Nate pushed away a smile that threatened to reveal itself. Jenna didn’t know it, but that bite mark might be the key to solving the whole case.
“We’re going to need to see that wound.” His hand was already on the button to call the nurse. “We’ll also need you to tell us every detail about where you were held. What do you remember?”
“It was dark. I was in a basement. Cement walls, metal bars, musty air.” Jenna took another sip of water and Nate noticed that her hand was shaking. “I wasn’t alone down there either. There were at least two other girls.”
“How did you escape?” Olivia asked.
Jenna’s eyes fluttered as she fought sleep. “He wasn’t expecting me to wake up so he hadn’t bothered to tie me up yet. When he climbed off me and started buttoning his pants, I made my move. There was a pile of metal chains on the bed next to me. He hadn’t gotten around to tying me up yet so I grabbed them and swung them at his head. I kicked him hard in the junk and then ran for it. That’s when I saw the other girls in their cells.” She paused as her eyes filled with water. “I wanted to help them, but I couldn’t stop. He was right behind me.”
“Of course. You did the right thing.” Olivia patted her hand. “What happened next?”
“I ran upstairs and there was a door right there. It took me outside. I didn’t even have on any shoes, but I kept running. I never looked to see if he was following me until I had been running for at least ten minutes. When I finally glanced over my shoulder, I stumbled into the road and that’s when I got hit.” She handed Olivia the cup of water. “I’m really tired.”
“We’re almost done,” Nate promised. “Do you remember the building? You were found on Clark Street. Was the building on that street?”
“I don’t think so.” Her eyes drooped again. “I ran in a zigzag pattern in case he was following me. I think it was about a mile, but I can’t really remember.”
Olivia smiled encouragingly. “You did really well, Jenna.”
The nurse arrived and Nate had her remove the gauze covering the bite mark. It turned out to be only a partial imprint, but it should be enough to help verify the attacker if they rounded up a suspect. He took several pictures of the wound while Jenna drifted back into unconsciousness. He knew that he should have called Vince the minute he found out she was awake, but doing that would have also alerted Barnes. Nate couldn’t deal with him yet.
“I need to call the station and get officers searching that area. In her condition, she couldn’t have run more than a mile before she was hit. In fact, I’d bet it was closer to just a few blocks.” Nate was already ringing Vince to update him.
“This is good, right? You can focus the investigation now.” Olivia finally let go of Jenna’s hand.
The phone began to ring and Nate was already thinking five steps ahead. “More than good. Jenna’s details are going to help me solve the case.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Despite still technically being on suspension, Nate left the hospital to meet up with his partner. Olivia stayed behind to be with Jenna in case she woke up again. She just couldn’t bear to leave the poor girl alone.
About an hour after Nate left, Jenna opened her eyes again. This time, they were wide and fearful. Her breathing was accelerated as she gasped, “I remember.”
“What do you remember?” Olivia leaned forward in her chair.
“Him.” The heart rate on the monitor behind her bed began to increase. “That night wasn’t the first time I saw my attacker. He came into the bar two nights earlier. I served him a Manhattan with a lime.”
“How do you remember that?” It was hard to believe that Jenna could remember the exact drink order taken over a week ago. Olivia couldn’t even remember what she had eaten for lunch yesterday.
Jenna winced. “I remember it because of him. He was really good looking. I flirted with him. How could I have been so stupid?”
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Olivia said quickly. She knew that every detail from Jenna’s memory was important and she wished that Nate was still there to ask the right questions. Olivia felt a bit like she was swimming in the deep end and the water was over her head. “Do you remember anything else about him? Did he pay with a credit card?”
“He paid in cash. I remember because he left me a twenty dollar tip for one drink.” Jenna’s face had gone ever paler. “He asked me for my name and I told him, but he never told me his name. I remember that he was dressed too nice for the bar. He was wearing a suit. I thought maybe he was a lawyer or something.”
Olivia’s instincts had kicked in and she knew exactly what she needed to ask next. “Does the bar have any security cameras?”
Olivia waited until Jenna slipped into unconsciousness before leaving the hospital. Even then, she made sure the officer was stationed right outside. Jenna hadn’t been able to confirm whether the bar had cameras and Olivia knew she wouldn’t be able to stop wondering about the possibility until she had a definite answer. The only way to do that was to check out the bar in person.
It was a short cab ride to the bar in Lincoln Park. Olivia paid the driver and stepped onto a crowded sidewalk. It was Saturday night and the neighborhood was alive with drunken college students. It took some concentration to navigate toward the door of Cruizens. The interior wasn’t what Olivia had expected. Lots of wood paneling and dim lighting.
“What can I get you?” the young bartender asked. The smile he gave Olivia was more of a habit rather than actual pleasure.
“Security video,” Olivia replied. She had spotted the camera in the corner almost the second she walked through the door. “From last weekend.”
“You’re pretty, but I’m not easily impressed. I’m not going to give you our security video.” His smile wavered. “Is this a sorority hazing thing or something?”
Olivia hadn’t really expected it to be that easy. “I’m here on behalf of Jenna Kramer. Did you know her?”
“Jenna?” The smile vanished. “Is she okay? We all heard what happened to her.”
“She’s okay…”
“Chris.”
“Jenna is doing alright, Chris. But the man that took her has taken other girls, and some of them are dead. The ones that are still alive won’t stay that way for long. It’s imperative that we find him.” Olivia pointed to the camera. “He was in this bar a couple of nights before Jenna was taken. That camera may be the only way we will be able to identify the killer.”
Chris glanced around the bar. It was fairly quiet considering the chaos outside. He threw down the towel he had been twisting in his hands. “Come with me.” To the other bartender, he said, “Carl, I’m taking a break.”
Olivia let herself around the bar and followed Chris into the backroom. It was stocked with crates of liquor and smelled like stale beer. In the far corner, an old monitor sat on an ancient-looking desk.
“The recordings are downloaded onto this computer. Our owner had the camera installed because of the random fights that happen. He’s worried about potential lawsuits.” Chris set two folding chairs in front of the desk and switched on the monitor. He clicked into a few folders before finding the footage.
“Jenna said she saw the guy two days before she was taken. She also said she worked that night, so we can probably focus on that time frame.” Olivia literally sat on the edge of her seat as she waited for Chris to start the recording.
“We can watch it at double speed,” he said, clicking again until the video sped up. People entered the bar and drank their beers at an impressive speed. It would have been a comical scene if they weren’t searching for a killer amongst the patrons.
“There’s Jenna,” Chris said, tapping the screen with a long finger. “She’s just starting her shift.”
Olivia quickly scanned the entire screen, taking stock of who was present. She didn’t see any male wearing a suit. That meant the killer hadn’t been there prior to her arrival. Maybe he had followed her to the bar.
Ten minutes af
ter Jenna appeared, a man entered the bar wearing a dark suit. It had to be him. “There,” Olivia breathed. “Son of a bitch.”
“That’s him?” Chris squinted hard at the screen. “That’s the guy that hurt Jenna?”
“I think so.” She leaned even closer to the monitor, nearly falling off her chair. “Jenna said she spoke with him, so we just need to see if they interact. Can you set it back to regular speed?”
Time seemed to stand still as they watched Jenna’s every move. She glided effortlessly around the bar, taking orders and serving drinks. It took her several trips before she noticed the man seated in the dark corner. The camera caught his silhouette, but it was impossible to make out any distinguishing traits.
Jenna was facing the camera as she approached him. A faint smile played at her lips. She tossed her hair and laughed as they chatted, oblivious to the fact that she was talking to a killer. Olivia still hadn’t managed a glimpse of his face.
One drink later, the man stood and tossed money onto his table. Olivia began to the think that she wasn’t going to find any way to identify him when he turned. The camera was perfectly aimed to capture his face.
“No way,” Olivia said in disbelief.
“Do you know him?” Chris asked, glancing between her and the monitor.
She was already reaching for her phone to dial Nate’s number. “I don’t think anyone really knows him,” she muttered.
Nate’s phone rang twelve times before she hung up. He was probably busy working on the case, but that didn’t prevent Olivia’s stomach from twisting into a giant knot. She needed to get to the station so she could see for herself that he was alright.
Olivia reached for a pad of paper and pen and scribbled down her email address. “Send me a copy of the video and a screenshot of his face. I need to get it to the police.”
“Yeah, alright.” He stared blankly at her, expecting more of an explanation than she was willing to give.
“Thanks for your help,” she said as she jumped to her feet. “You just helped crack this case wide open.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Dani sat motionless on the floor of her cell. She hadn’t moved in hours. Eli had come downstairs the previous night, right on schedule. She had expected him to come for her again and make good on his promise. But he had walked right past her cell, opening Tina’s door with a loud screech.
For the next hour, Dani had listened to her new friend’s screams. Eli had taken his time, doing things that Dani could only imagine as she sat helplessly on the other side of the cement wall. At the same time as she was sobbing for Tina, she was also thankful that he hadn’t come for her.
When he was done, he came and stood in front of Dani’s cell. He didn’t say anything, just watched her through the bars. She stared right back, too frightened to move. Just as he was beginning to turn away, she found enough courage to say, “You’re a monster.”
He stopped, turning back to her. Unblinking, he stared straight into her eyes. “Maybe I am. But I wasn’t always like this.”
Then he was gone.
Several times, Dani called out to Tina. She was desperate to know that her only human contact was okay. Tina never replied. After a few hours, Dani heard faint crying. She was relieved, because it meant that Tina was still alive.
That was all that Dani needed to find the strength to act. Since waking up in the basement, she had been attempting to escape. For a while, she had yanked on her chains, hoping for a weak link. When that had proven futile, she had thoroughly examined the lock. It looked pretty simple and Dani thought that if she could just find something small and sharp, she could pick it.
The only problem with that plan was that there was nothing in the room but her mattress. Then she remembered the springs that had poked her in the back. If she could break off a piece, it should do the trick.
She had set about spending her days working the metal back and forth, hoping it would be weak enough to snap. Unfortunately, the spring was thicker and stronger than she had thought. But after what had just happened to Tina, she was re-determined to get free.
One night, after Melanie had been taken away, Eli had brought another girl to the basement. He had taken her into Melanie’s old cell to enact his perverted activities upon her. But something had gone wrong because a short time later, the girl had darted down the hallway. She was barefoot and her clothes were ripped, but she was free.
On her way to the stairs, she stopped and looked Dani in the eye, a guilty expression on her face. Dani understood right away that she felt like she should try to free the other girls. But Dani also knew that their best chance of survival was if the girl got away. She couldn’t risk getting caught. So Dani had softly shaken her head, giving the girl permission to leave her behind.
When no one came for them after that night, Dani assumed that Eli had caught the girl and killed her as punishment. It should have deterred her own escape attempt, but it had the opposite effect. She would do anything to be free again, even if it was a short-lived freedom.
Dani pushed herself off the floor with renewed energy. Daylight had come and she had hours to finish her plan. After what had happened to Tina, she worried that this might be the last day alive for one or both of them if she didn’t act now.
The spring had weakened with her bending and twisting. She knew that she was close to breaking off a piece of the metal. With a glimmer of hope in front of her, she summoned all of her strength. When it finally did break, she almost didn’t believe it. For several seconds, she stared at the piece that lay in her hand. It was about the size of a nail, but twice as thick. Shockingly, it fit perfectly into the lock.
“No way,” she muttered under her breath. It didn’t seem right that she could get this lucky. But after an hour of trying unsuccessfully to unlock the shackle on her wrist, she realized it wasn’t going to be that easy after all. In fact, she nearly gave up completely when her fingers started to cramp so badly that she could barely move them.
But then the lock clicked, and the shackle slipped from her arm.
Delighted, she rubbed at the raw skin on her wrist. The sunlight was already beginning to fade and she worried that it had taken too long and Eli would return in the midst of her escape. Unlike the other girl, Dani had no intention of leaving Tina behind.
She assumed that she would have to pick the cell door lock as well, but when she pushed against it, the door swung open. Apparently Eli had only been pretending to lock it. It hadn’t been necessary for an actual lock since each of the girls had been chained to the wall.
“Sneaky bastard,” she said, stepping into the dark hallway.
Tina’s door was also unlocked and she found her neighbor huddled in a ball on a blanket. She didn’t even have a mattress.
“Tina,” Dani said, kneeling next to the girl. “It’s going to be okay. I’m going to get us out of here.”
Tina didn’t move.
Dani put her hand on the girl’s arm. “Tina. You need to pull yourself together. I need your help to pull this off.”
“We can’t,” Tina breathed. Her eyes stared blankly straight ahead as she rocked gently. “He’ll kill us.”
“He’s going to kill us anyway,” Dani said bluntly. “He already killed Melanie and my friend Madison. Our only chance of surviving is to get the hell out of here.”
Tina whimpered slightly.
Without waiting for her permission, Dani grabbed Tina’s arm and started working on the lock. This time, she knew exactly how she needed to position the spring. It only took her a couple of minutes to get it unlocked.
“Can you stand?” Dani asked. She wasn’t sure exactly how badly Tina had been injured. They wouldn’t get very far if Dani had to carry her.
When Tina didn’t answer, Dani took matters into her own hands. She pulled Tina to her feet and was relieved when she only wobbled slightly. Then she grabbed her hand and pulled her into the hallway. Dani checked each of the other cells to make sure they were empty. She wasn’
t going to leave anyone behind.
At the end of the hall, she took the stairs upward. She was so close to freedom that she could smell the fresh air leaking through the gap under the door. Dani twisted the doorknob and shoved, exhaling hard when her body crashed against the firm door.
It was locked.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Nate wasn’t surprised when he wasn’t able to reach Vince on his phone. After calling him incessantly over the last week, his partner had started to avoid his calls. He probably assumed that Nate was just checking in again. It was risky for Nate to enter the station while he was still suspended, but he needed to update Vince on what he had learned from Jenna.
The station was crowded and full of activity when Nate arrived. That wasn’t uncommon on a Saturday night. It wasn’t hard for Nate to sneak in without being noticed, but before he could find Vince he was stopped by the person he least wanted to see.
“Tucker. Breaking the rules yet again, I see.” Barnes stepped in front of Nate purposefully. “You just can’t do as you are told.”
“I don’t have time for this, Barnes.” Nate’s voice was clipped. “Is Vince around?”
“He’s out interviewing a new witness from the scene of Jenna’s accident.” Barnes’ eyes narrowed. “You’re being less obnoxious than usual. What’s going on?”
Nate knew that he should tell Barnes about Jenna. They were on the same side, after all, and they needed to work together to solve the case. “Jenna is awake. I was just at the hospital and she gave me some new information.”
“Awake?” His jaw tightened. “Does she remember who took her?”
“Vague details. But she had a little more insight into where she was being held. We should get officers out to patrol the area right away.” Nate was surprised when Barnes’ shook his head.
“We’ve already beefed up patrols on all campuses. No one is available to pursue a lead that might not be accurate.” Barnes sighed. “If you want, you can come with me and we can check it out. If it seems legit, we can always call for backup.”
Had a Great Fall (An Olivia Thompson Mystery) Page 10
