Bloodlines Trilogy

by J. Thiele

  Cartwright disappeared at around the same time as another local vanished, Elizabeth Moresby. They remained cold cases, their bodies were never found. It was at a time where several other victims in the city were being brutally murdered. Bodies were torn apart and pieces were left laying all over the crime scenes.

  Rumour had it, the pair were lovers and involved in some sort of cult. They either fell victim of foul play themselves. Or were the prime suspects never brought to justice.

  “Moresby? Isn’t that the name of the suspect? Wes Moresby?” Amanda double checked her notes.

  “I wonder if they are somehow related.” Rick added. “We might check the records, a little family tree, if you will.”

  * * * * *

  Casey and Ray were headed back to the precinct to find out what the others had turned up. “What’s your story Ray? How come you’re still in uniform? You must be old enough to join the ranks of Detective, surely?” Casey asked out of left field.

  “Are you saying I look old?” Ray laughed.

  “Just callin’ it as I see it.” she responded with a grin.

  “Seriously?” he asked and Casey nodded her head in response. “I’m what ya might call, ‘a late bloomer.’ I spent four years in college studying the arts when my kid brother got himself into some hot water. Some kids in the neighbourhood thought they could handle running with the big guys and got in too deep with a local drug runner. I was in my last year when I got the news that Tommy couldn’t afford to pay one time, so they killed him as message to the others not to fuck around. Tommy was just a kid you know? His killer got off on a technicality. That’s when I decided on a career change.”

  “Jesus! Ray, that’s cold. Where’s his killer now, do you know?” she asked.

  “He’s dead, he died in prison. His name, was Tyson Grey.”

  Casey screeched the car to a halt. “Are you fucking kidding me? Don’t you know by working that case in the first place was a complete conflict of interest?” Casey was furious, “You could have fucked up months of detail on what? A revenge hunt? You had no right working that case.”

  Ray screamed back at her “I Had Every fucking Right to! That Bastard Shot A 16 Year Old Kid In The Back. - THAT KID WAS MY BROTHER.”

  “You should have told me, no wonder you were so keen to assist, risking your badge. If the department gets a hold of this we’re both out of a job. You fucking played me.” Casey was trying to regain control of herself.

  “You played me too. You knew I had a thing for you, and you used it to get me to hand over everything I had. Don’t play innocent now. We both did what we needed to do to get the job done, and the department? You don’t need to worry your pretty little head about that. I have some one that erased any record of Tommy and my connection to Tyson Grey.” He confessed.

  “What? What are you talking about? Who?” she demanded he tell her everything.

  “That’s not important now. My goal was to put Grey behind bars where he belonged, what ever happened to him once he got there...was out of my hands.” Ray said defiantly.

  “Wait a minute, you seem to have a lot of these contacts in high places, do you have them in low places too? Did you have Grey meet with foul play on the inside?” she insinuated, becoming suspicious.

  “OH...For Fuck Sake! What do you take me for? I’m no murderer. I put him behind bars because that’s where he belonged. Did I want him dead? Fuck yes! Wouldn’t you? My mothers’ never recovered from losing Tommy. But he was facing the death penalty anyway, I wanted him to sweat. I wanted front row behind the glass when they put that final needle in the bastards arm.”

  “I should turn you in.” Casey glared at him.

  “And I’ll have your badge too, for conspiring to obtain information while on forced leave. Looks like we’re glue Detective.”

  “Well played Lieutenant, well played. But from here on in, everything is strictly above the table, At least between the two of us. Clear?” she insisted.

  “Crystal,” he responded, with his usual response.

  Casey started the car and headed for the station.

  * * * * *

  They made a bee line straight for the conference room where Rick and Amanda were already set up with the white board. They had drawn a diagram on it, of little circles and lines that connected them at different intervals. Just as Casey and Ray took up their seats Pearce stormed in for an update. “What the fuck is that? Looks like a fucking 'Amway' plan. Are we selling soap in an attempt to clean up our streets now? Get rid of it!” he bellowed.

  Amanda stayed arrogantly calm. “Captain, if you take a seat, I assure you this is not a pyramid, if you’ll just be patient it will all become clear in a few minutes.”

  Casey bit down hard to stop herself from opening her mouth. The more time she spent with Amanda Lewis, the less she liked her. In fact, she bordered on hatred for the smug bitch.

  “Detective Aspley and I went to city hall today to track down any info on Mr. Cartwright. What we discovered was according to public records, he simply doesn’t exist. Not anymore anyway.”

  “What? Of course he exists, who bought the old warehouse?” Casey asked, in a condescending tone indicating she didn’t think they’d done their job properly.

  “Oh he existed alright, last seen or heard of in 1921. This ladies and gentlemen, is a family tree. Please follow as we fill in the names. At the top of the leader board we have Elizabeth Moresby and her husband Henry.”

  Casey knew they must be talking about Wes’ family tree and was showing signs of boredom.

  “Now from what we’ve uncovered, a man travelling by the name of Damon Cartwright came to town and started working at the timber mill, which is now the abandoned warehouse. It was assumed he took up with the young Mrs. Moresby behind old Henry’s back. Together they got involved in some bizarre cult type thing. They both vanished, presumed dead or at the very least prime suspects in some horrific murders that took place in the city at the time.”

  Casey sat up. Now she had her attention.

  “The murders remain unsolved to this day, but the MO bears a striking resemblance to our dismantled victims from the warehouse, as well as the young couple from Detective Marks’ home neighbourhood.”

  “Okay, so where are we going with this?” Casey wanted her to get to the point now that she had her intrigued.

  “Right,” Lewis continued. “When Mrs Moresby vanished she left behind two youngsters, a six year old daughter Josephine and four year old son Robert.” She filled in the names accordingly.

  She followed Roberts’ line first, indicating that he grew up and married Veronica who had Peter who married Susan and together had David who squired Wes.

  “Now this is where it gets really interesting.” She continued. “Josephine grew up to marry James Brown, they had two daughters, Mavis and Jasmine, Mavis died from influenza,”

  Casey frowned.

  “Jasmine lived on to marry Daniel Marks. Who went on to have…”

  Casey interrupted, “Jason who married Caroline who had…. Casey.” She threw herself back in her seat hitting it hard as she turned white. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  Everyone’s eyes fell on her, “Are you okay?” Ray asked.

  “What sort of halfwit question is that? You numskull! Of course she’s not okay. She just found out she’s a prick relation to a psychotic copycat serial killer! Get her some water before we discover it runs through the entire family, and you’re the fuckhead who triggers her urges.” Pearce bellowed at Ray.

  “Getting back to Mr. Cartwright, there doesn’t seem to be a gene pool anywhere from him. No siblings, no offspring, in fact we can’t tell when he was born or to whom. It’s like he showed up then he vanished. A sketch artist drew a picture according to descriptions given by people he worked with at the mill. However as far as we can tell, there are no known photos of him. If you’ll all just turn your focus to the projection screen this is a raw image of what Cartwright was supposed to have looked
like.”

  Casey stomach churned as she looked at the image. ‘FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!' she thought to herself. ‘I’m going stark raving mad. It’s not fucking possible.’ “I need the bathroom.” She said, as she left the room at break neck speed.

  “DON’T JUST STAND THERE! GO AFTER HER!” shouted Pearce at Ray.

  Ray stood outside the bathroom door as Casey splashed cold water on her face, “Case, are you okay in there?” he asked through the timber.

  “Get in here.” She yelled back at him. He looked over his shoulders then entered awkwardly into the ladies room. Casey locked the door behind him.

  “Ya want to tell me what the fuck is going on?” he asked in a voice of authority.

  “That face, the one fuck face put up on the screen?” Casey began. “I’ve seen it before.”

  “You have? Where? He’s been dead or missing for almost a century.” Ray looked worried about her mental stability.

  “You’re gonna think I’m crazy, but this is one of those things that stays between us. Got it?”

  “Got it, now spill.” Ray pressured.

  “The warehouse, after I got shot. That’s what made Grey freeze that day, he saw it too. It was in the shadows, just his face, but then I blacked out, but it was him I swear it.”

  “You lost a lot of blood that day, are you sure…?”

  “I’m not fucking crazy you son of a bitch! I’m telling you it was him!” Casey was starting to lose her edge.

  “Hey okay, settle the fuck down. If it was him, there has to be an explanation, maybe another relative from his gene pool. Let’s go back in there and try to get to the bottom of it.”

  * * * * *

  They re-entered the conference room. There was a smug look on Amanda’s face, while Rick’s eyes showed concern and empathy. He was beginning to grow on Casey. At least he knew when to keep his mouth shut. It helped that he often rolled his eyes at his partner and blushed with embarrassment at bitches’ bulldozer know it all attitude. Sometimes as Senior Detective though, she wished he’d man up and shut that bitch down.

  “Detective, this cult you mentioned they were allegedly involved in, can you tell us a bit more about that?” Ray asked, trying to keep momentum going, drawing the focus away from Casey.

  “Ahh yes, the ‘Cult’.” The bitch went on. “Vampires, bloodsuckers. Those who weren’t torn to shreds were drained of their blood. Of course we all know there’s no such thing, but in the twenties it caused a public outcry and mass hysteria. Fortunately it stopped as quick as it started and the records were closed, assuming they’d moved on or had died themselves.” She concluded with a smirk in Casey’s direction at a job she thought was well done.

  “Well, that was a lovely piece of nostalgic B.S Detective, but what about the here and now, what have you concluded?” Pearce asked. He wanted to get Casey out of there ASAP. He knew that this freak was pushing her buttons, and if she kept it up he’d be tempted to bitch slap her himself.

  “Captain, we believe that Wes uncovered this story by mistake, and has taken on the task of rebuilding that cult. The information is all there in the public records. If he wanted to trace his family of origin he would have stumbled on all of this information as well. We think he double crossed Grey and the gang, murdering them all and is now living high on the hog with the proceeds of the drug trade. Neither the drugs nor the money was ever retrieved. We think he purchased the building under the assumed name of ‘Damon Cartwright’ and has been hiding out there ever since.”

  “You’re making him out to be a mastermind, I’ve met Wes, and he’s just a scared kid. He was always bullied and tormented by the rest of the gang. Believe me, he’s no rocket scientist. There’s no way he’d have had the ability to track down heritage, cold cases or even old bank statements. I doubt he can even read. ” Casey tried to put holes in Amanda’s theory.

  “If he was playing possum all along Detective, and managed to fool the enemy, what’s to say he didn’t pull the wool over your…”

  Casey went to stand up, but Ray placed his hand on her forearm to calm her.

  “THAT’S ENOUGH!” shouted Pearce fiercely, also pissed at the implication that his girl was incompetent, “Bring me Moresby! Pronto!” He stormed toward the door passing Casey on his way. “You, my office. NOW!”

  She got out of her seat, her eyes fixed on Amanda. “Marks! Did you hear me? I said NOW!”

  Pearce yelled again, wanting to put some distance between the two women.

  * * * * *

  He closed the door behind them and drew the blinds. “What the fuck is going on Marks? Who’s running that charade, you or that moron Lewis? She’s pushing your buttons and you’re letting her piss all over your territory. By the way, did you know Moresby was some sort of prick relation? Do I need to reassign this bullshit to someone else?” He reached for his pills.

  “I’ve got the mayor of the city, governor of state and the head of the department shittin’ down my neck, and all I’ve got is some fucking horror story from the twenties and a missing kid that fuckface in there seems to think is a fucking evil genius! No wonder a man drinks.” He shouted as he popped a few pills into his mouth.

  Casey rubbed her temple, “Captain, we’re getting closer, I just need some more time. I’m heading out to the warehouse tonight to snoop around. We met a security guard out there today, he tells me if we’re going to find anything, it’ll be after hours, apparently there’s movement out there under the cover of night.” Casey assured him.

  “Well make sure you all go, if this little prick is capable of this sort of blood bath, I don’t want you risking it by going it alone.”

  “He’s not a genius Sir, I know it all fits, but it doesn’t sit right.” Casey wasn’t buying Amanda’s theory. ‘Sanctimonious bitch! Fucking know it all. Wes, a master mind, what the fuck did she know? Fucking stupid bitch.’ Casey thought to herself.

  “Well get me answers, better yet, I want closure.” He said, “And Case? Be careful, of Moresby and Lewis, they're both as dangerous as each other.”

  Casey left his office on a mission.

  Chapter Eight

  It was around 10:00pm when the two cars rolled silently into the street and pulled to a halt. Rick Aspley and Amanda Lewis in one car and Casey with Ray in the other. Amanda went to open her door and step out, but before she pulled the door latch the lock clicked down.

  “What the..? What are you doing?” she asked her colleague.

  “Trying to keep you alive.” Rick said in a solemn tone.

  “Open this door!” she insisted.

  “Shut your mouth!” he whispered with a snarl. “Now you listen to me you stupid upstart little bitch! This is detective Marks case. We were bought in by ‘Special Ops’ to assist, not take the lead, is that understood?”

  “Let me out!” she interjected.

  “You’re not paying attention! I’m your senior officer and I’m giving you a direct order to pull back!” He was becoming agitated and wanted to slap her himself, for her insolence.

  “I’ll be speaking to…” she was cut short, as Rick interrupted her rant and held up his phone.

  “Daddy? Go ahead; I’ve already spoken to him about you and your attitude. I took you on as a favour to him. Your father was a remarkable detective, but you on the other hand are going to get us all killed. My debt to him stops at the risk of my life or the life of any other officer on my watch. Now, for the last time, stand down or I’ll see to it that you lose that precious badge that you like to flash around like it’s an expensive accessory or at the very least you’re put back on probation.” He challenged her with the ultimatum. “Now you’ll get out of the car, when and only when Marks, gives the order.”

  Casey got up to the driver’s side of their vehicle and using the knuckle on her index finger she tapped twice on the window. Rick lowered it waiting for instructions. “It looks quiet inside. But we’ll split up and snoop around the exterior. You two to the left and Powell and I will take the rig
ht, and we’ll meet up out back. No-one tries to enter without my say so. If one of us finds a way in, we all go in. Clear?”

  “You’re the boss.” Rick confirmed.

  “Right, then let’s do it.” Casey walked in the direction of the right side of the building, with Powell in tow resting his palm on his weapon prepared to draw it in an instant.

  “Okay, remember, no heroics. Don’t do anything stupid.” Aspley told his partner, as he unlocked the doors to let her out. She scoffed at his remark and exited the car.

  * * * * *

  They headed to the left as instructed. They reached the chain wire fence. “I’ve got wire cutters in the trunk, wait here while I go get em’.” Rick instructed as he returned to the car still parked out in the street.

  On the other side of the building Ray and Casey were already cutting through the fence on the other side and were almost ready to enter through a hole they'd made big enough for them to squeeze through but small enough to make it look inconspicuous when they left.

  Amanda, keen to prove her leadership skills found a lose wire in the fencing and began unravelling it. She made a hole big enough for her to force her small frame through before Rick returned. She made her way around to the rear where she found some small windows about six feet from the ground. They looked to be from the bathroom facilities. They weren't very big, but she was certain she could squeeze through them. She knew the others wouldn’t be far behind her, and she had to think quickly if she was going to be the first to uncover anything. She looked around and spotted an old crate in the corner of the concrete yard. She gathered it and propped it below the window using it as a step, she removed her jacket and covered her hand to protect it, as she put it through the glass with one forceful blow.