Kallista

by Sian B. Claven

  They didn’t appreciate the art. They would. They would appreciate it when he created his masterpiece. Tatum would be perfect. Tatum would be the greatest masterpiece ever beheld by mankind.

  Chapter 14

  Kallista

  THE INCIDENT WITH THE blood from the photographs triggered something in Darren that caused him to announce he needed to leave town for a few days. He wouldn’t explain why he had to go, but insisted it was important that he look into certain avenues, and reiterated that Mike had to protect Kalli while he was gone, which Mike readily agreed to do.

  Darren climbed onto his motorbike early the next morning and roared down the road, leaving Kalli and Mike to plough through the next part of the case without him.

  Barker Wild was the next victim.

  They immediately set up a board for him and the first big note Kalli made was to question ‘why an adult?’ Barker Wild had been the only adult The Butcher had targeted and it struck her as odd.

  Mike went over numerous theories with her, theories he and his partner had at the time, and they went over all the forensic evidence collected.

  Kalli grew increasingly frustrated. They couldn’t find anything to help them crack the identity of the killer.

  A few days into the research, she slammed her hand down on the table, cursing loudly, before storming downstairs. Mike followed her. She entered the kitchen and switched the kettle on, leaning against the counter with crossed arms while she waited.

  “There’s no point getting angry,” he said quietly, not wanting to spur on her bad mood.

  “No shit, Sherlock,” she retorted before running a hand through her hair. “I’m sorry, it’s just really exasperating. After all these years of studying, and after going over so much evidence, I am stumped and this psychopath hasn’t made one mistake.”

  Mike leaned against the doorway. “Why don’t we go out?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “As in, get out,” he said, chuckling. “Not a date; let’s just go grab something to eat and get a couple of drinks. A distraction would be good for us. It’ll give us a chance to look at the case with fresh eyes. I could use the break, and some food.”

  Kalli bit her lip. Socialising wasn’t really her thing and hadn’t been since Tatum was murdered, but she had to agree with Mike, she really could use a break. She nodded. “Okay, food and a drink and we can look at the evidence again tomorrow.”

  Mike smiled. “Great, I’ll go get changed into something more comfortable and we can head out.”

  MIKE WAITED FOR HER outside, inspecting his fingernails as he wondered how long it took a woman to get dressed. Apparently not long at all because he soon heard the front door and looked up to see Kalli coming towards him.

  He couldn’t help how his heart beat slightly faster as he took her in. She wore different clothes to her usual casual garb. Her black pants were skin tight, showing off her long legs. A long shirt that almost passed for a dress was tight on top, which showed off her cleavage, but flowed at the bottom. Her hair was loose and curled around her face, and she had applied light make-up.

  He smiled and opened the door for her. “Wow! You look like a person.”

  Kalli rolled her eyes. “Very funny. I wasn’t sure where you were taking me so I dressed for, well, most kinds of places.” She blushed slightly as he shut the door and walked around to get in the driver’s side.

  “Well, I was thinking something low key and easy.”

  “You want to take me to the pub?” she teased, smiling.

  “Yeah, well, their food is good and drinks are cheap. I earn a cop’s salary, okay. Not all of us are fancy-smancy criminologists.”

  He started the car and reversed out the driveway, driving in the direction of the bar. It was an awkward trip as they both fell silent. His tight jeans and t-shirt had not been lost on Kalli, who was used to seeing him in a suit and tie, even at home where he was always awake first and the last to go to bed.

  As he pulled in the car park, Kalli realised someone needed to break the awkwardness. “Do you take all your dates out to fancy places like the bar?”

  “This isn’t a date, remember?” he teased back, getting out. Before he could open the door for her, she climbed out and he gave her a funny look.

  “What?” she asked. “This isn’t a date, right?”

  “I still have manners,” he said, closing and locking the door. He offered her his arm. “My lady,” he teased.

  She looped her arm through his and they walked into the pub.

  Keeping her on his arm, Mike signalled to the bartender on duty. “My kind maître d’, please could you seat us.”

  The bartender looked at him like he had gone mad and pointed to a booth. “Uh, that one’s open, Smith.”

  Mike grinned. “Jolly good,” he said, leading Kalli to the booth.

  She was trying not to giggle as she sat down, and said, “I haven’t seen such an upmarket place like this before. You surely are spoiling me, taking me out for dinner at such a refined establishment.” She picked up a paper napkin, made a big show of shaking it out, and placed it on her lap. She smiled brightly at him. “I feel so classy.”

  “As you should,” he said. “This is a five star restaurant and you have to book months in advance for reservations.” He picked up the paper menu lying to their right and added, “I think some lightly grilled beef, on a freshly baked bun, with home grown lettuce and tomato, and a side of deep fried pomme de terre sounds just splendid.”

  Kalli tried to keep a straight face. “Hmm, the house specials, I like the sound of that.”

  Mike raised his hand to the bartender again to get his attention and called, “My good man, two house specials, please.”

  The bartender shook his head and yelled to the kitchen, “Hey, Lou, can I get two burgers and chips.”

  Kalli waved for his attention and said, “And two of your finest beers, please.”

  “What she is saying,” Mike interjected, “is that we would like two of the finest fermented barley beverage you have to offer.”

  The bartender muttered to himself about crazy people who took drugs before bringing them each the house beer, setting them down in front of them. “Will that be all?” he asked.

  Mike chuckled. “Yeah, thanks, keep the change,” he said, handing him a bill.

  The bartender’s attitude picked up a bit and he smiled. “Thanks, man.”

  Both Kalli and Mike burst into a fit of giggles once he had left and then they fell into a more comfortable silence. Kalli played with her beer glass and Mike watched her.

  “So ...”

  “So?” she echoed.

  “What’s after this?” he asked, lifting his glass to his lips and taking a deep pull.

  “There are other cases,” she said. “I mean, at first I started this purely to solve Tatum’s, but after a few years of studying I realised there were other sisters, other mothers, other families that needed closure. I want to open up my own private practice and solve those cases for those families.”

  Mike nodded. “So you’ll probably move to a big city, huh?”

  “Oh, I can work from anywhere,” she said. “I like travelling, but it’s nice to have somewhere to call home.” She sipped her beer.

  “That’s cool,” he said, leaning back and relaxing. “It’s the reason I joined the force. I wanted to make a difference.”

  “You do make a difference” Kalli said, looking at him with wide eyes. “You make a huge difference.”

  “I didn’t to your sister, or your family,” he murmured.

  “You did. I was just too young to see it then. But, hey, no shop talk, right? Tell me more about where you went to school?”

  “I went to school here,” he said, “and then I went to the city to train to be a cop, and when I made detective I moved back.”

  “So no Mrs Smith?” she asked, hiding behind another sip of her beer.

  It was pretty much finished; how had she drunk it so quickly? Mike gestured fo
r refills for both of them.

  “No, there isn’t; I got too wrapped up in work and a lot of women don’t understand the toll it takes, or the hours, or they just get tired of waiting and worrying about when and if you’ll come home.”

  “That’s not something I would worry about,” she said without thinking.

  Luckily she was spared a reaction as the bartender came to their table to set down their new glasses and clear away the old. They both took generous sips of their beers and fell silent again.

  “And no boyfriend for you?” Mike asked.

  Kalli pulled a face and shook her head, which made him laugh.

  “Not into men?” he asked. “Not that it bothers me; it’s just that face you pulled.’

  Kalli chuckled. “No, I am definitely into men; it’s just that not many men get me or have the time or patience to get me.”

  “Sounds like we’re in the same boat.”

  Their food arrived, breaking the awkwardness again. Both knew they were playing a dangerous game, and that the joking had stopped and the flirting was quite real. They had to keep things straight between them. Neither believed in mixing pleasure and business.

  They ate, talked about schools and where they studied, the sports they did and the trouble they got into as kids. They compared how different their childhoods were, considering Mike was fifteen years older than she was.

  The beers kept flowing and soon enough they both had too much to drink. The bartender called last round and they realised they were two of four people left in the pub. One was a man sitting at the bar watching the TV, throwing them dirty looks every time they burst out giggling, and the other was a young woman passed out on a table.

  The bartender came over, gave them a searching look, and held his hand out. “Keys.” Mike didn’t even argue and put his keys in the bartender’s hand as the man said, “I’ll get you a cab.”

  For some odd reason this made them burst out laughing again.

  THE CAB STOPPED OUTSIDE the house and Mike took a few minutes to pay the driver. He looked at his wallet and then at Kalli and said, “Jeez, you’re an expensive date.”

  They weren’t exactly drunk, but they were tipsy enough to be uninhibited. He held his arm out for her once more and she looped hers through and they ambled together to the door.

  At the door Kalli stopped him and poked him in the chest. “One last question, when last did you have sex?”

  It took Mike a few seconds to think of the answer, one eye shut and the other staring up at the top of the door. “Last ... last year. Yes, last year.”

  Kalli poked him again. “I win! I haven’t had sex since my second year in college.”

  Mike laughed and said, “Yeah, well, that can be fixed.” He suddenly leaned in and kissed her.

  After a minute, they broke the kiss and stared at each other. The air around them was thick with sexual tension and awkwardness.

  Throwing caution to the wind, they practically attacked each other, fumbling to open the door and get into the house as they kissed, groped and nibbled at every piece of skin available.

  They stumbled up the stairs and, when they nearly fell, Mike placed his hands on her hips. Knowing what he wanted, she jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. He carried her up the stairs as she sucked at the tender spot on his neck. The groans that escaped both their mouths stirred feelings deep within each of them.

  Mike walked them to her bedroom and soon they were tangled in the sheets, unable to keep their clothes on and their hands off each other.

  IT WAS THREE THIRTY in the morning when Kalli woke up, feeling groggy and sick from drinking too much. She turned her head and felt something hard against her ear, making her groan. Remembering what she and Mike got up to, made her feel more nauseous. She slowly felt next to her to see if he was still in the bed, but felt only hard board, and then her fingers touched something glass.

  She frowned and opened her eyes; she was looking directly at the light fixture on the ceiling to her left. She turned her head and looked down at Mike asleep in her bed, the sheet barely covering his body. Surrounding the bed were hazy shadows, yet not shadows, more white ethereal apparitions, and as she looked at them their features came into focus and she knew she was looking at The Butcher’s victims.

  They were all staring up to her against the ceiling. She had to be asleep, but the fear still rose in her throat like bile as they collectively pointed at her. She screamed.

  Below her Mike sat up and grabbed his gun, pointing it directly ahead. He slowly lowered it, and pushed back against the headboard, away from the ghosts that surrounded the bed. He realised they were pointing and looked up, his eyes flaring as he saw Kalli pressed against the ceiling.

  In a blink of an eye they all disappeared, and Kalli fell from the ceiling onto the bed at Mike’s feet. Mike dropped his gun next to him and scrambled forward, pulling Kalli into his arms as she sobbed.

  “Why are they doing this to me?” she begged him. “Why me?”

  Mike kissed her head and stroked her back. “I don’t know, I don’t know.”

  THEY GOT DRESSED AND spent the rest of the night sitting in the kitchen drinking one cup of coffee after the next, too scared to go back to sleep, despite their exhaustion. When the sun rose, Kalli decided she needed to get out of the house. Mike offered to go with her, but she also needed to be alone, to figure out what they had done and how it affected their working relationship.

  At least he respected her decision, and only asked her to keep her phone on her in case she needed him. He would go in to the office and check in on things, fill out another leave application form, and would come back to wait for her.

  Kalli left, taking her car to go visit her old high school. This had once been her favourite place, a place she was popular and happy, or at least she thought she was happy. Once Tatum was gone, a lot of people hadn’t known how to interact with her, what to say or do, so she became a loner. She preferred it that way; she didn’t have to pretend.

  Returning just reminded her of that. She walked through the entrance and her immediate thought was how everything looked the same. Although it wasn’t exactly the same prom posters or football rally banners, it was the same energy and the same kind of high school naivety, where the only thing that mattered was fitting in, being beautiful and being the life of the party.

  Kalli walked through the corridors and smiled to herself. Oh, how she wished she had listened to the adults in her life when they explained what life was like after school.

  She stopped, realising she was at her sister’s old locker. She reached out and touched it. Before their father had died, she and Tatum had gotten along alright. She would often come to her locker and gossip or tell her about a boy she liked. She sighed and dropped her hand and, as she did, the locker swung opened. She took a step back as all the lockers to the left started to swing open, one after another. She hesitated before following the open lockers. The last one that opened was just outside a classroom.

  Mr Wild’s old classroom.

  Inhaling deeply, she peeked in to see it was empty. She reached for the handle, scared it too would swing open. She grabbed it, tried to open it, but found that it was locked. Shaking her head, she turned to leave.

  A few footsteps removed, the door creaked open. She bit her lip; something was trying to tell her something. She walked in and hovered by the door, scared it would slam shut behind her. She looked around, remembering how much fun her old teacher had been.

  What she saw written across the board, however, sent shivers down her spine. Written in what was unmistakably Mr Wild’s loopy handwriting was, DEATH COMES TO THOSE WHO DO NOT SEE.

  Kalli left the classroom quickly, striding down the hall determinedly, not looking back for a second. There was nothing Mr Wild’s death was going to tell her.

  It was then that it dawned on her.

  The next case she was going to look at was her sister’s. Her throat tightened and her chest closed slightly,
and the world felt a little colder and a little smaller. She took a deep breath and as she exhaled she heard a soft sigh a little behind her.

  She turned quickly to see Tatum, standing at the end of the hallway, tears streaming down her face as she gradually faded away.

  Tatum whispered, “Kalli.”

  Chapter 15

  The Butcher

  IT WAS DIFFICULT TO keep up pretences. Going to work every day when he knew she was right there, in her room, just waiting for him. He had long ago decided that would be where he displayed her. He wanted to combine his efforts with all his previous masterpieces to ensure that she was the ultimate. The itch to touch her, slit her throat, remove her tongue, and hang her body was burning so hot in his body that he kept daydreaming at work about it, and people started to question if he was okay.

  This was not good. He didn’t want anyone to suspect him of anything strange. Luckily he explained it away as post-traumatic stress related to Barker Wild being killed. After all, everyone thought they had been close. If the fools had only known better; just because he had organised him a job didn’t mean he cared anything for Barker.

  Darren Blackwood had not been spotted going on three weeks now. The boy would eventually make a move; he was, after all, just a child, and certainly not the brightest. He would wait for the boy before making his move.

  His lair was set up next door to Tatum’s house. Although he couldn’t physically reach her, he was able to watch her, day and night.

  She spent a lot of time with her youngest sister. The middle child, the brat, Kalli, that liked to party and kiss boys, wasn’t really interested in spending time with them.

  He watched Tatum play with her other sister, watch movies with her, and noticed life return to her, with the police standing close by keeping a 24-hour watch on her.