by C. C. Wall
“Jesus,” she said. “Busy day.”
“What do you mean?” Chaney asked.
“That package from tonight?” she said. She looked at him trying to figure him out. “Why don’t you know about it?”
Chaney looked at his watch. “Well, I work late nights. Haven’t got into the station yet.” He stared her in the eyes waiting to see if she bought his story. “You could get me a beer while we talk.”
She didn’t move.
“What’s your name?” Chaney asked.
“Tynel,” she said.
“Nice to meet you Tynel, could you grab me that beer now, please?” He smiled.
She did. She almost forgot to open it. “Are you really a cop?”
Chaney’s eyes were kind. “I’m a detective. I detect things.”
She chuckled. “Okay.”
“That package,” he said. “Who found it?”
“I did,” she said.
“Did you open it?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “It looked like blood was coming out of it so I called the cops.”
“You called the sheriff,” Chaney said. “We have deputies here.” He took a sip of his beer. “Is that who came to get it? Two guys, Reed and Dyer.”
“Dyer was one of them. I’ve seen him in here before,” she said. “I don’t remember the other guy’s name.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “Do you know a guy named Colt Driggers?”
She smiled, then quickly tried to hide it. “I’ve heard of him.”
“It’s okay, Tynel. He isn’t in trouble,” he said. “He’s missing.”
She looked concerned. “Do you think he’s okay?”
“Well, we got a report of an accident he was involved in and then he just disappeared,” he said.
“Was it his fault?” she asked.
“Nope,” he said. “He could be very seriously injured. He may need medical attention.”
“Holy crap,” she said. “Do you have any ideas?”
“That’s why I’m here,” he said. “I was hoping you did.” His smile was beginning to make her feel more comfortable.
“Shit,” she said. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him or his brother in a few days.”
He leaned in towards her over the bar. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Yeah, yeah, of course,” she said.
“Word around town is that Gus tried to kill him,” he said.
She was taken aback. “What? They were like best friends.”
Chaney put his hands in the air. “I know, I know. Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just telling you what I’ve been told hoping you could shed some light on it.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” she said.
“You see, it’s like this,” Chaney said. “Gus helped me out in a big way a while back. The guys at the station, they are gunning for him. I know he didn’t do it. But, if they find him first, he’s a dead duck. You know what I mean?”
She was frantically wiping a glass down with a towel, not even paying attention to what she was doing. “I heard he took off cuz some girl died. Like he was hiding out or something.”
Chaney shook his head. “Didn’t you hear? I thought everybody did.” He looked around to make sure no one was listening. “The mayor took the fall for that. Turns out he is one sick freak.”
“The mayor!” she gasped. “He’s such a square.”
“Don’t I know it,” Chaney said. He took another drink. “But yeah, Gus is clear of that, but this Colt thing has got everyone at the station really ticked off. They feel like Gus thinks he’s above the law. You know, being tied to so many crimes. I know it’s just profiling because he’s a big guy with a bigger past. I just want to find him before they do, that’s all. Give him a fair chance.”
Tynel looked around suspiciously. “I did hear something.”
Chaney’s eyes lit up. “What? What did you hear?”
“Well,” she looked around and saw some people looking at her at the bar. “I shouldn’t be talking about this to you.”
“Is there anywhere else we could go really quick to talk? Somewhere private?” he asked.
“I don’t know?” She said hesitantly.
“Look, you could say I was trying to baptize you or something,” he said.
“All right,” she said. “In the back. Come on.”
Chaney followed her through some double doors into the kitchen area. They walked through to the back. The floor was slippery.
“Who’s in charge of mopping around here?” He asked playfully.
“Me,” she said. “But there were too many people out front and I’m alone here for another hour.”
“I see,” he said. “Tell me what you couldn’t say out there.”
She fidgeted with her hands. She couldn’t look him in the face. Her voice was very quiet. It was barely louder than a whisper. “I heard that he, that he has this cabin out near the falls, up the mountain a little bit. But that is all I know. I don’t even know if he is there.”
“Where is this cabin?” he asked.
“I told you,” she said. “I don’t know I just heard about it.”
“Right,” he said. He let out a big sigh. “Tynel, you and me are in the same boat. Being stranded all alone, fighting what seems like a losing battle, just to clean up other people’s messes.” He picked up the mop out of the mop bucket. Dirty water spilled out onto the floor. “This mop is a wonderful analogy of what we do for people Tynel.”
Chaney swung the mop handle around and hit Tynel in the back of the knee. A loud crack rang out through the kitchen and her knee broke. She fell to the ground and Chaney grabbed her by the scalp and forced her face into the dirty water in the mop bucket. Her arms flailed around trying to get herself out of the bucket.
“Now listen, Tynel,” he said. “I will lift your head up and you will tell me what you know. You will tell me where Gus is or else you will never leave this kitchen again, alive.”
43 - Behind the Red Door
Lukas looked at Sue like she was an impostor. He didn’t know what to do. He looked at his drink and thought that maybe mixing all the different liquors had poisoned his mind. “Repeat that please.”
Sue’s face turned ghastly white. She opened her mouth, trying to speak but no words came out. Her eyes were enormous with fear. “My husband,” she forced out, “I locked him in there.”
“Your husband that left you years ago?” Lukas asked. “That husband?”
“He didn’t leave,” she said. “I put him in there.”
Lukas took his glass and pounded the rest of his drink. “Sue, did you kill him?”
She shook her head slowly, “No, he was alive when I put him in there.”
Lukas looked at the red door. “When did he die?”
Her lips quivered. “I don’t think he did.”
Lukas stood up. “He’s alive?” Lukas ran to the red door.
“Stop!” Sue screamed.
Lukas paused and turned to her.
“I haven’t been in there since I saw it open,” she said. “I don’t know…”
Lukas looked back at the door. “Do you think he’s armed?”
“I don’t know!” Sue shouted.
Lukas went back to her and grabbed her by the arms. He shook her. “Look at me! I am here to help you, but I need to know what the hell is going on.”
She silently weeped and fell into his arms.
Lukas held her for a moment without taking his eyes off the red door. He feared that if he looked away for even second, something would come flying out of the door at him. He gently nudged Sue back on the couch and he, for a second time, made his way to the door.
Beyond the red door was blackness. He slowly put his hand out to push the door open further. The door was heavy. He could barely move it. He forced it open and stared into the abyss. He reached his hand around the wall to try to find a light switch. The wall came out much further than he excepted it would. The wall felt soft. Wi
thout taking his eyes off the darkness he asked Sue a question. “There is a light in here, isn’t there?”
Very quietly, Sue answered. “Yes, but it’s in a cut out in the foam.”
Lukas was confused by her answer but quickly started to put the pieces of the puzzle together. He reached his hand in further and felt the hole in the foam wall. It was as deep as his entire hand almost. He felt the switch and flicked it on.
The fluorescent light flickered a few times before actually turning on. Lukas was both shocked and amazed by what he saw. The room seemed much smaller than it should have because of the sound-proofing foam that Sue had lined the walls, floor and ceiling with. Lukas had to step up onto it once he cleared the area for the door to swing open. It was bouncy. He figured that this was what walking on the moon would be like.
The only two things he saw on the floor were a big bucket that reeked of defecation and a chain with a wrist cuff, covered in blood. On the other end of the chain, he saw a broken bolt. He looked up at the wall and saw another chain with a cuff bolted to the wall and he saw the hole where the chain from the floor was attached at one point.
Lukas was having a hard time believing that Sue Callahan was capable of this type of imprisonment and apparent torture. He walked out of the room. “No one is in there.”
Sue finally let out the breath she had been holding with a wail. She cried and buried her face in the couch cushion and screamed as loud as she could. The pain in her muffled shriek brought tears to Lukas’s eyes but he quickly wiped them away before she lifted her head up.
“Now you have to tell what happened, Sue.” Lukas said. He went to the couch and put his hand on her shoulder. She jumped into his arms again, clinging to him. He held her tightly. He stroked her hair, kissed her head, and rocked her slightly back and forth. “It’s going to be okay,” he said.
“I don’t think it will be,” she replied. “I think it’s already not okay.” She sat up straight and wiped all the tears away and rubbed her nose on her sleeve. “What was in there?” she asked.
“You don’t know what was in there?” Lukas was confused.
“Damn it,” Sue said. She jumped over the back of the couch and ran into the room. “He still has the thing.” She sulked out of the room and leaned on the wall.
“The thing?” he asked.
“The thing I put on his head that kept him quiet and made it to where I didn’t have to…” she trailed off and got lost in a gaze into the carpet.
“Didn’t have to what?” Lukas asked frantically.
She threw her head back against the wall and slammed it against it a couple of times. “So I didn’t have to see his face!” She cleared her throat and swallowed hard. “So I wouldn’t have to look into those eyes.”
44 - Not Alone
“Are you okay for visitors? Or did you still want to be alone?” Eric said as he leaned into the doorway of Elizabeth’s hospital room.
She wiped tears from her cheeks and cleared her throat. “I’m fine.”
Eric was still frozen in the doorway. He lifted his hand as if that would help him speak but he quickly put it down. It took all his courage to just come to the door. He spent the last three hours coming up with opening line. He was hoping Elizabeth would have said something more.
He began to inch into the room. “I’m really sorry that happened with your mom,” he said. He sat in a chair across from her bed for two reasons. One, so she would know she didn’t have to be alone, and two, in case she needed space, he wanted to be as far away from her as he could.
“She’s right, you know,” she mumbled.
Eric tilted his head closer to her.
“She’s right.” Elizabeth sniffled and cleared her throat. “…the bitch.”
“What do you mean she’s right?” he asked.
“That I’m a whore,” she said. “I knew the only reason Harry was nice to me and got me nice things was because I slept with him. I knew it and I didn’t care.”
Eric moved to the bed. “That’s not true.” He put his hand on her arm. “You are amazing. Don’t let that crap sink into your head. She’s lucky to have you as a daughter.”
She shoved his hand off of her. “What the fuck do you know?” she shouted. “You don’t know me. You don’t know what it’s like.”
Eric shook in anxious fear. He tightened his lips. He looked at her intently. “All I know is what I have seen the last few years. The last few years where I always knew where you were in a room or the quad. Always making sure that I could see you out of the corner of my eye. Watching you smile, watching you laugh, watching you twirl your hair around your finger. Then I would go home and imagine what it would be like to talk to you, to spend time with you, to hold you.” He swallowed hard. He couldn’t believe that he was telling her all his secrets about his everlasting crush on her. “I have probably spent more time with you from a distance than anyone has spent with you in years. But, what the fuck do I know? I’m just a stupid kid with a ridiculous crush.”
Elizabeth was still. Her eyes were full, her lips quivered.
Eric got up off the bed and walked out of the room. As he did, Elizabeth’s eyes followed his every movement.
He flipped the light off in his hospital room once he entered the door way. It was dark, but not dark enough for him to see his bed. He laid down and looked out the window. He was humiliated. He couldn’t believe that he opened up to someone who could be so cold to him.
He pulled the blanket up but it was wrapped around his foot. He tugged on it harder but it seemed to only make it worse. All the frustration built up in him. He started pulling on it angrily as if the blanket was the one that broke his heart. Finally, he gave up. He sat up and fixed the blanket and laid back down with his back to the door so he could look out the window.
Suddenly, Eric knew he wasn’t alone in the room. He froze. He didn’t want to turn over in case whoever was in the room with him would attack. He tried to remember things his mother had taught him about self defense. After racking his brain for a few moments, he decided that it wasn’t worth it. After making that huge of an ass of himself, he deserved to get gutted by whatever killer or creature was in the room with him.
He slowly turned over, ready to meet his fate.
It was Elizabeth. Her body was silhouetted from the light in the hall. She didn’t speak, neither did Eric. They just stared at one another in the dark. She lifted her hand up to the back of her neck and pulled the string to her gown. It fell to the floor. Eric’s eyes followed it on its journey down her body. As his eyes made their way back up he could almost make out her form.
She reached her hand out. Eric was mortified but ready for what may happen next. She grabbed the blanket and pulled it up. She climbed up into his bed and pulled the blanket back over the two of them. Eric rolled over on his back and she rolled with him. There was nowhere else for him to run. Even in the dark, they were able to see into each others eyes. She moved her head in slowly and pressed her lips against his.
45 - Spelling It Out
The next morning, Lukas and Sue rushed to the station. They got a call saying another hand has been found. Neither one of them slept hardly at all the night before. The were tired. They were groggy. More importantly, Sue was terrified of Norm.
She felt relieved knowing that Lukas knew and she didn’t have to keep it a secret any longer, but she could tell that he was having a hard time processing it. Lukas on the other hand, felt like he thought he knew Sue better than he knew anyone. He started questioning his detective skills. Being so close to someone who could do what Sue has done, and him not ever having a clue made him second guess everything.
Once inside, Reagan ushered everyone into the conference room. “Okay,” Reagan said. “This is getting stupid. I want this stopped. Three days, three hands. Ideas. Now!”
Sue leaned over to Lukas and whispered in his ear, “Please don’t say anything. Not yet.”
Reagan saw her whispering to him. He cleared his throa
t. “Anything you want to share with the rest of the class?”
Lukas said, “Where’s Chaney? Did anyone call him?”
“I did,” Reed said. “No answer.”
“If I may speak,” Chuck said. “I believe he is at the mortuary taking care of the remains of his late wife.”
No one spoke for a moment.
“All right,” Reagan said. “Let him handle that. He knows we are in a pinch here. He will be here when he can be here.” He motioned to Chuck. “Could you take us through this hand as well?”
“Definitely.” Chuck tried to hold back his enthusiasm. “This hand is just like the others. It was chopped off while the victim was still alive and carved into later. The letter on the hand is a U.”
“Use!” Reed said. “It spells use. U-S-E.”
Sue gasped quietly. “No. It spells Sue.” Sue was having a hard time breathing.
Everyone turned to her with a look that she was hiding something.
“Sue,” Reagan said. “Is something going on we need to know about? Have you been contacted by the killer?”
She shook her head. “No. It’s just a hunch.” She swallowed to try to get her mouth damp. She took a quick deep breath and pushed her hair behind her ears. She noticed everyone staring. “I’m fine. Really.”
“Okay then,” Reagan said. “Reed, Dyer, I want you two looking for any ‘Sue’ in town and try to see if there is anything that links them with Zoe’s shop, the Cafe or Cook’s.”
“Is that where this hand was found?” Lukas asked.
“Yeah,” Dyer said. “We were there asking around about Colt last night right before closing and the bartender found it and brought it to us.”
“Who was it?” Sue asked. “The victim? Who was she?”
Chuck cleared his throat. “The hand belongs to Erin Arnold. She popped up quick. Been in the system a few times.”
“Yeah,” Lukas said. “For prostitution.”
“She was trying to get straight though,” Dyer said. “She had been working at Cook’s for awhile now.”