by W L Knightly
On their way across town to the construction site, Jo stayed on the phone with her mom, who had called the minute she had gotten her seatbelt fastened. As they pulled up into the site, she finally pulled her hand away from her face. “Okay, Mom. I have to go. I’ll call you later. Enjoy your trip.”
She hung up the phone as Jake parked. “I’m so sorry about that. She’s in the Bahamas with the new boyfriend, Stuart.”
“Sounds fun. And it’s no bother, but we’re here.”
She looked out at the site which was busy with men at work. “Let’s do this, partner.” She winked at him and opened her door to get out.
He met her around the front of the car and looked out over the site. “I don’t see the boss.”
Jo sighed. “That’s not good. I hope he’s here.”
“Come on. Let’s ask around.” Jake walked over to the structure where they were stopped by one of the workers.
“You can’t go in there,” said the man with a hardhat and safety goggles. “You have to wear a hat.”
“Could you tell me where your boss is?”
“Who’s asking?”
Jake flashed his badge. “Detectives Thomas and Calloway. We just need to ask some questions. If you could find him, I’d appreciate it.”
“Will do. Stay put.” He left them standing there and walked around the building. A few moments later, the man Jake had talked to before came around the building.
He didn’t look happy to see Jake. “Don’t tell me that little bastard has gone off and gotten himself arrested.”
“No. At least I hope not. I’m Detective Thomas. This is my partner, Detective Calloway. We came to ask you about another employee. I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced.”
“Bob Sutter.”
“Good to meet you, Bob. I’m not sure when this person might have worked for you. He was a big guy, very tall and broad shoulders. He worked alongside Craig Tanner from what he told us, and he had a lot to say about the government. Had a really scratchy, gruff voice. Perhaps you remember him?”
“No, I don’t. And as for Craig Tanner, he usually works alone.”
“Are you sure about that? He said he had extensive conversations with this man. That he worked for you for a short time and then he left.” The man shook his head as Jake spoke. “Would you have any record of his employment that we could search for?”
The man seemed rather disturbed by that question. “Look, I’m trying to run a safe, successful business here. I try to follow the rules. I honestly don’t know of anyone I hired on a temporary basis who that little punk says might be the man you’re talking about. I’m sorry. I’d like to help you guys, but I can’t.”
Jake and Jo exchanged a look. “Could you do us a favor?” asked Jo. “Could you go through your employment records, your payroll, whatever you need, and get back with us? It’s very important that we try and find this man.”
“That shit Tanner probably lied to you. He’s a real piece of work, that one. I warned him no more of his crazy bullshit, or I’d fire him. So, if you see him, tell him he’s done. I’m shit-canning his ass for good! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got deadlines to meet.” Sutter turned and stormed into the building, and Jake and Jo couldn’t go after him.
“Well, that’s that. So much for a big break in the case.” Jo was disappointed, and Jake couldn’t blame her for sounding so bitter.
“We should get back to the office and see what Nina found with Tanner’s letter. If he’s lying, then maybe he’s the killer.”
“Do you think he’s big enough?” Jo didn’t look convinced. She had nearly been run over by the man.
The Hangman was a pretty big man, but Tanner wasn’t exactly a wimp. “Add boots, a heavy coat, and that damned hood? I don’t know.” He was having trouble seeing it, though. “Maybe he knows who the Hangman is and that’s why he took off.”
Jo started for the car, and Jake took off behind her. “I hope Nina got to the letter. I’m anxious to know what she found.”
They got in the car and headed across town to the forensics lab. While they parked, Jake noticed Kevin walking into the building. “Thank god he’s here today,” he said, nodding in his direction.
“No kidding,” said Jo. “Now I know why you can’t stand Nina. After her rude insinuations, I don’t see how anyone works with her.”
Hearing her tone over the insinuations made him feel like shit. She was really repulsed by the thought of there being anything between the two of them. He should have known that was how she’d feel. She didn’t see him in the same way he could imagine her. He tried not to beat himself up about it. Besides, it was only natural to see yourself with a pretty girl. Right? Telling himself that didn’t repair his ego any.
As they walked into the lab, they ran into Kevin who was still in the hallway on his phone. He put it away when he saw Jake and Jo. “Good morning, Detectives.”
“Good morning,” said Jo with a big smile. “We’re here to see if Nina got anything off of another letter we brought in.”
Kevin shook his head, and the look on his face put Jake on alarm. “I had to put someone else on it earlier. She left it untouched and out on the damned counter. I found it earlier with a note about where it came from. She didn’t show up for work, and honestly, I’m a little worried. It’s not like her, and I’ve called her apartment a hundred times and still no answer. She always calls in when she’s running late and especially if she’s not coming in.”
Jake didn’t like the sound of it. “When was the last time you spoke with her?”
“Directly? Last week. She did text me on her way in on Sunday, and our man Gary was here with her Sunday, and so was Jon. They said she was fine, seemed her usual disagreeable self, and Gary said she left as soon as he showed up.”
“Is he here today?”
“Yeah.” Kevin waved them back, and they walked into the forensics office behind the glass. “Gary, the detectives would like to speak with you.”
The man got up from where he was working and walked over. He had a big smile for Jo. “Yeah? Can I help you guys?”
“Did Nina say anything about going anywhere after work?”
The guy shrugged. “Nah, she hates me. The last thing she would have done is share her life or what came next in it with any of us. I don’t even think she likes Jon, and we all like Jon.”
“What’s not to like?” asked Jake with a shrug. “That’s Nina, all right.”
“Yeah, she shuts herself down from the rest of us most days,” said Kevin.
“I just always figure it’s not easy being the only female in the lab. She’s bitched about it before.” Gary didn’t seem too worried about Nina, and Jake couldn’t blame the guy.
“Well,” said Jo. “I guess there’s enough cause to go check out her apartment. Do you happen to know where she lives?”
“I do,” said Jake, wishing he didn’t. “Come on.”
Chapter 8
Nina
Waves. That’s what I’m on, a mattress in the water riding waves.
Something isn’t right. Nina jerked awake.
As she opened her eyes, she realized she was on the cold floor of a hotel bathroom with her hands tied behind her. The place was familiar. She’d seen the tile before. The logo R in the center tile was the signature of the Rockford Hotel, which she knew well. It had been where she and Michael had gone many times, mostly because not many people stayed in the Rockford anymore. How the place still managed to remain open was a mystery, but most who stayed there had secrets and were most likely supposed to be somewhere else.
She lay there a minute, trying to figure out how she got there, and smiled knowing it had to be Michael’s doing. He had liked to tie her up before.
Had he come for her wanting to play one of his sex games? It would appear so. She was so groggy and wondered what he’d done to her already. She assessed her lower regions and sat up. She had been in her kitchen from what she could remember. And Clay had been the
re. No, he’d come back? No. That wasn’t right either.
She tried to think on it, listening to the sounds in the next room. The door opened, and she saw the large, dark frame of her abductor. Her eyes widened, and her memories returned.
This man had come up behind her when she was walking back to her room and stuck her in the neck. She reached for the wound, but he grabbed her by the hair and jerked her up to her feet before she could even utter a word. It all happened so quickly. She didn’t know what she was going to do.
“On your feet, bitch.”
“Michael?” she asked. The voice sounded disguised, but it had to be him. “Is that you?” She still wasn’t sure that it wasn’t a game. “Baby, just tell me that it’s you, and I’ll play along.” She had wanted to see him so badly, and he had come for her just like she dreamed.
The man stopped as if looking at her behind the hood, and then he turned and finished dragging her along with him to the other part of the room.
“Please,” she said.
“Shut up until I tell you to speak.”
“Yes, sir. Master, sir.” She and Michael had played some kinky games in their past, and she had knelt for him many times, giving him ultimate control over her pleasure. While he had liked to be rough, he had never been violent. “I’ll do anything you ask.”
“Good. That will make this easier on you.”
She felt a surge of desire coil in her core, and she liked the feel of his rough leather gloves against her flesh as he stood her near the chair.
“Shouldn’t you undress me?” she asked as she giggled. She still had on her yoga pants and the loose shirt she’d put on after her shower.
The man did not answer. “You woke up earlier than most. I suppose that’s my fault. I was afraid that I’d kill you too soon with too big a dose, seeing how you’re just a little thing.”
“Others?” She was confused, and anger shot through her. “There are others you play with?” The hooded man tilted his head to the side and gave her no response. “Michael? Answer me!”
“I’m not your Michael, bitch.” He grabbed her by the neck. “Get up on the chair, or I’ll choke the fucking life out of you.”
“Who are you?” She began to put it all together. If this wasn’t Michael, had Michael heard about what she tried with Clay? Had he sent this monster to teach her a lesson?
“You can call me Hangman just like those others I mentioned.”
Her blood turned cold as it drained from her face and into her fingertips which went weak. This was the killer. The one who had killed all those other men, who had caused those horrible gut wounds she’d seen in the photographs. She screamed and fought against him. “Let me go!” She choked out the words, and he tightened his grip.
“Get on the fucking chair, you whore.”
“Please, please, I will do anything you want. Anything. You can use me any way you want.” She was sure if she offered him sex, he’d take it, and she was prepared to play along with anything he wanted. “I’ll be a good girl.”
“I bet you will. Now, we’re going to play a game, so I need you up on that fucking chair.” He reached for a rope that was tied to a hook in the ceiling, and then he put it around her neck. “Get on the fucking chair.”
She climbed up on the chair with his help and wobbled on her feet. “Please. Let me go. I’ve never hurt anyone. I can tell you who has. I can tell you plenty.”
The Hangman looked at her. “I just need a little blood to begin.” He reached in his coat, and before she could see what he was going for, he pulled the blade and cut her. She screamed, and suddenly, the front of her tight pants became wet as she urinated down her legs.
“They usually do that after.” He dug his fingers into her wound, causing her to scream in agony.
The Hangman turned and began marking something on the wall as her vision and consciousness went in and out.
Suddenly, a pungent smell licked her nostrils, causing them to sting. Smelling salts? “Please,” she squeaked out.
“Wake up. You’re never going to fucking wake up if you don’t play this game with me.” He reached up and, with his blade, cut her shirt off.
She was left topless and shivering from the cold. “Why are you doing this to me? Are you getting off on it, you sick fuck?”
“Solve the puzzle, and see.”
“I suck at this game.”
“Sucks to be you then. Because every minute that passes that you haven’t guessed a letter, I’m going to cut you again. And each time, it’s going to hurt worse than the time before until the pain is so fucking great, you’ll wish you’d been a good girl all along.”
“I have,” she lied. She had been horrible, and this man knew all about the lies and how she’d lost and twisted evidence for Michael and others.
“That’s another minute.” He slashed the blade across her arm, and she cried out in pain. She had to think of a letter, but her mind was so unfocused, she couldn’t think of any. “A,” she said, thinking she needed to go through the alphabet.
“Strike one. Five more, and you hang. This can either be quick or slow. It’s all in how you play the game.” He struck out again, slicing her other arm, and with the blood, he drew a circle on the wall.
She had played this game as a kid and used to be quite good, but she knew that she was totally screwed. Win or lose, he was going to kill her.
“B,” she choked out.
The Hangman didn’t say a word. Instead, he stabbed her in the arm then dipped his fingers into the blood before he drew a line for the body on the wall.
“That’s what you do. You use your hands.” That was what made the gut wound look so fucked up. This asshole had dug into the wound and pulled out the judge’s intestines.
“Guess a letter. Before I cut your fucking head off.” He held the knife to her chin, and the rope bit tightly into her flesh, scratching her.
“C,” she said, knowing there was no hope.
“Looks like you got lucky. Now you really get to see what I do with my hands.” He reached for her first cut, and she screamed out as he dug his fingers into the flesh, making a slurpy wet sound. He pulled them out, blood-soaked, and turned to write the letter on the board.
She looked at the two Cs he’d put on the wall and tried to guess the puzzle, but it wasn’t enough. “I don’t know it. D?”
She closed her eyes, bracing for whatever he’d do next. His fingers dug into her shoulder, where the pain had already started to go numb, but it stung when his finger went into the hole he’d made there.
She opened her eyes as he stepped away, and she cried when she saw the letter on the board. “I don’t know it.”
“You do though. You know exactly what you’ve done, Nina!” He slashed the blade across her face. “Choose another fucking letter!”
“Fuck you,” she whispered. “Fuck you. Fuck you.” She wailed with a hopelessness she’d never felt before. Her life, her looks, he’d taken it all from her. “I don’t care anymore.”
“You haven’t ever cared, bitch. About anyone or anything other than yourself. You took solid evidence and discarded it to compromise investigations. You did it to me, and you did it to others, and now, it’s time you fucking pay.” He drew back his knife, and she knew it was the end.
“L,” she screamed out, knowing it was no use. No one in the Rockford was coming to help. The staff had learned to look the other way when they heard screams and probably assumed she was having rough sex or fulfilling a fantasy or fetish.
Knowing her life was over, she would never have that kind of fun again, and she was desperate for the game to end. She didn’t know the fucking word. There were too many blanks left to fill in, and he had known the odds were against her when she started.
The Hangman lowered his blade. “You were doing better when you were going in order.” She breathed a sigh of relief, but only for a moment when she realized what was about to happen.
He reached out and slashed her chest. Then he wet
his fingers and drew the line for the right arm.
Had that been a clue? Should she go in order? What was next? What was next? She had to think fast. “E?”
It was a popular letter. She had a glimmer of hope as if he were actually going to help her. But then the blade came across her stomach like she was nothing more than a stick of butter.
“F,” she said. “G.” She closed her eyes as he shook his head. She needed the fucking game to be over.
The Hangman growled like a wild animal. “So many of you try to take the easy way out.”
“Let me die,” she begged. “I’ve been horrible, and I know it. I have done horrible things to and for people. I deserve it. Please kill me.” She hoped her psychological bullshit would work on him. Perhaps all she had to do was confess, and he’d let her go.
“Gladly.” He kicked the chair out from under her, and her feet scrambled for purchase.
She dangled and jerked on the rope, her body weight not quite enough to make it a quick death. She could see him watching her the whole time as she gasped for breath that would never come. Her vision kicked on and off as she strangled, and finally, she felt her head grow hot as if it could explode, the smell of blood was strong, and then there was nothing.
Chapter 9
Jake
“How do you know where Nina lives?” asked Jo when they pulled out of the lot headed to her house.
“I took her home once.” He shrugged.
Jo angled in her seat toward him. “You took her home? I thought you didn’t like her. Is that why she accused us of sleeping together because—”
“I did not sleep with her if that’s what you’re about to ask me.”
“I’d understand if you had. She’s an attractive woman.”
“She’s a shrew. The only reason I brought her home was because I felt bad for her. She had gone to Blue’s and showed her ass. Someone went out and slashed her tires, all four of them, so she was stuck. No one else would take her, so I volunteered.” He wasn’t going to tell her the details of how Nina had attempted to blow him in his car and how she flashed him her tits.