Close Your Eyes

by Thomas Fincham

She slowly and carefully dialed 9-1-1.

  EIGHTY-THREE

  Jo received another call. She answered and then put it on speaker phone.

  “Someone just called 9-1-1,” Chris said. “They are in a moving vehicle. I’ve traced the signal and it’s only two miles away. If you take the next exit, you will be right behind them.”

  Jo looked over at Rhodes.

  “It’s Tess,” he said with conviction.

  Jo nodded and swung the car around.

  The Jetta zoomed past several cars as it hit over a hundred miles an hour. Fortunately, the highway was not busy.

  They would reach the car in no time.

  EIGHTY-FOUR

  Everything would be alright, Jacopo thought.

  He would start a new life somewhere else. His master had given him enough money for him to disappear forever. He would not stay in the United States. No. He would go to countries where they could not extradite him. He was not sure which countries they were, but they would be easy to find on the internet.

  After making a quick stop, he would kill the girl and burn her body in the car. By the time the FBI would piece everything together, he would be long gone.

  He was proud of himself for having a contingency plan. It was something he had learned from his master. His master, it seemed, was always thinking a step ahead of everyone. It was why the FBI or the local police were unable to stop him thus far. It was his master who had told him to wear a baseball cap and a hoodie. It was his master who had told him to never look up at the security cameras. More importantly, it was his master who had told him where to park outside the subway stations. He knew all the hidden CCTV camera spots in the city.

  His master had planned everything down to the last detail.

  He, Jacopo, would do the same.

  He turned and smiled at the girl. That’s when he noticed her body was shielding her right hand.

  “What do you have there?” he yelled.

  She did not respond.

  “Show me or else I will throw you out of the car,” he growled.

  She held out her cell phone.

  It was on, and it was dialed to 9-1-1.

  He snatched it from her and threw it out the window.

  He slapped her across the head. She covered her face.

  “You pull any more stunts like that,” he said, pointing a finger at her. “I will remove your hands, your eyes, and your tongue. You will never be able to tell anyone who I am. Got it?”

  She was crying.

  “Do you understand me?!” he screamed.

  She nodded between tears.

  He turned back to the road. He scowled. He should cut her up right now and let her live. It would be a cruel but fitting punishment for what she just did.

  He would get to her soon, though. In the meantime, he had some unfinished business.

  EIGHTY-FIVE

  “The signal has stopped moving,” Chris said over the speaker phone.

  “Where is it?” Jo asked.

  “You’ll reach it in two minutes.”

  They were still on the highway, and there was a lot of traffic by then.

  Jo was not sure why the killer would choose to stop his car there.

  She dreaded the worst.

  Rhodes stuck his head out the window.

  “I see something,” he said. “Stop the car.”

  Jo slowed the Jetta and turned on the hazard lights.

  A few cars honked behind her, but she pulled the vehicle to the side of the road.

  Rhodes jumped out and ran a few feet from the car.

  He returned with a cell phone.

  His face was ashen. “It’s Tess’s,” he said.

  “What do we do now?” Jo said.

  He did not respond. He kept staring at the phone.

  “Where does this highway go?” he asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, why would Craig Orton be on it? Where was he going?”

  Jo understood. She turned to the speaker phone. “Chris, can you check to see if anyone related to Craig Orton lives nearby.”

  They heard Chris tap on his keyboard.

  “Oh wow,” Chris finally said.

  “What?” Jo asked.

  “You wouldn’t believe this, but Orton’s ex-wife and daughter live only a mile away.”

  EIGHTY-SIX

  When the woman opened the door, her eyes widened with shock. “Craig, what are you doing here?” she asked. She had dirty blond hair, green eyes, and a pale complexion.

  “I need to see Ally,” he replied.

  “You’re not allowed to come near us. Have you forgotten there is a restraining order against you?”

  “I know, but I have to see Ally now.”

  His ex-wife did not move away from the door. “Leave right now, Craig, or else I am calling the police.”

  He pulled out a gun and aimed it at her stomach.

  She froze and then slowly moved back. He entered.

  “Who is she?” His ex-wife asked once she saw a girl with him. The girl looked scared. It looked like she had been crying.

  “Don’t worry about her.” They moved to the living room. “Sit down,” he ordered the girl. She did.

  “Where is Ally?” he said, turning to his ex-wife.

  “Don’t do anything stupid, Craig,” his ex-wife warned him. “If you leave now, I won’t call the police.”

  His hand shot out and grabbed her throat. He placed the gun to her forehead. “You will not threaten me, not anymore, do you understand?”

  She was terrified. She nodded.

  “Now, I’m going to ask you again, where is Ally?”

  “She’s… she’s upstairs in her room.”

  “Call her.”

  His ex-wife hesitated.

  “If you don’t, I will put a bullet in your head. And then I’ll take Ally and disappear.”

  She swallowed. “Ally, baby, please come downstairs,” she said.

  There were footsteps on the second floor.

  “Don’t try to do anything stupid, do you understand?” he warned her.

  She nodded.

  He released her and put the gun away.

  Just then, a girl, not even five, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and wearing a polka dot dress, came down the stairs.

  “Hey baby,” he said with a smile. “Look who’s here? You’re daddy.”

  The girl hesitated and looked over at her mother.

  “It’s okay, Ally,” her mother assured her.

  The girl reluctantly walked over to him.

  He put his arms around her and hugged her.

  “I missed you so much,” he said.

  The girl did not hug him back. She stood still.

  “How are you?” he asked.

  “I’m okay, I guess.”

  “Good. Did you miss your daddy?” he asked.

  She looked over at her mother. She told her to say yes.

  “Yes, I did,” the girl replied.

  He looked his daughter in the eyes. “After today, baby, everything will be alright. I promise.”

  EIGHTY-SEVEN

  “Craig, please leave us alone,” his ex-wife said. “I promise, I won’t call the police.”

  “I want to trust you, but I can’t,” he shot back. “The moment I’m out the door, the cops will be waiting for me around the corner.”

  “Don’t hurt Ally,” his ex-wife pleaded.

  He grimaced. “I would never hurt my daughter,” he said, offended that she would even think this.

  “What do you want from us?” she said.

  He began pacing back and forth. “I don’t know… wait, I know… all I wanted from day one was for us to be a family again. I know I drank a lot, and sometimes I got angry, but I loved you and Ally.”

  “You were abusive.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to, but I’m better now. I haven’t had a drink in years, and I have money… I have a lot of money.”

  “Did you stea
l it?” she asked.

  “Of course not. My master gave it to me.”

  She looked confused. “What’re you talking about?”

  “I can’t go into any details, but I want you and Ally to come with me. Together we’ll go somewhere far. How about South America? We used to talk about moving there before.”

  “That was a long time ago when we were still married. It’s over between us now, Craig.”

  “It’s not!” he said. His eyes blazed with anger.

  “Craig, you need help. I can get you help.”

  He felt a migraine coming on. “I want my family back.”

  “You can’t. It’s over. You have to move on.”

  He frowned and pulled out his gun.

  She froze.

  “You have to promise me, you and Ally will stay with me.”

  His ex-wife reached out and grabbed her daughter. She held her close to her. His ex-wife had tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Craig. We can’t be with you, not now, not ever.”

  “Then I’m sorry too.”

  He held out the gun and aimed.

  Suddenly, a shadow passed the window.

  He turned to his ex-wife. “Did you call the police?”

  She shook her head.

  He turned to his hostage. “I know you did.”

  He pointed the gun at the ceiling and fired. They all screamed. Plaster and debris fell to the floor.

  He moved to the window and yelled, “I know you are outside. Drop your weapon and come in with your arms up. If you don’t, I’ll shoot everyone in the house. And then I’ll shoot myself. Do you understand?”

  A few seconds later, a female voice replied, “Yes, I do.”

  He walked over and carefully unlocked the front door.

  He held it open. A woman entered with her hands up.

  He looked outside but saw no one.

  “I’m alone,” the woman said.

  He checked her holster. It was empty.

  “Sit down next to them,” he ordered.

  He then pointed the gun at her head.

  EIGHTY-EIGHT

  “It’s over, Mr. Orton,” Jo said. “The police are on their way. They will surround this house in a matter of minutes.”

  “Shut up!” he said.

  “There is no way out.”

  “I said shut up!”

  He kept the gun aimed at her.

  “You don’t want to hurt anyone, especially not your daughter.”

  He looked at his daughter and his eyes welled up. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” he mumbled. “We were supposed to be one happy family.”

  “Drop the gun,” Jo insisted. “Let us end this peacefully.”

  He paced back and forth, muttering to himself, pounding his feet on the hardwood floor. He stopped and turned to face them. His face was grim.

  He took a step back toward the front windows and cocked the gun.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “Don’t do this,” Jo replied.

  “I don’t have much choice.”

  Something smashed the window. He looked down and saw it was a piece of brick.

  Before he could react, a hand shot out through the broken pane and grabbed him around the neck.

  He tried to break free, but his assailant was too strong and powerful.

  He pulled him through the window.

  Glass cut him as he fell onto the porch.

  He turned and saw it was the same man he had seen on the train platform.

  The man swung his fist, slamming Jacopo in his cheek.

  He was disoriented, but he held on to the gun.

  The man swung again, but he blocked it with his knee.

  He kicked the man in the chin.

  The man stumbled back, but then he was back on his feet in an instant.

  He aimed the gun at the man’s chest.

  Before he could pull the trigger, his body shook.

  He looked down and saw blood on his shirt.

  What the hell…?

  He turned and saw through the broken window that the woman had a gun aimed directly him.

  He cursed and lifted his gun at her.

  She fired. Several bullets penetrated his body, shaking it like a rag doll.

  He fell to the ground with a loud thud.

  His last thought was of his master and how he had failed him.

  EIGHTY-NINE

  Jo was glad they had ended the Train Killings. The killer was dead, and there would be no more dead bodies.

  She was also glad the Rhodes’s neighbor was safe. She was tough, and Jo knew she would overcome this ordeal. If it were not for her 9-1-1 call, they would not have been able to find her and Craig Orton.

  Orton’s wife and daughter were also relieved that they did not have to worry about him terrorizing them anymore.

  His death had eased a lot of lives.

  Rhodes had thanked Jo for her help, but she felt like it was she who should have been thanking him. After all, if it were not for him, she would not be alive.

  She had offered to give Rhodes and his neighbor a ride, but they declined. They had plans of their own.

  Jo had called Walters and told her about what had happened at the house. Walters then told her something that shook her to the core.

  The name Orton had used to lease the condo and rent the Mercedes was none other than Dagmar Kole.

  Kole was thought to have been the Bridgeton Ripper, and her father’s killer. He was eventually exonerated. But why had Orton used his name? Jo wasn’t sure.

  At the moment, though, she did not care.

  She took a deep breath and touched her chest.

  Her heart could only take so much excitement in one day.

  Maybe it is time I took that vacation, she thought.

  NINETY

  Jo knocked on the door. Her sister-in-law opened it.

  “Hey there, stranger,” Kim said with a big smile. “Where have you been?”

  Before Jo could respond, she heard a girl squeal, “Aunty Jo!”

  Her niece ran over and gave Jo a big hug. Jo held on to her. It felt nice and warm.

  “Aunty Jo, where were you?” Chrissy asked.

  “I was busy,” Jo replied.

  “You were catching bad guys?”

  “Yes, I was.”

  “I’m going to catch bad guys too when I grow up.”

  Her brother came over. He looked horrified by what his daughter had just said. Jo knew Sam had already lost a father to the profession, and he feared he would one day lose his sister to it as well.

  Jo said to Chrissy, “Your dad catches bad guys too.”

  “He does?”

  “Yep, and he catches the big and scary bad guys. They take other people’s money, and they hurt more people.”

  “Wow.” Her eyes widened. “I want to be like daddy.”

  Chrissy went over and hugged her dad.

  Sam smiled. “Okay, now let’s have dinner.”

  Kim brought out a pot roast while Jo helped Sam set up the table.

  They laughed and ate, and for a brief moment, Jo had no worries in the world. Her failing heart, searching for her father’s killer, solving more crimes—nothing mattered to her at that moment. What mattered was that she was with her family.

  NINETY-ONE

  Tim Yates paid Rhodes the money he was owed. He wanted to give him extra, but Rhodes declined. According to him, a deal was a deal.

  Rhodes then headed straight to the House of Hope. He took Tess along with him to the homeless shelter.

  There was already a line outside the shelter, but Rhodes managed to get in after asking for Father Mike.

  He handed him a thick envelope.

  Father Mike looked inside and said, “That’s a lot of money.”

  “Please take it. You can do more good with it than I can. Plus, without your help, I’d probably have slept on the streets on my first night in the city.”

  Father Mike was still in shock. “Thank you from the b
ottom of my heart. Do you guys want to join us for dinner? We could use a hand.”

  Rhodes looked over at Tess. She was smiling.

  “Sure,” he said.

  Tess grabbed paper plates and plastic cutlery and began setting up the tables.

  Once all the tables were set, Tess turned to Rhodes, “Thanks again for coming for me.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” he replied.

  She shrugged. “Maybe because you’d be happy no one would bother you anymore.”

  “That’s true,” he said. “But then who would help me solve my cases.”

  Her face brightened. “Really? You’ll let me be your partner?”

  “I never said that,” Rhodes replied. “All I’m saying is that I might need someone who knows the streets of Bridgeton more than I do.”

  She was smiling from ear to ear. “Will I get paid?”

  Rhodes raised an eyebrow. “We’ll talk salary later.”

  They served food to over fifty people. Then Rhodes and Tess joined the homeless, the destitute, and the forgotten people of Bridgeton for dinner.

  There was nowhere else Rhodes would have rather been than with them.

  A FEW DAYS LATER

  Ellen left BN-24’s headquarters and stormed to the parking lot. Ever since the FBI killed the man responsible for the Train Killings, Ellen’s position was back to where it was prior to the murders.

  Dan Ferguson had decided to return to work full-time, and Miles was more than willing to give some of her stories to him. Ellen knew he was punishing her for not telling him about her contact with the killer.

  She wanted to say to him, why would I tell you when you don’t take me seriously? What he was doing to her now was exactly what he did to her before.

  Without her and her exclusive story, BN-24 would not have been the most watched news channel in the city. They had even beaten out Janie Fernandez and SUNTV for the top spot.

  Janie.

  She was back to her old tricks. She was using her charm and beauty to win back all the viewers she had lost. Ellen despised her even more.