Eviscerating the Snake - The Complete Trilogy

by Ashley Fontainne

  “You said you remember waking up tied to a chair at the Milligan house. Then what?” he questioned, his eyes narrowing into small slits as he watched every move, every nuance, I made.

  “Audra, bless her heart, woke me up and untied me. It was dark and I was scared to death, especially when I smelled the rancid stench emanating from the other room,” I said, letting the tears flow freely.

  “I assume the smell you are referring to was coming from the body of Gabrielle Lincoln?”

  “Yes. Audra was whispering in my ear as she helped untie me, informing me where we were and that sweet Gabby…was dead,” I said, choking out the last two words. It was time to end the bastard’s interrogation. I covered my face with my hands and burst out crying, my words becoming a jumbled mass of incoherent blather.

  “I ran…so dark…terrified…Kevin…hit me…dragged me…to house.”

  “Ms. Simmons, calm down please. I appreciate that you have been through a very upsetting situation, but understand that I am just doing my job by making sure that we fully understand what happened that night. Would you like another drink of water? It seemed to help you earlier.” A smile stretched across his face but did not make its way to his eyes, which were just as dark and questioning as before.

  I nodded in response and reached for the tissue next to the bed. I made a big production of wiping my tear-stained face and taking another sip of water before I continued.

  “I’m sorry, sir, but this has just been such a surreal experience. In all my life I’ve never experienced such tragic events. Wrapping my mind around the fact that people I worked with for years were capable of such violence and are now dead is overwhelming. Realizing how close I came to dying by their hands is a terrifying morsel of knowledge to learn to assimilate, along with everything else.”

  He stood up and nodded his head once, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw the other agent immediately replace his notepad in his pocket. Thank God, they were leaving.

  “I can’t imagine, and I hope that I never do. From what I have learned during our investigation, Winscott & Associates had some pretty unsavory characters that worked there.” I nodded in agreement, smiling through my tears.

  “I just have one more question for you, and hopefully, you can remember exactly what happened since your memories seem to be coming back. Can you explain how your clothes came to be covered with Kevin’s blood?”

  I felt my own blood disappear from my face and settle in my stomach in one giant whoosh. Oh god, I knew it was coming.

  Just recite it like you planned, Nicole. Breathe.

  I sniffled loudly and wiped a few more tears before I began.

  “Yes, sir, I’ll try to explain. It all just happened so quickly, you know? Like a big blur zooming past me. One minute I was running down a dark road, and the next, Kevin found me. Hell, he almost ran me over. I remember falling and then he was there, yanking me around like a broken ragdoll by my hair.” I let a few more sniffles out, followed by some fresh tears.

  “Next thing I know, he jerked me out of the car and threw me inside the house. I hit the floor hard, and then, before I could scramble back up, I heard a loud whack and watched his head bounce off the floor like a basketball when he fell. His head landed right by my feet and blood spurted from his face all over me. I looked up and saw Audra standing over him, her eyes glazed over with an eerie look. I guess she had been hiding behind the door and waited for us to come in. She was holding a lead pipe, or something like it, and it looked like she was going to hit him again. I screamed at her and told her no, he was out cold and posed no threat to either of us at the moment. It took me a few minutes, but I finally convinced her to put the pipe down. That’s when I noticed Piper’s body and told Audra that enough people were dead and that we should just tie up Kevin until the police arrived.”

  I looked up with my best doe-eyed glance at the agents, hoping my performance was convincing. The younger one seemed to be buying it, but the older guy looked dubious.

  “Where were you at this point, Ms. Simmons?”

  “I was still on the floor, but I had scooted away from Kevin while trying to coax Audra out of her murderous state that she seemed to be lost in. Once she left the room to go find something to tie him up with, I moved Kevin’s body and shut the door.”

  “Ms. Simmons, please explain to me why you felt the need to move Mr. Robertson? I’m not sure I quite understand.”

  “Of course you don’t, sir, and I am not sure I can explain it to you, since you’re a big, tough cop an all. It’s, well, it’s hard to articulate, but I guess the best way to put it is just that I felt safer with the door closed.”

  His left eyebrow rose for a split second, then he regained control over his face, but not the incredulity that seeped out in his voice. “I’m sorry, but you are telling me that you moved his body so you could shut the front door?”

  “Don’t you ever remember being a child and feeling scared out of your wits by your closet door being opened? You know, that sense of sheer panic at needing the darkened world that houses monsters shut so they couldn’t come out and get you? That’s what I felt like that night, sir. Sheer panic at not knowing what was going on or who else might be out there trying to kill me. So, I moved Kevin out of the way and shut the door, then lost my footing in all the blood on the floor and fell. Actually fell right on top of him, to be exact. I believe when I screamed, that is what woke him up.” I forced a slight shudder at the memory.

  I could see the wheels spinning as he processed my story, but I still wasn’t quite sure he was buying it.

  “Okay, so you moved him away from the door and shut it, then fell and landed on top of him. Then what happened?”

  “God, it was over so fast.” I closed my eyes for dramatic effect, letting tears cascade down my face. “I could hear the sirens in the distance, but I was so afraid they wouldn’t make it in time. When Kevin woke up, we struggled with the gun, and that’s when, oh god, that’s when Audra came back….” I stopped there and let a full crying jag ensue, burying my face in the wad of tissue in my hands.

  The door suddenly burst open, followed by a booming voice that I never thought I would hear again directed at the two agents.

  “Gentlemen, I believe she has been through enough today. If this line of questioning falls under standard operating procedure for the way the FBI treats victims, I would hate to see what sort of maltreatment a criminal is subjected to. Can’t you see that now is not the time?”

  I couldn’t believe that my salvation arrived in the form of Eric.

  I NEEDED TO BE Houdini and just make myself disappear. Wave a magic wand and poof! Vanish. No, even better—I needed a genie to appear and grant me three wishes because I knew for sure what the first one would be, and Ethan would definitely not like it.

  It took me almost fifteen minutes to recover my faculties after his little visit to my room to throw his bombshell in my face. Whap! Right between the eyes it landed. Thank goodness I was already seated or that explosion could have knocked me over. If my parents weren’t already dead, the shock of who I had become would have killed them. They suffered enough grief over my lifestyle choice when alive; they surely didn’t need to watch their son get carted away to prison for murder.

  Once I digested the magnitude of Ethan’s request, and the fact that it would be damn near impossible to pull off, I stopped contemplating about that aspect and decided to concentrate on just eliminating him. He said himself that he was his father’s son, so what better tribute to the late Olin Kemper than to send his son to visit him in Hell? Currently, I had no problem with that. I was just thankful that Olin only spawned one monster that I had to dispose of since I was getting tired of my new role of “Kemper Killer.” At some point, I wanted to regain control over my life again, but as I wheeled myself down the hall toward the elevator, I wondered if that would ever be possible.

  How I was going to get my tapes back before they were distributed to the entire planet through the Wor
ld Wide Web—if what that bastard said was really true—was my biggest problem to conquer. Did he truly copy everything and have it scheduled to electronically disseminate the information, or was it just a huge bluff on his end? That unknown variable was the part that worried me the most since. I had only one week to investigate and find out everything I could on Ethan Kemper, including usernames and passwords to his identity online. It also meant that I would need to elicit the aide of someone much more computer savvy than I was since hacking was not something hidden in my bag of tricks. If I had the time, I might could learn and add “hacker” to my repertoire, right alongside “murderer,” but time was the one thing I was lacking.

  The doors opened and I rolled forward and pressed the down button to the third floor. I made my decision only minutes earlier that I was going to leave the hospital whether my doctor released me or not. The time clock was ticking, and I wasn’t going to waste precious seconds sitting in that hospital room nor in that town. If my plan was going to be executed correctly, I had to get back to Phoenix where I had access to the resources I would need.

  Of course, the first thing on my agenda was a ride to my car, which was the reason I was heading to Audra’s room to find Steve. If he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, help me, then calling my brother back was my next option, and I certainly didn’t have the time to waste waiting for him to arrive.

  I was beginning to get the hang of using the wheelchair with just one hand, and I finally found myself sitting in front of Audra’s room looking through the glass. I paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, unsure whether I should knock or just go in, when I realized she was awake. Her body was almost indecipherable amidst the wires, bandages, and blankets—her face a mixture of pain and happiness. The way she looked at Steve made my chest tighten up with remorse, recalling the way Piper used to look at me when we first met.

  For a moment, I sat lost in those depressing memories, feeling the fresh pangs of regret and mistakes from the past bubble to the surface. As quickly as they entered my mind, I forced myself to concentrate on why I left my bed and the huge amount of trouble I was in. I debated as to whether I was making the right decision by stopping by to ask Steve for help. After all, he wouldn’t be celebrating the fact that Audra was no longer in a coma if it weren’t for Piper. I hesitated, feeling like a complete buffoon for even entertaining the notion that Steve would help me. If our roles were switched, would I aide him? I mentally volleyed the pros and cons in my head and settled on leaving and finding my own way out of the hellhole my life had become when the man I came to see opened the door and walked out, almost tripping over me.

  “Oh hey, Nick! Sorry, I almost mowed you over. What are you doing out on this floor…and out of bed?”

  “Morning, Steve. I just thought I’d stop by and check on Audra while simultaneously getting a different view other than the four walls in my room. I would have enjoyed going outside for some fresh air, but it seems that the place is crawling with newshounds, so this was the next best thing.”

  “You aren’t kidding. I went down earlier to grab something from the cafeteria and couldn’t believe the amount of reporters. Looks like every camera crew from Salt Lake City to Tijuana is outside.”

  “I was shocked when I looked out my window earlier as well. Then I made the mistake of turning on the television. It’s headlining every news channel.”

  Steve shut the door behind him and motioned for the nurse at her desk, turning back to me for a brief second. “Hang on just a sec, Nick.”

  “Of course.”

  “Chas, Audra needs some more water and is asking for more food. She just inhaled what you brought earlier. I have never seen her eat so much.”

  The nurse and Steve chatted briefly before she returned to her desk and busied herself with gathering what he asked for before stepping past us into Audra’s room. He turned his attention back to me, his eyes focusing on my face for the first time. I sensed his astonishment at the garbled, swollen mess. Although I hadn’t looked in a mirror lately, if my outward appearance looked the way my insides felt, I was a walking billboard that screamed, “I’m fucked. Please help me.”

  Rather than asking me what was wrong, he simply stepped behind my wheelchair and pushed me to a small sitting area that was far enough from Audra’s room to be out of earshot but close enough he could get to in a few steps, if necessary. When he stopped, he sat in the small chair to my right and faced me.

  “Nick, you didn’t come to check on Audra, so why don’t you tell me what your agenda really is? No bullshit either because I don’t have the patience nor the time for games.”

  Short and to the point…yep, he was a typical cop.

  “All right…fair enough. I came here to ask you for a ride. I need to pick up my car from the jail and grab all my belongings from the hotel and then head back to Phoenix. I have some rather pressing issues that I need to attend to right away, and I can’t do that from the confines of my room. You are the only person I really know here, so I was hoping you would drop me off later…maybe tonight?” I blurted out, hoping that the words came out slower and sounded more nonchalant to his ears than what they sounded like in mine. By the strange look on Steve’s face, I assumed they hadn’t.

  “Well, that won’t be necessary, since your car isn’t there. None of your belongings are at the hotel either.”

  I couldn’t stop my mouth from dropping open. If it were possible, I believe my chin would have bounced off of the floor. Steve continued while I emulated my best impression of a fish gasping for air.

  “I made a few phone calls after we talked yesterday morning and had one of the deputies drive your car over to the PD after they packed up all your stuff at the hotel first. Your car and belongings are safe in the back lot under lock and key.”

  The smile that creased the worry lines on his face was almost mischievous. He leaned his huge frame back in the chair and let me soak that in (after I closed my mouth) before he continued.

  “Now, I told you I don’t have the time or patience for bullshit today. So, I will make this quick and to the point. I’ll be happy to take you to your car this afternoon once you get released since it’s only a few blocks from here….On one condition.”

  I swallowed hard, wondering how many more gray hairs I would sprout before the day ended.

  “What’s that?”

  “That once we leave here, you tell me the real reason why you are so antsy to get back to Phoenix.”

  Oh shit…how could I do that? There was no way I was going to tell him the truth, but the man seemed to possess an internal lie detector, which obviously, I just failed. My brain kicked into overdrive while I scrambled for a plausible answer.

  I wanted to slap myself when I heard my answer. “Deal.”

  Oh my God! That’s it. I just snapped. Jumped into the gorge and plunged headfirst into Crazy Town.

  Steve stood up. His full frame towered over me, the smile from earlier no longer on his lips, but a twinkle of excitement still remained behind his eyes. He held out his hand. I found myself unable to stop my own from grasping it, and we shook on it.

  "Good. I will be by your room around four to pick you up. I'm sure you can manage to convince your doctor to release you during the next five hours."

  “YOU want to be released early?” Dr. Kingston said, the dumbfounded look on his face matching his voice. “As your doctor, I must vehemently protest. We still need to monitor you for several issues, including the risk of blood clots. You suffered some major injuries, Mr. Rancliff. It would be against my medical advice for you to leave until tomorrow.”

  I was sitting in the wheelchair and staring out the dirty window, my face turned away from the prying eyes of the doctor. I was afraid my jumbled up nerves would betray my true thoughts so I refused to look at him.

  “Your concern is appreciated and duly noted, but my decision has been made. Paperwork ready or not, I will be leaving at four this afternoon. I have made arrangements for a ride as well, so pleas
e have the appropriate documents ready by then.”

  Dr. Kingston scribbled on my chart and muttered something under his breath, his footsteps heavy when he turned and walked out of the room. I closed my eyes and let out a quiet sigh, thankful at least one thing went right for me. In less than two hours, I would be behind the wheel of my car and on my way to Phoenix, but then what? Driving with one arm in a cast would certainly be an adventure, but that was at the bottom of my worry chain with no hope of climbing to the top.

  What was at the top of my list was who the hell could I enlist as a partner to accomplish what I needed to do? Even if I found someone who as willing to help me, would Ethan be spying on my every move? That was a distinct possibility since he obviously did before, unbeknownst to me. At least during round two with yet another Kemper, I was aware of the fact that prying eyes could be lurking in the shadows, so at least I could strive to be more discreet.

  Serious consideration was given to just letting Trevor handle the situation. He stood to lose just as much as I did—more actually—and I doubted I would have any trouble convincing him to dispose of Ethan. The problem with that solution was that I had no idea where Ethan might be hiding, and even if I did know and sent Trevor to him with a murderous agenda, what about his threat of releasing the evidence against me? Was he telling me the truth about that, or was it just an elaborate hoax—leverage he wielded to force me to do his bidding?

  Not only did I need to pull a water-tight plan of action together, but I also needed to make preparations for Piper’s funeral. Since she had no family to speak of, the task fell upon me. Planning her funeral under normal circumstances would have been difficult, but considering how her death came about and my insertion into avenging her death made it even worse. Top it off with my drug-addled blackmailer trying to control me like a puppeteer made it insufferable. I didn’t even know where her body was. Was she still even in Summerset, or had the Feds whisked her away to their lab at some unknown location? Oh God, how in the hell would I be able to make the impossible work?