He lowered himself onto his knees and slowly reached out. Holding his hand inches from her breast, he could feel the heat radiating from her body, despite the December chill in the evening air. He kidded himself to think she was as excited as he was. However, he knew that fear affected people in different ways. Some went into a feverish chill, while others exuded heat. She shifted back, unable to move back too far because her hands were still tied above her head. He wanted to laugh, but suppressed it. He loved people watching. Don’t all men?
He didn’t class himself as a stalker and hated the term, preferring to be called a “people watcher.” That’s how he got his kicks, after all—watching people. His hand dropped down to lower the zip on his jeans, gently, slowly so she couldn’t hear what was happening. The surprise element always made his breathing come in short, sharp breaths. Her head tilted again.
“Who’s there?” She tucked her knees up in front of her to hide her nakedness.
Still, he said nothing, just observed his prey, fascinated by her responses and the fear resonating in her voice.
Soon, the stable filled with her sobbing and constant pleading. “Who’s there?”
Another ten minutes passed before he moved closer, so that he could touch her creamy-white flesh. His finger touched her knee. At first, she didn’t react. Maybe she hadn’t felt it. His fingers splayed out, and one by one, he laid them on her warm, sticky flesh. The girl screamed, but he was unconcerned. No one would hear her cries for help out there.
His hand slid up her thigh. She thrashed her legs out, catching him on the side of the head. Undeterred, he grabbed her ankles and stretched her legs out in the straw in front of her. Then he sat on them as he explored every inch of her skin further. The girl twisted and tried to fight. However, with her hands tied, her struggles proved to be in vain. He flicked the switch on the drip. It took a few seconds for the drugs to work, but eventually, her body relaxed, and she moaned as her head flopped down to her shoulder.
What a fool I’ve been. I’m definitely having more fun keeping them alive, he thought, as he slipped out of his jeans and boxers.
________
Ellen returned home. Well, she couldn’t quite call it that—she went back to her brother’s house that evening.
“Hi, Sis. What’s with the frown?”
“Sorry, I wasn’t aware I was. Mind if we have a chat after dinner? Wouldn’t want tiny ears listening in on the conversation.”
Jim looked concerned.
“It’s to do with work.”
“Ah, I see. Want to help me chop some veggies?”
Her mouth screwed up at one side. “If I have to. What are we having?”
“Cottage pie. Can you shred the red cabbage and dice up the apple for me?”
“Sure.” She prepared the vegetables in a daze while her brother whistled merrily beside her as he fried off the mince and onions and peeled the potatoes in between stirs. It wasn’t the first time she’d admired the way he had adapted to family life and enjoyed making the family meal in the evening. No doubt Suzie loved his input, too. At times, the boys ran her ragged. Ellen could never see herself in that role. Motherhood and family life were real no-no’s in her book.
“Hey, dreamer, what are you thinking about?”
“Nothing really. Have I told you lately how proud I am of you?”
Jim turned to face her, his eyes moist with tears. “Ellie, that’s so sweet of you.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. “I’m so proud of you, too. It took a lot of guts for you to leave the force and start up your new business. A lot of guts. I’m glad it’s been a success for you—and Brian, of course.”
Ellen pulled away from him. “I meant all this. You being a dad and perfect husband to Suzie. I know she’d be lost without you. I just wanted to say what a terrific job you’re doing. Not every man treats his family as well as you do, hon.”
“What’s brought all this on? Not considering settling down, are you?”
“Ha, I have to find a decent fella first. No, not sure I’ll ever do that. I really wanted to tell you how I felt. Of course, it could be misconstrued as creeping, what with me staying here.” She punched him playfully in the stomach.
“Now we’re getting somewhere.”
“Cheeky, I meant what I said.”
“What have I missed?” Suzie asked from the doorway.
“I was telling my wonderful brother here what a fantastic husband and father he is.”
Suzie beamed proudly and walked into the room towards Jim. “Indeed, he is. I tell him every so often, not too much, mind. I wouldn’t want him getting a big head.”
“All right, you two. That’s enough. Make yourselves useful and lay the table. I’ll finish putting this together, and we’ll have a drink before dinner, if you like.”
“Er… I told the boys you’d have a quick game on the Wii with them. Ellie and I can finish up in here.”
“Now that all the hard work is done. That figures.” Jim kissed Suzie on the lips and left the room.
Moments later, three boys shouted excitedly in the front room. Ellen poured two glasses of Chardonnay, and she and Suzie chatted about girlie things for the next half an hour, until the oven alarm went off and the boys joined them, eager for food.
________
After they’d cleared up, Suzie and the boys went upstairs to bed, and Ellen asked her brother’s advice on the case that was starting to bug her.
“Just a moment. I’ve got a large sketchpad up in the bedroom. I’ll go get it, and we’ll see if we can start joining some dots together.”
Ellen smiled gratefully at him. “Good idea.”
Jim returned with the pad and one of the kids’ felt-tip pens. Ellen searched in her handbag and retrieved her notepad. She gave him the information she’d gained so far while Jim wrote it all down in relevant circles.
“The national hotline was supposed to be calling me back this afternoon, but it didn’t happen. Jenny was going to see if her boss would allow me to go through the missing person files of these girls here.” She pointed to the girls’ names on the pad.
“I can probably help out there. I could check our files when I go to work tomorrow, see what I can come up with.”
“That’d be great. The more eyes we have on this, the better. Both Brian and I think we’re looking at a serial abductor or killer even, but without more information or bodies, we can’t be certain of that.”
“Apart from the names of these girls, what other facts are we working with here?” Jim asked.
“I’ve got their ages.”
“Let’s add them.”
Ellen added each girl’s age alongside her name. “No addresses yet, until tomorrow,” she told her brother in a disappointed tone.
“Anything else?”
“Yes, I have the month when each of them went missing. No firm dates as such, though.”
“Write it down.” Sitting back, her brother folded his arms. “You’re right. There’s not a lot to go on, is there?”
“The only other contributing factor, which you’ll see immediately once you’ve seen the photos, is that all of them look alike. That’s the way I’m heading on this.”
“You’ve got good instincts. You should follow them, Sis.”
“I used to have good instincts. I guess now is the time to find out if they’ve survived me leaving the force. Can we look at this again tomorrow evening, once we’ve gathered more information?”
“Of course.” He flung an arm around her shoulder and crushed her to him. “I love helping my little sis out.”
“I may be smaller than you, but I can still pack a powerful punch.” She fisted him in the top of the arm to prove her point.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The following morning, Ellen beat the rest of the family to the bathroom and was out the door and on her way to work before the rush-hour traffic. The first thing she did after hanging up her coat and turning on the heater to take the chill
off the office was to try contacting Jenny again.
“Hi, Jenny. It’s Ellen.”
“Ellen, I’m so sorry I didn’t get back to you yesterday. The boss was in meetings all the afternoon, and by the time I spoke to her, I figured you’d be long gone.”
“No problem. So?”
“Give me your e-mail or fax number, whichever you prefer, and I’ll send them over the moment I get off the phone. She was all for you getting involved. ‘The more hands we can get on these cases, the better,’ were her exact words. Actually, there’s something else I need to tell you.”
“Oh, what’s that?”
“We heard of another girl reported missing in the last few days. Looking at her picture, I really think you should add her to your list along with the other girls.”
“Damn. What’s her name?”
“Tina Jones. Went missing after a night out on the town in Worcester.”
“Wouldn’t be around Gypsy’s nightclub, would it?”
“It doesn’t actually say in the file. I’ll send it over and let the boss know, just to cover my back.”
“Thanks, Jenny. I really appreciate this. Jim, my brother, works for West Midlands Police. He’s going to chase things up at his end. Maybe, fingers crossed, they might start delving into the cases over there.”
“Sounds great, Ellen. Let me know how things progress, okay?”
“Sure. Can you send them to the e-mail address you have on file for us?”
“Doing it now. Speak soon.”
“Bye for now.” Ellen hung up just as Brian walked through the front door. “Morning, part-timer,” she teased.
He raised a questioning eyebrow. “Late, am I? The clock on the wall says it’s a quarter to nine, my usual arrival time, unlike some. Why the change? Someone kick you out of bed early before the wife came home off the night shift?”
“You missed your true vocation. You should have been a comedienne!” She grinned at him and fluttered her eyelashes.
“Ha ha, that’s another rib gone.”
Ellen’s smile dropped, and she updated him with the developments that had just come into her possession.
“Jesus. I don’t remember seeing that name in the papers over the last few days. Let me do a search.” He booted up his computer and prodded a few keys. “Ah, here it is.” He went quiet and read the information on the screen. “Nothing new. Another name added to the already-growing list of missing persons in the Worcester area. That’s how they’re portraying it. Not in so many words, granted, but the inference is still there.”
“Jim is going to start looking into things when he gets into work. He’s of the same opinion as us. However, without proof, we all know things are going to be difficult to work out.”
“So, what’s on the agenda today?”
“Well, after you’ve made us both a delicious cup of coffee, I guess we start contacting the relatives of the other missing women. I’ve finished going through Donna’s address book now.”
“Not sure if I were her husband that I’d be flying out of the country to take part in one of those damn competitions. Did you tell Jim that? Maybe we were wrong to discount him earlier. What do you think?”
Ellen shrugged and twisted her mouth. “I’m not so sure. There’s little he can do around here. He hired us to do the digging, remember?”
“Yeah, I suppose you have a point. In my book, he’s still someone we should be keeping a close eye on.”
“We will, but at the gym yesterday, surrounded by skimpily clad females, he was being the role-model husband, unlike his mates.”
“That might have been for your benefit. Did some of those muscle-bound morons hit on you?”
“Not exactly. Two of his friends were with him when I arrived. They moved away when we started chatting. I caught them gawping at us during our conversation. Both of them were real creeps.” She shuddered, remembering how she felt walking past the two men when it was time for her to leave the gym.
“I’ll make the coffee. If you have to go down there again, I’ll come with you. Got it?”
She placed her hands over her heart and fluttered her eyelashes at him for a second time. “My hero. What would I do without you being here to hold my hand?”
He stomped out of the room, mumbling under his breath, “I give up. I try to be nice, and what thanks do I get?”
Ellen stifled a laugh and turned on her own computer to search her inbox. She downloaded the files from Jenny and hit the print button. By the time Brian walked back into the room with the coffees, she had collected the files from the printer and laid them out in neat piles on her desk. She reached for her yellow Post-it pads and wrote down the girls’ names, then placed each on the relevant pile.
“Now, where do we start?” She cradled the mug of coffee Brian handed to her and debated what to do next. “How about we go backwards through the list? Start with the girl who went missing last? I’m not talking about the most recent two.” She picked up a pile of papers and read the name out loud. “Melody Davidson, twenty-nine, married, missing since Octoberfifth.”
“Seems like a great idea to me. Do you want a hand with that, or do you want me to be getting on with something else?”
She gave him one of her I-have-this-task-under-control looks. “I’d like you to see what else you can dig up about Tina Jones. Create a file for her. I can take it home and go over the details with the others at home tonight.”
“You mean discuss it with Jim tonight?”
Was that offence lingering in his tone? No, Brian would never get offended like that, would he? “Is that all right?” she asked hesitantly.
“Sure, I suppose. All right… you asked, so I’m telling you. I don’t think you should really be discussing this with your brother. It’s our case—cases, I mean. When we solve it—which we will—who’s going to take the credit? The police? The national hotline? We need to be looking at raising our own profile here. We’re trying to run a successful business, aren’t we?”
Ellen could tell by the way he kept fidgeting that Brian felt uncomfortable divulging his true feelings. She admired and appreciated him pointing out her mistake, but on the other hand, the police, in the form of her brother, could be vital in their quest to solve the cases. She’d seen it before. They had both seen it before, during their time on the force. Sometimes the slightest clue triggers a memory about another relative case, or a name comes up that has a connection to a similar crime or MO.
“I completely understand what you’re saying, and ordinarily, I would totally agree with you. However, this case, these cases, need all the teams available to bring them to a satisfactory conclusion. My aim, our aim, has to be to bring the girls home safely, doesn’t it?”
He nodded his acquiescence but remained thoughtful as he got on with his work. “Okay,” was all he said.
Ellen knew that his brain was working at lightning speed, coming up with another reason for her to consider keeping things in house, as it were.
She hated falling out with Brian. They’d been very close friends for over eight years. She screwed up a piece of paper and aimed it at him. He took a direct hit on the forehead. He turned and glared at her. She pulled a few funny faces, and his mouth broke into a broad smile. “You know I’m right.”
He sighed. Nonetheless, his smile remained firmly in place. “Yeah, you usually are,” he conceded eventually.
Satisfied that a major argument had been averted, Ellen got down to business and searched for the contact name and number in the file for Melody Davidson.
“Hello, Mr. Davidson?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“You don’t know me, sir. My name is Ellen Brazil. I’m working alongside the National Missing Persons Bureau, investigating a missing person. I wondered if you could spare me a few moments.”
“I don’t understand. Are you working on Melody’s case?”
“In a roundabout way. I’m looking at several cases of women who have gone missing over the past few
months in the Worcester area, and your wife’s name cropped up.”
“I see, I think. What is it you want to know?”
“First of all, I’d like to say that the last thing I want to do is upset you. So if at any time you’d like to end the call, feel free to do so,” Ellen said, picking up the notes in readiness.
“Go on.”
“Can you tell me the circumstances behind your wife’s disappearance?”
“I don’t know what more I can add to what has already been said. It was our wedding anniversary that weekend, before… we were very much in love.”
“Can you tell me where you think she went missing?”
“In the centre of Worcester. No one saw anything. The police made enquiries but found nothing.”
“It says here that your wife was out with friends.”
He let out a shuddering breath. “I asked her not to go, pleaded with her even, but one of the girls was emigrating to Australia. It was her leaving party. She skipped our wedding anniversary dinner to go out with her friends… and now I’ll never celebrate another one with her.”
“Please, remain positive, Mr. Davidson. These things have a tendency to come out fine. Sometimes, people need to take a break from life’s stresses and strains.”
“But that’s just it. She didn’t have any stress. We talked all the time. She would have told me—she didn’t. Please, Ms. Brazil… please find my wife. I’m like a sinking ship without her. It’s only a matter of time before—”
“Mr. Davidson, please. You mustn’t think like that. If Melody is out there, I swear to you, I will find her.”
“That’s what the police said. They haven’t been in touch with me since that one and only time they interviewed me—as a suspect, I might add. I’d never do anything to hurt my Melody. Never.”
Ellen knew that it was police procedure to suspect the other halves in cases such as this to begin with. Nowadays, so many perceived happy marriages involved abuse that thorough checks were always carried out. Some of the abusers, in extreme cases, even cracked during the interviews and ended up leading the police to their partners’ buried or dismembered bodies.
“Did you or the police speak to your wife’s best friend?”
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