What Burns Within

by Sandra Ruttan

  “That’s your right. And believe me, with everything we’ve got on you, you won’t be going anywhere.” Tain leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “You know, the first time I set eyes on you, I knew there was something odd about you. Never really liked you for taking the girls, but you smelled of fear.” He leaned back. “I imagine that’s how you’ll be smelling for a lot of years to come. Boys inside are going to love you.”

  “That’s sick, you know. You people are so full of yourselves, saying you’re supposed to uphold the law, then taunting me about getting raped in jail.”

  “We uphold the law for law-abiding citizens. You cross the line, you’re on my ‘don’t give a shit’ list. Scum like you gets raped in jail, some might call that justice.” Tain stood. “Come on, Alex. We’ll send you down for processing and make sure you get your lousy phone call.”

  They’d barely started walking down the hall when the officers Tain had asked to pick up Doug Fisher came in with him, leading him toward an interview room.

  “We’ll be back in a few minutes,” Sims told them. “Maybe you could get him a drink, get Mr. Fisher settled while he waits?”

  Tain felt Alex’s arms tense and he looked at Doug, who’d lost all color when he set eyes on Alex Wilson. Tain couldn’t quite put his finger on why, but he felt his gut twist.

  He walked a bit faster, nudging Alex forward and out of Doug’s line of sight.

  Ashlyn rubbed her forehead with both hands, her elbows propped against the desk.

  “Is it that bad?” she heard Craig ask from the doorway.

  “There’s no way I’ll get this reporter to take me seriously. I haven’t got a guy with a record anywhere on this list, other than Bob.”

  “A record that we know about.”

  “Well, ones I don’t know about aren’t doing me much good, are they?”

  “What about guys in the right age range for a juvenile record?”

  “There are too many. I can’t give him a list of three dozen suspects. It will look like I haven’t got a legal leg to stand on, and I don’t.”

  “Parts of this case have been a bit of a nightmare.”

  “Which parts?”

  “Mainly, working with Lori.”

  “Couldn’t have been too much fun to have to deal with her as a victim either.”

  “It was a hell of a lot easier than working with her, and I feel like a jerk for saying that.”

  She looked at him for a moment. “You’re just being honest, and it’s only me here. I know you well enough to know you aren’t trying to be cruel.”

  He looked away from her and drew a deep breath. “Then you’ll understand when I tell you I want you to carry this with you everywhere. I don’t care if you’re just going to the bathroom.” He set the device, similar to a pager but with an activation panel on the side, down on the desk, still not looking at her. “You hit 911 and the guys monitoring you will be here instantly. And I want you to keep the bedroom door locked. Once you’ve cleared that space, protect yourself. The idea isn’t to get you hurt.”

  “We don’t even know this guy will come after me,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

  He put his hand over hers and did look at her then, straight in the eyes. “All the same, I want you to promise me.”

  “You going to call and check up on me too?”

  “Just promise me you’ll do as I ask,” he repeated quietly.

  There’d been moments when she’d seen Craig be assertive, slam a door so hard it almost separated from its hinges, or be completely enraged, but it was the quiet in his voice, the fear in his eyes that was worse than anything she’d seen him dish out before. She could argue against his stubborn streak, but not this.

  She nodded, taking the personal alarm and putting it in her pocket. “I’ll be careful, Craig. I promise.”

  Tain frowned. “Did you see the way Alex and Doug looked at each other?”

  “It makes sense that they would know each other, at least in passing. Alex was a regular at the fitness center where Doug worked.”

  “Yeah, but my gut tells me there’s something more to it than that.” Tain bit his lip. “I feel like I’m walking into this blind.”

  “I did a thorough check on him. Nothing in the system, other than that one charge.”

  “A slap on the wrist for a bungled break-and-enter charge when he got caught climbing in the window of an eight-year-old boy’s room.” Tain stared at Sims for a moment, the ideas starting to form. “Can you talk to Doug’s parents?”

  Sims shrugged. “If you think it’s important.”

  “I do. And if they aren’t willing to tell you what happened to Doug when he was a child, then mention the name Alex Wilson.”

  “What are you—”

  “Just go, and quickly. I’m going to stall on this, keep it nice and light and boring and all about this guy’s job until you get back.”

  Sims’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t argue. “Okay, never mind. I’m gone.”

  Tain scratched his head as he watched Sims walk away. They were only scratching the surface with Doug Fisher, and he needed more than he had to nab him.

  “You wanted to see me?”

  Daly turned to look at Lori and nodded. “Please, have a seat.”

  She remained standing in the doorway, half in the hall, glancing around as though looking for an excuse not to enter. Daly remained standing, leaning against the window ledge.

  “Have a seat, Lori.”

  She sighed, walked into the room and slumped into a chair. “Can we make this quick?”

  “That depends on you.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I don’t like being pressured.”

  She swallowed but stayed silent.

  “You’ve been going over my head to try to get back on the rape case. I’m going to tell you for the last time, that’s not going to happen.”

  A sly smile emerged as she straightened up slightly, crossing one leg over the other. “Oh, I don’t think we’d be here if I wasn’t getting somewhere on this. Sounds to me like there won’t be much you can do to stop me.”

  “You might be thinking that. You might even think you’ve got an ace in the hole, guaranteed to get what you want. I wonder, Lori, is there anything that could come out that you wouldn’t want people to know about?”

  She stared at him, the color slowly ebbing from her cheeks. “Are you threatening me?”

  Daly shook his head. “No. I’m not threatening you. I don’t work that way, Lori. I’m not someone who’s ever felt the need to sleep my way up the ladder. This job has never been about my ego. It’s my career, but it’s got nothing to do with making a name for myself.”

  “I don’t like your inference.”

  “And I don’t like you. Since the start of this case you’ve been causing problems. As an officer, sure, you had potential. Personality-wise, you were difficult, bossy, stubborn, and you lied about the investigation to steal credit. I don’t find any of that very commendable. And you were reporting on everyone. I don’t like that either.”

  She shrugged. “When you’re a woman in this department, you have to make friends to get ahead. It’s always been the same old story.”

  “I think you’re reading from an old playbook. I see women officers rising through the ranks on a regular basis. Ones who deserve to.”

  “So you’re saying I don’t? You think I should go back on patrol, or maybe push papers at a desk for the rest of my career because I’m damaged goods?”

  “Don’t put words in my mouth. I’m saying you shouldn’t come back on this case. And you should get some counseling, take some time to deal with this.”

  She pointed a finger at him. “Technically, I wasn’t injured on the job, so you can’t make me go through therapy.”

  “No, but I can keep you off the rape case. For now, that’s enough.”

  Lori stood up, arms folded across her chest. “You don’t get it. As long as I do
n’t get back on this case, it’ll always be the horse that bucked me off. Nobody’s going to trust me to back them up as a partner. And there’ll be that fear, what if we put her on the street and she draws a rape? Will she be reliable? If you keep me off this case now, you’re killing my career.”

  “If you’d done what we asked, taken the medical leave, gotten counseling, I wouldn’t have an issue. But I’m not putting you back on this.”

  “We’ll see about that. I have friends with more influence than you.”

  Daly moved behind his desk, picking up a file. “And I have some very interesting reading here. DNA results from your rape kit.” He saw her eyes widen, her face tense, but he didn’t stop. “The only question is whether or not I have to use this.”

  She gaped at him for a moment. “You wouldn’t.”

  “It’s up to you. Push this, and you’ll see how far I’m prepared to go.” He tossed the folder into his top drawer. “I’ve got several copies.”

  He put his hands down on the desk and leaned forward. “This isn’t personal. I’m interested in protecting the lives of the officers working this case, and I intend to get an arrest that leads to a conviction. And I won’t have you, or anyone else in this department, jeopardizing this investigation. Now get out. And this better be the last I hear about this.”

  She stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

  “Mrs. Fisher? I’m Constable Sims.”

  The older woman’s face didn’t flinch. “What’s he done now?”

  “I just wanted to talk to you about Doug.”

  Her eyebrows arched slightly at that, and then she pushed the screen door open with her meaty hands. Sims followed her inside.

  “So he’s not in trouble?”

  Sims paused. “I’m actually wondering about what happened to him. When he was a child.”

  She wasn’t a woman of obvious reactions, but Sims saw the way her whole body froze, even for just a few seconds. Whatever Tain suspected, Sims figured he was dead on.

  “Why don’t you ask him?” Mrs. Fisher said.

  “I’m asking you.”

  “It’s not for me to talk about. Doug wouldn’t like it. And it’s none of your business. We dealt with your people long ago and it’s over.”

  “Is it really ever over, Mrs. Fisher? Or have you just tried to forget about it?”

  She shrugged. “What’s the difference?”

  “One is like having an exterminator come through the house and get rid of the bugs. The other is when the bread crumbs are pushed under the counter and the bugs might be out of sight, but they’re still there.”

  She picked up her knitting and went to work, slowly and methodically moving her oversized fingers as the metal ends of the needles clacked together.

  Sims leaned forward. “Mrs. Fisher, please. It’s very important.”

  She didn’t look up, and she didn’t respond.

  After a few minutes, Sims took a deep breath. “Then tell me about Alex Wilson.”

  “Anyone else who seemed a little off?”

  Tain was doing his best to keep his gaze on the face across from him, and off the clock on the wall. He’d started by doing a very meticulous run-through of Doug’s employment history, how long he’d worked at Southside Recreation and Fitness Center, who’d trained him, etc., etc.

  From there, Tain asked him questions about specific coworkers. The longer they talked, the more Doug’s shoulders relaxed and the more willing he was to share tales about the people he worked with whom he didn’t like, the ones who were having sex on weight benches or using the pool after hours.

  Tain made notes, pretending it was all fascinating, asking questions to clarify things. When he finally did look up at the clock again, it was more than two hours since he’d sent Sims to the Fisher home.

  “Can I get you anything? A hamburger, a sandwich?”

  Doug shrugged and then nodded. “Okay, sure.”

  Tain wrote down what Doug wanted quickly and stood. “There’ll be an officer outside the door, in case you need anything. I won’t be long.”

  Come on, Sims. Where are you? He relayed clear instructions to the officer waiting outside the interview room, then headed for the cafeteria.

  Craig sat down in the living room, across from Ashlyn. “Wasn’t Tain supposed to look into that?” he asked.

  Ashlyn nodded. “He just hasn’t had time.”

  “Last year, all those girls…It was a tough case.”

  “But you could understand it,” Ashlyn said quietly.

  Craig stared at her.

  “It’s not…Look, what I mean is, as sick as it was, even I could understand it. This rapist, I can even understand that. Doesn’t mean I like it or agree, but abducting girls, holding them for days and feeding them nothing but bread and water and then drowning them, placing their body in an abandoned building and setting it on fire? I don’t get this at all.”

  “I suppose with the rapist, it all goes back to what we talked about, unhealthy attitudes toward sex and relationships. You know, you sounded like a bit of a feminist when you were talking about that.”

  Her nose wrinkled. “I don’t exactly fall under that umbrella.”

  Craig tossed the file down on the coffee table. “So you don’t believe in equal opportunities for men and women?”

  “Advocate for it all you want, but nobody’s working on a way for men to get pregnant that I’ve heard of.”

  He smiled. “What exactly do you think?”

  She leaned back. “I believe each individual person should have the opportunity to do what ever they are physically, mentally and psychologically capable of. I’m not interested in advocating for women to have the chance to do anything they want. That’s different from what they’re capable of, for starters. One of my friends married a firefighter. She said the department got turned upside down over the issue of hiring women. It might surprise you to know this, but the wives of the firefighters had more of an issue with it than the men did.”

  “Worried about their husbands sharing sleeping quarters with women?”

  “Nothing so ridiculous. It just boiled down to the fact that they didn’t think that the average woman was capable of meeting the physical demands of the job. And when their husbands go into a burning building, they want the best person possible backing them up. They didn’t care if it was a man or a woman, or if they were pink with purple polka dots. They just wanted their spouse to have the best chance possible of coming out alive.”

  Craig nodded. “I can appreciate that.”

  “You see, that’s where some of these lobbying groups take things too far. There are a lot of women who aren’t fit enough to be police officers. Not just physical fitness, either. It takes a lot to be able to handle your fear on the street. You feel like you have to work twice as hard as anyone else to prove yourself, and yet there’s still this lingering doubt about whether you can really hold your own.”

  “Which is ridiculous,” Craig said. “Men get beaten and even killed on the job as well. Bullets don’t care if you’re male, female, black, white or otherwise.”

  “The physical side isn’t where I see women falling short. It’s the mental toughness and the psychological fitness. Your old partner, Lori, she’s heading for a big brick wall that’s going to come crashing down on her, and she’ll have no career left if she keeps at it.”

  “Which is actually sad, because she is very capable.”

  “But at this point in time, she’s not up to the task. She’s dangerous, not thinking rationally. I don’t care what women think about me saying this. I wouldn’t want her backing me up on the street right now.”

  Craig was silent for a moment. “So all these comments between you and Tain…” He shrugged.

  Ashlyn laughed. “You know, it sounds terrible, but this case brings back memories. I think we just had to let off some steam to cope with it. Every time I think about one of these girls being grabbed, or when I was standing over Isabella’s bo
dy…all I could think about was…” She shrugged. “You know.”

  Craig watched her draw a deep, shaky breath, but he didn’t comment on it.

  “So, you ready to share your views?” she asked.

  “On this subject? Not a chance.”

  “You really are impossible, you know that?”

  He stood up, paused by the end of the couch where she was sitting and placed his hand on her shoulder with just the lightest touch. “I’d choose you to back me up on any call, Ashlyn. You’ve always held your own on the street and in the office.”