Deadly Past (A serial killer novel) - FINISHED

Chapter 13

Peter isn't getting anything out of Carl, and he is starting to get frustrated. He leaves the interrogation room and goes to the office to get a cigarette. When he gets to the office, he sees that Hugh is gone. He reads the note on the desk. Peter throws it in the trashcan and takes the packet of cigarettes from the table. He takes one out and lights it. He is starting to get anxious. He knows that they are getting closer, but he still feels uneasy. After all these years he still gets hurt more and more every time they find a victim. Every victim reminds him of his daughter, and it just breaks him more every time. He is tired and doesn't see the use in living anymore. The only thing keeping him alive is knowing that his daughter's killer is still on the loose. When he is done with the cigarette, he takes another one out of the packet and smokes it as well. He walks over to his drawer and takes the photo of his daughter out of it. It is the photo he took from Carl's house. When he looks at it his heart breaks again. How could he not have noticed that someone was following his daughter. He is a detective, but he wasn't even able to protect his own child. He put the photo in his pocket and goes down to the interrogation room to have another chat with Carl. He will get an answer from Carl, even if it is the last thing he does.

When Miranda arrives at Chad's room, she sees Chad and Hugh sitting on the bed talking. "Hello Hugh," she says. He gets up to greet her. She hugs him when he reaches her. It feels good to have someone to talk to in this difficult time. "Sorry that I'm a bit late," she says to Chad. "It's fine mom. Detective Brown kept me company," he replies. "That is good," she says and gives him a kiss on the cheek. If you guys are up to it, I will buy us something to eat at the café. Then I can bring you guys up to speed with the case. Your mom knows most of it, but I think that it is only fair to tell you everything as well," Hugh says. "That would be wonderful, thank you," Miranda says. A doctor enters the room with a stack of papers. "Good afternoon," he says as he sees the three of them. "Good afternoon," They say together. "I need you to sign these forms," he says and hands a few papers and a pen to Miranda. She quickly reads through them and signs it. She hands it back to the doctor. The doctor hands Chad a piece of paper. "Just take this to the pharmacy downstairs. Take the pain medication three times a day until the headaches are gone. I added some pills to help you sleep as well. Take them for the next couple of nights until you feel like you can fall asleep on your own," he says. Chad takes the prescription. "Thank you, doctor," Chad says. "Just take it easy for the next couple of days. Try to stay in bed most of the time for the next three days," he says. "I will make sure he follows your instructions. He can be very stubborn, but I will not let him take his health lightly," Miranda says. "Do you have any other questions?" the doctor asks. "No," Chad says. "Then I will get going. Take care of yourself Chad," the doctor says and leaves the room. "He seems like a very nice doctor," Hugh says. "He is. He made sure that I know everything that was going on," Miranda says. Chad gets up from the bed and picks up his bag. "Let's get going. I am tired of this room," Chad says. They go to the pharmacy to get his medication and then they go to the café. They sit down at one of the tables and a waitress brings them the menus. "You guys can order anything you want," Hugh says. Chad pages through the menu until he sees the sandwiches. "I will have a chicken sandwich and a cup of tea," he says. "I think I will have that too," Hugh says. "I will just have a coffee," Miranda says. Hugh summons a waiter to place their order. He tells the waiter what they want and hands the menus back to him. Hugh takes his phone out of his pocket and goes to the photo of Carl. He holds the phone out to Chad. "Do you know this man?" he asks. Chad looks at the photo. "No. Is it this guy that has her?" he asks. "No. This is the man that followed her. This is the man who we think has her," Hugh says and pages to the next picture. Chad looks at the picture trying to remember how the man who hit him over the head looks. He can't remember if he saw his face. "I don't know him. Who is he?" Chad asks. "His name is Caleb Smith," Hugh says. "You must be very close to finding her if you know who has her," Chad says. Hugh puts his phone back in his pocket. "We still don't know where he is holding her. We think we found the place where he held her, but it seems like he moved her when someone tipped him off," Hugh explains. Chad sighs. "It feels like this is taking forever. How long has it been now?" Chad asks. "Three days, but we are working on it the whole time. Peter is at the office interrogating Carl as we speak. We just need the location, then we can save her," Huh says. He doesn't want to give them false hope, but he wants them to remain positive. "We really appreciate everything you are doing to find her," Miranda says. Hugh is about to respond when his phone rings. It is Alice. He answers. "Hi Alice," he says. "Hi Hugh. The DNA result from the lab just came back. It is Sara's blood that you found on the rope. She was in that warehouse. You definitely have the correct killer," she says. The thought of them being on the right track puts new hope into Hugh's mind. "That is great news. We know that we are getting closer. Does Peter know?" he asks. "No, I am going to call him now, unless you are with him. Then you can tell him," she says. "He is at the office, and I am at the hospital," he says. "I will call him now. If you have time later we can look into possible leads where he can be, together," she suggests. "That would be great. I will meet you at the office in an hour," he says. Talking to her makes him feel better. She understands him and makes him forget about his own life that is falling apart. "See you then," she says and hangs up. Hugh puts his phone on the table. "They found Sara's DNA on the scene we found earlier. Caleb is definitely the guy we are looking for," Hugh says to Miranda and Chad. "Now the only thing left to do is to find the new place," Hugh adds. Miranda looks more worried now. "Where did you find her blood? Did he hurt her?" she asks. "We found her blood on the ropes he used to tie her up. It is the only blood we found," Hugh says. The food arrives and they eat mostly in silence. Hugh doesn't know what to say anymore. He doesn't want to upset them. "Thank you for the food. I am so tired of hospital food," Chad says. Hugh takes a sip of his tea. "You are welcome," Hugh says. His phone rings again. This time it is Louise. "Sorry. I have to take this," Hugh says before answering the phone. "Hi honey. How are you doing? Are you starting to feel better?" he asks. "No. Mom just came to talk to me. She says that she doesn't think I should go to live with you since my life is here. She doesn't understand that I don't have a life here. I've never had a life here. I just want to get away from here and make a life there with you," she says. "I know honey. I am working on it. I will do anything in my power to give you what you want. You just have to be patient," he says. "What can you do dad? Mom has all the power. She doesn't want me to leave, which means I won't be able to," she says. "I have the phone number of a good lawyer. I will talk to your mom again. If she doesn't want to give in, I will call him. I want you to be happy," he says. "Are you happy, dad?" she asks. Hugh thinks about it. He is starting to adapt at work, but he misses his kids. Knowing that Louise is struggling without him is making it even harder. "I try to be, but with you here I would be much happier," he says. Hugh can hear someone talking to Louise on the other side. "I have to go dad. Please call me after you talked to mom," she asks. "I promise I will," he says. "Bye dad. I love you," she says. "I love you too," he says and waits for her to hang up. When she does, he puts his phone in his pocket. "Was that your daughter?" Miranda asks. "Yes, it was. She is not in a very good place in her life right now," he says. "Is something wrong with her?" Chad asks. "No. She is fine, but she wants to come live with me, and my ex-wife has custody. The judge didn't want the children to be forced to change their entire life by moving here, so it was a better option to give my ex custody over them," Hugh explains. "That is not good. Do you think you will be able to get custody?" she asks. Hugh takes the last sip of his tea. "I don't know. I will try the angle of her having custody of our son, and me having custody of our daughter. Then she will still have one of our children and I will have custody of the other," Hugh says. "I hope you can sort this out soon. I don't know why kids can't have a say in where they want to be," Miranda says. "How old is she?" Chad asks. "She is fifteen. She will be sixteen in two months," Hugh says. Everyone is done with their food and coffee. "Thank you for the food, but we have to get going now. Chad has to get back into bed, and you have to meet someone soon," Miranda says. Hugh looks at the time. "You are right," he says. He calls the waiter and asks for the bill. "Thank you for eating with me. I don't know a lot of people here, yet," Hugh says. "No need to thank us. You are working hard to bring Sara home. There is no way to thank you enough for that," Miranda says. The bill arrives and Hugh pays for the food. They get up and walk out of the café. "You have to get better now," Hugh says to Chad and gives him a quick hug when they get to the parking lot. He hugs Miranda too. "I will keep you informed on the case. Don't forget that you can call anytime if you have questions," he says and lets go off her. "I will, thank you," she says. They head in separate directions towards their cars.

Peter is back in the interrogation room with Carl. He is impatient with Carl not giving him any answers. "You realise that you are just wasting your time detective. I won't talk, and you know that," Carl says. "That is what all of the people who sits in that chair says. Most of them confesses after a while. I will keep asking you these questions until you answer them," Peter says. He is sitting on a chair in front of Carl. His phone rings and he sees that it is Hugh. "Hello," he says as he answers the phone. "Hello Peter. Are you still at the office?" he asks. "I am interrogating Carl," he says. "I just stopped at the office. Alice and I are going to look into Caleb's life, but if you want me to come help you with Carl, I will do that," Hugh says. "I am fine on my own. You and Alice can do your thing. Call me if you find anything," Peter says. "Did you get anything out of Carl yet?" Hugh asks. "No nothing, but I will keep working on it. I don't have anywhere to be," Peter says. He looks at Carl who is just sitting there smiling at him. "Good luck. If you need help, call me. Don't do anything stupid," Hugh says before hanging up. "Do you have children, Carl?" Peter asks. "No. I don't like children. They drain you financially and then forget that you ever existed," Carl says. "You are a very bad man, so maybe it is better that you don't have kids," Peter says. "I never killed anyone, so I can't be that bad," Carl says. "You are just as guilty as Caleb, but if you don't speak now you will be the only one behind bars. You don't really want Caleb to get away, do you?" Peter asks. "No, but I will not betray him. What he will do to me if I do, will be worse than any prison sentence," Carl says. "Do you really think so. In prison you will suffer every day, while Caleb is roaming free. He will forget you ever existed and just find someone else to do his dirty work," Peter says. Carl hates the idea of Caleb being free, but he hates the idea of being on Caleb's bad side even more. "I am going to ask you again, where would Caleb take Sara?" Peter asks. "I don't know," Caleb says. All the other times Carl was being brave, but for the first time he is starting to be honest. "I suggest you start thinking. If Sara dies it will be more years behind bars for you than you already have," Hugh says. "I honestly don't know, okay. I knew about the warehouse, but other than that, I don't know," Carl says. Peter can't tell whether Carl is telling the truth or not. "I will not back down. I will keep trying until I find him. I won't rest until he is out of the picture. I hate him with every part of my soul, and I hate you even more now. You ruined my life!" Peter says. Carl doesn't know what he is talking about. Peter takes the photo of his daughter out of his pocket. "Do you remember this girl?" Peter asks and holds the photo in front of Carl's face. "Yes. She was special to Caleb. It was one of the first girls I found for him. She was different. It was the only girl he asked for by name. He told me to find out her patterns, and most importantly, your patterns. He wanted to know when you weren't home. He told me that he wanted to hurt you. He wanted to get you to back off," Carl says. Peter can feel his blood boiling. "Too bad for him. I will never back off. I will not rest until I get justice for her death. I refuse to let her death be another statistic," Peter says. Carl starts laughing. "You won't find him. He won't pay for her death. I know him very well, and I know that he is good at what he does. If he doesn't want to be found, he won't be," he says. "I will make sure that you never see the outside of a prison cell ever again. You think that you are so clever and funny, but you are just as bad as him. You might not kill them, but you might as well hold the knife yourself. You don't care about anyone other than your own selfish needs. The lives of young girls mean nothing more to you than a pay check. You reduced their worth to less than the worth of an animal who is slaughtered for human pleasure. I don't know how you can live with yourself, close your eyes and fall asleep at night," Peter says. His voice is trembling with anger and hatred. He hates Carl with every part of his soul. "I don't regret anything. I would do all of it again. Women are the root of all evil. They think they can manipulate us and play with our emotions, but that is not true. We have to show them who is in charge. If a few girls have to die to show that, I don't mind," Carl says. Peter can feel the last bit of self-control leave his body. He grabs Carl by the neck. "May you rot in hell. People like you don't deserve to be alive on this planet. You rob people of their lives, but keep yours. It just isn't fair," Peter says as he pushes Carl's head back and lets go off him. He storms out of the room. His heart is beating in his ears, and it feels as if he is dying inside. The pain inside him is busy killing him. Every time he thinks about what happened to her, a piece of him is ripped out of him. He doesn't want to feel like this anymore. He hates feeling like this.