Answering the Call

by Ali Vali

  She walked naked to the kitchen and stared at the plan until she burned it into her memory. The last week she’d had ample time to walk through it more than once, so she was sure the timing was right. Only one thing would make this perfect, and that’d be standing next to Savoie when she found her gift. Perlis must have enjoyed doing just that.

  The world was a simple place when you allowed your true self to flourish. Granted, sometimes you had to adhere to the public persona that helped people, but Hunter was always there scheming up ways to put all the miserable creatures she ran across out of their misery. Their deaths, like in this game, might not have been pleasant or easy, but the sweet relief of the nothingness she imagined that followed made up for not having to endure their pathetic existence any longer.

  “I should’ve fucked before now to take the edge off.” She’d been so busy she hadn’t had time to indulge in what was so readily available to her, but the pieces of the game had to be perfect. “When I’m done and can take my time, it’ll be that much sweeter. This will have to do until then.”

  She spread her legs, braced herself against the counter, and touched herself. Anticipation of the next few hours made her hard and wet, and it took only a few strokes to climax. The end made a tingle rush through her, and she stood a few minutes with her hand between her legs, knowing she’d have to do it again before she’d be calm enough to dress and get going.

  “Fuck,” she said, louder than she meant as she jerked against her hand hard enough to make her legs buckle. “Maybe I’ll fuck you before I kill you, Sept. I want to see what all the fuss is about, since the world seems to love you enough to spread its legs if you ask.”

  She headed for the shower, not wanting to be late. “Believe me, once I strip away that façade you wear so effortlessly, they’ll curse themselves for falling for your bullshit.”

  The uniform she’d need was laid out on the chair next to the bed, and she felt the same delicious tingle from before as she put it on. Everything was done, so she took her time slipping into it and lifting the kill bag, fighting the temptation to open it and check it one last time.

  “You’ve got everything you need,” she told herself. “All that’s left is to complete the plan.”

  * * *

  “It sounded simple enough,” Keegan said as she took the thermometer Sept had stopped for and placed it on the bedside table. They’d gone to their appointment and gotten the green light to start trying.

  “It did.” Sept lay on her side naked with a wide smile. “When you get hot, then we get hot.”

  “You’re so poetic, baby.” She laughed but stripped off her nightgown. “Now you just need to do your part.”

  “I’m always ready to do my part, beautiful.” The way Sept wiggled her eyebrows made her laugh, but she’d left the task of talking to the Savoie brothers to their sister. “And I was going to surprise you with their answer tonight, so you wouldn’t think I was slacking.”

  “Did they agree?” It was a lot to ask of someone, especially if they’d be acknowledged only as an uncle once the child was born.

  “My love, you didn’t think they’d say no to you, did you? Joel’s the only one who hasn’t made it, but only because I’ve got him hopping. The clinic’s staying open later for him tonight. Then we’ll be ready, and we’ve got plenty of material to work with.”

  “Material, serious?” she asked, laughing. “And way to work fast.” She got on top of Sept and kissed her. “Our appointment was three days ago.”

  “We’re all wired to protect and serve. They were glad to provide the serve part this time around. The best part is that Marjorie, Patrice, Claire, and Russ were more excited than we are, I think. I’m shocked one of them hasn’t called and blabbed by now,” Sept said of her sisters-in-law and her brother Jacques’s partner Russ.

  “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” She smiled when Sept wiped her tears and knew her well enough not to have to ask why they were falling.

  “It’ll give me good practice to be alert for any late-night calls I get sent out on.” The way they fit together made her heart full. Sept loved her for who she was and really strived to make her happy. This had never happened to her before, and it made her tears fall faster. “What’s wrong? Are you not ready? It’s okay to admit that.”

  “No, I’m happy—you make me happy, and I can’t wait to be pregnant with you. Your job freaked me out at first, but your sisters-in-law and Russ helped me get over it. They learned how to deal from your mom, and I trust all their advice, especially Camille’s. You and I are going to be a family.”

  Sept’s phone rang, and she held up a finger since she had to take it. “Hold that lovely thought, sweetheart,” Sept said, clearly in a good mood. Sept’s smile disappeared instantly when she glanced at the phone, and she had to take a deep breath before she answered it. “Savoie.”

  “Hello, Detective.” The mechanical voice was the same, but this time Sept heard a noise in the background that wasn’t just the normal low static caused by the voice manipulator. “Lovely evening, isn’t it?”

  “It was,” Sept said, and she leaned back some when Keegan pressed up behind her. “What do you want?”

  “You’re not pleased to hear from me?” The laugh that followed sounded as ridiculous as the first call. “I always come bearing gifts, which makes it unbelievable that you’re not happy to be the fortunate one I called before.”

  “Before what?” The phone was a burner, of that she had no doubt, and it killed her that a trace to a specific person wasn’t possible.

  “Listen, Detective.” The static stopped, and someone’s moan took its place. It sounded muffled, like they were gagged, but the terror they were experiencing came through loud and clear. “I’m giving you something Alex never shared with you.” The manipulator was back, as well as the laugh. “You’re so close and yet too blind to see. Another one will be set free of you, and you’re too ignorant to stop it.”

  “It’s me you want. Come on, asshole. Let me trade places with whoever you’ve got,” she said, and Keegan squeezed her shoulders as if in protest. “Or are you afraid?”

  “Afraid is something you should feel constantly now. All these bodies you’re responsible for. I’d love to talk to you about them, but I’ve got some cutting matters to attend to.”

  “Wait,” Sept said, but it was too late. Hunter was gone with no clue as to who she had. “Fuck.” She threw on a T-shirt and ran down the hall and opened Jacqueline’s door. Jacqueline was standing by the bed in her underwear, glaring at her like she was contemplating a shoe to her head.

  “Do you not know how to knock?” Jacqueline yelled as Keegan followed with Sept’s briefs in her hand.

  “Put these on before you freak out the rest of my family, please.”

  “What in the world is going on here?” Della said, coming out of the room Melinda and Carla were sharing. “Why is everyone half naked?”

  “Keegan will explain. I’ve got to go,” Sept said, sensing her face getting hot as Keegan helped pull her T-shirt over her ass.

  “Thanks, honey,” Keegan said, following her back to their bedroom. “Give us a couple of minutes, and I’m guessing someone with a gun will tackle anyone who tries to leave the house.”

  “Sorry about that,” she said as she got her underwear back on and reached for her pants. “I need to scale my freak level back some.”

  “Where are you going exactly?”

  “I have to pick Nathan up and head to work. Believe me, if I got a call, that means we’ll be called out as soon as she’s done.” Keegan helped her button a fresh shirt and put on her shoulder holster. She held the badge until she’d tucked the shirt in. “Where’s Carla? I doubt she’s in danger, but I like being sure.”

  “Let me check with Mom, so don’t leave yet.”

  All the Blanchard women were in the hall when she came out and joined them. “Please stay inside, and I’ll call when I can,” she told them all.

  “Keep your ass
in one piece,” Della said, and she nodded. “It’s cute enough, and for Keegan’s sake I’d hate for it to get damaged.”

  Jacqueline laughed the loudest, and Keegan dragged her downstairs by the hand before she could come up with a retort. Cain’s man Lou was sitting in the kitchen cleaning one of his guns, and he stood when she came down. “Hey, Lou, thanks for pulling a shift.”

  “You going out?”

  “I have to go to work.”

  “Go with a clear head then,” Lou said with a nod. “I got some guys outside, and no one will get through us. I give you my word.”

  “Thanks, and let me know if someone tries.”

  “Be careful, baby, and remember you’ve got a job to do in the morning here too,” Keegan said before she kissed her.

  “Get some sleep, and don’t let Della make Lou nervous. I love you.”

  She waved to the other guards, not caring if someone was watching. If Hunter somehow did have an eye on her, she wanted her to see her family wasn’t going to be messed with. “Get dressed. We got another call,” she said to Nathan.

  The recording she’d made of Hunter’s message made her think of who the victim could be as she listened to it a third time. Quick calls to Brandi, Erica, and her family had relieved her mind of the most obvious choices, but whoever it was, her gut said she knew them.

  Nathan got in and played the recording as they headed to the precinct, their team already going in, including Anabel and her people. “You can’t think of anyone?” Nathan asked.

  “I checked in with everyone important to us, and they’re all okay. It’s got to be someone we talked to, though.”

  “Why do you think so?”

  “Hunter, like Perlis, has picked random victims, but in Hunter’s case I believe only Bonnie was totally random. The rest have either been to send a message or clean up anyone who can identify her.” She was about to cross Canal into the French Quarter when she made another quick mental review. “Gustave, you there yet?”

  “Waiting on you, shrimp.”

  “Get Gretchen Harrison’s number and call her. See if you can find her cell number.”

  “Wait up,” Gustave said, and she heard him bark the order out for the number, which only took a minute. “Anything you want me to tell her? It’s ringing.”

  “See if she’s okay.”

  “Went to voice mail, and Jacques said the office number is being answered by a service.”

  She slapped the blue light on the roof and turned back toward Poydras and Gretchen’s office. “I’ll be there as soon as we check out her office.”

  “Not without backup.”

  “Meet you there, but Nathan and I are closer.” She sped to the high-rise close to St. Charles Avenue and Poydras and parked on the sidewalk, leaving the flashing light on her car.

  The lobby was lit, but no one was at the marble desk where the security guy usually sat, so she took her badge and banged on the door to try to get someone’s attention. “I’ll look around and see if I can find a number,” Nathan said as she kept up her knocking.

  “Wait,” she yelled when Nathan was almost to the corner. An older, slightly overweight man in a security uniform walked as fast as it appeared he could to the door, screaming the entire way for her to stop before she broke the glass.

  “What’s the problem?” he asked, yanking the door open.

  “Do you have a master key?” She pushed past him. He hesitated, and she wanted to hit him for the delay. “Do you?”

  “Yeah.” He held up a key ring. “There’s one that goes to each floor.”

  “Did you let anyone else in through here? A woman maybe?”

  “No. The only people here are the cleaning crew and the stragglers who work late.”

  “Give me the key to thirty-two, and stay here and let in our backup.”

  He hesitated again. “I’m not supposed to give anyone the keys.”

  “Do you really want the other cops coming to find you handcuffed to this door? I don’t have time for this shit. Give me the key.”

  They got an elevator quickly because of the hour and rode it a floor past Gretchen’s office, taking the stairs down. The floor appeared deserted, and the waiting area of her office was dark. If she’d guessed right, Gretchen was somewhere in there in big trouble.

  “How do you want to do this?” Nathan asked.

  “We go in and stick together until we clear the office.”

  She quietly unlocked the door once she had her weapon in hand and paused at the entrance and listened, but the place was quiet. The question of how long it took to disembowel someone and rip their heart out was on her mind, but she pointed toward Gretchen’s office, then to her eyes. Nathan was right beside her as they headed to the solid wood door and swung it open, ready to fire.

  The office was empty, and she exhaled in relief. She and Gretchen weren’t close, but she was glad nonetheless she wasn’t dead on the floor. “Thank God.”

  “Sept, are you upstairs already?” Alain asked when she answered her phone.

  “It was a false alarm,” she said, closing Gretchen’s door.

  “Someone just called in something from three floors down. The phone is still off the hook, according to the operator.”

  “What’s three floors down?” They were back at the elevator punching the call button.

  “It’s another law firm, and when George was notified, he was really upset. The office the call came from is the firm Chloe Johnson works for. That’s—”

  “Jennifer’s partner—shit.” They forgot the elevator and took the stairs, willing to break in if that was what it took. The front door was open, but all the lights were off, so they entered the same way as before. She stopped breathing when she saw the flicker of candlelight from the center office, and she could’ve sworn she could smell the sulfur from the match used to light them.

  They both stopped at the door when they saw three bodies on the floor, each with its own altar, but one was blessedly empty except for the burning candles. Thankfully, Chloe had been spared mutilation. Gretchen and the man next to her hadn’t been as lucky.

  “What the hell is this?”

  Chapter Thirty

  Hunter took the service elevator to the basement, where the cleaning crews kept their carts. At this time of night, it should’ve been empty since the janitors were all working, but two women stood with a cart between them, gossiping in Spanish. They glanced at her and stopped talking, and that sealed their fate. She pulled her gun and emptied the clip, wanting to be sure.

  “God damn it.” She changed the clip and made sure the wig and hat were low on her head before she started to walk out. “The call was a mistake. Alex got caught, remember?” She spoke softly and took a deep breath to calm her movements. If she left like this she’d be caught for sure.

  “Sept said to check the service entrance,” a man said from right outside the door she needed to use. “Go in through here, and work your way up from there.”

  It wasn’t time to panic, and she had every confidence in her training. She stepped back in and waited in the restroom. If she was right, most of the force would be concentrated upstairs, but there had to be another way out in case she was wrong. The sudden burst of noise from the next room meant she was wrong.

  “Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?” It had taken way too many rings, but she still had a chance. “Is someone there?” the operator asked.

  “Listen carefully,” she said, lowering her voice and cupping her hand over the phone. She gave the address of the building, and the noise from the other end died away as if the woman knew who she was. “Tell Detective Savoie I left her enough explosives in the building to finish the job I started, and she didn’t let me finish. But then again, two out of three isn’t bad.”

  “Are you saying there are bombs in the building?”

  “You figure it out, but I don’t like to leave anything undone.” She hung up and stood in the stall with her gun aimed and ready. Sept Savoie might figure
it out for what it was, but she could take the chance. That do-gooder part of the detective said no, she’d evacuate the building until the bombs unit arrived.

  “Radio call, sir,” a man yelled.

  “Get everyone out now,” someone with a deep voice said, and the conversation was followed by running.

  Hunter couldn’t be sure, but the man who’d given the order to evacuate was Sebastian Savoie. If that was true, Savoie knew she was in the building and was tightening the noose. “What now, do you think?” she said out loud.

  The five minutes she waited were enough to convince her the maintenance room was empty. “Way too close, so I hope this teaches you about hubris. The main thing that assures success is invisibility. Gloating before it’s done will get you caught every single time.”

  She shook her head at the self-admonishment. “There’s never been a single time, and I’m not going to get caught this time.”

  The service elevator stood open, which made her think about one thing. She took the keys off one of the dead women, realizing then that she’d left the set she’d stolen in the office upstairs. If this elevator stopped on every floor, she might find one spot the cops hadn’t covered.

  She punched the fifth-floor button and stood in a ready position again with her gun, but the door opened to an almost-abandoned floor in the parking garage. About six cars were there, which provided no cover, but she couldn’t go back.

  “Make sure y’all look under every vehicle,” a woman said, but the searchers weren’t on the floor yet. The empty concrete space made sound carry, so they were still one floor under her. She had only one logical option, so she left the elevator and headed for the stairs.

  The majority of the cops searching seemed to be in the actual garage, so she made it down two floors, where most of the cleaning staff was obviously parked, and stood for a long while to make sure no one was out there. “Killing another cop won’t help the plan. Only one is left, and the game is done.”