turned the knob and eased it open. Before him was a flight of wooden stairs, and beyond that, only darkness. He turned his head and noticed a light switch. He flipped it, and a single light bulb illuminated the stairs. They led down into a basement.

Cooper heard a sound drifting up. He turned his head and raised his hand to ask for silence. There it was again, a grunt.

Then Thomas’s voice came through the earpiece. “No sign of anybody on the second floor.”

“We’re going down to the basement,” Cooper announced, and descended the stairs, gripping his gun firmly and staying vigilant. He sniffed. The further he descended, the stronger the aroma of blood became. Human blood.

At the bottom of the stairs, he turned to his left. There, a blonde woman was bound to a wooden support post, her mouth taped with duct tape, her eyes shining with fear, blood residue crusting along her neck.

“She’s here,” Cooper called out over his shoulder, where Yvette was already appearing. “She’s alive.”

He put his gun away and approached the frightened woman, crouching down next to her. “We’re here to help you. We’ll take care of you now.”

He removed the tape from her mouth, and she cried out in pain.

“I’m sorry,” he said in a calm voice, not wanting to scare the woman even more. “The man who kidnapped you. Where is he?”

Tears started streaming down her cheeks. “I don’t know. He brought me here, then he bit my neck… and, oh God, it was terrible…”

“When did he leave you?”

“I don’t know.” She sobbed. “I must have passed out.”

“I’ll take care of her,” Yvette offered and untied her. “Honey, let’s get you out of here.”

Cooper tapped on his earpiece. “Maya, please bring the ambulance around. We have the victim, but the perp is gone. He must have slipped out the back via one of the houses behind us.”

By the time Yvette had helped the victim up the stairs, the Scanguards ambulance was already parked outside, and Maya was ready to examine the woman’s injuries. Cooper approached his colleagues.

“This was too easy,” he said.