Jamie-5 (4 page)

“You didn’t stop, did you? You tried to find her. I bet that put her parents out of joint!” Jamie could just see Cait riding in and saving the young girl from all sorts of horrible treatments.

“The next night, a co-worker came in and said his wife had just been laid off. She was a bus driver for a privately owned line and that some rich bitch had come in tonight and told them they were all off until further notice. It wasn’t until the next night that I found out who. Messenger Enterprises had purchased the line and had closed it down.” Jamie watched Cait as she continued talking.

“The next morning when I got off work, I went by and saw three cars and a limo there.

When they left a few hours later, there were four men and her mother, who entered the vehicles and left. I went inside to see what was going on. I…I found her. I found Dane.

“They had tied her up, naked, with her arms over her head and a gag in her mouth. She was…Christ, they had hung her over the blood that had been little Allison’s and her feet were in the blood. I ran to her. I wanted to get her down, and that’s when I saw what they’d done to her.

Her back. They’d beaten her badly. The whip was still lying on the desk with her blood soaking it where they had laid it. I couldn’t move. I didn’t…I couldn’t touch her so I called her grandmother who I’d met at the press conference. Within minutes, a private ambulance showed up and cut her down. They must have known. They never touched her without gloves. And the care they gave her was…it was my fault and Dane knew it. She was in and out of consciousness, talking and then screaming from the pain. She told me before they took her away that she would never forgive me, that I would rot in hell before…I don’t know what happened to her after that.

She disappeared. I tried to have her mother arrested, but everytime I got close to her, Hunter would yank me back. A few years later, I read where her mother had died. Her father had been out of the picture for a long time and there was no mention of Dane in the obituary. It said Shannon Messenger was childless.”

“Her mother had her beaten?” Jamie asked, shocked. “What kind of sick monster has her own child beaten that badly? Then disowns her?”

“Dane’s grandmother said that they were trying to beat the mental illness out of her. That wasn’t the first time they had beaten Dane and if she hadn’t disappeared, it more than likely wouldn’t have been the last. Dane was brilliant, she said, and that she was fine where she was.

That’s all…that’s all she would tell me and believe me, I asked a lot.”

“How long did you keep tabs on her, baby?” Spencer asked. “And is her grandmother still alive?”

Jamie watched Cait as she sat back down in the chair easily, her pregnancy making it difficult to walk and sit well.

“No, her grandmother died six months ago. She had her attorney contact me and let me know. I never knew where Dane was, she’d never tell me, but I asked about her nearly every month until then.”

“You believe she was there at the Quad because she knew I was going to get mugged, don’t you?” Jamie shook his head. “You think that she somehow kept me from being mugged because of what she can supposedly do?”

“No, Jamie, I know she was there to save your life. If you were just being mugged, she wouldn’t have been bothered by it. She knew that you were going to die and she had to save you.”

~CHAPTER 4~

Dane woke at noon the next afternoon. There was a note from Pi telling that she’d gone to the grocery and that her package was in her office. She also said that Dane owed her two days at the spa. Dane smiled and got herself something to drink.

She was not ready to face the evidence just yet and sat at the table to drink her tea and eat a bowl of cereal. She was just finishing it when the phone rang. Without bothering to look at the ID, she answered it.

“I’ve had the night from hell. I’ve had the shit beat out of me with a two-by-four and the past has come up and bit me on the ass. I haven’t had a chance to look at the evidence yet. You know I don’t get up until after noon, so chill out. If you give me ten minutes, I’ll call you back.” There were several seconds of silence so long that Dane got up and looked at the caller ID. Local number, shit.

“This is Captain Tucker of the Columbus police department. I got this number from a car registration. Is this Danish Messenger?”

With a mumbled “fuck” under her breath, Dane answered, “Yes. This is Dane Messenger. I have a permit to park there over night, Captain. I was coming by to pick up my car today. Is there a problem?”

“No, ma’am, no problem.” Dane didn’t trust Captain Tucker’s good ol’ boy routine. “There was a mugging last night in the area and we were trying to find a car that might have belonged to one of the people involved. Yours was the one that no one could account for so we had to look into it. We’ve impounded the car, just to be on the safe side, so when you come in, you’ll need to have some sort of an ID on you to claim it. There’ll be no charge, of course, but like I said, we were just making sure.”

“Sure. I understand.” She wondered if he would say anything about her statement when she’d answered and closed her eyes, hoping he would not. It was too much to hope for, she supposed, when he did.

“I don’t suppose that you want to tell me who beat the shit out of you with a two-by-four, would you? One of our vics last night was hit with something similar. Name’s similar, but doesn’t mean it can’t be you, does it? And then I’d like to ask you about the evidence too. Miss Messenger, what are you doing in my fair city?”

“Nothing illegal, I assure you, and as such, none of your business. I’ll go by the impound lot sometime today to get my car, Captain Tucker. If there’s nothing else, I have things to do.” His laughter brought her up short.

After getting the address, she sat down again and waited for Pi. Her head was pounding and her back felt as if someone had hit her with a board, lucky her. When Pi came in an hour later, Dane still had not looked at the evidence bag and she was still sitting in the kitchen. She couldn’t deal with it just yet. She knew a boy’s life was at stake, but if she didn’t get a hold on her emotions then she wouldn’t be able to help anyway.

After taking a cab to the impound lot and getting her car back, she drove to her office. She had taken the package with her and when she was finished with the last patients file, she closed and locked the door and opened the bags.

She did not pick up anything right away. She knew that even though they had used gloves to pick the items up and put them into the baggies, someone had to touch the outside some. It took Dane several minutes to clean the outsides with solvents. Nothing could remove the touches completely, but it could tone it down some. Taking off the gloves she’d used and picking up some scissors, she cut open the first bag. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she picked up the first item.

Boy. Dog. Momma. Daddy. Hundreds of snippets of memories and touches passed in front of Dane’s closed eyes. Thousands of scents, more of feelings—happiness, sadness, excitement, and sleep. Too much at first, then little by little, they slowed. More and more, she was able to sort them out, take them in. Nearly an hour after she picked up the sweater, she knew so much more about this little boy and his life than his parents or anyone would ever know. She also knew who had killed him. Opening the second baggie, she was flooded with the same emotions and touches, different people, different times, animals, and scents, but the same killer. Three hours after locking her office door, Dane called Markus.

~~~

Jamie was sitting in his office when the phone rang. He smiled. Someone from his family had been calling every hour since he’d left for work this morning. This was the second time his mom had called.

“I’m fine, Mom. I didn’t get hurt and I will be more careful in the future.” He heard her huff and he smiled bigger.

“See that you do. But that’s not why I was calling. That girl, Dr. Wallace, I don’t suppose you got her phone number, did you?”

“No. For some reason, I don’t know why, but that didn’t strike me as a date asking sort of situation. Besides, I don’t think she’s my type. I like my women to be much less bustier and more hips to grab onto.” He could hear her sputtering and he laughed out loud.

“James Andrew Grant! Is that anyway to talk to your mother? Some days, I’m sure you were switched at birth. You are the only child of mine who would talk to me in such a way. What on earth is wrong with you?”

“Mom, you know I like my women tiny. Have you ever seen me date anyone that was bigger than a size ‘b’ cup? I mean, maybe Ta, but we never got beyond first base.” He really was enjoying himself. And he and Taylor had never gotten past the kissing stage, too creepy. It was like kissing his sister.

“I’m hanging up now. I don’t even know why I called, you have me so flustered. Shame on you, young man. I’ll call you when I…bloody hell. There’s been another child killed in California. The police are making a statement now.”

Jamie reached over and turned on his television. It was never on anything but the news or the sports channel and now was no different. The special task force officer Markus Lionel was speaking.

“...this morning. He is also suspected in the murder of two other children who have not yet been located. We have a specialist that will be working with us on this case from this point on to try and ascertain where or if there are more. Any questions?”

“You say specialist. Is this the same man that helped on the Night Slasher several months ago? You said that he was instrumental in helping solve that case. My readers would really like to know who this man is.”

“Sorry, April, but I have no comment on the specialist. I’ve told you before that we are working with a person who is helpful and is very private. Next question.”

“Will the person be coming here to help with the location of the bodies? And if so, when do you expect him to arrive?”

“People, I have said all I’m going to say about the help. If there are no more questions about the man who murdered five children, then this is coming to a close. One more question, one more hint about the specialist, and it will be the last news conference I give. Do I make myself understood?”

Jamie watched the man walk away from the podium and head toward a closed door. At first he had thought of Dane then dismissed the idea as they asked about a man. But he could not get her helping them out of his mind. He remembered his mom was still on the phone.

“Mom, why did you need Dane’s number, did you remember? I didn’t get it, but she did talk to Damon a great deal. Maybe he has it.”

“Yes. I already talked to him. That’s how I knew to call her. I have a child that could benefit from her type of work. Did you know that she’s a doctor? Anyway, I’ll have to see if I can track her down another way. I love you, son. I’ll see you on Sunday.” Jamie hung up and sat back again. Her name was Dane Wallace and she was new to the States, she’d said. He picked up the phone again and called Devin. He would be able to find her faster than anyone.

“I don’t do date research anymore. You want to get to know a girl then you have to figure it out the old fashioned way. Through dating and talking. Why do you want this anyway?”

“Mom does. And I’m not dating her. We barely spoke two words to each other. Damon said she was a doctor. Mom needs her help. That’s it.”

“Oh. Well she has a practice on Thirty-fourth Street. It’s only open in the late afternoon and evening. I can’t find a home address for her, but I did find an application she is trying to get through on a Pi Lee Chang. She’s a Chinese resident who wants to stay here on a working visa.

Dane Wallace is the person who is asking for her help. They’ve been companions for nearly a decade in China. If Dane was a resident here before, I can’t find it. There is no driver’s license in her name, no social security number or anything else. The building is owned by some conglomerate that I can’t seem to get a handle on. Everything seems legal, but who knows.”

“You just happened to have that in front of you? Damn, Devin, you’re better than I thought.

Give me the address and I’ll go see what I can find out. Who were you searching this for anyway?”

“She made O’Malley cry. I’ve never seen anyone do that before and I want to know how she did it. There’s a history there that I can’t figure out.” Jamie closed his eyes and wondered.

“Besides, I’m worried…I don’t know if I believe everything O’Malley old us, but, well…what if she had something…Never mind.”

“Let it go for now, Dev. If you really want to know, ask Cait. But let it go for now. There is some history, lots of it, but let it go until you talk to the women themselves.”

“You know.” It was not a question so Jamie did not respond. When Devin spoke again, it was with a little anger. “If this Dane hurts O’Malley, there won’t be any hiding for her. I’ll let it go for now, but I won’t be put off long. Let me know what you find out.” After they hung up, Jamie decided to go to her office. He didn’t figure it could hurt and it could get him in good with his mom if Dane would agree to help out with the kid. Smiling, he wondered if she would maybe have dinner with him too.

There was no one at the office when he got there. It was in a nice part of town and the building looked brand new. He walked around it for a few minutes then got back in his car.

There had been a phone number on the door to call for emergencies. He pulled out his cell and called.

“Doctor Wallace answering service. How may I help you?” Jamie thought he’d get a machine or maybe a recording, but not this cheery person on the other end. “My name is James Grant and I’d like to know when you expect Dr. Wallace back in the office?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Grant, but I can’t give you that information. I can tell you that Dr. Wallace will be in the office next week, and that she is booked up for a few weeks. I can make an appointment for you. Is this for your son or daughter?”

“Neither. I need to talk to her. She…she and I were in an accident the other night and she—”

“Oh, she told me about that. Yes, I remember where I’ve heard your name before. I’m so glad you’re all right. Dane…err, Dr. Wallace will be out of town for a few more days. She had an emergency in California and she’ll be back soon. Would you like to leave her a message? She calls in here several times a day to check.”