The Hunt

by J. M. Dabney

  “Oh, Mr. Shay, good to see you’re awake.” I’d heard that voice before, outside the club. “Don’t try and move, it would be pointless.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn’t. What the hell was wrong with me?

  “You’re probably a little disoriented, I imagine it’s a terrifying feeling.” The man chuckled. “Let me position you better so you’re not on your stomach and can look at me. Not making eye contact is so rude, isn’t it?” He spoke like he was sorry for inconveniencing me, but at the same time, was going to continue to do so.

  Suddenly my body was hoisted up. While I wasn’t a large man, I knew it was dead weight so this guy was obviously in good form, which only scared me more. Where was Ray?

  My head fell forward so that all I could see was the man’s shoes. The sound of plastic and the scraping of a chair echoed. The smell was oddly familiar, and I was able to move my eyes. The floor was covered in broken linoleum and gray concrete underneath. Again, the familiarity niggled at my mind.

  My body was dragged until I was laying on what looked like a blue tarp. It was in that moment I realized where I was, seeing the white fairy lights above my head and the man-made tropical leaves in Lily’s Oasis. The one place I found peace.

  “Hey,” the guy said snapping in front of my face. “I really love what you did here. Looks so peaceful. I can see why you’d bring Ray and want to make it special.”

  I followed the sound of his voice with my gaze. Did I know him? I remembered Benji and how when I saw him approach at Epiphany I wanted to tell him to go away, I didn’t want him to blow my cover.

  But he smiled at me like he knew. And it was confirmed when he leaned down and whispered words into my ear that made cold fear race through my body. “It seems you’ve been waiting for me,” Benji had whispered. “I had to get things set up so Ray, Bradford, and all the lingering cops wouldn’t follow us. Now, it’s about to get loud and wet, but there’s someone I need to take you to. So, don’t make a fuss.”

  Benji, Finn’s son? I never saw it coming. I knew he worked with his father, but it never crossed my mind Finn would be some sadistic fuck. But the man I was with now was definitely not Finn.

  In the brief moment I saw Ray’s face through the crowd I shouted his name even though I knew he saw me, it was all I could do. It was pure madness and I was yanked away and tossed in a car.

  Then a voice said, “Time to go to sleep.” A prick in the neck and now I was at my oasis, with a serial killer, no Ray, and the feeling of utter loss.

  “Allow me to introduce myself.” The man crouched in front of me. “My mom liked to call me Charlie, but I hated that. Then in school they called me Charles. I equally hated that. My middle name Barron was just as bad. So, I decided to just use C.B., and then of course, my last name Daniels.” He held his hand out to me and chuckled. “Right, no handshake.”

  C.B. Daniels. Now that was a name I knew. Ray’s ex-partner. Richie was right to watch him. We should’ve paid more attention.

  “I don’t know if Ray will find us here, but I think we have some time to play before he does.” His smile was blinding and not in the way that was charming. It was slimy, bright white, fake. He was an average looking man with brown dull hair, brown eyes, and a medium build. Absolutely nothing special. No wonder no one could remember seeing him. There was nothing that stood out about him.

  I watched helplessly as he brought over the black doctor’s bag I remembered seeing when I walked in on him carving up Francis.

  “The first night Benji told me he saw you at Epiphany I knew something was up,” he huffed as he opened the bag. “I had Benji set up a system to rig the place and I watched you.” The sudden expression of disgust on his face and the slam of the bag would have made me jolt away if I could. “You were baiting me with your whorish ways. I bet Ray thought you were new to it all, but I know your type. Any port in a storm.” His sinister eyes met mine and he held up a scalpel. “Any dick too.”

  No. That was so far beyond who I was. And if the fact this guy didn’t slice up his victims as they lay helpless made him crazy, his delusions sure did.

  “I’m sure if you could talk you’d tell me what I’ve heard many times before, that you aren’t a slut. That you don’t open your legs for anyone at all.” He scoffed as I watched him sanitize the scalpel. Odd thing to do, but this whole situation was my worst nightmare.

  “I wanted to get to you for a while now. At first it was when you walked in on me with your roommate. That was a huge shock. It’s not easy for something like that to get past me.” He stared into the shiny weapon. “Then you went to Ray, and that was when I knew you had to go.”

  He placed the scalpel on a crisp white sheet beside the chair. I followed as much as I could, but not being able to move my head left me limited.

  “You were seducing him at every chance. Convincing him you loved him I bet.” He shook his head, once again disgust was directed at me. “Pretty boys. You flutter your eyes and make men swoon at your feet. It’s pathetic.” He gripped my hair and pulled my head back, the pain was quick, fierce and my inability to scream explained exactly why none of his victims could call for help.

  “Ray always wanted me, always,” he shouted in my face, spittle spraying over me. “But boys like you always kept pulling him away. I knew I was going to have to give fate a push and begin ridding the world of all of you one at a time. I knew Ray would finally see me as I saw him without the distraction of all you little sluts.”

  When he released my head, it fell forward. I wanted so badly to scream, fight back, tell Daniels he was a lunatic, if for no other reason than to get the last word.

  I didn’t want to die, but more, I didn’t want Ray to die. I knew he’d figure it out, he was brilliant. I knew Daniels and Benji would pay. But my heart ached because I’d never get my forever with Ray. I’d never see his smile, hear his muffled irritation when I organized or cleaned something in his house. I’d never do all the things I’d hoped to do.

  “Ray needs to see how ugly you really are inside. I will take away all the things you whores seduce men with. Your eyes, your skin, your little pathetic dicks.”

  C.B. gripped my chin painfully forcing eye contact. “We should begin. This will hurt a lot I’m sure. But in the end, realize what you are and that you deserve every second of it.” He narrowed his eyes. “You could have avoided all this, Andy, if you never called Ray. Let that fester in your head while I dismantle your body a piece at a time.”

  He reached for a pair of scissors. “First, let’s take off your hooker gear. Look at your disgusting body.” He cut and tore at the fabric. I felt every piece being removed. The chilly air against my sweat soaked skin covered my flesh in goosebumps. He maneuvered my body until every stitch was gone and I sat there naked, paralyzed, and helpless.

  “There.” He was slightly out of breath. “I just don’t see what Ray sees in you pretty boys. Pasty skin, lanky, it’s gross.”

  This was nothing I didn’t hear my whole life and normally it would hit me hard, but his words didn’t faze me one bit. Ray made me feel like I was the most gorgeous person in the world. And if I was to die here today, I’d die knowing that I was loved and cherished.

  “Let’s begin,” he said.

  I said a silent prayer to who I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure if there was a God or a giant bug in the sky, but I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to hurt, and I didn’t want Ray to find me mutilated like I did Francis. Right as Daniels was about to slice something across my chest, a sound came out of my mouth.

  “What?” He halted, and I tried to take advantage.

  “Th… Thank. Thank you.”

  He crouched down again, his face before me. “How’d you speak? I gave you enough to paralyze a horse.”

  “Thank you.” I spoke more clearly that time.

  “Thank you?”

  “For freeing me.” Yeah, two can play the crazy game.

  “Freeing you?” I could tell he was complete
ly bewildered.

  “Yes. I… wanted to.” I swallowed. My voice felt like sandpaper. “I wanted to get away, from Ray.”

  C.B.’s laughter was maniacal. “You expect me to believe that?”

  I tried nodding, but that was still a no go. “Yes. He just…. All I ever heard about was this partner of his. The one… the one who got away.”

  The brief softening of his eyes told me that was something he longed to hear.

  “Me?” Daniels voice cracked.

  “Unless he had another partner.”

  I knew Ray had never worked with anyone else, and I knew Daniels was aware of that fact, too. I could only hope that he didn’t see past my ruse and I could buy Ray time. Time to find me. I only hoped he remembered this place and that Benji was spilling everything.

  26

  Ray

  They were wasting fucking time and that smug fuck was just sitting there like he had all the time in the world. He kept asking the time every five minutes. I stared through the two-way mirror into the interrogation room. It took everything in me to keep my hands from shaking. I needed to get my shit together or I wasn’t going to be of any use to Andy.

  Just the thought of him brought the panic back, reminding me how helpless I was. Yeah, I had a soft spot for the kids that drew the short straw in life. I never once thought I’d be punished for it. All those fucking kids dead because of me. Now, the first man I cared for was going to pay for some delusional man’s assumptions.

  How many had Daniels killed because he thought I belonged to him?

  “Ray, don’t do it. Don’t let him in your head.”

  “Too late. He’s been there for months.”

  I turned my head to look at Bradford. I thought we’d agreed that he would get away from the precinct and wait for my call. When Andy had quipped about Bradford’s badge envy, it wasn’t that much of a joke. He easily stepped inside and closed the door, for being in a station of cops that looked at him as a career arrest the man was way too fucking calm.

  “Thinking about a career change?”

  “No, the coffee is terrible.”

  I couldn’t help my grin at his exaggerated shudder. The man knew me better than anyone. He was there from my first stolen car and beatdown to extract a debt.

  “What if I can’t keep it together? All I want to do is rip the fucker’s throat out.”

  “You’ll keep it together because your boy needs you.”

  “Andy is far from a boy.”

  “Semantics, my old friend. You lived for this job and took pride in it, man, but deep down you’re one of us. And we know how to handle all those pesky problems.”

  Bradford’s elegant façade crumbled and the monster I knew peeked through. I’d witnessed his cruelty, and no matter how much of a respectful businessman he came across as, he was still that enforcer his old man groomed him to be.

  “Where’s Richie?”

  “He and our men are waiting for my call. We can be on the move in minutes.”

  “If something happens to me, I need you to make it right.”

  “Nothing is going to happen to you. We take care of our own.

  “He dies, Bradford.”

  “In the most horrible ways we can imagine.”

  I nodded in silent agreement and took a deep breath. I’d ordered Green to stay out of the interrogation room. I knew how the Mac family worked, but nothing about Benji’s actions aligned with Finn.

  “Did you talk to Finn?”

  “Talk is not quite the word I’d use. He wanted Benji turned over to him.”

  “He’s a fucking idiot if he thinks I’m gonna let that happen.”

  “Finn wants to handle…in house.”

  The lure of the temptation scared me. Yet I knew that it wouldn’t get us the information we needed. My body stiffened as Benji stood and walked toward the glass. As Benji knocked on the glass, I raised my hand to turn on the intercom.

  “Clancy, ya might want to bring my laptop.”

  I was in movement before the last word was out of his mouth and grabbed the computer from a table at the back of the room. When I entered the squad room, I found cops watching me impatiently, but they were feeling the pressure for different reasons. I pulled the calm around me and I glanced at Bradford to find him tapping his earpiece, I was still wearing mine as well. I quickly turned mine on and he disappeared as I entered the room.

  Whatever it took, I’d get Andy back and I’d do it my way.

  I squared my shoulders and motioned for Benji to sit back down. I laid the laptop on the table and he was already in motion. Opening the lid and starting to tap away at the keys.

  “Finally, ready to talk, huh?”

  “You old-timers are so fucking easy. Daniels thought he had me wrapped around his little finger. He was disgusting the way he grunted away and wanted to pretend I was you. You made quite the impression on your ex-partner.”

  Bile burned at the back of my throat. The rational part of me knew I hadn’t done anything to lead the fucker on, but—I shoved all of that away. I didn’t have time for reflection. Daniels needed me to play out his fucked up little plan, but how long would he wait before he tried to take Andy out? As we spoke, he could have started his ritual.

  “What the fuck does he want?”

  I rested my shoulders back against the wall beside the door, and as casually as possible, shoved my hands into my jean’s pockets. It was more for my safety than his. I wanted to grab the front of his t-shirt and throw him around the room until he gave me what I needed. No one would attempt to stop me. I knew there was probably a crowd growing on the other side of the mirror.

  “What do you think the crazy fucker wants? You.”

  “How did you hook up with him?”

  He snorted and smirked. “Closeted men are so manipulatable. Scared shitless someone will learn that deep-dark secret that they like a dick up their asses or they like to gag on a cock or two. He busted me and my old man was done with my shit. I gave him a piece of ass to let me go. Then the situation changed. He framed you for the bribe hoping to come in and save you.”

  I forced my hands not to curl into fists in the confines of my pockets at finding out that not only had Daniels taken Andy, but my badge as well. “Save me?”

  “Come up with the evidence that I would supply after the job I did to frame you. Then you took the deal before he could sweep in like your knight in shining armor.”

  “I’m not getting this bullshit.”

  “All this shit,” He waved his arms around the room. “He was supposed to help me get rid of dear old dad, and I’d help him take out all those pretty boys at Epiphany. He had a very long list of twinks you mighta flirted with or fucked since the day he met you, but when you left Sex Crimes and transferred to homicide, you broke his poor little heart.”

  He talked too easily about taking out Finn, and from what I knew, his old man doted on him. Had never told him no once in his life.

  “Why would you want to take out Finn?”

  “Easy, I was done following orders. Finn’s a relic. Unable to move forward with the times. Getting…soft.”

  “What game is Daniels playing?” I asked.

  “Quite simple, Clancy, look.” He spun the laptop around.

  The air froze in my lungs as I saw Andy under a halo of light and tied naked to a chair. He looked to be struggling with keeping his head up. I tried to keep my head in the game and searched the surroundings in the frame. Everything looked like hundreds of industrial spaces in New West. A timer counted down at the bottom of the screen. They had less than an hour to do whatever the hell Daniels wanted.

  I wanted to refuse. I wanted to tell Benji and Daniels to fuck off, and make sure they rotted behind bars for the rest of their lives. Yet I was trapped, restrained by their rules. I removed my hands from my pockets and curled them into fists. I placed them on the table and rested my weight on them as I moved in closer to the screen.

  “You have,” he peeked at the scree
n, “fifty-six minutes to get to your pretty, little whore. I almost fucked up the plan just to get a taste of that sweet, tight ass. I did enjoy the perks of my role but had to forego with Andy. I bet that boy loves to be pounded, begs for it. He definitely sounded good screaming your name when I watched all those intimate moments. Your security system is a piece of shit.”

  Fuck rules, I swung before I fully thought it through and felt satisfaction when him and the chair hit the floor. Blood flowed from his nose.

  “Where is that Clancy calm? I heard about you. Man, they still talk about how vicious you were. Obeyed without conscience. A sought-after enforcer. Do your fellow brothers in blue know all those nasty things you did before you pinned on that hunk of metal?”

  I didn’t have the time or inclination to justify my choices in life. He was wasting my and Andy’s time. “What the fuck does Daniels want?”

  He eased up from the floor and fixed his chair. All I could do was stare as the seconds ticked down.

  “You have fifteen minutes to arrange for a car to be waiting outside. You and I will get into the car, once inside I will relay directions, and if at any point I think we’re being followed, I’ll clam up and your boy dies. Tick-Tock, Clancy, Andy’s running out of time.”

  I stormed from the room just as Green stepped out of the observation room.

  “You’re not going alone, Clancy, I don’t—”

  “I don’t give a fuck, have the car ready. Is there any way to trace the signal?”

  “It’s bouncing all over the fucking place, right now. It’s looks like Daniels is in Belfast.”

  “Motherfucker! Get a car ready now. And if you fuck this up, I’ll make you pay worse than I’m going to make Daniels suffer.”

  I headed for the nearest bathroom and slammed the door behind me. I turned to rest my forehead on the cool wood and tried to take deep, even breaths.