Bloodstain (8 page)

“That’s fine. I’m gonna sit for a few
, and then head home myself.”

“Okay. See ya
’ tomorrow.”

Chapter 12

The next morning Vanessa was up early. The meds she was on were taking effect and for a change, she didn’t feel sick.

She fixed breakfast for her and Rob
, which they enjoyed together for the first time in weeks. Vanessa looked over at her husband. “When we have an ultrasound, do we want to know if it’s a boy or a girl?”

Rob smiled.
“If it’s a boy, yes!”

“And if it’s a girl?”

“Oh, I guess that would be okay, too.”

She reached over and punched him. He recoiled
, but she was too fast, and landed a solid blow on his arm. “Owww!”

“You deserved that.”

“You know I don’t care if it’s a girl or a boy,” he rubbed his arm. “Man, even pregnant, you still pack a punch.”

“And don’t you forget it!”

He laughed, got up from the table, and kissed her.

“I have to get ready.”

“Okay. I’m going to clean up and head for the station.”

In ten minutes, she had the dishwasher running and some meat taken out to thaw for dinner. She grabbed her purse and keys, locked the door behind her
, and walked to her car.

A
cross the street from Vanessa’s home, sat a black pick-up with a white camper top, no driver in it. The detective didn’t notice, she should have, but she didn’t. As Vanessa reached her car and went to unlock it, she heard a voice behind her, and felt a gun in her back.

“Don’t say a word. Turn and walk directly to the black truck across the street. If you try anything,
I’ll splatter your insides all over the outdoors. Are we clear? Nod your head.”

Vanessa nodded
, trying to remain calm, as the man reached around her waist to remove her gun. Her thoughts went to the life inside her, followed by images of the wineglass crime photos.

A glance at the truck told her this was the same man responsible. She looked up at the bedroom window.

Look out, Rob! See me!

Apparently, her abductor knew what she was thinking.

“Move it! Now.”

They walked quickly toward the black truck. He made her open the driver’s door
, slide across the bench seat, and slid in right behind her. The gun never left her side.

He produced a
large zip tie formed in a circle. “Put your hands through.”

She hesitated
, so he raised the gun to her forehead. “Do it!”

Vanessa saw no choice. S
he obeyed. He pulled the circle tight and started the truck.

“Behave yourself.”

*******

Rob grabbed a towel from the pile on the shelf
next to the shower. He rubbed it over his hair, and then wrapped it around his waist. He ran a comb through his hair and fired up his electric razor.

He hated shaving
, but the electric made it less of a chore than using a blade. He’d probably be sporting a beard if it wasn’t for Vanessa. She won’t even kiss him if he gets too shaggy.

Rob
finished his shave and slapped on some skin conditioner. A quick look at the bedside clock told him he needed to pick up the pace. Walking over toward the closet, he saw Vanessa’s car through the window.

She should be gone by now.

He looked closer, and a movement across the road caught his eye. A man pushed a woman into a truck. She looked like…

“VANESSA
!”

Rob
’s scream bounced off the window back at him, unheard. Forgetting he’s in a towel, he rushed down the stairs, and out the door.

“VANESSA!”

He was too late. The truck was driving off.

Rob
looked around wildly, hoping for a neighbor who could chase the truck. Nobody was around this early. He ran back in the house, grabbed his phone, and dialed 911.

*******

Jason arrived at the station at his usual time, but he’d beaten Vanessa to the station for the second day in a row.

I
hope she hasn’t called in sick again.

If
she has, he’d tell her she has to reveal her pregnancy to the lieutenant.

He walked through the station door and waved at Dave Connor, but this time he
didn’t get the usual friendly response. Dave looked stricken. “Jason, get upstairs fast!”

“Why? What’s up?”

“Something has happened to Detective Layne.”

Jason’s heart skipped a beat. He took off running, ignoring the elevator, in favor of the stairs. Ten seconds later
, he burst into Homicide.

Gathered
near the lieutenant’s office is a crowd of detectives. When Jason got to John Patton’s door, the others stepped back, as the lieutenant hung up the phone. “Jason, glad you’re here. 911 just got a call from Rob Layne. He said some guy forced Detective Layne into a black truck with white topper.”

“
That’s him; that’s wine glass. It has to be.”

“Why?”

“The truck matches the description of his and….” Jason hesitated. He’d realized it before, but didn’t think it posed any real danger. “…Vanessa matches the victim profile.”

John Patton just stared at him. It clearly
hadn’t occurred to him that his detective looked like the victims.

“Son of a ….”
He moved so quickly, Jason was caught by surprise. The lieutenant was past him and heading for the stairs before Jason could react. “Detective Strong! You coming?”

Jason turned on his heels
, and hurried after the lieutenant. They ran back down the stairs and out into the parking lot. Jumping in the lieutenant’s car, Jason planted the magnetic, flashing, blue light on the hood, and they sped out of the lot.

“We’re headed to the house. Uniform officers are already there,”
Lieutenant John Patton talked almost as fast as he was driving, his eyebrows and moustache flailing uncontrolled. “We’ll put an all points bulletin out on the suspect’s vehicle and I’ll get officers canvassing the neighborhood.”

Lieutenant Patton looked over at Jason and realized he
wasn’t listening. Jason was on his phone. “What are you doing?”

Jason covered the handset.
“Calling the hospital. That girl may be our best chance of finding Vanessa,” he uncovered the phone. “Yes, this is Detective Strong. I need to speak to Doctor Nance.”

Jason waited and watched cars whizz by as the lieutenant drove
toward Vanessa’s house. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen the lieutenant so upset. His phone came to life.

“This is Doctor Nance.”

“Yes Doctor, this is Detective Strong. I need to know when our girl will be allowed to regain consciousness?”

“Well, she’s doing better
, but I would prefer to let her go until tomorrow morning, at least.”

“Doctor, please understand, I don’t want t
o do anything to jeopardize the girl’s recovery, but we have a situation. One of our detectives has been abducted, and we believe it’s the same man who attacked Stephanie Morris. I need to know what she remembers. It could be the difference between life and death for my partner.”

They arrived at the house and the lieutenant got out
, but Jason waited for an answer.

“Very well. I’ll suspend the sedatives.”

“Excellent. How long until she comes around?”

“It could be a few hours to a day.”

“We may not have a day, Doc. Let’s hope for hours. And Doc, thanks.”

He hung up and got out of the car. Walking over to Lieutenant Patton, he gave him the news.

The lieutenant nodded. “The canvassing has begun. Let’s go talk to Rob Layne.”

Jason followed the lieutenant into the house
, where they found Rob Layne sitting at the kitchen table. Fear painted his face.

The lieutenant stopped to talk to some uniforms while Jason walked over and put a hand on his friend
’s shoulder. “Hey, Rob. You makin’ it?”

Rob gave him a panicked look.
“You gotta’ find her, Jason.”

“We’re doing everything we can. The whole city is looking for her. You didn’t see a license plate?”

“No. I barely saw it was her before the truck pulled off.”

“Can you describe the man who took her?”

Rob shook his head. “All I saw was the back of him.”

“Where was the truck parked?”

“Directly across the street from our driveway.”

“
Okay, buddy. Hang in there. I’ll keep you informed.”

Jason
walked outside and across the street. Nothing had been left behind, not even a tire track. He returned to the lieutenant. “Can you take me back to the station? I’m gonna’ pick up the case files and go through them while I wait at the hospital for our girl to come around.”

“Sure. Let me finish what I’m doing here and I’ll meet you in the car.”

Jason nodded and went back to Rob. “I’ll find her, buddy. I won’t stop until I do.”

They shook hands and Jason went to the car to wait.

A few minutes later, the lieutenant emerged from the house and got in the car. Jason had called the hospital again and confirmed the sedatives were stopped. They pulled out at a somewhat more controlled pace and headed toward the station.

Jason cleared his throat and John Patton gave him a funny look.
“Something you need to tell me?”

Jason
was unnerved sometimes by the lieutenant’s knack of reading his crew.

“Uh…well…actually, yes”

“Well, out with it.”

“I wasn’t supposed to be the one to tell you
, but clearly the circumstances have changed that.”

“Changed what? Make sense, man.”

“Detective Layne is pregnant.”

“What!”

“Detective…”

“I heard you! How long?”

“A few months, I think.”

“No. How long has she
known?”

“A few weeks, I guess.”

John Patton was quiet until they pulled into the station. When he looked at Jason, his intensity startled the detective. “Find her.”

“Yes
, sir.”

Chapter 13

Her abductor
didn’t say another word while they drove. In just a few minutes, they turned down a quiet street into a residential subdivision. It took Vanessa a minute or two to figure out why the area looked familiar.

We
can’t be more than two or three blocks from the Walker’s house.

They pulled into the driveway of an average
looking, split-level home. The house was painted drab beige, the windows were clean, with mini blinds drawn tight. The front door was brown, as were the shutters, all of which were in perfect condition. The lawn was green and manicured to perfection. A winding, stone walkway led from the brick mailbox to the front door.

As they pulled into the garage, the automatic door
lowered behind them, and Vanessa got the distinct feeling her life was disappearing into this garage.

He
r captor got out and came around to the passenger side. Vanessa’s wrists were raw from the zip ties, but he cinched them a little tighter, anyway. She moaned but he didn’t seem to notice.

He walked her to the door
, and when he opened it, Vanessa nearly retched.

Stepping inside, she realized the
exterior was just a facade to hide the depravity within the house. His neighbors probably thought he’s great to have in the neighborhood.

Vanessa
could see into the kitchen. Half-eaten food, covered with flies and maggots, dishes piled high in and around the sink, and a garbage can overflowing with beer bottles produced a sickening stench.

The living room had furniture cast around it in no particular order
, and a TV sat near the front window.

He pointed at a
bar stool in the living room. “Sit there.”

Vanessa moved over
to it and sat. He grabbed a remote control and turned on the TV, flipping through the channels until he found a news report. He turned up the volume.

Police are involved in an all out manhunt for one of their own. Detective Vanessa Layne was taken in an apparent abduction outside her home this morning.

Police are asking for the public’s help in finding a black pickup truck with a white camper top. The vehicle has been identified as the one used in the abduction.

Vanessa saw a picture of herself pop up on the television screen.
It’s her police ID photo from when she made detective. The screen then went to a shot of her house. Rob was just going into the house when the photo was taken, and her heart jumped into her throat when she saw him.

With a click, t
he picture vanished, and he threw the remote onto the table.

N
obody on this street will suspect their neighbor’s truck as being the vehicle police are seeking. Not with the groomed yard and nice house.

She fought to control the panic building inside her. None of her training at the academy dealt with being a hostage.

Her abductor walked over, jerked her upright, and dragged her toward a door at the end of a hallway. When they reached it, he pushed it open, and shoved her in.

Vanessa
fell over something in the middle of the floor, landing head first against the far wall. Everything went black.

*******

Jason arrived at the hospital and made his way to Stephanie Morris’ room. She was still not awake. He took a chair next to the bed and opened his files. Something in these files might help him find Vanessa.

Lieutenant Patton i
s leading the task force on the streets, and Jason still felt what Stephanie knew could be his best chance to save his partner.

He poured himself into the crime scene photos, forensic evidence
, and witness accounts. It was exhausting and after several hours, he dozed off.

*******

“Who…who are you?”

Jason
wasn’t sure, as he came awake, who was questioning him.

“Who are… you?”

Jason sat up with a start. He looked at where the voice came from.
Stephanie
. “You’re awake.”

“Barely. Do I know you?”

“My name is Detective Jason Strong.”

Just the effort of asking a couple
of questions seemed to take her back into a coma.

“Miss Morris? Stephanie? Can you hear me?”

She mumbled something, without opening her eyes, and Jason jumped up to call a nurse. He leaned out the door. “Nurse! She’s coming around.”

He ducked back in the room,
the nurse right behind him, who checked the monitors before going over to Stephanie. While hanging directly over her, she softly spoke. “Miss? Miss?”

The girl
’s eyes fluttered open and Jason got an instant shot of adrenaline.

“Yes?”

“How are you feeling?”

“Tired. Where am I?”

“You’re at San Antonio General Hospital. Do you remember anything of what happened to you?”

“Not really. How did I get here?”

Jason stepped forward. “You were shot. Do you remember that?”

The girl turned her glassy stare towards the detective.

“Who are you?”

Jason tried to remain patient.
“My name is Detective Jason Strong from San Antonio police. I’m trying to catch the man who did this to you.”

The mention of the man brought her more awake
, and her eyes tripled in size. She started looking around the room as if she thought he might be there. Her movement caused pain to shoot through her shoulder.

“Owww. I remember now. He took me to the woods.”

“Yes. Do you remember anything else?”

At that moment, Jason heard Doctor Nance come in behind him. The nurse had notified her Stephanie was waking up.

“That’ll be all for now, Detective. Nothing she tells you in her current state would probably be reliable anyway. She’ll need several hours rest before you can question her more.”

Jason looked at the doctor and back at Stephanie, who had already closed her eyes again, and appeared to be back to sleep. Jason figured there was no point in arguing further. He gathered his files and went to call the lieutenant.

*******

Vanessa slowly let her eyes creep open. Her head hurt and she was still piled up against the wall where
she’d fallen. She looked down at her feet and saw what had caused her to trip. A mattress.

She sat up slowly, being careful not to make her head hurt any worse. She dabbed at her forehead and came away with some dried blood. She could see some matching blood
on the hole in the drywall, made by her head.

Bit by bit, the cobwebs cleared, and she started to put the pieces together.
She’s in the house of the man they call ‘wine glass’, and she’s alone. She remembered the TV saying they were looking for her, then being dragged down the hall.

Vanessa looked
around, trying to get a sense of the room she was in. The lone window was blacked out and covered by a set of bars. Enough light came in near the top to tell her it was daytime. Whether it was the same day, she couldn’t tell.

She crawled across the mattress and up to the door. Putting her ear against it, she could hear the TV playing
, but couldn’t make out what was being said. She tried the doorknob and found it locked. She felt around for a light switch and flipped it on.

Vanessa caught her breath as her mind reeled.
She struggled to process what she was looking at. The walls around her were covered with writing.

All four walls had the same thing
, but in different colors, and what appeared to be different handwriting. She tried to make sense of the words.

Time and time again
, the same thing. Some of it legible, and some of it scrawled in random bits.

I will never call you bloodstain again

I will never call you bloodstain again

I will never call you bloodstain again

Vanessa had seen her abductors face. Some sort of birthmark took up almost the entire left side.

Could all this be about
name-calling? Was it revenge for some kind of abuse?

Vanessa
was no expert, but all of the writing appeared to have been done by women. Her mind swam with fear.

This is
probably the last thing some of these women ever did.

She felt tears welling up in her eyes.
Forcing herself to regain focus, she continued to scan the room. Her eyes settled on a door at the far end. Still feeling weak and dizzy, she crawled down to the door. Instead of opening outward, it slid sideways to reveal a closet.

Vanessa fell back and studied the clothes hanging there. A 7-11 uniform, a couple
of dresses, jeans and a shirt.

T
hese are the clothes from the victim descriptions. He’s kept them as trophies.

She heard the lock click behind her and the door sw
ung open.