Inside is a wreck. The police have overturned everything. The couch cushions are scattered across the floor, pictures are missing from the fireplace, and finger print dust coats every surface. Rayna closes the door behind her. Time to set her trap.
While she was bored in her room, she did some research. She found Patrice’s Facebook, and with that information, and thirty dollars, she was able to do a phone number look up. Now it’s time to make a phone call.
She dials, and the phone rings in her ear.
“Hello?” a woman answers.
“Hi, Patrice right? This is Remi…I, uh, want to talk.” She crosses her fingers as she speaks the line out loud. The police haven’t quite aired her twin’s disappearance yet and she hopes no one has told Patrice what’s going on.
“Oh, hi…I don’t think there’s anything for us to discuss. I want you to stop seeing my husband.” The woman is definitely becoming less welcoming by the second.
“I will, I promise,” Rayna lies. “But I found….something out about John I need to share with you. It’s my duty as a woman.” She cringes as she adds that last part, but it sounds like something Remi would say.
“What?” Now she has Patrice’s full attention.
“I don’t want to discuss it over the phone. Can you come over to my apartment? I promise it will be quick.”
“Uhh…” She hesitates.
“It won’t take more than five minutes,” Rayna says reassuringly.
“Okay,” Patrice agrees reluctantly. “I’ll be there in half an hour.” And with that the line goes dead.
Rayna smiles, proud of herself, her plan is right on track. She looks around the room and cringes. She needs to fix this. If she opens the door and Patrice sees the room as it currently is, she’ll definitely run for the hills before she can be interrogated.
She quickly rights the pillows on the couch, then heads to the kitchen to grab a paper towel. She isn’t able to completely wipe the fingerprint dust from all the surfaces, but at least it isn’t as smudgy looking as before.
Rayna is so busy cleaning; she jumps halfway out of her skin when the doorbell rings. “That was fast,” she mumbles to herself as she takes one last look around the room she just speed cleaned. Not too shabby, she thinks as she heads for the door.
She looks through the peephole, surprised to see a man standing on the other side of the door. Her eyebrows knit together as she opens the door. “Yes?”
The man looks up.
It takes her a moment to recognize him not in his uniform, but when she does, she’s even more confused. “Detective Brown?”
“Ms. Casell?”
“Yes?”
“We’ve been looking everywhere for you.” A smile breaks out across his face. Rayna grimaces.
“I’m not Remi, it’s me, Rayna, we spoke last night. Sorry,” she apologizes sheepishly. She hates to burst his bubble like this.
“Oh.” His expression once again turns flat. “What are you doing in your sister’s apartment?” He raises one eyebrow.
Rayna glances at her phone and realizes Patrice will be here any second. She sighs and motions behind her “You might as well come in.”
Detective Brown steps inside and Rayna closes the door behind him.
“So are you going to tell me what you’re up to?”
For the first time, Rayna takes a good look at Detective Brown. He’s taller than her by a few inches, and muscular—but not the overly buff type. He’s thin, athletic, which she wasn’t able to see through his work uniform, but now that he’s in a black polo, the muscles in his arms show. He’s shaven and clean, but still has a ruggedness about him. He’s definitely older than her, but she guesses he’s around thirty, so not by much.
She debates lying to him for a moment, but then she knows she’ll have even more to explain when Patrice shows up. “Ugh, fine. I called Patrice, John’s wife, and I told her I had something to tell her to try and lure her over here and see if she kidnapped my sister. It’s a long shot, I know, but I just had to try—“
He holds up a hand to cut her off. “We already interviewed Patrice. She has an alibi for the night in question.”
Rayna knows that means that Patrice probably knows Remi is missing. “But she said she was coming over!” Rayna protests, more to herself than anyone else, slightly crestfallen.
“She did. But that’s because she thought the real Remi had resurfaced. She called me after she hung up the phone with you.”
Rayna shakes her head. She should have known everything was going too well. A thought suddenly strikes her. “How did you get here so fast? I didn’t hear any police sirens.”
Detective Brown smiles. “We’ve had officers watching this place twenty-four seven since you called us Saturday night. When someone showed up and entered with a key, well, my man out there notified me before you even made the phone call.”
“Damn. Just make me feel like an idiot.” Rayna is embarrassed. She should have known the cops would have something like this set up. She opens her mouth to apologize for wasting his time, when suddenly she hears a key in the lock. “What—“
Brown puts his hand over her mouth and gives her the ‘be silent’ symbol. Then he pulls her around the corner into the hall so they aren’t visible from the door. He whispers quietly into his radio on his shoulder, “Justin, someone is entering the premises. What’s your read?”
He doesn’t have a chance to hear the answer as the door creaks open.
He moves away from Rayna, mouthing ‘stay’ as he leans around the corner and steps back into the kitchen. She nods mutely, even though he’s no longer even looking in her direction.
“KEEP YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!”
The shout jolts her out of her reverie and she peeks her head around the corner to see Detective Brown with his gun pointed at a young woman that has to be about Rayna’s age. Rayna stays in her spot, observing as he slowly approaches the woman.
“Do you have any weapons on you?”
The woman shakes her head ‘no.’ She’s obviously just as shocked as they are.
Detective Brown lowers his weapon and begins to pat her down. “Why do you have a key?” he questions.
“I-I live here,” she stutters.
“Daisy McMullen?”
The woman sighs. “Yeah.” She says it in a way that hangs in the air, incomplete.
“I think we better talk.” Brown motions to the couch in the living room just as Rayna steps out from her hiding place.
“Remi, what’s this about?” Daisy seems genuinely confused.
“You don’t know?” Now Rayna is confused as well.
“That’s not Remi. That’s her twin sister Rayna,” Brown corrects as he leads Daisy to the couch. Another cop appears in the doorway, quickly putting his weapon away as he realizes there’s no active threat. The two officers share a moment of silent conversation and the cop takes a defensive stance in the doorway. It’s clear they don’t want Daisy to leave.
“Where’s Remi?” Daisy asks, looking around the room, probably taking in the small changes that have occurred from the police tossing the place.
“Why don’t we start with you telling us who you are.” Brown’s face is stern. He obviously doesn’t think she’s innocent.
Rayna sits at the kitchen table, trying to stay out of the way, but also eavesdropping. She’s pretty sure detective Brown forgets she’s even there.
“I’m Dais-”
Brown doesn’t let her get any further. “Lie. Daisy McMullen doesn’t exist. Try again.”
“Am I under arrest?” She fidgets with the end of her fringed shirt.
“Not yet. But if I can’t get a straight answer out of you, you’re about to be.” His response is firm.
She sighs. “Alright, my name is Lena Mullen.”
Brown raises his eyebrows and pulls out his iPad. Rayna can’t tell if he’s taking notes or messaging someone to look up the name.
“And just why are you going under a
fake name?”
“I…uh…left an unhealthy relationship. I guess you could say I’m in unofficial hiding.” Lena pinches her eyes shut and rests her head in her hands. “I’m from Tennessee. I was hoping that by coming here I would be getting far enough away. But after I had been here a few days, my friends alerted me that he had gotten on a plane to O’Hare. So I changed my name and my appearance to hide from him. This was almost two years ago, but everyone got to know me as Daisy, so it just seemed weird to go back. Plus the name grew on me.”
“And just where have you been for the past two days?” Brown is still skeptical and not quite buying her story.
“I’m a nurse.”
Brown raises his eyebrows and looks down at her outfit, which is a shirt and jeans and most certainly not scrubs.
She shakes her head, knowing exactly what he’s thinking. “A private nurse. I’ve got my license, but after being on the run I just couldn’t risk working for the public. I work for two separate families, pretty much on demand as they need me. So my schedule is crazy and I oftentimes end up spending the night either in my car or on the couch of one of their houses. I can provide all the contact info you need.”
He nods. “We will definitely contact them.” He turns his attention back to the iPad.
“Now…where’s Remi and why is she here?” She points a finger at Rayna and Detective Brown starts, as if suddenly remembering she’s there.
“When was the last time you saw your roommate?” He’s still beating around the bush.
“Ugh,” Lena groans, not liking being taken off topic without her question being answered. “I think Wednesday or Thursday? I honestly haven’t been home in awhile and it was mostly to change.”
“And when you were home last time, what kitchen appliances did you use?”
“What kitchen appliances? Okay this is just getting ridiculous. If I’m not under arrest I’m done talking to you unless you tell me what’s going on here.” She crosses her arms over her chest, appearing genuinely angry.
Detective Brown stands up and closes the case on his iPad. “That’s all for now. I’ll need your contact information though. Just in case I do need you to come down to the station and give a statement.”
Lena rolls her eyes and types in a phone number on the iPad when he turns it her way.
“Also, you can’t stay here—“
“No problem. I’m just here to change and head back to work.” With that she stands and heads into her room, closing the door loudly behind her.
Detective Brown walks over to the cop by the door and whispers something in his ear. Then he motions for Rayna to come outside with him. She follows him quietly down the stairs.
When they reach the bottom, he turns to her and opens his mouth as if to say something, but Rayna’s anger gets the better of her and she cuts him off.
“That’s it? You’re letting her go?” It comes out a bit louder than she expected.
“Shh.” He looks up toward the officer in the doorway of the apartment. “Don’t worry, now that we found her she won’t be leaving our sight,” he whispers. “Now come with me and I will take you home.”
Rayna groans. “I can’t go back just yet. It’s just so sad there.”
Detective Brown doesn’t say anything as Rayna heads toward the sidewalk. He stops in front of his car, an unmarked brown Crown Vic. “You sure you don’t want a ride?”
“I’m sure,” she replies, not meeting his eye. She does want a ride, but not to her parents’ house. But then again, she doesn’t know where else she would even go. She takes a seat on the curb and puts her head in her hands.
“Uh..” Brown looks around, not really sure what to do in these sorts of situations, then sits down next to Rayna. “You…okay?” he asks.
She nods. “Yes. I mean, yeah I will be. But I don’t need help. I just need to figure out what to do.” She takes a deep breath and lifts her head, making sure to avoid the scrutinizing gaze of Detective Brown. “Everything has changed overnight. I don’t have a home, the only home I would come back to is under police surveillance,” she motions to the apartment behind her, “the only person I want to talk to is MIA. I don’t have a job, and I just realized, over the past two years I’ve alienated any other friends I had. I used to be a social butterfly.”
He doesn’t say anything at first, he simply continues to look forward and let Rayna vent. “That’s what they do, you know,” he says quietly when she finishes.
“Huh?” She finally turns to look at him.
“Predators. They isolate you. People think predators are psychos who have no friends or family and roam the streets at night, but that’s not true. A predator can be anyone, a friend, boyfriend, parent. Anyone who belittles you, changes your life, and then isolates you so there’s no way out. They may not trap you physically, but you’re stuck there mentally. And honestly, I think that’s worse. Physical restraints are easy to escape, you can take classes on how to do it. But mental restraints, well, that’s impossible to teach.”
They’re both silent for a moment, lost in their own thoughts.
Rayna breaks the silence. “You sound like you’ve experienced it.”
He nods. “Everyone’s got a story. Even when you’re going through the worst thing imaginable, there’s always someone who’s been in your shoes at some point.” He stands and brushes off his pants, reaching into his pocket. “Here’s a card for a victim support group.”
She reaches out and takes the card. “Support group?”
“Yeah, it’s for people who have had a friend or family member go missing. It sounds stupid, I know, but it helps a lot. And who knows, you might find some new friends there.” He shrugs and turns toward his car, unlocking the door. “You sure you don’t want that ride?”
“I still don’t have anywhere to go. But thanks.”
“Sure thing.” He slides into his car and starts the engine. Rayna watches as he pulls away from the curb, slowly turning over the card in her hand. Once his car is out of sight, she pulls out her phone and looks up the address. It’s at a community center a few miles away. There’s a meeting in a few hours. She stands up from the curb and looks down the street both ways, preparing to cross, and heads toward the center early.
As she does, she notices movement out of the corner of her eye. It’s Daisy, and she’s leaving the apartment. Rayna watches as another unmarked police car peels out after her. She’s happy they’re keeping a good eye on Daisy, something about her story just seems off.
Rayna’s so busy observing the situation in front of her, she doesn’t notice another unmarked police car starting his engine just as she crosses the street.
DETECTIVE GRADY
NOW
She’s sitting at her desk flipping through documents on the case when the screen on her cell lights up with a call from her partner.
“Grady,” she answers professionally. Even though he’s her partner, she and Brown have never had the joking relationship the TV shows perpetuate.
“How’d the interviews go?” he asks. She can hear car sounds in the background, so she figures he must be driving. Brown had to leave in the middle when they got the call there was movement at the apartment. Grady finished the interviews with a couple of desk cops who were on duty.
“Fine. They all talked. Only one asked for a lawyer, and after they conferred, he ended up talking anyway. They admit there was some harassment going on. They claim it was harmless, but it sounds like it got pretty nasty towards the end.”
“Nasty how?”
Grady sighs and pulls out the paper she just finished typing up with her notes. “First they prank called her a few times. Then they messed with her work desk. One day, while she was in the break room, they copied her house key and used it to break into her apartment. They claim they only moved things, and they told me where to find all the missing kitchen appliances.”
“So, why was this worth their time?” Brown is not a fan of men who mess with women’s minds just b
ecause they can.
“Well…we assume it was because of the theft. However, we didn’t hold any of them, nor question them on the theft—“
He cuts her off. “And just why the hell not?”
She sighs, she isn’t happy with this part either. “The DA called the shots. She’s planning to prosecute the theft, but she has a feeling that the men know more than they let on. She thinks they may lead us to her. From what I heard, she may be right, this harassment got really bad at the end.”
There’s silence on the other end of the phone. He’s obviously waiting for her to elaborate.
“The last prank call, about two weeks ago, Jonathon threatened to kill her. Claims it was a joke, but the DA decided not to push it.”
“I guess I sort of agree with that.” He takes a deep breath. “So are we tailing them all?”
“For now, yes, but I think we are going to pull the tail on some of the other suspects.” Grady runs a hand through her hair. She really wishes they had the budget to keep a tail on all of their current suspects, as they haven’t yet ruled out a single one, but unfortunately, they don’t. In fact, she was going through her papers to make the hard decision when Brown called.
“Keep the one on Daisy/Lena,” he interjects.
“I planned on it,” she replies, shuffling her papers. “The ones on my cut list are the twin, the boyfriend’s wife, and the boyfriend.”
Brown is silent for a moment. “I’d prefer to keep them all under surveillance but if we can’t I guess cut the boyfriend’s wife first?”
“I have to pick two.”
He groans. “I really don’t trust the boyfriend still, but I also want to keep one on Rayna for her safety. I’m still not sure this isn’t one of those creepy twin obsession abductions.”
Grady knows exactly what he’s talking about, she has gone through the same thought process herself. They’ve had way too many cases of men abducting twins because of some perverted sexual fantasy. “We can’t let him have them both,” she agrees.
“Agreed. I’ll be back at the station soon. But Grady, listen, I don’t like this.”
Before Now Page 16