Smolder

by Graylin Fox

  “You aren’t in Savannah by accident,” I said, stating the obvious.

  Dmitri went inside with a promise to bring drinks and Joshua.

  “He loves you,” Owen said, and I heard a crack in his voice. “The way I loved her.”

  Josh’s face looked like he’d been crying. He passed out the drinks and threw me one of his T-shirts to cover up. Never too sad to be protective.

  Love him.

  “Dmitri will be down after he cleans up.” He sat down near Owen. “We’ll fill him in later.”

  “I think Ellie had most of it figured out already. You are right, Ellie. I’m not here by accident. After Travis killed Missy, I lost the ability to focus on my work. Some of the cases felt too personal and my temper, which had never been a problem before, started to flare up too often. Because of my personal involvement, they let me know what the investigations turned up, but I was banned from working on Missy’s case.” He was still pissed.

  “I never knew why families of victims got so frustrated with us. Accusing us of leaving them out of the loop, even though we told them everything we could. Until then. They tried to keep me on the job and cover up my mistakes. When I picked the lead investigator up over my head, in a move Josh would appreciate, and threw him against the wall, they asked me to leave.”

  “If you don’t know how to fall correctly when that happens, you could break your back,” Josh added.

  “He’s paralyzed. In a wheelchair forever because of me.” Owen started to pace. “Realizing I wouldn’t be able to return to my job until Missy’s killer was found, I resigned my position and went to therapy. I withdrew from friends and stopped going out with the guys. They were afraid of me.”

  “Self-isolation,” I said.

  “Yes. I’ve become intimately familiar with a lot of terms of your profession over the past six years. I still see a therapist here in town. This visit is at her insistence,” he admitted.

  Dmitri joined me on a lounge chair. “Did I miss much?”

  Josh filled him in briefly, and then Owen continued. “The investigators kept in touch with me, as her family they had to. One of them told me more than he should have, and I ended up here. They found a witness at the gas station who saw his license plate. The woman paid attention because he drove around the backside of the station. He traced it here to Savannah.”

  “How long before you moved down here?” I asked.

  “A month. I waited until I found a position here and found the guys I’d worked with in Boston who took bending the rules on as a personal mission. I vetted every one of them personally,” he said defensively.

  “Except Vince,” Josh said.

  He exhaled, lowering his head. “I’m sorry about that, Josh. He joined my team about a year ago, after someone else had to head back up north. His identity was real, although we now know it was stolen, and he was clean. The badass attitude fit in with the rest of us. He spent the first four months following me around, asking a lot of questions. I thought he wanted to be like me.”

  “Travis sent him,” Josh said.

  “It was a set-up. He learned about me and, I assume, passed it on to The Carver,” he spat out.

  “There is something that doesn’t add up for me,” I said. “If Travis moved his killing to Atlanta, why is he so notorious here?”

  “He spent the years before he met his wife torturing and killing local children,” Owen explained. “I think even you have a problem wrapping your brain around a man torturing, raping, and killing a toddler. When it comes to crimes that horrific, it’s hard to find suspects. No one ever wants to believe another human being is capable of that. We didn’t find him, and the children who saw him when he kidnapped the victims couldn’t keep their descriptions straight. They were too small and young to help.”

  I felt sick again and grabbed Dmitri for support.

  He pulled smelling salts out of his pocket. “Just in case.”

  “Your faith in my ability to stay upright is touching,” I said. “Owen, why would Vince leave Nancy alive?”

  “It was an accident. She was supposed to bake in the sun,” he said.

  Josh punched his chair and left a hole. He apologized to Dmitri. “He wanted to cook her?”

  “Yes,” Owen replied. “I was at the police station yesterday morning doing a lot of explaining about The Carver, why I really came to town, and anything else I could think of that would help. They brought in a teenager whose dad owns the security company. Vince bribed him into taking him along a couple of times on installations until he was hired part-time.”

  “That was long before I moved here,” I said.

  “You would be better at guessing his pathology. The local police think he used it to get access to new victims for both he and his uncle,” he replied.

  “They made it a family business.” I took the smelling salts from Dmitri and inhaled. “So I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “Without you, we wouldn’t have Travis,” Owen said. “And for that small gift in all of this, I am grateful.”

  “Did you know that Travis was The Carver that day at the hospital with his wife?” I asked.

  “Not at all. I didn’t connect them until the cell mate came in.” He stopped pacing and sat back down. “Then it all hit me. Missy’s killer had been inside that hospital dozens of times, and I didn’t know it. My therapist told me I should’ve taken time off at that point and come clean with you, Ellie. I thought I was strong enough to wait until he went to trial.”

  “That’s why you were so angry,” I said. “You were afraid they would let him out before they could convict him.”

  “When the cell mate died, I started having nightmares. Missy and I were at the concert laughing and kissing. Then Travis would walk up behind her and cut her throat. I couldn’t move to stop him and was too frozen to yell for help,” Owen said.

  “I’m so sorry that happened to you,” I said. “It must have been horrible.”

  Dmitri looked at me. “You are the nicest girlfriend I’ve ever had.”

  “I care,” I said blushing.

  “Exactly.” He kissed my head putting his arm around me.

  “Your story is going to have to wait,” Josh said. “We haven’t gotten to Nancy yet.” He looked at Owen.

  “After the local police identified Travis as The Carver, I had a long meeting with the chief. I filled him in on my past in hopes they could put together a stronger case. He thanked me and called Atlanta to get the details and coordinate the investigation. That should have settled it for me.” He looked confused. “I got a better hold on myself at work and informed my crew that Missy’s killer would finally get his. Then we found out that Vince was Travis’s nephew, and my tenuous handle on my temper broke.”

  He looked at Dmitri. “Sorry about that. Josh, I don’t know enough about Vince to help find him. My knowledge stopped with Travis, and even then I failed to see him in front of me.”

  “If I could find him, I’d kill him,” Josh said.

  “It’s a long line,” Owen said. He got up to leave. “I wanted to explain everything to all of you. Ellie, the threats against you, the fear you had to feel in that house, I carry the responsibility for that.”

  “You didn’t know who he was,” I said.

  “I let my guard down. I thought his victims would show up at the hospital and my guys and I could follow the trail right back to him. When that didn’t happen, we got lazy and comfortable. Nancy is struggling because of me as well.”

  I leaned into Dmitri, and he waved smelling salts under my nose. “I used to be tough. About a week ago.”

  Owen laughed. “You’re tougher than any woman I’ve met. Most of them would have moved out of that house and gotten away from here. You didn’t.”

  “I’m stubborn to the point of stupidity.” I quoted my mother.

  “She loved saying that,” Josh said. “Thank you, Owen, for telling us.”

  “He’s still out there,” Owen said. “It keeps
me up at night trying to figure out where he would go. This city looks large, but you can’t do a whole lot without people noticing.”

  “Isolation,” I said. “The only way he could’ve done what he did to Nancy without alarming anyone would be complete isolation.”

  “You are not going to help investigate this,” Dmitri said. “I want you safe here with me until the police find him.”

  He put both arms around me and held tight.

  “I have no intention of leaving your side,” I said. “Complicated people fascinate me. It’s my job to figure things out and make connections even the people involved don’t notice.” I kissed him. “It’s an intellectual exercise that keeps me from thinking about being on his target list.”

  “Fine, but I’m not letting go.” He locked his fingers.

  Owen left telling us he’d keep us up to date. Once inside, Josh made enough sandwiches for a football team. As we sat on the couches to watch some mindless TV, I saw Dmitri turn on his security sensors. I felt safer, but the mental images of what Nancy suffered would not go away any time soon.

  As much as we wanted to ignore it, the capture of a serial killer was big news. It was the story we couldn’t turn off. Each time the local news broke in, they mentioned it. Nothing had changed since they found Nancy, and yet they repeated the same clips over and over again. We finally settled on old Godzilla movies. Josh made his hot and spicy popcorn, and we told Dmitri stories of how we would act out these movies in woods when we were kids.

  I was the damsel in distress even though I wanted to be the one who ran Godzilla off. Josh played the beloved monster while three neighbor kids ran around and shot him with pellet guns and water pistols.

  Dmitri’s ex-wife called, and he went upstairs to talk to her. He looked angry when he came back.

  “She said the kids are scared for me and don’t want to come down here next weekend.”

  “I think that’s a good idea,” I said.

  “I know.” He walked over to their pictures.

  The local news broke in with a big announcement. The anchorman looked pale as he read the teleprompter. “Local police are actively on the hunt for Vince Reamer, the nephew of Travis Reamer, better known as The Carver, a serial killer recently caught by local Savannah police.” He gulped. “Travis Reamer’s wife, who was away, came back for some belongings today, and found Vince Reamer hiding in her trailer. She fought him while dialing 911. The operator heard Vince Reamer threaten her. The officers who responded didn’t find Vince at the scene; instead a panicked Mrs. Reamer informed them she had scratched his face, and he let her go. Mrs. Reamer is still being interrogated by the police. Vince Reamer is in his late twenties, six foot tall, with light brown hair. If you see him or know anything that might help, please call Crimestoppers.”

  “Why would she come back?” Josh asked.

  “Her husband is in jail, and if she and the kids ran far enough, they didn’t know about Vince,” I explained.

  “All I want to do is sit next to Nancy at the hospital.” He got up and left.

  Dmitri came over and sat with me on the couch. “So a normal courtship seems out of the question.”

  “I think a normal courtship wasn’t part of our equation to begin with,” I said.

  He kissed me gently and pulled me into his lap. “As soon as this is over, I want to take you out to dinner. We can go dancing, even sailing if you want.”

  “I would love sailing. I love boats and being on the water. Do you have a boat?” I asked.

  “We will buy one. We can call it ‘Crazy with Knives’.”

  I turned around to him and kissed him on the nose. “That sounds perfect.”

  “You’re a strange lady,” he said.

  “It works for me.”

  We kissed gently at first. He slowly teased my lips open with his tongue and pulled me against him. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and lay on top of him. There was no urgency to our movements. He left teasing kisses across my face and down my neck, stopping to hold me closer before we moved any further.

  “Lurking serial killer ruins the mood,” I said.

  “This time, I don’t think we pretend it’s not happening.”

  We lay together all evening watching the television. No more news reports came in, and we didn’t stay up to watch the evening newscast.

  Josh came in shortly before we went to bed and said the plan had changed. Nancy was recovering faster than expected, and with Vince on the run now and considered more dangerous, they were going to wake her up in the morning to see if she could help.

  “What about the burns?” I asked.

  “Dr. Evans said when the swelling went down after surgery, the burns weren’t as severe as they first looked. She will need plastic surgery to help re-grow her skin. They think she may fully recover.”

  “Physically,” I said.

  “I thought that too. I met her parents, and she had told them about me. She said I was a huge teddy bear, and she felt safe with me.” He started to cry.

  “Do I need to say it?” I asked gently.

  “No, but it won’t take the pain away. Her parents rented a house here, figuring they’d be here a while for her recovery.”

  Josh went up to bed, and we followed.

  “Your brother is quite a man. He hadn’t known her that long and look at his dedication.”

  “They met within a few days of us, my dear,” I said. “We’re living together right now.”

  “I know it’s only temporary. Until it’s safe, and you can go back to your place.” He looked so sad.

  “Then we can do the romance part right. You can stay at my place some times,” I offered.

  We curled up in bed, and he pulled me close. “If you won’t move in with me, I’ll spend every weekend at your place.”

  I felt safe and happy with Dmitri’s arms around me. I wasn’t sure I could go back to sleeping alone again, or if I’d want to.

  Josh was gone when we woke up. Dmitri cooked breakfast, and we took it out to the pool. Our cell phones sat on the table under the umbrella while I swam laps, and he sat on the steps. The pool house had an entertainment system with speakers around the pool. We wanted to turn the music on, except we might not hear the phones if they rang.

  So I swam for an hour. I was out of the water and collapsed into a lounge chair when my phone rang on the other side of the pool.

  Dmitri answered it. “It’s Josh.” He jogged over and handed it to me.

  “Josh, how is she?” I asked.

  “She’s awake and trying to convince us she doesn’t hurt. El, breathing takes a lot out of her right now. Her captain came by and talked with her. There’s a picture on her phone of the cabin Vince took her to. She thinks she tagged it with the GPS, but the phone wasn’t with her when she was found.”

  “God, I hope Vince doesn’t have it.”

  “He doesn’t. She kept it in her sock, and he didn’t take those off. The paramedics may have gotten it when they pulled her torn clothes off her.” He stopped for a moment. “Oh God, El. Her wounds are healing up. He filleted her,” he finished in a rush.

  “She’s alive, Josh. I’m willing to bet she doesn’t remember everything. Our brains are amazing and can block out horrific memories even if we want to remember. Don’t ask her though, unless you’re ready to hear her describe it, if she remembers details talking those out, more than once, will be therapeutic.”

  “The police set up appointments for her with a therapist,” he said. “She said it’s what they do anytime an officer is hurt.”

  “Call us when you know more. If it starts to get to you, leave the room for a minute, take a short walk, and get coffee. Good lord, just don’t barf on her.” I was a weird one.

  He laughed. “I needed that.”

  I hung up the phone. Tears ran down my face as I let relief replace my fear. He didn’t get one, and she may have the key to finding him.

  Dmitri pulled up the chair next to mine and set snacks bet
ween us. “She is safe?” he asked.

  When I nodded, he smiled and kissed me. “Now we can relax a little more and maybe you can nibble on some food. Your figure is beautiful, and I’d like to keep it curvier.”

  “Ice cream,” I said and laughed. “I can be downright fluffy with enough ice cream.”

  He reached over and grabbed my hand. “They will catch him next. You will see.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  You know that feeling you are being watched? I had it bad when I woke up. Not aware I had fallen asleep, I turned to see Dmitri sleeping next to me. I looked around and couldn’t see anyone. Not even a passing boat in the expanse of marsh just beyond the yard. The feeling wouldn’t go away, so I grabbed my towel and walked toward the garage.

  As I was about to round the corner at the driveway, I heard voices coming from the front of the house. My knives were in the garage with the training equipment. I kept behind the bushes until I got to a back garage door. Once inside, I grabbed my knives and looked for something to wear over my swimsuit. In one of my boxes, I found a pair of jeans and pulled them on.

  A knife in each hand, I crept out of the door I came in. The voices were louder now as I stepped quietly onto the path. My bare feet didn’t make a sound. I turned the corner to see Josh standing at the curb twenty yards away, arguing with a policeman. The lights on the car were on, and I realized the siren might have been what woke me up.

  I felt Dmitri walk up behind me before his hand settled at the small of my back.

  “You might want to put the knives away.”

  “He looks like he wants to punch Josh. I can hit him from here,” I said.

  “We can have a forbidden death row romance,” he joked.

  “Better yet, I can put them back.” I walked back to the garage and put them away.

  When I returned, Dmitri was at the curb yelling at the cop with Josh.

  This is not good.

  My approach was not noticed. “Excuse me.”

  Three pairs of eyes glanced at me for a moment, and the fight resumed.

  “Enough!” I yelled.

  That got their attention. “Anyone want to let me on the argument?”