Never Look Back (6 page)

A wave of anxiety washed over her. She picked up the folders from the floor—files of different teenage women, all nude. Unable to stomach this, she rushed toward the exit and bumped into her father who stared at her with cold, grim, guarded eyes.

“What are you doing here?”

She gasped, but no words came from her mouth. Shoving him away, Stacy dashed to the streets and didn’t look back. A cold shiver ran through her spine.  How could he do this? How long had he been doing this pornography business? She had always thought the restaurant was their only business and he spent hours in the basement balancing their sales reports and expenses. Did her mother know about this? If she did, how could her mother keep this from her?  A knot formed in her stomach. This made her sick.

Still rushing, Stacy tried not to focus on the cold, or that no one else was around. Without her thick coat, she wouldn't last long out here.

I’m not going back there. I’ll stay in a hotel if I have to.
She needed to call her sister. Racing thoughts occupied her as she hurried, having no time to pause to catch her breath. Moments later, she heard strong footsteps following her along with a dark shadow. Fear crawled inside her, and all she could do was run faster.

***

Rob's iPhone vibrated, and he bolted right up from his bed. Glancing at the clock, he moaned. Five a.m., who could be calling me this early. “This is Rob.”

“Rob, Hanson, this is Detective Schultz. Officer Jones gave me your number. I’m so—“

“I expected you to call me last night. I thought you’d forgotten about me. Do you have any leads about the case?”

“I’m afraid we found an unidentified body.” He paused. “She matches your description. I need you to come and meet me at the morgue.”

Rob’s heart sank like a deflated balloon.
It can’t be Dana.
“I’ll be there. Please give me the address.”

***

“Please to meet you,” Rob greeted Detective Schultz, a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and pronounced beer belly, who seemed more relaxed compared to the more serious Officer Jones.

“Thank you for coming in right away,” Detective Schultz shook Rob’s hand before signaling the examiner to lower the sheets.

The mixture of rubbing alcohol and blood made Rob dizzy. He flexed his hands back and forth wanting to escape the enclosed morgue.

Rob’s throat constricted as the body was displayed.

“Slashed throat and multiple beatings,” The examiner relayed to both of them.

 “Oh, my God.” Covering his face, Rob vomited everything he ate earlier that evening on the floor.

Detective Schultz patted him on the back and gave him a towel. “Is this the woman you are talking about?”

Catching his breath and unable to look at the body again, Rob shook his head. “That’s not Dana. Thank God.” He stuttered.

The detective glanced at the examiner and gestured to leave them alone. The examiner nodded. “You’ll need to come with me to the station.”

“Oh, God. Who would possibly do this?”

***

At the station, Rob sat across from the detective’s office while he recorded their conversation. “State your name and your relationship to Dana Simmons.”

“I already told you in the car. I gave all the info to Officer Jones.”

“We need this for standard procedures.”

Rob followed his orders.

“And prior to Dana's disappearance, you never saw her?”

“I only saw her before she left for Alaska."

“And what where you doing at Ginny's cafe for the past two days?”

"You've been following me?" Rob leaned back.

The detective gestured for Rob to continue.

“Well, like I told Officer Jones, somebody left a fruitcake for Dana." He crossed his legs. “Wait a minute, are you trying to interrogate me? Shouldn’t you be investigating where Dana is?”

“Don’t you worry, I have my team taking care of all that.” He folded his arms, and the smile on his face disappeared. “What time were you at Ginny’s?”

Rob glanced at the ceiling. “After three o’clock.”

The detective shrugged. “Just standard questions. The woman who served you, Stacy Kestav, did you see her after that?”

His rendezvous with Stacy remained fresh on his mind—her luscious lips, vibrant personality… Something inside him wanted to see her again. "Why are you asking me about Stacy? I thought we were here to discuss about Dana. Is there anything wrong with Stacy?"

Detective Schultz's eyes were guarded.

“Detective, I wish you would cut to the chase.” Lips puckered, he added, “Like I said, I went to Ginny’s because the day my friend, Dana disappeared, she received a fruitcake from an anonymous person who bought it from Ginny’s. Take a look at this card." He handed it to the detective. "I was there to find clues.”

Detective Shultz read the card then leaned closer. “Stacy was reported missing by her parents a few hours ago. It hasn't been forty-eight hours yet. We suspect her disappearance has something to do with Dana.”

"What?"

Detective Schultz straightened his shoulders and looked at him straight in the eye. "It seems that these two women have one thing in common." He pointed at Rob. "You."

Clenching his fists, Rob blurted out. “This isn’t how it seems. When I was at the café, Stacy and I engaged in a conversation.” Tilting his head, he said, “Her mother didn’t like her chatting with the customers as she had to work.” Wanting to provide full disclosure, Rob added. “She passed by my place to apologize then wanted to have her pictures taken.”

“Pictures?”

“I’m a photographer.”

“Right.”

“One thing led to another, then the next thing you know, we had sex.”

"After you had sex, where did you go?"

"I stayed home and went to sleep after Stacy left."

"Can somebody confirm that?"

"This is bull shit! I told you, Stacy came to my house." Rob tightened his jaw.

Shaking his head, the detective said, “You expect me to believe your story that this woman came to your house to have sex.” Detective Schultz coughed. “And now she vanished, just like your girlfriend." He leaned back. "You don't have an alibi to prove your whereabouts Mr. Hanson."

“I know what you're trying to imply, Detective, that I have something to do with this, but you're wasting your time, thinking that way instead of looking for Dana. You guys are slackers.”

***

Marcy Simmons banged the wall from her room. How could they leave her confined in a room with no windows and just a mirror? If only she hadn't gone to her husband's memorial service. None of this would have happened. But she just had to get a glimpse of her daughter Dana once again to see what a fine, beautiful woman she became. As a result, here she was, back where she started.

The door flung open, and a short man with a pot belly and greasy face popped in with a tray of lunch.

She immediately shut her eyes and pretended to sleep.

He slapped her face. "Wake up, sleepyhead."

Massaging her cheek, Marcy sat up. "You seem to be amused by hurting people. Did your parents abuse you as a child?"

He slapped her again.

Swaying her head side to side, she added, "That confirms it."

"Look, lady." He pointed his finger too close to her eye. "If it were up to me, I would have killed you right away."

"Oh, you poor thing, can't make your own decisions."

Eyes open wide, he planted his hands on her neck and began to choke her.

Gasping for air, Marcy poked her nails into his eyeballs.

He released her and covered his eyes. "You bitch! I swear, I will kill you next time." He slammed the door and turned the lock.

Marcy examined her neck in the mirror. Red marks marred her skin.
I will be the one to kill them.

***

Stacy Kestav awoke, her head throbbing.
Where am I?
Darkness enveloped her, but still she could spot steel bars. "Help, somebody help me."

"They can't hear you," a young female voice laced with an accent hushed.

Blinking her eyes, she caught a glimpse of a teenage girl with a square jaw and prominent features who seemed younger than Stacy outside her cell. "Where are we?"

"We're underground. There are a lot of us down here," the girl said. "We were brought here from Russia."

Stacy's heart sank like a flat tire.
How can I escape?
"What's your name and how long have you been here?"

"Weeks. I'm Valentina. They took my twin sister and I away from my family," she said. "They promised my parents they would give us a better life in America, but instead we are told to do dirty things with men, lots of men, in front of a camera.”

A sound of voices echo.

 Sh, they're coming."

Stacy closed her eyes in dread.

Dana felt she had been running for eternity. There was no sight of civilization as the end of the pavement only led to a dirt road. A glance at her watch revealed it had been almost two hours, and she wasn’t sure she if she’d been going the right direction.

She gazed at the sky above. “Please help me, Lord.”

Shortly, a ray of light appeared in front of her. She waved her arms in the air as hope rejuvenated her.

A black BMW slowed down and stopped in front of her. Dana smiled and approached the passenger door.

The door flung open, and a man stepped out. “Are you lost?”

Dana’s smile vanished. Skully. This time, he was not alone. A woman stepped out of the car and faced her.

Frozen, Dana stared at the lady, the one person she recognized and could never forget, the woman who left her when she was ten years old. She had shattered her life and killed her father emotionally.

Adrenaline rose inside, her but she kept her compose by pretending she didn't know her.

Skully approached Dana and pushed her toward her mother. "I told you I know where your mother is, and now she's right in front of you."

Her mother put on a straight face and didn't once flinch. "That's my daughter? I don't think so."

Her words dug into Dana's heart, but she knew her mother faked her reaction and remained calm.

"You heard what she said. I'm not her daughter, so will you just let us all go? You're wasting your time when you should be looking for the right person," Dana said.

Clamoring at her, Skully banged Dana's head onto the car and she collapsed.

***

Dana opened her eyes feeling a fierce throbbing pain behind her head. Two people were sitting
beside her, but she couldn’t see them clearly. “Where am I?”

A woman’s voice spoke. “You need to rest.”

Flashes of memories—the dirt road, Skully, her mother—assaulted Dana. She bolted upright. “You did this to me.”

"Sh!" Her mother rubbed Dana’s shoulders. “I never thought I'd ever see you again.”

Although her angelic face tempted to soften Dana’s emotions, she blurted, “How could you leave us?”

Dana had rehearsed over and over again what she would have done had she seen her mother. She always believed her mother was out there somewhere, never had found closure.

Her mother paced around the room. Although she’d aged, her skin was still flawless, her body trim. “If I told you the reason I left, you would understand.”

A roller coaster of emotions grilled upon Dana as she fought back tears. "I was ten."

“I followed all your shows," she said in a hushed tone. "Cut every clipping and stored photos of you. I couldn’t believe how my daughter blossomed into a beautiful woman. I’m so proud of you.”

Dana affixed her stare at the windowpane. “How about I tell you how you ripped my childhood apart and only after Dad died did I discover my whole life has been a lie.”

Marcy drew in a breath. “Your father was a good man. He took care of you. ”

“Really, Mom? Because he died the day you vanished."

"I never stopped loving you both. You have to believe me."

Taking deep breaths, Dana faced her mother and couldn't say a word. Her head continued to throb from the bang.

“Remember how I used to braid your hair? You always wanted to apply lipstick like me.”

Dana glared. “There’s no use bringing back the memories. They’re all tainted with lies.”

Marcy gave her a blank stare. “Your life is in danger, Dana. That's why I left. So I could protect you.”

“Tell me about it. Each day I spend with you leads me closer to my death. Actually, I think I’m already in hell.”

Marcy sighed. "I don't where to begin."

The sound of footsteps came close.

Dana didn’t budge, one hand exposed while the other clutched the screwdriver tight, ready to pounce at Skully if he attacked her again.

Marcy eyed the door. "He's coming."

***

A shiny, squeaky pair of shoes approached Rob as he sat at the waiting room of Atty. Chan’s office. A tall Asian man in his twenties, dressed in a fine, pale gray Armani suit. “Rob Hanson, I’m Stanley. Chan. Pleasure to meet you."