The Brass Ring

by Mavis Applewater

  "I did some checking and she was a lesbian," Brooks confirmed. "Do you think this might be some kind of hate crime?"

  "Not in the traditional sense," CC explained. "But it might be our boy’s trigger."

  "One more thing." Brooks coughed. "There’ve been some suits sniffing around the old files. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?"

  "Yeah," CC responded with a heavy sigh. "I know you probably don’t want the feds around anymore than my boss does, but they promised to be good."

  "I’d work with the devil himself if I could finally bring some peace to these girls’ families," Brooks vowed.

  "Feds, the devil - close enough," CC commented. "Thanks again, Detective. I’ll keep you informed."

  After she hung up the telephone, she filled Max in on what she had found. "Now Natalie complained about someone harassing her but they could never prove that it was Fisher," Max thought out loud.

  "Right," CC confirmed. "What about the lab report on the note from Jamie’s locker?"

  "Nothing," Max grumbled. "It could have been Fisher or Santa Claus for all we know. The paper is too common, the handwriting indistinct, and the only prints were Jamie’s and hospital security."

  "What? They couldn’t find a pair of rubber gloves in the ER?" CC growled. "Yoyos. Don’t these guys ever watch television?"

  "Detective Calloway," a voice greeted her. CC looked up to find a very weary looking Agent Mallory staring down at her.

  "Speak of the devil," she teased.

  "I think that you, your partner, your Captain, and I should have a talk," he suggested in an exhausted tone.

  Within a few moments the four of them were sitting in the Captain’s office. Mallory handed the Captain a large file. "Everything you would ever want to know about Dr. Simon Fisher," Mallory explained; his demeanor and rumpled appearance told CC that he had given his all to find out everything he could.

  "How many bodies?" CC fearfully inquired.

  "Nine we think," Mallory confirmed as the hair on the back of CC’s neck stood on end. "Starting with his high school sweetheart - only there’s no body for that one."

  "Peachy," CC choked out. "Let’s hear it."

  "Simon Fisher of the San Diego Fishers has a sealed juvenal record for arson and torching the neighborhood animals. A classic characteristic for serial killers," Mallory began in a slow careful tone. "His parents moved him from one private school to another whenever little Simon would get in trouble. Then about the time he turned seventeen, he met and started dating Janie Jensen. Simon seemed to clean up his act. His grades got better; he stopped setting things on fire and got accepted to a good college. The couple remained close until his sophomore year when Janie started college away from home. Everything seemed fine and then Janie disappeared. She was driving back to school at UC Santa Barbara after the winter break was over. Her car was discovered in a remote area off her route with a flat tire. Everyone assumed she broke down and some creep snatched her."

  "You doubt that’s what happened?" CC urged him.

  "Normally I wouldn’t but we did find out something very interesting," Mallory continued. "She and her roommate were involved. According to the roommate, a romance had begun and Janie was planning on breaking up with Simon. She’d never told anyone about it since her parents were so devastated by her disappearance."

  "Was Janie a blonde?" CC asked, trying to keep her professional focus intact.

  "Blonde hair, green eyes, and looked a lot like your victims," Mallory confirmed. "Here’s her picture."

  CC felt ill as she looked at the young girl who closely resembled her lover. "And the other victims?" CC pressed on, trying to remain focused and keep her breakfast from reappearing. The Captain slid the crime scene photos over.

  "They could be our victims," the Captain noted.

  "Same look, same MO, same lifestyle, same everything," Mallory pointed out. "And they either knew Simon Fisher or he was in the area at the time. Several times he had a fictitious relationship with the victim. The only one that wasn’t interested in women was Marylyn Steiner; we think she was his second victim."

  "But she told him that she was gay just to ditch him," CC added.

  "Yes, we found that out as well," Mallory confirmed, impressed with CC’s knowledge.

  "It really is him," CC said in slow steady voice as her heart pounded violently.

  "Yes," Mallory confirmed. "And we can’t prove a thing."

  The four of them sat there in a stony silence until the ring of the Captain’s telephone broke through the eerie silence. The Captain seemed tense as he concluded the call. "That was hospital security. Dr. Jameson received another note," he explained tensely.

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  "MS. DURHAM, I’M Dr. Jameson," Jamie introduced herself as she stepped into the exam room. She was studying the chart the nurse had handed her and didn’t look at her patient. When the woman failed to respond, Jamie looked up to see the woman staring at her coldly. It wasn’t an unusual reaction since most people didn’t come to see her because they were feeling good. Still, there was something familiar about the brunette who was giving her a murderous look. Jamie just couldn’t put her finger on where she’d seen the woman before.

  Jamie shrugged it off and went about examining the woman who proved to be quite uncooperative. "It looks like strep; I’m going to take a throat culture just be certain," Jamie explained as she scribbled some notes on Ms. Durham’s chart. "Are you allergic to any antibiotics?" Jamie asked the scowling woman as the doctor’s mind once again tried to recall why the woman was familiar. "Is that a no?" Jamie pressed when the woman failed to respond.

  "Dr. Jameson, you have a call on line three," Evaline said as she stepped into the room.

  "Thanks." Jamie nodded. "Could you take a throat culture for me while I take the call?" Evaline agreed and Jamie excused herself while her patient glared at her.

  Jamie shrugged as she picked up the telephone on the wall across from her unfriendly patient. "Dr. Jameson," Jamie greeted her caller.

  "James, are you all right?" CC inquired frantically.

  "Caitlin?" Jamie responded in confusion. Suddenly a bedpan went flying past her head. Evaline screamed as Jamie spun around.

  Jamie was stunned to find her patient looking for something else to throw at her. Jamie dropped the telephone when her memory started working. "Oh shit. Liz," she muttered as she ducked a box of gauze. A security officer stepped into the room just as Liz’s aim started to improve. "Dr. Jameson, are you all right?" the man inquired as began to head towards Liz.

  "Freeze!" Jamie shouted. "Now all of you calm down!" the blonde doctor asserted firmly. Thankfully everyone halted in their tracks. "Evaline, did you get the culture?" she asked quickly.

  "No; she tried to bite me," Evaline responded bitterly.

  "I’ll get it," Jamie offered. "Why don’t both of you wait outside. And you sit down," she growled at Liz.

  "Dr. Jameson, I need to speak with you," the guard pleaded.

  "I’ll be outside in a moment," Jamie responded in a firm voice. He nodded and then he and Evaline quickly left the room.

  "Liz," Jamie began as she clenched her jaw.

  "Now you know my name," the woman responded in a scratchy voice.

  "Look, I know I’m a complete jerk," Jamie confessed in a harsh tone as she approached the woman with whom she’d shared a disastrous sexual encounter. "But if you don’t behave, I’m going to call that large security guard back in here and have you restrained, and not in a fun way. Do you understand?" Liz simply glared at her. "I mean it," Jamie stressed. Liz still refused to answer her; Jamie watched the anger grow on the brunette’s features. "Look, I may not have been the good time you were expecting in the backseat of your car, but I am a good doctor and that is why you’re here."

  "You used me to cheat on your girlfriend," Liz hissed.

  "No," Jamie corrected her as she gathered the materials that she needed to get the throat culture. "Caitlin and
I weren’t back together by then."

  "Don’t hand me that ‘we were separated’ crap," Liz squawked.

  "For twelve years," Jamie fumed, tired of the nasty predicament. Liz looked at her with a stunned expression. Jamie blew out a heavy sigh before finishing her explanation. "She was my girlfriend in college. We split up over a dozen years ago and recently got back together. That night I was with you I was still trying to sort out my feelings. Satisfied?" Liz nodded in agreement. "Good. Now open wide so I can get this over with. And if you try to bite me, I’ll beat the snot out of you," Jamie added in a threatening tone. Liz nodded fearfully and opened her mouth as wide as she could.

  Jamie was exhausted by the time she handed the culture to one of the technicians. Just as she did, the security guard approached her as CC, Max, and an older man she didn’t recognize came bursting into the Emergency Room. "Now what?" Jamie grumbled as she rubbed her throbbing temples. Then she remembered that she’d been on the telephone with CC when Liz threw her hissy fit. "Just great," Jamie groaned as her lover made a determined path towards her.

  "I’m fine," Jamie blurted out quickly as CC approached her. "It was just a difficult patient," she added, knowing that her lover was probably scared to death from what she’d heard on the telephone.

  "What about the note?" CC inquired in a troubled tone.

  "What note?" Jamie said in bewilderment.

  "I haven’t had a chance to tell her yet," the security guard interjected. "We found it on her car."

  "Why don’t Mallory and I find out about the note while you and Dr. Jameson get a cup of coffee or something?" Max offered.

  "Sounds like a good idea," CC agreed as she led Jamie away from the inquisitive looks they were receiving. "You can tell me about your difficult patient," CC suggested as they stepped outside into the cool night air.

  Jamie felt sick as they walked over to the tables in the deserted outdoor lunch area. She didn’t want to talk about Liz with CC; the idea of what had just happened was making her stomach turn. "Why don’t you tell me about this note instead?" Jamie suggested, hoping a change of subject would alleviate the sick feeling growing inside of her.

  "I don’t know anything yet," CC responded tensely as she sat down at one of the tables. "What’s going on, James?" she asked.

  "She was a mistake," Jamie began as she felt the tears welling up in her eyes. CC turned her gaze away and Jamie could feel a sudden coldness emanate from her lover. "Before we got back together, I didn’t treat women with very much respect," Jamie confessed.

  "If it was before we got back together, then I really don’t need to know," CC responded honestly, the coldness seeming to ease.

  "Then why won’t you look at me?" Jamie pressed as her heart began to ache. CC didn’t respond as she continued to look off in the distance. ‘No more secrets. We promised each other that,’ Jamie reminded herself as she swallowed her fear. "I was with her and I said your name," Jamie explained slowly. CC’s head snapped around and she looked up at Jamie with a shocked expression. "I didn’t even recognize her until I answered your call. She heard your name and flipped out."

  "No small wonder." CC laughed. "I’m sorry; it’s not funny. Come here," CC said with a smile as she held out her hand.

  Jamie smiled shyly as she accepted CC’s offer and climbed up into her lover’s lap. "Look, we both have a past," CC explained as she wrapped her arms around Jamie’s shivering body. "And it’s going to show up. It might make things uncomfortable at times, but so long as these confessions are about the past it can’t hurt us." Jamie’s smile grew as she nestled closer to the warmth of her lover’s body.

  CC began to run her fingers through Jamie’s hair and gently massaged her scalp. The young doctor felt her heart rate increase as she leaned into her lover’s touch. Jamie’s breathing was becoming erratic and she felt her nipples hardening as CC continued her gentle caresses. "Do you have any idea what you do to me?" Jamie asked in a breathy tone as she began to nibble on her lover’s neck. CC moaned as Jamie’s kisses grew more insistent. Jamie looked up to find herself captured by a lustful azure gaze. She reached up and pulled CC’s face down to her own. Jamie’s eyes drifted to her lover’s soft lips.

  Their lips brushed and Jamie’s arousal grew. She ran her tongue along CC’s lips while her lover’s hands drifted down her back. Jamie parted CC’s lips with her tongue and soon they were lost in a passionate kiss. The kiss deepened as Jamie cast off any worries of just where they were. CC suddenly broke away. "We need to get back inside," the brunette insisted suddenly in a cool tone as she lifted Jamie up off her lap. Jamie was stunned by the abruptness her lover displayed. Something about the tone of CC’s voice frightened her.

  Just as Jamie started to ask CC why she was rushing her back towards the hospital entrance, she had the uneasy feeling of being watched. "There’s someone out there, isn’t there?" she choked out as CC quickened their pace.

  "Yes," CC hissed.

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  CC RUSHED JAMIE back inside the hospital. Despite the safety the busy Emergency Room provided, CC still felt uneasy. She had been lost in Jamie’s touch when she felt a chill run through her body. She hadn’t wanted to frighten Jamie, but she knew that someone was watching. As much as she tried to write it off as just some passerby, she knew it wasn’t true. It was as if she could feel the seething hatred boring a hole through her body.

  "I’m sorry," CC apologized as she guided Jamie into the doctor’s lounge. She felt as if she was failing to protect the one person who truly held her heart.

  "I’m fine," Jamie reassured her as she run her fingers along the policewoman’s arm.

  "I think we need to pull a Bette Davis again tonight," CC suggested wearily; she thought that another night hiding in the hotel would be the safest option for Jamie.

  The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as the door behind her opened; she watched as Jamie’s emerald eyes widened fearfully. "What are you doing here?" Jamie hissed boldly as CC spun around, instinctively reaching for her sidearm. CC used her body to block Jamie from Simon’s hostile glare.

  "Get out," CC commanded as the young doctor glared at her and her lover.

  "Why do you keep trying to interfere with us?" Simon questioned her in a distant tone.

  "There is no . . ." Jamie began.

  "Don’t," CC cautioned her, noting the distant look in the young man’s eyes. "He won’t understand," she added knowing that Simon was lost in his own little world and would put his own interpretation on anything Jamie said.

  "Maybe you’ll understand this, Dr. Fisher," Jamie hissed. "You are not allowed on hospital property unless you’re on duty. I believe that was explained to you. Now unless you want security to escort you out of here, I suggest that you leave."

  CC was proud of her petite lover’s bravado. Still, letting Simon Fisher out of her sight wasn’t the best course of action. Out of the room would be a good idea. Yet CC couldn’t touch the deranged young man without jeopardizing everything. For a brief moment she ran her fingers along the cold steel of her weapon, wondering if she should just end it there and then. She brought her hand down, knowing she couldn’t cross that line.

  The door opened once again and Max and Mallory stepped into the room. CC smiled slyly as she watched Simon’s demeanor soften. "Dr. Fisher, I need a word with you," Max asserted firmly.

  CC’s heart pounded in her chest as Simon’s eyes drifted to Jamie. "Janie, I don’t understand why you’re letting this creature be around you?" he offered in a casual tone. CC’s eyes widened in horror as he called Jamie by the name of his high school sweetheart. She could see Max and Mallory stiffen as well. Simon simply sighed and calmly turned towards Max. "Detective, it’s good to see you again."

  "Always a pleasure, Dr. Fisher," Max appeased him. "In fact, I think I could use your help with something. Would you mind joining Special Agent Mallory and I down at the station?"

  "Special Agent?" Fisher responded tersely.

 
; Max approached Fisher casually and whispered in his ear. "Suits," he grunted loudly enough so CC and Mallory could hear him. "It’s her fault. Don’t worry; he’s here to help us get rid of her."

  "Good," Simon responded with confidence. "I’ll just meet you down at the station," the young doctor added with an air of boldness.

  "That would be a big help," Max appeased him as he followed the troubled young man out of the room.

  CC’s hands rested protectively on Jamie’s shoulders as she looked at Mallory who lingered behind. "What is it?" she demanded as she continued to caress Jamie’s shoulders.

  "One of the attendants noticed someone lurking around Jamie’s car," Mallory explained. "Sharp older guy thought it was strange and called security even though he wasn’t stationed at that garage."

  "Terrell," CC noted in appreciation.

  "That’s the guy," Mallory confirmed. "It was another note; only this time we got Dr. Fisher on tape. This could be the break we’re looking for."

  "What did the note say?" Jamie asked before CC had a chance to.

  Mallory looked hesitant. "Special Agent, is it?" Jamie began irately. "I don’t like it when people talk directly in front of me about things that concern me and then exclude me from the conversation."

  "Well . . . uhm," Mallory hedged.

  "Tell her," CC spat out.

  "Stay away from her," Mallory responded. "That was it. Same bold non-distinct handwriting as the last note."

  "He sure is subtle," Jamie grumbled.

  "Maybe too subtle," CC noted thoughtfully. "We know it’s a threat, but can we prove it? Still, with the complaints Jamie has filed here at the hospital and with us, it might be just enough to get us a search warrant. I really want to see this guy’s tire iron. We’re so close."

  "Your guy Carter and our shrink are joining us down at the station. You want to come and watch the show?" Mallory offered. Normally CC would have been the first one out the door. She squeezed Jamie’s shoulders, not wanting to leave her lover’s side. "I’ve already called for an agent to follow Dr. Jameson."