by Rita Ames
As my eyes cast around I spotted her. She was with a couple of other girls but they were pre-occupied with two men they had met. She was standing in the corner and had refused to join her friends on the dance floor. She looked unsure of herself, as if this was not her natural environment. She kept herself tucked in as close to the wall as she could.
Grabbing my beer I made my way over. As I neared she became aware of me and looked at me with frightened eyes. My dick said Yes!
Leaning in I tried to talk “Hello, I’m Carl, what’s your name?” I shouted in her ear. The music was deafening.
“Lisa!” she shouted back looking shy. She smiled at me and I knew that I was in. I nodded over to the side areas where there were some couches and the music was not so loud. She indicated that she understood and made to move towards them.
We sat and I smiled at Lisa with my best ‘Cute’ smile. She smiled back. “You have a beautiful smile” I said.
“Thanks” she replied. She looked down at her lap and fiddled with her fingers.
“I wish I could dance” I said “Unfortunately I was in an accident a while back and can’t manage it yet” I decided to play the sympathy card.
“Oh, I am sorry to hear that” she checked me out as if there would be something visible “What happened to you?”
“I was hit by a truck, spent weeks in rehab and I still limp a bit” I said shrugging as if it was nothing to be concerned about.
She instinctively put her hand on my knee, so like my Susie, I thought. I got angry that I had allowed Susie to intrude on my evening and continued to lavish attention on my new girl, Lisa.
“I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for you” she said sadly.
I shrugged “It was hard, but the hardest part was that I lost my memory. I have been trying to get it back ever since”
She gasped at this “Oh my God! That’s just awful. Have you got any of it back yet?” she asked.
“A little, however a bit more seems to come back to me every day” I laughed. “It’s quite exciting really”
“You’re so brave to be taking it all so well” I could see she was feeling sorry for me which would help my case although I wanted her to fancy me too.
I leaned in “I think you are beautiful” I said softly in her ear.
She blushed “Thanks, you too. I mean, I think you are cute” she said.
“A lady of taste then” I laughed.
She laughed back and nodded. We both picked up our drinks at the same time, and noticing this, we laughed again.
Having broken the ice, Lisa and I chatted for another hour. When a slow track was played I asked her if she wanted to dance with a limping old man. “You’re not old” she insisted.
We got up and swayed to the music for a while. I put my arms around her and pulled her in tight to me. To my surprise she didn’t resist. This was just too easy.
Susie was going to be so jealous, I thought. It then occurred to me that Susie had no idea what I was doing and probably didn’t care either. Unless she was here to see me with Lisa, she was not going to be jealous. I cursed at my own stupidity. My head was all over the place at the moment.
Feeling annoyed, I was ready to leave now. “Can I give you a lift home?” I asked Lisa.
She looked around for her friends. One was in a corner making out with some bloke and the other appeared to have vanished. “Do you mind?” she asked “It looks as if my friends are a total loss” she sighed.
“No problem, let’s go” I took her hand and we headed back outside.
Once outside I realised that I had come by cab although I had only had a couple of beers and could probably drive.
“We have to get a cab back to mine and then I can drive you home” I said apologetically.
She looked at me and shrugged “Okay” she said.
We grabbed a cab, and once back at mine; we jumped into my car and set off. A plan was beginning to form in my mind, one that I didn’t seem to have any control over.
I drove the car in the direction of a certain wooded area, hoping that Lisa wouldn’t notice anything strange until it was too late.
“Where are we going?” she asked when finally she noticed we were heading out of the city.
“I thought I would show you somewhere that is special to me” I said and winked at her.
She looked at me uncertainly, then seeming to reassure herself, she nodded acceptance.
We drove on for a while, finally pulling into a lay-by near the woods.
“Where are we?” she asked uncertainly “It’s a bit dark to be walking in the woods”
“The place I want to show you is not far from here, and it has electric light” I tried to sound cheerful. In reality I was feeling slightly sick with nerves and anticipation.
As I grabbed her hand and we headed into the woods I still imagined we were simply on a romantic stroll. I had not yet admitted to myself the real reason I had brought her here.
The ground was wet and soft and we stumbled a few times on the loose, wet leaves.
The air was cool and damp, the smell of rain in the air. Lisa shivered and I put my arm around her shoulder. She looked a little apprehensive and her smile was tentative.
I could see that she was thinking far too much and I hurried us along, conscious that my time was running out. I sensed that she was getting skittish as the charm offensive that I laid on her was beginning to wear thin.
I gritted my teeth and tried to smile warmly, knowing it came across as more of a grimace. What the hell had I been thinking bringing her here? You know exactly what you were thinking, that voice in my head shouted.
I shook my head, trying to banish the demon in there.
Lisa suddenly stopped, looking around us. “I don’t think I like it here” she shivered “I think I’d like to go back now”.
“We’re almost there now” I reassured her, holding out my hand again “I promise it will be worth the trek” I winked at her.
She still stood there, mulling over her choices. Don’t be stupid enough to run, I thought. Yes! Run! My demon responded gleefully. My insides were all mushed up confusion. I was having some kind of internal fight with myself and as I stood there day dreaming, I noticed that Lisa had started backing away.
“Come on, baby” I cooed. “You know me, we’ve talked all night and I feel that I want to show you this special place. I haven’t brought anyone here before”. I wasn’t really lying, I thought. My new, post accident, self had not brought anyone out here. I did not dwell on before as I had no wish to examine my motivations this evening.
“As long as it’s not too much farther, it’s too cold to stay out here” she shivered again.
I put my arms around her and hugged her tight “I won’t let you get too cold” I kissed the top of her head and this elicited a little smile.
“Okay” she said and continued walking.
It took about another twenty minutes to reach the derelict buildings. We crossed over to the basement door and I proceeded to unlock it with the key in my pocket. For a moment, I wondered what had prompted me to put the key in my pocket before leaving the house that night. I quickly pushed that question to the back of my mind, not wanting to analyse it further. To admit it was a premeditated action would open up a whole new raft of concerns.
I guided Lisa down the steps and quickly went over to the light switch, clicking it on to reveal a dull light.
Lisa was getting nervous again so I took her in my arms and gently kissed her lips. I felt nothing. She whimpered, obviously enjoying the moment.
Taking her hand I pulled her over to the other door. Opening it I sent her through before me, flicking the light switch as we entered.
She immediately spotted the bench and within seconds the restraints. Backing up she collided with me on her way and I brought my arms around her.
“Shhhhsh, there’s nothing to be afraid of” I said softly.
“I want to go home” she cried, tears falling. There
was panic in her voice.
“We’ll go home when I’m good and ready” I said getting annoyed with her. We had only just arrived, after all.
“No, I want to leave now” she tried to go around me but I blocked the way. I was feeling extremely irritated now.
She tried to push me aside and I instinctively lashed out, striking her across the face. She fell onto her knees, her hand clutching at her face where a bruise was already forming on her cheek.
“Please!” she cried out. I saw the terror in her eyes and my dick sprang to attention. A feeling of power surged through my body.
I scooped her up and plonked her roughly onto the bench. She continued to struggle but I was quicker and had one arm restrained before she realised. It took no effort to get the other arm tied down. Her feet were a little more challenging as she tried her best to kick out at me. I smiled as eventually they were also secured to the bench.
“Carl, please let me out of here” she wailed. I was becoming more and more irritated with her childish pleading. I went back into the other room and over to the locker. Inside I found what I needed and returned to fasten a ball gag into her annoying mouth. Now, all she could do was make grunting noises, which I could cope with.
I went over to the corner and plugged in the little fan heater there, waiting while the room warmed up.
Once the temperature was acceptable I took off my clothes.
Lisa’s eyes became wide with fear as she looked at my body, my erection obvious. I went over to the side table and picked up a rusty pair of scissors.
As I looked down at the girl tied to the bench a part of my mind screamed out that I should not do this, the other part giggled with glee. Despite my resolutions to begin a new, more normal life, my inner demon was simply happy to be home at last.
As Lisa struggled even more desperately against her restraints I proceeded to cut the clothes from her body.
If she didn’t have the gag in her mouth I do believe she would now be screaming rather loudly.
Ben
The phone was ringing insistently. I had failed to answer it the first time and it had rung off. Good, I rolled over and went back to sleep. It started up again and reluctantly I sat up and grabbed for it.
“Yeah” I grumbled. I was not a night person.
“Ben, it’s Dave, we got a result on the Plymouth link and I think you are gonna want to check it out.” Dane said sounding far too awake for 3am.
“Can’t it wait until morning?” I asked, pissed at him for waking me.
“Don’t think so” he answered.
“What is it? Can’t you tell me over the phone?”
“Not a good idea mate. I don’t want you driving with this on your mind. You need to see the whole picture first”
I was intrigued “Okay, give me twenty minutes and I’ll be there” I dragged my butt out of bed and searched around for some clothes. It looked like I was going to have another eventful night without enough sleep.
********
I strolled into the office and Dave immediately handed me a mug of strong, black coffee. Have I said that he was an excellent partner? Well, he was. I gulped down several mouthfuls and was finally ready to listen.
“Okay. What have you got?” I asked.
“My trip to Plymouth proved to be very interesting. You remember that guy that was hit by the truck on the night of Tina Stubbs death? The one you forgot to follow up after the first visit to see him?” I nodded, not sure where this was going “Well, it turns out that he was born in Plymouth and lived there with his parents until leaving for University. You’ll never guess where he went to Uni” he said looking a little smug.
A cold feeling spread through me and I somehow knew what he was going to say.
“He went to Birmingham, studying History, and guess what else?” he was definitely getting smug now. I held my breath and raised an eyebrow indicating that he continue.
“The deaths and disappearances that we have been looking at all tie in with the time frames that this Carl guy was resident in the two areas.” He leaned back with a shrug “Bit of a coincidence don’t you think?”
I nodded, not trusting myself to talk yet. My mind was racing with what I remember of Carl from the two times that I had met him. The first time at the rehab centre he had only just woken up and had no memory of the night of his accident. The second time when I visited his home he still had no memory and therefore I had not pursued it any further.
I realised that I had been relying on second hand information from Susie about him, and from what she had said about her friendship with him, it had not seemed worth wasting any more time on it.
I went to the desk and began to inspect the details that Dave had laid out.
I looked at Dave “He’s been having night terrors” I said.
“How do you know? Did you visit him again and forget to tell me” he asked.
“No, the nurse that was there that night has kept in touch with him and I got the information from her”. I was beginning to get a dreadful feeling that I had missed something vital.
“Ah, that must be the girl that’s been on your mind all these weeks” Dave laughed, then he looked concerned.
“Hey, she might be in danger if this is the guy we are looking for”
I looked at him and we stayed silent for a moment letting that fact sink in.
Sighing I picked up a piece of paper with one of the facts that Dave had written and went over to the wall chart.
“Let’s get these placed and see what we have. If we are going to move on him, we need to be sure. I don’t know if he has any of his memory back yet so it could prove tricky to get anything to stick unless we can find some proof” I ran my hands through my hair. “Best get us some more coffee, I think this if going to be a long night”
“Sure thing” Dave said and went to get some as I continued to pin paper to the wall.
********
“Holy shit” Dave muttered a few hours later when we were done. We stood back and inspected our work.
“You can see a clear timeline between the killings and the time he was living in each place.” I couldn’t believe what I was seeing “There isn’t even one of them where he was possibly out of the area” I said. It almost looked too easy.
“How the hell has he gotten away with it for so long?” Dave asked incredulously.
“Have you seen him?” I asked “He looks like Mr Nice Guy. Works in a bank and stays pretty much under the radar” The exact MO for a serial killer, I thought grimly. “He must spend time meticulously planning each one to have outsmarted the law for so long” I pondered “I wonder if Tina was one of his victims. It means he broke away from his pattern if she was” This fact worried me more than the possibility of his being our killer. If he was already taking risks then it meant that he was becoming unpredictable or unstable. That fact would mean he could be a danger to Susie.
I then remember what Susie had suffered already at his hands and I knew that he was using her to try and break the pattern, even if he wasn’t consciously aware of this.
“Susie said that he was mild mannered and a really nice guy. I think his loss of memory has confused him” I said.
“That just means he is more dangerous. If he is responsible for Tina, which indicates he is breaking from his usual MO then maybe the gay guy is also down to him” Dave suggested.
“The gay guy? You think so?” I asked, not sure how that would fit in. “Susie never mentioned anything about Carl being gay or even bi-sexual” I said.
“Well, it all looks fucked up from where I am standing” he said “I think we should keep an open mind about it”.
“Yeah, okay. I need to speak to Susie before we do anything”.
Dave agreed to stay and take another look and the forensics. “Maybe we should get a sample from Carl Dawson and see if they match” he said.
“Good idea, I will call you after I speak with Susie” I grabbed up my jacket and headed off. It was after nine no
w so I drove towards the hospital. Susie would be at work.
Susie
I was just returning to the nursing station after finishing the ward rounds when I saw Ben standing there.
I smiled and waved and although he waved too I knew something was wrong.
“Hi” I said as I got to him. “Everything okay?” I asked
“I need to speak to you. Can you get away for a while?” he seemed agitated about something.
“Is this official business?” I waited for his reply watching the changing emotions cross his face.
“Sort of. I need to talk to you in private so it might be best if you ask for a couple of hours off” he smiled apologetically.
I went over to my boss and explained that I needed to leave. She huffed a bit but said that she could cover my duties. I went to grab my coat from the locker room and we walked out.
Ben still hadn’t talked all the way to his car and I was beginning to get worried. He was usually so light hearted with me, even when things were heavy.
I belted up and he started the car. “What’s up?” I queried, wanting to break the silence.
“Can we wait until we get back to the station?” he asked.
I sat up “The station?” I was now concerned “It is official business then?”
“Yes, but I need you to see some things before we speak” he added.
We drove the rest of the way in silence, my mind trying to figure out what he could possibly need me to see that was so important.
*********
We got to the station and Ben took us in the rear door, swiping his security card to allow us access. We then proceeded down several corridors, passing the small office that I had first seen him in and entering a much larger one.
There was another man at one of the desks and it was a bit of a mess, with papers and things all over the surfaces. There was also a lot of stuff posted onto the wall in a hap-hazard way.
I tried to take it all in, still confused as to my involvement in all this.
