“Gallagher.”“I want her back, you bitch! You give her back to me, or this little girl will suffer the worst death you could ever imagine!”
I began furiously looking around to get someone’s attention. No need to guess whether Jim Carlson knew I took the doll.
“Don’t bother drawing attention to yourself, Cecelia! I want my fucking doll!”
He was watching us. He was watching me right now on the phone. I saw Michael look at me strangely, and he started to walk toward me. I jumped into his car and locked all the doors.
“You get nothing until I know Brooklyn Phillips is okay.”
He started to laugh. “You’re not in a position, Cecelia, to demand anything!”
“Actually, yes, I am. Unless you want to watch me dump lighter fluid all over your little whore doll and set her on fire.”
Michael was banging on the window. I, of course, ignored him. I was waiting on a response from our killer, who was completely enraged by now.
“Don’t you dare! If you touch her I will kill you, your family, and every child in this county! Do you hear me, you cunt!”
“Yes, I hear you.” I was calm. “There’s no need to yell. I suppose you could do all of those things, but you still won’t have your little freak doll, now will you?”
If Brooklyn was alive, I was buying her time by threatening his doll. I knew he couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to it and he would do whatever it took to save it. Including keeping Brooklyn alive. Michael had stopped banging and began to fumble around in his pockets for his keys. I shook them at him before starting the car and driving away from the house.
“What do you want?” he asked. My gamble had paid off. Jim Carlson had calmed down and spoke quite meekly.
“I want a trade. If you want your doll back, I get Brooklyn Phillips, unharmed and returned to her family.”
“And now for what I want. You haven’t solved the letter yet, have you, Detective? I’ll give you ten days to figure it out. If you do, you’ll find us and you will bring the doll with you. If you don’t, then the girl and everyone with me will die. In the meantime, you keep my doll safe and I’ll consider a trade.”
“Why wait ten days? Unless you prove to me that Brooklyn is alive right now, I’ll be roasting marshmallows over your little vampire bitch within five minutes.”
“You’ll have it before the day is over.” He hung up before I could question him further.
I pulled the car over and took a deep breath. I hoped I had bought Brooklyn Phillips some time, though I would have a hard time explaining to anyone how I got ahold of the creepy doll. And Jim Carlson knew it. I turned the car around and drove back to the house. Michael was standing in the driveway fuming. I didn’t even have the car in park before he opened the door and jumped into the passenger seat.
“Drive!”
I didn’t argue. I didn’t know where he wanted to go, but when we passed a small park and tennis court area, he pointed to it.
“Pull over there and park.”
When I get nervous, sometimes a tight smile automatically appears on my face. Unfortunately, it happened once again.
“You think this is funny, CeeCee?”
I pursed my lips and said nothing, turning my head to look out the window so he couldn’t see my face.
“Who was on the phone? Tell me. And tell me now.”
“Jim Carlson.”
“Uh-huh. And this was something you didn’t think needed anyone else’s attention?”
I didn’t answer and got out of the car. In seconds, he was right behind me, slamming his door in the process. I walked over to a purple, bouncing dinosaur and sat on it.
“I’ll tell you what happened, Michael, if you calm down.”
“You want me to calm down?” He pointed at my chest and then at his own. “Let’s cover today’s events, shall we? You’ve admitted to committing burglary, you’ve planted evidence, and now you’ve just spoken to the nation’s most sought-after child killer and didn’t feel the need to tell anyone. That’s for starters. And you are asking me to calm down? Perfect.”
He sat down on the bouncing dinosaur next to mine. This one was red with green polka dots. I was looking at the ground, drawing a circle in the mulch with my foot.
It was time I told Michael about the goth doll, how I assumed and confirmed it was Jim Carlson’s favorite. I told him it was my plan to make a trade. I knew Michael would be disappointed in me, but I felt secure in my decision and with no regrets.
“How do you know it’s going to work, CeeCee? Maybe all you did was piss him off and Brooklyn is dead right now?”
“It worked, Michael. When I told him what I would do to his doll, he freaked. I’m telling you, that guy is not going to so much as put a scratch on that little girl until he gets that thing back. That buys us and Brooklyn time.”
“I doubt it. Chances aren’t good. How is he supposed to let you know?”
“I have no idea. He said by the end of the day, somehow. I have to figure out that letter, Michael. Don’t you realize he’s been watching us? He’s probably watching us right now.”
Michael looked around before rubbing both of his temples. He stood up and walked over to me, holding my head against his stomach in a tight embrace.
“I’m sorry. At times, I don’t know what to do with you.”
I stood up and kissed the tip of his nose before walking back to the car. “I’m sure you’ll get over it.”
What I hadn’t told Michael was that Jim Carlson had threatened me, my family, and every child in the county. As far as I was concerned, that was irrelevant. If he had the chance to kill me before I took the doll, he probably would have. He was a murderer.
We stayed at the house for about another hour, then followed the crime lab vans back to the department. It took a few hours to catch up on paperwork before we were able to head out and grab dinner. It must be something with us and food, because we weren’t even halfway across the parking lot before Michael’s cell phone rang. It was the sheriff. A videotape had been delivered to the jail with my name on it.
“I’m on my way to the jail now,” he said. “I’ll meet you and Michael there.”
“Now what?” I said under my breath. “I think I’m a little scared to see what’s on that video.”
“I believe all of us should be.”
Once we arrived, I grabbed a couple of corrections officers to try to locate a television with a VCR, while Michael called the senior agents to come watch the tape. One of the corrections officers, on his way into work, had found the tape wrapped in brown packing paper lying in front of the employee entrance. Convenient, since there are no security cameras by that door. I doubt Carlson walked in front of any other security cameras near the building, but we had all the tapes pulled from those cameras as well. There was always hope. It was another twenty minutes before everyone was present. Michael, wearing gloves, inserted the killer’s tape.
It was awful. We watched in horror as Brooklyn Phillips appeared on tape, crying and wearing only a dirty white T-shirt. She was seated in a wooded area with trees and brush all around, holding up a copy of The Mansfield News Journal. The camera zoomed in on the newspaper, showing today’s date and headline. The voice from behind the camera spoke, first reading the Bible passage from Daniel. The familiar low, gruff voice addressed me.
“There’s your proof, Cecelia. Don’t you hurt her! You have the time I gave you. Now you can show the world just how smart you are. Remember, I made you a promise of consequence if you hurt her in any way. I’ll be in touch, if I don’t see you first!”
The screen slowly faded, before blacking out completely. Brooklyn, as you’d expect, looked terrified beyond imagination, but she was still alive and that was most important. The room remained silent, and I wondered if everyone was as sickened as I was by what we had just witnessed. I hoped the sheriff didn’t plan on showing the commissioner and his wife the tape. It would send them both over the edge in a heartbeat
.
Michael was eyeballing me, which he had started doing when the tape made mention of a “promise of consequence” if I didn’t do what I was supposed to.
The sheriff exhaled a slow, deep breath. “That has to be one of the worst things I’ve ever seen.”
Everyone grumbled in agreement, and the lab tech immediately went to make a copy of the tape so we could study it. We needed to tear the tape apart frame by frame, checking the landscape, dimming the voices for any familiar noises, identifying the types of trees and plants and where they grow, and anything else we could come up with. We had to locate this child.
“CeeCee, what the hell did he mean by ‘don’t hurt her’? I assume he meant that if you don’t figure out the Bible passage he’s going to kill Brooklyn?” the sheriff asked. Michael glared at me sharply.
“Most likely. As we all know, the guy doesn’t necessarily make much sense, and his grasp of reality and its consequences is limited at best. Sheriff, are you going to give him to the media?”
“We have to. I know the guy changes his appearance, but we have a suspect that people, especially parents, need to know about.”
I nodded, then stepped out into the hallway with Michael.
“What was the whole ‘promise of consequence’ thing, CeeCee?”
“Simply that he would kill me and my family if I didn’t figure the letter out within ten days.”
“How very nice. Thank you for sharing this with me earlier.” His attitude was still hostile.
“I’m not worried about it, and you shouldn’t be either.”
We decided to take the copy of the tape and the Bible passage back to the hotel to go over it all night if necessary. The FBI was preparing a statement for the media in cooperation with Richland Metropolitan Police. Chief Raines and a senior agent would be reading the statement. Now it was time for everyone to hold their breath and pray.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Back in our room, I ordered take-out food and began to spread out the entire file on the floor. It was going to be a long night. Michael hooked up the VCR he’d borrowed from the department, then came over and picked me up off the floor, and carried me over to the bed. Apparently, he had gotten over being angry with me. Or he was just plain tired of arguing.“It’s time to play nice.” He began taking off my shirt and pants.
I laughed. “I surrender…. Don’t forget we have food coming, though.”
“Trust me, this won’t take that long.”
Every time we made love, I fell deeper and deeper in love with him. I thought about my life without him and didn’t think I would ever be able to cope. As we lay breathless and naked in each other’s arms, he read my thoughts.
“What happens from here, Cee?” He was drawing one of his fingers along the contours of my body.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, we can’t stay in this hotel forever. This case will end eventually, then what? I think we should start planning what comes next.”
“I know, and I have thought about it, trust me. Right now, I just don’t know where to begin. Eric said I can keep the house, but I simply can’t move you right in with the girls. You know this. You’re a parent. And what about Sean? We can’t figure it all out in a conversation or two. It’s going to be slower than that. Please understand. I love you. I know that for sure. Let’s just take it one day at a time, and it will play out.”
“I understand and accept that, but your one-day-at-a-time scenario will only keep for so long. Eventually, after this case is over, we need to sit down and take concrete action. You promise me that, and I’ll say no more, my dear.”
“Promise.”
Though nothing had been solved, we both felt better knowing we were committed to moving forward. We eventually got up and dressed, just in time for our Chinese food to arrive. After dinner, it was all business.
Over and over we replayed the tape and scoured every inch of the Bible passage. At one point, I saw Michael stick his ear against the television and write something in his notebook.
“What’s going on?”
“I can’t tell, but I think I hear water running. I’m going to have the technicians enhance it in the morning.”
The more I read and reread the passage, the more confused I got. I even took the first words from every line to see if they spelled out something. When I got nothing there, I took the first letter from every word, then the last. I wrote it backward, upside down, sideways; I skipped every other word, and still I came up with nothing. The only thought I had seemed a little ridiculous. But sometimes, those were the things that made the most sense.
“Michael? Have you ever been to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo?”
“I took Sean there once. Why? The zoos have been checked out. Remember?”
“I don’t know. It’s all forest, and if memory serves, there’s a small river through the lions attraction. What exactly did the agents check out?”
“I think just the den area plus all the employees. If I know what you’re thinking, Jim Carlson couldn’t have driven to Cleveland, taken the video, and driven back to deliver it in time after you talked to him.”
“How do you know the tape wasn’t made prior? Earlier in the day? How do you know he didn’t stash her around here somewhere before going back up?”
“Could be. I just don’t understand why he would make the tape earlier. He didn’t know you wanted proof then unless, and this isn’t off the mark, he did it just to fuck with us.”
“He could’ve anticipated it. Don’t forget, we’re playing with a smart man who’s predicted—or watched—every move we’ve made so far. He knew I took his doll for a reason.”
Michael thought about this, while I called the girls. I hadn’t spoken to them yet that day. Talking to them was always the bright spot in my day, and it kept me going no matter what else was happening. They were having a great time, but missed me. I promised I would come down once I caught my bad guy. Before Eric got on the phone, they talked my ear off about watching a man on the fishing pier catch a baby shark, which they got to pet.
“You let them touch that thing?” I asked Eric.
“Don’t worry. It was only about a foot long and they thought it was great. We had gone down to the pier to get ice cream and there it was. Selina ran over before I had a chance to say anything.”
These few minutes, painfully, brought back our routine in North Carolina on the Cape Fear coast. After spending the day at the beach, we would go out to dinner and then take the girls for ice cream at the Kure Beach Pier. It was so very sad realizing those days were long over for us, at least as a family. Eric, knowing just how to kick me when I was down, broke our silence.
“I spoke with Jordan today.”
“Fabulous.” I wasn’t in the mood to get into that.
“CeeCee, she’s due in January. We’re going to have to figure out what to tell the girls.”
“We don’t have to figure out anything, Eric. This was your bed, you can lie in it—no pun intended, of course. All I agreed is that we tell them together.”
“Please, CeeCee.”
“Are you going to marry her?”
“God, I was hoping there was a chance, though I know it’s a long shot, that you and I could try to work this out. I’m not going to push off my responsibilities as the baby’s father, and I can’t undo my affair with Jordan, but I think with counseling we might be able to work through this.”
“There have been too many lies, Eric. It took a while, but deep down I believe we can’t go back.” Michael had stopped the videotape and was looking at me, with no pretense about trying to avoid listening to the conversation.
“Just promise me you’ll continue to think about it. That’s all I’m asking—especially for the girls. Please.”
“Yes, I’ll still think about it.”
I hung up. Michael was sitting on the floor, quiet, putting the videotape back in its box.
Tentatively, he asked, “What are you supposed to think
about?”
“He wants me to think about counseling to save our marriage. I only said I would think about it. Right now is not the time for an argument. Of course, he reminded me to consider the girls, as if that wasn’t primary in my mind.
Essentially, yet again, he laid the guilt trip. Michael, I love you, and I am not raising a child my husband had with his mistress. I want you, and I can’t ever be without you again. It’s just sad. When I was talking to the girls about their day, it hit me very hard that we would never be in North Carolina as a family again. I’ve been trying to back away from that thought for a while, but it keeps coming up and I have to deal with it.”
He nodded, and I knelt on the floor beside him, gathering him in my arms. I inhaled the smell of his cologne and knew there would be no thinking about counseling for Eric and me. We were finished, but since we both loved the girls deeply, we would find some way to make their lives secure. For that, I would always love Eric.
There wasn’t much more to do that night, and as we were gathering all the files, I broached what I wanted to do the next day.
“I want to go to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and look around.”
“Okay, if you think it’s necessary. I’ll have an agent call up there and make sure someone is waiting for us. The lion exhibit, of course?”
“Of course. The entire exhibit, not just the den.”
We decided to get a good night’s sleep so we could start our day early. That night, for the first time in months, I dreamt of Murder Mountain. The nightmares had been horrific, and I’d had to take medication for a quite some time afterward because of them.
I had thought the dreams long gone, but apparently they weren’t. My latest dream was one of the worst ever.
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