The photo was of Charlotte, the girl in the treehouse. Taylor recognized her immediately. Charlotte was the same age in the photo as when Taylor had last seen her. Just an ordinary picture. Probably taken by professionals at school. But how did it come to be on Ms. Redcroft’s phone? And how did she know to show it to Taylor?
“So,” Ms. Redcroft said as Taylor scrambled back to her stool. “You do recognize her.”
Taylor had trouble looking away from it. It was all coming back now.
All those long-lost memories.
Some of which, she wasn’t even sure were real…
Ms. Redcroft plucked the phone out of her fingers.
Taylor stared at her. “How did you –? Who are –?”
“Hold that thought,” Ms. Redcroft said with an outstretched finger. She took the phone call. “David. Hello. I’m glad you called back. Listen we have to reschedule your appointment…”
Taylor turned away from the bar. She suddenly felt queasy.
Her eyes scanned for the restroom, which she found at the far end. She stumbled off down towards it, Ms. Redcroft’s eccentric tone of voice fading into the background.
Taylor was going over it.
How many people she’d told about Charlotte. There couldn’t have been many.
And yet somehow. Some way she couldn’t think of.
That afternoon in the reserve had come back to bite her.
The past was not a simulation. It wasn’t a dream made up. It was as real as the present moment is real now. No matter how much had been erased. Those days, hours, minutes – they all existed.
And they would be accounted for.
Vmmm. Vmmm. Vmmmm…
Now Taylor’s own phone was vibrating. She removed it from her pocket upon reaching the counter and sink. Putting it to her ear, half looking in the mirror…
“Hello?”
“Taylor. Is now a bad time?’”
“Captain McGuiness,” Taylor exhaled.
“I’m aware you tried to get in touch earlier. About the psychologist I sent over. Perhaps that was a little forward of me, not asking you first.”
Taylor clutched the phone. “She said she knew your ex-husband…?”
“Oh yes, for a number of years. She’s highly recommended. I’ve put plenty of other people through her before as well. They all have great feedback. But whether or not you use her, is up to you of course…”
Taylor fell silent. She couldn’t put into words what she was dealing with.
“Can I call you back, Rose?” she asked.
“Actually there’s something I need to speak to you about. It’s rather urgent.”
“Oh.”
“We had a rather nasty triple homicide come through this morning. A father and his two children murdered in their home. The mother survived.”
“That’s horrible.”
“Well, yes. The perpetrator was a stone cold psychopath, no doubt. Put everyone down like animals. The crime scene prints are a total nightmare to look at. Really sick stuff.”
“Alright. Do you … do you need my help or something with this…?”
“What? Oh God no. You’re in recovery. Or – I mean –”
“The opposite of recovery, more like.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get you back in soon. I’m doing the best I can.”
“I know. I trust you.”
“Well, thank you.”
“So what is it?”
“What is what?”
“What do you have to tell me?”
A pause. “Right. Now … don’t take this wrong way or anything. But, well this crime scene is related to you.”
“How so?”
“Well, we ran the address, just to see if it pinged anywhere.”
“And?”
“It came up as a listed past address for you. You lived there from your birth in 1983, till 1996. So I guess you were thirteen when you left.”
Taylor closed her eyes. “Is that all?”
“Yes, I’m sorry for bothering you. It is just a precautionary measure after all.”
“What is?”
“Well. Acting under the assumption that the killer was really looking for you or your family – seems a bit farfetched since you haven’t been there in so long.”
Taylor exhaled. She opened her eyes. “I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.”
“Of course. After all … you don’t know anyone obsessed with spiders, do you?”
Taylor glanced in the mirror.
“Hello? Taylor…? Are you there…?”
Taylor wiped her forehead.
The sweat stuck to her fingers.
“I’ll call you back,” she whispered and hung up.
CHAPTER 8
Bad news was waiting for Dwayne Ross when he got into the city. The meeting had been scheduled for eleven am and here was Dwayne, coming in at a quarter to one in the afternoon like he didn’t care in the slightest. Although he was aware there were supposed to be some heavy hitters in the room, Dwayne considered his presence as a mere formality. He had work and he had responsibilities. No doubt the meeting would have gone into lunch but things should have wrapped by now. Unable to locate Darper elsewhere, Dwayne went in search of the meeting room to see if he was still around.
Scott Darper was not in the room.
However, C.I.D. Directors Laura Kent and Matthew Feirstein were present, along with the state Commissioner, his deputy and a couple of outer branch Special Agents.
The Mayor was there too.
“Special Agent Ross,” Laura Kent announced from the head of the table. “So good of you to join us.”
Dwayne swaggered his way into the room.
All eyes were on him.
“I’m not interrupting,” he mumbled.
“We were waiting for you,” Matthew Feirstein answered. “Do you know where Max Cruther is?”
Dwayne hesitated. “Haven’t seen him today.”
Kent lent over Feirstein’s ear and whispered something.
The Deputy Commissioner passed a folder across to Kent. She opened it in silence, before closing it and placing it on the conference table.
She gave it a quick push to slide it down towards Dwayne.
He glanced at it. “What’s that?”
“Open it,” Kent said.
Dwayne inhaled sharply. He put his thumb underneath the folder’s lid and flipped it over.
“Do you have a pen?” the Commissioner asked him.
Dwayne’s gaze went from him back to the paper.
It was a letter of resignation.
“What is this a fucking joke?”
“No, it’s not a joke and you will sign that paper,” Feirstein said quickly.
The Commissioner handed Kent a pen, and she rolled it down towards the folder.
Dwayne put his hand on the table to stop it from falling. Then he pushed the pen and folder aside. “I’m not signing that.”
“Sign that document and you’ll get half of next year’s salary as well as what’s left of this one,” Kent said. “Otherwise you get nothing. You’ll be dismissed for gross misconduct.”
“Gross misconduct?”
“Yes.”
Dwayne smiled. “What is this horseshit?”
“Your reign in this division is coming to a close,” the Commissioner said rising from his chair. “We’ve had it with you. Chastising witnesses. Shaking down motorists. Intimidating suspects.”
“If someone has a problem with me, they can go to their local fucking council and complain –”
“Which is what they have done,” the Commissioner interrupted. “The Mayor’s got a petition against you with over ten thousand signatures.”
Dwayne stared at them. “Where?”
“Well, you have to go online if you want to –”
“Look, this is ridiculous,” Feirstein butted in. “We don’t have to give you a reason, Ross. You’ll do as you’re told. You know how the game works. You just bent the rules one too
many times.”
Dwayne had to take a moment.
Look away from the table.
Look away from that letter.
The rage was coming on and now wasn’t the time for it.
“You can’t get rid of me,” Dwayne said. “You need me.”
“Need you for what?” Kent asked.
“I’m right in the middle of cracking the Spider Jack case.”
“No, we’ve got Darper working that.”
“Darper – Darper is my partner! That’s our case.”
“Once your termination is completed you will be handing over all cases to Special Agent Darper,” Kent stated. “We feel he’s more than qualified to account for your load.”
“Aargh! Bullshit!” Dwayne shouted.
He stormed out of the room.
Halfway down the corridor, Laura Kent caught up with him.
“You had to have known this day was coming,” she pressed him. “Just sign the deal and you won’t have to worry about anyone pressing charges. The state will get behind you. But if you want to carry on with this song and dance, then we can’t help you.”
“You don’t understand,” Dwayne snapped. “Darper isn’t qualified to handle these cases on his own. Especially not Spider Jack! He’s my guy. I know what’s in his head. I know how he thinks. I’ll have him behind bars before sundown.”
“Before sundown?”
“Yes.” Dwayne breathed in heavily. “Most definitely.”
A pause. “Alright,” Kent conceded. “You get me a reasonable suspect we can put away for this Spider Jack stuff and I’ll see if we can prolong your employment for a little longer.”
“A little?”
“Just make sure you get the right guy this time,” Kent said. “You understand?”
Dwayne swallowed. “Yep. Clear as crystal.”
CHAPTER 9
Special Agent Scott Darper was in a meeting downstairs with a team of five that had been put together to work with him on the Spider Jack case, when Dwayne Ross stormed through the door.
“Darper. A word,” Ross barked and then swung back round into the hallway.
Darper remained emotionless in front of his colleagues. “I’ll just see what he wants.”
Darper walk through the room and out the door into the hall.
Ross pulled it shut for him.
“So I was just upstairs with Kent and Feirstein,” Ross explained, “and apparently you’re going to be taking over all my cases as per my termination. Were you aware of this?”
“They notified me during the meeting. You were supposed to be there to speak your case.”
“Funny, because I thought it was just a standard debriefing. You know the ones I don’t usually turn up for.”
“I would have called you after,” Darper said. “But I didn’t want any backlash. You know.”
Ross stared at him. “You wouldn’t try to undermine me, would you? Scott?”
“How long we known each other?”
Ross nodded. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “I have until six o’clock tonight to solve this Jack the Spider thing. Otherwise I really will lose my job.”
“You didn’t sign it?”
Ross winced. “No.”
A pause. “Good.”
“That’s all you have to say?”
Darper cleared his throat. “Alright. Don’t bring me into your bullshit, okay? I’m trying to toe the line here.”
“Oh you are, are you?”
“As a matter of fact I am.”
“Well, good for you.” Ross bit his lip. “You know there was a time when partners used to stick up for one another.”
“Which is what I would’ve done if you were at the meeting.”
“Sure.”
“So what’s next?”
“What’s next?” Ross echoed.
“Are you coming in? Are we going to work this thing together?”
Ross shrugged. “Do you need my help?”
Darper pushed open the door. “After you.”
Ross was nodding. “No. No… I don’t think so.”
“Look, you’re overreacting –”
Ross grabbed Darper by the collar and shoved him against the wall. “Am I? Overreacting? Really?”
“I’m your friend,” Darper said. “Are you that stupid you’re gonna burn it with me?”
A couple of agents poked their heads out.
Ross looked away.
“Let go of him,” one ordered. “Let him go.”
Ross released Darper.
Darper exhaled and readjusted his tie.
“You’ve got a long way to go,” Ross said. “To work your way back with me.”
“Okay,” Darper muttered.
“If you find anything on Spider Jack, if you bust this case open – I’m the first call you make. Me. Not the Directors or the Commissioner or –”
“Okay, I got it.”
Ross turned and walked away.
Darper’s eyes darted around after him. “Where are you going?”
“There’s something I gotta do,” Ross called back.
CHAPTER 10
Ten past one and Taylor already had a bottle of vodka sitting in the car with her. She hadn’t opened it yet. She’d just placed it in the centre, so it was there, if she needed it.
Her drinking started the same week Sal died. Sal had always been a bad drinker – everyone in the department knew about his condition. Somehow he got away with it though. Maybe because he was older. And a man. And he’d been doing it ever since he got there. Taylor hadn’t been much of a drinker herself, but now she was staring down the same road as him.
There was no love in her life.
No friends.
No one who truly cared about what she’d been going through these past weeks. She couldn’t talk to people. She couldn’t open up. All she knew was how to make that brave face. Grit her teeth. Show no weakness. Taylor felt if she didn’t force it upon herself then the cracks would start to appear. She’d start to break.
Like she was breaking now.
That girl on Ms. Redcroft’s phone. The killing with the spiders. It had hit a nerve. Taylor had to get a hold of herself, pull herself back in – not be blinded by the bleeding of her heart. She knew why it was all happening. She knew why it was happening today, this moment. No one else could see it yet – because it wasn’t meant for anyone but her.
And now Taylor needed someone’s help.
She got out of the car and walked across the undercover parking garage looking for the green exit. Rose McGuiness was arriving at the same time she was. They both landed in the same spot together, their eyes facing forward. Looking. But also looking away.
“This had better be good, Shandling,” McGuiness stated on approach. “My plate is full this afternoon.”
Taylor nodded. “I know.” She motioned to the wall by the mall’s entrance. “Can we go over there?”
McGuiness shrugged and followed her there.
Taylor stopped.
Turned around.
“Thanks for coming. I didn’t want anyone else to hear this, so here we are.”
“Get on with it then.”
Taylor smiled. She put her hands together. “Something’s happened. A little earlier. Concerning that psychologist you sent after me.”
McGuinness remained silent.
“She was reached out to. By who I’m not exactly sure. But she had a photo on her phone. A very, disturbing photo.”
“You were going through her phone?”
“She showed it to me. It was of a girl who went missing in 1993. A girl I knew. Briefly.”
“And?”
“It is my belief that the person who shared the information that I knew this girl is the same one behind the attack at my house this morning.”
“What attack?”
“What … My old house. Where I grew up. You phoned me about it…”
“Right, right, right…” McGuinness considered. “T
he guy with the spiders. Jack the Spider.”
“I’m not sure the person who committed these murders last night is the same killer as the one from the old cases. It might be … I haven’t looked that far yet… It’s just…”
“What?”
“This whole thing is about sending me a message.”
“You’re saying the girl who disappeared in ’93 is connected with last night’s homicide?”
Taylor nodded. “You see … it was Nadine who gave the girl’s name up. Nadine who told them that I was the person to ask what had happened to her.”
“Nadine? I’m not following you.”
“It’s what she was trying to tell me that night after the funeral. She’s not the only one involved in her misdeeds. There’s some type of serial killing … child abducting network in play here.”
“And whoever went to your old house last night…”
“Was there because Nadine sent them.”
CHAPTER 11
Erin Leeds was still in the bathroom on the third floor, five minutes before her interview with the C.I.D. chiefs. She was wearing a dark purple one-piece suit with large black buttons. She had shoulder length orange-red, dyed hair. Heavy foundation. Porcelain skin. Pink lipstick.
But her hands were shaking.
With six seconds to spare, she entered the room with the long table and the bureaucrats sitting at the top of it, holding all the keys to her future. She did her best to keep her posture straight, her eyes wide, and her expression mild.
“Gentlemen,” Laura Kent announced. “This is Agent Erin Leeds. Her current office is in the south east, but we’re looking to bring her in here.”
Erin smiled nervously. “Do I shake hands with anyone?”
“You can shake hands with me, dear,” an older man said rising from his chair.
Erin hurried over to him. “It’s lovely to meet you.”
“Commissioner Rhodes,” he said shaking her hand. “But you can call me Howard.”
“Okay. Howard.”
Laura Kent shot her a cynical glance.
Erin meekly withdrew and skipped back round to her side of the table.
“As I was just saying,” Kent continued. “We don’t want to waste any time by getting you settled into an office. You’ll be expected to conduct your business without a work station. We’re going to assign you to one of the…”
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