Chapter 33

Files lay out before them as Liam shook his head at one theory where some professor from Portland claimed the famous actress, Lorel Palmer was a willing sacrifice to gain more fame; a way of becoming immortalized after she had lost a star role in an upcoming movie. Pushing it aside, he said,

“So this new evidence?”

Aaron looked at his brother over the rim of his coffee cup. “Father said something about the crime itself being a work of art; that every piece of the scene is made up of parts of his other victims. Holding clues to the next victim, or ritual. It’s an escalation. We would need to predict the next piece of the evolution of the puzzle.”

Liam nodded as the information sank in. He bit down on his pen, his eyebrows arched as she studied his brother.

“I’m having the scene processed with that in mind.” Aaron added to Liam’s satisfaction.

“It is utterly gross,” said Raine across from them, taking a sip of water to push down the grim thought. “So you’re saying the strings used to hold the girl up are actually dried-out veins and gut from previous victims?” Her face contorting to convey her utter disgust.

Aaron smiled as the report came in, then shoved his tablet to the center of the table for them to see.

“Now, its fact—and we have a list of victims, which we didn’t have before.” His gaze turned to his phone as it buzzed on the table beside him. The complete list of victims sent in the repost also sent via text from Captain Bryce.

“We just need the locations these girls were last seen in, tie them with missing person’s reports, and we might find something in common…” \

His eyes darted toward Willow who was sat on the floor. Hands, legs and face blackened from the charcoal pieces she used to sketch. It wasn’t an easy thing to find near the hotel, but Liam forced Aaron on a mission to find Willow the tools she needed to free her visions.

Willow held up her sketch. “I have a room, but this ass-hole…” She banged on her head with her palm spreading more blackened smudges over her forehead “…is silent. When I need his silence, he haunts me and when I need to access…”

Raine stood from the table, interrupting her sister as a thought hit her. “What if…” she snatched up her handbag from the dresser table, “What if his memories are tethered to the hospital?” She removed a sandwich bag filled with tissue from her purse.

“Your lunch?” Liam pulled a face.

“No,” Raine opened it and showed them the dirt inside the tissue. “Can you test this?”

Aaron gave her a glare.

“Long story short, I found this dirt under Willow’s nails.” She looked over at Willow then back at the bothers as they gave her a blank stare. She continued, “I keep thinking of that night, you know,” she smiled at Liam. “The night we met; it’s the same night Willow was found sleepwalking in the basement of the Hospital. The next morning her nails were all torn up and this dirt…”

“Why would you…?” Aaron was saying.

“I have an inquisitive mind. There was no reason for dirt that thick to be under her nails if she’d been in a hospital bed all night…”

Willow shook her head. “Is there anything else you think we might need to know? Or are you just a bag of secrets. It might have helped us earlier Raine?”

Her sister’s anger tore at her heart, but she understood it. With all that was happening, she probably deserved to be hated.

“This is overwhelming for me, too” Raine said softly, speaking directly at Liam and Aaron who held the same look as Willow. “When Willow sleeps, I give her manicures.”

“What?” Willow stared at her.

“You thought your nails just looks perfect all the time?” Raine asked, unable to hide the surprise in her voice before continuing. “When I did your manicure, which is now ruined,” she stared down at her sister’s blackened fingertips, “I don’t know why, but I kept the dirt, maybe I wanted to prove Willow was in my house that night I called you in.” She glanced at Liam.

“And that’s not weird at all,” Aaron muttered under his breath.

Liam shook the comment away. He didn’t want to be a part of the ‘Get at Raine Party’. She was already giving herself a really tough time without them joining in.

“I’d forgotten,” Willow said, still looking down at her nails.

Liam took the bag of tissues from her, then looked to Willow, surrounded by sketches of a room from different angles.

Liam got up from his seat and stood beside his brother. “What do you see?” he asked when he too suddenly remembered something, and snatched up his phone, comparing the images of the footprints he found in the Viviers’ house to Willows’ petite feet. He padded across the room, everyone staring after him as he snatched something up from his bag. Liam spun to face everyone, holding a vial of what looked like dirt.

He looked to Raine. “You were right. Willow was in your house that night, and if I am right, the dirt from that tissue, matches the dirt I found in that room with the broken latch.” He stared at the vial of dirt. “And perhaps will lead to that room in the sketch.” He pointed to Willow as she sat staring down at the sketch.

Willow opened her mouth to speak when a noise came from somewhere in the room. Willow stared in the direction the noise was coming from. “The cupboard is calling.”

Aaron gave a small smile in Willow’s direction, walked over to his brother and snatched up the vial from him on the way to the cupboard. He then pocketed the vial, and the tissue and pulled the closet door open.

Raine gave a faint smile at her sister’s humor, it had been so long since she’d seen her sister so herself. Willow hardly gave Raine a glance as she looked back down and swiped the images of the room aside, then took the sketch where Raine said she had seen a face. Willow stared at it, trying to recall the face she drew here, but all she could see was Velmar. Every time she closed her eyes Valmer stared at her from the shadows of her mind, from the reflection of a mirror.

“I can’t see his features. Fok! It’s like I’m seeing it from under water. Or through tears. It’s distorted.”

Liam cast Raine a look of amusement at Willow’s sudden and unlikely swearing.

“Fok is an Afrikaans swearword,” Raine explained.

Liam laughed. “Yeah, I kind of got that.”

Across the room, Aaron bent down into the cupboard from which the strange noise was getting louder. Liam slapped his palm to his forehead in realization as Aaron pulled a big black duffle bag from the cupboard. “You didn’t bring granddad’s...”

“Do I go anywhere without it?” Aaron unzipped the bag, retrieved an old large two-way scanner, and laid it on the bed. The bulky thing sunk into the mattress. “This old boy has got me out of more trouble than I care to think.”

Aaron moved a few buttons on the scanner. White noise filled the suite at first, then a series of clicks until finally a voice came “Anderson?” Bryce’s voice was scratchy but audible.

Aaron snatched up the mic, “Captain.”

Raine could see the embers of hope lighten Aaron’s face.

The voice from the other side said, “The tracker finally gave us something. It’s McKenzie, Anderson.”

A wave of sighs rolled through the room. Aaron closed his eyes, bowed his head before he said. “She’s alive?”

“Absolutely.”

“I am sensing abut captain.”

“The taker’s GPS has malfunctioned. Only audio.”

A second of silence. His voice rose, “Captain you ...”

“Relax your bloomers, Anderson, I’m sending the audio over.”

There was a crackling sound before Bryce spoke again. “What do you have your side?”

“You need to get to Mercury Memorial hospital,” was Aaron’s response.

Willow raised a sketch. “In the basement,” she closed her eyes. “No,” she said recalling where the janitor had found her that night. “Beneath the basement, the old incinerator room. A door, broken glass, radiation sign. There’s bodies.” She pointed to the sketch that held a chemical sign then pulled up another sketch, showing Aaron the exact image of the door that had pulled her in when she had been escorted by George.

Aaron took the two-way scanner. “I think we found the bodies that will match our new list of alleged victims, Captain. If the insides of those girls were used to display Palmer’s body,

“Their bones will be in that room.” Willow answered for him.

The radio went dead and Raine stood staring at the old looking scanner. It triggered a conversation she had with the Doctor. She recalled Vermaak saying his friend had a prototype, a device of some sorts that could help Willow. She ran over to her handbag recalling the contact details Doctor Vermaak had given her.

Bryce’s voice came through again. “I will need some probable cause to send a team down there.”

“I have soil samples.” Aaron’s eyes shot to Willow. “I’ll explain later Captain.”

“How?” Bryce began.

“Let’s say psychic.” Aaron answered, a smile directed at Willow.

Bryce gave a sign. “I’m not going to ask.”

Aaron knew the FBI had worked with psychics before, and technically Willow had a physic connection to Valmer and Lorel.

Bryce’s voice filled the room. “I’ll get a team down there. You find McKenzie. Anderson, the audio recording….she sounds terrified and tired. It was an urgent SOS.”

Aaron’s blood ran cold.

A ping hit Agent Anderson’s phone, then Bryce said, “FIND HER.”

Aaron was already plugging his phone into his laptop. The audio file came up. Bryce’s threat hung above him. FIND HER or be responsible for yet another partner’s death because you didn’t listen to your gut; because you were too busy obsessing about catching the bad guy to care. His thoughts and self-loathing spiraled dangerously.

Liam pulled the vial from Aaron’s pocket and asked, “How is this going to help us catch this killer? There’s nothing tying Valmer to the hospital. We need to work smart.”

From her position on the floor Willow said, “I can’t see the face. It’s not coming to me!” Willow pulled at her hair out of frustration as if this act would pull Valmer’s block from her mind. Raine swallowed at the sight of her sister’s distress, made a move toward her sister when Liam held her back.

Willow took the sketch of the partial face and started ripping at the drawing.

“Stop!” Aaron ran over to her, ripped the pieces from her hands. Willow tried to take them back, when Aaron grabbed up her hands. “Stop it!” He yelled again. Willow screamed up at him, and Raine pushed Aaron away. “Get away from her.”

Willow jumped up and slapped Raine across the face. “Stop. Stop doing that! Stop trying to save me all the time. Look where it has got us! You turned me into a murderer.”

“What are you talking about?” Raine gasped, her hand coming up to her cheek in disbelief of her sisters lashing.

“Bertha, what if I killed her?” When Willow looked down at her hands, she could still see blood all over them.

The sound of the slap stopped everyone in their tracks. Aaron, on all fours, gathering up the torn pieces of paper and took in a deep breath to stop himself. Liam shook his head, rubbing over his tired eyes.

“Everyone calm down and take a breath,” he said walking over to stand between Raine and her sister who were on the edge of tears and violence. “This fighting is preventing us from catching whoever is hunting the both of you, and from saving Makayla.” Liam’s eyes fell to his brother. “Get up. What the hell man?”

Slowly Aaron stood. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to be responsible for someone else’s death? No you don’t.” Aaron slammed his shoulder into his brother as he passed to snatch up his laptop and his belongings. “We need to get moving.”

“It won’t bring her back you know!” Liam said, instantly regretting it. “You need to get over your self-destructive blame! Their choices Aaron, led them to that—and the people who killed her are responsible. You’re not in control of everything, Aaron!”

Aaron gave Liam a glare, knowing his brother was right, and wondered when he had gotten so smart?

“We have no new leads Liam. Nothing on the killing at the hospital, or of the girl at Fiesta Square Mansion, and nothing,” He took a deep breath, “on the guy who tried to kill Raine at the hospital.”

Liam’s face pinched together. “How is that possible?”

“My guess,” Aaron said whilst packing up, “is they are being protected. It most likely leads to some damned politician Liam, or someone who works for one. Whoever it is, they’re powerful, and therefore dangerous. He straightened up. Fatally so.”

Liam and Aaron exchanged a look. Aaron pulled his bag over his shoulder and said. “You of all people know what government people will do to keep their secrets.” He gestured to his brother who when faced with a decision in the Secret Service, chose to get fired and loose his wife to protect her, rather than keep the dangerous secrets of politicians to himself. He was a hero and he’d paid for it.

Snatching up the rest of his belongings, Aaron left the hotel suite without further word.

“Where is he going?” asked Raine, still rubbing at the sting on her cheek.

Liam cleared his throat, looking between the sisters. “Our position could be compromised. We need to move now that contact has been made.”

Raine stood watching as Willow and Liam scrambled around to gather up the little possessions they had. It was as if she was frozen behind a wall of ice, and the world spun around her self -made prison.

Then it came at her, “Stop.” She told them. “I have a crazy idea,” she said, holding the contact number of the experimental doctor in her hand.