“How would the Italians know who they are?”
“Well,” he said simply, “there is someone in Bloodstone, or maybe even higher up who is working with the Italians. As to who it is, I wouldn’t know. But that is why we are here. When Nate was sent in, he had no idea what was going on because a lot of people don’t know, period. The Italians are very angry people and that is why we came in.”
“What are you then?”
“We are called Sweepers. We take out any threat before it can escalate. The reason we said we wanted to help with The Slitter case was because we know that this guy is with the Italians. As to who he is, we have no idea. We do know, though, that he is associated with them.”
“How would you know something like that?”
“There are other unsolved cases like this one. They are all of men though – not women, but he has been killing for a good 13 years. All of these cases are on the east coast and the only way they are connected is by how they die and the torture they endure before they are killed.”
“How come Brooks doesn’t want us knowing about any of this?”
“There are several reasons. The biggest reason is because very few people know about us – you know? The only people who are meant to know about this type of stuff are the people who are asked to join. The reason they made an article of my death is so no one would go looking for me. They didn’t change anything about me personally. Brooks realizes now that he should have, but he is using this as his way to gain your trust.”
“Is that the only reason he has you here?”
“Yes. Don’t take this information and go telling the world. I only told you because you deserve to know the answers.”
The rest of the car ride was in silence. Hazel was beginning to wonder what else was happening in the world that no one knew about. She disliked being left in the dark and being blind to things. Everyone deserves to know the truth. People deserve that much.
As they drove through the city, she looked in the side view mirror and noticed a truck that appeared to be following them. Something set off an alarm in her head but she shook off that feeling. She was sure it was nothing. She was just paranoid and everything was fine. A ton of people drove navy blue trucks. Part of her wanted to express concern, but she decided it was best to keep her mouth shut.
Twenty minutes later, they were at Keith William’s building. He had switched to a different apartment shortly after the investigation started. He had been the one to call the police when he found Ella Summer’s body – victim number three. He was emotionally distressed and went into a panic attack. Initially, he was a suspect because Ella had broken off her relationship with him. He’d gone to get the last of his belongings when he found her body. Ella Summers had been several weeks pregnant when she was killed.
His building was similar to hers in the respect that it was old and smelled bad. They went up to his floor and knocked on the door. He seemed surprised to see them when he opened the door. “Detective Hanson,” he said, allowing her inside. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Do you work with Dr. Mathis?” she asked.
“No. I work with Dr. Osborne but he works in the same office. I started working with them in May of last year. What is going on?”
She pulled out a photograph of Morgan. “Do you recognize her?”
“Yes. She and her sister were always in the office until a few months ago. What’s happened to them?”
“Morgan,” she said pointing to the photo, “was murdered. Kelly interrupted and was attacked. They are both Dr. Mathis’ daughters. The other women were also patients at the office. Can you think of anyone who works there that would want to hurt these women?”
He shook his head. “There are only a few men working there, but none of them would want to hurt these women. But, there is a girl named Arianna. She looks a lot like these girls. She goes to the office and she sees Dr. Mathis often. She is always bruised up like she’s getting beaten.”
“Do you know her last name?”
“It begins with a “C” but I don’t know.”
“Thank you,” Hazel said quickly and left. She knew she had to go down to Dr. Mathis’ office.
“Where do you think you’re going now?”
“To go talk to Dr. Mathis and see who this Arianna girl is. She could be in danger.”
Owen gently pushed her against the wall. “Arianna Ciervo is the danger.”
Chapter 6
At the office, Hazel saw her mother speaking with Percy. She seemed aggravated and Hazel knew she was attempting to get information. Her mother was smart and stubborn. She could get anything she wanted.
Hazel walked towards them. “Could you please tell me what is going on?” her mother said to her. “Your brother said he cannot tell me.”
“I am not at liberty to tell you either, Mom. This is something only Dad can tell.”
“Does this have to do with Nate?”
Their silence told the answer. They watched as their mother began sobbing and shook her head. “Is he okay?”
Again the silence told her everything she needed to know. She sat down and began crying more. There was very little that they could do. Brooks appeared and looked livid. She wondered what had happened to make him look even more of an ass.
“Hanson and Jones, I want you in my office right now!”
Hazel followed his orders but could not respect this man. Regardless of anything he had ever gone through, people like him were the reason women worked their asses off so they could prove they can do anything a man could.
He paced around angrily before he finally spoke. “We have a woman here and she wants to speak only to Hanson. She claims she knows Nate.”
“Then let me talk to her.”
“It could be a ruse.”
“No,” she growled. “This is not a ruse. If one of their own came in here, they won’t be using a ruse. Let me talk to her.”
He shook his head. “You aren’t trained to handle this situation.”
“Then why are you telling me this ... to rub it in my face? This is my family, not yours. I will do anything and everything it takes to ensure they are safe.”
“Don’t screw this up then,” he said, leaving.
She was escorted to a room and opened the door. Sitting there was a gorgeous young woman. She was badly bruised and her nose appeared to have been broken on several different occasions. “I am Detective Hazel Hanson,” she said. “Who are you?”
“Arianna Ciervo. I am here to tell you where your brother is.”
“Why would a Ciervo come forward?”
“If you knew what they did to me, you’d step forward as well. I will also testify against my family.”
Hazel sat down, looking at her in wonder. She finally understood all of it. What was the only reason a woman would finally step forward and put her family away? “How far along are you?”
“Four months,” she said. “You already know who the father is.”
Hazel was silent for a long while. This woman was carrying her brother’s child. “Where is my brother?”
“He is over near the waterfront. It used to be an old factory but it shut down a while ago. It is very large, but I cannot tell you what area exactly. I do know that it is heavily guarded with roughly thirty people. If you want your brother, you will have to kill a lot of people to get to him. You should go tonight. My father and brother are there now.”
Hazel walked to the door. A question went through her head and she finally asked, “Who is the man killing all of these people?”
“He is a man everyone calls Ray, but I don’t know the rest of his name.”
As Hazel walked out, Owen was standing there. Brooks was speaking to him. “You know what you’re doing. Go and bring him back home. Hanson, you go home.”
“I want Arianna to come with me. She’ll be safe in my custody.”
“She is actually going with me,” a young woman said. She had silky b
lond hair and wore a tight shirt. She spoke with a southern accent. Hazel saw the way Owen looked at her. “I’m Detective Braggs.”
“Why should she go with you instead of me?”
“I am trained to take care of people like her,” she said simply.
Hazel rolled her eyes. She hated these people and how they crossed the line to do whatever they deemed right. “Look, I know you think you’re more ‘qualified’ than I am, but I have been working in this station since I was twenty. I know this city better than you. If anyone should be protecting her, it is me.”
“You are too invested,” Braggs said.
“Damn straight I am invested. She is the key to putting everything away neatly. You know his nickname now so how about you go find him and I protect her. I will do it better than anyone else because she is carrying my future niece or nephew.”
Braggs was silent a moment, then said: “You aren’t trained to handle this.”
Hazel went to lash out but Owen caught her. “Get her out of here and Brooks, take her to a safe place.”
Owen dragged Hazel out of the room and gave her a look of disapproval. “You need to keep your head on. You can’t act like a three-year old.”
“I am so sorry,” she said cynically. “But I am not going to be written off because I don’t have the skills to protect her. You know better than anyone that I will protect the people closest to me.”
“That isn’t important.”
“You know what?” she began. “I should be able to pick who my true friends are and you don’t make the cut. You should stand up for me, but you don’t. You back down when Barbie is there.”
“Don’t talk about her like that.”
Hazel shook her head. She felt frustrated not knowing where else to go. She started to walk home when she heard her mother’s voice. “Hazel, where do you think you’re going?”
She didn’t want to talk to her Mom. She didn’t want to tell her anything because the moment she did, Hazel would more than likely burst into tears. She didn’t want anyone knowing what was happening in her head, but she’d have to tell her mother eventually.
Chapter 7
Looking in the mirror inside her apartment, he saw himself for what he was – a killer. It was something he had been destined to be, and now he just needed to get a feel for this new girl. Hazel Hanson, his next target, was a police officer. She was different than the other women though, slightly older and much stronger.
Looking through her drawers, he found a picture hidden there of her and a young man. He enjoyed killing these women and he wanted to finish off the other girl – Kelly Mathis. She was a fighter just like her sister, and he knew in order to get to her he would have to go back to the office and follow the mother.
Still looking around, he heard his phone ring. It was Cecily. “Arianna went to the cops. Get out of her house and we will go ahead and plan this out again. Until then, we need to get all our shit together.”
“What do you have planned?”
“You already know what I am thinking of.”
He hung up and began to leave, grinning to himself. His next target was probably still in the hospital, but she had yet to identify him. He would have thought that with a scar like his, his face would be memorable, but no one had picked up on it yet.
Shutting the door quietly, he quickly made his way out of the building and back into the streets.
§
She watched her mother fold laundry while she sat at the foot of her bed. Mom had been very persuasive getting her to come to the house. They had not spoken a word about it yet, but her mother deserved to know what was happening. Her son had gotten a mob boss’s daughter pregnant while he was undercover and now he was somewhere out there. She had no idea what was happening to him.
“Hazel,” she said carefully, “could you tell me why you and Owen broke up all those years ago?”
It was a fair question. No one really did know what happened. All they knew was that Owen packed his bags and left and afterward Hazel had disappeared for a few weeks. However, no one knew in those weeks what had happened to her, and no one ever asked. They respected her – but now was the time to tell her mother part of it.
“He and I agreed it would be better to stop being around one another. He wanted something else with his life and we just went our separate ways.”
“Was he involved with another girl?”
“No – it wasn’t because of someone else. I know it might sound silly, but I didn’t want to be with him anymore. Being around him just drove me crazy.”
Her mother sat down next to her and she nodded. “Then tell me this ... how come you were never with anyone else after the fact?”
“I don’t like talking about relationships, Mom. They sort of suck. I don’t know how you managed to do it again after Dad died.”
She smiled. “Your stepfather and I were an accident.”
“Oh yeah, right! I know you’d always had a thing for him.”
Her mother sat there with memories taking her back to those days. Hazel’s mother and father had true love, and then after his death her mother had found true love once more with his partner. It was something Hazel had thought she could find for herself, but realized she wasn’t meant to settle down and have a family. Especially with her job, having a family would just be a distraction. She saw how much it bothered her not knowing about Nate. If she was a mother and her kid was missing, she’d be a wreck.
“Will you give me grandchildren one day?”
Hazel stifled a laugh, but she knew her mother really did want grandchildren. “Let me get back to you on that one.”
“You know any man would be lucky to have you. You’re beautiful, smart and independent. But your best trait is your giant heart. I wonder if doing this is something you’re truly happy with.”
“I wouldn’t want it any other way. I bring answers to loved ones who need it and catch killers before they can hurt even more families. It will never end,” she said sadly, “but at least I’m making a dent.”
Her mother embraced her. Suddenly, she felt tired. “I am going to head home.”
“You could stay here,” her mother said wistfully. “Your room is still your room after all.”
“I know, Mom. I have a lot more things involving my case that is at my apartment.”
“Promise me you’ll get some sleep.”
“I’ll try.”
Downstairs, Percy and Paige sat on the couch, his arms wrapped tightly around her. Without disturbing her brother and his girlfriend, she walked home.
Her car was still parked outside her building. It wasn’t that far to walk to her apartment. Roughly two miles from her parents’ house. It was cold outside and she hoped her brother wasn’t freezing somewhere. Arriving at her building, she walked up to her unit to see someone standing by her front door. A gut-wrenching feeling came over her. Moving closer, she drew her gun out of its holster and then saw Arianna standing there.
“Hazel,” she said, out of breath. “I am sorry for startling you.”
“How did you know where I lived?” she asked, opening her door and letting Arianna in first.
“Nate told me how to get here if I ever needed to. I left before they took me anywhere. I saw someone in the station who is one of my brother’s informants. I don’t know his name. He could be the reason why they knew who your brother was.”
“Why are you telling me all this instead of the other officers?”
“Your brother only trusts you and the rest of your family.”
Sitting down, she gestured for Arianna to do the same. “You can disappear,” Hazel told her. “You can get out now.”
“I am not going anywhere until Nate is with me.”
“Is my brother still alive?”
She nodded. “The last time I saw him he was. That was this morning when they were moving him into another part of the factory. I know how cruel my father and brother are.”
>
Hazel watched as Arianna was about to cry. She reached out to comfort her but knew it wasn’t helping. “Arianna, I want you to leave the state,” she said slowly. “I won’t be putting you or your baby in danger. We have a house in Atlanta that my aunt left for my mother. No one knows about it.”
“Are you sure I should leave? What if I could help?”
“You already did help. Now you owe it to yourself to be safe with your baby. Once this is all over, we’ll come get you.”
Arianna pondered this for a moment before she nodded.
“Stay the night here and you can set off in the morning,” Hazel offered.
Getting up, she walked to her bedroom to get clean clothes for Arianna. “If you need to take a shower you can.”
“No thank you. I’m fine.”
Hazel knew she was not saying something, but did not push her to find out more.
Finally Arianna asked, “Did your brother give you the evidence I gave him?”
“Nooo, he was barely here five minutes. But I might know where he left it.”
Suddenly it all became clear. She went into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet grabbing her old retainer case. Opening it up, she saw a USB drive sitting in there. She smiled to herself. Nate never ceased to amaze her.
“I’m going to the station to hand this over.”
“No,” Arianna said firmly. “If you have a mole in there with you, why would you give them the one thing they want more than anything else?”
“I know someone I can trust on this,” she said. “Someone who would like nothing more than to put them away.”
§
Brooks was pacing back and forth. Arianna Ciervo fell through the cracks somehow and no one knew where she was. Now he was beginning to wonder if he should even send anyone into the old factory. It could be a trap and he was not about to let anyone else die.
Finally he sat down and began massaging his temples. The door opened and Detective Hanson walked in. She seemed nervous. “What is it?”
“Nate left this in my apartment,” she said. “I found it shortly after I got home and I decided to give it to you.”
Family Ties Mystery Series Box Set Page 49
