by PJ Fernor
“What?”
“You’re going to tell me to stop thinking about it.”
“Not exactly.”
“You want me to cool down on my theories.”
“Kind of.”
“I can’t, Ben. Trust me, I don’t like Preens at all. I have this bad feeling about him. I’ve always had it. Think about it though. How many times has his name come up in this case?”
“My rebuttal…”
“I know,” I said. “He worked the area. Of course his name would come up. He told me that himself.”
“We all have regulars, Allie Down,” Ben said. “Some are worse than others. Being here in Sandemor, in this part, the regulars are ones we can handle. Petty stuff. Stuff that makes us smile. Right? You were a city cop. You know what it’s like.”
Sometimes I didn’t like when Ben was levelheaded.
“Your silence means you know I’m right,” he said.
“You go be right,” I said. “Let me have my space to live in with this.”
“You have to let Johnny do his job,” Ben said. “If he finds anything that suggests Preens was hit on purpose, you’ll know. It’s Johnny Barby. He loves drama. He loves a good story to tell.”
“I know,” I said. “I just can’t stop thinking about it…” I shook my head. “I feel like I’m back to where it all began. Think about it, Ben. Wendy. She was one of the broken girls. I was going to get her help. She talked to me. She told me about The One. She mentioned Preens’s name. And then she disappears. I can’t do anything about it because Laura won’t let me. I feel handcuffed. I’m seeing things nobody else is and nobody will listen to me.”
“Allie Down,” Ben said. “I see you and I hear you.”
“Do you believe me?”
“Of course I believe you,” he said. “I’m just giving you the other side of the story. Just to have it.”
“I know the other side of the story. The logical one. But look at it through my eyes. The psychologist Lo was seeing turned out to be a kidnapping piece of you-know-what who was collecting girls to give to The One. And he got into my head. And he took Lo. And when it was all said and done, he turned up dead. The One killed him, Ben.”
“I know, Allie,” Ben said.
“And Preens’s has been in the mix of this entire thing. And you’re telling me…” I sat down.
Maybe I’m going crazy here.
“Okay, Allie Down,” Ben said. “I get it. You talked to Preens. Then the next day you get a call he was in a car accident. The entire thing stinks. I agree. But until we know more, there’s nothing we can do. Your theories are good. And they might be right. In the meantime, we have someone out there attacking people. Killing people. Cutting off their hands. We have a woman who almost lost her hand. Was she much help? Not really. But it was something. We’re inching closer.”
“I know we are,” I said. “It’s just…”
“I get it,” Ben said. “The One hit home. Because of Lo. Because of yourself. That’s over. Lo is safe. You’re safe.”
I looked up at Ben and swallowed hard.
He was trying to protect me.
So fierce about it too.
I started to open my mouth, wondering what to say back to him. I wanted to find something caring, romantic, anything that would prove to him that I cared as much as he did.
We were interrupted by a knock at the door.
“Detective,” Muldavey said.
“Come in,” I said.
I stood back up.
“I have to get over to my office,” Ben whispered to me. “We’ll talk again soon.”
He winked and as he left the office, he patted Muldavey on the shoulder.
Muldavey then got right to the point of his arrival.
“There’s a woman here. You might want to talk to her.”
“About?”
“She thinks she was followed.”
“Here?” I asked.
“Just in general,” Muldavey said.
“Followed?” I asked.
Muldavey nodded. “She’s distraught. She looks tired. Scared. I don’t know. I just have a feeling about it.”
“You have a feeling…”
My phone started to ring.
I saw Johnny’s name on the screen.
“I have to talk this call. This is more important right now.” I looked at Muldavey. “You can talk to her, okay? Take a statement. Tell her don’t go out at night. Okay? If she’s seen the news, she might be paranoid.”
“Detective…”
“Muldavey, I gave an order,” I said. “You’re more than capable of handling this.”
“I just thought you’d want to hear from her…”
“And I just gave my answer, didn’t I?”
The call from Johnny ended.
I was ready to explode on Muldavey.
Johnny called again.
I lifted my phone. “See this? This is a call I need to take right now. Shut the door and go handle the situation. Okay?”
Muldavey nodded, his cheeks now bright red.
He shut the door and I answered the call from Johnny.
“Sorry about that,” I said. “Had to take care of something minor here.”
“Thought you were ignoring me.”
“Not quite.”
“How’s Ben?”
“What?”
“You and Ben. Everything okay?”
I turned my head and saw Ben at his desk. “Why are you asking me?”
“You do know I’ll be there to pick up the pieces of your heart when you two break up, right?”
I sighed. “Is there a reason you called me?”
“Yeah, there is. The Preens thing.”
“You looked into it more? Where are you at? Witnesses? Footage? Anything?”
“Whoa, calm down,” Johnny said. “We have to talk off the record here for a second. Do not go off the deep end like you always do.”
“If that were the case, you wouldn’t have called me. What’s up?”
“I have no evidence for what I’m about to say,” Johnny said. “But I’ve been in this job long enough to get a vibe. To get a feeling.”
“Get to the point, Johnny,” I said. “I have work to do here.”
“Okay. I think you’re right, Allie.”
“Okay,” I said.
Johnny sighed. “I don’t think Preens’s accident was an accident at all.”
Chapter Sixty-Five
I knew what I was walking into.
But I had to do it.
I had to see Preens for myself.
When I told Ben I was going for a drive, he just looked at me.
Without a word spoken it was the most supportive action someone could have taken for me at that point.
I left the station and drove to the hospital, switching between both cases.
My job was on the line.
Yet I was still driving.
If Laura found out about the whiteboard, Leslie, my conversation with Giovanni, or that I had anything to do with Preens and his accident, I was going to be out of a job.
Not a career, but a job.
Was it worth it?
Of course it was.
Whatever it took to bring down The One.
He was still out there. Closer than anyone believed.
I felt it.
My proof was easy.
The way Wendy acted.
If The One wasn’t within reach, she wouldn’t have left the way she did.
The same with Preens.
Someone hurt him.
Someone knew we talked.
And someone wanted to silence him.
Maybe someone wanted to send me a message too.
To back off. To stay away.
That wasn’t going to happen with this case.
Plus, there was a lot more I wanted to know.
Preens was attacked… but why?
What does he know?
That question sent chills through my body as I par
ked my car and went into the hospital.
It took me a few minutes to track Preens down.
I had to flash my badge three times and make it clear I was there to do my job.
Finally, I was escorted to a hospital room where I saw Preens sitting up in the bed, eyes shut, looking miserable.
The left side of his body was exactly as Johnny described it.
Broken.
His left arm was bent, his hand stretched across his chest. His fingers looked bruised and swollen. His arm was wrapped up, along with his shoulder. The left side of his face was beat up bad too. His eye socket was purple. There was a cut on the left side of his head that looked stitched up.
His left leg was elevated and I saw a white cast on his ankle.
I inched closer to the bed, my heart wanting to hurt for Preens, but I knew better.
He wasn’t just attacked because he talked to me.
There was more to Preens than anyone knew.
I couldn’t prove it.
But I knew something was off. And I would prove it.
Preens’s eyelids fluttered and he turned his head.
When he saw me, the color of his face changed.
He didn’t want to see me.
“What happened?” I asked.
He moved his right hand and pointed to his jaw.
“Can’t talk?” I asked.
He shook his head.
“Your jaw is wired shut, Preens.”
He shut his eyes and slowly nodded.
“I haven’t seen any pictures. I haven’t been there. Johnny Barby has been keeping in touch with me. You know why I’m here, right?”
Preens just looked at me.
“We both know this wasn’t an accident, Preens,” I said. “This was planned. You were set up. Someone knew you were there. Someone waited for you to drive forward. Someone hit you on purpose, Preens. Maybe they wanted you dead, but if that were the case, they would have finished the job. This was a message, wasn’t it? Now my question is… to you? Or to me? Or to both of us?”
Again, Preens just stared at me.
Slowly, he swallowed hard.
“You can’t talk,” I said. “You can’t tell me what I want to know. Or confirm what I already do know. Your name has been brought up too many times in this case. I know you worked that area, but I always wondered why something wasn’t done. Why weren’t those girls moved? Helped? I know they scattered, but they always came back. Right? You could have done a lot more than you did. You know, maybe it’s your fault Nikki was murdered. And Chelsea. And all the others. Can I prove that? No. Will anything happen to you? No. But you have to live with it, Preens. You do. Not me. And if you can’t tell, I’m not going to stop. Nothing will stop me. Now… do you understand that?”
Preens’s nostrils flared as he nodded.
“So let me ask this… was it an accident?”
Preens shrugged his right shoulder.
“You’re still going to lie to me then,” I said. “That’s fine. I’ll get to the truth one way or another. The longer it takes, the more people will get hurt. Think about that.”
I took two steps back and Preens waved his right hand.
I stopped moving.
He nodded to me.
“Your jaw is wired shut, but I can see your eyes, Preens. I can feel you. You’re scared. Right?”
He nodded.
“You know there’s nothing you can do now,” I said. “It’s too late. Someone is following you. You and I talked and now you’re here. Which means you know more than what was said between us. It also means you’re valuable to someone else. Because they kept you alive. You’re into it too deep, Preens.”
He stared at me, and to my surprise, his eyes filled with tears.
The arrogant cop I met who acted like he didn’t stink after not showering for a week was about to cry.
He knew everything I did about the accident.
But I didn’t know everything about him.
“I’m sorry this happened to you, Preens,” I said. “This didn’t need to happen. Nothing else needs to happen. You know that though. You control your own fate. And if I make my rounds in this case and they point back to you… a broken jaw is the least of your worries.”
Preens blinked.
Tears rolled down his cheeks.
I turned and exited the hospital room.
The first nurse I saw, I touched her arm.
I nodded to Preens’s room. “He’s in pain in there. Crying.”
“Oh, that’s not good,” the nurse said. “Let me check on him and talk to his doctor.”
“You do that,” I said.
I walked down the hallway, my hands sliding into my pockets.
I stared forward but I didn’t see much of anything.
I was getting closer.
If The One wanted to scare me, he would have to do better than what he did to Preens.
Chapter Sixty-Six
I passed Garrison with a quick head nod.
“Allie,” he said, putting his hand out. “Got a second?”
“Just one, “I said.
“I’m still gathering camera footage. You know what you told me…”
“It’s not much,” I said. “A man dressed in all black. At night.”
“Right,” Garrison said. “I know Laura is losing her mind up there over this, but please don’t roll over on me.”
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t give me something impossible and then point the finger at me,” Garrison said.
“That sounds like something you would do, Garrison,” I said. “I’m not sure who you think I am, but I’m not like that. Do your job.”
“I am,” he said. “How about giving me something that’s reasonable.”
“Need a break? Go upstairs, tell Laura what you just told me, pour yourself a cup of the good coffee, and then enjoy your extended time off.”
I walked away - I stormed away - and I was lucky when Ben saw me.
I wasn’t where I was going but I knew someone was going to face my wrath.
Except Ben knew how to be a calming force.
A quick smile, pulling me to the side, wanting to hear about Preens, I was able to get everything off my chest.
Not once did he interrupt me. Not once did he question me.
He just listened and stared.
When I finished, I closed my mouth tight and felt a small sense of desperation move through me.
“We need to get out of here, Allie Down,” he said. “We need to go somewhere and have dinner. Together. Just us. Sit. Talk. Try to forget about all of this. I know that won’t happen, but at least I’ll get dinner with you.”
“We’re in the middle of-”
“We still need to eat,” he said. “Don’t be stubborn on this, Allie Down.”
“I have to get home first, Ben. Check on Lo. I’ll make sure Miss Kesslier will be there too. I can’t just…”
Ben smiled.
“What?” I asked.
“I already know all of this,” he said. “I’ll pick you up around six.”
There I was, lobbing excuses at him. Any of those excuses he could have taken and walked away. But not Ben. He stood up to me. He waited for me. I almost felt… maybe he loved me.
I took a deep breath. “See you at six then.”
“It’s a date,” Ben said with a wink.
When I got home, Lo was already there.
Sitting on her bed, watching TV, scribbling notes in a notebook.
She looked flustered and when I pushed at her, she had a logical question I couldn’t answer.
“Why did someone have to mix numbers and letters together?” Lo asked.
“Math issues?”
“This is a joke. I’m going to refuse to do this. I’m going to take a stand.”
“A mathematical stand,” I said. “I’ll back you up.”
Lo rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the motivation.”
“I’m going to meet up with Ben.”
“On a date?”
“To talk about work.”
“For dinner?”
“Lo…”
“You’re in love with him,” she said. “I like him. I always liked him.”
“This conversation isn’t happening,” I said.
Lo laughed. “Have fun tonight.”
“Miss Kesslier is next door if you need anything.”
“I know,” she said as she went back to writing.
I didn’t get changed, even though I wondered if I should have.
I did a quick pass by in the bathroom mirror.
I was who I was.
No need for makeup or a fake hairstyle. Or dangling earrings. Or bracelets and rings and all that.
I was me.
Detective Allie Down.
Why Ben liked me the way I was I wasn’t sure.
I left the apartment and went next door.
Miss Kesslier answered with a big smile. “Date night?”
“What?”
“The look on your face. I can tell.”
“We’re talking about work.”
“Over dinner?”
“You sound like Lo now,” I said.
“See? Everyone can tell something is happening. It’s magic. Just do me a favor and don’t be one of those couples that is together for ten years before tying the knot.”
“What?” I asked.
Miss Kesslier started to laugh. “I’m an old woman, Allie. I’ve got a few good years left. Promise me I can be in your wedding party. Just imagine walking down the aisle with some hunky friend of Ben’s. Oh, now that would be a shot of life to anyone.”
“Tell you what,” I said. “You can be my maid of honor.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Now I have to get going.”
“Have fun. Hopefully he proposes tonight.”
I walked away as Miss Kesslier kept laughing.
That was the last thing I needed in my mind.
Ben and I were newly together. Miss Kesslier and Lo could tease all the wanted. But marriage?
My cheeks were warm when I saw Ben’s car pull up.
I started to get nervous to get into the car.
Ben wasn’t going to propose to me tonight. Or maybe ever.
We were just… us.
I opened the passenger door and saw a bag of fast food on the seat.
“Did someone get too hungry to wait?” I asked.
“Grab a burger and some fries, Allie Down,” Ben said. “We have to postpone our date.”