by Jordan Marie
46
Bull
“You guys make it back?” I nod to Hawk as I enter my room. He’s stationed right by my bed watching over Skye—exactly where I put him when I had to leave. Until I find this fucker, I’m not leaving her alone, not even for a minute.
“Yeah, you can go. We’re going to have Church in an hour, and Skye’s going to go through the surveillance tapes with Freak right before,” I tell him.
“You find her?” he asks, and I rub the tension at the back of my neck. Another damn headache is forming and I can’t deal with it right now. I have to be here for Doc. I have to take care of Skye.
“Yeah man, exactly where we thought, down by the old gravel quarry.”
“Fuck.”
I nod, because what the hell else is there left to say? I hated Melissa, but shit…no woman deserves what that sick fuck did to her. The only thing that makes it a little better, is that it looks like most, if not all the truly sick shit he did, was after he killed her. Our club might take care of assholes, and occasionally, torture has to be used, but to do what this sick fuck did to a woman…this asshole has to be off his goddamn rocker.
“Okay, I’ll see you in a little while man,” he whispers, and then slaps my shoulder, before closing the door behind him.
I look down at the woman I love more than life, laying on the bed asleep. My heart flips over in my damn chest. When her friend Judy called and told me what happened, I busted ass to get to her. Skye collapsed in my arms and cried for a fucking hour, before crashing. She’s so emotionally and physically drained. I don’t want to wake her, but I don’t have much choice. The sooner she watches the surveillance tape the better. We’ve also got files on the main suspects she needs to see. None of the pictures of our suspects match anyone on the camera footage, however. That would be too motherfucking easy.
“I need to call Blair,” Skye whispers, and I look down at her.
“I already have, Doc. About thirty minutes ago, actually. She said Matty went to her room to rest and everything was fine. I gave her the club number if she needed us.”
“I don’t want him left alone, Bull. I want him with us.”
“I sent Gunner over as soon as I hung up, sweetheart. Do you want me to have him bring Matty here?”
“Please? I just…I’m scared, Bull.”
“I know, Doc. I know,” I tell her, pulling her close to me when she stands and comes to me. Her scent calms me. How the fuck that is possible after the shit I just saw, I don’t know. It’s just true. I call, Gunner and ask him to go in and get Matty, bring him back here, and then hang up. I look down at Skye, trying to give her a smile, needing to reassure her. “We’re going to get this fucker.”
“I know,” she says, and there might be fear, but I can’t find a trace of doubt.
“I love you, Doc.”
Now it’s her time to try and smile. She fails miserably, but the way she lays her head on my chest and encircles her arms around me makes up for it. “I love you, Bull. With all my heart.”
I want to stay here and just enjoy the feeling of holding the world in my hands, but I can’t. Regretfully, I pull away and look down at my girl. “You ready to go look at the stuff the club has?”
“Let’s get this done,” she sighs.
Skye’s just started going through the tape with Freak, when my phone rings. I step to the back of the room so I don’t disturb them and answer.
“Bull.”
“Bull, it’s Gunner. I went in to get Skye’s boy, and man, he’s not here.”
“What the fuck do you mean he’s not there? I told you to guard the house with your motherfucking life!” I snap. I hear a chair crash, and Doc is up, the chair she was sitting in tips to the floor, and she’s running to me. Motherfucker, I’ve let her down again. Worse, I’ve let Matty down. I should have picked him up at school, instead of letting Blair.
“I’ve been guarding an empty house, fucker. The lock on the inside of the window has been opened. Matty had to be the one to do it. There’s a mud hole there too. Matty’s is the only set of footprints. He had to open the window himself and climb out.”
“Why in the fuck would he do that?”
“Bull what’s going on? Where’s, Matty?” Sky asks, desperate, her fingers claw into my chest, her body shaking.
“Hang on, Doc,” I tell her, trying to concentrate on what Gunner is saying.
“He left a note on the bed saying his friend Greg invited him over to his house for pizza and video games. I think the kid just snuck out man.”
“Get your ass here now. I’ll get the address from Skye and go and get Matty,” I order hanging up.
“Bull?” Skye asks, tears in her eyes, and her whole body trembling. Dragon and Freak, walk up behind her.
“It’s okay, Doc. Matty’s just picked the worst time in history to be a kid. He snuck out.”
“Motherfucker,” Dragon grumbles in the background.
“Snuck out?” she cries.”
“He left a note on Blair’s bed saying his friend Greg invited him over for pizza and video games.”
“Why would he do that? He knows better than pull a stunt like that. Oh God, Bull! He’s only nine years old and what if this sick…”
I put my hand on her lips and stop her from going any further.
“Let’s not borrow trouble, Doc. I’ll go get him and bring him back.”
“Okay,” she nods and then color drains on her face. “Bull! Matty just met Greg at school. They’ve been talking back and forth online, but I’ve never let him go over there. I don’t do that until I meet the parents. I don’t know where they live!”
It feels like I’ve got fucking lead in the pit of my stomach when she delivers her news.
“You don’t know anything about Greg?”
“Not really. Matty said he lived like two streets down from us. I told him after the holidays we’d invite him over.”
“I’ll go get him. You two finish going through this damn tape. I want motherfucking answers like yesterday. There’s no way I’m going to let shit happen in my fucking club again,” Dragon growls, walking around us.
“How are you going to find him? You don’t know…” I ask, but I’m talking to Dragon’s back.
“I’ll knock on every fucking door, on every fucking street anywhere near Skye’s. I’ll take Hawk and Dance with me to speed that shit up. Now get busy.” He looks over his shoulder at Skye. “We’ll get your boy, Doc. Don’t you worry.”
That seems to reassure, Skye, though I can still see fear in her eyes. Still, she nods, before turning to Freak.
“Let’s get back at it,” she whispers. The woman has so much courage. My heart swells with pride.
47
Bull
“I don’t recognize one person on that tape you guys. No one looks familiar, and the feed is so grainy and shadowy, I couldn’t even tell you for sure if one of them is someone I know.”
“I thought that might be the case. Their equipment is outdated. I can’t event narrow it down with a fucking time stamp,” Freak growls, throwing something from his desk across the room.
“Okay let’s move to the files,” I tell Skye, needing to keep her focused.
“Have you heard from, Dragon?” she asks, worriedly.
“Doc, he’s not even been gone an hour. Give them time,” I tell her, trying to keep her calm, but inside, I’m worried. I got alarm bells ringing like a fucking church tower in my head. Something is off. I know it.
Skye sits down at the small table, and picks up the first folder.
“Judy? No way. She could never do this, and besides her house burned down, she’s been way too busy dealing with that.”
“We need to take a second, third, and fourth look at everyone, Skye. Judy was on break about the time Melissa disappeared. Maybe she took that time off, to kill her and dispose of the body.”
“I’m telling you there’s no way, Bull. And besides, you’re forgetting, I saw the pictures of Melissa�
��” she pauses to catch her breath, and I know she’s remembering. Thank God, she didn’t have to see it in person. It was much worse. “I saw the pictures, and it would take a man or a very big woman to accomplish that. Judy is tiny. A strong wind would blow her away.”
I nod because we’re all in agreement over that, I just wanted to make sure. “Okay, so the next one.”
“Dr. Douche,” she sighs, and it’s the first time I’ve really felt like laughing all day. “I mean he’s the one all of the signs point to, because he’s definitely psychotic.”
“And he might have been giving it to Melissa, but you did say she told the whole hospital about his inch worm.”
“Inch worm?” she gives me a weak smile, and I wink at her.
“Yeah. I mean it could be him. He just seems too…”
“Too what, sweetheart?”
“He is too bold and in your face? Like, I think he would attack first, and then try to be sneaky as hell to get out of it. He wouldn’t write cryptic notes and do things in the background.”
“Okay so we’ll put him in the maybe pile and go to the next.”
“Well, we can cross out Walter.”
“Fuck, no. He attacked you.”
“He’s not going to jeopardize his career to do something like this, and he’s too high brow. He thinks he’s better than everyone else,” she argues.
“You just described half the serial killers in America. My money is on, Walter-boy. He stays in the maybe pile.”
“You just don’t like him,” she argues, putting the file on top of Dr. Douche, as she so colorfully put it.
She goes through at least six more files, the security guards, cooks, nurses, and other doctors. We slowly rule those out. She stops when she comes on the next one.
“Buck…”
“The janitor I met the other day.”
“Yeah. He’s a nice guy, or seems to be. I don’t know him that well, I’d have a hard time believing he was the one, but…”
“But?”
“Well, he does have access to everything, and he’s in charge of cleaning the entire third wing, which is where my locker is.”
“So, he could get in and out without being noticed.”
“Yeah,” she says, sounding defeated.
“Buck, the janitor just became our chief suspect then. Hand me his folder, Skye and I’ll start doing more research while you go through the last one,” Freak tells her.
“You know out of the thousands of employees there’s not been that many files,” she says, handing the folder to Freak.
“Yeah, you should have seen it before Freak and the rest of us narrowed it down, Doc.”
She nods and looks up at me a little lost.
“What is it Doc?”
“I hate this. I hate suspecting that any of the people I’ve worked with could be capable of all of this.”
“I know, sweetheart. We need to lock this down, so we can put it behind us,” I tell her squeezing her hand. “Now go through the last one.”
“Alex…”
“Yeah, the floor nurse on the cardiac unit.”
“Why’d you choose, Alex?”
“Bull hasn’t seen that file yet, actually. We just added it to the suspect list, I’ve only discussed it with him,” Freak interjects, typing away on his computer.
“Why?” my girl asks, while I glance at the clock, wondering exactly why in the fuck we haven’t heard from Dragon.
“You told Bull you’d been getting Alex to go back and double check your orders, because you were afraid Dr. Eldridge and earlier, Melissa were setting you up.”
“Well, yeah. That’s because I trust Alex.”
“But, you said Alex hated Melissa.”
“Even more than I did,” Skye says.
“What was done to Melissa’s body, Doc. That required a lot of hate.”
Skye’s fingers move over the file in thought.
“Doc?”
“You know, now that I think about it. Alex is always around. He’s really quiet, but he’s always around…and his locker is just beside mine, so he could slip things in mine, and no one would even notice. Heck we’ve been at our lockers at the same time. He probably even knows my combination.”
“Wait. Alex is a he?” I ask.
“You really haven’t read this file,” Skye says.
“Well Freak, said…he was a nurse, so I just assumed.”
“You do know that a third of our nurses are males, right Bull?”
“There goes my fantasies about naughty nurses,” I grumble.
“You’re such an ass,” she says, but there’s humor in her voice. “Besides, the only fantasies you are allowed to have are playing doctor with yours truly.”
I start to respond, but before I can get a chance, the door slams open. Dragon, Hawk and Dancer are there and Dragon is pissed.
“There’s no fucking kid named Greg anywhere near your home, Skye. There’s not even one six streets over.”
I pull my woman up, and hold her to me, trying to will my strength into her body. Her hands grasp my arms and she looks up at me. Tears are streaming down her face, and she looks so scared and frail. I feel like I’ve been punched in the balls.
“Bull….”
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“Alex’s last name?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s Gregory.”
Motherfucker.
AW
I look at Matthew from across the room. I have him gagged, tied up, and sitting in a chair. I’m almost ready to begin. I look at the saw sitting beside him. It’s a shame I’ve been brought to this point. This is what happens when children are begot wickedly. Skye should have never let another man touch her out of wedlock. I thought I could cleanse her. But once a whore, always a whore. Civilizations have been ruined by harlots. I can’t allow her to ruin me. I have to keep myself clean. I can’t let Skye defile me. I thought she was perfect. I truly did.
She failed me just like the others.
48
Skye
“Oh God. Oh God. Oh God….”
That’s all I can say. I’m sitting in Bull’s lap rocking back and forth, and I feel so cold. I don’t think I will ever get warm again. My body feels like ice. My brain is numb. I’ve thrown-up until there’s nothing in my stomach. The tears have slowed. Stray ones still find their way to the surface, and I can feel them run down my face. I don’t dry them. I feel like I’m dying. Bull wanted me to go lay down. He tried to get the club Doctor, Poncho to give me sedative. I wouldn’t let him. I can’t rest with my baby out there. I can’t.
Dancer and Hawk come in Dragon’s office dragging Alex. He’s been beaten, his eye is bloody, his face swollen, and he’s holding his ribs. I don’t think, I’m up on him in the blink of an eye.
“Where is my baby? What did you do with my baby?” I scream, pounding on his chest. I feel Bull’s arms going around me, trying to pull me back. My fingers latch onto the shirt that Alex is wearing, and I refuse to let go. “Give me my baby back. Oh God, please, just give me my baby back!” I beg, trying to resist Bull’s hold.
Bull pulls me away, but I bend double in his arms and push against him. I can drop to the floor. I don’t want his comfort. I don’t want him near me. I don’t deserve comfort or love.
“I’m a horrible mother. I let my baby down. Oh God, what he must be feeling right now. He has to be so scared,” I mumble, and I was wrong, because the tears aren’t gone. They fall rapidly, the sobs shaking my body, and I watch as they pool around me on the cold floor. “I failed my baby…”
“Doc, c’mon now. You didn’t fail Matthew. We’re going to get him back. I promise you. I need you to pull yourself together, and be strong for him. Matthew needs you strong so we can find him,” Bull says, gathering me in his arms.
He has to hold me; my legs are just too weak. I look over his shoulder at Alex. He’s shaking his head, still denying everything. I hate him. I want to tear him apart piece by piece. How co
uld any human being do this to another? To a child?
“What kind of monster are you?” I scream. “How could you do this? Give me back my child! Give me back my son!” I’m screaming so loud, my voice cracks. I’m trying to pull away from Bull to get to Alex, but Bull doesn’t let me.
“I’m telling you, I didn’t do this! You got the wrong man! I don’t even know Dr. Walker’s son!”
“You haven’t been at Laurel Elementary? You didn’t tell Matty your name was Greg?”
“What? No!”
“Give it up fucker, we know you gave a speech on career day at the school. We’ve been checking into you,” Dragon growls, and I can do nothing but let my sobs shake me.
Bull turns us around so my back is to Alex and he can face him. I can’t find it in me to argue. I just want Matty. I need my son.
“So? The hospital sent me! But I never met any of the kids. I didn’t even know that Skye had a child that went there! I didn’t do this! I would never do this! Why would you think it was me? I’m telling you, you got the wrong man!”
“You hated Melissa. It’d take a man with a lot of hate, to kill her like that.”
“The whole fucking place hated Melissa.”
“Whoever it is, is obsessed with Skye. You’re always there. You even asked for a transfer up on the cardiac floor to be close to her,” Bull says, revealing more information that the club had gathered.
“What? No! Not because of that!”
“Then why? What other reason would you have to transfer to that wing? You knew Melissa was one of the head nurses there. Why transfer to her floor, if you hated her so much?” Bull asks.
I’m so tired. I can’t get the picture of Matty out of my head. I keep seeing him lying in bed in his turtle pajamas, with his hair all messed up. Did I kiss him goodbye? Did I tell him I loved him? I can’t even remember. What kind of mother can’t remember that?
