by Ker Dukey
I’m here, Winter. Share screen with me.
“I like to see you’re careful about who your friends are, Winnie.” His sarcasm makes me roll my eyes but I sit and wait as Jarod takes over my laptop, the cursor looking funny as it whizzes across the screen like it has a life of its own.
It takes him five minutes before he has a lock on the IP address and it is secured to a diner in the US, and when I hear Cole hiss I realize that it’s as close as 300KM away.
“Holy shit.”
My phone buzzes and when I see Jarod’s name scroll across I quickly answer. “Shit, Winter, don’t tell me you’re going out there on your own.”
“No,” I placate him quickly. “Don’t worry.”
“I do worry, you’re my friend. Listen, bring me the laptop before you go and I’ll try to hack deeper in and see what I can get for you. I’m hoping your sister’s chat logs are just buried under the rubble.”
“So other work freed up?”
“I’m not a complete prick, Winter, this is more important and when I help find her maybe you’ll feel really grateful.” His tone darkens. “A guy can fantasize right?”
“Did I ever tell you that I love you, Jarod Bennet?”
I frown when I notice Cole tense beside me before he pushes off the sofa and disappears into the kitchen.
“Never, but I can think of ways for you to show me.”
Always in heat Jarod. “Yeah we’ll see, Hackman.”
He laughs at the nickname. “You take care,” he finishes before he ends the call.
Walking into the kitchen I find Cole gripping the edge of the countertop, his knuckles white as he stares down at the floor.
“You okay?” I ask. Maybe he was having a panic attack.
He sucks air through his teeth and turns to look at me. There’s a darkness in his eyes that I haven’t seen before and it makes me stop in my tracks. Watching me silently for a moment he eventually strolls towards me. I’m panting by the time he reaches me, the expression on his face making me wary. “How well do you know Jarod Bennet?”
“Well enough.” I’m taken aback by his question. “You think I would bring him into this if I didn’t trust him?”
Cole snorts. “Sugar, you have no fucking idea who, and what, he is.”
His opinion of Jarod gets my back up and I glare up at him. “He’s my friend. I’ve known him a long while. He has my back and I have his, and that includes people who judge him without knowing him.”
“You don’t know him, Win!”
“I know he would do anything for me,” I bite back, my anger growing.
“Are you fucking him? Is that what this is?”
My mouth pops open and I stare at him. I’ve never seen this side to him and if I’m honest I’m both turned on by his fury and enraged by his presumptions of me. “How dare you!” I spit. “You have been out of my life for seven years. You don’t know me and you don’t know who, or what, I am!” I throw his words back in his face and he looks at me as though I have slapped him.
“That’s where you’re wrong, sugar. And I also know that Jarod Bennet has tiny little kinks that he doesn’t want anyone, most probably you, to know about.”
I still, frowning in confusion. “What?” I almost laugh as I picture Jarod, the dirty underwear soda junkie slob being a kinky Dom master.
He winces and I can tell he’s angered himself. His body physically sags and he blows out a breath. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that…”
“No, you shouldn’t. And I would rather you kept your assumptions about me to yourself, because believe me, you might not like what you find.”
He narrows his eyes on me but I’m already reeling from his audacity. Hurriedly, I leave him stood gawping at me as I rush to pack a bag.
“Where are you going?” he asks from behind me as I shove clothes into a bag.
“I’m going to find Amber… or Celine, or whoever the hell it is.”
“No!”
I laugh, angering him further. Without speaking I glare at him and nod slowly, then continue to stuff my bag full of a few days’ things.
“Winter,” he warns as he takes hold of my hand and attempts to stop me but I pull away, yanking my hand back.
“Cole, I am going to find my sister. Whether you like it or not.”
He growls and runs his hands though his thick hair. His face is contorted in both worry and anger. However, he has no choice but to nod. “Fine, but I’m coming with you.”
I shrug. “That’s fine, but I am warning you now. You think you know me, Cole. You don’t. I am not the fourteen year old that hung on to every word you said. You are not God, and you are not my keeper. I am going to find my sister,” I say slowly as I lock on to his eyes, “And if someone has her I am going to kill whoever took her.”
I leave him staring after me, staring at the real girl who is too angry to be kept hidden any longer. I need her, I know I will, and for the first time in a long while, I allow her freedom.
God help them all.
I should have known better. I should have called Winter.
Will she be scared for me? Will she forgive me… Ever stop looking for me?
The bruises on my legs make pretty patterns in different shades and my fingers circle them to try to stop my mind from splintering. My knees hurt and I should shift to my bottom but I don’t want the cold floor to touch any more parts of me.
“You need to shower.” His voice penetrates the cold air surrounding me and coats me in dread.
I don’t want to shower; I don’t want to be here… I want to go back home… I want Winter.
My body doesn’t feel like my own and my soul is crying out for Winter…
“Can you feel that?”
She’s terrified, staring up at me with wide innocent eyes like I’m the big bad wolf and she’s poor Little Red Riding Hood.
Little girls wandering into the woods, they want to be eaten.
She shakes her head, no.
I tilt my head to the side and study her as she inches away from me.
Where are you going, Angel? There is nowhere to run.
Her long brown hair is messy and it disappoints me. She was perfect when I took her last night. She wore white like I asked and looked like a forgotten angel as she waited patiently for me to arrive. Now she had soiled her dress and her hair was matted.
“Can you not feel the dirt coating your skin and hair?” I growl. “You’re disgusting. My little angels are clean, now clean up.”
I kick the sponge towards her and she quickly swipes it up and rubs it harshly down her face, angering me further.
“Don’t make me punish you so early, Angel.”
She stands but her body is shaking.
“Shower.”
She looks to the faucet attached to the wall and back at me before her hand slowly reaches out to turn it on. She attempts to stand beneath it fully-clothed - they all do at first, shy little angels.
“Lose the clothes, Angel.”
Just like the others, the tears come and she shakes her head and begs me no. “No… Please… No. Please, don’t.”
They’re so predictable.
I stand and grab the scissors from the tray. “Let me help.”
She flinches away and begs.
I snip away at the fabric, exposing the youthful pale flesh beneath.
Trying to cover herself, she turns and wraps her arms around her body. So innocent… So perfect.
I step away once she’s completely bare and demand that she clean herself. Sitting back in my chair I observe to make sure she does every part of her.
Once she’s done I offer her a towel, which she snatches from my hand. I point to the white silk gown hanging in the corner. “Put that on and then brush your hair for me. Leave it loose down your back and then go sit in front of the fireplace.”
“Please let me go home, I won’t tell anyone I promise … Please.”
“If you’re a good little Angel I will releas
e you,” I promise. Thoughts of releasing Jessica filter through my mind and cause my cock to harden; she looked stunning in her final moment. And I’m sure my new Angel will be just as beautiful in her final moments too.
But there was time before she earned her release.
I pull on my jacket and grab the hat from the backseat, grateful I’d molested Jake back there a couple of nights ago. He’d left his hat and scarf stuffed down the seat when the space became too confined and he’d carried me up to my apartment mid-fuck. It had been in the early hours of the morning and dead outside, not that we weren’t opposed to people sightseeing every now and then.
I pull it over my head and wrap the scarf around the bottom half of my face before getting out the car and jogging over to the café.
The bell overhead chimes, alerting the staff to my entry.
“Pick a booth darlin, I’ll be with you in a second.”
I scan the room and pick the booth in the back corner that gives me a perfect view of every other booth in the place. An older couple are sat in front of me eating French toast; the smell is divine and making my stomach pang for food. There’s a guy sitting at the counter playing on his phone while sipping coffee, and then I see a young girl sitting fourth row along, and she has a laptop.
I slip my scarf off but keep my hat on and get up to head for the toilet, which happens to be past where she’s sitting. I slowly walk past her, quickly glimpsing down at her computer, and see the chat page open. My heart pounds in my chest. She’s just a lonely kid.
I push into the toilet and nearly knock straight into a guy coming out.
He stops moving and stares at me like he knows me, his eyes penetrating the shield I use so people never really see me. My breath hitches from his presence alone.
“I’m sorry,” I apologize for almost knocking him out.
He shakes his head then strangely nods, yet he doesn’t move.
“Can I help you with something?” I ask, feeling like I know him.
He shakes his head again and then laughs slightly. “I’m sorry, it’s just you have familiar eyes.”
My forehead creases. Was that a pick-up line? “Well I don’t think I know you.” I shake my head, my brow furrowing as I search for familiarity in his features, but nothing comes. I don’t know him.
“No, I’d remember the eyes of an angel anywhere.” He pulls the strap of his bag onto his shoulder and shuffles past me.
I pull myself from the trance he has me in and hurry into the toilet, just washing my hands before hurrying back out. I walk past ‘Amber’ again and notice her nervously looking outside. I want to stop and ask her some questions but I don’t want to give away my profile if she is just a dead-end. So I walk back to my booth and plonk my ass in the seat.
I look over the shop floor mapping out where everyone is sitting. My eyes collide with the man from before. He’s staring straight at me, satisfaction and intrigue lit in his eyes as they pin me in my booth. He has an air about him. Danger.
The overhead bell chimes, pulling my attention when Cole walks in and aims straight for me. He sits his tall frame in the seat opposite me, blocking my view.
“Did you honestly think I’d let you come alone?”
“It’s just a girl.”
He turns to look behind him and when he does I notice the guy from before is leaving. He looks down at me one more time before disappearing into the night.
“Why would she use someone else’s picture?”
“I don’t know, maybe to protect herself.”
My cell lights up with Jarod’s face. “Yeah?”
“Did you get there in time?”
“Yeah, I’m here now. She’s a kid, it’s a dead end.”
“She’s there now?”
“Yeah, I’m looking at her now.”
“The computer has left there, Winter.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end as I get to my feet and scan the window. “Where is it?”
“It went dead about five minutes ago.”
I end the call and race over to the girl, jumping in the seat next to her and grabbing her computer to which she screams a “hey!”
PROFILE: Ariel15
“You’re not Amber?”
She looks at me like I’m a crazy person. “Do you mind?”
Cole approaches and flashes his badge at her. “It’s okay, sweetheart, we need to ask you a couple of questions.”
Her head drops and she starts crying. “I was only going to meet up, I wasn’t going to go anywhere, I promise. Are you going to tell my mom?”
“Who were you meeting?” I ask anxiously.
“A boy, his name was Ryan.” She points at the screen and all of a sudden her messages begin disappearing right in front of my eyes.
“Someone was here. It was him.” I jump from the seat and race outside, scanning the streets for the guy who gazed at me inside.
“I’m going to have to report this, Win.” Cole states, coming up behind me as he searches the vicinity with me. “You showing up could have spooked him and saved her from God knows what.”
I run over to my car and slide in the seat, grabbing the laptop from the passenger seat.
I open it and log into the website.
USER: Amber:
Autumn, do you like to play games?
USER: Autumn:
Amber, it depends on whom I’m playing with, and for what prize.
I wait for an answer to ping as I continue to search the car park but nothing comes through. Had I blown this before ever getting anywhere? Can this really be him? That was too easy.
Cole’s knuckles rap the window and then he opens my door making me startle.
“It was Amber, he had to be Amber. I can’t believe how easy that was.”
“If it was easy we would have him in custody, Win. We probably just lost our only chance with this lead. I need to get her home. I want you to go to this hotel and wait for me.” He hands me a piece of paper with the address of a hotel on. “I’ve booked us rooms and think we should be closer to your parents and close to the point of Summer’s disappearance.”
“Do we even know where that is?” I grit out. “Do we know anything?”
“I was coming to tell you that I got a call, they have her on CCTV at a train station on the day she disappeared.”
“What?” I scramble out of the car and grab hold of his coat, needing to feel something solid beneath my fingers. “Did she get on a train?” I ask, confused as to why or where she would be going.
He shakes his head, “She walks to a car just out of shot and that’s the last time we have her.”
My heart screams in my chest and ricochets against my ribcage.
“Listen, go book into the hotel, it’s a long drive and you’ve had an emotional day.”
I nod up at Cole as he talks through a calming breath, holding my arms and gently squeezing. “Okay.”
I wait until Cole’s out of sight before I pull the laptop back onto my lap and open it, my heart thumps so heavily in my chest that I can’t breathe.
USER: Amber:
Autumn. Saint vs Sinner. Winner gets an Angel.
Winner gets an angel.
What the hell does he mean? An angel? Oh God, can he really be the Angel killer?
Is he telling me that he has Summer, and that if I win I get her back? Would he even give her back?
It’s not like I can trust him. He’s a freaking murderer, a psychopath.
My head bangs with everything that is spinning around. My heartbeat still hasn’t settled and I feel sick. That girl. What if I hadn’t turned up? Would he have gotten to her? Taken her?
That thought has me scurrying to the bathroom and heaving up the contents of my stomach, my moans louder than the actual vomiting. Sinking back against the tub, I close my eyes and try and think but my mind is too jumbled to come up with anything useful. I need to find him again. But there’s nothing I can think of to get me there. The only way I can see is via messeng
er, and I’m not too keen on that idea. I’m in the dark, waiting on him when I need to be one step ahead of him to play him at his own game.
I replay the moments at the diner over and over. Was that really him, and was I that close?
Grabbing my laptop I bring up articles about the Angel Killer.
‘Angel Killer strikes again.’
‘Only four weeks since last body was found.’
‘Teen missing runs into third week.’
‘No leads in missing teenager, Sara Young.’
‘Body of missing teenager found mutilated.’
‘Skin peeled and pinned to look like angel wings.’
‘Found in praying position.’
‘Police fear for missing teen as disappearance runs into fourth week.’
‘Police find no connection between victims, only that their computers and cell phones appear to also be missing.’
I flick through article after article trying to find some lead, some clue about this guy. How could the police not come across the same site Cole and I found? Why was Summer’s computer still at home if all the others were missing with the victims? Does this mean he doesn’t have her? Please let that be why.
I replay the moments back in my mind from the diner. I stood so close to him. I try to recall his scent, it was earthy like wood with the slightest hint of a chemical – maybe ammonia, bleach.
I need to get Cole to take a statement from me about his appearance while it’s fresh in my mind.
I left Cole to take that poor girl home. I wonder how you tell someone’s parents that their child is so unhappy that they have to venture into chatrooms for some attention. My gut twists that Summer must have been just as lonely to do the very same thing. I thought I had always been there for her, given her as much of me as I could. She’d been asking about her mother for the past few months and I’d just brushed it away and refused to discuss that bitch with her. Now, in hindsight, I think that maybe I should have explained some of the details of our past. Summer did deserve that.
I was stupid, naïve and stupid. I didn’t think Summer would do something like this though, it’s extreme. What were you thinking, Summer?