A Vulnerable Broken Mind (13 page)

              “No,” John shouted but realized quickly that shouting might not help. “Please, I’m desperate, I need to talk to you. It can’t wait.”

              There was a very long pause but John could finally hear the door unlocking. The door opened slightly, just enough to where John could see her face. “What can I help you with Mr. Robinson?” She asked. She looked very nervous.

Chapter 8: Mary’s Tragedy

“Please, I need to know everything you know about Ralph Hunt and Ken Sparks.” John may have been a little forward but he didn’t have time to beat around the bush. “I think you know what I’m talking about.”

              “I don’t, I’m sorry.” Mary said quickly and was about to shut the door but John put his hand on it to keep it open.

              “Please, neither of them are here, they fled and my wife is with them. I have no clue where they went but I think you do.” John’s desperation was becoming clearer in his voice. “I need to know where they took her.” John’s eyes began to water; he was on the verge of breaking down.

              Mary’s stare had gone from nervousness to a sympathetic look. She then pulled the door open. “Come in,” she said

              John walked in. Mary looked around outside before closing the door, as if to make sure that no one was watching them.

              John walked into Mary’s house and knew that there would be some memorabilia from her dead husband but he still wasn’t prepared for what he saw. The room that the front door led to was the living room. It was a bright blue, square room. A grey couch and chair faced the left wall and next to that wall was a television set.

              Several shelves were on the walls and were filled with many pictures of the two of them. In the far right corner, was a fireplace and sitting above it, was a hand painted portrait of the two of them holding hands.

              “Do you want coffee or anything?” She asked sweetly.

              “No, but thank you.” John said, his appetite and his thirst were completely gone. His wife was his only worry.

              “Well, let me get you some water anyway, you look thirsty,” she said with her head down. She walked out of the room and into the kitchen, which was out of John’s view. Despite her pleasant tone, something was clearly bothering her and John had a good feeling about what it was.

              “You do know about Sparks and Hunt, don’t you?” John asked, getting straight to the point.

              Mary then walked back into the room with a glass of water and set it on the wooden living room table, her eyes not looking into John’s. “I’ve known for a while now,” she said in a whisper.

              “How do you know?” John asked.

              Mary finally looked into his eyes. Her eyes were quickly welling up with tears. “I can’t tell you. They will kill me if I do.”

              “They are not here,” John said quickly. “No one can hear you but me. Please, I need to know.”

              Mary’s tear filled eyes continued to stare at John. She sat down on the couch and indicated for John to do the same. She took several deeps breaths and then began. “My husband, Tony, was really in the military but he didn’t die overseas. We moved here after his last job overseas was complete. I was jobless at the time.

              “He decided to become a recruiter because he wanted a much longer delay in between going overseas again. We got permission to move here due to his position and we were looking for a place that was more secluded and quiet.

              “Our first six months here were beautiful. I had actually managed to get a job at Ralph Hunt’s main location in Jacksonville. Applying for that job wound up being the worst decision that I ever made in my life.”

              “Why is that?” John asked. He was listening very intently to every word that Mary was saying.

              Mary seemed to be battling with herself to keep from breaking down. “We knew Ralph because we shopped at his store before I started working there. Ralph was around me a lot more after that. He gave me compliments about my work and really seemed to like me. I wasn’t aware of how much at that time.

              “Around that same time, he had built his house at the top of the hill. We not only got to see him at my job but he would come to the house. Because he seemed to like the both of us, we didn’t think twice about it.” She then paused and almost seemed to drift but continued.

              “I was without a car one day at work. Tony gave me a ride to work but was unable to pick me up. Ralph offered to give me a ride. We considered him a friend and I accepted. When my shift was over, he was waiting in his SUV for me. I got in and he offered me a bottle of water when I got in. It was a long day and I was thirsty, so I drank it. He had put something in the drink, which knocked me out.

              “I woke up in a small room. My hands were chained and I had been stripped of my clothing.” She paused again, tears then began streaming down her face. “I was there for months. He beat me, raped me, and tortured me.” She then pulled down her shirt collar on the right side to expose her right shoulder and revealed burn scars on her shoulder. John winced. “He burned me for being disobedient. It was the most painful experience of my life.

              “Sparks started coming regularly as well. He and Ralph loved taking turns.” She grimaced and cried more from the thought of it. “Tony had been trying hard to find me but Sparks led him on a bunch of false trails. He finally became suspicious when Sparks kept putting off questioning Ralph.

              “He tried to sneak into Ralph’s house but was caught and put into a cell under the house. Those cells are an awful place to be in.”

              “I know,” John agreed.

              Mary didn’t seem to know how to react when she learned that John had been there as well, so she continued. “They started videotaping their abuse of me and showing him on a TV while he was in his cell.” Her crying was getting worse as she spoke. “After a couple of days he couldn’t take any more of the footage because it drove him mad. He actually requested a rope and he…” She paused and broke down completely, unable to finish her story.

              John knew the rest of it already. He thought back to the noose that hung from the first cell. He now knew who had once hung there. Now, the image haunted him even more than before. John had no doubt that they had planned to torture him in the same way but hadn’t planned on him escaping.

              “What happened after that, why weren’t they caught?” John asked.

              Mary managed to calm herself enough to speak. “Hanson became suspicious after my disappearance and when Tony went missing as well, he requested an investigation from his department. Ralph got rid of Tony’s body in the river. It hasn’t been recovered.” She held back from breaking down again when saying this. “They hid me somewhere else during the investigation.”

              “Where?” John asked but Mary hesitated to answer. “Please, Amber might be there!”

              “There’s a little patch of land several miles down the river. The river itself is only a few miles out of town. It’s an old house that was built in the early twentieth century. Ralph bought it and redid it. Only Ralph, Ken, and I know of its existence.”

              “Why didn’t you run after all of this or tell anybody?” John asked curiously.

              Mary then put her head down in shame. “They threatened my life if I left. I was scared. Ken was a cop and could manipulate any story that I would tell them. They said the only way I could live was to stay and accept that I was their property.

              “They forced me to tell everybody that I wasn’t really missing but secretly left Tony because he was going back overseas and that he was killed there.”

              John didn’t want to hear anymore. Telling this story was obviously breaking her beyond belief. He stood. “How do I get to that house? I’m going to get Amber and make sure that you are no longer their property.”

              “You won’t be able to.” Mary said, shaking her head. “It’s miles up the river and impossible to get to unless you have a boat,” she explained and while John was a little disappointed at first, he immediately thought of a boat that was quite literally only feet away from Mary’s house.

              “I know what to do,” was all John said to her and he was about to turn and leave when she got up and stopped him.

              “If you manage to get her, can you pick something up for me, if you can, of course?” She asked emotionally. While John was in a hurry, he knew that this really mattered to her. He nodded. “Please grab our wedding rings if you see them. They are both silver with the words “For life and beyond” engraved into them. He took them, almost as if they were a trophy of victory to him.”

              John then looked at the finger on his left hand that once held his wedding ring. His wedding ring meant so much to him. It was a symbol of his love for Amber. If it meant that much to him, Mary’s ring meant the same to her. He looked her in the eyes and said, “I promise to bring them back to you.”

              Mary then leaned in and gave John a tight hug. With tears streaming down her face she said, “I hope you find her.”

              “I will find her,” John said confidently and turned to leave. He took one final look at Mary and walked out of the house and closed the door behind him. Once outside, he looked to the left at Tom Morrison’s house. The jet boat was still sitting on the trailer in the front lawn.

              He looked left and sitting on the porch, in his chair, was Tom Morrison. However, this time he appeared to be fast asleep. John walked down Mary’s porch and towards Morrison’s house. He walked through the front gate and was about to go up the porch.

              “So, when are we leaving?” John jumped slightly as Morrison spoke, proving that he wasn’t asleep.

              “How did you know?” John asked stunned.

              Morrison sat up and gave John a quizzical look. “Son, I’ve lived here since this town was reformed. I’ve known Mary since she moved here. Did you honestly think that I didn’t know?”

              “But your statement to Hanson, you said…” John started but Morrison interrupted.

              “My statement to Hanson was only meant as a hint to you. I had to keep it vague to avoid suspicion because I knew that he would repeat my statement to Sparks. Saying that I saw Hunt moving in and out all day doesn’t mean that I saw much.”

              “What else do you know?” John asked.

              “That you’re going to his other house,” Morrison responded.

              “You know where it is?” John asked quickly.

              Morrison nodded and gave a smile. “I was lucky enough to pass by the place while driving my boat and Hunt’s boat was parked right next to it.”

              “I need to go there,” John said immediately.

              “I know, give me a couple of minutes.” Morrison got up out of his chair and pulled a set of keys out of his pocket. He then walked to the left side of the house, where the driveway was and walked towards the back.

              John stayed in the front and waited. Only a few seconds later, he heard the loud sound of a truck or SUV being started. Morrison then came driving around in a big red SUV , parking the rear end next to the jet boat. John was slightly stunned to see an old man in such a big vehicle. This expression was not missed by Morrison, who was stepping out of the SUV.

              “What? Did you think I hooked this thing onto a compact car?” Morrison said with a laugh. “Let’s go.” John then helped him hook the boat up to the truck and within a matter of minutes they were off.

              It took them a few minutes to get on the highway. The trip had been silent thus far. John couldn’t get his mind off of Amber.

              “Are you nervous?” Morrison suddenly asked.

              “Yes,” John said, not seeing any reason to lie.

              “Don’t be,” Morrison said very seriously. “Just keep your mind on your mission. Focus on saving her and nothing else. Get rid of those nerves now because they’ll only distract you.  Don’t let those two jerks get the best of you.”

              John breathed deeply, trying to calm himself down. “Have you always hated Hunt this much?” John asked. It was a rather senseless question given the situation, but he was just trying to keep things from getting quiet again.

              “I didn’t when I had first met him,” Morrison said as he continued to stare at the road. “He seemed harmless; arrogant but harmless. Then poor Mary went missing and I just had a gut feeling it was him. The way he looked at her and talked to her. I had no doubt.”

“Tony didn’t suspect foul play with Hunt?” John asked.

“Hunt could be very slick. I was on the police force for many years and I know when someone is hiding something. I became so suspicious that I sent a memo concerning Hunt to one of my old police trainees, who is now a lieutenant. He sent an interesting memo back.