FOREVER MINE

by Michelle Lee

  When I lick my lips trying to moisten them I can taste the metallic flavor of blood. The outside of my bottom lip is crusty with dry blood from a new split that runs down the center of it. I can feel an impression of my teeth on the inside of that same lip.

  The chains attached to the wall hang loose. I am able to let my arms hang by my side. I bring my feet up under me and use the chains to pull myself up to my knees. I stop to catch my breath and put my right foot on the ground pushing myself all the way to a standing position. Hanging on the wall trying not to throw up for the pain in my head I hear a noise; a distant whistling noise. I try to yell for help, but I can’t make my mouth work. So I just rest my head against the wall and listen to the song the whistler is whistling.

  CHAPTER 64

  Everyone in the house was gathered in the dining room to watch a video recording of Agents Keller and French interview Shannon O’Rourke. He enters the room in his orange jumpsuit and two corrections officers hand cuff his hands to the table. His feet are already cuffed.

  He takes a seat, “Well, ladies, I didn’t think I would see you again this soon.”

  Agent French answers, while Keller sits back and watches his every move. “Yeah well we want answers and you have them. We got you a deal, but you have to give us something we can use or the deals off the table, so no bullshit.”

  “I want to know what the deal is before I start running my mouth and ruin my reputation.”

  “You are looking at 10 years in prison for the counterfeit cash scheme, an additional 90 days and 1,000 dollar fine for the id theft. Let’s not forget the money laundering case. You are looking at fines of $500,000 or more.”

  “I know what kind of time and money I have invested in this. What I want from you is how are you gonna help me?”

  “Since it’s your first offense on all charges, you will get 30 days plus time served, the lawyers are still working out the amount of money you will be paying in fines, and you will have 7 years probation.”

  “Not too bad. It wasn’t my idea to get involved in the money laundering, I was approached and it sounded like a no lose situation. I can give you his name as well, if you can get the amount of fines down to an amount I can handle.”

  “I can do that.” French has O’Rourke eating out of her hand. “Now, let’s get down to business.”

  Agent Keller hands him a yellow legal pad and tells him to write down all the names he helped Michael Parker acquire over the last three years.

  “I would like you to tell us in your own words what happened the night you first met him.” Keller is taking notes as she talks to him.

  “I was out, just walking down the street, minding my own business when I feel something hit me in the arm. It felt like a baseball. I grabbed my shoulder, it feels wet. When I pull my hand away, it is covered with blood. I freak out for like 2 minutes, and then I hurry to the nearest hospital.

  I get in pretty quick since I’m a gunshot patient. The nurse gets me prepped for stitches and then the doctor walks in. He was in his late twenties, a decent looking guy, but he looked a little off in his eyes, ya know. So anyway he asks questions I answer them. He mentions how lucky I am to have been hit in the arm, and I say yeah, real lucky. If I was lucky I wouldn’t have been shot in the first place. We laugh, he wraps it up and hangs for a minute talking to me more, saying how it was slow tonight.

  He asks what I do for a living, and I answer, a little of this and little of that. He laughs saying not to worry he isn’t going to tell anyone; he continues with our conversation saying sometimes he wishes he could just be someone else. He would leave and start everything over. I tell him if he’s serious, I know people who could help him, but it takes a lot of money starting over.

  He says he is serious and we exchange phone numbers. I didn’t think I was going to hear from him because he didn’t call for about a month. Then when he called he had a whole new identity he wanted. He knew what to ask for. He got new birth certificates, driver’s licenses, social security cards, credit cards. Everything he would need.”

  “Do you remember all the names he used?” Keller looks up from her notes when she asks the question.

  “No, I remember most of them.” He is fidgeting in his seat. “Does that hurt my chances of the deal?”

  “Depends on what turns up from the names you do give us.” French answers.

  Shannon O’Rourke sits in his orange jumpsuit at the table and nods his head. What choice does he have? He picks up the pen and starts to write. When he is done, he is asked to write down the conversation he just recounted for the agents. When everything is finished the CO escorts him back to his cell and the women leave.

  Everyone in the room has been quiet watching the interview. Now everyone is trying to talk at once. Where is the list? Did anyone look into his names? Then Agent Fitzpatrick raises a hand and everyone falls silent.

  “I sent the names to our computer expert back in DC, she is looking into every one of those names as we speak. When something pops up, she will be in contact immediately. Until then we all have other leads we are looking into, so back to work people. Good work; Keller and French.

  CHAPTER 65

  Michael watches as all the police, FBI agents, and Brody gather together in one room; around a computer, from his apartment. Shannon O’Rourke is on screen. He can’t hear what O’Rourke is saying, but he knows he is being ratted out.

  “That bastard. I paid him a lot of money, and this is how he repays me?”

  Michael stands and looks around his space. He knows it is time to go. Go forever, but he isn’t ready. If he rushes the last part of his plan, mistakes will be made. He doesn’t like to make mistakes. He has obviously made a few already that will have to be taken care of.

  Michael always had a plan in place to get rid of Shannon O’Rourke if it became necessary; and it looks like it just did. He picks up his phone and calls his contact at the prison.

  “Hello?”

  “It’s raining outside.” Michael says.

  “That’s too bad, I will grab an umbrella. Thank you for the heads up.”

  “You’re welcome, don’t forget to check your windows to make sure they are up.” and then he hangs up.

  They do not know each other. They have never seen each other. They met through phone calls set up by O’Rourke. They called each other originally to discuss a drop off of the payment required for Michael’s new ID. The man on the phone was a middle man between O’Rourke and Michael. If there was ever a time that things needed to be cleaned up Michael would pay him 1 million dollars cash. The man agreed, and they came up with the ‘it’s raining dialog’ so anyone listening wouldn’t know what they were planning to do.

  When Michael says “it’s raining”, he means it is time to take out the target. The window reference is for the man to remember to check the locker they agreed on for payment, or the umbrella. It is simple for them, but anyone listening has no idea what they could be talking about.

  With that problem being taken care of, Michael’s thoughts wonder back to Charlie. He doesn’t want to kill her. He didn’t think it would be so hard. When he left the mill he locked her in the basement. Well what he calls the basement; it’s really just a crawl space big enough to stand in, sort of.

  “She makes me so mad when we’re together I want to kill her, then when I’m not near her I miss her so badly. I have to stop being a pussy and step up, be a man. The man my father taught me to be.”

  Tomorrow is Monday, Charlie has been with me for 4 days and we have made no progress. I think she needs a little help reaching her breaking point. I’ve been too nice to her, too soft with her. I need to be ruthless. She should be pretty hungry and thirsty by now. By tomorrow she will be weak and dehydrated. I will not go to her; at least not for a day, maybe more.

  When Michael is satisfied with his decision, he goes back to watching the feds for awhile. He watches Brody. He wants to learn everything about him; all his facial expressions, his emotional tics, h
is body language. You can learn a lot by the set of someone shoulders, the tilt of their head.

  CHAPTER 66

  Brody is looking over some information he just received from the computer analyst in DC. She was contacted by the other police departments about the open murder cases that they think are related to Emily Lawrence. The seven other victims were all stabbed with a surgical scalpel. They had the same wounds all over the abdomens, and facial bruising, and they all had the drug Haldol in their systems. Most of which we suspected, but now we have confirmation.

  Brody is looking at all the pictures and having a hard time not picturing Charlie hanging by her throat bleeding from stab wounds in her stomach. He can’t imagine what she has had to go through in the last 4 days. They are close to proving he did everything they think he’s done, but no closer to finding where he is.

  He puts the pictures down, runs his hands through his hair, and stands from the table. He walks to the front door, opens it and goes outside. Standing on the porch he looks at the tree in the yard and thinks about how much Charlie loves that tree.

  “I have to get out of here. Everywhere I look there are reminders of her.” He opens the door and yells inside, “I’m leaving for a bit, if anyone needs me call my cell.”

  “Gotcha” Patrick yells back.

  Brody gets in his truck and drives. He doesn’t have a destination in mind. He is driving to clear the images in his head. He is driving to help him stay positive. He is driving so he doesn’t smash and break everything in his house out of frustration.

  When he stops he realizes he is outside of Charlie’s old apartment. Shaking his head he finds a parking place and goes to the front door. Today it is officially not her apartment anymore. He doubts they have rented it out yet, but is surprised when his key still works.

  Walking up the three flights of stairs he stops in front of her door and unlocks that one as well. When he walks into the empty space all the air is sucked out of his lungs. On the floor beneath the window is a computer. It is showing Charlie. She is here, in her apartment; before it was emptied, wearing the clothes she wore on Thursday. It is showing a slideshow of pictures of her struggling, against an unseen assailant. The fear in her eyes is excruciating, her mouth is taped and her hands are tied behind her back.

  The screen goes black, when it starts back up it shows her in a bed. She is in a black nightie. It is see through and short. She is bruised and restrained to the wall behind the bed. She is looking toward the camera but has a distant look in her eyes, as silent tears cascade over her purple cheeks.

  When the screen goes black again, Brody is breathing heavily, and his heart is racing. When Charlie appears next, it is a live video feed. It is pitch black around her. She is illuminated by a night vision green light. She is naked and dirty. The cuts she had before have started to bleed and now she has new ones. She is leaning against the wall, her ribs, collar and hip bones are sticking out. She has lost so much weight.

  He walks over and traces her face with his finger. He can’t believe she is in front of him. His eyes burn and his chest is tight. He can hear her breathing, it sounds labored. She is wheezing, like the air is hard to take in.

  Brody can’t move; his feet are glued to the floor. His cell phone is ringing, but he can hardly hear it. It stops only to start again. He finally breaks his trance and answers.

  “Hello?” It is hardly above a whisper.

  “Are you enjoying the pictures of our girl?”

  “She is not our girl, she is mine. I will find her, Michael.”

  “I know Brody, that’s why I’m calling. I want you to find her.”

  “Then tell me where she is.”

  “Not yet. I need to break her. I want her to put on a good show for you before I tell you what to do.”

  “She is stronger than you think she is. You cannot break her.”

  He laughs, “Oh, I think I can. She will do whatever I ask her to do, as long as she doesn’t go back into the dark.”

  “What are you going to do to her?”

  “I can’t give away the finale, Brody. You will have to wait and see. I will be in touch.” He hangs up.

  Brody stares at the phone in his hand and starts to shake with rage. He wants to hit something; hard. He looks at the computer screen with Charlie’s image and she is crying again, and she is saying his name over and over. Brody looses it and punches the wall over and over until his hand is a raw bloody mess. Then he sits on the floor, with his bloody hand, and watches Charlie. Afraid if he looks away, she will disappear.

  CHAPTER 67

  Michael is very pleased with himself. After he gets off the phone with Brody he feels giddy. He knows if he waits too much longer he will be caught. He needs to hurry his plan but he doesn’t want to leave anything out. He has waited too long for this.

  He stands and paces around his apartment. He didn’t want to go back to Charlie until tomorrow. With Brody watching he wants to go back, now. Patients, he tells himself. He will at least wait until he hears from his prison contact about O’Rourke.

  **********

  Patrick and Chris are driving around trying to find Brody. They have been taking turns calling him but he isn’t answering.

  “Why wouldn’t he answer?”

  “I don’t know, maybe he finally broke down. He might just need time to himself.”

  “Yeah, maybe your right.”

  They are pulling onto the street where Charlie’s apartment is when Chris’s phone rings.

  “Agent Fitzpatrick.”

  “Fitz, it’s French, we just got a call from the prison. Apparently, there was a riot, and a couple of inmates were killed.”

  “Let me guess, one of them was Shannon O’Rourke.”

  “You guessed it, boss man.”

  “Damn. How did it happen?”

  “We are headed over there now to ask some questions, want us to meet you there?”

  “Yeah, I want to see everyone’s face when we question people. I can spot a lie a mile away.”

  “See you there.” With that French disconnects and Fitz puts his phone back in his pocket.

  “Looks like Brody is on his own tonight. We have to go look into a riot at the prison.”

  **********

  The corrections officer is in the mess hall making sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to. He gives a slight head nod toward the big guy in the back of the room. Without warning the room breaks out into chaos. There are people everywhere. The officer grabs O’Rourke from behind restraining him and whispers in his ear, “You were paid, handsomely to stay quiet. Now you will see what happens to rats.”

  As he is holding him around the shoulders with his baton, another inmate runs past and slashes O’Rourke across his stomach spilling his intestines. He keeps running into the crowd; drops and looses the knife before anyone even knew what he did.

  The officer, playing his part, waits just long enough to call for help and carry him off to the hospital ward where he is pronounced dead.

  The riot is under control when he returns to the mess hall. He has to fill out a report then he makes a call.

  “Yeah?” Michael picks up on the second ring.

  “It stopped raining” the officer says

  “Oh, good. Well I put the umbrella out for you anyway.”

  “Thank you.”