by Melissa Seal
Dani was happy but confused, two days ago, I felt her slipping away and tonight Lexie is telling me she loves me. I need a seatbelt for this crazy ass ride!
The next morning, both women were up and ready for work by seven. They had enjoyed a picture perfect day off, but the alarm brought them back to reality. They rode to work together and were laughing when they walked into the station. Derrick was there and smiled when he saw the two women. Lexie could only imagine what he was thinking. She stopped talking to Dani the minute she saw Derrick, but Dani didn’t notice, she was so happy to see her former temporary partner. He hugged her, and they went to the break room to get a cup of coffee. A few minutes later Derrick announced he had to get back to his side of town, meaning Narcotics.
Two hours into a seemingly quiet shift, the phone rang, and the detectives were summoned out to a crime scene that involved a murdered housewife and a belligerent husband who had beaten her to death. Upon arriving at the crime scene, the ladies ran into Jake and his partner, Beth Marron. Jake was happy to see Lexie and smiled a devious smile before shaking her hand. Jake suggested he and Lexie go talk to the husband, and Beth and Dani could go talk to all the neighbors standing in the yard. He wanted to get Lexie alone to see how she and Dani were doing.
Dani mentioned, “I don’t think that’s the best plan.”
Lexie disagreed, “I think it is a great plan, the dynamic duo back together again!”
Lexie and Jake had the husband in interrogation room questioning him when Dani came back to the station. She observed the chemistry between her girlfriend and Jake. She was about to leave when the suspect sprung across the table and grabbed Lexie by the throat. Shocked, it took Jake a split second before he pulled the man off her. Dani busted in and ran straight to Lexie who fought the suspect.
Dani announced, “Calm down Lexie, you are okay, I’m here.”
Finally, she calmed down enough to hear Dani add, “I know you are angry and scared, but you have to let it go.”
“I am not scared, and I don’t need you running to my rescue every five minutes! Go home, Dani, and let me finish my job please!”
Dani was so mad that she turned and walked away. Lexie went to her desk, grabbed her keys, and stormed out of the office. Dani tried to catch her before she got in the elevator, but she couldn’t, so she went home. When Dani got home, Lexie was already there drinking, and Dani could tell she was still pissed.
Chris watched intently from the phone in his car, he was out riding by their condo when he saw Lexie fly into the parking garage. She looked like she was crying when she went inside. Chris was pleased at this development, this is great, the bitch isn’t with her, maybe they are fighting. Whatever the reason, this may be the perfect opportunity for me to get Dani alone!
Lexie was in the bedroom packing a bag when Dani walked in, she saw what was happening and she tried to stop her.
“Dani just go away; you are smothering me! I can’t breathe with you around! I can’t do this anymore!”
Dani was hurt by her lover’s cruel words and the fear that Lexie would leave crushed her. She ran out of the house and down the street. She had no idea where she was going, but it didn’t matter because Chris was waiting down the street. She almost ran right past him, but he stepped out in front of her. She slowed down and tried to go around him. She slowed down just enough for him to grab her from behind with the chloroform and knock her out. He got her in his car and off he went, triumphant. Meanwhile, Lexie was sitting in the middle of the bedroom floor wondering what she had done to the love of her life.
Lexie called Dani several times to no avail. She left numerous voicemails, but Dani obviously did not want to talk to her, so she gave up. She tossed and turned in the bed she usually shared with Dani, so she went to the couch and was able to fall asleep. Her alarm went off, and she felt like she had just closed her eyes. She checked the bedroom hoping to find Dani there, but the bed was empty. She began to get worried because it wasn’t like Dani to ignore her calls and stay out all night. She was getting ready to jump in the shower when her phone rang. She almost broke her neck trying to get to the phone because she thought it was Dani. The caller ID was Dani, and Lexie was relieved until she answered the phone.
Chris drove all night to get Dani to his shack in the West Virginia Mountains. She had woken up about two hours into the drive and was so out of control that he had to pull over and drug her again. She was still knocked out when they arrived at the cabin, and he took her inside. She woke up in an empty room except for a chair bolted to the floor that she was zip cuffed to. Chris was waiting for her to wake up. He was anxious to force her to make that one last phone call to Lexie. Dani was groggy but understood what was happening, Chris has kidnapped me. What the fuck! I am guessing this asshat is going to want me to call Lexie before he tortures and kills me, but I AM NOT MAKING THAT CALL!
Chris let her wake up fully before coming into the room. “How are you feeling detective? Are you ready to make up for causing me to lose Tiffany Decker and MY Lexie? I know how you can make it up to me.”
“I am ready for whatever you have planned, but I will not make that call, it doesn’t matter what you say or do to me, I will not call her!”
This made Chris mad, and he slapped Dani hard enough to make her neck feel like it was going to snap. He hit her again and again until she was barely conscious, then he untied her and took her to a room with a bed. She tried to fight him off, but he was too powerful. She was still fighting the drugs in her system and she could barely open her eyes from where he beat her.
Chris tied her to the bed and handed her the phone, “Call Lexie now and say exactly what I tell you to say, or I will have my way with you until I am certain no one else would ever want to touch you again. Then I will go find Lexie, bring her here and make you watch while I do the same thing to her. After that, I will kill her while you watch and make you live with it all. So, if you love her then you better make the call right now!”
Lexie answered her phone. All she could hear was the sound of labored breathing, and she was about to hang up when she heard her.
She froze when she heard Dani speak, “Lexie. I am so sorry, but I am with Chris and he wants you to know that I am never coming home. He is going to make me pay for causing him to lose you and Tiffany, and when he is satisfied that I have suffered enough, he is going to put a bullet in my head.”
Lexie heard Chris’s voice, “Say it bitch!”
“I am not saying it, you sadistic fuck!”
The line went dead. Lexie was in full panic mode, but this time she was not planning to lose her partner. She called the police station and told Captain Harris what was going on, then she called Derrick and filled him in. She knew how much he cared about Dani, and she needed people on this case that were not willing to let Dani die. After Lexie had called everyone she thought of to help her, she called Lexie’s cell phone hoping Chris would answer.
To her surprise, Dani answered breathlessly, “I love you Lexie, this is not your fault.”
She heard a loud crash and then Chris was on the line.
“Please Chris, don’t do this, don’t hurt Dani, I love her, take me in her place.”
Chris considered it for a moment, “Sorry my love, but Dani has to pay for all the things she has done to me.”
“The best way to make Dani suffer would be to make her live without me.”
“I don’t understand what you are saying, Lexie.”
“I am saying take me, kill me, let me pay for her mistakes, and make her live without me. She loves me and losing me would destroy her, so you win twice.”
Chris was intrigued by this idea, “I will think about it Lexie and call you back once I have made a decision.”
“I talked to Chris and I offered to trade myself for Dani” Lexie told Derrick.
“Are you out of your freaking mind? You cannot risk yourself for her, that will destroy her, and it is something she will never recover from.”
“
At least she will be alive, and this is the only thing I can think to do. We have no clue where they are or what he is doing to her. I can’t live with myself if I don’t at least try. I know Chris is torturing her right now, and she will more than likely be dead in the next forty-eight hours. What am I supposed to do? If he decides to take me, at least I will be able to see Dani one last time and that is worth it to me.”
Her phone rang, it was a blocked number. She answered it on the first ring, it was Chris.
“I will make the trade but only on one condition.”
“Which is what, Chris?”
“I will tell you where to meet me and you come alone, no other cops or she is dead, and so are you.”
“Ok, I will not tell anyone. You have to promise me that you will not hurt her.”
“I promise I will not touch her again, but I cannot take back what has already been done!”
“Just tell me where to go dammit!”
“Meet me at 1200 West Lincoln Street in Bluefield, West Virginia. It will take you six hours to get there, and if you are one minute late, I will kill her and disappear forever.”
Lexie knew she would have to hurry but she wasn’t planning on going alone. Derrick had listened to the entire call and was already in the driver’s seat. He wasn’t about to let Lexie drive herself to West Virginia, and he knew she would not object because she did not have time to do anything but get on the road.
Chris walked back into the bedroom where Dani was tied up and he untied her and took her back to the room with the chair. He placed her in the chair carefully and tied only her feet, so she couldn’t escape.
“What are you doing Chris? Why are you suddenly being so careful with me? You didn’t seem to care earlier when you were using my face as a punching bag. Do you have split personalities? Has the nice guy come out to play, and you have put the evil, sadistic one away for now?”
“My dear Danielle, you have been given a reprieve, someone has offered to trade their life for yours, and our new special guest will arrive in a few hours. It will give you ladies a chance to say a proper goodbye.”
“Are you talking about Lexie taking my place? What have you done?”
She began trying to get loose and hit him every time he got close. “Damn woman, I promised Lexie I wouldn’t hurt you anymore, but you are really making that promise hard to keep. Maybe it would be best if take a nap, that way you will be well rested when she gets here.”
He had to punch her in the face, so she would stop swinging long enough for him to drug her again. Once he was sure she was out, he tied her up in the bed again.
Lexie and Derrick were thirty miles from their destination when they decided it was time to put Derrick in the trunk, so Chris wouldn’t know he was there. Dani was fast asleep when her captor left to get his newest victim. He had drugged her with enough chloroform to keep her sleeping until he returned with Lexie. Derrick had placed a GPS tracker inside Lexie’s right shoe, so he wouldn’t lose her. He knew Dani would never forgive him if anything happened to the woman she loved. He also felt responsible for her. Lexie pulled up to the address Chris had given her. No one was there. She checked her phone, she was twenty-five minutes early. Chris was there hiding and waiting to make sure she was alone. After fifteen minutes of complete silence and no one else in sight, he turned his headlights on and called her. He instructed her to get out of the car and walk toward the light. Lexie did as she was told and walked to the car. When she got there, her husband, the serial killer, told her to get on her knees and put her hands on her head. He got her out of the car, cuffed her hands, and put her in the backseat where he tied her feet together. After getting her all settled in, Chris walked over to her car, set it on fire, and walked away. All Lexie could think was she had gotten that kind father and loving husband killed. She was nauseous, but she knew she needed to pretend like him setting the car on fire was no big deal.
Dani came to and heard a Lexie yelling. She wasn’t quite sure if she was really hearing her girlfriend’s voice or if she was dreaming. A few minutes later, Chris came in the room dragging Lexie behind him, she was kicking and screaming. He dragged her through the room where Dani was and into the room with the chair. After she was fastened to the chair securely, he went back to Dani. He kept her hands tied and with a gun to her head, Chris walked her out the front door past her lover. The two women looked at one another but could not speak because their captor had their mouths taped shut. Chris reached the front door with Dani.
Then, he turned to Lexie, “Look at your girlfriend now because the next time you see her, you may not recognize her. I promise to take my time with her and not neglect a single part of her beautiful body.”
Realization set in, and Lexie understood exactly what was happening now. Chris had no intention of letting Dani go, he simply wanted her to see me tied up and hurting so she would suffer that much more. Lexie begged Chris with her eyes, please, let Dani go.
“I understand what you want from me my beautiful love, but I can’t do it. I am sorry Lexie, but she has to die.”
He walked over to Lexie and chloroformed her, he needed Dani to suffer, not his wife. He gently placed the rag over her face and within seconds she was out. He turned his focus to the woman that caused him so much grief and roughly pushed her out the door.
Derrick managed to get out of the trunk before the car became totally engulfed in flames. He was without a vehicle, but he still had Lexie’s location from the tracker in her shoe. He set out to find the spunky detective and hopefully find Dani in the process. After walking for about three miles following the tracker, he came to a small gas station with one car at the pumps. He watched as the woman finished pumping her gas and then drove to the side of the building. She went inside and left the car running. Derrick jumped in the driver’s seat and sped off. He was two miles down the road before the woman realized her car was missing. Derrick hoped the local sheriff’s office wouldn’t catch up with him until after he found the two detectives.
The killer and his victim reached their destination a few minutes after leaving the cabin. Chris was incensed because in his own crazy way he loved Lexie and never wanted to hurt her. All he ever wanted from her was the attention and love that he saw her giving to this woman. He guaranteed Dani would pay with her life. Chris intended to make her death as slow and painful as he could. Dani was awake when Chris drug her from the backseat of his car by her hair. He threw her into the small cave he had found deep in the woods. The place was so secluded that he knew it would be months before they found her body. It was freezing in the dark, damp cave, and Dani wasn’t wearing anything except her t-shirt and underwear. She used the cold to motivate her. As soon as her captor turned his back, she ran and managed to make it a good distance before he caught up with her. He hit her with a baseball bat across her back. Dani collapsed. Chris hit her repeatedly. When she stopped moving, he hoped he had not killed her, because there was so much more, he wanted to do to her. The killer picked her bloody body up and carried her back to the cave. He checked her pulse. She was barely alive. He wrapped her in a blanket and hoped she would regain some strength by morning, so he could begin the real torture. She was taking all the fun out of it for him, he wanted her to be able to fight back and to feel all the pain he planned to deliver.
Derrick followed the GPS signal to the cabin. When he arrived, it was eerily quiet and dark. He knew Lexie had been there or at least her shoe had been there. All his training was telling him to call for back up and wait, but his heart told him to go. He cautiously entered the front door of the old cabin, and it was so quiet he could hear the floor creaking with every step he took. The signal was getting stronger, and he followed it to the room where Lexie was chained to a chair. He turned on the light and saw her sitting there in the chair, her head hung down, and he wasn’t sure if she was breathing. He rushed to her and checked her pulse as she started waking up. Her only focus was getting to Dani as Derrick tried unsuccessfully to get the chains off.
“Lexie you need to calm down and let me get you untied, and then we will both be able to focus on finding Dani.”
Lexie couldn’t hold back the tears anymore, “We will never find her alive. That freaking monster has probably already killed her by now!”
Derrick was at loss for words, he realized that Lexie was right. It occurred to him that they may be on a recovery mission rather than a rescue.
Dani opened her eyes as the sun was coming up, she wasn’t scared anymore. She had made peace with the fact that today was likely her last. However, when she saw him standing in the opening of the cave, something snapped inside her and her will to live broke free. She closed her eyes and remembered when she first kissed Lexie and, in that moment, she knew that no matter what this monster did to her, she would not let him take her away from the only person she has ever truly loved. She would fight him with everything she had left. Chris approached her and ripped the blanket away.
“Well. I believe with you lying there half naked and all helpless is the perfect time to show you what a real man feels like. What do think? You think you can handle it? Well it doesn’t really matter what you think now does it?’
He unbuttoned his jeans and dragged her closer to him. She let him think she was helpless and as soon as he has his pants down, she grabbed the baseball bat and hit him as hard as she could. She was too weak to cause any damage. Chris was livid. He overpowered her, took the bat and used it on her. This time he didn’t care if he killed her or not. He was so angry that he couldn’t control his impulse to kill.
The lady at the gas station reported her car stolen, and it was found at the cabin along with Derrick and Lexie. After a tense discussion about their current situation, Lexie was able to convince the local police that she was the victim and Derrick was helping her. They explained how they got in this situation and that the Last Call Killer was in their small town holding her partner captive, and they were running out of time. After briefing the local PD, and while waiting for the FBI to arrive, Lexie called her captain to report how she nearly got Derrick and Dani killed, and she could have been killed herself. It had been a grueling night for Lexie and all she wanted was to find Dani and take her home. The manhunt started as soon as the FBI set foot in the small West Virginia town.
