Cry For Help

by Clara Lewis

  Cry For Help

  There Is No Escape

  by Clara Lewis

  Copyright © 2021 Clara Lewis – All rights Reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of the trademarks is not authorized, associated with or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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  Description

  The small town of Beaumont is idyllic and the perfect holiday destination. However, the town hides a dark secret.

  In a span of a few decades, a series of murders happened. Not only has it terrified the residents who were proud residents of the town, but it has affected the number of tourists that want to visit the town.

  Girls, with their ages ranging from 13 to 16 have been disappearing and showing up dead. Unfortunately, the police and the residents are unable to find who has been killing their girls. They have all but given up.

  Until Evelynn Prescott is called in. Evelynn is a private investigator who is called in to solve the case as part of a grieving grandmother’s dying wish. Her granddaughter was the most recent case.

  Now she must race against time to complete this case before her client dies and before the killer strikes again.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 1

  Something was incessantly dripping.

  With irritation, Evelynn got up from what seemed to be a cold, hard floor. She stared at the damp surface in bewilderment.

  Where was she? How did she get here?

  Everything was dark but after her eyes had gotten used to her surroundings, Evelynn looked around. She was most likely in a basement. While most basements were fitted to be entertainment rooms, and were, to a certain degree comfortable, this place seemed more like a dungeon from the middle ages.

  She sighed and braced her hands on the floor to pull herself up. As she stood, she found herself stumbling. Something wet dripped down her brow and into her eye. It was probably from that leaky pipe that she kept hearing. Irritated, she brought her hand up and wiped the liquid away.

  As her hand touched her brow, she hissed in pain. Evelynn frowned and winced as another jolt of pain ran through her. Again, and more gently, she traced her brow. Sure enough, a short but rather deep gash was there. She brought her hand up, close to her face, and gasped as she recognized the dark red color of blood.

  At first, she had thought that someone had played some sort of prank to get a reaction from her. She wasn’t the most sociable at work and it had caused others to think that she was cold and distant. She couldn’t remember anything from the night before. Because of that, Evelynn assumed that she must have gone out on one of those work dinners and had too many drinks.

  This was something else.

  Fear settled in her stomach and she felt sick. Evelynn’s breaths started to come in short, rapid succession. To calm herself, she sat back down and leaned against the wall. She brought her knees close to her face and leaned forward. That was when she noticed that something heavy was attached to her leg.

  “Oh no,” she said, letting out a breath.

  Evelynn knew this wasn’t good news. She refused to look and rather, slid one of her hands down her leg until she touched cold metal. Unable to believe what she felt, Evelynn opened her eyes and looked. Around her left ankle was a shackle. She saw that its chain led to the wall across the room. It was long enough for her to go around this dungeon of a basement but not long enough to reach the door.

  All hopes of escape disappeared. Defeated, Evelynn leaned back against the wall and desperately tried to focus on the faint light coming from underneath the door of the basement. She forced herself to take in deep breaths as she tried to figure out how to get herself out of this mess.

  “Come on, remember,” she told herself.

  Her voice bounced around the walls. For a long time, she was forced to deal with the blank silence in her head. She had no idea as to what could have happened the other night that led her to be shackled and injured in an unknown basement that looked like a torture chamber the more she remained in it.

  Evelynn felt tears gather at the corner of her eyes. She hated crying but, in this darkness, she hugged her knees and softly let her tears flow. Her wound still bled and she was sure that her pants would get stained, but she didn’t care. She was a private investigator. Kidnapping cases were common enough and she often had to deal with them. It was only then when she felt firsthand the fear that those children had experienced.

  It was terrifying.

  Suddenly she heard footsteps walking toward the door. Evelynn instinctively curled up as she awaited whoever it was approaching.

  “Emily!” a voice called out, “are you done with your little tantrum?”

  Evelynn had heard that voice before. She sat up straight, ignoring the pain that shot through her brow. The door opened, revealing a silhouette of a woman. Evelynn squinted and brought her hand up to block the light that seared her eyes.

  The woman spoke again.

  “When I ask a question, I expect an answer Emily.”

  Evelynn blinked twice in confusion. She wasn’t Emily.

  “I’m not Emily. Who are you?” she called out.

  The woman’s stance changed. Clearly, she wasn’t happy with Evelynn’s response.

  “I see you haven’t learned your lesson,” she said, her voice losing all warmth.

  The woman turned around and left, slamming the door behind her hard enough for Evelynn to flinch. Surrounded by darkness once again, Evelynn sighed and leaned on the wall. She closed her eyes, determined to concentrate on where she had heard that voice before.

  She was tired though. It had started to get cold and Evelynn felt disgusted when she thought of the state her clothes must be in. In an effort to stay warm, Evelynn kept her knees up and hugged her legs.

  She tried to prod her memory again. This time, instead of silence, Evelynn started to remember.

  Chapter 2

  24 hours ago:

  Evelynn got up from bed and yawned. Her phone had been ringing nonstop for the past fifteen minutes. At first, she just thought she could ignore it and hopefully the person on the other end of the line would get the hint.

  That wasn’t the case though. Whoever it was calling her, they were unyielding. As soon as her phone directed them to
voicemail, they were calling again within a few seconds.

  Evelynn sighed and answered the call.

  “Evelynn speaking,” she greeted, “how may I help you?”

  “We need your help.”

  Of course, they did. Her entire career was built on that. Evelynn looked at the clock once again and frowned slightly. It was only two in the morning. However, she couldn’t just brush them off; it wouldn’t be polite.

  Evelynn took a deep breath and got out of bed. She walked to the window and looked over the city lights.

  “I understand,” Evelynn began, “what can I do for you?”

  The woman let out a shaky breath. She sounded nervous but also relieved that Evelynn had answered the phone and that she was willing to help. Evelynn suddenly felt guilty for being as annoyed as she was when her sleep had been interrupted.

  “My daughter was murdered. I—we need your help to find her killer.”

  Evelynn shook her head as if the caller could see her. That was a job for the police, right? The woman sensed her hesitation. Before Evelynn could protest, the woman cut her off.

  “If it’s money you’re worried about, we’ll pay for the expense of getting here and anything else. The fee doesn’t matter, we can pay double if you want,” she rambled.

  “Have the police been notified?” Evelynn inquired.

  “Yes.”

  The woman’s voice had gotten quiet and Evelynn’s heart twinged. She had honestly sounded so desperate, and to hear her give up abruptly wrung Evelynn’s heart. Evelynn kept the phone to her ear as she walked away from the window.

  The woman didn’t hang up and neither did Evelynn. She placed her phone on the bed and put the caller on speakerphone. Still the woman said nothing, but Evelynn could hear a shaky breath every once in a while.

  Evelynn walked to her closet and pulled out a piece of luggage. It still had the tag on it. She started grabbing clothes and stuffed them into her luggage. After a long while, she decided that keeping the woman on the phone while she packed her things would only aggravate the woman’s anxiety.

  “I’ll do it,” Evelynn finally said.

  “Really? You’re really going to help us?”

  Her relief was apparent. Through her words, Evelynn could tell that the woman had smiled. However, Evelynn didn’t notice that she too, had smiled.

  The woman, who later introduced herself as Astrid Dunn, sent Evelynn the details she needed. Evelynn’s eyes widened as she realized just how far she would have to travel. The town was all the way across the country.

  That explained why she’d gotten those phone calls so early in the morning.

  Beaumont. Evelynn had heard a lot about this town. Walking through the town would be like stepping into a period drama. That’s what made it into such a popular tourist destination. As Evelynn looked up the town, she found another reason for why it was famous.

  Over the course of a few decades, girls had gone missing. At first, everyone was involved in the search. After all, it was a close-knit type of town where everyone knows everyone. However, over a certain period of time, people began to doubt. These girls would never be found; not alive, at least.

  And that’s what happened. After everybody had given up on looking for these girls, they showed up in various places around town. No town was perfect. Even Beaumont had abandoned, rotting buildings and sewage tunnels that ran underground. The woods surrounding the town had plenty of ditches.

  That was where they found the girls, beaten and malnourished.

  “Okay,” Evelynn said as she closed her laptop, “that’s enough for today.”

  The flight was comfortable enough, but she wasn’t prepared for the four-hour bus ride to the town. When Evelynn had arrived there, she was absolutely exhausted. As she got down, she caught her reflection in the bus windows. Embarrassed, she put her hand up to her hair and attempted to smooth it down.

  “Ms. Prescott?”

  Astrid’s voice was barely audible among the sounds of the chaos surrounding the bus station. Evelynn made her way over to Astrid. She held her hand out.

  Evelynn shook Astrid’s hand, glad to have finally met her. Astrid’s smile was warm, and anyone could clearly see that she was happy that Evelynn was finally here. However, Evelynn couldn’t ignore that this woman was just as exhausted as her, if not more. Her eyes had dark circles under them. She was losing sleep.

  “Would it be all right if we drive to the hospital first? My mother would want to meet you first.”

  Evelynn nodded. It was no problem to her. She got into her rented car and waited for Astrid to lead the way. The hospital was situated far from the center of the town. As Evelynn observed its surroundings, she understood why. It was calming to be here.

  Astrid led them across the lobby and greeted the nurse with a nod of her head. The nurse smiled at her and pointed to a door down the hallway.

  Before she could open the door, Astrid laid a hand on Evelynn’s arm.

  “My mom doesn’t have much time to live. I won’t hold it against you if you don’t find the killer.”

  Evelynn looked at her in confusion.

  “Why am I here then?”

  Astrid misunderstood her question and gave a light chuckle.

  “This isn’t some sort of prank. We—I will pay you your fee when you’re done.”

  Evelynn shook her head.

  “I don’t really care if I get paid or not. I’m just wondering why you contacted me. “

  Astrid gave her a small, sad smile but said nothing. She simply pushed the door open and beckoned Evelynn to follow.

  Sunlight gently streamed through the open windows while a light breeze stirred the curtains and brought the smell of flowers from the fields outside. By those very windows, an old woman looked out with glassy eyes.

  This must be the grandmother.

  At the sound of the door clicking closed, the old woman turned her head to the door. She smiled at Astrid but the moment her eyes landed on Evelynn, her breath caught. Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes.

  “Cassie?”

  Evelynn stood, frozen in her spot as Astrid rushed to her mother and consoled her. As Astrid explained in soft whispers that she was not Cassie but someone who was able to find who killed Cassie, Evelynn saw the old woman’s face fall. Evelynn forced herself to take a deep breath while she patted her heart. It was starting to hurt.

  She walked to the old woman’s bedside and held out her hand.

  “I’m Evelynn,” she said, “I’m here to help.”

  The old woman nodded earnestly. She reached over and grabbed a book from her nightstand table.

  “You’re not Cassie; I apologize for the mistake earlier. You can call me Lucille,” she simply said.

  Evelynn shook her head.

  “No, no, it’s all right.”

  The old woman opened the book. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a book but an album. From one corner to another it was filled with pictures of Cassie. The moment she saw Cassie’s dark hair and features, she understood. They didn’t all that much alike, but they had enough features that were similar enough to get people to look twice.

  Lucille loved to speak about Cassie, but there were moments when she would pause on a picture. Evelynn would hear a soft gasp and she’d catch Lucille’s hand start to shake. She did this most often when she encountered the pictures where Cassie would be smiling. Evelynn chose to pretend she didn’t see it.

  Astrid stood in the corner, refusing to look at the album. Instead, she looked out the window. She had accepted her daughter’s death many years ago, but that didn’t mean seeing her daughter’s face wouldn’t tear her apart. As immovable as she wanted to look, Evelynn heard a sniff every once in a while.

  Hearing Lucille speak so lovingly about Cassie caused a wayward tear to slide down her cheek. Evelynn wiped it off immediately and decided that she’d had enough. There were only three of them in the room. The nurse
s had left them alone, out of respect for their privacy. However, the tension had become so thick that it would take only one person to burst into tears before everyone would follow suit.

  Evelynn didn’t want that to happen. She abruptly stood, taking Lucille out of her nostalgia. With a fierce determination, Evelynn took Lucille’s hands in her own.

  “I will make sure Cassie gets her justice; believe me,” she said, looking straight into the old woman’s eyes.

  Lucille nodded and Evelynn let her hands go. She grabbed her bag and nodded at Astrid who looked at her with eyes full of gratitude. Lucille lay back in her bed and smiled to herself.

  The moment Evelynn reached the car, she allowed a few tears to escape. She couldn’t help it. Sure, she had worked countless cases where she had to help find a missing person or even consult on a few murder cases. It’s just that she had pushed the emotions of the victim’s family out of her head so that she was able to focus. This time, she was unable to do so, and the full force of Lucille and Astrid’s grief hit her.

  In a way, her trip to the hospital had given her a push of motivation. Evelynn headed straight to the police station.

  *****

  The police station was almost empty.

  Evelynn ignored the front desk and headed for the back. She needed to talk to someone in charge. Most police stations had more or less the same layout anyway, and even if they didn’t, they had signs everywhere. She’d get to wherever she needed and that was the chief’s office.

  A hand grabbed her arm and turned her around roughly. Panic flared up Evelynn’s spine and she began to struggle. Still, the hand held fast.

  “Let go of me!” she yelled.

  Immediately the pressure was gone. Evelynn decided to get a good look at the man just in case she ever needed to report this to the police. He was tall, and her eyes landed straight on the badge on the front left side of his uniform.