Fatal Hunt

by Kristy Walker

  The manager tried in vain to hold his ground. In the end, guilt plagued his feminine features and he led them to the closet that housed the security equipment.

  They stood back as he set the video feed to rewind. They watched as the images whirled by.

  “Stop!” Detective Boaz suddenly said, pointing at the screen.

  “There’s Linda ordering.”

  They squeezed past the manager, who was still trying to assert his long-gone authority and stood with their faces inches from the screen.

  They watched as a man got up and walked over to get the cup. They could see him take the lid off, but from the camera angle, couldn’t see if he put anything in. He then got out of his chair and walked over to hand the cup to the disinterested Tina who took it over to Linda. He could feel himself willing her not to drink it. The men watched in horror as she began to convulse.

  “I’ve seen enough.” Captain Wells broke in, unable to watch anymore. “We need this on a tape, please.”

  The manager had no more resistance left after seeing the feed.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I can’t believe it. Finally, a break. We could actually see part of his face.”

  “Let’s leave this to the professionals and go to the station to get busy on figuring out who this guy is. I don’t want to lose one more person.”

  He glanced over to where Dr. Forrester was getting ready to zip Linda in the body bag. That horrible zipping sound would stay with him for the rest of his life.

  Chapter 90

  It didn’t take long for the news of Linda Well’s death to spread throughout the whole building, and then on to the county buildings. A pall settled over everyone. Who would be next?

  A little good news came in the form of Angie’s husband, Matt. He was breathing on his own and, if there were no complications, would recover fully, over time. Angie would start back at work the following week.

  Kacey and Mike were almost out the door to go to Kacey’s house for lunch when they heard the news.

  “Finally, some good news. I’m not sure how much more of this we can take.”

  Mike drove Kacey home for lunch and she stayed there, comforted by Jack and Thor. She grieved more for Dan today than she had since that awful day when he was stolen from her. After hearing about Linda, those ugly feelings came rushing back.

  After she was settled and Jack was in full-on comforter mode, Mike went to grab some lunch on his way back to the station. He wanted to be there if anything came up on their case. He thought he might find something in the quiet of the conference room.

  The man watched as Jack led Kacey to the couch and covered her with a blanket. She settled Kacey’s head on her lap and began stroking her hair and murmuring soothing words to her. Thor curled up behind Kacey’s knees. He watched as Kacey fell asleep, cradling the baby forming in her womb. It was a very satisfying scene.

  Jack had the uncanny feeling that she was being watched. She grabbed a pillow and situated it under Kacey’s head. Standing up, she went to the picture window. Nothing. She closed the blinds and turned back to see that Kacey was still asleep and Thor was softly snoring.

  She physicaly shook herself, trying to lose the feeling. She went back to folding the basket of towels that had been abandoned as soon as Kacey and Mike came through the front door.

  She watched Kacey sleep as she folded and marveled at how their relationship had grown from her own petty jealousy to as close to a sister friendship you could have without sharing blood. She truly loved Kacey.

  After she finished folding, she put her feet up on the ottoman, leaned back, and was napping within minutes. She wasn’t quite released to work, but she was feeling almost like her old self. The best thing that this had taught her was the value of a good nap. She smiled as she dreamed good dreams.

  Chapter 91

  The news of Linda's death was all over town as Kacey and Mike met for breakfast.

  Kacey was there first and had a cup of coffee sitting in front of her. The steam was rising above the cup in little swirls, dissipating just as it reached her red-rimmed eyes. She was staring into the cup as Mike sat down across from her. She lifted her eyes to him and just shook her head ‘no’.

  “I know, Kace.”

  They ate their breakfast in silence, which was only broken by an occasional sniff from Kacey.

  Finally, they both pushed their plates away and as Mike pulled his freshly refilled coffee towards him, Kacey looked down at her lap.

  “I don’t know if I can keep doing this job, Mike.”

  “What are you talking about? Why would you want to do anything else?”

  “Don’t you ever get sick of it? The blood, the mess, the loss. I’m tired of being tired. I’m tired of feeling defeated. Maybe it’s the baby talking, but when I think of going back and looking at those horrible photos of those poor women who were just trying to find some happiness … a soul mate, I want to throw up.”

  “Of course I get sick of it. Come on, Kacey! Snap out of it. If not for people like us, the world would be in chaos. We serve the public and protect them. We would’ve never saved Katie last year. She would’ve been dead, and your friends would be without their daughter. We do good things, Kacey. You can’t just stop now. At least wait until the baby comes and you are on maternity leave. Then you can make a decision. Take a leave … whatever … just don’t quit yet. Please.”

  “You’re right.”

  She sighed and Mike grabbed the check.

  “Let’s get to it.”

  Chapter 92

  Kacey and Mike spent their day going through their evidence and working on a dialogue for Kacey and her date that evening. They were trying to weed out some facts that only the killer would know and try to get him to trip up.

  Kacey was concerned that she would go into interrogation mode and pin him like a butterfly on a kid’s science project. That was kind of her style.

  “Can I just get him in a head lock and beat it out of him? I haven’t dated for years and it was painful until I met Dan.”

  “No, Kacey … you may not beat it out of him. You can do that after we get him back here.” Mike joked.

  “Fine.” Kacey sat back and folded her arms across her rapidly growing baby bump. She didn’t even bother to try to hide it at this point. Only another month left and she would hold Dan’s baby in her arms.

  They sat a couple of more hours getting Kacey ready. Finally, it was time to get to the restaurant and set up their microphones and cameras. Kacey went home to get ready and Mike went with the technicians to the restaurant that had served Alice, Donna, and Colleen’s last meal, and where Joanna had almost met the same fate.

  Kacey put on a black maternity dress that slid softly down over her body and down to her knees. She had invested in it when she went to Alice’s funeral, and had worn it to every one since then. It made her sad to think that the only wear this dress was getting was to places of doom and gloom.

  She added a soft pink cashmere cardigan that would hopefully hide some of her baby bump with the help of the table. She spritzed herself with perfume and put on her black suede boots. After adding silver hoop earrings and silver bangle bracelets, she tested to see if she could still kick his butt if necessary.

  “Hmmm … still got it.” She gave herself one last look in the mirror and added some lipstick. She walked into the living room and Jack gave her a wolf whistle.

  “You look gorgeous, Kacey!” Jack smiled, then frowned. “When this is all over, we are dressing up and going out for a girls’ night. You look too amazing to waste it on this loser.”

  “I’ll take you up on that.”

  Kacey locked the door behind her and set the code, never realizing that someone was watching, and agreeing with Jack 100%.

  She made it to the restaurant in plenty of time to check with everyone and see exactly where the equipment was located so she could get everything on tape.

  The whole crew erupted into cat calls when Kacey walked in. E
ven pregnant, she would be lying if it didn’t boost her ego just a bit.

  “Seriously, guys?” She rolled her eyes but continued to smile. “Todd, what are you doing out of the Toddcave?”

  “I just wanted to make sure everything went ok so you can stay safe and make this as painless as possible for you. Can’t have my favorite detective stressing out.”

  Kacey wanted to hug him as she blinked fast to keep from tearing up.

  “You’re so sweet, Todd.”

  “I try.” He said, blushing.

  He finished fiddling with her ear piece and microphone and, after giving her a thumbs up sign, retreated to the state of the art van in the back lot of the restaurant, while Kacey straightened her dress and walked into the restaurant.

  Kacey appeared the very picture of calm as she sat demurely at a table in the back corner, facing the quickly growing crowd of diners. Her eyes flicked here and there trying to get her bearings while watching the door for her dinner date.

  Finally, a very handsome man came in and after talking to the matre de, made his way towards her. He put his hand out and introduced himself before sitting down.

  “Are you Kacey? My name is Henry.”

  “It’s so nice to meet you, Henry.”

  “The mater de doesn’t think it’s the same guy.” Mike said into her earpiece. “But he looks familiar to him.”

  Kacey nodded to acknowledge that she heard.

  “I had no idea you would be so beautiful.” He said, sitting down. “I kind of figured that if someone was using this website, they wouldn’t want anyone to see their face.”

  “Really? Why did you sign up, then?”

  “Lots of reasons. Have you been here before, Kacey?”

  “I have not. You?”

  “Three times. Once with a work group, once with a client, and once with a date. It’s one of my favorites, but only for special occasions. So, tell me about yourself, Kacey.”

  Kacey felt herself begin to relax as she told him her “story”. It began to worry her when she realized that she was a very, very good liar and that it seemed to come naturally to her.

  “So, why ‘le proffeseor’?” Kacey asked, leaning forward.

  “For one thing, I really am a professor. I teach French at the community college. Plus, my wife used to call me that to tease me and I was kind of paying homage to her because I know she would approve of me moving on with my life.”

  As Henry began telling her about his consulting business and his family, he began to relax, as well. He pulled out his phone and showed her a picture of his five year old daughter and his two year old son and began gushing about how wonderful they are.

  “So, are you divorced?” Kacey asked.

  “Not at all. I was very happily married. Lizzie died in childbirth with Corey. Really, that’s the main reason I joined the dating site. I’m sick to death of people trying to set me up with their ‘amazing’ friend, sister, co-worker … and on and on. Not to sound pitiable, but it gets a little lonesome at times. I have a great family and very supportive friends, but it’s not the same.”

  “I know exactly what you mean, Henry.” Kacey sighed. “My husband died a few months ago. I’m sorry, but I’m not quite ready to talk about it.”

  Henry reached over and covered her hand with his.

  “I understand.” He removed his hand and said, “I would love to see you again. Can I call you?”

  “There’s something I should probably tell you first.”

  The men in the van listening outside held their breath. Was she about to tell him the sting?

  “I would love that, but you should know that I am pregnant. I don’t want to try to pull one over on you and it would be obvious anyway, as soon as I stand up.”

  Henry laughed.

  “Kacey, I have two children … I know what a pregnant woman looks like and I was a little surprised when the mater de pointed you out. It would take more than a table to hide that fact. So … can I call you?”

  “That would be really nice, Henry.”

  At that point, the atmosphere in the van became relaxed and a little awkward. Mike was the only one who opted to keep his earbuds in. Clearly, this was a very nice man looking for a very nice woman.

  Captain Wells stepped out of the van and took a cleansing breath. He watched as Henry escorted Kacey to her car, waited for her to safely drive off, and went to his own car and drove off in the opposite direction.

  Mike took his earbuds out and called Kacey.

  “Well?” he said when she answered.

  “I hope it’s not him. I kind of liked him.”

  “We all heard.” Mike chuckled.

  “Great.”

  “I’m circling back around. See you in a sec.”

  She stopped in front of the sidewalk beside the van and hopped in. Everyone was doing their best to avoid looking at her. Clearly, they were not used to this version of her.

  “So … moving on. Opinions?” Kacey put her hands on her ever expanding hips and glared at them.

  “I thought he was very nice.” Todd said with a grin.

  “Not about that, TODD!”

  “Sorry.” He said, still grinning. “I don’t think he’s your guy. Looks only a little like the sketch, but so do I. I thought he was ok when he showed you the kid pictures and talked about his wife.”

  “Plus, he walked you to your car, waited for you to leave, then drove off in the opposite direction. I seriously doubt that he’s our guy.” Captain Wells added.

  “At least you got a date out of it.” Mike said, elbowing her.

  “I’ll never hear the end of this, will I?”

  The entire crew burst out laughing.

  Chapter 93

  Mike called Jack on the way home and updated her on what had happened. Jack was thrilled that Kacey might have found someone to spend time with. They talked awhile and agreed to try to get out a little tomorrow night. Maybe for some ice cream.

  He walked through his house, removing his tie, then his holster and badge … leaving little pieces of himself as he went. Finally, he stepped into the shower to wash the day away. Twenty minutes and no hot water later, he stepped out and dried himself briskly.

  He cursed as he stubbed his toe trying to get to his ringing phone.

  “Mike?”

  “Sandy … what’s wrong?” She never called this late.

  “It’s Tom … he hasn’t been home for two days and I don’t know where he is. He wasn’t supposed to be out of town, he hasn’t called and isn’t answering his phone.”

  “Have you called your police?” He said as he got dressed again. “I’m on my way.”

  “Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first. I don’t want to stir anything up.”

  “Well, hang on … I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  “Thanks, Mike.”

  Mike grabbed a sandwich and bottle of water, fed Mika … who, of course, looked at him with distain … and headed to Sandy’s house. Praying for a peaceful solution.

  He pulled into Sandy’s drive an hour later. The main areas of the house were lit up but the bedrooms were dark. Mike hoped the kids were all asleep and unaware.

  Sandy opened the door and he was shocked! Her hair was a mess and she looked like she hadn’t slept for days. He wasn’t sure she had even showered or changed.

  She rushed in for a hug.

  “I just don’t know what to think. He’s just been acting so weird lately. He’s traveling more than usual, and he seems so stressed out about work. I just can’t imagine that he would ever try to hurt himself, but I’m worried that maybe he had some kind of an accident and can’t get to a phone.” At Mike’s frown, she continued. “I know he has his cell phone, Mike … don’t give me that look. Maybe it's broken or lost.”

  “Sandy, I think you should call the police department in town. They have the resources to start a search. When did you see or hear from him last?

  “On the way to work two days ago. We were talking about
getting a sitter and going to the movies when he got back to town. Mikey, he always calls every night to tell the kids ‘good night’. He’s never forgotten …not once.”

  “It doesn’t sound like him to not contact you.”

  He handed her the phone.

  “Call. Now.”