Maria took two steps and stopped. Her little leg was bound by a cuff. The chain was stuck to the bottom of one of the couches.
April screamed again, “Help! Help me!”
The door to the basement opened again, followed by heavy steps. April prayed that someone other than Cody was coming down those stairs. Maria cowered as the heavy steps descended the stairs. Cody snatched her under her armpits and carried her away from the door back to the couch. The girl didn’t resist or even make a sound.
“Be a good girl. Play with your doll,” Cody said.
Then, he returned to the hidden room with his bloody knife in hand, and his medical coveralls also covered in blood. He went to the bathroom, his gloved hands staining the doorknob as he entered. He left the door open and washed his gloved hands at the sink, then his knife.
April screamed one more time. “Help! Help me!”
Cody returned from the bathroom. His eye was starting to swell, and his lip was bloody. “You’re wasting your breath.” He spit blood in the drain on the floor. “Your dad came by, but don’t worry. I took care of him.”
April shook her head. “No. You’re lying.”
“Care to guess which one?”
April hung her head.
“Your real father. I think he came here to kill me. Can you believe that? He almost did. Then you started screaming your head off. He was distracted by that. I think he recognized your voice.”
April raised her gaze, sneering at Cody.
Cody thrust his knife at the air like a swordfighter. “But I got him good. It’s poetic, don’t you think? He died thinking of you. The daughter he never knew.” Cody sighed. “It’s been an eventful night. Where were we?” He paused, waiting for April to respond, but she didn’t. “The pain meds.” He went back to his case and retrieved the full syringe. Then he returned to April’s side, kneeling in front of her. “I have to admit, I’m a bit stressed. I like things to be orderly. When I get stressed, I have to concentrate on one thing at a time. First, give me your arm.”
April drew back, hugging herself, expecting a tug of war for her arm.
Cody punched her in the face with a straight right.
The back of April’s head smacked the concrete again. She was dazed, blood streaming from her nose.
Cody snatched her arm, pulling it straight. He found a vein and injected the pain meds. “All done.” He stood and leered at April for a long moment, as if waiting for a reaction.
April held her nose, groaning, blood slipping between her fingers. She felt fuzzy. The hand that covered her nose felt heavy. Her arm felt heavy too.
“I have a confession to make. I didn’t exactly give you pain meds. I actually injected you with a paralytic. Your body will become paralyzed, but you’ll be very awake. You will feel everything, but you won’t be able to move a muscle.”
April’s eyes widened. Her arm dropped, and blood ran from her nose over her lips and down her chin. Her head lolled to the side. She toppled to her side, unable to hold herself upright.
“Based on the dose I gave you and your size, I’m guessing you have eight to ten minutes until you stop breathing, so I better get started. I like to start with the hands. Shit. I forgot my screwdriver.” Cody hurried from the room. A few seconds later, he returned with a flathead screwdriver. He unscrewed April’s cuff and dragged her to the middle of the room, leaving her on her back.
April watched in terror, unable to move, as he positioned her hands so they were flat on her chest.
“By putting your hands on your chest like this, if I cut too far, I won’t ruin my blade on the tile. I used to use a block of wood, but then you have blood DNA in the wood to dispose of.” Cody put on his goggles, grabbed his bone saw, and hovered over April’s hands. He pressed the trigger, the saw whizzing in response.
April closed her eyes, not wanting to watch.
A crash came from Cody’s man cave. Cody retracted the saw. April opened her eyes, her gaze on the open secret door.
“Fuck!” Cody said.
Groaning came from the stairs. Cody set down his saw and stalked to his man cave. He returned, dragging Jason by his underarms into the room, leaving a trail of blood.
Jason’s breathing was raspy. He reached for the bone saw.
Cody pushed it out of reach with his foot. “Well, you’ve made a bloody mess of my house, but maybe this’ll be better.” Cody rolled April on her side, positioning her so she looked at Jason’s face.
Jason lay on his back, barely breathing, his head turned to her. His lips moved, but no words came. His face was pale. April peered into his glassy eyes. He moved his hand a few inches, their pinkies touching.
Cody grabbed his bone saw and stood over April and Jason. “So, who wants to watch who die? Or is it whom? I don’t think either of you can answer, so I’ll have to make that decision.” He pressed the trigger, the saw buzzing in response.
April concentrated on Jason’s face, trying to block out the saw. My father.
Three gunshots echoed through the room. The saw fell to the concrete, inches from April’s head. The buzzing ceased. Cody fell to his knees, then toppled forward on April. She didn’t see the man wielding the gun. Then, the weight of Cody was pulled off of her, and Danny was at her side. He wasn’t in uniform.
Danny checked April’s body for injuries. “Can you talk? Why can’t you move?” He searched the room, manic. He discovered the drugs. Then he was on his phone, speaking clearly but rapidly. “I need an ambulance at 1120 Blair Hill Road. Immediately. My daughter was given a paralytic drug. She needs a ventilator. Her breathing is shallow. Also, there’s a man here who’s been stabbed. I’m putting the phone down to stop the bleeding. Hurry.”
Chapter 104: Making Amends
Her mind was hazy. April squinted into the light. Dark forms hovered over her. Something was in her throat. She choked and thrashed. Strong hands held her steady as the endotracheal tube was removed from her sore throat. Her eyes adjusted to the light. The dark forms turned white and light blue. A doctor in a white coat and several nurses in blue scrubs stood at her bedside.
“April, how are you feeling?” the doctor asked.
April groaned. “Tired.” She closed her eyes and fell back into the darkness.
***
The lighting was dim. April lay on her back in the hospital bed in a drug-induced haze. Despite the drugs, her face and head hurt. She moved her sore jaw from side to side. She reached up with her left hand and touched the bandage on her head. She touched her nose lightly. It was bandaged too. Her right arm was hooked to an IV. Cool oxygen flowed into her nose from the nasal cannula.
April turned her head to her right. A curtain. Probably another patient on the other side. She turned her head left and saw her parents asleep, each in their own chair. Michelle must’ve sensed her daughter’s awakening. She opened her eyes, saw her daughter, and smiled. She stood from her seat, wearing sweats, and approached April’s bedside.
“Mom,” April said.
Michelle wiped the corners of her eyes. “I’m so sorry. For everything.”
“It’s okay.”
Danny stirred in his seat and opened his eyes. He approached April’s bedside with his head bowed. “How are you feeling?”
“Not too bad.” April motioned with her chin to the IV. “Maybe it’s the drugs.”
“Look. Um, … what I did was … unforgiveable.” He swallowed hard. “I never should’ve grabbed you like that. I’m sorry. And I’m sorry that I didn’t listen to you. If I had, you wouldn’t have felt the need to find the truth all by yourself. What you did was reckless but also incredibly brave. You saved that little girl. I’m so proud of you. I wasn’t there for you when you needed me, and we almost lost you. I don’t know what I would’ve done …”
“I love you, Dad,” April said, holding her gaze on her father.
Danny smiled, his eyes misty. “I love you too.”
Then April addressed Michelle. “I love you too, Mom.”
Michelle bent over the bed, hugging April. Danny hugged the both of them.
April giggled. “You guys are crushing me.”
Her parents stood, all smiles.
“Where’s Jason?” April asked. “Is he okay?”
“I think he’s still in surgery,” Michelle said. “The doctor said he’d let us know.”
“How serious is it? Will he be okay?”
Michelle dropped her gaze.
Danny placed his hand atop April’s. “Jason was stabbed multiple times. He lost a lot of blood and had internal injuries. The doctor wasn’t confident that he’d survive the surgery.”
Chapter 105: The Van
Lighting came from the lamp on her bedside. Her roommate watched television, separated by a curtain. April lay on her back in the hospital bed, her drug-induced haze subsiding. She had two black eyes, a bandage over her nose, and another bandage wrapped around her head.
“How did you know where I was?” April asked her parents, the hospital bed propping her upright.
Michelle sat on the edge of April’s bed, near her feet.
Danny sat in a chair at April’s bedside. “You told me that Cody had a van. I dismissed it initially, but it stuck in my craw. I kept thinking about it, and I remembered something that your grandpap said to me a long time ago. He said that when he was working on the Heather Sample case, one of the witnesses talked about a suspicious van.”
“That’s what made you go to Cody’s?” April asked.
“Not exactly. Just because Cody has a van now doesn’t mean he was the owner of the suspicious van from twenty-four years ago. It bothered me though, so I called your grandpap and asked him about it, and he corroborated my memory, telling me there was a suspicious van with a ladder rack near the location where Heather Sample disappeared. Then I talked to your mom about everything.” Danny glanced at Michelle, then addressed April again. “I told her what you’d told me, and I asked her if she thought it was possible that Jason was innocent.”
April’s gaze flicked to her mom. “What did you say?”
“The truth. That I thought it was possible,” Michelle replied.
“Then your mom tried to call you, but it went straight to voice mail,” Danny said, his hands folded in his lap. “We both started to worry. I didn’t know where you went, but I figured you either went to see Jason or Cody. I was more worried about you confronting Cody, than telling Jason you thought he was innocent, for obvious reasons. So, I went to Cody’s. Your grandpap checked Jason’s apartment for me.”
A doctor walked into the hospital room and approached April’s bedside. “Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs?”
Everyone turned to the surgeon in her scrubs.
“May I talk to you in private for a moment?” the doctor asked.
“Is Jason okay?” April asked.
The doctor didn’t answer.
Danny stood from his chair.
Michelle stood from the bed. “We’ll be right back, sweetie.”
April’s parents and the doctor left the hospital room.
Why didn’t she just say he was okay? April’s stomach turned. He’s gone. I know it. Her throat tightened. Tears welled in her eyes.
Michelle came back to her bedside, her eyes glassy. She took April’s hand, her arm still attached to the IV. Michelle smiled and said, “He’s alive.”
PART IV: Jason
Everything which is done in the present affects the future by consequence and the past by redemption.
—Paulo Coelho
The day misspent, the love misplaced, has inside it the seed of redemption. Nothing is exempt from resurrection.
—Kay Ryan, Say Uncle
Chapter 106: Intent
Jason had been stabbed six times by Cody, but the blade had miraculously missed his vital organs. Jason would’ve died if not for the emergency medical attention given to him by Danny, prior to the arrival of the ambulance. Still, Jason had lost a lot of blood and was in a coma for two days afterward.
On his fourth day in the hospital, the doctors finally allowed a detective from the Duncansville Township Police to interview Jason. With the late-morning sun streaming into the hospital room, Detective Harry Hollis stood at Jason’s bedside, a notepad and pen in hand. He wore an ill-fitting gray suit, the trousers too short and the jacket too big for his shoulders but struggling to contain his gut.
“Why were you at Cody Price’s house?” Detective Hollis asked.
Jason lay flat on his bed, his head propped on a pillow. An IV was attached to his right arm, and his midsection was bandaged. He eyed the beefy detective. “I want an attorney.”
Detective Hollis frowned. “Were you there to kill him?”
Jason swallowed, his throat dry.
“It’s quite a story.” Detective Hollis flipped through his notepad, reading. “You’re incarcerated for twenty years for a crime that Cody Price likely committed. You lost your wife. Your business. Your money. Then, you’re barely into your sentence and you murder an inmate, adding another twenty-five years to your sentence for voluntary manslaughter.” He looked up from his notepad. “Do I have that about right so far?”
Jason nodded.
Detective Hollis went back to his notes. “Then a prison guard admits that you were setup and the murder was actually self-defense. But that didn’t get you a new trial. It took one of the alleged victims to come forward and to admit that they were the aggressors to get the case overturned.” Detective Hollis closed his notepad and locked eyes with Jason. “Then you decide to settle in Loganville. The scene of the crime. You’re not from Loganville.” The detective tilted his head. “This is strange, don’t you think? Why come back here, unless you’re looking for revenge? Is that what this was about? Revenge?”
Jason stared back poker-faced. “I want an attorney.”
Detective Hollis smirked and put his notepad into his inside jacket pocket, exposing his concealed handgun as he did so. “I’m the type of guy who has to know everything. That’s the way I am. Always been that way. What I don’t understand is your relationship with the Gibbs family. I know that Michelle Gibbs is your ex-wife, but what’s your connection to their daughter, April?” Hollis waited a few seconds for a response that never came. “I’m pretty good at math too. Based on April’s birthdate, she was conceived while you and your ex-wife were still married. Did you know that?”
Jason looked away.
“I’m guessing you knew. I’m also guessing she’s your daughter.”
Jason glared at the detective. “Leave her out of this.”
Detective Hollis flashed his palms. “Don’t worry. I’m not interested in April. I’m interested in what happened four days ago. You have abrasions on your fists and defensive wounds. A sidelight window was broken by the front door, telling me there was forced entry. You were fighting Cody Price inside his home. Had he killed you, he would’ve been justified. The important question is why.” Hollis narrowed his eyes. “Why were you there?”
Jason kept his mouth shut.
“Officer Gibbs said he asked you to go there to check on April? Is that what happened?”
Jason furrowed his brow.
“That’s how I’m gonna write it up. Officer Gibbs asked you to go to Mr. Price’s home to see if April was there. You showed up, and you heard April scream, so you broke the sidelight window and entered the home. Cody Price tried to kill you in the living room. You defended yourself, but you were stabbed six times in the process. You were defending yourself, April, and Maria. I suggest you keep this story straight, if anyone else comes knocking.” Detective Hollis smiled. “You’re a good man, Mr. Lewis. I hope you have better luck in the future.”
Chapter 107: Heroes
The hospital room was jam-packed with flower arrangements and cards, mostly from the Loganville Latino community. Jason had been in the hospital for a week, recovering from his stab wounds. He sat with his bed propped up, reading a paperback. April waltzed into his hospital room, with two fa
ded black eyes and a smile. Jason set down his paperback on the overbed table—The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho—and smiled back.
“You look better today,” April said, sitting in the chair next to his bedside. She had visited Jason every day since he woke from his coma.
“I feel a little better,” Jason replied.
April glanced around the room. “These flowers are getting ridiculous. You’re the most popular person in Loganville.”
“It’s really nice, but I feel undeserving.” Jason frowned. “All I did was get stabbed and fall down the stairs. Your dad saved the day.”
“You both did.” April held his gaze to cement her point.
Jason smiled.
April took a deep breath. “My mom wanted me to ask you if you’d be open to a conversation with her.”
Jason arched his eyebrows. “Really? About what?”
April shrugged. “She didn’t say. She just said that she wanted to ask before just showing up to your hospital room. She thinks you hate her …” April paused, hoping for Jason to contradict her statement, but he didn’t. “Anyway, she wants to talk to you, but only if you want to. She told me to make sure you understand that it’s okay to say no.”
Jason hesitated. “Okay. That’s fine.”
“She’s actually in the waiting room. I think she’s hoping to talk to you, after we’re done talking.”
Jason’s eyes widened. “She wants to talk right now?”
“After we talk. Is that okay?”
Jason hesitated again. “That’s fine.”
April removed her phone from her purse and tapped with her thumbs. “I’m sending her a text. I told her to give us an hour.” April slipped her phone back in her purse. “Have you been watching the news?”
“I haven’t even turned on the TV.” Jason tapped his paperback. “I’ve been reading.”
“You missed a lot. The police found keys to the apartments of the victims in Cody’s house. They found a maintenance uniform and a large rolling tool box in his van, along with a ventilator and an intubation tube. They also found hidden cameras in his apartment buildings.” April leaned forward, like she was sharing a juicy piece of gossip. “The police think he watched his tenants, then picked a girl who was left alone in his preferred age group. Then he would use a key to get in, and he’d inject the girl with a paralytic, stuff her in the tool box, and wheel her out through the service elevators. Then he would intubate her and put her on a ventilator in his van.”
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