by Jenn Vakey
Ben reached out when they crossed the deck and unlocked the front door. “Don’t worry,” he said, taking in the horrified look on her face. “She appeared to be completely oblivious to your attitude toward her. Either that, or she’s just so used to it that she didn’t care.”
“Or she doesn’t have the intelligence to recognize when someone is less than excited about her presence,” Rilynne snapped. She quickly clasped her hand over her mouth, shocked by the meanness of her statement. Ben grinned at the look she held. “I’m standing by what I said, though. She wasn’t a professional. She was a con artist just trying to get attention. That’s completely different than working with someone who might know something more about a certain area than you do.”
“I’m just giving you a hard time,” he said.
The warm, amused smile on his face did little to settle the rage she was feeling. “She was a liar! She was feeding off of the fear and using it to help herself. I would have been justified if I had pulled her out by her hair, not that I would have actually done that. She was a con artist who was using my best friend’s grief. Besides, there was a child missing. Her little quest for attention could have ended up putting her in even more danger than she was already in.”
“I don’t think anyone would have blamed you if you had,” Ben said. His tone was softer than it had been before. He was trying hard to reassure her. “You don’t need to worry about it. You didn’t come off at all the way Sergeant Perez is. There are very few people who actually treat psychics with the same level of respect as other professionals.”
“She isn’t a psychic!” Rilynne exclaimed, dropping down hard on the sofa. “If she had been, we would have had a very different encounter. And you are right about that. It’s one of the main reasons I will never out myself.”
Ben sat down on the sofa next to her and wrapped his arm around her. “Don’t think for a second that anyone in our station would treat you that way. There isn’t a single person who doesn’t respect you. If you can out and told everyone what you could do, that wouldn’t go away.”
“You have a much higher faith in people than I do,” she responded. “Did I ever tell you about the dream I had shortly after moving to Addison Valley. They had me displayed in front of the entire town like a side show attraction. They then assured the people of Addison Valley that I would never work there again. I’d rather live with my secret than risk being chased out of town by an angry mob with pitch forks.”
“No more horror movies for you,” Ben chuckled as he stood up. “Why don’t you just sit here and I’ll go get us something to eat. No more thinking about angry hordes, though. I don’t want to have to fight back a crowd carrying fire and sharp objects, but I would if it ever came to that.”
Ben walked toward the kitchen, leaving Rilynne sitting in thought on the sofa. She feared allowing people to know what she could do more than almost anything else. It didn’t matter how close she was to the people she worked with, Rilynne didn’t think any of them would accept her for what she was. Even if there was a possibility they would, it wasn’t a chance she was ever going to be willing to take. Her fellow homicide detectives were her family. She was going to protect them from the consequences that would inevitable arise, as well as herself.
She was still deep in thought when Ben walked back in ten minutes later to tell her dinner was ready.
“Having to wear this is going to drive me crazy,” she said, trying to pull her chair back with her left hand. She cringed as pain shot up her arm and she reached out with the other.
“We’re actually pretty lucky,” Ben said.
Rilynne wanted to pop him when she turned back toward him. “I’m sorry. What part of this is lucky? This really hurts. And I don’t even want to think about all of the questions I’m going to face when I go back to work with this next week.”
“We’re lucky he had an x-ray machine,” Ben explained. “I’m actually really surprised he does. I thought we were going to be on the first boat out to get your wrist examined in Hawaii.”
Rilynne let out a quick laugh. “You know I wouldn’t have gone,” she stated firmly. “I would have just let you wrap it until our trip was over. I know I haven’t been using the last few days of our honeymoon the way we should have, but there’s no way I would spend a full day of it going to a hospital to get my wrist looked at. You couldn’t have dragged me onto that boat.”
Ben looked like he wanted to argue, but he knew she was right.
After they finished eating, Rilynne grabbed a couple beers from the refrigerator and retreated to the front porch. The temperature cooled after the sun went down, but only slightly. There was a sweetness in the breeze that moved past them. It smelled like fresh fruit and salt water.
“It really is beautiful here,” she said when Ben walked out behind her. She tried to open her bottle before giving up and handing it to him for help. “It’s the kind of place you see in movies, but you don’t actually think they could really exist. I don’t think you could have found a better place for us to come. It even beat my idea of traveling around Ireland, although I definitely still want to do that.”
“I’m just glad it didn’t rain the entire time. I was looking at the weather before we left and it was a definite possibility,” he said. He opened both bottles before handing one back to Rilynne. “I’d have been pretty upset if that had been the case. We would have ended up extending it until the weather calmed. There are a few things I really want to do while we’re here, and we aren’t leaving without doing them.”
Rilynne laughed and leaned back against the railing. “And you still won’t tell me what’s left on that list? I know we’ve had to have knocked out most of them by now.”
Ben shook his head with an amused grin before taking a swig of his beer. “There’s a thing or two still left to do, and no, I’m not going to give you any details.”
“Not even if I’m really good?” she asked, crossing the deck to sit on the swing.
“Just how good are we talking?” he grinned. Rilynne shrugged, emptying half of her bottle in one drink. “Are we talking no more middle of the night runs, or are you going to let Sergeant Perez handle the rest of the investigation?”
Rilynne groaned and let her head fall back. “Fine. I guess I can just wait.”
“That’s what I thought,” he laughed. “In the mean time, let’s get this case wrapped up so we actually have time to do what I have planned.”
“Where do we start?”
“I know what we can do,” Ben said, sitting down next to her on the swing. “We could play the game. That way you will know exactly what questions to ask when you talk to the victim’s family tomorrow. With any luck, one of them will reveal something that will tell you exactly who did it and we can get back to our honeymoon.”
Ignoring his final remark, she took another sip and began running through everything they knew. After a few moments, she started. “There were visible stains on her clothes from the blood when we found her. If those injuries had happened just before she was put in the water, they would have rinsed away without setting in.”
“That means there was enough time between when those wounds were inflicted and when she went into the water for the blood to dry on her clothes. She was already dead when the stab wounds and gunshot took place, so there wouldn’t have been much blood in the first place. If it were only partially dry, I don’t think there would have been as much present. I would have to run some tests to be sure, but I’m pretty confident saying the blood was completely dry on her clothing before she was dropped into the ocean.”
Rilynne nodded in agreement. “Call Summers and see if he can verify that, but it makes sense. I know she was close enough to the shore when the killer inflicted those wounds that I could hear the waves crashing, but it still looked like a pretty secluded area. Assuming the killer didn’t just have a refrigerator handy to chain her to, he or she would have needed enough time to obtain one.”
“Perez checked into
the refrigerator,” Ben said. “It was one that had been left near the docks to be shipped out and disposed of. Anyone would have had access to it. The killer probably grabbed in while in the process of loading the victim onto a boat.”
Rilynne looked out at the stars covering the sky and thought over everything she had seen. “Although a good amount of planning went into the post-mortem wounds, the rage that I felt when she was being drowned makes me think the initial act was a heat of the moment kind of thing. Either that or she angered someone enough that they still had a high level of rage coursing through them.”
“Sadly, we both know that it doesn’t take much for people to snap and kill someone,” Ben stated. “Do you remember that guy a couple months ago who killed the guy in the cubicle next to him because he ate his sandwich?”
Rilynne nodded. “Yeah, but stealing people’s food leads to some pretty heated arguments these days.”
“He’d just gotten them mixed up,” Ben said. “They both had sandwiches in the same type of containers. The poor guy just made the mistake of grabbing the wrong one. That inspired enough rage for the guy to staple the victim’s lips shut after he bashed his head in. Who knows what this victim could have done that rubbed someone the wrong way.”
Rilynne finished the last of her beer before dropping her head down on his shoulder and gently running her fingers along his forearm. “We know she got into a pretty big fight with her husband at some point before she was killed,” Ben offered. “Maybe he didn’t catch a boat off the island like everyone believed, or Perez was right and he came back after establishing an alibi. Or he could have hired someone.”
“You never told me, did you get the results back on that blood test?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Ben nodded. “There weren’t any obvious signs she had been exposed to a poison prior to her death. I will have to run some more extensive test, but it doesn’t look like someone was already poisoning her when she was killed.”
“Until we have a chance to talk to everyone, we won’t know who did or didn’t have a reason to kill her,” Rilynne stated. “What I want to know, though, is why she wasn’t just put into the refrigerator. I know we’ve talked about it before, but it still doesn’t make any sense to me. The fact that she was left in a popular diving location is also confusing. I would think that any local would know to leave a body somewhere else.”
“So maybe the husband did come back and killed her,” Ben said. “He wouldn’t be as familiar with the island, so he probably wouldn’t know the places to avoid when disposing of a body in the ocean. Putting her on the outside of the fridge might have been an attempt at ensuring that the sea creatures would make a meal out of the remains. If she had been in the water any longer, I’m sure that would have been the case.”
Rilynne processed through everything, pausing briefly to watch a pair of monkeys playing tag in a nearby tree, before sitting back up and turning toward Ben. “So right now it looks like someone who isn’t familiar with the island with enough rage toward the victim to kill her and also to inflict the post-mortem wounds. I told you what I felt when I saw those; the killer enjoyed them. This wasn’t just someone who she rubbed wrong and they acted out in a fit of rage. This was someone who had so much anger that they wanted to keep hurting her after she was dead, and they took pleasure in doing it.”
“Speaking of hurting, how’s your wrist?” Ben asked, gently taking it into his hands and looking it over. “Do you need me to get you any ice?”
Rilynne shook her head. “It’s not that bad. The only time it really bothers me is if I forget and try to use it. I’m not very eager to find out how it’s going to feel in the morning, though. I’m sure it will tighten up some more.”
“Well try soaking it in a hot bath before you get in bed,” he said. “I tell you what, I’ll even keep you company while you’re in there.” Without waiting for her to respond, Ben stood and started for the door. When he reached it, he turned back around. “Are you coming?”
Chapter Six
Her bare feet crunched the dead leaves coating the ground beneath her. The trees surrounding her looked dead; their branches stood naked as they gently swayed from side to side. They seemed to almost be reaching out for her. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a startling sight. Instead, she wished they were. She wanted them to take her away. The moment the thought crossed through her mind, she began berating herself. As a wave of guilt settled over her, she watched the wind lift the leaves off the path ahead and move toward her. When the breeze reached her, it bit at her nose. It was cold, colder than she was dressed for.
Without needing to give it a second thought, she turned and started back the way she came. After a few minutes of walking, she turned off the path and ventured deep into the woods. Rocks and sticks covering the ground seemed to bite at her feet, but it didn’t slow her as she moved even deeper into the thick brush. Just when she thought it couldn’t get any thicker, she pushed through and stepped out into a clearing. It wasn’t particularly large; there was just enough room for the small, plain log cabin and a modest yard.
As soon as she was clear of the trees, she started running toward the house. Instead of going in through the front door, though, she headed toward the back. The back of the cabin was bare and windowless, with only a single door at the end. The door, which had seemed so big when it first appeared, was almost too small for her when she finally reached it. It scared her, and she wished to herself it was back to the large door it had been before.
She reached out with a shaking hand and pulled it open. After closing it behind her, she found herself standing in a dark hallway. Instead of venturing down, though, she pulled open a second small door to right of where she stood. Though it was pitch black, she seemed to know exactly where she was going. She climbed down the stairs and crossed through the basement before reaching out for something. She couldn’t make out what it was, but something happened when she pushed it; a third door opened.
The dull light coming from behind the door was soft on her eyes. The pit in her stomach as she pushed the door closed told her the same could not be said for what was waiting for her ahead. The large room she stood in was old, but it was well maintained. Like the doors, though, everything within it was too small. She felt like she was in a funhouse. The sofas at one end were outdated and worn, but there didn’t seem to be a speck of dirt on them. As she looked around, she realized the same could be said for almost everything else in there. It was so clean, in fact, that it looked like a whole team of maids went through it. She knew that wasn’t true, though. Her eyes scanned carefully through the room, looking for anything that wasn’t perfect. She avoided one area, though. Her gazed passed over the table against the back wall just long enough for her to see what it was, but she couldn’t make them stay longer. It was a model of Addison Valley. She hated that thing.
After straightening the one tiny pillow that sat slightly out of place on the sofa, she ventured through the swinging door that lead further into the house. The long hall she stepped into had the same dated look, but it left her with even more of a pained feeling. That was only compounded by the fact that her head nearly reached the ceiling. Even standing in it made her want to cry. As the tears started rising, she reached up and slapped herself hard across the face.
The action shocked her, but it stopped the tears from reaching the surface. “That was stupid,” she muttered to herself.
“What was stupid?” someone else spoke out.
She wasn’t alone.
“Who’s there?” she asked, looking around for its source.
Just then, a small girl appeared from under a cloth covered table against the wall at the end of the hall. She was young; she couldn’t have been older than seven or eight. Unlike herself, everything in the house seemed to be the perfect size for the young girl. Aside from the outdated dress that was slightly big on her, she also appeared to be well kept. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun and her fingers donned soft pink fingernails. Despite th
at, she looked sad. It wasn’t the type of sad she usually saw on a child who just wasn’t getting their way. This was different. She wore a soft smile, but her eyes held a deep sorrow within them.
“What are you doing here?” Rilynne asked, looking around to make sure no one else was around. “You shouldn’t be here. It’s not safe.”
“I was hiding,” the young girl replied. “We just wanted to play while he is away.”
Rilynne reached down and took the girl by the hands, kneeling down to her level. “It’s not safe here. You have to go before he finds you. Where are the others?”
“They are in the rooms,” the girl said. There was a positive note in her voice that made it sound like the thought would be reassuring. Oddly, it was. Before Rilynne could reply, the girl led her into the closest door. Behind it was a small playroom with four doors coming off of it. Each door had a different name on it. They were bedrooms. Like everything else, every object in the room was too small for her, down to the clock hanging on the wall.
“You go tell them all that the game is over. This is no time to play,” Rilynne instructed. “Are they all in here?”
The young girl shook her head and pointed back out into the hall.
Rilynne walked back out and entered the door closest to her. Like the first, it led to a small room with four doors coming off of it, each dressed with a name. The furniture filling it, though still too small for her, was slightly larger. Unlike the first, this one wasn’t filled with toys. Instead, there was a large bookcase against the wall and an assortment of chairs scattered about. Sitting in one was another girl. This one was older, though still in her early teens. As soon as her eyes landed on her face, Rilynne felt her heart drop. She had seen her before; she recognized her face.
“I told them not to play,” the girl said. “They don’t listen to me the way they do you.”