by Donald Wells
***
They left the Caliber building with a name. Caddy Smith. Mrs. Smith had gone to Caliber when she suspected her husband of cheating, and Caliber had assigned a B-Girl to her case.
“What exactly is a B-Girl?” Jessica asked.
“The B stands for bait,” Delaney said. “Caliber investigations send girls out to tempt any man suspected of cheating by his mate, and then they report back what happened.”
“It sounds like entrapment,” Ramos said.
“It probably is, but hey, if the guy’s not a cheater he’s got nothing to worry about.”
Delaney’s phone beeped then and he looked at it.
“It’s a text from Kelli; she says that the girl they assigned to bait Smith's husband was named Selina Clayton, and Selina says that he took the bait all right, in fact, she says that he approached her before she could approach him. Kelli also sent me a picture of Selina.”
Delaney held up his phone so everyone could see. The woman in the photo was a blond and years younger than their killer.
The phone rang again. Delaney listened for a moment, said a muffled curse, and then told them what he had just learned.
“The Westchester County cops went to Caddy Smith’s house and found the front door sitting open and her husband in the living room, with his throat cut.”
A second later, Ramos phone let out a sound.
“There is no DMV photo of Caddy Smith, I guess she doesn’t drive, but my researcher found a photo of her that was taken at a charity auction last year, what do you think?”
“That’s her,” Jessica said, after scrutinizing the picture on Ramos’ phone. “That’s our killer.”
“But why would she drop this card?” Delaney said. “It led us right to her.”
“You said it before; she doesn’t care if she gets caught." Ramos said. "She probably found out her husband was cheating and went off the deep end.”
Delaney’s phone rang yet again. After a short conversation, he shook his head in wonder.
“You’re not going to believe this.”
***
Caddy Smith was down on her hands and knees, searching beneath the bed. The room she was in was the scene of her latest murder.
The Crime Scene Investigator pointed in at her, as Jessica and her husband, along with Ramos and Delaney listened to him.
“We were just about to put the tape across the door when she showed up. She said that she dropped something and has to find it. I think it’s that card I found.”
Delaney cocked his head.
“I’ve heard of criminals returning to the scene of a crime, but this is ridiculous.”
Within the room, Caddy Smith crawled around amidst the still tacky blood, frantically searching, oblivious to anything else going on around her.
“Call the boys in white,” Delaney told the investigator. “This lady is headed to the psych ward.”
***
With the case concluded, Delaney said his goodbyes to Jessica and her husband and then left the Task Force command room.
Jessica stared over at her husband.
“You want to go to Bel Rey, don’t you?”
“It may lead me to my father.”
“Who may very well be a serial killer?”
“Yes, but we’ve never run from the truth before. If there is such a thing as a ‘serial killer gene?’ Then I would say that it’s best we learn this now, before, before we have our own children.”
Jessica walked over and hugged him.
“Gene or no gene, I want to have a family with you. If there is a gene, it can be beat, you’ve proven that.”
“I want to go to Bel Rey and find this relative of Gant’s. Maybe they can give us some answers.”
Jessica nodded. “We’ll leave tomorrow.”
***
Down the hall, Ramos swiveled in her seat and looked up at Delaney as he opened the office door and stuck his head in.
“Agent Ramos, it’s been a pleasure, and good luck on your next assignment.”
“Thanks Lieutenant and good luck to you too.”
“Take care,”
“You too,” Ramos said with a warm smile. Then, after Delaney left and the door was closed again, she hit the conference button on the desk phone, and went back to eavesdropping on Jessica and her husband.
TAKEN! 11 – PREDATORS & PREY
They were flying west, on a flight to northern California, with their eventual destination being the small coastal town of Bel Rey.
Never a loquacious man by nature, Jessica still thought that her husband seemed less talkative than usual. As she began to ponder the reason for his silence, it caused her to worry, and when her anxiety was at its peak, she reached over and took his hand.
“I want you to promise me something.”
He turned and stared at her with a quizzical look.
“What would that be?”
“Promise me that you’ll never leave me. I know you. If we were to find out the worst here, in Bel Rey, if we were to discover that you came from a family of serial killers, you might think that it would be in my best interest to leave me, but you’d be wrong, your leaving me would destroy me, not save me.”
He broke eye contact, but whispered a reply.
“I promise.”
“No, dammit, look me in the eye and tell me that you’ll never leave me.”
He stared into her eyes.
“I’ll never leave you, Jessica.”
“Thank you, I so needed to hear you say that.”
They grew quiet again, while still keeping their hands clasped together. A few moments later, he gave her hand a squeeze.
“You give me too much credit.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Leaving you, I might have considered it, but I don’t think that I could ever really do it.”
“Because you love me?”
“Yes, because I love you, but also because I need you.”
“I need you too, and I love you more than life.”
They kissed, and then he gestured out the window.
“This trip to Bel Rey, it may just be a waste of time. Carly said that she couldn’t find anyone named Gant living in the area.”
“But we both know that a lot of people live off the grid, so we go have a look.”
“Yes, but I want you to know that I won’t obsess over this. My father, his family, whoever they are, they’re meaningless compared to you. When we’re done here, I’m done searching for them, my life is with you.”
“We can make our own family.”
“Yes.”
“You still want that don’t you?”
He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it.
“More than you know,”
***
The town of Bel Rey had one motel that, given the image on a digital street map, looked seedy at best, and so they had made reservations at a chain hotel the next town over. As they finished checking in, they were surprised by the appearance of a familiar face.
FBI Agent Theresa Ramos, accompanying Ramos was another agent; his name was Ethan Burke,
Burke was six feet tall, late-thirties, and fit, he wore his short brown hair in a pageboy cut and on his chin was a goatee.
After greetings and introductions, Jessica asked a question.
“So, Theresa, what brings you here?”
“I’m probably here for the same reason you are, looking for anyone named Gant.”
“But why would you be looking for them?”
“The disappearance of Blue Steele, the father, not the daughter, officially it’s an open case, and agent Burke here was one of the investigators handling it at the time, when I told him about this lead, flimsy as it is, he jumped at the chance to investigate it.”
“And you came all this way just to help him?”
Burke slid an arm around Ramos’ waist.
“We’re more than just fellow agents.”
“I see,” Jessica said.
“Well, if we find out anything that can help you, we’ll be sure to let you know.”
“You do that,” Burke said. “And it’s been nice meeting you two.”
And with those words, he and Ramos left the lobby.
Jessica looked up at her husband.
“What was that about? I can’t believe that her being here is just a coincidence. I wonder if we’re being investigated.”
He shook his head.
“It’s not an investigation, this feels personal; I think it’s why they’re being so blatant about their interest in us.”
“I’ll have Carly look into Agent Burke’s background, I didn’t like the way he was eyeing you.”
“Yes, do that, but let’s get settled in here, and then after we have lunch, I want to drive into Bel Rey and look around.”
***
Outside the hotel, Ramos sat talking to Burke in her rented car.
“So, what did you think of him?”
“He’s got the eyes of a killer, I’ll give you that, but do you really think he’s capable of what we suspect? Most of what we have on them comes from just one source.”
“Of him, I have no doubts, but I do have trouble believing that Jessica could be a part of it, then again, those two are inseparable. How do you want to play this, Ethan?”
“We wait and watch and see what happens. If it feels right, we approach them.”
“All right, and if they refuse our offer, then what?”
Burke let loose a long, slow breath,
“Then, then we may have some hard choices to make.”
***
The tiny coastal town of Bel Rey, California was doomed to never becoming a tourist town for two reasons. One was rocks, while many beaches along the California coastline had rocky shores, the stretch of beach in Bel Rey was by far the rockiest. Huge boulders spotted the shore and radiated outward for nearly a hundred feet into the water, making swimming not only unfeasible, but also dangerous. Add to this the fact that the beach was barely more than a narrow strip of sand backed up to a wall of rock that blocked the sun for most of the day, and the Bel Rey tourist dollars came mostly from the odd fisherman willing to take a chance among the water’s shifting currents.
The town’s population was listed at a dismal 484, which seemed optimistic once one drove about the area. The town of Bel Rey seemed to be no more than a bedroom community for the nearest city, and after talking with town officials and long-time residents, they could still find no one who remembered anyone by the name of Gant living in the vicinity.
It wasn’t until they were talking to the operator of the docks that they got any indication that something in Bel Rey might not be what it seemed. There actually were no “docks” per se, but rather a single long, elevated wooden platform that jutted far out into the water, in order to avoid the rocks. At the end of the dock, near the base of its ladder, was a speedboat, and as the manager of the dock talked to them, he stared out at it often.
“You’re sure you’ve never met anyone named Gant living here?” Jessica asked the man.
“Yeah, I’m sure,”
“How long have you lived here?”
“Just my whole life, now, is there anything else I can help you with?”
“No, but thank you for your time,”
“All right then, now let me get back to work.”
As they walked away, Jessica whispered to her husband.
“He certainly seemed nervous,”
“Yes, but I don’t think it was because of us, he seemed worried by whoever was in that speedboat.”
“So where do you want to go next?”
“Let’s go back to the hotel. I think this trip is a dead end.”
***
As they left, the owner of the speedboat talked to the dockworker. He was a tough looking man wearing a ski parka.
“What did those two want, boy?”
“Nothing, Daddy, they were just looking for someone named Gant.”
“Let me know if they come back.”
“Why?”
“If they come back, that means that they know something, and if they know something, they’re dead.”
“I’ll keep an eye out, Daddy.”
“You do that.”
***
After having a surprisingly good dinner at a local steakhouse, they went back to their hotel and had drinks in the bar. They both wondered if Ramos and Burke would make an appearance, but no, the two FBI Agents seemed to have lost their trail.
Jessica’s phone rang.
“It’s Carly,” she said.
“Hello, Doctor, I have that information you asked for, I’m sending it to both of your phones... now.”
“Thanks, Carly, and we’re still on for dinner next week, right?”
“Yes, I mean that is... if it’s all right with your husband?”
“He’s looking forward to it,” Jessica said with a smile on her lips.
“Good, then I’ll see you next week, Doctor, goodbye.”
Jessica ended the call and found her husband staring at her.
“You’ve invited her to the house for dinner?”
“Yes, her and this new boyfriend of hers. You might like him; he’s into robotics and graduated from MIT.”
“They sound like quite a pair.”
They were in a corner booth of the bar, and after ordering another round of drinks, they studied the information that Carly had gathered concerning Burke and Ramos. Four paragraphs down, they came to a sentence that made them both jerk their heads up from their phones.
“Burke was in charge of the task force formed to capture Sandra Jenkins?” Jessica said. “What if they caught her and she’s given him our names?”
“I don’t think they’ve captured her, that would be big news, and Sandra Jenkins never knew our full names anyway.”
“It’s a big coincidence though, no?”
“Burke hasn’t just been looking for Sandra Jenkins; he’s also been put in charge of something called the Vigilante Task Force. They track crimes perpetrated against criminals or a class of criminals and look for evidence linking them. So far, they’ve arrested and convicted three individuals for vigilantism. Ramos also worked on the task force at one time.”
“Maybe that’s why they’re interested in us?”
“I don’t doubt it, but I do wonder what their game is. If they had evidence, they would simply arrest us, not shadow us around in a vague attempt at intimidation.”
“So what do you think they’re up to?”
His face darkened as he pushed his wine glass away.
“I don’t know what they’re up to, but whatever it is, I’m not going to like it.”
***
They left the bar and went up to their room.
Once in bed, they made love, and soon after, Jessica fell asleep. However, sleep eluded her husband and after hours of looking at the ceiling, he rose and began dressing.
Jessica woke just as he was writing her a note.
“Why are you dressed?”
“I couldn’t sleep. I’m going out for a run.”
“Oh... okay,” she said, and then she faded back to sleep.
When he got to the lobby, he found it deserted, save for the night clerk at the desk. He sent the man a nod and walked out into the parking lot, where he stretched for a while before heading south along the coast road at a jog.
It was a cool night and a sharp breeze was blowing, but as his body adjusted to the run, he quickly warmed and felt the chill leave his hands.
He sped up a bit and soon he was on the outskirts of Bel Rey. He decided to run the length of the tiny town before turning and heading back to the hotel, but as he was passing the gravel road that led to the dock, a light flashed from out in the ocean, and he stopped his running to take a closer look, and walk down the path.
Nothing,
Perhaps it had just been the lights of a passing ship; still, it seemed too close to the jagged coastline for a ship to wander.
He was about to turn away when he saw the light again, and this time he could make out the silhouette of a boat at the base of its glow. He capped his eyes with his hands to block out the moonlight and stared at the spot where he’d seen the light. As his eyes adjusted, he could just make out a cylindrical shape sitting up out of the water, with what looked like a boat at its side. As he kept watch, he saw the suitcase-sized packages fall from the top of the object in a rhythmic pattern to assumedly land in the boat.
It was three a.m. and out at sea there were people transferring packages from one vessel to another, and as improbable as it seemed, one of the vessels appeared to be a submarine.
Drug smugglers, He thought. Rich drug smugglers at that, given the fact that they can afford their own submarine.
“Daddy thought you might come back snooping around,”
The voice came from behind him and he spun to face its owner; it was the same man that he and Jessica had talked with earlier. The man looked like a trucker, a trucker with a rifle in his hands. He was less than five feet away and had the rifle pointed at his chest.
“Hands up, mister,”
After looking the man over, he gestured at the rifle.
“Put that thing down now, or I’ll make sure that your charges include attempted murder.”
“Huh?”
“I said put the gun down,” he then looked past the man’s left shoulder. “Agent Alvarez! Give me a hand with this yokel.”
The man flicked his head to the left for just an instant, but it was enough.
He hit the ground and rolled beneath the rifle’s barrel, to bowl the man over at the ankles.
The gun clattered to the ground as the man fell atop him.
The guy was a brute and fought like one, and yet, he was devoid of skill, and so it took only five seconds for him to get the man in a headlock and four seconds after that, he heard the fatal snap of his neck.
As the body fell from his grasp, he reached out and grabbed the rifle, and discovered that it was an ancient Winchester. The rifle, a .22 with a pump action slide had to be a hundred years old. He checked it and found that it held only one shell. As he was about to check the body for more ammunition, he heard the voice.
“Joey, quit makin’ all that noise and keep watch. Joey?”
The voice came from farther down the path, and the only thing that saved him from being spotted was a cloud passing in front of the moon. He bent down into a crouch and hurried behind the nearest tree, where he lay flat, with the rifle at the ready.