Scorned

by Andrew Hess

  “We can’t just dismiss the video because we have a match on the woman he slept with.” What the hell was he doing? Was he getting some sick pleasure out of this?

  “Are you kidding me?”

  He looked up with his big brown eyes. There was no cockiness in his voice, and no smile on his face. “We need to know everything that happened on those tapes. We need to know how they had sex, how he left them, if someone joined them, if the women woke up during or after and if so, how did they react?”

  Crap, he was right. As much as I didn’t want to watch anymore, there are other factors we need to take into consideration for each video. I stared into Thornton’s eyes. He seemed to enjoy this about as much as I did. Neither of us wanted to continue on, but it was our job to get to find Ambrose’s killer; even if that meant we had to comb through his disgusting catalog of his “home movies.”

  Countless hours were devoted to every tape and only came up with a handful of names. Some were in the system while others were unidentifiable. Thank God we had the option to fast forward through half of each video, allowing us to get through the parts where they were sleeping and the actual act of intercourse. We watched everything that led up to it and the way he cared for the women the next morning.

  One woman woke up in a panic. She apparently didn’t know where she was, how she got there, or what happened the night before. There was hardly any audio on the tapes, but we could tell Ambrose did his best to calm the woman down.

  Most of the women woke up confused, but shrugged it off. I guess they chalked it up to drinking too much the night before and going home with some guy they met at the bar. They frantically searched for their clothes. Ambrose smiled while admiring the view of his companions. He would get up moments later.

  “Is there any way we can find out what they were saying,” I asked.

  The tech typed away on his computer. The screen zoomed in on Ambrose’s lips as he tried to read what was said. “I can’t make it out too well, but he mentions something about a cab.”

  “He’s probably offering to call a cab for them or letting them know that he had one waiting downstairs,” Thornton replied. “If a guy takes a girl home after a drunken night out at the bar, he doesn’t want them hanging around and he definitely isn’t driving them home. He wants them out his house or apartment as soon as he can.” There was no doubt Thornton was an expert in the art of the one night stand. “The longer they stay, the more likely they’re going to cling to him or look for it to be something more than a one night stand.”

  “Why do men automatically think that? Who’s to say that the woman wants to stay there? Maybe she wants to get the hell out of there just as bad as he wants her out.”

  Thornton raised his eyebrows. “Is that coming from experience?”

  I could feel the heat rising as it turned my cheeks rosy red. The truth was that I had been that kind of girl once upon a time. It was during my college years. I wanted to break free from my parents’ rules and restrictions. It was the ultimate freedom. As I got older, I realized those hook ups weren’t the smartest decisions I ever made. It was a mistake that almost cost me everything last year. I felt so defeated while investigating the murders on the New Paltz campus that I almost drank myself into the arms of another man. If it wasn’t for my sister, who knows what would’ve happened to me.

  Thornton continued staring at me, expecting some sort of answer to his outlandish accusation. I turned to face him. “Trust me; you don’t wanna go there.”

  Thornton knew he was pushing my buttons and decided to push his luck a little further. “Why, you got something to hide?”

  I released the tension in my shoulders and sat back in my chair. “No, but I’d love to share a few voicemails a certain someone sent me last night.”

  Thornton’s face went ghostly white. He turned to the tech. “Get out; now,” he snarled. The tech didn’t know what happened or what he did wrong. He just knew Detective Thornton was barking orders for him to leave. Once we were alone, Thornton turned his attention back to me. He didn’t know if he should yell or feel embarrassed. “This isn’t the time or the place.”

  “And calling my private life into question in front of a colleague is?”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

  “There are a lot of things you didn’t mean to do. I’m sure leaving those voicemails on my phone in the middle of the night declaring how bad you want me is right up there on that list.”

  “Fuck you! At least I can actually express my feelings.”

  “I have no problem saying how I feel. Take you for instance. You’re a pompous man whore that thinks he’s God’s gift to women. You think just because you want something that you can get it with the snap of your fingers.”

  “Don’t hold back. Tell me how you really feel.”

  “I think you’re using this case to win me over in hopes of getting me in the sack. Well, I got news for you buddy. It’s not gonna…”

  His arm snaked around my back and pulled me in. His lips formed a seal around mine. For a moment I was lost in the anger and aggressiveness of the argument. Something inside me was telling me to wrap my arms around him, to surrender myself to him. No, he wasn’t doing this to me again.

  I broke from the embrace and slapped him hard across the face. “Don’t ever touch me again.” I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the room.

  “Are we done for the day,” the tech shouted as I continued towards the doors. I didn’t know about them, but I sure as hell was done.

  ***********************************************************

  I got home late from work. Matthew’s truck was parked in front of my house. He was still there waiting for me like he said. And in typical fashion I kept him waiting. I was prepared for the verbal tongue lashing that I deserved. I promised that we could spend all morning together and didn’t. I should’ve been home two hours earlier and I wasn’t. The fact he was even still sitting at the house had me in complete shock.

  I entered the house smelling the aroma of freshly popped popcorn. It drew me in and felt like I was floating toward it like Pepe Le Pew in the Looney Tunes show. As I walked into the living room, I found where it was coming from. Matthew and Amanda were sprawled out on the couch watching TV. A large ceramic bowl filled with buttery popcorn sat between them on the middle cushion.

  Amanda saw me out of the corner of her eye. “Ali, you’re home.” There was a smile on her face. She had been smiling a lot as of late which made me happy. “We’re just about to put on a movie. Come join us.”

  “Yeah okay. Let me get changed first. I’ll be right out.” I entered the room and started to slip out of my work clothes when the door creaked open. I twisted my body while balancing on one leg to see who was walking in on me. Instinctively, I held up my work pants in front of me trying to shield myself from the intruder.

  “Please, don’t stop on my account,” Matthew said. His expression was hard to read. It was like there was a war in his head. Part of him wanted to be angry with me. The other part looked like he was ready to devour me on the spot.

  I dropped my pants to the floor and stepped towards him. I’m sorry I was late getting back. I just…”

  Matthew placed a finger on my lips. His left hand grabbed my waist and brought me close. The scent of his musky cologne surrounded me. His finger moved towards my ear and traced the line down my jaw. I was putty in his hands.

  The urge to be with Matthew was strong. I did everything to succumb to the desire. He took my face in his hands drawing me closer to his lips. I was ready. I wanted him, but found my brain tossing flashes of Ambrose having sex with the women he drugged turned my stomach.

  I stepped away from Matthew. My hands shook with terror and repulsion. “I’m sorry; I can’t do this, not tonight.”

  He looked at me with concern. “Is everything all right?”

  “Yes, no, I don’t know. It’s just the…”

  “The case; I know. You have to let that shit g
o when you come home.” Matthew had a genuine concern for me, but I could hear the anger embedded in his voice.

  “That’s easier said than done. You don’t know the things I go through, the things that all cops go through on a daily basis. I’ve spent every day of the last twelve years doing my best to protect the streets in Ulster County. I’ve been mocked and ridiculed, called in to handle domestic disputes where men have beaten their wives senseless. I’ve been in high speed chases, shot at and had someone try to run me down. I’ve watched as friends, co-workers and other officers get buried as their loved ones mourn their loss all the while wondering if today is the last day I’m going to see my family.”

  Matthew’s mouth hung open. His eyes were wide with terror. He knew police go through hell on a daily basis, but he never imagined the woman he loved fighting her way through it. “Ali, I-I didn’t know.”

  “I know you didn’t. I don’t expect you to. It’s not easy to turn those feelings on and off with a flip of a switch.”

  Matthew sat down on the bed shaking his head. He glanced up at me and locked his fingers around mine. “Maybe it’s time you think of walking away from the force.”

  “What?”

  He responded as if I didn’t hear him. “I almost lost you last year. You almost lost your sister all because of some lunatic that you were hunting down. Maybe you should consider leaving the force, maybe do something a little less dangerous.”

  I ripped my hand away from his. “Are you serious?” Hostility filled my voice as I stared him down. “The force is my life. It’s been the only thing I dreamt of doing with my life. Taking down scum like Nick DeFalco and getting them off the streets are what I live for. How could ask me to give that up?”

  “Because I love you.”

  “Do you? Because loving someone means you love them and everything about them.”

  “I just don’t want to wake up one day to find out you were shot, stabbed or thrown off another bridge.” I knew what happened to me earlier in the year affected him. Matthew was the only witness to me being attacked on the Mid-Hudson Bridge. He watched me plummet to the water. If it hadn’t been for Matthew, I would’ve been dead.

  “I know my job scares you. It scares me sometimes too. But that fear is what keeps me on my toes at work. It’s what drives me to take down the scum that walk the streets and be there to protect the innocent. Being a cop is who I am. That’s not going to change.”

  A stillness fell over the room. We both had our opinions on the matter. It was highly doubtful either of us would change our minds.

  “So,” Matthew said in a hushed tone. “Where do we go from here?”

  It was the question I wasn’t ready to handle. “I-I don’t know. But I know I’m not leaving the force any time soon.”

  “I can’t wait until then to have a safe secure life with you.”

  I felt a pain in my chest like someone was stabbing me. It was a relentlessly blinding pain that wouldn’t go away. I could feel the tears building in my eyes. There were shouts inside my head from a voice that sounded just like mine. No, this can’t be it. Fight for him.

  Matthew stood up from the bed. His eyes were red and glassy. He wouldn’t look at me. He knew the same thing I did. This was the end, it was the end of us. “Goodbye Ali.” He grabbed my hand and gave it one last squeeze.

  No, don’t go. Don’t leave. The internal pleas fell on deaf ears as I stood there and watched him walk out of my bedroom.

  My heart was breaking. I mean it legitimately felt like it was breaking. I stood frozen to the spot hoping, praying he would come back. Any moment, he would walk right back through that door, take me in his arms and tell me he was a fool for even thinking about letting me go. But that was for the movies. This was the real world. Those fairytale endings don’t happen in real life.

  After several minutes, I resolved to sitting on the floor and tucking my arms around my legs. He was gone. I pushed him away. Matthew, the only man I ever loved, left me alone and broken hearted. The damns holding back my tears burst, spilling streams down my face. A comforting hand touched my forearm. I looked up with hope that Matthew returned, but it was only Amanda.

  “What happened,” she asked.

  “He wanted me to quit the force.” The anger I felt from him even asking such a thing burned through me. “That’s like asking me to stop breathing.”

  Amanda crawled to my side and curled an arm behind my head as I leaned into her shoulder. “You can’t blame the man. He’s spent a year with you and was pushed aside for a case. The only real time you spent together was when they forced you to take time away and when they put you behind the desk.” Her head perked up as if a lightbulb went off in her brain. “Why don’t you take a desk job? You’ll be out of harm’s way and at the same time you’ll still be a cop.”

  “No, absolutely not. I hated being stuck behind that desk. I felt like a caged animal that needed to prowl the wild. I wanted so bad to get back out in the field, and that was only after a few months. Imagine forcing me to be like that for the next ten or fifteen years.”

  “Ali, you don’t have that many years left. What are you gonna do once you retire? What are you gonna do with your life; your time?”

  The tears subsided. “I’ll figure out something out.”

  “And what about getting married or having kids?”

  “I can worry about that when I retire.”

  “Yes, but Matthew can’t. He loves you and wants to spend his life with you.” Her words made sense to me. But giving into him meant giving up who I am and that wasn’t something I would do. Not for Matthew and not for any man.

  Chapter 23-Claire

  Claire woke to the sound of someone knocking on her front door. At first, it was a light rapping of knuckles. In seconds, it turned into a loud thumping sound as if the person slammed their fist against it. Claire didn’t want to get out of bed. She had a half hour before her alarm was scheduled to wake her for work, but the pounding continued. Someone was eager to get her attention and was relentless in their attempt.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Claire stumbled from her bed and threw on a cherry silk robe and matching fuzzy slippers. The loud pounding on the front door continued. “I’m coming,” She shouted while walking through the house. The knocking stopped after she announced her arrival. Her hand gripped the knob and flung the door open. The scowl on her face was meant to ward off the person responsible for interrupting her sleep, but there was no one there. Claire stuck her head outside of the house and peered from side to side. There was no one in sight. No one was walking to their car, no sign of a delivery truck, no sign that anyone was there at all.

  “Hello?” Claire said it as if someone would magically appear before her. She checked the road again, thinking she may have missed something or someone. She couldn’t shake the gnawing feeling that she was being watched. It was a feeling that has been inescapable for the last few weeks. The paranoia was getting to her, forcing Claire to return to her house. Her eyes caught sight of a brown box sitting on her front step. Glancing it over, Claire determined there was no sign of a name, address or postage on it. It was almost as if someone dropped it off and ran away before she opened the door.

  Resolved that she wasn’t going to find the person who dropped off the box, Claire took the package inside her house. She held it up to her ear. No ticking noises. She shook it and heard something rattle around inside. Her curiosity won out and caused her to meticulously open the package. Claire used a box cutter to slice open the tape and unfolded the flaps. Inside was a smaller box that was filled with orange pill bottles. They were filled a quarter of the way. The labels had been carefully removed and replaced with another one telling what each one contained. There were three bottles in total. One was marked Oxy, one Perks and the final one just said sedatives.

  Claire had no idea if that’s what were actual contents in the bottles or why they were randomly dropped on her doorstep. Her first instincts were to call the police
and report what happened. She needed to tell someone that a mysterious box of pills found their way to her house. But that sounded highly suspicious and would prompt an investigation. They would pry into her life, her past, as if that would turn up anything incriminating. But the police would keep a close eye on her, use search warrants to look through her house and office. They would find the pills she had already taken from the hospital. They weren’t controlled substances, but it could cause a lot of trouble for her, possibly causing her to lose her license. And what would she say if they found them? She couldn’t tell them the truth. And it wasn’t like she could come up with some random excuse that would warrant her to hide those pills. There was no way she was going to the police about this, but didn’t know what to do with them.

  Claire moved to put the smaller box of pills inside the larger package. Inside was a folded up piece of paper that she missed earlier. Maybe this can tell me who sent this to me. She unfolded the paper and read the brief note that was left for her.

  Claire, I know what you did. Hope this helps you fight the good fight. Keep going; you know what to do.

  Seeing the unsigned note and the words I know what you did, shook Claire to her core. The paper fell from her fingertips back into the box. Someone knew about Ambrose or maybe they knew about Tyson, or maybe they knew about both. If they knew, why weren’t they going to the police about it? And why did they say keep fighting the good fight?

  Claire sat at her kitchen table staring at the pill bottles again. Whoever sent her the package wanted her to do something with them. Claire’s mind turned to her thoughts from the other night. She wanted to get rid of the low life men that took advantage of drunk or drugged women. Her eyes were fixated on the labels. Using them would work better and faster on her victims. Even if police found them during the autopsy and tox screen, the pills couldn’t be traced back to her. She just had to make sure no one catches her doing it. Her eyes glanced up at the sky blue clock with a duck plastered in the center of it. “Shit, I’m going to be late.”