by Vakey, Jenn
He gave her an impressed grin as he leaned back in the chair, arms folded in front of him. He eyed her just as intently as she had him. “I’m afraid that’s my fault,” he said after a few long moments. “You see, we came face to face about ten years ago, and she was left with her suspicions. After that, I guess she started putting all the pieces together. That was only exacerbated by your unbelievable solve rate after you joined the department. I guess she just figured some things run in the family.”
“Wait,” she stated, leaning toward him. “You mean to tell me that what I can do, you can do?” He raised his eyebrow and grinned. Neither of them seemed to want to be the first to say it.
“Why didn’t you ever tell mom?” she asked.
“Why haven’t you told Ben?” he replied.
Rilynne fought off the urge to laugh as she mirrored his image, leaning back with her arms folded.
His face twisted in contemplation before he answered, “I told by best friend when I was young, and he never spoke to me again. It’s kind of hard to get over that. I would have eventually told her. I just never found the right time.”
She squinted and pursed her lips. “I told my former husband. Although he accepted it after a few days, he used it as an excuse to fake his death and murder my former partner so he could run away with his mistress.”
He didn’t seem surprised at all by her statement. She had the feeling he knew every major event that had happened in her life.
“At least the one you have now seems like a good one,” he responded. “He certainly cares about you.”
“That he does,” she replied. “Just like mom did you. She was nothing but supportive when she learned what I could do. I can only imagine she would have been the same with you. Then, perhaps, you wouldn’t have needed to go on the run.”
He seemed intrigued by her comment, but didn’t respond.
“I’ve made a living spinning tales when it came to explaining events,” she stated confidently. “Because of that, it’s easy to tell when people are thinking on their feet. It’s part of what makes me such a good detective. I can detect when people are lying. So, what really happened? I know you didn’t see her watching us.”
Douglas gave her an impressed grin and nodded. “I was walking back up to the house when I found a package waiting for me. I pulled it open and found a binder filled with pictures of everyone I loved, including you and your mother. Then I saw what she was going to do,” he said. He shuttered as if thinking back to it. “She wasn’t just going to take me out. You and your mother would have been caught in the middle of it. I saw that it was going to happen during the day, so I did the only thing I could think of in the moment. I headed back the way I came and dropped the food in a trashcan where I knew it was likely to be found, and I left. I figured as soon as your mother reported me missing, she would leave the two of you alone.”
“If mom had known, you could have just told her what you had seen and you could have figured out what to do together,” Rilynne said. As she said it, she knew it wouldn’t have worked. If one man disappeared, anything could have happened. He could have been killed. If a whole family left, it would mean they had something to run from. That would have given her even more motive to go after them.
He seemed to know she had come to the conclusion on her own, because he didn’t offer an explanation. Instead, he just sat back in silence and let Rilynne process everything.
“She left me a very different kind of threat,” she said, remembering the flash she had that first night. “She snuck into my bedroom when Ben and I were sleeping and using her hand as a gun, she made it clear what she had planned. I guess she figured I would see it and know what it meant.” The thought of it still sent a chill down her spine.
“It wasn’t enough for her to kill people,” Douglas explained. “She liked to terrorize them first. She wanted them to see what was coming before it happened, knowing nothing could be done to stop it.”
In a way, Tori reminded her of Nicole. While they had killed for very different reasons, they both took a sickening pleasure in causing fear.
“So when you said you kept an eye on me and always knew when I moved,” she thought aloud. “You what, concentrated on an address?”
He grinned, but again remained silent.
“I couldn’t see anything about her,” Rilynne said. “I tried to concentrate on hate, but it didn’t work. It’s because she wasn’t motivated by hate. She didn’t hate me; she just wanted me out of the way. I think I would have had better luck if I concentrated on pleasure.”
“I don’t think she’s capable of hate,” he said, running his hands through his silver hair. “Not really. Even if she is, it was never the motive behind one of her killings. She will say it was just for the money, but she truly enjoyed it. If she hadn’t found her calling killing for hire, she would have likely become a serial killer.”
Rilynne thought back to the pleasure she had seen in Harris’ eyes as she held the gun to her head. He was right. Then she thought back to the other visions she had over the last week.
“Can I ask you something?”
Douglas looked amused by her hesitation as he nodded.
“I’ve never been able to see things before they happen, or at least not more than a day before. How were you able to keep track of Harris? You wouldn’t have been able to if you only had a days notice to track her down.” It wasn’t really a question, but she seemed to get her point across.
“Like most skills, it will progress with age. I’m sure if you look back, you’ll see that you’ve seen more of the future than you realize,” he said. “A lot of it comes in your dreams. You have to know to look for it, though, or it’ll just seem like nonsense.”
The water will keep you safe. Ben had said it in her dream. She hadn’t thought anything of it at the time, but now it completely made sense. The water had kept her safe. It helped her get away from the dogs and her inevitable arrest. That was a full five days before their trek in the woods.
“Is Elise like us?” she asked after several long minutes. “Or does she at least know about it?” She had so many questions flowing through her; she was having trouble keeping herself from rattling them all off at once.
“Yes,” he said. “She knows. It would appear that she didn’t take after me in that aspect, though. Truth be told, I think the only part of me she seems to have inherited is my stubbornness. She looks just like her mother, who I’m ashamed to admit looked very much like yours.” There was a deep regret in his eyes, but Rilynne couldn’t really blame him for his actions. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how she would have handled things if it had been her.
“Part of me hoped it would develop as she grew older, but on the other hand, I’m glad,” he continued. “You know as well as I do that, although it has its benefits, it’s a hard secret to have to keep. Elise didn’t have the easiest life. We moved around a lot. I think things would have only been harder on her if she had the gift.” He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. “Truth be told, I considered for a while sending her to go live with you and your mother. It was when she was young, just before starting school. I was going to send her with a letter explaining everything. I couldn’t bring myself to do it, though. It might have been selfish, but having her with me was just about the only thing that kept me going most days. Besides, I didn’t even know how to begin that letter to your mother.”
“What the hell am I supposed to tell mom?”
He groaned and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “You know, I’ve been chasing after her for so long, part of me never really believed it would be over,” said Douglas. “For the first few years, I thought every day about what I would say to her when I could finally go home. So much time has gone by now that I wouldn’t even know where to start. ‘Hey honey, I know you thought I’ve been dead for the past twenty-five years, but I’m back now. How have things been?’”
“Don’t forget the part about having another daughter,�
�� Rilynne threw in.
He chuckled and shook his head. “As much as I know I should be the one to tell her, I think I’ll leave that up to you. You can tell her as little or as much as you want.” He gave her a weak smile and stood up. “I’m actually going to head back to the hotel, though. Just let me know what you decide. I’ll stop back by in the morning, if that’s all right. I can tell you more about Elise and set up a time for the two of you to get together.”
Rilynne nodded in agreement as she stood and walked him to the door. When she pulled it open, she found herself with an uncomfortable feeling. He was her father and she wanted so much to reach out and hug him, but on the other hand, he was a complete stranger. Douglas seemed to know what was going through her mind, because he just smiled and kissed her forehead before walking silently down the sidewalk.
She pushed the door shut and watched him through the window until he disappeared into the darkness. Part of her wondered if she wasn’t still unconscious from the blow she received that morning, and the entire day hadn’t just been a dream. She made her way through the entire house, completely lost in thought, as she made sure every window and door was secured. When she found herself back in the living room, she grabbed her phone and headed toward her bedroom. Her chest tightened with every step she took as she ran her thumbs over the keys.
The phone only rang once before her mother picked up.
“What the hell has been going on?” she asked, anger and worry both present in her voice.
Rilynne had to fight through the knots growing within her just to make herself talk. “I’m all right, mom. It’s been a week like you couldn’t believe, but everything’s all right now.”
“I have been receiving calls from your station asking if I knew where you were,” Amber spouted out. “They wouldn’t tell me anything, but insisted that if you showed up here, I should call in immediately.”
“I’m sorry,” Rilynne started, but couldn’t get anything else out before her mother jumped back in.
“I would have been in a complete panic had your partner not called me. Even he wouldn’t tell me anything, though. All he told me was that I should say you called from the road and said you and Ben were headed out my way, but it would take a few days because you wanted to take the scenic route.”
Rilynne rolled her eyes and sighed. While she hadn’t thought about the possibility of Matthews calling her mother, it didn’t surprise her in the least. “Mom,” she jumped in, trying to get Amber to calm down. “It’s really all right. I’m sorry I couldn’t call you myself, but we were kind of on the run.”
“How can you kind of be on the run?” Amber asked.
“In the sense that we were actually on the run because I was framed for murdering that suspect I told you about and we left before they could serve the arrest warrant,” Rilynne stated. Her words seemed to leave her mother completely speechless. “But it’s all over now. We caught the person responsible, and I’ve been cleared of any wrongdoing. I just knew I couldn’t do anything if I was locked up.”
“And you dragged Ben along with you?”
Rilynne chuckled. Of course she would be worried about Ben. “Actually, he insisted. It was his idea to text Lori and tell her we were taking a road trip to your place. That way they thought we were just out of reach and not actually running from the law. That wouldn’t have been nearly as easy to clean up.”
Amber groaned, though she seemed to have calmed down.
“Mom,” Rilynne said hesitantly. She felt her chest tighten again as she put all of her force into saying what she knew she needed to say. “I have to tell you something.”
Chapter Fifteen
Rilynne almost threw her phone across the room when it started to ring. The sun wasn’t even completely up, and all she wanted to do was sleep.
“What?” she asked abruptly when she pushed it against her ear.
“Something’s not right,” Matthews said. The tone of his voice pushed all of resentment she had been feeling away and caused her to bolt up in bed.
“What is it?” she asked. She didn’t even wait for his response before sliding off the end of the bed and rushing toward her closet.
He mumbled for a moment before he seemed to be able to find his words. “Harris has a partner,” he stated. “She has to. I had sent her face out last week to be checked against security camera footage. I wanted to prove that she couldn’t have possibly witnessed you killing Teich. Well, I received an email from a buddy of mine this morning. Evans, I have footage of her across town during the time Teich and Baker were killed. She couldn’t have done it.”
Rilynne fell back against her closet door. Her dad had been following Harris for twenty-five years and hadn’t mentioned anything about her having a partner.
“I don’t want to have to even suggest this,” Matthews broke the silence several moments later.
“I’ll bring him in,” she answered, not needing to hear the rest of his statement.
She hung up without waiting for a reaction. She had been hit with so many things in the past twenty-four hours; she couldn’t even begin to sort out the truth. Rilynne reached in her closet and pulled out the first thing she touched, not caring what it was. She was half way out the door before she even looked down and realized she had pulled on a thick winter sweater. After quickly changing into something that wouldn’t cause her to suffer a heat stroke in the ninety-degree weather, she grabbed her purse and walked out the front door.
She was so numb as she drove down the block that she had completely forgotten her father was planning on meeting her at her house until she came upon him walking down the street.
“Get it,” she said when she pulled the car to a stop next to him. He looked at her quizzically, but climbed in without argument. “We need to go into the station for a few minutes. They have a few more questions before they can finally put this thing to bed.”
He just nodded and looked out the window. Rilynne couldn’t tell if he noticed the dryness of her tone, but he gave no reaction.
Neither of them spoke again until they pulled up in front of the station five minutes later.
“So are you going to tell me what’s really going on now that we’re here?” Douglas asked. “Or should I just wait until we get up stairs.”
Rilynne let out the deep breath she had been holding onto and turned toward him. “Tori Harris didn’t kill Marshal Teich,” she said bluntly. “We have her on a surveillance tape across town.”
He looked genuinely stupefied. “That’s not possible,” he said. “Unless…”
“Unless she isn’t working alone,” Rilynne finished his sentence.
He pulled his hands up and ran them over his face before letting out a low groan. “Twenty-five years,” he said. “Twenty-five years and I never considered the fact she was working with a partner.”
“There was never any sign of one?” she asked. Something inside of her was yelling, telling her that he had nothing to do with the murders. She pushed it aside, not allowing herself to entertain the notion. If she convinced herself he was innocent, even a little bit, it would be too heartbreaking if she learned otherwise.
“No,” he stated, turning toward her. “You’ve seen the file I’ve put together. I had come close to her twice, and never saw her with anyone else.” When Rilynne didn’t respond, he nodded his head and grinned. “And now you’ve been asked to bring me in for questioning.” It wasn’t a question. “Well, let’s not keep them waiting.”
She sat almost stunned in the car as she watched him step out and walk to the front doors. He stopped before entering and waited for her to join him.
The elevator ride up to the homicide office was long and tense. She was almost relieved to see Wilcome and Matthews waiting for them when the doors opened.
Though she assumed Wilcome would have allowed it, Rilynne decided against sitting in on the interview. She didn’t even have a desire to watch it, so she dropped down into her desk chair and waited for it to be over. To h
er surprise, she didn’t have to wait long. Just fifteen minutes after it began, her father walked back through the office toward her.
Before she could even try to think of something to say to him, Wilcome called everyone into the conference room. She pushed herself up and hurried in, her father following closely behind.
“As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, Tori Harris, aka Tori Rose, has an alibi for the murders of Marshal Teich and Sam Baker,” he announced as everyone took their seat. “Unfortunately, this means her accomplice is still out there. Our priority now is to identify and locate this person before he or she decides to leave town.”
“What about Evans?” Matthews asked. “Is it likely that the partner will attempt to finish the original plan and go after her?”
Rilynne could see by the look on Wilcome’s face that he had been asking himself the same question. “Harris was going after Evans in an attempt to keep her identity hidden. Going after her again would have no benefit now that she’s in custody. Now, that’s not to say that the partner won’t still try. Since we were able to keep the arrest away from the press, chances are the partner doesn’t even know that we have her. If he or she does, it’s unlikely they will know how much evidence we currently have.”
“In other words, I’m still a target until we catch the partner,” Rilynne stated.
Wilcome nodded. “We can have you moved to a safe house until we’re able to bring him in,” he said.
Rilynne laughed, loudly. “That’s not going to happen,” she said stubbornly. “I’m not going to hide out and wait. If I’m a target, he will be coming after me. That’s the best chance we have of catching him.”
Wilcome leaned forward against the table, putting his weight on his hands as they propped him up. Rilynne knew what he was going to say before he could even open his mouth.
“I know these aren’t just your everyday criminals,” she continued before he had a chance to speak. “I know the risks that would come from being out in the open. But I’m not going to just hide out until we know it’s safe.”