by Aj Estelliam
‘Come on. I’m getting you home.’
‘What about your job? Don’t you need to head to the station?’
‘My priority right now, Alex, is you. Fuck the job! I’m taking you home.’
I smiled up at her. ‘I love you, Jess.’
‘And I love you too,’ she told me softly.
I held her gaze for a long moment. ‘Please? Get me out of here.’
She nodded, her frown set. ‘Let’s go.’
Jess left others to take over the scene. Billy was packed off to hospital in an ambulance and an out of area forensics team arrived to begin collecting evidence and body parts. I was loaded into Jess’s police car and she drive away without a second thought about her ‘responsibilities.’
‘I shouldn’t have let you go,’ she apologised as we drove.
‘Jess, you weren’t to know that you were sending me off with a psycho killer!’ I exclaimed.
‘I didn’t, no-but I shouldn’t have sent you off with anyone else! If I had been with you, this never would have happened.’
‘Well, you can’t beat yourself up about it.’
‘Yes, I can and I will. From now on I know that my responsibilities are with you. You’re my family and all that matters. Work take second place to that, always.’
I smiled over at her. ‘You’ve changed, honey.’
She glanced at me as she drove. ‘What do you mean?’
‘When I met you, you were all business…it was all about the work for you.’
‘Maybe my priorities have changed.’
‘I’d say they definitely have.’
‘But for the better, Alex. I’m so much happier since I met you,’ she revealed.
‘Ah, Jess…me too.’
‘I just…I feel so guilty.’
‘Don’t start that again. It’s happened and we can’t change it. I’m safe…let’s just focus on that.’
‘But it could have been so different.’
‘It could, but it wasn’t. I’m safe, Billy’s alive and we have our killer in custody. All in all, I’d call that a good day,’ I smiled.
She looked over at me, her green eyes with flecks of brown shining brightly. ‘That’s why I love you, Alex.’
‘Why’s that?’
‘You give me hope,’ she replied simply.
‘Always…what’s the old saying? What’s in a name?’
She smiled.
We got home quickly, and Jess came around to see me inside carefully. As we stepped in the door, Captain Withers was there in an instant. After giving him a two-minute run down of the events of the day, he was grabbing his crutches and leaving.
‘I’m taking my position as Captain back-if you don’t mind, JJ?’ he asked.
‘Oh Christ, thank God for that! Please do! They need you now more than ever. What I need, is to be with Alex.’
‘You look after her,’ he nodded. ‘I’m going to the station…can I take the car?’ he asked, urgently.
‘Of course. Can you drive? I thought you weren’t meant to?’
‘Oh, I’m fine! It’s only a broken hip! I can get people to run around but I can still use my mind to wrap all this up! I’ll see you two later!’ he said, using his crutches to get him to the door. ‘Don’t wait up!’
‘Message Fee!’ I called after him.
‘Don’t worry, I will!’ he replied.
The door slammed and I turned to Jess. ‘Peace at last,’ I murmured.
She smiled at me. ‘Come on.’
‘Where are we going?’
‘Shower then bed…it would be just bed but you do kind-of stink of sick.’
I laughed. ‘I do…let’s go.’
We hurried up the stairs hand in hand.
Chapter 20
In the bathroom, I showered off the sick and cleaned myself thoroughly. I felt tainted from death and the need to cleanse myself was very powerful. When I was finished, I wrapped myself in fluffy towels and headed into our bedroom. I was so glad Jess had stayed with me and that I had alone time with her. It was all I wanted right then.
‘How are you feeling?’ Jess asked as I walked in.
‘I’m doing alright,’ I replied, and dropped my towels to climb into the bed. Jess was already wrapped up warmly under the covers so I moved into her waiting arms eagerly.
‘Do you want to talk?’ she asked.
‘No,’ I told her, clearly.
‘You’re sure? It might be good to get it out of the way before we reconnect?’
‘No, Jess. I don’t need to. I just want to be here with you, forgetting what’s happened over these past weeks.’
‘Fair enough.’
‘I’m not mad with you,’ I told her, hearing her mind work overtime.
‘I shouldn’t have let you go with them.’
‘Hindsight is a wonderful thing, Jess. Hell! I’m a psychic, supposedly, and I went with them. I didn’t realise until I got into the van.’
‘I suppose it’s a lesson learned for both of us.’
‘What’s that?’ I asked.
‘Stick together,’ she murmured huskily.
‘Always,’ I replied, feeling aroused.
She moved closer and kissed me lightly on the lips. Her mouth was soft and pliant against mine. I moaned quietly as pleasure bloomed through me. I kissed her with all the pent-up emotion I had been feeling and arched my naked body against her wantonly as the need for release consumed me.
Our touch became desperate and our love-making frenzied as we re-acquainted ourselves with each other’s bodies. It felt like it had been so long since we had been together in this way, and yet it wasn’t. It was simply that the case had held us at arm’s length from one another.
We found release simultaneously and climaxed with a rush of pleasure. I was left breathing heavily against the pillow as my body slowly recovered from the orgasm.
As I was lying there, Jess turned onto her side and pulled me against her body close and snug.
‘I’m never letting you out of my sight again,’ she murmured against my ear.
‘Well, that’s damn near impossible,’ I laughed. ‘But I appreciate the sentiment.’
‘I’m serious, Alex. We need to make some changes so that you’re safer in general. You’re a target now; in cases like this.’
I considered this for a moment. In many ways she was right. Being involved in these cases did make me a target. It didn’t mean I could stop living an independent life though.
‘I understand that, Jess. But think about it-if you smother me with your presence twenty-four seven, we’ll both go insane. I need space just like everyone else does. We just need to make sure that when there’s a crazed killer on the loose like today; that I don’t head off into the wilderness with anyone aside from you.’
‘I suppose that’s about as good as it’s going to get,’ she remarked.
‘That’s right. Take it or leave it!’
‘I’ll take it,’ she smiled.
I cuddled closer to her, loving her warmth and feeling thoroughly protected by her presence.
‘You know what I don’t understand, Jess?’ I said then, as my head moved back to the case.
‘What’s that?’
‘Well, I don’t get how you managed to find us and save us so quickly! Vaughn must have been running at such a speed to get to a phone so fast!’
‘Vaughn? What are you talking about? We just tracked the forensics van…they’ve all been installed recently so once I realised you were not in contact, we followed.’
I sat up slowly in the bed. ‘No-one’s heard from Vaughn?’ I questioned.
‘I didn’t even think about him in all the commotion! What happened?’
‘He escaped from Fraser into the woods. He ran…I thought he’d got help!’
‘Bu- he didn’t…in fact, we haven’t heard from him to my knowledge.’
I moved to the side of the bed. ‘Get dressed, Jess. I’ve got a strange feeling in my gut…we need to go and find where he
ended up.’
‘You’re right. I’m sorry this has been cut short,’ she said, pulling on clothes.
‘Oh, don’t be silly…I just…I think we need to find him.’
‘I agree. He could still be stuck out there in the forest, hiding!’
‘I know,’ I said, frowning. ‘Let’s get moving. I feel uneasy about all this.’
‘Me too.’
Jess and I left and went straight to the station. It was strange walking back in because it suddenly felt like life had gone back to normal. The Captain stood at the murder board, discussing the case with other Officers and the buzz around the room was one of excitement.
‘Captain!’ I called as we neared him.
‘Alex! JJ? What are you two doing here?’
‘Is Vaughn back safe?’ I asked immediately, jumping to the point of our arrival.
‘Vaughn? I don’t know…’
‘He was with us, Dan,’ I told him. ‘He managed to get away when he took us from the car. He ran off to the woods to escape. In all the commotion, I forgot to even mention it!’
‘Oh dear,’ he said, running a hand over his face. ‘Let me get someone to check if we’ve heard from him yet…’
‘We’ll wait in your office,’ Jess told Captain Withers.
We hurried off into the office and I sat down on the sofa, thinking.
‘I don’t think he’s back,’ I murmured to Jess.
‘You don’t?’
‘No. Something is tugging at me, and I don’t know what it is.’
‘You’re not saying Vaughn in involved in some way?’ Jess asked slowly.
‘I…no, I don’t think so. I mean, I’ve met and talked to the man many times and I never got that impression from him. I do think something is going on though…something I haven’t quite figured out…’
‘Why can’t these things ever be simple?’ Jess questioned.
I gave her a rueful look.
The door opened then, and Captain Withers came in, flanked by Officer Hemmings and Moore.
‘We have a problem,’ he told us.
‘Oh no, what?’ I frowned.
‘We’ve had information from Fraser Williamburg in the hold,’ he told us.
‘What’s he said?’
‘He says he has information about Vaughn…’ he began slowly.
Jess and I exchanged looks.
‘He’s claiming that Vaughn is an accomplice in all of this and should be arrested too…’
I frowned at this. I didn’t believe this was the truth but I did believe that there was something that needed to be looked at involving Vaughn. ‘I don’t know about that, Dan…I don’t know if that’s accurate.’
‘Neither do we, Alex. We’re not taking him at his word, trust us…but he claims he can prove it.’
‘How?’
‘Because he says he knows where we’ll find Vaughn…with more body parts.’
I stared at him, open-mouthed. This case was getting stranger by the second.
We all went down to where Fraser Williamburg was being held and waited in a room for him. Everyone aside from myself, Jess and Dan went behind the mirrored wall to watch. We stayed, waiting for the man himself to be brought in.
‘I feel really sick,’ I complained as we waited.
‘He has that effect on you, doesn’t he?’ Jess questioned.
‘Yeah,’ I sighed. ‘It’s the sick things he does and the things in his mind which make me nauseous. I also want to figure out the part about the feather.’
‘The feather?’ Dan asked.
‘Yes. You know the feather which led me to the body parts? I want to know the significance of it.’
‘We’ll ask,’ he nodded.
The door opened minutes later and I swallowed against the bile which filled my throat and threatened to come up.
‘Alex Hope,’ he said gleefully. ‘I didn’t realise you’d be here!’
‘Well, I missed you so much since earlier. I do so love being tied up by mad men.’
His eyes narrowed at me. ‘I had such plans for you.’
‘I know you did, you sick bastard. It’s a shame you’re too weak to see them through.’
‘Weak? I’m not weak!’ he growled, baring his teeth with aggression.
I smiled at him. I got to him, and it pleased me.
‘Sit down, Williamburg,’ Captain Withers instructed.
I felt him bristle. His pet hate was being ordered around. His whole life had been controlled by others telling him what to do and now he had been captured, his time in charge of others was over.
‘You say you have information…’ the Captain began.
‘Yes, I do.’
‘About your boss-Vaughn?’
He smiled. ‘Yes. He’s involved. You’ll need to be arresting him next.’
‘And just how is he involved?’ Jess asked. ‘We have proof leading back to you killing from the age of ten! How can he be involved?’
‘Because we’ve shared a personal relationship over the last year and he helped me to kill. He needs to be arrested and put away. He’s a danger to society.’
‘Perhaps you just hate him and want to see him punished,’ I suggested.
Fraser cocked his head at me and regarded me quizzically. ‘That’s where you’re wrong, actually. He is involved and when you bring him in, he’ll admit the truth.’
‘Where is he then?’ Captain Withers asked. ‘You told guards you knew where he would go.’
He nodded. ‘Do you have a pen?’ he asked.
We all watched as he drew a map of the woods where I had been held and then he expertly mapped out where he believed Vaughn was. He also marked many X’s around the map.
‘What do the X’s mean?’ I asked him.
‘Burials,’ he told me.
‘Burials?’
‘Various body parts,’ he informed us.
I frowned at him. ‘Why did you bother burying them? I mean, you left the rest of your macabre art out for us to view…why not leave all of it?’
‘Because I only display the best,’ he told me. ‘Some of those pieces…they weren’t worthy of my design.’
I heard him then. ‘Because you got angry, right?’ I murmured. ‘Sometimes you’d lose your control and mess it up?’
‘I messed up nothing!’
‘Yes, you did,’ I taunted him. ‘If your stitching wasn’t perfect; your joins not immaculate-you’d go mad!’’
‘Shut up,’ he all-but growled.
‘No…you don’t call the shots anymore, Fraser. Why are you so intent on us imprisoning Vaughn? Piss you off, did he? Tell you that you weren’t good enough?’ I questioned.
‘I told you to shut up, bitch.’
I smiled at him. ‘Hit a nerve, have I?’
He sneered at me.
‘I just don’t believe that Vaughn is a part of this.’
It was his turn to smile. ‘You just wait. You may be surprised,’ he warned me. ‘I can’t wait to share a jail with that man…’ he said happily.
I looked at Jess and she frowned back. What one earth was going on? Could Vaughn be involved in this mess? Surely not.
‘Take him back to his cell,’ Captain Withers ordered.
I watched as he was taken away. His expression showed how pleased he was with himself.
Once he was gone, Dan looked at me.
‘Is he lying about Vaughn?’
‘I…that’s just it, Captain. I don’t think he is,’ I said, feeling disturbed.
‘How can Vaughn be involved in this? You’d have known wouldn’t you, Alex?’ Jess asked.
‘I’ve met him, shaken his hand and been in his presence. I’ve never felt that he was a killer but then maybe I wasn’t listening well enough?’
We all exchanged looks.
‘Let’s follow this map,’ Jess said. ‘I’m sure the answers will come to us as we look further.’
We stood, and headed out. The first step would be finding Vaughn. From that point on, I
was unsure what would happen next.
Chapter 21
Teams were assembled and directions were given. This time we were led by Captain Withers, who despite his broken hip, was seemingly well up for the job at hand. Jess had easily settled back into her normal role and seemed more content already to be taking orders rather than giving them.
We all drove out into the forest and began following the instructions given in the map. The only part Captain Withers couldn’t participate in was the traipse across the snowy forest. He waited by the police vehicles in anticipation.
‘Do you think we’ll find him?’ Jess asked, as we walked towards the indicated area.
‘I think so, yes…’
‘Do you know that?’ she asked.
I glanced at her. ‘I kind of…feel it, I suppose.’
‘I don’t understand this, Alex. I really don’t. I don’t see Vaughn as part of this mess. What on earth has he gotten himself into?’
I shook my head, regretfully. ‘I don’t think he has, Jess. I think this is some kind of tactic on Fraser’s part but I will freely admit-I don’t understand it all either.’
We walked and searched, looking at all the areas indicated in the killer-drawn map. I found progress to be slow as the heavy snow clung to my boots and made my walking more laboured.
When we reached the designated spot, I looked over at Jess in confusion. It was if something should be here, and yet it wasn’t. I had almost expected Vaughn to be sat waiting for us, which was strange to me as that didn’t make sense either.
The team fanned out and searched the surrounding area. I felt drawn to the left, so I followed my instincts. The search was centred around an old hut, type of building which had clearly been dilapidated for many years. I headed in the other direction, followed by Jess who I could feel was right behind me.
‘Where are you going?’ Jess asked, sounding faintly pissed off with the whole situation.
‘I don’t really know,’ I murmured under my breath, but I kept going. Through the darkening trees and on until suddenly I stopped. I realised in an instant why I had walked this way. He was here.
I lifted a hand in the direction of a tree fifty metres ahead of me and sure enough, he could be seen. He was sat leaning against the stump, with his back to us but his legs sticking out. It was most definitely him; I could hear him now.