Aquarius

by W L Knightly

  Logan left the woman standing in the quiet room and headed back the way he came. Once in the parking lot, he hurried to his car. After starting it and punching the steering wheel a few times, he took out his phone to call the only person who could help him.

  Darek answered on the first ring. “Hello?” Darek’s voice sounded a bit suspicious.

  “Hey, it’s Logan. I need to talk to you about Hannah.”

  “Don’t tell me there’s trouble in paradise already.”

  Logan ignored Darek’s attempt at witty banter. “She’s missing. Since early Saturday morning.”

  “Are you sure? Did anything happen between the two of you? A fight maybe? She might just have decided to move on and be done with your sorry ass.”

  “Could you make jokes later when you find her? I’m not fucking around, Darek. We need to figure out where she is.”

  “Do you really think she’s missing? Could she be with a friend or at work?”

  “No, you don’t understand. I’ve tried all of those places. Her nurse friend at the hospital said she sent Hannah home the other night because she said she was sick, and even though she’s supposed to have reported in, she hasn’t. She isn’t home, either, and since she didn’t have anyone but me to comfort her over Tad, I’m taking it she’s not gone to a friend, and she has no close family.”

  “Okay, I’ll see what I can find out. I’ll start with the morgue, but I’m sure if she was found murdered, I’d have been called.”

  “I couldn’t find her car, either.” Logan started to feel the panic rise, along with his emotions. Tears pooled in his eyes, and he tried to hold them back.

  “Is there anything else, Logan? Something I need to know?”

  “Fuck, man. I know you’re going to be pissed, and I know Bay is going to kill me, but I swear, if something has happened to her, I don’t even care. I don’t want to live.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about? Why would I be pissed?”

  “Because I told her.” He took a deep breath, and his voice trembled with fear and shame. He was a piece of shit for ratting the others out. Even though she didn’t have any names, she knew there were others.

  “You told her what exactly?” Darek asked.

  “I told her about the girl. What we did.” Logan scrubbed his face and raked his hand through his hair, pulling at it to make sure this was all really happening.

  “Does she have names, too?”

  “No, I swear. She saw my mark when we were intimate. She knew it was like her brother’s and started asking me shit. She told me I could trust her and confide in her. She had been through so much, too, and I guess with the Lidia stuff, I was just weak. I needed to get it off my chest.”

  “You’re fucking crazy,” Darek said. “Do you think this is easy for any of us? If you think that, you’re wrong. I am in the middle of a shitstorm, Logan. A motherfucking shitstorm, and every day, I try to keep us all out of prison, but then you go and tell the one woman who has been butting heads with my partner over her brother’s innocence.”

  “I can’t take it back; I can only hope I could trust her.”

  Darek had a feeling they’d never see Hannah Halston alive again. And if they did, she would never survive Bay finding out that she knew too much.

  “Did you ever think that by telling her, you were signing her fucking death warrant? Hell, by seeing her, you did that.”

  “Please, just find her. And don’t tell Bay. Please.” He was pleading, and Darek could hear the regret in his voice. He wondered how many of the others had confided their secret to someone. Perhaps the killer was someone who had lent a listening ear, as well.

  “I’ll see what I can do.” Darek ended the call, and Logan was left trembling with fear so badly that he had to sit and calm down a minute before going home.

  24

  Darek

  Darek hung up the phone and got up to look out the window. He had returned to his motel room after Lizzy had dropped him off at the courthouse to get his car. That was where he’d stayed ever since. Before Logan’s call, he actually thought his day wasn’t going too horribly, even though he’d gotten that kiss from Lizzy and then turned her down for sex.

  But Darek was shaken by the idea that Hannah Halston was out there somewhere with the knowledge of what Logan and the others, including Darek, had done to the girl. He knew if Bay found out, he’d make an example of her and Logan, but Darek couldn’t let that happen.

  He had to find her before the others did and convince her to keep the secret. Possibly, he would have to pay her to go away somewhere until everything blew over. If she was in hiding, waiting to tell the police everything, Darek knew he could kiss his life and the FBI goodbye.

  He dialed the number of the station and asked for the front desk.

  “NYPD, this is Lola speaking.”

  “Hey, Lola. This is Detective Blake. I have a friend of mine that just called, and he’s a real mess over his daughter. She hasn’t checked in for the night, and while I think she’s probably shacked up with her boyfriend, I promised I’d call and see if she was involved in a wreck or some other unfortunate accident.”

  The officer laughed. “I get this a lot actually. Let me see.” Darek heard the woman’s fingers going crazy on the keyboard. “What is her age?”

  “She’s nearly thirty; round about.”

  “No, the only fatality was an older woman in her sixties. She had a heart attack while driving. So sad. Is there anything else I can do for you?” Darek denoted the flirty tone in her voice. “I heard your divorce was final today. I got a divorce six months ago.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m looking forward to some peace and quiet.” He didn’t want to encourage her. He’d seen Lola, and she was nearly fifty with the face of a sixty-year-old.

  “Well, if you ever decide you want a little fun, give me a call.” She gave a soft laugh and hung up the phone. Darek decided not to call the morgue, but to go down there. When he arrived, he was surprised to see that Dr. Cobb was still on duty.

  “Hey, aren’t you working a little late tonight?” Darek asked.

  Cobb smiled when he saw him. “I’ve got a couple of autopsies that I want to get finished, and you’re one to talk.”

  “Yeah, I wondered if I could look around at your inventory. A friend of mine is panicked about his daughter not showing up at home, and I just want to make absolutely sure that she’s not here.”

  “Knock yourself out.” He picked up a hand saw and then turned his attention back to the body on the table in front of him.

  Darek walked over and looked at the names on the doors. He opened a few of the females who might be candidates. There wasn’t anyone even closely resembling Hannah. He hated to think it, but he knew things would be a hell of a lot easier if she’d been there.

  He felt like Bay for feeling that way, cold and heartless, but if what she knew got out, they were all screwed. He might as well be lined up in the cold storage with the others.

  There wasn’t much he could do but drive the roads and look for her, and he wasn’t about to do that all night. He decided to turn in for the night, and he headed back to the motel for some sleep.

  When he woke up after only getting a couple of hours of rest, he made the drive into work and headed straight for the coffee pot.

  When Lizzy came into the room, he figured things would be awkward. He wasn’t wrong, but she still managed to go on with work despite what happened the day before.

  “I just want you to know that I’ve got our trip planned, and I’m just waiting for it to be approved. If it is, we leave tomorrow. I hope that’s not going to be a problem.”

  “No, it will give Megan another few days to get the hell out of my house.” He waited for her to turn and leave, but she didn’t.

  “There was also a call a few minutes ago. Something about an abandoned car and blood found at the scene. They want us to go down and check it out. It’s parked out back of the train station. It seems that someone ditche
d it.”

  He had to wonder if that was Hannah’s car, but he waited to see before he let himself feel any emotions about that.

  “I’m ready when you are.” He grabbed his cup and then headed over to the counter to grab a couple of cookies that were left from someone’s retirement party the day before.

  Lizzy walked over to the file cabinet and grabbed her cup as she fished out her keys. “I’ll drive.”

  The ride was awkward, but Darek wasn’t about to mention the day before. If she wanted to talk about it, she would. He had too much other shit on his mind anyway, and the last thing he wanted to do was spend the rest of the day with her arguing over what could have been and why. He had enough regret in his life.

  They pulled up to the clearing at the train station where a few officers were already on the scene.

  Lizzy parked the car and headed out, not bothering to wait on Darek who took one last sip of his coffee.

  He opened the door as she walked up to the officers and heard her clearly. “Who is the vehicle registered to?”

  “It’s Hannah Halston’s.”

  Darek dropped his empty cup in the holder and headed over where Lizzy stood with Officer Darius Coleman.

  “Well, this is interesting,” Lizzy said.

  Coleman handed her a pair of gloves. “We found blood on the steering wheel and on the passenger’s seat, but there’s no body. We did find a phone which appears to be hers. The battery is almost dead.”

  “You turned it on?” Darek asked.

  “It was lit up on the floorboard,” Coleman said. “It’s how we found it. Apparently, someone was calling her.”

  Lizzy nodded. “I’ll give it a look. Maybe there’s some clue to where her boyfriend is.”

  Darek walked over to the car and looked at the blood stains on the passenger seat. “This doesn’t look good. We need to find out if this is her blood.”

  “Is there any blood in the back?” Lizzy asked.

  “No, which is odd,” Coleman said. “Usually when a person is killed and taken to be dumped, the killer puts them in the back. This seems like she was in the front the whole time.”

  “Well, maybe she knew the person. Maybe they were talking, and it went south?” Darek sure hoped that Logan hadn’t done something to her and was just trying to throw off the police because it wasn’t going to work. He was their prime suspect, and Darek waited for what was coming next.

  “We have to go find Logan Miller. If something happened to this woman, I think he’ll know about it.” Lizzy tapped Darek’s arm. “Let these boys finish up here, and we’ll go pick him up. I want to bring him in for questioning. He might be the last person to have seen her.” She walked back to her Rover, and he followed.

  “Do you think that’s necessary, bringing him in? Maybe we should wait and see if he’s surprised. He may not have a clue.”

  “And he might have killed her and stuffed her body on a train bound for Chicago, for all we know. I know you had a bit too much to drink yesterday, but are you thinking clearly today?” She got inside, and he hurried around to get in the passenger seat.

  “If you’re upset about yesterday, I think we made the right decision.” He felt the air needed cleaning.

  “No, I agree with that. And why would I be mad, Darek?”

  He didn’t like that she was being short, and he hated that things would be awkward from then on. “I don’t want it to be weird with us. I care about you, and I care about us way too much for what happened to change things.”

  “Not weird at all, really. We’re friends and partners, and we’ll be fine.” She started the car and backed out of the area. “We’ll be fine, even if we don’t agree on how things went.”

  Darek couldn’t believe that she seemed so offended that nothing happened, and he had a feeling that if they’d gone through with it, she would’ve had a bad reaction to that, as well.

  She drove out to the address that was listed for Logan, and when she pulled up at the old firehouse, she gave him a nudge. “I’m grabbing a spicy before we leave here.”

  “Do you want to go place an order while I handle Mr. Miller?” He laughed and thought of how that might at least give him a moment alone with the man, to remind him not to run his mouth again.

  Lizzy met his eyes. “I’m just saying, best donuts ever.”

  “Now I know what to get you for your birthday,” he teased.

  They walked to Logan’s door and gave it a buzz. Logan answered a moment later, and when he saw Darek’s eyes, he welled up with tears. “Please don’t tell me she’s dead.”

  “You tell us, Logan. We got a call about her car earlier. But she wasn’t with it. It was abandoned down by the tracks.”

  Logan wrapped his arms around himself as if he might fall apart. “I’ve been looking for her for days. I swear it. I don’t know where she is.” Logan looked like death warmed over. His hair looked like he’d spent half the night trying to pull it out, and his eyes had dark bags that made him look a decade older. He also smelled of alcohol and was half-lit.

  “I’m afraid you’re going to have to come with us. We want to go down to the station and ask you some questions.” Lizzy’s voice was firm. Darek took Logan’s arm and encouraged him to come along, but he pulled away, wincing in pain.

  Darek allowed him to pull away, but Lizzy walked over and pulled his shirt collar down. “Do you have an injury?” Lizzy pegged him with a hard stare. “Let me guess what that is? Or perhaps, what it used to be? You had one of the marks like Tad. I bet it was Aquarius, wasn’t it?”

  Logan shook his head. “I just had an accident in my studio. That’s all. I get burned all the time.”

  “Don’t bother explaining. We’ll have you checked out when we get to the station.” Lizzy turned and met Darek’s eyes, and he knew that she was thinking of what he’d done. He’d taken his torch to his shoulder. Darek cringed thinking of the pain. He’d been trying to come up with ways to get rid of his own mark, but he could never do something like that to himself, no matter how desperate. He still remembered the pain of being branded, and when he got his removed, he wanted it to be done surgically.

  Logan’s knees gave out. Darek took his arm, and he met him with pleading eyes. “Please, you have to find her.”

  “We’ll find her, but you need to help us.” Darek tried to be consoling but firm. “When was the last time you talked to her?” He already knew, and he knew that this didn’t look good for Hannah. Being missing that long and with the evidence in her car, she was most likely dead.

  Logan’s voice cracked. “Late Friday, early Saturday. She was going to her shift at the hospital. She was supposed to come over after.”

  Lizzy opened the back passenger door, and Darek went ahead and put Logan in the car, then got in beside him. “We found blood at the scene, Logan. Are you sure you didn’t hurt her?”

  “I’d never hurt her! I love her.” He broke down and started to cry like a baby. “Don’t you see what’s happened? Whoever got Lidia, they got her, too.”

  25

  Darek

  By the time they got Logan down to the station, there was enough evidence coming in—especially since Logan had burned off his own mark—that Lizzy was able to secure Logan’s arrest for Hannah’s disappearance and the murder of Lidia Hobbs. Darek had been helpless to do anything, and while he feared that the man just might turn on them all, he never did.

  When Darek had him alone in the bathroom, watching over him so he didn’t slip out, Logan made a chilling statement. “I’m glad I’m going to prison.”

  “How can you say that?” Darek didn’t ever want to be locked up. “It’s not going to be easy in there, Logan. You watch your back and make sure you keep your nose clean. I’m sure you’ll be out in no time.”

  “I mean it, Darek. I want to go.”

  “Why? To punish yourself?”

  “Because, in there, I’ll be safe from the killer. He’s coming to get every last one of us. He’ll come for you, too
.”

  Since then, the words had played over and over in Darek’s head. He packed up his stuff from the motel and spent the morning carrying it over to his house. Megan was already moving out of the house, and she had assured him she wouldn’t take his things. From the evidence Bay had on her, he was quite sure she really meant it. And she’d been really nice to him, compared to her usual self.

  Now, he had nothing but himself and a bag that was going to Virginia with him as he waited outside the police station for Lizzy.

  He reached into his bag and checked the burner phone while she was gone. He jumped with surprise as Bay’s voice sounded over his shoulder.

  “Just the man I wanted to see.” Bay strolled up and stopped in front of him. The sun glinted off his platinum hair, and he put on his shades, which made him look more like a federal agent than Darek.

  “Yeah?” Darek dropped the phone down into his bag. “Here on business?”

  “Yes, I just saw my new client, Logan Miller. The poor guy hasn’t been in but two days, and he’s already institutionalized. Prison just might be good for him.”

  Darek was surprised that he was defending him, but then again, the man always did try to find ways to stay in control. “He does love metal, and with a killer out here, he feels like he’s safer on the inside.”

  “Yeah, it’s so nice that he found a false sense of security,” Bay said. “He told me that he told Hannah everything. I’m wondering if she went and ran her mouth to the wrong person, or if we just got lucky and fate intervened. Either way, I’m glad we don’t have to worry about her.”

  “No, just nine others who might break down in a weak moment and tell anyone who will listen. Besides, she will turn up, and when she does, I have a feeling it’s going to be an even bigger shitstorm.”

  Bay smiled. “He said she lured him with sex. Damn, what a waste of a fine woman. I could have used someone like her on my side. I swear, I never knew she had that in her. At least, not when I fucked her.”