by Ann Marie
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Josephine had lost sight of the car. “Damn, where did they go? They just disappeared.” She had driven the last five miles or so without her headlights. Theirs had been the only two cars on the road and she felt rather obvious with them on. Now, she sped up in the darkness, out of fear of losing Anthony. She pushed herself up as far in the seat as she could, straining to see better in the darkness, as she drove. “No Anthony, no...where did you go?” It was a whine, but no one heard it. She turned her head, only for a second, thinking maybe they had turned off the road. She turned back almost too late. Slamming on the brakes, the SUV did a turn of its own in her attempt to miss a moose that had wandered onto the road. With no headlights neither the moose nor Josephine had any idea the other was there. Josephine was shaking uncontrollably when the SUV finally came to a complete stop. Whether it was from her nerves, because of her near collision with the moose, or her fear that she had lost Anthony forever, she didn’t know. She just sat there, for several minutes, steering wheel gripped tightly with both hands. Finally she released her grip. Shutting off the engine and dropping both hands to her lap, she cried. She felt so very empty. So incredibly useless.
She cried until she could not breathe. And then she climbed down from the seat and out onto the deserted road. It was so very dark. The trees, on either side of the road, seemed to grow straight up to the heavens. She tried in vain to find the moon. The moisture from the night air clung to her face. Soon the darkness was too much for her to bear. She circled the SUV and opening the passenger side door, felt the floor for her phone. She found it, but only after her hand had come across Billy’s gun. Laying the weapon on the seat, she turned on her phone and while waiting for it to power up, realized the light inside the SUV probably should not be on. There was always a chance her lead might turn around. Not wanting to be seen, she closed the SUV door to shut off the light. But not before grabbing the gun and wedging it into the waist of her jeans. She remained outside, as she still felt the need for air.
Billy’s phone rang and rang. Agitated by the lack of response she hung up and turned off the power once again, then shoved the phone into her back pocket and started to walk. She was just going to walk a little down the road. Just to clear her head. To breathe for a while.
When she was about a half mile down the road she turned back. She couldn’t see the SUV from the darkness. It was darker than she could ever imagine it being at night. Looking up she noticed some stars, but only a couple. She stood in the middle of the road and looked around in all directions slowly. How could anything be so dark?
When she reached the side of the SUV, she glanced around, wondering if the moose had not remained. She walked towards the edge of the woods. Ducking from side to side, trying to peer into the darkness. She let her hand caress the cold grip of the gun at her waist. Perhaps it was standing in the woods watching her. Then she saw something. The tiniest of things, like a fire fly. The light was that small, but it was there. Off in the woods. She could not tell how far off it was, but it had her attention. She started towards it. She should have just gotten back in the SUV and turned around for home, but she couldn’t go home without Anthony, and she had lost Anthony, so what the heck.
Twenty yards deep into the woods she stumbled upon what seemed to be a dirt road. Glancing back, over her shoulder in the direction of the road, she convinced herself she would only go a bit further. She walked for another fifteen minutes, before she was able to make out what the light was. Seemed to be a small fire. It wasn’t growing did not look as if it moving. Josephine got the impression it was a contained fire. An intentionally set fire. If that were the case, than someone had to have started it. She could use some company herself. Someone to talk to. As she got nearer, she was able to see clearer. It was a fire, in what seemed to be someone’s yard. Just beyond the smoke sat a small shack. There was a light on inside so someone was up, surely they had set the fire. A little closer and Josephine could see that it was a rubbish fire. Something deep inside her told her to back away. Slowly and quietly she started to backup. Eyes scanning for the reason behind the alarm.
Then she saw it. Just beyond the shack, once she was far enough back from the fire to see around it, she noticed the car. The same car she had followed the entire evening. The desire to flee was overlapped by the need to know for sure. Crossing the dirt road, she hid in the shadows of the woods until she was just beyond the car. Then she crept up closer, holding her breath involuntarily, until she had reached her target. Poking her head up, just high enough to glimpse the interior, she noticed the chrome letters on the dash, which spelled out the name Bernie. How the hell was Bernie involved, she wondered.
Lying on the floor, in the rear of the car, was the duffle bag she had previously witnessed the man use as a pillow for Anthony. Anthony was here. She must be inside the shack. Josephine needed to get a better, needed to see inside, but there did not seem to be any windows on this side. Just as she stood to move closer, the front door opened and the man came out. He walked straight to the fire and tossed what use to be Anthony’s hospital gown and the blanket he had used to cover her, into the hungry flames.
Still, she had to be sure Anthony was inside the shack. If she could just see her. Again she convinced herself to move closer. She managed to crab her way around the shack to where she had seen the window earlier. Again she poked her head up just enough to get a visual. The window accessed what seemed to be a kitchen area. The light that came through was not from this room, but the room beyond. Though the glass was dirt stained and cloudy, Josephine thought she could make out a small sink and a single table. Just past that was a something that could have been used to cook on and past that a wooden box, the size of a dorm refrigerator.
Just outside the kitchen was the room that housed the light. It was impossible to see that far into the shack, but Josephine could tell from the shadows that at least one person was up and moving about. The urge to be certain could not be suppressed. Josephine inched her way towards the front of the house. If she could, just get a glimpse inside the door. But try as she might, Josephine could not get a clear view. All she could see from this angle was piles of clothing. Possibly dirty laundry that had been separated.
She did hear someone talking though. She tried to sit perfectly still. Silencing even her own heartbeat so that she could make out what was being said. Just one voice. A man’s voice. “...get use to it eventually. And of course, I even had the month’s supply of water brought down so you won’t have to worry about fetching it for a while. I do hope you appreciate all the trouble I went to for ya. You don’t have to say anything. You can show me your appreciation in a few days.” Then the voice turned angry. “Less, of course, it doesn’t meet with your fancy. Livin’ like a queen all these years. Educated in the finest of schools. Traveled around the world. Think your better than me do you?”
Josephine jumped when she heard the slap, almost giving away her position by the door. “Just don’t forget it was me that gave it all to ya. That’s right; if it weren’t for me you never would have had any of it. You owe me little lady. Owe me big time. And I have waited a long time for my payment. Cost me many, many years. While you were out partying, I was paying for your good time with my life. You owe me.”
Josephine heard a moan. She was sure it had come from Anthony. “Oh, don’t worry little lady. I’m not gonna touch you. Not tonight. Daddy just wants to look atcha. It’s been a long time, and you have grown up so...I just wanta look atcha for a while.”
Josephine envisioned Anthony lying inside that shack, on the bare floor, without her hospital gown. Without the blanket to cover her. And although she was warm from the heat of the fire, she felt a chill that twisted through her to the bone. She needed to get help. She had to go back, so slowly she crept to the far side of the dirt road. Ducking into the safety of the woods she followed the road back towards the SUV.
Salvatore came bursting t
hrough the door of the shack. “Who is it, who’s out there? I will find you. I will track you down and fill my belly with the meat of your liver while your heart still beats.” Josephine could not believe her luck. How did he know she was there? She had never made a sound. She stood still as she listened to him bellow, but when he fired his shot gun into the air, she took to his bait like the wildlife he thought he was talking to. She ran, and in doing so gave away her position. His head snapped around, trying to locate his prey. Again he fired his shot gun, in a vain attempt to hit his target.
Josephine ran until she could not run anymore. She was off the dirt road by several feet but she was pretty certain she could find it again. She just needed to sit a moment and catch her breath. Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out her cell phone. She waited a minute longer, listening for anyone or anything that may be approaching. When she was comfortable enough with the silence, she turned on the phone. She dialed Billy as she sat in the silence.
Chapter 30
“Whose phone is that?” Barsky was the first to hear it ring.
“I got it.” Billy was quick to respond. “Josephine? Hello Josephine, is it you? Are you alright? What? I can barely hear you. Is your antenna full extended? Where? Where are you?” Billy was covering his left ear with his free hand and his right ear with the phone and as much of right his hand as he could. His eye’s motioned the room for silence. “Right, Bernie? Why would Bernie’s car be out there? Look, where’s Antonia? What? Fire, there’s a fire? Josephine? Hello, shit, hello? Listen, listen to me OK? I can’t hear you so just listen for a sec. Stay where you are, do you understand? Stay...Josephine?” Billy slammed his phone shut. “Her battery must be dead. Chloe’s suppose to make sure the phones are fully charged. This totally sucks.”
“Well, what did she say? What were you able to understand?” Barsky was beginning to feel the pull.
“She mentioned something about driving Bernie’s car. She has my SUV, she would never touch Bernie’s car, so she must have been talking about the guy who took Anthony.”
“Her father. Anthony’s father.” Harold tossed.
“We don’t know that for sure yet Inspector.
“I know it for sure.” Harold replied to Barsky’s quip. He smacked his chest a couple times to show her how sure he was.
“Bernie, Bernie the Ballerina. Could be his car. They found his body this morning. Could very well be his car.” Barsky was perked now.
“He killed Bernie? Why would anyone kill Bernie? For Christ’s sake, Chloe and Bernie? Neither of them would ever hurt anyone. Why would he kill them? Bernie? Just for the car? It doesn’t make sense.” Billy was confused and starting to grow a little concerned that they may not get to Anthony in time.
“We still don’t know that for sure. Perhaps if we had the video at our disposal, but no. What else did she say?” Barsky asked.
“She mentioned a service plaza. Right off of interstate 84. And something about a trash fire. That might help if we had an ariel view but...”
“I got her.” Banton had stayed with the computer. Banging away at the keys the whole time. Never letting up until he had completed his task. “Here, take a look. Doesn’t look like it’s moving. If that’s you, US-44 is where we need to be, but you’re looking at about 90 miles, give or take. Even in a squad car it’ll take at least an hour or more to get there. And if she’s on foot? Hell that’s Bear Mountain territory. If she’s in the woods, there’s no telling.” Looking over to his Lieutenant. “What do you think? What do you want to do?”
Harold jumped in, “Well, I for one can’t stand here another minute. I have to get to Antonia. Billy, you with me?”
“Hang on there, just a second Inspector. Salisbury isn’t our jurisdiction. We can’t just go blazing into the woods. I have to call ahead and let...” Her words drifted off into the empty space she spoke them to. The guys were already out the door. Banton, however, was still situated at the computer screen.
“Well? What the hell am I supposed to do now? Banton, call up to Salisbury. Let them know of the situation. Let them handle it. Then get me the chief of staff over at Bart’s. I want to see Daniels in my office in no more than ten minutes and a complete report,” she adds slower “a complete report on my desk by six am. Get me a print out of that.” Pointing her finger at the monitor. “And a traffic history for Mr. Chippendale.”
Billy took the wheel of the doctor’s loner. “She mentioned a fire. A trash fire. If it’s big enough, and dark enough, we should be able to spot it from the air.”
“OK, but we’re not in the air.”
“Buddy of mine runs sky tours. He should be able to hook us up with a chopper, cut our time in half at least. You up for a night flight?”
“You fly?”
“Military trained, been a while but they say it’s just like riding a bike.”
“They say that do they?”
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“Is your antenna full extended?” Josephine pulled the phone from her ear and stared at it incredulously. “He’s fuckin kidding me.” She knew she only had a couple of seconds before the phone died, so she just rambled on into the receiver hoping he heard something. “Listen Billy, Anthony’s here. He has her in a little shack, out in the woods somewhere. Get on 691 West in Hartford. Then I-84 to CT-8 to us-44. You have to hurry. He took Bernie’s car, I don’t know how he knows Bernie, but I can’t believe that jerks involved. There’s a small trash fire going in the yard, hopefully it will still be burning when you get here. I’ll be sitting in the SUV waiting for you. Please hurry Billy.” She pulled the phone from her ear and noticed the light had gone out. The battery was now dead and there would be no more calls for help. “Please.” She whispered softly into the night air.
Standing up she placed the phone back into the rear pocket of her jeans. Checking the weapon at her waist, she searched with her eyes and ears to find her direction. It was just too dark and too quiet for her to be able to think. She had no idea where to go, which direction to head in, so she just walked. She smelled the burning wood before she saw the fire. She had totally reversed her direction and somehow managed to arrive back at the shack. But this time she wasn’t staying for biscuits and tea. She immediately set herself in the needed direction and headed once again for the road. Not looking back to see if she had been spotted. She walked a steady pace and tried to keep head clear of all negativity. It wasn’t long before she was out on the main road again. There seemed to be more light out here than she had remembered, or perhaps it was just that the woods were so much darker. At any rate, she was able to see the SUV without much difficulty.
The gun was starting to irritate her so she removed it from her waist band. She carried it in her hand until she returned to the SUV. After opening the driver’s side door she placed the weapon under the seat before climbing in. Then closing the door she took a deep breath. Allowing herself to relax for the first time all evening. But it was short lived. Within minutes she was feeling as if she had crawled into a spider nest. Her flesh was covered with goose bumps and the back of her neck broke out in a cold sweat. Quickly she locked the doors. Maybe some music would help. She had no idea how long it would take for Billy to arrive, but she was hoping it wouldn’t be long.
She turned the key in the ignition and started the engine, not wanting the battery to die because the radio was on and noted the time on the dashboard clock as she reached for the radio’s on-switch. A few minutes more and she had some relaxing tunes and plenty of time. Leaning her head back and closing her eyes, she tried to will away the nervous tumbling her stomach was performing. ‘Come on Billy, where the hell are you?’ She let the sentence whirl around inside her head. Glancing into the rear view mirror hoping for headlights.
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There was no time to scream. As Josephine swung her head around in an attempt to prove to herself that she was just seein
g things, his left hand caught her hair and snapped her head back securely between the headrest and the window. Her hands went to her head but not before his right had brought up a thick hunting knife, ready to slice open her throat. Her hands froze in midair as she felt the cold blade upon her flesh. She dared not swallow. Looking up into those eyes was perhaps the most frightening experience she had ever had. Nothing but evil looked back. Pure and honest evil. And the evil smiled at her.
“Fancy meeting you here. Probably thought it was real funny, my thinking you were dead back there. Had a good laugh at my expense no doubt. But hey, guess what, my turn to laugh.” He let out an obnoxious chuckle, one that Josephine would have given anything not to have heard. “You and me, were gonna spend some quality time together, seeing as you have this unyielding desire to be near me. You and I are going to get to know each other in ways you have never imagined. And then? Guess what?” He brought his face up close to hers. And then in little more than a whisper, “I’m going to kill you.” Josephine’s heart slammed as he then sucked the oxygen from her lungs through his own clenched teeth, making a sound impossible to describe. In an even, hard tone he added, “Third time’s a charm. Yes, to be certain, this time I am going to remove your heart and bring it back for Antonia’s first home cooked meal.” Pulling her hair with more force, he adds, “No interruptions, no intrusions, no time limits to meet, no need to rush. Just you and me.” He pulled her head up so that she was able to sit up straight.
“Now you’re gonna put both hands on the wheel. Slowly. And were gonna have us a little understanding.”
Josephine raised her hands to the wheel. She watched them shake unauthorized until she had the wheel in her grip. When she had a hold of the wheel, she could feel the shaking run up her arms and into her shoulders. She stiffened, trying to keep the shaking from reaching her throat and possibly causing it to touch the blade at her neck. Slowly she let out a controlled exhale, through tight lips, as if she were blowing into a flute.