Danger Zone

by Stacy Claflin

  She didn’t respond. The silence between them seemed to scream.

  He reached for her phone.

  “Stop!”

  Damon turned to her.

  She shook her head. “Don’t. I don’t want you to get in trouble. I believe you.”

  “You do?” His hand fell to his side. “Really?”

  Ariana nodded. “If anyone needs to go to jail, it’s your dad. I’m a witness now, and you have the proof of your new bruises. Turn him in.”

  Find

  Nick got off the phone with the FBI agent to whom he’d handed the case. Given the intricate ring on the Dark Web, the feds were the better choice. They had resources Nick could only dream of, and aside from that, it appeared members of the kidnapping ring were all over the country. Cal Jones was only a small player in the bigger picture.

  A text came in.

  Genevieve: All the kids are sleeping. How are you?

  Nick: Exhausted.

  Genevieve: Go home and get some sleep.

  Nick: Need to check a few things first.

  Genevieve: Don’t overdo it.

  Nick: I won’t.

  Genevieve: How’s Alex? They find Ari?

  Nick: Getting closer. FBI on it.

  Genevieve: Good. Now you can rest.

  Nick: Soon. Love u.

  Genevieve: U2.

  He put the phone away, tempted to take her advice. But first, he needed to look into some things. Maybe he’d even pull out the sofa on the couch and lock his office door. Not ideal, but it’d save him the commute time and give him a few extra minutes to work.

  The thought made him shudder. It was this attitude which led to his divorce with Corrine. Her annoyed complaints ran through his mind, but he shoved them aside. There were other issues at hand—obviously, since Corrine was in jail for life now and their middle child wasn’t his biologically—so this wasn’t the same situation at all. He used to work late in part to avoid his ex. That had been a real issue. Then there was the fact that this case involved his family. He needed it solved, needed to know what exactly went down in his new house.

  They were closer to answers, though they still felt a million miles away. Like Will had said, if the killer was either of the fathers, neither could tell their story. One was dead and one suffered from dementia. However, if the boyfriend was guilty, it was just a matter of finding him and getting him to talk.

  Yet he had his doubts about Colin being the killer. Though he’d never met him and he’d changed his number, why on earth would the guy knowingly sell the house with the corpse of a girl he’d killed? Unless he didn’t know it was there. He and the dad hadn’t gotten along, so it was conceivable Hank had held onto it for some strange reason. Possibly to use against his son one day if necessary.

  Nick had definitely seen stranger things in his line of work.

  The thought of talking to Colin gave him the second wind he needed. He got on his computer and did some digging. Before long, he had a recent physical address in Tennessee for the man who’d sold the house to him, the boyfriend of the pregnant mummy. He also had an old landline number. It was local. Not across the country, like the cell phone or address.

  There was no telling if the number was still in use, but it was worth a shot. The worst that could happen was someone else had the number now.

  Nick debated between calling from his cell or the office. His desk phone would show up as the police department on caller ID, but Colin had Nick’s cell number. His name wouldn’t show up on the caller ID of the landline number though, just his cell phone company.

  He pulled out his phone and dialed the newly found number.

  It rang.

  Nick’s heart leaped into his throat. He took a deep breath and tried not to get his hopes up. The number could just be someone else’s phone now. Someone with no connection to Colin.

  Someone picked up halfway through the fourth ring.

  “Hello?” said a male voice. A familiar male voice.

  “Colin Hawkins?” Nick asked.

  “Who’s asking?”

  “Captain Nick Fleshman. I really need to speak with you about Daisy Marston. Don’t hang up.”

  “How’d you get this number? It’s unlisted.”

  “Police resources.”

  Colin sighed. “Am I under arrest?”

  Nick held back a chuckle. “No. I just have a few questions about Daisy that I think you might be able to clear up.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yes. You can even answer them over the phone instead of coming down to the station this late. Unless you really want a reunion with Will Marston.”

  Colin groaned. “I’ll answer any question you have right now.”

  Nick sighed in relief but kept his voice stoic. “Great. That’ll be easier on the both of us. Did you know about Daisy’s pregnancy?”

  “You know about that?” Colin exclaimed.

  “Her body was perfectly mummified. That was how we were able to identify her—the beauty of DNA technology.”

  “So, I really was the father?”

  “Was that ever a question?” Nick noted Colin’s reaction on a pad of paper.

  “Actually, yes.”

  “Explain.”

  “You said you spoke with that weasel, Will?”

  Nick made another note. “Our department questioned him, yes.”

  “And he didn’t mention the abuse going on in the house?”

  “Said his dad had a temper.”

  “Didn’t mention anything else?” Colin asked.

  “Such as?”

  Colin cleared his throat. “The kind that would lead to me questioning the paternity of my faithful girlfriend’s baby.”

  “By her father or brother?”

  “Both. I was more than happy to send her to my dad for help.”

  “You said both?” Nick asked.

  “That family was messed up, I’m telling you. I can’t tell you how many times she came crying to me because of those two. And her mom wouldn’t listen. Didn’t want to know, I guess.”

  Nick took down more notes. “And you sent her to your dad?”

  “Yeah. Daisy wanted the baby, but she had no resources on her own, and she didn’t want the child anywhere near her family. I’m sure you can see why.”

  “And you didn’t want to be involved as a parent?”

  “I was just a kid! No way I could deal with any of that. But my dad knew people who could help. He told me about a house not far from him who took in girls like Daisy. Helped them get on their feet. They pushed for adoption rather than single motherhood, but Daisy was certain she could convince them to let her keep it.” He cleared his throat. “I always hoped she got the help she needed and found happiness. I swear. I’d never have wished harm on that sweet girl.”

  “If only that had been the case. You had no idea her body was at your dad’s house all this time?”

  “Not in the slightest.” Anger filled Colin’s tone. “My dad and I had our differences, but I thought I could trust him with Daisy. I can’t believe he did that!”

  “I intend to get to the bottom of it. Is this a good number to reach you at?”

  “Yes. And I apologize for ditching my old number. I just wanted to put my old man and his property behind me. Never wanted to think about any of it while he was alive, much less now.”

  “Understandable,” Nick said. “If we have more questions, you’re willing to talk?”

  “Yes. I want justice for Daisy. She doesn’t deserve whatever happened to her.”

  “Thank you. I’ll be in touch.” Nick ended the call, made a few more notes, then found Sanchez and filled her in on his conversation with Colin.

  She arched a brow. “Puts a whole new light on what Will told us.”

  Nick nodded. “I’m going to take a look through the evidence gathered, if you don’t mind.”

  “Please do. And send me Colin’s new information when you get a chance.”

  “I’m on it.” He made
a mental note and headed for the evidence room.

  Most of the room was filled with boxes from Nick’s house. Things he technically owned but belonged to a dead televangelist.

  He put on gloves and started with a box of books. He flipped through the pages, hoping for a loose paper that might’ve been missed. Maybe a small handwritten note.

  Something.

  He found nothing. Sure, they were a fairly small town precinct, but his men and women were good. Cared about quality and put their all into the cases.

  But they were human, and errors happened when dealing with people. And now Nick knew even more about the case. He was coming in with a different set of eyes. He had both the brother’s and the boyfriend’s stories.

  He opened a box of old VHS cassettes. There had to be close to a hundred of them. He grabbed one from the top. It had messy, loopy writing scrawled on the tape itself, Sermon, Christmas Day 1986.

  That was almost a full decade after Daisy disappeared. He looked at a few more, but they were all from the nineteen-eighties. Nothing from the seventies. He dug through some boxes until he found what he was looking for—a bunch of home movies on Super 8 film. Most were of the family before Colin’s mom left with him. Nothing to help the case. Nick put everything back in the box.

  The sticker on the box he held slid off. He caught it before it fell to the table and started to open the box. The writing underneath the sticker made him nearly drop the box.

  Underneath the sticker in thick black marker was one word.

  Daisy.

  Movie

  Nick found Sanchez and waved the box in front of her. “Look at this!”

  Her eyes doubled in size. “Did you find that in the evidence? How did we miss that?”

  “There was a sticker over it.” He held it up. “It fell off when I picked up the box.”

  Sanchez slid on gloves and looked it over. “We’re going to have to look for other stickers to remove.”

  “We’re going to have to watch this. Now!” Nick took it back and went to the room where they kept old projectors, VHS players, and other such devices for occasions like this.

  Nick’s pulse raced faster with every passing moment as they set up the player. Would this reveal the truth? Answer his burning questions? Or at least point them in the right direction?

  He started the home movie and Sanchez cut the lights.

  Black and white static danced on the screen with muffled voices over the speaker. Then the image focused on a chair next to a bed. The room was empty aside from those two items and a small round table with pitchers of liquid.

  A young Hank Hawkins wearing a white leisure suit walked to the chair and sat, facing the camera. He appeared to be in his late thirties.

  “Today I will perform an exorcism on a pregnant, unmarried teenager. If I’m going to send her to the Sisters of Mercy, it’s my responsibility to make sure she’s made clean first. Rid her of the sin that got her in this mess in the first place. Then she will be free to join the convent’s program without defiling it with her wickedness.”

  He reached for the camera, and the image blurred for a moment before he walked out of the line of sight.

  Whines and grunts sounded before Hank reappeared, shoving Daisy to the bed. She wore only a white gown. Her wrists and ankles were tied, and she fought against them.

  “Let me go!”

  He shoved her to the middle of the bed. “After this.”

  “I came to you for help!”

  “And that’s what I’m going to provide.”

  She squirmed around and kicked toward him. “I’m not demon-possessed! How can you do this to someone carrying a child?”

  “To purify you. Stop kicking!”

  Daisy kneed him in the side.

  He cried out in pain.

  “Let me go! I’ll find my own help!”

  Hank rubbed his side and used another rope to tie her ankles to a bedpost. “You came to me, now you’ll accept my help!”

  Daisy screamed, the sound piercing.

  Nick’s stomach lurched. More than anything, he wanted to step into the scene before him and pull the poor girl to safety.

  On the screen, Hank covered her mouth but then quickly pulled it away. “Curse you, devil!” He turned to the camera and showed his bloody palm. “This proves the possession—she bit me!”

  Hank moved off screen, the camera still on Daisy, who continued thrashing around. She yelled and begged for help.

  It was too much. Nick forced himself to look around the room instead. Tried to figure out which room in his house they were in. It didn’t look familiar, but it could’ve just been the camera angle. He might have to do a walk-through of each room and study them all from every imaginable way.

  “We’ll put a stop to your biting,” Hank said off camera. He stepped into view and snapped a cloth against her face. “Try biting me with this in your mouth!”

  They struggled against each other, but he tied a strip of cloth around her mouth. Then he held up a string of beads and shouted in a foreign language. Lit some candles. Grabbed Daisy’s arms and screamed in her face.

  Nick exchanged disgusted glances with Sanchez every so often. It was like a horror film, but worse, because it was real. At the rate it was going, it was what had killed Daisy.

  Finally, Hank set the beads down in the middle of the candles and turned to his victim. “Demon, come out!”

  Daisy stared at the camera, her face tear-streaked and still struggling.

  “Let’s see if this worked, or if I need to bring out the big guns.” Hank untied the cloth. “Speak, child.”

  “Let me go! I hate you! Now I know why Colin won’t have anything to do with you!”

  “The devil is still in you.” Hank paced. “It doesn’t usually come to this, but apparently it has.”

  “I’d rather go home!” Daisy shouted. “If you untie me now, I won’t ever tell anyone about this. I swear. Just let me be.”

  “Silence!” He smacked her across the face. “I don’t make deals with the devil!”

  More tears streamed down her face.

  Hank stormed off camera and returned, carrying an enormous leather-bound book. He slapped it on the table, knocking over a candle. Blew out the flame but didn’t bother setting it upright. “This will work, but you won’t like it. However, you’ll be free of the demons. You’ll thank me.”

  “Never!” She spat on his arm.

  He backhanded her, and blood gushed from her nose, mixing with her tears.

  Nick recoiled. Despite all he’d seen, it never got easier seeing abuse. He wanted nothing more than to run to his children and hug them, to reassure them that no matter what trouble they ever got into, he was there for them.

  On the screen, Hank opened the book and read aloud in what sounded like the same foreign language as before. Daisy screamed and struggled.

  Hank turned to her. “I said, silence!”

  She hollered all the louder.

  “You’ve forced me to do this. The one thing that guarantees a swift exorcism!”

  Sanchez exchanged a worried glance with Nick. His stomach wouldn’t stop twisting and lurching.

  Hank climbed on top of Daisy, lying directly over her, covering her completely. If she hadn’t been traumatized before, she certainly was now. He was so much taller than her that his chest covered her head.

  If he stayed there much longer, she would suffocate. Was that what finally killed her?

  They were about to find out.

  Hank shouted in that foreign language. Didn’t move from his place on the girl. It went on for a minute, two, five, and finally at ten minutes, before he climbed off. Her head turned to the side, away from the camera. Hank dusted his hands.

  Daisy didn’t respond. Didn’t budge.

  “Finally got rid of the demon!” Hank grinned arrogantly into the camera before turning back to Daisy. “Get up. We’re going to the convent now.”

  She continued to lay motionless.

&n
bsp; “Get up!” Hank stood there for a few moments, his smug expression slowly fading. “Daisy?”

  Several long seconds passed.

  Nick held his breath. He had his answer. Death by asphyxiation.

  Hank raced over and shook Daisy, for all the good that did. “Wake up!” He pressed his face to hers. “No!” Then he gave her mouth-to-mouth. Did chest compressions.

  It went on for nearly five minutes before Hank turned to the camera, tears now running down his face. “This wasn't supposed to happen. Nobody can know about this.” He looked around breathing heavily. “I have to burn this building to the ground. Hide the body. And the video! All of this needs to be locked away. I’m never performing another exorcism again.”

  Sanchez turned to Nick. “Let’s hope he kept his word.”

  “I sure hope so.”

  The movie ended quickly. Just as Nick reached for it, the movie started up again. The scene was outdoors. Nick’s new home was in the background, a shed he’d never before seen in the foreground.

  Hank doused the building with gasoline and threw a match on it. It lit up and burned to nothing before the video ended for real.

  Call

  Alex climbed under the covers and put his arm around Zoey, every inch of his body aching.

  She leaned against him and sighed. “How are we supposed to get any sleep?”

  “Just like we did last time she was kidnapped, but at least we have each other this time around.”

  His phone rang. It was the ringtone for Ariana’s number—a goofy song they used to sing together when she was younger.

  Alex’s breath caught.

  Zoey grabbed Alex’s hand. She turned to him wide-eyed. “Is that her?”

  “It … it sounds like it.” He reached for his nightstand and fumbled around, nearly dropping the phone. His mind raced with worst-case scenarios. That Damon monster holding a gun to her head, forcing her to call for a ransom. Him standing over her dead body, using her phone to taunt him.

  It was her number.