by Terri Reid
“I don’t know who’s at your party,” Kip replied.
“I’m not talking to you, man,” Ian said. “I’m talking to the ghost.”
“Okay, buddy, you just stand there and have your little trip and I’ll look after the others.”
Jeannine floated around the room. “I see Bob, Mercedes and Harvey,” she said, “And Rosie and Stanley. Who’s missing?”
“Gary,” Ian said. “The one everyone trusted. Gary has her.”
“Gary was the one who took me?” Jeannine asked. “Gary did this to me?”
Ian nodded. “It looks that way,” he said.
“Is he going to do to her what he did to me?”
Ian recalled the horrors he recorded while Jeannine was being hypnotized. “I hope not.”
“Can you go to her, Jeannine?” he asked, “Just to give her comfort.”
Jeannine nodded. “I’ll go,” she said. “I won’t let him hurt Mary.”
Jeannine faded away and Ian turned back to Kip. “I know who has Mary,” he said. “You need to send some officers over to Dr. Gary Copper’s home.”
“You got some proof he did this?” Kip asked. “Dr. Copper is very well-known and trusted in this community. I can’t break into his house without proof.”
“Please, she could be in trouble,” Ian said. “There’s no time to waste.”
“Listen, I don’t know how things are handled where you come from, but here in the United States of America people are innocent until proven guilty. You get me some evidence and I’ll obtain a warrant.”
Bradley was already on Highway 39 heading south toward Sycamore when the call back from Kip came. “The good news is they’re all alive,” he said. “The bad news is they’re pretty messed up. And the foreign guy refuses to go to the hospital. Says he needs to run the tapes for you. But he can barely walk, much less run anything.”
“Is there a young woman there? Her name is Mary.”
“No, she’s not here,” Kip said. “That foreign guy’s been through every room in the house, calling her name.”
“How bad is Ian, the foreign guy?” Bradley asked.
“He’s moving around better than the rest of them. He looks like maybe he didn’t ingest as much as the others. But the safe thing would be to take him to the hospital.”
“Let him stay,” Bradley said. “I’ll be there in about 15 minutes and I could really use his help.”
“He wants to talk to you,” Kip said. “But he’s pretty strung out; he’s been talking to ghosts.”
“Put him on.”
“Bradley, it’s Gary, he’s got Mary,” Ian said.
“That can’t be right,” Bradley said. “He was our friend. I always trusted him.”
“It’s got to be Gary,” Ian said. “The rest of the suspects are here. Jeannine’s gone to be with Mary. But, if he’s the one…the things he did to Jeannine. We’ve got to get to Mary right away.”
“Ask Kip…”
“I’ve already asked your friend, the chief,” he said. “He’s not moving unless we have proof. Even if I have film of Mary leaving with Gary, it probably won’t show her leaving under duress.”
“I’ll go straight to his house,” Bradley said. “You stay at the house and wait for Sean.”
“Hurry Bradley,” Ian said.
Chapter Forty-one
The room was dark and damp and Mary recognized it at once. This was the place Jeannine had been kept. She moved her hand along the rough texture of the couch. She remembered that too. She could smell the mold, but there was another scent mixing with it. Her vision was still blurry and her body was sluggish and slow to respond. But she was able to turn her head slowly.
Candles.
Tall white candles were standing on a table in the corner of the room. She didn’t remember candles from before.
“Ian,” she called out. “Ian, I don’t want to do this anymore.”
She looked down at herself and saw the white blouse she’d put on that morning. These weren’t Jeannine’s clothes. “Ian, bring me home.”
“But darling, you are home.”
Mary felt nausea rise in her throat and she shook her head in disbelief. “No, this isn’t happening,” she whimpered. “Please this can’t be happening to me.”
She struggled to move back into the corner of the couch.
“You just make yourself comfortable darling,” he said. “And I’ll put on a little soothing music.”
The soft sounds of “Make it With You” drifted through the room. “They’re playing our song, Mary,” he said. “Don’t you want to dance with me?”
She shook her head. “No, please just let me go home.”
“Oh, baby,” he said, moving up next to her and stroking his hand lightly up and down her arm. “Sooner or later you and I are going to get to know each other in, shall I say, an intimate way. You might as well decide to like it.”
Mary shuddered. “You killed Jeannine,” she said. “You kept her here and then you killed her.”
Gary grabbed her arm tightly and squeezed. “How did you know that?”
“I saw what you did,” Mary said, trying to twist away from him. “I saw how you touched her. You are not going to touch me that way.”
“Oh, that’s what you think,” he said.
He crossed the room and picked up a hypodermic needle. “I just need to make you a little more agreeable,” he said. “This is what we like to call a twilight drug, your mind goes to sleep, but your body is delightfully awake.”
Grabbing her arm once again, he thrust the needle into her bicep and pushed down on the syringe. “There, in a few minutes you’re going to enjoy this as much as I will.”
He grabbed her wrists in one hand and pulled them over her head. Then he climbed over her, straddling her hips. “Now, try and stop me,” he said, sliding his hand beneath her shirt and slowly making his way up.
Mary tried to buck him off, but he had her pinned down into the cushions of the couch.
“Your skin is like silk,” he murmured. “I can’t wait to taste all of it.”
Mary shivered with revulsion and turned her head away.
“Oh, darling, don’t you want to watch what I do to you?” he asked.
He removed his hand from under her shirt and clasped her chin to force her head forward. He bent forward and kissed her, exploring her face with small licks of his tongue. “Oh, yes, you do taste delicious, just as I thought.”
Suddenly one of the candles tipped over and fell on the floor. “Damn,” he said, looking up across the room. He released her hands and climbed off of her.
“Don’t move,” he added with a smirk.
“Mary, I’m here,” Jeannine said appearing next to her.
Tears flowed down Mary’s face. “I don’t want to die,” she whispered. “I can’t move my body.”
“Yeah, I know, he’s got you drugged.”
Jeannine looked over and saw that Gary was taking the time to relight the candles. She quickly glided over and knocked the other one down.
“Okay,” she said when she got back. “Remember what Ian said about spirits taking over your body when you’re drunk? Well, I think that drugged must be pretty much the same. Right?”
Mary nodded.
“So, can I try and help you?” she asked. “Using your body and my spirit?”
“I can’t help you,” she whispered, “Everything is starting to go black again.”
“It’s okay,” Jeannine said. “Your body already knows some awesome moves. But instead of you, I’m going to drive.”
“Well, we have candlelight again, darling,” he said. “Have you ever made love by candlelight?”
“Have you ever had your ass kicked by candlelight?” Jeannine asked and then she entered Mary’s body.
She watched him as he moved closer. She knew she only had one shot at surprise and it was going to be a good one.
“Now, where were we?” he asked and lifted his leg to climb over Mary.
Jeannine got up from the couch and came towards him.
“But you’re drugged,” he wheezed.
“Oh, my good friend Mary is drugged,” she said. “But this time, Gary boy, you’re dealing with Jeannine Alden.”
She kicked him in the stomach and then kicked him again in his side.
“But you’re dead!”
“You don’t think I’m pissed enough?” she yelled. “You want to remind me?’
He struggled to his feet. “You can try to fight me, but I’m stronger than you.”
She realized she didn’t really know how to do any of the karate moves Mary had been trained in. Oh well, she thought, I can improvise.
She lifted her hands over her head and then lifted one leg up and bent it.
“What the hell are you doing?” Gary asked.
“Karate kid,” Jeannine said, jumping forward and catching Gary directly in the chest with the kick.
He flew backwards into the table and lay sprawled on the floor.
Jeannine picked up a broom handle and carried it across the room and shoved it against Gary’s throat. “What did you do to my body?” she asked.
“I buried it,” he said. “Using Beverly’s name. I buried you in a grave at Resurrection Cemetery.”
“Where’s my baby,” she asked, pushing the handle further down.
He gagged. “I don’t know,” he gasped. “I told Child Services to take her. Told them I couldn’t deal with her. Told them I wasn’t the father.”
Chapter Forty-two
Bradley tore down the residential street and pulled up to the front door of Gary’s house. He pulled the “jaws of life” tool out of the back seat of his car and made his way to the door. With a quick check, he found the door locked. And with a quick swing of his tool, the door was hanging open.
The house was quiet and felt deserted, but he needed to check every room, just in case. He hurried down the front hall, looking into each room he passed. Not only was there no one in the rooms, each of the rooms had an unlived feel. Like someone put furniture in there for show, but never used the rooms.
After a thorough search, he knew there was no one on the first floor. He ran to the staircase and took the stairs three at a time. The first door he opened was a guest room that had the same unused look as the room downstairs.
He hurried to the next door. Opening it, he inhaled sharply. It was a nursery, painted in pink and white. There was a crib in the corner with a pink satin comforter, crib bumper and even one small pillow. It was the same set he and Jeannine had purchased for their baby, but, he recalled absently they had two small pillows.
The next room was the master bedroom. Bradley entered the large room and hurried over to the walk in closet. He opened the door and was shocked by his discovery. The entire wall was covered with the bits and pieces of photos of Jeannine that had been stolen from his home during the breakin. He had made a collage of her, along with newspaper articles about her disappearance.
Bradley was about to leave the closet when he notice something on the other wall. He shoved aside the hung clothing and revealed the beginnings of another collage. This one featured Mary. There were photos that were taken of her in the master bedroom of Bradley’s house, as well as candid shots of her outside the house.
A cold chill ran down his spine. He had to find her as soon as possible.
He ran down the stairs and back through the kitchen to the basement door. He hurried down the stairs, oblivious to any danger he might be facing. He only wanted to find Mary.
Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, he scanned the room. It was nearly empty. All he saw was a furnace, water heater and some shelves with old paint cans. He moved closer to the shelving. Something wasn’t right there.
He looked at the floor and saw the gray concrete paint had scrape marks on it, but there was nothing around that could make the marks. Then he realized the house lines in the basement didn’t match up with the rest of the house. He walked to the edge of the shelf and pushed. It moved forward. Pushing against it harder, it slid forward and revealed a steel door. Surprised to find it unlocked, he pushed it open and moved inside.
Pulling a flashlight from his belt, he slowly scanned the dark room. In one corner were a small table and a folding chair. In another corner, he could see a white door.
He moved into the room, focusing on the door in the corner. As he came closer, he saw it was the door to a freezer, but he’d seen enough cases where doors like these were used to camouflage a real doorway. Pulling it open, he peered inside.
The light from the freezer shone brightly into the dark room and it took Bradley’s eyes a moment to adjust. And then he saw her.
All of his worst nightmares came true as he stared at what must have been Jeannine’s frozen mutilated body. He turned away from the freezer and took several deep breaths, trying to halt his gag reflex. Then he forced himself to turned back and examine the body.
He bent down on the floor and tried to distance himself from the horror that was screaming inside his mind. He could see her legs had been removed from her torso, so she could fit upright in the freezer. They must be stored on the upper shelf, he thought.
He stood up to catalog the items on the shelf and found the little white box. His heart dropped. With shaking hands he slowly lifted the lid. The tiny frozen embryo lay wrapped in plastic, huddled on a pink satin pillow. He clutched the box to his chest, fell to his knees and cried.
The blaring tone of his cell phone echoed in the room. Bradley pulled it from his pocket. “Yes,” he answered, his voice rough with emotion.
“It’s Sean. I wanted you to know that Copper buried Jeannine in a cemetery in Chicago,” he said. “I’m working on exhumation orders.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, he brought her into Cook County, she died there,” he said.
Bradley looked more closely at the body in the freezer and realized it was Beverly Copper, Gary’s first wife.
“But, Bradley, we don’t know where the baby is.”
He sealed up the little box and placed it back in the freezer. “I think I do,” he said, wiping away his tears. He could mourn for his daughter later. Now he had to find Mary.
“Listen, Gary isn’t here at his house,” he continued. “The only other place he could be is at his office in downtown Sycamore. I’m headed there now.”
“Okay, I ‘m only a few minutes out, I’ll meet you there,” Sean said.
Chapter Forty-three
Jeannine gasped. “My baby is alive?”
Gary took that moment to grab the broom handle and pull it from her hands. He whipped it around and rammed it into her legs. Jeannine stumbled backwards and Gary pounced.
He lifted his hand to punch her, but she feinted to the side and he missed her. She lifted her leg and caught him in the gut with her knee. Then she elbowed him in the neck and rolled out from beneath him.
She scrambled across the floor, and then jumped up, putting the couch between them.
He picked up the broom handle and walked towards her. “I never meant to hurt you,” he said.
“You killed me, you son-of-a-bitch,” Jeannine said.
“I didn’t kill you,” he said, stopping on the other side of the couch. “It was the hospital, they made the mistake. I didn’t.”
“You told them I was your wife,” she replied. “They didn’t have my medical records; they didn’t know I was allergic to that drug. When you lied to them about who I was, you killed me.”
He slapped the broomstick against his hand. “You women are all alike,” he said, “Always blaming me. Beverly blamed me because the women I worked on wanted me. It wasn’t my fault.”
“They wanted you?” Jeannine asked.
“She found the videos I took,” he said. “I tried to tell her they liked it. They wanted me. They were drugged because they di
dn’t want to feel guilty.”
Jeannine shook her head. “You are one sick creep,” she said. “No wonder Beverly left you.”
He shook his head and chuckled. “Oh, she didn’t leave me,” he said. “She’s still at home waiting for me. Just like you are going to wait for me.”
“Like hell she is,” Bradley yelled from the open doorway, before he lunged at Gary.
Bradley punched him in the jaw and knocked him backwards. Then he grabbed him by the collar and rammed his head into the concrete wall. “You killed my wife,” he screamed, knocking his head against the wall again.
“You killed my child,” he screamed, knocking him again.
“You will never, ever, do that to anyone else,” he said, knocking him against the wall once more.
“Bradley stop,” Jeannine yelled. “You’re going to kill him.”
“Good,” Bradley growled through clenched teeth. “He doesn’t deserve to live.”
“Bradley, stop.” Jeannine grabbed onto his arm and tried to pull him away.
Suddenly a strong pair of arms moved Jeannine to the side and pulled Bradley off the unconscious, badly battered man. “Alden, control yourself,” Sean said. “This isn’t the way and you know it.”