Darkness Follows (16 page)

When
Ryanne woke the next morning she did not feel groggy, as she usually did after
taking sleeping pills. She had taken two of Aurina’s and they worked better
than she had expected. After her shower, she watched Aurina make breakfast.

“Where’s
Burrows?” Ryanne asked.

“Out on the front porch having her
coffee, thank God.”

“Getting
tired of our babysitter?”

“Tired
of the way she makes us out to be such a burden.”

Ryanne
decided not to argue.

“Blake
will be over soon. He said Crawley and Max are coming over this afternoon
around one." She stirred the scrambled eggs. "How are you feeling
this morning?"

"Fine."
Ryanne didn't
even try to hide her feelings, but she still wasn't up for talking to Aurina
about them.

"You've
got to be hungry. You missed dinner last night."

"Yep."
Ryanne didn't
have an appetite, but breakfast was Aurina’s specialty, and since Ryanne
usually cooked, she took the opportunity to have a fuss free meal.

"Listen,
I know you don't want to talk about it. I've given you some space, but I want
to know what you're thinking. Remember what happened last time I gave you
space?"

"I
think it's messed up. It’s disgusting what David and Jeremy have done."
Ryanne said.

"Well
obviously," Aurina leaned toward her on the counter, "How do you
feel?"

"Oh
come on Rina, how do you think I feel? Jeremy seems pretty much obsessed with
me and the only thing we are told to do about it is hide out in Dersten until
he is found. They haven't found him yet Rina, and it's been almost two weeks
now. He could be anywhere…And on top of that I’ve been worried about Mom and
Dad."

"I'm
sorry Rye, I wish I knew about David, or had better judgment than I thought I
did. Now we are both screwed, and for reasons I can't completely understand,
David’s accomplice, or whatever, is coming after my little sister. How do you
think I feel?"

"I
blame myself." Ryanne put her mug down, staring at her sister.

"What?
Why?"

"At
least one girl died instead of me if I'm right about Anne Marie. If Jeremy is
here, maybe he killed her because he couldn’t get to me."

"If you're right about her?
Rye, it's not
your fault at all." Ryanne thought Aurina could be right, but nothing was
certain. She had played over different scenarios in her head and nothing added
up. Regardless, she wished Aurina would stop blaming herself about their
situation.

Blake
let himself in, and came into the kitchen with what Ryanne guessed was a
wrapped bouquet of flowers.

"Smells great."
Blake winked at
Aurina, and her sister blushed. “I got these for you.” Blake set the flowers in
front of Aurina on the counter, and she went to a drawer and grabbed scissors.

“Rina
always makes a great breakfast." Ryanne told Blake as he leaned over the
back of a kitchen chair.

Aurina
took the pink peonies out of the wrap, and brought them to her chin smelling
them.

“They’re
beautiful. You didn’t have to do that.”

“Margie
at the flower shop told me they were popular.”

Ryanne
tried to hide her smile by covering her mouth with her hand, and the room was filled
with an awkward silence as Aurina tried to find a glass big enough to hold the
bouquet.

"So
apparently Crawley's bringing big news.
Wouldn't say what
though."
Blake said as he took a seat at the kitchen table.
"How are you feeling?"

"Fine."
Ryanne wondered
if Blake believed her.

"While
you were sleeping, Jake tried to pay you a little visit." Blake told her.

"Really?"
Ryanne was
surprised. She hadn't thought of him much in the past few days, but she was
glad he didn't seem upset with her about the other night. He seemed so wounded
that such a big fuss was made over hanging out together, and she wondered if he
was at all suspicious about getting picked up by the police.

"Yeah,
Max and I told him where he can go though." Blake nodded at Aurina, and
she smiled back. Ryanne thought it might be a good sign that Max was still
being protective regarding the Jake situation. His job wasn’t to protect her
from him, but she thought he must care enough to do that of his own accord.
“Speaking of Jake, Anne Marie’s mom, Beth, she's having a tough time with it
all, and she's demanding Crawley take Jake into custody."

"You're
kidding." Aurina said.

"Word
around town is that Jake's the prime suspect. No one can think of anyone else
who'd want to hurt her. There are more than a few people who are positive he
did it."

"I
think something was going on between them." Ryanne said." But I don't
think he wanted to hurt her. I'm telling you guys, it wasn't Jake." Ryanne
noticed Aurina shaking her head, and Ryanne felt frustrated that no one seemed
to agree with her. “Guys, Anne Marie
was
stabbed, and
Jake had no blood on him whatsoever. Plus, there was no murder weapon found.”

“How
would you know, did you check him over?” Aurina asked, and Ryanne rolled her
eyes.

Burrows
came through the door before Ryanne could answer, followed by Max and Crawley,
and the three hurried into the kitchen.

"Folks,
have a seat." Crawley ordered.” Need your attention." Aurina turned
the burner on the stove off, and joined them all at the table.

"Jeremy
called Jones directly. It was too fast to get a trace on the call, but the call
was recorded." Crawley said.

"The
call was made right to Jones?" Ryanne asked.

"That's
what we have come to discuss." Crawley turned to Max.

"Jeremy
asked if Jones had received his note. When Jones said he had, Jeremy
immediately asked if Jones finally knew who he was talking about.” Max turned
to Ryanne, “Jones told him he believed he was referring to you in his message,
and Jeremy confirmed it.”

“So
what’s Jeremy doing? Taunting him?” Blake asked.

“Naw.”
Crawley shook
his head.

“Jeremy’s
fixation with Ryanne, and the arrest and death of his partner has made him
desperate.” Burrows explained with a smile, “Jones is hoping this means he’ll
slip up again soon, but it was the end of his conversation with Jeremy that
concerns everyone. Jeremy told him that he believes if Ryanne was with him, he
wouldn’t want to kill anymore.”

“Holy shit.”
Blake spat.
“That’s sick. He’d kill whether or not he was with Ryanne.” Ryanne noticed
Crawley and Max looking between each other and then at Burrows. Ryanne guessed
they were going to leave that part out, but Burrows spilled the beans.
“Right?”

“Probably,
but Jones believes Jeremy thinks it’s true. That Ryanne would help him stop.
That he would feel fulfilled in some way that would cease his urge to kill.”
Burrows sighed as Blake shook his head, and then carried on, “At the end of his
conversation, he seemed to allude to the fact that he has already killed again,
although he didn’t come right out and say it. This really can’t be a
coincidence here anymore, can it?
With Anne Marie?”
Burrows looked to Crawley.

“I’m
not sure, but if it was, it’d be one hell of a coincidence.” Crawley stood from
his chair and walked to the front window. He stood silently for a while, as he
seemed to be gathering his thoughts. “I thought his note implied that he didn’t
know where the girls were?”

“
Right,
and it’s possible he killed someone in Toronto again,
that they haven’t found. Again, we aren’t ruling anything out.” Burrows told
him.

“So
there is a possibility Jeremy wouldn’t hurt anyone else if he could meet me? Be
with me?” Ryanne asked, finally breaking the silence.

“Jeremy
won’t lay a hand on you.” Crawley spoke from the living room, with his back
still facing them. “I think you are safe right here with us.”

He
had just gotten home from the gym when he received the phone call.

"Chief
Crawley's just told the girls."

"Alright, anything else up?"

"No...I
just wanted to let you know I guess." There was silence over the line
until Burrows spoke again. "Jones, you're not going to use Ryanne as bait
are
you?"

"Why
would you say that?"

"You
said you had another idea, a plan. You still haven't told me, and since you
thought Jeremy wanted Ryanne all along, I just thought you might be willing to
try it."

"Not
a chance."

"Alright good."

"
Good
?"

"I
don't think it's worth the risk."

Jones
huffed.
"How so?"

"The risk of creating a set up
which results in Jeremy knowing where the girls are…Assuming that he'll come
for Ryanne...Giving him the upper hand..."

"You're
beginning to sound paranoid Burrows."

"I'm
just glad that's not the plan. So what is it?"

"When
he kills again, we'll know where he is."

Burrows
waited for a moment.

"Sorry,
I don't think I understand. You want to wait until he kills again?"

"We're
not just going to sit around and wait. We have evidence to process, results to
be returned."

"All
due respect Jones, but this isn't right. There's gotta be more to it."

"There
is no new information, no tips,
witnesses
. I can't
make something out of nothing Burrows. You've got a job to do. Keep those girls
safe. Otherwise, leave the case to me."

"I
knew this would happen."

"What?"

"I'm
thankful for everything you've done for me career-wise, but you know how I feel
about this case. You know I want to catch Jeremy just as much as you do. Don't
shut me out like this."

"You
think this is about me pulling rank?"

"Isn't
it?"

"Do
you trust me?"

Burrows
sighed.

"Do
you trust that I'll do the best I can on this case? Because I trust that I've
sent the best officer out to protect those girls. I trust you Burrows."

"Yes…I
trust you."

"Okay.
Sit
tight,
and I'll be in touch."

*****

After
Jones ended the call, he set his cell phone down on his night stand. He went to
his bathroom, and turned on the shower before undressing. Steam had already
cloaked the mirrors when he got in the shower, and started to replay the phone
call over in his head.

"So you know who I was referring to in my
letter?"

"Ryanne."

"I need to see her Inspector Jones."

"Why don't you then?"

"Don't play dumb. You've got her protected. I
don't want to hurt her."

"Like you hurt the others Jeremy?"

"Hmm, you mean Ellie, Maggie and Julie?"

"I mean all of them."

"They were just my warm up. It was so easy with
Maggie, but Julie, we let her struggle. David had to spoil my fun with Ellie. I
love to watch them struggle Inspector. David just held me back. I think you
know that by now, don't you?"

"Quit the games Jeremy."

"I'll quit when you let me see her."

"I can't do that Jeremy."

"That's too bad. I'll have to do this the hard
way."

"I don't think you know where she is. That's
why you're calling me isn't it?"

"I'm watching her right now."

Crawley
had gone out onto the front porch to make a call, and the rest of the group
stayed at the kitchen table, with the exception of Burrows who used Ryanne’s room
to call Jones.

“He
can’t actually think Jones would hand Ryanne over to him. What was the point of
him sending a note and calling?” Blake said.

“I
think he is just getting desperate, like Burrows said.” Max kept looking
between the hallway and the front door, wondering who would emerge first with
an update. It was Crawley who came into the house first.

“Pearce
finished questioning Jake down at the station,” Crawley told them as he came
back to the kitchen table and took his seat at the head of it facing the door.
“He has no real alibi to account for the time he spent out the back of
O’Leary’s with Anne Marie.”

“You
think Jake coulda killed her?” Blake asked.

“Listen,
Bill O’Leary is one of my best friends. I’ve known Jake since he was a baby. I
don’t want to think he could do something that terrible. I don’t think he
would, but it’d be a mistake to let my personal feelings cloud my judgment.
That’s why I had Pearce question him.”

Burrows
came back into the kitchen, and took an empty chair between Blake and Aurina.

“Just
spoke to Jones. He says we need to sit tight until he decides what to do. It’s
his call. What did I miss?”

Max
filled her in on what Crawley had just explained. Jake was a suspect, although
there was no evidence left to prove he killed Anne Marie, and so he had been
released. Crawley told Max that Officer Pearce would be arriving shortly, and
that Max should get some sleep before his night shift. They said their quick
goodbyes, and Max left feeling unsettled.

*****

On
his way home, he reflected on his conversation with the Chief regarding the
black car the other night. When he told him he didn’t recognize the car, and
hadn’t gotten the license plate, the Chief seemed frustrated. Max knew he had
been too focused on getting Jake away from the house, and that it shouldn’t
have been his first priority, but Jake got to him. He let the Chief down.

Through
high school Jake and Max had been in the same grade, and had never hung out in
the same circles. As far as Max could remember, Jake never had a mom around.
Rumor had it that Bill O’Leary was part of an affair with a married woman from
Camden. They were shacked up north of the lake in a cabin, and when she was
pregnant and her husband from the city found out it wasn’t his, she lived permanently
with Bill O’Leary over the bar he bought. After she gave birth to Jake, she
left him with Bill and moved back to the city again. Cut off all contact from
them. Max supposed that was part of the reason Jake was the way he was. Still,
Max wondered if he was capable of murder.

Max
had been taught that anyone, put in the right situation and state of mind, was
capable of killing. He couldn’t picture Jake killing anyone, but decided
against voicing his opinion, lest he be naive.

All
he knew for sure was that his thoughts on the matter were muddled. He needed to
sleep and clear his mind. More than that, he needed a drink.