“Sweetheart, there aren’t enough therapists in this entire state to deal with all of your idiosyncrasies.”
“What can I say? I’m unique.”
“Well, I’m sure that we can find you some outstanding accommodations at the New Hampshire Department of Corrections while we look for the person capable of unscrewing your head.”
Tatiana smiled and took a drag on her cigarette.
“Somehow I don’t think you truly grasp the dynamics at play here,” she replied. “The odds of you making any type of accommodations in the near future are between zero and none.”
“A girl can dream, can’t she?” Alex asked.
“Sure she can,” Tatiana replied. “I did and now here you are.”
Alex smiled and nodded toward the cigarette.
“You want this?” Tatiana asked, holding it out.
“You mind?”
“Not at all,” Tatiana said, as she turned the cigarette around and held it to Alex’s mouth, “but you know it’s bad for your health.”
“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that right now it’s the least bad thing for me.”
Alex took a long drag and then exhaled slowly, allowing the cigarette to calm her nerves. She knew who she was dealing with and needed to play the game for as long as she could.
“You know, you could always call us even,” Alex said. “You go your way and I go mine.”
“What fun would there be in that?” Tatiana asked. “Especially after all the trouble I went through to bring you here.”
“You know that they are gonna come looking for me.”
“Maybe,” Tatiana replied, as she leaned over and let Alex take another hit off the cigarette, “but the real question isn’t whether they are going to be looking for you, but where are they going to be looking? Unfortunately I have a sneaky suspicion, based on the clues I left behind, that they are going to be going in the opposite direction.”
“Maybe I put a little more faith in my people,” Alex said.
“Perhaps that’s a bit misplaced,” Tatiana replied, as she took a drag on the cigarette. “I’ve been hanging around this area long enough to know that I’m in no real jeopardy of being caught by the keystone cops.”
“I wouldn’t go and get too cocky,” Alex replied. “As I recall I found your ass pretty easily.”
“Yes you did,” Tatiana said with a smile, “and that is precisely why you and I are here today. We have so much unfinished business.”
“What, you mean like me blowing your brains out all over that wall?” Alex asked.
Tatiana laughed. “Mmmm, I do love a woman who can keep her sense of humor when things are spiraling out of control. It’s an admirable trait; you’re going to need it in the coming days.”
“Oh really,” Alex replied. “So what are you going to do, torture me?”
“Oh no, that would be such a waste,” Tatiana said, as she reached down and ran her finger playfully across Alex’s exposed midsection.
Alex fought the urge to recoil at the woman’s touch, realizing that she needed to play the game in order to get as much information as possible. “No I was thinking more along the lines of picking up where we left off. You know, showing you what a good time you missed out on as I’m having my way with you.”
“Honey, unless you grew a dick since our last encounter there is no way that you’re gonna have your way with me.”
“God, you’re such a feisty little thing,” Tatiana said gleefully. “I really hope that you are able to maintain that cheerful little façade in the coming months. It’ll certainly help you cope with what’s coming.”
Months? What the fuck does this crazy bitch have in mind?
“And if I don’t?”
Tatiana leaned back in the chair and smiled.
“Well, let’s just say that everything depends on you. I am more than willing to put the ugliness of the past behind us and start over. I’ll be as benevolent to you as you deserve, but if you choose to take the hard road than you will leave me with no other choice but to treat you in kind.”
“Oh, if I’m bad does that mean you’ll send me to bed without supper?”
Tatiana took a final drag on her cigarette and then plunged it into the bare flesh of Alex’s exposed side, causing her to scream out in pain. A second later Tatiana was out of the chair and on top of her.
“You think this is all a fucking joke, don’t you?” Tatiana snarled.
Alex gritted her teeth, as the pain in her side radiated throughout her body.
Tatiana’s face had changed in an instant. Gone was the pretty brunette with the gorgeous eyes. What stared down at Alex was the look of a stone-cold killer, the type she’d encountered back on the streets in Brooklyn. But she had a reputation of being willing to go toe-to-toe with any of them and they gave her a wide berth, but now she was defenseless. Which meant it was even more important to stand her ground. The physical pain would pass.
“No, not everything, just you,” she replied angrily.
Tatiana reached down and grabbed Alex by the face roughly.
“God, you have so much spirit in you,” Tatiana said. “I’m going to love breaking you; your body first and then your mind. We’ll see just how long that spirit lasts.”
“You’d better pack a big lunch, lady,” Alex said. “Because it’ll probably take a while.”
“Suit yourself,” Tatiana said and released Alex’s face. “It’s your body, your mind, but I think you’re going to find that you’re not as tough as you pretend to be.”
“Maybe I’m not, but I know that I’m a helluva lot tougher than you.”
Alex saw it coming, which did nothing to make it any easier when Tatiana’s right hand came crashing down into the side of her face. She felt her head snap violently to the side and, at least for a moment, the pain in her side was gone.
“Fuck me,” she muttered.
“Aw, did that hurt?” Tatiana asked mockingly.
Alex smiled, as she slid her tongue against the corner of her mouth, savoring the familiar coppery taste of her blood.
“No, not at all,” she replied dismissively. “You hit like a fucking girl.”
Tatiana laughed and just like that the evil persona disappeared from her face. Her eyes narrowed, as she gazed down at Alex, taking on an almost smoldering look to them.
“I’m so glad that we reconnected,” she said, taking Alex’s chin in her hand tightly and kissed her lips. “This is going to be so much fun.”
Alex tried to twist away, but it was useless. A moment later she heard the sound of tires on gravel.
“Oops, dinner is here,” she said, as she climbed off the bed. “Behave yourself and I might bring you some dessert later.”
“I’ll have a headache.”
“That’s your problem, sweetheart, not mine,” Tatiana replied, as she forced the gag back into Alex’s mouth and covered her head with the hood. “Sweet dreams.”
A moment later she heard the door shut and then a click of the lock.
Houston, I think we have a major friggin’ problem.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
A half hour later Abby watched as Hutch’s patrol car came up the driveway and came to a stop adjacent to hers.
“Okay, I’m here, Abs,” he said sternly, as he got out of the car. “So what is so damn important that you couldn’t say it over the phone?”
“Look, for the time being this stays between you and I, alright?”
“Yeah, yeah, okay, so what is it?”
“They cleared the chief in the shooting,” she said.
“What?”
“Yeah, that’s why I came out here. I got a call from Captain Blackshear who said they had a guy in custody who admitted that he had been there at the time of the shooting and confirmed that the dead perpetrator was armed with a gun.”
“That’s awesome,” Hutch replied.
“It is, but no one has been able to reach her. Blackshear said he’d been trying to call her, but h
e couldn’t get through. I even tried the house line, but there was no answer so I said I would drive up and notify her.”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“In town on Thursday,” Abby replied.
“Did she seem okay to you?”
“A little spacey at first, but I just chalked that up to having a lot on her mind. Then on the way out here Mildred Parker stopped me and said that Alex was supposed to come out to her place for dinner last night, but that she never showed up and never called.”
“That does seem a bit odd, even for Alex.”
“She also said that she ran into Dr. Bates this morning. He told her that he was here last night and they apparently got into a fight,” Abby explained. “When I got here I checked the house and found this.’
Abby held up the note.
Hutch took it and began reading.
“Hiking?”
“Yeah, that was my response as well.”
“I mean it’s unusual, but I guess it’s not implausible.”
“I agree, but something about this just doesn’t feel right to me,” Abby said. “That’s why I called you up here.”
“Well walk me through it.”
“Okay, so when I got here I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. So I thought maybe she might have gone out, but I checked and her car is still in the garage. So I got her spare key and opened the door,” Abby said, as she led Hutch inside the house. “Since I didn’t get a response I decided to check the house, you know, just in case. I went room to room, but there was nothing amiss.”
“Where did you find the note?” Hutch asked.
“There on the coffee table,” Abby said, as they walked into the living room. “Right next to the empty bottle of whiskey.”
“That’s not a good sign.”
“No, it isn’t,” she replied.
“Here’s the thing, I saw her at around four o’clock Thursday afternoon. I assume she came into town to get that bottle.”
“Why do you assume that?” Hutch asked.
“Because she has been on the wagon since the beginning of the year,” Abby shared. “I’m thinking this pushed her off.”
“Well, you’re probably right about that.”
“So she goes through an entire bottle since then and decides to go for an evening hike? I don’t buy that.”
“Why do you think she went out for a hike at night?” Hutch asked.
“Because when I showed up here I walked into a spider web on the front porch the size of a semi tire,” she explained. “Damn near gave me a heart attack.”
“So?”
“So, most spiders usually build their webs at night,” she said. “If Dr. Bates was out here last night that means that Alex would have had to have left the house after he left, but before the web was built.”
“It’s Alex,” Hutch said.
“Precisely,” Abby replied. “When she falls off the wagon she doesn’t climb back on and she sure as hell wouldn’t quit after one bottle. She’d head back to the liquor store a whole lot quicker than she would go for a hike. Call it a woman’s intuition, Hutch, but I am telling you something’s not right,” Abby said.
“You think Dr. Bates is involved?”
“I don’t know what I think. I just get this feeling something isn’t right with this picture.”
“I need some time to process all of this,” he said.
“Okay,” she replied. “I’m going to have a cigarette.”
“You smoke?” Hutch asked with a shocked look.
“Only when I’m stressed,” she replied.
Hutch watched as Abby turned and walked out the front door.
“This day is getting stranger by the minute,” he said, as he walked into the kitchen and sat down at the island.
He’d known Alex for almost two years now and he understood that she was a very complicated person, but there was always an underlining method to her madness; whether that involved her job or her personal life.
Hutch scanned the room, hoping something would click with him that would make sense of it all. Nothing seemed overtly out of place, which wasn’t that unusual considering that Alex had a tendency of being a bit OCD, but she had always told him that the clues were there, you just had to know where to look and what to look for.
Where do I even begin?
He got up from the chair and began going through the house, room by room.
At first he felt dirty, like a voyeur peering into her private space, and he just wanted to get it over with. He walked into the bedroom and looked around. Everything appeared orderly, including the bed which had been made. He walked over to the closet and opened the door. He peered inside and once again nothing seemed out of the ordinary. All of her clothing was neatly hung up. Even her shoes were stacked nicely in the shoe rack. He was just about to shut the door when he abruptly stopped.
“Hello,” he said, as he stared back at the shoe rack, focusing on the pair of tan hiking boots. “Who goes hiking without their boots?”
Now Abby’s suspicions had grabbed a hold of his attention and he began looking in earnest. It didn’t take too long before he found her personal gun and her wallet hidden in the back of the dresser.
Now he knew that Abby was right. Alex would have never intentionally left home unarmed or without her wallet. He kept looking, but the only things that actually seemed to be missing were Alex, her cell phone and her keys.
Hutch made his way outside.
Abby was leaning back against the push-bumper of her car finishing her cigarette.
“Well, what do you think?”
“I think we have a problem,” he replied.
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Abby said. “Now what do we do?”
“Let’s go back to the office and call Blackshear,” Hutch replied. “Alex’s cell phone is gone. Maybe they can ping it and we can at least get an idea of where we should be looking for her.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“Headquarters Security, Officer Quick, how can I help you?”
“Hi, I’m trying to reach Police Commissioner Maguire,” Hutch said.
“Who’s calling?”
“This is Officer, erh, I mean Chief Hutchinson from the Penobscot Police Department.”
“Hold on please.”
On the other end of the phone line, Hutch covered the mouthpiece and looked over at Abby. “Wow, that was pretty easy. I expected it to be a lot harder.”
A moment later another voice came on the line.
“Police Commissioner’s Office, this is Sergeant Eberhard, how may I help you?”
“Uh, I’m trying to reach Commissioner Maguire,” Hutch said.
“What is this about, sir?”
“I have a missing person case that I think he will be interested in,” Hutch replied.
“Well, that’s not really something the police commissioner handles. I’m going to transfer you to the appropriate unit.”
“Hey, wait….” Hutch said, before he heard the line go silent. “Oh for crying loud.”
“What’s wrong” Abby asked.
“They transferred me,” he replied, as he heard it begin to ring. “Maybe it isn’t that easy.”
A moment later he heard another voice come on the line.
“Missing Persons, Detective LaBarbara.”
“Hi, this is Chief Hutchinson, from the Penobscot Police Department in New Hampshire. I’m really trying to get through to the police commissioner, but they transferred me to you.”
“What is this in regards to?”
“I have a missing person case that I think he will be interested in,” Hutch said.
“Well, we handle missing persons for the NYPD, sir. Can you give me a little more information?”
“Actually, the missing person is our chief,” Hutch said.
“I thought you said you were the chief?”
“I am,” Hutch replied. “Well, I’m the acting chief, but the actual chief has gone mis
sing and I’m pretty sure the commissioner will want to know.”
“Not to be rude, sir, but the police commissioner is a very busy man and he usually doesn’t take a personal interest in matters like this. Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Look, the chief used to be with you guys,” Hutch said exasperatedly. “She’s a former New York City cop and she was partners with Commissioner Maguire.”
“Excuse me? Did you say his partner?”
“Yes, I did, now she’s the chief up here and she’s gone missing.”
“What did you say your name was?”
“Hutchinson, Acting Chief Hutchinson.”
“Hold on for one moment.”
Hutch closed his eyes and let out a loud sigh, as the line went silent.
“What’s wrong now?” Abby asked.
“They put me on hold,” Hutch said. “I think they’re transferring me again.”
“Maybe I should start doing that when people call here to complain.”
“Yeah, transfer them up to Juggs,” he said. “She’d lose her mind if she had to do actual work.”
“Sheldon would just go and hire an assistant for her,” Abby replied.
A moment later heard a voice come on the line.
“Chief Hutchinson?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
This is Sergeant Eberhard,” the man replied. “Who is it that you’re calling about again?”
“Alex Taylor,” he said. “She’s the chief of police here in Penobscot and she knows your police commissioner.”
“Hold on for one moment,” he said and the line went silent again.
“I’m glad I’m not calling to report something serious,” he said sarcastically.
“You can keep the city,” Abby replied. “It’s way too impersonal for my tastes.”
“I went down there once when I was a kid,” Hutch replied. “I never heard my father use so many cuss words. It seemed like half the trip was spent sitting in traffic.”
“Your dad used a curse word?”
“Even the Baptist preacher has his breaking point I guess,” Hutch said with a laugh, and then heard the man come back on the line.
“Chief Hutchinson?”
“Yes?” Hutch replied.
“Can I have your number please?”
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