FOREVER MINE (24 page)

The moon is high in the sky, when he climbs into her window.  She is sprawled out across the bed and snoring slightly.  He stands in the dark and watches her for a minute. He almost laughs at how soundly she can sleep, almost.

He quietly takes off his shoes, jacket, and shirt.  He walks to the side of the bed and gently moves her over.  She sighs and smiles in her sleep.  He lies down next to her and gathers her into his arms.

“Hi” She looks up at him and smiles.

They turned 16 this summer, and are going to be getting their driving permits soon.  If they can pass the class at school, if not they have to wait until their 17.  She is already talking about cars she wants.  He just wants something to get him out of here; away from his mom.

“Hi, yourself.
  I didn’t mean to wake you.  You were snoring.”

“I do not snore. 
You alright?”

“No, but I don’t want to talk about it, yet.”

She has her chin on my chest looking up at me.  “OK.”

I can feel myself getting upset and it makes me so mad.  I push her away and roll to my side.  She gives me space for about a second, then curls up behind me and wraps one arm around my middle while the other plays with my hair. 

“I found my mom tonight on the bathroom floor.  She was passed out cold.  I thought she was getting better, I guess she was just better at hiding it.  I want to hate her.  She is so weak.  I just wish things could go back to the way it was before.  I haven’t seen or heard from my dad in three years.  What kind of asshole does that?  Why did he leave?  I just want someone to see I’m still here.  I didn’t leave.  I want someone to give a shit about me.”

I let my tears fall freely now.  She is holding me; there is no judgment with her.  There never was.  She just holds me and lets me get it out of my system, waiting for what else I have to say.

“I came home and couldn’t find her in the house anywhere.  I went upstairs and she was on the floor in the bathroom.  She had her pants around her ankles and was face first in a puddle of her own vomit.  It was gross.”  I roll over to face her.  “I cleaned up the best I could, but she wasn’t responding.  I had to call an ambulance, when they got there they asked if I had someone to stay with.  I said my dad will be home soon, they believed me and left me there alone.”

She wipes the tears from my eyes.  “You always have a place here.  My mom loves you.  I love you.”

“I know, and I love you guys, but I want
my
mom back.”  She sees my lip tremble and her face
softens
.

“Come here.”  She pulls me into a tight hug.  I fall asleep in her arms, again, except this time I cry myself to sleep.   

I wake up Saturday morning.  It has been about 36 hours since Charlie was taken Thursday night.  I have to do something.  I take a shower, shave my face, and get dressed.  I can still hear everyone moving around the house down stairs.

I go into the kitchen to get some coffee, and see what kind of progress has been made since I feel asleep last night.  I sit down at the table and wait for Patrick to get off the phone.  He nods to me acknowledging that he sees me waiting and quickly ends the call.

“Well, I’m glad you slept.  I thought you were going to fall down yesterday.”

“Yeah, I guess I did need it.  How are we doing, any news?”

“This is where we are at; Shannon O’Rourke was questioned yesterday and he knows something, but won’t speak unless we make a deal to have his sentence reduced.  I was just on the phone with Agent Keller, and she is working on that right now.  The girls we suspect are also Michael’s work, all fit the same pattern.  They all resemble each other.  The part that we have confirmed is they were all cut with a surgical scalpel in precise areas to miss all organs.  It must have been extremely painful; they would’ve slowly bled to death if the rope around their necks didn’t kill them first. We are trying to pin point any activity Michael had near the area where the other victims were found; so far nothing.  But that is why we need O’Rourke to talk.  I think if he can give us an alias Michael used we will find that he was in or around the cities where the other bodies were found.

We went through the things Charlie brought here and found the cameras planted by “the security’ guy and found nothing.  The store they were bought at can’t remember the guy and they were bought with cash.”

“What about Michael’s parents?  Did anything ever come of that?”

“Emma and Douglas Parker; very wealthy family money, they added to it by making all the right investments at all the right times.  Doug, worked as a lawyer for a big wig firm, and Emma was a pediatric doctor. 

Emma worked at the children’s hospital in Philadelphia.  She was there for a number of years.  Everyone loved her.  She was good with patients, other doctors, and the cleaning crew.  Most important she was good to her staff. 

One day she meets Doctor Benjamin Warren.  They talk and flirt and before either one can help it they are head over heels in love.  As far as anyone knows the affair was kept quiet, but everyone always knows when these things go on.  It lasted years.  She was waiting for Michael to get into a certain private school and was going to leave Douglas.

Douglas was a hard working, hard playing man.  He was old fashion in his belief that; his wife should not have been working.  It was a sore spot in their marriage.  If she needed something to do she should start a charity or a book club.  No Parker woman has worked in centuries.  The men took care of what was theirs.

He drank a lot too.  There are quite a few
almost
charges against him.  Drunk and disorderly, disturbing the peace, public intoxication, He even got caught getting a blow job form some prostitute but the charges were dropped.  He had to have a judge in his pocket. 

This is a little hard to prove but water cooler gossip is that he hit Emma all the time.  She started staying in an apartment by the hospital and he started having relations with very expensive escorts.

The day everything went bad Doug was just released from jail on drug possession charge.  He had cocaine on him when he was pulled over for speeding.  His firm fired him, finally having enough of his crap.  Emma came home to pack bags and ask for a divorce.  She brought Ben with her for back up.  Doug shot Emma, Ben and turned the gun on himself.  Michael, who was 15, was home at the time and was said to have heard the whole thing from his room.  He called the police, but never came downstairs.”

“Well, at least that explains why he thought Charlie was cheating on him all the time.   He thinks all women are cheaters.  Just out of curiosity, what did Emma look like?”

I thought you’d never ask.  She is 5’9, brown curly hair, and green eyes.”

“I thought so.”  I rub my eyes and the back of my head, I can feel a headache coming on.  “You know I’m no psych expert, but Charlie used to have blonde hair when they first met.  It seems like it went from bad to worse, when she made it dark.  Do you think that matters?”

“I have no idea; it could have triggered something in him; like he didn’t truly see the resemblance until then.  I think the outcome would have been the same either way.”

“Thanks Patrick, I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t here.  Is this your case now?”

“I am working with a couple of detectives from the station, but yeah, it’s all I am working on right now.”

“Is there anything for me to do?”

“Not yet but as soon as Agents Keller and French get back, I want you researching the list of aliases Michael used.  There has to be something he got sloppy with.  This is all too neat.”

I can’t see him.  I can’t hear him.  Where did he go?  My back is in the corner, so he can’t sneak up behind me.  There are goose bumps on my arms and the little hairs on the back of my neck are standing on end.  There is movement and a noise to my left.  I turn my head just to look in that direction, and a bright white light explodes in front of my eyes, and then blackness.

I open my eyes and I am back in the bedroom.  I have on the nightie and matching underwear that Michael wanted me to wear.  My arms are stiff and hurt.  I try to move them and I can’t.  I look over at my wrist and see that there is a chain around it, attached to the wall above the bed where I noticed the hooks earlier.  Both arms are above my head spread wide, causing my shoulders to throb.

“Ah, finally, I see you are awake.  I put you back in bed but I added a little insurance this time.  You will not go without chains again.  You can’t get out of here Charlie, so stop trying.  No one will find you.  Just stop fighting fate.  We belong together, you will not leave me.”  He reaches over and strokes my face.  “You look beautiful, sorry about your head.  I will check you out in a bit; make sure there is no concussion.” He leaves me.

When he leaves I go over what I saw out in the other room.  It has no windows, except the small one I can’t reach.  I saw trees when I looked out the windows of the bedroom and bathroom.  I must be on the ground level.  Maybe this isn’t a house at all.  All those girls were found in warehouses.  What if this is a warehouse?  A warehouse made to look like a real house.  I have to get out of these chains.  Even if he puts the foot chain back, I need my hands.

I need to find out as much as I can about where I am.  I might have one more chance to get myself out of here.  When the chance arises I have to take it.  I don’t think Brody or anyone will be able to find me.

Brody.
  God I miss him.  There is so much I wanted to tell him.  So much I wanted to do with him.  I wonder what he is doing right now.  He was coming to pick me up.  Does he think I left?  Is he trying to find me?  I would do anything to go back to that day we found those pictures.  I know now he didn’t do anything with that woman.  He wouldn’t.  I guess it doesn’t matter now.  I will probably never see him again.

I lay there crying.  I cry for Brody, for the life I always wanted with him, but was too afraid of.  I cry for all the things that I have been too afraid to do.  I cry hardest because I am not ready to die.  I know I am going to.  When I can cry no more I doze off.  My tears and emotions leave me spent; so I retreat to somewhere safe, and dream of Brody.