Unlawful Imprisonment

by Tracey Higgins

“No, no, relax.” He paused. “Nicole left.”

  “What?”

  “She left me a note with the typical, you bastard I hope you rot in hell, etc. She took all her stuff and she even took the sheets off the bed, do you fucking believe that?”

  “I’m sorry Michael.”

  “Thanks, but don’t worry about me. It was only a matter of time but I didn’t think it would be like this.”

  “I hate to do this to you but I have to keep the line open for John.”

  “Okay, call if you need anything.”

  “You too.”

  “Thanks.”

  Tony turned to Andrea. “What were you telling him you’re sorry for?”

  “Nicole left him.”

  “What took her so long?”

  “Tony!”

  “What? It’s true.”

  “She really cursed him out in her letter.”

  “What did he expect, a new address card?” He was laughing hysterically.

  “Funny Tony, very funny.”

  “I’m sorry, I was just trying to get you to smile.” She smiled at him. “I know.”

  Andrea was getting ready for work and Tony was getting ready to watch Reese’s house. They figured they might as well get an early start since neither of them could sit still.

  “Tony,” she was putting her hair up, “when you pick me up at the office tonight, we have to stop at my apartment for some clothes.”

  Okay.”

  Andrea had always left a few outfits at Tony’s since she slept there often. However, she had a feeling that she was going to be staying with him for awhile.

  “How long do you think you’ll be there today?”

  “Not too long. I really just want to be there for at least an hour or two after John sees him. If David is planning to leave the house at all, he’s going to wait until John shows up, and not before his visit.”

  “True. You ready?”

  “Yeah, let’s go.”

  There was hardly anyone in the office when Andrea got there.

  She was relieved

  They must have all been making visits. that she wouldn’t have to talk with anyone. Andrea did not want to discuss the note or the pictures with anybody. She was certain that everybody knew about it.

  John came into her office waving a file with a smile on his face.

  “Hi. I’ve got good news.”

  “I’m not used to good news.”

  “I got David a new job so Tony can stop watching his house.”

  “That’s a relief. Where is the job?”

  John smiled. “Stock boy at a grocery store.”

  “Are you kidding me? He’s going to go nuts!”

  “I know, I can’t wait to tell him.” He laughed.

  “I’m sure you can’t. Are you going there this early?”

  “No, in a little while. He’s going to start tomorrow.”

  “Thanks John.”

  “No problem. “

  Paradise, Buddy thought as he was driving to his dungeon with his new victim in the trunk. She was drugged heavily so he didn’t have to worry about putting his mask on when he got her out. Two women at once, he couldn’t believe it. He was so aroused that he was shifting in his seat. When he reached the house he carried his lady to the basement, removed her clothes and chained her to the wall next to the bed. Her arms were stretched out to reach the hook he had attached to the ceiling and her ankles were locked to the floor. Dina was passed out, which bothered him. He liked when her phone went off and he could tease her with it. He already took care of making it untraceable. Buddy was a bit of an electronics fanatic. Then he took his tape out of the camcorder and put a new one in to record. He couldn’t wait to watch it. He left Angel a note by his bed to look downstairs for a surprise.

  When John went to see David, his mother opened the door with a dirty look. It was obvious that David and Aaron had told her about John’s little confrontation with Aaron. Luckily, Aaron was not home. John was not in the mood to deal with his reaction to David’s new job.

  “Hello Mrs. Reese.” John was doing his best to be polite.

  “Hello.” She was aggravated. Louise directed him inside. John walked over to the dining room table where David was sitting. Louise followed him.

  “David, I found you a new job.”

  “You mean I can finally leave my house?” He asked sarcastically.

  “Yes,” John smiled, “starting tomorrow at ten am. Here you are.” John handed him the address card. David sunk into his chair and Louise came up behind him. David looked up at John and his mouth dropped.

  “Are you serious? A fucking grocery store?”

  “What do you want David, a college professor?”

  Louise, as expected, had to jump into the conversation. “My son has excellent job skills. I’m sure you can find something better for his qualifications.”

  “Yes ma’am I probably could, but until then, this is all I have.”

  “Could I wait for something else?”

  “You do not have any options here David. You are the one who left your other job.”

  “That was not his fault!” Louise was losing her temper.

  “Mrs. Reese,” John raised his voice, “I don’t care what the circumstances were. The fact of the matter is, David quit his job. Technically, he violated one of his parole conditions by doing so. Be thankful that his boss called to inform us that he quit, otherwise he may have been close to having his parole revoked.” Louise and David stared at each other. John felt like he was disciplining two children. “Now, you can leave the house for work and your counseling sessions. By the way, how is that going?”

  “Isn’t that a bit private?” David had a look of accomplishment on his face, knowing that John could not ask about what was said in those sessions.

  “Yes, absolutely. I was just wondering if you find it helpful.”

  “No, considering I didn’t rape that woman.” There was a long silence.

  “Well, I’ll call your new boss and tell him to expect you.”

  “Great.” David groaned.

  “Don’t forget that counseling and work are the only times you leave this house.”

  “For how long?”

  “That’s up to you. I need to know that you are not going to have another temper tantrum and quit. I’ll probably see you tomorrow.” John didn’t wait for a response from either of them. He just left.

  Tony saw John leave from his watch post and calledAndrea from his cellular phone. “Hi it’s me. John just left David’s.”

  “Good. He got him a job starting tomorrow, so you’re off the hook.”

  “That’s nice.”

  “So how much longer are you going to stay there today?”

  “About two more hours. I’m going to stop at my office for a little while before I pick you up.”

  “Take your time.”

  Andrea couldn’t wait to see John and find out how the Reese clan took the news about David’s new job. She jumped up to close the door when she saw Brandon.

  Brandon was trying to avoid as many people as possible when he came into the office. Unfortunately, he ran into Michael.

  “Brandon, what happened to you?” Michael couldn’t help the smile on his face, looking at Brandon's black eye.

  “Nothing, just a stupid fight last night.”

  “That’s a shame.”

  “Get out of my way Michael.” Brandon shoved his way past Michael and slammed his office door closed.

  “Wow!” said Jesse who saw everything, “I guess she really gave it to him!”

  Michael turned around. “What are you talking about?”

  “That black eye. It’s probably from that woman who was looking for him, remember?”

  “Yeah. What happened? Did she find out about his supply of woman?”

  “No, he said he was going to break it off.”

  “Lucky her. I wish we could get rid of him that easily.”

  “Oh, stop. What fun would this pl
ace be without all those juicy rumors?”

  “That’s true.”

  Michael was going to stop by Andrea’s office, but he figured she wouldn’t want to talk. His next visit was a good distance away, but he stopped in just in case Nicole called him there. Seeing Brandon’s black eye was worth the trip.

  Chapter 57

  Frank didn’t see Maggie when he got to the office. She had her own problems with the numerous rape cases that came across her desk. He didn’t know how Maggie dealt with sex crimes day in and day out. Frank never had to worry about dealing with the victim’s families on a regular basis, and when he did speak with them, it was heartbreaking. Whenever Frank testified in a courtroom regarding the procedures of an investigation, he always focused on the lawyer, not the defendant. Most of the time, the victim’s families could not sit through the proceedings. Maggie, on the other hand, had to face the defendant and the victim. He knew she was used to it by now, but occasionally it would get to her.

  Frank went directly to Christopher’s office and Chris was sitting at this desk holding his head with his jacket and tie off. Frank was amazed.

  “Hey, you must have had a bad day, you’re not wearing your tie and jacket.” He shut the door behind him and sat across from Chris. Chris looked at the ceiling and sighed.

  “I saw twenty people between yesterday and today. Most of the missing women were married and reported missing by their husbands.”

  “How did they act towards you?” Frank was going thought his papers and didn’t look at Chris.

  “You know, the same heartfelt breakdown. I know this sounds horrible, but I’m used to it.”

  “I’m not.”

  “The one that I’m stuck on is Rita Kronch. She was reported missing by her father and according to him she never dated anybody…”

  Frank interrupted him. “Please don’t tell me again about the virgin theory.”

  say that ecstasy.” Chris raised his eyebrows. “No, I was going to she had a problem with drugs, particularly Frank looke d up from his papers. “Really?” “Yeah. She was released from a hospital one month prior to her disappearance. Rita was using again within two weeks of her release.”

  “Did her father know who she got the ecstasy from?”

  “Yes, but they couldn’t arrest him because there was no evidence to make a charge stick. He lives pretty close by.” Chris shuffled through his papers. “Alan Landser.”

  Frank’s heart jumped into his throat. “Alan Landser?”

  “Right. What’s wrong?”

  “I just talked to him.”

  “When?”

  “Today. I was going to interview…” Frank was trying to find the file. “Here, Dina Weston. She has a mother in a nursing home and the only two people I could find were her boss, Sylvia Wilder, and her neighbor, Alan Landser. She also has a phone which obviously is not getting any responses. But I want to keep trying it anyway.””

  “Are you shitting me?”

  “Oh, like I would make that up?”

  “What did he say?”

  “Well, he said the landlord, George Tanner, was the one who reported her missing and he is on vacation. But that doesn’t bother me.”

  “Why? We have to find the landlord.”

  “I know, but Alan kept referring to Dina in the past tense, you know what I mean?”

  “Yeah.” Chris sat back in his chair.

  “He also wouldn’t look me in the eyes. It bothered me.”

  Captain Mueller walked into the office. Apparently, he was standing outside listening. “The first rule of investigating gentlemen.” He closed the door behind him. “Nine out of ten times if a person cannot look you in the eyes and give you a direct and quick answer, he or she is most likely lying.”

  “I know.” Frank and Chris replied simultaneously.

  “Okay.” Frank got up. “I’m going to see if Mr. Alan Landser has a record.”

  Chris followed him out of the office. “I’ll track down the landlord.”

  Mueller knew that Chris and Frank would be able to work together, especially on a case like this where personality differences are not important. “I’ll call Slomin and let him know what’s going on.”

  Frank went to his computer and Chris was on the phone trying to locate the landlord. He had to tell somebody where he was going. Hopefully, this would be the break they needed.

  The two women were coming out of the sedatives later in the morning. Angel decided not to wear his gloves. He wanted to touch them with his bare hands. As soon as he walked into their room he lit all the candles. Seeing the other woman was like Christmas morning. He left Dina alone. He wanted some time with his new blond haired, blue eyed beauty. Her name was Nicole Amalfitano. He had kept all his victim’s wallets as sort of a trophy. He walked up to her and took off her blindfold. She was twisting her arms around trying to keep the circulation going. He caressed her stomach as she was banging her chains.

  “Would you like to lay down?” He had a wide table set up that he brought down from the upstairs and covered it with a black quilt. “Do you? Or you could stay here on the wall, it’s up to you.”

  She moaned. Nicole couldn’t understand him that well because her head was throbbing, nor could she recognize him.

  “I’ll take that as a yes to take you down. No tricks, or you’ll regret it.”

  He looked over to make sure he was recording. He took out his keys and unlocked her hands. As he went to unlock her ankles, he scratched her legs gently. She started to lose her balance. He picked her up over his shoulder, carried her to the table and put her down sitting up. He took out a piece of rope and bound her legs together and then tied them down to the table. He ran his fingers along the soles of her feet while he walked around the table. He then unlocked her hands and pushed her down and chained them to the table legs.

  “Is that better?” The table was short and when Nicole looked up at him, he looked far away. “Let’s stop giving Dina all the camera time. How about just us for awhile?” He removed her blindfold.

  She was struggling.

  “Very nice,” he moaned, “I like that.”

  He went over to his briefcase, got his thermos and took out an ice cube. He wanted to have some fun with her before he fed her. He was walking around her, tormenting her. He ran the ice cube down her breasts to her stomach and eventually to her thighs. She was trying to free herself and yell. He was laughing.

  Nicole was in so much pain that for a moment she wished she would die. She wondered how long the other woman had been in this place. Even though she wasn’t blindfolded, she couldn’t see well with her blurred vision. Due to the pain, and the intense fear, she passed out ten minutes later.

  Tony and Andrea went to dinner, but neither of them could eat much. Aside from the car ride home, they hardly spoke. Between what was happening with Andrea and worrying about Frank, Tony was exhausted. Andrea broke the silence in the car.

  “Don’t forget to stop at my apartment.”

  “I know.” He smiled at her. “I know you’re frustrated with all this, but I like you’re staying at my house.”

  “Ha, ha!”

  Tony tried to make Andrea feel better, but he was miserable because he felt useless. He had never been in a situation that he couldn’t handle. However, when it came to not being able to find out who was after his girlfriend, he was furious. Tony checked the apartment before letting Andrea in. When she got the okay, her and Tony went to her bedroom and packed some of her things. They were there about fifteen minutes and when they went to leave, there was an envelope under the door. Andrea froze.

  “Son of a bitch!” Tony took off out of the apartment yelling, “Lock the door! NOW!”

  She did what he said, then picked up the envelope. She out it on the table in the living room, sat on the couch and stared at it. Instead of being scared, she was more worried about Tony. With his temper, God only knows what he was going to do, which is why she didn’t phone the police. About twenty minutes later
he was back, banging on the door. She ran over to let him in. Tony was completely out of breath.

  “Are you alright?”

  Tony motioned her to sit down while he locked the door. “That bastard,” he gasped, “I chased him for ten blocks and he disappeared.”

  “What?” She asked silently. Tony grabbed the phone. “Who are you calling?”

  “A friend at the police station who can put a call out to look for him. The only thing I could notice was that he was black and about 6’2 with a denim jacket and black boots.”

  “So, he’s still out there.” She folded her arms and looked out the window. Tony was talking to the cop and Andrea looked over at the envelope. He hung up the phone and took her over to the couch.

  “He’s telling the patrol cars to look out for him. Did you read it?”

  “No.”

  Tony went to open it and Andrea’s heart felt like it stopped. “Oh my God!” Tony was shaking his head. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Andrea.

  “Let me see it.” Reluctantly, he gave it to her. ALL THE INVESTIGATING IN THE WORLD CAN’T HELP YOU. I KNOW YOU’RE SMART, BUT I’M SMARTER. SWEET DREAMS!!!!! Frank knew that Alan Landser was not the man he was looking for as he was reading through his record. Alan was arrested four years ago for drug dealing and as given probation. He sold marijuana to one person and aside from that, there were no other run-ins with the law. Apparently, the judge took pity on him because he was young. Today, Alan is twenty-five years old. Frank had a feeling that the man he was looking for was older. He took another painkiller as Chris sat by his desk.

  “Well, we can forget George Tanner as a suspect. He’s sixty five years old.”

  “We can also forget Alan.”

  “Why? I think he could be the guy.”

  “He’s too young and he was in trouble with the law before. A serial killer like this would not be stupid enough to get caught for selling dope.”

  “What about the facts Frank? The father of a missing girl says that Alan sold her ecstasy. In case you don’t remember, ecstasy was in Kylie’s system.”

  “Yes I remember.”

  “I know it’s him.” Chris stood up to leave. “I’m going to follow his ass and he’s going to lead me directly to his new victim. I know it.”

  Maggie looked over at Frank and winked. She knew that Frank was right. Frank always followed his instincts. Even though he was aggravated with Alan for not looking him in the eyes, he had a gnawing feeling that Chris was wasting time with Alan. However, it was worth a shot. With Chris following Alan, Frank was on his own.