The Hunters
By LML
Toronto, Canada
October 1, 1996
It was one of those days when you didn't want to get
out of bed. Nick hadn't wanted to get up and go to
work, but since he knew he would have to get over all
the pain at some point he decided it would be best if
he hauled his ass in and dealt with this whole mess
sooner rather than later. It had been almost a year
since Tracy's death, and nearly two since Schanke and
Cohen's deaths. He decided to stay for the aftermath
of the shooting of Detective Tracy Vetter, but beyond
that he wasn't sure what he wanted. But Natalie needed
him. They both had been through so much in the last
few years: Natalie almost being a cereal killer's next
target, Natalie losing her goddaughter, their near
cure for Nick's condition, Valentines Day, the
senseless deaths of police captain Amanda Cohen And
Detective Don Schanke, Nick being paired up with Tracy
Vetter the daughter of police commissioner Richard
Vetter, the Kessle House incidents, Nick's being shot
and the night he and Nat shared shortly after, the
fever incident, and finally the murder of Tracy
Vetter. That had only been the tip of the ice burg.
The ringing of his cellular phone startled him from
his thoughts. "Knight," he said into the phone.
"Hey Nick its Reese. Glad I caught you. Look, I hate
to tell you this, but we've got something weird going
on here down at the shop. Somebody called in and said
that later on you're going to be getting a homicide
case that will be a real career breaker. As a standard
policy, the call was taped and traced. But the voice
was prerecorded. The lab boys can't get anything from
it at the moment." Thanks Captain. When I get in I'll
look over my current cases and see what I can come up
with. Maybe this guy is someone I've dealt with
before, or maybe there will be a connection
somewhere."
Reese agreed and disconnected. Nick finally got up the
energy and resigned himself to go down to the caddy
and head into work. Once at the precinct, he went over
his current cases and couldn't find anything wrong.
Just then Reese flew out of his office.
"Nick we've got a homicide. Young girl; that's all I
know. Here's the address." He handed the paper to his
detective and watched as he left. As Nick exited the
bullpen Reese added: "I'd go myself but I'm a little
jammed up here until the paperwork on the Harrison
transfer comes through. Let me know how it goes."
At the crime seen, he found two officers standing off
to the side talking to a sergeant from his precinct.
"What do we have Miller?" When young woman looked at
Nick. He could see her eyes were filled with tears.
"It's a kid Detective Knight." Miller said in a
controlled voice. "She doesn't look any older than
fifteen or sixteen. Dr. Lambert's with her right now."
"Thanks Miller." Nick left and headed over to where
Natalie was kneeling on the ground. He could tell that
it had been a pretty quick death for the girl. Nat saw
him and rose from where she was kneeling.
"Okay here's what we've got. Young girl, approximately
sixteen-years of age. According to the wallet in her
pocket she's Jessica Saunders, a high school senior
here in Toronto. She was stabbed right through the
heart with what looks like a very sharp blade. The
force of the blow and the severity of her wounds
suggests that it was done by someone very strong."
Nick looked from Nat to the girl and then back at Nat
again. He couldn't help but notice two obvious things.
First there was very little blood at the scene, and
second the girl didn't fight back.
"Nat there's not much blood here." The coroner looked
at him with a knowing look.
"Could it be a renegade?" Nick shook his head.
"I don't sense anything. But what I do notice is the
bruises on her head."
"I noticed that too. Looks like she was knocked out
first and then murdered. When I get her back to the
lab I'm going to run a rape kit as well. I'll let you
know what I find." She turned away for a minute trying
to hide the pain she felt for this child. Nick noticed
but didn't say anything. He waited until she turned
back toward him once again and then voiced his
thoughts.
"Nat if you want I can get someone to handle this one
for you. I know how this brings back memories of your
goddaughter Cynthia." He wrapped a protective arm
around her shoulder and she shook her head.
"No. I've got to do this myself. It's been a while now
since I've seen a dead child's body and if I'm going
to remain in my current profession I'd better learn
how to deal with it again. Besides, Cynthia was
younger than this girl by at least four years."
Nick could tell she was trying to hide the pain and
cover it with a professional mask of indifference. He
could see it and could tell she wasn't fooling him.
"All right. If you want to do this one go ahead. But
if you need anything don't hesitate to ask me, okay?"
"Okay." She turned and quickly left the area where the
young girl lay on the ground.
He watched her leave and then looked around to see if
anyone was watching him. Nick knelt down and carefully
scrutinized the young girl's wounds. He could also
tell that just looking at her face had frightened her.
The eyes still remained wide and looked full of shock.
He noticed a little trickle of blood coming from the
girl's wound. It ran from her chest down her arm and
onto her hand. Not liking what he was about to do,
Nick quickly reached out and touched the drop of blood
with his index finger. He brought the finger to his
mouth and quickly relieved it of the blood. He had to
know what this girl went through. Maybe she saw her
killer's face, and if so it was his duty to catch this
guy.
Flashback: earlier that night
She exited the school and headed for her car.
Rehearsal had been long tonight, but they had gotten a
lot accomplished in the few short hours they had been
practicing. She knew that the concert would go well,
but she was also sad. It was her last year in the
group and she didn't want to give it up.
"Jessie! Hey. Wait a minute. You need a ride?" Her
friend Amanda Silverman ran after her carrying her
binder under one arm and stretching out her car keys
in the other hand. Jessie turned back and said, no she
didn't need a ride.
"I've got my brother's car tonight. He finally gave in
and let me use it. I guess he trusts me more than he
lets on."
She and Amanda talked for a few more minutes and then
said their good-byes to one another. Jessica reached
the brown beat up ford and slid the key into the
driver's side door. The overhead light flipped on as
she opened the door and slid into the seat. She hadn't
noticed the shadow that lay on the floor behind her
seat until it was too late. She slammed the door, slid
the key into the ignition, and began driving away.
Suddenly, she felt something move behind her. She
heard something too. But she didn't even have the
chance to scream. That was because a large figure
reached over the back of her seat and knocked her
unconscious.
End flashback: present
He knew there had to be more than that, but when he
tried to see more, he couldn't. He needed more. As he
began to reach for another small trickle of blood, a
forensic technician arrived with a body bag. The
technician expertly placed the girl's still form in
the bag, zipped it up, and lifted it to a stretcher.
Nick regained his senses and headed for the caddy. He
had to get back to the station and start running the
usual paper trail on this girl. Who was Jessica
Saunders? But more importantly, why would someone want
to kill her? It didn't make any sense to Nick and he
knew it never would. He ran the usual background check
on the victim and found out that Jessica Saunders was
a sixteen-year old high school senior who attended
high school in the Metro division. Therefore, it would
remain Nick's case. Nick also learned that Jessica
lived with her brother Robert Saunders. He quickly
located an address and left to make the death
notification.
As he entered the section of town, which was home to
Jessica and her brother, he noticed that it was
populated by mostly middle class residents. The
residents of this particular area weren't borderline
poverty, but they weren't well to do either. Nick
spotted the building with the number 15 and pulled
into a space in front of the main entrance. He quickly
found apartment 3 B. and knocked at the door.
The door was answered by a young man in his late teens
or early twenties. "May I help you?"
"Are you Robert Saunders?"
The man nodded and gave Nick a suspicious sideways
glance.
"Mr. Saunders, my name is Nick Knight. I'm a homicide
detective with the Metro police department here in
Toronto." Nick hated what he was about to inform this
man of, but knew he had to do it regardless. "May I
come in, Mr. Saunders?"
Saunders stepped aside and swung the door wide,
allowing Nick to enter the apartment. "What's this all
about, Detective? Has something happened to my
sister?"
Nick always dreaded this part of the job. It was so
difficult to inform families of someone's death
without becoming too emotionally involved. He drew in
a breath in order to stay relaxed and focused and then
spoke. "Mr. Saunders, I'm sorry to be the one to
inform you of this, sir, but your sister is dead."
Saunders instantly turned pale.
"What do you mean dead? Jessica was at rehearsal at
the school. She was so excited about this upcoming
concert she had. She can't be dead; it's got to be a
mistake."
"I'm sorry." Nick said. "But Mr.. Saunders, I need to
tell you one more thing and ask you a few questions if
you don't mind." The younger man's face fell into his
hands. Nick wasn't sure if he wanted to proceed at
this point, but knew if he didn't it would be a
serious mistake on his part. If the guy didn't hear
about it here and now he would find out later at the
coroner's office. Better to get it over and done with
sooner rather than later. "Mr. Saunders, your sister
was murdered. Can you think of anyone who would want
to harm her?"
Two hours later, Nick reentered the precinct and
headed for the captain's office. Reese intercepted him
halfway to the door. "Nick what happened when you went
to make the notification to the brother?"
"He dropped right there in his living room. I radioed
for the paramedics and they took him to the hospital.
He was the only family this girl had. Their parents
were killed in a car accident two years ago, and she's
been living with her brother here in Toronto ever
since."
Reese shook his head sadly. "Did you get anything from
the brother?"
"No. He says he doesn't understand why anyone would
want to kill his little sister. He was pretty upset
though cap. Maybe if we give him a day or so I'll try
to talk to him again and see if anything strikes him
at all."
However, that was not to be. For at that point in his
career, homicide detective Nicholas Knight was about
to deal with one of the most difficult cases Toronto
had seen since the incident involving the death of his
partner Don Schanke.
Three weeks later, the precinct was swamped with
cases. They were all the same as the one he had
received earlier in October. However, now it wasn't
just one dead girl, but three more had been murdered
since. The killer seemed to strike girls between the
ages of sixteen and twenty-years of age. Nick had
taken them all since he had been the officer assigned
to the first case. It looked to be the workings of a
cereal killer, and since everyone else was pretty much
bombarded with other cases, Nick took them. Nick had
been trying to track down all four cars over the
course of the murders, but it was becoming
increasingly difficult to find clues in the vehicles
once they were found. He had found the car Jessica
Saunders had been driving, but it hadn't revealed
anything of value. Each girl seemed to be connected in
some way to the one before her, but Nick couldn't
figure out what it was. The only visible connection
between the girls was that each had her license and
was driving a car at the time.
Next was the murder of Laura Parks, a very athletic
seventeen-year old junior. She had been found in much
the same way as Jessica Saunders had. The only
difference in Jessica's case was that her body was
found outside of her car, where Laura was found in the
back seat of hers. When Laura had been discovered, her
field hockey jersey was wrapped tightly around her
throat.
After Laura Parks came Tammy Larken. Tammy was a
nineteen-year old freshman at the community college.
It looked to be the work of the person who had killed
the other two. Tammy had been found in the trunk of
her car, bound and gagged. When she had been found,
the books she had been carrying with her were laid
across her chest covering the gaping wound that had
been her death.
The latest victim was Rebecca Peters. Rebecca was
found on the ground outside her car. From the looks of
the crime scene, Rebecca had not even gotten the
opportunity to unlock her car door. The car keys were
still in her hand and a bag with a costume lay near
where she was found.
Nick grew more worried that the trail was growing cold
each time they found another victim. Each time he
made another death notification it made him wonder if
this guy was ever going to be caught. When he had
visited the Parks house he'd found a single mother
waiting up for her daughter to return from a late
field hockey game. When he began talking to Mrs.
Parks, he learned that Laura's father had abandoned
the family when Laura was just a tiny infant.
"I tried to raise her the best I could." Mrs. Parks
said through her sobs. "I guess it just wasn't meant
to be. I thought of her as a good girl. She never got
into trouble, never hung out with the wrong crowd, and
was always an honor student in school."
At the Larken residence, the only one waiting for
Tammy's return was her roommate Jennifer Daniels. When
Nick knocked on the door to the apartment, he was
surprised to see that Jennifer Daniels was not at all
surprised to see him.
"What happened this time? Was Tammy picked up for
another shoplifting incident?"
On the outside Nick showed no emotion. But on the
inside he was furious.
"No, Tammy wasn't picked up for shoplifting. May I
please come in? There's something you need to know."
When they had entered the living room, Jennifer
offered Nick something to drink.
"I don't know what's wrong with that girl. I'm sorry
detective, but if it's not one thing it's another. I'm
always going to pick her up from the police station
for either being too drunk to drive or bailing her out
for stealing something from another store." She sat
down across from Nick who was perched in a chair and
waited for him to say what he had to say. Ms.
Daniels, I'm Detective Nick Knight. We're with the
homicide division down at the 96th precinct. We're
sorry to inform you Ms. Daniels, but your roommate was
found dead in her car this evening." S"I have to know.
Was she drunk? Was anyone else hurt in the accident?"
Nick explained the circumstances surrounding the death
of Tammy Larken as Jennifer began turning a sickly
shade of pale green.
Finally he went to find the Peters girl's family, or
at least someone to make the death notification visit
to. After finding only an address for Rebecca, he
decided to check it out. What he found was only a
German shepherd puppy in desperate need of food and
water. After feeding the animal, he called the animal
shelter and notified them of their new arrival.
Nick began trying to track down a next of kin to the
young girl. Things weren't looking up for the precinct
either. Reese had been hassled by the higher-ups to
get these cereal murders solved and fast. Commissioner
Vetter had made more calls to Reese in the last three
weeks than in the last three years. Reese had
considered forming a task force to deal with these
murders, but Nick said he wanted to run a few more
leads before that happened.
"Nick the commissioner wants this thing dealt with
now. It's either that or we're both in hot water for
sure. Now I'm going to let you run them down for one
more week. If nothing is accomplished by then, I'm
forming a task force."
Nick kept working at it every night and during the
days at his loft. He wished he could track down more
during the daytime but that was impossible. He had
been able to ascertain that Tammy Larken wasn't the
only one with a police record. Rebecca Peters had been
picked up a few times as a juvenile for shoplifting
and assault with intent to harm. It just didn't make
any sense to him at all.
"Nick you need more help with these cases." Natalie
told him one morning as they sat in his loft talking.
"You need another partner, even if it's just temporary
until these cases are finished. I understand you're
feeling guilty over the loss of both Schanke and Tracy
but you didn't kill either of them. Schanke died in
the explosion and Tracy was shot by Dawkins."
"But who Nat? Who would you like to sign up for a
partnership likely to end in death? My last two
partners died in the line of duty, and both still
partnered with me at the time." Natalie knew he was
still feeling the guilt over both Schanke's and
Tracy's deaths. But she also knew Nick to be a great
person. He really did care about his partners.
"Nick I've got an old friend on the police force out
in California. He and I went to high school together
and I've been keeping track of him for the past few
years. He's a great cop and knows how to handle
himself. He's also single and a hotshot like you can
sometimes be." Nat added with a small laugh.
"No. Not a chance Natalie. I can't subject anyone else
to a death sentence. And that's just what would happen
too if I were to partner up with this guy."
He and Natalie soon found themselves in a debate, but
after many hours of heated discussion, Natalie won
out. She picked up the phone and dialed a number. Nick
looked a little dejected, but he knew she was right.
There really wasn't any way for him to accomplish
anything working on his own at night. He just didn't
want to go through another funeral service. Both
Schanke's and Tracy's services had been particularly
difficult on him.
Part 2
Los Angeles, California
November 1, 1996
He emerged from the bedroom, outfitted in his uniform.
His gun and other accessories were securely fastened
to his belt. He entered the living room and looked at
the pictures adorning the table. He stared at three in
particular. Each photograph held in its frame an image
of him and a woman. Each picture held a different
woman: his last three partners. Christine Novak,
DeeDee McCall, and Joanne Molenski. Of the three
partners, DeeDee had been his very first partner. The
two had become partners shortly after a very traumatic
experience in DeeDee's life. They'd been through an
awful lot together, and after a four-year partnership,
she had a lapse in judgment and had almost quit her
job on the force permanently.
Joanne and Chris had only worked with him when DeeDee
had taken a leave of absence from the department.
She'd taken a leave shortly after her engagement to
Alex Turner had been broken. She didn't want to take
the time off from work, but Hunter pressed the issue.
Hunter had first worked with Joanne Molenski. After
being involved in a shootout, and having received a
near fatal gun shot wound herself, Joanne Molenski
made up her mind to leave Los Angeles. Joanne had
transferred out of the department and out of the
state. She loved her job and stuck with it, just not
in California.
"I need a change of place," she had said shortly
before boarding a plane to New York. She was doing
well according to her letters and cards she sent to
him. They had never gotten as close as he and Novak
had become, but they were just as good friends as he
was with McCall and Novak.
After Joanne Molenski came Chris Novak. She was a
recently divorced mother, raising a very sweet little
six-year old child. Her former husband was also a
police officer. Chris Novak had taken another position
on the force, one behind a desk since she had her
daughter Allison to be concerned about. He had said as
much to her after they had finished one of their final
cases together. Chris was a great partner; a great
woman; and a great friend. At one point in their
partnership they had been more than just partners and
had gotten close. They had crossed the line between
partners and friends. It hadn't amounted to anything
too serious, no moving in with one another, but the
end result had not been bad. They were able to remain
friends and had parted on good terms. He checked in on
her and Allie from time to time to see if they needed
anything. On one occasion he got duped into
baby-sitting for Allie while her mother went out
shopping for birthday and Christmas presents. At about
the same time Chris had transferred from homicide,
DeeDee had decided to return to her job. They'd had a
great relationship with one another both on and off
duty for the past five-and-a half years. When Chris
had transferred,
Just then the phone rang and he went to answer it.
"Hello,"
"Is this police Sergeant Richard Hunter?"
The voice was that of a woman, one he knew he
recognized from a very long time ago.
["Yes this is. Who is this?" He didn't think it could
be one of his former girl friends.
"This is Natalie Lambert. You might not remember me
but..."
"Of course I remember you. How could I forget you Nat?
If I remember correctly, we dated at one time during
high school, didn't we?"
The woman on the other end of the line gave a short
laugh. They talked for a few moments about the old
days, and then Natalie shocked him by saying: "Rick
the reason I'm calling you is because I need your
help. It's a friend of mine really, but all the same
we need your help."
"Okay, what's going on? Who needs me and why?"
"Nick is a cop just like you are. He's a homicide
detective in fact. He's currently investigating a
series of murders here in Canada and is doing it solo.
No partner."
"What type of murders are we talking about?"
"He's working on a case involving the mysterious
murders of several young girls here in Toronto."
Natalie continued to give Hunter the details and when
she had finished, he said: "Okay. I'll be there in a
few days. Let me make a few calls and get things tied
up here in Los Angeles. I think it's high time I
transferred out of here anyway. I'll fill you in on
the details when I get there."
Hunter disconnected the call and stared once more at
the photographs. "Well girls, what do you think about
all this?" He reached out with one hand and removed
the photos from the table.
After dialing the captain's number, he spoke very
carefully, choosing his words as he spoke.
"Captain I think I need to transfer out of here. I'd
like to transfer to the Metro Homicide Division in
Toronto. I know they need another person to partner up
with one of their very best detectives."
"Hunter," his captain began. "You do realize that if
you transfer out of here now you'd be leaving me in
the lurch." The captain was thrilled about Hunter's
decision to transfer, although he wouldn't let on. He
was finally getting rid of the headhunter and brass
cupcake all at once. Life couldn't be better. "I guess
I don't need you for anything. Let me just make a few
phone calls and get the papers processed. Sorry to see
you go." The captain was lying through his teeth and
he knew that Hunter knew it.
"I know Captain. I'm sorry about this." The captain
smiled to himself as he thought: "Thank god. After all
the fighting and arguing I'm getting rid of the
biggest problem I've had for quite some time now." It
was common knowledge that anyone paired up with Hunter
was likely to be on the captain's bad side more often
than not. And with that, Hunter figured it was time to
end this conversation. He hung up and headed for the
bedroom.
After packing all he thought he would need, he
returned to the living room of his apartment. He began
to pack everything up in boxes and then called to
arrange for movers to collect his belongings at the
end of the week. He packed the photographs into a box
separate from the rest of his other things and put it
in his car. He wanted to be sure he had packed all the
personal items into his car before the movers got
there. He didn't want anything lying around when the
movers showed up to collect the furniture and all
other items he couldn't pack into his car.
Captain Caine sat in his office with a large grin on
his face. As usual, Bernie Terwiliger was perched
nearby, listening in to find out the latest
information on the precinct grape vine.
"Hunter and McCall are gone! Thank god." Cane looked
happy, and Terwilliger took on that smug look he
normally held when around the two partners.
Back in Hunter's apartment, Hunter was pacing the
room. "You know Hunter," he thought to himself. "The
best thing about leaving Los Angeles is that you're
not taking the family with you." He knew he would
really miss seeing his mother. That was one of the
drawbacks of leaving California, but he could always
come back and visit or she could come to Canada for a
visit. He hated the fact that he was connected to that
life by family members, but Canada would be a fresh
start. Now he just needed to do one more thing before
he left. It was time to come clean and see what came
of it.
He took off in the direction for her apartment. He
knew she would be there and wasn't about to leave
without her. He would beg and plead if that's what it
took. He wanted her with him and wasn't going to deny
it. ]He arrived at her house and rang the doorbell.
She answered the door and quickly let him in.
"Okay Hunter what's up?" Hunter reached out and gently
took both her hands into his own until they were
standing face to face. He let go with one hand and
reached out to wrap the woman in a hug.
"DeeDee, we need to have a serious talk. Do you
remember walking out on me the other night when I was
being a complete ass about our relationship?"
Yeah. And if I remember correctly, I told you that if
we were going to have a relationship we had to have
everything out in the open." Hunter knew where this
was going but let her say what his male pride didn't
want to hear.
"That's right. Well, I've been thinking about it and I
think you're right. We need to be open and honest with
each other. Otherwise we have nothing."
DeeDee looked at him quizzically. She was trying to
figure out what he was trying to say without saying it
for him. He had to do this one on his own. Finally he
just blurted it all out.
"DeeDee I'm leaving Los Angeles. I'm transfering up to
Canada to work in Toronto. I want you to come with me.
The captain seems like he can't wait for the two of us
to leave and I don't want to leave without you."
"Hunter, you mean to tell me that you're transferring
out of here and leaving the state and country? You
also want me to go with you too. Am I right?" hunter
nodded. He looked deeply into her eyes and said
something he hadn't said in quite a long time to
anyone. "DeeDee, I really do care about you. I just
wish I had the courage to tell you sooner than this. I
know this all comes as a big shock to you, but please
consider it. An old friend of mine, Natalie Lambert,
lives up there and she says that her friend who is a
cop up there needs a partner. It's a pretty tough
case. Natalie seems desperate to get someone up there
to help her friend out. What I'm trying to say, and I
don't think I'm doing a good job of it right about
now, is that I love you. Please? Will you come with me
to Toronto DeeDee?"
"Would I be going as a cop or as your girlfriend?"
DeeDee asked flatly. Hunter realized his mistake
instantly. He looked like the puppy who just got
caught chewing on his owner's new sneakers.
"You'd be a cop McCall. You're the best damn-fine cop
I know. Besides that, you're the best thing in my
life, and if I wasn't so thick headed I would have
realized it a long time before now."
"I'll go with you. I think I'd better call our soon to
be former captain and inform him of the news."
He couldn't believe it. She had just said yes to his
offer and he didn't even have to beg. "All it took was
for me to admit how I really felt about her and she
agreed." Hunter thought to himself as he wrapped both
his arms around the woman, lifted her into the air and
turned in a slow circle with her still in his arms.
"Hunter you're making me dizzy."
"He knows I'm leaving, but what are you going to tell
him?"
"I'll tell him that I'm transferring out of Los
Angeles. Lets leave the rest up to office gossip."
Over the next week many things were accomplished.
Hunter and McCall had to do some apartment hunting.
They needed something right away, and with a double
income it wasn't too hard to find the place where the
two newest members of the Toronto Metro Police
Department would live. They had decided to move in
together, and seeing as how Hunter didn't really have
a whole lot of furniture, he decided to put what he
had into a storage unit until they were able to make
use of it. Since he had one or two extra things he
didn't really want to have hanging around, he decided
to leave them with his mother.
Next they went and talked to Joe Reese, captain of the
Metropolitan police precinct, who was delighted to
have two new additions working on the case. They would
be under the full command of Captain Reese and also be
partnered alongside Nick for this case. Reese agreed
to keep the two Los Angeles detectives on as partners
once the case was finished.
"I've read over both of your arrest records, and you
two are pretty damn good cops. I don't care what your
last captain had to say about you. As far as I'm
concerned, he didn't know what a good team of homicide
detectives he had working for him."
"Captain," Hunter stated, "Cane has had a personal
prejudice against me ever since it was brought to his
attention that certain members of my family are
connected."
"I got all that when I spoke to him over the phone. He
said you were trouble and that if there were any
mysterious mob activities, I should charge you with
them and haul your ass into custody immediately."
Hunter smiled and thanked his new captain. "What do I
do first?"
Reese gave Hunter the case file that Nick had spent so
much time working on and told them to study it
thoroughly. They took the file folder and went out to
join Nick and Natalie in the bullpen.
"So, how did it go in there guys?" Natalie asked the
two approaching detectives. Hunter couldn't resist
this opportunity to see how much of a sense of humor
Natalie still had after medical school. After giving
McCall a sideways glance, he answered Nat's question.
"Well Natalie, I hate to tell you this but that guy
doesn't have the room for two new detectives."
"Yeah." McCall chimed in. "He said that maybe if he'd
gotten a better recommendation from Los Angeles he
would have found the room."
Hunter never knew what hit him but nick saw it coming
before impact. He watched his captain's office door
open and the big man began making his way over to the
foursome. The captain gave Nick a look that said "keep
quiet" and he did just that. Hunter! McCall! You're
out of here. I'm not going to keep people on my watch
who don't follow directions. Your last captain warned
me about you already, so don't think you can beg and
plead your way into this precinct."
The pair looked at one another and knew that their
joke had backfired.
"Sorry Natalie but I just couldn't resist." Hunter
smiled at his old friend and gave her arm a playfull
punch.
By this time Reese had made his way over to the group
and smiled.
"I couldn't let you guys get in on all the fun. Just
think of it as your warm welcome to your new home."
Reese smiled at the foursome and then told them to all
get to work.
After the necessary details had been taken care of,
Hunter and McCall were issued weapons and badges. The
four climbed into the caddy and headed off in the
direction of the coroner's building. Once Nat had been
dropped off, Nick drove around the city pointing out
various things they should keep their eyes opened for.
He also pointed out the sights of where the girls'
bodies were found and the schools they had attended.
"Nick something doesn't feel right about this case.
I've read over this file and it says that none of the
girls went to the same school at all. Jessica Saunders
attended the high school here in Toronto, and the
other girl Laura Parks attended an all girls school.
Why are they being singled out by this guy?" Hunter
looked at Nick waiting to see what he would say.
"I've had a hard time tracking down friends of the
four victims. The Saunders girl has a brother who
won't speak to anyone and hasn't since the night his
sister was murdered. The Parks girl's mother told me
she was on the field hockey team, but she never went
anywhere with any of the other members of the team
outside of games and practices. The Larken girl moved
to Toronto after her father was convicted of murder
almost six months ago. Her roommate said that she was
always getting into trouble with the cops for one
reason or another."
"What about the Peters girl?" Hunter asked.
"She lived alone. She's one I'm going to need a lot of
help with. There's no school listed, no college,
nothing here in Toronto other than her name on an
apartment."Finally, DeeDee spotted something in the
file which caught her attention. "Hey I think I found
a common link between the four victims. Jessica
Saunders lived with her brother. Laura Parks lived
with her mother. Tammy Larken lived with a roommate.
Rebecca Peters lived alone."
"What's the connection McCall?" Hunter queried. "How
are all these girls connected to one another?"
"Each girl is survived by only one member of a family
or in Tammy Larken's case her friend Jennifer Daniels.
The killer is targeting young girls who have almost no
one left."
Hunter may not have caught it right away, but Nick
did.
"The killer is striking girls he thinks have no one
left. That way it makes him almost untraceable."
"You got it. I think that the best course of action is
to hit the high school and college. It's the only way
we'll learn anything." Hunter looked questioningly at
his partner. "Am I right?" She nodded. Seeing she had
the full attention of both her coworkers, she began
talking fast.
"I think you're right about that idea Nick, but the
question is, which one of us is going undercover?"
"I think you both should go undercover at both the
girl's school and the high school. I can do some
digging at the college and see what I can find. Maybe
Jennifer Daniels wasn't being completely straight with
us."
Part 3
Part 3
A week and a half later found Hunter and McCall issued
briefcases filled with fake teaching credentials,
certificates, diplomas from college, and everything
they would need to get the jobs. It was a warm
afternoon when DeeDee stood in the office waiting for
the secretary to acknowledge her presence to the
principal. She was in the main office of the private
school where Laura Parks had been a student. Ms.
Kramer, Principal Graves will see you now." DeeDee
quickly snapped to attention. After entering the
inner office and taking a seat, she gazed in awe at
how controlled the principal seemed.
"Ms. Kramer, my name is Constance Graves. I am the
principal here at River Crest School for girls. I
understand you are looking for a teaching position.
May I see your teaching credentials please?"...
DeeDee reached into the briefcase she had been
carrying and withdrew a large manila file folder
containing several doctored credentials, certificates,
teaching references, college transcripts, and the
like.
"Ms. Graves, I have taught in several public school
settings over the last three years. Prior to that I
worked out in California at a private school. If I
could have found more work at another private school I
would have opted to take that rather than work in the
public schools. I feel that the private institutions
have so much more to offer in both educational
standards as well as the safety factor for students
and staff alike."
The principal reached across her immaculately clean
desktop and extracted the file folder from the young
woman's hand. "I understand how you feel Ms. Kramer.
I myself feel the same way about the curriculum in
private institutions as opposed to the public school
settings. This is why I chose a profession here.
River Crest is a school of prestige. We admit only
those students who have the potential for a furthered
education."
"If I may I'd like to ask you a question. I've seen
several private schools that allow entrance based upon
the wealth of the students' guardians. Does River
Crest do the same?"
The woman just smiled. "Oh no. We allow privileged
students here yes, but we also have adequate funds to
support several of our students whose situation is
rather difficult. As I said before we look for
potential when making selections for applicants."
Meanwhile, Hunter sat in the principal's outer office
at the public high school. He had his briefcase with
file folder of credentials and the like with him too.
He really wanted to get this job. They needed a break
in the case. So far they had nothing but four
victims.
"Mr. Dawson?" The receptionist looked up from her
paper work and eyed him carefully. "The principal
will see you now." Hunter entered the inner office.
He took careful note of his surroundings and the
condition of the office. The principal rose from his
desk and greeted Hunter and returned to his seat.
"I assume you're Rick Hunter. I'm Richard Edwards,
principal here. I understand you're looking for a
teaching position. May I see some of your references
or other teaching certificates?" Hunter quickly
complied. He explained that he was new to the area
and that he had taught before for several years in the
States. When Edwards appeared to be satisfied with
the papers he looked at Hunter and said: "You'll be
taking on a pretty tough group of kids. These kids
have had several disciplinary problems in the past,
but since we can't suspend and expel them all we've
decided to place them in an alternative form of
education. You'll be teaching them how to be better
equipped for the world outside of school and home.
It's pretty simple. You teach them life skills and
make sure they keep out of trouble."
Hunter almost bolted from the room. Life skills? How
was he expected to teach life skills to prepubescent
kids whose hormone levels were higher than their grade
point averages? Boy was Nick going to pay for this
one. Why did DeeDee always get the easier jobs?
"No problem Mr. Edwards. When do I start?"
"How about tomorrow?" He handed Hunter a very thick
folder of papers. "Here's your class list and all the
pertinent information on each and every one of your
students."
"Damn it!" DeeDee was pissed. Her first day of
teaching young girls English literature would be
arriving in less than twelve hours, and she had
already ripped several of her nylons, broken three
nails, and almost amputated two fingers with a kitchen
knife. Hunter walked over to her, wrapped her in a
gentle hug, and kissed the top of her forehead.
"Consider yourself lucky," he said. "I get to teach
future juvenile delinquents all about the way the
outside world works. So how was your day dear?"
He stood there, still holding her to him. He wanted
her to know just how important she was to him. She
had only had that type of relationship with one other
person that he knew of. DeeDee's husband Steve had
been a cop. He had been killed while on duty shortly
after their marriage.
"Rick it wasn't at all as easy as I thought. The
principal at that school is about as stuck up as they
come. And the sad thing is that she actually has it
in her head that she's being nice to you. Rick, she
called me Deirdre. You know how I feel about that.
No one calls me Deirdre, not even my own mother."
"Well DeeDee," Hunter said teasingly. "I think you
can handle it. At least you don't have to deal with
both girls and boys in the same room every morning.
Besides, the principal at the public school acts as if
it is nothing to put a new teacher on the pay role
there." Hunter released her from his embrace and
watched as she headed for the bedroom. She was tired
and so was he. She pointed to the shower and said:
"You can use it first if you want. I'll take mine in
the morning before I leave."
By the time he'd finished in the bathroom and headed
to the bedroom, he was pretty sure DeeDee would be out
like a light. He opened the door to the room and
slipped in as quietly as he dared. He carefully eased
himself into the king-sized bed and lay down beside
his partner and friend. He loved her so much. She
meant so much more to him than his other partners had.
She knew so many things about his life: what he
liked, what he didn't like, what he didn't want to be.
DeeDee felt him slip into bed beside her and slowly
reached out with a tentative hand. She ran her hand
over his shoulder and down his arm until he turned to
face her. He pulled the blankets over the two of them
and then wrapped his arm protectively over her. She
felt his arm covering her and moved closer to its
owner. He turned his head in order to look at her
fully and said hesitantly: "DeeDee, is this okay with
you?"
"Hunter," she began, "you're the first since Steve.
I've dated but that's as far as it went. I'm okay
with what's happening. I think we've both had the
same feelings for one another for quite a while now
but didn't know what to do about them. To be
perfectly honest with you, I've wanted to be around
more often than we have been in the past. I said that
you're the first since Steven, because I'm not
counting the rape. That is something in my life I
would like to move on from, but it is so incredibly
hard."
"DeeDee you told me once that you would never be with
a cop again. If this is truly what you want, and if
you still feel this way, I'll quit the force once this
case is solved. I knew your husband very well, and I
think I know you pretty well too. I know how
devastated you were when Steve was killed, and then
again when Rodney Moody was released on parole. I
love you and would never do anything to hurt you. I
just don't want you to have any regrets or second
thoughts after the fact. You're very important to me
and I could never forgive myself if I did anything to
hurt you."
"Rick I could never ask you to quit your job for my
sake. If we're together, then we're together in
everything. There are no regrets. I love you with
all my heart. That's something I haven't felt since
Steven, not even with Alex. That's why I turned down
his marriage proposal. That and he told me about your
conversation just prior to my saying no to him."
She turned her head and kissed him. He was taken back
a bit at first but recovered quickly. He returned the
kiss with as much passion as he could give. Soon
things escalated and they were both caught up in the
intensity of it all. He never knew she was so bold
and outgoing in that respect. And she never knew just
how much restraint he had to have been using
throughout their partnership. They'd been partners
for over ten years. Now it was time he showed her how
much he loved her.
He pulled her into a tight embrace and rolled her
beneath him. Slowly he began to make love to her. It
was passionate and sweet all at the same time. She
looked deep into his eyes, and within their depths she
saw the amount of love and respect he held for her.
She also saw his soul. What she saw was a man who had
been hurt many times throughout the course of his
life. But she also saw the goodness and caring he
gave out through his work each and everyday.
Now he knew. He knew what it was to hold her, love
her, and be there for her whenever she needed him.
His mind drifted back to one of their cases years ago.
He remembered telling the model he had seen that
there was someone he dreamed about making love to. He
also remembered saying that they looked out for one
another and he didn't want to do anything to change
that fact.
"So what are you thinking about?" DeeDee asked
quietly. She looked into the depths of his eyes once
more. He stroked her hair and gently caressed her
face with the other hand. Just being here with you
like this.
"DeeDee, I don't know if you knew this but I've wanted
to do this for a long time. I actually wanted to be
with you from the very first. You were so defensive
and I was a hotshot."
"What do you mean was? You still are a hotshot when
it comes to police work. But in any case I wanted
this too. Remember that double date I tried to set up
with one of the creeps I was seeing?" Hunter nodded.
"Well, I kind of hoped that we could be the couple and
the guy would go with the other girl. The only
problem was that the other girl was the creep's
sister."
Hunter smiled at her. He let all his love for her
pour out through the smile and what followed it. It
all started up again. Much later that night, Hunter
surprised DeeDee.
"How would you like me to make you dinner tomorrow
night?"
"I'm holding you to that, and there is no way you're
getting out of this one. Your mother isn't in the
country. This time you're going to be cooking my
dinner for me."
The next morning found DeeDee McCall, a homicide
detective, in a classroom full of girls. The final
bell rang and the last stragglers wandered in. She
was nervous, but she had to get this over and done
with. The first day was always the toughest for her.
She had only done it one other time, but that was
girls' physical education, not English literature. As
a general rule the two classes never mixed, and in her
mind, she thought she was better at the girls' gym
class.
"Good morning. My name is Ms. Kramer and this is
English literature. I'm your new teacher for the time
being, and I will expect you to pay attention in this
class." Suddenly she felt as if her little speech was
falling on deaf ears. However, what she did notice
was that one girl seemed to be isolated from the
others. She made a mental note to pay special
attention to this kid. Maybe she knew something about
Laura Parks.
She took attendance and sat down at the mahogany desk.
"For my first assignment, since I would like to get to
know each one of my students, I would like you all to
write something. Now, remember that this is English
literature, not creative writing. I want you to write
something about yourselves. It can be anything just
so long as it is written in perfect English. That
means no punctuation mistakes, no pen scratches across
the pages, and no spelling errors. You make a mistake
you use whiteout. Other than that just turn it in by
Friday and I'll be happy."
The isolated girl raised her hand and asked, "Will you
take them early?"
"Sure. In fact, anyone who turns in a perfect paper
to me by tomorrow at the close of school will get
extra credit points added to her average."
"What about you?"
The question came from a longhaired girl in the front
of the room. DeeDee consulted her seating chart and
attendance list and found that the girl's name was
Erika Jackson.
"Well, since Ms. Jackson asked a fair question, I
think she should get a fair answer. I think you all
should know where I'm from and why I'm here. I've
been a teacher for about twelve years, several of them
in private schools like this. I've taught in
California, Omaha, Ohio, New York, and Vermont. I've
also taught in public schools, but they weren't what I
enjoyed the best. I like a challenge, and public
school just doesn't do it for me."
DeeDee eventually noticed something was amiss with her
students. Several of them appeared to be snickering
and pointing at the isolated girl in the corner.
"What's so funny?" DeeDee asked.
One of the snickering girls, Debby Stevens, spoke up.
"It's Beth. She's going weird again."
DeeDee was at the girl's desk in an instant. Beth,
was shaking uncontrollably and ceasing.
"Go get a nurse now!" DeeDee barked. "Tell her that
this girl is having a seizure." Another girl stood
and made her way over to Beth's desk.
"Ms. Kramer, she does this all the time. Just leave
her alone. It stops in a minute or two. Nobody pays
too much attention to her anymore."
"Well, since you felt the need to stretch your legs a
bit, why don't you haul your ass down to the nurse's
office and get her for me now. If you don't do as I
say we will continue this conversation later this
afternoon in the principal's office. Now move it!"
Meanwhile, Hunter faired no better on his first day.
If only he had known it would begin like this, he
never would have taken Nick's advice. Hunter opened
the door to room 325 and walked inside. He saw what
he expected to see: kids milling around, sitting on
the desks, and others holding noisy conversations in
different parts of the room. In one corner he caught
a glimpse of a couple making out. Time to go to work.
"Good morning. My name is Mr. Dawson and I'm your new
life skills teacher. The plan here is real simple.
I'm here to teach you guys about life. You are here
to sit down properly, be quiet, and act like you're
paying attention to what I am teaching you." He
glanced over at the couple in the corner. "Oh and if
you feel the need to carry on in a manner where public
displays of affection are normal, please leave now."
"What's the matter with you man? You gay or
somethin'?" The whole class erupted into laughter.
The guy who had been making out with his girlfriend in
the corner turned around and stared directly at
Hunter. Hunter looked at the attendance list in front
of him.
"What's your name?" Hunter kept his tone even and
unemotional.
The boy looked incredulously at Hunter. It was hard
for this kid to imagine anyone questioning who he was.
This guy must be new.
"Tyler. Tyler Jensen. I can kick anybody's ass man,
even yours."
Hunter tried to keep his cool. He didn't want to lose
it now, if he did he was in deep trouble. "Well Tyler
Jensen, in answer to your questions, no there isn't
anything wrong with me, and no I am not gay. Not that
it's any of your business because it really isn't, but
I am currently involved with a beautiful brunette.
Oh, and if you think you can kick my ass let's take it
off school grounds afterwards. I had better warn you
first though, you might want to make arrangements for
an ambulance ahead of time because you're gonna need
it." Hunter gave Tyler one of his best intimidating
looks and then smiled.
The kid took another look at Hunter. He decided
against it for the moment, but didn't discard the idea
of kicking his ass altogether. All it required was
patients and the perfect opportunity would present
itself.
Part 4
Part 4
It had been a long and unpleasant day. It was nearly
6:30p.m. when she arrived back at her apartment.
DeeDee came through the door and let it slam shut
behind her. She supposed Hunter was already home and
he would come running at the sound of the slamming
door. But when nothing happened, she remembered that
he was probably still at the school. It had been a
day of pure hell for her, and the only things she
wanted to do tonight were to get something to eat and
spend the rest of the night with Rick. DeeDee went
into the kitchen and noticed a covered dish sitting on
the kitchen table. Her curiosity got the better of
her and she headed over to the table.
"Sorry but I can't let you see that just yet."
Hunter's voice floated in from behind her scaring her
half out of her wits. He came up behind her and
wrapped his arms around her. He spun her away from
the table and led her out of the kitchen. "Sorry
about this, but it's a surprise and you're not going
to get me on this one."
"I would only be getting you if you were going to pull
another crazy scheme like having your mother cook our
dinner again. Remember what I made you admit to me
last time?" Rick nodded. "Well you'll get it again
if you think you're going to put one over on me."
DeeDee said laughing. She couldn't help it. He just
kept on opening the door for her comments.
He brought her into the living room and set her on the
couch. Next he went over to the mantel and brought
down something she couldn't see.
"Wait here for me. I'll be right back." He left the
room momentarily and then returned carrying something
behind his back. e stepped in front of her and
placed a blindfold over her eyes. Next he helped her
up from the couch and began guiding her back towards
the kitchen. Once through the doorway she recognized
her general surroundings.
"Hunter take this blindfold off please. I can't see a
damn thing and besides that I've had the day from
hell."
"Just wait. You'll see why I blindfolded you in the
first place in just a few seconds." She felt his hand
leave her arm and she froze. Was he still nearby?
She heard movement which meant that he had to be
close. Hunter struck the match and lit the candles he
had brought in from the living room. Next he turned
towards DeeDee and gently removed the blindfold, but
just as quickly covered her eyes with one hand. He
reached out with the other hand and removed the cover
from the dish that was set out on the table. Steam
rose from the contents of the dish.
"Okay, now you can look."
DeeDee was amazed. On the table sat a large pan of
steaming lasagna. She noticed that there were no
lights present in the room, but upon closer inspection
she found three small brightly lit candles flaming
away in the center of the table.
"Remember how?" I told you I'd make you dinner and
you said you were going to hold me to that. Well,
here's dinner."
DeeDee smiled at him. "Thank you. It looks
delicious."
Within minutes, they each had a plate filled with the
lasagna in front of them. They had begun discussing
each of their day's activities.
"So then I turn around and half to literally carry the
kid down to the nurse's office. I was right she did
have a seizure."
"Any clue as to what brought it on?" DeeDee shook her
head.
"They wouldn't tell me. But I'm going to talk to this
girl as soon as I can."
Hunter went into his story about the class he had that
morning. He left nothing out, not even the part where
he offered to take on Tyler Jensen's threat to kick
his ass.
"Gee. Must have been hard for you not to take this
kid out and show him the ropes. Did he come looking
for you after school?"
"No. I was ready and waiting for him, but the kid
decided to leave well enough alone for now I guess."
After they had finished their dinner, Hunter said he
wanted to go out for a drive. DeeDee agreed, and they
left the apartment. They spent their time driving
through the city, just gazing at the lights and how
beautiful things were at night.
"You know Hunter I was just thinking about something
this morning. I was sitting in the class room with
those girls, and I was thinking how Captain Caine was
more tolerable than some of them."
"I was thinking the same thing about the kids in my
classroom. At least I had some tolerance for Caine."
Two hours later they returned to their apartment to
find the message light on their answering machine
blinking furiously. Hunter hit the playback button
and they sat and listened.
"Hi guys its Nick. Listen I think I've got a small
piece of evidence for you two. The girls also have
one more common link that I didn't notice before.
They were all sexually abused as young children by
either a father or another male adult who was present
in each of their lives. Hope the teaching goes okay."
The second message came shortly after.
Hunter, McCall, its Reese. Listen we've got body
number five. She was found behind a garbage can
outside the mall. You might want to come out and
check out the scene."
They looked at one another. If they had found a fifth
body then that must mean the killer didn't waste any
time between victims. A cold chill ran down DeeDee's
spine. She and Hunter finally mustered up enough
courage to go check out the scene.
When they arrived at the spot where the girl's body
had been found, a young officer approached them. He
gestured toward a dark figure standing off in the
shadows.
"Detective Knight is over there. He's expecting you
both."
"Thanks Callaway." Hunter gave the officer a friendly
look and headed over to where Nick stood.
"What've we got Nick?"
"Her name's Jill Carson. When we found her, the m.o.
was the same as the first four. There's just one
thing that is a little unsettling. She fits the
profile except for her age. We ran her prints through
all known databases and learned that she was a
runaway. The only family she had was a sister whom
she hadn't seen ever since they were in foster care
together almost eight years ago.
"Where's the sister now?" Hunter asked.
"Don't know. Last known whereabouts on the girl are
in a Los Angeles jail for assault and battery. Maybe
you might know what's going on. You're from L.A.
right?"
"Yeah. I've still got some connections there, let me
see what I can shake loose. Hopefully I'll have the
information for you within the next two or three
days."
"Sounds great. But in the meantime, watch your cover.
Have you gotten anything from the kids at the
schools?"
"Nothing yet. I'm still working at it and so is
McCall."
"All right. Keep trying. Something's bound to pop
up somewhere."
Nick turned back to the chalk marks where Jill
Carson's body had been lying. Hunter looked at McCall
and quickly jabbed her forearm with his index finger.
"So what do you say to us using Sporty for information
again?"
As soon as they returned to their apartment, Hunter
looked up the number for Curby. Since Curby was the
one whom Hunter had to go through to get to Sporty,
then he would be able to give them the number for
Sporty. After putting his request into Curby, he was
given the number of Sporty's apartment.
Next he dialed Sporty's number. After making the
necessary requests and the promise that Sporty would
probably get a reward for any information leading to
the killer, Hunter disconnected the call.
Almost two full days passed before he heard anything
from one of his contacts in Los Angeles. Sporty had
come through for him yet again, and this time Hunter
wasn't going to just write it off. He thanked Sporty
for going out of his way, and told him that if there
was ever anything he needed for him to just call.
Hunter hung up and turned to where DeeDee sat on the
couch. It had been a very long and boring day for the
both of them at school. He decided that the best
thing to do now was to wait until tomorrow and call
Nick. He went over to her and sat down beside her.
"Let's get some sleep. We're going to need it for
tomorrow." He started moving for the bedroom, but she
made no move to follow. He returned and gently lifted
her from the couch and carried her to their bed. He
noticed the reason for her unwillingness to move. She
had fallen asleep on the couch while he talked to
Sporty on the phone.
He placed her on the bed and began removing her shoes,
nylons, skirt, blouse, and other accessories. Next he
removed his own clothing. He wrapped her in his arms
and slipped the two of them beneath the cool sheets.
For quite a long time he just lay there holding the
woman he loved more than anything in the world. It
was strange that the physical aspect of their
relationship wasn't as important to him as was their
ability to be totally honest with one another about
their feelings. He let his mind wander back to the
very first time he had seen her.
She was standing at her door, holding it open for him.
She had on a terrycloth bathrobe and her hair was
flung loosely about her shoulders. He had come at
such a late hour, but her husband, Sgt. Steve McCall
had asked for some information earlier that day, and
Hunter didn't want to have to make Steve wait for it.
Just a few short hours after their meting, DeeDee's
life would be changed. Her husband would be found
dead just outside a club downtown. He had received a
call about a case he was working on and went to check
out the information. He was ambushed by Rodney
Alistair Moody, who shot and killed him. He recalled
receiving the call on his radio about an officer down.
When he went to check it out he found Sgt. McCall's
car with him sitting in it. He had a pretty nasty
gunshot wound. It looked as though he'd been killed
instantly. He recognized him instantly and
immediately went to make the death notification to his
widow. He could still remember her crying
hysterically and not wanting t believe it.
She'd been through so much afterwards: the rape, the
fights against Mariano's diplomatic immunity, the trip
down south, Mariano's brother showing up a few months
afterwards, and more. He knew the amount of trauma
she had endured and how it had affected her both
physically and emotionally.
DeeDee stirred in Hunter's arms. He pulled her closer
to him and just held her until she moved again.
beDeeDee's mind was clear, and it still ran wildly.
She'd only felt this much for one other person, her
late husband Steven. She had believed that he was the
only one for her. What they had shared had been good.
Before this she didn't believe she ever would feel
that way again. She loved the way they fit together
perfectly, and how loving he was towards her.
Exhausted and spent from their workday, they both soon
fell asleep in each other's arms.
Nat stood looking through her microscope. She was
looking for any distinguishing similarities between
the five girls and their blood. She looked for the
smallest hint of drugs, alcohol, anything that would
give her a clue to throw to the captain. She and Nick
knew that it had to be a vampire. They had ruled out
the possibility of it being a new fledgling, because
of the cleanliness of the bite marks. Why had the
killer targeted Jill Carson? She was under the age of
the killer's previous pattern with the other four.
Her phone rang and she went to grab it.
"Lambert,"
At first there was only silence. Then the chilling
sound came over the line.
"So Dr. Lambert how's work going? How you holding up
on this case? We know you're wondering who we are.
But you're just going to have to wait to find out.
How's Detective Knight these days? We've been
thinking about him an awful lot. Tell him to look
back over his cases. He'll remember us very well. Of
that fact we're quite certain."
"Who is this?" Natalie asked, but there was no
response. Whoever was on the other end ended the
conversation then and there. Nat stood at her desk
hugging herself. The voice was definitely
electronically altered. She didn't want to be alone
anymore. She made up her mind to go see Nick as soon
as she got off. She sat back down at her desk and
thought for a moment. She resigned herself to go back
and look over Jill Carson's blood again.
An hour and a half later she picked up her coat and
left the lab. In anotherten minutes she was at Nick's
door, punching in the familiar code.
When she entered she found him sitting on the couch,
just staring at nothing. She went over and sat beside
him. He noticed her nervousness and could hear her
heart beating at an abnormal level.
"What's wrong Nat?" He put his arm around her
shoulders and drew her nearer to him. She proceeded
to tell him about the mysterious phone call she
received at the lab.
"Nick it was so strange. The voice was electronically
altered, and the way the person talked. It was odd to
hear someone talking about themselves like that."
"Nat, I think you need some down time. I think we
both do. Stay here today. I don't like the idea of
you driving when you're like this." He lifted her
from where she sat and put her over his shoulder. He
quickly ascended the stairs to his bedroom and opened
the door. After setting her down on the bed, he
turned and headed out of the room, closing the door
behind him.
Natalie resigned herself to try and get some sleep.
She knew she was overtired and overworked. But what
could she do? This case demanded the majority of her
time. She certainly didn't want to give any of the
five girls' files to Dr. Philips. He was an intern,
and was not as knowledgeable as she with the undead.
Besides, how would she explain the mysterious marks on
the victims' necks? No, she would keep up the cycle
of long work hours and little sleep. She relaxed and
finally drifted off into dreamland.
Meanwhile, Nick was downstairs on the couch. Hed
decided to just leave Nat where she was and stay
downstairs himself. He refused to even allow himself
to entertain the notion that something could ever be
between them. They'd done this twice before, the
first time being after he'd been shot and was believed
to be mortal, and the second time was shortly after
Tracy had been shot. The only thing that had saved
Natalie's mortal life had been LaCroix's untimely
arrival. He'd stopped Nick from draining her enough
to bring her across.
After a few harsh words between father and son,
LaCroix had left his son and mortal pet, promising to
return when he deemed it necessary.
Part 5
After a restful sleep, DeeDee awoke to find that
Hunter had not gotten up with the alarm. In fact, if
they didn't get a move on they both would be late for
school. She nudged him gently. He slowly sat up and
gazed at her with that look in his eye.
"What?"
"Time to get up. Come on; we're going to be late."
DeeDee quickly got up and started to get dressed for
work. Hunter soon followed her example and within
fifteen minutes they were out the door.
DeeDee entered her classroom to an unexpected sight.
The principal was standing near DeeDee's desk. She
didn't look too happy either.
"Ms. Kramer I think we need to have a little talk
before your students arrive."
DeeDee started to object but then thought better of
it. She looked at the principal and expected to hear
a lecture about not informing the school of an
undercover police officer on the premises.
"I did some checking on you. Your credentials are not
authentic. I called the police to inform them that I
had an employee here working with forged documents.
They told me that they had a Sgt. DeeDee McCall on
the pay role, who was working under cover on the
string of murders which have befallen our city in
recent weeks. What do you have to say in response to
all of this?"
"Miss Graves," DeeDee began, "I'm sorry I didn't
inform you of my situation. However, the importance
of this case requires complete secrecy. I couldn't
risk anyone finding out about my cover."
The principal looked at McCall for a moment and gave
her a half smile. "Report to my office when you have
a free moment and we'll discuss the details. In the
meantime, you've got students coming down the hall."
And with that she turned and left the room.
DeeDee's students were emerced in Shakespear's Romeo
and Juliet, when suddenly there was a commotion at the
back of the room. When she looked up from her book to
see what it was, she noticed that BethBeth was in the
grip of another ceasure. Within seconds she was at
the girl's side and administering what little aide she
could to the ceasing girl.
Once the girl had stopped ceasing, DeeDee lifted her
from the floor and carried her down to the nurse's
office. The nursegazed up from a pile of paperwork as
DeeDee entered with Beth slung over her shoulder.
"Oh no not you again." The nurse rose and helped
DeeDee lay Beth on one of the cots on the other side
of the room. "Didn't we just go through this two
weeks ago?" The nurse asked as she began taking notes
on a clipboard.
DeeDee looked sternly at the nurse and stated,
"Instead of badgering this poor girl, why don't you
call her parents and notify them of her condition? Or
have I entered a time zone where people with medical
conditions are just left alone to fend for
themselves?" By now she was becoming very red-faced
and angry.
"Don't you have students you should be teaching right
about now?"The nurse went over to her desk and picked
up the phone and dialed the main office. "Yes. I'd
like to speak with the principal."
In a matter of minutes Constance Graves made her
entrance into the nurse's office. The nurse tried to
tell her that McCall had prevented her from treating
Beth, but that was not how it was interpreted by the
principal.
"Ms. Kramer has full authority here Lillian. If she
sees fit to do something about Elizabeth's condition,
then by ll means; let her do what she will."
"You'd better get a substitute for my classes the rest
of the day. I'm taking her to the emergency room to
be checked out. And since you felt it unnecessary to
contact this girl's family, I will do so myself."
DeeDee knelt down by Beth's side. "How old are you
Beth?"
"I'm seventeen. You can't call my parents Ms.
Kramer."
"Why not?" DeeDee asked.
"They were killed in a plane crash three months ago."
"Don't you have anyone to look after you?" Beth shook
her head. Principal Graves then spoke up.
"When her parents died, her share of the inheritance
paid for her final year here at River Crest. And as
for having someone to care for her medical needs, well
there's an aunt. But I don't think she does much for
Elizabeth's condition."
Several hours later, DeeDee was sitting in a cubical
in the emergency room at Mercy Hospital. Because
Beth's aunt couldn't be reached, DeeDee had nominated
herself to stay with the girl until she was released,
or someone else came to sit with her. Hunter had
shown up shortly after he'd left the public high
school, with a candy bar and two cans of diet coke in
hand. McCall introduced him to Beth, explaining to
the girl that he was a very good friend of hers.
"Has she been seen by a doctor yet?" Hunter asked.
"Two hours ago. They were supposed to come back with
some tests they did earlier, but they haven't been
back yet. She's getting tired of waiting so long, and
I can't really blame her."
They were awaiting the doctor's return, when the
curtain opened and a woman with dark hair steped into
the cubical.
"Hi. I'm Beatrice Fletcher, Elizabeth's aunt."
DeeDee rose and greeted the woman warmly. Rick just
stood off to the side.
"Ms. Fletcher. Hi I'm DeeDee McCall, one of Beth's
teachers. This is a friend of mine, Rick. I've been
trying to reach you all afternoon. Your niece had a
ceasure this morning in class, and since the nurse at
the schooldidn't telephone you, I felt it was my
responsibility to bring her here to be checked out."
"Well, I don't generally come running if someone calls
me about Elizabeth. When I am called it's usually
about some ceasure she's had again. Frankly Ms.
Kramer, I believe she should've been institutionalized
long before now. But My sister wouldn't stand for it.
She insisted that the ceasures could be dealt with
through medication and frequent doctor visits."
"And you don't? Why is that?"
Beatrice looked at her niece and frowned deeply.
"The medication doesn't do anything for her. In fact, I
don't even believe she should be attending the
high-priced school she's attending either. She should
be locked away."
"How would you know if the medication works for me?
It's not like you're around enough to see the progress
I've made over the past few years since I've been on
the medicine. And now that you've got custody of me,
you won't even take me to a doctor's appointment."
Beth began letting her aunt have it. The woman just
looked incredulously at her young niece and then
turned away from the girl.
"You see what thanks I get from that little ingreat?
It's a good thing your parents aren't alive today to
see what kind of girl you've turned into in just a
short period of time."
At this point Beth began to convulse and cease once
more. DeeDee immediately assessed the situation and
did what she could to make her comfortable and keep
her from choking.
"Go get a doctor. Now!"
"You deal with her. I've dealt with it for the past
three months. I can't do it anymore. I told you she
should be institutionalized, and this is just the
reason for my beliefs."
What happened next was something DeeDee could neither
explain, nor would she try to afterwards. She
advanced towards Beatrice Fletcher and with one hand
pushed her out of the cubical.
"What do you think you're doing?" Beatrice protested.
She pushed her up against the nearest wall and said
pointedly: "If you don't get a doctor here right now I
will personally make a trip down to the department of
Social Services and turn your ass in for abuse and
neglect. Then I will arrange to have Beth placed in
an environment condusive to dealing with her special
needs. Then I'm going to see to it that you are
prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
DeeDee let go of the woman momentarily and waited for
her to make a response. Beatrice just glared at
McCall and finally said, "I'll get a doctor. But
beyond that she's your burden."
DeeDee watched the woman walk over to the nurse's
station and request a doctor. "You bitch." DeeDee
thought to herself. "Your niece is suffering from a
medical condition, and all you want to do is hand her
off to someone else to take care of her and her
needs." Not surprisingly, DeeDee saw Beatrice
Fletcher heading off for the elivator and disappear
through the door.
Within a few moments a doctor rushed into Beth's
cubical. After he'd assessed the situation, and after
coming to the same conclusion that DeeDee had drawn,
he ordered an iv be set up and more tests run. DeeDee
chose this moment to ask about the results of the
previous tests.
"I honestly couldn't tell you that, but I'll get a
rush on those for you. You're her mother right?"
"No I'm Beth's English teacher. I brought her in here
shortly after she suffered a ceasure at school. I've
called her aunt, however, the aunt refuses to take
responsibility for her niece."
The doctor left the room and returned in ten minutes.
He explained that Beth would have to stay overnight
for observation. "Since she's had two ceasures in one
day, we'd like to take a closer look at her medical
history. We want to look at the drugs she's been
taking to help control the ceasures, and then
depending on how everything goes, I'll release her
into your care in a few days. Will that work?"
Hunter looked at McCall who just looked at Beth. As
much as she wanted to take this kid and protect her,
she had a case to be more concerned about. But then
another thought occurred to her. What if this girl
knew something about Laura Parks's death? Maybe she
was more valuable than they'd first thought.
"That will be just fine." McCall said to the doctor.
Then to Beth, "I have to leave now. But I will be
back first thing after school lets out tomorrow. You
get some rest and think of some things you want from
your house. I'll make sure you get them."
"Ms. Kramer," Beth began. "I know youre a police
officer. I was at school very early this morning and
was outside the door when you were talking to Miss
Graves. The only thing I want from my house is a
photo album. It's got pictures of me with Mum and
Dad."
DeeDee promised to get the album for her and then left
her in the care of the hospital staff. She didn't
like leaving Beth there alone, but she couldn't very
well spend the night with Beth in the hospital and
then get up the next morning and go back to the
school.
When she and Hunter returned home, they found the
answering machine blinking furiously. The first three
messages were from telemarketing firms. The fourth one
was from the Los Angeles Women's Correctional
facility, informing them that Jaimie Carson wished to
speak to them about her sister's death. The last one
was from Constance Graves.
"DeeDee this is Constance Graves. I'm just calling to
check in on how Elizabeth's condition. Call me as
soon as you get in."
DeeDee dialed the number she'd left on the machine,
and gave the woman an update.
"Her aunt was very
vocal about not wanting the responsibility of caring
for Beth. They're keeping her overnight for
observation and to run some more tests over the next
few days. I'm going to head over to her house
tomorrow and retrieve some personal effects Beth has
been asking for."
"Good. Tell Elizabeth to hurry up and recover. And
just to let you know, Beatrice Fletcher made a visit
to the school this afternoon. She said that Beth
would no longer be attending River Crest. I went
along with what she said, but I failed to tell her
that she doesn't have the right to take the girl out
of school. Her mother specifically stated that she
was not to be removed from the school, unless it were
life threatening to her condition."
DeeDee hung up and glanced over at the calendar
hanging on the wall. Today was Friday. She was more
overworked than she'd thought. She made up her mind
to head back to the hospital. Hunter told her that if
that was where she was heading, then he was heading
into the precinct to give Nick a hand.
DeeDee decided to head over to Beth's house before
going back to the hospital rather than wait until
tomorrow. She arrived at the address and observed
that there were no vehicles present on the property.
She picked the lock and headed inside. She began
searching the house and finally found the bedroom
belonging to Beth. She entered and found a very
beautiful bedroom set.
She quickly began to search the room for things Beth
might need and want. She found a suitcase in the
closet and began to pack it with clothes, a few books,
a walkman and some tapes, and the photo album she'd
asked for. DeeDee closed the suitcase and headed out
to her car. On the way out the door, she noticed a
note sitting on the table. It was from Beatrice
Fletcher, and it was addressed to Beth. DeeDee picked
it up and put it into her coat pocket.
When she arrived at the hospital, she was stopped by
the doctor who had treated Beth earlier. She finally
took a minute to glance at his name tag. The tag
read, "Joseph Myers, MD."
"I just wanted to inform you that Beth's test results
are back. The new tests show that she hasn't been
taking her medication. I also spoke to her school's
principal. They said that she hadn't had a ceasure
since she started attending. She had one two weeks
earlier, but they'd given her a dose of medicine and
it had worked."
"I don't think she would just stop taking her
medication. I think that maybe her aunt had something
to do with this. The woman isn't exactly
closedmouthed with her views on what should be done
with Beth. I'm going to take action from here on out.
If you could, please get a prescription for whatever
medications she will be needing and I'll see that
things are handled from here on out."
"It'll be taken care of. Oh, and Sgt. McCall, I
think you could take her home first thing tomorrow if
you want to."
Part 6
Hunter entered the precinct and sat down acrossed from
Nick. Nick had filled him in on the strange call
Natalie had received at work the night before. He had
also tracked down the Tammy Larken's college
professors, and made appointments to speak with each
of them. Hunter said he'd like to take a look at
Rebecca Peters's file.
"I'll run her through a few sources of my own and see
what I can shake loose." Nick handed him the file on
Rebecca Peters and grabbed his coat.
"If you find anything, call me on my cellular."
Hunter spotted the computer terminal and began to
punch in commands. After he'd accessed the records
for Juvie, he typed in the name Rebecca Peters.
Immediately, he was given the same information that
Nick had been given. It was about her arrest record.
But there was no listing for an address or next of
kin. He thought it was pretty odd, and then he picked
up the phone and dialed the number of a friend out in
Los Angeles.
"Hi. Allice it's Rick Hunter. I need you to help me
out. Can you run a search on a Rebecca Jane Peters?
I'm looking specifically for a next of kin listing."
Allice said she'd do what she could, and then wrote
down the number of the precinct as well as Hunter's
apartment. Hunter leaned back in the chair and began
to scan through the files Nick had left on the desk.
He came across a folder for Jessica Saunders. He
noticed that there wasn't a statement from her
surviving relative. He noted that as of the night
Jessica had been murdered, her brother had been
admitted into the psychiatric ward. He decided to pay
Robert Saunders a visit. If nothing else, he would at
least be a visiter for the man to see.
Upon entering the ward, one of the nurses looked at
him a little oddly. He smiled and asked where he
could find Robert Saunders.
"Sorry sir," the nurse said. "but that information is
strictly for family only. And I've gotto tell you, I
highly doubt you're family."
"Look hun," Hunter began in his sweetest tone. "I'm a
homicide detective. I'm currently working on a case
which involves his sister."
"And let me guess. You need to get his statement."
"That pretty much sums it up. And besides I figured
I'd pay him a friendly visit. I'm taking a guess
here. He hasn't had any visiters since he was
admitted?" The nurse shook her head. She finally
caved and gave him the room number. She watched as he
headed off in the direction of Robert Saunders's room.
Hunter entered the room and approached Saunders's
bedside. He drew one of the chairs leaning against
the furthest wall up and sat beside the man. Saunders
looked thin and tired. Hunter could see the marks
where n IV had been put into his arm, which was now
apparently not there.
"Mr. Saunders," Hunter began. "I'm Homicide Detective
Sergeant Richard Hunter. I came here for two reasons.
First of all, I wanted to see how you were feeling.
The detective who questioned you before was kind of
curious about how you've been doing over the past few
weeks."
"Did you find Jessie's killer yet?"
"No Mr. Saunders we haven't found the person
responsible for the death of your sister. But I can
assure you that we're doing everything within our
power to find whoever is responsible for this." After
taking a few moments, Hunter resumed speaking. "Do
you feel up to answering any questions Mr. Saunders?"
"Yes I think I can handle it. I can tell you a little
about Jessie first, if that would help." Wanting to
ease this witness into the harder questions, Hunter
said that would be fine.
"Jessie was my only living relative. I've taken care
of her since our parents were killed in a car
accident. She was smart, funny, and a very hard
working student. Her dream was to become a teacher to
help children. Jessie had a wonderful manner with
kids."
"Do you know of anyone who would have motive to hurt
your sister?" Saunders shook his head. Hunter stayed
with Robert Saunders until a pretty brunette came in
and politely told him he had to leave.
Meanwhile, Nick had made progress at the college.
He'd learned that Tammy Larken was majoring in
physical therapy. He learned that she hadn't been the
one to pay for her tuition either. The check had come
from an anonymous source, and every time she needed
money for college, the checks all were from the same
source.
But now that he'd accomplished that, he wanted to know
what that phone call to Natalie had been about. He'd
had a tap put on her home phone and the phone in her
office. He decided to go back through cases and
search for someone who might act in the manner of this
killer. After about an hour of searching through the
past few yearsworth of cases, he came up with one
possibility. It was a case that he'd worked on with
Tracy Vetter.
The case had involved a young woman suffering multiple
personalities. There were three personalities in all;
Ellen, Monica, and Jacqueline. Ellen was the shy,
vulnerable personality who had been hurt throughout
her life by different people. Monica was the tougher
personality Ellen subliminally developed to hide the
pain she was suffering. Due to Monica's
indiscressions, she found herself victim to a vampire,
and out came Jacqueline. Jacqueline was as
cold-hearted as they come. She'd been the one who had
killed Don Eckhart, and then left Ellen's personality
to deal with the consequences.
Nick sat and studied the file on the Ellen Sims case.
He remembered Tracy had been assigned to guard Ellen,
while trying to help her regain the memories of why
she had been found at a murder sceen. He decided to
sit and wait for Hunter to return.
 :
Part 7
Three hours later, Detectives Rick Hunter and Nick
Knight were busily working on typing up the statements
they'd collected that evening. Hunter, having only
taken one statement, had offered to help Nick type up
the reports from the statements he'd taken from Tammy
Larken's college professors. Just then the phone on
the desk Hunter sat at rang. Hunter lifted the
receiver and spoke into the phone.
"Homicide, Hunter."
"Hunter it's Allice from Juvenile Services in Los
Angeles. I ran a check on the Peters girl you
requested. There's no match of an address for her
anywhere, but what I did find was pretty interesting."
"What have you got for me Allice?"
"There is a name and contact number for a Stacy
Renkins. She's a Social Services case worker."
"I know who she is. I've dealt with her before."
Hunter took down the number and then thanked Allice
for the information. He told Nick what he'd found
out, and then dialed the phone number for Stacy
Renkins. Stacy picked up on the third ring.
After Hunter explained his position, he informed the
woman that Rebecca Peters had been the victim of a
cereal killer preying on young women. Stacy listened
and then replied.
"Rebecca was on my case load about twelve years ago.
She was a bright girl, just the wrong family life, or
in her case, a lack there of. We kept trying to place
her in a foster home, but each time we did, she'd take
off that very day and wind up in some form of
trouble."
"Why then are there no addresses listed in Rebecca's
juvenile records?"
"Back then the filing system was slow. Each time we
placed a juvenile, it took at least a day to get the
information loaded into the computer systems."
After a few minutes more of talking to the woman,
Hunter ended the conversation. He checked his watch
and found that it was a quarter to three. He finished
the statement he'd been typing up and handed it to
Nick. "I'm turning in for a few hours. I'll beat the
bushes and see what I can't find during the day light.
Besides, McCall's at the hospital with one of her
students. We're going to have to take the girl to
Juvie if the aunt still refuses to take responsibility
for her niece's medical needs."
Nick looked at the taller detective and finally
blurted out the question. "Are you in love with
McCall or something? Not that I'm interested or
anything, but you don't want IA to get wind of
something like that. That is if you still want to
work together as partners."
"I'm pleading the fifth on that note. But I'll tell
you if you'll tell me whats going on with you and
Natalie Lambert." Hunter retorted and strode out of
the precinct. Nick watched until he was gone and then
smiled to himself. He knew that Hunter was in love
with his partner, and she with him. It was the same
way with he and Natalie, just that they couldn't do
anything about their relationship. He didn't want to
condemn Natalie to a life of darkness, and there
wasn't much chance he would become mortal the way
Janette had with Robert.
DeeDee entered room 218 and headed over to the figure
lying in the bed. She held the bag high so Beth could
see it. "I got you some changes of clothes, the photo
album you wanted, and some other things to keep you
busy. I figured you could use something to keep your
mind off of things, and somehow I don't think my
assigning extra work is going to cut it."
"Thank you for everything Ms. Kramer. May I ask you
something?"
"Go ahead. Ask anything you want."
"What's going to happen to me if Aunt Beatrice decides
not to assume responsibility for me? Where will I
go?"
DeeDee wasn't sure how to answer this question. As
much as she wanted to tell the girl she'd assume the
necessary responsibility, she also knew that taking in
a child would mean serious changes to her lifestyle.
It wasn't like taking home some unfinished paperwork
at the end of a long work week.
"I honestly don't know. But I promise I'll look into
it and let you know what I find." She pulled up a
chair and sat down beside Beth's bedside. "So, what
about your mom and dad? What were they like?"
"Mum was a great cook. Whenever I had to go into the
hospital for anything she would make me my favorite
dinner when I came home. Dad was a lawyer. When they
were killed in the plane crash they were heading to
the States so he could get some depositions or
something for a case he was working on. Whenever he
went on trips like that he always took one of us with
him. I remember one time we all went to Florida so he
could get some depositions and go into a courtroom
with some lady who had been accused of fraud or
something. After he finished work he took us to
Disney Land and Universal Studios."
"Sounds like you had a great trip. What's your
favorite dinner?" DeeDee asked the girl.
"Spaghetti and meatballs with salad."
"I like that too. So what about school? Do you like
it? What do you do for extracurricular activities?"
"I played field hockey for a few weeks, but then my
aunt made me quit. She said that I couldn't do it
because of my ceasures. But when I'm on the
medication I'm fine. You've seen what happens when
I'm not on the medicine. School is school. I mean
it's challenging and all, but there are just some
things I can't stand like Math or Chemistry."
"I hated Chemistry too, but I really got a kick out of
the math. I think that's why I like grading papers so
much especially the ones that are handed in late."
DeeDee laughed and smiled at Beth. Beth was about to
say something but was interrupted. Just then a nurse
entered and approached DeeDee and Beth. She spoke to
DeeDee.
"I'm sorry Ma'am but you're going to half to leave.
She needs to get some sleep and I've got to give her
another dose of medicine."
DeeDee smiled politely at the nurse and told Beth
she'd be back first thing in the morning. "Could I
have a minute with her first?"
The nurse nodded and left the room. DeeDee took
Beth's hand, the one with the IV in it and squeezed it
gingerly. "If it's okay with the doctors, I'm going
to get you discharged from here."
"What happens after that?"
"Think of it as a surprise. I think you'll like what
I've got planned."
After returning home, DeeDee found Rick sound asleep
on the couch. Not being able to resist the temtation,
she went over to him and gently placed her hands on
his shoulders. She began softly shaking him in order
to wake him up.
"Hey. Wake up. I'm home."
Hunter slowly opened his eyes. After a minute he sat
up and made room for her to sit beside him on the
couch. "So how's the girl doing?"
"She's okay. The doctor told me that the tests show
that she hasn't gotten her medication in the past few
days. That would account for the ceasures she's had
today. He said she could be released tomorrow, and I
was thinking of taking her somewhere for the day.
Care to join us?"
"If it's the mall you can forget it. I've been
shopping with you enough times to know that when you
go into a store you don't come out with just one or
two things."
She laughed and playfully slapped him on the arm. He
grabbed her arm and refused to let go. "Okay so I'm a
mall rat. I can't help it if I'm an addictive
shopper. Now would you please let go of my arm? I'm
tired and want to go to bed."
"Works for me."
Part 8
First thing the next morning, Hunter and McCall
entered the hospital and made their way towards Beth's
room. When they opened the door they saw Beatrice
Fletcher standing by the bed holding Beth's suitcase
in one hand and urging the girl to get up.
"Hurry it up. I don't have time to just waste while
you wait for someone to unhook that IV. You've gone
through this before, now just take it out yourself."
DeeDee watched for a single second as the woman
reached out and grasped the tubing with one hand and
tried to remove the tape with the other.
"Get your hands off of her right now!" DeeDee entered
the room and went straight for the woman. "What the
hell gives you the right to come waltzing in here and
take her out of here? You gave up that option last
night when you walked out on your niece during a
seizure."
DeeDee grabbed ahold of Fletcher, causing her to let
go of the IV line and Beth's bag. She forcibly turned
the woman around and pushed her out into the hall
where Hunter stood with the doctor. They'd seen
everything DeeDee had and went into action.
The doctor was the first to say something. "When you
left the hospital last night, I placed a phone call to
Child Protective Services and told them the situation.
This is a police officer who has been instructed to
escort you from these premises."
"You can't do this to me! I'm the girl's only living
relative."
"A relative who refused to take her niece to a
doctor's appointment and refill her doctor prescribed
medication to control her seizures. That's considered
a form of abuse Ms. Fletcher." Hunter said as he
withdrew a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and
slapped them on the woman's wrists.
"You have the right to remain silent. If you give up
that right, anything you say, can and will be used
against you in a court of law. You have the right to
an attorney. If you so desire, and cannot afford one,
the court will appoint you one, free of charge. Do you
understand each of these rights as I have explained
them to you Ms. Fletcher?"
She just scowled at him and then tried to flip him the
bird behind her back. Hunter saw her gesture and
grinned widely. He led her down the corridor and out
of sight from DeeDee or the doctor. He looked at her
and grinned for just a split second.
"I didn't really call CPS, but once he told me he was
a police officer I figured I'd inform him of the
girl's test results since he was here with you
yesterday and all."
"Don't worry. You won't be charged with breech of
doctor/patient confidentiality. I was the one first
informed of Beth's condition. I took it from there."
It wasn't a question but a statement. The doctor
smiled and nodded his head in the direction of Beth's
room.
"Thank you. Now, I think you have a scared girl who
needs to get the hell out of here." He smiled at her.
DeeDee entered the room and headed over to the girl.
Beth looked as though she were about to cry. DeeDee
put a comforting arm around her shoulder and sat in a
chair she'd pulled up beside the bed.
"It's okay, sweet heart. Your aunt isn't going to be
taking you home now or later. She's being locked up on
abuse charges. Her not giving you the medicine you
needed and not taking you to doctor's appointments is
considered to be a form of abuse and neglect in the
eyes of the law."
"She said you were just being nice to me because I'm
sick. She said that I should be locked up." Beth
started crying. DeeDee gently hugged the girl, being
careful not to hit her IV.
"It's going to be all right. You're going to go with
me and we're going to head to my house first so you
can get changed. Then I'm taking you out for the day.
Anywhere you want to go."
In a few minutes, the doctor walked in with the
discharge forms on a clipboard and proceeded to
disconnect Beth's IV from her arm. "Looks like you're
getting out of here. I'm going to give you a
prescription for your medicine, and release you into
Sgt. McCall's care."
DeeDee explained that Beth would have to eventually be
placed in the care of Juvenile Services. "It's the
only alternative. I can't take you myself because
there are certain rules cops have to follow. Juvie
isn't my choice either, but it's a lot better than
your aunt, right?"
Beth just shrugged and agreed. She knew McCall was
right, but didn't want to admit it. "So do I have to
go to this Juvie place now?"
"That's the good part. I don't have to turn you over
until the end of the day. And since I have the day off
from both jobs, I thought we could do something
together. Anything you want."
So within a few hours, DeeDee found herself standing
in line at a local movie theater. Beth had come up
with a few things she wanted to do, and DeeDee had
also tossed around a few ideas too. While they waited,
they talked about everything.
"I'm a little confused about something." Beth admitted
as they waited for the incredibly long line to move.
"Why are you working as a teacher in an all girls
school?"
"It has to do with a case I'm trying to solve."
"You mean Laura Parks don't you? She was on my field
hockey team. She was a great player, better than me
even. But nobody liked her."
"What do you mean?"
"Well she didn't hang out with anyone really. They
treated her like they treat me. Most of the girls who
were on that team are real snobs. They think that just
because their parents are loaded they can be cruel to
anyone they don't think is worthy of being in their
school." Beth looked at DeeDee for a moment and then
continued. "What about you? What do you like to do for
fun?"
DeeDee had to think about that one for a moment. She
enjoyed being a cop, but that wasn't exactly
considered fun. It was when the bad guys went to jail,
but it wasn't something she'd recommend someone do for
pleasure.
"I really enjoy just sitting down with a good book.
I'm athletic because of my job, but that's common for
a cop."
Meanwhile, Hunter had just finished booking Beatrice
Fletcher on criminal abuse and neglect of a minor. He
wasn't happy about having to do the paperwork, but it
had to be done. He picked up his jacket and headed out
the door. He was still baffled with the case.
Something just didn't seem right.
Hunter began combing the city looking for his partner
and the girl. He checked the mall, park, and about
half a dozen fast food places. He finally spotted them
in a line heading into a movie theater. He motioned
for them to step out of line and went to a nearby park
bench to sit. He greeted them both and noticed that
the kid looked more alive.
"I'm going to go and get some ice cream over at that
vender." Beth pointed to the nearby vender, and headed
off in that direction. As soon as he was sure she was
out of hearing range, he said, "The aunt has been
booked on the charge of neglect and abuse. I also
added endangering the welfare of a minor to the list.
She got a little testy with me, and threatened to
bring a civil action against me and the department.
Reese hadn't left just yet and was curious as to why I
was booking a woman on abuse charges, so I told him
the story. He thinks we should keep her in protective
custody until this whole thing's solved or until
something else can be arranged. So how's she holding
up?"
"Well she got a little upset earlier just after you
left, but now she seems different. Outwardly she seems
all right. But inwardly I think this whole thing's got
her in a bad position. She's hurting an awful lot. I
mean look at what she's been through in just the past
few months. Her parents are killed in a plane crash,
her only living relative is someone who would just as
soon have her committed to a mental hospital, rather
than take on the responsibility, and now there's this
murdered girl. I think everything is going to come out
eventually, it's just not going to be the best way."
"So what do you propose we do about it for the time
being?"
"Well, I think we give her some enjoyment today. Then
we take her to Juvie like we're supposed to. Then I
say we put all our time and energy into tracking down
this killer. He's got to make a mistake sooner or
later."
Beth returned with her ice cream in one hand and a
mound of napkins in the other. She looked at DeeDee
and then at Rick. "So what now? What can we do?"
"How about you finish that ice cream, and then we'll
head for the mall." Beth smiled broadly. These two
didn't have to be nice and spend time with her, but
they did it anyway. The reminded her of her parents.
"That sounds great! Thanks a lot guys."
"Oh, and after that we're going to go and hunt up
something to eat. How's that sound?"
Beth agreed immediately and smiled. I know just the
place, too."
The three of them spent the next three hours in the
mall, McCall finding things she liked and Hunter
trying not to gripe too much as he literally became
the human shopping cart. McCall noticed Beth looking
at a cd out of the corner of her eye, and decided to
get it for her. She'd already insisted on getting the
girl a few little odds and ends here and there as they
passed certain stores. But all too soon the shopping
trip ended.
An hour and a half after they left the mall, the three
were just polishing off the remaining pieces of a
large pepperoni and mushroom pizza in a local pizza
parlor. It was noisy and the majority of the crowd
were teens. They were laughing and talking very loudly
and some were pointing at Beth. As Beth and the two
partners were leaving, Hunter heard one girl remark,
"She's probably the teacher's pet or something. The
girl's too stupid to be anything else." The girl went
on laughing with her friends, but Hunter didn't find
it funny.
Beth paid no attention to the remark. "Just let it go.
They're always like that. I don't let it get to me
anymore."
"I don't know how you can do it, Beth. I mean it's
easy for me to sit there and say "just ignore people
like that," but in reality it's not as easy as it
sounds." Hunter looked straight at the group of teens.
He put a friendly hand on Beth's shoulder and squeezed
gently.
"You're right. It does hurt, but what good will
confronting those little snobs do? All it has done in
the past is just make things a whole lot worse. Mum
used to say that it was feeding flames to a
firebreathing dragon."
Hunter smiled and laughed lightly. He knew that the
girl was right, but it still bothered him that these
kids could say such cruel things about one of their
own classmates. But then again he remembered his own
childhood, and the flack he'd received for being the
son of a man connected to the mob.
It was dark by the time they left Beth in the care of
the Juvenile services. Beth knew and understood why
they had to leave her in the Juvenile facility, but
she still wasn't too happy about being put into a room
and left there indefinitely. McCall had promised to
come back and visit as soon as she could, and she
promised to also get a few other things that she knew
that Beth might enjoy.
DeeDee looked at her partner and half smiled, half
frowned. "I hate the way the Juvie system works all
over the world. It's like telling the kids in those
facilities that they're the criminals."
"I know, but it's a hell of a lot better than the
alternative. At least she's safe for now."
McCall had to conceed that her partner and friend was
right. In her heart she knew that Juvie would be the
better alternative for Beth. At least she would be
well cared for, DeeDee had seen to at least that much.
But she also knew that there was something else. There
was something missing from her, something she
desperately needed and wanted. She knew she was
missing out on a family of her own, one with kids
running around in the yard and coming home from school
with straight A's on their report cards. She wondered
if she and Hunter would ever have that with one
another.
Part 9
Meanwhile, in another part of the city, Nick was
tracking down a lead on someone who looked similar to
a woman he'd dealt with in a case nearly three years
ago. Her name was Ann Foley. When last he'd seen her,
she had tried to convince him to kill his partner.
She'd succeeded in getting him to steal for her, but
he had planned to use it against her. Stonetry, his
captain at the time, had a notebook that one of his
detectives had kept while working. Unfortunately, this
detective had crossed paths with Ann Foley, and he had
met an early death as a result. Foley wanted Nick to
steal the notebook for her, and he did so, with the
fullest of intentions of returning it to it's place of
origin as soon as his work was done. Unfortunately for
Nick, however, once Ann had gained possession of the
notebook, she burned it, as Nick looked on in stunned
horror. He asked her why she'd asked him to steal it
for her, and her response was to ask him how it felt.
When Foley learned of Nick's deception against her,
she made him think she tried to kill herself.
Unfortunately, she did not succeed.
Nick had his suspicions at the time, but had no proof
to back them up. He believed that she was a
half-breed, a cross between a vampire and a mortal.
The only problem was, unlike other half-breeds, he was
unable to sense any form of the vampire. Usually,
half-breeds were able to be detected, however, Nick
had heard of very few who were not so noticeable. Such
creatures didn't normally last too long before they
either killed themselves, or were killed by the
enforcers. They were not accepted in the worlds of
either the living or the undead. Hunters found them
and made swift justice of their executions, either
that or the enforcers would take it upon themselves.
Nick suspected that Ann had been around for quite some
time, and that she had built up quite a reputation.
He believed that both her personality, and her will to
stay among those roming the earth, had played an
important part in her survival for the amount of time
she'd been in this world. But now he was even more
convinced of her existence to this day. Since no body
had been recovered when both he and Schanke had gone
down to make certain that she was dead, he felt that
some form of the vampire had taken over.
He had searched through several known data bases,
using Ann's picture as the only clue. Of course, it
was always possible that the woman could change her
appearance, but Nick had thought of this. He had run
her image through several different alterations,
changing many different graphic features as he went
along. "Thank god for computers." Nick thought to
himself. He'd spent the better part of the last few
days just doing the tiring task. Now, he'd hit pay
dirt. One of his many images of Ann Foley had been
pinpointed to a woman going by the name Kathleen
Baker. According to the information he could dig up on
this woman, which wasn't much, he was able to find out
that she worked in a corporate law office. From there
on out, there had been nothing to go on, no address,
no next of kin, nothing.
That was when he spotted her. He spotted her heading
down a dark ally, obviously trying to conceal herself
from passersby. He gave chase, but she took to the
air. She could fly, and that in itself was revelation
enough for Nick's suspicions of her existence as a
vampire to be confirmed.
After checking to see that no one was around, Nick
took to the air in pursuit. But he was too late. He'd
missed his chance of catching her. Foley was gone, and
there was nothing he could do about it now. He could
only do one thing.
He lifted into the air and flew after her. It was
difficult trying to keep sight of her, even with his
enhanced vision. She kept darting in and out of
shadows of treetops and the roovs of buildings. It was
also difficult for Nick to sense her, since she was a
half-breed. He'd heard stories of a certain type of
half-breed which could virtually make themselves
undetectable by other full fledged vampires. But even
so, he made due wwith what little sensing he had of
her. He followed her to a remote corner of the city,
almost near to their last meeting place.
As he watched, she set down upon a nearby rooftop, and
waited. She began looking around for any sign of her
persuer, but there was no sign to be found. "Good."
Ann thought to herself. "If I can't sense him, then he
can't sense me."
Just then, a shadowy figure approached her from behind
and caught her in a vice-like grip. "Let me go! Now!"
Ann's screams were lost to the night.
Nick spun her to face him and looked into her angry
face with equally angry features of his own. His eyes
held no sign of their blue coloring, but instead held
within their depths a golden hugh, which almost
penetrated Ann's very core. He held her with a force
which both surprised and frightened her. She knew what
this vampire was capable of, and if he really wanted
to do so, he could easily kill her and be done with
it. He had proven this to her at their last meeting,
one in which he tried to take her alive. She had been
responsible for the deaths of a few poor souls, one of
which was a cop friend of Nick's former captain Joe
Stonetry. Now, here they were once again, with the
same decision before them. But this time it was
different. He had been more concerned with saving the
life of his mortal partner before, but now there was
no mortal to use as leverage. She was trapped and she
knew it.
"Please, Nick, I'm begging you. Please don't kill me."
"Did any of your victims get the chance to beg for a
second chance at life? Did you grant them at least
that small bit of dignity? No you didn't! You, Ann
Foley, are a cold-blooded killer, and I can not in
good conscious allow you to continue this pattern. You
must be stopped."
"Then let the enforcers do it. You don't have it in
you." Ann knew she was grasping at straws, and she
knew full well that he knew. But she tried it anyway.
Maybe she could appeal to his human side. He, unlike
other vampires, had a human side to his soul, and no
matter how weak it made him, she knew that with his
humanity, he was incapable of taking a life out of
revenge.
"No, I can't do that. As much as I'd like to turn you
over to the enforcers, I have a mortal obligation to
fulfill. You are the cereal killer I've been tracking,
and I must bring you to justice. The only difference
is, that it won't be the justice you're thinking of.
You must pay for your crimes, but not in death. Death
is an easy way out, the cowardly way. You will live
out the rest of your mortal days in a jail cell,
waiting for the time to come when you too, will be
taken through death's door."
"But you seem to forget, Nick, that I am still part
vampire. Unless you intend on bringing me across into
the mortal world, I don't see how it is possible. I
will be around long after the mortals of today have
passed through that similar door."
"That is precisely what I intend to do. You do not
know everything about our way of life, nor do you know
much of our legends." With that, Nick drew back and
sank his fangs into Foley's neck. He proceeded to
drain her of what little she held in her, and once
he'd finished, he injected a kneedle into her arm.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Ann began to feel her body
taking on a distinct change. She could no longer feel
the vampire element which had clung to her for such a
long time. At least to her it had been a long time.
She looked at the man who still held her in a tight
grip. Then it registered. Her heart was beating at a
normal rate, and she was mortal!
"What have you done?"
"I injected a combination of curare and human blood
into your veins. You will be no threat to anyone else
ever again. There is also one other thing I failed to
mention before. Once you have been returned to your
mortal form, you can not be brought accross again."
He took in the shock and disbelief written on her
face. It was almost comical, when he thought about it.
She'd truly believed that she could not be stopped
unless it was done by her death. As he looked at the
stunned expression she wore, she withdrew a set of
handcuffs from his pocket and attached them to her
slender wrists.
"Ann foley, you are under arrest for murder. "You
have the right to remain silent. If you give up that
right, anything you say, can and will be used against
you in a court of law. You have the right to an
attorney. If you so desire, and cannot afford one, the
court will appoint you one, free of charge. Do you
understand each of these rights as I have explained
them to you?"
Part 10The two partners had been driving around when
the call sounded over their radio. "Sgts. Hunter and
Mccall, Detective Knight requests that you return to
the 96th immediately. He has a suspect in custody."
The two partners looked at one another, and then
grinned. McCall was the first to speak. "You know,
Hunter, if he's already got the suspect dead to
rights, he could be you."
"And just what does that mean, Sgt.? Are you implying
that I'm an overachiever when it comes to my work?"
She looked at the man sitting beside her and playfully
slapped him on the arm. "That's exactly what I'm
saying, Sgt."
Back at the precinct, the two partners entered the
bullpen and made their way towards Knight's desk.
Hunter was the first to spot the young woman, still
handcuffed, sitting in a chair beside the desk. He
shot his partner a look and directed his comment to
Nick.
"What did she do, forget to pay a parking fine?"
Nick looked up from the report he was typing, and
looked at Hunter with a look that said, "That wasn't
meant as sarcasm, now was it?"
But instead, he said, "No, Sgt. Hunter. I'd like for
you to meet the person responsible for the five
murders here in our little province. Sgts. Hunter and
McCall, meet Kathleen Baker."
"You've got to be kidding me. How could she be
responsible for murder?"
McCall turned and faced her partner. "Hunter, you know
as well as I do that just because a person is of
average height, it doesn't mean they aren't capable of
committing a brutal crime. But my question here, is
why'd she do it in the first place?"
This caused all eyes to turn in the direction of the
prisoner. At first she said nothing, just sat there
while Nick was finishing the last of the paperwork
before he was done booking her on the charges. But
then she spoke, and as she did so, her eyes darted
from one person to the next.
"I did it to protect them. All I was trying to do was
protect them."
Nick finished the final details on the paperwork, and
led Ann Foley away. As he passed her over to the desk
sergeant, he glanced back at the two LA detectives
who'd become fast friends with himself. He watched as
the desk sergeant took over, and then made his way
back toward the pair. As he approached, he heard them
talking."So, what do we do about Beth? Her aunt's in
jail, facing charges and she needs someone to take her
in. You know as well as I do that Juvie shelters
aren't the best place for a girl suffering from
ceizures."
Hunter looked at the woman who had become so much more
than just a partner to him over the years. He knew
what was going through her mind, but he also knew that
this would mean a whole new responsibility for them
all, if DeeDee really meant to go ahead and accept the
responsibility of caring for the teenager. But then
another thought crossed his mind. It wasn't something
he was necessarily thrilled with, but the idea needed
to be explored further before anything was done.
"McCall, I think we should have a little discussion
with Beatrice Fletcher before deciding anything. Maybe
she'll have a change of heart, and decide that
assuming the necessary responsibility is the best
thing for her niece."The two partners said goodnight
to Nick, and headed off in the direction of the
holding cells. They were going t take care of this
tonight, not tomorrow.
They entered the dark corridor, and made their way
down to the cell where Beatrice Fletcher was being
held. They approached her dor and peeked through the
bars at the woman who was just sitting there on her
bunk. She saw them, but pretended not to. McCall was
the first to speak to her.
"Ms. Fletcher, we came down here tonight to talk to
you. We think we have a deal which you might be
interested in. In exchange for our dropping the
charges against you, you agree to take care of your
niece and assume all responsibility of caring for her.
And that includes refilling her prescriptions and
taking her to doctors appointments. So, what about it,
do you agree?"
At first the woman behind the barred door neither
moved nor spoke. She thought about it for a few
minutes, weighing her options. She wanted out of this
hellhole, but did she really want to go back to taking
care of her sister's kid? If she thought about it,
wasn't it a little like giving up, accepting defeat?
"I'll do it. But that doesn't mean I've changed mind
or my beliefs."
Now it was Hunter's turn to speak up. He planned on
giving this woman a piece of his mind. "Ms. Fletcher,
we're not asking you to change your views, just to do
what your sister wanted you to do in the first place.
So go and do it! Raise Beth to the best of your
ability, but do not let your prejudices stand in the
way of her growth."
EpilogueIt was Christmas Eve, and the partners both
had the night off. They'd made plans to pick Beth up
on Christmas Day and enjoy a wonderful Christmas
dinner. But now, Hunter had a surprise for her, which
she was sure to be very happy with, at least that's
what he hoped her reaction would be.
He watched as she finished doing the dishes in the
sink, and then as she headed for the livingroom and
the couch. "I want you to sit and not move. Just close
your eyes." He said this as he turned her towards the
couch, and away from the little tree they'd picked out
and the presents beneath. Of course she knew there
were presents there, she'd put a few there herself.
He waited for her to sit down and close her eyes.
Then, he went into the other room and came back with a
package hidden behind his back. He approached her, sat
down beside her, and took her hands into his own. He
placed the package into her hands and told her to open
her eyes. She did so, seeing the package and began
opening it.
She spied the jeweler's box in the wrapping paper, and
went to open it, when Hunter stopped her. He took the
tiny box and opened it, keeping the contents hidden
from view as he did so. Next, he took her hand and
slipped something onto one of her fingers.
Immediately, tears began streaming down her face. She
knew instantly what he was going to say before he said
it. He slowly let her see what he'd done, and then
held a breath as he composed himself for what came
next.
"DeeDee, you know that I love you very much. Now,
there is something I need to ask you, and I need you
to wait until I'm finished. DeeDee McCall, will you do
me the honor of marrying me and becoming my wife?"
As more tears made their way down her cheeks, she
smiled and he knew instantly what the answer would be.
"Yes. Yes, Rick Hunter, I will marry you."
THE END.
Questions and comments welcomed to DeeDee_McCall@yahoo.com
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