by J. E. Taylor
“So, when did you develop this, this.” Cleary waved at Steve. “This talent?”
“I don’t know, sir. Sometime after the explosion,” he said, glazing over the truth. “I don’t know how or why, but it just happened. You know my wife’s clairvoyant, right?” He changed the subject from his present talents, pushing the spotlight to her.
“Jack did mention that.” He didn’t know what to make of his star agent, but he was damn glad to have him onboard.
“Do I have the latitude to act if I hear something?” Steve needed to know, because if they wanted to follow protocol to the tee, he’d have to get reasonable proof before taking any action.
Cleary was old school, but this case razzed him as much as seeing his oldest friend gutted in a hotel room. He slowly nodded. “Yes, but report to me before you do anything so I can pave the way.”
“Thanks.” Steve stood. “Also, if I’m going to remain inconspicuous, Sarah has to stop dressing the way she is.”
A smirk appeared on Cleary’s lips and he bit back an inappropriate comment. “I’ll talk to her.”
Steve smiled. His boss thought she looked damn fine in the suit. “Thanks.” He stood and wandered into the pit, poking Sarah in the side from behind. “Hey there, sweet thang,” he drawled in her ear in the perfect southern accent.
“I’m telling your wife,” Sarah replied and turned her head in his direction.
Steve’s laughter shattered the low murmurs in the room. “Sorry I was late, guys. I had a small errand to run.” He took a seat at the table and scanned the officers.
“Gagnon was just filling us in on yesterday’s interviews. He said you didn’t uncover anything beyond what we already knew,” Danforth said. “And in light of the latest abductions, I think we need to let the public know the perp may be using a dog to lure the kids away from their parents.”
Steve traded a glance with Officer Gagnon. He hadn’t informed his superior of the cop angle and Steve wondered why. “Do you think that’s wise?”
Lieutenant Danforth tilted his head, “Excuse me, but this is my case and I think the public has a right to know.”
The room was quiet, all eyes shifting from Steve to Lieutenant Danforth, waiting for the next card to be played.
“We are not sure that the dog owner is the UNSUB. If he is, releasing the information will force him to change tactics and then we’re back to square one.” He folded his arms, glancing at Sarah.
“He has a point.” Sarah backed him just as Cleary stepped into the room.
“What you could say is that right now we’re looking at every avenue to find those kids, even canvassing witnesses for information that could lead us to the killer. We haven’t been able to track down everyone, so if you have any information regarding a witness with a Golden Retriever working dog, or anyone who was at X between Y and Z, please contact us. That way, it isn’t a red flag, per se,” Steve said.
“I agree with Agent Williams. We shouldn’t release the specific information just yet, we have a mode of operation for this bastard, I say we use it to our advantage,” Cleary said.
Lieutenant Danforth inhaled, pursing his lips and all eyes swung in his direction. “Okay,” he agreed. “But so help me god, if another child is taken and we could have prevented it...” He pointed his index finger at Steve, the rest of his fingers curled so tight that his knuckles turned white.
“I want to catch the bastard before he finishes off those two kids.” Steve pointed toward the pictures of André and Katie. He looked at the wall and knew he might already be too late.
Silence filled the room as he filtered through the thoughts of everyone present. Only a couple of the officers were unreadable, Danforth and Gagnon included. He needed to pull Gagnon aside and find out why he hadn’t informed his superior of the complete set of facts. His gaze drifted over the timeline again, particularly the overlapping timelines.
“He’s got to have a pretty big area.”
“What?”
Steve slid his chair out and walked to the timeline. “He’s got two or three kids at a time.” He pointed at the board. “So the area he keeps them has to be pretty big and with what he’s doing to them, it would have to be pretty remote. Those kids are screaming.” His voice cracked. “And no one can hear them.”
Chapter 19
André woke to a dark room, but it wasn’t silent. Screams as loud as his own had drifted from the doorway. The doctor was torturing another. André let out a small sob; despite everything he learned in church, he was thankful it wasn’t him. His leg ached and his groin throbbed. The dim memory of the scalpel slicing just above his right knee surfaced, the screams, the blood and the god damn dog salivating, waiting for the bone to be tossed to him. It all seemed surreal.
The doctor had taken off the chest harness that held him to the table and André sat up, reaching for his itching calf. His hand missed. He felt around, grazing his left leg. Where the hell is my leg? His hand caught the bandaged stump of his thigh and pain flared, yanking him down into the blackness again.
* * * *
The clanging in the other cell caught my attention and I paused, pulling the scalpel away. The gaping wound in her abdomen sat open, but her eyes had rolled back in her head. Her chest still rose and fell but there was a wheeze in it now, a slight hiss on each exhale, like her unconscious body was trying to scream.
I focused back on the surgery before me and reached inside, severing the last ligament holding her uterus and yanked the organ out. I turned it over in my hands, enthralled with the weight and slickness of the thing, marveling that this is where children come from in the first place.
A shudder of disgust peeled through me and a bitter taste flooded my mouth. I tossed the uterus to Alex, and turned back to my patient. I needed to cauterize the artery before she bled out. Once that was done and the bleeding squelched, I stitched her up and placed a bandage on top of the wound.
Peeling my gloves off, I headed toward the other occupied operating room, dropping my gloves in the garbage tagged for incineration.
I switched the overhead light on and stared at the patient who had lasted longer than any of the others. The boy lay prone on the metal, slightly askew with one arm hanging over the edge. His breath thready and wheezing and his complexion waxy with fever. It looked like shock had finally set in.
With a sigh, I turned, making my way back to the girl with the lithe, trim and undeveloped body and the irritatingly low pain threshold.
I would never learn a thing from her. Not like the boy, who withstood so much before he passed out. His screams differed with each surgery, sometimes acute and piercing, other times choked in his throat. He has brought a wealth of data to my study, even though his eyes glazed with pain and fear. The few times he lost consciousness I studied his reactions, his body’s natural defense mechanisms to stimulus, and found it fascinating.
But not her, she screamed the moment I set the blade to her skin, bucking under the knife for a moment or two before her eyes rolled up in her head and she blacked out. Her unconscious reaction to stimulus was not the same as the boy’s.
Not as informative, not a learning tool.
I wonder how she’ll take losing an eye. That’s my next surgical study, but I want her awake. I want to hear the pitch of her scream to see if it’s different. I want to feel that rush, like I’m a god, in control of their meager destinies.
I took a seat and began to whistle, waiting for Sleeping Beauty to wake.
Chapter 20
Steve stood at the entrance to the alley, his jaw clamped shut, his eyes scanning the carnage. His fists clenched and unclenched methodically as he attempted to rein in the anger.
Katie’s remains had been scattered through the alley like a fisherman would throw chum to attract sharks. Her head had been propped on the dumpster with a mocking grin stitched in place.
André was still missing which meant they just hadn’t found him yet or the UNSUB was having more fun torturing him than t
his poor girl. The coroner’s report said she likely died due to shock from the multiple dismemberments prior to having her head surgically removed.
Steve wanted to smash something, the fury building inside along with the power, shaking his frame. He turned and stormed away, leaving before the power escaped.
He had to stop this bastard.
His mind whirled and he studied the blades of grass covering the pristine park in front of them. Suddenly his head shot up. He needed bait and he had just the right boy in mind.
Don’t you dare. The voice that had been silent since he left Maine piped in.
Steve ignored his guardian angel and flipped open his phone, making flight arrangements home and back with company. He turned as Sarah approached. “I’ve got to take a quick trip back home.”
“Is everything all right?”
“Everything is fine.” He looked around. “I’ve got an idea and I need to go home to get the ball rolling.” He leveled his gaze.
“What ball?” Sarah shifted, the dread at his next words visible in her gaze.
“Bait.”
The line between Sarah’s eyes deepened. “Steve, our UNSUB is going after kids.”
He nodded and a grin formed. “There’s only one kid I’d put in harm’s way and that’s because he’s more dangerous than this bastard.”
It still didn’t connect and she tilted her head.
“CJ Ryan.”
Sarah actually stepped back, her eyebrows shot up and her mouth opened. “Nuh-uh.” She shook her head. “No way.”
“Look…”
“—No way Steve. We can’t use a kid to trap a killer, that isn’t right.”
No fucking way! Chris’s voice echoed her sentiments.
“CJ won’t get hurt. Trust me.” Steve stepped toward his car and Sarah grabbed his arm.
“That’s irresponsible,” she hissed. “He’s just a kid.”
“He’s a kid who has ten times the powers that I have. If this bastard grabs him, he’s a dead man.”
“You can’t…”
“I can and I’ll bet he’ll be more than willing to help me catch this guy.”
“He might be, but I’m sure his mother won’t let him.”
“She won’t have a choice.” I think it’s a cop, Sarah, so you can’t utter a word. He leveled his gaze at her and stood with the car door open. I’ll be back tonight, with both CJ and Jennifer.
“Jennifer?”
He cut her off. “Not a word.” He slipped into the car, high tailing it to the airport. As he sat waiting for the plane to board, he flipped his phone open. “Jen, are you at your folks house?”
“Yes, why?”
“Because I have an idea on how to catch this guy and I need your help.”
“I don’t know…”
“Please Jen, this guy’s carving up kids. I need to catch him before he kills another one.”
“Why do you need me?”
“I need you to pose as CJ’s mother.”
Silence met his comment and he waited. Her mind completely blanked.
“CJ?”
“CJ Ryan.”
Her gasp came through the phone line and her thoughts bloomed, running in circles between he’s a child and he’s dangerous.
“If we’re lucky, CJ can help me catch this son of a bitch.” The call for boarding interrupted the conversation and Steve opened his eyes to the Atlanta airport. “I’ve got to go, the plane’s boarding. I’ll let you know where we’re flying from when I land. Okay?”
“I don’t know Steve.”
“I’m going to see if Ted can fly us back tonight.”
“Ted?”
“My friend from Yale. He owns a private charter company. He’s the one who flew me to New York when I was looking for Kyle.”
Her flinch at the mere mention of his name came through the line in a sharp inhale and she didn’t speak. Her thoughts snapped to her father’s words—that Steve used people to get what he wanted and she would be better off without him.
“I’ll call you when I land. Please consider it,” he said and flipped the phone closed. Her last thought burned him and the leather first-class seats didn’t alleviate his aggravation.
Before they taxied out on the runway, he scrolled through his address book and found Ted Beaumont’s phone number.
“Good morning, Beaumont Travel, Ted speaking.”
“Just the man I was looking for.”
“Steve?”
“A-yup. What are you doing this evening?”
“Having dinner with the family, why?”
“I’d like to hire you to fly me and a couple of guests to Atlanta.”
Ted laughed. “On your salary?”
“Dude, I could buy your entire business with cash to spare.”
“You win the lottery or something?”
“Something like that. Are you available?”
Silence and shuffling paper filled the line and Steve waited.
“Is this something like New York?”
“No, this is legit and you’ll get to meet the wife this time. She’s coming down to visit while I’m on a job.”
“The earliest I can take off is eight. Will that work?”
“Perfect. I’ll meet you in Ellington, right?”
“Actually, can you meet me at Brainard—we’ve got a hangar there now. I’ll text the address.”
“Will do.”
“Don’t you want to know how much the different options cost?”
“Whatever option will get us there the fastest is what I want.”
“I can get you there an hour from lift-off, but that’s pricey.”
“I’m not worried about the cost, Ted. Just text it along with the address and I’ll have a check for you when I get there.”
“Damn, you really did win the lottery, didn’t you?”
Steve was quiet and sighed. “No. Inheritance.”
The word hung in the air and Steve could hear Ted’s stammering thoughts. “Your parents?”
“Yeah. That and a victim’s fund.”
“Jesus.”
“He had nothing to do with it.”
More silence. “You can fill me in tonight.”
“Will do. I’ll see you at eight.” He folded the phone closed and leaned back in the plush seat, wishing this leg of his trip would only be an hour. Unfortunately, commercial airlines didn’t run as fast as a G6.
Chapter 21
Steve pulled up to the Ryan’s house and stared at the touchpad, suppressing the urge to just press the buttons and let himself in. This wasn’t his home and he had no right to enter at will. Instead, he pressed the buzzer and waited.
“Hello?” Her voice sounded frail.
“Mrs. Ryan. This is Steve Williams, I need to talk to you.”
The gate opened and before the car was in park, CJ flew out the door, sliding to a stop on the gravel near the front of the car with a duffel bag already slung over his shoulder.
“I’m going with you,” he said, his breath taxed from his mini-sprint.
The passion in his gaze gave Steve pause and he raised his eyebrows. “It’s dangerous, CJ.”
“I don’t care. I can help.”
“And what does your mother think?” Steve glanced up at Jessica standing in the doorway, her eyebrows creased, her expression questioning.
“I, uh…” CJ glanced over his shoulder. “I didn’t tell her anything.”
“I need to get your mother’s permission.”
“Permission for what?” Jessica asked.
“I need CJ to help me with a case in Atlanta.”
“Excuse me?” Jessica stepped onto the front stoop.
CJ spun on his heels. “I can help the police, Mom.”
“CJ, let me talk to your mother,” Steve interrupted the pending argument. “Go play with your brother while I talk to her, ok?”
CJ met his gaze and nodded, running off to find Tommy in the backyard.
Steve crossed the walkway
to the front door where Jessica stood. White streaks in her hair now starkly contrasted the natural deep brown strands. Deepened wrinkles framed her eyes and clear laugh lines now broke the perfect skin of her face. Her eyes, still vibrant calico in color, showed signs of exhaustion, in the deep dark craters surrounding them.
“Mrs. Ryan, I need CJ’s help,” he started and she put up her hand, shaking her head.
“You said that. Explain exactly what you need him for.”
Steve opened his mouth and closed it, framing what he wanted to say in his mind before he spoke. “I need CJ to draw out a suspect.”
“He’s nine.”
“Yes.” He let his answer hang in the air as Jessica studied him.
“How can a nine-year-old help you?”
Steve exhaled and looked up at the house before bringing his gaze back to her. “It’s a long shot,” he said and shifted. “CJ is the right demographic for our UNSUB.”
“What exactly is your UNSUB doing?”
“Practicing surgery on kidnapped kids.”
Jessica stepped back, her hands flying to her mouth and her eyes widening at the implications. “And you want to use my son as bait?” The horror in her expression bled into her words.
“Yes.”
“Not on your life,” she said, and stepped farther into the house, her face transforming into a mask of anger.
Before she could slam the door in his face, Steve stopped her with a mental wall, holding her in place until he’d said his peace. “I need him.”
“Like you needed Chris?”
“No. I need him to stop this killer and we both know CJ can take care of himself. If this works, he’s got the power to hold the UNSUB in place and act like a human GPS until I can get there. CJ is my best chance of catching this guy before another child dies.”
Jessica’s eyes glazed with tears and she blinked them back, her face tight and unreadable as her mind.
“CJ will be just fine.”
“No.”
Steve didn’t want to resort to this, but he stepped forward, crowding her, staring down into her stubborn features. “Yes,” he said, his voice nothing more than a whisper but the will behind it as strong as an iron sledgehammer.
