The Baby Doll Killer

The Baby Doll Killer

Jenita Bonisa

By Jenita Bonisa

Prologue

She is finally here, and she is beautiful. I can't stop looking at her bare legs flowing beneath her miniskirt. It looks like she went to great lengths to impress me. Good, I like that. She is wearing her braids on top of her head. Her lips are perfectly plump, shiny with lip gloss. She does know how to do it. I learned a lot about makeup on her TikTok channel. She is a master at making up her youthful skin. I can't wait to touch it. Many girls look like they apply every bit of the makeup they own onto their faces. But not Nikki, she is a genius when it comes to matters of beauty. After months of agony, having meaningless high school girl conversations and short meetups, she is sitting next to me in my car, and we are free to do whatever I want. I wonder if she is scared or excited. Both are fine with me “So, where are we going, Lucas?” she says in that cheerleader voice that I could never stand. Chills ran down my back like it would with nails on a chalkboard.

“We are going to one of my favorite places. And then, we can go to whatever restaurant you would like,” I say, smiling at her.

She smiles back at me, but I notice that she is holding onto her purse a little tighter now. Could she be nervous? I think she might be scared, and I like that a lot.

“What do you like a lot?” she says, jolting me out of sheer pleasure.

“You, beautiful. I am just so happy that you are here with me. We are going to have so much fun together.”

“So, I do need to get back soon, so maybe we can just go to dinner and then go back home.”

I can hear the tremble in her voice. Yeah, she is scared. She is probably thinking about how she made a mistake and wishes she had never agreed to come out with me tonight. That's how they all are.

No one likes to stick around.

“Lucas, did you hear me?”

“I heard you. I'm just disappointed, you know. We talked for months online and on the phone. Are you having second thoughts or what? Are you scared of me, Nikki?”

“Look, I told my parents that I was going out with you tonight, but I told them no more than an hour, I just need to get back soon.”

That is a lie, and we both know it. I can see her hands starting to sweat. Her once sexy legs that I couldn't keep my eyes off are now shaking, and her arms are wrapped around her body like she is trying to protect herself.

"Yes, of course, let's go to dinner and then." “You'll take me home?” She looks at me as if she is silently pleading,

“Yeah,” I make sure to say, in a way we both know is not true.

And there it is, that moment of clarity that they all get when they realize their mistake. She is smart and is trying to be brave. But I know that she knows. It's as if she also knows how much pleasure I get when I see the fear in my victims' eyes. Oh, I can tell we are going to have a lot of fun.

“Um, I think that looks like a good restaurant we can go to.”

I look in the direction that she is pointing. Of course, she would pick a place that has heavy traffic and is lit up like a street on Broadway in New York City. I know what you are doing, Nikki, and it is not going to work. In fact, little girl, where we are going, nourishment will not be a problem. I pass up that strip mall and travel until we are on a dark country road where we see nothing but trees and cornfields.

Just then, I hear a sound that makes me look over at Nikki. She manages to get the door open. Thanks to my having to keep up with appearances, I can't be noticed. So when I asked the dealer for the cheapest car on the lot, I was not looking for a nice-looking vehicle or one in good shape. I just needed a large trunk for obvious reasons, well, obvious to me, not them. And I needed to get from A to B. So I guess this is what I get. Nikki jumps out of my car and is now rolling on the street behind me. The sound of her body hitting the pavement tells me that she won't be alive too much longer. I could keep driving and leave her for dead, or I could try to save her life. Just then, I see the lights of another car approaching. I can't take the chance of being seen. So, I pull over to the side of the road so far that my little car is hidden by a few trees. I watch intensely as the car approaches Nikki's body. She stops rolling, and I can see that she is barely moving. As the car steadily approaches her helpless body, it is not slowing down. "Wait, she's not dead, slow down, you're going to kill her," I scream as if the driver can hear me.

And then it happens. The car rolls right over Nikki's body like she is roadkill. A sickening crunch echoes in the air as my stomach does a violent somersault. Oh, my! I feel bile rising in my throat. Well, that went terribly wrong. We didn't even get to play.

1 Jasper

This is probably my fourth time looking at the clock in the last five minutes, like time is going to change its speed for me just so that five o'clock can appear and I can leave work. I generally enjoy work, but today is a special day. It's my birthday! And it is my first birthday that I am married to my dream guy. If there was a husband jackpot, I hit it, which is weird for me because I don't usually win at anything. When I was a kid, birthdays were not a big deal to my parents. My sister, Harper, and I usually waited around for them to announce a big celebration when our birthdays came around, but that never happened. Usually, I had to drop hints that the day was my birthday. Hey, Mom, ten years ago you had a baby girl, remember? Let's celebrate! After so many hints, she would smile and say," Happy birthday, Jasper. Would you like to go get some ice cream?" Sigh. Ice cream? What about a big party? I was ten. My sister finally gave up on passing hints to our parents. She was younger, so I always tried to make her birthday special. It was hard looking at her face and knowing how she felt that there would be no party, no special gift, no one acknowledging our happy birthdays.

Can I at least get a happy birthday? So, I decided that I was going to be that person for her.

I would plan weeks before her birthday and keep adding what I needed to mom's grocery list. Soon, I accumulated all the ingredients in time to make cupcakes for Harper. She started looking forward to my making a big deal out of her birthdays. She was four years younger than I was; for this reason, I never expected her to make cupcakes or make a big deal out of my birthday. Therefore, she could afford to give up on hoping our parents would notice us. But I could not, and I did not give up hope.

I always fantasized about being a part of a family that knew that I existed. That not only knew that I existed, but wanted me to exist, wanted to love me, and spend time with me.

On my twelfth birthday, I made up my mind that I was not going to remind anyone. I wanted to see if they would remember. My dad had left us by then, and my mom turned into a drugged-up zombie, not that I noticed much difference in the amount of time she never spent with us. She almost seemed too preoccupied with her own life to give a rip about us. We practically raised ourselves. Or I raised Harper. When she was a baby, I was made to get diapers, milk, and clothes for her so mom could stay stationary on the couch. I am pretty sure she is the one who coined the term couch parenting.

When she got a little bigger, mom made me change Harper's diapers because of her migraines, which she seemed to get anytime she was required to work. What I really think is that she hated us and wanted nothing to do with us. Migraine was a code word for not wanting to be bothered. So on this twelfth birthday, Harper told me happy birthday and made me a picture at school in art class of the two of us blowing out candles on a cake. This truly was my favorite thing she had ever given me. But what I was waiting for was one of my parents to acknowledge the fact that it was my birthday. I went all morning before school with a big smile on my face, but my mom never noticed. I made up an excuse for her that it was too early for her to think straight. So when I got home from school that day, no one was there. I called my mom, and she didn't answer. I called my dad to see if he wanted to talk to me for some reason-hint, it's my birthday! He answered but said that he was busy and would call me back. So when Harper got home, I started dinner for Mom because it was getting too late, and she still wasn't home. That night we waited and waited, but there were no returned calls or special dinners, or cake to celebrate the day that I was born. I told myself that it was my fault that I didn't remind them. I should have screamed it out loud until they heard me. Instead, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

The next thing that I knew was that my Mom was shaking me awake.

“Jasper, Jasper,” she said.

I opened my eyes and could barely see her standing over me. There was one dim light on in the living room where Harper and I fell asleep on the couch.

“Get up and go to your room. Come on, both of you.” I

looked up at her in confusion as she stared at me.

“What, oh. Here. Is this what you were looking for?”

She handed me a gray plastic bag with the words Walmart written on it. I looked up at her and took it out of her hands. Peering into the bag, I noticed a receipt lodged between a toothbrush, a brush, and an Almond Joy candy bar-yuck, I hate coconut. I just stared at it through my cloudy vision that my tears caused.

“It's your birthday, isn't it? Say thank you,” she said, like she had done something great.

I looked at the clock behind her as it read 12 15 AM. I quickly turned my head so she could not see the disappointment in my eyes. I cleared my throat as I walked to my room and said in a sleepy voice, “Thanks, Mom, goodnight.”

She didn't even say it. She never said happy birthday to me. She tossed a plastic bag at me, which looked like she had picked up while in line at Walmart. Where was she tonight? Every other night, we at least had dinner together. But tonight she chose to stay out until my birthday was over. How do you do that?

“How do you do what?”

Just then, I blink back into reality. I remind myself that I am still at work with two hours left to go. As a nurse, patients are not going to help themselves. I turn toward the voice that just disturbed my flashback. She stands there with her hair in a slick back. The tinted red color in her hair makes her kind of look like a light bulb. She holds her full body well in the red scrubs that she is wearing. Her squinty eyes remind me of a cat and give me the feeling of being safe and comfortable." Oh, hey, Saren, right?" I say, finally speaking.

“That's right, newbie,” she says, smiling at me.

Saren is the head nurse, and we often have rounds together.

“How long am I going to be called newbie?”

"Honestly, until I learn your name."

“That ain't right,” I say, laughing.

“I know, sorry, tell me your name one more time, and I will remember it, but it does help if you wear your nametag.”

I look down and notice the empty spot where my nametag should be. "Oh, my, I keep forgetting to put it on."

“Well, you'd better start remembering, here at Eastview Hospital, we get in major trouble not wearing our name badges.”

“Okay, thanks, I'll remember to wear it next time.”

“So, you never said what you meant earlier.”

“Oh, that, I was just talking to myself,” I cross my arms and hold on to my elbows and squeeze them tightly. It feels like I need something to hold on to, to steady me. I can feel anxiety setting in and a panic attack coming on. I like to generally stay to myself as I find interaction to be a bit exhausting, so I try to avoid it at all costs. “I know, silly, but you seemed a little stressed. Is everything okay?”

I am so embarrassed that I just started working here and hardly interact with anyone, but the first time I do, she finds me talking to myself. What do I say? She is going to look at me like I am weird. I got it! I'll just tell her that I was singing to myself. No, most people don't rant crazy stuff while they are singing that won't work. I could just tell her the truth, but she may really think I am messed up.

“I am fine.” I decide to go with. “I am excited about my birthday, which always gets me worked up.”

"Oh, it's your birthday? Happy birthday."

At the sound of those words, my face lights up. She said those magic words that I love to hear. "Thank you." She has no idea what she just said to me.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-five, my husband and I are going to celebrate after work today. We are going to my favorite restaurant. But not before we go to the art gallery around the corner. I am a lover of the arts, and they are having a special exhibit tonight of one of my favorite artists. He has a new piece showing. I can't wait.”

“Well, I can see how excited you are, a whole new person just came out as you were talking about your plans.”

I glance at the clock again, hoping this conversation brought me right to five o'clock. Just then, my phone beeps letting me know that I have a notification. I reach into my pocket and pull it out. I quickly read the message, so as not to be rude. My smile fades, and my heart sinks when I read the message.

“Hey, are you okay?” Saren asks, stepping closer to me. “Yeah, that was my husband. He can't make it tonight.” I feel the tears starting to pool in my eyes. I don't want to make this weird, so I quickly blink them back.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she says awkwardly.

“No, he will make it up to me. He is in finance and is always working so hard. I'm used to it.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Oh, I'll call my mom and sister. They wanted to take me somewhere, but Finn had already planned tonight. I'll call them. It's totally fine.”

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, no, I'm good," I say, looking away.

“Okay, well, I need to finish my rounds, but if you need anything, let me know.”

"You're sweet, Saren, thank you."

“Ha ha, nobody has accused me of that before. Happy birthday, Jasper.”

I smile at the use of my name while trying to hold back tears. Not only did I lie just now about spending my birthday with my mom and sister, but I also realize that I will be spending my birthday all alone. I have not spoken to my mom since I left home, and Harper is too busy with college life to check in or even acknowledge that she has a big sister. I guess our parents taught her well. I am starting to think my purpose on earth is to exist just to be completely ignored.

2 Detective Price

I hold Jill's hand and pray for a miracle. After several months in therapy and feeling like we could move forward with a happy life together, we decided to have a baby. We have been trying for months, and in one little minute, we will find out whether she is pregnant. I think we are both ready to move on from the affair that she had that almost got her killed. Jason, her boyfriend, if you can call him that, was a pedophile and a murderer, who enticed a bunch of high school boys to convince girls to take salacious photos so that they could be uploaded onto a website and sold like trading cards. I still think about all the lives that were ruined by his crazy scheme. He is currently rotting in jail, but on some days, I secretly wish that I had killed him when he slipped into my wife's hospital room to finish the job he thought he had completed in her hotel room. He thought he had successfully strangled her, but he didn't know that he had left her with breath in her lungs when, in haste, he fled the police. Thank goodness, or we wouldn't be standing here waiting to see if we will be parents nine months from now.

“I can't, you do it,” Jill says as she covers her eyes.

I look at my wife, and in this moment, I am happy that I made the decision to stay with her. When she first told me about her and Jason, I was so hurt that I couldn't see straight. Jill is the love of my life, and I loved her the moment I laid eyes on her in college. And now, not only did I marry the woman of my dreams, but she could also be having my baby.

I grab the pregnancy test off the bathroom cabinet counter without taking my eyes off my beautiful wife. She is peeking through her fingers, and I can imagine the smile on her face behind her hands.

I glance at the stick and replace it in its original spot on the counter. I grab Jill's hands from her face and softly kiss her lips.

“So, you're going to be a daddy?” she says, looking up at me with a hopeful smile.

"Yes, mommy, I am."

She grabs me and holds me tight. I wrap my arms around her slender body and imagine a little girl who looks just like her, with big brown eyes and long brown hair. "Our baby will be perfect, Jill."

“Darren,” her mood changes, and her eyes look like raindrops sliding down her face.

No, not today. Ever since the affair, Jill has not stopped apologizing to me and making sure that I know that she loves me. It did hurt me, but she didn't even sleep with the guy. Though she probably would have if she hadn't found out that he was forcing high school girls to take salacious pictures and selling them online.

“Hey, not today,” I gently grab her chin so that she is looking at me again. “Today, we celebrate this new life that you are bringing into this world. We have been waiting for this. I think it is our turn now," I say, kissing her again.

"You are right, I..."

Just then, my phone starts to buzz. I ignore it because one thing that we learned in therapy was to make each other the priority.

“Go ahead and answer, I just wanted to tell you that I love you, I love us, and I could not be any happier than I am now. Thank you. Now answer your phone.”

I smile at her and pick up my phone.

“Detective Price. When? I'll be right there.”

“What's wrong, Darren?” Jill says with a worried look on her face.

on her face.

“It's work, they found another dead girl, but she is not like the others.”

"How so?"

“Somebody ran over her body. I gotta go. I will see you later for dinner, right?”

“Yeah, let's get takeout and watch a little T.V.”

“My favorite thing to do, with my favorite person. I'll pick something up.”

I take one last look at my newly pregnant wife and then walk out of the room. I rub my head and think about the information that I just received. I don't like this; something is wrong. Everything else matches the other cases, except how she died. Did something go wrong?

3 Jasper

One last thing to do before dinner is complete. In a few minutes, Finn, my husband, will walk through those doors, and we will have the best meal together. I have prepared his favorite meal, even though he stood me up on my birthday the other day. I made sure I tasted the spaghetti bolognese at every step so I could be sure it was perfect and just the way he likes it. And now I just put out the Pinot Grigio, which pairs perfectly with our meal. The salad is tossed, and fresh rolls are just coming out of the oven. I hope this day ends with the two of us tangled up together in our cozy bed. I look around our spacious house one last time before he comes through the front door.

“Hello, handsome,” I say, walking towards him with a glass of wine.

“I didn't expect you to be home.”

“I got off early.”

“Early, why?”

“It's a long story; I will tell you over dinner. For now, Mr. Drake, here is your wine.”

"Jasper, give me a minute. I need to put my things down," he says, a little annoyed.

“Oh, yes of course,” I say, smiling and stepping back so that he can put down his briefcase and take off his shoes. He sounded like he was annoyed with me. I hope that he had a good day. I don't want to spoil dinner, so I ignore his tone. “Hey, it looks like you went through a lot of trouble, but I have some work that I need to get done. So, let's have a quick dinner and then I will be in the study for the evening.”

I should have told him that I went through a lot of trouble to make this meal, and the least he could do is take some time to enjoy it with me. But trying to keep the peace, I say, "Oh, okay, um, well, let's eat." I turn slowly towards the kitchen to hide my disappointment. We have only been married for a little over a year, and this was the first time I could get home early enough to make a meal this elaborate. I put Finn's wine glass on the table next to his place setting. He always sat at the head of the table across from me. We have a long table with enough room for a large family, even though it is just the two of us. Maybe we were planning the extra space for our future children when we purchased it. I smile at the thought of little Finns running around the house and making messes. Well, maybe not messes, Finn requires a spotless house at all times. I am not even sure how he will handle children running around and causing spills.

Finn sits down, and I bring out our fully loaded plates with the delicious food that I prepared.

"Wow, that's a lot of food, baby."

“I know, we can splurge for one day.”

“Splurging causes access fat on those hips of yours.”

“More for you to love, right?” I want to stab him with my knife lying on the napkins that I took the time to fold like we were in an elegant restaurant, but I roll my eyes like he just told me a silly joke instead.

Finn let out a small chuckle but never formed a smile on his lips. I put his plate down in front of him and turn to put my plate down, but before I can make it to my seat, I clumsily trip, and my entire plate splatters to the ground, and the contents spread all over the dining room floor. It feels like I broke my elbow as I landed on it pretty hard. I roll over to get Finn's reaction. He hates messes, and I wasn't sure if he would get upset or not. He could very well see that it was an accident. I hadn't planned on throwing my food all over the floor after tripping over, wait, what did I trip over? Just then, I turn towards Finn and see that his foot is still sticking out. But that is not the worst part. He is looking down at his plate, and it looks like he is enjoying the food that I spent so much time on, but now I can't eat because it's all over the floor.

“Finn!”

“What?” he looks up from his plate like he didn't know that I had just tripped. And then, he turns his head in fake concern. "Aw, Jass, you really need to be more careful."

“But,” I look at his foot sticking out as if to say, you just tripped me and couldn't care less if I was hurt, not to mention the mess that it caused.

“Get up, Jasper, don't be so dramatic, you tripped over my foot. You had to have seen it there.”

I scoff and pull my body off the floor. I scan the dining room, and there is red sauce all over the walls and floor. I look down, and the sauce on my skin looks like I am bleeding all over. I want to cry, but I resist and walk into the kitchen with my throbbing elbow to start the clean-up process.

“Well, that was delicious. You made a great meal. I just wish you hadn't so clumsily fed the floor and walls too,” he says, raising his voice to ensure that I hear him as I am walking in the kitchen.

I stare at him from across the room with sheer hate. Not just for tripping me, but for the argument that is happening in my head at the moment. Did he deliberately trip me? There is no way he would do something like that. He is kind and passionate. He is the guy who helps old ladies at the grocery store and donates to the Salvation Army every year. Once, he even took Christmas gifts to the shelter and passed them out. Anyway, why would he trip me?

“Well, don't just stand there, get this cleaned up.” he turns and walks away, but before he reaches the study, he has the nerves to turn back to me and say, “Oh, by the way, don't take any more time off. I am not going to be the only one paying bills around here. This is not a free ride. We will both pull our weight.” And with that, he walks into the study and closes the double doors behind him.

I can't say a word. I stand there, not knowing what had just happened. I want to yell at him and physically hurt him for tripping me. Just then, I get a vision of me swinging a bat across his face. I see the blood spilling out of his mouth. I can see him trying to crawl to retrieve the teeth that I just knocked out. And then, finally, I can see him collapse. I put my hand over my mouth as if to hide my smile and chuckle for a moment. Wait, I don't really want that. I'm just upset right now. I love Finn, right? I remind myself that I do love him, but I also remember that I have a secret no one knows about, and it would be a bad idea for Finn to continue this behavior. What he doesn't know is that I am not that girl.

4 Saren

Something about Jasper doesn't quite sit right with me. I don't mean anything is wrong with her, but something about her has me puzzled. I noticed it the first day that she joined my team at Eastview Hospital. Everyone was excited to get a new nurse to help with the craziness we endure. I was excited as well; she came highly recommended. She is young and reminds me of my niece, Hazel. Arlo, my husband, and I were not blessed with any children, but we love her as if she were our own. She is with us more than she is with her own parents. But Jasper, I see something in her that I recognize, and I

I am not sure how concerned I should be. I will have to keep my eye on her.

I turn on the oven to warm a muffin, and I start my alternative coffee blend on the stove. I gave up coffee six months ago, and I must say this substitute tastes better than coffee, is healthy, and gives me a boost of energy without the caffeine. That is a win-win. Even Arlo has started drinking the mixture.

“Good morning, hot stuff.” I hear him say as he grabs me from behind to hug me. I can never get enough of him showing affection towards me and the smell of his cologne. I bought him that cologne the first year we were married, and because I love it so much on him, he has never changed it. He is a thin guy, a lot smaller than me, and keeps his hair cut low just the way I like it.

“Your drink will be ready soon; do you want a strawberry muffin?”

“Are they the non-healthy ones?” he says with a hopeful smile.

I also recently changed our eating habits to be a little healthier. We are both at the age where chronic diseases pop up like pimples on your face. So I am being proactive and promoting a healthy lifestyle in our home. Arlo was not very happy about this, but the way I look at it, I am saving both our lives.

“No.”

“Then, no. I will stick with the tomato and kale frittata. “Suit yourself, old man. I promise, they are very good. Just like the alternative coffee you didn't want to try at first, and now that you love so much, you drink way too much.”

“You can't have too much of something healthy.”

"You sure can, I bet your stomach will tell you pretty soon how much of it you should be drinking." I crack myself up thinking about him running to the bathroom needing to relieve himself.

“You think you are so funny, don't you?”

“The vision that I had of you running to the bathroom was pretty funny. I told you not to do that.” I say laughing.

I hand him a mug of the hot mixture of sesame milk, dandelion root, maca root, chicory root, and roasted barley. I set his frittata and a small piece of my strawberry muffin in front of him. He gives me that look that is so familiar when I just won't let something go.

We have been married for twenty-two years, and we are best friends. I'd say he makes me laugh, but we make each other laugh. We cannot be in the same room together in public. We are that couple who do not have to speak to understand what the other person is thinking. Once we lock eyes, we can no longer suppress the laugh that we so desperately want to let out. He calls me in the middle of the day just to say hi, and I can't wait to get home to be next to him. I truly am grateful for our lives together. I didn't always have it so great. My last relationship was a pure nightmare, which is why I worry about Jasper so much. I think she might be living my previous life. I just wonder if she knows it or not. And then, I have an idea.

"Arlo."

“Hmm,” he says with a mouth full of the strawberry muffin he thought would be gross.

“I am going to be home late tonight. You are on your own for dinner,” I say, wiping my hands and putting my dishes in the dishwasher.

“Saren, whatever you are up to, I don't want to know. Just be careful,” he says, warming another muffin.

“Oh, you do know me well. I was just thinking about Jasper, the new nurse at work. Something is not right about her, and it is bothering me. I think I need to get to know her more. I am taking her out to dinner tonight.”

“Good, you can make up for her husband standing her up on her birthday. What a douche bag.”

“Yeah, it would appear so. I am gonna get ready to go, hun. Have a good night.”

He blows me a kiss as he finishes up his breakfast. “I will be leaving soon as well. Have a lovely day.”

I turn towards the door, but before I am fully out, I say, "Oh, and Arlo, I'm glad you like the muffin." And with that, I get his award-winning smile.

5 Lucas

I can't believe that I didn't get my time with Nikki. What an idiot for running over her like that. I couldn't even stick around to take in her pain. Within minutes, there were police swarming the area. I couldn't take the chance of being seen. I promised the other one a friend to keep her company. She held up her end of the deal when that nosy neighbor came to the door. She could have escaped then and there, but she kept quiet as I warned her. I mean, I did have a gun behind the door, pointing at her head, but still, she could have ended her captivity with death at that moment, but she didn't. I think she might be falling in love with me. She knows she needs me. But now I don't have a friend for her as I promised. I guess I will have to find another girl soon.

I like this part of the game. These girls are so willing to let me in. Once they get to their new home, they can't wait to be with me and take care of me like it is in their blood. Thank God this generation is so dependent on their devices. It's nothing but TikTok and Instagram all day long. Nikki mentioned some other networks, but I stick only to a few.

I am almost home and can't wait to see my girl. I will just let her know that her prize is a little delayed. She will be delighted to have dinner together and have me all to herself for another night.

I turn down my street and travel down the long country road where there are only a few houses and nothing else but trees, corn, and bean fields. You gotta love Indiana, especially in the spring as the trees are gaining their leaves. It is easier to hide behind the tall trees surrounding my home, where nature is my only audience.

Every once in a while, Mrs. Wellington appears with some freshly baked goods or vegetables she just pulled from her garden. I just wish she would leave me alone. I hate it when she takes that walk over to my house; it has to be at least a half-mile away. But she claims she needs the exercise, so she sets off with her basket in her hand like she is some overgrown little red riding hood. If she is not careful, I might just have to be the big bad wolf. She is a little old for my taste, but Norman, her husband, passed last Christmas, and I'm sure she is dying to be with him again.

I stop the car in front of my home and prepare myself for the evening. I won't stay long tonight. She needs her alone time, and that is what I will give her.

I walk into the house. "Honey, I am home." I look around, and everything is where I left it before I left for work, as it should be. She can't do much rearranging, being locked in the basement where she belongs. I can't risk anyone knowing that she is here. She is my prize, and I don't want to share her.

I go to the basement, where I allow her to stay. She has a nice setup with everything teenage girls need these days. She has free rein, but I have to keep the basement door locked at all times. Before she came, I had soundproof walls installed, and my favorite part of the basement. This is where she stays when I am not home. I can't have her freely walking around down here when I am not around. I walk over to the wall and push it in slightly, and step back as I watch the walls open up before me. I walk up to the little door, bend down, and unlock it. I see her, with bright eyes, looking back at me. “Hi,” she doesn't speak. Sometimes she gets mad at me if I am gone too long. “Are you ready for a great meal tonight?”

She again just looks at me with her dirty face and messy hair. I need to fix this.

“First, let's get you into the shower; you stink. And do something with your hair. If you keep looking like this, I am going to cut your hair, and you will wear those wigs that you don't like.”

I grab her arm and lead her out of the small closet and walk her to the shower in the basement. She really does have everything she needs down here. She has never been upstairs. Well, except for when I brought her home. She is required to keep this area clean. This is where we cultivate our relationship and spend all our time together.

“I am going upstairs for a while, but I will be back with dinner. Make sure you look presentable when I return.”

When I return, we eat, and I give her the time of her life, which makes her tired. I get up to leave, and I finally hear her voice.

"You're leaving?"

Aw, she wants me. That feels nice. "Yes, you need time to yourself."

“But I'd like to sleep in the bed tonight. When you leave, I have to sleep in the closet.”

“Oh, silly, you know why. Don't make it sound so bad. I just love you so much that I want you to myself.”

“I promise, I won't go anywhere. I just want to sleep, and I can't do that in the closet.”

I stare at her for a moment and come up with a compromise.

“Alright, how about we chain you to the bed as you sleep tonight?”

She shakes her head vigorously, as if I were offering her freedom. Not a chance, buttercup, you are all mine. I chuckle to myself.

"Okay, get ready for bed. I will get you all set up."

She smiled and looked away from me as if she didn't want me to see that I had just made her happy. "You can say thank you, you know."

"And?" “Thank you, Lucas,” she says, almost in a whisper.

“You are my best friend, and I don't know what I would do without you,” she repeats like a machine. But I don't care how she sounds; those words are like music to my ears, and one day she will mean it. For now, I need to focus on finding my next girl.

6 Jasper

My head is reeling as I sit at the counter and check patient files. I keep thinking about Finn and how he behaved the other night. He had never acted like this before. And pretending that it was my fault that he tripped me, what was that about? It was like a switch was turned on, and he became a whole different person.

"There she is," says Saren as she hands me more files.

More importantly, she introduces me to what looks like a goddess. She is beautiful in every way.

"This is Dr. Jill Price; she is in cardiology."

“Hi, I am Jasper, or, as Saren calls me, newbie. I just started here, “I say, standing up and shaking her hand, but unsure why she is introducing us. life."

"Oh, well, how are you liking it so far?" Jill says.

“I love it. I have always wanted to be a nurse my entire

“Well, Jill has some great news, and we are going out tonight to celebrate. We would love for you to join us.” Saren says, looking hopeful.

“Yes, I just found out that I am pregnant. It is really early, and I know most people don't tell other people until they are about to show, but I just can't keep this to myself.”

hand. “Oh, girl, I get that. Congratulations.” I say, waving my

“So what do you say?” Saren asks.

I instantly think about Finn and him having to make his own dinner and eat alone, and I quickly respond, "Sure, I'd love that."

Back at you, jerk, I say to myself, thinking about my husband. I hope he gets really upset that I won't be home until late tonight. He can make his own dinner, and if he wants to throw it all over the floor, he can clean that up, too.

“Perfect, I will text you the restaurant. I will also be inviting some other friends. Are you okay with that?”

I hesitate to answer because I think about hanging out with Jill, who looks to be in her thirties, Saren, who I am almost sure is in her fifties, and then her friends, who must be around the same age, and how it might not be the kind of night I call fun. She must be reading my mind because she chimes in instantly.

“Relax, these ladies are not too much older than Jill; they are from my women's group. We get together once a month to talk about life and how to navigate healthy relationships."

“That's cool. Okay, I will be there.” I need more friends. Or I need friends. I currently do not have a single friend. For the longest time, I counted Harper as my friend, but she is trying to live her own life without me, I guess. So I am excited to meet this group of women not to mention I could use some help in the life department as well.

I think this will be good for me.

7 Detective Price

Most crime scenes do not bother me, but this one had me shaken. I don't know if it is because of the recent news that I am going to be a father or what. Seeing Nicole Humphrey's body on the pavement was disturbing at the least. I can't wrap my head around this one. She was not reported missing; her parents didn't even know that she was gone. They thought she was asleep in her room the whole night. But I still have a feeling that there is a connection between this case and the two dead girls, Melinda Dane and Tara Parks.

They went missing two years ago, a year apart. We found their bodies in their own homes. Melinda was the first to go missing, and then on the anniversary of her disappearance, her parents got a phone call. The caller used A.I to mimic her voice to tell her parents that she was home and needed help. Her body was arranged at her desk, tied to the chair as if she were studying for a test. She looked immaculately dressed, and her hair was combed to perfection. Her attacker applied makeup to her face. And even though her body was stiff and she was dead, she looked like she was as pretty as she was the day that she went missing, which meant that she had not been dead long. The killer took good care of her and must have known when the parents would be out of the house. He had to plan the return of their daughter carefully so he would not get caught. This was a risky move.

According to the coroner's report, she died of neuromuscular blockade. She was given a large amount of the chemical, succinylcholine, which paralyzed the muscles and caused her to go into respiratory arrest. This guy is very sick. Where would he get a chemical like this? It only takes a couple of seconds after ingesting it to kill a person. It is very painful for the victim, but it is quick and easy. It preserves the body, leaving no marks.

Tara's case was almost identical to Melinda's. She was abducted the same day Melinda was discovered. And on the anniversary of her abduction, she was also found in her bedroom, tucked into bed. The killer made another phone call using A.I, telling the parents that she was sick and didn't feel well. They were out of town at the moment and took the next flight back home, only to find her stiff as a board, rotting in her room, tucked in bed, as she had just died. Unfortunately, they got there too late to see the skills of the killer to make their daughter look like perfection.

But this next girl, Riley Sims, who is black, with curly dark hair and fair skin, has been missing for about eleven months now. We have not been able to find her. We are running out of time; we have about a month before we find another dead body. I can't let that happen. We have to find this prick. But what gets me is what he was doing with Nicole? He has never had two girls at the same time. So why now? Maybe he has nothing to do with this case. But something tells me that he does. Both girls were African American, around seventeen years old, were active on multiple social media platforms, had been missing for exactly a year, had staged deaths, and were very popular in school. Could this be another teenage boy wreaking havoc on the girls at Engle High School again? I put down my files and stand up from behind my desk. I walk over to grab my jacket and walk out of my office.

“Markis, let's go. We need to go talk to Nicole's parents.”

“Yes, sir,” he says, following close behind me. “Do you think this is connected to "the baby doll case?”

“Markis, I told you to stop calling it that.”

“Right, it just seems to fit, you know? Everyone is calling it that, and I guess, it rubs off.”

“Markis!”

"Sorry, sir."

“And to answer your question, I'm not sure if this case is connected to the other missing girls, but that is why we are going to talk to the parents.”

8 Riley

Regret hurts more than a slap across the face. If I could choose, I would rather take someone swiping me than to feel the pain of regret that I am feeling right now. He left me in the basement, chained to a chair. I am grateful that he didn't lock me in the closet. But as I look around, nothing in this room could make me want to stay here. I feel like I am in a life-size dollhouse. Everything is just so perfect, it's almost eerie. He says that I should be grateful, I say that he is sick. He wants me to love him, but I hate him. I can't stay here any longer. I have to find a way out.

If I could talk to my mom, I would tell her sorry for getting myself into trouble. I would tell her that I will do all my chores without complaining. I won't stay on the phone all night and be mad about getting up for school the next morning. I won't get mad every time someone talks to me in the morning, and I am still tired. But mostly, I promise to listen when she tries to warn me about social media. I thought I was being safe. I thought that he was my friend. I just wanted to have what everyone else had. I wanted a boyfriend, and the boys at school were not interested in me. I thought that I was pretty popular, but for some reason, only Shelly Monroe got all the boyfriends. I just got tired of her always rubbing it in my face. So when the opportunity presented itself, I took it. But was it really an opportunity? I guess not. I am going to die down here. Oh, God, I am only seventeen. I can't die yet. I have never been more scared in my life. I hate being alone in this creepy old house, but I hate it even more when he is here. I hate having to pretend to be his perfect girl. I hate having dinner with him, and most of all, I hate when he climbs on top of me. I guess you have to be careful what you ask for, right?

I feel the tears start to flow down my face. I look at the long chain that connects me to the chair bolted to the ground. I have just enough rope to move around the room, but not enough to get to the door. I want to break these chains and run for my life, but even if I managed to break the chains, the door upstairs is always locked. I remember him telling me this as he sat me down on that first day, chained up, and explained the rules. I couldn't stop crying, and that is when he told me that I should relax and that if I stayed with him for a year, he would return me to my home. I stopped crying, but then realized that I would not see my family or friends for a whole year. I worried about my mom and how worried she would be. Would they move on without me, or would life stop for them?

I don't even know how long I have been here. I just know that I can't stay any longer. For some reason, I don't think he will just let me leave. I have seen his face; he has done things to me that would get him into a lot of trouble. He is not going to let me go. Just then, I look around the room as if I am only just thinking about escaping after all this time. I look for anything that I can use to break these chains,

but they are so thick that it seems impossible. I have to think of another way. But one thing is for sure: I'm getting out of here.

9 Saren

I pray that tonight is a success. I hope Jasper likes the group of ladies that I have invited tonight. I think they will get along just fine. When I look at her, I can see myself, or the person that I used to be. Before Arlo, I was in an abusive relationship and didn't know how to get out. Part of me thought that I deserved to be talked down to and treated like I was nothing. I was used to my dad speaking to me this way and watching my mother do nothing. So, I grew up thinking that this behavior was normal. But, as time passed and I became miserable in my relationship, I sought professional help.

I started seeing a therapist, and she helped me to see that what I was experiencing was abuse. She taught me a term that I had never heard. She told me that I was dealing with a partner with narcissistic traits. Again, I was confused. I wanted to know more about what narcissism was. So I continued to see her, but I did research on my own. I renewed my library card, and I read so many books on narcissism, and it was intriguing what I learned. I had no idea that there was a term for how my dad treated me, as well as my ex-boyfriend.

My next goal was to figure out how I could avoid ever meeting another human being with this mental disorder. Part of me felt sorry for both my dad and my ex-boyfriend. Having this disorder meant they really would never experience real life, have meaningful relationships, and know what it felt like to be loved and accepted. Everything that they know is fabricated or is some sort of distorted reality. Such a shame.

Now that I had a name for the behavior, I knew what to look for. My therapist helped me to heal from the narcissistic abuse that I experienced. Soon after, I felt like I was strong enough to date without choosing a toxic mate, and I met Arlo. He was the complete opposite of the men I used to date and my father. I knew instantly that I would marry him.

Now I run a women's group once a month, and even though I told Jasper that we talked about relationship issues, this is a group that I run for women with narcissistic partners. I don't want to scare her off, so we will take it slow with her. It is not easy hearing that the person you chose to love is a narcissist and that he is incapable of having a normal, healthy relationship. I cried for months when I found out and even went through the stages of grief as I mourned the relationship that I thought I had. I thought I loved him so much that I could make him change. I even considered settling for who he was, even though I knew I was not happy. My therapists helped me to gain the confidence that I needed to love myself enough to want better for my life. So, I want to take it slow. I am not a therapist and don't want her to run off before I can help her. I have never met her husband before, but I am almost certain she is a victim of narcissistic abuse.

Just then, I see both Phalen and Luna walking into the restaurant. I wave them over to our table. I then slide out of the booth to greet them. We love this restaurant; it is like an old country kitchen that does a great job serving healthy soul food options. That may seem like a contradiction, but it can be done. “Well, hello, ladies.”

“Hi, Saren,” Phalen speaks first.

“Hello, Saren.”

“I invited Jill tonight to celebrate her great news and a new nurse at Eastview, so tonight will just be a social night. If you need to check in, we can stay later or talk until they get here.”

“Well, I just want to say that Jax is driving me crazy,” says Luna as if she could no longer hold in another word. I look at the doors and do not see Jill nor Jasper, so I nod to Luna to keep talking.

“Do you know that Jax told his mother that I don't take care of the kids the way that she does and that he wishes that she could teach me how to do it. And she believed him and had the nerves to call my phone, talking about how she wanted to come over to teach me how to properly take care of my kids.”

Luna has her finger pointing towards the ceiling, and her head looks like it will roll off her neck at any moment. Her perfectly brown skin is the shade of red as if she had just been running. As she is talking, her already big and round eyes are popping out.

“Okay, girl, take a breath, and oh no, he didn't!” Phalen jumps in.

"What did you do?" I ask.

“I told her, okay, step one foot in this house and see what happens.”

Phalen let out the biggest laugh as I couldn't help but chuckle.

“Girl, you are crazy, but I probably would have done the same thing.”

"Okay."

I watch the two of them slap hands and continue laughing together. I love watching them interact. When we met, we were all strangers. God brought us together, and I love watching what he is doing with these ladies. A year ago, Luna would have allowed her mother-in-law into the house, endured her criticism, and fought with Jax later about it. Now she is taking charge, which is what we have to do in relationships with narcissists. Neither Phalen nor Luna wanted a divorce once they found out about their husbands. We explored ways to successfully stay in a marriage with a narcissist.

“So what did Jax do?” I ask.

“Oh, he has not talked to me since then, which was last week. But I don't care; that's free time for me.”

“I hear that,” says Phalen.

I ask.

"What about you, Phalen? Are you still gray rocking?"

“I am,” she said, stroking her hair. At this moment, she looks like she morphed into a little girl sitting at the dinner table, and she is upset about something she does not want to talk about.

“How is that going?”

“Sometimes, I want to break the silence, but then I realize that if I don't set this boundary, then we can't be together and raise our children together. That is the only reason I stayed is so that my kids can have a stable home life, as much as they can under the circumstances.”

“Do you think he is catching on?”

“I think so, he definitely keeps asking what is wrong. I want to talk to him, but I don't want it to end with me trying to defend myself or in an argument.”

“Have you tried leaving for a couple of days to get more distance?” asks Luna. “I did actually. And I thought about telling him that if he calls me names, then I will walk away and the conversation will be over because that is one of our biggest issues.”

“I think that is a great way to set that boundary,” I say. “Setting boundaries? Am I at the right table? I thought we were here to celebrate.”

I look up and see Jill standing at the table.

“Hey, Jill. Ladies, you remember Jill, right?”

“Hey, girl,” says Luna.

me.

We all make room for her, and she sits down next to “Jasper is not here yet, I take it?” asks Jill.

“Yeah, she will be a little late. She had to finish up at the hospital. But she should be here by now. You can share your news if you like while we wait for her.”

“Yeah, girl, what are we celebrating?” asks Phalen.

“Darren and I are going to have a baby,” she says with the biggest smile on her face. She and Darren had been trying for a baby for a while now.

disheveled.

here." I say. “Aw, congratulations.”

“I am so happy for you, Jill,” says Luna.

“Hi, I am here,” Jasper comes to the table looking

"Hey, Jasper, come on, sit, sit. We're glad you are"

“I am so sorry that I am late. Finn acts like he does not live in the house and knows where things are. He has called me at least fifteen times asking where stuff is.”

Phalen.

"Oh, sweetie, how long have you been married?" asks

"A year."

I watch as the entire table falls into laughter. And Jasper looks at each of them like they were making fun of her.

“Jasper, they are not making fun of you. You have just been initiated. Every married woman on the planet has said those same words. It is a part of marriage. By the way, ladies, this is Jasper. Jasper, this is Phalen and Luna. Phalen is a lawyer, and Luna is the elementary principal in Eastview.”

what?" “Nice to meet you both. So are we celebrating or “Definitely,” Luna chimes in.

Everyone grabs a menu and is engrossed in choosing what they will have for dinner tonight. I keep my eyes on Jasper, and in this moment, I am very sure that she needs to be here.

10 Detective Price

I hate this part of my job. I don't like to see the faces of the parents who have lost their children. It is my job to protect this community, and it makes me feel like I am horrible at it. The last win we had was Rachel Hamilton, a teenage girl who went missing when some punks kidnapped her and left her in the field to die. I need another win like that. We found her just in time, alive and well. In this case, we already have two dead teenage girls and one missing. We have to find Riley Sims, and I hope what we find out today will give us some leads to do just that.

I knock on the door to the Humphreys'. Markis is standing next to me. He has his hands behind him, but he is standing like he needs to barf. I can tell that he is nervous. It's kind of weird seeing him like this; he usually has so much to say. Markis is a good cop, and he is very wise, especially for being so young. In the car ride over, he never stopped talking about the case. And now he stands here speechless and looking like he will break down at any moment.

38

“Hey, be cool, man. This is hard, but you'll be fine. It gets better.” I say to him in a whisper.

We both stare at the door as we wait for it to open. After what seems like a lifetime, we hear the click of the door, and a small woman appears from behind it. Her eyes are puffy and red, and her hair is still in her bonnet. Her sweatpants and t-shirt look as if she had been wearing them for days. She is a young mother and looks a lot like the picture that we have of Nicole.

“Yes?” she says with her small voice.

“Mrs. Humphrey?” I say.

“Yes.”

“I am Detective Price, and this is Markis Lane. We would like to ask you a few questions about your daughter, Nicole.”

“What do you want to know?” she says, leaning on the door as if it were keeping her from falling.

“Could we come in, Ma'am? We have a few questions for you. It would really help us to find the person who did this.”

At this, she steps back and raises her hand like she is an usher at church, leading us to our seats. We walk into the small and cozy room very well decorated. The foyer leads to an open floor plan to the kitchen and family room. She offers us a seat, and I sit in a rocking chair while Markis takes a seat on the couch. She sits in a LaZ-Boy and pulls the colorful knitted blanket that was in the chair over her. Just then, I feel guilty because it seems we may have interrupted her quiet time.

“So what is it that you want to know, Detective? My daughter was hit by a car,” she says, looking back and forth between the two of us.

“Do you know where Nicole was going or who she was with?” “No, I thought Nikki was sleeping in her bedroom. I had no idea that she was even out.”

“What it looked like was she was going somewhere, but she didn't have her purse or phone with her. Did you find any of those things in her bedroom?”

them?" “No, she is never without at least her phone.”

“What about her friends? Did you speak to any of

“I did, I called each one of her friends the moment I was informed that she had been...”

She stops talking and grabs a tissue.

“It's okay, Mrs. Humphrey, take your time,” Markis says, standing up and squatting next to her. “Everything that you tell us will help us to find out what happened to Nicole.”

“Nikki, please, she didn't like being called Nicole.”

"Sorry, Nikki. We really just need to understand why she was in that area with no car, phone, or her belongings."

“I suppose she was with someone, but all of her friends say that she was not with them.”

I cut into the conversation even though Markis is doing a great job, “So, what about a computer? How visible was she on social media?”

"Social media was her life."

“So, did she meet anyone new lately? Did she talk to you about meeting someone?” I ask. “No, but Nikki seemed a little different these last couple of weeks. I noticed her smiling more, and if you know teenagers, they only smile with their friends or someone they like. All I got was attitude and frowns. She usually walked around the house with her AirPods. So, she barely spoke to us.”

“We do have her computer already, but I would like to look in her room a bit. Is that okay with you?”

“Yes, no problem, but Detective?”

“Yes.”

“I have heard about the baby doll case, and I know that a girl is still missing. Do you think Nikki was taken and not just out and about, and got hit by a car? If Nikki was taken by the same person, wouldn't that girl need to have been found dead in her home already?”

Not that name again. I guess it is catching on. For the first time in my life, I was speechless. Not that she knew too much about the case, but she said exactly what I was thinking. I knew something was bothering me about this case and how the dots connected, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I don't think Nikki ran away. On the contrary, I think she was trying to escape someone, but who?

“Uh, I can't talk about the case, but I can tell you that we are working every angle and hope that what we find here and on her computer will answer some questions.”

I turn and look at the two rooms in front of me. One was purple with flowers on the wall. It looked like a room for a younger girl. When I walk through the other room, I am a little taken aback. I expected to see pink walls and colorful curtains, as Mrs. Humphrey stated that she had two daughters. But instead, I saw dark gray walls and black curtains. The room was really dark, and I could barely see a thing. I open the curtains to let in a little light. Even though the room didn't scream girl, I instantly knew this was Nikki's room. I put on a pair of gloves and start looking through all of her things. I shuffle through old movie pass stubs, Polaroids of her friends at football games, some receipts, and clothing tags. I pick up an old Starbucks coffee cup off her desk and smell the inside of the cup.

“We didn't clean up anything in here. I just couldn't.” Mrs. Humphrey says, coming up behind us.

me. “No worries, Ma'am,” Markis says to her as he looks at

“Well, I will leave the two of you to it. Let me know if you need anything.”

thinking?"

"Will do," Markis then turns to me. "What are you

“I am not sure yet, but this does not smell like coffee; it smells like she had alcohol in this cup.”

“It wouldn't be the first time that a teenager took a drink or two from their parents' stash.”

“No, but when I looked around the house, I didn't see a wine rack.”

“Maybe the parents keep the wine up in a cabinet.”

“Maybe, Markis, please go ask Mrs. Humphrey if she keeps wine in the house.”

While Markis is busy talking with Mrs. Humphrey, I look around a bit more. I see Nikki's book bag and look through it. I pull out a couple of notebooks and open one to see what looks like math notes. I pull out another, and there is nothing but drawings. I pick up some of the Polaroids on her desk and compare them. The comparison between the drawings and the Polaroids is remarkable. I look for more drawings and find more matches. I am not sure why, but these drawings feel like they are important. I feel like I need to pay attention to them. I flip through and see a couple of names written in block letters. It kind of reminded me of using Word art or graffiti. I pick up the Polaroids and take the notebook; I then scoop up a couple of the receipts and tags left behind on her desk and pull out a bag to contain the evidence that I just collected.

“Hey, did you find anything?” Markis says as he enters the room.

“I am not sure yet. What did she say about the alcohol?”

“They don't keep alcohol in the house; Mr. Humphrey is a recovering alcoholic, and that is the way she supports him.”

“Interesting, we need to find out why Nikki had alcohol in this cup and where she got it.”

“We have contacts for her friends. When we get back to the office, I can contact each one,” Markis offers.

“Do you think they will cooperate and tell you the

“They won't have a choice; they are just girls; I can scare them into talking to me.”

I give a small chuckle as we walk out of the room. We head towards the front door, but stop to ask Mrs. Humphrey one last question.

“By the way, did Nikki have sleepovers here or go to her friend's house for sleepovers?”

“She has friends come over, and she goes over to their houses, but we have never allowed her to have sleepovers. We figure friendships can be cultivated during the day. Sleepovers are a recipe for other issues and are unnecessary.”

“Perfect, thank you. Was Nikki rebellious, you know, got into smoking weed, or drinking, running away, or skipping school?”

“Not usually, she made great grades and was working on a scholarship to different art schools here in Indiana. Why? Did you find something?”

“Not a lot, I just wanted to know what type of person she was. I did find a coffee cup with what smelled like alcohol.”

Mrs. Humphrey instantly put her head down and then turned away. I look at Markis, and he looks back at me.

“Uh, is there something that you need to tell us?”

“Not really, Detective. But we did find her drinking one night. She tried to hide it, but my husband pointed out at dinner that she looked like she was drunk. And sure enough, we went into her room, and we found empty bottles of wine coolers. We asked where she got it, and all she would tell us was that it was a gift from a friend. We grounded her, and she promised never to drink again. We also told her that she couldn't see this friend anymore. But I guess she did anyway."

weeks ago." “Do you know who this friend was?”

“We never found out who it was. This was a few

“How often did she clean her room? Could this be old?”

“No, when we found the wine coolers, she drank right out of the bottles. We dumped out the rest. So she must have gotten more.”

“And did you verify with parents that none of her friends purchased or gave Nikki the wine coolers?”

“Yes, I basically accused all of Nikki's friends of providing her with alcohol. She wasn't very happy with me that day. But we fixed it, she didn't run away if that is what you are thinking. She was over the whole alcohol thing, and she seemed really happy. I mean, she still wasn't very talkative, but at least she wasn't snarling at me.”

"Okay, thank you for your time. You were very helpful."

We walk out the door and down the steps, but before we can get too far, Mrs. Humphrey calls out to us.

“Detective Price, Officer Markis, please find who did this to my baby girl. We are devastated and need a win.”

I don't usually like to make promises, so I just nod my head, but internally I promise myself that I will find the evil person who did this.

11 Jasper

I wonder what he will do when he figures out that I will not be cooking dinner again tonight. The way that I see it is everybody gets something bad that happens to them in their lifetime. Seeing that I had a failure of a mother and a non-existent father who died of an overdose when I was sixteen, I have had my share of horror in this lifetime. Therefore, what I will not do is stand for my husband treating me like I am some battered wife because that is the last thing that I will be. I am going to stand up to him; that is what all the books say, right? I cannot allow him to get away with his behavior. What I just don't understand is what happened to the happy, loving man that I married? I can't reconcile that man with the man that I met the other night. I mean, they say when a man shows you who he is, believe it, but I am starting to think that maybe he was just having a bad day. Because how could he just turn into some mean husband demanding me not to take any more time off work and tripping me. He was so cruel then. So I have made up my mind that no, I am not cooking dinner today until this game of tug-of-war in my head stops. Only, when I hear the key turn in the door, my heart sinks, and I lose all of my courage like it was unplugged and suddenly drained. I sink into the couch and brace myself for conflict.

kissing me.

"Hey, baby," he says, walking over to the couch and

“Hi, I look away.”

Totally ignoring my mood, he grabs my face and kisses me again. And right then, I am reminded of how much I actually love this man and love being with him. I lean in to kiss him back and wrap my arms around him. I start to forget about the other night.

After a while, he stops kissing me and sits on the couch next to me. He looks at me and gives me those puppy dog eyes. I stare into his coal-black eyes and put my fingers through his coal-black hair. Finn's mother was black, and his dad is Irish American with deep Celtic roots. He looks more Spanish and is often mistaken for Hispanic. In other words, he is beautiful.

“Hey, I am sorry about the other night. I must have been a little tired. I should have helped you up when you tripped over my foot.”

I sat up and moved away from him. I thought for sure he was going to say that he had temporarily lost his mind and thought it would be funny to see me trip, and now I realize how incredibly cruel it was and that he would never do anything like that again.

“Uh, you are sorry for not helping me up?”

“Yeah, my beautiful wife was on the floor, I should have helped you up.”

How about you should have never tripped me, you arrogant psychopath. I wanted to say.

“Finn, you tripped me. I just can't figure out if it was an accident or on purpose.” I say slowly.

At those words, Finn says nothing. He just stares at me. I could see his chest rising and falling quickly. He has no expression on his face. The silence is unbearable, and I can't seem to figure out where to put my eyes. Finally, he clears his throat and smiles. “Well, no need to split hairs, let's just say we were both having hard days, and we both did some things we probably should

not have. Let's just call it even and have a great evening."

Did he really just do this? For the life of me, I can't figure out what I did wrong. And, I did not have a hard day; I was in a happy mood until he came home and ruined it. I take a deep breath in and smile at myself.

“Let's also just say that, if you trip me again, I will break your foot.”

Finn let's out a loud gasp as if I did what I really wanted to do and punched him in his face. "What?"

I start to laugh," I am just kidding, but I feel like now we are even." I get up and walk away. I want to turn around and see the look on his face, but I didn't want to gloat.

"Hey, what's for dinner?" he yells after me.

“I don't know, check to see if there is any more spaghetti on the floor. I might have left some there as I was cleaning it up.” I say. Okay, so the slate isn't so clean, and I am clearly still upset. Even I was surprised by those comments that I made to Finn.

The next thing that I hear is the door slamming. I walk out into the hallway and look out the window. Finn is pulling out of the driveway. I take a deep breath and pick up my phone. I text him Where are you going? He lets me know that he is going to find himself something to eat and not to wait up for him.

I sit down on the couch and wipe the tears from my eyes. What just happened? What is happening? We have only been married for a year, and I am starting to feel like this was a mistake. I don't recognize the man that I am seeing right now. This hurts me to my core. I thought that I was being careful with whom I chose to both date and marry. I tried to create a life that I didn't have growing up. All I ever wanted was to have a family of my own and for someone to love me. I mean, we have had arguments in the past, but this feels different. This feels like a permanent shift in our relationship. A shift that I do not like.

I walk over to the mirror and see the tears rolling down my face. I wipe them away and tell myself that it is going to be okay. I talk to the person looking back at me in the mirror. "Why do you always pick the wrong guy, Jasper?" I then think about Vance, my high school boyfriend, who tried to hit on my twelve-year-old sister while he was at the house one day. I got gasoline from the garage and waited until he was outside. I poured it all over him and told him if he touched or talked to my sister again, I would kill him. I lit the match and threatened to throw it on him if he didn't leave. He got in his car, and I never saw him again. And if I happened to pass him in the hallways at school, he would turn and go in a different direction. I basked in the knowledge that he couldn't tell anyone what I did because he would have to tell them why I did it. Just then, my phone rings.

“Hello,” I try to make my voice sound normal.

“Jasper, what's wrong?” the other voice asks right away.

“Saren, hi, nothing. I am okay.” Well, I am hungry, but that's my fault.

“Why do you sound like you have been crying?”

You know the times when you were a little girl, and you got hurt. You cry a little and then try to get it together, but the moment you see your mother, you fall apart? This is how I am feeling right now.

The frog in my throat hinders me from speaking.

“I am coming over,” is all I hear, and then she hangs up.

12 Saren

I hang up the phone with Jasper and grab my keys.

“Arlo!” I yell out his name. I hear him walking down the hall towards the kitchen, where I am.

"Why am I being summoned?"

“I have to go out tonight.”

"But Hazel is on her way here," he reminds me.

“I totally forgot about that.” Just then, Hazel comes walking into the kitchen.

“Hi, Auntie, hi Arlo.”

"Hi, Hazel."

“What's wrong?” she says as she suspects that something is wrong.

“Nothing is wrong, but I have to step out for a few, a friend needs me, and it is quite urgent.”

“No worries, can I come?”

At first, I hesitate but quickly realize that this could be a better solution. “Sure, have you eaten?”

"Not yet."

“Good, we can grab something on the way.”

“That's going to interfere with your diet, dear.”

"Shut up, Arlo," I say, smiling at him.

“You're so good to me,” he says, grabbing his chest and feigning a broken heart.

We get over to Jasper's house in record time and wait at her doorstep. When I heard her voice and figured she had been crying, I knew it was important to check in on her. She opens the door. “Have you eaten?” I say, holding up take-out. “No, I haven't actually, but you really didn't have to come all the way over here.”

“Nonsense, this is my niece Hazel, we are here to cheer you up,” I say as Hazel weirdly looks at me.

“Well then, you'd better get in here.”

Jasper's house is amazing. It is spacious, and everything is in place. I wonder how much time she spends on cleaning and keeping it looking the way that it does. She does not strike me as a neat freak, but somehow her house is immaculate.

“Wow, Jasper, your home is beautiful and very neat. I almost don't want to sit down and mess things up.”

“Don't be silly, Finn does like it a certain way, what gets messed up I can fix. Please have a seat.”

I stare at her as her eyes avoid my own. I sit down at the table and take out the Chinese food that we brought with us. Hazel asks to use the bathroom, and I take this time to gather some information.

“So tell me, Jasper, what's going on?”

Jasper starts slow, but then I find her talking so fast and in rage that I want to tell her to slow down. Instead, I sit and listen to her. Before she gets done explaining, Hazel comes out of the restroom

and sits next to us and starts to divvy out the food on plates Jasper brought out.

“Thank you for sharing that with me, Jasper. I knew something wasn't right when I called you. Sometimes it helps to just let it out.”

"Do I sound crazy?" “Yes, especially when you told him to find his dinner on the floor, but I would have probably said the same thing, so I guess we are both crazy,” we laugh at ourselves for a moment.

“But seriously, it didn't sound like you overreacted. In fact, I have a confession to make.”

on me. “What?” she asks, putting down her food and focusing

“The group of ladies that you met the other night was not just a group of ladies who discuss relationships. We specifically discuss mental health disorders. The group that you met, minus Jill, has husbands who have shown some narcissistic personality traits.”

“I'm sorry, what?”

“Look, I am not a therapist, nor can I diagnose any type of mental health issue, but I have worked with a lot of individuals with N.P.D, and I feel like I can spot not only someone with narcissism, but women with narcissistic partners.”

“I don't think I follow,” she says, standing up.

The look in her eyes tells me that she does understand at I am trying to tell her.

us." “I don't know Finn very well, but I know you.”

“Barely,”

“You are right, but it does not take much to spot one of

“Us?” Arlo?”

“No, Arlo is an angel. My ex-boyfriend was a narcissist, and he was also physically abusive. So I know what you are going through. And the stories you just told me about tripping you, demanding you not take days off, missing your birthday, I can bet my life on it.” “But he doesn't normally act like this. Something must have happened to him; maybe he is hurting.”

“It is very normal for you to feel like protecting him or to feel sorry for him, but right now we need to get you prepared.”

what?"

him." “For what? How do we get rid of this, medicine or

“The only true way to get rid of this is to get rid of “What? No,” she starts to cry into her hands.

'Wait, just listen to me. I am not telling you to leave your husband. I am telling you that I can help you to live a normal life," I say, putting my hands on her forearm.

She moves her hands and looks at me. “How?”

“Well, first things first. Where is Finn?”

“He went to find dinner,” she lets out a small laugh.

“We need to get you cleaned up. We can't let him see you like this. Narcissists get fed when they see that they have hurt you.”

“What?”

“Yeah, it's like a drug that keeps them going. They need that interaction and will do whatever it takes to get it.”

table.

"I am so confused," she says, sitting back down at the

“Jasper, there is a lot for you to learn, and I am going to help you. I want you to start joining my group once a month. But for now, we need to get you ready for Finn's return. Hazel, this is you.” “Okay, girl, how do you feel about Waka Flocka Flame?” “Oh, I am way down,” she says, standing up.

“So let's do No Hands and put it on my TikTok.”

I generally do not make videos on TikTok, but I needed to get Jasper out of her funk. Hazel is always trying to get me to do these dances with her, so tonight I kill two birds with one stone. The three of us are learning the moves and practicing over and over. We finally get it after what seems like the hundredth time. We post it on TikTok and watch how silly we look doing this dance when we hear Finn come into the room.

When he walks in, I can see why Jasper is so attracted to him; he is as cute as a button. He looks like he spends his days at work and nights at the gym. I can see how she got caught up with this one. He walks into the room and gives the three of us what I can imagine is his million-dollar smile.

“Hello, ladies,” he says with his deep voice. If Jasper hadn't told me what just happened with the two of them, I would have never known. He looks like he didn't have an upset bone in his body.

I look over at Hazel, and she looks just as smitten.

“What's going on here?” he asks, eyeing the three of us.

“Oh, Finn, this is Saren from work and her niece, Hazel. We were just hanging out. Ladies, this is Finn, my husband.

his eyes. “Hello,” I say, shaking his hand firmly and staring him in

“Hi,” Hazel chimes in and giggles when she looks away.

I roll my eyes at her youthful, obvious crush on Jasper's husband and grab my things. "Well, Jasper, thank you for a lovely evening. I will see you in the morning. I got to get this one home." I say, pointing to Hazel.

“Thank you, Jasper. I had a lot of fun. Make sure you look at my page for our dance.”

"Right, TikTok, got it."

She walked us to the door and grabbed me before I walked out the door. "Thank you, Saren. Let me know when the next meeting is. I think I need to be there," she whispers in my ear.

I look over my shoulder and notice Finn staring in our direction. But he wasn't looking at his wife or me. He was looking at Hazel. I catch his gaze and give him a death stare, which causes him to walk away. I know right then that Jasper may be in more trouble than I thought.

13 Detective Price

Even though it is the weekend, I sit at the kitchen bar and look through my files. I really need to figure this out. I just know that the cases are related, but I can't figure out how. The first two girls were missing a year apart on April third, and he took Tara on the same evening that we found Melinda. This means Riley Sims only has about a month before he kills her and takes his next victim. I can't let that happen. I need to find her. If this case is related, then how does Nikki's death play a part in this? That means he would have two girls at once. Taking Nikki this early suggests that he had nothing to do with her hit and run.

“Is that healthy? I hear Jill say behind me as she wraps her arms around me and kisses me on the cheek.

“What's that?”

“Talking to yourself,” I grab her hands and pull her onto my lap, where we kiss more passionately.

“Are you trying to distract me?”

“Mm-hm.”

I run my hands through her hair and stare at the soon to be mother of my child. I think about the girls murdered and missing and what I would do if any of them were my daughter. Then I tell my-

self that I must keep my son or daughter safe from all the evil pricks out here.

“You seem distracted in a different way, Darren,” she says, looking directly into my eyes.

“I know, I'm sorry. It's the case, I just can't wrap my head around it. I know that there is a connection between the murders, the missing girl, and now Nikki, but I can't find one. Nikki was not found with any of her belongings, and they were not even at the house. It would be too early for him to grab her right now, but she was found twenty miles away from her house, which means she had to have gotten there by car."

“Maybe an oo-ber?”

“That's what I thought at first, but there is no record of her taking an oo-ber. And get this, I think that she was already hurt when she was run over by the car. The driver said that she was already on the road, and by the time he saw her, it was too late. Why would she be on the road if she wasn't hurt or on drugs? We are waiting on the coroner's report as well as the toxicology report to help answer some of these questions.”

“Wow, it does sound like you have a lot of work to do. Unfortunately, I need to get going.”

She kisses my forehead and walks up the stairs. Just then, I pull out my cellphone and notice that I have a notification. I click on it and see that there is a text message, but before I can read the text, the doorbell rings, and then persistent knocking follows. I wonder who it could be. Maybe my mom and sister planned a surprise visit. They always travel together, so it wouldn't just be one or the other. I haven't yet told them about the baby, so maybe I can tell them now. I feel a surge of excitement.

“Alright, I am coming.” I open the door in anticipation, only to find that it is not my mother nor my sister waiting at the door.

“Markis, what are you doing here?” he stands there with bunches of paper in his hands, which looks like with one push he would lose them all like a row of dominoes.

"You didn't get your text?"

“Text?” Then I remember that I was checking my text when the doorbell rang. “I sent you a text, but when you didn't answer, I decided to come right over. Can I come in?”

“Oh, yes, sorry, my head is all over the place. I step aside and usher him in. He walks over to the kitchen bar where I am stationed and unloads the mess of papers onto the counter, almost spilling my coffee.

“Hey, watch it, man,” I say, trying to have patience. “So, you never told me what you are doing here, and why do you have such a mess of papers with you?”

He turns around and looks at the mess as if he had no idea why they were there. “Oh, that. Well, I talked to the parents of Nikki's friends and all, but one family keeps alcohol in the home, but all Nikki's friends swear that they neither gave nor bought alcohol for Nikki.”

"Okay, do we believe them?"

“I do; they were just as surprised as I was that she was drinking alcohol.”

“So did you type up those statements and print them off a hundred times? What is all this?”

Again, he turns around as if it was the first time that he was seeing all the papers scattered around on my kitchen counter.

“No, no, let me finish. I sent you a text letting you know that the reports were in. Check your e-mail, you should have a copy of the toxicology report and the coroner's report. I know how much you like to have the actual files in your hands, so I printed those off, as well as all communication from Nikki's phone, computer, and social media posts.”

“And do you know where everything is?” I said, pointing to the piles of paper.

“Well, I knew that you were going to want to cross- reference, so I printed Riley Sims' communication information as well. I may or may not have to sort to figure out which papers go to each file, but it's all there."

“I roll my eyes at this as he starts to shuffle the papers and sort them. “I know why you have a mess of papers; you ran out of the copy room. You didn't want Sergeant Corbin to see you with all that paper. Did you break the machine again?”

“Naw, that happened when I skidded out of the parking lot. Papers went flying everywhere.”

We both start to laugh, making fun of Sergeant Corbin's wish for our team to save on paper, which no one apparently listens to.

“I thought I heard voices down here,” Jill says, coming down the stairs. “Hello Markis.”

"Hi, Jill, are you doing okay?"

“I am, and you really don't have to ask me that every time you see me. Jason is in jail, and I am learning to get over what happened to me, and you should too.”

“I'm sorry, you guys are like family to me, so I worry about you.”

“Well, thank you, but really, I am okay,” she walks over to me and kisses my forehead, and then walks out the door.

"Sorry, Darren, I screwed up with her, didn't I?"

“It's fine, and she really is doing okay. In fact, we are having a baby.”

“What, I am going to be an uncle?”

“Mar.” I was just about to correct him, but looking over and seeing how happy he was, I decided to allow him to be happy and accept my congratulations.

I pick up Nikki's journal and flip through more of her drawings. "She really was a talented artist."

“Oh, yeah, you should see her followers. They all sing her praises. She put up really great pictures there.”

I continue to look through the notebook and come to two pages that are stuck together. It looks like only the perimeter of the pages was glued together as if someone were trying to hide the picture. I try to pry them apart, but the page starts to rip. So I grab a pair of scissors and cut the perimeter of the paper as close to the edges as I can. I finally get the two pages apart and find a drawing of an ice cream shop, Molly's Creamery.

“Markis, have you heard of Molly's Creamery?”

“Yes, the only one is on the west side of town.”

“Have you been there?”

“No, sir, I am lactose intolerant, but I hear it is good.”

I stare at the picture. There is a little girl and an older woman eating ice cream cones. A couple is ordering at the window of this outdoor ice cream shop. And then there is another couple sitting at the table, drinking sodas under an umbrella. But the man seems to be a lot older than the girl. I wonder if there is a Polaroid that matches this drawing like the others. I stare at the girl a bit longer, and then I reach into the bag that I took from Nikki's bedroom. I rummage through and look at the Polaroids, and then I find the receipts. Sure enough, there is a receipt from Molly's Creamery.

you?"

"Markis, look at this picture. Does this look like Nikki to _ _."

Markis walks over to me with two perfectly put- together file folders in his hands." Yeah, it looks just like her. Who's the dude sitting next to her?" “I don't know, but here is a receipt for Molly's Creamery. Did her mom say that she had a boyfriend or that there were times

that Nikki went missing for periods of time?"

“Not that I recall, we may need to visit her again because that dude does not look like a high school student.”

"She may have been with him that night. The question is, where is he now?"

recognition?"

"I don't know, can we use this picture for facial

“I am not sure if we can see enough of his face. But first things first. Grab your coat, we are getting ice cream.”

“Naw, you're getting ice cream, I'm getting a soda, nobody wants that kind of drama, talk about messes.”

“Too far, man, too far,” I say, grabbing my jacket and locking the door behind me. I smile as it feels like we are finally getting a break in this case. Markis will make a great detective once he passes his test. He needs to be a bit refined, but his heart is in it, which is what is most important.

14 Lucas

I know who my next girl will be. She is smart and more beautiful than any of the other girls. I sit and watch her videos all night. They all do well with posting daily, but she seems even more dedicated than the others. I have to have her right now. But I am making too many mistakes. I promised Riley a friend, but that turned out very badly. No, I must stick to the plan. Who cares what I promised her? I am in charge, not her. I have gotten away with this so far, and I must stick to the plan. Riley has another month before I can release her back to her parents, looking more beautiful than when I found her. She will understand. Ugh, I am at an impasse. I know what I should do. I know what makes sense, but I deserve my new girl, and I have to have her.

If my pops could see me, he'd be surprised that I hold the power now. He took away the only girl in my life who loved me. That scum bag killed her right in front of me. She was only fourteen when she had me and decided to stay with him, leaving her parents. Dad would beat her up, and her beautiful face would be bloodied for days. She never took up for herself, but she did protect me. She would lock me in my room and wouldn't let me out until he was gone. Then he would be gone long enough for her bruises to heal. She had such a beautiful voice and would sing our special song to me, "Somewhere Out There." And when she got to a lyric she didn't know, she would hum the words, but still sounded angelic. We would play a game and put makeup on mommy's face, where she let me help her hide her bruises and put on lipstick. We would play our song and dance around as we had just escaped our villain, not caring that one day he would return. No, in that moment, we relished our time together. And when we got done, she looked just as beautiful as she always did. I loved those times alone with Mama.

But one day, good old dad went too far. He beat Mama to death while I stood in the corner screaming for him to stop. When he was done beating on her, he walked out the door, and I have never seen him since. I lay on my mother and stayed like that until a neighbor came and found me asleep in my rotting mother's arms.

Currently, my dad is rotting in jail, but if you ask me, jail is not good enough for him. He needs to suffer for taking my mother away from me. I was too young to lose my mother, and she was certainly too young to die. I ended up growing up in foster care, where I was abused and neglected.

I look in my rearview mirror and see my eyes start to water. I push the C.D into the player and listen as Linda Rondstant starts singing, "Somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight," and when she gets to our favorite part, "it helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky," I pull the car over and enjoy the moment. I belt out the words as my car sits on the side of the road. We sing the song together, and by the end, I am both crying and laughing. I'm coming, Mama, I'm coming. I yell out loud. I feel saliva dripping out of my mouth, and I wipe it away. I have to get myself together. Pulling back onto the road and heading toward Riley, I concluded that my new girl would have to wait. I have to do this the right way. I need to get Riley prepared. I can't wait to be with Mama again.

15 Courtney Sims

Riley has been missing for eleven months now, and I don't know how to go on with my life without her. Her brother Joshua and her dad keep telling me that we should have a funeral for her because she is probably already dead. They want to get on with their lives. I know that she is out there still alive, and I refuse to move on without her.

Tonight they went to a basketball game, and I am on my own. I am going to use this time to figure out what could have happened to Riley. I have gone through all her social media accounts, emails, and phone calls, and I can't find anything that tells me where she could be.

I go into her room and sit down on her bed. I close my eyes and try to remember the way she felt when I held her. The way she laughed when we talked about boys. How beautiful she was when she played with my makeup.

That day, she said she was hanging out with her best friend Jessica. We only learned that this was not true after the fact. Why did you lie, Riley? Where did you go? I keep rummaging through her things and stop at a Lululemon sweatshirt that I have never seen before. I pull it out and take it off the hanger. Examining the sweatshirt, I wonder where she would have gotten an expensive sweatshirt like this. We certainly did not spend that kind of money on clothing.

I recall a time when she really wanted to get this new Lululemon sweatshirt so bad that she found one on TikTok for a discounted price. She was so excited and couldn't wait to wear the pink balloon-looking thing. She waited and waited, but it never showed up. She tried to track her package, but the website was shut down. She instantly knew that she had been scammed. It wasn't until a month later that she received a large white men's t-shirt from the so-called company, thanking her for her purchase, that she was very sure she had been scammed. It took her a while to tell me about this, but when she did, we talked about not only the dangers in buying things online through social media but also about being careful as well. Of course, she got mad at me and said that I was treating her like a baby. She told me that she wasn't dumb and only dummies get abducted.

I break out in tears at this memory as I wonder what could be happening to my girl right now. Is she cold? Is she afraid? Or is she having the time of her life with a guy that she met and wanted to be with for the rest of her life? I doubt it.

I continue to look through her closet to remember her smell. I pick through to find her favorite sweater, but I am not sure where it is. I leave this sweater in the same place so that I can revisit it as often as I need. It makes me feel close to her. I pick up my phone and call Joshua.

“Hey, did you take Riley's sweater?”

“Her sweater?”

“Yes, her favorite sweater, you know the one.”

“Mom, no, I didn't take her sweater. Why would I do that?” I hear him say on the other end. It is loud at the game, and I can barely hear what he is saying.

“Well, it's not here, and I leave it in the same spot, where could it be?” I hear a rustling sound, and then Michael, my husband, gets on the phone.

“Courtney, we are at a game. Can we talk about this when we get home?”

“Michael, this is serious. Her sweater is missing. I just saw it the other day. So, either one of you took it, or someone else did.”

I hear Michael let out a sigh, and then I hear the entire crowd yell through the phone.

"Forget it, Michael, thanks for nothing."

“Okay, see you soon. Man, did you see that?” I hear

him say.

I look at the phone and hang it up. I look around the room and notice that not only was her sweater missing, but her drawer was also hanging open, as if she had been there and quickly packed more of her clothes before anyone could see her. But, if she had voluntarily left, wouldn't she have packed her favorite sweater in the first place?

16 Detective

Price

enjoy butter pecan ice cream, and Markis decided on a hot fudge brownie. We make note of the neighboring shops surrounding Molly's Creamery.

“How would Nikki get here? She doesn't have a driver's license, so she wasn't driving. The picture shows her here with this guy. We know that she was here at some point because she had the receipt to Molly's Creamery, but that only shows a soda.”

“What is the date on the receipt?”

“The date shows that it was a week before she got run over by the car. I think it's time to talk to someone.”

We walk over to the window and wait in front of a middle-aged woman with graying hair who looks like she has a bit of a sweet tooth. She is not sloppy looking, but big enough to show her belly hanging a bit over her pants.

“How was it?”

“It was delicious, thank you. I actually have a question for you.”

time?" “What's that?”

"How long have you worked here?"

“Too long. I'm Molly.”

"Oh, wow, well, Molly, do you usually work at this

“I do,” she says with suspicion. “What is this about?”

“My apologies, this is Officer Markis, and I am Detective Price. We are looking for information on this girl,” I show her a picture of Nikki. She takes the picture from me and studies it for a while.

“I am sorry, I don't think that I have seen this girl here. Was she supposed to have been here?”

“We think so. Do you know who would have been here about a week ago during the evening?”

“I need to check the schedule, give me one second.”

Markis and I look at each other, hoping that she will bring back good news. We waited for a while, and then she finally returned.

“That took longer than I expected. Sorry about that. Now, let's see, we had the younger crowd about a week ago. Do you have a specific date?”

Markis pulls the receipt out and looks at it so he can point it out to her. “Uh, it looks like it was March fifth,” he says.

“Okay, March fifth. I see, Amos was the manager that night. I can give you his contact information if you'd like.”

“Perfect, might we also have the contact information for everyone working that evening as well?”

“Sure thing, Detective.”

"Thank you."

We wait as she walks away and later returns with two printouts. “Here, Markis, add these to your stack of papers,” I say, teasing him. We thank her and start to return to the car.

“So, is this related to the baby doll murders?” Molly yells, which now makes us the center of everyone's attention.

“Can't talk about the case, Ma'am, sorry,” Markis yells back. “I know you heard that.”

"Not now, man."

“Don't be mad, it's a thing. It just sounds right, baby doll murders.”

"Get in the car, Markis."

Back in the office, we split the list of contacts to call. I am looking through the files that Markis printed off as well. I look through Riley's communication. It is all the same stuff that I have seen before. A bunch of girls talking about fashion, makeup, or the cutest boy in school. I don't notice anything unusual about the communication between Riley and her friends on email and social media. And then I see a post that she made about the perfect 'wash and go.'

Sasha 101: Grl, that's fly

Sammy: Sooo creative

Chris: That seems so easy to do

Lydia: Like

Jodie: that's poppin

Josh: Like

Nadia: Made my day

Lucas: I love this for you! You are gorgeous!

Susie: I like that, girly Jess: where can I get that curl cream?

Sam: doing this the next time I wash my hair.

Linda: Thank you!

“Hey, everyone, that I called said that they did not remember seeing Nikki even after I sent her picture through text. Did you find anything?”

I look up, and Markis is standing at my door waiting for an answer. "What?"

"Your list, did you call anyone yet?"

"Oh, no, I started looking through Riley's"

communication. I can't believe how much time black women spend on hair. I got caught up reading the comments."

"Okay, here I will take your list. Let me know if you find anything."

I look back at the screen and try to find where I left off. I scroll up a little and stop at a name that makes me think that it might be important. I sit back in my chair and allow my brain to make the necessary connections. I look around the room, and suddenly it hits me. I pick up Nikki's notebook and flip through it vigorously to find what

I am looking for. And then I see it. In big block letters, I see the name Lucas. There are hearts around his name, and red lips drawn into a kiss. I look back at the screen on Riley's hair post. That can't be a coincidence; Lucas is our connection. I stand up and call out for Markis, but as I stand, I see Markis coming towards me.

“Sir, I found something,” he says with excitement, holding up his list.

He stole the exact words that I was going to say. “So did I. You go first.”

“I called Chelsea, I sent her the photo of Nikki, and she said that she recognized her. She was there that day, but only for a little while. She met that guy for a little bit, and then she left on her own on foot. She said that Nikki walked towards the strip mall across the street.”

“Nice.”

“But get this, the guy she met there, Chelsey said that she had seen him there before with a different girl. I sent her Riley's picture, and she wasn't exactly sure, but she said that she might recognize her being there with him.”

“Well, my guess is that Riley was there with him before because the guy that she is with in her drawing is Lucas. I don't have a last name, but we have the picture. Someone named Lucas commented on Riley's post, and right here in Nikki's notebook, she has the same name written in big block letters. I don't think this is a coincidence. I think we have our guy. Markis, great work, we are getting closer and closer to solving this case.”

17 Detective

M ark is takes Nikki's drawing of her and Lucas at Molly's Creamery and runs it through facial recognition to see what we can glean from the picture. I know that it is a long shot, but we are working every lead the best way that we can. I grab my jacket and leave to grab lunch. I want to check in with Jill and see how she is doing. Even though this case is keeping me busy, my mind keeps going back to the positive pregnancy test. I dial her number, and I am instantly excited when she answers.

“Hello, Darren.”

"Hi, babe, how's our bean?"

“Just fine, I am going into surgery in a bit, so I only have a minute to talk.”

“I was just checking in to see how the mother of my child is doing.”

“I'm fine,” I heard a chuckle, but envisioned her pretty smile. Just then, I get another call coming in.

“I am glad that you are doing fine. I have another call coming in. So, I will see you tonight?”

“Yes, I will be home.”

Ever since Jill was attacked and after she ended the relationship with Jason, she changed her schedule to be home most evenings. While there were some events that she couldn't avoid at the hospital, she managed to put a lot of effort into being home more often.

"Okay, love you, mommy."

“Love you too, daddy.”

I retrieve the other call. "Detective Price."

"Oh, thank God you answered."

“I'm sorry?”

"Hi, this is Courtney Sims, Riley's mom."

I know exactly who this is and who her daughter is. I have been eating, sleeping, and living with these names for the past eleven months, worried we will not catch this guy in time.

"How can I help you, Courtney?"

“You told me to let you know if I found something or remembered something, and I did.”

"Okay, which is it?"

“Riley has missing clothing from her closet. I am sure because her favorite sweater is not here. I know that I just saw that sweater the other day, but now it is gone. I also noticed that it looks like someone rummaged through her drawers. When I walked into her room, I found them open with clothes spilling out of them like someone was in a rush to get what they needed and to leave.”

“Are you sure Joshua or Michael did not move her sweater or go through her dresser drawer?”

“Yes, I am sure, Detective.”

I find a bench close by and sit down as I close my eyes and put my head in my hands. I don't want to tell her what I need to tell her. Most likely, he needed Riley's clothing to stage her return, which means this guy is about to discard her. Even though I had a mouthful to give her, I couldn't utter a word of it. I couldn't break her heart like this. I didn't want to promise her that I would find Riley in time either. We are getting closer to solving this case, but I don't know when we will get the breakthrough that we need.

“Hello?” she says, bringing me back to the conversation.

“Yes, I am here. I will send someone over to check it out. In the meantime, if you get a phone call from Riley, call me immediately. Be sure to lock your doors when you leave the house and pay close attention to your surroundings.”

“Why are you telling me this? Do you think she was taken by the baby doll killer?”

“Mrs. Sims, we have reason to believe that yes, he may have her, but we are not totally sure.”

“Then what are you sure of? If he does have her, we have a couple of weeks to the anniversary of her going missing, which means.”

I hear a big gasp on the other end of the phone, and I imagine her bent over, crying in pain. I feel so disgusted with myself that I failed again to find another girl. First Melinda, then Tara, and now Riley.

“Listen,” I say to her. “We are doing everything that we can to bring Riley home. This guy is good, but he will make a mistake. For now, just do what I asked you to do, and I will let you know if we find anything else.”

“I will do that, but you must know that this is not good enough. You didn't find those other two girls, and I have no faith that you will find my daughter. Thanks for nothing.”

I hear the dial tone and shake my head. I sit for a while, and then, knowing that I would probably not be able to eat, I skip lunch and head back to the office. I don't know if it is my hurt ego or me needing to prove that I am capable of solving missing cases and murders, but I make up my mind that I am going to search all night for more clues if I have to. I am not going to stop until I find Riley Sims and bring her home.

18 Jasper

I can't wrap my head around what Saren told me about Finn. I started to suspect some mental health challenges a while ago, but I passed it off as having a rough day. What confuses me is how he was able to act so normal while we were dating and even for the first year of our marriage. I am supposed to be going to a meeting tonight. I was instructed to tell him that I was having dinner with some friends. This feels a bit ominous, and I am not sure if I want to meet the girls tonight. I feel like I am betraying my husband. But I do want to figure this out. No normal person trips their wife and pretends not to. Maybe I will skip this time around and give myself some time to think about what I want to do.

I set my things down on the kitchen table and start to clean out my lunch pail from work. Turning on my motivational music, I grab chicken, potatoes, and carrots. I get prepared to make my spicy chicken curry. Finn likes this meal with naan, but I like to eat curry with brown rice, so I make both. Sometimes when I can't choose between the two, I indulge and have both. You can't pass up a good naan, right?

I am dancing around in the kitchen, and Finn walks into the house with his briefcase. I can see him from where I am standing. I hold up my wine glass as if I am waving with it. He walks toward me and wraps me in his arms like a big cozy blanket. Aw, I missed this. “Hi,” he says, kissing me on my cheek.

“Hi, handsome. How was work?” “Fabulous, but my day just got even better now that I am holding my gorgeous wife.”

He is swaying with me to the music, and we break out in a dance together. He twirls me around and dips me. But he dips me so far that I almost fall to the ground.

“Careful. What time did you start drinking? Maybe you have had enough.”

I laugh it off and keep dancing with him. I put my hands behind his head and guide his lips to mine.

“I had a pretty good day as well. But, I hope we can have a better night.”

“Is that right?”

“Yep, I am making curry.”

He raises his eyebrows as we continue to sway to the music. “Yum,” he says. “I love your curry. You are such a good cook, you know.

"Why, thank you, Mr. Drake."

"You are welcome, Mrs. Drake."

I reach up and kiss him again, and then he grabs my arms and moves away from me. It was a little abrupt, and I am surprised.

“What's wrong?”

“Nothing, I just need to get ready, Scott and Laura will be here soon.” “Who?”

"My partner and his wife for dinner."

“Tonight?”

“In a half hour. I told them dinner was at six.”

“Finn, I wasn't expecting company tonight. You can't spring something like this on me at the last minute.”

"Is this because you are drunk?"

“No, I'm not drunk. I had no idea about your partner and his wife coming for dinner tonight.”

“Well, can't you just add another piece of chicken and more potatoes and carrots? I can even run out and pick up some stuff if you need me to.”

“No, it's fine, I will just go put on more chicken and cut more potatoes. But next time, please let me know ahead of time.”

He stops and looks at me without saying a word, like he was trying to kill me with his stare.

“Didn't you just have guests over the other day? So it is okay for you to have guests, but I can't?”

Oh my god, I want to scream. Why doesn't he get that I am upset because this is last-minute, and not the fact that we are having guests?

“You know what, we are wasting time. I need to get started, or we will have hungry guests.”

I turn around and start preparing more chicken, more potatoes, more carrots, and more chopping up herbs and spices for the curry. I soak the rice, but the rice will not be the only thing in this kitchen that will be steaming. I am so mad, I want to walk out right now and never come back. Who does he think he is, springing this on me on such short notice? Maybe I should go to the meeting tonight. I could avoid all this, but he might get even more upset with me, and I don't want to deal with it. I am just going to get it over with.

Dinner ended up being delicious despite taking my anger out on the vegetables. I stare at the dish and wonder if our guest can see the anger lines in the potatoes and carrots they received during chopping. Okay, I know that is not a thing, but that's just how disgusted I am. And what are we talking about?

“Don't you agree, darling?” Finn repeats.

Everyone at the table is waiting for my answer, and I am not sure what to say because I was having my own discussion in my head. I learned to do this at home when mom would ramble on about how wonderful her co-worker's kid was, like I cared. How about you tell me once or twice how great I am, or that you are proud of me, Mom? So, instead of me asking Finn to repeat the question, I say yes, which causes each of them to stare at me now in confusion.

“You have to excuse my wife; she does not have our education level. Laura, you have your PhD, right?”

Laura looks at me and back at Finn, then she gives a smile that does not reach her eyes. “Yes, that's right,” she says reluctantly.

“Actually, allow me to apologize for myself,” I turn directly to my husband. “Thank you, Finn. I didn't answer whatever question you asked because, honestly, the conversation was a slumber fest.

So yeah, I guessed at the answer you were looking for. Silly me, I got it wrong. I guess I should have gone for that PhD, huh, Laura?"

“Well, there is no need to be crass, sweetheart. I was only joking,” he then turns to Laura and Scott. “My wife is a little sensitive sometimes. I like to joke with her, but she knows that it is all in fun. Don't you, sweetie?” he says, giving me the eye. When I say the eye, it is the eye he gives me right before he blows a gasket and demonstrates just how angry he is.

I decided, while Finn was making a fool out of me, that I would go to the meeting after all, and he could stay with his guest and clean up as well.

“Finn, I have to get going. Laura, Scott, always a pleasure.” I say now with my fake smile. I stand up. And in that moment, I grab my things and walk out the door. The look on his face was everything.

19 Saren

The meeting has started, and we are all here at our favorite restaurant, but Jasper is not. I was hoping that she would show up. Phalen and Luna are giving updates on their lives, and all I can do is think about Jasper. But what I have not been able to forget is the way Finn was looking at Hazel. It was uncomfortable to watch. It was kind of like that one perverted uncle that everyone has in their family who stares at the young girls. When Finn saw that I had caught him looking at my niece, he didn't even try to play it off as if it was perfectly fine for a twenty-eight-year-old man to be ogling a sixteen-year-old.

“Phalen, how is reengaging with Brooks going?” I ask.

“Well, Brooks is acting like a Boy Scout right now, so I have been engaging with him more. And it's okay for now. I mean, I am always waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

"Did you set those boundaries that we talked about?" asks Luna.

“Yes, I told him that if he calls me names during an argument, then I will end the conversation and walk away.” “How is that working for you?” asks Luna. “Well, I do have to remind him several times, but after a while, he gets it. So for a couple of weeks, he has not called me any names, even during a disagreement.”

“That is good news, the key is being consistent and continuing to hold him accountable because if you are not, he will definitely notice and start pushing that boundary again,” I tell her.

“You are right about that, Saren, Jax, and I talked about his mother, and I told him that I am our kids' mother and I will not stand for anyone to overrule what I say. He keeps trying to defend her, but I won't hear it.”

“Did you come up with a solution?”

“With Jax, there is never a solution. No matter what, he will keep coming up with something to tick me off. He just wants to get under my skin because he does it so well. He couldn't care less about how we are raising our kids as long as he gets to sit in his chair and drink beer all night. He just knows that pitting me against his mother makes me so mad, so he keeps finding ways to do it.”

“So, how can we support you on this, Luna, because I can see it is taking a toll on you. Remember, we are not a statistic, and we will not be changed. We are strong enough to maintain our identity, so we verify, we set boundaries, and we know who we are.” Phalen recites the group's mantra.

“I say that to myself every time he gets me upset. Even when I feel like going off on him, I don't because I know that is exactly what he wants,” says Luna.

My eyes light up because right in the middle of Luna's response, I see Jasper walking into the restaurant. I stand up and wave her over to our table. She is wearing sunglasses despite the fact that it is after eight in the evening. Instantly, I know something is wrong. "Phalen, Jasper is here. Go to the bar and order her a drink.

She looks like she needs one."

“Sure.”

Jasper walks up to the table and removes her glasses. We all look at her puffy red eyes.

“Oh shoot, I better hurry up. I'll be right back.” Phalen says, making her way to the bar.

“I hate him!” Jasper says, crying.

“Whoa, girl, you gotta keep that down. I mean, we understand, but we don't want the attention over here,” says Luna.

I give her a look, and she shrugs her shoulders. “What happened, Jasper?”

“I just don't understand what his problem is. We were having a great time, he was charming, called me gorgeous, and then just like that, he turned into a monster.”

Phalen comes back with the drink and sets it on the table in front of Jasper. “Go ahead and take a drink, girl. I heard you all the way over there. So what's going on?”

After Jasper finishes telling the three of us about her evening, we are not necessarily shocked, but I could tell each of us was reminded of a time that this happened in our own lives. It really does seem like narcissists have a playbook. Most of their behaviors are common.

“I don't want to go back home. I know that he is going to get me back. He always does. He probably won't speak to me for a month.”

"Not a bad thing."

“Luna, that may be okay for you, but I didn't sign up for this. I should have known better,” she says, checking her phone after hearing it beep. “I am sorry, Jasper,” says Luna. “But none of us signed up for this. Do you think if we knew our husbands were like this, we would have agreed to it?”

“I am guessing you were trying to get something that you didn't get as a child, and you ended up recreating your childhood,” Phalen says.

I love listening to Luna and Phalen not only share their experiences but also spread their knowledge as well. We have studied together, attended workshops, and have monthly readings to help us navigate these relationships, and we have really gained some useful knowledge.

“What?”

“Listen, Jasper, we all end up in relationships that may or may not recreate our childhoods. What in your childhood were you trying to recreate or change?” I ask.

“My childhood was a bust. By the time I was twelve, my dad had left, and I barely got to see him. When I was sixteen, he died. My mom was no mother at all. I was close to my younger sister, but she is in college and has no time for me. My parents did not really teach the value of family. I wanted a family of my own who would love me, and I could teach them how to love each other and support each other.” She looks at her phone.

By this time, Jasper is halfway through her drink, and she is constantly wiping away her tears. She looks back at her phone again and turns it off.

“We have all been there, and sometimes we don't know why we chose who we chose for a mate until it is too late. But the good thing is, this group can help you to maintain your identity and help you to have a happy life.” I say to her.

She looks at me like I was selling some pyramid scheme. "Relax, we are not a cult or anything, we just have been where you are and know a few ways to help you."

“It's just, we have only been married for a year, and sometimes, I actually hate him. But more and more, I find myself hating him more than loving him.”

I put my hands over hers and squeeze them to let her know that I am with her. And then we all start quoting the mantra that we wrote to support us when we feel like we need motivation or to remember who we are. Even though I am now in a healthy relationship, I still chant that mantra when I start to forget.

Jasper orders key lime pie and devours it within minutes. She orders another glass of wine, and she seems like she is more relaxed now.

“So, did you really tell that couple that their conversation was a slumber fest?” Phalen asks, laughing.

“I did, I can't go home now. There is no way Finn is going to let this go. He has been blowing up my phone ever since I left the house, and the messages are awful.”

“Everyone needs their time away, but you can do this. You don't have to let him run you out of your home,” says Luna.

“It does not feel like a home right now, the

environment is hostile, and it almost seems like I am living a fake life. I am even doing some things that I would never do."

“Sounds about right, but you have to learn not to argue with him. His sole purpose is to get under your skin. When he can do this, he gains power from your negative attention. Every time you do something to make him mad, like retaliate or embarrass him in front of his colleague and wife, you are feeding him like you feed a meter. Even when you sing his praises, you are feeding him. And no matter how much you try to make him feel like a man, he will only want more and more. You will not be able to keep up with supplying him with what he needs. So he creates situations to both remind you who is in charge and to get fed." Phalen says.

“This is too much.”

“Yes, you are right, we can talk more about that later. How can we help you tonight?” I ask.

“I don't know. I just want to go home and go to bed without him saying a word to me,” she pulls out her card and signals the waiter for the check.

“Well, I don't think he's going for that, but you could read your text, send him a non-confrontational response, and tell him you can discuss it further in the morning. The big thing we need to focus on here is not to take the bait and get into an argument with him. Can you do that?” I ask her.

“Yes, I can. So I shouldn't tell him I am going to break his toes or embarrass him in front of his co-workers?” she says, laughing, and I am happy that she can still laugh.

“Just don't change who you are because of him. And don't give a reason to have to apologize to him for anything. Keep a clear head and maintain self-control.” I say.

“And, having thoughts of beating him down, is probably not helpful?” she says, laughing more.

“Nah, girl, that's free rein, I killed my husband several times in my head,” Phalen says, joining in with the laughter.

“Yep, he's been tied up, locked up. I've gone Diary of a Black Woman on him several times.”

We can all share in the laughter at that comment. I am so glad that she showed up, but I can tell that she has a long road ahead of her. She still has so much to learn. I make a note to order her a couple of books to jump-start her research. We all get up to leave once we settle our bills. I turn to Jasper and say to her what I have also said to both Phalen and Luna. "Call me anytime if you need me."

“Thanks, Saren,” she says, pulling me into a hug. “And thank you, ladies, for another great night. I can't wait for the next meeting. This has been wonderful.”

“I'm delighted to help, girl,” says Phalen.

“Come here,” Luna reaches out to Jasper and hugs her. So I take this time to hug Phalen. This really feels like a sisterhood forming, and I am loving it.

20 Detective Price

We have a week before the anniversary of Riley's disappearance. I have combed through the case over and over. I was hoping that information from Nikki's case would lead us to the killer. The coroner's report showed that Nikki was not dead when she was run over by the car, but she had sustained some injuries. Her cause of death was officially multiple blunt force injuries. She had some crushed bones as well as damage to her lungs, which caused her to stop breathing. She had a clean toxicology report, so I guess that she was either pushed out of a moving vehicle or she jumped out.

I don't think Nikki was abducted. I think she willingly went with Lucas, but what if she changed her mind and tried to escape by jumping out of the car? Then the perpetrator would have kept going, leaving her for dead once the driver ran over her body. But if this guy is a psychopath, like I think he is, he would not just let her go. He would need to watch her to formally say goodbye or at least make sure that she was dead.

I rummage through the driver's statement on the night of the accident. He does not mention anyone else on the road. But he did think that he heard a motor running in the distance. Might this guy have hidden his car off the side of the road and turned off his lights? This would go along with my theory that Lucas would have stuck around to say goodbye or to make sure that she was dead. The driver would have been too distraught to notice the hidden car. I rub my hands through my hair and lower my head onto my desk right on top of my files. Just then, I hear a knock at my door, and I look up to see Markis.

“Hey, you good?”

“I am exhausted. We have a week, Markis, a week, and another girl could end up dead.”

“Well, I may have some good news. Courtney Sims said that after going through more of Riley's things, she noticed that she had a couple of new shirts and jewelry that she didn't know that she had. She is sure someone else gave them to her. So, I called Melinda's and Tara's parents, and they both said that their daughters had items they hadn't seen before as well. So remember the alcohol Nikki was caught with? Maybe our suspect was grooming these girls and having short meetings with them, long enough to give them gifts. Maybe he gave her the alcohol.”

That is a great observation. In fact, I pull out Nikki's notebook and turn to the picture of her and Lucas at Molly's Creamery. I look for anything that would resemble a gift. I look at Nikki, and I lower my eyes to her feet and see a shiny ankle bracelet on one of them. This could have been a gift from Lucas, or she could have already owned it. I make a mental note to check with Mrs. Humphrey on that bracelet.

“That is very possible. Did you check to see if Nikki had any items that may have been gifts?”

“Yes, Mom said that she wasn't sure, but it was very possible. Nikki always borrowed her friend's clothes, so if he did buy

her some things, she would never know."

“Look here in this picture, she is wearing an ankle bracelet. This could have been a gift, or it might not even exist. We need to send men over to each house and have them collect those gifts. If we can find where they were purchased, maybe we can learn more about this guy."

“Okay, I will get right on that. But first, I need to tell you the best part. I looked through Melinda's and Tara's communication, and sure enough, there was a Lucas who responded to their post. It was always a compliment of some sort. Still no last name, but we did get a hit on the facial recognition. It was a bit hard because of the side profile. So we got a few, but only one with the name Lucas

Martin."

“What? Does he have a social media account?”

Markis looks down at his notes. "He does, and he is very active."

“How old is he?”

“He is thirty-two, and he has a misdemeanor for assaulting a minor.”

“A minor? Do we have an address?”

“Yes, according to his driver's license, it is thirty minutes away, way out in the boonies. He lives alone, and he has never been married.”

I jump up from behind my desk and grab my protective vest and jacket. "Okay, let's get a team together. We are going to pay him a little visit. I need Bosco and Lemmens on the background of this guy, and we will hold off on collecting those gifts. If we can get this guy tonight, we won't need them. Have Ross make copies of this guy and post them everywhere. We need all of Indiana to be aware of what he looks like."

to be it!

"Right, I will meet you out there."

Please let this be it, God. I have to find Riley. This has

Saren

Planning these meetings, I get so excited. I love being in a position to help others, especially women. Phalen, Luna, and Jasper will be here soon for another meeting. I like to come early to grab the best table and to get my mind ready for the evening. As I sit here and wait for the girls to arrive, I think about my own experience and want to keep other women from the horror that I went through before I met Arlo. Though I am glad that I have my experiences because they make me who I am today, I definitely could have skipped a few of those life lessons. If I had paid attention to the red flags that he was waving right in front of me, I could have done just that.

Harvey was a handsome guy. I felt like I was lucky to have him. When we went out, people would look at us. I wore my hair to my shoulders and always kept a reddish tint in my dark hair. I wore bangs that touched my eyelashes and always a brown lipstick that complemented my dark lips and caramel skin. We were like the power couple. I was never a small girl, but I stayed in shape, so I was considered thick, which he liked. We didn't spend a lot of time together because he had an important job and was always traveling. When we did hang out, we usually went to one of our apartments and ordered takeout. So when he called me on his way home from a business meeting in Canada and said he would be taking me to dinner, I was excited. But the red flag that he presented that night, I ignored, and I wish that I hadn't.

Harvey opened my door to the car, and he was sweet, paying me compliments and telling jokes. We were having fun with each other. As soon as we sat down, it was like a switch went off in his brain. He had a look on his face as he looked at his menu. He put his hand in the air like we were well-to-do and the staff around us were our own personal butlers.

“I don't see lamb chops on the menu.”

“Oh, sorry, sir, we discontinued that item. We no longer serve it,” said the waiter, who wasn't even our waiter.

face. “Why not?” asked Harvey.

“Last month, it was just taken off the menu.”

"So, you don't know."

“Uh.” The waiter stands there with a blank look on his

“I already answered that for you. Don't worry about it,” he put his hand up to shoo him away.

"Can I get you anything else?"

“So, what you are telling me is that you just stopped selling the lamb chops with no notice? If I had known that, I would not have come here tonight. Everything else on the menu is trash. So, no, I don't want anything else. That would be like you stealing my money.”

“Oh, Harvey, this is a lovely restaurant. I am sure we can find something else. I mean, we are here now.” I say cutting in and smiling at the waiter, trying to smooth things over.

Harvey looked at me for a long time, and then he threw his napkin down on the table. "Let me speak to your manager!" “Sure,” the waiter walked away to grab his manager. Harvey never took his eyes off me. His death stare was uncomfortable.

When the waiter returned with the manager, Harvey berated the manager for taking the lamb chops off the menu and told him that he had just lost a good-paying customer. He told him that he needed to get items on the menu that people could stomach if he was going to take the only good thing they offered off the list.

I was mortified and did not know what to do with my eyes, my hands, my feet. I wanted to run and leave, but Harvey was my ride.

Later, Harvey dropped me off at home and did not talk to me for about a week, even after calling him and leaving several messages. When he did finally call me, he told me how upset he was that I had embarrassed him. He told me that I should not have said anything and that I made him look weak. I wanted to tell him that he made himself look like an idiot, but I did not. I didn't gain that confidence until later in life. In fact, I ended up apologizing to him. This was a red flag that should have had me running. Instead, I stuck around for more ruined dinners and watching Harvey cut down service workers. It got to the point that I didn't want to go out in public with him for fear that he would embarrass me.

A noise from the next table pulls me out of my thoughts. I train my eyes on the little boy at the next table as he is picking up the toy that he dropped. And then, in my peripheral view, I see Jasper walking towards me. “Saren, thanks for having these,” she says, sitting on the bench across from me. “I was looking forward to this all day.” “I'm glad that you came back. I think you could benefit from the support of this group,” I say to her as I watch her smile. “How's it going?”

“Good, I love working at Eastview. I always wanted to be a nurse, and you make me feel right at home.”

“Well, good, it's not weird that you are hanging out with your boss after work, is it?”

“Not at all, listen, any excuse to spend some time away from the house.”

“Why is that?”

“I mean, even though Finn is hardly home because of his crazy work schedule, I still feel like I need a break from him. It's good

that taking care of other people's money is so time-consuming."

“Yeah, it must be.”

I look up and see both Phalen and Luna walking in and heading towards the table. I move over on the bench, and Jasper turns to see them coming as well and follows suit.

“Hi, girlies,” says Luna, sitting down next to me.

“Hey chicas,” says Phalen. She is a free spirit, and I can always expect her to say what is on her mind.

“Hello, ladies, have a seat. I have taken the liberty of ordering you all drinks, and they will be arriving shortly.” “That's what I am talking about. Thanks, Saren,” says Phalen, giving me a high five.

"Hi, Phalen, Luna," says Jasper.

"How's it going?" asks Luna.

“Good, what about you guys?”

"Oh, well, me, I'm always blessed as usual," says Phalen

as she winks.

asks. “You play too much. What's really going on?” Luna

"Always something."

“So, I take it we are ready to check in?” I ask, pulling the conversation to a more constructive one.

“Yeah, let me tell you, I have decided that I am settling into my new life with Brooks.”

“What do you mean, Phalen?” I ask.

“So, we all know that gray rocking can't last forever, so I started to think, now what? If this is going to be for the rest of my life, what kind of life am I willing to live without getting a divorce?” “What did you come up with?” asks Luna.

I look at Jasper to try to figure out what she must be thinking about all this. Her eyes are wide, and she is taking it all in. I hope that we are not scaring her off. I am glad that she decided to come to another meeting. And I hope that she keeps coming back.

“I prayed about it, and I decided that my hope comes from God, not this life. I am going to be happy with or without a happy marriage. I decided that I am going to set my boundaries, hold him to it, and take breaks when I feel like I can't handle it any longer.

I want our children to see their Mama happy, you know."

“So, is this what I have to look forward to?” asks Jasper.

“Chances are, it's already in the making. What I have heard so far from you, it sounds like you are already in it.” Phalen answers her, looking at Luna as if she is asking her to back her up.

“Agreed,” she says, taking the hint.

“But I just don't deal with what you guys are dealing with in my marriage,” says Jasper.

The waiter brings our drinks and takes our order. Jasper seems a bit distracted, while Luna and Phalen order their usual. When I get her attention, I check on her by mouthing the words, are you okay. She gives me a quick nod that she is fine, and then I order my usual as well.

“So, to answer your question, Jass, I didn't see any of this in Jax until our second year of marriage. I mean, there were little signs that had me wondering what was going on, but nothing like what I have been experiencing. It was when he lost a big client. It was like his ego was so bruised, and he turned into a completely different person.”

“Sounds like his mask slipped and he felt comfortable enough to keep it off in front of you, Luna,” I say to her.

"His mask?" Jasper asks, looking at me with concern. “Yeah, people with narcissistic personalities have an invisible mask that they wear to protect who they really are. They wear this mask to get others to trust them or fall in love with them. But what they are showing you is their false selves. They have no idea who they are and have a hard time with empathy. So most of what you see is them mimicking what they think is socially acceptable. In most cases, they find love interests by mimicking their partners, which is how it seems like they are perfect mates. What Luna was referring to was Jax showing her who he really was, the mean, unempathetic, selfish person that he is.”

"Now, Jax's mask is always off except when we are around people he needs to impress. It is so embarrassing watching him with his mask on around other people. He acts so fake; it's like watching a chameleon keep changing its colors to adapt to the environment. Sometimes, I'm like," When did you start laughing like that?" or "You know good and well you don't do Yoga." But he can't let them know how he really is. They would never guess that he is unloving, neglectful, and careless. Oh, no, to my family, his family, his co-workers, and even my own co-workers, they all think that he is the perfect guy and that I am the luckiest girl in the world." "Does that make more sense to you, Jasper?" I ask her.

“Somewhat, this is a lot, and I am sure that I will start to catch on. But for now, it has my head reeling.”

The waiter brings out our food; I look around at our meals and watch as each of us starts to enjoy our choices of dinner tonight. And then after a short moment of silence, Jasper speaks as she moves her salad around on her plate.

“You know, I think Finn is financially abusing me. Is that a thing?”

“Most definitely,” I tell her. Putting down my fork. “Why do you think he is financially abusing you?”

“He gets mad when I take a day off. He wants me to save my P.T.O for emergencies and holidays. And then he keeps telling me that I need to pay more on a bill because his funds are all tied up and he couldn't pay it.”

"And do you?" asks Phalen.

"Yes, I don't want to get behind on our bills."

“That's why he does it. Because he knows that you will fix it for him,” says Phalen, taking another bite of her fish sandwich.

“Also, he makes way more money than I do, and we have set bills that we each pay. I don't know what he does with his money. But he says we can't start a family until we have a large enough banking account and savings account to support them. And I worry that if he doesn't have money to pay the bills, how will we ever save for a family?”

“He's not,” says Phalen, wiping away sauce dripping on her chin.

I send a signal to Phalen with my eyes to ease up, as I can see Jasper getting overwhelmed. “Okay, Jass, the bottom line is you have to hold him accountable. He is going to have a lot of great excuses for why he needs you to pay his bills. But at the end of the day, they are still excuses. He needs to man up and be responsible. If you pay his bills, then you are only enabling him.”

I'm glad that it seems Phalen understood my signal, but it may not have done much good because even though her words are true, it may be a hard lesson for Jasper to hear right now.

“As far as kids go, are you sure he wants kids? His excuse for waiting seems like he is buying himself time before he says no to kids.” This time, Luna jumps into the conversation.

“Last question for you, and we can move on. What do you want? Remember, a relationship contains two people; what you want matters and should be considered,” I say.

Jasper moves her plate to the middle of the table and wipes her mouth with her cloth napkin. “I want a baby,” she says, leaning back on the bench as if she just made this discovery.

“Then, you need to tell Finn that. And let me tell you, you want your babies young. You are what, twenty-four?” asks Phalen.

"Twenty-five and Finn is twenty-eight."

“Yeah, especially if you want more than one. At thirty, doctors are already prepping you for a geriatric pregnancy,” says Luna.

“Tell me about it. I about knocked my doctor out when she handed me information about what to expect with a geriatric pregnancy." Phalen says, using air quotes for emphasis. "I was only thirty."

Of course, this causes us all to laugh as we often do when Phalen speaks.

“Wow, I have a lot to think about and talk to Finn about. I am excited about possibly starting a family.”

“I would just focus on having the conversation with him. Don't get your hopes up because if he doesn't want a family, then you will need to have another conversation. And of course we will be here for you no matter what,” I say to her.

We end the evening saying our mantra, “We are not a statistic, and we will not be changed, we are strong enough to maintain our identity, so we verify, we set boundaries, and we know who we are.”

We leave another meeting with the idea that we will enter back into our lives with more strength to navigate our relationships in the healthiest manner.

Jasper

Even though I slept well last night, I feel physically drained. I am starting to look like death as each hour passes. Even my patients are looking at me weirdly, as if I look worse than they do. I'm not really sure why I am so tired. I have been going to bed early every night. Finn certainly hasn't spoken to me since I walked out on his impromptu dinner party. And I don't really care. He left not only the dishes for me to clean up, but everything exactly as I left it when I walked out. It was as if time stood still and only resumed when I returned. I stayed up that night throwing away leftovers and scrubbing dishes. He was already asleep in bed, so I decided to sleep in our guest bedroom. The only communication that we have had since then was him telling me how hurt he was and that he wasn't sure how long it would take him to forgive me. He told me this as he was walking out the door, and I didn't even get a chance to respond. He was hurt? He humiliated me in front of his guest; he was so in the wrong, but I am the wrong one? Then I remember what Saren said.

can't give him a reason that I have to apologize to him, so maybe I should have told him how I felt differently, so that I wouldn't look as bad as he did, making me look like a fool. Also, now he gets to be mad at me and ignore his behavior, which is why I did what I did in the first place. Ugh! This is so hard. I am tired of trying to figure out the rules to his stupid games.

As I am filing patient charts and checking medication schedules, I get a notification on my phone. When I look at it, I am surprised because the name that pops up, I haven't seen in months.

I click on the name and hit the call button.

“Hey,” she says.

“Hey, yourself, Harper. I haven't heard from you in a while. Are you okay?” I figured something had to be wrong because she was actually calling me. Well, technically, I called her, but her text asked me to call her.

“Jasper, Mom is sick.”

"Okay, I don't care."

"Don't."

“Harper, she was a horrible mom to both of us. I don't know why you still put up with her. She couldn't care less about me, so why should I care about her?”

dying." “Because she is dying, Jasper. I mean like actually”

I don't know what to say. I am angry at myself because my body is betraying me. I shouldn't care about her, and I don't, but my eyes and heart are telling a different story. My chest feels tight, and my eyes turn hot. I can feel them pooling with tears. I look around and pull a chair to sit in.

“Jass?” she says almost in a whisper.

“I'm here. Where is she?” I say, trying to hide my pain.

"She is at home. Hospice."

"Hospice? Why are you just now telling me?" “I didn't think you cared, but I started thinking and figured you had a right to know.”

“So, you were just going to let her die, and not tell me?”

"I'm calling now," she says, sounding like a squeaky mouse.

“How long?”

"Any day now. Jass, you should really come right away."

I moved away from my mom and my sister three years ago, when I met Finn. We left Michigan and moved to Indiana. Finn moved here for work, and we knew that we would get married. We moved in together and bought a cute little farmhouse. It always felt like we were living on the set of The Wizard of Oz, but most of Indiana looked like this. We finally got married and moved into the beautiful home that we live in now. With Finn's generous salary and me starting to work at the hospital, we started to live pretty comfortably. I was running away from absent parents and a non-supportive system. I never intended to totally cut her out of my life. It was always in my plan to reconcile, but each day that came was never the right time. And now time has run out. It is too late, and it is all my fault. I wipe the tears from my eyes.

“Yeah, I'll be there by evening. I am grabbing a flight now.” I say as I scroll on the computer looking for flights. I hang up the phone and sit in silence.

"Hey, you? What's going on?"

I look up, and Jill is standing over me. "I think I have to leave."

“Now?”

“Yes, where is Saren?” “I don't know, but what's going on?”

“I have to leave; my mom is dying.”

"Oh, okay, leave, and I will let Saren know. She will figure something out."

"Are you sure?"

“Absolutely, and Jasper, I am sorry. If I can do anything, please let me know.”

I'm not sure how common it is for surgeons to be nice to nurses, but I appreciate Jill today.

"Okay, thank you."

I grab my things and run out.

23 Lucas

It is time to begin preparing Riley for her homecoming. I have been hearing that cute little name, the baby doll killer. I take that as a compliment. I leave my girls looking more beautiful than even a baby doll, just the way Mama was. I check her room and make her clean it for the very last time. Getting her garments ready was a bit of a thrill. I love it when families stick to the same old routines. It makes my job so easy. I just pick a time that I know they will be gone and slip in and out with what I need.

This time around, Courtney came home a bit early, which surprised me. I was so quiet she didn't even know that I was still in her home when she called that detective. I smiled when she found that sweatshirt that I bought her. I loved watching Riley's face when I gave it to her. She was eating chocolate chip mint ice cream when I put my dream sickle ice cream to the side and handed her the gift. Her eyes lit up, and she told me that her parents would never spend that much money on a sweatshirt. She hugged me, and it was then that I realized that I had her.

But her time is coming to an end. It is time to start changing her diet and transforming her room into my studio. This is the most exciting part. My girl will become forever beautiful.

And to commemorate this, I have brought Riley a gift. I unlock the basement door and walk down the steps to find Riley reading a book as she is chained to the bed. Before I make her start her chores, I hand her the gift with a smile since I know that she loves gifts.

“What is it?” she says, looking at me.

"You tell me."

Before I left Riley's home, I picked up a statue off the mantle. I was hoping that it would have some sentimental value to her and she would recognize it. I want her to understand how much I love her. Then, she turns her head as she stares at it. Her eyes start to water, and they fall down her face as she looks up at me. Bingo, I did it again. She knows what this is.

"Is this from my house?"

“I wanted you to have something special before...” I stop myself. I can't give it all away.

“Before what?”

“Riley, let's not talk about that right now. Let's focus on being grateful. Remember how your face used to light up when I gave you gifts before?”

“That was when I thought you were normal and you liked me.”

“Oh, I can assure you that I am normal and I not only like you, I also love you. Why do you think I did all of this? You have everything that you could want down here.”

“Are you the baby doll killer?” she says abruptly.

I smile at her for a while, and then I walk away.

“I will be back down here in fifteen minutes for dinner. We will have something a bit different tonight. Wear something nice.

Tonight is a special one." “What does that mean, you sicko? What happened to you? Did you get bullied in school? Did your daddy beat you? Or did your mom just not love you enough?” she screams through her tears.

At those words, I reach up and slap her across her face, which caused her to fall onto the ground. I climb on top of her and wrap my hands around her neck. I squeezed so hard I thought I had killed her. "My Mama loved me plenty, it was his fault, his fault she left me." I then jumped back and let her go. It wasn't time yet. I wanted to kill her right then and there for saying that about my mother, but it wasn't time yet. Soon enough, though. Soon enough.

I leave her there crying on the floor next to her bed. I walk upstairs and prepare dinner. But before I do, I have to talk to Mama. She needs to calm me down. She will know what to do.

24 Detective

Price

We are in position and ready to go. All of our men are outside Lucas's house. I knock on the door and call out for Lucas to open it as I identify myself. When he does not answer, I instruct my men to knock down his door. We get into the house, and it is as messy as a thirty-two-year-old bachelor's house would be. There is little furniture, with limited paintings on the wall. The trash can reveals microwave dinner remnants along with all the foods that would prepare you for an early grave. We look around the house, and there does not appear to be any area where someone would be held captive. The only women's item we found was different pairs of underwear stuffed in a drawer. It was as if he collected women's underwear as a hobby.

“Clear.”

I hear down the hall. And pretty soon, the whole house is cleared. There is no sign of Lucas or Riley anywhere. In fact, there is no indication that Riley had ever been here. Did he keep her somewhere else? I see a picture of Lucas in army gear on the nightstand in his bedroom. I pull out the flyer and compare the two pictures. They are similar, but I can't say for certain that this is our guy. My theory is put to the test when I hear Lemmens say," We got company."

I run to the front of the house and pull back the curtains. I see a vehicle approaching and then turning into the driveway. Everyone draws their gun towards the car and demand for him to stop and get out with his hands up. Right when the driver gets out of the car with his hands raised, I walk out of the house and up to him.

“What is this about?” he asks.

“Are you Lucas Martin?”

"Yes, what is going on?"

“I am Detective Price, working on the baby doll murders,” I say, mentally shaking my head at the fact that I just used the absurd nickname. “We need to ask you a few questions about your whereabouts on April third last year.”

“What? I don't know. Do you know what you were doing about a year ago, Detective?” “Careful, you are not in a position right now to be coy.”

He looks around with all the lights and police with their guns drawn. “Sorry, I really don't know, sir, but if you let me look at my calendar, maybe I will have a better idea.”

“Why don't you come down to the station with us and answer some questions, look at your calendar on your ride there?”

“But I didn't do anything. I am not a murderer, and I most certainly don't waste my time painting girls' faces and dumping them in their beds.”

I am impressed that he knew so much about the case. And my gut is telling me that this guy was no more than a regular bachelor looking for his next hookup. But I am desperate and need to exhaust every angle. So I put him in the back of my car and head to the station.

On my way to the station, I want to turn around and let Lucas go. I am very sure that he is not our guy. His house was not conducive to holding hostages. He lived far from the city, but he was still very visible to his neighbors. They would have noticed different girls being here. He didn't look like he had enough money to furnish his home, let alone take care of a girl for a whole year. If he did have her, she wasn't here, which meant he needed to have a second home or a place where he stashed her. He works for waste management, and I don't think he could afford two homes. Maybe he has her in a storage unit. Mostly, the biggest telling sign is that my gut is not saying that I have a murderer in the back seat of my car.

Sure enough, after interrogating him, we accepted the fact that we had the wrong guy. We let him go, and Sergeant Corbin ripped me a new one for wasting resources on a false lead. I lock the door to my office and sit in the dark while I sulk. I have failed again. I shouldn't be doing this if I can't do it right. This may be my last case.

I can't keep letting these people down. I am not helping anybody. I have to be done. And then I hear a knock on my door.

“Go away, Markis, my door is locked for a reason.”

“Darren, it's me.”

I hear my wife's soft and concerned voice, and I jump up to unlock the door. I lay eyes on her face, and immediately I feel better. I grab her and hold onto her for what seems like hours.

"Are you okay? Markis told me that you took this loss pretty hard."

“I am not going to find her in time, Jill. Her mother is depending on me, and I am failing miserably.”

“This is not all on you, Darren. You have a whole team, and this guy is smart. He has not given you much to go on. Give yourself some credit. Every time you follow a lead, you get closer and closer to finding him.”

Even though she is trying to cheer me up, it is not working. I have already given myself this speech. I am looking at reality now, and my gut is telling me that we are too late. But to appease her, I say,

“I know.”

“Sir?”

“No, Markis, my door is still locked to you.”

“But I think I found another connection.”

Markis is good at finding connections. In fact, he has been the one to carry both of us on this case. When he makes detective, I will be honored for him to be my partner. I have been without one ever since my partner retired. So, I gear up to listen to what he says.

“You know how all the victims are found and taken on April third?”

“Yes.” “That date has to have some significance. Why would he return a girl and take another the same day unless the date was important? I mean, that is risky. So, I am looking through possible accidents that happened on April third going back the past thirty years. This guy looks about late twenties and early thirties, so we will start there. It might take a while, but I think this is a step in the right direction.”

“I agree, Markis, that's good,” and just like that, I am back in the game. Markis returns to his desk, and Jill stands up to leave as well.

“I take it you will be late tonight?”

“Yeah, I will pick something up for dinner.”

I walk Jill to her car and then return to help Markis.

Jasper

A s I sit here on my short flight to Michigan, I think about being a little girl and how insane it was with two parents who couldn't care less about being parents. But mostly I think about Finn and what I found just before I left the house. I think he is cheating on me.

When

I got home to pack and get ready for my flight, he was there. Why was Finn home in the middle of the day? Wait, this could be perfect, if he took off from work, then maybe he could go with me, I thought. I really needed support right now. I knew that he was probably still upset with me, but I thought my mother's death would trump any upset feelings he was having because I had embarrassed him. But that idea was a wash.

“Hey, what are you doing home?” I asked him as I stood at the door.

He didn't respond right away. He looked at me, and I guess he was trying to figure out why my face was puffy and my eyes were red.

"Why are you home? Did something happen?"

“Yes, I have to go to Michigan. My mom is dying, and I am leaving in half an hour.”

I waited for his response, but I saw what looked like a sparkle in his eyes.

"Oh, well, you can't be that sad, you hated your mother, right?"

said, crying into my hands. I walked past him and threw my things on the couch. I walked into the bedroom and grabbed a couple of suitcases.

"Wait, you're right," he said as he followed me into the room. "Even though I am still upset with you, I want you to be okay."

What kind of response was that? I stopped packing my things and looked at him. In that moment, I had to remember what Saren told me. I needed to take my black girl charm down a little bit. I decided to speak to him kindly and told him exactly how I felt, but in a way I wouldn't need to apologize later.

“So, are you coming or not?” I asked him.

“I would, but I don't see how it would matter. I haven't even met her. I don't need to pay my respect.”

I had to remember once more Saren's words because at this point, I wanted to literally murder him.

“Then, I guess you would be there for me, you know, to support your wife.” I then softened. “I need you.”

“Won't your sister be there? You won't want me there to get in the way of you two bonding and going through this with your mother.”

“You mean, going through a death, Finn?”

“Yeah, you know what I mean. Besides, I will be with you right here,” he pointed to my heart and kissed me on my forehead.

I waited until he left the room before I let the tears fall down my face. I realized that I would always be alone. Was it God's plan for me to be alone my entire life? I angrily finished packing.

I went into the kitchen to pack a few snacks. But when I threw my trash away, I saw empty makeup containers that I would never wear. They are not even for my complexion. And I hate lipstick. I wondered why they were in my trash can. It was then that I wondered if Finn was having an affair. But why would the other chick need to discard her makeup here? I almost changed my mind about going because Finn never explained why he was home in the middle of the day. Was he planning on spending the day with her? Was he now calling it off? I looked around to see where he was and did not spot him until he walked through the back door of the kitchen.

“Well, I am back to work,” he said, kissing my cheek. “I just came back for the trash.”

The trash? Was he trying to get rid of the evidence? Well, too late, I already saw what he was hiding in there.

“I just stopped home to grab a jacket,” he said as if he had read my mind.

We looked at each other as if we were having a silent conversation about the makeup in the trash. I am sure that he was trying to figure out if I had opened the lid to the trash can or not. And I was trying to figure out what else he was hiding. I was just about to confront him about the makeup in the trash when my oo-ber pulled up.

“I think your ride is here,” he said, breaking the silence.

He pushed me out the door like he was trying to get rid of me. In fact, he acted like a totally different person. Like we hadn't avoided each other for the last couple of weeks. I watched him grab the bag out of the can and tie it up. Figuring that it was too late to confront him, I left and climbed into the back seat of the oo-ber. One thing is for sure: I found something Finn never expected me to, I'm just not sure what it means.

Now, I will not only have to deal with a dying mother, but I will also have to worry about what Finn is up to.

26 Detective

Price

Today is the day-April third. Riley has not been found, and we are no closer to finding her or any more information about her abductor. Mrs. Sim's words keep playing on repeat in my head. "Thanks for nothing." Markis has been working non-stop to find leads on the importance of April third. I am sitting at my desk, trying to make more connections and trying to understand how this prick thinks and what his goal is.

It might be too late to save Riley; she may already be dead. But we may still have a chance to catch this guy. If Riley is to be returned today, then he will need to get into her home. Maybe we can catch him there. We wait until he tries to return her, and then we bring him down.

“Markis,” I call out to him through my open office door.

“Yes,” he says. He looks like he is anticipating that I will be upset.

“How far did you get finding out the significance of April third?”

He lets out a huff and looks directly at me. “Not very far. I have been looking for fires or murders, car accidents.”

“I think we can rule out any incident that would cause destruction. He leaves his victims in perfection. I think he is recreating a scenario every time he murders a girl. The date has to be significant, and the amount of time that he has the girls as well."

“I thought about that. I also thought about the why. Why does he want his victims to look pristine and in order? Maybe it's a compulsion, and his parents created this behavior. One spill, one mess, and he paid for it.”

The silence between us grew heavy, thick with the one thing neither of us wanted to say.

“I think it's too late to save Riley, man,” I say with a discouraged tone.

"Are you just going to give up?"

“No, but today is the day, Markis. Even if we find out who he is and where he has been keeping her this past year, it will be too late. Her death is probably already in motion. He has a process; he probably started last week sometime.”

“I think you are right,” he puts his head down and looks like he is shameful.

“Hey, we did our best. I think the only thing that we can do now is to find him and stop him from grabbing another girl tonight. We need to sit on Courtney's house until he shows up to bring Riley back.”

“But if we are all there waiting for him, he will never bring her back to the house?”

“You and I are going to hide and wait until he shows up. Once he has Riley back into her house, we pounce and call for backup.” Just then, Lemmens knocks on the door to my office.

“What's up?” “We narrowed down the searches for events that happened on April third. Nothing jumped out at us in Indiana. We found a couple in surrounding states. We found four in Michigan, three in Ohio, and ten in Illinois. We will let you know when we find something further.”

“Thank you, Lemmens.” I look at Markis and shake my head. Should we be giving up like this? I don't know, maybe this information will eventually help find this guy, but for now, we need to plan for the worst.

27 Saren

This is the best part of my day. Hazel is meeting me today for lunch. She is off from school for Teacher in Service

Day and will be meeting a friend at the mall later. I love spending time with her, especially since I never had any kids of my own. Her mother, my sister, is a great mom, but she was never as hands-on as Hazel needed. So she would come over and stay with us, and she is more like a daughter to me. I worry about her sometimes. Knowing that she is out and about scares me with this killer on the loose. I know that she will get mad at me when I warn her to be safe, but I would not be able to manage life if something happened to her.

I start to think about Jasper and how she must be doing. I make a mental note to call and check in with her. This has to be hard on her. She told me that she would be staying in Michigan until after the funeral. Finn was a real jerk for making her do this alone. Knowing him, he probably gave her some excuse why he couldn't go with her. Something about him makes my skin crawl. I think it is in his eyes; they are so blank when he looks at you. He may be good-looking, but I see right past what other women do not, and it is pure evil. I just hope Jasper is prepared to deal with it.

station.

"Hey, Auntie," she says, walking up to the nurses'

“Hi Hazel, are you ready for lunch?” “Yes, I am starving. Jasper isn't here?” she asks, looking around the nurses' station.

“No, Jasper is visiting her mother in Michigan. She is not doing so well.

“Aw, that is too bad. We should hang out with her again when she gets back. I like her. That TikTok video, everyone keeps asking who that skinny, light-skinned girl with the long hair is. They think she is hot. She and Finn are like the power couple of hotties.”

I look at her while she is scrolling on her phone. "Hazel, you do know to be careful on social media, don't you?"

"Of course, Auntie," she says, rolling her eyes.

“I mean, you know, never to meet someone you meet on TikTok or Instagram, Facebook, Lemmon 8, oh, you know what I mean, all of them?”

“Yes, I do. I am always careful to read all my comments. If I see a creepy comment, then I block them. I don't give out personal information, and no, I don't tell people when I am going on vacation. I just post videos, fully dressed by the way, and I don't entertain people who want to slide into my D.M. This is just a platform for me, not a dating site.”

“It sounds like you have it all figured out. That makes me feel a lot better.”

“So, are we going to lunch, or did you call me here to lecture me?” she asks playfully.

"Let's go."

Lunch with my favorite girl was amazing. I ordered the healthiest meal that the restaurant offered, but Hazel ordered what looked like one of everything on the menu. I teased her for it, but loved every minute of it. I just soaked up her young, ready-for-life personality. We talked about her college plans, and she swore she wasn't dating anyone special. She made sure that I understood that dating for her would come once she was in college and crushing it. She has such a good head on her shoulders, and I couldn't be prouder of her, which is why what happened next to one could have ever prepared me for.

Lucas

Finally, the time has come. Everything is set to perfection. I'm glad Riley's bruises healed in time. I was a little worried

that they wouldn't, then my plan would be ruined. But all is right in the world, and my beautiful girl couldn't look better. She is sitting at the table, ready for her last meal. She is already made up in her perfect outfit. Doing her hair was the most fun. I remember brushing mama's hair and putting on her makeup. She was so beautiful. I am here, Mama, I am here!

I look at Riley as she sits across the table from me. Her plate is in front of her, and her wine is already sprinkled with my special powder. Don't worry, she won't know. By the time she realizes what has happened to her, she will not be able to do anything about it. Just like my other two girls, they just sat there. I did have to fix the makeup a little, due to a tear slipping down Melinda's face, but that was okay.

I have to wait for the right moment. I need to wait until Courtney, and her family are out of the house. Until then, Riley may not sip her wine.

"Why are you letting me have wine?"

125

"It's a special day," I say, smiling. “For whom?”

“For both of us.” I am glad that I am getting rid of her today. I don't like her mouth. She is disrespectful and snotty. The other girls were at least well-mannered and grateful.

“Yeah, how is this a special day for me? I have chains on my feet, eating this sorry excuse of a meal. And I don't even like wine, you weirdo. Now, if you are going to let me go, then that would be a special day for me.”

She may be acting a bit rudely, but I am not going to let that get to me. I look down at my phone and see that Courtney is still at home. Michael and Jason are at another game. So they will be gone for a while. I heard them talking about it through the cameras that I installed earlier. I stare at the camera that I installed outside the home and notice something else. It is subtle, and I can barely see it due to the angle of the camera, but there is movement next door. A slight move of a curtain. Do we have nosy neighbors, or is something else going on? Ah, it looks like someone is trying to trap me. Tsk, tsk, Detective Price, that will not work. Good thing I am smarter than you. I click onto my other camera feed and decide that it's time.

“I know what you are going to do to me. I just hope that they catch you after you murder me and terrorize my family with my dead body. I do look good, I will give you that, but I am not your mother.”

“Well, of course you are not my mother, silly.”

“I hear you talking to yourself up there. You are the baby doll killer, and you think killing girls will fix your pain, but it won't. So kill me if you need to, but one day you will be stopped, and my last prayer is for them to beat you senseless until you see your dead mother's face.”

I was enraged! “Shut up! Do not talk about my mother! “I feel the saliva dripping from my lips as I scream at her. I know I wasn't supposed to get upset, but I want to kill her with my bare hands right now.

“And why would I do that, Lucas, if that really is your name. I'm already dead, right? That's what all this is about. So how are you going to do it?”

I get up and turn on my special song. Right after she drinks her wine, she will be ready.

“Drink up, buttercup, let's just enjoy ourselves. What do you say?” I say in my calmest voice.

“I am not drinking anything. If you want to kill me, then do it like a man. What, did you poison the food, or is it the wine? What is it, Lucas?”

Lucas." “I think we already established that my name is not

“Then what is it? Is it freak?”

“Shut up, you are ruining the song. My special part is coming soon, and she needs to be quiet. I have to get her to shut up. I walk over to her and grab her face. I want to pour the wine down her throat, but we will get it all over her, and she needs to look perfect. I go over and stop the music because she is not ready yet.

“Riley, I'm just trying to have a nice dinner with you. Please cooperate.” I say, stroking her hair.

She is silent for a while, and then she looks up at me. In that moment, I can tell that she is giving up. This is it!

“Okay,” she says in an almost whisper. “But please let my family know that I am sorry, and that I love them. I know that you are not going to let me go. So tell them that this was not their fault and that they did nothing wrong. I just made a mistake.” “If you eat and drink your wine, I will tell them everything that you just told me.” I lie, she won't know.

“Right,” she picks up her fork and stabs at her spaghetti. I watch her put the spaghetti in her mouth and barely chew. She picks up the wine glass and takes a sip as tears flow down her beautifully made face. I make a mental note to fix her face later. “There you go. Do your parents allow you to drink?”

“No,” she says with more tears in her eyes and a quiver in her voice.

enjoy it."

"Well, this is a special day for you then. Take it back."

I watch her take a big gulp of her wine and scrunch up her face like she is sucking on a lemon. So, I walk over to the player and start our song again. Somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight. Someone's thinking of me and loving me tonight. And when it gets to the special part, I belt out the words and dance around the room. By the time the song is over, I look over to Riley, and she is no longer breathing.

I grab her and lay her down on the prepared tarp to carry her out. I quickly wrap her and carefully take her body to the car parked in the garage. We still have lots of work to do before this is over. And then I have to introduce my new girl to her new home. She was very surprised when I grabbed her. I surprised myself as well. Everything about this time was different. This girl was too smart for my regular tactics, but as always, I am smarter.

29 Detective

Something is off; it's getting too late in the evening. He should be here by now. Courtney has been gone for at least half an hour. I am not sure whether to call the whole thing off and put all our efforts into searching for Lucas. Our whole team is pretty much out of the office. Half are ready to back us up, while the other half are following leads. One way or the other, my plan was to either catch Lucas before he murdered Riley or at least stop him from grabbing another girl. Markis and I are hiding at Courtney's neighbor's house waiting for Lucas to show up, but he is nowhere to be found. And I don't think he will. He must have changed something in his routine. Does this mean that Riley is still alive? Maybe we have a chance to save her still, or maybe he is just running late, which means we will have more time to find him before he grabs his next victim. I take a deep breath when I realize this is not going to happen.

"Markis, something's not right."

“I agree, what is happening?”

“I am not sure, but I think we have been made. We need to call Courtney.”

“I'm on it,” Markis says, but before he can pull out his phone, Courtney comes barreling into the driveway. She immediately jumps out of the car, screaming Riley's name. She runs into the house. Joshua and Michael are right behind her in another car. It looks like they did exactly what we asked them to do today, and it still didn't work.

When Courtney called me earlier today, she was in tears. She and her husband wanted to know what we were going to do today since today was the anniversary of Riley's disappearance.

We told her our theory, and she almost lost it.

“So you have already given up, Detective?” she said.

“We have reason to believe that Riley is already dead. We still have a team searching for her and for this Lucas guy. His picture is out all over town, and we are hoping for a miracle. But if we are too late for Riley, we still want to catch this guy. That is why we need your help.”

"My help, how?"

“Most likely, Lucas is going to call you and pretend to be your daughter. But he will not do that until he has a chance to return her to her bedroom.”

“So what do you need from me?”

“I need you to do your normal today. I need you to leave the house and give him a chance to be alone there. Tell Michael and Jason to also leave the house and not to come back until we call you. We are getting permission from your neighbors to use their home to wait for him to arrive. When he does, we will get this guy.”

At first, there was nothing but silence on the other end, but then I heard what sounded like moaning and crying. I could feel her pain through the phone. My throat started to close up as I felt my bottom lip start to quiver. I rubbed my eyes and allowed her to have a moment.

When she was ready to speak, she said, "I'm sorry, I can't believe what you are telling me. You basically are telling me that you failed to find my daughter, and now you need my help to catch him. Do you not have a heart? My daughter is... is no, she can't be. She can't be dead; we have to keep trying."

It took a lot of patience, but Courtney finally agreed to help us by leaving the house and allowing Lucas to return her daughter. But now, something has got her in a frenzy. Please don't let it be what I think it is. It can't be. We have been watching the house for hours, and no one has gone in or has left. After calling for back up, I run out of the house and run into Courtney's house, and Markis is right behind me. When I walk into the house, Joshua is sitting with his head in his hands, and both Michael and Courtney are running around the house calling out Riley's name.

“What's going on?” I yell out, but no one stops screaming long enough to answer me.

Joshua?"

I walk over to Joshua. "What is happening,

"My mom got a phone call."

I step back and put my hands over my mouth. I gather myself quickly, knowing that this is what we expected. "Okay, what did he say?"

“She. Riley said that she was waiting for us at home, and that she missed us,” he says as his voice cracks.

I look at Joshua, confused because one thing is for sure: Riley is not here. I don't know what is happening right now. Why is Lucas playing games?

“Markis,” I say, turning toward him. “Go get Courtney and Michael; they have to stop this noise. Bring them here, we need to talk to them.”

“Stop the noise? How do you suppose they do that? The baby doll killer calls his victim's family when he returns them, only she isn't here. We can't get any type of closure because we are still looking for her, and you want them to be quiet? For what? For you?” Joshua stands up and paces the floor. He is fiercely wiping his tears as if his face will melt if he leaves them too long.

I look at Markis and nod, telling him to follow orders and bring the parents down. Walking towards Joshua, I put a hand on his shoulder. “You're right, man, and I am sorry. You have, all of you have every right to be angry. I am just trying to make sense of this entire situation.”

I look up and see more policemen walking through the house. I signal for them to take a look around and to keep a lookout for Lucas.

“Listen, do you remember anything else the caller said? I need to know exactly what was said.”

“What she said, Detective, was that she was home waiting for us. She said that she missed us and wanted to see us. It sounded just like her,” she says, walking toward me, crying. By now Michael is standing beside his wife, and he seems to have calmed himself down.

“Could you hear anything else in the background that sounded familiar?”

“No, I couldn't. I was too focused on my daughter's voice. It has been a whole year since I heard it.”

"I'm sorry."

“For the love of God, will you stop apologizing? It doesn't make it any better,” she yells at me, getting louder and louder as she completes her sentence. And as if she lost all her strength, she leans into Michael and collapses. She buries her face into his chest, and he guides her down to the couch. I look at Markis, and he looks distraught. I not only let the family down, but I also let him down as well. I was supposed to teach him how to be a good detective, and I just struck out.

Just then, Courtney's phone rings.

"It's an unknown number," she panics.

“Put it on speaker phone,” I say, and then motion for her to answer it.

“Hello?” “Mom,” the voice says.

“Riley?” Courtney says, jumping up.

“I thought you were coming to Sunny Peaks, you know, where we sometimes go when we go to Indianapolis? I have been

here for a while, and I am waiting to see you."

And then Courtney gets a look in her eyes that I am not sure what it means.

“You crazed maniac, I am going to find and kill you myself. No one hurts my daughter and gets away with it. So you better run and hide.”

Oh, boy, that's what that look meant. I walk closer to her, and then there is more speaking.

“Mommy, I am sorry. It's not your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. I just made a mistake. I love you.”

I grab the phone, but it's too late; the caller has already hung up.

“We need the address to this home right away. How long does it take to get there?” I say, running toward my car.

Michael yells out that it's a forty-five-minute drive and demands that we take him with us. I have no time to argue, so I agree. We jump in the car, turn on the sirens, and head toward Indianapolis.

30 Detective

Price

Within thirty minutes, we are at the steps of Michael's home in Indianapolis. He unlocks the door and steps aside so that we can clear it first. Once the house is cleared, we go into Riley's bedroom and grimace at the scene in front of us. Riley is staged to look like an ordinary teenager lying on her bed watching television. The volume on the television is up loud, and she is lying on her side, hugging a body pillow. Her eyes are open, and her face is made up to perfection, but she is cold and stiff. At that moment, Michael runs in and stops in his tracks.

“Oh, my God, this can't be happening,” he says as he walks over to touch his daughter.

“I'm sorry, Michael, I can't allow you to touch her,” I say, holding out my hand.

“I haven't seen her in a year, and I can't touch her?” he falls on his knees and rolls up into a ball, holding and rocking himself. Moments later, Courtney runs in and sees both her husband and

Riley.

She covers her mouth and looks to be as shaken as her husband. “They won't let us touch her, they won't let us touch her,” he says, continuing to rock on the ground.

Courtney stands there motionless as she takes in her daughter lying there dead on the bed. I am not sure if she is in shock or if she just doesn't know what to do. Apparently, her husband had already taken the part of torn up, and she looks like she is deciding to either join him or boot up to be the stronger one.

After standing there for a while, she finally speaks. "Riley," she says in a small voice. Just then, Michael stops rocking. "I am not mad at you, okay. Rest easy and know that we all love you. I am sorry that we didn't protect you. I'm sorry that you had to go through this. Rest easy, baby, we love you," she says, looking at her husband on the ground, and walking out.

Michael rushes to his feet to follow her, and we stay to further examine the body. We tell the family to leave, and we turn the house into a crime scene.

“Let's go,” I turn to Markis. And without saying a word, he follows me out and climbs into the car. After a long time without speaking as we make our way back to the office in Eastview, Markis finally breaks the silence.

“How do you do this?”

“To be honest with you, I can't. This is taking a toll on me, and I don't think that I am coping very well. This is the third girl that he has gotten away with. How can I call myself a cop if I can't stop him?”

“I don't think that I am cut out for this, Darren. I have been doing some soul searching, and I think maybe...”

I cut him off before he can finish his sentence because I know what he is going to say. It will be a big mistake if Markis quits now. He is a good cop, and I need to ignore my disappointment and tell him that.

“Markis, I'm sorry I should be lifting you and helping you, instead I loaded off on you. The truth is, you are a great cop; you are the reason we have gotten this far. And when you pass your test, you are going to make a great detective.”

“That's just it, I did pass my exam, but I have really been thinking that maybe this career is not for me, ever since we didn't find Lucas before. I had it all wrong. We wasted time at that dude's house when we should have been out looking for the real guy.”

“That was my call, not yours; if anyone is to blame, it's me. But we are not going down that road. Please consider being a detective and being my partner. We make a great team; you have to admit that.”

“We kind of do,” the car goes silent again for a short while. It was like we both took time to regroup and gain a different perspective. “It's like you said before, we may not have been able to save Riley, but we can stop him from hurting anyone else. We can still do that.”

“As my partner, Detective?”

“I would be honored.”

"So, you passed and didn't tell me, huh?"

“So many times I wanted to, but as I said, I was in a really bad headspace,” he says.

We return to the office, and we have no updates on finding Lucas. How does this guy move about and manage not to be seen by anyone? Someone had to have seen him. As soon as we walk into the station, Sergeant Corbin waves the two of us into his office.

“What happened out there today?” he says in his I'm so angry voice that we all make fun of. I look at his balding head and his bushy eyebrows. His comical features immediately shift my energy. But then I realize he is waiting for an update. And what I have to tell him, he will not like.

Markis and I break down the night's events, and his already angry face is a contorted mask of disappointment.

“I have a press conference first thing in the morning, and this is what you tell me?” How am I supposed to tell the community that their daughters are safe with that maniac still out there?”

“Sir, we have a picture up of him all over Indiana. Lemmens put warnings on all social media platforms to call if someone with the name of Lucas comments or contacts them. We are looking into incidents that match April third. We found nothing in Indiana, but we expanded our search and got some hits in Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois.

Our men are working on those now."

“What are we doing about keeping him from snatching another girl? Shouldn't that be pretty soon?”

I want to tell him that he is keeping us from doing just that, but Markis and I just discovered that we still want to be detectives. so I refrain.

“We are working on that now. Once, we learn who this guy is, we can bring him down.” “So get out of my office and get to it,” he plops down at his desk and makes a phone call.

We walk out of the office like we just left the principal's office. And then Markis turns to me.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" he asks.

“We need to see how far they are with these incidents on April third. I think that is our best lead.”

I go into my office and close the door. It is about time for me to figure this out. No more feeling sorry for myself. I need to show this guy that he has not won. I turn on my computer and dig right in.

31 Saren

As I step out of the shower, I hear my phone ringing. I am expecting a call from Hazel any minute now to tell me how her time at the mall with Sam went. I quickly dry my body and grab my phone off the bathroom counter. I look at the display, and the number is unfamiliar.

“Hello,” I say.

“Mrs. Macmillan?” a young voice says in a panic.

“Saren is fine. Who is this?”

“This is Sam,”

"Oh, hello, Samantha, are you still with Hazel?"

“No, that is why I'm calling. Hazel never showed up at the mall.”

“What?”

“Well, she was here, but I was late, and I guess she left, but I keep calling her, and she won't answer my call. At first, I thought she was mad at me, but then I realized that Hazel would never just leave me hanging, even if she was upset with me. And she would never ghost me.”

mall?"

“So what are you saying? When did you get to the

“I have been here for at least two hours.”

“Two hours, Sam? And you're just now calling me?” “I'm sorry, I kept waiting and waiting for her to call me back and to give her time to respond. But then I started to worry that something had happened to her.”

“What do you mean, something happened to her? Do you think she is in trouble?”

“I mean, why else would she not be here?”

She stops talking as if she is waiting for me to fill in the blanks. But I have no words-just questions. How could this have happened, and where is my niece?

“Sam, call your mother and have her meet us. Stay where you are, I am coming as well. I need to make a couple of phone calls, but I will be there.”

"Okay," she agrees and then hangs up.

I immediately jump into action, grabbing my clothes and dressing quickly.

“Arlo!” I yell out to him.

“Yeah?” he responds, sounding a bit confused.

“Arlo, I need you.” I can feel the blood rushing to my head, and it feels like I am about to fall out. I don't feel steady on my feet. Arlo rushes in and grabs hold of me just in time.

“Whoa, what is going on? Are you okay, love?”

"Arlo, my baby," I barely say.

“Slow down, Saren,” he says as he sets me down on the bed, and I immediately jump back up, which causes him to jump back.

screaming. “I can't sit, I have to go, Hazel is missing!” I say

"Oh my, no!"

“I need to call Detective Price; he will help us. I will call my sister on the way to the mall. Can you drive?” “Of course,” he rushes to grab his things, and we both run out the door and into the car.

After I can feel a regular heartbeat again, I know that I am calm enough to call my sister and Detective Price. I keep telling myself that she will be okay. Hazel is smart; she has to be okay.

I call my sister, Alaina, and let her know what is going on. She is going to meet me at the mall as well. And then I call Detective Price.

“Hello, Darren, this is Sarendipity. I think that I need your help. Hazel has gone missing. She was supposed to meet a friend at the mall today, but they were never able to connect. Sam, her friend, has no idea where she is, and Hazel is not answering her phone.”

I told Detective Price that a bunch of us were meeting at the mall and that I needed him to meet us as well. I didn't want to sound like I was bossing him around, but this is my niece, and anyway, he can get me back at our next barbecue. Jill and I have been friends for a while, and we occasionally get our families together.

As soon as I hang up the phone with Detective Price, I get another phone call. And the name displayed on my phone almost makes my heart stop.

“This is her,” I say.

“Who?”

“Hazel.”

"Answer it!"

I quickly hit the green phone icon and put it on speaker phone.

“Hazel?” “Hi, this is Jim Jenkins, with mall security, and I found a phone and purse stuffed in the bathroom here. It keeps ringing, so I called her ice. Are you Auntie Saren?” he asks.

She put me down as her in case of emergency? I was just joking when I suggested it, but now I am glad that I did.

“Yes, is she around you?”

“No, Ma'am, as I said, I had to find out where the phone was. It kept ringing, but it was well hidden behind a tampon vending machine in the bathroom. I can leave it in the lost and found for you if you would like.”

“No, “I say abruptly, which makes him gasp. “I am sorry, Jim, but I have reason to believe that Hazel has been abducted. That purse and phone will be a part of an investigation. I need you to take it to your office, and a detective will be there shortly. I will be there as well. Please hold on to it until we get there.”

"Oh, my no problem."

I hang up the phone and look at Arlo, who is alternating between looking at me and the road. He grabs my hand and squeezes it. His hand feels warm and comforting in mine, and I realize just how much I need his touch right now. I just admit to myself what I was thinking all along. Hazel has been abducted, and there is a chance that we won't see her again for a whole year. I don't allow myself to think about the true ending as if I could stop it, but what I do is mentally promise myself that no matter what, I am going to find my niece.

32 Detective

This cannot be happening! “Markis!” I jump up from behind my desk the second Saren ends the call. Even though Hazel has not been missing long, and she could very well be fine, I have a feeling that the baby doll killer has already taken his next victim. And this time it is too close to home.

Markis comes running into my office, and I meet him at my door. “Grab your things, he's already grabbed a girl.”

“What?” he immediately turns and starts walking toward his desk.

“Yeah,” I yell out. It's Hazel, Saren's niece.”

We both jump into my car and head toward the mall. I could have tried to convince Saren that Hazel is probably just fine. But we both already knew that Hazel was taken by the baby doll killer. I was not going to waste anyone's time spitting out that garbage.

We get to the mall and see that the handful of people that Saren said would be at the mall had multiplied to the amount of a nice-sized crowd. It looks like we had the same thing in mind. I also call for backup. I made up my mind that if we have to get the entire state of Indiana out looking for this guy, we will. But what will not happen this time around is another murder.

When Saren sees me and my police officers walking toward her, she runs to us and meets us halfway.

“Detective, we found her purse and phone; the security officer has it in the office,” she says, like she is out of breath and strength. Arlo is right next to her, holding onto her as if at any moment she will fall apart. Next to her is a frail woman who looks familiar. She never even looks up at me for staring off in the distance, shaking vigorously. Saren must see me looking at her because she quickly introduces us.

mother." “Darren, this is Alaina, my baby sister. She is Hazel's

Just then, Alaina breaks her concentration and looks directly at Saren. “I am surprised you acknowledged the fact that she is my daughter and not yours.”

"Come on, Alaina, let's not do this here," Saren says.

“She's right,” Arlo says, attempting to comfort Alaina by touching her arm.

“Don't touch me!” Alaina yells, jerking away from Arlo. He puts his hands in the air as if to say I surrender.

“We all need to just calm down. We have a missing girl to find.”

“Her name is Hazel, Detective!” Alaina says, crying.

“I'm sorry, you're right.” I give Markis the look, and I'm happy that he understands what I am asking him to do.

“Alaina, I am Detective Markis Lane. Can you step over here so I can get some information about your daughter?”

As soon as they walk away, Saren continues to fill me in on the information that she has. Even though I am sure that Hazel is no longer at the mall, we split up into groups looking for her. By now, we have a large crowd of people, and it seems to keep growing. We are all looking for Hazel. Lemmens brings copies of Lucas's picture, and we have all the volunteers to pass out flyers as they are searching for her.

Before the night is over, we have over two hundred volunteers searching at parks, in their neighborhoods, and in grocery stores. It feels like the entire town of Eastview is out looking for Hazel, which makes some noise. By the time Markis and I decided to leave the mall, a Channel 9 news van was pulling into the parking lot. And I am very sure the other news channels were right behind them.

After getting Sam's statement, Markis and I go back to the office to look through Hazel's communication on social media, and we see that she had blocked someone named Lucas. I smile that it worked. But that also confirms that she was on his radar, which makes me even more sure that the baby doll killer took Hazel.

33 Lucas

The music is turned up so loud I can barely hear myself thinking, but I don't care. Mama was so beautiful, and I am celebrating tonight. I jump around in the kitchen and climb onto the couch in the living room, and jump on it like the book mommy used to read to me. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. except I won't be falling off and bumping my head. I run through the house, and as soon as the song ends, I head towards the basement. I'm glad that I kept this house. It was the smartest thing that I have done. This is the perfect place to see Mama more often.

Right now, everything is going my way. That detective thought he had me, no sir. This is my right, I deserve this. I unlock the door to the basement and slowly walk down the steep steps. When the view of our living quarters is visible, I am impressed that there is no sign that Riley was ever here. I reach into my pocket and pull out the Polaroid of her. She was so beautiful watching television just like me and Mama used to. I wanted to stay longer, but I knew our time had ended, and I needed to move on to my next girl. I put the Polaroid away in my special place, and then I turn to the closet behind me. With a big

smile on my face, I unlock it and open the door. Her beautiful eyes are blinking open, and she stares up at me.

"Why are you doing this?" she asks in a sleepy voice.

“Hello, Hazel,” I say, ignoring her question. I pull her out of the cramped closet, and she stumbles out. The sedation is wearing off as she looks around at her new home. “Do you like it? This is your new home.”

She just stares at the bed, and then her eyes move to the lounge area with comfy couches and chairs. Her eyes make their way to the entertainment center and the vanity stocked with makeup and different fragrances. The closet is filled with clothing her size. All the girls are similar in size, build, and beauty with dark skin, but this one broke the mold. She is my best girl. I may have to keep her longer. I knew the first time that I saw her that I had to have her.

"So, you are the baby doll killer?" she asks.

Why do they call me that? It's so silly. Although it is fitting. My girls all look like perfect dolls by the time I am done with them.

"I am, I mean, I guess if that is what they are calling me." I smile.

"But why?"

“That's not important; what is important is the rules.” “The rules?”

“Yes, you see, when you live with someone, there have to be rules so that everyone is happy. And that is what we have to do so that we both can be happy.”

“So, you're crazy?”

"Don't call me that!" I say as I get upset.

“Look, you tricked me and drugged me and then stuffed me into a box of a closet. Now you are telling me that this is my home, and you want to give me rules. Yep, you have lost your mind. And you want to know something else; this is not going to end well for you."

Suddenly, I reach up and smack her so hard that she falls to the ground. She grabs her face and starts to cry. What is it with these girls thinking they are going to tell me how this will end? I didn't want to hit her, but she needs to understand who is in charge. I see her lying there like a lump of clay. I examine her beautiful young body. Her curly hair is scattered all over her face, like a waterfall to the ground. I fall next to her and try to scoop her up into my arms. But when I do, the frisky girl turns toward me and strikes my face. I immediately drop her and jump back. I run over to the vanity and look in the mirror. Sure enough, there is a mark on my face. I hear her behind me, and she is running up the steps. I turn around and look at her running, and I almost laugh. She can't go anywhere because that door is locked and the key is safely in my pocket, where it stays.

I roll my eyes as I wipe my face and stop the bleeding. By the time she is at the top of the stairs, she is knocking on the door, probably thinking she can break it down.

me. “Hazel, come here,” I say calmly.

“Help, help, help!” she screams.

“No one can hear you down here. Now, come here.”

“Help me, please!” she keeps screaming, which fumes

“Hazel, get down here, right now!” I yell at her so loud it scares her. She turns toward me and slowly walks down the steps, holding onto the walls to keep from falling. “Good girl. Now sit down so we can properly talk about the rules. Once we do, then you will be a lot happier. I promise."

I hold out my hand to guide her to her chair. Happily, she takes it and sits down. She does look at the chains connected to the chairs, but I don't strap her in yet.

“We can do this with or without the chains. It's up to you. If you can sit there and listen, without trying to run away or hit me again, then I won't chain you up to the chair. What do you say?”

“Okay,” she says, looking at me with her hazel green eyes. What a fitting name she has. She reminds me most of my mother and is almost as beautiful.

She sits still while I explain that she can move freely in the basement as long as she is good. I tell her that it must be spotless at all times, and she has to stay in the closet when I am not home unless she earns the opportunity to stay in the basement.

“How might I earn to stay out of the closet?” she says with big tears in her eyes.

“Well, by being nice. That little stunt that you pulled gets you in the closet. But make this your home and be nice, and you don't ever have to go into the closet, I promise.”

She stares at me for a long time. I know she wants to ask me more questions, and I am surprised that she hasn't already. And then, as if she is reading my mind, she asks the question that we both know she has been wanting to ask.

“So, does Jasper know that her husband is a complete psychopath, Finn?”

“Jasper is clueless about more than my extracurricular activities.”

"You're wrong, she knows who you are, she just didn't want to admit it to herself because she loves you. What a waste." "Hey, I am not a waste!" I feel my temperature rising and clear my throat to calm down. I sit up and look directly at her. "I am sorry, I can be a gentleman."

“You're delusional, Finn. So what? What do you think you're going to do to me?” she says, rolling her neck.

She says it with confidence, but I can hear the subtle sound of fear in her voice.

“I told you, this is our new home. We will live here. But I need to keep up appearances, so I won't be here when I am playing house with my wife.”

"And what do I do here all alone?"

“Whatever your heart desires. I know you like video games; there is a console over there. We can play together sometime if you would like.”

“What I would like is to finish school and go to college. I have dreams, you know. Why would you take that away from me?”

I look at her for a long while, and then I stand up. "I think you need some time in the closet, Hazel. I have some things to get done." I grab her arm and lift her out of the chair.

“No, please, Finn, I promise I will be good. I won't say anything. That closet is awful, I can't see anything, it's dark and cold.”

I ignore her rants and toss her into the closet. I walk away and hear her screaming for me to let her out. I reach for a flashlight and a blanket. I remembered Riley always asked for these items. So, to show her that I can be nice, I unlock the door, throw the blanket and flashlight in the closet, and quickly lock it again. I walk upstairs and lock the basement door behind me.

Jasper

As I walk into the hospital to start my shift, I visualize my mother's face as she lies in the casket. And then the picture in my head switches from her face to her casket being lowered into the ground. These images infiltrate my dreams day and night. I just can't seem to get away from them. Although I was happy to have visited her, we were able to connect. She even apologized for being a sucky mother, my words, not hers. Her apology was exactly what I needed to heal. I also apologized to her for giving up instead of trying to improve our relationship. We cried, and we tried to talk about the few good memories that we had. By the second day that I was there, Mom had stopped eating. She basically lay there all day, in and out of sleep. Harper, her boyfriend, and I turned on all her favorite shows, and we just stayed in her room watching television and eating takeout. We did this for three nights, and during the late afternoon the next day, she finally took her last breath.

Finn never called me once while I was in Michigan. I had to go through watching my mother die and her funeral without my husband. Harper's boyfriend stayed with her the whole time, even for the funeral. It was the worst feeling in the world to know that he had left me alone. I had to watch Harper's boyfriend hold her when she couldn't stop crying. I watched as he held the hand I wasn't holding when we stood at the casket right before it was closed. And then, I had to watch as they left together, and I left alone. And just like I didn't remind my parents of my birthdays when they came around, I was not reminding Finn that it was his job as my husband to support me while my mother was dying. What a jerk!

I sit down at my desk and start to gather charts and get a feel for my workflow today. I look up, and Jill is walking toward me.

“Hey, Dr. Price.”

"Oh, please, you know you can call me Jill."

“Do you know where Saren is. I haven't seen her since before I left for Michigan.”

"Oh, honey, that's right, you don't know."

“Know what?” I say standing up.

“Hazel is missing; they think the baby doll killer took her. Riley Sims was found yesterday as well in her home, just like those other girls.”

"Oh my, how is Saren?"

“Well, she won't be here until Hazel returns, I imagine. Darren is working non-stop trying to find her. She's like all of our daughter, you know? He didn't even come home last night.” “Oh, man,” I sit back down. “He will be here in a minute; I have a doctor's appointment upstairs, and then we are going to get lunch. And then, I am making him go home to get some sleep.”

I don't hear anything else that Jill is saying because I am stuck on the fact that Hazel is missing. She is such a vibrant girl and has such a bright future. And, oh, that poor girl, found dead in her bedroom. This has to stop.

"Anyway, we are all praying for her safe return, a lot of us went out yesterday looking for her. They are going out again today."

Just then, a tall, muscular man dressed neatly, with a full head of hair, walks up to the nurses' station. "Here you are, I was looking all over for you."

“Oh, hey, baby, this is Jasper, the new nurse I was telling you about.”

“Hello, Jasper,” he says quickly and then turns to Jill. “We'd better get upstairs.”

"Right," she says and waves at me.

What happened in the short time that I was gone? I can't believe this is happening. I need to call Saren to see what I can do and to see how she is doing. Before I can grab my phone and dial her number, I see red roses floating behind a man walking towards me. I know exactly who it is. I notice the curls between the long-stemmed roses.

“Hey, Finn,” instantly, I want to get excited and give him a hug and kiss, but I am still upset about him abandoning me when I needed him the most.

“Hey, baby. I got you some flowers. I wanted to cheer you up. I know losing your mother was hard on you,” he hands me the flowers, and all I want to do is chop them up and shove them down his throat. So he knew how hard it was for me, and he still chose not to be there. What do I need him for? Surely not for giving me flowers instead of his support.

“Thank you, you were really young when your mother died, right?” I ask him. I then see something in his eyes that I have never seen before. It was a quick flicker, but it was almost demonic. "Yeah, that's right. It still hurts, Jasper."

"Of course, I wasn't saying, never mind."

“I didn't hear you come in last night,” he says, changing the topic and the temperature in the room.

“Yeah, no, I slept in the guest bedroom again. I didn't want to wake you, and then I had to be in early today. But thank you for the flowers.”

The next thing I know is Finn's face turns as white as the shirt that he was wearing as he stares down the hall. I look in the direction that he is looking and see that Jill and Darren are walking towards us. I guess they are leaving for lunch now.

“Hey, how was it?” I ask.

"She is doing well," Jill speaks up.

“She?” Darren says.

They both stop and stare at Finn, who is wearing the most awkward smile on his face. What is he doing?

"Oh, Detective Price and Jill, this is Finn, my"

husband." "Nice to meet you," Darren holds out his hand.

Embarrassingly, Finn hesitates and then finally decides to shake Darren's hand.

Darren. “Have we met before? You look awfully familiar,” asks

“No, I don't believe we have. Jasper is new here, and we don't get out much,” Finn responds.

“Mm, what happened to your face?” Darren asks, looking at him.

He reaches up and touches the side of his face. Sure enough, I had missed it. There was a scratch on the side of his face.

In my defense, it was a small scratch. "Oh, that, I scraped it on the car door getting out."

“I hate when that happens,” Darren says, staring at Finn as if he is waiting for him to say something else.

I look at Finn, very confused as he tries to evade Darren's stare. Why is he acting like this?

“Okay, well, we need to get to lunch, baby girl is getting hungry,” Jill says, rubbing her belly.

“Yeah, let's go. Nice meeting you, Finn and Jasper.”

I watch them walk out the door and turn to Finn.

“What's going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“I just watched you turn pale, and you totally acted weird in front of Detective Price and Jill. Do you know him?”

“No, what are you accusing me of?”

"Nothing, Finn."

“So, I go out of my way and spend money on getting you flowers, and this is how you treat me. I should have known better,” he turns and walks away, but not before knocking over a stack of papers off the desk.

I look around to see if anyone is looking, and I have a pretty big audience. I give a silly smile and shrug my shoulders, which causes them to go back to what they were doing before my crazy husband showed up. He can be so embarrassing sometimes.

Looking at the flowers, I want to dump them in the trash, but instead I decide to take them to the lounge and put them in water. Hospitals are notorious for getting flower deliveries, and you won't believe how many do not get claimed. So we have plenty of vases.

When I walk into the break room, all the nurses are standing around watching the news. The top story is about the return of Riley Sims and the disappearance of Hazel Wilcox.

“We are at Eastview Mall, where Hazel Wilcox was last seen. She was set to meet her friend Samantha and never showed up. Last night, many volunteers spread out around Eastview in search of missing girl Hazel Wilcox. Today, that number keeps growing as more and more people join. This is an outcry from the community.”

The reporter joins a group of volunteers, and I immediately recognize three of them. Luna, Phalen, and Saren are there. The reporter then allows Saren to speak. She looks frail, yet strong at the same time, as she starts to address the killer.

“I hope you see this crowd behind me. This is how tired we are of you wreaking havoc on our children. Today we say enough. We will get Hazel back, and you will definitely pay for taking her and all the girls before her. Just know, we are coming for you, and with this crowd and many more, along with the police, you have nowhere to hide. Hazel baby, we love you. Hang in there. Your mom, Uncle Arlo, I, and this whole team behind me are coming for you,” she says, returning the spotlight to the reporter.

“Just as Mrs. Macmillan stated, police believe her disappearance is directly related to the baby doll murders. Just hours earlier, Riley Sims was returned to her home and staged similarly to his last two victims, starting two years ago, a year apart. Police are advising that teenage girls stay off all social media platforms and be watchful of this man.”

A picture of a man is displayed on the screen, and I can't help noticing how incredibly similar he looks to my husband. There is a little bit of a difference in his appearance, but I can definitely see the resemblance. My attention is back on the television as the name of the guy is displayed.

“Police are also advising teenage girls to stay home with a parent or other adult and if someone by the name of Lucas comments on your social media, to block him right away and to call the police. Lucas is wanted for the disappearance and murders of three teenage girls and is wanted for questioning for the involvement in the suspicious death of Nicole Humphrey, and then finally, the disappearance of Hazel Wilcox. If you have any information about the whereabouts of Lucas, please contact the police. This is Ravina Sanchez reporting live with Channel Nine news.”

I stare at the television screen as a commercial is playing. I don't know what to do first, call Saren or my husband. I decide to call Finn. And he picks up right away.

“Calling to apologize?”

“For what, Finn?” I say, realizing that my response was probably a mistake if I wanted him to stay on the phone.

“For not appreciating the flowers.”

“I appreciated the flowers,” and just like that, I don't even remember why he got upset in the first place. Lately, he has been extra sensitive, getting upset over the least bit of a thing. “I need to ask you something.”

“Don't start, Jass.”

“Have you seen the news today?” I say cutting him off. “What about it?”

“There is a picture up of the man responsible for all these murders and abductions. Some Lucas guy.”

“Yeah, so?” he says slowly and almost apprehensively. “The thing is, he looks a lot like you. And even though his name is different, I am pretty sure the shirt he is wearing in the picture, you have one just like it.”

"Jass, what are you asking me?"

“Do you have a brother? I know you don't ever talk about your family a lot, but maybe...”

“I don't have a brother, I don't have a father, and thanks to him, I don't have a mother!”

“Finn!” I say, yelling at him.

“What!” he yells right back.

“What has happened to you? I really don't know what's gotten into you, but I am done with your behavior.”

“Oh, you're done, you're done? Well, guess what, I don't care. Don't wait up for me tonight because I am not coming home.”

“Hold on, what is this? Be a man, Finn, and tell me what this is. Are we over and ending our marriage over the phone?”

There was a long pause as the tears that were pooling in my eyes started to trickle down my cheek. Part of me will be very relieved if he says yes, but the other part of me will feel defeated and like I am that rejected little girl again, waiting for my parents to acknowledge my existence.

“No, but I am going out of town for work, and we can discuss our future when I get back.”

gone?"

sure." “What does that mean, Finn? How long will you be

“It means we will talk when I get back. And I am not

“So, it's not a work trip; then what are you doing?” “I don't have time for this,” he says. And that was it. I heard nothing but the dial tone and myself sniffling.

After my shift, I call Saren, and I decide to meet the group at the mall later. Local restaurants are providing food for the volunteers, and they have been canvassing neighborhoods, knocking on doors, walking through parks, and passing out flyers.

As I drive over to the mall to meet Saren, I can't stop thinking about how much Finn looks like this Lucas guy. I don't want to cause unnecessary trouble for him, but I feel like I need to tell someone. Maybe Finn has a relative named Lucas, and they look alike. And then it hits me. Maybe Finn is Lucas, and I have been living with a monster.

35 Hazel

don't know how long I have been locked in this closet, but I am starting to get hungry, and I have to relieve myself desperately. I can't believe that I am here. I did everything right. I didn't talk to strangers on social media, I didn't agree to meet with anyone, and I didn't share personal information. My only crime was going with Auntie Saren to her friend's house that day. I don't blame Jasper, but how could she not know that her husband was kidnapping teenage girls and killing them? Actually. I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I had a small crush when I met him. I thought that he was so cute, but now all I see is the ugly. So much that I can't believe it wasn't visible before.

If I am remembering correctly, he keeps his victims for a year and then kills and returns them on the anniversary of their disappearance so their families can find their dead bodies. This idea rattles me, and I can feel my heart starting to race. But I tell myself to stay calm and think of a way out of here. I try to maneuver a little in the closet, but the only thing that actually fits in here is me. There isn't even room for a piece of paper. I feel like a packed sardine, and my muscles and bones are starting to ache.

I start to cry and wonder what I did to deserve this. But then I think of the other victims and answer my own question.

We did nothing wrong, and this is not our fault. He is to blame. Even though I am kind of curious to know what would make someone do this. And this is what I do. Auntie Saren is always getting after me for caring more about others' feelings than my own. I am literally locked in a closet, and I am wondering about why he is the way he is. Bottom line is he is a sicko, and I need to find a way out of here.

It feels like the idea of escaping is virtually impossible. The little time that I spent out of the closet, I didn't see anything that I could use as a weapon. Finn is smart and has probably thought of everything. Just then, I hear movement above me. This is going to sound crazy, but I hope that it's Finn so he can let me out of this closet. I plan to do everything he asks so that I never have to come back in here. Now, if he can just hurry up and let me out, so I can use the bathroom. I was scared that I would have to urinate right here in the closet. I hear him banging around upstairs, and then I hear one louder bang. And that was it, it went back to complete silence, and the only thing that I can hear now is the sound of my heart beating and the trickling of my warm urine on the floor. In this moment, tears are also rolling down my face. I realize that whoever was upstairs is now gone.

The only other thing that I know what to do is to pray. I can't see a way out of this closet. The only person who can help me right now is God. So I lift my head as high as I can and start to talk to Him. "Dear God, I know that you can hear me. You know that I am your child, and you made me. I know that you said that you will never leave or forsake me. But God, right now I feel forsaken, and I need to feel your presence around me. I need you to protect me in this closet. Don't allow my enemy to prosper. Please help the police to find him and save me. But while I am locked in this closet, be that presence just like you were in the fiery furnace with Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego. I know that you are the God who protected them, so please be

that same God who protects me. Give me the strength to endure this. I believe that you can do all these things that I ask, so I ask in Jesus name, Amen." I then close my eyes and fall asleep.

36 Finn

I think my wife knows my secret. She is asking a lot of questions. She even noticed how much the sketch looks like me. Hahaha, do I have a brother? No, I don't, dear. My mother was too busy getting knocked around to have any more children. But I am glad that she didn't, because then there would be more of us without a Mama. Well, Jass, that is not my brother, and I don't just look like the guy in the picture; it's me. I wish I'd known my wife was besties with the wife of a detective. I should never have given her those flowers. She wasn't very grateful anyway.

Everyone around me seems to be incompetent. That detective, especially, is a complete moron. He stood right in front of me at the hospital and had no clue that the person who had kept him up all night and whom he was looking for was standing right in front of him. The bags under his eyes and his dull skin indicated how tired he was. What an idiot!

I noticed the resemblance to me immediately when I saw the news story. That is when I started preparing for plan B. I have to get Hazel far from here. And I have the perfect little place for us to stay.

You see, you tend to meet a couple of guys on your level, if you know what I mean, when you grow up in foster care. This guy is like a brother to me. Jonathan, his brother, and I were all in the same foster home. Jonathan kept to himself and never made waves for our foster parents, but his older brother Brandon was a big troublemaker.

Our foster parents were no saints and would find silly reasons to beat us, usually with the preferred method of using the buckle end of the belt. And no matter how many scars or limps we clearly showed at school, not one teacher, social worker, or administrator inquired about our misfortune as if they believed we deserved it. It wasn't until Brandon was beaten so badly that our foster parents finally took him to the hospital after Jonathan and I pleaded with them that he was going to die.

Brandon always seemed like he did stuff on purpose to get them upset. It was like he needed the punishment to feel alive. This time, he took Mrs. Sasha's car and drove it into the garage door. He was only fourteen at the time and had no driver's license, and had no idea how to drive, which is why he made a complete mess of the garage door. Sasha and Larry did their best to keep us from talking to the social worker, but that night, when they took Brandon to the hospital, they came knocking on the door. They took us away, and that was the last time that I lived with Brandon or Jonathan. Although we managed to keep in touch when we could, we drifted apart. After we graduated from the foster care system at eighteen, we found each other again. I didn't hang out so much with Brandon, but Jonathan and I became so close that we were like brothers.

I had to leave him in Michigan, but he would do anything for me, and I would do anything for him. He was always better at other crimes; kidnapping teenage girls was never his thing, and murder, he would never even consider it. I trust him completely to help me out on this one. He kept his mouth shut about the incident in Michigan. We are going back to my hometown to stay with him until things cool off. It's been three years, and I doubt the police know who I am there. Besides, I won't be announcing my arrival. No one will know, and Hazel will disappear until next year when I get to see Mama.

Jasper

have so many emotions running through me right now. I am like a big ball of energy moving in all directions, while my stomach feels like it is on a constant roller coaster. I want to be there for Saren because she has helped me so much. I feel so bad for Hazel being kidnapped. But mostly, I am scared and feeling guilty. Guilty, because I could be blaming Finn for something that he did not do. Guilty, because my husband could be the person responsible for all this. I see Saren standing in the parking lot in front of the main entrance of the mall with a crowd of people. I jump out of my car and run over to her.

“Hey, I got here as soon as I could,” I say, out of breath and trying to find a way to face her.

“Hey, Jasper,” she says, handing me flyers of Hazel's beautiful face. The picture is in color, and the photo of her captures her cheery personality. Her hazel eyes are staring right back at me as if to ask me why I allowed this to happen. Right above her head in big block letters are the words, Missing. I look away from the stack of flyers and turn to Saren.

"How are you, Saren?" I say barely holding it together. “Doing what I can, she says with tears in her eyes. Arlo is standing behind her, but I find a way to squeeze by and reach up and give her a big hug.

“I'm so sorry, Saren.” Like a dam bursting, I start crying. It was like all the anxiety that was trapped in my body ganged up on me and was now in control.

“Hey, girl, what's going on?” Phalen says, walking over to us. I look up, and Luna and what looks like her husband are walking towards us as well.

I let go of Saren and wipe my tears. “Saren, I have to tell you something.”

Saren looks at me with concern. She looks around at the crowd. “Can this wait? We have a lot of ground to cover before it gets dark.”

“No, you don't understand.” By now, more tears are flooding my face as if I never even wiped them away. I must look like a broken water main, or at least that is how it feels.

"Okay, okay. Jass, what's going on?"

I pull the flyer of Lucas out of my pocket and unfold it.

“Doesn't he look familiar to you?” I say barely getting the words out of my mouth.

It only takes Saren a second to recognize that the picture looks like Finn. "Oh, I never put the two together."

“Ooh, girl!” Phalen says, holding her mouth.

“Wait, so you're saying the baby doll killer is your husband?” asks Luna, emphasizing husband as if she were trying to sound out the word for a four-year-old.

“I don't know,” I say, crying harder. By now, everyone is starting to stare at us. And even though I am constantly wiping my tears, they won't stop coming, my body feeling like a washing machine on the spin cycle.

“Where is he?” asks Arlo. “Where is he?” he repeats.

“I don't know,” I say in a panic, not so much that I am nervous, but because Saren has not said a word since she made the revelation. I don't want her to blame me or, worse, hate me. And I really don't know where Finn is.

"No, that's not good enough," I hear a woman say, walking closer to me. "He's your husband; you need to tell us where he is. You married him, who knows you could be just as sick as he is." Each word she says, she becomes more and more hysterical.

“Now wait just a minute, Alaina, that is not fair,” Saren says, finding her voice and defending me.

“No, what's not fair is that my daughter is out there somewhere, and she is acting like she is the victim. Find your husband and find my daughter, now.”

“Alaina, stop it!” Saren yells. “I want Hazel back as much as you do, but this is not the way to do it. Jasper, let's talk over here. You may be able to help us get her back. Now I need you to take a breath and think about where he could be.”

Saren and I find a bench next to the building to sit and talk. As I am walking, I am mentally trying to calm myself down. I keep thinking about all the nights that Finn came home late with no explanation, and the erratic behavior lately. I think about leaving Michigan abruptly to move to Indiana. Is this really happening? And then, there is the makeup in the trash. I sit down, and my leg starts shaking. I bend over to catch my breath, but nothing is working.

“It's him, Saren, it's him!” I rock back and forth, crying harder. “Why would he do this?”

"Okay, slow down. I am trying to help you, but I can" see that you are in a panic right now, so we need to get you calm first." Saren says.

Moments later, Phalen brings over water and kneels next to me, holding on to my legs. I really want to get past this panic attack and help, but my body won't allow me. I feel so bad. Everyone is waiting for me to respond, but I can't.

“Listen, honey,” Phalen says, rubbing my leg. “This is not your fault. You are not Finn, and you did not do this. We don't even know that it is him. Take a deep breath in and try to calm down. Don't worry about everyone else right now.”

I look up and see Arlo across the parking lot, physically trying to keep Alaina from approaching me. I close my eyes, take a drink, and then I start to speak.

“I think Finn is the baby doll killer. We had to leave Michigan pretty quickly when we moved here, but I never knew why. We didn't stay long enough to hear about any missing girls or staged returns. And now he has been acting very erratically. Before I left to go back to Michigan for my mom, I found makeup in the trash can. Why would he have makeup? At first, I thought he was cheating, and some bimbo threw out her makeup, but that just doesn't make sense, you know? And then, today he had a scratch on his face that

he says he got from hitting his face on the car door."

“I think you may be right, Jasper. The night we had dinner with you, I caught Finn looking at Hazel in a sleazy kind of way.”

awful." “What, why didn't you tell me? Gosh, Saren, this is

"Wait, did you say that he had a scratch on his face?" asks Saren, standing.

“Yes, right under his eye. Why?” “Because Hazel always said that if she were ever kidnapped, she would scratch the perpetrator so his skin would be under her fingernails. She would joke that even if he killed her, the police would find him because of the skin under her nails. It has to be Finn. I think she was trying to give me a clue. We have to find him, Jasper.

Where could he be?"

“That's just it, we argued, and he said that he wasn't coming home tonight. At first, he said that he had a business trip, but then, when I called him on it, he just said he wasn't coming home.”

“That means he's running, but where to? Does he own any property other than your home?”

“No, we moved here three years ago and bought a little cottage in the sticks somewhere, but Finn sold it, and we moved into the house we live in now.”

“When you say Finn sold it, were you there for the closing?” asks Phalen.

“No, I had to work, so Finn took care of everything. I was thankful, those things are so long and boring.”

“Okay, but, girl, how do you know he actually sold it? If he didn't sell it and never told you, he could have her locked up there now. Where was it?”

“What? I don't know how to tell you how to get there, but I can drive you there.”

As if we were a part of a dance routine, we jump and move towards my car. The adrenaline is flowing, and it is like I can almost hear upbeat music playing as we jump in the car. If this were a movie, this would be where the dream team assembles, and they get the guy. I just pray we get our girl. “Where are we going?” yells Luna. She jumps in the car right before I take off.

“I need to call Arlo and tell him to hold down the fort while we are gone.”

Phalen. “Um, shouldn't somebody call Detective Price?” asks

“That's a good idea, Phalen. Give him a call and tell him if he wants his suspect alive, he'd better beat us to this place. Sorry”

Jasper."

“Dang girl, okay!” says Luna. “What happened?”

Phalen fills Luna in on the conversation that we just had and how Finn most likely is the baby doll killer. She tells Luna where we are going. The whole time, my mind lingers on Saren's comment about hurting Finn. I wince at the idea of someone hurting him. Even though he has done some bad things, I still don't want to hurt him. I pray that we are wrong about this.

“So, Saren, you're going to need another support group because I don't think Jasper's husband is a narcissist; he sounds like a complete psychopath,” says Phalen.

Everyone stops and looks at Phalen, except for me, of course. I look at her in the rearview mirror.

"Too soon?" she asks.

“Yep! You may not speak for the rest of this trip. You are canceled,” says Luna.

Even though it is kind of funny that I have been trying to survive with a narcissist, when I should have been running for my life from a psychopath. I return my full attention to the road as I feel Saren's hand cover mine. And then she gives it a soft squeeze. I didn't have to look at her; we both knew that I needed her support to finish this trip. I just pray this whole ordeal is finished tonight, and we find Hazel alive and well.

Brother

'm on my way to you, brother, to collect an unpaid debt. As I stare at the many cars ahead of me, I think about what he did. While he is miles away playing house, I am stuck on I 70 with my memories. Every broken line on this long road is a reminder of how broken he left me. I think it's about time for me to tell my side of the story. And this story is a good one because he doesn't know that I know. I saw him. He thought he was better than us, going to college, trying desperately to change his stripes, but he couldn't. You see, I know how twisted he is. I could tell that first day that he came to live with us. I can always spot a kindred spirit. Even though he would never admit it, we were very much alike.

He never told me how he ended up in foster care, but I could tell that whatever happened, it was pretty messed up. So messed up that he took to kidnapping teenage girls and murdering them. I bet you think I think he is bad news, but I don't. I've got some skeletons hidden in my closet as well. But he should never have crossed me. He took something very important to me. He thought it was a prelude to his criminal career, but really it was his mistake. You see, that girl in Michigan that he took belonged to me. I know what he's been doing because he never stopped. I see that he has another girl, and I am coming for her. His girl will be mine.

As we pass another sign signifying the twenty miles left before we cross state lines, I look over at my girlfriend fast asleep. Hating myself for allowing her to pressure me into bringing her along, like it was some ordinary road trip, I shake my head. She has no clue; she is just another dumb college student who thinks she knows so much about the world. If she knew what was best for her, she would have stayed home. So now she will need to be on board with everything that happens next, or she will learn exactly what the world is made of, when criminals are involved, that is. And then, I think to myself. This might be better than the original plan.

I have no qualms about calling myself a criminal. I was born into a family of criminals. My parents thought they were Bonnie and Clyde and trained their children to take over once they were caught and killed. It didn't bother me that they were thieves; what did bother me was that it was not the kind of crime that I wanted to commit. I was more into mutilations. I had a yearning to tear open flesh until I could see the insides. I wanted to know how things worked inside. I know, I know, I should have been a surgeon, right? But what kid, born to thieves, ends up being a surgeon? I barely finished high school.

I pass a gas station and make a note to stop once we get to Indiana for fuel and to grab a burger. We would always get gas station burgers. I swear, they tasted the best right after my parents pulled off a job. But that last time, stopping for a gas station burger is what landed them in jail. My parents had never killed anyone before, and my mom always refused to carry a gun. I remember them arguing about why my father bought a gun. I close my eyes as I remember shielding my little brother when it all happened.

We all went into the desolate gas station to grab fountain sodas and burgers. The clerk was the only other warm body there. I was so hungry I couldn't wait to taste the sizzling beef and soft bread on my tongue. My brother and I ran up to the warmer and grabbed the foil-covered burgers. But before I could walk up to the counter with my desired treats, I saw the clerk pointing a shotgun at my mother. I was only six, and my brother was four, but I knew that this somehow was not going to end well. I looked around for my dad as I grabbed my brother and we hid. We stayed as quiet as we could. I remember my brother shaking so much that his fountain drink kept spilling drops of cold liquid on my pants. In stark contrast, the heat from my sandwich warmed my hands as we stooped low behind the rack of gummy candies. I could barely make out what the clerk was saying to my mother.

As soon as the clerk picked up the phone, a loud sound rang through the store. Dad came out of the bathroom and shot the clerk. Red liquid flowed from the man's chest as his body slumped over the counter like a sack of potatoes. The next thing I knew, Dad was yelling for us to grab as much stuff as we could, while he grabbed the cash. It was like a scary Christmas game where you ended up with whatever you wanted. I remember the sound of the tires hitting the pavement when we spun out of the gas station. Unfortunately, weeks later, the cops caught up with my parents, and that is how we ended up in foster care. My mom was released from prison years ago, but she never attempted to contact me, so why should I contact her? My dad got life and is currently rotting in prison.

I shift my weight in my seat as we approach the state line and read, " Welcome to Indiana". A big smile appears on my face as I think about why I am here. I lost my parents the day they went to jail. I lost my girl when he just had to have her. He stole my jewel in Michigan, and today I will repossess his prize. It has taken me three years to take revenge. I guess. patients really is a virtue when dealing with secrets.

39 Detective

Price

I am completely engrossed in my files, but I can't seem to get Finn's face out of my mind. I just know that I know him from somewhere, but I'm not sure how. Maybe he had been at the hospital before to visit Jasper at the same time I happened to be there. I focus back on my files, which has been the routine for the past half hour.

“Hey, Darren, you won't believe what I found,” Markis says, walking into my office and putting papers on my desk.

him. “What is this?” I say, looking at the papers and then at

“This is our break. I found another similar case. Three years ago, a missing teen girl vanished but was returned a year later on the exact date that she went missing. Get this, she was staged like she was lying on her bed listening to music. The music playing was a playlist with only one song on it that kept playing over and over.”

“What song was it?”

"Somewhere out There. Do you know it?"

"Never heard of it," I say, shaking my head.

“You know it goes, somewhere out there...” he starts singing the song and moving his finger like it would help him move from note to note. The finger was not helping, and I had to quickly stop this glorious mess.

“Markis!”

"Right," he clears his throat and looks at his notes.

“What else did you learn?”

“Well, I called the detective on the case, and he said what we have been saying. This guy is good and very careful. He still has no clue who he is and is glad that it stopped. I think he kind of forgot about it.”

“And where was this?”

"Michigan."

“Michigan?” I say, feeling my brain trying to tell me something important. “Why does that sound important?”

Just then, Lemmens knocks on my door. My office is not that big, and it is starting to feel a bit crowded. I look up at him, and I am curious about the look that he has on his face.

“What is it, Lemmens?”

“We found something, sir.”

"Okay, what did you find?"

“Twenty-four years ago, there was a kid who ended up in foster care because his dad beat his mom to death in front of him. A neighbor came to check on her after feeling like something was wrong. She hadn't seen any movement from the house in a couple of days. When the neighbor went into the house, she found the kid lying in his dead mother's arms, asleep with dried tears down his face. Dad was nowhere to be found.”

"And was this on April third?" I ask hopefully. "Yes," he says.

"And where did this happen?"

"Michigan."

I look at Markis, and he looks back at me. I can feel what my brain was trying to tell me, pushing through a bit more.

“Lemmens, what was the kid's name?”

“Uh,” he looks through his papers and flips through each one. “Oh, yes, here it is. His name was Finn Drake.”

And there it is, that is what my brain was trying to tell me. I look at the papers that Markis threw on my desk, and the files that were spread out. I shuffle through and pick up the picture of Lucas.

“Oh my God, he was right under our noses the whole time. Our guy is not some Lucas guy; that was a fake name to throw us off. This guy is Finn Drake, and I saw him at the hospital. I knew he looked familiar, and this is why,” I say, pointing at the picture.

“Lemmens, get me the address for Finn Drake.”

“I am sending you the location now, sir.”

“Nice work, Lemmens, grab your coat; you are coming with us. Markis, let's go.”

“Yes, sir,” Lemmens runs to grab his coat and meets us door.

at the door.

“You can drive your own car and take Bosco; we may need the backup,” I tell him.

Just as we are headed out the door, my phone starts to ring. I pick up to get rid of the caller quickly.

“Detective Price.”

“Detective Price, this is Phalen. I am a friend of your wife, Jill, and Saren.

"Is this about my wife?" “No, no, Jill is fine. Let me start over. I am in the car with Jasper, Saren, and Luna. We are on our way to look for Hazel.”

"No, what are you doing? Do you mean like passing out ers?"

“Okay, you need to let me finish. We solved the case. We know who the baby doll killer is.”

Just then, I heard a shuffle, and there was commotion in the background. I can almost hear another voice and arguing in the background.

“Hello,” I look at the phone and almost hang up until I hear Saren's voice.

“Darren, we know where Hazel is. She is in an old property that Finn and Jasper used to own. What Phalen was trying to tell you is that Jasper thinks her husband, Finn, is the baby doll killer, and

I think she may be right. We are headed there now to find Hazel.

“Oh no, Saren, I can't advise you to do that. I appreciate the information, but I need you to stand down. Don't approach the house.”

“I am sorry, Detective; I can't do that. My niece is very important to me, and I need her back. I am not waiting a year looking for her, only to find her dead body. I need to bring her back to her mom and the rest of her family. Arrest me if you have to when you get here, but I am going to get my niece back. I will send you the location. Hurry up, because if I get to Finn first.”

She didn't finish her sentence. I wasn't sure if it was because she didn't want to share her premeditated murder plot with a detective or if she was just that angry. Friend or not, I couldn't turn my head on that one. All I know is I had better make this a quick drive. “What's going on?” Markis asks with concern as he is climbing into the car.

“Change of plans, we are going to a different location. “Why?”

"Looks like Charlie's angels are out trying to solve crime again, but I'm afraid someone is about to get hurt."

"What? How about you give me the long version?" says Markis, looking at me.

I grab my phone to send Lemmens the new address and then explain what I just learned from Saren to Markis. We drive off, and I turn on my siren. We make the long drive to the new location, and I am very surprised at the scene in front of us when we arrive.

40 Jasper

Pulling in the driveway of my old home, brings back so many memories. I want to call Finn and reminisce and forget all about this. I thought we were happy. I thought I had finally found my true love. He was my home and my everything. No more missed birthdays or sitting by myself on holidays. I was in a position to get everything that I wanted, even children who would love me, and I would be the best mother to them. Only, I never got the chance; he was incapable of giving me those things. I suddenly remember why we are here, close my eyes, and take a deep breath.

“Okay, ladies, we are here. I hope that we are right and Hazel is in there.”

We walk up to the steps, and I forget that I no longer have a key because this is no longer my home, or at least I don't think it is. I knock on the door and listen for movement behind it.

“I think I hear someone coming,” I say. “That means Finn is not here, and neither is Hazel.”

“Just wait and see, we've come this far, let's finish this,” Saren says.

182

I turn back around and wait for the door to open. We stand there and listen to what sounds like hundreds of locks being unlocked. But when the face behind the door appears, I freeze in place.

“Jass, what are you doing here?”

Not knowing what to say, I shrug. Saren then takes over.

“Hi, I am Saren. I work with Jasper. Who are you?”

“I'm Harper. What are you guys doing here?”

Even though I am clearly confused about why my little sister is standing in the doorway of my old home, I find my voice.

“Harper, what are you doing here? I used to live here.”

"Can we come in?"

“Yeah, sure, Brandon, we have company,” she yells past

us.

We all walk in, and Saren, Phalen, and Luna start looking around. I then turn to Harper.

“Brandon, is he here? Okay, start talking.”

“Brandon got a call from a friend of his and said that he had a package that he needed to pick up. We just got here this morning. I didn't want to be alone, you know, since mom, so I begged him to come along.”

“What about school?”

“I only missed one class, and we are going back t.”

tonight."

“This doesn't make sense. Why here? Finn and I used to live here. Who is Brandon's friend?”

“I think you know him, Jasper,” Brandon says, coming into the room, pointing a gun at Saren, Luna, and Phalen, who are now backing up into the room with their hands raised.

“Brandon, what are you doing?” yells Harper, looking surprised. “I am doing what I came here to do, baby,” Brandon answers. “Now, everyone just sit down, and no one will get hurt.”

“But baby, this is Jasper. Why are you pulling out a gun? What are you doing?” Harper is starting to get upset, and she walks up to him with her hands stretched towards him.

“Harper, get back. I will shoot you if I have to,” he says, pointing the gun directly at her.

“Brandon,” I say, pulling my sister back and standing in front of her. “I need to know what you want. What is it that your friend wants you to do? Who is your friend?”

“You don't know? Come on, Jasper, think about it. We are standing in your home.”

“No, we sold this. We no longer own this.”

Brandon starts to laugh. “I see now how Finn was able to get away with all this. You are stupid. He did this right under your nose, and you had no idea.”

“Brandon, what are you talking about?” asks Harper.

“Finn is my brother.”

“What?” I am even more confused.

“Well, he is my foster brother. We both had this really bad foster parent back in Michigan. The worst part is that we both had horrible lives before. Foster care is supposed to save us from those horrible lives, but it just went from bad to worse for both of us. So this is our thanks to this world for nothing. They basically just let us and all the other kids in foster care rot with people who are the scum of the earth.”

I look over at Saren, Phalen, and Luna, and they are huddled on the couch with their hands raised still.

“What does that have to do with this house?” I ask. “Weren't you listening? I am here to pick up a package, and you all are keeping me from finding it,” he says, using the gun to point at each one of us.

“What package are you talking about?” says Saren.

“You don't need to worry about that, but what you can do is leave now, and no one will get hurt. I will find what I came here for, and you will never see me again.”

“We can't do that. You see, I think we are here for the same reason, and I can promise you that you will never leave this house with your 'package.' Saren says with air quotes.

“Is that so, Grandma?”

“Brandon, why do you think we are here?” I ask.

“Oh, I know why you are here, and you can either turn around and leave, or I can put a bullet in each of you. Either way is fine for me.”

“Well, even if you were man enough to shoot all five of us, you will never get what you want and get away because the police were right behind us. Now, I don't care who you are, but my niece is my priority right now. So, I am going to give you the option to leave or stay and get arrested. Either way is fine with me.” Saren says as she gets up and walks towards Brandon.

“Step back!” he yells with his gun now drawn on Saren.

“Okay, okay,” she says, stopping with her hands raised.” Look, we just need to look around the house. I am guessing you have a couple of minutes to get out of here. This is not going to end well for you. This is Finn's wife; he is not going to like that you hurt his wife," she says, pointing at me.

“Lady, I know who she is. Finn couldn't care less about me hurting her. Do you not know how messed up he is?” he says.

It felt like a knife was slowly being inserted into my chest. What did I do to Finn to make him hate me so much? It was so hard hearing those words.

“What? So, you were only with me to get to Finn? You knew who my sister was in Michigan? No, Brandon, I can't let you hurt my sister!”

Harper runs towards him, and Brandon moves the gun from Saren to Harper again, but this time he pulls the trigger. I watch my sister fall to the ground like she is tripping over a toy on the floor. At this very same moment, Saren jumps on Brandon and knocks the gun out of his hands. This is when Phalen and Luna run up to Brandon and hold him down. I see the gun slide across the floor, but I run to Harper to stop the blood rushing from her leg. It looks like a broken tropical punch fountain is squirting out of her leg. I grab a blanket from the couch and put pressure on the wound.

Saren picks up the gun and points it directly at Brandon. Phalen and Luna search the house to get something to tie Brandon up with.

“Your best bet is to stay as still as you can. The way I see it, you were willing to help a kidnapper and a pedophile get away with murder. So I couldn't care less about sparing your life. Now I am here to do one thing, and I intend on doing just that."

“Okay, lady,” Brandon says, now with his hands raised.

Phalen comes back with the motherload of rope and tape. Of course. We all look at each other, and we are even more sure that Hazel is somewhere in this house. Oddly enough, we have not heard anything if she is.

Once Brandon is securely tied up to the post and Harper is as stable as we can get her, we all go on the search for Hazel. I let her know that I will keep checking on her, but that I

needed to help find Hazel. We are all yelling out Hazel's name and going through the entire house. Just as I am looking through the kitchen, I hear screaming outside. I look out and see Alaina running towards the house as Arlo is right behind her. But the sight that really surprises me is the caravan that they have brought with them. There are cars parked everywhere on the lawn, on the street, and in the driveway.

"Oh, what have you done, Arlo?" I say to myself.

Alaina comes running into the house. "Did you find her?" she says with a crazed look on her face.

“Not yet,” I say. I look back outside, and Arlo is keeping the crowd engaged. They are holding signs and stopping cars that are traveling on the road. If he knew that a man with a gun was in here, he would be in here right along with his wife. I think it is best that he stays where he is. So, I decided not to tell him.

Alaina runs past me and into Saren. “Alaina, what are you doing here?”

"Looking for my daughter, did you find her?"

“No, we looked everywhere.”

“I don't think she is here,” says Phalen.

Alaina looks around as she notices Brandon tied up, his mouth covered with tape, in the corner, and Harper lying on the floor, hurt. "What happened here?"

“Girl, that story is long, and right now we need to keep looking for Hazel. Um, Jasper, what about that door? We've not been in that room,” Phalen says, pointing to the door of the basement.

"Oh, that's the basement."

“It's locked; do you have a key?” asks Luna, grabbing the door handle.

“No clue, again, I thought Finn sold this.”

Suddenly, we hear Brandon panting from under the tape on his mouth like he is trying to say something. Saren walks over to him, points the gun in his face, and peels the tape back from his lips.

“What?” she says coldly.

She seems very comfortable with that gun and is treating him like a hostage.

“I found the key right before you guys came in. I will tell you where the key is if you let me go. I promise I will leave and you will never see me again.”

Saren looks around at all of us as if she is waiting for our response. “What are you waiting for? Let him go!” Alaina says, running towards him.

"Wait-a-minute, Alaina."

“It's a no-brainer, Saren. We need that key. She could be down there.”

“I know, just let me think for a minute.”

“I don't have a minute, it's now or never. The police will be here soon.” Brandon says.

Saren looks at me and then at Luna and Phalen. We all give a nod, and Saren turns towards him to untie him.

"Wait, get the key first," I say.

“It's in my pocket.”

“We all look around, waiting for anybody else to dig into this creep's pocket, when Alaina falls to the ground and starts digging in his pockets. As predicted, Brandon starts to smile.

“You like that?” he says to Alaina, and Saren hits him on the back of his head with the gun.

“Shut up!” she says.

I cover my mouth because it is kind of funny watching Saren manhandle Brandon. Alaina grabs the key to the basement, and we all follow her down the steep steps. When we get down to the bottom step, we are all amazed at what we see. The basement was turned into a doll-house-inspired mini apartment loaded with everything a teenage girl could want. Alaina immediately starts to cry, and we all start yelling out for Hazel. We open doors and look under the bed, and then we look in the closet, and we find nothing. “I thought she was here, I mean, look at all of this, she has to be,” cries Alaina.

We hear Brandon again yelling for us to untie him and let him go.

“Shut up, Brandon!” Luna yells.

“A deal is a deal!” he yells down to us.

And then I hear it. The sound is faint, and we all stop.

“You guys heard that too?” I say, looking around.

Just then, I notice a spot on the wall that is barely visible. I look further down the wall, close to the floor, and back up towards the ceiling, and notice a discolored line. I rub my hands along the discolored portion of the wall and push. Within seconds, the wall opens up before me. This was definitely new. I spot a small door on the right side of the wall. I run to it with everyone else behind me. Once I get to the door and start yelling Hazel's name, there is a knock on the other side of it.

“Oh, my God, she's there, I'm coming, baby,” says Alaina, pushing me out of the way. She looks down at the keys in her hands and sees that she has two other keys that she has not used yet. She chooses one, but it doesn't work. I watch her choose the other key, and I see her hand shaking as she tries to unlock the door. When she finally puts the key in the knob and turns the handle, all we see are large hazel eyes staring back at us.

“Mommy,” she says in the smallest voice possible.

Alaina grabs her daughter and starts to pull her out of the tiny closet. I cover my mouth and start to cry. We all gather around to help Alaina pull Hazel from the closet. I notice the urine stains and smells coming from her, but they are easy to ignore because I am just excited that we found her safe.

Moments later, we hear footsteps on the stairs. Saren jumps up and trains her gun on the feet descending the stairs. As we all turn towards the basement steps. I secretly hope that it is Finn and she “accidentally” blows off his head.

Detective Price

When I pull up to the address that Saren sent me, it is like a circus set up on the side of a country road. People are walking with signs, and Arlo is directing traffic. Dozens of small groups of people are walking to the few houses on the street. Any travelers down the road get stopped and handed flyers. Jumping out of the car, we chase down Arlo as it looks like he is the ringleader of this entire operation.

“Hey, Arlo, what's going on?”

“We think Hazel is inside. Alaina just ran in, but I thought I would stay out here to keep the team engaged, handing out flyers and knocking on neighbors' doors.”

Just then, an ambulance pulls up and tries to make its way through the rows of parked cars.

“This is a mess; you need to get everyone to leave N.”

right now."

“I can try, but these people have been with us since the beginning, and it is going to be pretty hard to get them to leave now.”

“We are dealing with a madman; these people could be in danger,” Markis says.

“Detectives,” the driver says, climbing out of the ambulance. “There was a call about a gunshot wound inside this house.”

I look down at my radio and wonder why we didn't receive the call. Markis and I both run towards the house, and Arlo is right behind us.

"Stay back, Arlo," I say.

"My wife is in there," he retorts.

“Look, we cannot let you in here. Stay back and let us do our job,” Markis says as he puts his arm out to block him.

Drawing our guns, we slowly enter the house. The first responders walk in behind us as we clear the first room. We see a man tied up to a pole in the corner of the room. And then there is a young girl lying on the floor looking at us with a gunshot wound to her upper leg.

“What happened here?”

I am just about to approach the man tied up when I hear a sound coming from a room below. I look at Markis and motion for him to cover me as we investigate the noise coming from what looks like the basement. We slowly descend the stairs, and the noise that we once heard stops. I can see several pairs of feet below, but the stairs are so steep that I can not see faces until I hit the bottom step and notice that a gun is pointing towards my face.

“Saren, it's me. Put the gun down.”

Once she lowers the gun, I take in the scene before me while Markis takes the gun away from Saren. I can hardly believe what I am looking at. Five women are standing there, and the teenage girl that this entire town is currently searching for, is looking back at me. I lower my gun and try to wrap my head around what exactly happened here today.

“Hazel?” I ask, looking at her. I want to be sure that what I think happened actually did happen. “Yes, this is my baby girl,” Alaina says, sitting on the couch holding her daughter. “She needs to get to the hospital. I think she might be dehydrated.”

“Okay, but first, is anyone else here? Have you come in contact with Finn?”

“No, we haven't,” Jasper answers.

I turn towards Jasper." Have you tried contacting your husband?"

“Not yet, we have been kind of busy looking for Hazel, but I can do that once I check on my sister.”

“The gunshot wound is your sister?”

“Yes, that is Harper.”

“They are checking on her now. You can go with her to the hospital, but we need to talk to you both at the station.”

“Of course.” I watch her disappear upstairs, and I turn towards the other women left standing in the basement. “Okay, we need to get all of you out of here. This is officially a crime scene. Saren, Luna, and Phalen, Lemmens is upstairs waiting to take your statements. Alaina, we will come by later to speak with Hazel at the hospital. We need her official statement as well. How is she doing besides being dehydrated?”

“As well as she can be, but we will know more as soon as we can get to the hospital.”

Alaina stands and helps Hazel to her feet. She is hanging on to her mom like she is hanging from a branch on the side of a cliff. Saren steps on the other side of Hazel and helps her sister to get Hazel up the steps. Luna and Phalen both follow suit as Markis, and I put on gloves and start looking around. And when no one else was in the basement but the two of us, Markis hit my arm playfully. “Did Charlie's angels just solve our case?” Markis asks, looking embarrassed.

"Markis, right now, I am not sure what is going on. But we need to find Finn before he snatches another girl. I can imagine he knows that we have found Hazel by now, and he must be angry." Markis looks at his phone as he receives a notification.

“What is it?” I ask him, looking at his phone.

“Lemmens and Bosco are taking a Brandon Lakes to the station for questioning. Turns out the gun Saren was holding is his, unregistered, and he is Finn's foster brother. Those women were in danger.

He could have killed them."

“Something tells me they would have been just fine. But where is Finn now?”

“Well, he must have known that Jasper figured it out. Maybe he was planning to run, and he needed time to get some things together.”

“You might be right. Tell Lemmens and Bosco to get over to his firm and talk to his boss, his colleagues, clients, anyone who has anything to do with him,” I say.

“Got it,” Markis sends the text, and then we both start bagging evidence. I am grateful that Hazel was found, but we have a long night ahead of us.

Finn

What just happened? Hiding in my neighbor's closet was the last place that I thought I would be when I woke up this morning.

Good thing she does not know that I am here. I heard those people coming to the door asking about me. And I heard when the old battleaxe called her friends to gossip about me.

“I can't believe he turned out to be that baby doll killer. Girl, I was living next to him the whole time. Well, you know, he was hardly here. It had to be late at night because I never saw any girls coming or going. I bet he had them chained up, too. Mm, mm, mm,”

I heard her say.

And then she would hang up and make another call. "Girl, you won't believe what just happened." I had to listen to her gab on and on. I just needed her to be quiet for a second so that I could hear what was going on outside. The window next to the closet that I am hiding in is open, and I can hear what sounds like a mob of people chanting. It is like listening to an audiobook, and boy, it is interesting.

Without warning, the floorboards creak just outside the door. I press my back up against the wool coats that smell of mothballs and stale perfume. I peer through the narrow gap that allows me to see inside the room she is in. She is pacing the floor with her floral housecoat, and her hair is in pink rollers just like Mama used to wear. She stops right in front of my hiding spot and walks toward the closet door. Just as she reaches for the door handle, she is distracted by the loud sounds of sirens wailing. She turns toward the window as the sirens get closer and then finally stops.

“Oh, my, Sharon, the ambulance is at that house.” I hear her say as she moves the shears out of the way to get a better view. I try to keep the sound of my breathing under control. If she finds me in here, I will have to take care of her. She is acting as if she won the lottery because they found a murderer on her street. Little did she know that the murderer was staring right at her.

Mrs. Wellington cannot know that I have been hiding in here all morning since Jasper told me about the picture of Lucas. I figure if Jasper leads the police to the house she thought we sold, I would not be there, and they will never find Hazel. I have to be here until they find nothing and leave. And that is when we go.

And then I hear it. “Janice, they found that poor girl. She is walking out of the house right now. No, that missing girl, they found her. I am looking right at her. I mean, our houses are a little way apart, but I have my binoculars, and I know what I see. Yes, I swear to you. Right here on my street.”

Breathing becomes impossible. It feels like my lungs are permanently inflated, and my heart a beating drum. The sound of each thump is like a hammer banging on the door. I have to fight the urge to burst out of the closet and run after my girl. She is mine! I clench the wool coats with one sweaty palm to keep myself steady and grasp the syringe in my pocket with the other. No, I can't let them find me. I have to stay where I am.

“Hello, hey Caroline, yeah girl. I got the scoop. That hot detective, you know the one on T.V, is over there looking all sexy. Huh, yes, I can see him. What? Here you go, I have binoculars. Anyway, you missed the best part. Right now, those detectives are leaving. Two policemen took some guy and hauled him away in the back of their car. I had a feeling that boy wasn't supposed to be there. But he had a key, so I minded my own business. But my intuition kept eating at me, you know? I knew something was off when the two of them showed up. Huh? No, it was just him. I haven't seen his wife in a very long time. I thought maybe they got divorced or something." like a steam engine. Who was in my house with my girl? What guy was arrested? I peer through the gap again, and the room is lit up now with the soft light of a table lamp as the sun is starting to set. The area is quiet, and all I hear are crickets. I am waiting for her to stop calling her girlfriends and to go upstairs. As soon as she does, I am out of here.

Suddenly, she walks toward the closet door again. She closes the window, and then, for some reason, she turns and stands directly in front of the gap as if she is trying to see through it. I think she knows that I am here. Did I make a noise? I thought I was careful. Everything inside me freezes as I brace for her to open the door. A surge of heat runs through my body, and then it feels like ice-cold water rushing down my spine. Within seconds, she opens the door and drops the phone.

I quickly grab her before she can run. This day keeps getting worse and worse. First, Jasper accuses me of being the baby doll killer. Well, it wasn't really an accusation, now was it? And then, the mystery guy shows up and ruins everything. Now I have to deal with this old lady. Why does God hate me so much? He and I have never been on good terms. What kind of God allows a little boy to watch his father beat his mother to death and then allows him to endure even worse living conditions in foster care? No one will ever love me like Mama.

I didn't waste another second; I took the syringe from my pocket and plunged it right into her arm. Her body went limp within seconds. By the time she wakes up, I will be long gone. I decide to tie her up to give me more time to leave. But, before I go, I must know who was at my house and why?

43 Detective

Price

don't know how this case ended up being such a debacle, but I am glad that Hazel was safely returned to her parents, or should I say those ladies went in and got her. I really wish they had waited until we got there. Someone truly could have been hurt more than Harper. I still am not sure what Harper and Brandon had to do with all this. Harper seems to have gotten mixed up with the wrong guy.

We take statements from each of the girls and are waiting for a public defender to question Brandon.

“Hey, public defender is here.” Markis sticks his head in my office.” Are you ready to interrogate this prick?”

“Yeah,” I say, standing up and walking towards the door.

We go into the interrogation room where Brandon is sitting with his hands cuffed to the table and slumped in his seat. We both sit down, and I allow Markis to head the interrogation. “Hey, Brandon, right?” he asks, shuffling papers around.

“That's what they call me,” he says, smiling.

The public defender looks very uncomfortable and looks like he wants to say something to his client. Any time I make eye contact with him, he quickly turns towards his client. This might be a slam dunk. Even if this cat is innocent, he may still go to jail.

today?"

"Okay, well, what were you doing at the house earlier

“I was picking up a package that was owed to me.”

“What kind of package?”

At this point, Brandon licks his teeth and smiles at Markis without saying a word.

I sat up in my seat and looked at the public defender. I didn't want to step on Markis's toes, but this is where I would have told the public defender to counsel his client to talk.

“Okay, let's go a different route,” Markis says. “How do you know Finn Drake?”

“Finn and I are brothers. Foster brothers, that is. We grew up in the same foster home for a while until, you know, my brother and I got switched to another horrible foster home.”

"And did you guys get along?"

“Jonathan and Finn were the same age, and they were friends. They were more like brothers than I was with my own brother, even though I am the one who always protected him.”

“I see you have a pretty long rap sheet in Michigan; did you and Finn get in trouble together?”

Brandon sits up straight in his chair, and he looks Markis in the eye, which causes him to move backwards a bit.

“Detective, you are asking the wrong question,” Brandon says.

"What question should I be asking?"

“Look, I have information about Finn. But I won't say another word until I get a deal.”

Markis looks at me, and I look back at him. I give him the motionless nod with my eyes, and he continues.

“What kind of information?”

“Let's just say, I know for a fact what his extracurricular activities are, and it has nothing to do with being a big guy in finance.”

"Okay, and what kind of deal are we talking about?"

“I walk out of here today, no charges if I tell you”

“You shot your girlfriend and tried to hold up four other ladies. Are you insane?”

“Most people believe I am. But I have information that you need and know where he is. So, I walk, and you can find your guy. What do you say?”

Markis looks at his file and writes something in his notebook, while I continue to stare down the public defender. I wonder if this guy will interject at all during this interrogation, which makes him even more uncomfortable.

“It's according to what you tell us. If you can give us information on where Finn is and anything else you know about him, then I think we have a deal once we capture him.”

"And what if you don't capture him?"

“Then, you might have to pay for shooting your girlfriend. Now what do you say?” Markis says, leaning towards Brandon and eyeing the public defender.

Brandon looks at his public defender and then back at the two of us. “Deal.”

"Start talking," says Markis.

“I witnessed Finn kidnapping a girl three years ago. Except it was a little different from what he does now. He definitely progressed since his first kill. He kidnapped her and kept her both drugged and chained up. He would do her hair and put make-up on her, and then he would talk to her like she was his mother. You know, real sick stuff. I knew he was really messed up in the head. When I found out about it, I confronted him, and at first, he tried to deny it, but then I got him to admit it. And get this, he knew that I had my eye on that girl.”

asks.

with her." “What do you mean you had your eye on her?” Markis

Brandon hesitates like he needs time to make up a lie.

“I mean, you know, she was cute, so I wanted to get

I didn't believe him for one second. He had no intentions of having any type of relationship with this girl. I make a mental note to notify the authorities in Michigan to keep an eye out for this scum bag.

“So then what happened?”

“By the time I got to her, he had strangled her and was putting makeup on her to cover the marks on her neck.”

“What did you do?”

“I got out of there. You don't keep company with people like that. You end up strung up somewhere, you know?”

girl?"

"So, you are saying you witnessed him strangling this “Yep, sure did. And he was playing that music loud, which is why he never heard me or saw me.”

"And you never told anyone?"

“I told my brother Jonathan.”

"And where do you think he is right now?"

“I know his car was all packed up to meet Jonathan in Michigan. He was planning on taking that Hazel girl there, so I wanted to get to her first.”

"Why?"

Brandon looks at Markis and then down at his hands. I can tell that he just realized what he was about to reveal and decided to stop talking.

plan?" “I just came down to surprise my brother, that's all.”

“So, how did you end up shooting, Harper?”

“It was an accident; I didn't mean to shoot her.”

“So, had you found Hazel, what would have been your

"Aw, I was going to get the reward money."

“There was no reward money, Brandon, “says Markis, getting upset.

Brandon stares at both of us for a few seconds, slumps further in his chair, and gives his head a slight tilt. “I must have been mistaken.”

“Are you mistaken about Finn going to Michigan?”

“Nah, that, I am sure of.”

Markis and I both know that he is lying about what he wanted with Hazel, but the most important thing we focus on is finding Finn and keeping him from snatching another girl.

“Okay, sit tight. Someone will come and escort you to a cell until we can verify this information and apprehend Finn.”

“Yep, but you better hurry. College boy is smart.”

We both stand up and walk out of the room. If Brandon is correct, we need to get moving on finding Finn before he leaves.

44 Jasper

don't want to be here alone, but thinking about the alternative is even worse. I haven't seen Finn for obvious reasons in a couple of days. I keep calling him, but he won't answer the phone. I even tried calling his boss and learned that Finn quit his job over a month ago. How could I not have known? The police have ransacked my home, and it is a complete mess. I stand in the living room where I can see the kitchen and Finn's study through the open door. Every single space that is in my view looks like piles of trash in a landfill, and I know the rest of the house is in a similar condition.

Walking over to the sofa, I sit down to catch my breath. I am not sure where to start. The police are monitoring the other house in case Finn shows up there. So I decide to start cleaning and create some type of normalcy here.

I stand and grab a big black trash bag sitting on the coffee table. I look through mounds of paper before tossing them in the trash, only keeping the important ones. I guess the silver lining is that I will have a newly organized home once I am done. And then I think about my home and living here alone. Once they find him, Finn will be in jail for years, maybe even for life. With this thought, tears flood my eyes, and I fall to the ground. I lay in the fetal position, feeling sorry for myself. My mom is dead, my husband is a murderer running from the law, and my sister went back to Michigan for school. I am all alone, and I don't know how to do this.

Just then, I sit up and lean against the back of the couch with my knees tucked into my chest. I drop the trash bag completely and allow myself to fully purge the pain that has me weighed down. I wipe my snot-filled face with the back of my hand, wishing for Finn to walk in and scoop me up in his arms and tell me that this was all a bad dream. I want him to tell me that I was enough and that he didn't need those girls. I want him to tell me that this was not my fault. And then I think maybe at least my sister could walk in and sit next to me, and we could go through this just like we did when we were kids. Maybe we could be there for each other like we were at the funeral. What about Saren? I think to myself. But then I remember how Hazel was taken because of my husband. She probably doesn't want to ever see me again. This thought makes me cry even harder, which causes me to gag. On my way to the bathroom, I dry heave. Just as I am about to lean over the sink, I slip on the bathroom rug and fall face-first on the cold, hard tiles of the bathroom floor.

I roll onto my back and stare at the ceiling. When I finally focus on what I am actually looking at, I notice a small piece of the ceiling, the size of an index card, that is a slightly different color than the rest of the ceiling. That's weird, I never noticed that before. I pull myself off the ground and splash water on my face. I grab a step stool from the garage, climb up, and reach to examine the spot with my finger. I rub my finger over the surface of the discolored area, and it moves. I pick at it until the piece falls to the ground, leaving an exposed dark space in the ceiling. I stick my finger inside the space and try to feel around as much as possible. I am not sure what I am

looking for or even what it would mean if I did find something. I move my finger around and hit what feels like an envelope. I try laying my finger flat and sliding the object back through the opening.

It doesn't work. I am even more determined now to find out what this thing is in the ceiling. So, I try several more times with no success. I step down from the stool and look through the drawer for tweezers. Looking for the tweezers, I make an even bigger mess than the police did in the rest of my house. But finally, I find a pair of tweezers and climb back on the stool. I position them in my hand to help me grab the package in the small space. After the third try, I finally pull out an envelope the size of a credit card.

I open the envelope, and in it is a key. Attached to the key is a tag that says Nahman's Storage with the unit number stamped on it. I am not sure what I am looking at, but I have a suspicion that it has a lot to do with Finn. I don't know how he was able to keep so many secrets from me. Maybe Brandon was right. Maybe I am stupid. I rub the key between my fingers and decide that I need to figure out what is going on. I may not have known what Finn was up to, but I am sure going to figure out where he is and what he is doing now. And I think this key will unlock a lot of answers for me, pun intended.

I walk out of the bathroom as if I didn't just have a pity party. I look around at the mess and kick the garbage bag to the side. With the storage key in hand and the courage of an army, I grab my car keys and walk out the door.

45 Detective

Price Finn is like a ghost that we can't catch. His car is still parked in the garage of his second home, which Jasper had no idea they still owned, all packed and ready to go. But if he did not take his car and we have notified the airport, train stations, and bus stations that he is a suspect in three murders and a kidnapping, then where is he? Is he hiding again in someone's home, holding them hostage? What about Jonathan? Would Jonathan drive all the way here to help Finn evade being captured? He must know we have his registration information, and taking his car would be like having a target on his back. For all we know, he could be in Michigan already by now.

Markis and I return to the station and head toward our offices. Markis's newly appointed office is next to mine. We have a glass wall that separates our offices, so I can see directly into his office as he can mine. It was my pleasure to see him skipping about, hanging different awards on the walls, and setting up his space. He is a hard worker and has truly earned this promotion. His late nights and scattered brain thinking have literally helped this entire investigation. I am proud to have him as a partner. I sit down at my desk and start to review the statements from the fab five or nearly murder victims, as I keep telling them. I am trying to create a timeline and fill in some blanks.

Jasper went to her old house because she thought Finn could have been holding Hazel there, which panned out to be true. Finn had his bags packed along with feminine items, so he was planning to flee to Michigan. Brandon confirmed this information. So either Finn is hiding somewhere, or he found another way to Michigan, or maybe he fled to another state with or without his best friend, Jonathan. I put my head in my hands and then look over to Markis, who seems to be just as stumped as I am. I decide to meet him in his office, like he usually does mine. Give him the official interruption from officers coming in for a favor or an update. Then I think to myself, maybe we just need a little cool-down time to regroup.

“Hey, anything new?” I say, knocking on his door, looking around, not sure if the mess is from not being fully moved in or if he tried breaking the copy machine again.

“Nah, man, I am going through all the information that we got from both of Finn's houses. We have a lot of stuff that we need to go through here to give us some kind of clue as to where he is.”

“I know, I was doing the same thing in my office. Maybe we need to have a drink and start over in the morning with fresh eyes, you know. Besides, we need to celebrate you becoming a detective.”

“That sounds like it would be a blast. My girl, Remmy, wanted to throw me a party as well, and she wanted me to invite you.”

“Of course, man, I'll be there.” I know that Markis sees me as a mentor, and I am honored to be seen in such a way. My own dad passed away when I was young, and the only family that I have is my mom and sister. They live in Georgia, and we barely see each other. So, Jill is my family, and now I consider Markis a happy addition.

“Markis you are like family, and I would be honored to celebrate you. But for now, how about a drink?”

“Yeah, let me clean up a little first.”

“Yeah,” I say, looking around. “What, did you break the copy machine again?

“What do you mean?” he says, stacking papers.

“Oh, my bad, you just haven't moved all the way in yet?” “Darren, I have been moved in for days. This is called organized chaos. Just because you like your office without a speck of dust, like you think Jesus is going to get offended, doesn't mean my office is messy.”

I take another look around at the papers falling off his desk and file folders crumpled, fast food wrappers barely making it to the trash can, and boxes in the corner. "Uh, it kind of does."

Markis takes another look around. "Okay, maybe it does, I will clean it, sir."

“Nope, not sir to you anymore, just Darren.”

“I was thinking about that, I should probably call you something like Dare, you know, it's shorter and quicker.”

vigorously. “No, nope, Darren is fine,” I say, shaking my head

"Oh, come on, you can call me Mark."

"Why would I do that? That is a whole different name."

“It's shorter, quicker.”

"It is not your name."

We walk out of his office and head towards the front entrance of the station. But just as we are leaving, Lemmens stops us. "Sir," he says, running towards us. "I think you might want to take this call."

I walk over and shuffle through the stacks of paper, clips, and colorful sticky notes scattered on the desk and reach for the phone. Does anybody care about organization around here?

“This is Detective Price.”

“Detective, this is Denis Wellington. My mom lives next door to that Finn guy, and I was worried about her because I couldn't get a hold of her for a couple of days. She usually checks in with me at least every other day if not daily.”

"Is this going somewhere, Denis?" “Yeah, sorry, I came over to check on her, and she was tied up to the chair, nearly passed out. When I got her settled, she started telling me that Finn hid in her closet the whole time you were looking for him, and when she found him hiding, he knocked her out with something and tied her up.”

“Oh no, is she sure that the man who attacked her was Finn?” I say, looking at Markis, who now has a perplexed look on his face.

“Trust me, if anyone would know it would be my mother. She is sure it was him.”

“Where is she now?”

“We are at the hospital; I wanted to make sure whatever he gave her was not harmful to her.”

“Okay, we are on our way. I am calling now for hospital security to secure her room until one of my guys can get there. Stay with her and don't let her out of your sight.”

"Yes, sir, thank you."

“Markis, we need to get to the hospital. Mrs. Wellington was attacked by Finn.”

"Right, no drink then."

“Later, once we get this guy, we'll have even more to celebrate.”

Saren

Even though Hazel is home safe and sound, I can't seem to get out of bed. I keep imagining what could have happened to her if we hadn't found her. My dreams are filled with finding her in her room reading a book, but she is as stiff as a board. I can feel the pain of missing her while she is missing in my dreams, like they are real. The pain that I feel in my dream seeps into my actual life. Arlo is being kind, but I can tell that he doesn't understand what I am feeling. I don't even get how I can feel so down when we have her back, and clearly, nothing is wrong with me. Hazel is not my child, but could this whole thing have reminded me that I am childless? Maybe that is why I can't stop crying. Maybe I gravitated toward Hazel so much and did treat her like my own daughter because I really wanted one of my own. Arlo and I never really wanted children, but maybe I do. It is too late for us, and maybe that is what I am feeling. Is this regret?

I try to hide it, but I am pretty sure Arlo has figured it out. I want to stay away from everyone right now because not only do I just want to cry, but I am also angry. I know this is not Jasper's fault, and I would never blame her for something that Finn did, but I still feel enraged by all the events that have happened lately. It is almost like my anger extends past Finn and what he did to my niece. I am not sure what is actually fueling these feelings right now, but I don't want to take it out on anyone else. So I stay to myself, which is why I have not been to work. Mostly because I want to avoid seeing Jasper. I don't know why, but I don't think that I can look at her right now, which makes me feel awful.

I hear a knock on the bedroom door where I have been camped out for the last couple of days. Arlo comes in and sits next to me.

“Hazel keeps calling and wants to talk to you,” he says in that comforting tone he always has.

“Arlo, I can't talk to anyone right now. Can you tell her that I will call her back?”

“I can, but she might feel bad if you keep turning down her phone calls.”

“I'm just not in a good space right now, Arlo and I don't want to offend anyone by my attitude.”

“I get that, but Hazel has been through a terrible ordeal, and she may need that auntie that she is used to always being there for her.”

“You see, that's just it. I am always here for others, and I need to refuel. Don't you get it! I am empty, just.” I say, covering my mouth in realization of what I had been feeling. "Empty." I allow myself to cry, and for Arlo to wrap his big, strong arms around me.

“Okay, okay, I got you. I will be your strength and do whatever you need me to do so that you can get better.”

I bury my head in his chest and take a deep breath. In this moment, I feel blessed to have him, but I also feel my past pain as I sulk and know that I need this time to heal fully and forgive myself for my own past. I know now why I am feeling the way that I am.

Being so close to Jasper and her husband takes me back to my own relationship with my boyfriend, who has a narcissistic personality. He stole so much of my life and who I was. I really thought that I was losing my mind when I was with him. I believed the lies that he told me, even when he told me that I deserved to be beaten and neglected; that I wasn't smart enough to be a nurse. He made jokes and told me how I would kill the patients and then thought it was so funny. I almost listened to him until I realized that God didn't make a mistake when he made me, and no man could tell me that I wasn't worthy of love because God said I

was, when he sent his son to die for me.

I sit up in bed and look at Arlo. He is right. I have already been delivered from this man, and even though this incident brought me back to the feelings that I had with him, I am still free from him, and I can't allow him to steal any more time from me.

“Are you okay?” asks Arlo.

“I'm okay, and I am going to be even better after a shower,” I get up and walk towards the bathroom. I turn towards him, for sure that he is confused. “Arlo, thank you. You always know what to say to me. I really appreciate the man that you are.” To reduce the risk of crying again, I go into the bathroom.

A shower was exactly what I needed to make myself feel better. I am ready to talk to Hazel and maybe even Jasper. Maybe we need to get the group together. I am sure we could all do with some girl talk and have some fun. I grab my phone and notice that I have a text message from Hazel. I read it and immediately get worried. “Hey, Auntie, I don't know why you won't talk to me, but I miss you. Mom has my car, so I took an oo-ber to your house. Just like we always said, I took a picture of the driver and his car through the front window before I left the house. You can be so paranoid sometimes, but I did it because I love you. I should be there soon. I can't wait to see you.”

I look at the time that she sent the picture and the text, and look at the clock in my bedroom. The text was sent half an hour ago. Hazel should be here by now. I hear the door shut downstairs, and with relief, I run to meet Hazel.

Only when I reach the kitchen do I see Arlo walking back into the house.

“Did you just walk out the door?”

“No, I just came in. What's going on?”

“I'm looking for Hazel!”

“Why?”

“She sent me a text while I was in the shower and said that she was on her way over here, but that was a half hour ago, Arlo.”

"Have you tried calling her?"

I immediately dial her number and put it on speaker phone. The only thing we hear is her sweet voice on her voicemail.

“I have a bad feeling about this. What do we do?”

"Give her some time, Saren, maybe there was traffic."

“But why not answer the phone. She has been calling all morning, and now she doesn't answer her phone?”

“Okay, do you want to call Detective Price?”

“I think we'd better,” I say, already dialing his number.

I call Detective Price and send him the picture that

Hazel took of the driver and of the car. I call Alaina next, and she is not very happy with me. When this is all said and done, I wouldn't be surprised if she forbade Hazel to ever see me again. The last call that I make is to the oo-ber company.

“Hello, this is Sarendipity Macmillan, and my niece took an oo-ber an hour ago to my house, but she has not arrived. Is there a way to track where the driver is?”

“What is the driver's name?” the representative asks.

“Oh, I don't know, but I have the make and model of his car along with his picture.”

He asks me to send the picture to a specified number he gives me and asks for the make and model of the car. And then he puts me on hold for what seems like days. When he finally gets back on the phone, he gives me the worst news that I was not ready for.

“Ma'am, sorry, we don't have that make or model car registered as one of our drivers, and no one recognizes the man in the picture. Are you sure she didn't do a ride share or another company?”

"You're right, thank you. I will try another company." I hang up, knowing that my niece has gone missing again. I immediately start to scream as I feel Arlo once again envelop me in his arms. It feels like he is covering me with his entire body, squeezing out the pain that suddenly hit me as I realize that we may not be so lucky this time to get her back. I know this is Finn's doing, and he's not letting her go so easily this time. We should have been more prepared.

This has to be the doing of Finn Drake. Will this man ever just give it up? He is determined to have Hazel, but I am just as determined to stop him. My heart sank at the sound of Saren's beat-down voice. She was so hoarse as she told me that she thought Finn had kidnapped Hazel again. Even after I asked her to slow down and explain, she was still in a panic. I could hardly understand what she was saying. I had to step out of Mrs. Wellington's hospital room to fully grasp the situation. This could not be happening. Saren said that she was going to send me a picture that Hazel took of the driver. I wait for the text as we say goodbye to a shaken Mrs. Wellington. Thank goodness she is okay, but we don't get much more information about Finn's whereabouts from this visit.

After we leave the hospital, I get the text message from Saren that I am waiting for. I examine the picture of the oo-ber Driver and his car, which is rewarded with a smile. I show Markis the picture. I can work with this. We try pinning Hazel's phone, but it must be turned off. So our next task is to put out an A.P.B on this car and put a name to this face.

“Markis, we need to find Finn. I am losing my patience with this guy.”

“If we don't find him soon, Saren and her posse will find him, and who knows what they will do to him. Saren don't play about her niece.”

“Yeah, neither does Alaina about her daughter. And I don't blame them. I am going to be just as ferocious with my own kid, you know. I can't imagine a world where a teenage girl can't live her life without the threat of some psychopath after her."

The car is quiet for a while. I am thinking about Jill and our unborn child and the world that we are bringing him or her into. I have to keep this community safe. I need to do better, I think to myself.

“Darren, we are doing what we can,” Markis says as if he were reading my mind moments ago.

“I know, but think about all the babies being born daily. What are the chances that those babies will grow up living happy lives? I mean, what are we doing bringing them into the world to deal with all this? Adults can barely deal with it.”

“Listen, you and Jill are going to be great parents. You cannot control what the rest of the world does. But as long as you protect and love your child, and the community, since you are a cop and all, whatever children you guys bring into the world will be fine.”

“So, is this from your newest self-help book?” I say, looking at him and then back to the road.

“Yeah, Remmy always has us reading something.”

“So, you're reading about babies?”

“Nah, man, I know what you're getting at. We are not ready for marriage yet; we are just researching to see if we agree on the same things. Neither of us wants to get married and find out the other person has totally different views on life. You want to know what happens if you're not like-minded? One person in the marriage will not get to raise their children the way they want. Either you will argue about it all the time, or you will give in and raise your kids in a totally different way than you planned. And for me, I don't want that. We need to be on the same page. So we read."

“That's actually a smart plan, Markis. Sounds like you got this all figured out. I may need to borrow some books from you; I just want to be a good dad. But first, I need to be a good detective and keep scum like Finn and Brandon off the streets.”

“What?”

right?" “That's it!” Markis says, snapping his finger.

“Finn was supposed to meet Jonathan in Michigan.”

“Yes,” I say, catching on to his thought process. “So, maybe Jonathan came down to Indiana to help Finn kidnap Hazel and take them back to Michigan. I bet you, the person who picked up Hazel was no oo-ber driver, it was Jonathan.”

“Exactly! We need to get to the station. Brandon will be able to identify him faster than anything we have in place.”

“Definitely, we also need to get Finn's, Jonathan's, and Hazel's pictures to the press.”

When we get to the station, we immediately go to Brandon's holding cell.

“Hey, did you find him? Am I free to go?” Brandon asks as he sees us walking towards him.

“Not quite,” says Markis. “I need to show you a picture. And I need you to tell me if this oo-ber driver is Jonathan.”

“Let me out today, and I can do that for you. I gotta make up with my girl.” “Yeah, most girls don't forgive boyfriends who shoot them,” Markis says, shaking his head.

“I told you it was an accident! She will understand, she loves me.”

"And you think she will understand that you were only with her to keep tabs on Finn?"

"When you got it like this, girls tend to forgive you for just about anything," he says, moving his greasy dark hair out of his face.

“Shut up, Brandon. We need to find Finn, and we believe this guy abducted Hazel and that he is Jonathan. Is it?” I ask.

"Aw, he is relentless. I told you, college boy is smart."

I hold up the phone in front of Brandon and watch the smile form on his face.

“Yep, that's little Jonny all right, and one thing is for sure, he is no oo-ber driver. And that car ain't his either.”

“Whose car is it?”

“That is one of our foster mom's cars. She's old and probably doesn't even know that it's missing.”

“Are you still in contact with your foster parents?”

"Not me, but Jonny is. But not in the way that you may think."

“In what way, then?” Markis asks. At this point, I allow him to take over the questioning.

“Let's just say when good ole Jonny boy needs something, he takes it from her, without her knowledge, of course.” “So he steals from her?”

“Yeah, she gets robbed at least once a week,” he says with a smile and sucking on his teeth.

Millie." “What is her name? How can we reach her?”

“I don't know how to reach her, but her name is “Is Millie short for anything?”

“Yeah, Melissa.”

“And does Melissa have a last name, Brandon?” Markis says losing his patience.

“Anderson. She's a real mean one, too. If she knew that it was Jonathan robbing her house all the time, she'd put a bullet in him.”

“Alright, thank you,” Markis says, turning to leave.

“Wait, when am I getting out of here?”

“We are working on it. Hopefully, the information you just gave us will lead us to Finn.”

We then both turn and walk out of the holding chambers and into our offices. I immediately start looking for addresses for Melissa Anderson while Markis is getting the Michigan police department on board and bringing them up to speed on the case. I can feel that we are getting the break that we need. And in the very next moment, the biggest break that we get is the simple text that I am currently looking at.

“Markis!” I yell.

Jasper

As I drive the twenty minutes, my G.P.S says that it will take me to get to the storage unit, I wonder what I will find when I get there. I hope that I can find information that will allow me to help the police catch Finn. Even though it kind of feels like a betrayal turning Finn in, the biggest betrayal is what he did to me and our marriage. What he did behind my back and to those girls. The thought of him torturing them and making them do all sorts of things turns my stomach. No wonder he was not that interested in me. He always had his excuses, and silly me, I accepted them. If I could just forget about him and the way we met, I would be better off. I could move on with my life and be happy. But I can't seem to shed his skin. I feel trapped by my heart even after knowing what he has done. Does that make me a freak?

I wipe away the tears that I didn't know were flowing. I am just about to arrive at my destination, so I blink my eyes and rub them until they feel normal again. I take a drink of the water sitting in the cup holder and try to focus on finding the storage unit. But then I realize that no one knows where I am. What if something happens to me? This makes me check my phone and make sure that I have enough bars and that it is fully charged. I am not sure exactly what I think that I will find here or what will happen, but something tells me to be prepared for anything.

I pull into Nahman's storage and drive around until I am close to the unit. Before I get out of the car, my phone lights up, and Saren's name is visible on the screen. I pick up immediately.

“Saren, hi.”

“Jass, he took her again!” she screams.

“Who?” I ask her. Why? I don't know, because I know exactly what she is telling me. I had a feeling in my gut he would try this.

"Your husband, Finn, has Hazel."

"Oh, gosh, Saren. I am so sorry. What can I do?"

“I don't know. Are you sure you don't know where he is?”

Has he tried contacting you?"

I am starting to feel like Saren is interrogating me, and it does not feel good. I love Saren, and this feels like she is stabbing me in my back or blaming me. "No."

'Well, have you tried calling him?"

“Yes, Saren, I promise you if I knew where he was, I would tell you and the police.”

“Jasper, you are not holding back, are you? I can see how much you care for him. Are you sure you don't know where he is?”

I take a deep breath in and swallow the sting of her words. I think she is crossing a line that will ruin our relationship. "How...how could you ask me that, Saren? I didn't do this. I would never." As hard as I try, I can't keep myself from bursting out into tears. "I didn't do this! This is not my fault! I am not protecting him.

How could you? How could you?" I scream into the phone like a madwoman.

“Jasper!” I heard Saren yell several times. “I'm so sorry. You're right. I had no right to ask you that. I am freaking out over here.

I hope you can understand that."

“This is hard, Saren; I don't know how to do this. Just because he was my husband, it doesn't mean that I should be treated like a criminal. You are missing Hazel, but I lost a husband, and I lost my whole life. I've got no one to lean on. It's all on me. My sister is gone, and so is my mother. I can't do this, Saren.” I continue to yell through the phone. And then I was grateful for the silence that followed my rant. In that moment of silence, my heart started beating at its normal speed, and my breathing slowed down as well.

"You're wrong, Jass. You have me."

“Do I?”

“Yes, I promise.”

“Thank you,” I say, but still feeling the betrayal of Saren's accusations.

Just then, I see a guy walking past my car heading towards a unit. He looks into my car, and I give a slight wave and smile. He is probably wondering what I am doing. “Nothing to worry about, just having a breakdown for the millionth time, that's all,” I wanted to yell out at him.

"Where are you? I can hear your engine running."

“I am at Nahman's storage unit, don't ask. I found a key hidden in the ceiling of the downstairs bathroom. So, I am here to

see if I can't find out where Finn might be hiding."

“That doesn't sound safe. Finn could be anywhere. Do you think he would hurt you?” “I don't know what Finn is capable of. Apparently, I don't know him at all. I'm just going to go into the unit and see what I can find. Maybe I will find an address to another location that I don't know about. If he has Hazel again, maybe that location will lead us to him.”

"Do you want some help?"

“Oh, honestly, I don't think I will be here long. You don't have to, but if I find something, I will call you.”

“I need to do something; I can help you look for anything. I just can't sit and do nothing.”

“Okay, then I will go in and start looking around and wait until you get here.”

“Have you called Detective Price?”

“No, should I? I just thought if I found something, I would call him. I didn't want to cry wolf, you know.” I say, checking my face in the rear-view mirror.

“Send me the location, and I will send it to him for you. Be careful, I am on my way now.”

“Bring Arlo, there may be some heavy lifting involved. I really don't know what could be in this storage unit.”

“Arlo said that I couldn't go anywhere else by myself once he learned about Brandon and the gun situation, so he will definitely be coming with me.”

"Okay, I am going in. I will see you in a bit."

As soon as I get out of the car, I look for the unit that matches the number on the key that I found earlier. I keep my phone close in my jacket pocket. Today was a little cold for a spring day, and a small jacket made the chill bearable. I finally find the unit and use the key to unlock it. I grab the handle and raise the door to the unit. What am I looking at? As if my eyes were playing tricks on me, I blink. My heart immediately falls to the ground, and my palms are sweaty. To my surprise, right in front of me sat Hazel, tied to a chair and gagged. Frozen in my tracks, I finally register what is in front of me. And just as I move towards her, Finn walks in from behind a tall, thick mahogany bookshelf.

"Ah, ah, ah! Not so fast. Move away from her, right now."

“Finn, what are you doing? Hazel, are you okay?” I say, moving closer to her.

“I said, move away from her,” he says, grabbing her neck from behind, which causes her to wince and lift her head.

“No, I am getting Hazel, and we are leaving. It's not too late. You let us walk out of here, and you can disappear forever.”

“You think I care about me? No, I care about my girl. She belongs to me, not you or anyone else,” every word he belts out, he gets more and more hysterical.

I stop and look at him, and I can truly see what I have been missing. He's crazy! I can't believe I didn't see it before. His dark eyes were even darker, and there was nothing but rage behind them. I could feel his rage, and instantly fear struck me like a bolt of lightning. This is not the man I married; he is a monster. I look around the unit, mostly wondering what all this stuff was. Plastic bins are stacked neatly along the walls all the way up to the ceiling. A living area is set up as if he were planning to hide out in this tiny storage unit. The layout is similar to the basement that I am going to literally burn down after all this if I make it out of here alive. I look at Hazel, and she stares back at me.

“And what about us? How could you have done this to me? If you didn't want to marry me, you shouldn't have. Why go through all this and destroy the life that we built?” “Jasper, I didn't hurt those girls. They were not beaten or strangled. I saved them. They loved me and needed me. Why else were they calling me and taking my gifts?”

“They were children, Finn. And they didn't need you. They had families. Loving families that now miss them, grieve for them. How can you live with yourself?”

“I know about grief, Mama was beaten all the time.”

I have never heard Finn talk about his mother, especially calling her Mama. The transformation that appears right in front of me allows me to understand so much that I didn't before. My husband is sick. So, what does that make me? I married him. Everyone was right, this is my fault. I was the decoy for him; he used me to look normal to the rest of the world. So that he could take those girls to torture and murder them. My knees become weak, and my legs feel like spaghetti. I don't feel like I can stand on my own any longer. I look for something to steady me, but am distracted by his continued rant about his mother.

“I was only four when they took me away from her. She was so cold, and I didn't understand why she wouldn't hold me like she usually does. She was the only one who loved me.”

I look at him in a trance and take advantage of this to distract him. “Where were your grandparents?”

“Mama said she didn't have parents, and my father never talked about his. It was just Mama and me,” he answers with a glassy look in his eyes, staring in the distance.

“That must have been hard,” I say, finding the strength to walk closer to him. “So, our entire lives together, the trips, the dinners, the romance, moving to Indiana, was this all pretend for you?” “Of course not,” he looks at me and then turns to look at Hazel like he is just remembering that she is there. Hazel is staring at me like she feels sorry for me, which I am aware could be a projection. But I can't help but feel sorry for myself, even though she is the one kidnapped and tied up for the second time by this man, my husband.

“Then why, Finn, why? I gave you everything. I told you about my past, and you knew that all I ever wanted was to be loved and have a family of my own. I needed to make up for the horrible childhood that life dealt me. But you took everything that I told you and used it against me, to control me.”

I stop talking and shake my head as I stare at him. He returns the stare and says nothing. We stand there in silence for a moment. "Oh my God, you're sick," I say as if it were the first time that it had crossed my mind.

“Don't!”

“Don't what? Tell you how messed up this is. You are a narcissistic psychopath who has destroyed my life.”

Again, his face is blank with no expression as he continues to stand next to Hazel as if he is her bodyguard.

“You are not going to get away with this, and when they catch you, I hope you end up in prison with ruthless criminals. And I hope they tear off every limb on your worthless body.”

“Shut up!” he yells out loud and kicks Hazel's chair.

The 100s. lunge towards Finns. him and knock him down with me, surprise attack. Once we are both on the ground, I start kicking and punching as hard as I can, but to my dissatisfaction, I only get a few punches in, and that did not seem to do much damage. I spot a metal rod hiding under the neatly stacked bins and try to grab for it. He then reaches up and punches me in my face, and I see nothing but darkness.

Moments later, I find myself tied up along with Hazel. Except, I am lying on the floor with my hands and feet pulled together behind my back. I wish I were tied up in a chair like Hazel. Being tied up like this is pretty painful. I shake my head and realize that I have other pressing matters to think about. I pray that both Detective Price and Saren are close. I am afraid of what Finn will do to me. And then I hear him talking to someone. I look up, and what do you know, it was the man who walked past my car earlier. They were standing just outside the unit. He must be helping Finn otherwise; he would be freaking out by now seeing two tied-up women in a storage unit. For him, this must be par for the course. I lie really still so that I can hear what they are saying. Fans are blowing up above, and they go off and on. I can only hear a little of what they are saying.

“Take her to the car,” I think I hear Finn say. “Leave my wife. We need to get going soon, Jonathan.”

I can't let him take her; I have to do something. By now, Hazel is screaming behind her gag, and I am yelling at Finn to stop this madness. He ignores us and works even harder to prepare to leave. Just then, Finn walks over to Hazel with a syringe in his hand.

arm. “This is going to pinch a little,” he says, grabbing her

“Finn, no,” I say.

"Shut her up, Jonathan!"

I watch as Jonathan walks over to me, holding a handful of cotton balls in one hand and duct tape in the other. He bends down to the ground and shoves cotton in my mouth and covers it with a piece of tape. I still try my best to make noise, but with every sound, cotton balls move towards my throat. Naturally, to keep from choking, I stop yelling. I am forced to lie there and watch them take Hazel's now limp body away. Come on, Saren, get here. I say to myself. If she only knew, she'd be here to save her niece. I fear that if Finn leaves with her now, I don't think we will ever see her again.

Markis and I jump in the car and speed off to Nahman's storage unit. I have a feeling that we will find the information that we need there. How did we miss the key hidden in the ceiling and the fact that he even had a storage unit? When Saren texted me about Jasper finding a storage unit of Finn's and that she was headed there, I warned her to stay home. I am very sure she will not listen to me. In the case that Finn finds her there, I am concerned about her safety. So it is even more important for me to get there as soon as possible to keep her safe, as well as Jasper.

“So, talk to me, Darren. What are you thinking?”

“I don't know, man, I have a feeling this is where we need to be. I just don't know why.”

"Okay, let's talk scenarios," says Markis.

“Okay, Jasper is looking for information that could lead to us finding Finn. While she is there, Finn shows up and tries to hurt her.” “Where are Hazel and Jonathan in this scenario?”

“Jonathan has Hazel at a hidden location. Maybe Finn has supplies that he needs from the storage before they leave.”

“So, Finn finds Jasper, murders her, grabs the supplies, and now they are off to Michigan?” Markis asks.

"Ugh, that kind of sounds like a bad movie, I know." “But what if the storage unit is where they are hiding, and Jasper walks right into it? Saren would also be walking into danger as well.”

“When I accepted the fact that Saren would not listen to me and stay home, I told her to at least take Arlo with her; she texted back that both Arlo and Alaina would be going with her to the storage unit.”

“So, in this scenario, we now have civilians involved with a dangerous man who has already killed three or four people.”

“They couldn't be stopped, Markis. Let's just hope that Finn is not at the storage unit, and we find something there that leads us to him and Hazel.”

As we travel the next couple of miles, the car is silent until Markis starts to speak.

“Darren, I think we need to be prepared to go in with guns blazing. I think Jasper finds Finn there, holding Hazel hostage, and she needs our help, as we speak.”

backup."

"Is that your gut talking?"

“It's everything in me, screaming. We need to call for

I oblige, and we call for backup. I continue without a siren as we are pulling into the parking lot. We get as close as possible and start running toward the unit. Just as we approach the designated row, sure enough, we spot Finn and Jonathan. Finn is pulling down the door and grabbing a black bag next to his feet. We manage to get a bit

closer before we yell out for them to stop. Finn immediately runs to the driver's seat and starts the car. Jonathan looks up at us and climbs into the back seat.

"Police, stop!" I yell out again.

Markis and I run toward the vehicle as we are now face-to-face with the baby doll killer. Feet away, I look into his eyes as his hands remain on the steering wheel. Jonathan looks as if he is about to lose his lunch with his hands in the air.

I say.

"Turn off the car and get out with your hands raised,"

“Get out of the car!” Markis yells after the criminals didn't comply.

“If you don't get out of the car, I will shoot,” I say, slowly walking toward the car. Markis matches my strides as we move closer. I am so close I can feel the warmth of the engine. Just then, the car starts moving, and we are forced to jump out of the way. We fall to the ground on either side of the car. I aim for the back tire and shoot until I hear the tire deflate. Finn tries to keep driving, but just ahead, I see Saren's car pull up and block their path. Markis and I quickly run after them, and I open the driver's side door and pull Finn out. Markis pulls Jonathan out of the back seat and throws him to the ground. He puts handcuffs on him. I put handcuffs on Finn and sit him on the ground next to his buddy.

“Where is she?”

“Hello, Detective,” he says with a smile.

“Finn, don't play with me. Where is Hazel? You see that car blocking you? In that car is Hazel's mom and aunt. I can promise you, you don't want them to get any closer. They are very angry black women who are ready to rip you alive, and I am not going to stop them.

You are handcuffed and won't be able to defend yourself. I suggest you tell me where she is now."

“I don't know, how's your wife, Detective? I didn't know our wives were besties.”

I swipe Finn across the face with my gun. “Don't talk about my wife, you low-life scum bag. Where is Hazel?”

Finn has blood dripping from his lip, so I turn to Jonathan. Where is Hazel, Mr. oo-ber driver? You, sir, should not have gotten involved with this loser. Why risk your whole life for him? "He's my brother!" yells Jonathan.

“Yeah, well, your brother just got you a stay in Indiana in our best accommodations, you moron.”

“Listen, Jonathan, if you know where Hazel is, please let us know. If you do, maybe we can cut a deal with you as we did with your real brother, Brandon.”

At the sound of the name, both Finn and Jonathan look at us, confused.

“Oh, yeah, Brandon told me where you were. Don't you watch the news? He is the one we arrested at your other house, Finn.”

Just then, Saren, Arlo, and Alaina run up behind me. I put my hands up to stop them from coming any closer. But that did not stop Alaina from yelling at him.

“Hey, where is my daughter? Tell me right now, or I swear, I will kill you myself.”

“Ha, ha, I see where Hazel gets it from. Like mother, like daughter.”

Before I know it, Markis is pulling Alaina off of Finn, and Jonathan gets knocked over in the process. Our backup shows up, and we haul both men in the back seats. We search the car and find Hazel lying in the trunk, passed out.

234 ~ Jenita E Bonisa

"Oh, my God, is she dead?" yells Alaina.

I check for a pulse and find one. “It looks like he gave her a sedative. We need to get her to the hospital.”

"Wait, has anyone seen Jasper?" Saren asks.

We all run to the storage unit, and I pry it open. As soon as I pull the door up, I see Jasper lying on the ground with her eyes closed, and Saren runs to her.

“Jasper!” she kneels beside her and takes the tape off her mouth. “She's got cotton in her mouth.” Saren digs several balls of cotton out of Jasper's mouth as she is calling her name.

“Saren,” Jasper responds in a weak voice. “I didn't want to swallow the cotton; it was so hard to breathe.”

“You are okay,” Saren says, untying the rope from her arms and legs.

"Did you get her?"

“We got her. Alaina is taking her to the hospital. Arlo and I are going to look after you.”

“No, I'm okay,” she says as she moves away from Saren and gets to her feet. “What about Finn?”

“They are in the back of a police car on their way to the station. Finn is going away for a very long time.”

“Thank you, Detectives, I had no idea how this would end today,” says Jasper, leaving the storage unit.

Saren looks at Arlo with sad eyes, and they also leave the storage unit. I could sense a little tension between Saren and Jasper. I look at Arlo for clarification, and he just puts up his hands and shakes his head. I kind of got the message that he was staying out of it and that I should too.

Once again, we clear the area and block it off as a crime scene and prepare ourselves for a lot of paperwork. But this time we got our guy and can confidently say that the case is closed. I hope that this brings closure to all those families that were affected by the baby doll killer. I look at Markis and put my hand on his shoulder. “Congratulations on solving your first case, Detective.”

“Thank you, and I do believe you owe me a drink.”

“Indeed, I do,” I say as we get in the car and head back to the station.

“So how much of our paycheck do you think we should give to Jasper and Saren?” Markis asks me.

“Probably all of it,” we both laugh and bask in the celebration of solving a case.

50

Jasper

Once again, I am coming home from the police station after giving my statement. Boy, how fun it was telling Detective Price about my murderous husband and how I was forced to watch him almost abduct Hazel. I made sure that I told him everything that I could remember. Getting out of the car, I am reminded that every time I enter this house, it will be alone.

Knowing that Finn will be locked up and there are no more discoveries to be made, it's finally time to clean up this house and think about putting it on the market. I open the front door to the mess that I left in a hurry, looking for that mysterious storage unit. I close the door behind me and eye the black trash bag on the ground. I remember my tantrum and tell myself that it is time to move on. I pull out my phone and connect the Bluetooth to the speakers and play my favorite playlist. Pulling off my jacket, I get to work.

Moments later, when I am starting to feel overwhelmed, I take a break and make a sandwich. I pile plain, rippled potato chips on my plate, grab my water bottle, and settle in for a meal on the couch, my favorite spot. Just as I get comfortable, I hear a knock on the door. Who could that be, I wonder? I stand up and walk towards the door. I look through the peephole and smile.

“Harper, what are you doing here?” She stands in front of my door with heavy-looking eyes, and her hair is a mess. Her clothes look like they haven't been washed for days.

“I can't do it, Jass, I can't be all the way in Michigan and you here. I am all alone, and I can't stop crying.”

"Of course, come in," I say, grabbing her arm.

She walks in and plumps down on the couch next to my delicious looking meal that is waiting for me.

“So, what are you going to do?” I ask her.

“Can I stay here?”

“What about school?”

"Can't I finish online?"

“Well, we will need to figure that out. You only have a couple of weeks left before finals, right?” “Yeah, but I can't go back to Michigan. I just can't believe Brandon turned out to be such a creep. Do you know he came to see me when he got back to Michigan?”

“Yes, he wanted me to take him back. He shot me and tried to kill you. He was trying to take Hazel from Finn as if she belonged to either one of them.”

"And what did he say when you told him no?"

“Do you know he tried to act like it was all a joke? That he was going to turn Finn in. What a scum bag. How was he able to evade jail anyway?”

“Well, he helped the police find Finn and Hazel.”

“He should still be in jail; he shot me, and that hurt.” She rubs her wound.

“I know. Look, I am planning on selling this house for obvious reasons and selling the other one as well. I don't want any ties to either one of these houses. You can stay here as long as you'd like. And when this house sells, you can still live with me. Finish up this year at Michigan State and then enroll in school here in Indiana. Mom is gone, but we can be here for each other, just like we were as kids.”

“I would like that. Just as long as birthdays and holidays are so big, we lose our minds.”

“That is a double deal for me. I spent my birthday alone this year, let's just say Finn was a little busy.”

“I'm sorry, Jass, for not calling or making more of an effort on your birthday.”

“It's fine, we'll make up for it, right?”

Harper reaches and picks up half of my sandwich off the coffee table. Mm, what is this?"

“Turkey, I made it fresh!”

"You always were a great cook; it's delicious."

“Yep,” I say, getting up to make me another sandwich.

“Hey, what happened in here? It's such a mess,” she yells out to me, looking around.

“It looks a lot better than it did. I needed a break; this house is large, and the police turned it upside down looking for Finn.”

I walk into the room, eating my newly made sandwich, and notice Harper's sullen expression. "What's wrong?"

“Jass, I'm so sorry Finn turned out to be a freak. I know that you loved him, and you deserve so much better.”

“I imagine, we both do, Harper. And don't you worry, we are going to get there. I think you and I should think about getting into therapy to avoid getting back into horrible relationships. Right now, my marriage is just ending, and I am not thinking about another relationship. But, I want to use this time to work on myself and figure out how I ended up with a guy like Finn and, more importantly, how

I missed the red flags."

“Okay, me too, sis. I'm in. We can do this together. And I am going to help you with this mess. We are going to clean up, I will get my bags from the car, and we can have a girls' night.

Just the two of us."

"Hang on, you already have your stuff?"

“Girl, my car is packed to the brim with everything that I own. I am never going back to Michigan.”

"And what if I had said no?"

“You have taken care of me for as long as I can remember. Even though I kind of abandoned you, I will never forget that. I remember the birthday cupcakes and the little toys you would make me. I know you protected me from our parents' neglect, and I am grateful. So, I figured you loved me and would let me stay," she says, smiling and finishing her sandwich.

I smile back at her and hug my baby sister. I am glad that God brought her here to Indiana. He knows exactly what I need, which is how I know that we are going to be okay.

51

Saren

left Alaina's house after spending the afternoon with Hazel. Alaina has not let Hazel out of her sight since we came back from the hospital, so I decided to come to her for once. This whole ordeal put a strain on my relationship with my sister, but I am glad that we are working on making it better. Alaina has even tried harder to engage more with Hazel. But no matter how close she gets to her mother, I will always see Hazel as my own. She means the world to me, and I absolutely hate that she went through what she did. At the hospital, it brought tears to my eyes when she insisted on speaking with Jasper. It was important to her to let Jasper know that what Finn did to her was not her fault. That is the kind of heart that she has. And that is why I have planned the biggest get-together this evening, and everyone will be here. shortly. The weather is perfect this May evening. It almost feels like summer has already arrived.

Arlo has been marinating meat all morning and getting the house ready for our guest. Today we are going to celebrate Finn facing life without parole or 135 years. This puts all of us at ease. I can't wait to see Jasper, even though it has been a bit tense between us at work. I hope that she can forgive me for blaming her, and she can find a way to trust me again. I was a rotten friend to her and lashed out because I was in pain. I feel ashamed of that, and since I can't take it back, I hope that I can make it up to her.

I look around the house and see that everything is in order, and we are ready to go, which is a good thing because there is a knock at the door.

Alaina and Hazel are the first to arrive.

“Hey, I just left you guys. Thanks for coming,” I say, ushering them in.

“Auntie, did you invite the other families of the girls that Finn?” She stops talking and looks at her shoes as if she has never seen them before. “You know?”

“I did, and Nicole's mother declined, along with Mrs. Dane and Mrs. Parks. Riley's mom and dad, the Sims, said that they would try to make it, but I doubt they will show up, honey. I'm sure they feel some kind of way that Riley wasn't saved, and you were, which is understandable.”

“I know, I just feel like him being locked up is a win for all of us, you know.”

"I know, sweetheart," I say, hugging her.

The doorbell rings, and I walk over to open it.

“Hey Phalen, no Brooks today?” “No, he had other plans. I am flying solo.” “Girl, me too.”

We both turn around, and Luna is walking through the door.

“Hey, Luna, come in, come in,” I say, looking past her outside.

Luna looks at me and tilts her head. “Relax, Saren, she will be here. She loves you; we all do. You hold us all up, and you are there for us.”

“I know, but I said some things that I shouldn't have.”

“Listen, we were all stressed, especially you. Luna, did you see how she hit that man with that gun? I was like, I'm sorry, who are you?” says Phalen.

We started laughing together, but I still felt a sense of emptiness. I need to make this right. I close the door and walk through the kitchen. I try to keep busy, so I didn't bring down the celebration. I check on Arlo and keep filling everyone's drinks. I straighten tablecloths and listen to the cheery voices outside on the deck. Arlo walks into the kitchen from the deck and comes over to me.

"Are you okay?" he asks, grabbing my arms.

“I'm fine, Arlo, I am just waiting for Jasper to show up.”

“Well, even if she does not come today, she will come around. You mean everything to your group. And look, I know you said some stuff to her, but in your defense, I have never seen you act the way you did these last couple of weeks. You were not yourself. Everybody has a time when they screw up. The important thing is, you recognized your mistake, you apologized for it, and now you have to wait until she is ready. This is what happens when we are all affected by one person. It may be one event, but it hits us in different ways. You have to let her grieve the way she needs to.”

I stare at my husband because he is right. I was only worried about making my wrong right. I didn't think about how she might be feeling. I grab my husband and wrap my arms around his waist.

hear."

"Thank you," I say. "That is exactly what I needed to

We go to the deck and make plates. I start to relax and eat the delicious barbecue that Arlo has been marinating all morning. Just as I bite into a chicken wing, I am sure, with sauce all over my face, I hear a familiar voice.

"Hey, we let ourselves in. Sorry, I hope that was okay."

I wipe my mouth and stand up with a smile. She stands there with her long dark hair silk pressed wearing a white-collar middrift shirt and black wide-legged pants. "It was more than okay, Jasper. Now, both of you come on, grab a plate. Make yourselves at home." I felt Arlo's hand on my back.

“Thank you,” says Jasper, playing with her fingers. “Harper, go ahead, you know everyone. Um, Saren, can I speak to you?” she asks.

I nod and lead her into the kitchen. Once we are inside. She turns towards me and wraps her thin arms around me. I embrace her hug, and we stay like this for a while.

"I'm sorry," she says, wiping her tears.

“No, no,” I say, wiping my own. “I was out of line. I am afraid that I made you feel like this was your fault, and none of this was your fault. You are not responsible for what Finn does. Jasper, I need you to internalize this message. Allow yourself to believe what I am saying to you. You are not Finn, and you did not know what he was doing.” “But I married him, what does that say about me?”

“It says you got roped in by a narcissistic psychopath who was very good at love bombing you and making you feel like you were loved when what he was really doing was collecting information to control you later and to create a facade that helped him get away with murder. You are not the only woman who fell victim to a man like Finn. That is why I have the group that I do. To help women like you find ways to stay out of unhealthy relationships. I am prepared to still do that if you will still have me. I truly am sorry.” I say, holding her hands in mine.

“Of course, Saren, you are like a mother to me and have been so helpful dealing with Finn.”

“Hey, you guys okay?” says Luna, walking in a bit apprehensive.

“Yeah,” says Jasper, looking at me.

“Of course,” I say, turning around to face Luna, only to see Phalen walking in behind her.

“Is it safe?” Phalen ducks her head through the doors. “Girl, get in here,” Luna says, pulling her arm.

“I mean, I didn't want to walk in with knives flying, we've all seen Saren with weapons.”

“You're not going to let that one go, are you?”

“No girl, I was so scared, and you just hit that man like you were Black Widow,” Phalen says, laughing.

“We do crazy things for the ones we love,” I say.

"Hey, all," I hear a voice around the corner.

We all turn, and Jill, Detective Price, and Detective Markis walks in the kitchen. “We knocked, but I think the music is so loud you couldn't hear us,” says Jill, rubbing her baby bump.

"Hey, you brought the whole gang."

“No,” says Darren, holding up his hands. “Markis and I are not staying. I owe this man a proper congratulations on making detective. We are meeting some of the guys for drinks.”

“Congratulations, Markis,” I say, and then everyone in the room extends their congratulations as well.

“Hey, Darren, I saw you guys on the news talking about Finn's case. The reporter said that Nikki girl was killed because she tried to get away. So, Finn did kidnap her?” asks Phalen.

“Finn admitted to luring her to go out with him after meeting her several times for short visits. He would meet her at different places he knew that she would be, like going out for dinner with her parents. She would meet him across the street or something and then go back to her parents. They never knew. So, yes, she must have realized that she was in danger and tried to escape by jumping out of Finn's car.

But when she jumped out, an oncoming car ran over her."

"Wow," she says.

I look at Jasper, and she looks a bit uncomfortable.

“Maybe, we should change the topic,” I say.

“No, Saren, I am okay. I need to hear all of this. I still have questions, and I am looking for closure.”

“You might want to go see Finn before he goes to prison, then, because he has been asking for you,” Markis says. “I have no intentions of seeing that man ever again. My lawyers will serve him divorce papers, and he will deal with everything.

I just need to know about what he did fully, like did he... um?"

“Yes, Jasper, he did. He treated them like they were his wives. Once it was time for them to go, he created a ritual in his mind to preserve his mother in her youth and beauty. He was found by neighbors sleeping in his dead mother's arms when he was four years old. She was only eighteen when she died after her husband beat her to death. Before she died, she would allow Finn to help her make up her face to hide the bruises and to do her hair. Then they would dance around like everything was perfect. This is why he always made his victims' faces look like baby dolls. To him, he was preserving his mother the way he remembered her.” Darren says with a calming voice.

“And what about Hazel? Did he...?”

“No! He didn't,” Saren quickly says. “She wasn't there long enough with him, apparently.”

Jasper says.

"Thank you for telling me that. I was so worried,"

“Um, Harper and I are starting to get offended. I don't know about her, but I did shower this morning,” says Arlo.

“Hey, I did shower this morning.”

“We don't know why you all are in here and not outside,” Arlo says, looking at Saren.

“Yeah, where did everybody go?” asks Alaina, walking into the kitchen with Hazel right behind her.

"Well, we are leaving, and you guys are celebrating," says Darren.

“Where are you going?” asks Arlo.

“We are celebrating Detective Markis Lane with drinks.”

“And leaving me here with all these women?” Arlo says with his hands wide apart.

“Come with us, we'd be glad to have you. I have to come back for Jill anyway.”

Arlo looks at me, and I smile with my approval. Besides, it will be nice being around just the girls tonight. He grabs his wallet and kisses me. Tonight will be a night of celebrations for sure. The fog of murder is no longer hanging over us. Finn is locked up where he should be, and our girls are safe. Markis made detective, and I already feel safer with the two of them partnering up to keep this community safe.

Tonight, I promise myself to help as many women as I can to not only develop healthy relationships, but to know how to seek them out as well. I watch Harper and Hazel interacting and think about our young girls who are just starting to date. I think about all the information, boyfriends, heartbreaks, and breakups they will have to encounter. I want to be there for them, for all of it. In fact, I'm so glad that I figured it out. I knew something pressing was nagging at me. And now, I know exactly what I need to do. Although I love what I do as a nurse, I think I am needed more to help women achieve healthy relationships. Arlo has always been supportive of me, and I am sure he will cheer me on with this as well. So, I am leaving nursing to pursue a career as a relationship therapist.

Even though I will no longer be working with Jasper, I will still be in her life. If I have it my way, she will be a big part of my family, along with her sister. Since the day that I met her, I knew she was special. I just hope she wants the same. I may not have any children of my own, but I see every woman and every girl as my own, as a sisterhood. I can't say that I am going to save the world, but I will be here for all women who need me.