midnight malice; chapter two

Chapter Two}


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DENVER BROOKES SEEMED CONTENT ENOGH. The high gained from his last kill was receding, and the adrenalin rush was quickly deserting his body. He imagined her pitiful screams, screams that never did reach the ears of passer-buyers for there were none. And he reminded himself once more of her nude body, the rosy hued nipples he had grazed his tongue about, the dark inviting curls in between her legs, silently luring him inside, her whiskey colored eyes round with terror, the dark, sweat soaked mane of hers that framed her face, and that sweet voice of hers, filled with increasing panic. She was a pleader. And with every hopeful plea his anger seemed to amplify. Didn’t she know there was no hope for women like her? He’d had to retain her; unlike the others she had tried to run, and had paid the price. “Run. Go ahead, run.” He watched in amusement as she scampered off in all directions, clad in nothing but flesh and the thick piece of fabric tied tightly around her eyes. The tree had stopped her, and she had simply lain there anticipating the fate she knew was awaiting just around the corner.
    “Son of a bitch just kill me already! You cock-less bastard, just do it!” Her words were cut off by her sobbing, and for once Denver listened.
    Now he stared into the night, wearing her blood; her warm, scarlet blood that had relentlessly oozed out of her lifeless body once steel touched flesh. With two sharp jabs to the chest her breathing was halted and she had collapsed in a heap at his boots.
    Her body’d be found tomorrow, no doubt by a jogger. But no suspect would be named; he’d made sure of that. His killing spree was far from over and six bodies later his techniques had only improved. He was a seasoned killer, a pro some might call him, experienced in the art of killing and driven by an almost hungry rage.
    He recalled his first victims. Macey, oh sweet Macey, and Eric, cowardly, betraying, cheating Eric. He had been his best pal, his own right hand man, but like the rest he had only failed him.
    Never again.
    No one would betray him again.



   


Jay walked out of the bookstore with a sense of dread, yet deep down she was giddy with hope. Danny was alive! That is, if Chase was to be trusted. Then again if that had been an act then Chase was a helluva actor, but he had only supplied Jay with the basics, leaving out all the rest. Which led her to countless unanswered questions. “And the only one who was can answer them isn’t able too, how perfect.” She let out on an exasperated sigh as she once again found herself walking without a clue in the world as to where. Darkness had gathered all around her, and without the street lamps to assist her on her journey back to the café where her Pontiac Grand Prix was parked in the lot, she was screwed. This wasn’t a city, it was a town and unfortunately things like street lamps and cabs weren’t exactly in abundance. She pulled out her cell phone and used its glow for light. When she pulled it out, the phone gave a little chirp indicating new messages. Seven to be exact, all from the same source: Ty. ‘CALL ME’  the latest message read.
    Should she?
    Could she confide in Ty, her only confident? Would he even believe her?
    She doubted it, he’d put on a false act of actually caring, in hope of getting closer to his goal.
    “Bastard,” she mumbled angrily. But you love that bastard don’t you, Jay?
    She couldn’t bring herself to disagree with her conscious though, and that’s what really got her.
   

    Ty took another swig from the bottle, swished around the liquid, and was startled to find it nearly empty. It was Jay, he told himself, Jay made me pick up this bottle, she led me to this. He knew he could blame her all he wanted but it didn’t mask the fact that he had fallen for her. Hard too, and she had mocked those feelings he felt by walking out.
    Someone was approaching. Jay? His bad mood eased up a bit when Jay, pissed and perplexed, walked up to the car. “Ty?” She asked and he was again reminded of the love he felt for her.
    “Yeah?” He asked, his intoxication shining brightly through.
    “What the hell are you doing?”
    Ty dangled the empty bottle in her face, and smiled. “Ohh darlin I was waiting for ya!”
    She didn’t seem the least bit amused, in fact she seemed irritated as hell. Letting out a long irritated sigh she asked, “Why?”
    Hadn’t he asked himself that once, or twice? He knew nothing would come from it, yet he had found himself swigging down whiskey–hell bent on the old ways–with his jean-clad hip resting on her beat up Pontiac, waiting. By the time darkness had descended his hopes were growing thin and his belly fuller, and by the time lovely Ms. Jay decided to grace him with her presence, he was beginning to feel the effects of the whiskey, now borderline drunk, senseless, and his lust for her growing with every thought, movement, or word spoken. Her lips drew him in, every time she spoke he was immediately lured in, baited in, powered by lust he took her in his arms. Needn’t she say more, he found it beyond his capabilities to refrain himself from such. And shocking enough, Jay had allowed him to wrap his arms around her. Though he reeked of booze, and she could feel his erection hard on her leg, she allowed him to draw her in. “I’m sorry,” he whispered in her ear, his apology nipping at her ear lobe and sending tingles through her body.
    “For what?” she asked into his chest, her words barely audible, but the words seemed to carry fair enough.
    “For this. All of this. For me being drunk at your car, but Jay I needed to see you, baby when you walked out like that……..it got me wondering, maybe you weren’t ready for the kiss, or perhaps you never would be. I completely drew the line, I understand that. And I’m sorry. But there’s something you should know…..”
    He was going to say it.
    Three worlds that would seal his fate.
    Three simple words that would drive her away or perhaps frighten her. He realized his love for her was unhealthy, but it didn’t make it any less tempting. Nonetheless, healthy or unhealthy, creepy or completely normal, he loved Jay McEvans.
    He sucked in his breath, c’mon out with it! Don’t be a damn coward. “I love you,” he said quickly, and quietly, but the meaning was conveyed nonetheless.
    “I know,” Jay simply said, and for reasons Ty didn’t quite understand she didn’t sound angry, and she hadn’t made a move to pull away and leave and Ty’s strong hold didn’t help out matters much. So there they were, neither one taking the intuitive to leave, that was until Jay’s phone sounded. She let it go to voice mail the first time, but when it rang a second time she decided to pick it up. “Hello.....with Ty.....the café, why?.....what?.....again?.....o god! was it like the last time?.....yeah okay, I’m on my way…..bye.”
    “Your mom?” Ty guessed, and by the way she was looking right about then he could tell the conversation wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies. She nodded, and opened the driver’s side door and hopped in.
    “There’s been another killing.” She put the key in ignition, but Ty wasn’t going to leave her alone, just yet.
    “Like the last one?” He gulped, none to pleased with the idea that a cold-blooded killer may just be on the loose and using Lovell as his personal playground.
    She shook her head.
    What the hell is going on?!
    Isn’t one killer enough?
    “Listen I got to go, my moms freakin out.”
    Ty flashed her a sexy smile. “Why don’t you come to my place?”
    Once again she shook her head. “I can’t Ty.”
    “You’re twenty for christ’s sake!”
    She firmly closed the door and sped off out of the parking lot. Ty grabbed the bottle and threw it in the trash, with a glass-shattering thud the bottle landed at the bottom of the trash bin. “Damn it,” he said as he walked to his car. He had ruined it, he knew that, Jay wasn’t too keen of forgive and forgetting. Hadn’t he learned that? He replayed that night in his head.
    They had met after a class mate decided to mock her and her brother’s relationship, saying they had an affair and Dell had killed his two-timing ass. Which Jay knew was such a foolish statement but she couldn’t help but strike out.
    So Jay had punched her, square in the jaw. A two week suspension and a whole lot of spilled tears later she had found herself knocking on Ty’s door.
    Pounding actually, he thought with a smile. Nothing about Jay was subtle.
    “I uhh punched a girl,” she said in a rush.
    Ty had laughed then. “No, really what happened?”
    Anger flared within her. “Seriously, Ty I punched a girl.”
    “So what, are the feds on your ass or something?”
    And Ty remembered thinking nothing more then of the freckles that dusted the bridge of her nose. He’d found them cute then, but now they were just down right sexy.
    The flash back dispersed from his mind just as soon as it had come about. He was back at his car, an old Mercedes his grandfather had left him in his will, the car sure was a beauty and it ran great. However something was off about the old Mercedes tonight, tucked beneath the right windshield wiper was a torn piece of paper, and it seemed like it wasn’t just windblown debris, there was something dark and sinister about the note. Cautiously, his nerves on edge, he retrieved the paper. ‘LEAVE HER ALONE’ three simple words that carried a malicious message. Jay, he thought, it had to be Jay.
    “Well,” he said to no one in particular, “that’s not gonna happen.”
    He smiled to himself as he drove him, never mind the fact that he was borderline drunk, his nerves were strung out, and his lust for Jay amplifying more and more, and now that she was deemed off-limits it made the idea all the more tempting.


    Jay white-knuckled it all the way home, her hands applying far more pressure on the steering wheel then necessary.
    Damn moron Ty was, thinking a bottle of whiskey and a lousy apology was going to make everything just dandy. He was wrong.
    Dead wrong.
    And what did Ty do anyways, Jay? What was the big crime he committed, huh?
    She was losing it, the recent homicides were getting to her, and the fact that her brother was somehow involved didn’t improve matters much either. Her alive brother. Knowing that her brother was alive was a bittersweet feeling, he was alive, yes, but without happiness he mine as well have been dead.
    Jay wondered about Danny. Why wasn’t he happy? And what had Chase meant when he said Danny was dead in a way? You could either be dead or alive, but Jay was sure there was no middle ground. Perhaps he was dead to the world, like a crack addict, or maybe through it all he had surrendered his sanity and well-being for a new-found admiration. Jay wasn’t sure which; in fact at this point she wasn’t sure about anything.
    From her brother, whom she had considered dead for years, but in all honesty had been alive.
    To her sexy friend, whom she believed she loved, and whom she had sought comfort in for all those years.
    To Dell, her most reliable confident, her best friend and above all her older sister.
    And to Chase, the sexy stranger who had recently walked into her life and supposedly knew her brother.
    It was all so new to her, Danny and the feelings sprouting within, and usually when such things came about, when matters she herself didn’t know how to deal with presented itself she’d seek answers and comfort in Dell. They’d talk for hours over steaming latte’s and a bowl of vanilla bean ice cream, with minimal interruptions on Coop’s part. But neither woman had minded when the little boy sauntered over to their little area in the family room. Coop, she thought with a frown. She had an aching longing for both, Dell and Coop, two people who meant the world to her, both torn from her seemingly over night. The little boy was almost a mirrored image of Danny when he was a little boy himself, and every time he smiled Jay was again reminded of her brother, with his goofy grin and his sparkling blue eyes that always gleamed with happiness. Even at times in which he should have been sad, or angry. That was the quality Dell had fallen so helplessly for; Danny’s ability to always be happy. He hadn’t let things get to him, and at times like this Jay envied Danny’s capability to shrug off his problems. And it was painstakingly obvious, to herself, her mother, Ty and even Robert Hickham, that she was incapable of such. This was precisely why Jay couldn’t get Chase off her mind, his words offering the hope she needed, and a new regimen of unspoken questions lingering in her mind. Always those damn never answered questions, when was one of them going to finally be answered?
    Which brought her back to Ty, which only made her long for him the more. Damn it all to hell, she thought sourly. And without listening to reason she picked up her cell and dialed Ty’s number.
    Ring.
    Ring.
    Ring. C’mon, answer!
    “Hello?” She breathed a sigh of relief.
    “Can I see you?” She rushed on without preamble.
    The phone went silent for a moment; before he came on to tell her she was free to come over. She smiled on the other end of the phone, still in love with her she could see.

    With a few weary strides to his phone placed accordingly on the cheap end table beside his couch, equally cheap and worn, he had the phone in his hand, and Jay’s soft lilt of a voice coming through the speaker. Excitement rose within him when she asked to come to see home, seemingly oblivious to the urgency and anticipation that carried in her voice big as life. When it came to Jay Ty was blind, her hurt and pain masked by the loveliness of her features and the softness of her voice.
    His attempts at caring had worked impeccably, and he was yet to trade in the act for actually sympathy and compassion. But for now pretending seemed to suit them both just fine, perhaps because Jay was unaware of such, which was what he was aiming for all along. That and a solid relationship, one that didn’t include tears every meeting, though he thought she was at the peak of her loveliness when her eyes were brimmed with tears and her lips puckered in silent defeat. Hopefully if his plan worked out he wouldn’t have to see her that way ever again, because, though most of the kindness was fake, he generally cared about her. And as the meetings grew longer, and the tears larger he had found his words of solace became legit. There was still the occasional ass kissing, but at least majority of it had vacated his prior plans.
    Before she came he decided a late snack would be in order, clad in only sweat pants, he padded over to his fridge, bright light immediately washed over the small kitchen in which he stood. Grabbing a frozen pizza, he negotiated with himself weather or not he should eat pizza or a ham sandwich, the latter was put back in the fridge, not at all desirable at the moment. He set the oven to the right temperature and popped the pizza in the oven. That’s when he noticed the single piece of paper, torn from a whole sheet obviously, the malicious warning offering nothing to ease his mind from the recent slayings. Instead it had succeeded to do just the opposite, as well as adding new temptation.
    Fifteen minuets later Ty was pulling the steaming cookie sheet from the oven, and onto the stove-top. He noticed the pie’s edges were lightly burned, and the green peppers sprinkled across were now a brownish tint, but that didn’t stop him from indulging in the late night snack. Nor did the dread creeping up on him, or the performance of flips and twists his stomach was performing. He hoped Jay was able to calm his nerves, already stretched taught, but he knew without a doubt her near presence would do wonders to eliminate his anxiety. Or at least enough so that he could function properly without jumping at his own god damned shadow. He knew it was pathetic, being scared of some unknown presence stalking him, leaving menacing notes in its wake, assuming there was such a thing. He was a rational person, but never for even a moment did he believe the note was some punk’s idea of a sick joke, or perhaps a piece of debris, which startled him. Once more it came back to the recent homicides, and by all accounts the only murders this town had known. A few misdemeanors exchanged between neighbors here and there, but that was virtually all.
    Bang.
  Bang.
    Ty jumped, nearly dropping the piece of pizza he held in his hands. With two quick strides he was easing his door open with utmost caution. He peered out of the tiny opening he allowed for himself, “hello?” he asked, his voice quivering, and by all accounts revealing the impending dread he had come to know all too well.
    “For God’s sake Ty, its me,” with a sigh of relief, he swung the door open and had Jay in his arms in an instant.
    “What the hell was that?”
    But Ty heard none of this, his mind was too preoccupied in the images he was seeing, flashing before his eyes. The dark pick-up parked outside his house, engine purring lightly, exhaust flowing out of the pipes. The windows were heavily tinted, obscuring the man behind the wheel, and the headlights had been temporarily turned off, an attempt at making the pick-up invisible, and perhaps it would have, had it not been for Jay.
    “Jay, go in the house,” he tried to leave out the freight he was feeling in his voice, however Jay caught on, and immediately panic flooded her pretty features. But just like that, the truck moved from its perch on the curb and shot out of the street like a bullet. But not quite fast enough, the big menacing truck had sealed it’s fate and the damage had been done. Ty only wished he could have looked at the license plate numbers, but from this angle it was hardly possible, assuming he hadn’t done anything to obliterate the numbers and letters in the first place. But Ty had a sinking suspicion that the truck would be back, and when it did return he was going to make sure he paid close attention to the plate. He was going to nail his ass, but for what he wasn’t sure, parking outside ones house for a minute or two wasn’t exactly a crime, but Ty didn’t like the feeling one bit. Especially with Jay on the premises.
    Now looking into those blue eyes, he found it as hard as ever to lie to her, to omit the truth she had a right to know after all. With one more glance at those blues, he found himself admitting this discrepancy between himself and mystery man, and at last to mystery man’s sudden appearance only moments ago. He concluded the tale with the usual, ‘what’s going on?’, as if Jay had any kind of idea herself. He seriously doubted she did, but it was worth a shot, all the clues were pointing to the fact that somehow Jay was connected in all this. A prospect none to cheery to Jay or Ty.
    Jay shook her head, as to indicate she had not a clue as well.
    Then it hit him, how had mystery man’s car not been revealed when Jay’s Pontiac came rolling down the street? She must have seen him, all logic pointed in that direction, and perhaps when doing so she had a glimpse at his being, or better yet his license plate. It was worth a shot, and right now, scared to no return, he was exploring all options.
    “Jay, listen, when you came down the street, did you by any chance see a dark truck either parked outside or approaching the house?” He tried his best to seem calm and cool, as to not worry or upset Jay farther, but of course his inner anxiety was conveyed. And passed on.
    She began to pale at the mention of the truck once more, finally realizing the seriousness of the situation and to the extent that it scared Ty. Which only made the situation that much worse. “I’m not sure. No I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary; I mean I didn’t see a truck parked outside your house, no.”
    The wheels began turning in his head, building up momentum, until an idea popped up in his head. The truck could have easily parked across the street in the driveway of his neighbor, in a way of hiding himself and the truck and just as easily drove out to the desired destination. All this pointed to one logical explanation, one that he wished would have escaped all logic and possibility, this mystery man, whomever he may be, was dangerously smart and cunning. He knew the ropes, and was an expert, at whatever it was he did. Stalking? Scaring? Ty wasn’t sure, but he did know for damn sure, he did not like the idea of him spying up on him and Jay.
    Jay directed him to the couch, where he sat, his knees lightly brushing hers. In all this chaos and madness, Ty still had one of three things on his mind, and Jay just happened to be one of them. “So you received a note?” she was saying now, sounding more and more like Nancy Drew. Of course both of them just wanted to get to the bottom of things.
    “Yes detective, on the hood of my car.”
    Her seriousness began to falter, and a hint of a smile appeared, but just as soon as one appeared it disappeared just as fast.
    “And what did the note say exactly?”
    “It said “leave her alone”.”
    She imminently grew uncomfortable, obviously, like Ty, realizing “her” was herself.
    “Was it typed? Or handwritten?”
    He hadn’t thought of that.
    “It was handwritten.”
    “Do you have the note? May I see it?”
  Ty, regrettably, peeled himself away from her and got up to get the note from the counter where he last left it.
    Only the note was missing.
    He desperately searched around his scattered belongings, but nothing came up. No torn piece of paper.
    The note was gone, and he had a creeping sensation that the perp had been the man in the dark truck. But how had he gotten in? And how had he withstood exposure long enough to grab the note and sneak out? Ty had been eating pizza, and before that he had been on the couch watching late night television, and the kitchen was clearly visible from where he sat. Of course at that time he wasn’t paying the kitchen much attention, so someone could have easily slipped in and slipped out without his knowledge. It was possible, but the whole idea didn’t sit well in his stomach. Then of course there was the whole matter of how he had gotten in the small ranch to begin with. Ty had a back door, one that led into the mud room, which then led into the kitchen, which was probably used at the perp’s expense. If only he could call in a crime, if only one had been committed he’d have police there, gathering fingerprints and boot prints and whatever else mystery man might have left. But of course, he had been lucky in that sense, that one hadn’t been committed. Mystery man didn’t seem like a misdemeanor kind of guy, his intentions seemed more sinister then anything Ty could imagine. Sure all he had done was steal a simple piece of paper, one without great importance at that, but Ty felt it was just the beginning.
    Way to be optimistic.
    Its all in your head, its just you imagination running wild.
    But was it? He’d like to think it was, but there was no way of knowing for sure, that is until mystery man decided to make his next move, a move that would only secure this dread his felt, and add to this skittish behavior he was displaying. Which hadn’t regressed, even with Jay’s presence near, in fact, with her paling face, and her inability to lock eyes with Ty even for a second, it had done just the opposite.
    She knows something, his gut was telling him, practically screaming the words. It was painfully obvious, her distraught appearance and the eerie uncomfortable silence that settled in the room soon after she asked for the note.
    She looked up now, her face returning to its natural shade, and her composure gained. “The note, Ty. Hand it over,” she said sternly, all work and no play.
    “I left it here……it was right here.”
    “And now? Where is it now?”
    He sucked in a large intake of air. “Gone.” His cheeks began to flare up to an uncomfortable red under her scrutinizing, angry glare.
    “What do you mean its ‘gone’?” She didn’t seem as if she believed him, and why should she? He mentioned a mysterious note and failed to show proof of such a thing.
    “I put it on the counter, right here,” he jabbed his finger at a place on his counter, “and now it’s gone.”
    She let out a frustrated sigh and got up to help search for the note. “Is there any possible way you could have left it somewhere else?”
    “No.”
    “So you’re positive you left it here? Well it’s obviously not here, think Ty, where did you put it last?” She sounded like she was questioning a child who misplaced their favorite teddy bear.
    “Right here. Jay, please listen to me, I left it here. That I’m sure.”
    “And what? The boogeyman stole it? C’mon Ty, be realistic, you lost it,” she was beginning to lose her patience, that much was obvious, and so it seemed inevitable.
    “Noo not the boogeyman,” he turned away from her strong, unwavering gaze, “a person.”
    He realized it sounded ridicules, even coming from his mouth, and he imagined she felt the same way.
    “Who?” She seemed interested, which struck him odd.
    “You know that guy in the truck? I think maybe it was him….”
    Of course she didn’t know about the guy, she only knew of him, her back had been to him thus she hadn’t seen his abrupt exit from his supposed secretive hide-out. Which was just as well, without witnessing the truck she had the basic inability to be scared.
    “What? Ty do you know how ridicules that sounds? When did this ‘guy’ sneak in your house and steal the note? And why the hell would he steal a note? Why not some jewelry or cash, or I don’t know something of value. But a note? Impossible. You misplaced it.”
    He saw no reason to argue with her, she seemed adamant on her stance, and he was his, but there was more then enough gaps in his story. Not to say hers was anymore perfect….
    “Maybe he was two steps ahead of us. Guys like him usually are.”
    “Guys like him? What? You already have a personality to this imaginary man you’ve conjured up in that brilliant mind of yours? Ty it was probably just a man turning around, or pulling over for god knows why, but for you to pin something so dark and sinister on a stranger like that, that’s not right. You don’t know your motives, hell for all my talk, neither do I. But let’s be real here…”
    “Okay. Yeah, your right, I don’t know. I’m just a little on edge, I guess.”
    Jay made a gesture for Ty to come in her arms, and he listened. “Gotten to you too, ehh?”
    He didn’t need a word of explanation. “Yeah.”
    “Me too.”
    Then it hit him.
    The perfect explanation.
    One that even Jay would agree with.
    “What if he knew you, or I, or someone, would be able to recognize the handwriting.” It made sense to him, the simple scrawl written in red ink, rang a familiar bell. At first when he examined the note for further clues, perhaps a secret message veiled by the message itself, he had casually brushed off the familiarity. But now that little ounce of familiarity carried much, much more importance.
    How efficient, just when we have it all figured it out we hit this bump in the road.
    Jay seemed to be considering it, the wheels furiously turning in her head. She tried her best to find the imperfection to this latest theory but by the mischievous grin crossing her face she hadn’t found a single one. “Its possible…” Her admission lingered in the air in the wake of her defeat.
    Ty knew without a doubt he had swayed Jay into his thinking, it was crucial for Jay and him to be on the same page if they wanted to nail this sorry bastard’s ass. Something was going on, and Ty and Jay seemed to be in the midst of it all.
    It was only the beginning, he thought with utmost certainty.
    And his insides were boiling from an almost hungry vindictive rage.