FOREVER MINE (22 page)

It’s cold.  Why am I cold?  I can’t move my body.  I try to wiggle my toes, slowly they start to cooperate.  Next I try my legs.  They don’t want to move yet.  I try my fingers, they twitch and spasm.  I feel like I’m trying to move through mud.  I finally open my eyes.  The second I crack my lids I wish I hadn’t.  The pain is instantaneous; and nauseating.  I feel sick.  Sweat is beading on my upper lip and hairline.  I roll to my side and vomit on the floor, then nothing. The world is black nothingness.

When I left Brody I went to Charlie’s next door neighbors, they are a young couple in their twenties.  The man, Steven Young, is a cello player in an orchestra.  The woman, Cecilia Best; or
Cece
, is an artist; she has her first art show next month.  They are very sweet and they offer to help anyway they can.  Unfortunately, neither of them knows or heard anything earlier today.

I feel so frustrated.  I pull out my cell phone, and call a friend I have at the bureau.

“Hey Chris,
it’s
Patrick O’Connor.”  Chris Fitzgerald and I went to the academy together; being the only Irish kids in class, we hit it off pretty well and stayed friends after graduation.  We were involved in a shootout during an attempted robbery when we were just rookies.  He got shot; I kept his heart going till EMT’s arrived.  After that we were real close.  We have gone to each other’s weddings, birth of his kids, and he was even there when I got divorced.

We were both stationed in Boston.  He took the test to get into the behavioral unit at the FBI, passed with flying colors, and moved to DC.  When he left we kept in touch but it’s hard to get together anymore.  He is traveling all the time. I left Boston about 2 years ago.  My ex-wife made it hard to live there. 

“Holy, shit!  Patrick, what the hell is up??” 

“I actually am not calling under very good circumstances.  I need a favor, a big favor.”

“A favor?
  Anything you need I will help, you know that.  What’s up?”

I tell him everything; the first time Charlie walked into the station, after running away that night in the alley to walking into her apartment and
knowing
something was wrong.  When I’m finished filling him in I ask my favor.

“So I need you to ask your supervisor, your boss, whoever it is that you bring cases to and ask them to get involved.  She hasn’t been gone 24 hours and there is nothing that says Michael took her, except my gut.”

“You got it, Pat.  I just need to go over everything again and take notes so I can get everyone on board.  I need you to e-mail me the pictures of Brody and the woman he is with.  Anything you can think of is important, even if you think it’s just a small detail.”

“I appreciate this more than you know.”

“You sound fond of this girl?”

“I am, but not in the way you think.  I admire her spirit.  She has had such a rough time these last couple years and she was really trying to move past everything that has happened.  She is a fighter, like ma.”

“I understand.  I will call you with our ETA, and let you know of our progress.”

“How do you know they will come?”

“I know because I’m the boss now.”

I laugh loudly, “Well, congratulations!  If anyone deserves it, it’s you.”

“Thanks, man, but I really wouldn’t be here without you.  I mean for real.”

“I’ll see ya when you get here.  Give my love to Amanda.”

“You got it.”

I hang up the phone and go to find Brody.  He is walking toward me when I round the corner.

“Hey, any luck?” I ask.

“Actually, Mrs. Clinton was pretty helpful.  She heard her arguing with a man earlier this evening.  She couldn’t hear what words were said, but voices were raised.  I personally don’t think she is as hard of hearing as she pretends.  Anyway, she also said last week before all of this started, there was a security installer here putting in hidden cameras in her things.  She gave me a description, but never spoke with him.”

“Where are her things now?”

“At my house.”
  Not realizing the significant of that he continues.  “I think maybe we should call around, maybe he is working at a home security company.”

“I doubt it, but we can check.  Brody we have the cameras at your house.”

“Oh, yeah.
  Can we use them?”  He looks a little better now that we are moving and doing something.

“I think maybe we can.  I also have a friend of mine coming in with the FBI in a little while.  He is going to let me know when they are leaving but I have to give him copies of the pictures you and Charlie found this afternoon.”

“Thank God, I don’t care what you have to give them.  If they want to arrest me, fine, just find her.  She can’t be alone with him; if he doesn’t kill her he will destroy her, mentally.”  He rubs his hand over his face to clear the emotions that are showing.  “I didn’t do anything with that woman, I know I didn’t.”

“Well, let’s go to the lab and do a blood test, I have a friend there that will keep it quiet for us.  If anything shows up in your system, you’ll know.  If not, then you will have to deal.  Besides I have to get my results from the other day.  I know I was drugged.  I want to know with what.  I think he sticks to a very exact way of doing things.  Details; this is all going to come down to details.  We can’t overlook anything.”

“Let’s go,” Brody is already walking by the time I finish.

Chris Fitzgerald sits at his desk, he is getting together all the facts that he just got from Patrick.  He needs to go in there and be unemotional, just present the facts.  Pat has a way of making light of the fact he saved a life, my life, all those years ago.  I finally have a way to help him.  I will not blow it.

Chris was just promoted to Special Agent in charge of his behavioral analysis team.  He tests off the charts and he is dedicated to his job.  He hasn’t been in the FBI for too long but he has received award after award and made a very good impression with his superiors.

He is 41 years old; a father of 3; 2 boys, Aiden and Brayden, and a girl Peighten.  He has been married to his wife for 15 years this September.  He has been friends with Patrick since police academy, when they were 23 and indestructible.  Well they learned quickly that was definitely not true.

Patrick used to bust my balls about being ‘black Irish’.  My black hair and dark eyes somehow meaning I was not a true Irishman.  He would just joke, but I would get so pissed.   We almost always ended up fist fighting.  Then one day he saved my life and I didn’t care what ethnic slur he used.  He made it possible to marry Amanda.  We had babies, a home, the career I’ve always dreamed about; all because he kept me alive. 

The doctor’s said I should’ve died.  The gunman in the bank was eventually shot, but Patrick worked on me throughout all the fighting. He was out in the open with nothing shielding him from getting shot himself.

I walk into the room that the team is gathered in.  Good evening everyone.  Sorry I had to cut your time at home short but something came up.  This one hits close to home for me so we are going in uninvited.  I have had contact with a cop friend of mine who has a report of a missing girl.

She is 30 years old, 5’9, and 133lbs.  She has dark curly hair and green eyes.  I will get you all pictures uploaded to your tablets as soon as I get them myself.  Three years ago, she was raped and beaten by her then fiancé.  She followed protocol and went to the hospital, they did a rape kit and she filed a report.  All that information is in front of you please take the time to review these reports and statements.

About a month and a half ago, the victim started to receive flowers at work.  She got a delivery once a week on random days.  She thought it was a colleague, so she didn’t report it.  There was only ‘an admirer’ written on the card.

One week ago, she was approached after work by her ex, whose name is, Michael Ryan Parker, and he chased her into an alley.  He has been contacting her every day for the last 7.  The time line of these incidents is outlined in front of you, as is the other reports filed with Officer O’Connor.  He will be our contact person on this case. 

I have spoken with him and I am waiting for his captain to call and some pictures of the victim’s friend who is being framed for other victims across the country.  I think what we have on our hands ladies and gentlemen, is a full fledge serial killer.

I have been looking into related cases and there are at least 8 other victims in different states all with the same MO.  They all were brutally raped, have the same bruise patterns, and hanging was the form of execution.  There are knife wounds all over their bodies, so who ever this is has had medical training of some kind; no organs were hit and the wounds are deep.

I will have all other information uploaded immediately so you can review it on the plane.  See you in 30; you’re dismissed.”

I hear a door open.  I hear feet moving across the floor.  I am picked up and moved and placed on something soft. 
A bed?
  A warm cloth is wiped over my face down my neck over my collar bone.  It feels wonderful.  I open my eyes and jump across the bed.  I don’t get too far because there is a chain around my ankle attached to the wall.

I look at my ankle then up into the sinister eyes of my capture.  He just smiles at me and puts the wash cloth in a bowl of water.  He rings it out and comes at me again to wipe my face.  I jerk away.

“Charlie, we can do this one of two ways, you can let me take care of you, or I can kill you and dump your body on Brody’s front lawn.  It’s entirely up to you.”

I feel like I might throw up again.  I start to shake, but I won’t let him see how scared I am.  I know if I can just wait him out I might be able to beat him at his own game.  Brody and Patrick just need time.  I look back at Michael and shake my head ‘yes’.

“Good, girl.”
  He moves back over to me and wipes me off.  “I have already cleaned the floor up.  You seem to have had a reaction to the drug I gave you to knock you out.”

“Why am I chained to the wall?”

“Because, that is what I want.”

“It is very heavy.”

“Well, if I see you are going to be a good girl and not try to do anything stupid, maybe I will take it off in a few days.  How does that sound?  I can be reasonable, Charlie.  You just have to behave.”

“A few days?
  I will behave.  Can’t you take it off now?”

“No.”

I feel the panic trying to make a comeback, but I swallow it down, “Ok.”

“See already you are learning.”  He reaches over and pats my knee.  “We will have dinner together in about an hour.  Since your stomach seems weak still; I have prepared some soup.”

“I’m not hungry, I think I just want to sleep some more.”

He throws the bowl of water against the wall in an abrupt mood swing, it hits with a loud reverberating bang.  I jump, while he screams at me.
“Damn, you, Charlie.
  You will eat with me.  Why must you fight me at every turn?  He looks at the water running down the wall across the room, “look what you made me do, you will clean this up.”

“I’m sorry, I am just tired.  I am not trying to be difficult.”

“That’s better, love” He reaches over and runs his hand over my cheek, and pulls my face to his placing a soft chaste kiss on my lips.  “Now, let me show you around.”  He stands and is laughing a little.  “This is obviously your bed room.  Over here is the bathroom.  This door here is your closet.”  He opens the door and inside is a whole wardrobe. “I’ll be back in an hour.”  He walks out the door and I can hear it lock behind him.

Now, that I’m awake and alone, I take a moment to look around; I am in a master bedroom of a house.  It is a very large room, with light grey walls and a black canopy bed.  The sheets are black, with white and grey accent pillows, and the comforter is white with a black toile pattern. The bed is metal not wood, and on either side of the bed attached to the wall are big metal rings.  The carpet is a dark grey, and all the trim is painted black. 

Along the left side of the bed is a wall with two windows, directly in front of the bed; are the doors for the closet and the bathroom.  I have seen the closet already; I don’t want to go in there again.  I swing my legs over the side of the bed and stand.  I take a minute to catch my breath and let the dizziness subside.

I follow the chain attached to my ankle and see that it is attached to a ring in the floor.  The ring swivels 360 degrees.  The chain is long enough to reach every corner of the room.  I take a few steps and have to stop again. 

I make it to the bathroom and open the door.  The bathroom is white; a white sink, white floor, white walls.  The walls, floor, and ceiling are all tile.  It isn’t a huge room.  The sink and toilet are on the left side of the room and the tub is on the right, there is one small window next to the toilet on the wall directly in front of the door.  In the middle of the floor is a drain.  Not wanting to think what that is used for, I walk over to the window, and look out.  I see nothing but trees.

I use the toilet, wash my face, and head back to the bedroom.  I walk around testing my leash.  I can reach everything I need to, so why chain me in the first place?  I walk over to the windows and see the same trees I saw in the bathroom. I go back to bed, walking is chaffing my ankle. 

Michael walks back in with a rolling service cart, like you see at hotels, and sets out dinner; chicken soup and fresh warm bread; my stomach growls and my mouth waters. 
Traders.

He has set up a table and chairs on the side of the room by the windows.  He motions for me to join him.  I walk over and sit.  He places a napkin in my lap and ladles out some soup for me.  Butters a piece of bread and pours a glass of water.  I wait for him to sit and start eating; I don’t trust him, before I taste the soup.

“Ok, Charlie, let me tell you what is going to happen now that you’re here.”

I eat as much as I can, I still feel a little queasy, and I listen to what he has to say reminding myself to play along.  There is nothing he can do to me that I cannot endure, as long as I live.  I have to be careful, though, he is a very intelligent man and will know I am trying to play him if I’m not careful.

He pushes his plate away and stands.  He walks over and pulls my chair out.  “We are going to have the life I always wanted us to have.  We are going to be together forever.  Well at least until you have been all used up.”

“What happens when I’m all used up?”

“I think I you know that answer, Charlie.”  He smiles and takes my hand and pulls me out of the chair and into an embrace, he rubs his hands up my back and to the base of my neck grabbing a fistful of hair he tips my head back.  He licks the side of my neck and whispers in my ear,   “I am going to kill you.”

Sheer terror.
  I feel it throughout my body.  I tremble and the room starts to go in and out of focus. 

“Do you remember my promise Charlie, all those years ago; I said if you ever embarrassed me again, I would kill you, AFTER I finished using you?  Well I plan on using you, using you well.”

“You think you can break me by using me, your wrong, I won’t let you win, Michael.  I have Brody now, you can’t take that away.  You have no power over my heart.  You can have my body, take it.  It’s just a whole for you to fuck.  I will be thinking about Brody the whole time.  I will never stop loving him.”  It’s like my mouth was possessed, I planned one thing but in anger said something else entirely.

I should have known it was coming, but it still shocked me when the back of his hand came up and caught me right across the cheek. 

“You stupid girl.”
He hit me again.  “Stupid, stupid, girl” Again and again he hit me.  I felt my lip split as I tried to hide my face in my hands.  He grabbed me by the hair and dragged me to the bed.  He throws me onto it and holds me there; backwards with my ass in the air.  He grabbed a knife from somewhere out of sight and cut my pants off me. I laid there screaming for him to stop, totally exposed.  He pulls his pants down and rubs himself against me; I gagged, begged for him to stop.  I promised to be good. 

He leans over me and tells me. “I know you’ll be good, you always were.”  He kisses the side of my tear stained face.  He lets go of me and stands up pulling his pants up, he grabs me and spins me to face him.  “I won’t touch you right now.  I will wait a little while; but next time I won’t stop.”  With that he walks over to the cart that our leftovers are on and pushes everything out the door.

“Brody please hurry.” I whisper into the universe hoping he will hear me.