by Aj Estelliam
I took offence to that and bristled.
‘See…that there,’ she said, pointing my way. ‘You do want to help.’
I frowned. ‘I do…I know I do…I just…this is so hard, Jess.’
‘I know it is, honey-but you’re doing the worst thing possible.’
‘What?’ I questioned.
‘You’re pulling away from the person who loves you the most.’
A tear trickled down my face and I felt a wave of sadness overtake me. ‘I’m sorry, Jess.’
‘Don’t be. I’m glad we talked properly, actually.’
‘Me too.’
‘Do you think you can sleep now?’ she asked.
I nodded, feeling melancholy. ‘I think I need to keep the light on…’ I murmured.
‘Too many ghosts?’ she questioned.
I was glad she understood. ‘Way too many,’ I agreed.
Later on, whilst sleeping beside Jess, I drifted.
I walked through the graveyard, looking for the place and scanning the trees. A heavy night of snow had left deep trenches in the ground and I struggled to walk with the depth of it. I felt frustrated and annoyed. I kept going until I reached the spot I had chosen so long ago. I stared down at the name. Perfect, I mused.
I knelt and cleared the snow from where it lay over the grave. Methodically, I moved it, rhythmically it shifted. I let the elements do their worst and didn’t so much as blink when the snow began to fall. I began to laugh; my voice startling the birds in the nearby trees. They fluttered away briskly. I laughed again. I was beginning to enjoy myself.
I woke with a start, alarmed at my dream. I crept out of bed and went downstairs. Looking at the clock, I saw it was six in the morning. Not too early to phone the Captain.
I dialled the number and waited. He answered after two rings.
‘Alex?’
‘Hey Captain…’
‘I know why you’re calling,’ he said, pre-empting me.
‘You do?’
‘Yes-we have another missing woman,’ he told me.
‘Oh…actually I didn’t see that,’ I said frowning. ‘I just saw the killer preparing the grave for the next one…that’s what I was going to tell you.’
‘I see,’ he said quietly. ‘Well, he’s acted already. Sometime during the night, it must have been.’
‘Who is she?’ I asked.
‘It’s someone I know actually,’ he told me grimly.
‘Oh no…’ my heart sank.
‘She’s someone I dated a while back. She’s a journalist for the news.’
‘Not the woman from the toilets that time-the one looking for information?’ I questioned.
‘Yes, it’s her. Her name is Zoe. Zoe Masterson.’
Chapter 10
I hurried back up the stairs and woke Jess. She was awake in seconds and pulling clothes on faster than I could manage myself. We were both dressed and leaving within the space of five minutes and driving out into the cold, still morning.
‘I bet the Captain is spinning out,’ Jess muttered as she drove carefully through icy bends.
‘I can’t imagine how it would feel to hear that someone you once cared for is in trouble.’
She frowned.
‘What?’ I asked.
‘Well, I don’t think there was much ‘care’ involved. To my knowledge, the only serious relationship Dan has been involved in is with Fee…’
‘What was Zoe Masterson to him then?’ I asked, intrigued. I wanted to put this puzzle together and yet I felt like I was struggling.
‘She was…a fling I guess…’
‘Just someone he slept with?’
‘I think so…I remember her turning up at the station once too often a few years back and I overheard him telling her it was over and not to bother him anymore.’
‘Ouch,’ I muttered under my breath.
‘Yeah…funnily enough I didn’t see her again after that!’
‘No! No surprise there!’ I laughed.
‘No,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘Blimey, it’s cold…look at that temperature on the dashboard. If she’s been out there all night, she’ll be dead.’
I swallowed hard. ‘I thought the same thing.’
‘How did they know she was missing? Was it a vision you had?’
‘No,’ I informed her. ‘I did have a vision but it was of the killer this time.’
‘No way! What did you see?’ she asked eagerly.
‘I saw him standing in the graveyard…a graveyard. He was preparing the grave and clearing the snow away from the waiting coffin.’
‘Urgh…I just got shivers,’ Jess said quietly.
‘I know,’ I murmured. ‘And the way it ended-that was strange…’
‘How did it end?’
‘Laughing. Just laughing in my head. Whoever is doing this is amused by their actions. It’s sickening the laugh…sickening.’
‘I can imagine,’ she said sadly. ‘The trouble is, I’m betting on the perpetrator being one sick bastard. No sane person could do any of this…it’s just beyond normal human actions.’
I nodded slowly. ‘I think you’re right.’
Jess pulled into the station and we hurried inside to join the meeting that had just started.
I sat down quickly and looked to the screen where the missing woman was displayed.
‘Alex; Jess-this is Zoe Masterson, known to many of us as she works for ‘The News’ locally,’ Captain Withers said, catching us up on the information being disseminated. ‘She didn’t arrive back to her apartment this last night. Apparently, her boyfriend was expecting her to come in around twelve when she normally arrived home. He fell asleep and when he woke, he found a note.’
I watched the Captain, looking for the emotion that he must feel having known her intimately. Strangely, I found his thoughts to be that of slight discomfort. He had known her but it had been a strained relationship by all accounts and he had been glad when it had finished for good.
‘Same note?’ Jess asked.
He nodded. ‘Yes, it was. Typed and a single sheet. D U D again.’
I sat watching the faces all around me. This case was baffling me alongside everyone else. As I listened for their thoughts I found many had their theories but most were as confused and bewildered as I was.
‘Teams are assembling, we’re heading out to find disturbed ground at the local churches,’ he continued. ‘We need to find her quickly though, people…it’s cold out there,’ he said seriously.
Everyone quickly began to disperse and I joined Jess and the Captain as we headed out together. As I walked towards the car a flash occurred in front of my eyes and I saw a tree-a very distinctive tree.
It had two trunks, rising up and out to form branches. That was not the most unique thing about it though…as I saw the other side of the bark, I noticed something strange. It was a gaping hole in the tree, shaped like a wide mouth. It looked like a scream mask, a wide gaping mouth with hollowed eyes. I blinked the image away rapidly feeling shaken.
‘Alex?’
It was Jess by my side.
‘Alex? Are you alright? You’ve gone as white as a sheet.’
‘We need to find a tree-and she’s buried in front of it,’ I told them, ‘come on, let’s get in the car and I’ll describe it to you.’
We got in and Jess began driving. As we drove, I explained what I saw so everyone knew what we were looking for. It was clear in my mind and I knew we would find her alive.
Strangely enough, I found that I could not hear Zoe’s voice in my head. Something told me she was still alive but I didn’t know why I failed to hear her cries.
We drove from church to church, searching and trying to find the tree. I was glad I had seen the vision because if I was relying on ‘hearing’ her, I would never have managed to find her.
We made our way out of town and began the churches in the next village. On the seventh stop, we found it.
I walked to the graveyard, seeing what I was
looking for immediately.
‘There!’ I exclaimed. ‘That’s it! Right there!’ I pointed.
‘Show us, Alex,’ Jess requested.
I began walking across the heavy snow, my footfall heavy and laboured. The snow crunched beneath my feet and my breathing quickly became strained. When we reached the tree, I stared up at the hollow ghoul face that was etched into the bark. I shivered and stepped back away from it. Turning, I looked around and saw what I was looking for.
A disturbed grave. It looked like it had been very recently disturbed as the snow was sullied and prints were all around-a myriad of different prints-some smaller and some bigger. I frowned down at them, even more confused.
‘There,’ I said, pointing to the grave.
‘You can hear her?’ the Captain asked.
I just nodded. I couldn’t but I didn’t mention that. I knew she was there so there seemed no point. Maybe some people were just easier to ‘hear’ that others.
I watched as the team descended and very quickly cleared the snow, destroying the footprints as they went. I frowned watching. I knew they needed to get her out, but it seemed like something important had just been swept away.
The snow was cleared and the wooden coffin lid exposed. They pulled it away and there she lay, shivering in the wooden casing.
She blinked against the brightness of the sun and began crying and moaning loudly. I turned away from the scene. This was becoming all too familiar and somehow worse every time.
I waited in the distance as she was loaded into an ambulance and driven away. When the scene was cleared, I finally left with the Captain and Jess. It wasn’t until we got in the car that the bombshell was dropped.
‘Well-looks like we have a lead on our murderer,’ Captain Withers said as he put the car into gear.
‘We do?’ I asked, my head whipping around.
‘Yeah…Zoe has information. She told me she ‘saw him.’
‘No way!’ I exclaimed, as excitement rushed through me at the thought. ‘What else did she say?’
‘She had just been recovered from the ground, Alex. I didn’t push it. I’ll go to the hospital after she’s been checked and cared for.’
‘Yes…good idea. Can I come?’ I asked, eagerly.
‘Yes, of course.’
‘If she saw him, I can get the picture of him in my head too-through her…’
‘Yes, good idea,’ he commented.
‘Maybe we’re finally about to get somewhere,’ I murmured, almost to myself.
‘I hope so, Alex. This is all getting out of hand.’
At the station, I sat around fiddling my thumbs. I sat in the main hub and looked around while I waited for Captain Withers. As it was such a crowded room, the thoughts and emotions were running rampant.
As I focused in on the man sat directly opposite me. I must have been staring at him because he turned and frowned at me.
‘Can I help you?’ he said, looking stern.
‘I…I’m sorry for your loss,’ I told him softly.
His face registered surprise.
‘You recently lost your father, didn’t you?’ I asked him.
He swallowed visibly, emotion clouding his face instantly. ‘How could you know that?’
I shrugged, trying to look unabashed. ‘I’m psychic.’
He gave me a look to say, ‘as if’ but I continued.
‘There is a will, you know. I know you think there isn’t and it’s a source of some consternation right now but I think you’ll find there is one hidden away-with quite copious amounts of cash too, if I’m not mistaken!’
Now he was interested. He leaned forwards across the desk. ‘Where is it?’
‘In a safe…it’s an old house which has an oak tree in the front garden. Do you know it?’ I asked him.
He nodded. ‘That’s his house!’
‘Okay…well go in, turn left…there’s a room off the kitchen…I guess you would call in a larder? Somewhere to store extra supplies and food?’
‘Yes…that’s right,’ he said, nodding eagerly.
‘Well, go behind the rungs of the wall mountings. There’s two bricks which you could prise free with your hands. Behind that is the safe. The code is 673523. You might want to write that down,’ I told him.
He quickly grabbed a pen and looked at me eagerly.
‘673523,’ I repeated. ‘You’ll find it all in there…’
‘I can’t believe this…thank you so much-I, uh, don’t know your name!’
‘Alex…Alex Hope,’ I told him.
He offered his hand which I shook warmly. ‘Thank you,’ he said again, and it was heartfelt.
I nodded. ‘You’re very welcome.’
I watched as he hurried off, homeward bound. His life was about to change for the better and I felt good that I had helped him. That was the kind of help I liked giving; not finding missing people buried in occupied graves. I sighed to myself, wondering how I could get the hell away from this place.
‘Alex?’
I looked up. It was Captain Withers.
‘She’s ready to talk…’
I sighed. ‘I’m coming.’
We headed out together.
In the car, I spoke with Captain Withers-wanting to know more information before we spoke with Zoe Masterson.
‘So, I hear you have a history with the woman we saved today, Captain?’ I began.
He glanced at me briefly. ‘How did you hear that?’
‘You know…your mind and all that,’ I quipped.
‘JJ!’ he scolded.
‘What! I didn’t tell her anything!’ she objected.
Daniel sighed. ‘Look; for goodness sake-you could barely even call it a ‘history.’
‘Why not?’ I wanted to know.
‘Because we went on two dates and chatted a few times through work situations. We went home once or twice I guess-but it was very casual…very casual,’ he repeated.
I listened to his inner voice. ‘Did she consider it to be ‘very casual?’ I asked cautiously.
‘Well, perhaps she would have wanted slightly more than me…’
‘How do you know that?’ I asked.
‘Because when I broke it off for good, she came over to the station on a few occasions. She wanted to ‘make things work’ and ‘try again.’ I just wasn’t interested.’
I frowned. ‘Were you kind about it?’ I asked him.
‘Oh, very…I let her down very gently and she was fine about it. There was no great big scene or anything like that.’
‘I see…’
‘Everything’s completely fine now,’ he argued, ‘we’ve remained friends of sorts.’
‘Of sorts?’
‘Well she’s a journalist, so we’ve clashed on occasion. Mainly it’s all fine though,’ he repeated.
I considered this. I wondered if she thought everything was friendly and fine between them. As a shunned ex-fling of his, I supposed that possibly she was not quite so blasé about the situation.
Chapter 11
Zoe Masterson lay in the hospital bed looking small and bewildered. Her dark, brown eyes were wide and staring as we took our places around the bed to greet her.
‘Hello, Zoe,’ the Captain said gently, laying his hand on hers. ‘Are you coping okay?’
Tears threatened at her eyes. ‘I just can’t believe it, Dan. I never dreamed something like this could ever happen to me! I thought I was going to die!’ she said emotionally.
‘Well, you’re safe now…thanks to Alex.’
She turned and fixed her gaze on me. ‘Alex?’
‘Yes. She’s working with the police but saw where you were buried in a vision.’
‘Ah, I see! How amazing!’ she said, eyeing me closely.
I smiled at her but felt a strange feeling come over me. She was a unique person for me in that I couldn’t hear a steady stream of consciousness from her. Instead I could only hear one word and it came only now and then…stellio. I didn’t know what it m
eant of why I was hearing it. It was strange for me to encounter such a guarded thought process though.
‘So, anyway,’ the Captain launched in. ‘You saw the man that did this?’
‘Well, sort of,’ she frowned.
‘Tell me everything…from the beginning.’
‘Okay,’ she replied, taking a deep breath. ‘I was coming back from work late. I walk-but that’s what I always do. My apartment is only two roads away from the offices…’
‘Okay,’ he murmured, scribbling on his pad.
‘I had almost reached my door when someone came up on the stairs behind me. He was all dressed in black and I felt a needle poke me in my leg. The next thing I knew, I was collapsing and he was carrying me back down the stairs and putting me in the back of a van.’
‘Did you see the van?’
‘No…it was dark and late. I think it was white though…an old, dirty white van. The floor he dumped me on was dirty.’
‘Okay…what next?’
‘Well, my hands were tied but I was trying to prise them free. I scrabbled around on the floor for anything which could help and although I found nothing to help with my bindings, I did find a glove.’
‘A glove?’ the Captain asked, confused.
‘Yes! I shoved it into my jeans pocket as evidence!’ she told us gleefully. ‘I figured if I was going to die, I would help collect evidence to put this guy away!’
‘Good going!’ Jess commented.
‘Well, I may just be a journalist but after covering many of your stories, I know the kind of things you do and what is needed to get DNA these days. Hopefully they’re be something you need on it. It looked like it was covered in hair…’
‘That’s…amazing!’ Dan said sounding surprised. ‘You were clearly thinking on your feet.’
