by Carsen Taite
“Marty was murdered.”
“No, no.” Vivian’s hands flew up to cover her face, and the book she’d been reading thudded on the floor.
Ellen ignored her natural instinct to spare her mother the details and pressed on. “Do you have any idea who killed her?”
Vivian sobbed. “How could I possibly know?”
“Do you remember Angela Perkins?” When she saw her mother’s puzzled look, she added, “Pledge Thirteen? Your senior year in college?”
The look on her mother’s face left no doubt. She remembered Angela Perkins very well, but she still resisted admitting it. “I don’t know where you heard that term, but I think we should talk about something more pleasant.”
Ellen considered her options. She could do what she’d done all her life and go along with her mother’s wishes. Unpleasant topics were unmentioned, swept under the table and dealt with only if absolutely necessary. Ignoring the past would definitely be the easier route. No confrontation, no unpleasant and uncomfortable drudging up of feelings. Letting buried truths stay buried might make this moment easier, but how would she ever find depth in her own life if she continued to mimic what she’d been taught? Weren’t some things worth getting messy over?
She sat on the small couch and faced her mother, ignoring her clear expression of annoyance. “You have every right not to talk about the parts of your life that are yours alone, but when your past decisions affect me and so many others, you lose that right. I need to hear your version of what happened all those years ago, so if you have something redeeming to say, now’s the time.”
Ellen leaned back on the couch and folded her arms. Vivian opened her mouth, but instead of words, she emitted a sharp cry. Ellen followed her wide-eyed gaze and gasped when she saw a hulking man standing in the doorway. He wore the same uniform as all the other employees, but the gun in his hand clearly signaled he wasn’t there in a care-taking role. With his free hand, he placed a finger over his lips and then shut the door behind him and walked further into the suite.
“Don’t stop.” He spoke the words to Vivian while pointing the barrel of his gun between them. “You were going to tell her about your college days and how hospitable you were to all the Alpha Nu pledges.”
Ellen watched the scene play out, desperately trying to process what was going on. Had Sarah and Danny been completely wrong when they thought Angela, her intern, was the killer? What was this man’s connection to the sorority and the deceased Angela Perkins? Tired of the lies, tired of the secrets, she braved a question. “Who are you?”
His smile was devoid of feeling and his eyes were blank as he spoke with a halting voice. “I’m Collin Perkins. Pledge Thirteen was my mother.”
*
Danny knocked on the door of Ellen’s hotel room for the third time, but still no answer. She glanced around the hallway. Maybe Ellen had left and her guard had followed, but she was fairly certain she’d heard Sarah instruct them that someone should remain here watching the room at all times.
When she finally turned to leave, she spotted a uniformed cop coming toward her. He spoke first. “She left.”
“Where did she go?”
“I don’t know. A couple of feds showed up earlier today and tried to talk her out of leaving, but she wouldn’t hear any of it. She left and they followed. I figured they had eyes on her, so I stayed here like I was told.”
Right, and that’s why you were right here when I showed up. Danny realized there was no sense arguing with the guy. She opened her phone and searched, hopefully, for a text from Ellen, a missed call, something to let her know where she’d gone. Nothing. She sent a text, a simple “where are you?” The reply, “call you later” was quick. She stared at her phone for a few seconds, pondering her next move. She started to call, but what she had to say needed to be said in person. She pressed in the numbers to Sarah’s phone and when she answered, barked into the phone. “I hope your guys know where she is.”
“Danny? Where are you?”
“At Ellen’s hotel.”
“She’s not there?”
“No, she left a while ago according to the cop on duty. He says your guys are following.”
“I know she wanted to go to her office earlier, but I talked her out of it.”
“Well, where did she go?”
“I don’t have a clue. I’ll text you the number of the lead agent assigned to watch her. Listen, I was about to call Molly. We’ve had Collin’s place staked out for a while, but he hasn’t shown up. We’re going to see if there’s a trash bin on the perimeter of the property that we can check for clues.”
“Make sure you stay away from the house without a warrant.” Danny didn’t want any potential evidence to be tossed because they’d violated the fucker’s constitutional rights in their excited quest to apprehend him.
“I know the drill. We’ll call Molly right away if we find anything.”
Danny hung up and considered what to do next. Calling the agents assigned to protect Ellen was extreme. They probably had her safely in their sights, and she risked the possibility of coming off like an interfering worrywart. If she showed up to talk to Ellen, they’d know for sure she was only interested for personal reasons.
So what? She needed to talk to Ellen before she lost her nerve. She checked for Sarah’s text and then called the agent’s number, practicing what she would say while she waited through the rings. When he answered, she summoned her most authoritative voice. “This is ADA Soto. I’m working with Agent Flores. I need to verify you have Ellen Davenport in sight and can give me a location.”
The few beats of silence echoed on the line, and Danny didn’t try to hide the rising panic in her voice. “Tell me you know where she is.”
“Actually, we don’t. She parked in front of her office building and we thought she was going to go in. While we were scoping out parking, she apparently took off. We didn’t have a chance at following her. She hasn’t been to the office, her hotel, or her house, but we have all three places staked out just in case.”
Unbelievable. “What time did you lose her?”
“About three hours ago.”
Anything could happen in three hours, but Danny’s thoughts included only the bad things. “When the fuck were you going to report that you’d lost her?”
“It’s not like we haven’t been looking. She could’ve gone anywhere.”
Danny didn’t bother replying. She clicked off the line and immediately redialed Sarah’s number. Again she started talking the minute the call connected. “Your guys lost her. Hours ago. She could be anywhere, she could be—”
Sarah interrupted before she could get any further. “We found something.”
“What?”
“In Perkins’s trash. We found something.”
“Is there some reason you aren’t telling me what it is?”
“I’ve already called Molly so she can start working on the warrant. I need you to promise me you won’t do anything stupid if I tell you.”
“I promise.” The lie was easy. She could hear the urgent undercurrent of fear in Sarah’s voice. She’d promise whatever she had to in order to hear what had her all worked up.
“We found the address for Cedar Acres on some papers in Perkins’s trash. It was handwritten on probably a dozen sheets of paper and…”
Sarah kept talking, but her words were a blur. How could she have been so stupid? She hadn’t even considered Cedar Acres as one of the places Ellen might go, but her gut told her that was exactly where she was. Right in the path of a serial killer. She didn’t care if Sarah or anyone else thought she was stupid. Finding Ellen before Collin Perkins did was the most important thing she would ever do.
Chapter Twenty-four
Ellen looked from the gun in Collin’s hand to her mother’s face and watched Vivian’s mind flutter shut. Her mother was gone again and she was completely alone. Whatever was about to happen, she wouldn’t be able to count on her for help.
�
�Get over there, both of you.” Collin pointed his gun toward the back of the room, and Ellen’s mind raced with ideas about escape. Her phone was in her purse, turned off. There was an internal house phone on her mother’s nightstand, but the ten feet between her and it may as well have been a mile.
She stared at his uniform, ill-fitting and bunched in all the wrong places. She doubted he worked here, which meant he had probably cased the place and stolen a uniform for this very day. Or he’d traded clothes with some poor soul who actually worked here. She shuddered at the sight of a duffle bag in his hand, imagining it contained whatever he needed to carry out his revenge. Did he really think he could kill them both here without being detected?
Danny. Would her earlier terse text to Danny be the last words they shared? She couldn’t bear the idea this would be the end and she resolved to survive whatever this was. Maybe she could draw attention to her mother’s suite and warn whoever came to check things out. She started by knocking over a lamp on the way to the far side of the room.
The loud clank on the floor caused Perkins to shake his gun in their direction and hiss, “Quiet, or I’ll make some noise you’ll regret.”
Already regretting everything about being here, Ellen turned her attention to her mother. Vivian’s vacant look had been replaced by stark fear, her eyes focused on the gun. Ellen reached for her arm and guided her away from Collin. “It’s okay, Mother. Nothing to be afraid of.”
Collin laughed at her whispered words. “By the time I’m done with her, she’ll be afraid all right. If you think she’s going to get off easy like the others, you’re dead wrong.” He laughed again at his own joke and Ellen fought to hide any visible reaction to his sociopathic cruelty.
Danny’s vague description about how each of his prior victims had died surfaced, and she tamped down the images in her head. She couldn’t afford to focus on what might happen. She had to concentrate on saving her mother and herself. They were in a fairly small space, surrounded by many other rooms. If they were going to get out of here alive, she had to draw attention to their situation and make it very uncomfortable for Perkins to stay here and carry out his plans. Standing directly in front of Vivian, she raised her voice. “The only one who’s going to be dead is you. The police know exactly who you are and what you’ve done. Do you really think they don’t know you’re here right now?”
Not a flinch. He covered his mouth with a meaty fist and his whole body shook. Took her a minute to realize he was laughing. Hard. “These old people can’t hear anything, so you can stop making noise. And, as for the police? You think I don’t know how to take care of them? The stupid one they put here won’t be guarding anyone ever again.”
Ellen struggled to hide her fear. Unless she could get them out of the room, they were certain to die here. He obviously didn’t care if he was detected as long as he got to carry out his mission. He was going to shoot them both unless she figured a way to distract him long enough for them to escape.
The journals. Maybe if she could get her mother to talk about them, he would stop long enough to hear what she had to say. Hell, she’d even go as far as to say they were still here if it would get him out of this room and allow them even the slightest chance of escape.
Summoning every reserve she had, she said, “Collin, what my mother did to yours was unforgivable. She even wrote it all down. Would you like to read her journals?”
A flicker of interest flashed in his eyes, but the gun didn’t waiver. He glanced at Vivian whose expression had returned to a blank stare, and she pressed on. “I know where she hid them.”
“Tell me.”
She shook her head. “She was so ashamed of what she did, she buried them in a garden outside. I have to show you.” She watched his face, his expression changing as he slowly considered the possibilities. When he finally offered a plan, she didn’t like it at all.
He pointed the gun at her and asked, “You have a phone?”
She waffled for a minute as she considered lying, but if he went through her purse and found it, there would be consequences. “Yes.” She motioned toward her purse and watched in dismay as he dug through the contents and fished out her cell. Dismay changed to despair as he placed it under his boot and crushed it. Next he fished a strand of rope and a roll of duct tape from his bag, tossed it to her, and instructed her to use it to tie Vivian’s hands and feet and tape her mouth. Ellen was as gentle as she could be, confident that her mother’s memories of this would be buried with the rest of her past. She only hoped she would live to have memories of her own.
*
Danny called Ellen at least a dozen times as she flew down the highway to Cedar Acres, and each call was answered on the first ring by Ellen’s recorded voice. There could be any number of reasons why she wasn’t answering, but her mind raced to the worst conclusion—that she couldn’t because Collin Perkins had her.
When she finally turned into the drive at Cedar Acres, she didn’t wait for the valet, instead slamming on the brakes and abandoning her truck in the first open space. She ran into the lobby and looked frantically around. Her surging adrenaline was completely at odds with the easy Muzak and the slow moving residents, and after a minute she realized, she didn’t know where to go from here. The place was enormous. Vivian and Ellen could be anywhere.
She fished her district attorney badge from her pocket and strode up to the receptionist who was chatting on the phone. After an impatient few minutes, she took the receiver from her hand and placed it on the cradle, shoving her badge under the woman’s nose. “Police business. I need you to tell me the room number for Vivian Davenport.”
The talkative woman assumed a know-it-all posture and asked, “Do you have a warrant, Officer?”
Danny growled, but didn’t bother correcting the misimpression. “Where’s Mrs. Patterson?”
“She’s gone for the night.”
“Does she know you sit up here and talk on personal calls all evening? Pretty sure I can let her know. Bet you’ll be looking for a job somewhere else.”
She typed a few strokes on her computer. “She’s in room 277, but if you tell anyone that you got it from me, I’ll deny it.”
Danny didn’t stick around to reply. She took off to the elevator bank she’d seen in the lobby and dashed into an open car, jamming the number two button over and over until the doors finally slid shut. As she traveled slowly to the second floor, she contemplated her next move. She didn’t have a gun, but Collin certainly did. Sarah and George were probably on the way with backup. She should wait for them. If she had any sense, she would wait for them. But Ellen might be here, and common sense didn’t matter where Ellen was concerned. All that mattered was keeping Ellen safe. She couldn’t bear the thought of never being able to tell her how she felt.
The hallway was sermon quiet. She checked the signs on the wall and determined that Vivian’s room was located at the very end. She tiptoed down the hall, careful not to make any noise. When she reached Vivian’s door, she held her breath and listened. The seconds ticked away and she heard nothing. Now that she was here, her earlier bravado disappeared. She wasn’t scared for herself, but she didn’t want to do anything stupid, anything that could get Ellen hurt, or killed. Bursting through the door would be a loser move.
She leaned against the wall and considered her options. She’d barely gotten past a few initial thoughts before her phone buzzed. She covered it to block the noise and glanced at the screen. We have Collin in sight. Cedar Acres. Where are you?
So he must not be here in the room. She thumbed her reply to Sarah. Inside. By Vivian’s room.
Stay put. I’ll call you when we have him.
Danny sighed with relief. This would all be over soon. Ellen and her mother would be safe. The killer would be in custody. She would let Alvarez know she wanted off the case and she would be free to explore whatever Ellen was prepared to explore with her. She pushed away from the wall and considered whether she should wait here or find another place
to keep vigil. As she considered her options, she heard a faint groan. She pressed her ear against Vivian’s door and listened. Seconds later, another groan and then a thud. Was Vivian in trouble? What if Collin had made it to her before he slipped away? What if she was inside, dying from wounds he’d inflicted?
Without another thought, she turned the door handle. Locked. She pushed against the door. It gave slightly, but she’d have to really throw some weight into it to break it down. Glancing down the hall, it appeared everyone was in for the night. If she broke the door down, she’d wake them all, but she’d have to take that chance. She backed up and charged full force against the door. She spilled into the room as it gave way. It took her a moment to get her bearings. A figure lay on the bed. Bound and gagged. She rushed to her side and found Vivian on the bed, barely breathing, but still alive and with no visible signs of injury. She gently peeled the duct tape from her mouth and murmured gentle comforts while she untied her bonds.
“Marty,” she croaked.
“What?”
“Marty. He took Marty. I think he might kill her. She promised to show him where I buried the journals.”
She had no doubt that the “he” Vivian was talking about was Collin, but a more important question topped her list. “Has Ellen been here tonight?”
“She’s taking him to the journals. I think he might kill her.”
Danny struggled to process Vivian’s ramblings. Was Vivian talking about Marty or Ellen? Only took her a second before she remembered being in the garden with Vivian. Vivian kept calling Ellen, Marty. Ellen had said she’d confused them before. Was she confusing them tonight too?
