Now Say You're Sorry

by Barbara Fournier

  Kei Lien didn’t say a word at first. She just drank her juice, which made her feel better. When she was finished, she closed her eyes and whispered, “Yes.”

  Daniel told her he would be right outside the door. If she needed him to just call his name.

  “Mary Elizabeth, you are an angel for sure,” he said quietly as he left the room.

  The exam was going to be difficult. There were no other attendants to help position this poor girl. And Mary Elizabeth wondered if Kei Lien would allow a speculum to be placed inside her, yet alone stay still long enough to obtain pictures and tissue samples. All she could do was try. When the nurse removed the sheets and blankets and gently moved Kei Lien’s legs, she was horrified. Her skin was raw and mutilated. She explained to Kei Lien that she would need to take a few photos and asked if that was okay with her. It took a few minutes to describe what she was doing each time she touched her. Kei Lien flinched a little, but did not tell her to stop. Mary Elizabeth was grateful for that. She also had anal tearing and upon examining her further discovered the possibility of a pregnancy at some point.

  When the exam was finished, Mary Elizabeth cleaned Kei Lien off with sterile solution, which she was sure stung, and tucked this brave girl back into a more comfortable position in her bed.

  “Have a sip of water, Kei Lien, I will get you some lunch. Is there anything special you would like, dear?”

  “Someone to love me like my mom did.”

  The only thing Nurse Mary Elizabeth could say without falling to pieces was, “She still does, sweetheart. She still does.”

  Chapter 48

  “Did you say Andrew Kelsey?” Lake asked.

  “Yes.” Andrew replied.

  “Reese, what are the odds of that name popping up here? I’m starting to think our town really didn’t know anything about our beloved Sergeant.”

  “What name? Sergeant who? What are you talking about?”

  “Andrew,” Reese paused. “May we ask you a personal question?”

  “I guess so.”

  “Who’s your father?”

  “What does that have to do with anything? Listen, I came here to help you with your case, not play This is Your Life. Now, am I being detained for something? If not, I’m out of here.”

  “No, you’re not in any trouble Andy. May I call you Andy?” Lake asked. “It just seemed odd to me that the Sergeant in our town happens to have the same last name as you.”

  Andrew furrowed his brow. “A Sergeant? Really? Wouldn’t that be a kick in the balls?”

  “I don’t follow you, Andy.”

  “I have no idea who my father is. My mother got knocked up and lover boy took off on her. She tried to get him to pay child support, but she was too poor to afford a lawyer. She had to work three jobs just to keep our heads above water. When I was old enough, I got a job at the Center to help pay the bills. That’s when this happened to me.” Andrew motioned toward his deformed face. “The medical bills started to pile up and I guess it was all just too much for her. She committed suicide a few years ago. To be honest, I thought about doing the same thing, but either I was a coward or somewhere deep down I believe I have a chance to make something of myself in this world.”

  “You made the right choice,” Reese smiled.

  “Where is this Sergeant? If he is my father, I’d like to meet him and thank him for abandoning us. Tell him he’s the reason my mom killed herself. That son of a bitch!”

  “Whoa, hold on a second Andy. We don’t even know if this man was your father or if this is just a coincidence.”

  “What do you mean was? He’s dead, isn’t he? I hope he is that asshole!”

  “Andrew, we don’t know anything yet. If you want, you could get a DNA test to see if there’s a match, but that’s all we can help you with right now. And yes, the Sergeant was murdered.”

  Lake touched Andrew’s shoulder and gave it a soft shake. “Andrew, why don’t we take your contact info and get in touch with you in the morning? Here’s my card. We’ll be in town through tomorrow at least. If you can think of anything else that might help our case, call me immediately. Day or night.”

  Reese was touched by this rare moment of compassion Lake was displaying.

  She moved closer toward Andrew. “I’m so sorry for the loss of your Mom. I bet she was a great woman. Suicide is such a difficult thing to grasp.”

  Andrew nodded his head. He gave the detectives his address and phone number and left.

  Reese pushed the door closed, leaned with her back up against it and let out a big sigh. “What do you make of all of that?”

  “I hate to say it, but it’s starting to look like Martin Kelsey, our home town Sergeant, was a real prick.”

  Reese dropped her face into her hands. “You know, sometimes I hate the oath I took. Seeing the worst of humanity. I’d rather be soaking in a hot tub full of bubbles with a glass of wine in my hand instead of a gun.”

  Lake put his hand under her chin and raised her face gently. He stared deep into her eyes and for a moment allowed his feelings for her to rush over him. “This cheap motel has no tub, but why don’t you go and take a nice long, hot shower. I’ll go find us some wine and some snacks. Maybe some cheese and crackers? We can relax for the rest of the evening just watching mindless TV and put this case and our jobs out of our minds for a little while. Is that okay with you?”

  Reese kissed him hard and then hugged him tight. “Thank you for actually listening to me. Now go get us that wine and cheese. I’m starving,” she grinned.

  As he turned to leave, she gave him a playful smack on the ass.

  “Detective, I believe that would be considered sexual harassment,” Lake winked as he slipped out the door.

  Emerson Lake knew this was going to be a never-ending week. It seemed there were so many different directions to follow. So many what ifs and so many new suspects, including Andrew Kelsey. Although he hoped that wasn’t the case. That man had enough tragedy in his life. An accusation of murder just didn’t seem fair. Even so, he certainly had motive. Around every corner were more unanswered questions. He highly doubted a pin board would be big enough to handle all of this. How could we not see the evil in our own Sergeant? Why did no one see what was happening to Kei Lien, and if they did, why not report it? Too much blame to go around, including himself, for only seeing what he wanted to believe.

  When he returned with the wine and snacks, he found Reese sound asleep on the bed bundled in her white satin robe. He didn’t have the heart to wake her, so he grabbed a few pillows and made himself comfortable on the floor. He would rather have been lying next to her after a long night of making love. Instead, he opened the wine and poured some in a paper coffee cup. At this point, he didn’t care if he had to drink straight out of the bottle. Sleep came about twenty minutes later.

  They were both jarred awake by a knock at the door. Almost simultaneously they grabbed for their weapons and practically vaulted themselves to their feet. Reese tiptoed to one side of the door while Emerson asked, “Who is it?”

  “Detective Lake, you have a phone call at the front desk. Says it’s important and they couldn’t reach your cell.”

  That’s odd, thought Reese. No one knew where they were staying. Not even the precinct knew they were at this particular motel. She motioned to Lake, shaking her head no back and forth.

  “I’ll be right down. Thank you. What did you say your name was?”

  No answer. It was a trap. Reese crawled on her stomach across the floor until she was directly under the window. She gently pulled the curtains apart. A sliver of light pierced across the dark room from the exterior motel lights. She could see a large figure near the door. As she stretched her head a little further to get a better look, the man spun toward the window, raised a gun and shot through the glass. The bullet zoomed just a foot from Reese’s head.

 
“Stay down!”

  Bang! Another round fired. Closer this time. Emerson yanked the door open, reached his arm around the door jamb and touched off a few rounds. No shots fired back, so he carefully stuck his head out and heard a thud. The guy jumped the railing, hit the pavement and took off. Emerson made sure Reese was okay and then hopped the railing himself in hot pursuit, but he lost sight of him quickly in the poorly lit parking lot.

  He was at a disadvantage not being able to see, but he kept running across the street and into darkness, hoping he would get lucky. The grass and twigs crunched under his bare feet with every step as he raced across the field. He could hear the sirens in the distance. Reese had called it in. He kept going and his eyes finally starting to adjust. There was no one in front of him. It was useless. He had lost him. Lake slowed to a jog and eventually stopped. He bent over, leaning on his knees, huffing and puffing trying to catch his breath. By the time he made it back to the motel, the local police were already on the scene, searching the perimeter of the motel.

  Reese saw Lake emerge from the field and cross the street into the parking lot. She grabbed the hotel manager and one of the officers to greet him. “What the hell do you think that was about?”

  “Besides us snooping around looking for a serial killer?” he scoffed. “What I want to know is how the hell that guy got away so fast. He was like a giant. Heavy and tall. Surprised he didn’t break a leg when he jumped over the railing. We need to refocus on everything in this town. At daylight, we’ll call Andrew and start fresh. In the meantime, we need somewhere else to stay. Officer, how big is your holding cell? Mind if we crash there until morning?

  “Sure, no problem,” said the officer.

  Lake turned to the motel manager.

  “We are going to need full access to your computers and surveillance footage from this motel, if there is any.”

  “There is,” replied the motel manager. “I’ll pull it right away.”

  “I’ll go with him,” said Reese. “I’ll meet you back at the station.”

  “Really? How the hell are you going to get there without the car?”

  “I’m taking the car,” she yelled to him. “You ride with the local black and whites.”

  Lake turned to the officer. “Looks like I’m going with you.”

  The officer laughed, “Well I guess so.”

  Chapter 49

  Now that Cromwell Police knew the family name of the six bodies found at the Bradford Theater, the most troubling part was knowing they were not a family of six, but of seven. Where was this other family member? Here in Cromwell? Was this person dead and just buried somewhere else? That scenario didn’t seem logical. Was he alive and hiding out of fear for his own life? Or was he hiding because he murdered his family?

  In the squad room, while all available officers were looking through files and once again going over the evidence they had, Captain Brown got in on the conversation. “Crime scene photos and files just aren’t cutting it. What the hell is the motive here?” Also, there is no concrete evidence that this seventh family member is dead or alive.

  “All of this is somehow connected to the murder of the Sergeant and the murder of Kei Lien’s father, don’t you think?” said one of the police officers to Manning.

  “It has to be,” Manning replied. “Two town residents murdered on the same night. Same way. And then a dead family shows up at the theater with the Dad wrapped in Christmas paper. Too coincidental.”

  “What the hell are we are missing besides the missing family member?”

  “Another question unanswered. This had to be orchestrated by more than one person.”

  The Captain’s cell phone rang. “Yeah?”

  It was Detective Clayton.

  “The hospital just notified me about what had happened to Kei Lien,” she reported. “It appears she was assaulted. Bruises, abrasions, vaginal and anal tearing. In other words, Captain, she was raped. Unfortunately, she bathed in the lake. No body fluids or DNA to test, but I would venture a guess it was the father.”

  “And I would venture to guess our Sergeant, as well. Why else would they both be wrapped and stabbed the same way?” asked the Captain.

  “You’re probably right,” Clayton said. “And who knows if there were more.”

  “How’s it going in Jade?”

  “We have some leads to chase down. As soon as I have something, I’ll be in touch.”

  The call ended and the Captain headed back to her office.

  A few moments later, Allen Manning’s cell rang. He looked down at the caller ID and thought it was odd.

  “Hey guys, I’ve got to grab this call. I’ll be right back.” He stepped outside and answered.

  “Lake, what’s going on? I know you both just spoke to the Captain.”

  ‘Listen, I didn’t want to tell the Captain just yet, but I need you to do me a favor. It’s got to stay quiet, though. Just between the two of us, understand?”

  “Sure, no problem.”

  “Reese and I were ambushed at the motel tonight and we think our murder suspect could be in Jade.”

  “Holy shit, are you guys okay?”

  “Yes, we’re fine, but we need some information that we can’t research here. I need you to run a name through the database. Andrew Kelsey.”

  “Who the hell is that?”

  “Look, just run the name. Can you do that?”

  “Got it, I’ll see what I can find out and let you know.”

  “Also, Allen, Reese and I will be staying at the Jade County police department. Taking the safe way. No sense giving this guy any more free shots. We’ll be seeing how the other half lives,” he chuckled.

  Allen took down the information and put it in his shirt pocket. When he hung up the phone, he waited for the precinct to quiet down a little and change shifts before starting his search for Andrew Kelsey. There was no warrant out on this guy. Why did Lake want him to do this search in the first place?

  An officer walked by, “Staying an extra shift, Manning?”

  “No, just catching up on some paperwork. You in tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, I’m guessing there will be no days off for a while.”

  “Probably not.”

  He continued his search before deleting the program and shutting down the computer. He contacted the detective from his car.

  “Lake, what connection does this person have to the Sergeant? I ran the search, but so far, the only thing that did pop up was Martin Kelsey. His driver’s license came up with information on address, social security number, and date of birth. He apparently lived in Jade at some point, but what does this have to do with this person named Andrew? What the hell was the search supposed to find? It didn’t reveal anything we didn’t already have on file apart, from Sergeant Kelsey living in Jade. That’s not a crime to my knowledge.”

  “It’s just a hunch we had about a possible illegitimate birth that could have involved Sergeant Kelsey.”

  “What the hell? Did we know this guy at all?”

  “Still don’t know if it has any merit or not. When we get back, I’ll fill you in on why. Right now, it’s still between you and me.”

  “Sure. When are you coming back?”

  “First we have to find out who we pissed off enough to try and kill us. Oh, and by the way, Officer, I’ll make this up to you. Promise. I know you were only trying to do the right thing by sending Teresa Kelsey to the hospital that day. No hard feelings.”

  Lake hung up leaving Allen speechless. When the hell did Emerson Lake turn into? A human being?

  Chapter 50

  Daniel returned home from the hospital to a waiting and anxious father. Kei Lien was heavily sedated after the ordeal she just went through with the examination. She definitely needed uninterrupted sleep. Daniel needed the same, although for different reasons. He was beginni
ng to wonder how he got so involved in this mess so quickly. His father appeared in the living room and sat down in the oversized, overstuffed recliner.

  “Sit down, Daniel. We need to talk a bit about recent events.” His dad seemed so formal all of a sudden. His voice was strong, but low. It was the same tone he used when Daniel decided not to return to med school, but he certainly knew the reason behind that decision.

  “Dad, can this wait until tomorrow? I’m exhausted.”

  “I think you know the answer to that. What is it you expect from this young lady? Do you think she will suddenly fall in love with you because you saved her from a dreadful life?”

  “Dad, I really don’t even know how all of this happened. All I wanted was a friend to talk to. You have always been there for me. I know I can talk to you about anything, but this is different. I just wanted a friend. Nothing else. When I heard what the Sergeant was doing to her, I had to see if I could help. I felt responsible for not climbing through the open window and kicking the crap out of the piece of shit that was hurting her. Really, I didn’t know how this was going to turn out. Still don’t. The guilt is horrible. I felt the same way when mom died. I couldn’t help her either. So now I wait and try to be there for this tortured young woman because I wasn’t there when she needed someone the most. I should have stopped the Sergeant no matter the consequences. Now I don’t even know if she killed her own father or the Sergeant. Sorry Dad, but I hope the hell she did. What jury would convict her?”

  “Unfortunately, Daniel, I don’t believe that to be true. She would not have the strength to move those bodies let alone at two different houses. I seriously doubt she even knew where the Sergeant lived.”

  “I wish that made me feel better, but the truth is, if they weren’t already dead, I would seriously consider doing it myself after seeing what they did to this poor girl. I don’t think there are enough shrinks in the world that can mend her soul.”

  “So, what now?”

  “For me or for her? I need to sleep. Can we take this up again in the morning? I’m going to shower, grab a peanut butter sandwich and hit the sack.”