Agent by Her Side

by Deborah Fletcher Mello

  “Who are you?” Kiely asked. “And why are you doing this?”

  “I’m sorry. Where are my manners? My name’s Neil. Neil Otis.”

  “You’re Meghan’s son.”

  He nodded. “Steve’s about to come on.” He gestured with the two microwaved meals. “Would you like the Salisbury steak or the meat loaf? They both actually taste the same, if you want my opinion. Mom liked the steak better though.”

  “I’m not hungry. Thank you.”

  He shrugged. “I’ll save you the steak. You can eat it later.”

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “Let’s watch Steve. We can talk later,” he said, ignoring her question. He moved to the sofa and made himself comfortable, reclining back against the pillows.

  Kiely struggled against her restraints a second time.

  “You shouldn’t do that,” he said. “You might hurt yourself.”

  “I really need to know why you’re doing this,” Kiely persisted. “I don’t know you.”

  “Yes, you do, Ms. Colton. Please don’t think me a fool. I don’t like that. My mother treated me like I was a fool.”

  “So, you know who I am?”

  “I saw you at the school today. I know that you’re Alfie’s mom. Well, not his real mom but you act like it. You seem like a really good one, too.”

  “You’ve been watching me?”

  “Of course. Well, my mother was. Sort of. You and Agent Winston. More him, than you. She really hated him.”

  “Is that why you’re doing this? Because you hate him?”

  “I don’t hate anyone. Hate is not a healthy emotion.”

  “Then why?”

  Neil seemed to ponder the question for a moment. “I don’t know. I just wanted to talk to you. You had kind eyes.”

  “Neil, there are better ways to have a conversation with a person than kidnapping them.”

  “Where’s your cat?” he asked, changing the subject. He pointed at the sisal-covered scratching post in the corner of the room.

  “I gave her to a relative,” she said.

  “Your sister,” he said, the statement more comment than question.

  Kiely watched him keenly as he finished his meal. He lifted the paper tray to his mouth and licked it clean. When he was done, he carried it and the full tray of food back to the kitchen. “Just tell me when you’re hungry,” he said. “I’ll heat it back up for you.”

  They sat together through two episodes of the Feud. Neil played along, pretending to be a member of the families he liked most.

  “Family is very important. My mother didn’t appreciate that. She treated me very badly. Mothers shouldn’t treat their children badly.”

  “I’m sorry,” Kiely said.

  “Don’t be. It’s not your fault. My mother had emotional issues. She was very young when she had me. I don’t think she knew who my father was until I was born. I think that’s why she resented me. Her hatred for him is why she could never really love me.”

  Kiely took a breath. “I don’t think that’s true. Your mother told us she loved you very much.”

  “She told everyone that. Didn’t make it true though.”

  He moved to the table and the bottle of RevitaYou. Taking two pills from the bottle, he popped them into his mouth and washed them down with a swallow of water.

  Kiely’s eyes widened. “Don’t take those!” she shouted.

  “Why not? These are the good ones.”

  “The good ones?”

  “Yeah, the ones that work. Mom has cases in the basement. She swore by them.”

  “You need to turn those over to the police.”

  “No,” he said, sounding like he was eight and not eighteen. “These are the ones that work!” he repeated.

  Kiely’s frustration level was steadily rising. She knew she was in trouble, no matter how mild-mannered Neil seemed. She just wasn’t sure what his endgame was. Her cell phone suddenly vibrated against the table. Neil jumped up to see who was calling, annoyed when he saw Cooper’s picture on the screen.

  “He calls a lot.”

  “He’ll be looking for me, Neil. A lot of people will be looking for me.”

  “No, they won’t. I’ve been texting them. He thinks you’re helping your sister with a problem. Your sister thinks you’re in a meeting and can’t talk. No one is missing you.”

  “My son is missing me.”

  Neil slammed a heavy fist against the table. He rose from his seat and stormed back into the kitchen. Minutes later, when he returned, so had his mild-mannered mood.

  “I don’t want you to talk about him.”

  “Why? He’s just a baby!”

  Neil winced, her words apparently off putting to him. “My mother kept saying that. He’s a baby! Watch the baby! Be nice to the baby! Mother wanted to keep him. But I couldn’t let her do that. I had to protect him.”

  “You need to let me go, Neil. This is ridiculous! You can’t keep me hostage here forever.”

  “It’s not forever.”

  “Then for how long?”

  “You really need to eat,” Neil said. He moved to the back of the sofa, rummaging on the floor. When he stood, he held a gas can in his hands and began to splash gasoline on the furniture and floor.

  Kiely’s eyes widened. “What are you doing? Why are you doing that?”

  “Because you’re a good mom now. I don’t want you to be a bad mother. You’ll go bad. All of you go bad. I have to stop you before that happens. I have to do it for the children.”

  * * *

  Alfie had finally cried himself to sleep. He’d been devastated when Kiely hadn’t picked him up. When she hadn’t arrived by dinner, he’d been beside himself. It had taken Cooper forever to calm him down. Although Kiely hadn’t answered Cooper’s calls, she had texted him. Multiple times. She’d been apologetic about not showing to pick up Alfie, claiming an emergency with her sister was holding her up. But now his concern had increased tenfold. Something wasn’t right and he regretted not following his first instinct.

  Reaching for his cell phone, he read through the text messages a second time. Most of the responses were short and sweet. But short and sweet didn’t feel like Kiely. He sent one last message.

  Should we invite the deer to the wedding?

  As he waited for her to respond, he paced the floor. He needed to find her. And something in his gut told him he needed to find her quick.

  A reply message came back promptly.

  I’d rather invite the kangaroos!

  Cooper placed three phone calls. The first was to the FBI offices. The second call was to Lieutenant McKellar and the third was to Riley Colton.

  “We’re pinging her phone now to see if we can get a location on her. Can you check if any of your sisters have heard from her, please?” Cooper said.

  “I’ll call them now and I’ll call you right back. Do you have any idea what’s happened to her?”

  “Not a clue,” Cooper answered.

  Cooper had just called the teenager down the street to come sit with Alfie when his phone rang, Claire on the other end.

  “Hey, did they update you?” Cooper questioned.

  “Yes,” his friend answered. “But you’re not going to believe this,” she said. “We just got a DNA hit on three murders. The agency hadn’t wanted to say they were the work of a serial killer, but the similarities in each case can’t be ignored. Three young mothers with small children, all kidnapped, each burned alive in their homes. The last murder occurred one year ago.”

  “Why are you telling me this? I’ve never worked any of those cases.”

  “Because that DNA is the same as Neil Otis’s. He’s a perfect match and we still haven’t been able to find him.”

  Something dark pitched through the pit of Cooper’s stomach. H
e suddenly felt like the tuna fish sandwich he’d eaten for dinner might come back up. Pieces of a puzzle were falling into place through no effort of his and he wasn’t liking the picture coming forward.

  “And all the murders occurred in the victims’ homes?” he asked.

  “That’s correct.”

  Panic swept through Cooper like a storm wind. He shouted into the receiver. “I need a team sent to Kiely Colton’s house now! She’s missing and if Neil Otis is your serial killer then she may be your next victim. I think he might have her there!”

  * * *

  The smell of gasoline was thick through the air. Kiely found it revolting. It was turning her stomach and giving her a vicious headache. Neil seemed oblivious to it as he sat watching an episode of Thundercats. He had abandoned all efforts at conversation, ignoring Kiely’s admonishments for him to talk to her.

  When the cartoon was over, he asked her one last time, if she wanted something to eat. “I can heat up your TV dinner if you’re hungry. You really should have one last meal. All the others ate their last meal.”

  “The others? You’ve done this before, Neil?”

  “Of course! There are so many children that need to be saved.”

  Kiely closed her eyes, the significance of what he intended feeling like a gut punch. She couldn’t begin to fathom how she had come to be in this place. Or how Neil had become the way he was. A tear ran down her cheek. All she wanted was to get back to Cooper and Alfie.

  “Was there anyone in your life who you loved, Neil, who you miss now?”

  Neil’s expression was cutting. “No,” he said matter-of-factly. “Not really.”

  “Did you love your mother?”

  “When I was small. Like your son’s age. And I tried to be really good so that she would love me, but it never worked.”

  “Well, Alfie loves me, Neil. Alfie will miss me. If you do this, you are going to break his heart. You won’t be saving him, you’ll be hurting him.”

  Neil looked at her. “This hurt will go away and soon he won’t even remember you. And when he does, all he’ll remember is what a good mother you were. He’ll never have to remember you turning on him. You really should thank me.”

  Kiely begged. “Please! Don’t do this.”

  Neil moved to her side and patted her hand. “I can give you something if it’ll make it easier. Mom had tranquilizers and pain pills stashed away. All kinds of stuff.”

  “Go to hell!” Kiely snapped.

  Neil bristled. “See, it never fails,” he shouted. “All of you go bad! Before you know it you’ll be calling Alfie bad names and hitting him and you’ll hurt his feelings and...” He became choked up, fighting not to cry. He gasped for air, then just like that collected himself.

  “It’s time!” he exclaimed, his singsong tone disconcerting.

  “What do you mean? What are you going to do? Please don’t do this, Neil! Please!”

  Despite her best efforts to remain calm, panic had begun to set in. Kiely shook the chains harder, desperate to release herself. Panic suddenly became rage. Neil had disappeared to the second floor of her home, a second gasoline can in his hands. He rested the container at the bottom of the steps and then he moved to turn the television volume up higher.

  He lit one match and then the entire book, tossing both to the floor behind the sofa. Flames suddenly shot skyward. He moved to Kiely’s side one last time.

  “It was very nice talking with you, Ms. Colton,” he said, and then he walked calmly out the front door.

  Chapter 17

  Cooper arrived at Kiely’s house seconds after Claire and her team had descended on the property. The fire department was already on-site, fighting the barrage of flames that lit up the late-night sky. His heart dropped into the pit of his stomach and he raced toward the house screaming Kiely’s name.

  Someone from the fire department grabbed him by the shoulders and swung him back around, refusing to let him pass. There was a struggle of wills as the fireman ducked a punch he threw, Cooper determined to get inside the home.

  Claire suddenly grabbed his arm, pulling at his attention. “Cooper, Kiely’s okay! Kiely’s fine!” she shouted above the noise of his screams.

  Claire pointed to the EMS vehicle. “She suffered some smoke inhalation, but she’s fine.”

  Tears were streaming down Cooper’s face. He grabbed Claire and hugged her before tearing across the yard to the ambulance. Kiely lay on a gurney inside, an oxygen mask over her face. He jumped into the back of the vehicle and when she saw him, she ripped the mask off. Sitting upright Kiely stretched her arms out and clung tightly to him.

  Cooper kissed her cheeks, her forehead, her nose, her lips. Kisses rained down on every square inch of her face and he refused to let her go until his nerves had calmed, his heart beating normally again.

  “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Cooper questioned.

  “I’m fine. Really. I’m okay.”

  “Her vitals are good,” the technician said. “But we should transport her to the hospital to be examined.”

  “That’s not necessary,” Kiely said. “I feel fine. I’m not going to the hospital.” She threw her legs over the side of the gurney and went to stand but felt light-headed and sat back down.

  “You’re going, Kiely.”

  “I really don’t want to. It’s not necessary.”

  “I’ll meet you there,” Cooper said, his tone commanding. “Let a doctor clear you and then we can go home to Alfie.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “Pissed that you weren’t in the kiss and go lane this afternoon.”

  “My poor baby!”

  “He’ll be very happy to see you.”

  Kiely hugged him one more time. She was shaking slightly, hoping no one noticed. But Cooper noticed and he was suddenly angry that someone had tried to hurt her. He kissed her cheek. “I’ll be right behind you,” he said.

  Jumping out of the ambulance, he watched until it pulled off, sirens screaming. He turned, searching out Agent Miller. Claire stood by a government-issued vehicle, debriefing one of her agents. Spying Cooper, she met him halfway as he moved in her direction.

  “Please, tell me we did not lose this monster.”

  “Nope, we got him.” She pointed to the back seat of a police patrol car. Neil Otis was leaning against the window peering out at the burning house. He looked lost and completely enamored with the flames that were being extinguished. “He’d barely gotten out the front door when we took him down. Kiely was chained to a chair in the front room and two of our agents went in and carried her out.”

  “I owe them my gratitude.”

  “Thank them by getting Kiely and going home and please don’t come back until you have medical clearance from an agency doctor. Spend some time with your family, not working. Is that clear, Agent?”

  “Have a good night, Claire. And thank you!” He turned, hurrying back to his car.

  Claire called his name.

  “Yes?”

  “Good work, Agent Winston!”

  * * *

  Kiely was so ready to be done with the emergency room that she was sitting in the waiting room when Cooper arrived.

  “What took you so long?”

  “Why are you out here?”

  “Do you always answer a question with a question?”

  “Depends upon the question?”

  “Do you love me?”

  “Forever and always.” Cooper captured her lips with his own. The kiss was tender and heated. When he finally let her go, he asked, “Have you been officially released?”

  “If I say yes will you believe me?”

  He chuckled. “And you give me a hard time.”

  Grabbing her hand, they made their way to the car and then home. Kiely called her brother to let him know she was safe and sound so
that her family wouldn’t be worrying about her. After a quick lecture, she was ready to be done with retelling what had happened to her.

  “I feel sorry for him,” Kiely said. “He’s got serious issues.”

  “He’s a psychopath.”

  “He thinks he’s helping children.”

  “Well, thankfully he will never be able to hurt anyone else again.”

  Kiely sighed. She didn’t have the energy to tell Cooper she was tired of this conversation. She wasn’t much interested in solving anyone else’s problems or putting herself in the path of danger. The only thing she wanted was to crawl into bed and forget that anything had happened. To ignore that Neil had disturbed her peace and left her feeling battered. She needed time to let it all go so that she could feel like herself again and not be afraid.

  “Can we talk about this some other time?” she asked.

  Cooper nodded. “Of course. Anything you want. You look tired.”

  “I just want to go to bed and I want you to just hold me.”

  He nodded again. “Baby, you can have anything you want.”

  * * *

  The first thing Kiely did when they got back to Cooper’s house was peek in on Alfie. He was sleeping soundly, his thumb in his mouth and his favorite blue blanket clutched in his fist. She brushed the hair off his forehead and leaned to give him a kiss.

  She knew she smelled like smoke and she headed straight for a hot shower. She was grateful for Cooper giving her time alone to decompress and process everything that had happened. For a while there she didn’t think there was enough soap and water or shampoo and conditioner to help her get the smell of fear off of her. She’d had many close calls over the years, but there had been something about this one that felt like dead weight on her shoulders, refusing to let go.

  By the time Kiely had finished in the bathroom, Cooper was already showered and in bed. He’d used the bathroom in the spare bedroom, wanting her to take as much time as she needed. He understood that what she had just experienced was traumatizing and even the strongest person would have difficulties getting past it all.