Six months have passed since Maria disappeared, and without her bloody mannequin to convince everyone she's dead, the search for her continues. But something is brewing in the darkest corners of Los Angeles. The Doll Collector has fallen dormant, bu...
She opened the one eye that wasn't swollen shut and jerked away with a scream when Adrian reached for her.
The sharp sound triggered me to drop by her side. Her eye slid over to me and recognition dilated in her pupils.
"I'm Detective Marner, and this is my partner Detective DeWitt, we're with the LAPD. Is your name Maria Gonzalez?" I asked, biting back my anger.
She nodded, bursting into tears.
Blood from her forehead mixed with her tears as they streamed down her face. Adrian worked to undo her shackle while I wrapped a blanket around her and helped her onto her feet.
Her legs collapsed under, landing her in a heap on the floor. Her sobs were echoing off the cabin walls as officers began to enter the bedroom.
I lifted her up the way a man would hold his bride, and kept her face shielded from the dozens of eyes on her.
I set her in the backseat of Adrian's unmarked vehicle then slid in next to her. She was trembling under my arm as I put it around her. I couldn't tell if it was from the cold of it she was breaking down.
"Who did this to you?" I whispered loudly, my eyes darting from her busted lip to her swollen eye.
Blood was caked on the side of her face with bruises forming on her chest and arms. Scratches peppered her arms and legs as if she had been dragged around.
"He-he was here, he was here." she sobbed, gripping onto my shirt.
She pressed her face into my chest, completely dissolving. I thought I had seen her sob when she lived with me, but this was different. She was expressing another type of fear, one that I wasn't familiar with.
Adrian appeared at the car door, leaning in. His eyes softened when he realized Maria was falling apart.
"He did this." I said, tightening my hold on her.
Anger was burning through my chest. He had touched her, he had put his hands on her.
"Maria, we're gonna take you to the hospital to get checked on, then we'll call your family, okay? You're safe now. He can't hurt you anymore." Adrian said.
I pulled away, but Maria dug her nails into me and screamed out, "NO!"
I glanced back at Adrian.
"Stay with her, I'll drive." He offered.
Maria clung to me the whole way to the hospital, getting her out of the car was nearly impossible. Her whole body was shaking even harder and she was terrified to leave my side. I covered her face with the blanket again, and lifted her up, carrying her inside. A nurse had me place her into a wheelchair, and then she took over. Maria reached for me, but the nurses stopped me from going any farther. I watched as the nurse wheeled her away from me.
"When the fuck were you going to call me?" a feminine voiced called behind me.
Oh look it was my wife, Backstrom. I turned around as Adrian made it by my side.
"Called you about what?" I asked, rolling my eyes.
"About finding Maria. This is not your case anymore." Backstrom snapped.
"We didn't want to disturb your beauty sleep." I sarcastically replied.
Backstrom cut her eyes to me and before I knew it, she was punching me square in the mouth.
Trotz held her back as Adrian stepped in between us.
"That's assaulting an officer." Adrian warned.
"I don't give a single shit DeWitt. Who do you think wins here? A city cop or a federal agent? I am sick of Marner being an asshole. Either you respect me or I have your badge taken away. I am a federal agent and you're meddling with a federal investigation. So unless you want to get arrested, get the fuck out of my way." Backstrom threatened.
I dropped my hand from my throbbing lip.
"Don't you ever touch me again, Backstrom. I don't give a shit if you're an FBI agent, you're in my city." I shot back.
"You want a war? You got one."
I glared at her as she turned her back to me and walked in the direction that the nurse had gone in. Trotz shook his head at me as he followed behind her.
I had to watch my back more than ever now. I wasn't one to lose, and I wasn't about to now.
Adrian's phone buzzed with a call from Jim. They'd secured the scene of all evidence and would file a report for us to look over. From the look on Adrian's face, they hadn't found much.
I was clean, what did they expect? Cleanliness was my strong suit. My murder scenes were spotless and when I killed The Admirer, it would be as if he had never existed.
The idea warmed me. I would kill The Admirer and I would win that war, too.
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Hi guys!
So sorry about being so late, it's been a crazy weekend. My cousin got married on Friday and it took it out of me. I've been exhausted for two days and just barely had a chance to get on and finish writing this.
How was the chapter?
Someone did something to Maria, what was it??
What is Kris gonna do now that Backstrom has called an all out war against him?
