by Robin Mahle
Moments later, her body became limp and he tossed her over his shoulder. She was losing consciousness and fast. The scream that was building inside her escaped as barely a whimper. It wouldn’t be long before she was out cold.
The hospital still had functioning windows in the rooms. He only had to open one and climb out onto the fire escape. He was a big man. Her vision was blurred, but she could see his girth.
They descended the two flights of staircase and by the time they reached the bottom, a single thought soared in her fading mind: It was him and he was going to kill her.
25
Little Katie
The fog was beginning to lift as Katie’s eyes fluttered. Her vision was still clouded, but she could start to make out her surroundings. She tried to brush the hair from her face, but soon felt the restraints that shackled her arms behind her back. An aching head and empty stomach lent themselves to the waves of nausea that whirled through her.
Her clarity soon improved at the realization she wasn’t alone, when the large figure perched on a stool opposite her began to shift. The true horror of this disturbing image began to sink in when she noticed the bandages hadn’t concealed all of the raw, burned flesh. Exposed too, was part of his charred scalp, which was bright red and blistered. From her vantage point, the man was not burned any other place on his body. But no matter how grotesque, there was no doubt in her mind who this was. And when he spoke, the familiar voice infiltrated her entire body. It had been twenty-three years, but there was no doubt that this monster was Joseph Hendrickson. A ferocious impulse to scream arose from deep within her.
And, as if he could read her mind, he began shaking his head and placed his index finger over his swollen lips. “Don’t scream, little Katie. No one will hear you, certainly not your precious Detective Avery.”
This was not the cabin, nonetheless the place was familiar. She was sitting on a metal chair with a padded seat and backrest. The floor was concrete and a single light hung from the high ceiling; its light casting a circle onto the floor in front of her. Two windows were boarded up and one smaller window remained uncovered, revealing the darkness outside. How long had she been out? They must have known she was gone by now.
“Where am I?” A groggy, muttering voice sounded; a result from whatever drug he shoved into her arm.
“You don’t recognize this place? I’m surprised. I thought you were here helping the FBI and Detective Avery with the evidence I so kindly left for you all.”
It registered with her now, only it didn’t look like the same place. “The warehouse?”
“Where else would we be? Certainly not the cabin. I had to torch the place, thanks to my brother. And I so loved it there. All the fond memories of the times we had together and not just you; the other children too.”
“Is that how you burned your face?”
“As a matter of fact, yes, but I admit it was somewhat intentional. I had to figure out a way to disguise my appearance since you revealed my face to the world. Thanks for that, by the way. Painful as it is, it was worth it. I got what I came for. My brother didn’t even recognize me when I showed up at his house today. He wasn’t going to give you up and I knew he was thinking of talking to the FBI, so I had to convince him that he had no choice. How easy it would have been for me to find his daughter after I murdered his wife.”
Tears rolled down Katie’s face as she listened to the sickening words coming from his mouth.
“I knew he couldn’t handle it any more—the guilt. Seems as though you pushed him over the edge, little Katie. But I had to work fast because we both knew what was happening. He found out about you and the reporter poking around Sacramento PD. Robert called and told me it was only a matter of time and that the FBI would be on their way soon. That’s when I knew the cabin was going to have to go and I had to find a disguise. You know, I could hear you upstairs. I was hiding in the basement, listening to every word, even the gunshot that finally put my brother out of his misery.”
Hendrickson lifted his weight from the stool and slid to within inches of Katie, leaning into her ear. “How does it feel knowing that everyone around you had to suffer because you just couldn’t let it go?” he whispered. “How are you going to live with yourself?” He sat back and folded his arms across his wide stomach. “I guess you won’t have to worry about that for much longer. You should be very proud of your handiwork. Without you, I would’ve continued to live a life of solitude and boredom in Oregon City. Everyone was so friendly there. The mothers, walking their children to school. Oh, it was tempting, but I didn’t have the same fire in my gut that I have now. No, once you came forward, everything changed. And I’m so much happier now. Of course, I thought you’d stop looking once I took Samantha away from you. But not even losing your best friend was going to make you stop, was it?”
The harsh reality of his words breached her soul. She wanted nothing more right now than for him to stop, but this was what he wanted, wasn’t it? Demoralize her to the point of giving up? “They will find me here. You have to know that.”
His open palm came at her and landed with a stinging slap, knocking her head hard enough to tweak her neck. She reeled with dizziness for a moment until finally regaining her senses. Her cheek was hot and throbbed in pain.
“Of course they will, once they realize the cabin is gone. That’s the whole point of this. Oh, to see your Detective Avery’s face as he watches you die; what a moment that will be. I imagine it’ll be the last thing I see, but it will all be worth it. I’ll finally have the one thing you took from me, little Katie; the absolute joy of stripping away your shiny veneer; revealing the dirty little cunt you really are.”
She studied the room in search of an opportunity to escape. They weren’t in the main warehouse, but a smaller office somewhere at the back of the building, near the loading bays. The big corrugated metal doors that opened for the semi-trucks were just visible. She would have to overtake him in order to even hope to escape. Right now, that didn’t seem a likely scenario. She’d fended him off once before, but she doubted he would take any chances this time.
“What did you do with the other children? How many did you kill besides your sister?” She wanted him to get angry; give him cause to attack again. It was the only way she could attempt to strike him. From the look on his face, she saw that she had succeeded.
“My little sister? I see my brother didn’t fill you in on all the sordid details. She was the reason my father left and my mother killed herself. There was barely enough to go around with just the four of us, but Robbie didn’t remember that. Then she came along and we had nothing left. That little unexpected ‘gift from God’ tore my family apart.”
“So you drowned her in a tub?” She continued to provoke him further. Come on, hit me again.
He stood and moved toward her, but then just smiled and left the room. She struggled to free her arms, which were bound at the back of the chair. He’d zip tied them together. She tried to wriggle her wrists and tore her skin against the hard plastic teeth of the ties. Blood ran down her hands, dripping onto the cold concrete floor. She tried to stand, but his footfalls were drawing nearer.
Once inside again, Hendrickson set a box down on his stool, marched over to Katie, and shoved her to the ground. “I knew you’d try to leave. I made it easy enough for you. But you didn’t think I’d be gone for long, did you? No, I just wanted you to think you had a chance at escaping, but not this time, little Katie. He kicked her in the gut as she lay on the ground. Her knees pulled up, trying to shield herself from another blow, but he aimed for her head this time. The last thing Katie saw was a large black boot rising above her face.
She had no idea how much time had passed, but her brain was pounding against her skull and the dried blood on her face cracked with each grimace. She was back up on the chair, feet and hands bound.
When the room came into focus, she raised her head and saw him sitting on the stool across the room once again. He was holding a sm
all wooden box, maybe a cigar box, she thought. The first thing that came to her mind was that Marshall hadn’t found her yet. What was happening? Wouldn’t they think to come back to the warehouse? It was pitch black outside now; it must have been the middle of the night.
“I was wondering when you’d wake up. I’ve been sitting here for almost an hour. I’m sure you won’t try that again, will you?”
She only looked at the box in his hands.
He lurched forward and screamed. “Will you?”
“No.”
“Wondering what’s in this box?” His cool voice and calm temper reappeared; a terrifying transformation from only a moment ago “I guess you could call me a collector, of sorts. I like to keep little mementos from my past.” He put his hand in the box, swished its contents around, the sound of clinking metal rising from it. “You might remember this. I gather that’s what has forced our paths to cross once again.” He pulled out the heart-shaped pendant necklace from the missing Arcata girl, Ashley Davies.
Katie’s eyes welled up and spilled onto her face, the salty tears stinging as they fell into the wide gashes on her cheeks. She had no idea how much injury she had sustained, but the vision in her left eye was diminished. The lid had swollen to the point that only a small slit remained open. But she recognized the necklace instantly.
“I have such beautiful little trinkets, except one from you.” He eyed her entire body. “I don’t see that you have anything for me to keep. Samantha had that interesting ring. I wanted to keep it, but I thought you might make better use of it. I did expect you to be wearing it now.”
“They gave it back to her husband.” The excruciating pain with each spoken word brought more dizzy spells, nonetheless, she would not reveal her agony to him.
“That’s a shame. I was hoping to get it back. I don’t know what it is that I’ll get to keep from you today, but I’m sure I’ll find something. Oh, and one more thing.” The hospital bag that contained her belongings lay a few feet away. He walked toward it and opened it up, retrieving her cell phone. “I thought you might like to listen to your beloved detective’s voice. He seems very worried about you. You know, you might want to consider adding a passcode to your phone.” He held up the phone and played the voicemail.
“I know you have her, you son of a bitch. I swear to God, if you hurt her, I’ll fucking kill you! There’s no place for you to hide now, Joseph. The roads are blocked and we all know what you did to your face. It’s only a matter of time. You should give up while you have the chance because when I find you, I won’t take you into custody. You’ll be dead.”
“It sounds like he loves you very much. Is he the reason you broke off your engagement? I was sad to hear Spencer was gone. He seemed like a good man. I think you may have traded down.” He continued looming over her. “Well, I think I’ve had enough fun for one night. It’s clear they aren’t coming to save you tonight. I think you ought to try to get some sleep.”
Once again, his hand connected hard with her face. This time, it was a solid fist that knocked her out cold.
Subtle morning light shone through the narrow, dirty window in the room where Katie remained alone. How long had she been out this time? Two, maybe three hours? It couldn’t be but about seven o’clock in the morning and she was cold. The warehouse was only a shell since the fire and held absolutely no heat.
Her arms were numb from the forced position in which they had remained for too long. But it was her head that had succumbed to the brunt of the pain. The swelling of her left eye had reduced enough that she could freely look left and right, but with each movement, her brain ached. Hunger and thirst were beginning to take control of her. Where was Hendrickson? She’d expected him to be waiting; his burned face and purple lips curled up, smiling at her. He was not there and only the small wooden box remained where he had sat only a few hours ago.
Katie skimmed the room in search of the bag with her cell phone in it. Of course, he was smart enough not to leave that lying around for her to make a quick call to Marshall.
The door swung open with wild purpose and the monster was once again in her presence. “How did you sleep? Well, I hope. It seemed so when I came in to check on you earlier. You really can’t take a punch. I should be more careful; I don’t want you dying on me before it’s time. Get up now.” He walked over to her and grabbed her elbow.
The needling pain of her sleeping arm shot through her as he raised her up off the chair. Her legs were weak, swollen from having remained in a seated position. They trembled under her weight. “Where are you taking me?”
“I thought we might go for a little ride today.”
This was it. He was going to take her somewhere and kill her, just like he did with Sam.
“I’ve had a change of heart. I don’t want to make it too easy for your boyfriend to gallantly come to your rescue, well—your demise. So, I think we’ll spend some quality time together on a little road trip. Thought maybe we’d go up north.”
“The roads are closed and everyone knows who you are. You can’t really believe you’ll get out of here alive.”
“Oh, we won’t be going far and not really out of town. I’ve been monitoring the police scanners, so I know where the roadblocks are. And besides, with the media helicopters hovering everywhere, broadcasting the FBI’s every move, I think we’ve got the advantage here. There’s one more place I’m pretty sure the FBI doesn’t know about, not yet anyway. I think we’ll be able to spend some time there for a while.” He placed his hand on her head, his touch causing even greater pain to her already throbbing skull. His hand slid down her long dark hair, eventually caressing her back. “I miss being with you, little Katie. And I’m very curious to see how much you’ve learned over the years.”
Her mind flashed back to visions of him, caressing her in the same manner. Younger, thinner, but just as terrifying, especially to the child she once was. She began to feel the same fear that ruled her younger self, running through the forest.
He yanked her arm and she dragged her feet until she was able to catch up with his quick pace. He was in a hurry, which meant to her that he knew they must be close. What was his plan?
The doors opened and the light poured into the warehouse. Katie’s eyes squinted at the brightness, her swollen eye now in searing pain. The hospital gown she was still wearing allowed the cold air to penetrate right through to her bones and the paper-thin white camisole she still had on beneath offered only a little more protection.
When they reached the car, she noticed her bag lying on the back seat. The front passenger seat contained a grocery bag filled with bloodied bandages. There was another bag that had a hat and a few other things in it, but she couldn’t see what they were. He wasn’t leaving anything behind.
He shoved her into the back seat and walked around to the driver’s side, when he paused and looked back at the warehouse. She watched him stand there for a minute and then he looked at her again, like he was thinking he forgot something. He stepped back around, pulled open the door and dragged her back out. “You got me worked up so much, I almost forgot my most treasured possession.”
Katie knew it was the box. It still sat on the stool. Her pulse began to race the closer they got to the back room where it remained. Would he notice? He released her arm long enough to take hold of the box. Then once he held it securely against his chest, he gripped her arm again, squeezing hard.
She winced in pain, but it was nothing compared to the pain in her head.
They raced back to the car; she was tossed into the backseat like a ragdoll. When he jumped into the driver’s seat, bringing the engine to life, he sped out of sight of the abandoned warehouse.
Katie looked through the rear window, the building shrinking in the distance. He hadn’t noticed, not yet anyway, but that was fine because there was nothing he could do about it now. She managed the briefest of smiles, remembering the heart-shaped pendant lying on the floor, behind a leg of the chair where she had been bo
und.
During the night, awakening briefly, she had managed to drag herself and the chair to the wooden box. He was just outside the door, blocking it, asleep and snoring. It was a struggle to maneuver the box with bound hands, but she removed the pendant, opened it, and placed a scrap of her hospital gown that had snagged on the fire escape into the locket. She carefully placed herself in exactly the same position, the blood drops from her hands in the same spot in relation to the chair. She tucked the locket behind the back chair leg.
It wasn’t much, but Katie hoped it would be enough for Marshall to know that she was still alive, for now.
“Your clothes are in that bag. Get changed,” Hendrickson said.
“I can’t. My hands are still tied.”
“Goddamn it!”
He was agitated and becoming increasingly short-tempered. Did he really have a plan?
“Pull your legs up and through so your arms are in the front.”
She did as he asked and managed to slip on the jeans she was wearing when they took her to the hospital. The bag still had everything in it, except for her cell phone.
His face still appeared badly burned, but he’d changed his bandages, removing some entirely, leaving the least damaged areas exposed. He was wearing the hat now and he cringed when he put on the sunglasses, no doubt from the pain of the burns.
“Where are we going?”
They seemed to be heading east, from what she could gather. What was there? She wracked her brain. The nearest place was Bridgeville. It was about as small town as you could get in this area, even smaller than Rio Dell. The back country roads could easily be overlooked.
Marshall wouldn’t overlook anything, not as long as he had a say in finding her. But who was Scarborough taking orders from now? The FBI had completely taken over, so who was in charge? Katie had to keep up hope that they’d go back to the warehouse, find the pendant, and realize she’d been taken someplace else. There had to be a way to contact Marshall. Wherever Hendrickson was taking her, they weren’t likely to find her before he’d had his fill.
