The Test

Chapter Twelve

Derek

I glared down at the picture in my hands, resisting the urge to rip it to shreds. The guy in the picture definitely had some similarities to Brian, but it wasn't the Brian I knew.

"By the look on your face, I'm going to say that you don't know who this guy is," Amelia said.

"They have the same name, and yet these are two different people. There are some similarities sure, so I'm guessing that this guy is related in some way to Brian, but other then that, I don't know who this guy is."

"Derek we're going to figure this out I promise you. We always do. Let's just get back to the station and then we can talk to Justin and Humphrey about it," Amelia put her hand on my arm and squeezed it gently.

I took a deep breath, then nodded. We could do this, we always did.

***

The ride back seemed longer, and there was this unexplainable feeling of dread curling around me. Time was running out and I was scared of what would happen to Layna when it did.

When we got back to the precinct, the meeting room was buzzing with activity. As we walked in, Humphrey looked up at us, his face visibly excited. "I found something you guys, something really good."

Greene was sitting in one of the chairs looking expectantly at Humphrey, "They're here now so tell me what's going on.

"I did some digging into the back story of this guy Brian, and found that any information about him came up to about three years ago. There was nothing before that time, which I found odd. So I tried to go back farther, and I managed to find a driver's license that someone tried to cover up with Brian Thornton as the name. Does this look like the Brian you know?" He turned his laptop towards us a picture of the same guy that was with Mia.

"I know that guy," Amelia said. "Mrs. Tahir's daughter was dating him. They had a child together."

"I looked into this Brian, and apparently his father committed suicide, but his mother is still alive, and so is his younger brother, Timothy. Or well, that's what I think. I haven't been able to find anything about the brother, ever since he was released from a mental institution.

"He was the subject of a child services investigation, because when he was in middle school, his teachers noticed that he would always come to class tired, and bruised. They ended up having an investigation, police were involved, and in the basement of their house the father had sent it up as sort of a torture room. They found traces of Timothy's DNA, but not Brian's. And at that time, Brian was already over sixteen, so they couldn't do anything about him. But Timothy was only thirteen, so they took him away, and put him in foster care, and after that he was put in a mental institution because he wasn't mentally stable."

Humphrey switched over to another one, this time I was looking at a younger version of Brian, Layna's 'boyfriend'. "This is Timothy, a couple of months before he was released from the institution," He said.

"Now this time line is a little weird, because only a couple of days after he was released, his father committed suicide," Justin said, looking down at some paperwork. "Well, it was ruled a suicide by the coroner. He had slit his own throat while his wife was out of town. A couple months after that, his brother disappeared and then the stalking and everything happened with Mia."

"But you don't think it was a suicide." I said.

"No. Slitting your own throat is an extremely unusual way to go about committing suicide."

"Add that to the fact that a couple of girls had their throats slashed as well, it looks like Timothy might have killed his father." I finished for Justin. "And that Timothy is Brian."

"Shit," Greene said.

Shit indeed.

Layna

"9-1-1 what's your emergency?" a female voice asked.

I couldn't breathe. Michael had managed to dial the police. Oh my god.

"Hello?" the voice said, "is there an emergency?"

"Yes...yes there is ," I said, tears of relief flooding my eyes.

"What's the nature of your emergency?"

"My boyfriend, Brian Thornton, kidnapped me yes—actually I don't know how long ago he took me."

"What's your name, sweetie?" she asked, her voice kind.

"My name is Layna Keston," I whisper.

"Alright Layna, where are you right now? I can send a squad car to come pick you up."

"I don't know where I am. He's keeping me in this house in the forest, but I don't know where," I whisper, but then I suddenly remembered what Michael had said. "But I tried to escape a while ago, and a car hit me. The driver—Michael—said he called the police. So wherever you sent officers for that is near where he's keeping me."

"Alright, you stay on the line with me while we figure this out okay?" Her voice was calm, and soothing.

"I think he's going to kill me," I whispered, my voice breaking. "He's mad that I escaped. But even if I die, I want you to find him and arrest him. For the other girls before me, for Michael, and for the girls he would've taken after me. Their families need closure."

"Layna you don't need to worry, we will find you in time," She said softly.

"Well just in case, I want you to tell Steve and Tom that I love them, that they were the best parents I could've ever wished for."

"I'm not going to tell them that; you can tell them. I've already informed the police and we are going to find you."

"Just in case, I just need them to know. There's this guy—Derek Jackson. He's in Florida right now and he works for the FBI, but my parents know how to get a hold of him. I want him to know that I love him. And tell him that I for—"

"What the hell are you doing?" Brian screamed slamming open the door. He stalked over to me, his face a mask of anger.

"I was just talking to myself," I whispered. I didn't know where Michael had the phone, but I hoped it was hidden.

"Who the fuck is Derek?" he whispered suddenly, his face falling. "I thought you loved me?"

"I do, Brian, I do. Only you," I said looking straight into his eyes. I wanted to convince him.

His eyes hardened, and his face twisted into a scowl. "Daddy says you're lying."

"No, no he's wrong. He's just saying that because he doesn't want us to be together. But you want us to be together, don't you?" I tried to keep my voice steady, as my heart pounded in my chest.

"You're lying!" he roared, grabbing Michael's dead body, and throwing him across the room. The phone, my one lifeline, had gone flying from his hand, and had clattered nosily on the floor, the screen flashing that a call the police was in progress.

Brian's head snapped towards the sound, and I closed my eyes as I heard him walk over to Michael's body.

"You bitch!" he cried. "You called the police?"

I could hear him rummaging around in the plastic bins, and when I opened my eyes, he was right beside me.

"You're going to pay for that," he said, before taking the knife he had pulled from the bin, and pushing it deep into my stomach.