She Will Be Mine

Chapter 9: Des

​When I woke up, there was no one my room. The heart monitor beeped happily away, with the same annoying sounds. I looked around in the room. It was a stereotypical hospital room, with chairs and flowers and windows. Looking down, I could see I was in a hideous hospital gown. It was pink, with flowers all over. Ewwww, I thought to myself. I hate pink.
​Someone knocked on the door and walked in. It was the Chief, with Charlie, Victor, and Danny Streisand close behind. They all smiled when they saw I was awake, and came in for a big group hug.
​"Welcome back champ," the Chief rubbed my head and beamed down at me.
​"It's good to see you guys," my voice was all scratchy and rough.
​"Are we glad to see you Princess!" Danny looked down at me and squeezed my shoulder. "We all missed having a woman in the department," Danny laughed at his joke and Victor high-fived him above my feet. Charlie hung in the back, waiting until there was room for him to come in.
​"How are you feeling?" He asked. He looked about as tired as I felt. His shirt was half-tucked into his jeans, and the coffee in his hand had dripped onto his shirt, but I was still happy to see him.
​"So chief," I said, turning back to the giant teddy bear casting a shadow on my bed. "When are they going to let me out of this joint?"
​"Well, I don't know if they are going to let you out that fast champ, give it a while won't ya?" But Murphy smiled down at me like I was his own daughter and not his employee.
​With that, the doctor and his team walked into the room and began examining me. They turned to all of all my visitors, "Can we have a few minutes of privacy with Ms. Hunt?" The Doctor was a tall and skinny woman, who could have gone off with a modeling career if she wanted to. I liked her already.
​As the men walked out, she turned to me. "How are you feeling Hun?" she spoke in a motherly tone. "Headache, chills, anything?"
​I rotated in my bed, testing for any soreness or bruises. "Nope, I think I am good!" I declared. "When can I leave?"
​She smiled down at me. "Not so fast Hun, I want to run a few tests to make sure that your head is OK, and then I believe we can let you go," she turned away, and then something stopped her. "I know it's none of my business what you do when you leave the hospital, but promise me something?" I nodded and she continued. "Watch yourself out there Hun. I personally hope to never see you in that bed again unless it's a happy occasion." I smiled and she walked out.
​The nurse examining me unlocked the wheels of the bed and moved me out of the room. "We are just going to have you go through and have a CT scan, and if everything looks OK there, then you can be on your way," the nurse was a man who looked like he was straight out of college. He had gentle warm hands, and was very kind as he wheeled me to the x-ray room.
​The CT scanner was in a white room, separated by a glass screen was another room that would get the results. I climbed onto the bed that would go into the scanner, and the nurse set it up. "It should only take a few minutes," he said as he walked into the connected room. Lying down, I was moved into the machine.
​Inside, they had some quiet elevator music going, and I closed my eyes to wait until it was done. The song ended, and the next one was a quiet classical melody. It was Fur Elise, and before I knew it I fell asleep to the sound of the piano keys reverberating around the sphere.
* * *
​Fifteen minutes later, I was wheeled out and brought back to my room in my bed. It seemed like the whole Private Eye team was in there waiting for me. They had chocolates and flowers and, thank God, clothes. The nurses skirted the men out and helped me out of the ugly hospital gown. The doctor came in when I was dressed, and showed me the scans. "It looks like you are going to be just fine Desiree," She showed me my brain and explained that the movement going on was perfectly normal. "I believe I can discharge you Desiree, but of you experience dizziness or any type of lightheadedness, I want you to come back right away," She told me and handed me a small bottle of pills. "These are for headaches or any type of soreness, but use them lightly," I assured her I would and she left, wishing me good luck.
​Exiting the room, I was bombarded with hugs and slaps on the back. The Chief was beaming with pride, and when I finally escaped, he enveloped me in a giant hug. "Chief," I choked out. "I can't breathe," He released me, and we all walked down the hallway and out of the hospital.
​"So," Charlie walked next to me as I gushed in the fresh air. "What's the plan?"
​I shook my head in confusion, a fog clouding my brain. "This guy has me stumped. He goes to all the trouble of taking me, and then he doesn't do anything when he has me. All he tried to do was scare me, and I can tell right now that it didn't work," I walked down the street, headed off to the Empire State Building. "We have to try and figure out how to trap the guy," I said to Charlie while Victor and Danny caught up to us.
​"You got that right chica," Victor was just barely eye level with me.
​"We have to try and track the man's movement. It's the only way we can hope to discover his plan," Danny spoke for the first time. "If we can't even find out where his hideaway is, then how can we catch him?"
​I nodded as I kept walking. Spying a Caribou, I walked over and picked up a coffee. The boys were talking to each other about possible options when I walked back towards them.
​"We could try and have a stakeout tonight," Victor was saying, "When he returns that girls body to her house, I mean.
​I nodded. "That seems like a good idea, but how are we going to be able to see him when we are hiding in the dark?"
​Victor slapped his leg. "Of course! We should hide in the house and have people waiting outside for when he makes a run for it!"
​Danny nodded. "That could work," he began, but Charlie was already cutting him off.
​"We need something more undercover, something not even he could delve up,"
​As we kept walking, we were quiet as we racked our brains for any possible way to catch this guy at the drop off tonight. In the distance, a clock went off, reminding me of the time. If the man was trying to keep up with his schedule, then the body would be delivered around 2 o'clock this morning, exactly two days after she had been taken.
​I was already ahead of them. "We need to make a television broadcast that we will be there." I stated, and they all looked at me like I was crazy.
​"Why would we want to blow our cover?"
​"That could ruin the whole thing!"
​"He would get away again!"
​"Are you sure you are feeling alright Hunt?"
​"Guys!" I yelled, and got them all to shut up. "I know what I'm doing. Just let me talk to the chief alright? Trust me on this one," I took off running, with the wheels set in motion. I didn't even bother looking back at the confused threesome that I knew was behind me.
​Laughing at the three of them, I continued towards the Empire State Building, hoping my gut was right in this whole thing. If I was, then we could end the whole thing with this little setup. I have it be right, I told myself as I made it to the steps. I didn't pause to thank the guards holding the doors and instead ran right up to the stairs leading to the fateful 50th floor, where hopefully, my prayers would be answered.
* * *
​The man ran down the streets of New York. He had moved with the group as they headed towards the city center, oblivious that he was with them the whole time. He had heard the whole conversation; now all he had to do was find out how to stop it.
​The man turned and hailed a cab. Throwing a twenty onto the passenger seat, he was whisked down to the wharf.
​The smell of fish permeated his clothing as he walked alongside it. Fish were flying all over the place, making him have to duck under it all.
​Once he reached the area his transaction would take place, he unrolled a cigarette. Lighting it, he took a few quick puffs before tossing it into the street.
​His system seemed to wake up once the nicotine took its effect on his body. He walked over to the benches and sat, and waited. He sat there for the rest of the morning, allowing the noise and thoughts of the day to leave his head, so he could really be at peace.
​A man arrived and sat next to him when the clock struck noon. They traded parcels, one containing cash, the other, the answer to the man's prayers.
​The men left as quickly as they had arrived, the one hailing a cab and going back to his apartment. Once there, he opened his new parcel, and began to play with his new toy. He practiced with it, and then waited in glee for the moment that the time came for his delivery.
* * *
​As I made it to the 50th floor, I barely paused for breath as I raced to the Chief's office. There was yelling going on inside, making me pause. The shouts could be heard from across the floor, and it was obvious who the subject was. Charlie's voice was as clear to me as if he was standing right next to me.
​"Chief," Charlie was speaking, his tone strangled and frustrated. "You can't let her do this. It isn't safe. She is still a little girl, and he wants her. You can't..." his sentence was cut off in mid-thought as I burst through the room. I pointed an angry finger at him and shouted.
​"You for one have no right to tell me what I should or shouldn't do," I walked right over and jabbed him in the chest. "You have no claim on me. You don't own me." The color was leaving his face as he realized that I had heard every room. I didn't care who heard me now, as I raised my voice to a scream. "I am my own person, I worked for this. And it is not your decision whether or not I continue," the energy was leaving me now. It seemed like I had used all of it in this shout. Tears began to stream down my face as my voice betrayed me and broke. "Let me see how you would feel if you family was ripped away from you in one night, without a goodbye or a final 'I love you'. Let me know how you would feel if you had this anger boiling inside of you for 10 years, and now that you are finally given the opportunity to avenge them, that a man wants to have you sit in the dark and let them handle it," Sarcasm was oozing from my pores while the tears flowed freely. "Let me see how you feel when the man you thought actually cared about goes against your back and betrays you in the most awful ways of them all."
​I slapped him in the face, and, turning from an astounded Murphy, walked right out of the room.
​I ran to my office, and, grabbing my briefcase, stuffed anything and everything that I could fit into it. When it was stuffed to its max, I grabbed my coat and left, slamming the door in my exudes. I could see Charlie was trying to follow me as I ran. "Stay away from me," I shouted at him as the elevator pinged. "I don't need you to avenge my parents," and with that, I walked into the elevator and didn't look back.
* * *
​The man watched the whole thing in utter glee. They really are making this too easy, he thought as Des left with the whole office watching her. The man watched as Charlie went over to her bare office and punched the door. He watched as Charlie took off running, off to chase her again. He laughed and left the area.
​Walking to the elevator of the Empire State building, he pushed the button and left the New York Private Investigators office, the most wanted criminal in the whole city, and they didn't even know he was there.
* * *
​I hailed a cab the second my feet hit the street. Climbing in, I directed him to my apartment. Just before we turned the corner, I could see Charlie's hurt face on the pavement. I didn't even care.
* * *
​The man walked out of the building and right by Charlie. He didn't even see him. The man laughed as he pulled his hat onto his head and walked away. He knew where she was going; it was only a matter of time before she fell right into his trap.
* * *
​Reaching my apartment, I ran in and slammed the door shut. Locking it, I walked into the living room and shut the shades. I needed it to be quiet so I could really think. I grabbed my briefcase and laid my papers onto the table. Papers flew everywhere, and only when they settled did I begin to sift through the mess.
​Notes were stuck to each other, data from the previous victim attacks, and descriptions of what I thought the killer could look like. I had even tried to sketch him out, but it was pretty useless. He could look like anyone, and only when I found him would he appear before me.
​I flipped through papers, most meaning nothing. There was a postcard from my mother stamped onto one of them. I got slightly choked up when I saw it, and then I put her out of my mind. This was why I had to do this, I told myself again and again.
​In the bottom of my briefcase was a folder I kept full of pictures from my many experiences. Flipping through it, I saw images of Charlie, Victor, and Danny flash by. Just remembering all the fun times we had had together made me feel a little better.
​Among the pictures were random Christmas cards from previous years. I looked at one that had a picture from the whole gang in it. The card was from Danny, and on the back was a small note.
​Merry Christmas Darling, it read. And a very happy New Year, filled with new memories. My blood chilled when I finished reading it. It can't be, was the first thought that entered my mind. It just can't be. I thought to all the memories we had shared together. Danny had been my friend for as long as I could remember. What motivation would he have?
​I pushed the thought out of my mind. It just wouldn't make sense. Danny was from Texas, so it was natural for him to call me that. Danny had been my close friend since high school, this guy was a masochist. But no matter how much I tried to convince myself, I still had a bad feeling that I was right.