Frankie The Butcher (Updated)

My name is Ken Harris and I am a private detective. Last night a young black-haired woman came into my office crying. She said her name was Cherry and offered me double my usual rate to follow her fiance. She was sure he was cheating, but couldn't prove it. I didn't have to think about it, double my rate for a simple cheater stalk. I agreed to the job and the woman shut off the waterworks and thanked me. She tossed a stack of cash and a manila folder onto my desk, turned and left the office. That seemed a little odd to me, but I tried not to read too much into it. I grabbed the folder and leaned back in my chair, it creaked as I opened the file. I found several pictures of Cherry's fiance as well as a list of places he frequents and his work schedule. I glanced at the pictures and saw that the man seemed to look dirty in the pictures. There were stains on his shirt in almost every one of them and his hair was greasy and unkempt. His was was Frankie Jones. "I'm too damn tired to start this tonight," I muttered to myself. I tossed the file down on the desk and shuffled to the back room to pass out on the dirty futon that I called my bed.

The night was cold and wet. Rain covered my windshield so quickly that even the wipers on high couldn't keep the window clear. I could hardly see the car I was watching as I waited for my mark, Frankie Jones to leave the nightclub. After several hours, Frankie stumbled out of the club, a young girl on each arm. One a blonde and the other a redhead. Frankie and the blonde girl got into the back seat of the BMW. The auburn-haired girl climbed into the driver seat. I waited for a few moments after they pulled out to follow them to leave a little bit of distance between us. They seemed to be aimlessly driving around town as I followed them for about 45 minutes. Finally, they pulled into the parking lot of an old abandoned machine shop. I parked about a half a block away, where I could still see the building but anyone coming or going wouldn't see me. Frankie and the girls disappeared into the shop. I waited in my car and read through Frankie's file at least a dozen times. I studied his pictures until I know every line on his greasy pock-marked face. I must have lingered on a blink a bit too long because when I opened my eyes the sun was peeking over the horizon. I rubbed my eyes to clear away the sleep. As I pulled my hands away from my eyes I looked up to see Frankie's black BMW pulling out. The same young girl was driving, but Frankie was alone in the back seat. I felt a familiar feeling that told me something was wrong. I always trust my gut, so I stayed at the machine shop instead of following them. I walked to the back of the building there were pallets and metal crates stacked all along the back wall. I kept going until I saw a break in the stacked pallets. I stopped there and looked over where I found an open window, I climbed in and started to look around. Everything seemed to be in place, just a regular machine shop. But what could Frankie and the girls have been doing in here for so long, and where was the other girl? I looked around at the rusty broke down machines. A bright stainless steel door caught my attention. I noticed sunlight glaring off the door that seemed out of place in the rusty old shop. I walked over to the door to check it out. I tried to open it but found a deadbolt locked it closed. As always I had my trusty lock pick kit in my jacket pocket. I learned to pick locks when I was a boy. I wanted to impress my friends at the time, but I stuck with it and developed some skill. I picked the lock with relative ease. As I opened the door the smell of bleach hit me like a punch to the face. I turned away and covered my mouth and nose with my arm. I walked into the room which appeared to be entirely made out of stainless steel. Cabinets and shelves of stainless steel lined the walls. A stainless steel table sat alone in the middle of the floor with a large drain underneath. I looked closer at the shelves and found them filled with all manner of tools. From circular saws to medical scalpels. I tried to imagine Frankie fixing up a classic car here, but deep down I know what he was using this room for.
"What the hell is this place?" I whispered to myself.
I continued searching the room and approached one of the large steel cabinets. There goes that gut of mine, something was very wrong here. A little worried about what I would find inside, I reached for the handle. I opened the door and jumped back as I caught sight of a body, gutted and hanging like a deer in a hunter's barn. "Oh fuck," I said aloud. I stood there and stared for what felt like an eternity until the shock wore off. Then I realized it was the young girl that left with Frankie the night before.
"Holy shit Frankie, you're completely insane. I gotta get outta here, I don't get paid enough for this shit"

I headed back to my car. I was halfway back to the office when I realized I had left the door to the stainless steel room unlocked. "Shit, shit, shit," I said as I smacked the steering wheel "Oh well, I'm not going back there." I thought to myself. I headed back to the office to call my friend Bobby Rauling, a Detective at the Police department.
I picked up the phone and dialed Bobby's cell number, but stopped when a wave of panic rushed through me.
"I have to call Cherry and warn her about Frankie," I said to no one in particular. I found the number in the folder she gave me yesterday and dialed. Much to my dismay, I heard a short beep followed by a recorded message.
"We're sorry but the number you have called is no longer in service." I panicked and thought about what Frankie might be doing to her. I tried my best to put the thought out of my head and dialed Bobby's number. He answered right away and I told him what I had found. In his usual calm demeanor, he said,
"I'll call it in, meet me at the shop in 20 minutes."
I hung up the phone and grabbed my .38 revolver from the desk drawer. I rushed out to my car and jumped in. I cranked the key and the damn thing wouldn't start. "Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me!" I yelled as I punched the steering wheel. It took three more tries before the car finally roared to life. I slammed it in gear and stomped on the gas, fish-tailing into the street. My mind raced as I thought about what Frankie might be doing to Cherry. I tried to block the morbid thoughts that were popping into my head. I had just calmed my mind when a car pulled out from a side street and cut right in front of me. I slammed on the brakes and was reaching to blast the horn at the car when I noticed it was a black BMW. My jaw dropped as I realized it was Frankie's car. "What are the odds of that?" I said out loud, as I slowed the car a bit to follow him. I kept my distance but stayed close enough that I wouldn't lose sight of the car. After a few minutes, the left blinker came on. He doesn't know I'm back here, I thought. As the car started to turn I saw the red hair of the driver through the partly rolled down, tinted window. It was the young woman from the night before, but it looked like the back seat was empty. I couldn't be sure because of the dark tint. "I guess I'll see if Frankie is in there soon enough." I continued to follow the red-haired woman who seemed to be heading out of town. The landscape started to thin out and I started seeing more trees and fields than buildings. I dropped back a little further to try to stay inconspicuous and kept following. We drove for about 45 minutes before she made a turn into a long narrow dirt drive. I drove past and glanced down the drive as I went by. I could see a new looking pole barn at the end of the drive. I pulled to the side of the road as soon as I was out of sight and pulled out my ancient pre-paid flip phone to call Bobby. "Of course there's no signal, I'm in the middle of nowhere."

I waited until the sun started to go down before I began my approach toward the barn. I stayed in the tree line to avoid discovery. I kept my eyes locked on the barn the entire time, so much so that I tripped a few times but managed to stay on my feet. I posted up behind a large oak tree about fifty yards from the barn. There was only one door and no windows, not the best situation for a surprise attack. I was pretty certain that Frankie had Cherry and it was very likely that he had her in this barn. She may still be alive, but if I stay out here trying to make a decision she won't be much longer. I got my revolver ready and approached the door, wishing I had a better gun. It was too late for all that now, I had to work with what I had at the time. I stopped a few feet from the door and put my back to the wall on the side of the door opposite the handle. I took a quick moment to catch my breath and gain my composure before I reached over and found the door unlocked. I turned the handle all the way to the left. Stopped to come to terms with the fact that I was likely going to die, brought my gun up and swung the door open. I moved along the wall while quickly turning to clear the corners in the room. I noticed a table at the far end of the barn with a body on it. It wasn't moving so I continued clearing the room. There was no one else here.
"Where did the girl go?" I asked under my breath.
I walked towards the table and noticed the body on the table was a woman, a woman with red hair. It was Frankie's driver.
"What is going on?" I asked, confused.
Had Frankie killed the driver while I was waiting to move in on the barn? And if so where did he go? Is there another drive out the back? Questions were crashing into my head like racecars at a crash up derby. I continued to approach the table and I noticed the woman's chest was moving, she was breathing.
"Miss are you ali..." I stopped short when I saw her face.
She looked exactly like Cherry aside from the hair. The likeness was uncanny. Were they sisters? Before I could get another thought out her eyes flung open. Startled, I jumped back. Then heard a loud clunk sound accompanied by a sharp pain in the back of my head, then nothingness.
I woke up staring at the ceiling of the barn trying to figure out what happened. I tried to sit up and discovered that I was bound to the table.
"What the fuck?"
I looked down at my body and noticed Frankie and Cherry standing by my feet at the end of the table.
"Mornin' Ken," Frankie said with a smirk.
I glanced over at Cherry, she smiled at me and said "Sorry I lied to you Kenny boy, but I had to help Frankie set this trap for you." Then she reached up, laughing, and pulled the black wig off her head and threw it across the room. My head hurt and my thoughts were cloudy. I managed to mutter, "Why?"
Frankie answered with "Why you?"
I nodded my head and said, " I had never even heard of you before Cherry came into my office."
Frankie's smirk turned into a full mouth smile as he said, "Yeah, but yer pal Detective Rauling knows all about me."

To be continued...