Under Cover

Charlie’s POV

I came to and found myself tied up in the back of a van. My head was throbbing from getting hit and I regretted turning back to look at him just as he was hitting me because it allowed the cut to drip blood down the side of my face. I tried to get myself up, but as I tried to sit up my headache worsened and I got a little dizzy. Instead of trying to sit up I turned myself so I could see out the tinted black window, seeing trees pass over us as we drove down what I assumed was a dirt road based on how it sounded and how bumpy it was.

The problem was that trees and dirt roads meant that we were outside of town and that much closer to the place where I was to be drowned. As much as I tried not to panic it was hard to under the circumstances. I had barely been on the job for six months and I had already been shot at and kidnapped by a serial killer. It almost made me want to quit and just find a normal, less dangerous, job.

We soon came to a stop and I listened as he walked around the van then opened the door, blinding me with the bright sunlight. At least it was still daylight which meant I still had some time before he was planning on killing me.

“Don’t fight or I’ll have to hurt you again.” He warned me.

I nodded slightly, unable to speak because of the cloth gag he had wrapped around my head and placed in my mouth to keep me from speaking. He pulled me to the edge of the van and held onto my arm as he helped me out of the van. I looked around, seeing that we were now at a cabin with the lake just a short distance away down a dirt path. Part of me wanted to fight and try to get away, but the other half knew that if I did that it would make him more likely to kill me right now. If I went along with what he wanted then I had more time and Harry had more time to hopefully find me.

I allowed him to lead me inside and for once he sat me on a chair at the table instead of locking me away. He brought over some extra rope and tied me down to the chair to make sure I didn’t escape as he began to cook some food. My stomach growled a bit at the smell, having last eaten about a day ago. While he cooked I kept glancing around the room, quietly plotting my escape if I absolutely had no choice but to fight my way out.

What surprised me was that when he finished he dished up two plates and walked over to untie my gag, allowing my sore jaw to rest. He held up a glass of water to my mouth and I hesitated, but he practically forced it down my throat so I had to drink it anyway. It helped my dry throat, but I was nervous about him drugging me again.

“You need to eat.” He said as he got a fork full of food for me then held it up to my mouth.

I kept my mouth shut and shook my head.

“I’m not hungry.” I mumbled.

He sighed and set the fork down, deciding to let it go for the time being as he ate his
own food. I watched him for a few minutes before finally speaking up.

“Why are you doing this? Why did you kill those girls?” I asked him.

“I didn’t kill them!” He shouted suddenly, causing me to jump. He was silent for a moment before taking a deep breath. “I set them free. They were so miserable with their lives and this was the only way for them to be happy.”

“What gives you the right to decide that? What makes you think that they won’t just move on and find someone new who can make them happy?” I argued.

“Because I know them. They come in all the time complaining about someone new. One day a man will hurt them far more than they realize. I did them a favor.”

“By killing them?!”

“I saved them! Just like I saved Alice!” He yelled. “He kept hurting her so when we went down to the lake to play I saved her.”

“Who is Alice?” I asked. “Was that your sister?”

“Stop talking about her!” He said as he gripped onto his head.

“Who was hurting her?” I pressed.

“He was never a nice man. I told mother not to marry him but she wouldn’t listen to me.” He growled.

“What happened to him? Did you tell the police?”

“I did but they didn’t believe me! So I had to protect her myself! I shot the son of a bitch and dumped him in the river!”

I immediately thought back to when I had caught a peek of my dad’s case files back when I was younger, seeing that a man had been shot so many times in the head that they couldn’t identify him. He had also been in the river for so long that it was hard to even get prints off the body. They never did figure out who the killer was.

“You were protecting your sister… That was brave of you to do that for her.” I said, softening my tone as I tried to get him to calm down. “You were right to kill the bastard.”

“I was?” He asked, shocked that I was saying such things.

“Yes, you were. I want to help you. Will you tell me your name?” I asked.

“Michael…” He mumbled.

“Michael… Could you untie me please?”

“No!” He shouted.

It was obvious that he had some mental issues that were deeper than just him being a psychopath and I knew I had to tiptoe around him if I was going to make it out of this alive.

“Okay. Okay. It’s alright. I don’t have to be untied. What about just my arms? So I can eat on my own? Would that be okay?” I asked.

He stared at me for a moment then hesitantly untied my arms so I could pick up the fork with my bound hands and eat.

“Thank you.” I said calmly, seeing that he pulled a gun out from the back of his pants and placed it on the table.

“Don’t try anything…” He warned.

“I won’t. I promise.” I said, trying not to feel scared but the whole time I ate little bites I felt my stomach churning and I could barely keep the food down.

When we finished he took me down to the cellar and demanded that I sit against a wooden pillar. I did as I was told and allowed him to tie me to it before he left me in darkness. What he didn’t know was that I had taken one of the butter knives into my bra and managed to move it out into my hand as I started to cut away at the ropes. It was a long process, but I finally cut through and crept up the stairs.

Michael seemed to be busy watching some home movies on the tv and I immediately saw the resemblance between all of his victims and his sister. She was a beautiful young girl, but it was obvious that her stepfather had been abusing her which was something that messed Michael up for the rest of his life. I quietly moved around the kitchen in search of his car keys, finally finding them but as I turned to walk away I knocked a picture off the counter and it crashed onto the floor.

Michael spun around and I immediately ran for the van but as I was getting the door open he shot into the window and I quickly ducked, dropping the keys as I ran in the opposite direction.

Unlucky for me… it was the direction of the lake…

Harry’s POV

“Officer Styles! We got a hit on the company van he drives. It was caught driving out of town heading north.” One of the rookies called out to me.

“What else do we got? Does he own property up there by the lake?” I asked as I looked over the map of the city, seeing that it was the only body of water in that direction so he had to be going there.

“No, he doesn’t.” The rookie replied.

“Wait! He had his name changed when his mother remarried his stepfather. His real name was Michael Kane. His birth father owns a lake cabin on the south side.”
O’Brien said as he rushed over with the address.

“Let’s go!” I shouted, running out because I knew we didn’t have much time.

Charlie’s POV

I tried running along the shoreline to make it to the next house, but Michael proved to be much faster than me. I was tackled into the sandy beach and I squirmed trying to get out of his grip.

“Let me go!” I yelled as I fought him off, managing to get a good hit in that gave him a bloody nose.

I scrambled for his gun but he grabbed onto my leg and dragged me in the opposite direction towards the water.

“No! NO!” I screamed as he got hold of my arms and forced them behind me with one arm while the other hand gripped onto my hair and shoved my head under the water.
I struggled as my lungs screamed for air, unable to get a decent footing as I began to lose consciousness. Despite my best efforts to get away I was quickly becoming weaker and weaker until I finally passed out. As he did with his other victims he pulled me back to shore then performed CPR until I was coughing up water, barely getting a proper breath in before he dragged me back out and put me back under the water. This time he just forced me onto my back as I weakly tried to hit him or scratch at his face to get him to stop.

It was during this time that I began to lose hope. This was how I was going to die. This psychotic man was going to drown me until I died and I would never get to tell Harry that I thought his laugh was adorable or that I adored seeing that dimpled smile of his on his face. I would never get to feel what it was like to kiss those lips that I thought about pressing mine to on a daily basis… I would never be his…

Harry’s POV

Jensen didn’t even stop the car before I opened the door and jumped out, running towards the lake. I knew that if he had her out there I didn’t have time to waste by searching the house so I let everyone else do that while I went straight for the lake. Jensen had the same idea because he followed close behind me with O’Brien.

When I finally broke free of the trees I saw him pulling her back out to the water and holding her under as she weakly fought him off. I yelled to get his attention and thankfully he dropped her to try to run.

“I got him! Get Charlie!” Jensen yelled as he took off after the man who ran into the trees, O’Brien following him for backup.

I quickly pulled off my shirt and threw my gun and phone onto the beach before running into the water and pulling her limp body back to shore. I immediately plugged her nose and blew air into her mouth before doing compressions like he had done to her who knows how many times before me.

“Come on, Charlie. Don’t do this to me.” I said as I kept counting in my head until I reached thirty.

I blew two more puffs of air into her lungs before going back to compressions, repeating this process long after Jensen had returned from putting the asshole who did this to her into a waiting squad car. Dylan watched helplessly as I struggled with my own emotions, allowing tears to form in my eyes as I blew into her mouth once more.

“Harry…” Jensen said after a moment. “Harry, she’s gone.”

“No! No, she’s going to be fine!” I yelled as I kept going, knowing it would take a couple more minutes for the ambulance to get out here. If I could just keep the flow going…

“Harry-” Jensen started, but was cut off as Charlie finally coughed up the water that was in her lungs.

I immediately rolled her onto her side and let out a deep breath of relief. She whimpered and tried to get away from me, thinking I was him, but I carefully pulled her onto my lap and held her close.

“Charlie, it's me. It’s okay. You’re okay.” I said to her as I brushed her wet hair from her face so she could see me.

She looked so scared and the moment she realized who I was she choked out a sob and clung onto me as I rocked her a little to calm her. I kept whispering comforting words to her, refusing to let go as the paramedics arrived and she made no effort to let go of me either. They gave us a moment longer, but I knew that she had to get to a hospital to get checked out for any injuries.

“Charlie, you have to go with them.” I said to her.

“No.” She whimpered, holding onto me tighter even though she still had a pretty weak grip after all she went through.

“I’ll go with you, but they have to put you on the stretcher okay? I’ll be right there. I promise.” I said to her.

It took her a moment but she finally let me go and allowed me to carefully set her onto the gurney. I lean down and kiss her forehead then take her hand into mine, not even bothering to tell any of the other officers where I was going as I walked beside her and hopped up into the ambulance once they loaded her in. My hand immediately went back to hers and I placed it to my lips, kissing her knuckles for a few seconds before looking down at her pale face. The water had been freezing so they gave us both blankets to put on as we were rushed to the hospital.

As promised I stayed by her side the whole time they were looking her over and getting x-rays. She had a small concussion and a couple broken ribs from being given CPR so much but other than that she was going to be okay physically. Despite how well she had taken getting shot I knew that this would be much different and I wouldn’t even be upset if she decided to quit her job. All I wanted was for her to be safe. We were moved into her own room and I sat next to her on the bed as she asked and kept my arms around her, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

“You know I imagined our first kiss to be very different.” She said after a long moment.

I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at her random comment.

“I did, too… but since you’ll be on leave for a couple weeks we’ll have plenty of time to fix that.” I said to her.

That beautiful smile of hers finally appeared on her face and I couldn’t help but do the same. I had been so terrified of losing her these past few days and I was reminded of just how dangerous this job could be. It also reminded me to live in the moment and stop trying to follow rules or waiting for the right moment to come. I didn’t want to wait anymore. I wanted her and from that moment forward I was going all in.

Notes