Unlawful Imprisonment

by Tracey Higgins

  “Now I’m going to tell you exactly what I’m going to do.” He put her blindfold back on. She was still whimpering. How the hell am I going to get out of this? She thought, trying to block out what was happening to her.

  She did her best to scream.

  “No, no. What did I tell you about that? I don’t want to have to spank you.” He started rubbing her backside. “Unless you want me to.” He laughed aloud. He noticed her cell phonegoing off. “You won’t be needing this, so I’ll just take care of it for you. I would let you use a phone but I guess you’re a little tied up right now.” His laugh made her nauseous.

  She gripped the sheet to keep from screaming. Do what he says and maybe I can get out. Dina had no idea how long this was going to last. It was like a nightmare and she was waiting to wake up.

  All eyes were fixated on Frank and Maggie as they walked into the office together.

  “Something tells me that we will be the hot topic of conversation around the water cooler today.”

  “Ha ha!” She laughed. “That’s alright with me.” “Good. I better go see the Captain and Chris. I want to get this over with.”

  “Good luck.”

  For somebody who was just released from a hospital a day ago, Frank never looked better. He noticed Christopher sitting across from Mueller’s desk. He walked in and shut the door. Captain Mueller got up to greet him. “Frank, good to see you. How are you feeling?”

  “Better.” He slowly looked over at Christopher. He looked stiff sitting therein his suit. “Hello Chris.”

  “Hi Frank. I guess we will be working together again.”

  “Looks like it.” They were staring at each other, and Mueller stepped in.

  “Alright you two. Detective McDonald, I take it you’ve thoroughly read the case files.”

  “Yes I did, but I have a few questions.”

  Oh God, Frank thought, here we go.

  “Well you and Frank can go over that I’m sure. Go get to work.”

  “Yes sir.” They said simultaneously. Frank followed Chris to his office. Frank was the first to speak.

  “So, what was your question?”

  “Did the prints come back from the box?”

  “Yes, there were none.”

  “I didn’t think there would be.”

  “You do realize that we are dealing with a complete sociopath.”

  “Yes, that’s why I hope we can put any differences we have aside and find this guy.”

  Frank was shocked. “Absolutely. Any other questions?”

  “Yeah, although your report says that Kylie and Crystal weren’t drug users, I’d like to talk with their friends.”

  “They already gave statements. I’d rather not put them through that again.”

  “I know, but I would feel better if I ask them myself.”

  Frank sighed. “Okay, I’m going to do some research. Are you leaving now?”

  “Yes. I’ll see you when I get back.”

  “Okay.”

  Frank went back to his desk and turned on his computer. Surprisingly, his first meeting with Christopher went well. He expected it to be a mess. Frank already practically memorized the autopsy reports, so he did some research on kidnapping and serial killers. Maybe he could get an idea of who to look out for. He already knew the obvious that this guy was a sadist and he abused them sexually, even though he didn’t have sex with them. He wasn’t stupid enough to force himself on the woman because there would be a chance of physical evidence. Besides, sex offenders were usually impotent and amazingly enough, one third of them have girlfriends or are married. Frank knew that the victims would have had the exact same injuries if it hadn’t been for Crystal’s asthma, he was convinced of that. Frank figured that she had the asthma attack, her abductor got pissed and beat the hell out of her for messing up his agenda.

  Frank brought up his research file. Everything he needed to know about sociopaths was in that file. This asshole seemed to be a cross between a kidnapper and a serial killer. Although this guy did not physically rape, he fit the prototype of a sadistic rapist, who wants only to torment and kill them later. Serial killers were pretty much sociopaths who experience episodic aggressive behavior, such as deviant sexual behavior, which was this guy, no doubt about it. Frank couldn’t be sure if he fit all the other descriptions like being obsessed with religion, mood swings or being cruel to animals. He assumed he had most of the traits. Whoever he was, he was really racking up on the felonies. So far, he was guilty of kidnapping, sexual abuse, false imprisonment, and murder. Frank wanted no mistakes on this case. Most of all, he hoped that once he caught him, his lawyer didn’t pull any insanity crap. Frank would rather see this guy suffer like his victims more than anything. He had always tried to be impartial in his work, but he never dealt with anything like this. It was too emotional not to succeed, and he would succeed at any cost. The woods were being canvassed constantly, waiting for him to bring his next victim. Although, Frank didn’t think that would happen. He had to have someone by now, and somewhere private. This guy wasn’t going to risk going to the woods again, not after what happened with Crystal. The more Frank looked at his research, the photographs from the scene and the autopsy reports, the more he started to believe in an eye for an eye.

  Chapter 43

  Brandon was having problems with one of his parolees who had been skipping work. Before he went to see Derrick Lands, he knew he was going to end up arresting him. Derrick had been arrested once already since his parole seven months ago. However, at the parole revocation hearing it was decided that revoking his parole was not necessary. Brandon, along with every other officer despised the revocation hearings. It was always the same. Unless the parolee committed a felony, they would never be sent back to prison because of the cost; not to mention the problem of prison overcrowding. That rationale was easy to understand, although when somebody is missing curfews, skipping appointments or missing work, the officers always figured that the only way to get them to shape up was to let them have another little taste of prison life.

  Derrick had missed his curfew twice since his hearing and when Brandon called his employer that morning, Derrick never showed up. He went to his apartment and banged on the door but he didn’t hear anything. Brandon took out his gun and kicked the door open. Derrick was lying on the living room floor unconscious with a needle hanging out of his arm.

  “God Dammit!” Brandon quickly searched the apartment for anyone else, then went back to Derrick and checked his pulse, but there was none. Brandon knew it was only a matter of time before something like this happened to Derrick. This was not an unusual scene for a parole officer to see. Now he had to stay there with a dead body and wait for an ambulance.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  When Andreagot out of the shower, she heard Tony’s voice in the kitchen. She put her hair up and went to the kitchen. Tony had just hung up the phone.

  “Hi.” She walked up to Tony and hugged him. “Who was that on the phone?”

  “John.”

  “I didn’t hear the phone ring.”

  “I called him.” Tony poured her a cup of coffee. “Oh?” She sat at the table.

  “I told him I was going to take one of my fake ID’s and go to New Stone State Penitentiary.”

  She almost choked on her first sip of coffee. “What?”

  He sat across from her and scratched the stubble on his face. “I’m going to go and see if I can find anything out about David.”

  “Tony…”

  “Maybe there’s something in his file that could help us out. I told John that I will drop you off at the office before I go, so you won’t be left alone.”

  “Tony, I don’t want you getting yourself into trouble.”

  “Me?” He laughed.

  “I’m serious. You have enough to worry about.”

  “I’m fine, I can handle this, trust me.” He leaned over and kissed her. “Let’s get dressed, I have to shave before we go.”

  “Okay
.”

  Andrea felt like a kid when Tony took her to the office, like she was dropped off by a parent. They went right to John’s office.

  “Hi John.” Andrea sat down in front of his desk. Tony was rubbing her shoulders. “I get to stay here while Tony goes to play private investigator.” She laughed.

  “Alright, alright, I’m going. John, I will be giving them the name Stephen Conway just in case somebody calls to confirm my visit.”

  “Got it.”

  Andrea kissed him on the cheek. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks.”

  Andrea and John sat quietly for a moment before John uttered a word. “Don’t worry. If anybody knows how to handle a situation like this, its Tony.”

  Andrea smiled. “I know.”

  Normally, Andrea would hate the idea of Tony getting involved in something as bizarre as this. Under the circumstances, however, she was thankful that he was, regardless of what she told him that morning. Tony was an excellent investigator, and he enjoyed it. In fact, Andrea thought he loved his job a little too much. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to give some scumbag what they deserve. Whether it be bribes, using fake names, following them, phone calls, you name it, he’s done it. His absolute favorite case involved a politician. Andrea thought he was crazy to take it on, but he was thrilled. Tony had a library of false identification, not to mention that since he lived in such a secluded area nobody knew where to find him. He got his business calls from an outside line for cases that were really risky. This case with the politician dealt with the politician’s soon to be ex-wife. She claimed he was cheating her out of money and property. Tony followed him at the request of the woman and found that he was far from poor. In fact, he had given most of his money to his mistress in the form of gifts. When he was thinking of going up for re-election, Tony got some pictures of him and the other woman enjoying themselves on yachts and at casinos. When his wife confronted the guy with the pictures, he decided not to run. After that, the ex-wife was living the good life and Tony got a nice cut for himself.

  Andrea knew, however, that this case was different. It was personal and all she could do was wait. Angel had drugged her so heavily that it would have been useless to see her. He had too many other things to do. After all, he couldn’t just disappear from his normal routine. Instead, he put on the tape of her from his first visit with her. He sat on his bed and watched. There she was, lying helpless and trying to struggle. He held off masturbating as long as possible. While he was looking at Dina, he thought about their new idea. Instead of sending pictures to the police, they would send them a tape with only a minute or two of his victim alive and full of terror. It would be the first of its kind. He wondered what the detectives were doing to try and find him. He laughed aloud thinking about how the police were going to feel when they watched his tape. Although she was having difficulty concentrating, Andrea was trying to get some of her reports done. She looked up and saw Brandon standing in front of her.

  “Hey, where have you been?”

  She couldn’t believe Brandon had the audacity to talkto her after his remark a few days ago about Tony. “I was busy.” She didn’t bother looking at him.

  “Oh.” He started to sit in front of her desk. Andrea looked at him and he stopped dead in his tracks.

  “What are you doing?” She flashed him an annoyed look, then went back to her work.

  “Sorry.” He replied as he stood up. “I was just going to talk.”

  “Brandon,” she sighed, “you completely insulted my boyfriend. Who the hell do you think you are?”

  “Jesus Christ Andrea, I was joking.”

  “Sure, I believe that.”

  “What is your problem?”

  “Brandon, I don’t have time to talk to you right now. The only problem I have is standing in front of my desk.”

  “I see. Then I’ll go.”

  “Good.”

  Brandon walked out slowly and Andrea got up and slammed the door after he left. Everybody must have heard it because it was suddenly very quiet. Michael, whose office was close to hers, heard everything. He called Brandon as he walked passed his office.

  “Brandon, can you come in here for a minute?”

  Brandon popped his headin. “Yeah?”

  “Come in.” Michael ordered forcefully. Brandon reluctantly walked in and sat down. Michael got up, shut the door and closed the blinds, then he returned to his desk. “What was that all about?”

  Brandon looked confused. “What?”

  “Your talk with Andrea.”

  “Nothing.”

  “It didn’t sound like nothing.”

  “Okay, how about, it’s none of your business?”

  “Ha, ha.” Michael laughed. “Brandon, stay away from her.”

  “Look, I don’t have to take this shit from you Michael.” He got up to leave and Michael stopped him.

  “If you ever even look at her cross eyed, I’ll kill you.” Brandon looked up at Michael and smiled. “Do you understand me?”

  “Excuse me, but did you care this much about Andrea when you went home to your wife after you fucked her?”

  “Don’t push me Brandon!”

  “Relax Michael. I won’t start anything.”

  “Make sure of it.”

  Brandon left the office hoping nobody heard what went on. He had enough rumors flying around about him already.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NEW STONE STATE PENITENTIARY

  Tony drove for three hours before getting to the prison. He walked up to the visiting area of the prison and spoke with the correction officer. “Can I help you?”

  “Yes sir, my name is Stephen Conway. I’m with the Parole Department of Millers County.” Tony held up his perfect fake ID card. He was a master of those. “I need to speak with someone who can help me with a parolee who was recently released.”

  “Certainly, I’ll buzz you in. Just place your metal objects into this bowl.”

  He emptied his pockets and went through the metal detector. While he had his back turned, he checked his fake mustache.

  “Mr. Conway, this is Officer Morrison. He will give you the information you need.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Mr. Conway, come into my office.”

  Morrison locked the door with a card and sat at his desk. He didn’t look like the type to be a correction officer. He was tall, but skinny with no muscle. “What can I help you with? This is quite a trip for information that you could get over the phone.”

  “I’m on my way to visit family, so this seemed to be perfect timing.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “My parolee may need some more intense counseling and strict conditions. I was wondering if there might be anything in his file that could help me out.”

  “Who’s the man you’re supervising?”

  “David Andre Reese.”

  “Oh him.”

  Tony’s stomach jumped. “From your tone he sounds unforgettable.”

  “You got that right.” Morrison went over to the file cabinet. “Reese for the most part kept to himself. He never caused any problems.”

  “Then I’m confused. What made his stay here so memorable?”

  “That’s it. Inmates are never quiet, except when they’re planning something. There’s always something going on. Basically, not to sound like a professor, every prisoner belongs to a subculture. Each subculture has their own way of thinking, certain beliefs and traditions, if you can believe that happens in prison. It’s pathetic.”

  “What sort of group did David hang out with?”

  “None.”

  “He never took part?”

  “No, and at first it was getting him into trouble. We all saw it coming. Since he wasn’t part of a group he was considered to be self-righteous. The other inmates took his behavior as a sign that he was better than everyone else.”

  “Did anybody ever beat on him?”

  “Yes. Three months into his stay, the Aryan Brotherhood, a white s
upremacist gang, tried to recruit him. David declined and the next day his hand was broken. When he finally had the cast removed, they came after him again, but his cell mate stopped them.”

  “Who was his cellmate?”

  “Uh, a black guy, Nicholas Miller.”

  A light bulb went off in Tony’s head. “Nicholas Miller, the guy who murdered Tina Sterner, the parole officer?”

  “Yeah.”

  “If you don’t mind my asking, what was he in for?”

  “Rape, same as your boy. Miller was impressed with Reese by the way he stood up to the gang. They are both very intelligent people. From that day on, they were inseparable. In fact, David was the only cellmate Miller got along with. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Nick is still at large, right?”

  “Tony was practically speechless. “Yes…yes he is.”

  “Would you like to see anyone else?”

  “No thank you. You’ve been very helpful. Thank you for your time.”

  “No problem. Feel free to call if there’s anything else I can do for you.”

  “I will, thanks.”

  Tony had to get his hands on Nicholas Miller’s file. He didn’t know how Andrea was going to react to this. On his way home, he was thinking about how Andrea told him that David’s case was odd, and now he was starting to understand. It was that new arrest report for harassment. Why would this woman just drop charges against a man who brutally raped her, it didn’t make any sense. Either Reese used a phone call from prison to threaten her or Andrea was right about his being innocent and this was his way of revenge.

  Chapter 46

  Christopher went to Frank’s desk as soon as he got in. Frank was staring at the pictures taken from both crime scenes. The more he looked at them, the less he cared about his personal problems with Chris. The important thing was to find this sociopath and that was all that mattered.

  “Hi Frank.”

  “Hey, how did it go with Kylie’s friends?”

  “Good and bad.”

  “What did they say?”

  “Well, this could be nothing, but who knows? Kylie’s friends said the same thing as in their original statements. Then one of the girls broke down crying about how unfair her death was…”