Eviscerating the Snake - The Complete Trilogy

by Ashley Fontainne

  “Sergeant Fenter, this is Nick Rancliff, Kemper’s attorney. Please, make sure we aren’t disturbed,” I said as I motioned with my head toward the door, my eyes looking at the surveillance camera. Sergeant Fenter smiled wickedly and replied, “Yes sir.”

  I strode in first and went straight to the table that Kemper was seated at. No, he wasn’t seated, he was perched, like a statue waiting to be admired. Even though he was sitting down and my frame towered over him, the look behind his glassy eyes managed to suggest that he was peering down at me, like I was something stuck beneath his shoe, some piece of unwanted trash that needed to be removed. For a few brief moments, we locked eyes, and I knew that mine betrayed the intense disgust that I felt for him, not only as a law enforcement officer but also as a man in love with the woman he brutally raped.

  He broke the gaze first as his eyes moved over to Nick Rancliff, slowly looking him up and down in mock disgust at his disheveled appearance, dismissing him as if he were just a sideshow attraction before the main event, before focusing his attention back to me.

  “Detective Ronson. So good to see you again!” he said, his voice dripping so heavy with sarcasm that I felt the need for insulin. “To what do I owe this splendid, early morning pleasure?”

  Before I could respond, Nick cleared his throat and said, “Olin, please, let me do the talking.”

  The look that crossed Olin’s face was a mixture of primal hatred and condemnation, but the shadow of those inner thoughts faded as quickly as they appeared, replaced with his trademark icy stare as he blinked slowly and responded, “Sorry, Nick. It’s just an old lawyer habit to schmooze with law enforcement.”

  Through my peripheral vision, I could see Nick stiffen up a bit at Olin’s response as he maneuvered around me and sat beside his client, his apprehension oozing out of him like liquefied syrup. He cleared his throat a few times before he finally said, “Detective Ronson, please explain to us why we were summoned here at this ungodly hour?”

  “Gladly. Mind explaining this?” I said, tossing the faxed copy of the jail log on the table. This time, Olin remained silent and didn’t move an inch toward it. His dead eyes never even flinched or glanced at the page as he continued to stare at me, the intensity of his gaze surprising. Nick reached across the dirty metal table and pulled the thin sheet closer, leaning his head forward a bit to read the small print.

  “So, Kemper, mind telling me why Bridgette Summers came to visit you and why she signed in as your sister when we both know you don’t have one? Oh, and please explain to me how this mystery woman just so happens to be a prime suspect for Robert’s murder?”

  I sensed the tension emanating all around me, smelled the fear that ultimately would sneak out of the skin of someone being questioned, their body’s attempt to deal with the stress forced upon them, their brains working overtime to quickly cover lies, deceits, and evidence. I’d witnessed it hundreds of times over the years as I questioned people when I confronted them with something out of the blue, something they weren’t expecting me to know about. Oddly, this time, the fear wasn’t coming from Olin but from Nick.

  Small beads of sweat were beginning to form around his temples and all the color had drained from his fake tanned face. He had been holding the paper in his hand but quickly set it back on the conference table after realizing his hand was slightly shaking. Olin, unflinching and without turning his eyes to Nick as he continued to lock his gaze upon me, said, “Nick, I don’t hear you answering Detective Ronson’s question.”

  Nick struggled to retain his composure as he cleared his throat and refused to look at Olin, preferring to level his eyes with mine. “You drug me out of bed to ask about a visitor? This is preposterous and has absolutely nothing to do with Olin’s case,” he answered, rising up out of his chair as he closed his briefcase with a loud snap, the tremble in his voice giving away the nervousness he was so desperately trying to hide. “So if that’s the only reason we are here, this meeting is over.”

  “Oh, come now, Nick. He just asked a simple little question. What could be the harm in answering him?” Olin said, his face revealing a bit of amusement at Nick’s obvious apprehension.

  “Olin! Not another word!” Nick hissed.

  Olin’s eyes narrowed, but there was just enough of an opening for me to see the anger that flashed behind them for a brief second, his pride apparently irritated after being told to shut up. His lips contorted over to a sly grin as he said, “I have only had one female visitor since my incarceration, Detective, but her name isn’t Bridgette Summers. It’s Piper Rancliff.” He took his eyes off of mine and shot them over at Nick, eager to see his reaction to naming someone evidently connected to him. I realized that there was some unseen dynamic working between the two men and opted to remain silent and let the events unfold in front of me.

  “Olin! As your legal counsel, I am instructing you to not answer any more of his questions! This line of questioning is frivolous!” Nick said, his voice rising almost as fast as the blood that now rushed to his cheeks. His anger flared as he turned to face Olin, his voice a low grumble. “You leave her out of this!”

  “Why, Nick, you sound almost like a jealous ex-husband,” Olin sneered, his eyes bright with excitement as he was obviously enjoying his sadistic toying with Nick, and now I knew exactly why. As soon as those words left his mouth, I sensed that Nick’s reaction would be a physical one, and I immediately knew I wouldn’t stop him, and sure enough, Nick pivoted quickly and brought his fist square into Olin’s nose, the force of his anger sending Olin flying out of his chair and onto the cold concrete of the prison floor. I had to force myself not to cheer him on as the crimson liquid of the sorry bastard burst out of his crushed nose and down the front of his prison issued shirt. I embedded the mental picture so I could share it with Audra later and then shifted back from lover to cop mode as I reluctantly grabbed Nick and subdued him before he could take another crack at him.

  “Sergeant Fenter! We need a first aid kit in here please!” I shouted through the bars and then turned my attention back to Nick. He eyes were wide and his pupils dilated from the surge of adrenaline, his sweat fully soaking through his thin dress shirt, his breath rough and ragged as he just stood there glowering at Olin. I gave his arm a hard yank to snap him back to reality, finally turning his attention to me as I reached around and produced handcuffs and quickly secured them around his slippery wrists and pushed him back into the chair closest to me.

  “Don’t move,” I growled.

  As much as I would have loved to just pat Nick on the back and join him in watching Olin bleed, I knew I couldn’t. While I was cuffing Nick, Olin had scooted over to the edge of the cell and propped himself against the wall as he gingerly held his hands to his face, trying to stem the flow of blood gushing out of his arrogant nose. I heard the jangle of keys and the door open as Sergeant Fenter arrived with the first aid kit, but knew from the amount of blood and the strength of the impact that his nose was broken and would require a trip to the prison doctor. Apparently, Sergeant Fenter recognized this fact as well because as he knelt down to take a look, he turned to me and said, “I’ll go call Dr. Patterson.”

  I nodded my head and waited for him to leave before I turned my attention back to Olin. I had so many questions rolling through my sleep-deprived head that I struggled to fish out just the right one to ask before he was whisked away to the infirmary. All I really knew at this point was that Bridgette Summers was actually Nick’s ex-wife Piper, and that, for reasons unknown, she came to visit Olin in jail under a false name that was tied to a dead doctor that just happened to specialize in snakes—the same kind of snakes that produced the type of venom that killed Robert. And this visit obviously rubbed Nick the wrong way, which was rather odd since he was representing Olin and no longer married to Piper anyway. There was absolutely no way that any of this could be construed as some mere coincidence or odd accident. It was patently obvious that Olin was using Piper to rid himself of his enemies while
locked behind bars in some deviate attempt to ensure that those planning on testifying against him were out of the picture.

  Which meant Audra was on that list.

  In the split second it took for me to link all of this together, Olin looked up at me, his eyes watering crocodile tears, and he attempted to laugh, the sound of it truly evil as it was muffled from his hands that covered his battered, leaking nose.

  “Holy shit…you’re fucking her! Oh, bargaining chip!”

  Everything went black as my mind was suddenly under the control of a blinding rage, my fingers seeking out his neck on their own, my palms clamping down tightly. Somewhere, deep inside me, the cop was yelling at me to let go, that I had crossed the line and was too close to the situation, but I ignored my internal voice and listened to the guttural growls emanating from my lips instead. Finally, the sound of Sergeant Fenter’s voice made it through the deathly darkness that my mind was roaming in as I heard him say, “Ronson! Let go!”

  “RHONDA, IT’S AUDRA. HAVE you seen Gabrielle yet?”

  “No, Ms. Tanner, I haven’t yet. Would you like me to connect you to her voicemail?”

  “No thanks, I’ve already left her a message. Listen, I’m going to work from home today so if anyone calls, will you please transfer them to my cell? And, as soon as you see Gabrielle, have her call me immediately,” I said, irritated that it was nine o’clock in the morning and I couldn’t raise her.

  “Sure thing, Ms. Tanner.” And the line went dead.

  I made my way to the kitchen and poured my third cup of coffee. Completely packed and ready to leave for Steve’s later, and my presentation fully completed for tonight’s meeting with Mrs. Lancaster, I didn’t really have much else to do other than wait for the delivery of the rental car that my insurance agent just set up, so I found myself wandering around the house, stopping at the fireplace that housed Gina’s urn. As soon as I saw it, I remembered that I had left the Bible that Mrs. Milligan gave me in the front seat of my car. Shit! I couldn’t believe I had been so careless with something so important. I raced back to the kitchen and grabbed my phone and called my agent back.

  “Melissa, it’s Audra Tanner again. Listen, sorry to bother you, but would you be able to tell me exactly where my car is at the moment? I need to retrieve something out of it,” I said, my words coming out faster than I intended.

  “Don’t worry, Ms. Tanner. The adjuster just called me a few minutes ago to give me a preliminary damage and estimate report and also to tell me he had a sack full of items that he thought you might need.”

  “Would one of them happen to be a Bible?” I asked.

  “Yes…and a few other things as well, including some papers he found in the backseat that he thought you might need. Would you like for me to have them delivered to you today?”

  I exhaled the deep breath I had been holding and responded, “Yes, please. I’ll be home all day until around 5:30.”

  I walked back to my bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed, completely out of my element and normal daily routine, unused to being home at this time of the day. I was really starting to lose it, and this was not the time. Suck it up Audra. Stop being such a wimp and pull your big panties up!

  I snatched up my coffee and made my way down the hall to my office and flicked on my computer, deciding that I should probably go over my presentation one last time, checking for any numerical errors or loss of fluidity in the wording since my brain seemed to be misfiring quite frequently lately. Twenty minutes later, I was satisfied with its content so I quickly emailed it to Nicole for her to familiarize herself with it before our meeting tonight. I then glanced over at Purr Baby. He was completely confused as well that I was home as he sat atop the file cabinet across from me, swishing his tail slowly, his two vibrant golden eyes staring back at me with an almost quizzical look on his face.

  “I know, I know. Weird that I’m home. I get it. But hey, guess what? You’re going on a road trip with me tonight, and you don’t even know it. That will really give you something to swoosh your furry little tail at,” I said, smiling as he ignored my attempts to communicate with him and just closed his eyes. For the briefest of moments, as the morning sun caressed the tips of his white fur, giving him an ethereal glow, I wanted to be him.

  My cell phone rang and pulled me out of my dream-like state, and I noticed it was the main office number, so I assumed that it was Gabrielle and answered a bit gruffly.

  “Audra Tanner.”

  “Ms. Tanner, its Rhonda. Are you all right?” came Rhonda’s shocked voice.

  “Oh, I’m sorry Rhonda. I assumed you were someone else.”

  Rhonda, usually full of light banter and playfulness, was serious as she replied, “Ms. Tanner, something is wrong, and I hate to bother you, but Jeff just called here looking for Gabrielle and is beside himself with worry. She never came home last night.”

  The last thing our office needed at the moment was more gossip, so I cringed a bit on the inside as the lie easily slid off my tongue. “I’ll call him Rhonda. I just heard from her. Just a lover’s spat, that’s all. Please, keep this to yourself, and if Jeff calls back, transfer him to me.”

  “Oh, gotcha. Thank goodness…I was really worried. Thanks, Ms. Tanner…I sure will,” Rhonda said, the relief in her voice clearly coming through the line.

  I hung up and stared at the computer for a moment as a shiver of fear raced up my back and settled in the pit of my stomach. Just like when I awoke from my dreams, I couldn’t shake the sense that something was desperately wrong, and this time, instead of trying to chalk up my jitters to Robert’s death, I decided to heed my internal alarm. I thought back to my phone conversation with Gabby yesterday. She had said she was on her way to The Castle, so the logical place to start was to give them a call. I quickly did a search for their number.

  “The Castle, how may I direct your call?”

  “I need to speak to your wedding coordinator please. It’s very urgent,” I said, hoping the perky voice on the other end of the line wouldn’t ask me twenty questions before connecting me, and I was relieved when she replied, “My pleasure to connect you.”

  As I sat on hold and nervously tapped my finger on my coffee cup, I decided to check the weather in Summerset since it was colder at night in their higher elevation. Before I could click on the weather link, a woman’s voice said, “Ms. Rosemary VanGilson.”

  “Good morning, Ms. VanGilson. My name is Audra Tanner,” I got out before the woman began bombarding me with questions about my ‘upcoming nuptials.’ Finally, I had to be rude and cut her off.

  “Ms. VanGilson, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I’m not looking for a wedding location. I called because I’m concerned about a friend of mine that came to see you yesterday about her wedding; I need to know what time she left. Her name is Gabrielle Lincoln.”

  “Oh, goodness,” she replied, her voice quickly changing over from that of a high-pitched saleswoman to a low whisper, full of jittery concern. “You are the third person to call about her today.”

  The knot tightened in my stomach. “Who else has called?” I responded, figuring the answer to the question was Jeff and maybe Gabby’s mom.

  “Her fiancé called late last night and left several voicemails, and I just spoke to him not less than a half hour ago. The other one was her wedding coordinator, Heidi. I will tell you the same thing I told them; Ms. Lincoln was not here yesterday.”

  I tried to control my voice from betraying my internal anxiety that was now in full swing and did my damnedest to sound nonchalant when I asked her, “Do you happen to have Heidi’s number?”

  “I sure do, just one moment while I find it,” she said, and I could hear the shuffling of papers as she looked.

  “Yes, here it is.” I scribbled down the number and thanked her for her time.

  “I appreciate this, Ms.VanGilson.”

  “I hope you find out where she is soon, Ms. Tanner.”

  I hung up and immediately dialed Gabby’
s wedding planner, my hands shaking from lack of sleep, caffeine, and now, my nerves. Where in the hell was Gabby?

  “The Time of Your Life…how may I assist you today?”

  “I need to speak with Heidi please. It’s rather urgent.”

  “Whom shall I say is calling?” came the overtly perky voice on the other end, and I instinctively knew that she would ask me twenty questions before putting me through, so I cut to the chase.

  “Audra Tanner. I’m calling in regards to Gabrielle Lincoln. It’s an emergency.”

  “Um, okay, just a moment. Oh sh...” I heard her say before she hit the hold button.

  “Heidi Morgan-Thomas. To whom am I speaking?”

  I let the frustration out in a heavy sigh and spoke quickly. “Audra Tanner. Look, Gabrielle is my assistant and her fiancé and I are extremely concerned that she didn’t make it home last night, nor did she show up for work today, which she has never done before. I have already spoken with Ms. VanGilson at The Castle, and she stated that she didn’t have an appointment scheduled for her yesterday. When I spoke with Gabby on the phone yesterday, she intimated that someone else was with her on her drive up there, and I was hoping that you could shed some light on whom that person might have been?”

  I heard her swear under her breath, followed by a long pause before she answered, her demeanor and tone full of uneasiness.

  “I’m sorry to inform you, Ms. Tanner, but Gabrielle was not with anyone from my firm yesterday.”

  I swallowed hard as my fingers instinctively clutched the phone tighter, blood racing through my veins as the hibernating fear that had been relegated to only my stomach suddenly burst out and now filled my entire being with dread. Where in the hell was she? And who was driving yesterday when she called me? I ran through our conversation again in my head, recalling her words and her tone, thinking maybe I missed some hidden clue, but she didn’t seem anything other than exuberant.

  “Ms. Tanner, are you still there?” came Heidi’s voice, gently pulling me back to our conversation.