by W L Knightly
Hayden had been right, but he realized that win or lose, he was going to suffer. He looked to his feet, feeling a bit dizzy as he panicked.
“Keep going,” said the Hangman.
Hayden closed his eyes. His whole life, he had wanted to better himself, and even though he’d taken the hard road at times and made stupid decisions, he didn’t think he deserved this. No one did. But deserve it or not, this was the justice the Hangman was dealing out.
“S,” he said, taking in what he thought was his last breath.
The Hangman shook his head. “Now you get to see what happens when you mess up.” He stabbed him in the arm, the knife blade hitting bone as Hayden screamed in pain.
“I’m done. Fuck you!”
“I suggest you take this seriously,” said the Hangman.
Hayden was all done playing. He was not going to prolong his suffering with childish antics. “And if I don’t?”
The Hangman looked up at him, dragging his fingers through his blood. “I’ll make sure your next wound is even worse.” He drew a bloody circle on the wall.
Hayden looked at the wall. The blanks after the E seemed like an impossible task. “M,” Hayden said, feeling unsure. It was a good letter to guess, but that didn’t mean it was there.
The next blow came quickly, and it nearly knocked him off of the chair. The knife penetrated his leg, and the Hangman had a hard time pulling it out. But when he did, he wiped the blood from the knife and drew a long line from the circle.
Hayden screamed in pain as the Hangman drew his line, then gathered himself a moment, trying his best to stay on his feet. “I’m not playing. Kill me!”
“Killing you would show you mercy that you’re not worthy of. Guess again.”
“You’re sick. You’re going to get caught. You have to know that.” Hayden wasn’t sure what he was saying, but the desperation to live kept him talking. “You don’t even know me. I’ve got a family, a mother, and sister who love me. Nieces and nephews. I have a girlfriend.” He didn’t consider Dannie and him official, especially since she was dating another man, but chances were, the Hangman didn’t know that.
“Lucky you. Meanwhile, I’ve got nothing left to lose. No one left to love me.” He struck out again, catching him in the side of his stomach, nice and deep.
Hayden knew that his time was up, and because he would refuse to cooperate, he would suffer. “Help!” he tried to scream, hoping that someone would hear him, but it was no use. He was too weak. The sound fell dead on the walls around him instead of carrying throughout the large warehouse.
The Hangman tilted his head to the side as if Hayden were stupid. “Did you really think that would work? I assure you, no one is around. And no one is going to help you.”
“Please.” Hayden had to try. He decided begging might work. It was his only choice. “I think you really got me good. Get me to the hospital. I’ll have them go easy on you. Please, you don’t want to do this.”
“Oh, but I do, Hayden.” The words sent chills up Hayden’s spine as he continued. “Sometimes people do shitty things. You’ve certainly done enough bad to people. So, tell me, isn’t it about time you had shitty things done to you?”
He realized the man had been done wrong, but how? He had no idea. He felt his legs grow weak and knew he couldn’t hold out much longer. “I’m sorry. For whatever you’re angry about. I will make it right. I’ll pay you back, do whatever.” He knew that if he offered enough money, the man was liable to at least let him go get it. If he could just find a way out of there, perhaps be able to tip someone off, then he might have a fighting chance.
The Hangman reached up and held the knife to his eye. “You can’t make this right. Only an eye for an eye could do that.”
Hayden flinched away, losing his balance, the chair rocking back and forth. The Hangman might have cut Gaines’s eyes out.
“Guess another letter. The clock is ticking.” The Hangman pushed against his wound.
“L,” he cried out, flinching because he knew the pain was only going to be greater each time. He wanted to end the suffering and get this over with as soon as possible. But another voice inside him told him to fight. To never give up, that he had this. He could win it.
“Wrong again,” said the Hangman, digging his blade into Hayden’s back this time. He pulled it out, and because it didn’t bleed well enough, he dug his fingertips into the wound, soaking his gloved fingers with Hayden’s blood once again. Hayden felt as if he were being ripped apart.
The pain was so excruciating that Hayden nearly passed out. But he knew if he did, he was dead with the rope still tight around his neck. Dark spots clouded his vision, which was going in and out of focus. And when he looked up to the game board, it took him a minute to realize he still had a few guesses. Two legs and one more arm.
“G,” he whispered, earning another slash of the blade against his chest. It already felt like it was on fire. More blood was collected and another line drawn. The figure was beginning to look like him. He sagged a little, feeling the rope tighten more as sweat dripped down his forehead.
His ragged breath choked from him, and he couldn’t help but grow weak from the blood loss. It was time to end it.
“Q,” he said, guessing the one letter he didn’t think it was. He ground his teeth as the knife sliced into his gut. With a jerk of the Hangman’s hand, the wound opened up. And as his fingers dug into the wound, the wet, fleshy sound made Hayden’s gag reflex respond. Throwing up would be a bad idea, especially in the position he was in. He choked back the bile and waited for the man to make his mark on the wall. Then, knowing he didn’t have much time either way with the horrible gut wound, he spat out another letter he knew wouldn’t be there, just to end his misery. “Z.”
The Hangman turned to the wall and made his final mark. “Good strategy to end it quickly, but now you’ll never know why.” The Hangman stepped back as Hayden gave one more plea.
“Please, let me g—”
With a quick motion, the Hangman kicked the chair from beneath him. Hayden’s neck snapped from the force and was nearly ripped off as the rope cut into his flesh, crushing his fragile bones.
Chapter 13
Jake
Jake and Jo stood in the doorway, examining the scene before them. Sam stayed back, looking like he’d seen enough.
“There’s so much blood,” said Jo, who began to sway.
“Go out and get your breath,” Jake said. “I’ve got this.” The last thing he needed was for her to pass out or contaminate the crime scene with vomit.
“No way. I’m not chickening out now. Not after all of that Betty Bad Ass talk.”
Jake stepped inside, careful not to step in the blood that had pooled beneath the man’s body. It was congealed, and maggots were starting to hatch. “Damn. He’s been here a minute.”
“Are those…” Jo pointed to the puddle.
“Yeah. The little assholes are going to make this interesting. Let’s hope they aren’t on the body yet.” He knew that would be a long shot. He spun the man around by his legs and realized what he’d thought was rope was the man’s intestines. He flinched back a step. “Jesus Christ.”
“I hope he wasn’t alive when that happened,” said Jo, holding her middle. “No wonder there is so much blood. Our killer is an animal.” She paused, and Jake heard her fighting to take a breath around the stench in the air. “He’s been here more than a day with the maggots,” she choked out.
“I’m surprised something else hasn’t been feeding on him,” said Sam.
“Yeah, and I’m surprised no one’s missed him.” He looked up at the man’s face, but the dim light of the room didn’t help much because he was so high up. “Sam, can you help me with a light? His face is a mess, and we need to see if we can figure out who this man is.”
“Sure,” he said, walking in and taking his flashlight from his belt to pass it over. “This is crazy. Look at that wall. The poor bastard only got one letter correct.”
Jo saw the letter E at the start of the word. “We’re never going to figure that one out. The killer sure doesn’t make it easy.”
“I think that’s his point,” said Jake. “He’s playing games with the victims and toying with us. I’d say we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
“Us?” Jo gave a half-hearted laugh. “At least until you abandon me in a couple of weeks.”
“I can’t believe he’s doing that either,” said Sam.
“Don’t start back up on that subject.” Jake focused the light on the man’s face. “Shit.”
“What’s the matter?” asked Jo. “Don’t tell me you know this one too.”
“Okay, I won’t tell you. But I have a feeling you both might know him as well.” As they stepped forward, Jake continued. “Hayden Daniels.”
Sam stepped back, nearly losing his balance. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Yeah. He’s one of our own.” Jake had seen the man only a couple of days ago, and even though Hayden was not very trustworthy and had a reputation with the ladies, he didn’t deserve this.
“Damn. Dannie is going to be upset.” Sam shook his head.
“Front desk Dannie?” asked Jo. “Did they have a thing?”
“I wouldn’t call it a thing since she and I have been talking a lot, but yeah, he kept hitting on her. I think he’s the reason she wanted to keep her options open with me.”
“Well, at least you will be around to comfort her when you give her the news.” Jo looked up toward Sam with a sympathetic smile.
Jake cleared his throat. “Let’s get back to the issue at hand before you two start chasing squirrels. We need to get photos before anyone else shows up. And we can’t leave him hanging here too much longer.” He shined a light on Hayden’s face. “He’s hanging by a thread already.”
Jo looked up to see what the light was shining on. “Oh wow. That nearly decapitated him.” The rope was so far into his neck, it had to be through his windpipe.
“Sometimes, the force of your weight will do that,” said Jake. “It’s rare for it to actually be complete unless you’re falling from a great distance or are extremely heavy.” Jake had never seen it, but he knew it was possible from reports he’d read. “The type of rope or what’s around your neck matters too.”
“It’s never a pretty sight,” said Jo. “Especially when you add all of these wounds.” She took out her phone and began snapping photos. “Some of these wounds seem to be identical in their location to some of the wounds we found on Elliot Gaines.”
Jake knew the shoulder and chest wounds were very similar. “That’s because the asshole probably knows just where to cut someone to keep them alive long enough to play his stupid game. But he didn’t gut Elliot. So, this must have been more personal. Whatever these men have in common, something stood out this time.”
Jo shrugged. “I agree that’s possible, but maybe he was just more practiced. Or the two could have argued. He’s got to communicate, and maybe these men just don’t want to play his game. You see the one letter? It could mean many things.”
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me,” said Jake, knowing she wasn’t likely to shut up.
“Has he always been this pleasant?” Jo asked Sam.
Sam opened his mouth to speak, but Jake gave him a hard look that had him shutting it fast.
Jake pointed to the wall. “Take some photos of that.”
Sam stared at the wall. “A nine-letter word that starts with an E.”
“Elephants,” said Jo.
“Elegance?” Sam asked.
“I’m pretty sure that’s eight,” she said, ticking off on her fingers. “Yeah, and besides, if the last one was ‘misrepresentation’ like we believe, then it might be a word that goes with it.”
“Like elephants,” Jake said, the sarcasm thick in his voice.
“I was just rattling off something,” she said with a defensive tone. “You think you’re so smart. Then how about you tell me a nine-letter word that starts with an E? I guarantee it’s not that easy.”
“Elaborate, exonerate, eradicate, eliminate.” Jake followed that up with a smile and took great pleasure in Jo’s eyes widening as her mouth popped open.
“How did you do that?” she asked, her posture slouching a bit. “Now I really feel stupid for guessing elephants.”
Sam chuckled. “I learned a long time ago not to challenge Jake.”
“Any one of those could work,” Jo said. “An elaborate scheme? Exonerate means to pardon or forgive. Maybe he’s saying this is the only way Hayden could have been forgiven or pardoned for what he did?”
“Or it’s not any of those,” said Jake.
“Eradicate and eliminate are kind of self-explanatory,” said Sam, who still hovered back at the door.
Jake paid him no mind. “Be sure to get a good photo of his front and back. As much as I don’t want to look at his nasty wounds, we need all the help we can get.”
“At least he has both of his eyes in place,” she said, snapping the photo of the man’s face. She panned down as if making sure to capture the evidence from head to toe. Suddenly, she backed away and stepped out of the warehouse. Jake let her go, knowing it was all he could do to keep what was in his stomach from coming up.
Sure enough, he heard her vomiting and was glad she’d managed to make it away from the scene.
“This is a hell of a welcome case, isn’t it?” asked Sam, with his voice lowered. “Do you think she’s going to make it?”
“I think she can handle anything that comes her way,” Jake said as another retching sound came from down the hall.
“You don’t look so convinced,” said Sam.
Jake gave him a look and then turned back toward the body. “Why would someone want to kill Hayden Daniels?”
“He was an asshole?” asked Sam.
“Real sensitive,” said Jake.
“Sorry. You know what I mean. You knew him too. He wasn’t the kind of guy you wanted to hang out and have beers with, but he was always around, so you just tolerated him.”
“I know the type,” said Jake, giving Sam a quick glance over his shoulder.
“No, you are the type,” said Sam. “Asshole. I’m just saying, he wasn’t one of the golden boys, you know? I’m not even sure he and O’Connor got along, and that man gets along with everyone. Including you. Hell, that alone says a lot.”
“I’m not unlovable,” said Jake, taking on a defending tone.
“I’ll ask Jo that in a few weeks. When she’s gotten to work closely with you and you’re gone.” He gave a chuckle. “But seriously, I don’t know if many men on the force liked Daniels. At least enough to confide in him or invite him over. He was more of a lone wolf, I guess. And maybe that’s because he didn’t want other men spoiling his game with the ladies.”
“Were you jealous of him and Dannie talking?”
“Hey, I didn’t tell you all of that so you could interrogate me. And it wasn’t jealousy. It was concern. Dannie’s a nice girl. I didn’t want her to get hurt. Hayden would have fucked her and dumped her. She needs a gentleman in her life.”
“You think you know what she needs?” Jake wondered how Dannie felt about Sam. He’d seen her laid over the counter, her heavy tits resting on the countertop as she talked and flirted with every cop that passed by.
“You bet I do.” Sam wagged his brows.
About that time, Jo came into the room. “I’m so sorry.”
“Are you okay? Got it all out of your system?”
“Yeah. Dammit, that was embarrassing. I feel like a rookie.”
Jake knew better than anyone how scenes like this could affect people. He had been struggling with sleep for years and had the worst lucid dreams anyone could imagine over the things he had seen. “It happens. Now, get back to work.”
“Where was I?” she asked, taking out her phone and looking through the photos. “Some of these aren’t turning out well.”
“Then reta
ke them. Use the flash if you need to.”
“I have been. I know how to work a camera. The lighting just sucks.” Jo got busy, stepping over to the wall.
“Make sure you go ahead and get the entire room. I want to see the layout when we get back, and I don’t want to wait for the forensics team’s photos. Our boy is hanging from the building’s metal frame. I’m not sure we’re going to be able to get up there to take photos, but be sure and have the team get something. I want to see if there’s any prints on the rope. Also, go ahead and shut the door. I want to see things exactly the way he saw them.
Jake heard the door creak and Jo inhaling sharply. “Oh no,” she said as he turned around.
“What is it?” asked Jake.
Sam stepped around to see, and Jake stepped over to see what had her rattled.
There, on the back of the door, was an envelope. And written in cursive was a name: Detective Jake Thomas.
Jo frowned. “Looks like someone is sending you a message, Detective.”
Chapter 14
Jake
After immediately having Sam call in the rest of the team and retrieving the envelope so it could be analyzed, Jake still had not had a chance to read the letter inside.
As he stood outside the lab, Jo paced the room behind him. “What would a killer want to tell the detective who is working against him?”
“With any luck, we’ll know in a few minutes.” Jake watched through the window as Kevin Cook, the department’s lead forensic investigator, dusted the envelope for fingerprints.
Jo shrugged. “I’ve just never heard of anything like this. I can’t wait to see what it says. What if he’s coming for you next?”
“Then he’s really crazy, and his victims are random. I have nothing in common with Hayden or Elliot, other than we all work with the law.”
“Maybe that is the connection. He wants to take us all out one at a time, and you just happen to be at the top of the list so he doesn’t get found out.”
