“I’ll make sure he pays dearly for what he has done.”
Mrs. Locke showed her to the door. Everything seemed clearer to her now. Alyssa had been mentioned also by Arianna. The pieces were beginning to fall together. She called Brooks.
“What do you need, Hanson?”
“I need you to look up Alyssa Dunham. She is the Jane Doe in our case ... the key to this puzzle. Also I want you to pull up a marriage license on Stephanie Locke. She was married to Raymond Stevens. Figure out who he is.”
“We will look into it. Thank you, Hanson. We’ll let you know what we find.”
Slipping her phone in her pocket, she got back in the car. She took in a deep breath and continued on to Troy Wilkes’ family. As she entered an intersection, she felt the impact and her car began to spin. Dazed from the direct hit, she wasn’t able to see straight. She heard cars honking along with people cursing.
“You okay?” someone asked.
She wasn’t able to answer. She felt something warm going down her face. Finally her blurred vision became clear. She was partially on the sidewalk and her window was broken, the driver’s side door crushed in.
“Can you talk to me?” she heard the person ask.
Sirens sounded off and she couldn’t feel her legs. She looked for the other vehicle but there was none in sight. Light-headed once more, nausea overcame her. But instead of throwing up, she fell into unconsciousness where memories flashed through her mind:
Sitting by her bedroom window, she peered outside. Nate was outside shooting hoops with Owen. Random girls always watched him, and if he looked at them, they would giggle and run off. They all thought Owen was attractive with his tall well-built stature and kind eyes. He was the most handsome person she knew. She thought it was wrong to have a crush on her brother’s friend. Besides, they had pretty much adopted Owen as it was.
She walked downstairs and saw her mother sitting on the chair speaking with her grandmother. Slipping by them, she entered the kitchen and opened the fridge to get an apple.
As she shut the fridge, she nearly jumped out of her skin. Owen was standing there looking as magnificent as he always did despite his sweat. He smiled warmly at her as she walked past him. He grabbed for a water bottle and followed behind her to the couch. She flipped on the television and searched through the channels.
“You know what?” he said, looking at her.
“What?”
“I think you are beautiful.”
Hazel sat there in utter silence. She was wearing her baggy pajama bottoms and a loose shirt that smelled bad. Her skin was oily and her hair was put up in a sloppy ponytail.
“Are you high?”
He snorted and water came out his nose. They both laughed. Hazel grabbed the water from his hand and sat it down on the coffee table. Her free hand was now being held and she looked at him. “Do you have a fever?” she joked.
“Yes. I’m fine. I’m going to go home now. It was – you know, nice talking with you.”
Hazel watched as he got up quickly and left. He had called her beautiful. Nate must’ve hit him on the head when they were shooting hoops or something.
Two months later, Hazel was outside studying for her year’s end exams. Owen came around the back of the house and approached her. The rest of the family was out at Percy’s soccer tournament. “Nate isn’t here,” she said simply.
“I know. I didn’t come here for Nate. I wanted to talk to you.”
“What would you like to talk about?”
He sat down next to her. “I don’t have any balls, well I do, but I just haven’t been able to tell you how I feel. Hazel,” he said looking into her eyes, “I love you a lot and you’re just an amazing person. I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“Of all the girls out there who drool over you, you’re sitting here saying it’s me you want?”
“Basically,” he said slowly. “I have actually liked you for a while. I just was afraid of you rejecting me.”
Hazel had never had someone ask her out before. Granted she was attractive, but no guy really wanted to be with her. Tilting her head slightly, she bit her tongue and closed her book, puzzled by his words.
“Could you just tell me if you feel the same way?”
“I do. I just never thought a guy like you would like a girl like me.”
“And what is a guy like me?”
“You’re smart, funny, attractive, caring, and well everything. And I’m, you know, awkward.”
He smiled that devilish smile that always made her knees go weak. Leaning in she kissed him, but the most surprising part was he kissed her back. She had only ever had goodnight kisses from her parents. He was her first.
He pushed her down gently to the grass lawn and she began laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, I just can’t believe this is happening.”
His lips touched hers again and he pressed his body against hers. She felt something stir deep inside her that desired him in a new way. His fingers were playing with her as his lips parted from hers. Owen got to his feet holding out his hand for her to get up and follow him.
Five years later, she sat in Owen’s bed as he got ready for class. He leaned on the doorframe and watched her unwrap the sheets around her and glide naked across the room. His eyes trailed down her body.
As he walked towards her, he smiled and pushed her back to the bed. Kissing her neck, he looked her in the eyes. “You are evil.”
“You like that about me.”
“I don’t have any protection.”
Biting her lower lip, she raised an eyebrow and knew he wouldn’t be able to resist.
Two months later, her period was late. She knew she was pregnant and called her doctor to schedule an appointment. Owen came home later. “Hey, how was your day?”
“I might be pregnant,” she said bluntly.
Owen immediately went to her side and held her tightly in his arms. “If you are, that is fine. I promise you that if you are, nothing is going to change with us.”
She nodded, but was afraid of what having a baby would mean. She wasn’t prepared mentally for a child, but it was comforting to know she would have all the support she needed.
A few days later, the doctor confirmed her suspicions. She was nearly two months along. Owen came with her and squeezed her hand upon hearing the news as if to reassure her it was going to be okay, but Hazel wasn’t sure.
She’d become sick all the time and missed two days of work. She felt shaky and sipped mostly on liquids, trying to keep anything down. She hadn’t told her mother yet, wanting to wait until she was at four months.
Later that day, blood began running down her leg with severe pains in her abdomen. She felt paralyzed and couldn’t reach the phone to call anyone. She screamed out in agony for someone to hear her. This couldn’t be happening; she didn’t want this to happen.
She heard the door open and Owen stood there in horror. He quickly picked her up and took her to the emergency room. She’d lost their baby.
Being around Owen now pained her to the point where she needed to get away from him. She asked him to leave her, pushing him away. Thousands of times she looked at her phone ready to call him but her stubbornness didn’t allow that.
Owen had given her the ring in high school. She wore it every day but now she took it off her finger and put it on a chain to wear around her neck, symbolic of her refusal to be with anyone else. She never wanted anyone else.
Chapter 13
Percy had gotten all the information he needed to make the discovery. He watched as his computer screen sifted through thousands of files. Then it stopped. One name remained on the screen: Raymond Alteri.
Picking up the sketch that Arnold Hues had provided, he nodded. It was a perfect match and now they could find him.
His stepfather came rushing towards him. “Someone just did a hit and run on your sister,” he said breath
lessly. “I need you to find everything you possibly can about that bastard. Don’t stop what you are doing, Percy!”
He watched his stepfather leave hurriedly, and poured over the records with a renewed purpose. Who was going to be next in the family? Bowing his head for a moment, he prayed that everything was going to be okay.
Stirring awake, she heard murmurs. There was a bright light overhead. Squinting, she heard a familiar voice speak. “Yeah, she just woke up. I’ll call you back.”
Struggling to sit up, she asked, “What happened exactly?”
Owen was sitting next to her. She hadn’t seen that much concern on his face in a while. “You were in a hit and run. You have a concussion and sprained your wrist. They checked for internal bleeding, but you didn’t have any. Other than a few cuts on your face, you were very lucky, Hazel.”
“I don’t want to sound rude, but why are you here?”
“You never took me off as your emergency contact.”
“Well as you can see, I’m fine. You can go on your merry way now.”
He was silent and shook his head. “You talked in your sleep, a lot. I’m sorry how everything played out. None of this was part of my plan. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“Owen, we can’t keep doing this. You know that this is near impossible for you and I do too. We need to forget about what we had and move on from it. You should know we can’t be together.”
“My feelings towards you will never change, Hazel. Think about it. I’m going to leave you now so you can rest.”
“Why are you fighting for me now? Five years ago you were packing your bags and now you have the ability to do the same thing again.”
“I was stupid and confused. I did not know how to act – I was too young and naive. I wanted to do right by you. I can’t tell you how much I regret that decision. Your stepfather will be here soon. I’m going to talk to the neighbor of Reba Saunders.”
“Owen, I still love you,” she said before she could stop herself.
There was no reply. He disappeared out in the hall leaving Hazel there. Knowing tears clouded her eyes.
Owen walked out to his car. Brooks stood there with his hands in his pockets, shaking his head. “You love her and she loves you. The both of you can make this work and you know that.”
“With what you want me to do overseas, I would never be there for her. I want to settle down and have a family, but I am the property of the government.”
“A file on Hazel has been opened. They want to recruit her to be part of the force.”
“She would never do it,” said Owen firmly. “She has a family and couldn’t let go of that.”
“Things happen for a reason. I need you to get your head put on straight. We almost have this case solved, and until we do, I want you to look at every aspect of this case. Go to the whiteboard and begin drawing a conclusion.”
Brooks turned and got inside his car. Owen opened his wallet to the picture of Hazel. He remembered falling in love with her ... so smart and funny. She never had to try to be beautiful because she naturally was. Her gorgeous, long brown hair was envied by other women and her warm brown eyes looking at him always made everything seem better.
His thoughts were interrupted by his cell. “Jones,” he answered.
“Hey Owen, this is Percy. I need you down at the station right now. I think I found something, but I don’t know what it means.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I found Raymond Alteri and get this. He was a real person once upon a time. After his Mom died, he fell off the face of the earth. Then I found Thomas Dunham. He is the son of Alyssa, but no one ever reported him missing. I got his birth certificate and his father’s name is on it. Raymond Alteri. He has been a ghost to society for nearly two decades. I also pulled up the marriage license of Stephanie Locke and she was married to a Raymond Stevens.”
“I will be right in, Percy. You and I are going to do field work together.”
“How is my sister doing?”
“She is doing fine.”
“What about Nate?”
“As far as I know he is fine too. I need you to meet me at the front of the station.”
“Okay,” Percy agreed.
ᴤ
Percy was waiting outside the station for Owen with the address in his hand. As soon as he got in the car, he handed the piece of paper to Owen.
Owen shook his head. “This address is bogus. That area was torn down for construction. We won’t find anything there.”
“But we can find something about what used to be there, right?”
Owen nodded. “Yes, we can.”
Driving through the city, Owen received a call from Braggs. “We have a war on our hands now. We need to round everyone in and report this.”
“Why, what is going on?”
“The Italians were sweet enough to kill an agent in his car. They ran a spike through his chest and he had a letter attached to him. They don’t like what is going on. We need to brief all the cops about what is happening. We can’t let them go out there blind.”
“Have you already told Brooks about this?”
“Yes, but you need to know too. Just be careful. They wanted a war and they just got one.”
Owen hung up and groaned. This day could not get worse, could it?
ᴤ
After coming up short at the site, Owen felt slightly annoyed. Hazel was being targeted along with every other cop in the station. He and Percy now set out for the hospital to visit Hazel and Nate.
Percy had gone to see Nate, and now Owen needed to tell Hazel what was going on. She needed to know the truth about everything.
Sitting up in her bed, Hazel immediately looked away when she saw him.
“How are you feeling?”
“Other than being sore, I am okay. I hear Nate is on morphine, but he was able to talk. Look, I know you’re here because something is wrong. My Dad left in a hurry so you should tell me before I go digging.”
Pausing for a moment, he answered her. “Every cop is in danger. Some of the Italians were able to break free from our attack on them last night and now we’re facing their rage.”
“So what are we all supposed to do about it? We can be prepared for this, but it doesn’t mean we’re going to be 100% safe.”
“The other cops are not my issue. You and your family are going to be sticking together and under lockdown. We aren’t going to risk anything else happening.”
“My accident was just an accident.”
“You can believe that if you want,” he said. “But both of us know that whoever hit you did it on purpose.”
“Now that I am still alive and breathing, are they going to try and kill me again?”
“There is something I haven’t told you yet. Before David Mathis was terminated, he told us that someone very important was being hunted. I think he meant you.”
“A man who knows he is going to die will say anything he can to live longer.”
“I have this gut-wrenching feeling that something really bad is going to happen. I don’t think the storm has passed, Hazel. I think it just started.”
“I don’t need a babysitter. I can take care of myself.”
“I don’t give a damn whether you can take care of yourself or not. I don’t like the thought of something happening to any one of you. You guys were family to me and still are. I am not going to let anything happen to you. I love you, Hazel, and will make sure all the threats are neutralized.”
She shook her head. “If I want someone dead, I’ll kill them myself.”
“I do not doubt your ability to do that, but you don’t need to have blood on your hands.”
She folded her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes. She didn’t like that his logic made sense. Fighting him made her exhausted. “Did you find out anything new?”
“Percy found an address, but it didn’t turn up anyt
hing useful. Now can you tell me what you were doing before you got into the car accident?”
“I was going to Troy Wilkes’ house. I needed to talk to his family. I was leaving Stephanie Locke’s place when I got into the accident. Do you think there is something going on between the original victims that would prove important to our killer’s identity?”
“We already know it is,” Percy said. “Raymond Alteri is a ghost in the system and does not show up anywhere other than on a birth certificate. Thomas Dunham is his son, but as of right now he is missing and no one knows where he or Alteri are. We checked out any and all connections to a security system company or individual, but it turned up nothing.”
“I have a pretty good idea,” said Hazel. “Children can be trained to kill, and that’s why he took his son. He killed the mother so the son could be trained to do what he does.”
§
Raymond sat at the table watching his son put the gun back together. He was a very intelligent boy, but looked too much like his mother. Raymond didn’t like this, not one bit. He knew that the cops were getting close to learning who he was, but he was not going to die – not yet. He still had unfinished business to tend to.
“Daddy,” said his son, “why don’t I have a Mommy like the other kids?”
“Your Mommy got hurt a long time ago,” he said to him.
“Did my Mommy love me?”
Looking into his son’s eyes, he shook his head. “Your mother could not love you or me. That is why she is gone.”
He watched as his son looked down. “Did you kill her?” he asked, his voice shaking.
“Yes,” he answered.
“Why?”
Raymond stood up and put a firm hand on his shoulder. “You are too young to understand any of this. Now I’m going to leave. You’ll be with Elias.”
Raymond slipped out of the kitchen. He walked down to his parked truck. He had heard of the “accident” the cop was in. Now she was weaker. She wouldn’t be able to escape when he did attack.
“Alteri,” barked Elias.
Turning around, Elias was standing there with a scorned look on his face. He’d lost a son and a daughter all in one week. “I want you to kill that entire family. I don’t give a damn how you do it, but I want them gone.”
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