by PJ Fernor
“On the couch?” Jessie whispered.
“No. Down in the basement. So nobody else gets hurt.”
The man stood up and left the room.
Jessie screamed at herself to look around, figure out where she was, and figure out how to get the chains off the couch so she could run for the door.
But she was stuck on the couch as though she were glued.
Jessie wasn’t weak.
But she felt dead.
Just like the other girl the man had thrown to the ground in the woods.
Chapter Thirty-Two
My hand locked tight around Ben’s arm.
“A body?”
He nodded.
“Was it…”
“I don’t know,” he said a soft voice. “I called to make sure there are patrol cars outside of Connor and Cat’s residences. Then Laura called me to tell me the news. All I know is that two guys were searching the woods and found her.”
“Her…”
“That’s all I know right now,” Ben said. “Young female.”
“Age?”
“Fits.”
My stomach sank. I covered my mouth. “Wow.”
“I know you’re busy here, but I wanted to tell you. But I have to go…”
“I’m going with you,” I said.
“Allie…”
“It’s my job,” I said.
The apartment door opened and Miss Kesslier came strutting in carrying a bag of marshmallows.
Talk about the opposite sides of life and death and innocence.
Here was Miss Kesslier bringing marshmallows to go with the hot cocoa she made while I was going to be leaving to go help identify the body of a young girl left in the woods.
It was enough to make anyone’s stomach sick.
“I’ve got the… what’s wrong?” Miss Kesslier asked.
“I’ll be outside,” Ben said to me. “I can’t wait long. Two minutes tops. You should stay. I’ll call you when I get there.”
“I’ll be right out,” I said, ignoring his advice.
Ben shut the door behind him and Miss Kesslier began to fan herself with the marshmallow bag.
“They didn’t make them like that when I was your age, Allie,” she said.
“I’ve known Ben almost my whole life,” I said.
I wasn’t sure why that mattered.
“Well then,” she said. “You two have a long standing history.”
“Miss Kesslier, I have to leave,” I said. “I have to talk to Lo.”
“I’m right here.”
Lo stood near the kitchen.
She was trying so hard to keep it together and be so tough.
“I’m sorry, Lo,” I said.
“I know,” she said. “You have to find that little girl. Jessie, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah. That’s her name.”
“I’ll be right here,” Miss Kesslier said. “I have hot cocoa. And marshmallows.”
Lo eyed me.
I walked to her and was able to hug her.
The feeling that went through me was one word.
Intense.
My poor niece was going through so much at such a delicate age. And me not being anywhere near ready to take on the responsibility of a teenage life. She only had a few years until she was legally an adult, but that seemed like it was a lifetime away.
“I don’t want freaking hot chocolate,” Lo whispered to me.
“I know,” I whispered. “Just drink it. Sip it. Pretend even. She wants to help. We need her right now, Lo.”
“Please be careful, Allie,” she said.
“I always am, Lo. I know it’s easier said than done but please just try to relax. You’re safe here. Nothing is going to happen. Get off the phone.”
Lo laughed. “Get off the phone? What year do you think it is?”
I backed away from her. “Dumb teenagers.”
“And what were you at my age?” Lo asked.
“A really dumb teenager,” I said. “But I didn’t have a phone and social media to make it known.”
“Whatever,” Lo said. She playfully rolled her eyes.
I put my hand out and she took it.
I tickled the palm of her hand and turned to walk away.
Miss Kesslier was right there.
She wrapped her arms around me.
“I heard what that sexy man detective said to you,” she whispered. “I’ll pray for everyone involved. You come back home safe tonight.”
I hugged Miss Kesslier back.
She was a good woman. She meant well.
I owed it to her and myself to get to know her better at some point too.
I exited my apartment again and made it through the first door to the steps and then I froze.
My eyes went from watery to flooding in a second.
I covered my mouth and felt the tears streaming from my eyes to my cheeks to my hand.
This wasn’t like me.
I had seen some of the most horrific things possible back in the city.
But at the end of each day, night, and case, there was a bottle of something waiting where I could wash it away and move forward. Because there were ten unsolved cases waiting to replace the solved one.
This was different.
Lo was emotionally involved in it now.
On top of losing her mother.
“Alex,” I whispered. I wiped my cheeks. “Alex…”
I didn’t know much about the transition from aunt to parent, but I knew one thing for sure.
I loved Lo with every inch of my beating heart.
I had loved her from the second I got to meet her in the hospital. When I was afraid to hold her and Alex insisted I do so because she jokingly said ‘if something ever happens to me, she’s all yours…’
I wiped my cheeks a second time and took a deep breath.
My mind turned back in time to when Lo was the same age as Jessie.
They looked nothing alike, but that age…
All Jessie wanted was to be picked up from her dance class. And to go home and maybe eat a snack. Take a bath or shower. Play with some toys. Cuddle up in her bed with her stuffed animals and her favorite pillow…
My stomach ached again.
The main lobby door opened and I saw Ben.
“I’m sorry, Allie,” he said. “I really have to get going. I have to get down there and assess. Officers have everything secured at the moment but you know how this goes. Each second is another moment asking for something to go wrong or get messed up.”
“I’m coming down right now,” I said.
I sucked everything in and hurried down the steps.
With my head down, I walked right into Ben, thinking he had left.
I stepped back and Ben slipped his right hand to my lower back.
“Allie, you can tell me if you’re not okay,” he whispered. “It’s okay to not be okay.”
I touched his strong forearm and gave a healthy push to get him to let me go.
“We just have to keep putting the pieces together,” I said. “Even if it’s now in Jessie’s memory.”
“Hearing that makes me sick,” Ben said as he frowned.
“Yeah… me too, Ben… me too.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
I hated the silence as I sat next to Ben.
I also hated that I wasn’t driving.
It felt wrong to be driving fast but not super-fast. I wanted the lights and sirens on. I wanted to be barreling though the streets to get to the truth.
There was no reason to have the lights and sirens going.
Not in a town like this.
Lights and sirens meant attention.
And there would only be one reason to have the lights and sirens on right now.
Even though word was going to spread.
Very soon.
I thought about Lo.
I’d have to tell her about this.
About the little girl, as she called her up until just before I left th
e apartment.
I let out a breath.
“Was wondering when you were going to do that,” Ben said.
“Excuse me?”
“You were holding your breath there for a little bit.”
“I was not. I’m breathing just fine.”
“Right.”
I looked at Ben.
He drove with both hands on the wheel.
It was so… Ben.
That’s how he always was growing up and through high school.
He was a good guy. Not the good guy. He wasn’t fake about it. He wasn’t doing it for attention. He never asked for anything in return.
The opposite of Tommy, huh?
“We’re going to figure this out,” he said. “No matter what this is. We’re going to figure this out.”
“That’s why I’m here,” I said. “It’s not the easiest transition at the moment.”
“And here you thought you had your hands full with a cat,” Ben said with another frown.
“Hey. I’m going to find that cat too. Mike will go home.”
Ben looked at me. “I always loved that attitude of yours, Allie Down.”
“What attitude?”
“The confidence. The boldness. I remember the time you punched Nicky Nelson in the face.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I remember.”
“And Principal Jordan had to break up the fight. The look on his face when he realized it was a girl fighting a boy.”
“It wasn’t a fight,” I said. “Even if I gave Nicky the chance, he wouldn’t have hit me. Wimp.”
“What was that all about again?”
“He made a comment… about my bra size.”
“Ah,” Ben said. “That’s right.”
“And I told Principal Jordan it was either flash Nicky to prove him wrong or punch him.”
“Hmm,” Ben said.
“What?”
“What?” Ben asked.
“What was the hmm for?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t give me nothing. It was something.”
“Allie…”
“You were being a pig.”
“What?” Ben asked.
“You heard me. You were thinking I wished you wouldn’t have punched him.”
Ben laughed. “That attitude…”
“I don’t have an attitude,” I said. “I just look for the truth in everything, Ben. That’s all I’ve ever wanted in life. The truth.”
“Have you found it yet?” Ben asked.
“No,” I said. “Mike the cat is missing. Lo is confused and grieving. Miss Kesslier has the hots for you. And I have no idea who hit and killed my sister then took off.”
“Whoa,” Ben said. “Back up. Your neighbor has the hots for me?”
“That’s what you start with?” I asked.
Ben turned left.
My heart dropped a little.
We were less than a mile from the turn off to go into the woods.
“I’m trying to keep the mood a little bit light for a second,” Ben said. He reached for my hand and took it. “I can’t tell you anything else. I know you, Allie Down. You don’t like to hear bullshit. So I won’t ever feed it to you.”
“I want to know who took my sister’s life.”
“Then we’ll work on that,” Ben said. “I promise.”
I looked down at Ben’s hand holding mine.
It was too casual. Too comfortable.
Too normal.
I pulled my hand away. “No. It doesn’t matter. It won’t bring her back.” I looked out the car window and saw nothing but darkness. “I need to get Lo to talk to someone.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Ben said. “For anyone. Any age. Any situation.”
“Are you trying to imply something?” I asked.
“With you? Never.”
I scoffed. “Okay. Look, I’m doing what I feel is right here. That’s all I can say.”
“I think you’re doing amazing,” Ben said. “And whether you want to hear it or not, you’re not alone in this. And neither is Lo.”
I swallowed hard.
“We need to get into Connor’s garage,” I said, changing the subject. “He’s hiding that SUV for a reason. And now there’s a body? Right after I was pushing at him?”
Ben was silent.
I turned my head and looked at him. “Anything?”
“I’m processing,” he said.
“What?”
“The story behind Connor killing his own daughter.”
I shut my eyes for a second.
Ben was right.
After seeing Connor’s anger, I wouldn’t put anything past him.
Maybe he stole the SUV… borrowed it… bought it for cash that day…
And he showed up late to pick up Jessie.
That would explain why there were no screams from Jessie.
Or at least there were no screams Nelle heard when she got into her car.
Then Connor takes Jessie…
Home?
“Allie Down, what are you thinking?” Ben asked.
“I’m thinking a lot right now, Ben,” I said. “Connor was tempting me when I talked to him. Telling me to check the entire house. Calling my bluff. What if Jessie was in the house? What if he grabbed her and put her in her room… hid her… and because of me…”
“Don’t go there,” Ben said. “Play this calm and smart. Go with the facts we have. And then we’ll fill in the rest.”
“I can’t stop picturing his face, Ben,” I said. “The anger…”
“I know. I saw it too. But I also saw the anger in Cat’s eyes. And she’s a manipulator. What if she got herself into some trouble with that PI? Or something else. So desperate to uncover skeletons in Connor’s closet, she ends up screwing herself and costing her daughter her life.”
“This is a sick game we’re playing,” I said.
Ben turned off the road. “No choice.”
“I know,” I said.
We were in silence again for about a quarter mile before we saw two police cruisers.
Ben hurried to put his car in park.
I darted out of the car.
He called my name but I ignored him.
I ran toward one of the officers.
He stood with two men dressed in jeans and flannels. Each holding a hat in their hand. They looked tired and sick.
“Where is she?” I called out.
“Mulvaney,” Ben’s voice boomed. “That’s Allie Down. Let her through.”
As Mulvaney turned, I stopped for a second and pointed to him.
“Where is she?” I asked again.
“Just down the path a handful of steps. But, Detective… wait a second.”
“Wait?” I asked. “For what?”
Ben caught up to me. “What are we doing?”
“I have to tell you something,” Mulvaney said.
“Spit it out,” I ordered.
One of the men in flannel let out a groan.
The other man touched my shoulder.
“That body down there… is not the body of the missing girl… it’s not Jessie.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
The house was old.
It was the only way Jessie could describe it to herself.
Each time she tried to focus on one part of the house, hoping for one little clue that would tell her where she was, she heard the man make noise. Some noises really scared her too.
Like when the man punched things.
Sometimes he punched the table. The wall. At one point Jessie heard glass shattering. All of this happened in the kitchen though. Jessie wasn’t able to actually see anything. Just hear it.
Which was ironic because she was able to see everything in the living room of the old house.
It’s an old house… so what does that mean? Where am I?
Jessie looked down at the couch.
It too was old.
The cushions weren’t even soft.
They were cheap and scratchy, like the stitching had quit and turned itself into little cloth daggers, wanting to prick at her skin.
The arm of the couch hooked up and over like a lower case r.
The legs were short and stubby, made of wood.
That’s where the large looking handcuff thing was hooked. The one that ran with a chain up to Jessie’s wrist.
She pulled at her wrist and knew there was no breaking it off. So she grabbed the chain itself and pulled, putting the pressure and force on the leg of the couch.
Instantly, the couch moved.
A little, but enough to give Jessie that sliver of hope.
It was all sinking into Jessie now.
The SUV pulling up next to her. The man sneaking around the back of the SUV while Jessie stared at the SUV, wondering what was happening. The man moved really fast. Grabbing her. His hand over her mouth. Opening the back door of the SUV. Throwing her so hard inside, she had the wind knocked out of her. The man getting back into the SUV and speeding away. Screaming at her that he was allowed to do this. That he was supposed to do this.
Then he showed her the gun and apologized.
He told her it was the last thing he wanted to do…
But Jessie knew now that was a lie.
The man had just carried the body of another girl all that way and just threw her to the ground, face down, like she was a doll.
One time Jessie had gotten lost in a store. From the frozen section to the produce section seemed like three hundred miles. And there were so many people around her, more and more of them looking at her as the seconds ticked by. She told herself if she got too scared something bad would happen.
Just like now.
She couldn’t get too scared.
The man was upset about the other little girl.
He didn’t really want Jessie.
He wanted that other little girl.
But she was gone.
He was hurt.
Jessie pulled at the chain again.
The couch scratched against the floor.
Shuffling the couch wasn’t going to get her freedom.
But…
Jessie reached down a little more and this time when she pulled, she added more force.
She heard the faint, sweet sound of wood splintering.
The piece of junk couch was going to break!
Jessie felt her heart slam inside her chest. Her body started to shake.