by Sean Platt
“My father will find me. And when he does, you’re dead. Do you hear me? Dead!”
“Like my daughter?”
“I already told you, I had nothing to do with that.”
“Except that you did. I talked to Bobby after it happened. He told me everything. Told me how your girlfriend drugged Jordyn. I went to the sheriff’s office. But you and your scumbag friends are still walking the street.”
“Bullshit! He’s lying. Your daughter got drunk. Plain and simple.”
“Really? So, if I were to ask Brianna, that’s her name, right? If I were to ask Brianna, she would back up your story?”
“Go ask her! Then when she tells you the truth, you can come back here and let me go!”
“Hold on a second,” Jasper said, smiling, already on his way to the door. He turned back at the threshold. “I’m leaving this door open for a moment. If you scream or try anything, I will use this.” He held up the pistol. “Are we clear?”
Calum nodded.
Jasper ascended the stairs.
“Don’t do this,” Jordyn said, following him. “Please, Daddy, they’re going to catch you.”
“No, they’re not.”
He reached the top floor and shook his head at the large sack that had moved a few inches closer to the door. He bent down and threw the heavy sack over his shoulder.
It kicked and cried out, cries muffled by a gag and tape.
He carried the bag down the stairs, dropped it gently to the ground in front of Calum, and untied it.
“Brianna!” Calum yelled.
She cried out, her words muffled.
Jasper pulled the bag off of Brianna, made sure the many layers of duct tape around her hands and feet were still intact, then sat her up.
Brianna’s eyes were bugging out as he touched her. Tears smeared her makeup. He reached down to rip the tape from her mouth, and she flinched as he touched her.
“Relax. I’m just taking out the gag. You can scream, but I assure you, as I just told Calum, no one will hear it.”
He ripped off the tape, then yanked the cloth from her mouth.
Brianna cried out in pain.
“Calum!” She moved toward him.
“Stay put.” Jasper reached into his back holster and put the gun on her face.
“Don’t you hurt her!” Calum said, face red, neck muscles straining as he rushed toward Jasper.
His restraints yanked him back a full foot short.
Jasper turned to Calum and smiled. “Such a tough guy, aren’t you? What position did you play?”
“Fuck you,” Calum spit.
Jasper cocked his arm back and slapped Brianna across the face.
She cried out.
“Stop!” Calum screamed.
Jordyn stood in the corner, staring at Brianna, silent. Jasper could tell from her glare that she was somewhat delighted to see Brianna, the architect of her misery, here in the room.
Jasper grabbed Brianna by the back of her hair and turned to Calum. “Here’s the deal, Romeo. I’m going to ask you both some questions. If either of you lies or says anything I don’t like, I will hurt the other one. Do you follow?”
Calum glared at Jasper. “You’re fucking crazy!”
“You don’t even know,” Jasper laughed, yanking Brianna’s hair. She cried out. “Now, do you follow? Or do I need to start hurting her now?”
“I follow!” Calum said.
“How about you, Blondie?” Jasper asked, still holding a fistful of hair. She glared up at him, nodding. “Good.”
Jasper let go then stepped toward the door. He looked down at Brianna on the ground to Calum’s left, just out of reach.
“Now, we’re going to play a little game called What The Fuck Did You Do to My Daughter. Are you ready?” Neither of them nodded or said a word. “Well, I’ll take that as a yes. The first question, is for you, Brianna. Which one of you drugged my daughter?”
They exchanged nervous glances.
Calum shook his head. “I already told you she wasn’t drugged.”
“Not your turn to talk!” Jasper returned the gun to its holster then ducked outside the door to retrieve an aluminum bat. “Last chance to tell the truth.”
Brianna stared at him, her back to the wall, knees to her chin, trying to make herself as small a target as possible.
Jordyn still stood in the far corner of the room, observing.
“Hmm, I guess she doesn’t love you,” Jasper said, swinging the bat hard just below Calum’s right knee.
“You fucker!” he screamed.
Brianna cried out, “I did it!”
Jasper turned and smiled at her. “See, it wasn’t that hard, was it?” He turned to Calum. “Hmm, I guess I was wrong. She does love you. She just needed to see how serious I was.”
“Now, next question is for you, Calum. Whose idea was it?”
Calum bent over his leg, straining not to bawl.
“I asked you a question. Five, four, three, two—”
Jasper raised the bat over Brianna, trying to decide the best first place to hit. He didn’t want to deliver a killing blow and end the game early.
Perhaps he’d hit her in the back.
“One.”
Jasper was about to swing when Calum spit it out.
“It was her idea!”
“Liar!” she yelled. “It was his idea!”
Calum glared at her, “No, you came to me all pissed off, saying that Jordyn was trying to fuck with you and Bobby, working to turn him against us.”
Jasper slung the bat over his shoulder. “Hmm, you all better get on the same page. I’m going to ask you one more time. Whose idea was it?”
They stared at each other, both of them crying.
“Five,” he started the countdown.
“Okay,” Brianna said. “It was my idea. But we had no idea that she’d kill herself! We just wanted to break her and Bobby up.”
Jasper walked over to her. “You lied to me. I’m afraid I’m going to have to hurt Calum again.”
He swung at Calum’s foot. Bones crunched, and Calum screamed again. “Fuck!” He whimpered, clutching his ankle.
Brianna asked, “You think Jordyn would want this?”
“Oh, so now you care what Jordyn wants?” Jasper spun toward her, feinting a swing, but holding up after she flinched. “You’re right; she wouldn’t like this. But she’s not here to weigh in, is she?” He turned to Calum. “Okay, next question is for you. Why didn’t the District Attorney’s office press charges against any of you?”
“There wasn’t evidence,” Calum whimpered.
Jasper swung the bat, hitting Brianna beneath her left knee. She screamed. Unable to touch her leg, given that her hands were cuffed behind her back, she put her head down, sobbing.
Calum screamed, “Stop!”
“Tell the fucking truth!” Jasper roared at him.
“Fine. My dad knows people. He pulled some strings with someone at the DA’s office.”
“Who?”
“Lyle Dobson.”
Dobson was the District Attorney, confirming Jasper’s suspicion that the fix was in.
“Good, good, we’re getting somewhere. Next question is for …. um, let’s see. Let’s go with Brianna.”
She didn’t look up.
She was still crying.
“Who raped my daughter?”
Brianna’s head shook back and forth as she cried even louder.
“That doesn’t sound like a name to me. Come on. There were three people in the video, right? Names. Now.”
He slammed the bat against the wall beside her.
She jumped, crying out, “Calum and his cousin, Perry.”
“You bitch!” Calum screamed.
Jasper took a step forward, gripping the bat tightly. “That bitch just saved you some more pain. You might want to be a bit more grateful.”
Calum glared at Jasper. “I didn’t rape her. She was into it. I got more video that’ll prove it.”
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“Bullshit!” Jordyn yelled from the corner.
Jasper turned, saw his daughter crying.
He turned back to Calum. “My girl says you’re lying. You know what that means, right?”
Instead of the bat, he kicked Brianna in the ribs. Just hard enough to get her screaming.
Calum yelled again, “You’re fucking crazy!”
Jasper laughed, swung the bat at Calum, hit him in his right arm.
He screamed.
Jasper turned to Jordyn. “Should I continue?”
Tears were streaming from her eyes as she nodded.
“Alright, Jordyn says we keep playing! Next question, Calum! Who recorded the video? Who spread it around?”
Calum glared at Jasper, his eyes full of hate and impotent rage. “She did.”
“It’s all coming together now. I feel like we’re getting somewhere. Now, I’ve got just one more question. This one is for Brianna. Who else was in on it?”
Brianna looked up. “Please, we’ll tell you whatever you want to know. Just please let us go.”
“You answer my questions, then maybe I’ll answer yours.”
“He’s not letting us go,” Calum said, spitting toward Jasper.
“You’re wrong. I am going to let one of you go.” Brianna’s eyes widened with a glimmer of hope. Jasper smiled. “It all depends on how you play the game. Now, tell me, who else was involved?”
“Nobody,” she said. “I mean, we sorta twisted Sammi’s arm to back up our story when Jordyn threatened to go to the police.”
“Of course you did,” Jasper said. “What about Bobby? Was he involved?”
He stared at Calum, who said nothing.
Then at Brianna who shook her head.
“No. Bobby didn’t know anything. We told him she was drunk.”
Jasper sighed. This explained why Bobby said he wouldn’t testify against his former friends.
Jordyn asked, “Why didn’t Bobby stick up for me?”
Neither of them answered.
Jasper said, “Hey, she asked you a question.”
“Who?” Brianna said, looking around.
Calum said, “He’s fucking crazy. I told you!”
Jasper yelled, “Shut up!” then turned to Brianna, “Jordyn wants to know why Bobby didn’t stick up for her.”
Brianna stared at Jasper, a look of confusion, fear, and something else, maybe sadness washing over her face.
“Because Calum told Bobby that he’d destroy him if he didn’t stick to the story.”
Jasper turned to Calum. “Is that so?”
Calum glared back at him.
“I asked you a question.”
“Yeah, I threatened him. What does it even matter anymore? None of this is going to bring her back.”
Jasper nodded. “You’re right. This isn’t about that. This is about justice for my daughter.”
Brianna cried, “Can you please let us go, Mr. Parish? We answered all of your questions.”
“I’ve got one more question. Why?”
“We already told you,” Calum said, “she was trying to fuck shit up. We were all doing well before she came along, trying to put thoughts in Bobby’s head, turn him against us.”
“So, this was jealousy?” Jasper laughed. “Wow, I’ve heard a lot of stupid reasons for people killing one another, but this is pathetic.”
“It wasn’t meant to come to this,” Brianna said. “If we could take it back, we would.”
Jasper looked at her. “I think I believe you. But all the sorrow in the world doesn’t change things. You’re both ugly. Animals.”
Brianna cried.
Calum just glared.
Jasper started to leave.
“Wait!” Brianna said. “You said you’d let us go.”
“No, I said I’d let one of you go. Which one should it be? Which one of you deserves it?”
“I’m not begging you for shit,” Calum said. “Let her go.”
She looked at Calum, tears streaming down her face, “Please, sir. We won’t tell anyone what happened. Just, please. Let both of us go.”
“No, I said one of you. And the best way to decide who that should be is by treating you like the animals you are. You’re going to fight for your freedom.”
He reached into his back pocket, retrieved the pocket knife, and tossed it between Calum and Brianna. “Whichever one of you is left, I’ll let go. You have the advantage, Brianna, seeing as he can’t reach the blade. I’d get it fast if I were you.”
He closed the door and locked it, ignoring Brianna’s cries, “Please don’t make me do it!”
**
Jasper sat across from Jordyn in the sparsely furnished home in the middle of nowhere.
“She’s not going to kill him.”
“Then I guess he’ll kill her.”
“Why did you do this?” Jordyn asked, wiping tears from her eyes.
“For you. Justice.”
“This wasn’t for me. This is a sickness in you. Don’t use me to justify killing them.”
“I’m not using you. I’m just ensuring that they never hurt anyone again.”
“You’re going to get caught.”
“No, I’m not.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’m careful.”
“Not that careful.”
“What do you mean?”
“When you saved that detective? You said my name.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did. And how long do you think it’ll be before she ties you to this?”
He shook his head. “She won’t.”
Jordyn shook her head. “You don’t know that.”
“I see things? Remember?”
She smiled. “Well, I see things too, now. And I don’t see this ending well. I see that detective catching you. I see you rotting in jail.”
“Then so be it.”
A scream downstairs.
Jasper stood, grabbed his gun, and started toward the stairway.
“Don’t do it, Dad,” Jordyn cried out. “I swear. If you do it, I’m gone.”
“What am I supposed to do? Huh? Let him or her go? You’re so worried about me being caught that I would think you’d see the wisdom in ending this here.”
“The jury would go lighter on you for kidnapping than murder.”
“Fuck juries,” Jasper said, heading down the stairs.
He reached the door and unlocked it. He raised the gun, just in case they were trying to trick him — which would’ve been the wise thing to do.
But they weren’t wise. They were fucking idiots.
Jasper opened the door.
Brianna was lying in a pool of blood.
Jordyn stared at the girl, crying.
“Why are you crying?” Jasper asked, thoroughly confused. He thought she’d be happy to see the bitch who had set this all into motion lying dead on the floor.
But she wasn’t.
Calum glared at Jasper, smiling, still holding the knife.
“Come to let me go, Mr. Parish?”
“No,” Jasper said, raising the pistol.
“Don’t do it, Dad. I swear, I’ll leave you.”
“I’m sorry,” he said to his girl. “I’ll miss you.”
He fired the gun, six times.
He watched as the light flickered from Calum’s eyes.
Jordyn stared at Calum, then at her father, shaking her head.
And then she was gone too.
* * * *
CHAPTER 51 - MALLORY BLACK
Mallory entered the hospital room holding a teddy bear with a shirt that read, Sorry You’re Sick. Get Well Soon!
Mike looked up. “Mal! I thought you were never going to visit me.”
“Well, no thanks to you, I had a mountain of paperwork to get through alone. You need to get better fast. I refuse to do all your work. Here, I got you a teddy bear. They didn’t have any that said ‘Sorry you got shot.’”
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p; “Thanks. You can put it over there with the other stuff on the nightstand.”
His nightstand was filled with cards, flowers, another bear just like the one she’d gotten in the gift shop downstairs, and enough balloons to start a parade.
“Jesus, what the hell is all this? You’d think you were seriously injured or something.”
He laughed. “I can’t help it if people like me.”
“Are you saying people don’t like me? People fucking love me. I’m a nice girl. And those that don’t love me can fuck right off.”
Mike laughed.
“So, when are you coming back?”
“I dunno. It was a bit worse than they first thought. Might be on crutches for a month.”
“A month? Fuck. They better not put me with Skippy. I swear to God, I will shoot myself in the leg to get out of that.”
Mike laughed again.
Gena said, “You did good, Mal. You saved that girl.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not sure the brass is thrilled. The media is bashing us, saying how we fucked up and let the killer slip out of our grasp. How I risked getting that girl killed and never should’ve taken the shot.”
Mike shook his head. “They writing you up?”
“Not yet. I guess it depends on which way the political wind is blowing.”
“Well, we caught the fucker. And the girl is alive. That’s all that matters.”
Mal nodded.
Mike asked, “What made you take such a shot? Was it clear?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
Mike looked up at the muted TV as an insipid used car commercial ended, and the news anchor showed a picture of Calum Kozack alongside a Sheriff’s Department toll free number.
“They still haven’t found him? Fucker is probably on a coke bender, banging super models in Aruba,” Mike said.
“No,” Mal said. “It’s with Missing Persons. Say, do you remember a few years ago when that guy came in wanting us to charge Calum with rape, saying his daughter killed herself because of him? Do you remember who worked that case?”
“I think it was Peppers in Sex Crimes. She turned it over to the DA’s office, but they said there was nothing there.”
“Do you remember the daughter’s name?”
