by PJ Fernor
“It’s my job for people to know my name,” he said. “That’s how they stay out of trouble.”
“Or end up dead.”
“Excuse me?”
“What about Nikki?” I asked. “Or Chelsea. Remember them?”
Preens’s lip started to snarl. “Correct me if I’m wrong, Detective, but Nikki was found murdered far from that bridge. And the only reason Chelsea turned up dead was because of you. You talking to her. You pushing at her.”
“Or Martha,” I said. “You knew of a woman who was involved and you did nothing.”
“Involved?” Preens asked. “She was helping those girls. And it was known that anyone who needed us could call. We couldn’t force them into getting help. We did all we could. I did all I could. Are you trying to put me somewhere I’m not supposed to be? Is that what this is? You need someone to lean on? As far as I’m concerned, the murder investigation was solved. What was happening under the bridge was cleaned up. Finally. As I said, I give you credit for that. The bigger picture of it all… last I heard it was handed off. Fine by me. We all have our place, Detective.”
“And my place is to end all of it,” I said. “Not just one bridge and call it a day. Too many girls were taken. Too many were killed. Too many are still missing. And what do you think I’m supposed to do when I meet another girl who is broken and lost and she drops your name?”
“How about you use your head?” Preens asked. “Of course I knew about Gorm Street. I know about all the other streets. Want me to rattle them off for you, Detective? Feel free to get back on the streets and patrol alongside me. You’ll learn names and hear stories. And they’ll learn your name. I need people to know who I am. It keeps them in line.” Preens inched toward his car. “And if you have anything else you want to ask me or just accuse me of, say it now. I am not having this conversation again. I’m sorry if you and I work differently. But you’re not me. I’m not you.”
Preens got into his car and I grabbed the door. “You never answered me about Wendy.”
Preens laughed. “Wendy. I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“Do you know her?”
“I can’t say for sure,” he said. “She doesn’t stick out in my mind. Okay?”
“She knew you.”
“What did she say about me?”
Preens was getting more and more ticked off by the second. Which was good. I needed him to slip or explode.
“I’m trying to help these girls,” I said. “I’m trying to save them. Maybe to you they’re all the same. You get to go home at night and turn your brain off to it. I can’t do that. Not with this. Not knowing what I know and what I’ve seen.”
“Give it time, Detective,” Preens said. “It all becomes one giant mess. And you never stop chasing it down. They go from one spot to another. They refuse help. Let me ask you something. Where is this Wendy girl right now? Is she getting help? Or did she run off?”
I didn’t answer Preen’s question.
He nodded.
“Exactly,” he said. “Now, if you don’t mind…”
“I do mind,” I said. “I’m not-”
My phone began to ring.
I checked and saw Ben’s name on the screen.
I stepped away from Preen’s car to take the call.
“Ben, I’m fine. I’m talking to-”
“End the conversation and meet me at the hospital.”
“What? Why?”
“He struck again, Allie.”
“The killer? Another hand…?”
“This time he didn’t kill and he didn’t get a hand,” Ben said.
“Why?”
“The person woke up in the middle of the attack.”
Chapter Fifty-Nine
“It could have been a deadly attack,” the nurse said to us as she held the door handle. “She was lucky. Very lucky. She got into surgery just in time. The doctors are confident the hand will keep. She’ll need a lot of psychical therapy though, to regain strength and movement. Of course, nobody will know the true extent of the nerve damage until she’s able to try and move it.”
“Is she awake right now?” Ben asked.
“She’s been in and out of it,” the nurse said. “I know you have a job to do, but the poor girl has been through enough.”
“Girl?”
“Sorry,” the nurse said. “She’s my daughter’s age. Early twenties. To me, they’re all babies at that age. Talk to me when you find a career, a man who breaks your heart for good, and hit thirty.”
I offered a supportive smile but had no interest in debating what made a girl into a woman.
We entered the hospital room to find a woman half sitting up.
Her left hand and arm were heavily bandaged.
Her face looked tired and pale.
Her hair was pulled back in a messy way.
Her eyes were open and she looked at Ben and I.
Bright blue eyes.
A very pretty woman in her early twenties.
“I’m Detective Allie Down,” I said. “This is Detective Ben Welloski.”
“How are you feeling?” Ben asked.
“Confused. Hurt. Mad at myself.”
“Why don’t we start with your name,” I said.
“Kathryn. Kathryn Anule.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-two. I know I look young. Check my ID. I’m old enough to drink.”
“Drink?” Ben asked.
“I was… drunk. At the time.”
“Drunk,” I said. “You were sleeping on a park bench?”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you tell us what happened?” I asked in a soft voice. “As much as you can remember, okay?”
“We’re going to find the person who did this,” Ben said.
“It was a man,” Kathryn said. “I opened my eyes and he was…” She looked at her hand. “Oh, god…”
She shut her eyes and started to shake.
I touched her leg. “I’m so sorry, Kathryn. Take your time.”
She nodded. “Okay. It’s… okay… I was at a party. Just some friends. We were all having a few drinks. My boyfriend and I had been having one of those days. You know? We were just bickering at each other over every little thing. But we had to go to this party. We got there and I don’t even remember what was said. I just decided to leave. Drunk and emotional. Way to go, Kathryn.”
“Not your fault,” Ben said.
“Go on,” I said.
“I left the party and was going to walk home,” she said. “I got turned around and I ended up in the park. I sat down on the bench and just wanted to be alone and mad. In the cold.”
“That could have killed you, Kathryn,” Ben said.
I elbowed Ben.
“Sorry,” he said.
Kathryn nodded. “Oh, it’s okay. I made some really dumb decisions. I’m lucky to be alive right now. I just… my hand… he was trying to cut off my hand.”
I glanced at Ben.
Ben swallowed hard.
“So you fell asleep on the park bench, Kathryn?” Ben asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “I was really drunk, okay? Worse than I thought. I was asleep so hard I didn’t know he was there. I don’t know how long he was there. If he… touched me… if he… took anything…”
“What do you remember?” I asked.
Kathryn licked her lips. She nodded. “I was cold. Shivering. But bundled up. I was asleep. The drunk kind of sleep. No dreams. Just really sleeping hard. Then I felt this pain. Like a burning pain. In my left wrist. I wanted to move but couldn’t. The pain got worse and my brain… it like screamed for me to wake up.” Kathryn blinked back tears as she stared at me. “I opened my eyes and there was this man standing over me. Grunting. Groaning. There was pressure on my forearm. His hand holding me tight. Then with his other hand… I heard the sound of the knife cutting. And the pain…”
“What did you do then?” Ben asked.
“I panicked. I felt no pain for a few se
conds. So I kicked him. You know where. He seemed surprised to see me awake. He stumbled back and ran off. When I looked at my hand, I screamed. I don’t know how I did it, but I managed to get my phone and call 911. Then I fell off the bench and woke up in the hospital. After surgery. Did they call Bobby yet? He’s got to be worried about me…”
“Bobby?” I asked.
“My boyfriend.”
“Kathryn, I have to ask this question,” Ben said. “You’re not going to like it.”
“Did I do this to myself?” she asked.
“No,” Ben said. “I wouldn’t think that. You mentioned you and Bobby were having a rough day.”
Kathryn shook her head. “No. Bobby would never.”
“We hear that a lot,” I said.
“Look, I know I didn’t get the best look at the guy, but it wasn’t Bobby. Bobby has facial hair. This guy didn’t. This guy was dressed all in black, okay? With a black hat that has those flaps and fur. You know what I mean? Like a winter hat, but kind of dumb looking.”
“What else about him?” I asked.
“Just… I don’t know. Black pants and jacket. The hat. I really didn’t see his face. Just his mouth and chin for a second. No hair on his face. His lips… I don’t know…”
“Thin like mine?” Allie asked.
“Or maybe puffy like this…,” Ben said and he made the duck face lips that every young girl seemed to love to do when taking a selfie.
Kathryn smiled. “Not that at all.”
“It was worth a shot,” Ben said. “Good to see you smile.”
“You don’t remember anything else?” I asked.
“I was too drunk… I can’t believe…”
The hospital door opened with the sounds of nurses yelling.
“I have to see her!”
A man rushed into the room.
“Bobby,” Kathryn said.
He ran around the hospital bed and hugged Kathryn.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” he said. “I should have never let you leave. I should have come to find you. I was… I didn’t…”
“It’s okay,” Kathryn said. “It was my fault for leaving. I was drunk.”
“I was too,” Bobby said. “I thought you slept at Dani’s. I didn’t even think… I was having breakfast and you were here and…” Bobby looked at Ben and I. “Who did this?”
“We’re going to find out,” Ben said.
“You better hurry,” Bobby said. “If I find out first, I’ll kill him.”
“Probably something you shouldn’t say to us,” I said.
“I don’t care,” Bobby said. “He tried to kill her. I can’t live without her.”
“Bobby, it’s okay,” Kathryn said. “I’m going to be fine.”
“Look at your left arm,” Bobby said.
“It’ll heal,” Kathryn said.
“Kathryn,” I said. “Do you remember anything else? A smell? He made noises… did they have any distinction? Like an accent or something?”
Kathryn shook her head.
She was too focused on Bobby now.
Ben touched my hand and that was our cue to leave.
I told Kathryn to get in touch if she remembered anything, then Ben and I left the hospital.
Outside, I took a breath.
“Now what?’ Ben asked.
“Look for footage,” I said. “That entire area. Same with the other two parks. Any business or house in the area. At least we know the guy was dressed all in black. That might help.”
“Okay. What else?”
I glanced at Ben. “I need to go to your house.”
“My house? For what?”
My jaw tightened.
Ben sighed. “Allie…”
“I know,” I said. “We’re going to catch who did this to Kathryn. He messed up, Ben. She woke up. This is the break. But I had my own break elsewhere. I had her with me, Ben. Wendy was going to help. And she took off. That’s how afraid she was. That means he’s close. The One is still somewhere around here.”
Ben put his hand to my back. “You know a good partner would tell you that you’re acting crazy, right? A good partner would get you a cup of coffee and talk sense into you.”
“You’re not a good partner, are you, Ben?” I asked.
“I’m worse than that, Allie Down.”
We looked at each other.
“How so?” I asked.
Ben sighed. “I’m the kind of partner who supports you.”
Chapter Sixty
I looked out of the window at my car parked across the street.
I felt the tug in my heart, telling me to get out on the streets and find whoever it was collecting hands. I had already dedicated more than a few minutes of sitting by myself in the spare bedroom in Ben’s house thinking about the case.
Maybe it was time to move beyond IY Green. Maybe it was time to look into the psychological concert of who this was.
Someone looking for a victim in a weak position and taking full advantage.
Jessica in the park. She was running. Alone. Her body focused on exercising. And the fact that Jerry from IY Green had attacked her.
Harold in another park. Minding his own business. Attacked from behind.
Victor near the lake. He was obviously there to meet someone. But he was attacked, drowned, and his hand cut off.
And now Kathryn. Drunk and asleep…
I sighed.
We were now dealing with someone who wanted to cut off hands. Men. Women. It didn’t matter. The person looked for a weak victim. That was the key to me. Someone vulnerable and weak.
Just like the person doing it…
I walked from the window back to the table Ben had set up for me.
I had a piece of paper with some scribbled notes and nothing more.
The case was going to come down to camera footage.
Ben said he was going to start digging around deeper for that.
My eyes shifted to my whiteboard.
The One.
I moved to the whiteboard and pulled the top off a black marker then wrote Wendy’s name. I drew an arrow to the word GIOVANNI and then GAMBLING RING?.
I frowned.
My heart felt so attached to this case for so many reasons.
Seeing what happened to Nikki.
Trying to help Chelsea.
And all the others.
Sure, the one bridge had been cleared and cleaned up, but where did those girls and women go?
And how many other places were there?
Giovanni put me right in Wendy’s path. On purpose. To drive the emotion of it all home. To remind me what we were up against.
Now Wendy was gone. Possibly for good.
All out of fear of The One.
Even a man like Giovanni feared The One.
That spoke volumes.
I studied the whiteboard, trying to figure out my next move.
“You know, it’s good to see you here.”
I spun around and clutched for my chest. “You scared me, Mr. Welloski.”
“Ben,” Ben’s father said. “Or how about Benny? My old buddies used to call me that. I was called Benny the Fists.”
“How did you get that name?”
Ben’s father lifted his aged, shaking hands and curled them into fists. “I was never afraid of a fight. I was always right there, first in line, ready to take on the world.”
I smiled. “I see where Ben gets it from.”
“Eh, I’m not so sure.” Ben’s father pointed to a chair. “Mind if I sit?”
“Please,” I said. “Are you allowed up here?”
“It’s my house.”
“I don’t want you to get into trouble.”
“You’re watching me,” he said. “Everyone is so afraid I’m going to burn the house down. I used to get mad about it. But then I almost did burn the house down. My mind is slipping, Allie.”
My heart ached. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Now, what I was going to say�
� Ben. He’s got that fight in him. But not when it came to you. Oh, that boy would never just make a move. That punk you were seeing at the time… mind if I call him that?”
“Tommy?” I asked with a laugh. “He was a punk. He was a bad one.”
“Rotten,” Ben’s father said. “You were just a teenager though, Allie. But I always told Ben, you never give up. He didn’t even start to be honest. I remember you always used to come by the garage. I’d see you walking toward the building, crying, hugging yourself. So I’d tell Ben I had to go for a ride to get some parts or check up on things. I usually just went down to Bonnie’s. The old diner. Remember?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“I would grab a cup of coffee and a sandwich. You know, I always hoped to come back to the garage and find you two smooching.”
“Smooching?” I asked, my cheeks turning red.
“That’s right. Smooching. Kissing.”
Ben’s father winked.
His eyes were crystal clear. His mind sharp as a tack.
“I’m sorry it never happened,” I said. “I was too stupid back then.”
“Not stupid,” Ben’s father said. “A teenager.”
“I’ve got one of those at home.”
“I heard. Your niece?”
“Yeah. My sister…”
“Right,” Ben’s father said. “The accident. Terrible. Ben worked hard on that one too. He was torn up over it. I think anything to do with you made him happy. And now look at you two. Too bad you have an old man like me in the way.”
“You’re hardly in the way.”
“I’m distracting you from this work here,” he said and pointed to the whiteboard.
“I’m lost on this one, to be honest,” I said. “I get close and then pulled back.”
“You know what else gets pulled back?”
“What?”
“A slingshot,” Ben’s father said. “Then it flies forward. Hey, I’m not a cop or detective. I cranked a wrench all my life. But if I ever got stuck with something, I would just keep going. Some people like to walk away. I’m too stubborn.”
“Benny the fists,” I said.
“That’s right. Although these fists got me into a lot of trouble. I saw on the board you have something about gambling. That’s a dangerous world.”
“Yes it is.”
“Been there.”
