by Donald Wells
“Would it be possible to get some still shots of the woman’s face?”
Simmons smiled and handed Dent an envelope.
“They’re right here, along with what’s left of the phone the woman tossed away. It’s in pieces though, it got run over by a truck, but the phone’s SIM card is still intact.”
Dent patted him on the shoulder.
“That’s great work; I wish you were still on the force.”
“No way, this job’s much easier,” Simmons said, but then his eyes slid over to take in Vargas. “Of course, yours has certain perks too,”
Dent let out a sigh, as he walked out of the office.
“See ya around, Joe.”
***
Hanna Jones sat in the parking lot of a movie theater and cried.
She missed Jeffrey and wondered how he was doing, while knowing that it would be the height of folly to attempt to see him.
She let out a scream of frustration.
Damn that girl for having a gun; today was supposed to be our day, the day we got revenge.
It was simple plan. Make it possible for the police to tie Jessica’s husband to the girl and then kill her. After her body was discovered, the evidence would support the theory that he murdered her. He’d have no way to explain the blood in his trunk, and any jury would be sure to think him guilty.
But now, would the plan still work?
Hanna nodded to herself.
“It has to work.” she muttered. “They ruined our lives, and now we’ll ruin theirs.”
***
7:46 P.M.
Chief Dent walked towards the coroner’s work lights as Vargas followed. They had received an anonymous call and once it was checked out, the girl’s body was found.
Dent walked over and made a face of disgust.
“Ahh, shit, she’s just a kid.”
The coroner held up the girl’s wallet.
“We’ve got some ID here, says her name is Lauren Thomas, Ms. Thomas was only fifteen.”
Dent surveyed the crime scene further.
“Where’s her purse?”
“There is no purse, just this wallet and it was lying atop her stomach.”
“She doesn’t have any pockets, what did she do, carry her wallet around in her hand?”
The coroner shrugged.
“Hmm, how many times was she stabbed?”
“Eight, but the cause of death is a punctured heart, and I can’t swear on it before I do a full autopsy, but I think she died by two different hands.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Six of her wounds are deep, vicious tears, but the two wounds in her sternum seem almost surgical, and passionless.”
Dent stared down at the dead girl as he furrowed his brow in thought.
“Our anonymous caller, she also gave us a suspect, didn’t she?”
Vargas looked through her notes.
“The caller claimed to have seen the killer dump the body, and then followed him home. I have the address, and it’s a familiar one.”
“Interesting,” Dent said, as he looked down at Vargas’ notes. He then spoke to the coroner. “Doc, when you get her on your table run a GSR test.”
The coroner looked perplexed. He was a tall man with a full head of graying hair.
“You think she’s fired a gun recently?”
“It’s just a hunch,”
“Okay Chief, I’ll call you as soon as I know.”
“Thanks Doc,”
Dent headed back to his car and Vargas climbed in beside him.
“Are we going to check out the lead?”
“Not just yet.”
Dent got the police dispatcher on the line.
“Hey Gail, Chief here, do me a favor and let me have a listen to the call that woman made to the hospital switchboard.”
“Give me a minute, Chief, I’ve just come on shift and, oh, here it is.”
Dent listened to the call intently, as Vargas did the same.
“Thanks Gail, now play the anonymous tip that we received.”
Again, they listened, but this time Vargas lit up in a smile.
“It’s the same voice; I’d swear that’s the same voice,” she said.
Dent nodded. “I think so too.”
“So what’s it mean?”
The chief put the car in gear.
“It means we go and pay a visit to Dr. White and her husband.”
***
Jessica returned home and was greeted enthusiastically by both husband and dog. She had just taken her jacket off when their security system told them that they had a visitor.
They went out onto the porch and found Chief Dent parking beside their cars.
Dent got out with Vargas and they greeted them.
“Hi Chief, what brings you here?” Jessica said.
“I’m afraid it’s business, Dr. White.”
“Business?”
“Yes ma’am,” Dent said, he then looked over at her husband, as he held his phone up and showed him a picture of the dead girl’s face. “Sir, do you know this girl?”
“I...I... don’t know her, but I did meet her this morning. That picture, she’s dead, isn’t she?”
Dent ignored his question.
“How and why did you meet her?”
He relayed the incident in the bagel shop to Dent.
“And you’d never seen her before?”
“Never,”
Dent handed his phone to Jessica. “What about you, Doctor?”
Jessica studied the picture.
“She looks so young, and no, I’ve never seen her before.”
“Sir, would you allow me to have a look in your car?”
“What’s going on, Chief?”
“I can have a warrant brought out, but I’m hoping to avoid that.”
He frowned at Dent; the man’s habit of never answering a question was annoying, but typical of most cops. He took his keys from his pocket and handed them to the chief.
“It’s the one on the right. The SUV is my wife’s.”
Dent walked directly to the trunk while taking out his flashlight.
When he opened it, Vargas gasped and placed her hand on her weapon.
“What’s wrong?” Jessica said, as she walked over with her husband to look inside. The blood stained carpet emitted a coppery odor.
Chief Dent, Vargas, and Jessica, all stared at him.
“Jessica, I have no idea how that blood got there and I did not harm that girl.”
Jessica went to him.
“I know that, baby, that’s not something you need to say to me.”
He hugged her, as he kissed the top of her head.
Chief Dent’s phone rang, and he spoke softly to Vargas before answering it.
“Keep an eye on them.”
She nodded and he answered his phone.
“Dent here,”
“Chief, it’s Callaway, and man have I got news for you.”
After the call, Dent walked back over and stared at them.
He looked back at the chief.
“Am I under arrest?”
“Doctor, sir, does the name Jeffrey David Mitchell mean anything to you?”
Jessica answered. “He and his wife Hanna tried to kill us once, why?”
Dent reached over and eased Vargas’s hand off her weapon, and even that simple bit of contact sent a thrill through him, next, he slammed the lid shut on the trunk.
“Folks, we need to talk.”
***
TEXAS
Dave Cully had just sat down in front of the television with a fresh bag of chips and a bottle of beer.
As he reached for the remote to change the channel, the news came on.
“Serial killer, Jeffrey David Mitchell, along with his wife, Hanna Jones, have resurfaced after being declared missing, presumed dead. Mitchell is in the hospital recovering from a mysterious gunshot wound, while Hanna Jones remains at large. In other news—”
Cully
knocked over the chips and spilled his beer as he jumped up from the couch.
“Billy!”
He ran down the hall of the huge ranch house and barged into the den, where a man in his fifties sat behind an oak desk.
“Billy, I know where he is. I know where he is.”
“What the hell are you talking about Dave, where who is?”
“Mitchell, Jeffrey Mitchell, it’s not too late, he’s alive. He’s alive.”
The man behind the desk smiled a wide grin.
“Gather the boys together; we’re going to go get him.”
“They’ll be Feds and cameras everywhere, Billy,”
“We’ll deal with it, but Mitchell is mine, and God help anybody that gets in my way.”
***
The chief watched as Dr. White and her husband stared at Jeffrey Mitchell through a window. Jeffrey was still unconscious, thanks to the anesthesia administered during his surgery. His condition was listed as fair.
“That’s him,” said the husband.
The chief handed him the photos of Hanna that were taken at the hospital loading dock.
“That’s her.”
“Dr. White, Sir, I think that the Mitchells were attempting to frame you for that girl’s murder. I think they underestimated young Ms. Thomas and she shot Jeffrey there before he could kill her. I just heard back from the state lab and there’s a second contributor of the blood found on Mitchell’s clothing. We won’t know for certain until the DNA results come back, but I’d bet money that it’s the girl’s.”
“Do you have any idea where Hanna is?”
“No sir, she could be two states away by now.”
“She wouldn’t run,” Jessica said. “She’s nearby, and eventually, she’ll come for Jeffrey.”
“Let’s hope so. I’d love to get her too, and soon. The news about Mitchell’s capture is already spreading and my office has received over a dozen calls from the family members of his victims. They all want his head on a pike, and I can’t say I blame them.”
“I hope you’re getting help handling this,”
“Yes sir, the Feds have been notified, they’re on their way here now.”
“I’m taking my wife home, Chief. We’re safest there.”
“Alright, but before you go I’ll need your DNA. I believe in your innocence, but we also need to exclude you biologically. By the way, your car is now evidence. I’ll try and get it back to you as soon as possible.”
“You can have my DNA. I only saw the girl once and at the time she was three feet from me.”
“They must have paid her to pull that stunt in the bagel shop.”
“They were trying to destroy us,” Jessica said. “And once again they’ve ruined their own lives.”
The chief nodded in agreement.
“They’re both monsters. They pulled sixty-seven bodies from their property last year, and now, this poor girl here.”
“You have to find Hanna, Chief; she’s as dangerous as Jeffrey is.”
“We’ll do our best, Doctor, but my bet is that the Feds will try and push me and my people aside and conduct the search themselves.”
“Try?”
“Yes sir, try, the Feds can go to hell. The Mitchells killed in my town, and now they’re going to pay for that.”
Traci Vargas came down the hall with a young officer beside her. He was black, with short hair and a muscular build.
“Folks, this is Officer Tyrone Davis, Officer Davis will drive you home after you give a DNA sample.”
They greeted Davis and soon they were off.
Dent sighed and sat down in one of the chairs they kept in the hall.
“It’s going to be a long night. I’ve a stack of paperwork to get to and I also have to wait for the Feds to show up.”
Vargas smiled.
“Why don’t I go and get us something to eat first?”
Dent looked at his watch.
“Officer Vargas, you’ve already been on the clock for fourteen hours; go home and get some sleep.”
“I can stay if you need me.”
“No, in fact, I want you to relieve Tyrone on watch here in the morning, so you’d best get some rest.”
“Okay, well... goodnight,”
“Goodnight, Officer Vargas,”
Vargas took four steps, but then turned and walked back to him.
“Chief?”
“Yeah?”
“How come you never call me by my name? It’s always Officer Vargas this and Officer Vargas that, but never Traci, why is that?”
The chief was quiet for a moment, but then he answered her.
“I was trying to keep things professional between us. I wouldn’t want to cross a line.”
Vargas moved closer.
“Where you’re concerned, I have no lines.”
Dent stood and found her near enough to embrace. He gazed into her enormous brown eyes and felt his heart beat faster.
“Goodnight, Traci,”
Vargas smiled.
“And a goodnight to you too, Jack,”
Another moment passed, before Vargas turned and walked off down the hall.
When she disappeared from sight, the chief sat back down and smiled.
No lines? Well, I’ll be damned,
***
When they finally returned home, the dog greeted them as if they’d been gone for weeks instead of hours. They let him outside to do his business, and then stood in the doorway watching him.
“Thank you,” he said.
“For what?”
“For believing me when I told you that I didn’t kill that girl. If you had doubted me, I couldn’t have blamed you.”
“You would never do something like that.”
He let out an anguished laugh.
“How can you, you of all people say that? I’m sick, Jessica, sick to the core, and I don’t know if it’s heredity or something else that’s made me this way, but I am not a normal person.”
Jessica took him in her arms.
“You abducted me, tied me up and planned to kill me, yes, that’s all true, but baby, you couldn’t do it. You couldn’t do it, because despite the demons that drive you, you’re capable of great love and compassion. You love me and I know that you feel an immense amount of shame at what you did to me, but you have to let it go, you have to let it go and forgive yourself. I forgave you a long time ago, now it’s your turn.”
He kissed her.
“You are an absolute miracle, do you know that?”
“I’m not the miracle, you are. I only hope that someday you realize what a good man you truly are.”
The dog ran back to them and they went inside.
“I never got the chance to ask you earlier, but how is Gabby doing?”
“She’s doing great, and she’s got a new boyfriend. She says he treats her like a queen.”
“That’s good, she deserves it.”
Jessica looked over and saw that the message light on their landline phone was blinking, she reached over and hit the play button and the voice of Hanna Jones filled the room.
“Jessica, I’ve just learned that Jeffrey’s been identified, and so I guess our plans for revenge didn’t work out so well. I’ll miss Jeffrey, but I don’t need him anymore than he needs me, and so I’ve decided that it’s time to leave and hope for a better day. That better day will come, Jessica, and I’ll have my revenge against you and that husband of yours. You’d better sleep with one eye open Doctor, this isn’t over. Tell Jeffrey I’m sorry, and that I’ll always love him.”
When the tape ended, he sent Jessica a questioning look.
“What do you think?”
“I think that she’d no more abandon Jeffrey than I would abandon you. This message was her way of throwing the authorities off guard.”
“I want you to carry a gun with you wherever you go, and if you see her, kill her.”
Jessica wrapped her arms around his neck and stared up into his eyes.
“She tried to hurt you; if I ever see her again she’s as good as dead.”
***
The next morning, Traci Vargas came by on her way to work to retrieve Hanna’s phone message and Jessica invited her to have coffee.
“I’ve got news,” Vargas said. “The lab found a puncture hole in the rubber seal of your husband’s trunk. That’s how the blood got there.”
“My husband will be relieved to know that.”
“Where is your husband, Dr. White?”
“He’s here; he’s in his office working, and call me Jessica.”
Vargas grinned.
“My name is Traci.”
“So, how long have you been a police officer?”
“Two years, and I love it, I’ve learned so much from the chief.”
At the mention of Dent, Jessica smiled.
“What was that smile for?” Vargas said.
“The chief, you really like him don’t you?”
Vargas sat her cup down.
“Is it that obvious?”
“It is to me, but I’m a trained observer, and I’ll tell you something else I’ve noticed.”
“What’s that?”
“Chief Dent likes you too; he can barely keep his eyes off you when you’re around.”
Vargas sighed.
“He’s much older than I am, divorced, with daughters nearly my age, and my boss. I shouldn’t have anything to do with him.”
“But...”
“But every time he looks at me I melt.”
“Well, I won’t offer advice, but I will tell you something that I believe to be true.”
“What’s that?”
“Love can overcome anything.”
“You really believe that?”
“I do, more than you know.”
***
Two days later, 5:22 P.M.
Jeffrey Mitchell lay in a hospital room, while listening to the angry grumbling coming from the crowd outside, a crowd that consisted of the loved ones of his victims. From the sound of it, there were scores of them.
Days ago, he awoke to find himself shackled to a hospital bed and under constant surveillance. He grinned when they played Hanna’s phone message. To him, it simply meant that she was still at large, and he fully expected her to make an attempt at breaking him out. When she came, he’d be ready.
His injuries had left him weakened, but the surly doctor that was treating him gave assurances that he would regain his health eventually.
What a cluster fuck. We spent months planning our revenge and were undone by a little girl with a pop gun. I have got to get out of here. There’s no damn way I’m spending the rest of my life in prison. Oh Hanna, I hope you haven’t really given up on me. Shit, I actually miss her. Why the hell is that? She’s just another woman, and yet, I can’t stop thinking of her. She hasn’t left me here to rot. I know it, I know it.