by Jessie Cooke
“Whose brother-in-law?”
“Don’t be smart while I have a gun pointed at your head. I’m talking about Detective Campbell and you know it.”
“My sister isn’t married.”
“Yet.”
“So no, Detective Campbell is not my brother-in-law.”
“Yet. What’s your name?” he asked him.
Collin thought that was funny. Even he asked that much before he’d ask a person to get naked.
“Collin Kelly.”
“My name is Gordon Myers. I’m happy to meet you, Collin Kelly.” He said that like Collin was there for tea. In fact, he was sitting in the man’s living room bare-ass naked with a gun pointed at his head and he wanted to exchange pleasantries. Crazy son of a bitch. Myers went on to say, “I have to say I’m disappointed. I was hoping it would be Noah that stopped by.”
“He’ll be here soon,” Collin said confidently as his brain screamed, I hope. Noah at least won’t be stupid enough to show up unarmed.
“I hope he will be.” He mirrored Collin’s sentiment. “Noah and I are long overdue for a face to face. He’s admired my work from afar for so long now that I can’t wait for him to catch the live show. For now, you and I can get to know each other. What do you do for a living, Collin?”
“I’ve had a recent change in employment,” Collin said. “As a matter of fact, I just joined up with a motorcycle club…you might have heard of them, the Phoenix Skulls?”
The crazy man laughed. “I’ve seen them out on the streets. Quite intimidating. I would think a Skull would have shown up on my doorstep armed and maybe with some backup.”
Collin would think that too…from now on, if he lived through this. “What do you do, Gordon?” Collin had worked ambulance duty one night at the scene of a multiple shooting. He heard the hostage negotiator say that you’re supposed to use their name as much as possible. Supposedly the familiarity makes it harder for them to kill. He wasn’t sure if it worked, but at that point anything was worth a shot.
He smiled and said, “I have a very boring job in a real estate office. I hated it.”
“Hated? Are you retired?”
“No. I’m only thirty-four.” Collin couldn’t tell. All of that baldness made him seem kind of ageless. “I’m not retired, but I am on medical leave just now.”
“Oh, what’s wrong with you?” Psychotic? Schizophrenic? Paranoid?
“I have pancreatic cancer, and hepatic now, and it’s also in my gall bladder.”
“Oh.” Good.
“I’m going to die…today.”
“Oh.” Even better if he means it. “Can I ask you a personal question, Gordon?”
“Of course,” he said with a smile. This guy is such a freak.
“Did you take Ciara Campbell?”
“I don’t like that word, ‘take.’ I invited Ciara to visit me and she agreed. She of course expected me to pay for her company at first, but we reached an agreement eventually. As a matter of fact she liked my company so much that she decided to stay.”
Collin felt his pulse speed up. “So she’s still here?”
“Yes, she’s here.”
“Can I see her?”
He laughed and looked over his shoulder. “I honestly thought she’d be out by now.” Collin shuddered to think what that even meant. His mind was racing and he wondered how long it would take Noah to stumble upon this house. God forbid Ava got there first. Fuck! Right at that moment, Collin heard his phone ring. “It sounds like you have a call,” the psychotic man said, reaching over with his free hand into Collin’s jacket pocket while keeping the gun trained on his head. He pulled out the phone and said, “It’s a private number. Would you like me to answer it?”
“That’s okay, they’ll leave a message.”
“No, I think it might be fun to answer it. Hello?” The crazy bastard pressed the phone to his ear. “Who is this? Oh, Ann, how lovely of you to call.” Double fuck! “Yes, Collin is here but he can’t come to the phone. Let me put you on speaker. Collin, it’s Ann, say hello.”
“Hi, Ann.”
“Collin? What’s going on? Who’s that man?”
“Forgive me for being so rude. My name is Gordon Myers. I’m the Valentine Killer. I hate that moniker. It has nothing to do with valentines and everything to do with setting my beauties free so they can fly to heaven. Do you need to be set free, Ann?”
“What? Collin, what is going on? This isn’t funny.”
Collin didn’t say anything. He had no idea what the rules of the crazy game were so he wasn’t taking part. “Collin seems to be speechless at the moment, dear. He’s surprised I would just admit that to you. But since I decided today would be my last day on earth I’ve found it’s kind of freeing, like nudity. What do you think, Collin? Are you enjoying the nudity?”
“Nudity? Collin, what is going on?”
“He’s sitting in my living room nude, dear. I must say he’s quite well-endowed. If I liked boys…”
“Collin!”
“It’s okay, Ann, Gordon and I are just getting to know each other. I’ll try and call you later. Please don’t tell anyone in my family about this.” Translated that meant, please do. Collin hoped she got that.
“I don’t know what kind of weird head games you’re playing but…” Gordon disconnected the call.
“I don’t like her. Who is she? Are you screwing her?”
“She’s just a friend.”
“She reminded me of my wife…God rest her soul.” Collin didn’t say anything and he went on. As he was describing to him what a nagging, screeching bitch his wife had been, Collin saw Ciara. She was crawling down the hallway toward them. Collin could feel his heart beginning to pound against the walls of his chest. Gordon didn’t seem to notice her and Collin was trying to keep his eyes on the psycho’s face and keep Ciara in his peripheral vision. Even from that angle it was hard to look at her. She was nude and her hair was a greasy, matted pile stuck to the sides of her face and her neck. She was covered in things that he didn’t want to chance a guess at and underneath all of that she was bruised, bloody, and skeletal. He was aching to get up and go get her but was afraid that would get them both killed. When Gordon stopped talking Collin said:
“So what happened to your wife, Gordon?”
“Have you ever heard the old saying, ‘pushing up the daisies’?” He had a sick little smile on his face. When Collin didn’t answer him right away he laughed and said, “Well, actually they’re tulips but she’s turning out to be a much better fertilizer than she ever was a wife.” Collin’s stomach rolled. Gordon’s creepy black eyes looked like he was reliving the moment. Suddenly he came back from wherever he’d gone in his head and stood up. With another sick smile and without even looking in her direction he said, “Here’s Ciara now. Stand up, Collin. I’ll need you to carry her up the stairs for me.”
28
Noah and Ava were nearly at the end of their second street when her phone rang. It was a private number. She looked at Noah and furrowed her brow. Noah shrugged so she stopped and pressed accept. She said hello and then after several seconds he saw her face go pale and she drew her brows together. “What is it?” Noah mouthed.
“It’s Ann, about Collin.” She pressed the speaker button and held up the phone. Noah heard a frantic female voice saying:
“He was saying crazy things about Collin being naked and something about being the Valentine Killer. I hate to be the one to tell you this, Ava, but I think something is wrong with him.”
“Ann, did he say where he was at?” Noah asked.
“Noah?”
“Yes, think! Did he say where he was?”
“Why are you yelling at me? No, he didn’t say where he was. Gordon did most of the talking…”
“Gordon?”
“Yeah, the guy said his name was Gordon Myers…” Ava hung up. Noah was already dialing Hayden.
“Hayden, Gordon Myers—I need an address.”
“Okay, I’ll
call you back.” Noah hung up, but the waiting was going to be excruciating.
“Where did Collin start?” Noah asked Ava.
“1st Street.”
“Okay, so we start at the first house and work our way this way until we hear back from Hayden.”
Ava nodded and they both started jogging back to the beginning of the block. When they got to the top of the street Ava took one side, while Noah took the other. He didn’t have the energy to argue with her again. He had knocked on two doors when Hayden called back.
“Six-fourteen 1st Street. I’m on my way.”
“Okay, thanks.”
“Noah, wait for me.”
“Okay.” Noah hung up and looked at the address in front of him. He was at 622. He looked over and caught Ava’s eye on the other side of the street and motioned to her. “It’s the three-story two houses down. 614,” Noah told her. “I’m going around the back. I need you to wait about five minutes and then knock on the front door.”
“Noah…” He looked at Ava and could almost read her mind. She wanted to tell him to wait for Hayden. She must have seen something in his face that changed her mind, though, because all she said was, “Be careful. I love you.”
“I love you too. You have your gun?”
“Of course.”
He kissed her cheek and said, “Don’t hesitate to use it.” Then he made his way two houses down. There was a walkway alongside the garage and a cement fence about six feet high. On his way past he noticed the garage door was open about two inches from the bottom. Crouching as low as he could get his big body, he moved over towards the garage. He looked around and didn’t see anyone so he lay on his belly in the driveway and took a look inside. He was looking at the back end of a Mercedes…a dark blue Mercedes. He inched back over to the little strip of lawn in front of the cement wall and climbed the locked gate. Noah pulled himself up and over it, dropping down next to the garage window. He looked inside and all he saw was the car and usual garage stuff. There were no weird serial killer tools hanging on the wall or anything. As a matter of fact the whole thing looked almost fanatically neat which made it even more evident to Noah that this was their guy.
He took out his gun and held it down at his side as he followed the walkway around to the back. There was a huge pool and barbecue area and something that looked like a small pool house. The rest of the yard was perfectly manicured lawn. A large cement patio stretched across the back and there was a jacuzzi and a little wooden building that looked like a spa. There was a set of sliding glass doors and three windows, all tightly covered with blinds from the inside. Noah ducked underneath them and made his way around to the side of the house.
He found a small window that looked like a bathroom. It was frosted on the bottom but glass on top, and it wasn’t covered. He stood to the side of it and looked in. Again, the place looked like it had been sterilized for surgery. It was a big bathroom with a jacuzzi tub and glass-enclosed shower. He couldn’t see the toilet, so hopefully Gordon wasn’t about to stand up with his pants down and catch him looking in. He could see down the long, wide hallway in front of it, but there were no signs of life. Noah pressed his palm into the glass and pushed up. The window was locked from the inside, of course. He went back around the outside to the back and once again ducked under the windows. When he got to the sliding glass doors, he pulled on one and it slid open. Gordon had left a trail for him and now he’d left the door unlocked. Noah wondered what he was setting him up for, but he couldn’t stop then. With his gun at his side he sidled in the door and found himself standing in a huge gourmet kitchen.
He made his way through there into the formal dining room. He was almost to the living room when he heard the knock on the front door. He pressed himself into the wall and waited. He couldn’t see or hear anyone in the house and when Ava knocked again and no one came running to answer it, Noah went over and let her inside. He figured she was safer with him. With a finger to his lips he motioned for her to wait where she was.
“Collin’s clothes,” Ava whispered. Noah looked in the direction she was pointing. The suit Collin had been wearing was lying neatly folded on the sofa. What is this freak up to? Ava’s eyes were huge and Noah told her:
“Wait here for Hayden.”
Ava surprised him by nodding. She was clutching her gun in her hand and staring at her brother’s suit. Noah knew her well enough to know that she had regrets about their last conversation swimming in her pretty head. He was going to do his best to make sure she got a chance to make it up to him.
As Noah made his way down the hall toward the bathroom that he had looked into, he saw a pair of bloody handprints on the wall. He reached out and touched one corner…it was wet and the handprints were too small to be Collin’s. Noah could only hope this freak had small hands. Holding his breath and gun, he went from one closed door to the next. By the time he had made it to the bathroom he’d found no one and nothing interesting. He was about to go back toward the living room and the front entryway where the stairs were when he saw a cord overhead. He reached up and pulled on it, realizing that it too was wet with blood. He pulled down a heavy set of stairs and with his back to the wall and his gun in both hands, he followed a set of bloody footprints up the stairs.
Noah thought he was going up to an attic, but what he realized when he got to the second story landing was that it was just another, separate part of the big house. He was facing another long hallway, but this one only had one door, all the way at the end. He slid along the wall until he got to it and tried the door. It swung inward and he stepped into the doorframe with his gun drawn. In spite of all of the things that Noah had seen and smelled in his lifetime, he started to gag. Scared to death that he would screw up the crime scene, he stepped back out into the hallway and pressed his back into the wall. He stood there for a few seconds, gulping in fresh air and convincing himself that he could handle it without barfing. When his stomach settled down, he stepped in again.
The room was empty save for a tiny twin-size bed and an old chair. The smells emanating from the room were sickening and the floor was covered with a mixture of blood, dirt, and other things. There was a set of restraints hanging from the ceiling. It looked like the straps had been cut. There was another set anchored to the floor and they had been cut too. Lying next to the filthy chair was an IV bag with the tubing and needle still attached. Noah didn’t want to consider what kind of shape she had to be in to need that. He continued to look around the disgusting room. Where there once was a window was now a giant piece of unfinished wood bolted to the wall. Emotions tumbled through him again as he pictured his sister held captive there. The primary one was rage. Unless Hayden shot Noah, he seriously doubted that he was getting this motherfucker out alive.
As if one naked man weren’t enough, now there was a big, naked redheaded guy. At least that one wasn’t repulsive. He scooped Ciara up like she was a doll and with Psycho Joe behind them with a gun pointed at the big guy’s head he carried her upstairs. Ciara thought she heard a knock at the front door as they were going up, but she wasn’t sure. When they got to the second floor she realized it was where she had come from earlier, only now they were on the other end. The house was like some kind of weird Winchester Mansion. The side she had been on was nothing but blank walls and her torture room. The side they were on now looked like a normal, upper-class residence…with one exception. The motherfucker had a two-way glass installed at the end of the hall and they were looking into the room where she had lived for God only knew how long. The green eyes of the big guy holding her were as big as saucers and she had a feeling that he was as much a part of this as she was. There were fluids on the wall where the mirror was. This man had to be the most disgusting excuse for a human being that ever lived.
“Go up one more,” Gordon told the redhead. He waved the gun as he said it and the other guy had no choice. He carried Ciara up to the third floor. They came off the stairs there into a room even emptier than the one he had k
ept Ciara in. The only real difference was it had a window and it was spotless. There was also another door on the far side of the room. “You can put her down, Collin.” The big guy seemed reluctant but with another wave of the gun from the psycho he set her down gently onto her feet. Ciara couldn’t remember the last time someone treated her so carefully. Compared to what she was used to it was like the difference between heaven and hell. They stood there while Psycho Joe seemed to be thinking, and after a few minutes her legs gave out. She started to fall and the guy that he called Collin caught her. He helped her back to her feet and then stood with his arm around her, holding her up. Psycho rolled his eyes. “Isn’t that sweet? The Irish-Catholic boy and the slut.”
The “Irish-Catholic boy” narrowed his pretty green eyes at Gordon. It was easy to read his face. He wanted to kill him almost as badly as Ciara did. Gordon left them standing there and began to pace back and forth. He made sure to keep the gun trained on them, but he seemed to be unable to stay still. It was probably a good ten or fifteen minutes later before they heard footsteps on the stairs and the ugly bastard smiled.
“He’s coming.” He ran over and opened the door on the far side of the room and they were suddenly looking out on daylight and what looked like a palm tree. Ciara caught herself staring at the view wondering what looked strange about it. At last, she realized there was no balcony. The door opened into thin air. Ciara looked up at Collin and she could see the panic in his face. She thought that they both had the same idea. Psycho Joe was going to find out for sure that Ciara wasn’t flying anywhere. All eighty-five pounds of her would break when he pushed her out that door and she fell three stories down to whatever was below. “Collin, bring her over here.”
“No.”
