Shadow of Perception (46 page)

Rusty rushed to the hospital bed, raised his arm, then slammed down the scalpel.
 

Mama screamed.

Eden kept her mouth covered and held her breath.

Plucking the scalpel up, Rusty rolled the handle between his hands. “Next time, I won’t miss,” he said to his mother. “Don’t ever talk about
Daddy
to my precious again. Got it? What you did to Rick is all on you,
Mama
. You killed him. Slammed a hatchet into his face, then made my sweet precious help you chop up the body and bury it all over the state of Illinois. If it wasn’t for me, your
Pudge
would probably be locked away in a mental institution, drugged and drooling. Now, if you could please shut the fuck up, I’d like to help my precious finally take care of that scrawny little bitch over there.”

Mama looked at her, and Eden swore she saw revulsion in the other woman’s eyes. “Yes,” Mama said. “You should take care of her. I know who she is.”

Rusty, or whoever he’d become, chuckled. “You? Please, when have you ever watched the news? Every damn time I walked in the room, you were watching some shitty rerun or movie.”

“I might be an invalid, and I might like my shows, but I do watch the news.
She’s
one of those investigative reporter types,” Mama said, and nodded to Eden. “And now she knows all about Rick. So, go ahead and take care of her, and whatever mess you’ve gotten my baby involved in, just make it quick. Someone’s gonna be looking for her.”

Smiling, Rusty raised the scalpel. “For once, I agree with you.”

Even if Rusty’s mother could help her, Eden realized the woman wanted her dead. Rusty and his mother harbored some messed-up family secrets. And now she knew them. Knew that they’d killed a man.
 

Not ready to go easy, she jumped to her feet, and slammed the door shut. Rusty pounded on the door as she locked it, and reached for the butter knife. She changed her mind, then took one of the plates, and smashed it against the table.
 

Rusty stopped pounding.
 

Mama screamed, “Kill her.”

A door slammed. Eden gripped the broken plate and held the sharp edge in front of her.

Gaze locked on the back door she waited.
 

Prayed.
 

Hoped.
 

Damn it, this shouldn’t be happening. She wanted to see her sister marry, and give her a bunch of nieces and nephews. She wanted to see her brother and dad, tell them that she loved them. Most of all, she needed to see Hudson.
 

Regret coiled and mingled with adrenaline as she stared at the back door’s small window.

His past, hers, none of it mattered. If he was willing to give them a chance, so was she. As for New York…she still wasn’t sure how they’d make a long distance relationship work, but she was determined to try. She loved him. Needed him in her life. His love, support and friendship made her whole. As she stared at the door, waiting for Rusty to burst through and kill her, she realized she’d spent so many years pushing herself to be the best at her career. While she’d succeeded, that success had come at a lonely cost. She didn’t want to be alone anymore. She wanted to surround herself with family, friends and Hudson’s love.
 

Determined to survive, she crouched and prepared to lunge once Rusty rushed through the door. Seconds ticked. Nothing.
 

Her stomach twisted with dread and anticipation. Where the hell was Rusty? He should have been—
   

 
A gunshot ricocheted from outside.
 

Eden flattened herself against the locked door, and stared out the window. From the other room, Mama yelled and screamed.
 

Breath quickening, Eden clutched the broken plate, then jumped and cried out as Rusty crashed through the back door. Panting, and still holding the scalpel, he quickly shut the door, then leaned against it. Blood soaked the front of his shirt. His hair, a wig Eden realized, had slipped toward the side of his head revealing his shaved scalp.
 

Eyes wild, Rusty stared at her with hate, then his face crumpled as he touched his stomach. “Precious,” he murmured, then he glared at her again. “This is your fault. If you would have—”

The back door smashed open, knocking Rusty off his feet. He rolled, then lunged. Shoved her in front of him, and pressed the scalpel to her throat.
 

“Drop it or she’s dead,” Rusty said, and tightened his arm around her waist.

Tears filled her eyes as she stared at Hudson. Blood trickled from the slice on his cheek, more blood dripped to the floor from the cuff of his leather coat, as well as the slash to his stomach. Rusty was right. This was her fault. Had she taken Michael Morrison and the anonymous, threatening calls more seriously, none of this would have happened. Hudson wouldn’t be injured, and David wouldn’t be dead.
 

Clutching the broken plate to her side, she decided to let the guilt consume her later. “Do what he says,” she told Hudson.

“She’s right,” a man said as he came up behind Hudson. “He has the advantage.”

Eden immediately recognized Michael Morrison from his driver’s license photo. Confusion and betrayal fueled her anger. What was happening now might be her fault, but she hadn’t expected Michael to conspire with Rusty. To think, even after the heinous crimes he’d committed, she’d felt sorry for the man and for all that he’d lost.

Hudson’s face hardened as he slowly lowered his weapon. “I know,” he said.
 

“Let’s go,” Michael said, and moved to leave.
 

Rusty laughed. “You two aren’t going anywhere. Boy Toy, put the gun on the floor and kick it to me,” he said to Hudson, then nodded to Michael. “You, get inside or I slit her throat.”

Sirens sounded in the distance. Mama yelled from the other room.

“Sounds like you have a full house. Sorry I can’t stay and enjoy the party,” Michael said. “I have someplace else to be.”

“Don’t you move,” Rusty ordered. “Don’t you dare take a step. And you, Boy Toy, I told you to drop your gun and kick it to me.”

“Pudge,” Mama screamed. “Hurry, hurry, the police. I see them on the street.”

“Shut up,” Rusty shouted, then pressed the scalpel harder against her throat. “I’m handling the situation just fine without—”
 

 
Eden leaned into Rusty and turned the doorknob with her cuffed hand. Rusty stumbled back, the scalpel nicking her throat. As his rear hit the floor, she landed in his lap.
 

Mama wailed and cried.

The sirens grew louder.

Arm dangling from the doorknob, and still holding the plate in her other hand, Eden pressed her head back and bowed her body forward. She jammed the point of the broken plate beneath her.

Rusty grunted.
 
The scalpel grazed her throat as he jerked his body and loosened his grip around her waist.
 

She released the plate, grabbed his wrist and bit.

“Bitch,” Rusty snarled, and dropped the scalpel into this other hand.

“Eden, move!” Hudson shouted.

“Kill her, kill her. They’re coming. Hurry,” Mama cried.

Before Rusty gained hold of the blade, and hoping to hit his plate and gunshot wound, she elbowed him in the gut.

“Now!” Hudson demanded.

Holding the doorknob, she swung her body. Hudson fired. Once. Twice.

“No, no, no,” Mama howled and sobbed.

Clinging to the door, Eden drew in deep breaths and looked over her shoulder. Hudson kept the gun trained on Rusty as he moved toward them.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, and checked Rusty’s pulse.

She shook her head. “But you are. How bad did he cut you?”

He knelt in front of her, and touched her chin. His eyes darkened as he looked at the nicks and scrapes on her neck, then he narrowed them and glared at Rusty. “I want to kill him all over again,” he said, his voice filled with hate. “If it hadn’t been for Morrison—”

The Chicago police burst into the house through both the front and back doors. Hudson immediately dropped his weapon, raised his hands and identified himself. Mama continued to sob and babble. During the chaos that followed, the police and detectives’ questionings, the arrival of the coroner and EMTs, Eden kept her focus on Hudson. Whatever had happened to lead him to Rusty’s house didn’t matter. What mattered was that they had a chance. How they’d make things between them work, she still didn’t know.
 

At least they were both alive and able to give it a try. For now, that’s all that mattered.
 

*

The next morning, Eden held Hudson’s hand as they sat in COREs evidence and evaluation room. Rachel had every TV screen on, each filled with information on both Michael Morrison and Chris Long, the man she’d known as Rusty Jones.
 

Owen Malcolm and Ian Scott filtered into the room. Owen had just flown in from Las Vegas after finishing an assignment. Since he’d watched one of the DVDs, he voiced an interest in the results.
 

After each man took a seat, Rachel said, “The Chicago PD asked us for a little favor. They’re hoping we might be able to track down Michael Morrison. I’ve pulled up everything I could find on the man, and have that info on these screens.” She pointed to four of the six TVs. “These two screens contain the particulars on Chris Long, the man who kidnapped Eden.”

“Can we start with Long?” Eden asked. At this point, she didn’t want to discuss Michael’s whereabouts. She didn’t care. Yesterday, after the police had arrived, she and Hudson had spent the day, and most of the evening, either at the police station or the hospital, where Hudson had received stitches. Afterwards, they’d gone to CORE to make copies and view the two DVDs Michael had left for her. One had been the surgery he’d performed on Roth. The other DVD had been…heartbreaking. After she’d watched the home movies Michael had created of his daughter, she’d understood the full scope of the man’s pain, grief and need for vengeance. Coupled with the fact that he’d risked his freedom to help Hudson rescue her, she realized, despite the severity of his crimes against the doctors, Michael wasn’t a bad man. He was a distraught father who had made extremely poor choices.
 

 
Rachel nodded, and pointed to the screen with Long’s information. “Okay, meet Chris Long, aka, Rusty Jones, Murugan Punjab, Nancy Flannery, and Dr. Dread. Police found fake IDs and disguises in Long’s bedroom that linked him to all of these identities and the Dread murders. In total, they suspect Long is responsible for six murders, the three nurses from the Dread cases, and the three men from WBDJ.”

Eden looked away, and fought back the tears. She hadn’t known Ryan Anders or the intern, Steven Cline, well. But David had been her friend, a kind, funny, talented, unique person. She’d miss having him in her life.

“Do we know if Long had any metal health issues?” Ian asked.

“There’s no record,” Rachel responded. “But based on what Eden witnessed, and the mother’s statement, it appears Long experienced auditory hallucinations and bizarre delusions.” She shrugged. “We’ll never know for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Long’s psychosis was triggered by what the mother did to the father.”

“And that was…?” Owen asked.

“The father, Richard Long, physically and sexually abused both mother and son. One night, Mama had enough and killed him.”

“With a hatchet,” Eden added, remembering the argument between “Pudge” and Mama. “Then she made her son help her cut up the father and bury pieces of his body all over the state of Illinois.”

“That’ll definitely trigger something,” Owen said.

Ian nodded, then looked to Eden. “I wonder what caused Long to go after you?”

 
Eden shook her head. “I have no idea. I worked with Rusty, I mean, Long, for several years. Never once did he show any sign of aggression or malice toward me.”

“I met him,” Hudson said. “Seemed like a regular guy.”

“That’s what Morrison’s coworkers and neighbors are saying about him, too,” Rachel added.
 

“Before we get to Morrison, what’s going to happen to Long’s mother?” Ian asked.

“She’s made her confession and has already accepted the State’s Attorney’s plea bargain. Dorothy Long will spend the next ten years in prison. Based on her health, I doubt she’ll ever leave.” Rachel turned off the screens containing Chris Long’s information. “Now on to Morrison. Eden, Hudson and I watched his last two DVDs yesterday. I’ve turned over everything, except our copies, to the police. According to Ogle County Sheriff, Jim Wilson, and the State Police crime scene investigators, the partial remains of four bodies have been found on Morrison’s property. It’ll take a while for DNA results, but based on the DVDs he’d sent Eden, and the fact that all four doctors associated with Cosmetic Solutions and Med Spa are still missing, every law enforcement agency involved in the Morrison case thinks the victims are Thomas Elliot, Brian Westly, Leonard Tully, and Victor Roth.”

“Between Long and Morrison, that’s a lot of dead bodies in one week,” Owen said.