Silent Death: A Chilling Serial Killer Thriller (A Caine & Murphy Thriller Book 3)

by Dominika Waclawiak

  The director wiggled his fingers at her in hello and she dropped out of sight. He leaned in and found her passed out on the floor beneath the window.

  Most of his victims hoped they’d overcome the trap he’d set up for them. They, of course, couldn’t, because he thought of everything. He understood how difficult it must be to face one’s own mortality.

  The realization on their faces when the familiar hissing sound of oxygen fell silent was one of his favorite moments. Their panic was delicious. But he had a different plan for Ms. Lorelei Richards.

  He looked down at the bottle of water and sandwich. Giving them hope was another favorite cruelty of his. He’d found that the women believed if they got food they would live another day. Hope flowered and then he could take it away. Just like that, he thought, and snapped his fingers.

  The director opened the little window that he used to deliver sustenance. He pushed the sandwich and water bottle through and slammed the window shut. The sound woke her up, and he watched as her eyes flew to the food.

  She stared at his offering for a second before the primal instinct of hunger and thirst overcame her and she threw herself at his meager giving’s. It pleasured him to watch her gulping the water down and ripping the plastic wrap open to get to the peanut butter sandwich inside. He saw the glint of hope in her eyes. She thought she had another day but, oh, how wrong she was.

  57

  Sara Caine had no problems getting into the filmic studies building on the UCLA campus even though it was a Saturday morning. A class started at nine o’clock and anyone who passed as a college student got inside the building.

  Security guards wandered through the corridors but Sara fit in with the masses of exhausted students coming to an early morning class on a Saturday.

  Her plan should work, she thought, as she noticed even the security guards had a certain glaze to their eyes. She got to the third floor without problem and hovered by the door.

  Forty-five minutes later, with not a soul in sight, and any hope of sweet-talking a teacher to let her see Madeleine’s desk gone, she took out her break-in tools.

  Sara wasn’t as nibble with them as Eva but she’d practiced enough to get the door open. She couldn’t imagine the locks would be too difficult to pick and then she noticed the cameras. Dammit, she thought. The cameras in every hallway were more the deterrent. The school must be worried about all the expensive equipment hidden behind the doors of the classrooms. She put her tools back into her purse.

  The last thing she needed was a breaking and entering charge on her record. She’d go to jail this time and never find that damn ring. She would have to camp out until someone came along. She turned to take up a spot several doors down when she spotted Matt, Lorelei’s fiancée, walking toward her. It was more a shuffle, and he looked to not have slept in days. She waved to get his attention.

  “Matt? Matt,” she said louder, and he finally raised his head. His eyes were glazed over and red-rimmed. He looked like she felt.

  “What are you doing here?” Matt asked.

  “I could ask you the same question? You were the last person I expected to see here,” she said.

  “I’m a TA for Professor Trembley and needed to get his notes.” Sara hadn’t even considered he might be connected to the university. Two hours lost on that mistake.

  “As to your question of what I’m doing here, let me answer. I reread Madeleine notes from the day my father died and discovered he and Madeleine were together the entire afternoon. My dad gave something to Madeleine, and she kept it all these years. It’s the key to finding Lorelei and Johan.”

  “Who’s Johan?” Matt said, putting a key into the lounge door. “Have you told the police about this information?”

  “I have,” she lied. “They are too busy searching for Lorelei.” Matt turned to her, and she saw the tears threatening to fall. “I’m sorry she hasn’t been found yet.”

  “Thank you. Who’s Johan?”

  “He’s a dear friend who has also gone missing because of this case. The same man who took Lorelei took him. I will do everything I can to bring them both home. Has the FBI gotten any new leads?”

  “I’m not family yet. I was a suspect and even thought I’ve been cleared I’m not important enough to keep up to date. Lorelei’s grandmother is a senator, she never told me, and is steering the ship, so to speak. Lorelei never told me about her and now,” he said in tears fell and he sobbed.

  “I’m helpless. I want Lorelei back and each time I think of what she must be enduring-” he choked on the last word and paled.

  “Johan is the love of my life. I understand. Will you let me check Madeleine’s desk?” He nodded. Without saying a word, he led her into the small room. Sara’s heart sank when she saw what the room was. It had a bookcase filled with books and film scripts stacked in heaps on the floor. Five chairs were scattered around the space and two desks sat on opposite ends of the room. Nothing had a drawer or a compartment.

  “None of the professors keep their personal belongings in here. These desks are all common use as well as the chairs and there aren’t any drawers.” Matt explained. “The only reason Professor Trembley left his papers here is he worked on them before class this morning and several fell out of the pile.” He said and pointed at several sheets of paper on the floor near one of the desks.

  “I was sure this was the place. She made some allusions to keeping something here.”

  “This is one of the newer buildings on campus. It was built about eight years ago. Is that around the time you’re talking about?” Matt asked.

  “This was seventeen years ago. This building didn’t exist then.” Sara said, excitement creeping into her voice.

  “Then this isn’t the right building. The film department was housed in Barnes Hall on the other side of campus. I think they had a pretty small audiovisual department and took up the first three floors. I went once for Prof. Tremblay. The lounge is on the fourth floor. And, you know, I do remember small lockers there.” Matt said.

  “It’s gonna be locked like this one though, isn’t that?” She asked him.

  He nodded. “I’m afraid so.”

  Sara squeezed him on the shoulder. “Thank you Matt. Don’t lose hope. I’ll call you if I find out anything.” He nodded, and they both left the room.

  After some difficulty finding Barnes Hall, Sara breezed through the front doors and up to the fourth floor. There was still the issue of getting into the damn room. Barnes Hall now housed the English Department and Sara figured no one wanted to steal books. But to be on the safe side, Sara made sure there were no cameras in any of the corridors. To her relief, the only camera she could find was at the entrance on the first floor.

  Sara staked out the door for another ten minutes to see the traffic flow in the hallway. No one came by and Sara took out her toolkit again. It was now or never.

  She got to work on the lock until she heard the tumblers click and pop. The door swung open, and she stepped inside. Closing the door behind her, she turned and her heart sunk.

  The small room held several chairs and desks pushed against the walls. It didn’t have bookshelves like the last lounge but what it had was a small refrigerator in one corner and a coffeemaker with all its accouterments sitting next to it.

  What she didn’t see were lockers. The threads of this last clue felt as if they didn’t exist anymore. What made them decide that her father gave the ring to anyone? It could just be lost. Hidden amongst his thing in their old house that got sold off quickly after their deaths.

  She would not find the ring here but she would check that last door anyway, she thought. It was most likely a small closet. She took a deep breath and opened it.

  Old wooden lockers ran along the back wall, down the length of the room. She jumped in joy and then saw all the locks on them. Fourteen locks in all.

  Madeleine hadn’t written the locker number in her diary so Sara went to work. She’d gone through eight of them when the outside d
oor opened and two women went into the lounge. Closing the locker she was working on, she inched back into the opposite wall right next to the door. She didn’t know if it would work, but she’d seen this move in a movie once.

  Standing in silence, she eavesdropped on them complaining about a difficult student while the smell of percolating coffee filled the air. Her prayers were answered when the women took their coffees and left.

  Sara had her tools in hand before she even got back to the locker she’d been working on. Working as quickly as she was capable of, she got to the twelfth one in minutes.

  The wooden door swung open and when Sara saw what was inside, she gave a cry. She recognized her Dad’s diary immediately. She took it out and couldn’t help but caress it. Her father carried it with him everywhere and she’d spent years searching for it. And now she held it in her arms.

  Beneath the diary was a bunch of notes that she shoved into her backpack along with the precious diary. That’s when she saw the box.

  Hidden underneath all the papers, a black velvet jewelry box sat at the bottom of the locker. With shaking hands, Sara picked it up and opened it. That was it? So many people died for this?

  A simple golden band, not very different from any man’s wedding band, sat nestled amongst the velvet. Sara snapped the box shut. She dared not touch it. Who knew what kind of magic it held. She hoped that it would do its job and send that bastard back to hell.

  58

  The food and water energized Lorelei Richards, but she knew she’d run out of time. She watched him prep that precious camera of his and knew he’d fed her to give her enough energy to fight against the suffocation. Wouldn’t give him much of a thrill if she dropped dead, would it?

  She fiddled with the weapon she’d fashioned out of the wooden table leg and knew she had the courage to do it. She would fight him till her last breath. She might not live but then he wouldn’t get the satisfaction either. Or... and then she smiled. Lorelei had a better plan and one where she wouldn’t have to die. It was gamble and it would also hurt. But, it just might work. She dropped her makeshift weapon.

  Lorelei checked in on him and saw him smile. She knew then. Her time had come. Or so he thought. Taking a deep breath, she listened to the sound that should be there but no longer was.

  The hissing of the air through the vent was gone. He had turned off the oxygen. She didn’t know how many cubic feet of air it would take to keep her alive and for how long.

  She needed to do it now.

  Lorelei held her breath while shuffling until her back hit the opposite wall. She took several quick breaths and got into position. She cocked her head down amongst her shoulders and facing her shoes. One. Two. Three.

  She sprinted as hard as she could toward the window, steeling herself for impact. Oh god, the pain. It blossomed from the top of her head and shot down to the rest of her. Sparks blinded her and then it all went black.

  59

  Sara Caine stopped in confusion, winded from the three-story climb to get to the right level of the parking structure. Her car had been parked on this level, it was the only one, and she checked out the number when she left. It was 3C. But the parking lot was empty. Not a car in sight.

  The UCLA parking Nazis were on top of their game at all times, even early Saturday mornings. Her car was towed; no doubt about it, and it was her fault. Again. Like she did in everything else, she’d failed. She opened the small case and stared at the ring again. The ring was so familiar. She couldn’t shake the feeling she’d seen it before. But, of course, she’d seen it before on the wedding finger of every single married couple. It was a gold band.

  Hell, in fact, it could’ve been her father’s wedding ring because she knew they had never found it on his body. It most likely was his ring.

  Her father’s wedding ring. All this work to fail again. She fought the urge to throw the ring across the parking structure. She’d been a fool.

  Sara checked her phone and found no messages waiting for her. She called Ritchie first but it went straight to voicemail. She called Eva Murphy but got the same result. Straight to voicemail.

  She scrolled through her contacts and knew she couldn’t reach out to any of them. Loneliness crippled her. Here she was, without a car, people missing and probably dead because of something she had started with Johan and no way out of this damn parking structure.

  She sank down to the ground and sobbed. Ever since her parents had died she kept her loneliness as a badge of honor. But Johan had changed that and, with his help, she was on the path to recovery. And instead of fully embracing him, she let Asmodeus get between them. Now, Johan was most likely dead.

  She’d been stupid to think she could solve something that even her brilliant Dad could not. All those girls. All that death. Sara closed her eyes and wished to disappear and welcome the nothingness.

  She stayed that way until her tailbone ached from the concrete beneath her. God, you’re so melodramatic, she thought, and couldn’t help but snort out a laugh. Sara checked the time. Five minutes had gone by. At least, she hadn’t wasted too much time being pathetic. If she was willing enough to embrace death, then the next part should be easy enough.

  Heaving herself off the ground, she shook herself off and knew what she had to do. It had been staring her in the face this entire time and she had been too afraid to answer its call.

  She focused inward and broke down all of her walls. The whispering started and then the voices streamed in, a wave of crescendoing voices. The dead jostled for attention but not one being was strong enough to break through the crowd. She opened her eyes. All she saw was an empty parking lot.

  Her vision darkened, and a shape materialized some distance away. The form of a man flickered in front of her but she didn’t recognize him. Could it be Johan? Don’t think that way, Sara. She pushed the panic away and kept expanding her reach into the other world.

  “I’m here. Come to me. I’m ready to listen,” she called out. Her plan was simple. The moment a spirit appeared, she’d ask them about Johan and Lorelei. She focused even more and closed her eyes. Come to me. I’m here.

  A flash of light grew behind her eyes and took over her entire field of vision. “Sara, are you there? Sara, I need your help.” It was Johan.

  60

  “Johan, where are you?” Sara called out, but he didn’t answer. Instead, she regained her vision and found herself in an apartment she recognized. It was Janice Hollebeck’s place at the Alexas. Sara was in Johan’s thoughts.

  “Thank you for coming so quickly, Johan,” a very alive Janice Hollebeck said and handed him several film reels.

  “Where did you find these?” Johan asked.

  “It was the strangest thing. I’d gone down the hall to visit my friend Marsha and her daughter Harlene and when I got back into my room, I noticed that my closet door was opened. I was sure I locked my door but I am forgetful sometimes. Anyway, I checked in the closet, holding a pile of books as a weapon, and found these on the floor, shoved all the way in the back. When I opened the first one, and saw it was nitrate film, I thought to call one of the film preservation places. I know how rare that kind of film is. My curiosity got the best of me, thinking I might have found some silent film gem. But when I saw the girl, and what was happening to her, I knew I needed to get help.” She explained.

  “Did you see anyone in the hallway as you were walking back from your friends?” Johan asked.

  “No, the hallway was empty. It could be anyone off the street. The front door is always open, and the security is not tight here. I’m on the second floor and it wouldn’t be hard for some random, to come up here, check the doors and find one open. I’ve asked my neighbors about suspicious people wandering around and they laughed at me. There are always suspicious people we don’t recognize wandering the halls?”

  “I’m glad you called me. I think this is something important. May I ask why you didn’t call the police with this discovery?”

  “Do you think the
se are snuff films?” Janice asked him.

  “I won’t know until I inspect them,” Johan said.

  “Should I have called the police?”

  “Is there a reason...” he trailed off. Sara knew this technique well.

  “No, of course not. But it’s nitrate film. I thought no one used that kind of film stock since the nineteen twenties. And what would I be calling the police for? Yes, there was a break-in but nothing was taken. Someone left me those films and maybe they are just films, you know. There isn’t a crime, is there?” The way she said that made Sara realize that she didn’t believe that. Not one bit.

  “Did you recognize anyone on the film?” Johan asked. Janice’s face turned grim.

  “Yes. One of my actress clients. I did headshots for her a while back. I’m positive she’s the girl on the film. I’ve tried to reach her but could not and I was too afraid to look at the other films.”

  “Afraid?”

  “To destroy evidence. I called my list of acting clients to make sure everyone was OK and accounted for. I’ve been unable to reach a surprising number of them. Now, that might not mean anything since acting is a hard game and a lot of people give up and go back home. But then I reached a girl’s mother. She had her cellphone. That woman has been missing for over eight months. I’ve stumbled onto something that’s got me unnerved.”

  “You’ve done the right thing entrusting this to me. I will get to the bottom of this, I promise.” Johan’s voice faded away, and the images ceased.

  Sara breathed a sigh of relief. She now knew Johan was alive and was helping her wherever he was. Sara knew where to go next. Janice’s realm would have the answers for her.

  She called Ritchie and left him a message to meet her at the Alexas Hotel. Now to find a bus to get her there. It felt good not to be afraid anymore.