Suffer

by E. E. Borton

  “Her real name is – was – Pamela Beaumont,” said Chief Hill, standing outside holding her file under a neon sign. “No telling where he dumped her body. Guess we’re back to square one.”

  “No, Chief,” said Grey. “We just got one step closer to him.”

  17

  Awakenings

  SHE HAD TO CONCENTRATE TO complete the simple task of curling the fingers on her right hand. After she was able to make a fist, she concentrated even harder to bend her elbow and raise her hand to her face. She extended her fingers and patted the dressing over her left eye. She eased them down her sensitive skin and felt more gauze along her cheekbone and across her neck.

  Kate opened her right eye and blinked several times in an attempt to clear the haze. For the first time since she arrived unconscious weeks before, she realized she was in a hospital room. She tensed her abdominal muscles and tried to raise her head off the pillow to get a better look at her surroundings. The pain was excruciating.

  She gave up the attempt and lay motionless, staring up at the ceiling. When her eye began to focus more clearly on the tiles, her mind began to focus more clearly on why she was there. Her heart rate increased when the images of Caleb tied to his playroom chair fired through her brain. Her rapid breathing and pulse alerted the nurse at her station that the victim of the horrifically violent crime was awake.

  Abby was pushing her tray down the metal rail in front of the breakfast bar in the hospital cafeteria when her phone vibrated with a message. She abandoned the food and ran at full speed toward the ICU. She burst into Kate’s room to find the nurse leaning over her sister and adjusting the oxygen tube under her nose. The nurse looked at Abby and gave her a hand gesture to calm down.

  “Your sister is here,” said the nurse, standing up straight and unblocking her view.

  “Hi, Kate,” greeted Abby, trying to catch her breath.

  Abby thought she would be stronger when the moment arrived, but she started crying when she saw her sister look at her. “Can I hug her?”

  “Gently, very gently,” replied the nurse, stepping back.

  She walked to the side of the bed, leaned down and put her cheek against Kate’s. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you, too,” whispered Kate in a very weak voice.

  When Kate began to regain consciousness, the nurse called Dr. Singer. Days earlier, he left specific instructions to be notified if she woke up. He also instructed the nurse to give her a sedative and not to let any law enforcement come close to her until he arrived. He didn’t want the officers badgering her for information and sending her into shock or worse. When Grey and Chief Hill arrived, the nurse blocked their path before they entered the room.

  “I’m sorry, gentlemen,” said the nurse turned sentry. “I can’t let anyone else inside until Dr. Singer arrives. You’re more than welcome to wait in the lobby. He should be here shortly.”

  “Is she awake?” asked Grey.

  “The doctor will be here shortly,” she repeated, showing them out of the ICU.

  “Well,” said Chief Hill, “I guess the doctor will be here shortly.”

  “I guess so,” said Grey. “I’m going to go grab a cup of coffee. You want one?”

  “Heavy cream and sugar, please,” replied Chief Hill, taking a seat in the waiting area.

  Grey took the elevator down to the cafeteria and ran into Evan as he walked through the first floor lobby. “Looks like she might be waking up.”

  “That’s fantastic,” said Evan. “Her parents are a few minutes behind me.”

  “Is Abby with them?” asked Grey.

  “No, she’s already upstairs. That’s who called me. You didn’t see her?”

  “Oh, okay. No, I didn’t,” said Grey. “The chief wanted to stop by and check in on Kate before he headed back to Sugarloaf. We didn’t know anything was happening until the nurse turned us away from her room.”

  “Why did she do that?” asked Evan.

  “No idea. I’m grabbing some coffee. You want one?”

  “Sure, black with a little sugar. I’ll see you up there.”

  Standing in front of the coffee bar, Grey noticed Dr. Singer walking through the cafeteria on his way to the elevator lobby. He waived and called his name, but the doctor didn’t slow his stride. Grey abandoned the cups and quickly followed him to the elevator.

  “Morning, Doc,” said Grey, joining him.

  “Good Morning,” said Dr. Singer, not turning his head to look at Grey.

  “Is everything okay with Kate?”

  “I can’t discuss it until I examine her. You and the family will need to wait in the lobby while I do.”

  “Yeah, the nurse made that clear, but I think her sister is already in there with her.”

  “She’ll have to leave as well. I don’t want to add any stress at this point. I hope you understand,” said Dr. Singer as the bell chimed when they reached their floor.

  Years of experience with the FBI alerted Grey that something wasn’t quite right with Dr. Singer. He knew the doctor heard him yell out in the cafeteria, but didn’t slow down to see who was calling his name. The engaging and friendly physician was cold and distant. He didn’t make eye contact for the entire elevator ride to the ICU. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something was wrong; very wrong.

  The doors opened and Dr. Singer wasted no time exiting. Evan and Chief Hill stood as he approached, expecting him to stop and give them an update. They looked at each other with raised eyebrows as he walked past without saying a word or even acknowledging they were there. Grey stood with them, staring at the closing doors.

  “What’s wrong with the doc?” asked Evan. “He looked a little freaked out.”

  His friend noticing Dr. Singer’s demeanor was enough to send Grey into action. “Chief, come with me. Evan, stay here.”

  “Stay here?”

  Grey didn’t respond to Evan’s question as the chief followed him through the doors to the ICU. Chief Hill sensed Grey was on the clock. He didn’t have any information, but he knew Grey wanted him as backup for whatever they were about to face.

  The nurse was rushing a confused Abby out of Kate’s room and closing the door when Grey and Chief Hill approached. “Oh, no, you don’t,” said the nurse. “The doctor specifically said not to –”

  They ignored the nurse and entered Kate’s room while she protested behind them. The chief closed the door and braced his foot against it to prevent anyone from coming inside. When he turned, Grey already had his weapon leveled at the doctor’s head. The chief responded by doing the same.

  “I got him,” said Chief Hill.

  “Dr. Singer,” said Grey in a commanding tone. “I need you to step away from Kate, and I need you to do it right now.”

  Dr. Singer’s hands were trembling as he held the tip of the syringe against the plastic tubing of her IV. His thumb was hovering over the plunger, ready to inject the deadly drug into her system. He was crying with his teeth clenched while Kate stared up at him. She was losing consciousness from the sedative the nurse had administered a few minutes before they arrived.

  Grey lowered his weapon and walked to the opposite side of the bed. Chief Hill didn’t lower his and fixated on Dr. Singer’s thumb. If he closed the gap at all, the chief would end him.

  “I know you don’t want to do this,” said Grey. “I know he’s making you. Who did he take, Doc? That’s what he does.”

  Dr. Singer closed his eyes. Grey knew he was thinking about his loved one who was in terrible danger if he didn’t follow the order. But he also knew Chief Hill wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him if he didn’t back away.

  “He took my wife,” said Dr. Singer in tears. “He took her while she was sleeping and left her ring finger in a fucking box on my pillow! He’s going to kill her if I don’t do this.”

  “You need to listen to me,” said Grey. “I know this man; I know he doesn’t leave anyone alive. He killed Kate’s six-year-old son, her husband, and the only tw
o people who had any contact with him. I’m so sorry, Dr. Singer, but he won’t let your wife live either. I won’t lie to you, she’s already gone. Killing Kate isn’t going to change that. All you’re doing is taking away our only chance to find him. He’s using you to do his work for him now.”

  “He wins if you do this,” added Chief Hill, holding his aim.

  “He’s already won,” said Dr. Singer in a sharp tone.

  “No, he hasn’t,” said Grey. “Not if Kate survives. Dr. Singer, please don’t do this. Look at her. She didn’t have a chance, but you saved her life. You’ll be saving his if you kill her now. You’ll be taking away the only chance we have to stop him from doing this again.”

  “You don’t understand,” said Dr. Singer with his red eyes locked on Kate. “My wife is everything to me. I need her – our children need her.”

  “No, Doc,” said Grey. “They’re going to need you. If you don’t stop, they’ll be orphans. They won’t have anyone to look out for them. Your wife had no choice, but you do. Stay with them, Doc. Be here for your children. What would your wife tell you to do?”

  “What if you’re wrong?” asked Dr. Singer. “What if she’s still alive?”

  “I’m not wrong, Doc. And do you really believe he would? If you do, then push that needle and take the bullet Chief’s gonna put in your head. But what I hope you do is put it down and help us go get the animal that hurt your wife.”

  “If you’re wrong and she’s still alive,” said Dr. Singer, “I swear to God I’ll kill you myself.”

  Chief inhaled and then held his breath to steady his aim. He knew Dr. Singer was about to make his decision. In the chaos of the moment, the doctor was still aware his time was running out. Chief was relieved to see him slowly back the needle away from the tube.

  Dr. Singer lowered the syringe and then dropped it on the floor. Chief Hill holstered his weapon and picked it up as the tortured man fell into a chair behind him. He held his head in his hands and sobbed.

  Grey walked over to him and knelt beside the chair. “I don’t believe you would’ve hurt her, Dr. Singer. If you really wanted to do this, we wouldn’t have been able to stop you. You know that.”

  “What happens now?” asked Dr. Singer, lowering his head in shame. “I’d like to call my kids before you arrest me.”

  “I’m not going to arrest you,” said Grey. “We really do need your help. As far as we’re concerned, you reached out to us because you couldn’t go through with it. We’ll have the chief get with the local police and start looking for your wife.”

  “But you said she’s already dead.”

  “I believe she is, but we still need to find her.”

  “Do you think he’ll go after my kids?” asked Dr. Singer. “I call them kids, but two of them are in college and the other is staying at our beach house. They don’t live with us anymore, but they’re not far.”

  “No,” said Grey. “He’s through with you. Going after your children would be too much trouble for him. Thanks to you, he has to stay focused on Kate. She’s the only one who can hurt him. But just in case, the chief will make arrangements for officers to go check on them. We need their names and where they are now.”

  “I’m on it,” said Chief Hill after taking the information and walking out of the room.

  As soon as the door opened, Abby burst inside. She noticed Kate was unconscious again and Dr. Singer was shaking. “Is she okay? What the hell happened in here?”

  “I’ll explain everything in a few minutes,” said Grey.

  “She’s fine, Abby,” said Dr. Singer, trying to regain his composure. “We gave her a mild sedative to help her sleep. I’ll send in the nurse to stay with her until she wakes up.”

  “That’s great, but I’m not leaving.”

  “That’s perfectly fine,” said Dr. Singer, wiping his eyes.

  “Doc, why don’t you find us a quiet room to talk,” said Grey. “I need to speak to the chief for a moment.”

  “I’ll be in my office at the end of the hall.”

  Grey walked up to the chief, who was ending a phone call outside the room. “State troopers?”

  “Yeah,” said Chief Hill. “They’re on their way to check on his kids. The bad news is, Sheriff Doyle is also on his way.”

  “I figured that was coming.”

  “Just so you know, Grey, we’ve both just stepped in it up to our necks.”

  “Yeah, I figured that was coming, too. That’s why we need to work fast.”

  18

  Sacrifice

  SHERIFF CONRAD DOYLE, ALONG WITH several officers, entered the waiting area thirty minutes after Chief Hill’s phone call. Grey and the chief spent the entire time in Dr. Singer’s office. A new primary physician and nursing staff were assigned to Kate at Grey’s request. They were already making arrangements to move her to an undisclosed location when she was strong enough to travel. A nurse alerted the men to the sheriff’s arrival.

  “You come with me, Tony,” said Sheriff Doyle with a red face. “And you, Agent Collins, you stay right here and wait for a phone call.”

  The sheriff and Chief Hill walked to the other side of the waiting room in an unoccupied area. “I haven’t begun to wrap my head around why you’re even here.”

  “I’ll explain everything,” said Chief Hill, “but right now we need to concentrate on Kate’s safety. We’ll need at least four officers in here around the clock. The unsub nearly got to her through one of the doctors taking care of her.”

  “Unsub?” asked Sheriff Doyle. “Are you a fucking junior FBI agent now?”

  “Listen to me, Conrad. I know you’re pissed off, but someone is trying to finish what they started in Sugarloaf. They kidnapped the doc’s wife and told him to execute Kate with a syringe full of toxic shit. He couldn’t do it so he came to us for help. His wife is probably dead.”

  “Jesus Christ!” said Sheriff Doyle, taking off his hat and rubbing his head. “So there’s more than one killer.”

  “No, we’re almost positive it’s just one guy,” said Chief Hill. “Gregory Kirsk was a forensic countermeasure.”

  “A what?”

  “The unsub wanted to make us believe Kirsk acted alone,” explained Chief Hill. “He wrapped him up in a neat package with a ton of planted evidence. Dead men tell no tales, so he staged an accidental overdose to keep him from ratting him out.”

  “Forensic countermeasures? Unsubs? Staged crime scenes? Am I talking to a police Chief or a certain pain-in-the-ass FBI agent? You can’t seriously be buying into Agent Collins’ conspiracy theory.”

  “We don’t believe it’s a conspiracy, Sheriff,” said Grey, walking into their conversation.

  “Speak of the devil. You must be Special Agent Grey Collins. You guys really do all look alike.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “So if it’s not a conspiracy, what is it? Another theory?”

  “It’s a bit more than a theory,” said Grey. “We’re dealing with a highly motivated, extremely intelligent and talented sociopath. He’s working toward a goal we haven’t identified. But we do know he won’t stop until Kate is dead.”

  “So she’s the real target?” asked Sheriff Doyle.

  “No. Paul was always the target.”

  “According to the Coast Guard, Paul died in a diving accident,” said Sheriff Doyle. “But my theory is, he offed himself after losing his son and thinking his wife would never come out of a coma. But now you’re probably going to tell me the suspect—I’m sorry, the unsub made Paul kill himself, right?”

  “He may not have known for sure he would, but either way he made Paul pay for something he did. Once we figure out what that was, we’ll be close to finding out who.”

  “We think Kirsk was getting his instructions from a woman named Pamela Beaumont,” said Chief Hill. “She’s now a missing person who we can place with Kirsk shortly before he was killed. She was probably the one in direct contact with the unsub.”

  “Okay, let me make
sure we’re all on the same page here,” said Sheriff Doyle. “Unsub murders Caleb and tries to murder Kate; unsub makes Paul kill himself; then unsub frames Gregory Kirsk by making him follow the instructions of now missing person Pamela Beaumont, whom I’m sure you believe the unsub has murdered as well. So that makes, what, four confirmed kills and one that survived?”

  “We can add Dr. Singer’s wife to the body count,” said Grey. “He doesn’t leave anyone alive.”

  “And all of this is based on what?” asked Sheriff Doyle. “Theory,” he said, answering his own question. “Neither one of you has one shred of evidence. Do you wanna hear my theory? You both are out of your damn minds.”

  “We can –”

  “I’ve heard enough, Chief,” said Sheriff Doyle, cutting him off. “Here’s how this is going down. You’re going back to Sugarloaf today and taking two weeks of administrative leave. The only thing saving your job right now is a damn near perfect service record. If I find out you’re even thinking about this case, your career is over. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, Conrad, you’re making yourself perfectly clear,” replied Chief Hill.

  “Address me as Sheriff Doyle or sir. You just lost your privilege to call me anything else. One of my deputies will be driving you home. As far as you, Agent Collins, a phone call shortly from your boss will finally get you out of my state and out of my hair. Your theories almost cost Chief Hill his career, but I hope it does cost you yours. The FBI tried to screw me years ago with their theories, and I haven’t forgotten one second of what the Bureau put me and my department through. Neither has the State of Florida.”

  “I don’t care what the Bureau put you through,” said Grey, stepping closer to the Sheriff. “That woman lying in there is my family. I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure nobody ever hurts her again. Badges aside, if anything does happen to her, I’m holding you responsible.”