Hunter

by Adrianne Lemke

  Caleb looked toward the ground, but stayed focused on me as well. I didn’t attempt to move or speak while he thought things through. “I… I don’t know what to do,” he said desperately, swinging the gun up toward me, and making Nickels tense up behind me.

  “That’s okay, kid. No one really does in your situation. Trust me. Put the gun down, and let the right person get punished for once. Please.”

  The few minutes while he considered his options were tense. Nickels was ready to fire if Caleb made another move. The boy was tense. His finger was on the trigger, and the gun still aimed at me. He met my eyes, and I said, “Trust me, Caleb.” I held out my hand. “Just give me the gun, okay?”

  He nodded and took a few steps toward me. After another moment, he released the trigger, and handed me the butt end of the weapon. “You really understand?” he asked softly. Nickels put his own weapon away, and cuffed him.

  “I do,” I said, rolling up one sleeve to show the self-inflicted scars briefly. I covered them again before Nickels could get a closer look. “Tell the police what your father has been doing. Show them, if necessary. If there’s any justice, he won’t hurt you again.”

  His lips twitched. Caleb clearly wanted to smile at the thought, but was unable to go through with the full action. “Thank you.”

  Nickels led the boy through the woods back to his car. I followed slowly behind, sorting through my emotions. This case got us no closer to the serial killer, but we helped a boy. Who—eventually—would have followed through on his plan to shoot himself. My anger at his father, and my personal experiences, outweighed the fear of a boy who was a finger-twitch away from shooting me just for being there. My hands shook as the adrenaline began to fade.

  Stowing Caleb in the backseat took only a moment, since he was cooperating fully, and Nickels looked at me with sympathy and curiosity. “You’ve tried before, haven’t you,” he stated. When I didn’t answer, he sighed and continued. “Do you think I won’t still respect you? You’ve told me nothing of your past, and that’s enough to tell me that it was bad. I’ve seen some of the scars, Jason. Trust me; if something bad happened to you, I would only respect you more for getting through it. You said earlier that you don’t think you have people who care, but I’ll tell you: despite you trying to push me away, I care.”

  The detective’s emotions threw me a bit. He hardly knew a thing about me, how could he think he cared about me? “Are we friends now, detective?” I asked softly. “Because I’ve never done anything with you, besides avoid questions.”

  “You want to help people,” he said. “You are obviously hurting and angry, and, from what I can see, you’re afraid of letting people get too close. Despite that, you still care, and try your best to help. Those are the traits of a person I want as a friend.”

  I glanced into the car, where Caleb watched us closely, and thought for a moment before responding. “You’re saying… what, exactly?”

  He sighed heavily, opening his door, and talking over the car to me. “I’m saying that if you let me in, even a little, I want to be your friend. But it’s your choice, Jason. Let me know when you’re ready to be mine.”

  TWENTY

  Sam

  By the time Jason picked me up, he was pretty much over his anger, and had fallen into a melancholy mood. We picked up some take-out and drove home in silence. “I’m sorry, Sammy,” he said when we pulled into our driveway.

  “For what?”

  He looked at me briefly, a bit surprised that I seemed confused by his apology. “For dragging you here. I know you didn’t want to leave Crandal, and I never even asked your opinion before I decided to leave.” I stared at him silently, perplexed by his sudden apology. “It was wrong of me to take you away from people who love you.”

  “They all love you too, ya know.” It was the only response I could come up with. People caring about him was something he always had trouble believing. Jason couldn’t believe he was worthy of anyone’s love. Sometimes I think he believes I only care about him because he takes care of me. “Jason, if you’re thinking of going back…”

  “No. Not yet, anyway. I need to find this guy, Sam. And…”

  “What?” I prompted, hoping he’d share more, but he shook his head.

  “Never mind. We should go eat. It’s pretty late. Sorry about that too, kiddo. I didn’t think it would take quite so long to deal with the Caleb thing.”

  He found Caleb. That much he told me when he reached the Thompson’s house to get me. Anything about why his emotions had been everywhere was kept to himself. Being Jason’s brother could be frustrating at times, but somehow I wanted him to understand he was worthwhile. That he could be loved just for being himself. I wanted him to believe he wasn’t always seen as someone who was broken, and needed to be pitied.

  Due to the late hour, we ate our meal and then went directly to bed. It was Thursday night, and I still had school in the morning.

  The rumors started flying around as soon as the doors opened on Friday. Depending on who you talked to, Caleb had been kidnapped, murdered, killed someone, or killed himself after killing someone. Considering Jason said they found him, I knew the rumors were not accurate. But one of the kids who’d been partnered with Caleb on a project recently was pretty confident when she said, “I heard his dad beat him up, and he tried to commit suicide.” I got a jolt when she shared her opinion, and realized that situation would explain Jason’s emotional responses the previous evening.

  Except for his completely unexpected apology. I still wasn’t sure what to make of that. If Caleb was abused, and Jason figured it out… well… let’s just say I wouldn’t have been too surprised to hear that his house collapsed with Caleb’s parents inside. Abuse was definitely a trigger with my brother, and my own anger rising exposed it as a trigger for me as well. Given the power my brother held… I couldn’t be sure I would have been able to refrain from punishing them.

  Whenever someone asked me about what happened, because they knew my brother was involved, I simply shrugged and responded, “I don’t know. Jason was working with the police, but he doesn’t share details on cases.”

  Most of the kids in my class were not aware of Jason being a private investigator. More rumors started, the new ones saying he was a special undercover cop, brought in on the serial killer case. They were sort of right on that one. Or they thought he was a federal agent specializing in tracking missing people. Others thought he might be an Indian-trained Tracker.

  Even Jake asked me if any of those were true, but I wouldn’t tell even him exactly what Jason was up to. “I don’t know what he does, but he’s gorgeous.” I overheard Lacey—one of the more popular girls in my class—say during lunch. I smirked, wondering what Jason would think of a fourteen-year-old girl crushing on him.

  “It runs in the family,” another girl’s voice said shyly.

  Suddenly it was better to eat my meal than to listen in on other people’s conversations. But… someone thought I was cute? I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see who. The girls at the table next to mine were standing up by that point, and I saw Katie and Josie. Both were pretty soft-spoken, and I didn’t know their voices well enough to know which had spoken.

  The rumor mill died down after lunch. Conversations about weekend plans took precedence, and for Caleb’s sake I was glad. He didn’t need all the gossip spreading if the abuse story was true, which I strongly suspected.

  The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and I decided to walk home. I wouldn’t go through the woods. Instead I planned to cut through town, and stop at the grocery store for a couple things. When I called Jason to let him know my plans, and find out if he needed anything from the store, he was at the police station. He was going through his statement about what happened the previous evening, so he agreed. He was reluctant to allow it, I could tell, but he also needed to get things wrapped up so he could get home. “Call me when you’re done at the grocery store.” He sounded a little distracted, and was fee
ling a bit frustrated. “If I’m done, I’ll meet you there.” He hardly waited for my agreement before saying a quick goodbye.

  “Right. See ya later, Jason.” The call was already cut off when I responded sarcastically, but I understood his need to quickly finish reliving last night’s events. I decided to cut him a little slack. After all, especially given the scare yesterday, letting me walk anywhere by myself had to be difficult for him. Jason’s distraction, I knew, was the only thing keeping him from telling me not to walk alone.

  And, when I was grabbed from behind only a few steps from the grocery store parking lot, I knew he would blame himself.

  TWENTY-ONE

  Hunter

  My wife and I got into a huge fight. That I started it for the express purpose of giving myself an excuse to leave for an extended stay at my cabin was hardly worth mentioning. She would be upset for a while, but her simple mind would get over the blow, and soon enough she would forgive me and blame herself for the way our argument had gone. This was a tried and true method of getting more time away.

  The cabin was too quiet. It was haunted by reminders of previous hunts. Nothing was there to keep me entertained, so I began to prepare for my next hunt. Walking around town, I discovered some vibrations left behind by the mystery man, and the boy I saw in the woods a couple weeks ago. The two sets of prints were close together, indicating they knew each other. So I made the decision to watch the schools, in order to find the boy. If they did know one another, I might be able to use the boy to find the mystery man.

  I still couldn’t figure out what it was about him that captured my attention, but now I seemed unable to keep my mind off him. It was strange, the way he walked through the woods. Walking a while, then stopping, then continuing, and so on. It made me feel… I don’t know exactly what. But there was something that connected us, and it wouldn’t let go. Which made me wonder if he noticed anything. How he could, I’m not sure. But something told me he would be my most exciting prey. Although to get his attention, I might need to grab someone else first.

  Two days after I arrived in town, my stakeout of the schools paid off. The boy was probably about fourteen or fifteen, and was walking by himself. He was on the phone, apparently finishing a call. “Right, see ya later, Jason,” he said, sounding aggravated as he put his phone away.

  It was too soon. I hadn’t followed him to the mystery man yet, but I could hardly pass up such a wonderful opportunity. Here was a strong teenager out walking by himself, and no one was around to notice me sneaking behind him.

  The boy hardly put up a fight when I put a sleeper hold on him. He fell unconscious in my grasp, his limbs limp and head drooping. My heart raced in anticipation of the new hunt. I stashed him behind a dumpster while I walked quickly back to my car. My luck held as I loaded him into the car, and it was only about twenty minutes later when he was set up in the cellar of my cabin. He was connected to a pipe in the wall, a manacle on his wrist with a chain long enough for him to reach the table and the cot in the corner. I kept a small amount of food and water on the table for him.

  He began to stir once I clicked the shackle on his left wrist, so I went upstairs to give him time to figure out his predicament. His phone sat on the table in front of me as I considered my next move. About an hour after taking the boy, it rang. The ID said it was Jason, the same person he was talking to before I grabbed him.

  The phone rang several times before going to voicemail. It then continued to ring every couple minutes for a few hours, until the battery wore down. Every call was from Jason. I plugged the phone in with my charger, and thought I might call him back once the battery was charged. It might work to help figure out who this ‘Jason’ was. I wasn’t following my original plan, but plans were made to be altered. It was obvious this boy was important to the guy who kept calling like a worried mother. Wouldn’t it calm him to know the kid was with a responsible adult? Probably not, I suppose. Ah well. Not much to be done about that now.

  The boy was wide awake now and stomping on the floor like a child throwing a tantrum. When I paid a little more attention, I noticed the pounding seemed methodical. Maybe he was testing for weak spots in the floor or walls? Who knew? But the pounding would stop. The vibrations through the cabin were distracting me, so I might have to move him to an upper room. Or maybe move to my alternate safe house. Either option meant confronting a boy I wouldn’t catch off guard again.

  I smiled to myself, and went down to greet my captive. Tomorrow was soon enough to hunt down this Jason person to see if he was the mystery man. For now, I would enjoy the evening with my new prey.

  TWENTY-TWO

  Jason

  I should have insisted he wait for me. Giving my statement right then was not completely necessary, but I wanted to get it over with. To get it done so I could forget the situation, and push down the memories dredged up by it. So, because of my demons, I allowed Sam to walk by himself. And now he was gone. Every call went to voicemail, and he wasn’t at the grocery store. But he had been. I could feel the vibrations where he walked, but there was nothing indicating where he went.

  The lack of receding steps made me pretty certain he was transported in a car. Still, I thought I was able to get a pretty good read on the person who took him. The man snuck up behind Sam, probably knocking him out somehow. There were constant pressure lines, indicating Sam was dragged behind a dumpster before he disappeared. And there were no witnesses.

  My little brother was in the hands of a madman. Again. I failed to protect him. I also broke my promise that he would be safe. We left a home we both loved, because I thought we would be safer. No one here knew anything about me, which seemed better for a while. But now? I took a shuddering breath, once again attempting a call I knew wouldn’t go through. When it beeped for me to leave a message I spoke strongly, as if Sammy were listening to me. “I will find you, little brother. And whoever took you will be sorry.” My voice lowered into an almost growl at the end of the message, and my anger rose to the forefront.

  I promised him I would look after him. That no one would hurt him again. Whatever I needed to do to get him back, I would do. The footprints by the grocery store were the same as those I felt when Sam thought he was being followed through the woods. But those tracks led nowhere. Either this man was another person skilled at blocking his footsteps, as Kindred was, or he had some kind of vehicle he used to go around the woods.

  I was betting on a vehicle. A car or four-wheeler used to transport his victims from wherever he kept them to where he decided to dump their bodies. My hand shook as I reached for the phone again, and I realized my body was trembling. “Sammy… where did he take you? Somehow, I have to find someone I’ve never seen, and stop him before you get hurt.” My voice was soft, and I put down the phone. Calling was accomplishing nothing.

  To find the man who took Sam, I needed space to do my thing. The local police wouldn’t be able to help, so I put my phone back in my pocket. I glanced around the parking lot once more, until I was sure every useful piece of information was gathered. It was harder than I thought it would be, to get in my car and leave. The parking lot was the last place I knew my brother had been, but in order to find him I needed to go.

  The first thing I could think to do was go back to the woods and search. Eventually, something there might give me a clue to help find him. If he was even there. After all, just because the previous victims were found in this patch of woods, didn’t mean they weren’t kept elsewhere before.

  My only comfort was that the killer normally kept his victims for several days before hurting them. The coroner had confirmed all the injuries on the other boys were acquired at the same time. Only sores on one wrist—indicating they were chained somewhere in the days leading up to their deaths—were acquired before the day they were killed.

  I parked at my house then walked the short distance to the trail where Sam had been followed. Kneeling, I tried to see if there was any recent activity in the area. Using my fear
and anxiety, I pushed out as far as I could with my ability. Stretching my capabilities, I strained for any sign of my brother. I felt echoes deeper in the earth than ever before. I could feel the passage of people from days ago, including weak echoes of the man I attempted to find the night Sam was followed. And the echoes went further than what I felt that night.

  “Gotcha.” My voice startled me in the dark quiet of the woods, and I suddenly jolted back to myself. Only the normal surface echoes I could always feel were now present. Those were always at the edge of my senses. Now I had a direction to start, and that’s all I needed. “I’m coming, Sammy.”

  The words I spoke sounded sure and strong, two things I certainly wasn’t feeling at the moment. I needed to bolster my confidence as I memorized the feeling of the deep steps, and realized I was stronger, even in the tracking aspect of my abilities. It wasn’t only my destructive power that had grown. I felt that a couple years ago, when I began feeling heartbeats through the ground, but there wasn’t much of a jump in strength since then. Until now.

  Now, I would use my stronger tracking ability to find the man who took my brother. And then I would unleash the full strength of my destruction, and punish him for doing so. I moved at a jog along the trail, until the tracks veered deeper into the woods. Then I needed to move more cautiously to avoid tripping or running into branches. This was a wild part of the woods. The tangle of brush and canopy of leaves would have seemed beautiful on any other day, but today they seemed dismal and harsh. They were getting in my way as I attempted to continue following the now very faded tracks, but I kept moving until I could no longer feel any sign of the murderer.