Page 40 of The First Hunt (The Final Hunt)
HOLLY
She lowered her visor to block the sun gleaming through the windshield.
She also needed to know what Andy found at Jared’s storage unit.
She passed a payphone on her right, its metal frame glinting from the afternoon sun beneath a towering billboard.
Patrick Swayze encircled Demi Moore with his bare arms, their figures awash in a soft, ethereal glow. Ghost—COMING THIS SUMMER.
Holly stomped on her brakes and turned into the RadioShack parking lot, coming to a stop in front of the payphone.
She stepped inside the booth and inserted a quarter she found in Laurie’s center console before dialing Andy’s office.
She didn’t want to make the nearly hour-long drive to the Major Crimes Unit only to learn Andy was out searching Jared’s storage unit.
Andy’s phone rang four times before going to his answering machine.
Holly’s pulse spiked as she hung up. Maybe Andy is arresting Jared right now.
Holly walked back to the station wagon and dug another quarter out of the center console to call the main line for Major Crimes. Tara answered on the second ring.
“King County Major Crimes, how may I direct your call?”
“Hi, Tara. This is Holly Sparks. I tried calling Andy just now, but he didn’t answer. Do you by chance know where he is?”
“Oh, hi, Holly.” The receptionist’s voice lifted. “How are you?”
Holly tapped her fingers on the payphone glass. “I’m good. Do you know where Detective Harris is?”
“Oh, yes. He got called to a crime scene early this morning. He hasn’t come back to the unit yet.”
Holly’s shoulders sagged. That would mean Andy probably hadn’t gone to Jared’s storage unit yet.
“How’s your new book coming?”
“What?”
“The new book you’re writing, aren’t you working on—”
“Oh. Right.” The book I’m supposed to send out in less than a week. “It’s great,” she lied. “Could you ask him to call me when he gets back?”
“Sure. I just started reading The Last Broadcast yesterday. It’s so good! It kept me up until nearly two in the morning.”
“Thanks, Tara. Talk to you later.” Holly hung up before Tara could keep her on the line any longer.
She walked back to the car in a daze. She pulled out onto the road, wishing she would’ve asked Tara for more details on the crime scene Andy had gotten called to.
Major Crimes handled a variety of things, including robberies, homicides, and severe assaults.
But it could be something to do with the Green River Task Force.
Andy could be tied up for several hours or a couple of weeks, depending on what it was.
A few miles up the road, she passed a self-storage facility, its chain-link fence topped with razor wire, the sign out front promising Safe, Secure Storage—Month-to-Month Rentals.
She recalled Jared’s storage unit address she’d seen on Andy’s desk: Mike’s Storage Units in Federal Way.
She’d driven past it before and knew where it was.
Holly thought of Jared’s car sitting in that storage unit. Then of Clint getting away with Diana’s murder for all these years. What if Jared got his car fixed before Andy got to it?
She made a U-turn. A honk blared as she changed directions in an intersection. She held up a hand in apology as she sped toward Federal Way. She glanced at the dash. If the storage facility was where she remembered it being, she’d be there in twenty minutes.
***
Holly drove past unit #41 before parking by the front office of Mike’s Storage Units. There were no police vehicles in sight. Holly strode toward the office, making up a story in her head as she took in the building’s faded exterior. A bell chimed when she opened the door.
She assessed the older man behind the desk, who looked up from his book when she stepped inside. A mist of musty carpet and stale coffee lingered in the air.
“Can I help you?” The man lowered his book.
When Holly got closer, she saw it was her second true crime novel, Behind Closed Doors .
She prayed he wouldn’t recognize her from her photo on the back and that he hadn’t yet read her author’s note, telling of her abusive ex-fiancé.
If he had, he might not believe the story she was about to give him.
“Um. Hi. Yes. My boyfriend and I have been sharing unit #41, but it’s just in his name. Anyway.” She blinked as if she were fighting back tears. “We broke up, and he um.” She cleared her throat. “He took my key and said I couldn’t have it back.”
Holly’s gaze traveled to a framed photo on the desk of the man and a much younger woman, probably his daughter.
They stood in front of a waterfall, both wearing hiking gear.
Holly bit her lip and met the man’s gaze.
“My dad’s ashes are inside that storage unit.
When I asked my ex to let me have them, he told me tough shit.
” Holly blew a breath out of her mouth and looked up at the stained ceiling.
When she lowered her gaze, the man’s eyes widened with concern. He closed his book on the counter without saving his place.
“We were really close, my dad and I,” she continued.
“And I promised him I would spread his ashes on Mount Rainier—on our favorite hiking trail.” She pinched the bridge of her nose.
“But now…I’m afraid my ex will just dump him in the trash or something.
” She met the man’s concerned gaze. “I know it’s probably no use, but is there any way you could, you know, open it for me? ”
He hesitated, seeming to think it over. Holly bit her lip. Maybe she hadn’t acted as well as she’d thought.
He opened a binder. “You said it was unit #41?”
“Yes.” Her pulse spiked. “That’s right.”
“Can you confirm your boyfriend, sorry, ex-boyfriend’s name that the unit is under?”
“Jared. Jared Peretti.”
“My Julie dated an asshole like that once.” The man shook his head. “But you’re right. It looks like the storage unit is solely in his name. Unfortunately, I can’t give you access to the unit without his permission.”
The air deflated from her lungs.
“Sorry,” he added, seeming to read the disappointment on her face. “I wish I could be more helpful, but I can’t violate our security policy. If you can convince your ex to come in and give me permission, I’d be happy to let you in another time.”
“That will never happen.” She sighed in a final attempt to invoke his sympathy enough to break the rules.
“Again, I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.”
Holly made no effort to hide her frustration. “Thanks anyway,” she said as an idea formed in her mind.
Twenty minutes later, Holly snipped the padlock to unit #41 with a pair of bolt cutters she’d purchased at a nearby Ace Hardware. She’d driven quickly past the storage facility’s front office when she returned from the hardware store, hoping the manager didn’t recognize her car.
Snapping the lock had been easier than she’d expected. She glanced over her shoulder before lifting the handle of the roll-up door, holding the bolt cutters in one hand. She’d parked behind a different row of units in case the manager came looking for her car.
Seeing Jared’s black sedan, she sucked in a breath and moved around to the passenger side.
Spotting the damage to the front bumper, the missing rearview mirror, and the dents and scratches along the passenger side door, she covered her mouth with her hand. Even though she’d expected it, seeing the damage still sent a ripple of shock through her.
Her chest tightened as she stared at the banged-up car door. He’d tried to kill me . Again. And he’d almost succeeded.
The rumble of a car’s engine pulling into the storage facility’s entrance tore her from her thoughts. She cocked her head toward the sound. The engine noise grew louder as if it were about to turn down her row. She swore before pulling the unit’s door closed.
Standing still in the dark storage unit, she held her breath and willed the car to keep going as the hum of the engine grew closer. The motor stopped right outside. A deep thud pulsed through her ribs, tension building inside her.
What if it’s Andy? she thought. How am I going to explain my being here? Outside, a car door opened and shut.
“What’s the matter?” asked a male voice that she didn’t recognize.
“The lock’s been cut. Harris must’ve found it.”
A cold knot formed in Holly’s gut. It wasn’t Andy. It was Jared. She looked around for a place to hide, but there was less than a foot of room between the car and the walls.
“Shit.”
The door lifted. For lack of a better option, Holly dropped to the concrete floor and slid beneath the car.
Daylight flooded the small space, and she spotted what must have been Jared’s Reeboks stepping toward the car.
Dust rose off the floor, giving her the urge to sneeze.
Holly covered her mouth and nose with her hand.
“Sonofabitch. I should’ve gotten it fixed,” Jared said.
“If anyone asks, my car was damaged already. I’ll say it happened before I went to prison.
There’s no way in hell Harris should’ve been able to get a search warrant after the alibi we gave them.
Harris can’t prove my car got this damage the night she went over the bridge, especially if she’s not around to testify. ”
Holly’s heart thudded against the floor as Jared’s shoes passed by her head. He must know from the news that she survived going over the bridge. Was he plotting to finish what he started?
“Let’s get out of here,” the other man said. “The cops could be watching this place.”
Holly stared at the other man’s faded Nikes. He had to be Tommy Reed, the ex-informant Jared was staying with.
“Hang on.” Jared’s feet moved to the back of the storage unit. “I still need my gun.”
He’s planning to shoot me, she thought as her sneeze threatened to erupt. She pinched her nose. Behind the car, she heard Jared rifle through a box. The tension in her upper body relaxed slightly as the urge to sneeze dissipated.
“Found it,” Jared said.
Holly remembered Jared had a personal revolver, aside from his duty weapon, when they were engaged. His parents had given it to him after he graduated from the police academy.
Holly’s gaze followed Jared’s feet as he moved toward the front of the car. “I’m going to need some ammo.”
Holly’s breath caught in her throat as she imagined Jared standing over her bed in the middle of the night, emptying every round from his revolver into her chest.
“Let’s go back to the office and buy another lock before we get ripped off,” he said before closing the storage unit door.
Holly lay still beneath the car, engulfed in darkness. After hearing the car pull away, she waited a few minutes before crawling out from beneath Jared’s sedan. She lifted the door slowly, making sure Jared wasn’t already on his way back from the front office with a new lock. The row was empty.
She ducked out of the unit, closing the door behind her before jogging toward her car in the row of units behind this one. Andy might already be on his way. But if he wasn’t, he needed to know what she’d found, even though he’d be furious to find out she’d come to Jared’s storage unit.
She had to get Andy to arrest Jared before Jared figured out where she was staying—before he could strike for the third time.