by Jenn Vakey
“He wasn’t supposed to be out for at least six more years,” Amber stated. “What happened?”
Rilynne shrugged, feeling relieved that she had some knowledge of the event. “Overcrowded prison and good behavior is all Matthews told me.”
“I haven’t heard anything about it,” Elise said, looking slightly miffed by the fact she hadn’t been included in the investigation. “I’ll see if I can find anything online, otherwise I’ll have to ask Matthews for a picture. Did he tell you if there had been any evidence that he’s involved?”
Rilynne shook her head. “It’s just one of the many places they’re looking right now. That and every case the two of us have worked and any personal grudges people might have against us. I don’t really know how I feel about the length of that list. More people dislike me than I think I’m really comfortable with.”
Both Amber and Elise laughed, but neither tried to talk around it.
“So, start from the beginning with that first dream,” Amber stated. “What’s the first thing you remember?”
Rilynne thought back, trying to remember the details. It was more difficult than she cared to admit.
“I remember being on a beach,” she stated, remembering the smell of the salty breeze. “I thought I was alone, but then this man showed up out of nowhere. He told me I was lost and there was a lot at stake if I didn’t find my way. Then he said something about there being more coming and it was his fault. You don’t think that means there’s really something else about to happen to make this all worse than it already is, do you?”
“It could mean anything,” Amber said coolly, but her eyes betrayed her true thoughts. She was just as worried as Rilynne, if not more. “What did this man look like? Can you remember seeing him anywhere? Maybe a picture or someone you’ve encountered in the last couple days?”
Rilynne shook her head without needing to think about it. She’d studied every face after realizing her memories were gone, hoping more than anything that one of them would open the floodgates. This man, whoever he was, wasn’t among them.
“How did this man make you feel?” Elise asked. Both Amber and Rilynne looked at her curiously. “I know you don’t remember what happened to you, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some little part of you that does. If this man was responsible, there’s a good chance it would have left you feeling uneasy or scared around him. Did you have anything like that?”
Rilynne thought about it before shaking her head again. “Actually, I felt oddly comfortable. I thought it was just the beach, but it actually seemed to get stronger after he showed up.”
“Well, that’s something to hold on to,” Amber stated. “It doesn’t mean anything for certain, but there’s a chance he was acting simply as a guide and the other thing he was talking about wasn’t related to this at all.”
Rilynne wasn’t convinced, but she didn’t share her feelings.
“What about the dream you had last night?” Amber asked.
This one was far easier for Rilynne to recall. She had spent nearly an hour running over every detail in her head before falling back to sleep, trying her best not to forget a single thing. She started on the street, telling them every detail she saw and felt. It wasn’t until she started talking about the cabin and the immaculate rooms below that she received any sort of reaction.
“There were close to fifteen girls behind the door when I opened it,” she said. “I didn’t see Ben anywhere around there, though. It felt different, too. I don’t really know how to explain it. I just felt a lot of sadness and fear. Maybe he’s being held by the same person who has them or something. Either that or it was just a completely random dream that has absolutely nothing to do with anything.”
“Did they look to be between five and fifteen years of age?” Elise asked. When Rilynne nodded, she closed her eyes and muttered something under her breath that Rilynne couldn’t quite make out. She didn’t bother asking before Elise grabbed the tablet of paper beside her and passed it to Rilynne.
“That doesn’t have anything to do with Ben, but it’s important that you write down every detail of it that you can remember,” she instructed. There was a sadness in her eyes that made Rilynne take the pen without asking why. She was glad, though, when Amber questioned it moments later.
“Is it from that case?” she asked. “The one Rilynne’s been working on for almost a year now with the girls who are being take young and held for years before that monster kills them?”
Though she now had an answer as to why Elise had been shaken by the statement, it didn’t do anything to help the discomfort she was feeling. In fact, it nearly tripled it. She’d been so worried about what would happen to Ben if she didn’t get her memories back, but she’d never considered there were other people out there who could be hurt or killed if she didn’t find herself. Even worse, little girls.
Rilynne took her time and wrote down every single detail she could remember of the part of the dream that involved the girls. Her hand shook the further she got into it as she remembered the fear in the oldest girl’s eyes. She didn’t need Elise to fill her in on the case to know that time was running out for her.
By the time she finished and let the pen drop to the table, Rilynne was near the point of tears.
“How am I supposed to do this?” she asked. “There are people crying out for my help and all I can do is write things down and hope something makes sense. If these dreams or flashes are so helpful, why have these girls still not been found? There are so many of them out there and they don’t have even the slightest bit of hope that anyone will find them before he’s done with them. I could feel it on them. All they feel is fear and sadness. Why haven’t I been able to find them yet?”
Elise reached out and wrapped her hand tightly around Rilynne’s still shaking ones. “No one would even know these girls were out there if it weren’t for you,” she said. “We knew there was a connection, but you pushed it further and opened the search to the entire state which let us know just how many he has. These families with missing daughters have hope now that their little girls are still out there, even if that means they are still in danger. Because of you, we know he’s somewhere in this area. Every dream and vision you have of them is another puzzle piece.”
“She’s terrified,” Rilynne stated. “She’s running out of time and I can’t remember anything that will help her. She’s going to die because of me.”
“This is not your fault, do you understand me?” Elise took a deep breath and tightened the hold on her. “I know she’s running out of time. As horrible as it is for me to say now, though, this isn’t where your attention needs to be. You gave us a name for this girl, and you helped to prove when he’s killing them. I know she’s scared, but she has another five months. That’s a fact. We can’t say the same for Ben. He’s where your attention needs to be today. As soon as we find him, I will do everything I can to help you find her before he has a chance to hurt her. I promise you that.”
Rilynne didn’t know how her sister was so sure that there was still five months left for them to find the girl, but she didn’t question her. Instead, she took in a deep breath and held it until she felt herself calming.
“What now?” she asked when she was sure she could talk without her tears following.
Elise grabbed a stack of papers out of her purse and dropped them onto the coffee table.
“This is a copy of everything the department has so far. They’re looking into every detail at the station, but it would be good for you to have a look also. Maybe something will trigger a memory or give you a flash. Even if it doesn’t have anything to do with what happened, any memories are good memories.”
“I’ll get us some drinks while you look over it all,” Amber stated, standing and leaving the sisters sitting on the couch.
Rilynne reached for the sheet of paper on the top of the stack and started studying it. The list of transactions on it showed her everywhere she’d purchased something over the pas
t several weeks, but it was nothing more than names and numbers to her.
Every sheet that followed was more of the same. She read over every detail and examined every picture, but nothing meant anything to her. By the time she had reached the final page, she had lost the last bit of hope. Although she learned much about her life, nothing brought her any closer to getting it back.
Neither her mother nor sister bothered to ask if she had seen anything when she put the last page down on the table. Rilynne dropped back frustratedly into the couch. She was bothered by the fact she hadn’t gotten anywhere, but more so that she let herself get her hopes up. That was more crushing than anything she’d encountered so far. It wasn’t something she felt she was willing to put herself through again. If it was going to feel anything close to what she was going through now, Rilynne didn’t know if she was would allow herself to get her hopes up again.
“What were you saying about a game?” Rilynne asked, trying to distract herself. “That actually sounds a little fun right now, although I’m having trouble picturing just how much fun a game would be if it’s geared toward getting unstuck on a case.”
Elise laughed. “Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it fun, but it might help to clear things up a little. The only funny thing about it is the fact that it was actually proposed to you by a killer that you were hunting at the time. She just wanted to see how much you knew about the case, but you and Ben picked it up and have used it since then whenever you’re stuck. Basically, you just run over all of the evidence aloud and throw out different scenarios that could be plausible.”
“And that actually works?” Rilynne asked skeptically.
Elise grinned and nodded. “It doesn’t usually solve it for you, but sometimes you get an idea that sends you down the right path. Being that we don’t really have anything right now, I don’t see how it could hurt at all.”
Rilynne kicked her feet up on the coffee table, resting her head against the back of the couch. “Why not.”
“So the way this works is you usually run over the evidence and spitball ideas that could connect things, and you see what is or isn’t a feasible possibility,” Elise stated, flipping through the papers on the coffee table. “So let’s start with what we know for sure.”
“I was upset about something that was going on with Ben,” Rilynne offered.
“And you left home to spend the day running errands for your party,” Amber added. “You talked to Elise just after nine and told her you were getting ready to head out.”
“Was I upset?” Rilynne turned and asked Elise. She shook her head. “So chances are I hadn’t found out whatever it was that angered me. Without knowing what it was, is there even a chance of determining what triggered the fight we had?”
Amber’s face twisted in contemplation. “Well, either Ben brought it up or something happened.”
“Well, we were at home, so it would have had to have happened here,” Rilynne thought out loud. “If he said something, there’s really nowhere we can go with it until I get my memories back. Assuming he didn’t, that means I either found something or someone else said something.”
They sat in silence for a moment as Rilynne looked around the house.
“If something arrived at the house, like a letter or a delivery, I don’t see it being put away before we left.”
“Nothing was found in the trash,” said Elise. “Everything was taken to the lab and looked through. So either you took it with you, or it was something else.”
Rilynne pulled her feet off the table and leaned forward, running her finger along her cast. “Has anything turned up in Ben’s phone records? Maybe he received a call or text.”
Elise shook her head. “We’re still looking over the numbers the provider sent us, but nothing out of the ordinary has shown up so far. One of the problems we have with that, though, is calls that aren’t answered don’t get listed. They’re looking into a few prepaid numbers that he’s talked to in the past few months, but it’s nearly impossible to track them down if the phone is no longer in use. Most have been people he’s consulted with, but there are still a few the guys are trying to put names to.”
“Did he receive a call or text right before we left?” she asked. “I’m assuming it would have been within an hour or two of me getting off the phone with you. The first transaction that’s been found for us that day was around 11:30, so that narrows the window for us.”
Elise shook her head again.
Rilynne was stuck. Her mind was still filled with a shallow fog, making it difficult for her to fully concentrate on anything. Despite trying to put all she had into thinking of anything that could have happened to trigger an argument, nothing stood out. For all she knew, he could have simply failed to put the toilet seat down.
“What about my phone?” she asked, though she had no expectation of receiving any different of a response. “Maybe someone called me and whatever was said caused me to be angry with him.”
Elise dug through the stack of papers and pulled out Rilynne’s phone records. After a few tense moments, she again shook her head. “There are only a few numbers on here that don’t belong to someone in the department. This one-” she said, pointing to one half way down the first page, “-is the pizza place that delivers here, and one of the others I see is the burger joint you like.”
“You can tell that just by looking at them?” Amber chuckled.
Elise grinned and shrugged. “I guess that tells you how much I order out these days. Matthews looked into the rest. You’ve got the vet, the pharmacy, and the bank. There’s nothing here that could explain what happened.”
Rilynne groaned and sat back, getting more annoyed with every passing moment. She could understand how this game could be helpful under normal circumstances, but nothing about this was even remotely normal.
“So that leaves us with only a few possibilities,” she said, annoyance sounding through her voice. “Ben broached the subject himself, something arrived or I found something that left the house with us, he had a call or text that I saw, or someone stopped by the house. None of these can be looked into. So, now what?”
Amber and Elise exchanged a look that Rilynne pretended not to notice. She knew that her negative outlook must be eating into them, but she couldn’t bring herself to really care. Between herself and Ben, there was very little room left to focus on the feelings of others, no matter who they were.
They spent the next two hours looking at every avenue possible, and although they had come up with several scenarios, they were nothing more than guesses.
Rilynne groaned loudly, letting the intense frustration overtake her. Everyone was so certain that all she needed was time and a little push to get back everything she’d lost. The more time she put into it, though, and the more she tried to find her way back, the more uncertain she became that it was ever going to happen. Instead, she was starting to believe that part of her was gone forever.
“Why don’t you go soak in a nice, hot bath,” Amber suggested, bringing her back to the room around her. “You’re in love with that tub of yours, and a relaxing bath always calms you down. Even if it doesn’t help you to see anything pertinent right now, I’m sure clearing your mind will feel good after the past few days. I’ll start figuring out what we’re going to do for dinner.”
Rilynne didn’t need to think it over for more than a second before carefully pushing herself up and heading across the house. Marti followed her silently, not dropping more than a few feet behind her. When she reached her bedroom and pushed the door closed behind them, she regretted the decision for a moment. It wasn’t the thought of sliding into a hot tub that caused her to hesitate, but the spiral staircase that stood between her and her destination. Even if her feet hadn’t been blistered and in pain, the rest of her body ached just thinking about the ascent up. She didn’t let that stop her, though. After grabbing a pair of clean pajamas from her drawer, she grabbed the railing and slowly made her way up to the second floor.
/> “Who puts the master bathroom on a separate floor than the bedroom?” she muttered to herself as she neared the top. Part of her knew that it must have been her idea, but that didn’t stop her from cursing it.
As soon as she reached the top, she started pulling her clothes off, leaving a trail behind her as she crossed through the sitting area and approached the master bathroom. The feel of the cool tile against her bare feet was refreshing. By the time she reached the large tub, they seemed almost numb beneath her. She wasn’t sure if it was the cold or an overload of the nerves that did it, but she honestly didn’t care. It was just nice to go a few moments without pain.
Rilynne stared at the empty tub for a moment while she considered just how she was going to go about getting in. With burns on the bottoms of her feet, she knew it would be torture if she filled it up to the level of heat she was picturing. On the other hand, it wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying if she went with a lower temperature. After a few long moments, she decided to climb in and get situated first, then fill the tub up. It was actually easier when she pictured it in her head then when she tried to accomplish it. She wanted to keep her feet propped up on the side so they didn’t get uncomfortable in the hot water, but her body ached so much that it was hard for her to lean forward enough to turn on the water, especially with only one hand to work with.
After she finally managed it, Rilynne sat back and let the steaming water overtake her. It was even more effective than she imagined. As the water washed over her bare body, it seemed to wash away not just her physical pains, but the growing anxiety that was bubbling within her. By the time the tub had filled and she kicked the faucet off, she actually felt almost normal. Or, at least as though she had imagined normal to be.
Rilynne let out a deep, satisfying sigh, dropped her head back against the edge of the tub, and let her eyes drift closed.