So much of who I am is because of you two.
That’s why you’ve got to figure this out.
You’ve got to.
So you can find me.
So I can kill one of you.
I don’t care which.
Chapter Five
It’s been two weeks since the woman was found outside the church.
Two weeks of waiting to see if another body would appear.
Two weeks of investigating and guessing.
Two weeks of waiting.
* * *
“I’m telling you, this is not the morning to mess with me!”
Waiting to hear the response on the other end of the line, she stood with one hand on the key still in the lock of the door to her nail shop on East Colonial Drive. The small shopping center on the corner of Ima Avenue was typically deserted when she opened.
“No.” A pause. “No, I said no.”
She turned the key with a huff and opened the door. She made her way over to the alarm panel, by instinct, still listening to the call. When she reached her hand up to punch in the PIN on the panel, she paused. Something told her this wasn’t part of the routine. Something was off.
Realization hit her.
The alarm hadn’t emitted the warning countdown sound when she’d opened the door.
The panel’s green “READY” light glowed with an almost menacing brightness.
The alarm was not on. The full weight of that knowledge pushed its way past her phone call to the forefront of her mind.
She yelled into her phone, “Not now! I gotta go!” She hit end on the call, stuck the phone in her purse, and began to sweep her gaze across the store.
She hoped that the oversight to set the alarm—one she was certain she’d set last night —didn’t mean yet another robbery. They had just barely recovered from the previous one, and this was the last thing she needed.
Her nail shop wasn’t large, but it did extend from the front of the building to the back, with a left side alcove in place for pedicures. The right wall was lined with manicure tables, and the front corner displayed the nail polishes, products, and sale items, as well as the waiting area. The lights were all off, so she had to squint, using the unsightly light from the glowing morning outside. It did a great job illuminating the floor in front, but long, dark shadows remained through to the back, and the alcove was pitch black.
“Not today …” she muttered as she took a tentative step forward. A part of her reasoned that she should see if anything had been taken or if any damage had been done, but a more primal part of her mind wanted to leave—the part that makes the hair on your neck stand on its own accord. This part was attempting to reason with her, urging her to step out, call the police and have them look, just in case any would-be robbers were still there.
But, her reasoning pushed the notion away, replacing it with the flimsy reassurance that any robbers would have broken in at night and left once they were done, not hang around until morning.
Still, the hair on her neck didn’t lie down.
A few more tentative steps and she paused. As she neared the alcove, she caught sight of something shiny.
Looking back to the spot, she moved two steps closer. There was definitely something shiny. The morning sun caught the reflection of a small rivulet of water snaking its way past the corner.
Curious and a little confused, she glanced around the room again, just to ensure it was clear, then walked slowly towards the water. She was beginning to wonder if she had a leak in one of the foot-well tubs of the pedicure chairs.
“Great,” she said and sighed at the thought.
Satisfied that the main area looked clear to the back of the shop, she stepped to the corner of the alcove, attempting to avoid stepping in the rivulet of water which had snaked its way another foot farther than when she noticed it. Knowing that the light switches were in the back of the store, she reached her hand back to her purse, brought her phone up, and switched on the integrated flashlight to see what was dripping.
Her eyes went wider than she thought possible, then closed immediately as an enormous scream erupted from her throat. She stumbled backwards, her foot slipping on the water and caught her hip on the closest manicure table. Down she went, sprawling, screaming, scrambling.
Somehow, in her panicked mind, she had the forethought to reach for the panic button on the alarm panel. At the moment she hit it, the lights on the panel went red and the alarm siren started. She vaguely understood this was happening as she continued to scramble out the front door and to her car, which thankfully was in a spot directly across the parking lot from the door. Not so thankfully, as she ran for her car, she didn’t see the oncoming car, which also didn’t see her.
Tires squealed as brakes locked.
A massive thud, the sound of broken glass, then something softer breaking, filled the air.
The driver stepped out to see what happened to the person he hit, and his sobs and the sound of the ticking and cooling car engine were drowned out by the shop’s alarm. Shortly thereafter, sirens could be heard.
The first Orlando Police car on the scene called in the accident and requested medical emergency support. The driver was fine, but the shop owner was unresponsive and appeared to have several compounding injuries. The two officers in the car were too busy tending to the emergency to respond to the alarm still ringing inside the shop. The second car to arrive, however, was tasked with that role.
The two latest officers to arrive hurried up to the door to the nail shop, opened it and peered inside, flashlights ready.
“Dispatch, where are we on contacting the alarm company to get this damn siren off?” Officer Obvari asked into his shoulder mic.
“Still tracking. Unknown time. Requesting you continue with investigation,” was the reply.
“Great,” Joe said. Speaking loudly over the alarm, he asked his partner, “Which direction you want? Right or left?”
Ben flashed his light towards the right as his reply. The sunlight was still unable to fully illuminate the far reaches of the shop well, so the flashlight was welcome.
Joe ushered his hand forward to indicate Ben take the lead. They stepped into the room, scanning their lights from side to side and up and down. Moving forward, Joe called out, as well above the alarm as he could, “This is the Orlando Police. If there is anyone in here, we need you to show yourselves immediately with your hands raised—”
Ben slapped his hand on his partner’s chest, stopping him in his tracks. Looking to his partner, Joe saw Ben point his flashlight to the floor leading from the alcove to their left. The unmistakable gloss of water played in the light. They looked at each other, then back to the water.
“Dammit,” Joe let out.
Moving forward again, they continued their diligent scan of the large space before stepping to the edge of the alcove. Avoiding the water on the floor, Joe again called out his warning to anyone who might be in the shop. When they heard no reply and saw no movement, they swung their flashlights into the alcove.
The beams crossed from one end to the other rapidly, but they unmistakably revealed the face of a woman. Both beams settled on the face once they saw the room to be free of other inhabitants.
“Find a light switch?”
Joe shook his head slightly, sighed, then used the flashlight to scan the walls on the inside of the alcove. No switch in sight.
Joe tapped Ben on the shoulder, who stood staring at the woman, to get his attention and let him know he was going to look for light switches elsewhere in the shop. Ben nodded in reply.
A few minutes later, Joe found the set of switches near the back of the shop. Flipping them all on, he watched the illuminated shop come to life. His partner stood still in the same spot.
The alarm suddenly went quiet. The sudden rush of noise from outside in front was the new cacophony.
Returning to his partner, Joe took in the scene happening in the alcove.
“Joe, man … what i
n the hell is going on?”
“I’m sure I do not know.”
Illuminated by their lights, a woman sat in a chair in the middle of the space in front of the wall of pedicure chairs and tubs. She was dressed in a white V-neck T-shirt and a pair of light blue shorts. Her feet were bare except for the foam toe that kept the nail polish from tracking onto another toe. Her hands were extended in front of her, with her elbows resting on an invisible table. Both hands had fingers spread wide with 10 different colors of polish—one for each finger. A smirk of approval sat upon her face, but her eyes were half-closed.
She was completely encased in ice.
Ben turned away from the scene, grabbed his shoulder mic and said something that caused his partner to lower his head to his chest and cross his arms.
“Calling in another victim in ice. Bring support.”
Chapter Six
“Doctor, would you come look at this?”
The ME sighed, placed his pen down on the short stack of forms he had been pouring over, and swiveled on his stool by the desk to face his assistant.
“Yes, Nick, what is it? I’m very busy over—”
“I know,” the assistant interrupted, not taking his eyes off the spot he was examining. “But you really are going to want to see this.”
With another sigh and a groan, the ME stood, stretched his back, and made his way over to whatever was so important that it merited an interruption. Standing beside his assistant, he lowered his head and looked in the direction indicated by the assistant’s pointed finger.
“What am I looking for?”
The two were peering at the latest ice-encased body, this one still with a generous amount of ice remaining. The heat lamps they used were slow but effective in clearing the ice away without damaging anything. There were another five or so inches of ice remaining until they would be able to extricate the body.
“Right there … See where the arm is resting against—”
“The chest,” the ME interrupted. “Good catch. That doesn’t look right.”
Reaching to the table of tools nearby, the ME grabbed a small examination flashlight. Checking to see if it was bright enough, he clicked it on and off quickly. Satisfied it was, he turned back to the anomaly the assistant had discovered. Shining the light through the ice, he tried to get his eyes as close to the ice as they would allow.
“Huh … that’s strange.”
The assistant was trying to figure out exactly what the ME was thinking as he peered through the ice, but even with the light, he could only make out this strange, dark area he noticed on his own examination.
Leaning back and looking up and down the ice block, the ME said, “I think we will find this one to be different than the other two.”
“Doc, I hope so. The other two got us nowhere in finding out who did this. I still don’t know how they managed to have such clean bodies. It was creepy.”
The ME was still looking over the ice block as if he hadn’t heard the assistant. “Doc? You don’t think it was creepy?”
“Hmm,” he said, turning slightly towards his assistant with a far away look in his eyes. After a moment of silently staring at each other, the ME showed signs of recognition. “What? Oh, I’m sorry, Nick. I was in my own little world. You said something about this being creepy? Yeah, it is. Certainly that.”
“Doctor, are you ok? You seemed to know what it is there in that spot, then you went away for a minute. What’s up?”
Exhaling hard through pursed lips and inflated cheeks, the ME stared at the nail shop victim. “I’m really hoping I’m wrong. Really hoping.”
“Wrong about what?”
“Well,” he began, but then the ME’s face scrunched up for a moment as if a question had just occurred to him. “Hold on. Let me check …” he trailed off as he turned to the front of the victim. Shining his light on the face, he peered in through the ice again. A small gasp escaped him as he dropped the arm holding the light and used his other hand to cover his mouth.
Seeing this, Nick joined him at the front of the ice block. “What? What do you see?”
Turning to his assistant, eyes wide, he lowered his hand and said, “Turn off the lamps.”
Confused, the assistant started to reply, but the ME cut him off then turned and reached for the switch on the closest heat lamp. “Turn them off. Now, damn it!”
Though still confused, he saw the urgency and responded in kind to turn off the other lamps. As he clicked the last one off, the room returned to the original white fluorescent glow it had before the orange glow of the lamps had overtaken it. The victim had shadows crossing her face and body in ways that gave the assistant more of the creeps.
The ME raced over to his desk and picked up the phone. Punching in an extension, he spoke rapidly to someone on the other end. “Yes, this is the Orange County Medical Examiner. I need immediate assistance with your freezer. I will be over with a victim shortly that will absolutely need to be maintained in their ice sheath—yes, I said ice sheath, please don’t interrupt. This is an emergency to maintain evidence of a crime. We will be there as fast as we can.”
Hanging up the phone without waiting for a reply, the ME picked it up again and dialed another extension. “Yes. I need a freezer truck brought to the morgue loading doors in the next fifteen minutes.”
Hearing an angry reply on the other end, the ME’s face turned red as he yelled into the phone. “Listen, I don’t care what time it is or who you have to call, just get me my freezer truck now or you will be the one to have to explain to the courts that you ruined evidence in an ongoing investigation! Am I clear?”
Once he heard the response he hoped for, he slammed the phone down and turned towards his assistant. “We need her prepped to go in minutes. No time to argue, just get it done.”
“Wait, what? Doctor, she is on a table. I’ll need help getting her back onto a gurney.”
Rushing past him, the ME headed to the door leading to their department. Poking his head out, he saw one of their security guards. “Philips! Yes, you, come here. Call three or four more of your folks down here now. I need able-bodied help to move this block of ice, and I need it now. Go!”
Rushing back into the room, he began to help his assistant with the gurney they used to bring the victim into their space. It was designed for a bariatric body that would weigh anywhere from 300 to 800 pounds. The block of ice and the body had almost been too much for it on the way in.
Not slowing down from his task, Nick asked again, “Doctor, what is going on? Why the rush to get her frozen again?”
“She’s not really there.”
“Wait, what?”
Eyes showing a feverish level of energy, he looked his assistant in the eyes. “She’s not there. What is there is … is … is the result of some sick taxidermy. That body,” he said as he pointed to the ice, “is a model of the body.”
The confusion was too much for the assistant. He stepped back from the gurney and asked with hands up, “What? That’s … that’s … not possible. Look at her, I mean look at her! She’s right there! No stuffed animal has ever looked that good.”
“Nick, I can explain later, just help me—”
The room’s doors opened and the requested guards entered the room. The ME waved them over.
“No, Doc, please. Explain now. I don’t get it, she looks fine—”
“Her eyes are glass.”
Upon hearing this, the guards stopped a few feet away. The ME waved them over excitedly. “No, please, come on. We need your help now.”
The statement from the ME to his assistant was enough to focus him on the task at hand. He doubled down on his work, assisting the new hands on where to grab and what to hold.
After they were set with the block of ice on the gurney, the ME led the way to the loading doors. As if planned, when he raised the overhead door to the dock, a freezer truck started its reverse path to the door to allow access to the rear.
“Oh, thank God …” th
e ME said, sighing in relief when he saw the truck. Once it was parked, they wasted no time wheeling the gurney down the ramp into the back of the rolling freezer. The mismatched team of handlers quickly set about to secure the gurney to the enclosure’s wall. It took only a few moments, and a few choice words when knuckles took a beating, for them to secure and exit the vehicle.
“Thank you, Philips and gentlemen. That’s all for now. Truly appreciate the help,” the ME said as he slammed the freezer truck door shut and ushered everyone back into the building.
“Wait, Doctor, don’t you need me to come with you?”
“Yes, yes, yes,” he said, grabbing the overhead door handle, waiting for the people to clear. “But I need your video camera, too. Go grab it and meet me at the emergency services building. They have a large freezer in the lower level that we can use.”
Lowering the door on the retreating security guards and the very confused assistant, the ME added, “Go now. We need to get started quickly, and we have no time to waste!”
After the door slammed down, the assistant locked it again from the inside. He heard the truck drive away from the ramp and turn onto the street. Still unsure of what was going on, he did as he was told. Retrieving his camera gear from the examination room, he packed it up and exited the morgue to meet the medical examiner in a large freezer.
“This day …” he said to himself as he hit the lights and shut the door, locking it behind him.
It took no time at all to catch up to the slow-moving freezer truck. It had just arrived at the Orange County Emergency Services building and was heading around to the loading dock. He remembered that the building could also be used for emergency food preparation and storage, which explained the available freezer.
Parked and heading to the back of the truck, he heard someone out of view shouting.
“This is highly unorthodox! Bringing a dead body to where we keep food! Are you insane?!”
Rounding the corner of the truck he saw the ME standing in front of a very red-faced man in an emergency services uniform. The ME was equally red-faced.
Ice Where There Was None Page 3