Dark Visions (18 page)

Dolan walked over to a large pine to find a
moment's shelter.

The whole time he felt Sam's eyes on him.
Things were going wrong fast.

And now everyone on this case was going to
be suspicious of each other.

Dolan wondered how he'd get out of this and
keep his hands clean.

Chapter 40

Sarah opened her eyes and then snapped them
shut. Her tongue lolled around in her mouth like a foreign snake.
She lowered her head closer to her hand so she could massage the
right temple. Heat from the sun bathed her skin. It made her think
she was lying in the desert.

Through half closed eyes she could see her
only company was garbage. A gentle breeze pushed a newspaper past
chunks of broken glass. Candy wrappers littered an area that looked
like a trash bag had been upturned.

She managed to get her eyes open past slits,
even as the light from the sun hammered at her head.

She was in what looked like a rundown
building that appeared to be abandoned. The windows were gaping
holes where glass used to be. Graffiti covered the walls.

She moved both legs back and forth and was
elated to find them free, untied. She looked at her hands and found
only her left wrist had a leather strap tied to it and bolted. She
rolled onto her back. The sun hit her face full on, making her shut
her eyes hard.

When she tugged with her left wrist, it
caught in mid air. She turned her head to the wall behind her and
saw the leather strap was tied with rope to a pipe that protruded
from the wall. Like her wrist, it was bolted to the pipe. She
tugged again and watched the pipe waver where it was connected. She
yanked harder causing the pipe to shake more, bits of the wall
falling loose.

She looked around. No one in sight. Her head
still pounded, but some things were more important.

In a sitting position, she used both hands
to yank on the strap. More drywall crumbled away, but the pipe
stood firm. She examined the knot and the thick lock it was bolted
with. Coiled as it was, she found it too difficult to pry in her
weakened state. A smaller lock kept the leather strap on her wrist.
It made her think of some kind of bondage apparatus.

When was the last time she had anything to
eat? Her tongue moved through an arid existence, sticking to the
inner edges of her mouth.

With both feet placed against the wall she
yanked again, using resources she didn't know she still had.

Nothing.

The pipe remained fixed to something behind
the wall.

A cooling breeze from the nearest window
sailed across her face. She heard footsteps. Someone was coming.
She turned around and leaned back, sitting up.

"You're awake."

Her captor walked over to her and sat two
bottles of water by her feet. She lashed out, unscrewed the white
cap and guzzled almost half the bottle, spilling some down her
chin. The water was cool. She felt it hit her stomach, enjoyed the
cold feeling in her throat.

She touched the back of her neck where she
found some hair. A feeling of ease came over her.

She could handle this.

He was here again. She hadn't gotten away,
but she could handle this. Everything was right back where they
left off at the motel when she'd given him the slip.

She wondered if her stomach would ever be
the same. That nervous pang. The constant butterflies. Could she
get an ulcer from being nervous?

"This will all be over within days."

Did that mean he was going to let her go?
She didn't think so. He sat down on the floor across from her.

"Do you fear death?" he asked.

Sarah didn't respond. She picked up the
water bottle and drank from it again. She didn't know when she'd
get another chance. Her fingers seized and pulled hard on the hair
nestled in the most sensitive spot at the top of her neck.

"Why are you pulling your hair?"

After she didn't answer, he shrugged his
shoulders and sat back, leaning on his outstretched arms.

"I'm surprised you haven't broken yet. I
guess some girls take longer than others. Some things are scarier
than just losing your life, you know."

Sarah watched him from the corner of her
eye.

"I've decided I need to kill someone from
your family."

She jerked her head around causing her
headache to flare.

"I see now I've got your attention."

She wondered if he was serious or just
taunting her. He'd already done so much damage to her family. Her
mother would be worried about her and her father was probably
pacing back and forth trying to figure out what to do.

"I think I will execute your mother. Then
we'll be even. I'll use a car to run her down in the road like you
did to my brother. What do you think? Would that be fair?"

"You can't be serious," she said, her hand
tightening on the water bottle. Her voice surprised her with its
sandy grate.

"After you're dead, I will kill your
mother." He did an exaggerated nod of his head, his eyes wide. In
that moment she could see the craziness behind those eyes.

Sarah used all the leverage she had to swing
the water bottle. It made perfect contact with his cheek, before
bouncing off and sliding away on the floor.

She got in a defensive stance. Her breath
came out in pants, matching the throbbing in her head.

"You think you're tough? Is that it?"

He got his feet under him and stood up. She
eased back against the wall as he walked away from her. He pulled
out his cell phone and held it up. It looked like he was checking
for signal strength.

"I'm waiting for a call. In the meantime,
let me tell you about murder." He turned back to her. "Everyone who
dies is making room for the rest of us. Humans are at the top of
the food chain. We aren't hunted by anything or anyone other than
ourselves. If people only died from old age, the world would be
over populated way before now. That's what murder does. That's why
we have World Wars; population control."

Sarah slinked back down against the wall.
She opened the other water bottle and drank from it. She wondered
what her parents were doing right now. Were they close? Would the
police rescue her? She didn't have much faith in them, especially
after what this guy told the woman when he stole her SUV at the
motel. It was looking more and more like she was going to have to
get out of this on her own.

She tried to tune him out, but he kept on
going.

"Believe it or not, I'm doing something for
the greater good when I kill people. Trust me when I say, I will
kill you and we'll all be better off."

She understood that he was gone; completely
out to lunch. She watched as he frowned, rubbed an eyebrow and
turned in a half circle. He lifted his arm, checked the watch on
his wrist and then swore to himself.

After clenching his fist a couple of times,
he flipped open his cell phone and walked away. A moment later he
rounded the corner at the end of the room and left her alone.

She grabbed the rope and started to pull
with renewed fervor.

***

Gert hit redial and put the phone to his
ear. It rang three times before his employer picked it up.

"What's up?"

"Tell me how close the police are. What's my
next move?"

"There is no next move. You've gone too far
this time. You're on your own. And don't call me again."

"Wait! What're you talking about?"

"How many people have we murdered in the
years you, your brother and I have been doing this?"

"I don't know. Maybe two?"

"Right. You killed three more people at the
motel. Not to mention the cop you almost killed when you hit him in
the throat. That would've been two cops dead. As it stands, they
might be organizing some kind of manhunt. I'm thinking the FBI will
be getting involved soon. This is the kind of thing you escape by
leaving the country, fuck head."

Gert listened to all this while he leaned
against one of the buildings walls. He turned towards it and
started to tap his forehead back and forth against the chipped
paint.

"My advice is to find out what this girl can
do psychically, and then see if you can use it to your advantage.
You should keep her alive until you get somewhere safe. They won't
hesitate to shoot you if you're alone, but if they know you have
the girl, everyone will be more cautious. That's all I can offer
you."

Gert's forehead was hurting now, but he kept
it up. Life was so frustrating.

"Are you banging your head against the wall
again?"

"Yes."

"Why do you do that?"

"Because I like the feeling when I
stop."

"You're fucked. I'm hanging up and burning
this cell phone. You will never be able to reach me again. Don't
forget, no one will believe you if you tell them I was
involved."

"I've got proof of your involvement. I go
down, you go down too," Gert flipped his phone shut.

He moved away from the wall. He had to
think. There was always a way out. He could choose death by cop.
Kill as many as he could get before they took him. Besides, he
wanted to see his brother again. He was sure, after death, wherever
he was going, his brother would be there waiting.

But what was he going to do about the girl?
He cursed under his breath. Now he was getting angry. If she hadn't
meddled in their affairs, everything would be fine. His brother
would still be alive.

He realized more than ever this was past
saving. There would be no going back to the old way of life. It was
time to start thinking about what country he was going to live in.
Mexico, Cuba, somewhere in South America? An image of
murder/suicide crossed his mind. Sarah splayed out, blood all over
her while he put the gun under his chin. That would have to be a
last resort.

He knew the public never really had any idea
how many unsolved murders and missing persons were out there. As
long as he didn't get arrested for anything or fingerprinted, he
was pretty safe.

Although, the police wouldn't stop looking
for a cop killer.

He headed to the SUV for a pen and paper. A
minute later he walked back into the room that housed his
prisoner.

She had been busy. The pipe she was attached
to was bent and sticking halfway out of the wall.

"Write something," he said, tossing the
implements at her.

He bent down and used a key from his pocket
to undo her leather strap. It took him a long frustrating minute
maneuvering the rope to get it undone.

"What?"

"WRITE SOMETHING!"

He saw her jump back. She was startled by
his shout. Fumbling with the pad, she opened it and got her pen
ready.

"What do you want me to write?" she asked in
a whisper.

"Whatever your informer gets you to
write."

"It doesn't work like that."

"Today it does."

Gert lunged forward and grabbed her neck. He
tightened his grip enough to close her windpipe. She slumped down,
gasping for air. She was trying to speak, but nothing came out.

"What'd you say?"

He released her enough to talk.

"Only...when I...blackout..."

"I can help that along."

He let go of her neck and yanked his gun
from his waistband.

"No," she stammered. "Not knocked
unconscious...involuntary blackouts." She struggled to sit upright,
holding her neck. He reached out and forced her back down.

"The blackouts come and go. Sometimes once a
week, sometimes more. I never know when until I look in my notebook
and see a message there. If you'll let me keep this pen and paper,
I'll be able to write something when the next blackout comes."

"I'm not going to give you much time." He
stood up and looked around. "Make me happy, Sarah. You wouldn't
like me when I'm angry."

He smiled as he thought most people escape
their nightmares by waking up.

Sarah escaped hers by going to sleep.

Chapter 41

Sam pulled his car alongside Sarah's
parents. Dolan watched as Sam and Caleb rolled their respective
windows down at the same time.

"You guys hanging in?" Sam asked. He said it
as if they were high school chums years ago and this was a routine
'how are ya?'

"I don't want to give you a hard time
detective," Caleb said. "We just want our daughter back safely. And
I appreciate Dolan," he said this, averting his eyes around Sam,
"that you've jumped on the investigation. I guess we thought this
would come together quicker than it has. I mean, I've heard about
some of your successes, Mr. Ryan. It's just hard for us to not see
Sarah here."

Dolan nodded. He caught a glimpse of Amelia
wiping a tear from her cheek.

"We probably put too much stock in Dolan
coming up with this location so fast."

Dolan flashed back to the note he found when
he was wandering the Roberts' house looking for something to attach
himself to, something to cue his gift into action. When he was
touching things in Sarah's bedroom he came across an envelope under
her pillow. He'd pulled it out and saw his name on the outside. It
wasn't sealed, so he pulled the paper out and unfolded it.

The letter had been from Sarah. She said she
knew something dangerous was working its way towards her, but it
was unavoidable. She had to try to stop a kidnapping. She had no
choice as she was pulled by her conscience. Sarah had written a
line twice and Dolan wasn't sure if she was trying to convince him
or herself. The line said that whatever trouble came her way, she
felt she'd make it because the one who writes through her wouldn't
send her to death after all the good she'd done.

Dolan had folded the note up intending to
share it with everyone, but got distracted. He figured now wasn't
the best time to bring it up. Not with people putting less faith in
him as it is.