“Don’t you cops have a chain?”
She knew he had a reason for the question. “Arianna identified someone in the station as an informant. I do not know the name of the person, but I do know I can trust you with this. Everything on here will help you convict the Ciervos.” She handed him the USB drive.
“So is Arianna with you?”
“Yes sir, she is. She felt like she was in danger and that is why she left.”
He nodded and looked at her in a new light. She reminded him a lot of his ex-wife. She too was headstrong, but it was his work that drove them away. He wondered if that had been what happened between her and Owen.
“Hanson, what else would you like to share with me?”
She shrugged. “I’d personally like to know why you thought I wouldn’t figure it out.”
“Figure what out?”
Hazel smiled and shook her head. After she had spoken to Owen, she knew there were more victims and checked it out. There were other murders out on Staten Island that fitted the modus operandi of The Slitter. “You should already know.”
As Hazel walked out of the office, she closed the door and continued towards her desk.
She had asked one of the rookies to dig out details of the Staten Island murders. This was waiting on her desk. Upon studying the details, she realized that there were five other murders that fit with the current ones. Now she was going to blow this case out of the water.
Chapter 8
Back at home now and in her pajamas, she felt relaxed. She was poring over the new files when Arianna walked into the living room with a cup of coffee. “Are these the other women that he killed?”
“It appears to be that way,” she said as she began biting the end of her pen. “Could you tell me more about this guy?”
She shrugged. “I know he has a son named Thomas. His girlfriend didn’t like him all that much. I never met her, but I do know she had a hard life. Her name was Alyssa.”
The very first murder they found was a Jane Doe. No one was ever able to identify her, but the torture was so severe that they wouldn’t have been able to. After that, it was a couple ... a girl named Stephanie Locke and her boyfriend Troy Wilkes. Both had been brutally murdered, and it was the only time a couple had been murdered together.
Reading through the file, she wondered if Troy was supposed to be with her that day. Unsure of it all, she continued reading through the other cases. The brutality of the murders had been extremely harsh, but not nearly as bad as the original three.
“Arianna, you went to Dr. Mathis, didn’t you?”
She nodded. “She was the best doctor. Every time I had an injury, I knew I could go to her.”
“Did anyone ever go with you?”
“No, I was always alone. Why?”
“These women,” she said pointing to the three victims, “went to her office as well. They were all murdered.”
Arianna shook her head. “I know nothing about that. I just went there to get help with my injuries – though it is possible my father had me followed.”
Hazel sensed she could trust Arianna. “Is there anything else you could tell me about this man named Ray?”
“My father took him in when he was a teenager and raised him as family. I steered clear of him and was always attempting to be invisible. I never wanted to be part of this family.”
“I need you to promise me something right now,” Hazel said looking into her eyes. “You must promise me that you are going to Atlanta.”
“Of course I will promise you that. I trust your judgment call and I’ll do what I have to in order to protect my baby.”
“Okay,” Hazel said, smiling warmly. “We should be getting some sleep.”
Hazel let Arianna sleep in her bed because she knew from experience that the futon was uncomfortable. When Arianna looked comfortable, Hazel returned to the living room and poured another cup of coffee. She needed to talk to Stephanie Locke’s mother. She wondered why the first three murders were so brutal and her mind immediately drew the conclusion that they had been personal. The others were probably just random targets.
Taking another sip, she heard someone knock on her door. She looked through the peephole to see Owen who appeared to be very angry. Behind him was the real=life version of Barbie and she too looked annoyed.
“Is she with you?” he said as she opened the door.
“Is who with me?”
“Arianna,” said Owen. “Look, I don’t know what the hell is going through your mind right now. She is supposed to be in our custody.”
“Then why isn’t she?”
Owen was silent for a moment as he stared into her eyes. He tried to find any indication that she was lying, but found none. “Maybe instead of always accusing me of doing something,” Hazel said curtly, “you should actually get the facts. Now you can go ahead and leave.”
Barbie threw a nasty look at her. Hazel disliked her. She seemed like a slut, and she wasn’t just saying that because she was on Owen’s arm but because she truly seemed classless.
Hazel closed the door, blocking them out. Anger overwhelmed all her senses, but it passed quickly. If she had been better at her job then he wouldn’t be here. She wanted him to leave and never come back. The feelings she’d buried so long were screaming loud and clear. Owen was always going to be a constant reminder of what could have been.
§
Owen wanted to tell Hazel why he was so frustrated. They had gone to the factory and had shot and killed several people. Nate wasn’t there, to their knowledge. He didn’t even know if he had it in him to tell Hazel about it. He knew she was hiding Arianna, but the only reason he had showed up was because of Bianca Braggs. She was always attempting to get others in trouble, and he was not going to let that happen to Hazel for protecting someone.
When they got to the car, Braggs spoke. “Why weren’t you more firm with her? You could’ve gone inside.”
“I know Hazel,” he said firmly. “I know when she is lying to me.”
“It has been five years. You need to stop feeling the way you do towards her. If you ever want to be with someone else, you are going to have to ditch those feelings and move on.”
Owen had attempted to start a relationship with Braggs but it had ended badly. His loyalties were still with Hazel. Despite how she acted, she was still important to him. He would always love her, regardless of anything that had happened. She had been his first love.
Owen knew they had to go and speak with Brooks now. He wondered what he would say after he knew that Arianna was gone. He wondered how furious he would become. Owen didn’t want to be there when he turned into a monster.
Several minutes later, they arrived at the station and walked inside. Brooks was reading something. He gestured for them to come inside. “You already heard about what happened at the factory,” Owen stated.
Brooks looked up and nodded. “You know that we will find Nate. That is crucial now.”
“Why?” demanded Braggs. “What could an undercover cop offer us?”
Owen wanted to say something – an undercover cop could offer them everything they needed to put the criminals away. “He hid evidence in Hanson’s apartment and she brought it to me. I’ve been looking at everything and having Nate there to testify will be crucial. Almost as crucial as having Arianna there.”
“We don’t have the girl.”
They both waited for Brooks to blow up, but he didn’t. Owen thought Brooks knew more than he was telling them. “I am sure she knows what she is doing.”
Braggs looked surprised immediately and she shook her head. “You don’t understand,” she began to say.
“I do understand, Braggs. I understand that she was your responsibility, but she disappeared. Women with fire in their heart will always do the right thing. Now if you don’t mind, I need to speak with Jones alone.”
She left reluctantly. Owen stood there waiting for him to explain. “You
went to Hanson’s apartment before coming here. You didn’t tell her though, did you?”
“No. She needs her head in this and can’t know how bad Nate is going to be when we find him.”
“Something tragic happened between the two of you. Do you mind telling me what it was?”
“What makes you say that?”
“You obviously still have feelings for her and she has feelings for you, but you two are no longer together. It makes one wonder what occurred. It’s not mentioned in any file. I need to know if her being here is going to affect your work.”
“Why would it?”
“Because,” he began as he leaned back in his chair, “A woman you care for puts her life in danger on a daily basis. What will happen to your mental state if something happens to her?”
“Sir, I can assure you that I will remain just as cold as I am now.”
He nodded. “You are free to go now. And Jones, you should know that tomorrow we are going on a hunt. I want you and Strider to work together.”
“Yes sir,” he said as he turned away and left.
The station was bare. He felt tired and ready to turn in for the night. He knew tomorrow could be even longer than today.
§
Hazel heard Arianna wake up. She watched as the sunlight began trickling through the blinds and yawned. She hadn’t realized how long she had stayed awake. She’d forgotten her kitchen clock showed the wrong time. She’d been out of replacement batteries for it for months.
Arianna walked into the room, rubbing sleep from her eyes. “Were you up all night?”
“Yeah, I stayed awake. Cases like this can make it difficult to sleep. I just want to make sure that I know everything. I don’t need any loose ends.”
“Have you ever killed anyone?”
Hazel nodded. “It still haunts me, but I had no other option. He was a high risk. If he didn’t die, he would’ve killed other people.” Memories came back to her, but she pushed them away. She had killed him the year she became a cop.
“I know my family kills a lot of people,” said Arianna. “But I never said anything to anyone about it.”
“Why would you? You were probably afraid of them.”
“Yes, but wasn’t hiding in the shadows just as cowardly?”
“No. You did what you felt you had to in order to survive and now you have to worry about your baby.”
“I am speaking out because I don’t want my baby to grow up learning how to be a killer.”
She was not sure that warranted a response. “I have some money that you can use. It should be able to last you for a month or so. By then this case should be over.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
After Arianna got ready, she gave her the car keys, wad of money and directions to the Atlanta house. She had been saving money for the past year for emergencies ˗ roughly seven grand - of which she gave Arianna a few thousand.
Walking downstairs with Arianna, she made sure nothing looked amiss. She watched as Arianna drove away. She was unsure how safe Arianna truly was, but leaving the state was the only thing she could think of that could help her.
Heading back upstairs, she began reading some more files. But she needed to wake up and thought a cold shower might help. After she finished and was drying off, she heard a knock on her door. She wrapped the towel around her and headed for the living room. She saw Owen standing there alone and opened the door for him. He looked exhausted.
“I can always come back,” he said, seeing her half naked. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you.” He had coffee in his hands and something else.
“It’s fine,” she said showing him into her apartment. “I just need to put on some clothes. I’ll be right out.”
When she realized he’d spotted the papers on her coffee table, she mentally slapped herself on the forehead. She hadn’t been ready for him to know she was wise to the other cases. Owen glanced at her and just shrugged. “I knew you’d find these,” he said as he sat down. “What are your thoughts?”
“That the first three were personal. Owen, why are you here exactly? Are you trying to get information out of me?”
“No, I am attempting to have a normal conversation with you. I guess that is too hard to ask.”
“No, it isn’t that. I am just annoyed with you. As of lately, you are a stranger to me on top of which this is weird for me.” She changed the subject quickly. “This place is a mess,” she said, looking at all the paperwork taking up her living room.
“You should see my place. You’d have to go in there with a shovel just to walk around.”
She smiled and walked back to her room. Getting dressed, her mind was going a million miles an hour. She tucked her shirt into her pants and walked back out. Owen was looking at her shelves.
“You still have these pictures?”
“Why would I take them down?”
He was silent and knew why he was thinking like that. “Owen, despite everything, I still love you. I am not going to deny that to myself or anyone that we had something.”
“Why did you push me away?”
“You know that answer,” she said firmly. “Why didn’t you fight to stay?”
“I thought that if I fought, it would ruin us forever. You were so angry and so sad, I didn’t know how to go ahead and get past it. I didn’t know what to do.”
He got up and walked towards her, tilting her chin up when he reached her. She felt as his finger made its way down her neck to the chain that held the ring he’d given her years ago. “You have never been with anyone since then, have you?”
“No. I know you have though, with Barbie.”
Chuckling, he finally was serious once more. “I can’t deny that, but you should know that it was nothing – it was just something to fill my emptiness.”
She nodded and she pushed him away lightly. She was not going to get involved with him. Not now. She knew it would be very difficult to be part of this. “Owen, we can’t do this.”
He nodded. “Well, I brought you some food and I’ll be heading out. I’m going to be working with one of the other guys in my unit. There are a few things we need to do.”
“Make sure you bring Nate home safely.”
“I will, and that is a promise I won’t break.”
She watched him as he left. Emptiness swelled inside her chest. She knew that she could not have him, and that was probably a good thing. She was not the type of woman to settle down and have a family. Having her own family would be distracting, plus why would she want to bring a child into this crazy world?
Looking in the bag Owen brought, she saw two doughnuts. He still remembered which kind she favored. Nibbling on her food, she was worried about everything that was happening. She had been the reason Nate escaped, and despite him leaving, she still should have done something to protect him. She knew that the raid on the factory had not been successful. The criminals were a step ahead of them and now she was wondering who the person was behind all of it. She disliked being in the dark and the moment that she exposed the person responsible she was going to bring him down.
Chapter 9
At the station, she saw her stepfather in his office having a heated discussion with Reese Losito. He was one of the men who had helped orchestrate the undercover operation that Nate was part of. Losito was one of those men who knew he was good at his job, but he was modest about it. No one really knew that much about him, but then again it was probably for a reason. People who have seen the worst that the job has to offer tend to keep away from others.
Hazel knocked on her stepfather’s door. Thankfully, the argument between both men had ended and her stepfather let her inside. He seemed to be extremely upset and she wondered what was going on. “Did anyone tell you what happened out at the factory?”
“No. I know they didn’t find Nate, but that was all.”
“I need you off this case, Hazel.”
“Why?”
“Losito brought this in,” he said slapping pictures on his desk. “These are pictures of you. We were also sent pictures of Jacob and Percy. If we don’t back off, they will get you too.”
Hazel paused for a moment and a question came to mind. “What did they leave behind?”
“How did you get to that conclusion?”
“You are terrible at hiding things from me. Plus they had to leave something that would make you want me to back down. What are they doing to Nate that is so terrifying that we have to back off all of a sudden?”
“They ...” he began but stopped. She knew he wasn’t able to say anything. She felt tears begin to form and knew she couldn’t cry but wanted to so badly.
“They cut off three of his fingers. We were informed that he was still alive when they cut them off. Hazel, you look like you haven’t slept. Please go home and get some sleep.”
“I won’t rest until I make them all suffer.”
“You need sleep. There is nothing else you can do today as it is.”
“There are hundreds of things I could do right now.”
“And sleeping is on the top of that list,” he said firmly. “You are going to our house and your mother is going to take care of you. She will make sure you’re okay.”
She rolled her eyes. Her mother was good at making sure people were okay. She was good at getting them to feel better and to sleep, but it wasn’t fair that he was making her mother watch her. She was twenty-five and could take care of herself.
§
In the darkness, Nate was in pain. His hand was throbbing, but the bleeding had finally ceased. He knew something was going on, something big, because it was putting all of them on edge. He wondered how close they were to finding him yesterday. He wondered if he would be able to walk away from this and see a tomorrow that included his family. Cecily walked into the room.
Family Ties Mystery Series Box Set Page 50
