by PJ Fernor
I sat there for a few seconds and gently touched my gun.
My mind flashed the images of what happened…
Johnny tied to a chair.
Patrick with a knife, ready to kill him.
I had no choice but to take that shot.
There was no way I could have risked trying to talk Patrick out of it.
He was a psycho murderer.
I had to pull the trigger.
I took a deep breath.
I told myself if the same moment happened again and it was Lo and Jerry, I would make the same decision.
Nothing mattered more in my life than protecting Lo.
How this went from a hiker tripping over a dead body to my niece being kidnapped…
I gritted my teeth and got out of my car.
By then, Ben had already called twice.
He was going to hate me for doing this to him, but I felt as though I had no choice.
Standing around, talking and planning, I couldn’t do it.
I hurried into the building and kept my hand near my gun as I worked my way to Jerry’s apartment.
When I arrived at the door, it was open.
Just a few inches, but it was open.
My right hand lifted my gun from its holster.
My left hand pushed at the door and I stepped inside.
Before I could say hello, I saw Jerry sitting on the couch.
With a glass of wine in his hand. A second glass on the table.
His legs were crossed.
He looked at me with that same kind and handsome smile that had won me over.
“Where is she?” I asked.
Jerry sipped his wine and put the glass down on the table.
He slowly stood up.
“Hands where I can see them,” I said.
Jerry showed me his hands. “Now, now, Allie. If you do something crazy right now, then you’ll never get the answers you want. I have no weapon. I’m not going to hurt you. I have no intention to ever hurt you. Put the gun down and we can talk.”
“No.”
“Fine. I won’t say a word then. Make your calls. Make the arrest. Do what you need to do.”
“Just tell me where she is,” I said.
“We’ll get there,” he said. “I have a plan. I’ve decided I’m done paying on my debts.”
“Your debts,” I said. “The gambling debts. Right?”
“Look at you, Allie. Doing all your homework into me. I knew you’d find it all out soon enough. You’re just too good. Too smart. That’s why I fell for you.”
“This isn’t a game,” I said. “Or a joke. This is real life. Did you attack Carla? What happened to Megan? Did you kill Nikki? What about Chelsea, Annie, and Martha?”
Jerry slowly clapped his hands together. “Look at us. This is what this whole thing was for. I knew it would happen.”
“Jerry, where is Steph? Or Leslie? Or whatever her name is.”
“You mean Lea,” Jerry said. “She was my first special one. The one I kept for good. I couldn’t see her going. So I kept her. And now she has her sister.”
“Sister?”
“Lo,” Jerry said. “She’s the sister! Can’t you see it?” Jerry twirled around and put a hand out. “Come dance with me, Allie. Let’s make this real. We’re a family now. It’s you. Me. The girls. They can be our daughters. I haven’t named Lo yet. You can name her. She’s yours now, right?”
I shook my head. “You’re out of your mind, Jerry.”
“Hardly,” he said. “I found Lo and she was broken. She was perfect for me. Perfect for what had to be done. But then I met you.” He snapped his fingers. “I met you and I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I realized there was an ending to this story. A great ending at that.”
“You planned this all along?” I asked. “You lied to Lo. You lied to me. You hurt…”
Jerry hurried toward me.
I jumped back and put my left hand out with my right hand still pointing the gun.
“Don’t do that again,” I said.
“Hurt? You want to talk about hurt? I lost the one I loved. He took her from me. I never thought I’d love again until I met you. You were brilliant working the case for Nikki’s murder. I didn’t expect her to be found so quickly though. I thought for sure I had more time. But I wanted to watch you work.”
“You put Nikki up near the fire road?” I asked. “You killed her…”
“I just marveled at how you did it,” he said. “Every little twist and turn I tried to leave, you just walked through it. It was inspiring to see. And then, of course, talking to Lo, I realized just who you were. Who she was. The two of you. So beautifully broken. In need of… me.”
Jerry pointed to himself and smiled.
His eyes grew wide.
It was the first time I saw beyond the handsomeness of Dr. Jerry.
He was insane.
A vicious and sick criminal.
A kidnapper.
A trafficker.
A murderer.
“You needed me,” Jerry said. “And I was there for you. And for Lo. Now we can be together. We don’t have to worry either. I watched you work and cleaned up any of the messes that were left behind. That’s our secret, Allie. No matter what, we have to keep him happy?”
“Who is him?” I asked.
“The One,” Jerry said.
“And who is that?”
Jerry’s smile turned into a frown. “Someone you never want to meet.”
Chapter Seventy-One
“Let me talk to Lo,” I said. “That’s all I want right now. I want to know she’s safe.”
“I’m telling you she is,” Jerry said. “Isn’t that good enough?”
“No.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“How can I? You lied to me.”
“I had to,” Jerry said. He dropped to his knees before me. “Can’t you understand that?”
I looked down at him.
I needed to get to Lo.
One way or another.
Jerry was my only chance at that.
That meant I had to set aside my emotions and think strategically.
“Prove it to me,” I said.
“How? Name it.”
Let me talk to Lo.
I couldn’t do that.
I needed another way around it.
“I want to know everything,” I said. “I did my part researching. Now tell me what’s true and what’s not.”
Jerry moved back to his feet.
He walked across the apartment to the couch.
As he lifted his wine glass off the table and took a sip, he pointed to the one I assumed he poured for me.
“I’m working,” I said. “I can’t right now.”
“Later,” he said. “It’s a date.”
I moved slowly toward the couch.
Jerry held his wineglass. “You found so much so fast, Allie. Some of the girls were given a new life. They were sold as needed. That was just how it went. The best ones are the broken ones. I mean, those are the ones worth keeping. They can be used again and again. If you take them out of that horrible environment they’re in, you can breathe new life into them.”
“Those are the ones under the bridge?”
“Yes,” Jerry said. “I don’t have much to do with those. That’s not my thing. But I understand it. I only got involved when told to. See? I’m a good listener. Not just in my office. I’m a good listener all around. That’s what you need in your life, Allie. You need someone to listen to you. To care for you. That’s me. I’m that guy.”
“Where do you take the girls, Jerry?”
“Depends on what I’m told to do. Sometimes the purchases are very fast. Sometimes they take time. Sometimes we stock up on inventory, so to speak.”
He smiled at me.
I felt physically sick to my stomach.
“That means you kidnap and keep them?” I asked.
“Oh, I don’t like that word,” he sa
id. “Kidnapped. It sounds so terrible. I’m freeing them. They need a change in their life and I’m the one giving it to them. That’s my job.”
It’s wrong. Disgusting. Illegal. You are the worst kind of human.
“I’m surprised you got to Martha,” Jerry said.
“Oh?”
“Then again, what am I saying? Of course you’d talk to her. She was a pain sometimes, but she meant well.”
“She knew about you? About all of this?” I asked.
“She was part of it. The girls needed someone to trust. But, again, that part of the operation really wasn’t my job. I had to deal with Martha a handful of times. And then one last time.”
I shivered.
“You killed her,” I said.
“No. She took too many pills. Remember?”
“Jerry…”
“Come on,” he said as he waved his hands. “Let’s talk about us. You and me. You, me, and Lo. Our family. We can go to the house right now and end this… start our new life…”
The house.
He has a house somewhere.
The apartment is just a secondary place to him.
“Where’s the house at? Is it secure?”
Jerry smiled. “I have everything under control there. You needn’t worry.”
I needed to find out where this house was.
That’s where Lo was.
I was getting closer… inch by inch…
“Don’t you want a family?” Jerry asked.
“Of course I do,” I said.
“Then come with me,” he said. “You have the means to end this case. I have the means to take care of us. Everyone thinks Trevor did it.”
“Trevor,” I said. “You set that up.”
“Yes!” Jerry yelled. “I was keeping an eye on Lo. You didn’t know she was sneaking out. I did. See?”
My teeth chattered for a second. “You… followed them…”
“Yes,” he said. “To make sure she was safe. I knew all about Trevor and his past. He dropped the bracelet and I saw the opportunity to make something happen. So all you need to do is tell everyone he did it. Then we can be together.”
“Why Nikki?”
“She wasn’t working out anymore,” Jerry said. “It was her time to go. Nobody wanted to buy her. She was getting rebellious. She and Chelsea had a plan. I was sent to stop it. And I did.”
“She wasn’t dead when you left her up there,” I said.
“So I’ve heard,” Jerry said in a cold voice. The smile vanished off his face. “Not that it matters. She wrote a message in blood. Her own blood. Good for her. Her fate was still the same. And ours is too, Allie.”
“We’re all his,” I said. “I’ve seen it other times too.”
“Of course you have,” Jerry said. “That’s what The One makes them all say. That’s what I make them all say too. And it’s the truth. Including you. We’re all his. But you’re mine. And I’m yours.”
“Why don’t we go to the house?” I asked.
Jerry shook his head. “Not yet. You’re not ready.”
“How so?”
“I’m going to need you to drink that wine, Allie. Then you’ll be ready.”
I glanced at the glass for a second.
He put something in it. He wants me to drink it so I’ll pass out. Then I’ll come to in this house of his…
“This is our fate,” Jerry said. “Look at how far we’ve come. I’ve guided you along. You’ve shown me who you are. This is what’s meant to be. We’ve went from cat and mouse to friends to lovers to… this…”
“I’m sorry, Jerry,” I said. “I’m trying to be calm here. But I need to see something…”
“Okay,” he said. “Okay… watch this…”
Jerry walked toward the dining room area of the apartment.
I didn’t like that his back was to me.
I kept my aim with the gun, ready to shoot if need be.
He stood at the dining room table.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
“You might want to get that,” he called out.
I reached for my phone and saw all the missed calls and texts from Ben.
There was a new text.
From Lo.
Soon, Allie. Soon.
I looked up from the phone and saw Jerry facing me again, holding Lo’s phone.
“There’s the proof,” he said. “She’s safe. For now.”
“For now?” I asked.
“Allie, you’re about to make the biggest decision of your life.”
Chapter Seventy-Two
“Jerry, you need to stop this right now,” I said.
“I agree,” Jerry said. “That’s the part of this… I agree with. We are synced up, Allie.”
He stepped toward me and I lifted my gun.
“Please, don’t do that,” he said. “You’ll never get to Lo then. She’ll be dead…”
“What did you say?” I asked.
Jerry frowned. “I didn’t want to do it this way. But I knew it was going to happen. You’re too bold. Too smart. That’s why I love you. Forgive me, I’ve fallen again for a wild one!”
Jerry looked up and laughed.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“Move your hand and I’ll tell you,” he said.
I returned my gun back to its holster.
“I have people looking for me, Jerry,” I said. “They can track me here in a second. I was supposed to go to the station to talk about our next move, but I knew to come here.”
“Because we’re meant to be together,” he said. “We can feel each other, Allie. Admit it. Please, just admit it.”
He slowly fell to his knees again.
“Tell me where Lo is and I’ll admit everything,” I said.
“I’ll take you to her. We can save her. Her and Lea. The only two we need. Okay?”
“Save them? Where are they?”
“Home,” he said. “Well, not for long. We’ll need a new home. I have that figured out too. We’re going to live in Alex’s house.”
My stomach did a flip. “Excuse me?”
“It’s perfect,” Jerry said. “We will live in Alex’s home together.”
“How…”
I already knew how.
Jerry knew everything about Lo.
The total trust she gave him…
And now he was using it against her. And me.
“It makes sense, right?” he asked. “That’s her home. She’s just missing family. That’s us, Allie. You, me, Lo, and Lea. The perfect family. I have my psychology practice. You’re a bold detective. And we raise our two daughters together.”
I swallowed hard. “First, I need to see her. I need to know she’s okay, Jerry. You were the one texting me from her phone. So how do I know she’s not… hurt?”
Or dead?
My stomach flipped again.
“I already told you… you get to make that decision. Nothing has happened yet. But soon… if we don’t act fast.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Jerry rose back to his feet. His hands balled up into fists. His face became very angry.
“It’s what I never wanted to do. I never wanted to hurt anyone. Not if they didn’t deserve it. I have rules, Allie. You get three days to calm down. That’s plenty of time to accept your fate. After three days, if you don’t calm down, you’re disposed of. I made the rules and The One approved. He liked the idea of cooperation. That’s what I do. I get them ready for their new lives. It’s my specialty. But this time… I knew with you it was going to be tough. Again, I fell in love with you, Allie. I can’t help myself I guess. So here we are. Together. In my apartment. Take a deep breath, Allie. Do you smell anything?”
“I don’t smell anything at all,” I said.
“That’s the point,” he said. “But where they are… the house… I had to do it.”
“What did you do, Jerry?”
“Right now, there are chemicals slowly
filling the house,” he said. “I made sure it was slow enough so I’d be able to talk to you. That’s the decision you get to make, Allie. Are you going to arrest me? Take me in? Show everyone you caught the man who killed Nikki? Some piece of trash on the street that had no life ever. I did her a favor by killing her. Or will you give me up so you can go save your niece? Isn’t this amazing, Allie?”
“You’re the sickest person I’ve ever met,” I said.
“There’s a third option. We leave together. Save our daughters, let the rest die, and live our lives.”
“You forgot about the fourth option,” I said. “The one where I arrest you, save Lo, and you pay for everything you’ve ever done.”
Jerry grinned. “Tick, tock… tick, tock… what are you going to do?”
“Tell me where they are,” I said.
“No,” he said.
“I can’t save them then,” I said. “I’ll let you go. Walk out of here, Jerry. Just tell me where they are.”
“I need reassurances,” he said.
“Take my car.”
“It can be tracked.”
“Then what do you want?” I asked.
My fingertips tightened on my gun again.
This is it, Allie. You have to do this the right way…
“I want us,” he said. “Choose me. Choose Lo. Choose Lea. Choose this…”
Jerry lunged at me.
I side stepped and turned.
I bumped into a table and lost my balance.
Jerry hurried to the coffee table and lifted the glass of wine he poured for me.
“Drink this!” he yelled. “I promise, when you wake up, we’ll be home…”
I aimed my gun for the final time.
“I’m not going to do that, Jerry,” I said. “Put the glass down. You’re done. It’s over.”
“Lo is going to die!”
“No, she’s not,” I said.
“Right now with each breath she takes, it’s death. And she’s locked in a cage. Like a sad dog. She can’t escape it. Unless-”
I hurried toward Jerry.
He threw the glass at me and I swatted it out of the way.
I had the gun pointed at his chest but moved it down to his leg.
If need be, I’d shoot his leg and see if he would panic and tell me where Lo was.
It felt like my only move.