What Burns Within

by Sandra Ruttan

  “Even if I am making predictable, sexist remarks to Tain?”

  “Even then.”

  She put her hand on top of his. “Thanks, Craig. Do you want some dinner before you have to go?”

  “That’s okay. We eat together at the hall.”

  She got up as soon as he’d pulled his hand away. “I guess that means micro wave entrees for me alone, then.”

  “If this goes on long enough, I could always teach you to cook.”

  “I’m capable, you know.”

  “Really? I’ll withhold judgment until you present me with some evidence.”

  Tain was just about to open the door to the interrogation room when he saw Sims walking toward him. He passed Doug’s lunch to the uniformed officer and sprinted down the hall.

  “What did you find?”

  “Hell of a hunch, Tain.”

  “So you got the information we need?” Sims passed him his notes, as well as an old file.

  “I had to chase that down. It took longer than I thought it would.” Sims glanced at his watch. “Shit, sorry.”

  Tain held up his hand as he glanced over the notes, whistling. “Forget about it. This is perfect. Ashlyn and I had a feeling.”

  “How do you want to handle this?”

  Tain tore a scrap of paper off and wrote on it. “Have someone else go get him for an ID and then come join me.”

  Sims turned to leave, and Tain looked up to see Daly walking toward him.

  “Good work with Wilson.”

  “Thanks. It looks like we’ll have another arrest before the day is through.”

  He relayed what they’d learned and Daly nodded. “That’s great, but I take it this means you’re no closer to nailing our child abductor?”

  Tain shook his head. “Ashlyn’s on it, as much as she can be. We haven’t had any hits so far, though.”

  Ashlyn stretched the phone cord as far as it would go and just managed to nudge the door to the refrigerator shut.

  “Hi, yes, I’m still here.”

  She listened to the voice on the other end rattle off the info, the rushed words becoming a jumble.

  “Sorry, can you say that again, a bit slower?”

  “Look, I don’t have time.”

  “Make time, or I’ll come over there with a warrant and shut you down while I go through your records myself.”

  “What’s your badge number?”

  Ashlyn rattled it off. “And be sure to mention that you were failing to cooperate with an investigation into the abductions of five local girls, two of whom have been found murdered. Wait, never mind. I can mention that for you when the press starts camping on my doorstep.”

  The person on the other end of the phone repeated the information, and Ashlyn wrote it all down.

  “Thank you very much,” Ashlyn said. “This has been really helpful. I’d like to send a sketch artist down to work with you to make a drawing of this guy.”

  “Yeah, yeah, what ever,” the voice muttered, and then the phone clicked.

  Tain introduced Sims to Doug Fisher when they returned to the interrogation room. “Sorry we took so long.”

  “Whatever. I wouldn’t mind getting out of here soon, though.”

  “Well, we just have a few more things we’d like to cover.”

  Doug shrugged again. “I’ve probably told you all there is to know about the people at the recreation center.”

  “But it must bother you, working there, having to serve people like Alex Wilson.”

  Doug blinked, his cheeks turning a pasty white. “Wh-why should it?”

  “Oh, come on, Doug. You know,” Sims said.

  “Does it bother you when he sits and watches the kiddie pool?” Tain asked.

  “Or do you set him up with special viewing privileges?”

  “I…” Doug licked his lips, then reached for the soft drink. “I should maybe call a lawyer.”

  “What would you need a lawyer for, Doug? You didn’t have anything to do with those girls, did you?”

  “No. I swear I didn’t.”

  “And we all know Alex doesn’t swing that way,” Sims said.

  Doug crumpled down against the table. “You guys know.”

  “We aren’t interested in playing games with you, Doug. It’s better if you give us your side of the story, straight. Alex has been arrested, and we’ve got police going through his house right now. If you don’t tell us what we need to know, the evidence will.”

  Doug pushed himself up. “He took some photos of me when I was a kid.”

  “Was that all he did?”

  “I thought you knew.”

  Tain shrugged. “We know enough.”

  “Yeah, things eventually got out of hand. It started with me raking leaves and mowing the lawn at his house. Turned into me coming in for cookies and…and when my parents found out, they freaked.”

  “Didn’t he go to jail?”

  Doug shook his head. “Boiled down to my word against his, and the cop who caught it back then, this Hawkins guy, he was on a bigger case at the time, just wanted to clear this up. I didn’t really remember, but my mom told me once, after my dad left. The police convinced them I’d be labeled and everyone would know.”

  “So your parents split over this?” Sims asked.

  Doug nodded.

  “And you never got any counseling or anything.”

  Tain waited until Doug shook his head.

  “We’ve got police officers bringing someone down here. Are they going to tell us you’re the one peeping at boys in the change room where you work?”

  Doug finally looked up and met Tain’s relentless stare. He nodded.

  “Okay, what I want you to do is write a confession. But before you do, have you ever touched a boy? Ever?”

  His head shook, not emphatically, but with the tiniest motion.

  “Don’t lie to me, Doug. I’m going to work something out for you, but this is a one-shot deal. You blow it, everyone really will know about your problems.”

  Doug’s head shook again. “I swear. I-I’ve wanted to, okay? I…It’s like I’m my own worst enemy, and I want to stop myself because it’s sick, but I can’t.”

  His whole body was shaking. Tain stood and slid a pad of paper across the table, along with a pen.

  “Write your confession, Doug. I’m going to go talk to my boss.”

  Sims followed Tain back into the hallway.

  Tain turned to the officer outside. “Keep a close eye on him.”

  Daly was at his desk, and Tain didn’t even pause when he knocked but walked right in. Sims hesitated at the doorway.

  “That boy came down, Marvin. He identified Doug Fisher,” Daly said.

  “We’ve got to make sure he gets help.”

  “What are you suggesting?”

  “He needs therapy, not jail.” Tain sat down.

  “Tain, you never struck me as such a bleeding heart.”

  “I’m serious, Daly. He said an officer named Hawkins persuaded his parents to let it go without pressing charges, his parents split up, and he’s been drifting ever since. Alex Wilson should have been jailed years ago, but because Hawkins was apparently on a more important case at the time, Wilson was left to prey on children in this community for more than a de cade.”

  He watched the color drain from Daly’s face.

  “Look, all I’m going to say here is that I think Doug needs help. He needs counseling. So far, all he’s done is look. Name one teenage boy who hasn’t snuck a peek at a girl, given the chance? I’m not saying it’s okay. I’m just saying, with what he’s been through, we can try to understand.”

  Daly nodded. “There are some programs, places that deal with kids like this. I’ll make some calls.”

  “And Hawkins?”

  “Get a statement from Doug and from Mrs. Fisher, and bring them to me.”

  Tain nodded.

  There she was. Like so many other Mondays before, friends nowhere to be found, hanging out all alone.


  He didn’t know what the deal was. Friends at swimming lessons, having extra long weekends with the part-time parent…. He didn’t really care. All that mattered to him was that it was predictable.

  Which made what he had planned possible.

  He had to admit he didn’t have the best vehicle for this either, but with the minor modifications, nobody ever suspected a car like this would be carrying a child he’d snatched off the street.

  It was the perfect vehicle because it wasn’t a van or an SUV. No darkened windows that hinted at what they might conceal. Just a classic car with an average guy behind the wheel, his crosses and crucifix tucked away beneath his shirt and jacket, nothing external to hint at any eccentricities.

  Aaron knew there were some who thought he was insane. He knew the guys on the department, where his cousin worked, thought he was a right-wing nutjob. They’d conspired to make sure he never got on the department, he was sure of it.

  No matter how much Adrian swore it didn’t work that way.

  But it didn’t matter. He’d thought helping others would give his life meaning.

  Now he realized his purpose was to help others, just not in the way he’d thought.

  Aaron glanced at his watch. It was almost time.

  Time to save another girl.

  Craig jumped in the back of the truck, wondering if the crash course he’d had really was going to be enough for him to handle himself in a real fire.

  Quinlan jumped in beside him. “Usually, I wouldn’t be here, but I thought you should know. This one fits the pattern.”

  “Shit. I don’t have any way of getting a message to Ashlyn.”

  “I thought she was being watched.”

  “She is, but…”

  “Look, I’m going to hold you back, make sure you don’t get put in over your head here. And I’ll radio out a call so your sergeant knows.”

  Craig nodded. “Thanks.”

  Ashlyn glanced through the peephole and then unbolted the door.

  “Alex Wilson is behind bars.”

  She saw the gleam in Tain’s eye, the hint that there was much more to tell.

  “Come on, don’t hold back now.” He followed her inside and the phone rang. “Just a second. I’d better get that.”

  “Craig’s personal secretary, huh?”

  “Hardly. Most likely it’s him, checking up on me.”

  Once she was finished on the phone, she hung up, exhaled and leaned against the hall wall. “It’s another arson fire.”

  Tain frowned. “These guys watching you, are they checking license plates of vehicles around the area, just in case?”

  Ashlyn blinked. “Uh, I haven’t a clue. To be honest, they were so concerned about making this a complete safe house, I tuned out most of the techo-stuff after a while.”

  “Ashlyn, really.”

  “Do you have any idea what it’s like, Tain, to know you put yourself at risk and have everyone harping on you twenty-four seven about how dangerous something is? Like you all think I’m completely fearless and the best thing for me would be if I was shaking in my boots, scared out of my mind?”

  “That’s not our point, and you know it.”

  “But it wears you down, you know what I mean?”

  He sighed. “Still, I wouldn’t mind talking to those guys….”

  His cell phone cut in then, and he answered it. After a moment he said, “Okay, I’ll bring her with me,” and hung up.

  “Tain, seriously, I’m fine.”

  He shook his head. “It’s not that, Ashlyn. Another girl’s gone missing.”

  TUESDAY

  It was hours later, just before dawn, when Tain and Ashlyn arrived in Daly’s office to brief him.

  “Tell me we have a lead,” Daly said.

  Tain shook his head. “Nobody saw anything. She went outside to draw in her sketchbook. Her parents didn’t notice anything until she was late for dinner.”

  “Of course not. Why should parents pay attention to their children?” Daly looked up at Ashlyn. “Sorry. So we have another girl missing, and we’re no further ahead with this case?”

  Ashlyn set a drawing down in front of him. “Composite sketch of a possible suspect.”

  He frowned. “If nobody saw anything, where’d you get this?”

  “I tracked those crosses to a cash purchase made in New Westminster, and I sent the sketch artist over this afternoon to get a description.”

  Hawkins walked in then. “We have a description? Why the hell haven’t we released it to the media?”

  “It’s tentative. What we need to do is see if the clown and the jewelry vendor from the fair can ID this as the guy who was seen with Taylor Brennen just before she disappeared.”

  Hawkins pointed a finger at her. “I don’t give a shit about it being tentative. The public is outraged. We look like we’re getting nowhere, and we need to reassure local residents that our streets are safe and we’re making progress.”

  “For Chr—”

  “Tain, shut up.” Daly glared at him for a moment before looking at Hawkins. “It’s too late now for the newspapers anyway, but I agree the picture shouldn’t be released yet.”

  “And why the hell not?”

  “We expect him to kill another girl.”

  “Which is a hell of a good reason to ask every citizen to be looking for him, if you ask me. Maybe the stress of this is clouding your judgment.”

  Daly’s eyes narrowed. “If he wakes up in the morning and sees his picture on the news, what do you think he’ll do? He was going to kill one of them already. Why not kill them all and take off?”

  Hawkins swallowed. “This isn’t my call, and it sure as hell isn’t yours.”

  “Tain, Ashlyn, go home. Sleep. I’ll have officers track down the ID on this guy. Tain, come back at noon. Ashlyn, don’t come back at all, unless we call you in.”

  “If you get a lead on this guy, I want to be there.”

  Daly held up his hand. “One step at a time. And close the door.”

  As soon as they left, Daly looked up at Hawkins, his eyes burning.

  “You are dangerously close to being written up, Daly. I’m warning you—”

  “No, Dennis, I’m warning you.” Daly pulled a file from the top drawer of his desk and handed it to Hawkins. “Right now, I’m not inclined to hang you out to dry on this. My officers are working from behind because they’re cleaning up your old messes.”

  He watched Dennis’s eyes scan the papers, the rows of wrinkles that emerged seeming to age him ten years in less than two minutes.

  “Steve, I—”

  “Right now, Dennis, I only care about one thing. Closing these cases without any more of my people getting hurt. Now, you either support my call on this, or you pull me off. But don’t expect me to keep my mouth shut.”

  Dennis turned and yanked the door open, slamming it behind him as he left.

  When Craig dragged himself up to the front step of his house, a shot of adrenaline surged through him. He reached for his gun instinctively and then cursed.

  It was the one thing he couldn’t risk taking to the fire department.

  Craig set his bag down on the steps. The door was open, and he entered cautiously. Then he checked each room on the main floor, stopping at the safe long enough to reclaim a weapon.

  There’d been no sound from the rooms above him while he’d been moving through the ground floor, but he cautiously started up the stairs, gun ready, moving slowly and making sure he avoided the creaky spots.

  When he’d checked all the rooms, he felt as though something had reached inside his heart and squeezed it, pushing all the air out of his lungs in the same instant.

  He walked back downstairs and heard movement from the doorway. Ashlyn looked at the door and then him.

  “Geez, I thought somebody had broken in.”