Joined: Mar 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 510 Location: Earth
Trial by Fire « Thread Started on Aug 4, 2009, 1:45am »
Rating: 14
Trial by Fire
The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event.
February 8, 1999
("Semi-Charmed Life" - Third Eye Blind)
The waitress winced as she carried the towering stack of plates into the kitchen and over to the dishwasher. “Here you go, Tom.” she said with more than a hint of strain in her voice as she set them down.
Tom Armstrong, the burly, middle-aged cook, immediately stepped away from his grill and hurried over to the twenty year-old, brown-haired waitress. “Hey, Amelia, you don’t need to carry so many at once.” He said with a friendly, but slightly admonishing tone. “The rush is over. I don’t want you getting hurt or anything.”
Amelia Fuentes rolled her eyes before giving him a smile. “I’m fine, Tom. Nothing’s gonna happen.”
Tom smiled back. “Okay, so anyone left?”
Amelia smirked and gestured with her head to one of the tables in the diner. “Just you-know-who.”
“Oh, him.” Tom sighed, looking through the kitchen to the table in the corner, where the diner’s sole occupant, a twenty-something young man, was staring into the laptop on his table, typing away, with only brief pauses to sip his coffee. The plate of bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns had barely been touched.
Tom shook his head. “I still say there’s somethin’ off about that guy.”
Amelia cocked her head and put her hands on her hips. “Come on, leave him alone. He’s nice, he doesn’t bother anyone, always leaves a nice tip. So what if he not that chatty?”
Tom just looked at her skeptically. “I’m just sayin’ it’s always the quiet ones who try somethin’.”
Amelia sighed and rolled her eyes again. “I’m gonna go see if he needs a refill.”
She picked up the coffee pot and walked over to the young man’s table, where he was still engrossed in the laptop, typing relentlessly.
“Charlie?” she asked, causing him to jolt slightly, stop typing, and look up at her. “Sorry to startle to you.” She said with a smile, holding up the pot. “Just wondering if you wanted me to top you off.”
Charlie nodded nervously. “Uhhh... yeah, thanks.”
She looked over at the ignored plate of food. “You know that’s gonna get cold.”
Charlie looked down at the plate, then back up at her. “Oh, uh, don’t worry. I’ll eat it. I’m just trying to finish this.” He gestured to the laptop screen.
“You know I see you in here all the time on this thing.” Amelia bent over and peeked at the screen curiously. “Never really seen one of these up close.” She leaned closer, with her head right next to Charlie’s, before turning to him. “What do you do on this anyway?”
Charlie, looking slightly flustered for a moment, seem to pause to find his words. “Uhhh, well it’s article I’m writing for an industry journal.”
“Oh yeah? What kind of article?”
Charlie shifted uneasily. “Uh, well it’s a lot of technical stuff. Most people think it’s boring.”
“Oh.” she said with a trace of disappointment. She stood up, then shrugged, and poured some coffee into his cup. “Okay, well let me know if you want some more.”
Charlie watched her walk off, struggling to say something. “I.. It’s about aerodynamics.” He finally blurted out.
Amelia stopped and turned around, smiling slightly. “Aerodynamics? You mean like with airplanes?”
Charlie gave something between a nod and a shrug. “Mostly. There's been talk of some new developments lately. It’s all just designs right now, but there’s a lot of applications. NASA’s even shown some interest in it.”
“Yeah? Cool.” Amelia said with a friendly smile, before walking off
Charlie nodded. “Yeah,” he said quietly to himself, looking uneasily as she walked away. “It is.”
***
Charlie couldn’t even tell what time of day it was with the bright light shining across his face as he came to once again. He’d already figured out the man had chloroformed him before, though he still didn't know where he was. The most terrifying moment had probably been the first time he came to on the slab and realized he was naked, but so far the guy hadn’t tried anything.
The man hadn’t seemed concerned before when Charlie pulled at the plastic restraints keeping him down, or when he first screamed for help. He simply said there was no one around to hear him.
The last time Charlie came to, the man had had a lot to say, but this time he appeared to be silent. Charlie didn’t know why, but it made his blood run cold.
Finally, the man picked something up off a nearby table, walked over the slab Charlie was on, and held it up to him. It was a newspaper. The same one the man had shown him before. Charlie squinted in the light until he could read the article on it, the same one the man had shown him before.
“You still think you’re brave?” The man finally said.
“Please.” Charlie whispered from his raw throat between breaths. “Please, why are you doing this?”
“You still think you’re brave?” The man repeated. Not waiting for an answer, he pulled the cigarette from his mouth and pressed it gently against the newspaper until a small flame started. As the fire grew, the man walked over to Charlie, holding it closer to him.
It was only then that Charlie finally noticed the strange smell that had been bothering his nose since he came to this time. The smell that hadn’t been there before.
The smell coming from all over his own body.
The man dropped the burning newspaper on Charlie’s chest and the flames spread immediately.
Charlie screamed as long as he could.
***
Early morning sunlight crept through the broken windows of the dilapidated warehouse. Detectives Lilly Rush and Scotty Valens looked around the as they walked through, maneuvering around the refuse strewn around. Scotty’s nose wrinkled with disgust as his eyes scanned over the various broken beer bottles, used condoms, and even a few discarded t-shirts and a small, broken, refrigerator. “What’s an empty building without a few keggers over the years?” He said.
Lilly just rolled her eyes. “Teenagers gotta party somewhere.”
“Hey, speaking of parties, join ours.” Detective Nick Vera waving them over to a corner where a few other officers were gathered.
“So who found them?” Lilly asked.
“Demolition crew inspecting the site.” Vera said. “Owner’s doing a stretch for tax evasion and his property got seized. City was finally getting around to razin' this dump when the guys found this.” He gestured to a door in the floor painted to match the rest of the area, except for the various burns over it. “Sort of a hidden basement.”
Scotty looked it over. “Clever way to hide something in plain sight.”
Vera nodded. “Demolition crew almost missed it except for the burn marks over it.”
“Which is why I got brought in.” The short, dark-haired man walking over to them said.
“Hey, Louie.” Lilly said with a smile. “They dragged you out here too?”
Louie Amante shrugged with a slight smile. “Yeah, nobody ever starts a fire someplace nice.” His face turned serious as he gestured to the door and the stairs under it. “Anyway, the real action’s downstairs.”
***
Louie led the detectives down the stairs into a room completely unlike the one above. Even with the lights the police had brought in, the floor and walls were black.
“Somebody’s been startin’ a lotta fires down here over a long time.” Louie said, grimly. “Some going back years, some maybe a few months ago.”
“Owner’s been locked up since ‘04.” Vera said.
Louie pointed to a hole in the corner of the ceiling, where a trace of light was shining through. “They drilled a hole up into the old incinerator upstairs, giving the smoke somewhere to go. Otherwise they would’ve asphyxiated down here.” He turned to the detectives. “I’ll leave the horror show to you guys ”
The detectives walked over to the wall just below the hole in the ceiling. A medical examiner was crouching over three charred, blackened corpses, each laid out over a slab, while an older man was standing over her.
“Boss?” Lilly said, after taking a long look at the bodies. “Any I.D. on the bodies?”
The older man, Lieutenant John Stillman, shook his head. “Nothing on them. No trace of clothing.” He pointed at each of the remains. “Two male, one female. Accelerant on each of the bodies.”
Scotty looked over the bodies. “Serial killer trying to dispose of the remains.”
“Not exactly.” Frannie Ching, the medical examiner said, with a solemn look on her face, before pointing to the left wrist on one of the bodies. “There’s melted plastic over the wrists, ankles, and neck.”
“They were tied down.” Lilly said uneasily.
“Nobody ties down a dead body.” Scotty said. “Unless...”
“They were burned alive.” Vera growled.
Frannie nodded and sighed. “Looks that way.”
Louie folded his arms and walked closer, still keeping his distance from the bodies. “The accelerant here woulda burned slow at a relatively low temperature.”
“So whoever did this didn’t want it over too quick. He wanted them to suffer” Lilly said. “The question is what for?”
Scotty crouched down to look at the face of one of the bodies, looking into a pair of darkened eye sockets. “When we find this son of a b itch, we can ask him.”
“Missing Persons I.D. our bodies?” Detective Will Jeffries asked Stillman as the lieutenant walked in the squad, files in hand.
“All three of them.” Stillman said, handing out the files, each with pictures of a victim attached. “Charlie Keefe, twenty-five, missing since April ‘99. Victor Rodriguez, forty-one, missing since April ‘03. Laurie Carter, thirty, missing since April ‘07.”
“All in April?” Scotty said, looking over Laurie’s file. “What’s that about?”
“Different ages, ethnicities.” Lilly said.
“Charlie Keefe was a freelance journalist, mostly technical stuff. No family” Vera said, reading his file.
“No family for Victor Rodriguez either. Worked as a data analyst at an insurance company.” Detective Kat Miller said.
“Laurie Carter was a filing clerk at a research lab.” Scotty added. “Had a husband, Ben Carter. No connections here.”
“They’re all kinda loner jobs.” Kat said, shrugging.
“I could see somebody wantin’ to torch an insurance guy, but that doesn’t explain the other two.” Vera said.
Stillman shook his head. “These guys always have a type. These three have something in common. We just haven’t found it yet.” He looked at the detectives solemnly. “In the mean time, we better inform Ben Carter we found his wife.”
The detectives stood up and headed off in various directions. Lilly paused as she noticed Kat still looking over the files. Kat sighed and shook her head.
“Been here almost four years. I still can’t wrap my head around what can make someone wanna do this, then do it again and again.”
Lilly shrugged. “Why does someone want to bury people alive in graves, or hunt women in the woods, take their heads as trophies? I’m just glad whatever they have, we don’t.”
***
Sitting on a couch in the living room of his Chestnut Hill home, Ben Carter breathed a heavy sigh. “Are- are you sure? I mean, is it possible there was a mistake?”
Lilly shook her head solemnly. “We very sorry for your loss.”
“Mr. Carter, can you think of anyone who might’ve wanted to hurt your wife?” Scotty asked gently. “Any enemies?”
Ben shook his head with confusion. “She didn’t really have any friends, much less enemies. She worked in the basement of that lab by herself. I worked long hours, so most of our time was just on the phone.” He swallowed hard. “I still remember the last phone call we had.”
“Something happen?” Lilly asked.
Ben shook his head. “No. We were just...” He shrugged sadly. “Talking...”
***
(“You Get Me” - Michelle Branch)
Laurie smiled as she leaned back in her chair. “So what were you thinking for dinner tonight?”
In his office, Ben scratched the back of his head and groaned. “Oh, I’m probably gonna be here late again. Client’s still not happy with the ad campaign, gonna drag this out forever, no matter what we say. You probably shouldn’t wait up for me.”
Laurie sighed, trying to project her pouting face through her cell phone. “I hardly see you anymore.”
Ben lowered his head and nodded. “I know, I know. Look, maybe we could go away soon. Take a little trip? Go up to that B&B you’ve been talking about?”
Laurie’s smile returned. “Yeah, sure. We could do that.”
“There you go.”
“How about this weekend? I could call them today, see if I could get a reservation?”
An uneasy look crept over Ben. “Oh, I... I can’t this weekend. I got a business dinner on Friday. It’s probably gonna be late too.”
The disappointment returned to Laurie’s face. “Another one?”
“I’m sorry. You know how these guys are.”
Laurie just looked into the phone, slightly hurt, and said nothing.
“I tell you what,” Ben said. “Next weekend, we’ll go up there, we’ll rent a boat. We’ll have the beautiful open water all to ourselves. How does that sound?”
Laurie let her mouth widen into a slight smile. “That sounds great.”
“Okay.” Ben said with a hint of a laugh, before looking down at the forms on his desk. “Well, listen, I gotta get back to work on this if I ever wanna get out of here.”
“Okay.” Laurie said gently. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
***
A look of disbelief passed over Ben’s face.. “You never imagine that’s the last conversation you’re gonna have with someone. I just kept talking about working late.”
Lilly and Scotty nodded solemnly.
“You know most people didn’t get a chance to see it, but she had sides that could really surprise you.”
Lilly smiled. “Yeah?”
“A few months earlier, she’d actually saved a kid from drowning. The most amazing thing I ever saw.”
The two detectives listened intently.
“A bunch of people from her work were at a hotel for this convention, and this little kid had wandered off from his parents and ended up falling into the pool. Laurie was the first one to see it. Without even hesitating, she dove in, pulled him out, did mouth to mouth until he started breathing again.” Ben looked far away for a moment. “I just couldn’t believe it.”
***
Philadelphia Technical College wasn’t one of the city’s larger colleges. Still, Lilly and Kat had some hunting to do to find Amelia Fuentes’ classroom just as she was leaving.
“Aeronautical engineering?” Kat asked, after they’d introduced themselves.
Amelia shrugged. “I wanted something with some applications when I finally went back to school. You know, better late than never. It seemed like something interesting and it’s not like they’re gonna stop building planes, right?” She said with a smile.
“Amelia, you worked at the Germantown Grill ten years ago.” Kat started.
Amelia nodded. “Still do sometimes. Tom lets me pick up a shift or two when I’m a little short.”
“You remember a regular there around that time, Charlie Keefe?” Lilly asked, handing her a photo of Charlie.
Amelia looked at the photo for a moment, her smile fading, then looked at the detectives uneasily. “Yeah? Why, what’s this about?”
“His remains have been found.” Lilly said
Amelia looked at Lilly for a moment, then back down at the photo. She put the back of her hand to her quivering lips as her eyes started welling up.
“You two were close?” Kat asked after giving her a moment.
“He was always the first customer of the day.” Amelia whispered. “He’d just sit there, typing away at his computer, hardly said anything to anyone. I thought he was just shy or focused on his writing.” She looked at the detectives again. “Then one day, he did something I’ll never forget...”
***
“Tom?” Amelia called into the empty diner, hanging up her jacket. “Sorry I’m late! Tom?” She scanned around the diner until she finally saw the note stuck to the entrance to the kitchen. “Out of O.J.” Amelia said, rolling her eyes as she read the note. “Getting some from the 24-hour store, be back in ten, Tom.” Amelia shook her head and sighed. “Great.”
She headed back towards the front door to lock it, when it swung open violently. In an inhumanly fast motion, a fist soared through the door and connected with her cheek, knocking her down. A second later, the dark-haired man was through the door, kicking it shut behind him.
Amelia immediately broke into a run towards the back, knocking over chairs as she ran towards the back, but as quickly as before, a hand was on her shoulder, spinning her around, before it clamped down over her mouth, while the other hand held a metal object to her throat.
“Shut up! Shut up!” The man hissed, pushing her towards the kitchen, then forcing her to the floor. “Do not scream, or I’ll cut your throat!”
“There’s... there’s money in the register!” She whispered between rapid breaths when he finally released his hands from her mouth. “Just... just take it!”
The dark-haired man glanced up at the register a few feet away for a second, then back down at her. The look of hunger growing on his face terrified her.
He wasn’t here for money.
As this realization sunk in, she summoned whatever strength she had to get back up to her feet, before running to the back door, picking up a large pan on the counter along the way, and hurling it at the man, who simply deflected it away.
Again, however, the inhuman speed caught up with her, pulling her to the floor and pinning her.
“Please! Please!” Amelia whispered as the knife again found her throat.
“This is gonna happen!” The dark-haired man hissed into her ear, with a hint of a growl. “You try to struggle or scream, it’s just gonna be worse.”
Amelia winced as the man reached down to his belt to start unfastening it.
She finally opened her eyes to see the sadistic look of pleasure growing on his face. “Always wanted a little Philly.”
Neither of them had heard the movement behind the dark-haired man. Amelia finally noticed it when she saw the empty coffee pot raised above the man, before it swung down on his head. The pot shattered, a rain of glass falling all around the man, whose eyes were rolling into the back of his head before closing, then finally slumping to one side.
It was only after she squirmed her way out from under the unconscious man that she looked up to see Charlie, his hand still gripping the coffee pot’s plastic handle with only a few shards still clinging to it, a mixed look of shock and concern on his face.
“Are you all right?” He asked simply after a few moments.
She nodded rapidly, before stepping over her assailant to crush Charlie in a hug. It was a few more moments before his arms finally found their way around her...
***
“The cops linked him to a rape in Pittsburgh and two more in New York.” Amelia said with a far away look as she pulled her arms around herself. “All three of them got cut up pretty bad.”
“Lucky he showed up.” Kat said solemnly.
“Yeah, I was.” Amelia answered curtly.
“Can you think of anyone who might’ve wanted to hurt Charlie?” Lilly asked.
“No!” Amelia said. “Like I said, he was just there with his laptop everyday, never hurt anyone, hardly said a word. I’m sorry, I don’t know anything.”
The detective nodded as Lilly handed her a card. “If you think of anything else...”
Amelia nodded, closed her eyes and sighed, before looking back up at them, disappointment in her eyes now . “He saved my life, and this is the hand life dealt him. If you ask me, it really sucks.”
As Amelia walked off, Lilly looked away for a few seconds, before Kat folded her arms and looked at her. “You gonna tell me what you’re thinkin’?” She asked.
Lilly started walked. “I’m thinking I gotta check out something about Victor Rodriguez.”
***
Lilly knocked on the door to Stillman’s office before being waved in, Vera behind her. “We got it.” She announced.
Vera glanced at the document he was carrying. “Victor Rodriguez helped a guy who’d fallen on the subway tracks back in December of ‘02, pushed him out of the way before a train hit him.”
“December ‘02, that's just a few months before he went missing.” Stillman said, leaning back.
“It was a few months before for all three of them.” Lilly said, nodded. “That’s what they have in common. They all saved someone’s life.”
“So this guy’s picking heroes.” Vera said. “Why? What’s he got against them?”
Lilly looked at Vera, then Stillman. “Now that we know who he’s going after, maybe we can find out.”
« Last Edit: Dec 24, 2009, 12:09am by toddsmitts »
Joined: Oct 2007 Gender: Female Posts: 96 Location: CH
Re: Trial by Fire « Reply #6 on Sept 24, 2009, 7:05am »
Good chapter! The "You still think you're brave" line is indeed neatly explained. But now, how does he find his victims? Why only in April every 4 years? Why burn them? I always like how you keep the reader guessing (BTW your casting list is a bit spoilerish ). Nice touch with Amelia who didn't know much about aerodynamics back in 1999 and is currently studying it and the references to Mind Hunters and One Night And Vera's line about insurance guys... so very Vera-like! Looking forward to reading the next chapter.
Joined: Oct 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 86 Location: Brazil
Re: Trial by Fire « Reply #7 on Oct 6, 2009, 8:32pm »
I really liked it! It's so visual, I feel like I'm watching an actual episode of Cold Case. I can't wait for your updates, you should be writing for the show.
Re: Trial by Fire « Reply #8 on Oct 23, 2009, 9:08am »
I've just read the beginning of your story, Todd, ant it's excellent! I felt like I was watching a real episode. You could join the cold case writers, lol I think the investigation will be very exiting, with a lot of suspects, clues... I'm wondering why a person would kill people who saved someone's life. Maybe the victims share a common dark secret (they were involved in some stuff and didn't help someone who meant something to the killer) or the killer didn't have the chance to be saved, or is a "real" heroe but had never been recognized and hates those who are just the "heroes of one day"... I'll figure it out in the next chapters. Well, keep on the good work!
Besides, it's funny because I wrote a fanfiction in my native language (I'm French), in which the team has to arrest a serial killer who murders his victims in April... What a coincidence.
(A last word: it's great to put the title+singer's name of the music, but why not putting a link, so we can hear the music while reading the flashback?)
Joined: Mar 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 510 Location: Earth
Re: Trial by Fire « Reply #9 on Oct 31, 2009, 2:22am »
(Author's note: Again, pardon the long delay. Many real-world concerns. Hopefully this extra-long chapter should make up for it. I also finally pegged down when the story takes place, setting it after "Hoodrats", but before "Jurisprudence".)
I also made a playlist, so you can also hear the songs in the story here.
***
“Thanks for coming in, Tom.” Stillman said to the burly, middle-aged cook sitting down in his office.
“Yeah, sure. Anything I can do to help.” Tom Armstrong nodded before shaking his head and nodded. “Somebody you see everyday, somethin’ like this happening, you just never think that...”
“So how long was Charlie was a regular at your diner?” Kat asked, sitting down.
“I guess pretty close to a year.” Tom sighed. “You know, lookin’ back, I feel a little bad.”
“Why’s that?” Kat asked.
Tom shrugged. “I gave him kind of a chilly reception. I thought he was a bit of an odd duck, sitting in front of his computer, hardly saying anything to anyone. I actually thought maybe he’d turn out to be some kinda Ted Bundy or Unabomber type. It wasn’t until after what happened with Amelia that I realize how wrong I was. Then a few weeks later he just stopped showing up.”
“Did anyone come around asking about Charlie after Amelia was attacked?” Stillman asked.
Tom nodded. “Couple of reporters doing those human interest stories and such.” He paused and squinted slightly. “Now that I think about it, there was one that kinda stood out. I thought he was a little nosy, even for a reporter...”
***
(“Time Bomb” - Dave Matthews Band)
Charlie didn’t look up from his laptop until Tom placed the plate of food next to it.
“This is on the house.” Tom said evenly. “Like I said before, from now on, your money’s no good here, understand?”
“Okay.” Charlie said with a slight nod. “How’s Amelia?”
“She said she’s better but I told her to take a few more days.”
“I guess that’s probably a good idea.”
Tom gestured at the plate as a slight smirk appeared on his face. “Try not to let it get cold again.”
Charlie smiled as Tom turned back towards the kitchen, pausing as he saw the door open and a young man walk though it. A twenty something in a brown jacket and jeans, he looked rather unassuming except for the piercing look his gave, without even staring at anything in particular.
As Tom walked over to grab a menu, the young man took the cigarette out of his mouth and held up a hand. “It’s all right,” he said, exhaling smoke. “I just wanted a cup of coffee.”
The young man passed by Charlie’s table, gave a slight notice at Charlie, whose face was in his laptop. The young man stared for a moment, before pointing his finger. “Hey, you’re the guy in the paper, right? The one who saved that waitress, uhhh... Charlie... Keefe, right?”
“Uhhh...“ Charlie shifted nervously in his chair.
“Yeah, it’s you.” The young man said with a smile growing on his face. “The papers were talking about a hero you were.”
“Uh, it wasn’t that big a deal.”
“Hey, hey, don’t sell yourself short.” The young man said, leaning closer. “That was really brave, saving her like that.” The young man took a puff from his cigarette and looked down at the seat across the table from Charlie. “Mind if I have a seat?” He quickly sat down before Charlie could say anything and extended a hand, which Charlie reluctantly shook. “My name’s Elliott Franks. I work for the Philly Sun.”
Charlie lowered his head and rolled his eyes. “You’re another reporter.” He said under his breath.
“Look, I know you’re probably sick to death of people like me by now.” Elliott said with a softer. “I was just hoping for a few minutes of your time. I thought maybe I could find an angle to this story the other guys haven’t covered yet, you know, one journalist to another.”
Charlie glanced at his laptop, then back at Elliott. “It’s not quite the same thing, what we do.”
Elliott shrugged. “Well, maybe it’s different stories, but you still gotta get to the bottom of it before you can print it. You know, like you did with that piece in Aeronautics Quarterly last year.”
Charlie stared intently. “You know about that?”
Elliott nodded. “Yeah, I read it. You had some interesting conclusions, plus you were dead on about who was gonna get that government contract.”
Charlie smiled slightly. “It was just an educated guess. A lot of people would’ve figured the same.”
Elliott gave a facial shrug. “Doesn’t change the fact that you called it.”
Charlie’s smile grew, until he noticed Tom walking over to the table.
“Is this guy bothering you, Charlie?” Tom asked, his arms folded in disapproval.
Looking at Elliott for a moment, Charlie then turned to Tom with a smile. “No, it’s fine.”
Tom turned at walked away, heaving a sigh.
“So what did you want to know?” Charlie asked. Before Elliott could respond, Charlie coughed slightly, as wisps of smoke from Elliott’s cigarette found their way across the table.
Elliott held up the cigarette. “Oh, I’m sorry. Is this bothering you?” Without a word, Elliott pulled an ashtray out from the corner of the table and pushed the cigarette into it, snuffing it out.
“Is that better?” Elliott asked with a grin.
***
“That guy always rubbed me the wrong way.” Tom said. “Looked to me like he was just buttering Charlie up, showin’ an interest in his work. I didn’t hear the whole interview, I had other customers, but eventually, he started askin’ real personal stuff.”
“Like what?” Kat asked.
“Stuff like ‘Oh, what about that pretty waitress?’ ‘Do you like her?’ ‘Is she why you always come in here?’ ‘You ever asked her out?’ ‘Why haven’t you asked her out?’”
“He ever end up writing that article?” Stillman asked.
“Not as far as I know.” Tom shook his head. “That guy really rubbed me the wrong way.” He sighed and shrugged. “But I’ve been wrong before.”
***
Sitting in the office lunchroom, the thin, bald, middle-aged man sighed as he processed what Vera and Jeffries had told him about Victor.
“So word around here, Roy, is you were Victor’s buddy around the office.” Vera said.
Roy shrugged. “Well, kind of. We talked a bit at work, I think mainly cause our cubicles were right next to each other. We didn’t really socialize outside of work though. Victor was a nice guy, he just wasn’t really the outgoing type. Kinda just blended in.” Roy smirked slightly. “Course that changed a bit after he pushed that guy off the subway tracks. Even got a couple of reporters in here asking him for interviews”
“Yeah, about that.” Jeffries said. “You remember any these reporters, anything suspicious about them?”
Roy nodded. “There was one guy. For one thing, this was a couple of months after it happened. Things had kinda died down at that point. Not exactly ‘strike while the iron’s hot’, you know? I remember cause I bought copies of the Sun for a week after that, trying to find the article. Never turned up. At the time I thought maybe it just got cut, but now...”
“Now you’re wondering if this guy was up to something else?” Vera finished.
Roy nodded, suddenly looking very uneasy. “Now that I think about it though, that might not even be the worst part.”
“What is?” Jeffries asked, looking concerned.
Roy sighed, giving the detectives a disturbed look. “I think I might’ve helped give the guy some info...”
***
(“Black Black Heart” - David Usher)
Standing up from his cubicle, Roy headed over to the water cooler in the hallway, where Victor was still talking to the young man who’d been talking with him for the last few minutes. As he got closer, Roy could see the young man subtly rubbing two fingers against each other on his right hand.
Itching for a smoke, aren’t you buddy? Roy thought to himself, smiling. Makes me glad I quit.
“Hey Vic, you gonna grab some lunch with me?”
Victor nodded. “In a few minutes. I was just answering some questions for this guy from the Sun.”
“Oh, another one?” Roy said, chuckling. He turned to the young man and extended a hand. “Roy Cutler.” He said, giving a smile.
“Frank Ellison.” The young man responded, shaking his hand.
“So, yeah, I’ll definitely check that place out.” Victor said with a smile.
Frank nodded. “Yeah, you should. The guy’s great getting in a lot of hard-to-find stuff, and I’m talking first edition vinyls here.”
Victor turned to Roy. “Frank here was just telling me about this great little store for that kind of thing.”
Roy smirked at Victor. “So you finally found someone who’s as big a record collector as you, huh?”
Frank shrugged innocently. “Well it can’t hurt to have something in common with the guy you wanna talk to.”
“You wanna talk to him about something, ask him why he isn’t going up for the big promotion.” Roy chucked, tapping Victor’s arm with his elbow, to which Victor gave a pained look in response.
Frank immediately turned to Victor, looking intrigued. “What’s that about?”
Victor shook his head. “The head of our department’s retiring in a couple of months and there’s some talk going around about who’s gonna take over for him. That’s all it is though, talk.”
Roy nodded. “And I said Vic here should throw his hat into the ring.” Roy turned to Victor when he shook his head. “Why not? You’ve been here longer than any of us, you’re smart, you always work late anyway. Why not step up?”
Frank folded his arms, looking at Victor intently. “Why don’t you?”
“Because!” Victor said, his voice a bit higher than usual, before pausing himself. “There’s probably a bunch of other people who want it more than me. I wouldn’t even end up getting it.”
Roy sighed. “There’s only one other guy in the office who’s interested, and he’s a complete jerk. You just don’t wanna compete with him.”
“What if I don’t?” Victor said with a shrug. “Maybe I’m just not a confrontational guy.”
Roy waved Victor’s last comment off and groaned. “It’s a waste of talent, if you ask me. Anyway, I’m off to lunch. You’re both welcome to join me.”
“Maybe in a few minutes.” Frank said, still staring at Victor. “We just got a few more things to talk about.” A trace of a grin appeared on Frank’s face. “If you don’t mind, of course.”
Victor quickly shook his head. “No, no, that’s fine.” He turned to Roy. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
Roy gave Frank a strange look, then headed off. As he headed down the hallway, he could hear Frank and Victor still talking.
“So about this promotion, you don’t think you deserve it?”
“No, no. It’s not that.”
“Well, what is then, hmmm?”
Roy shook his head and kept walking...
***
Roy shook his head. “Suddenly, that guy was real interested in Victor and that promotion.”
“And they were talking about records before that?” Jeffries asked.
“Yeah, Vic was big time collector.”
Jeffries nodded and leaned over to Vera. “Find some common interests, get ‘em to open up. Just like he did with Charlie.”
“You follow someone around for a while, you can learn what their interests are.” Vera said quietly. “Which means he’s had these people picked out for days, weeks, maybe months.”
Jeffries turned back to Roy. “You were the last one to see Victor the day he disappeared.”
“Yeah. There was nothing out of the ordinary.” Roy said. “We both worked late, then we went out to our cars. Vic cut through the alley to get to his and that’s the last I saw of him.”
“Missing Persons report says his car was still parked there and locked the next morning.” Jeffries said.
“Meaning if somebody got to him, it was in the alley.” Vera added before looking down in thought. “There’s some alleyways like that around the office where Laurie Carter works too.”
“Audie.” Vera said softly to himself.
“Audie?” Jeffries repeated, confused.
“It’s a long shot, but I wanna check something out.” Vera said to Jeffries, while standing up and handing Roy a card. “Thanks, if you think of anything else...” Vera was already halfway out the door when he turned to a puzzled-looking Jeffries. “You wanna take a ride? We just gotta pick something up first.”
***
“Audie?” Vera called, tapping on the makeshift shelter in the alley, made of shopping carts and cardboard boxes. “Audie, it’s Detective Vera, open up.”
Vera and Jeffries heard some rustling inside, and a moment later, the shelter’s sole occupant, a short, disheveled man with squinting eyes, finally emerged.
Audie eyed Vera and Jeffries nervously. “I... I can’t talk to you. The Upper Echelons don’t like me talking to you. They have... listening posts monitoring for that. I can’t let them hear me talking to you.”
Vera smiled and bent down to reach the grocery bag next to him, pulling out a box of corn flakes. “Not even if I had these?”
Audie’s eyes lit up at the sight of the box. “Where did you get this? I thought the Upper Echelons confiscated it all.”
Vera shrugged. “I had some stored away for safe keeping.” He pulled the box away from Audie slightly. “You gonna talk now?”
Audie quickly nodded and Vera handed him the box. Audie immediately tore the box open, then the bag inside, and immediately scooped up a handful of the cereal.
“The crunching sound drowns out the listening posts.” Vera said with a smile to Jeffries. “Shorts them out temporarily. That’s why the Upper Echelons banned it.”
“Right.” Jeffries said, rolling his eyes.
“Okay, it’s safe to talk now, Audie.” Vera said, turning back to the homeless man munching on corn flakes. “You heard about the woman who got abducted here two years ago, worked around here?”
“Uhhh...” Audie’s eyes darted around nervously.
“Probably passed by you all the time.” Jeffries added.
“Audie?” Vera said with a warning tone. “You know something, now’s the time to say it.”
Audie looked down at the cereal box, then up at Vera and Jeffries, looking in pain.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered. “I tried to help her.”
“Help? How?” Jeffries asked.
“She was always nice.” Audie whispered. “She gave me a granola bar once.” He shut his eyes tight and shook his head. “The Upper Echelons must not have liked that. That must be why they sent the dark sentinel for her.”
“Dark sentinel?” Vera asked.
Audie nodded and pointed to the alley. “He gained her trust, then he came and took her, right here...”
***
Audie poked his head out of the shelter at the sound of the hard-soled shoes going over the sidewalk at the other end of the alley. Recognizing the woman, Audie watched as she continued walking, stopping at the sight of the young man leaning up against the corner of the wall, taking a puff from his cigarette.
“Mr. Franklin.” Laurie said with a smile. “What are you doing here?”
A smirk came over the young man’s face. “Please. Mister Franklin is my father. I’m just plain old Ellis. And I’m just following up on another story.” Ellis stood up and walked closer to her. “But anyway how’s the book coming? You get through any more chapters yet?”
Laurie nodded her head. “Just a few. It’s really good though. Actually I read something about it online. They say his next book’s going to be about some secret society.”
“Yeah, he hasn’t done that before.” Ellis said, chuckling.
Laurie chuckled and shrugged. “Well, I guess he’s sticking to what he knows. You can’t really blame him for that.”
Ellis’ smile faded. “No, you definitely shouldn’t pretend to be something you’re not. That’s for sure.”
Laurie chuckled uneasily.
The young man’s smile returned abruptly. “Anyway, what are you doing here this late?”
Laurie shrugged. “Uhhh... well, I ended up working a bit later than I meant to. I gotta get home. Ben’s probably waiting up for me.”
Ellis cocked his head. “You don’t seriously believe that, do you?”
“You don’t actually think he’s home right now, being the faithful husband and all that, do you?” He asked, with a condescending tone, giving her a hateful stare. “Even you’re not that stupid.”
Laurie pulled her arms around herself. “Okay, I don’t think I wanna talk to you anymore.”
She turned away from him, but suddenly a strange smelling cloth was pressed against her mouth and nose.
Ignoring her muffled screams and increasingly weak struggles, Ellis pulled her to him. “You know perfectly well that he’s a liar and a hypocrite.” He hissed into her ear, blowing smoke from the cigarette still in his mouth as he did. “Just like you!”
Finally she went limp.
“Hey!” Audie yelled, finally finding his voice after being shocked into silence at the sight. “What are you doing?” He yelled, running towards the young man, now picking up the unconscious Laurie. “Stop! Let her go!” Audie yelled.
With his free hand, the young man grabbed Audie by the chest and shoved him back into a pile of garbage bags overflowing from a dumpster.
The young man started walking through the alley towards a white van at the other end, it’s loading doors open. As he did, Audie struggled to get up. Seeing this, the young man stopped and bent over him, giving Audie a frightening glare.
“You can’t save her!” He hissed, pulling the cigarette from his mouth. “No one can!” Without another word, he pressed the lit end of the cigarette into the open palm of Audie‘s hand. Audie cried out in pain, and stumbled back into the garbage pile, while the young man continued carrying Laurie towards the van.
***
“He burned me with his heat laser.” Audie pulled the fingerless glove off his right hand and showed his palm, the scar from the burn still visible. “I tried to save her.” He said softly, blinking back tears. “I tried.”
“Okay, Audie.” Vera said gently. “It’s not your fault.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything before.” Audie continued, lowering his head. “I wish he’d come for me instead.”
“White van.” Jeffries said quietly to Vera. “That’s something.”
Audie finally looked up at them again. “I don’t care if the Upper Echelons punish me for this.” He said, weakly. “Somebody’s gotta stop him before he comes for someone else.”
“We will, Audie.” said Vera.
“And what you told us is gonna help us do that.” Added Jeffries.
Audie looked at them a moment, then nodded solemnly.
***
“So how many white vans are there in Philly?” Kat said, her vision starting to blur at the piles of vehicle registrations on her desk.
Scotty shook his head, staring at the equally large pile on his own desk. “Too many.” He looked around at the dim lights barely lighting the nearly bare Homicide squad. “Would’ve been nice if this guy of Vera’s could’ve given us a plate or at least a make.”
Kat smiled slightly. “Doesn’t sound like he was a big car guy.”
Scotty chuckled.
Lilly looked up from the pile on her desk as Stillman exited his office and walked over.
“Not exactly a surprise, but there’s no record of an Elliott Franks, Frank Ellison, or Ellis Franklin ever working at the Sun”
“Pretty strange choice of aliases.” Kat said thoughtfully. “That similar, it doesn’t make any sense.”
“It does in his mind.” Stillman said. “Just not to us.”
“That’s true.” Scotty said with a sigh. “Only one a serial killer makes sense to is a serial killer.”
“One thing, though.” Lilly said. “What do you think he meant about Laurie and being a liar and a hypocrite?”
“Good question.” Stillman nodded. “He said her husband was one too. Maybe we wanna bring him in tomorrow and ask.”
Lilly looked over the van registrations. “Think there might be some tracks we missed at the warehouse?”
“It’s possible.” Scotty said. “Knowing what kind of tread would definitely narrow things down. Might be worth checking out.”
“Well, we can take a look in the morning.” Stillman said.
Lilly glanced at her watch. “I got time.”
Stillman shook his head. “No, you don’t. None of us do. Doherty’s still on me about overtime, so we’re calling it a night.”
Lilly opened her mouth to say something, but Stillman cut her off. “Tomorrow.” He said, giving Scotty and Kat a look.. The other two detectives, getting the hint, straighten their desks slightly, and went to get their coats.
***
The moonlight crept through the broken windows of the dilapidated warehouse. Stepping over the crime scene tape, Lilly scanned her flashlight around for tire tracks outside, but saw none.
Turning around to see if she missed anything, she suddenly heard a noise coming from inside the warehouse. Drawing her gun, she headed towards the entrance and stepped inside.
The interior looked just as it had before, refuse strewn about. Lilly’s eyes panned over the warehouse until they settled on the hidden basement.
She reached the top of the stairs and shone the light down, but saw nothing in front of her. Giving the space besides the stairs a quick look, she stepped down slowly.
The room seemed completely bare. Even the Crime Scene Unit had cleared out everything. It appeared empty, until her eyes fell upon the one remaining thing in the center of the room.
The body.
Did they find another one? Lilly thought, before shaking her head. We would’ve heard if they had.
It was still, covered with a sheet, far too bulky to be another burned body. Lilly shone her flashlight over it and stepped closer.
It was only then that she noticed the faint whispering she was hearing. It sounded like multiple voices, each one echoing, not seeming to come from anywhere in particular. She strained to listen, unable to make them out at fist. After a few moments, however, words started registering with her. Lilly turned around the room as the whispers continued.
“Once hope is gone, dying is just a formality.” One voice said.
“Nothing lasts forever,” said another voice over the faint sound of a music box playing.
“You can only keep the flood back for so long.” A third voice said.
“You’re not gonna take her from me,” said a fourth voice. “Not again!” A shot rang out in the distance, spinning Lilly back around to the body.
Breathing heavily, she stepped closer, crouching over it. Setting down her flashlight, but holding onto her gun, she took a hold of the sheet and pulled it back.
What she saw made her draw a quick breath and quickly stand up.
He was just as she’d remembered him, just as she’d seen him last; the clothes, the glasses, even the three bullet holes in his chest.
Then he opened his eyes.
No, it’s not possible. She thought.
The same smug grin she’d remembered returned to his face as he sat up, and finally stood.
“Hello, Lilly.” George said. “Long time, no kill.”
Joined: Oct 2007 Gender: Female Posts: 96 Location: CH
Re: Trial by Fire « Reply #11 on Nov 3, 2009, 8:01am »
Thanks for updating the story and creating the playlist.
Since you're precising that the setting of this case is between Hoodrats and Jurisprudence, I expected continuity details which, of course, popped up (Kat's still here but there's Doherty's pressure with the Stillman's line about overtime). Your attention to details is always much appreciated!
So far, I found this case up to the show's serial killer standards and it's very well constructed. So now we know more about his MO: he likes his victims modest and with low self confidence (Charlie about Amelia, Victor about the promotion), finds their interest (Aeronautics, Vinyls, Books..) in order to gain their trust, and finally abducts them in a dark empty alley.
But there were a new round of questions: What's with the name variations of "Frank" and "Elli"? Is Laurie's husband really unfaithful or is it the product of the guy's distorted mind? How are they going to narrow the list of white vans in Philly?
2 randoms things: it's funny that the serial burner is a heavy smoker! I didn't know the song by the Dave Matthews Band and liked it a lot.
On the down side, the 2nd flashback didn't do anything for me but I guess you needed to clearly show the pattern (1/ approach, 2/ getting personal info and 3/the abduction). I think this is mostly because Victor hadn't any development yet and Roy's character was a bit random. On the contrary, the Audie interview was original and funny and reminded me of the schizophrenic guy in Mind Games. It was a good choice to pick the woman for the abduction part (felt more scary to me!).
So Lilly is going against Stillman's instructions AGAIN (big Joseph's vibe there). The quotes feel like a quizz to me so here are my guesses: “Once hope is gone, dying is just a formality.” => John Smith from the Road “Nothing lasts forever,” => Music box bomber from Sabotage “You can only keep the flood back for so long.” => Moe in Into The Blue “You’re not gonna take her from me, not again!” => The guy from Stalker
Now the cliffhanger... when you told me you were bringing back a familiar face, I never thought it would be a DEAD one. That's kind of cheating I strongly suspected it would be a previous serial killer after Scotty's line "Only one a serial killer makes sense to is a serial killer." So is it a dream or a psychological breakdown? Actually there's no need for an explanation, people see dead people all the time on the show, after all Anyhow, I'm dying to read the upcoming conversation between those two...
Re: Trial by Fire « Reply #12 on Nov 9, 2009, 11:41pm »
As usual Todd, you manage to write fics that are just as on par as the real episodes; a rarity in the fandom.
I'm going to read through the story again, but I still wanted to leave some feed back about one certain area.
Lilly seeing George. Now, I'm pretty certain he's not a live, because;
He was just as she’d remembered him, just as she’d seen him last; the clothes, the glasses, even the three bullet holes in his chest.
so, he's obviously a figment of her imagination, but what I'm wondering is, why? Why of all people is Lilly seeing George? I'd garner a guess that Lilly is suffering a delusion, or something, but again it doesn't explain why she's seeing George.
As of now I theorize that this George is actually going to be an aspect of Lilly.
...unless George's spirit did actually come to screw around with Lilly.
Better to have enemies than friends; for an enemy will stab you in the front, but a friend will stab you in the back - Unknown
kassandra Detective Cold Case Addict member is offline
When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry; Show life you have a thousand reasons to smile.
Joined: Jul 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 373 Location: Philadelphia PA
Re: Trial by Fire « Reply #13 on Nov 9, 2009, 11:49pm »
One thing Amazing!
You really know how to tell a story. This could very well be a episode of Cold Case minus the unexpected showing of George! That was a great twist in the storyline. You seem to be able to keep things interesting yet still realistic at the same time. You seem to have a good understanding of the format they use to write the cases and you add a lot of emotion and imagery into your story as well. I'm looking forward to reading the next installment of the story. You have some real talent. Can't wait to read your future projects.
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