Darkness Follows (20 page)

“So
Max just took off.”

“What
do you mean?” Aurina asked as Ryanne closed the front door.

“He
said he had to talk to Crawley, he wouldn’t tell me anything else.”

“Well,
should we wait for him?” Aurina wondered if he had an idea about the murders.
He knew Jake was at the station being questioned. “Maybe he just wants to help
Crawley with the investigation.”

“I don’t know, it was really weird.”
Ryanne sat back
down in a chair next to Burrows at the kitchen table.

Burrows
looked at Ryanne, and then at Aurina.

“Well,
we can still celebrate without Max.” Aurina smiled and shifted to the edge of
her seat.

“There’s
this place called ‘Prickly Pines’ and they have really good burgers and wings.
Deep fried chocolate bars too.” Blake put his arm around Aurina. “It’s on Main
Street.”

“Yeah,
how about we go grab the food?” Burrows offered, and stood from the table in
front of Ryanne, who was staring at the ground. “We’ll get enough for Max, for
when he comes back."

At
this Ryanne stood up, and smiled.

“Blake,
lock the door behind us alright?” Burrows called as they headed out.

Blake
got up and locked the front door and then joined Aurina back on the couch.

“So
you’re leaving?”

“I’ve
been thinking about it, and I need to get things in order back home.” Aurina
looked at him, but there was no change in his expression. As he
laid
back against the arm of the couch, he grabbed Aurina’s
hand, and pulled her in to rest her back against his chest. She leaned into
him.

“If
it’s meant to happen, it’ll happen.” Blake whispered, and Aurina finally
relaxed. Her doubts about things working out with Blake were outweighed by the
possibility that something so good could come from such a bad situation. Aurina
chose to believe in the good.

Max
pulled into the parking lot and ran into the station. On the way, he had
radioed Marty, the emergency operator, to tell him he needed to speak to the
Chief as soon as he arrived.

Max
ran through the front doors and saw Jake sitting with his dad, Bill, at Jared
Pearce’s desk.

Pearce
was filling out some paperwork and didn’t notice Max rushing past him. Max shot
Jake a quick look before he entered the Chief's office without knocking.

“Max,
what’s goin’ on?” The Chief asked as he rose from his seat behind his desk. Max
closed the door behind him, and as soon as he turned to the Chief he blurted it
out.

“I
think someone’s finally come for Bill O’Leary.”

“Max,
sit down.” The Chief seemed too calm, and Max considered that this wasn’t news
to him.

“Bill
came in with the same theory, and I’ll admit, I’m considering it now.”

“It’s
not just a theory Chief,” Max quickly took a seat and the Chief sat as well. “I
should have put it together sooner, but something Ryanne just said clicked.
It’s Jake. He’s in the middle of it all, but not how you think.”

“Slow
down Max.”

“When
we went to the lake to find Jake and Ryanne, Ryanne told me she thought she saw
something in the trees. A headlight she said. She thought it was ours, but
there would have been two lights right? All your lights work right?”

“Right,”
The Chief sat back in his chair. “Max, do you remember anyone passing us on our
way up to the lake? If someone was there, they would have had to pass us coming
back.”

Max
thought about this for a moment, but continued. “The car could have pulled into
the bushes, or down a side road.” The Chief looked unmoved. “Chief, do you
remember when I told you about the car that passed me on my way to Maple Lane?
The one I couldn’t recognize?” The Chief nodded slowly. “That’s when I found
Jake outside their house. The car wasn’t coming from the lake Chief. It was
coming from there. Maple Lane.”

The
Chief leaned forward with his elbows on the desk.

“Was
the car missing a head light?”

“
It's
lights were off. I could barely see it in the dark
and... I wasn't paying enough attention as it passed me to get an I.D. on the
driver.”

The
Chief stood from his desk and went to his window looking out at the office with
his back to Max.

“We
need to explore this possibility.”

“The notes. ‘
You give me no
choice.’ Someone is after Bill, and they couldn't get to Jake because he was in
our custody, so they killed another one of Bill's servers. It was right in
front of my face.” Max stretched his neck toward the ceiling. “I think the
people who are after Bill O’Leary have been watching Jake. That’s what these
murders have in common. The girls worked for Bill.”

Max
heard the Chief open his office door, and turned to see him take a step
outside.

“Jake,
where’s your dad?”

Max
shot out of his seat and hurried to Pearce’s desk where he saw the two last.

“Said
he was tired and heading home. He’ll be back tomorrow morning.” Jake said and
looked at Max. “What’s going on?”

“Max,
find Pearce, we need to go now.” The Chief went back into his office.

Max
found Pearce at Marty’s desk and filled him in on the situation as they met the
Chief outside his office.

“We’ll
take my car.” The Chief told them as he grabbed his jacket and they followed
him outside.

On
the way to the restaurant, Ryanne found it hard to pay attention to Burrows.
She was talking about how excited she was to get back to Toronto and meet Jeremy
face to face. She considered the possibility that someone had really been there
at the lake that night, watching them. Someone connected to the murders in
Dersten.

Burrows
pointed to the right, and Ryanne spotted the restaurant.

“There.”
She pointed to the large sign above the door. The place looked classy with
white lights hanging on the fence of the outdoor patio, and a straight row of
groomed pine trees separating the patio from the next store to the right. “Ooh,
this looks nice.”

“Yeah,
I’m sorry we couldn’t eat there.”

“Oh no worries.
I totally
understand.”

Burrows
parked across the street from The Prickly Pine. They got out and headed for the
restaurant.

“I
think if we get a few different things, we can all share them.” Burrows told
Ryanne as she opened the heavy wooden front door for her.

Ryanne
smiled and nodded as she entered. They walked into the front foyer where they
were greeted by a young girl.

“Hi,
I’m Amanda, welcome to The Prickly Pine.
Table for two?”
She was extremely thin, with long curly blonde hair and a tight black dress
that rested above her knees.

“Could
we actually get some orders to go?” Burrows asked.

“Oh yeah, sure.”
Amanda went
behind the small desk and grabbed some menus. “Just look these over and let me
know when you’re ready to order.” She said, handing them each a menu.

“Thanks.”
Burrows said and motioned for Ryanne to sit on the front bench with her. Before
they could sit, Burrows’ cell phone rang.

“Hello?
What’s that? Oh, okay, hold on I can’t really hear you in here, gimme a sec.”
Burrows pressed a button on her phone. “Come outside for a sec.” Ryanne nodded
slowly, and without question followed Burrows out front to the sidewalk leaving
their menus on the bench.

“Okay,
patch them through.” She held the phone to her shoulder. “Someone wants to wish
you a happy birthday,” Burrows whispered and held the cell phone out to her.
Ryanne hesitated, and Burrows smiled putting the phone in her hand.

“Hello?”
Ryanne answered.

“Happy birthday sweetheart!”
Her parents.

“Mom,
Dad! It’s so good to hear your voices.” Ryanne laughed, and Burrows smiled
walking a little ways up the street to give her some privacy. Ryanne felt the
tension release as she waved a ‘thanks’ to Burrows. For some strange reason she
had been sure Jeremy was on the other end, but she shrugged the thought off.

“Inspector
Jones says you girls are coming home.” Her dad, obviously excited and anxious
to see them, seemed to be smiling as he spoke to her.

“Yeah,
just in time for my birthday tomorrow.” Ryanne leaned against a lamppost by the
front door of the pub. “We miss you guys so much.”

“We
miss you too honey, tell Aurina we can’t wait to see you both.” Ryanne wondered
with some amusement what their parents would think of Aurina moving to Dersten
permanently, and decided that was between them. She was so happy to hear their
voices, and relieved to know Jones had been updating them.

“What
have you heard? Has there been news coverage?” Ryanne asked as she turned
around to see Burrows walking a little further up the street. Then Ryanne heard
two noises; her father’s voice and something that sounded like a whimper.
A dog maybe?

“What
was that?” She asked.

“I
said the police here had issued a statement that they needed everyone to be on
the lookout and they gave a description of this man Jeremy.” Her dad told her,
but Ryanne was distracted walking up the sidewalk nearing the place that
Burrows had stopped. She heard the whimper again. “They haven’t announced his
capture yet. I’m glad we didn’t hear it through the news. Jones called us
himself to tell us they had him and…” Ryanne heard the noise again, louder this
time.

“I’ve
gotta go guys. Love you, see you soon.” Ryanne snapped the phone shut, and
Burrows looked quickly back to her. She put her finger up to her lip, and held
her hand out for Ryanne to stay where she was. Burrows was peering around the
corner into a side alley between two stores beside The Prickly Pine, and Ryanne
instantly thought of Anne Marie and where she had been found, just a couple of alleys
over. O’Learys was only five buildings down the street.

Suddenly,
a scream came from the alley, and Burrows drew her gun, and stepped into the
darkness around the corner.

“Police!
Stop and get
down on the ground!” Burrows yelled. Ryanne felt frozen in the moment. She
wanted desperately to go back down the street and into the restaurant but she
didn’t want to leave Burrows.

Ryanne
peaked around the corner herself, and could only see Burrows still close to
her, pointing her gun down the dark alleyway ahead. Ryanne walked a few paces
back down the street and dialed nine one one on Burrows’ cell.

“Please,
there’s something happening in an alleyway by…” she couldn’t remember the
restaurant's name, “a restaurant near O’Leary’s...someone screamed, please
help!” Ryanne whispered into the phone, “I think someone’s hurt.” She repeated
her location, and then shut the cell quietly.

*****

The
next few moments passed so quickly, Ryanne barely had time to register what
occurred.

Just
after she hung up the phone with the police station, she heard a gunshot come
from the alley, and without thinking went toward it.

When
she peered around the corner she saw a dark figure running toward Burrows.

"Stop, police!"
Burrows barked.
It was a large man, and before Ryanne noticed anything else, Burrows raised her
gun and shot at him.

Ryanne
heard another scream right after the bang. It came from further down the alley,
the same scream she heard before.

She
could finally see the man clearly now, as he stopped and covered his stomach
with his hands. Ryanne didn’t recognize him.

"Hands up.
Hands where I can see them."
Burrows yelled, keeping
her solid stance. Ryanne desperately wanted to tell Burrows police were on
their way, but she didn't want to startle or distract her.

"You
shot me." The man groaned, and held up his hands, covered in blood.

"Turn
around. Get your hands behind your head." Burrows told him, and he slowly
turned around. "Get down on the ground.
Hands behind
your head."
She inched toward him
carefully,
gun still aimed at his chest as he put his hands up and grunted sharply.

He
suddenly tipped forward, and caught himself before he hit the ground.

"I...I
can't..." The man whimpered as he seemed to bring his hands back to his
wound.

"I've
got a unit on the way. You need to put
your
...."
Before Burrows could finish, the man turned to face her, and as quickly as
Ryanne realized there was a gun in his hand, he fired.

Burrow's
body was flung to the ground, and Ryanne heard a small groan as she rolled over
and looked directly at Ryanne.

“Don't
make a sound.” The man was looking at Ryanne too, and coming towards her
quickly.

"Run."
Ryanne heard Burrows’ raspy voice tell her as the man reached for her.

It
was too late.

He
grabbed her tightly and maneuvered himself behind her, holding something cold
to Ryanne’s throat. Burrows stayed in her crouched position, patting around the
ground quickly.

The
man pointed his gun at Burrows. "Stand up."

Burrows
stood slowly, and Ryanne saw the blood gushing from her right arm, which she
clutched with her left as she straightened herself up.

"Kick
the gun to me." The man growled, and Burrows stepped back slightly,
tapping her gun into view, and then kicking it forward.

“I’m
sorry.” Ryanne mouthed to Burrows, and she felt hot tears running down her
cheeks.

Burrows’
face was stone cold, and her eyes flicked from Ryanne to the man.

Ryanne
felt the man push her forward, and at first thought he might be releasing her.
Instead, she realized, he was leading her toward the other end of the alley
past Burrows, and toward the sound of the girl crying.

“Don't.”
The man told Burrows as they paused just in front of her. Ryanne felt the cold
knife at her neck poke at her flesh, and couldn’t decide if her hot tears were
running down her chest, or blood, until she saw Burrows’ face.

Burrows
stepped back and leaned against the wall, clutching her arm. “
It’s
gunna be okay Ryanne.” Burrows nodded toward her as
they passed her by, and Ryanne began crying harder as she saw anger in Burrows’
face. Just when they were out of arms reach, Ryanne heard sirens in the
distance. Burrows went for her gun, and the man lunged forward with Ryanne, and
drove his knife deep into Burrows’ chest.

A
gasp escaped Burrows’ mouth, and Ryanne froze in shock, standing between them.
Her breath seemed to be taken away with Burrows, as the man immediately dragged
Ryanne down the alleyway faster as the siren’s wail grew closer.

Ryanne
couldn’t catch her breath as she watched Burrows’ spluttering, clutching figure
grow smaller and smaller. Ryanne’s body became limp as the man pulled her
harder and Burrows disappeared into the darkness.

When
they passed the girl huddled by the wall, Ryanne reached out to her, trying to
grab hold of something, to resist, but the girl stayed behind the garbage bin,
crouched as tight to the side as she could. Ryanne thought she saw blood on the
girl’s clothes. She tried to yell for help, but she didn’t have the breath for
words.

The
man opened the passenger door to a black car and shoved her inside. When he
slammed the door shut, Ryanne tried frantically to open it, but to no avail.
The man got in the driver’s seat and flashed the bloody knife at her, grabbing
her face in his chubby hands.

“
Move,
and I’ll kill you. You believe me, right?” The man
shoved her face back and her head hit the car window. She finally gasped and
moaned. Her vision went fuzzy as she tried to sit upright.

She
turned to the dark haired man as they sped off, and as gray enclosed her
vision, she whispered “Jeremy?”