by Leona Fox
“I don't know how he even found me, but I'm sure glad he did.”
Ellen let the two of them relax for a little while, letting silence linger over the two of them while she, too, tried collecting her thoughts. Ella was safe and sound in hospital but there was still the mystery of her disappearance. There were so many questions that Ellen wanted to ask. Yet she knew she needed to be careful, for one wrong word could shut Ella down completely. Ella, with her long dark hair, wide young eyes, and cherubic heart-shaped face... looked like an angel as she lay in that bed and now Ellen could see why Beatrice had spoken so highly of her. She certainly had an aura about her that seemed to send calming signals through the room. Ellen couldn't understand how anyone could be immune to it, how anyone could break through it and actually cause her harm.
While she played with Scampy, Ella looked at peace, as though this was just another normal day in her normal life. Yet Ellen had spent much time observing people and the closer she looked the more she saw the haunted anguish behind Ella's eyes. While Scampy danced upon the bed and nuzzled into Ella's body, Ellen noticed how Ella twitched whenever there was an unexpected sound, how her eyes darted furtively across the room, how she always made an effort to keep the marks on her body hidden. To anyone else these would have been imperceptible mannerisms but to Ellen they were as plain as day.
“Ella, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” Ellen said softly, leaning forward in her chair, which creaked a little. Ella was playing with something in her hands, making Scampy leap up to try catching it but it was always out of reach.
“Ella,” Ellen repeated when the young woman didn't respond. She turned to face Ellen and gave a slight nod of assent.
“I know it's difficult to talk about but if we're going to catch the person responsible we're going to need whatever information you can provide. Can you tell me anything about who took you, or where you were kept?”
“It was in the woods somewhere...I don't know where. I was blindfolded. But it was dark and sheltered. Even the sun couldn't get through,” she said, her eyes gazing off into the distance, this time ignoring Scampy as the dog tried to continue playing. Ellen waited for Ella to say something else but no words followed.
“What about who took you? Can you tell me anything about them?” she asked.
Ella's face tightened and her lower lip began to tremble. Her eyes became liquid as they filled with tears, although she was making a concerted effort to not let them fall. The girl's fists clutched at the bed sheets and her entire body began seething with a mixture of anger and fear. She started to choke out tears.
“I...I can't,” she said, “I'm sorry,” and then collapsed into her pillow, turning away from Ellen and the world.
Her body heaved with heavy sobs as she wept into the pillow, holding it tightly around her face, smothering herself. Ellen rushed up and placed a hand on her back while Scampy tried to nuzzle into her. They tried to help rescue her again, this time from her own internal anguish, but for the moment there was nothing either of them could do.
“I'll come and see you again soon. Be well,” Ellen said, and she stroked the girl's hair before she left and reunited with Andy, who was waiting outside.
Ellen shook her head as the door clicked closed behind her.
“She won’t say anything. The poor thing must be traumatized,” she said.
“Yes, but if she won't speak then the chances of us catching whoever did this to her are severely reduced,” Andy said, pursing his lips.
The three of them were standing together in an awkward silence until Kelly said she was going to take the dog back. Ellen had appreciated the thought as she wanted to spend some more time with Andy. Moments later she had second thoughts and actually suggested that Scampy stay with Ella. She hoped he would offer some comfort and give her a sense of normalcy, and Andy agreed. Kelly still left though, because she sensed Ellen and the police chief needed to have some time alone.
In any other season Ellen would have suggested they go for a walk but the heat was too much. So instead they went to the hospital cafeteria and got a couple of cheap cups of coffee. After one mouthful Andy almost spit it back out.
“I think I've become too used to the good stuff you serve,” he said, pushing the cup into the middle of the table.
“I can't imagine what Ella must be going through. We all feel so safe and strong going about our daily lives but she had it taken away from her. She was just like any of us, but now she's never going to be the same. She'll never be able to forget that one day someone just came into her life and took her away. How can such a thing happen so easily?”
“I don't know, but it does,” Andy said, his words drenched with bitterness.
“I feel so sorry for her...when I was in there it was almost...almost like she was my daughter. Sometimes...I don't know, do you ever regret not having kids?”
“When I was younger I always thought I would have kids. I mean, that was the order of things, right? You go to school, fall in love with a sweetheart, start a career, get married, and have kids. That's what seemed normal to me. And I did most of it, but when it came time for that commitment I had been on the force for a number of years and I had seen so many things...”
“Were you with anyone?”
“Yeah, my first love, the one I thought was going to be the love of my life,” he said, smiling wryly as he remembered a time long ago.
“What was she like?”
“Her name was Emily. We met at school. She wanted to be a weather girl, of all things, but she ended up getting a job at a publisher, which is also how my brother got his first book published. I had my heart set on being a cop since, God, I don't even know. Must have been from when I was a kid. Took all the exams and graduated from the academy and things were so perfect, you know? She was beautiful, we were in love, we were talking of the future and where we were going to live, what we were going to call our kids. It was like our whole lives were just waiting for us.”
“What happened?”
“I became a cop because I wanted to keep people safe. I wanted to know at the end of every day that I had made a difference in making the world a better place, but when I started that job it was like I had been living a lie. I had been so caught up in a bubble that I only truly saw the world for what it is when I started working. There was so much crime and so many open cases, so many people who wanted to break the law and hurt other people that it just overwhelmed me.
That was when things started to change. Our conversations about the future were becoming less and less frequent. I actually had bought an engagement ring with the intention of proposing, but it stayed hidden in a drawer because everything I thought I believed was proving to be a lie. I thought that people were inherently good but I was swamped with so much criminal activity that sometimes it seemed as though being bad was the natural state of affairs. I couldn't justify bringing another life into this world. I just couldn't, not with all the pain and sorrow...how could I subject a kid to that? Emily never could understand and it led to more and more arguments until she ended up leaving. Then I was just a cop.”
Ellen reached over and squeezed his hand, moved by the depth of emotion he displayed.
“I don't believe you were ever just a cop,” she said, smiling.
He returned her gesture and, for the first time in a while, it felt as though she had her Andy back, and the walls between them had been removed.
“What about yourself?” he asked.
“I think now I regret it. When I was younger it always seemed like one of those things that probably was going to happen one day, but I never made any great plans. I think I was too caught up in work and, by the time it came to talking about having kids, I was just too busy...Then everything with my parents happened and I never got around to it. I don't think it’s as bad as everyone thinks, though. I'm still happy and I still have a fulfilling life but there is a nurturing part of me that feels like it's missing something. I suppose that's just a symptom of
being alone for so long.”
“I'm sure Scampy is a handful enough!” Andy said, and they both let out a small laugh.
“You got that right. But yeah, being in there with Ella just brought something out in me. I don't know, maybe it's because we've both lost our parents and I just want someone to be there for her so I'm projecting or something. I just hate the thought that she has to go through it alone.”
“She has her brother and her friends, but some people don't mind going through things alone.”
“Yeah, I know that,” Ellen said with a pointed look toward Andy. He sighed.
“I guess I should have seen that coming. Look, I'm sorry I've been so distant recently. It's just this case brought back a lot of old memories and sometimes...I told you the reason I became a cop was to make a difference and to leave the world a better place but I'm honestly not sure I've done that.”
“Andy...of course you have. I've seen it even before we were working together. You've solved so many cases-”
“And so many have been unsolved as well.”
“But you can't keep focusing on them. You have to take a balanced view. You've helped so many people in your career that you've done more good than probably everyone in East Pender put together. I know you probably don't want to admit it but everyone here loves you. If you said you were leaving or retiring there would be a big outcry.”
“Yeah, until they find out I'm just Clive Dunlop from my brother's books.” He tapped his fingers on the table and looked downcast and sullen. Ellen's gaze hardened.
“You know, self-pity isn't a good look on you,” she said, and the harshness of her words took Andy by surprise. He looked up, directly at her, as her words sliced through the fragile shield of his self-pity.
“I get that your brother took elements from your life and made them into this character. I don't know whether that was right of him or not, but I'm not going to argue that because it doesn't have anything to do with your life. From that moment when your brother put pen to paper and started to breathe life into that character he became something different than just a carbon copy of you. You have your own life while this character is just written on the page by your brother.
He's not writing your life and you shouldn't see yourself as this fictional person because only you have the ability to write your own life. You make the decisions that shape your future and, yeah, sometimes things are going to happen that you don't think you can cope with. You make mistakes, but you try your best to learn from them and carry on, and be better than you were. I get that this unsolved case weighs heavily on you and you've decided it's your cross to bear, but you have to look at the good you do as well and take a balanced view. Otherwise, it's going to swallow you up.”
Andy looked at her for a long while, then he smiled. He rose from the table. Ellen thought he was going to storm off. Instead he pulled out her chair and planted a firm kiss on her lips, leaving her reeling, before he did indeed leave the cafeteria. Ellen blushed and looked around, a little embarrassed at the public display of affection, but there was no hiding the smile on her face.
Chapter 7
At night the sun set and relinquished its celestial throne to the moon. The silvery beams bathed East Pender in a soothing glow, reminding the denizens of the town that there was a relief to the seemingly relentless heat. It was still hotter than was comfortable for some, however, and they twisted and turned in their beds. For the first time in a few nights Andy was sleeping soundly, the weight of his mind having been lifted by Ellen's pep talk. Ellen, too, was relaxed and had less on her mind, while Kelly was her usual self and hadn't had any trouble sleeping all through the heatwave. Even Scampy was resting peacefully by the foot of Ella's bed.
But not everyone was, and not for the same reasons. While most people who couldn't sleep suffered because of the heat there was one person who was awake because of something else...a shivering fear that ran up her spine and made every moment pregnant with terror. Every sound was greeted with a gasp for she didn't know if that would be the moment when her assailant returned. She had escaped once; would she be able to do so again? Her mind didn't want to face the possibility of being taken once more, of being blindfolded and dragged away and tossed in a deep dark place where nobody could hear her.
All she wanted to do was go back to the city, back to where there were always bright lights shining and people were always around. She'd often heard people complain that city life was too dangerous. Her parents had been worried when she decided to set off by herself and live there, but she always felt safe there. There was always someone to turn to, someone watching, and someone ready to hear the screams. Not like East Pender, where everything was so quiet and peaceful that somebody could disappear without anyone knowing.
Her throat was dry. She reached over to the bedside table and picked up the glass of water, hands shaking. She brought it to her lips and drained it dry, although she was still thirsty. The jug was empty beside it and she thought about calling for someone to refill it but it was nighttime and the shadows danced upon the walls. Fear seized her mind and her soul and all she wanted was to be left alone. Her throat was scratchy and raw and crying for some relief yet she could not bring herself to call for someone, and her body would not let her rest.
Ella's mind danced with terrible thoughts and things that should have been forgotten, of the hopelessness she felt after having lost her voice for hours after screaming for help, that moment when she knew that nobody would be coming to rescue her. The world felt like it was ending at that moment, and that encroaching darkness seemed to be swirling around her and sucking her into an abyss.
She pulled the sheets over her, even though she was hot, enduring the heat. She was curled up into a ball but kept fidgeting. No matter where she faced it seemed like somebody was watching her, lurking in the shadows, prowling outside, and ready to strike against her and drag her away into the darkness again. She turned and twisted, sometimes facing the door, sometimes the window, but no matter where she faced her eyes couldn't be everywhere and it always seemed like there was another presence nearby. And she wished for the sun to rise again, for the blazing golden shine to illuminate East Pender and all the dark corners.
For in that light there was hope. There was another memory, another moment that she tried dearly to hold onto, that moment when she had heard the faint scurrying of paws against the ground, the scratching of claws, and then the sweet sight of a dog's face. Her hero. Her savior. And it was that memory that she clung to as she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the turbulent fears rampaging around her mind.
But her fears were not unfounded. Outside, the cop who was guarding her door yawned and stretched. The night had been quiet and for all the time she had been in the hospital nobody had tried to sneak in. The heat of the day had tired out the cop and now at night he was struggling to keep his eyes open. He looked up and down the corridor. There was no sign of anyone. What harm would it do to step away for a moment and grab a cup of coffee from the machine? It would help him stay awake, after all. Better to leave his post for a few moments than to fall asleep for the rest of the night. At least that's how he justified it to himself. But, unbeknownst to him, there was somebody watching. As soon as he left his post the person made their way to Ella's room.
They crept along the floor, stepping lightly so as not to make any noise. Their breathing was steady and they checked to make sure the cop wasn't going to come back. Once they reached the door they placed their hand on the handle and pushed it down, then opened the door and slipped inside. Ella had just managed to drift off to sleep but even before the ordeal she had been a light sleeper and the slight noise had jolted her awake. Her eyes opened and her vision was hazy, but when she focused in the dark she saw a large looming shadow coming toward her.
She went to scream but her voice was dry from the lack of water and only a squeaking sound came out. Then a hand clamped over her mouth, silencing her. Scampy awoke and scrambled to protect Ella, but a sw
ift kick from a heavy boot in the dog's mid-section sent him whimpering across the room, slamming into the wall.
“You're not going to get away from me again,” the person snarled. Ella's eyes were wide with terror and she longed to scream, but once again she was helpless.
Chapter 8
Ellen had been sleeping soundly through the night when suddenly she woke up. She looked through the crack in her curtains and then checked the time, groaning when she saw how late it was. Now that she was awake she no longer felt tired and knew she would be laying in bed until the sun rose. She sighed heavily and stretched her arms, thinking about the day’s events and what was going to happen later. But as she did so she thought of Scampy. The decision to leave him with Ella had been a rash one and she had been so caught up with what happened with Andy that she had neglected to leave Scampy some food. The dog was a creature of routine and in the heat she knew he needed to keep his strength up, especially after he had gone missing while he had been looking for Ella.
Feeling as though there was no harm in it, she went downstairs, gathered some food, and took it to the hospital. She drove along the empty roads and chewed her bottom lip, feeling a little foolish for going to these lengths for a dog. It wasn't as though he was going to die if he didn't get his breakfast, and she was sure Ella would have made sure he got fed anyway.
Perhaps it was just her maternal side overcompensating again. She even considered turning around and going home but she had come this far and figured she may as well continue. At least Scampy would be happy to see her, and if Ella was still awake she might even get something out of her.
It was eerie being in the hospital at night because there was only a skeleton staff on hand and everything was quiet. Her footsteps echoed off the shiny tiled floor and the electric lights buzzed overhead. She reached the nurses' station and told them she just was dropping some food off for her dog. They greeted her warmly and said it was fine. They also spoke a little about the tragedy and how hard it must have been for Ella. Ellen carried on, and when she reached the door and saw there was no cop outside she almost dropped the bag of dog food. Her heart began racing as she approached the door. She was about to call out to the cop when she heard the sound of struggling inside.
