Dancing In Darkness

by Sherrie Weynand

  Priscilla couldn’t see anything in the total darkness of the room. She didn’t know where she was or how she got here. Her first instinct was to panic and try to fight the restraints that were on her arms and legs. At first thought all she could come up with was Adam. No, this was far too painful and terrifying for it to be him. She had to think and gather her composure. As her eyes began to adjust to the night, she could begin to see outlines of the room. Windowless with no outside light entering at all, she could make out a table of some sort in the corner and a door to the left of that. No light was coming through under or around the door, so she knew that the lights were off elsewhere. It was deadly quiet. She fought the urge to scream so as not to let anyone know that she was awake. Laying on the floor her wrists and ankles bound and then bound together, she couldn’t move.

  She thought to herself, “Wait, Det. Ward would have come looking for me after he found my car on the freeway.” She remembered being with him to go to a lineup. “I don’t think the killer is locked up.” She said silently. The one thing that she was sure of, was that she was going to have to save her own life. Panic continually trying to creep in, she was battling her own mind to remain as calm as she could.

  Listening to every sound she could hear to try and figure out her surroundings, she heard the wind in the trees and thought she could hear water gurgling in a stream in the distance. There was no sound coming from inside the building. She couldn’t say it was a house because she wasn’t sure. There were no footsteps, no noises of any kind. Without knowing how long she had been unconscious she couldn’t determine the distance someone had traveled with her. The tears that fell onto her cheeks and the dusty wood floor would not stop.

  Nina remembered that she had a key to Priscilla’s apartment. If no one had heard from her by the time she closed down the club for the night, she would go check on her. She knew that Adam was correct, Priscilla didn’t take off for any length of time and not return calls. After closing, she rushed all of the girls so that she could lock up and go. This was important and she was angry at herself for not thinking of it when Adam was there.

  Racing the few blocks to the complex, Nina jumped out of her car and in a slow jog went back to Priscilla’s building. She had noticed that her car wasn’t parked in its designated spot when she had pulled in. Knocking on the door, in case she was inside, Nina waited. After a couple minutes and no answer, she put the key into the lock. When the lock gave way and she pushed the door open, she called out for Priscilla. Again, there was no response. She walked slowly into the apartment and made her way down the extremely short hall. When she came to the bedroom she used the sleeve of her shirt to push open the door. If anything was wrong, she didn’t want her fingerprints to be all over possibly contaminating evidence. The bedroom was empty but the bathroom light was on. Entering the bathroom, she immediately took note that something wasn’t right. The tub was full of water that had at one point had bubbles in it, the remnants of which floated on the surface. A glass of white wine sat half empty on the side of the tub and there were clothes strewn about on the floor. Feeling uneasy about the scene she found, she backed out of the bathroom and dialed Adam Linston.

  “Adam, its Nina. I forgot about having a key to Priscilla’s apartment. I’m here now and I think you should come back right away.” She spoke hurriedly into the phone.

  “Dear God, is Priscilla okay?” He stumbled over his words.

  “I really don’t know. I’m going to go and call Det. Tony or Ward. Someone needs to come check this out.” Nina said almost in tears.

  Hanging up his phone he made an illegal U-turn in the middle of the street. He had decided to stop and grab a drink before heading home. Now he was relieved he did. Ten miles was much easier ground to cover than thirty. Especially in his mood. “If anyone has hurt her, I’ll kill him myself.” He screamed to the otherwise empty car.

  “Det. Tony? This is Nina Powalski, we’ve been trying to reach Priscilla Barnes for most of the evening. I remembered that I have a key to her apartment and after I closed down tonight, I decided to come check on her. It’s not like her to leave calls unreturned, which is what caught our attention in the first place.” She rambled to the detective. “I think someone needs to come see this and help us find her.”

  “Ms. Powalski, I’ll be right there.” The detective said. “Det. Ward is on vacation for a few days, but give me a few minutes to get there.” She hung up her phone, told her kids that she had to go to work, kissed her husband goodbye and jumped in her car. Her instincts had been right, she knew that kid wasn’t guilty. Now she had to figure out what was going on. Maybe the woman wasn’t missing at all and simply went out for the night.

  Calling in to dispatch, Tony requested a marked unit meet her at the Barnes’ residence and wait for her at the bottom of the stairs. While she didn’t think there was any dangerous issue at the apartment itself, she wanted to cover all the bases before arriving. This way they could clear the apartment together and she wouldn’t be there without backup. Damn Ward for deciding now was the time to take a fucking vacation.

  Parking behind the marked unit, she walked to the building farthest in the complex. As in every situation she found herself dealing with, she took in all of the small details in her surroundings. Made mental notes of the vehicles that were in the lot and under the covered parking structures. Without video surveillance of the lot, she wouldn’t know who had come and gone from the lot. Waiting at the foot of the stairs was Officer Long. “Thanks for meeting me.” She quickly briefed him on the information she had. “The female resident was a target of the exotic dancer murders. She had received a note that was found in her apartment. In light of the recent arrest of a suspect, she returned home earlier today. Now her friends can’t reach her and there could be suspicious circumstances.”

  “Let’s do this, detective.” Officer Long told her.

  The door to the apartment was open when they made it to the top of the staircase, she knew it might be, Nina Powalski was inside. She called out, “West Palm Beach Police,” when she heard Nina tell them to come in.

  “Ms. Powalski, what seems to be the problem?” She started to speak.

  “Priscilla hasn’t returned calls, her car is gone, the bath still has water and bubbles, there’s wine still sitting in the bathroom.” Nina continued to ramble. “I hope I am so wrong and have only wasted your time, but something is completely not right about this. This isn’t Priscilla.”

  As the officer was looking around the apartment, Tony was taking notes in her tablet for her report. She had to agree with Ms. Powalski, but without any evidence of a crime or foul play, there was little that they could do. Ms. Barnes was an adult and she was fully permitted to leave without giving anyone notice or cleaning up her apartment. As she explained that to Nina, Adam came rushing in the door. “Where is Priscilla?” He demanded.

  “Mr. Linston, if you could please relax, allow me to finish explaining what I was saying.” Tony interrupted him. “Again, while it might be suspicious, there is no evidence of any crime. If after twenty-four hours no one has heard from her, please by all means call back so we can open a missing persons case.”

  “Twenty-four hours?” Adam exclaimed. “In that time she could be dead. What the hell, it shouldn’t take that long to file a missing persons report.”

  “Mr. Linston, you have to understand. If Ms. Barnes wanted to disappear for the night, for a week, or for a year, it is her right as an adult to do so. She is under no obligation to report in with anyone. We have no evidence of a crime other than a bathtub with water and a half a glass of wine.” Tony said firmly. “Do you understand my predicament?”

  “I do, but under the circumstances one would think those could be bent a little bit.” He added.

  “Trust me, if I could on this one. There is no crime to speak of.” She told him.

  As both the detective and the officer left, Adam closed the door behind them. “God damn it.” He almost shouted. Nina sat on t
he sofa in tears.

  “Officer Long, I’m almost positive we are going to be back out here or at another location for this.” Tony sighed.

  “Yeah, I have to agree. They were pretty adamant that she wouldn’t have left like that.” The officer added.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  With no indication of how long she had been there, Priscilla’s mind began to play tricks on her. Could she really see flashes of light? Were those voices calling her name? No, it was those nasty figments of her imagination taking hold. Every muscle in her body ached intensely and she had no way to relieve it. “This is how I am going to die.” She thought to herself.

  Had someone brought her out here to die alone and not be found? Wildly, her mind formed too many thoughts at once to function. The only thing that remained clear to her was Adam. She should have listened to him and she wouldn’t be here right now. Would she ever be able to tell him that she loved him too? No, she wouldn’t ever see him again. She was trying to push that pain aside but it wouldn’t budge. That’s when she heard the footsteps. Real, live footsteps. Not imaginary in her head, but on the wood floor and they were coming closer to her. Were they in the same room? She could still only see minimal outlines in the dark room.

  The door to the room opened and the bright flashlight that was in this persons hand blinded her instantly. She had to close her eyes against the harsh light. The figure told her this was a man, the broad shoulders and straight hips, but the coveralls that he wore hid anything else. She dared to steal a glimpse of his face but he was wearing a mask. No identifying characteristics, she was at his mercy and mercy was the last thing he was probably going to offer.

  When he spoke something caught her attention. She had to act like she didn’t notice anything at all. His voice. She recognized his voice and she had seen this man move before. Try as she might, she could not put the two of them together nor recall where she had seen this man. Her heart was pounding in fear and she had to act like she was unafraid.

  “There is no use in fighting, no one is going to find you and you are not going to get free. I could make this quick and painless for you but I think I will relish in the agony of your suffering.” He said blankly. There was no emotion or inflection to his voice. Almost monotone.

  “Please,” She begged him. “Please undo my legs. I can’t take anymore and I really need to use the bathroom.” She could not help herself and started to cry. She could hear his breathing quicken when he knew that she was in pain. Thinking to herself, “He truly is a sick, demented monster.”

  “I will undo your legs but that is it. It matters not to me where, when or if you go to the bathroom. You’re going to die anyway, when I decide it’s time.” He responded. “If you kick me or make any attempt to foolishly try to escape or hurt me, it’ll be the only time. Do you understand that, you bitch?”

  “Yes.” Was all she could say.

  Untying her ankles from her wrists, Priscilla resisted the urge to try and stretch them out. She didn’t want him to think that she was trying anything stupid. Before she could do anything, she had to wait until he hopefully left, that would give her the chance to work out the screaming muscles in her legs. How could anyone do this to another person? Why would anyone even want to? Playing back through her mind every single person she could ever remember meeting, she didn’t have a clue why anyone would want to hurt her like this.

  As he was walking to the door the flashlight was pointed away from her and she could study the shadowy outline of his build. He closed the door leaving her once again in total darkness. Moving her legs felt good. If she could find relief in this mess, this was probably it. While it hurt to stretch them after being bound for so long, the end result was much better than before and now she could sit up. It hit her out of the blue. “I know where I’ve seen him. He’s the guy from the shadowed corner at Adam’s!” This man knew who she was. She knew that he had been watching her. That meant that he was a member of Adam’s club. A paying, registered member. Someone would know who he was. Fear swelling up in her throat, she thought she was going to vomit. Why would anyone from that club want her or any of her friends dead? The terrorizing thought was too much for her to bear. She cried openly without stopping.

  Nina was a nervous wreck waiting to hear word from Priscilla. It had been nearly nine hours since they had talked to Det. Tony and there was still no word. She began to wonder if they had to wait twenty-four hours from then or from the last time anyone had heard from her. If so, they would be able to file the report in about an hour. “Screw this, I’m calling her.” She thought to herself.

  Dialing the detective’s number, she waited for an answer.

  “Detective Tony.” Came the answer.

  “Hi, this is Nina Powalski. I apologize for being a nuisance to you, but we need to do something. Priscilla Barnes could already be dead. I know you said we couldn’t file a report for twenty-four hours, but was that from the time anyone had talked to or seen her?”

  “Ms. Powalski, I will be over shortly. I need to get ahold of my partner as well. I agree with you, something is very wrong with this entire scenario.” Tony replied. “You are never a nuisance, this is my job, it’s what I do and this is very serious.”

  “Thank you. Thank you so much.” Nina cried.

  She looked at Adam and could see the strain of worry on his face. If there was ever a man that was in love, it was this one. The only problem was that his love was hidden by fear. Fear that he would never hold her again. Fear that he would never hear her voice or touch her face. Those were fears that he couldn’t live with and now it showed in every part of his being.

  “She’s on her way.” Nina told him softly.

  “Good. They should have taken the god damned report hours ago so someone could have been out looking for her or tracking her cellphone.” He almost screamed in anger.

  “Calm down right now. It isn’t going to do Priscilla any good if you are arrested for assaulting a police officer. She is doing her job. That is all she can do.” Nina scolded.

  “I will, I’m just frustrated beyond belief.” He answered.

  As Beth Tony made her way back across town she dialed her partner of the last eight years. “Ward.” He answered.

  “Ward, I know you said you were taking vacation days, but I need you. There’s something to this Priscilla Barnes missing. Is there any way that you can come help me out? Take your vacation days later, I think we have the wrong guy and this woman is either already dead or she will be shortly. If he uses the same M.O. then she’s already gone.” She told him.

  “Tony, come on. I just got out here. Isn’t there anyone else you can con into helping you out?” He asked her.

  “You have been on this case since day one. All of the details are something that you already know. I won’t have to explain step by step what is going on. Yes, they might be familiar with it, but they will not have some of the smaller details that we do. I need you on this.” She replied.

  “Fine, give me a couple hours and I’ll be there. I need to close up here and make that long ass drive back.” He said, not sounding thrilled about the idea.

  When Tony reached Priscilla’s apartment for the second time that night, she again met up with a uniformed officer before going to the building. As she knocked on the door, she told the officer, “This might get ugly at some point tonight.”

  He sighed and shook his head, “Yes ma’am.”

  Nina opened the door and greeted the pair. “Come in.”

  “Ms. Powalski, Mr. Linston. When was the last time either of you spoke with Ms. Barnes?” She asked immediately.

  “It was around six in the evening when she left me the voicemail asking me to call her back right away.” Nina answered.

  “I spoke to her earlier in the day when I dropped her off here at the apartment.” Adam offered. He was doing his best to remain calm.

  “No one has seen or heard from her since?” She questioned.

  “No. I remembered that I had
a key and stopped by after I closed the club for the night. We closed early, around midnight.” Nina went on. “Like I said, it wasn’t like her to say she was going to be at work and then simply not shown up. This has happened three times now and it hasn’t ended well any of those times.”

  “No, it has not. We are going to do everything we can to locate her. Who is her cellphone carrier?” Tony asked either of them. Once she was sure that she had all the information she needed, more uniformed officers arrived, as well as members of the Sheriff’s Dept. They were going to have to begin a search for her and unfortunately that search would ultimately start in the same park that the previous bodies had been located. Any other subsequent searches would have to wait until morning light to begin.

  Tony sent some of the men and women that had responded to the park, two officers were left at the apartment and still others were set to step up patrol of the surrounding area. In her head, she wished that Ward would hurry up and get there. She knew that she would have to turn the search parties over to the Sheriff and his department and that he worked many times with the Sheriff himself in matters such as these. It was always easier when you had a working rapport with someone. Things were much smoother and you were informed on how the person chose to operate.

  Adam took Det. Tony aside and told her that he was going to go drive around the area and see if he could locate her car. There wasn’t anything he could do to be productive while sitting in the apartment.

  “If you want to do that, then that is fine. Please, no confrontations with anyone. If you locate the car then please call me or if need be, call 911. Let law enforcement deal with it.” She told him.