pages 12 and 13

“Now, where is my granddaughter?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
“So she’s not staying with you?”
“No. She hasn’t been living with me for two months.”
“Good. I didn’t think that girl was a fool.”
“Mrs. Phillips, I—.”
“It’s Ms. and you can just call me Nana. Everyone does. And I don’t want to hear your excuses as to why you felt the need to break my granddaughter’s heart. We’ll get into that later. Why are you here, Detective?”
“Eve is missing.”
“How do you know? Knowing her, I’d bet this isn’t the first time she’s disappeared for days at a time.”
“We received a call early this afternoon from someone alleging to be holding her.”
“What!” The petite woman jumped up from her spot at the table and began to pace back and forth in front of him. She stopped every few feet, glared hard at him then continued to pace back and forth in a neat, six-foot line in front of him. She looked much more than five-feet tall.
“What do you mean ‘holding her’?”
“I mean, someone has allegedly kidnapped her. Taken her hostage somewhere.”
At this point, most women would be reeling. Alex had handled more than one grief-stricken relative in his year on the force and they were amazingly similar. He held his breath, waiting for her to crumple into her chair and start crying.
So he was shocked when she stopped pacing, rounded on him. “Well, what are you doing about it?”
“Ma’am—.”
“Nana.”
“Nana, we’re doing all we can to find her, but—.”
“What exactly is ‘all you can,’ Detective?”
“Call me Alex and we’re trying to reconstruct where and when she was abducted, which is the only starting point we have at the moment, but we have to start somewhere because we only have five days.”
“What happens in five days?”
“He kills her.”
“Oh my God.”
At this, Nana finally sunk down into her chair with a stricken look on her face.
“We need your help,” Alex said, trying to distract her from the grief she must be feeling.
“What do you need to know?”
“Was Eve staying here with you?”
“Yes, she moved in two weeks after the two of you split up. I guess that’d be about a month and a half ago, then.”
“Why did she move in with you instead of staying at her apartment?”
She frowned at him fiercely. “I’m not sure you’re the one who should be handling this,” she said.
“I have pertinent information to the case.”
“What kind of pertinent information?”
“He called me. Not my office, my cell phone. Twice.”
She didn’t look pleased at this.
“Now, why did she move in with you?”
After staring hard at him for a few moments, “She wasn’t sleeping well. She didn’t feel safe at the apartment.”
The dreams. He should have thought of it earlier, but she’d stopped having them after they’d been living together for a month. After they’d been gone two whole months he’d just assumed they were gone for good.
“Ah, I see you knew about the dreams,” she said. He looked up at her. “Don’t look so surprised, your face is like an open book.”
“Was she having them again?”
“Did they ever leave?”
Not wanting to admit that they had, he asked, “What I meant was, were they worse than before?”
“Before what? Before you dumped her? Well, she hasn’t had to face them on her own for a while, so, yes, they probably seemed stronger.”
Alex ignored the first part of her comment, but filed it away in his head to torture himself with later. “So, that’s why she moved back in with you?”
“That’s what she said, but I think there was more to it than that. She’s dealt with the dreams her entire life, since her mother had to be put in that horrible asylum. There was something else she was afraid of. She just wouldn’t tell me what.”
“So you have no idea what it could be?” Alex asked, watching as she paced. She talked with her hands, like Eve. She was always flailing them around to punctuate a point or illustrate an image.
“Nope, sorry.”
“Did she receive any strange or threatening phone calls while she was here?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Was she seeing anyone knew?”
Once again, Nana looked hard at him before answering. “Do you have any idea how much I would love to lie to you right now? How much pleasure I would derive from watching your face as I told you she’d become strangely promiscuous since you dumped her and has been seeing two or three different men a week, or better yet that she’s recently engaged to a twenty-six year old model who just happens to also be a Harvard graduate and makes her deliriously happy.”
Alex had no response. Just the thought of her engaged to someone else, loving someone else, looking at someone else the way he used to catch her looking at him when she thought he wasn’t watching, made him see red. He stared at Nana’s pacing figure. Just when he’d opened his mouth to demand the name of his new adversary, she continued.
Sighing, she stopped walking and turned to face him, “Alas, the damage you wrought holds true, she hasn’t seen anyone since you. Not one. She doesn’t date, she doesn’t go to parties, she doesn’t even go out with her friends anymore. She just goes to work, comes home, sometimes she eats, sometimes she doesn’t, and then goes to bed. I usually hear her pacing around her room at night and when I yell up to her, she gets back in bed. Then she wakes up in the morning with bags under her eyes and flies out the door to work. Sometimes she grabs a bagel to take with her, most times she doesn’t.”
“Okay,” Alex said, reeling. “Just give me a minute.” He’d had absolutely no idea how unhappy Eve had been. It definitely wasn’t like her to let anything, including him, get her down like that. As a matter of fact, he recalled her going out with the girls once or twice since they’d split up. He’d sort of kept tabs on her for the first two weeks, merely out of habit, he told himself, and then he’d made himself stop. He wondered when she’d started acting reclusive. “When did you say Eve came to stay with you?”
“A month and a half ago, maybe a little later.”
“Now think, did Eve ever tell you what, besides me, may have been bothering her?”
“Well, now that I think about it, she was in a god awful hurry to get out of that apartment and over here. She just showed up one day with some of her things in her car and asked if she could stay for a while. Actually, now that you mention it, she didn’t say anything about you at the time, just that she had to get out of her apartment for a while, while she looked for a new one.”
Alex dug his notepad out of his hip pocket and pulled a pen from behind his ear. Quickly he sketched the beginnings of a small flow chart. In a circle at the top of the page he wrote ‘apartment + ?’ and then drew an arrow going down a half inch, then another circle, this one with ‘Nana’s’ written in it.
“Okay, you can’t think of any other suspicious behavior, or phone calls or anything that happened while she was staying here?”
Nana perched on her chair again and thought really hard. “No,” she said finally, “I really can’t.”
“Okay, we figured out that she never came to work on Monday, which doesn’t really prove that that’s when she was taken because she doesn’t always check in, but we’ve been working on the assumption that she was taken sometime Sunday night or Monday morning. Was she here Sunday night?”
“Yes,” Nana said shakily. Alex could tell it was finally sinking in that Eve was in real danger. Her first defense mechanism had been to attack him, but he watched now as a pained look came over her.
“She was here Sunday night, I heard her walking around. She came down to breakfast early, around six or so, maybe earlier. I was making eggs and bacon because I thought she’d like it. But then, I yelled at her about you, well, not about you, about not going out with her friends anymore and she took off. Oh God, what if he got her because she left early? Maybe, if she’d just stayed with me, something would have gone differently and she’d still be fine.”
Alex understood her guilt. He’s been carrying his share of it around since Angie’s death. ‘What if I’d just been a few minutes earlier, or I’d gone out to dinner with her like she asked instead of home to take care of Eve because she was sick? Would she still be alive?’ He felt like he should say something to ease Nana’s guilt, reassure her, but he knew that words couldn’t heal that pain. Only time would. Time. Damn it, they were running out of time. All of a sudden Alex felt each second rub abrasively against his skin, like grains of sand slipping through the hourglass.
Pushing all else aside, he tried to focus.
“Okay, can you go through Monday morning in detail. Don’t leave anything out. How exactly did she act? What was she wearing? Anything you can think of could help.”
As Nana recounted the events of that morning, Alex took careful notes on another sheet of his paper. When she was through, he flipped back to his flow chart.
Something wasn’t right; he could feel it. Nana was either leaving something out or missing something. He didn’t know how he knew, but he was 99.9% sure that Eve had been taken somewhere between this house and the precinct. The question was where.
“Did you hear any strange noises when Eve left? Anything out of place?”
“No. Well, I turned the radio on as she was leaving, I wouldn’t have been able to hear anything.”
“Did anything else happen that morning that could be significant?”
“Nothing I can think of.”
Suddenly Alex had an idea.
“Does Eve park her car in the garage?”
“Yeah, in the spot closest to the door. Why?”
“When did your mailbox get run over?”
“Monday morning, but I bet it was the kid next door, Jason has ruined my mailbox more than once before.”
Alex quickly checked his watch. It was one in the morning. He hadn’t realized how long he’d been in Nana’s kitchen. Well, the next step was to interview the neighbors and set up a timeline. It was much too late to start that process at the moment. He rubbed his eyes, feeling suddenly helpless. Finally, he took a deep breath and faced the fact that he couldn’t do much until morning. With a weary groan, he pushed himself up from his chair.
“Well, thanks you for all your help. I’ll be back in the morning to interview you further and my partner, Cole, and I will start canvassing the neighborhood. I’ll be back around seven.” With that Alex started back towards the front of the house.
He was halfway down the hallway before Nana caught him by the arm.
“Where do you think you’re going? You’re staying here tonight. You need to sleep. And besides,” she said nervously, “what if whoever took Eve comes back? No. You’re staying here. Follow me.” With that she started back down the hallway towards the back of the house.
Alex looked after her for a moment, realizing she was trying to comfort him. For a moment he was puzzled. She had absolutely no reason to feel any compassion for him. After a moment, however, he gave it up and turned to follow her retreating figure. Wednesday

pages 10 and 11

Alex was confused for a second. No one had known that Eve had moved in with Alex when they got engaged.
“Who is this?” he asked.
“This is Anita Phillips, Eve’s grandmother.”
“Mrs. Phillips, why would you think Eve’s been staying with me?”
“Because she didn’t come home last night and the last place she stayed, besides her apartment, which she would definitely not stay at right now, was your house.”
“Was Eve staying with you?”
“Didn’t she tell you?”
“No.”
“Well, serves you right. After what you did. Well, do you know where she is?”
“No. Can I come over there? I need to talk to you.”
“What? Now?”
“Yes, now.”
“Well, I suppose. What is this about?”
“I’ll explain when I get there,” Alex assured her, taking down her address.
Just as Alex was heading out the door, he heard his cell phone ring and realized he’d left it in the pocket of his coat, which was hanging from the back of the chair he’d occupied at the conference table. Heading back into the room, he quickly strode across the room and flipped the phone open.
“Alex Watson,” he said.
“Hello Alex.”
“Sorry, who is this?”
“You don’t recognize my voice Alex? I’m surprised. I thought I’d made more of an impression than that.”
Alex’s stomach dropped as he recognized the grating sound of a voice changer.
“Where is she?” he ground out, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.
“She’s safe. For now.”
“Why are you doing this? What do you want?” Alex asked desperately, fumbling to attach the phone to the device that would start taping the call even as he spoke.
“Hey, don’t put this on me pal. It’s your fault. If you didn’t have the unnatural compulsion to meddle in everyone else’s affairs, she wouldn’t be where she is. But you had to meddle in my affairs and turnabout is fair play, my friend.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Karma, Justice, An eye for an eye, whatever you want to call it, Alex.”
“I’m still not following you,” Alex said, his stomach sinking to his feet because he was following him and not liking where he was going.
Ignoring him, the caller continued, “Actually, scales of justice, maintaining the balance between good and evil in the universe, kind of guy you are, maybe you won’t mind so much if she dies.”
At this, Alex sank down into his chair and had to try hard to keep his mind from blocking out the man’s words in self-defense. This was killing him.
“Maybe you won’t mind because it will be even. You can at least rest assured that, if it were not her, it would be another. The loss of life is equal. Why should this be any different from any other case, right?”
At Alex’s silence, he chuckled. “I didn’t think so….Alex, are you there?”
“Yes, I’m here, you bastard.”
“Why Alex, I do believe you’re looking at this from completely the wrong point of view. This is out of my hands. Cosmic design and all that.”
“Bullshit,” Alex replied, breathlessly.
“Ah, I see. You still don’t see how this is your doing. Okay, I’ll give you a chance. A chance to tip the scale in your favor. An extra point for good, if you will. I’ll let you try to find her. But when you don’t, you have to admit that this was your doing. Because of your ‘justice for all’ nature, she’s in trouble. Okay, Alex?”
Alex was silent, waiting for the caller to go on.
“Alex I can’t hear you. I said I’d give you a chance to find her in exchange for your agreement to take the blame if she doesn’t. Are we agreed?”
What was this guy talking about? “Yes,” Alex replied anyway.
“Good. You have five days.”
“Wait! Don’t hang up. How do I know you really have her? That she didn’t just go off on a case and forget to check in? She’s done that before you know.” Alex was stalling for time. Maybe he could get this guy to say something that would give him an idea where he was. He needed ten more seconds for the trace to be complete. Alex heard the man on the line sigh.

* * * * * * * * * * *
Eve was lying on the cot with tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. She’d yelled until she was horse, but no one could hear her. What was she going to do? Her hands hurt from banging on the door. She was tired, but she didn’t want to face the darkness that was sleep. Not tonight. So she lay awake, not really thinking, but letting her mind flow openly wherever it would take her. She thought of the case she was working on right now and wondered if anyone had noticed she was gone yet. She cursed herself for all the times she’d gone off on an investigation and left the world behind without contacting the station for days at a time. The irony of being something like the boy who cried wolf did not escape her. From there, her thoughts turned to Nana and whether she was worried or not. She guessed she was alarmed, but not actually worried. Nana would assume she’d stayed at a friend’s house or with Alex. A wave of pain still hit her at the thought of Alex. Nana was the only person she’d told when she moved in with him. She had been so happy; she couldn’t keep it to herself. She’d had to tell someone, so she’d told Nana. What a fool her grandmother must have thought her when she came home, not three months later to stay with her.
What had happened? Angie. Eve still felt pain at the thought of her. They’d been friends. She’d actually met Alex through Angie. Well, she’d known who he was because they worked in the same department, but she’d started seeing him when Angie had set them up on a blind double date. She’d never gotten around to thanking her. She’d always planned to have her be a bridesmaid at their wedding. And she’d always been a little jealous. Sometimes Alex and Angie would go out to dinner without her. Alex said they were just great friends, but Eve knew it went deeper than that. Alex and Angie had been pretty serious once, but Angie had broken it off. Alex had sworn that there was nothing between them anymore, but she’d never quite believed him. But she wasn’t one of those jealous, possessive girlfriends and had tried to trust Alex. She loved him. If she’d found out something was going on she would have had to leave him and it would have nearly killed her. So she hadn’t looked too closely. Then Angie had been killed. Alex had broken their engagement two weeks later. When he’d told her, it hadn’t hurt that much. Her heart was already too bruised. Every day since Angie died, she’d seen the pain tearing Alex up and it had hurt her. Every time she saw his pain a picture Alex had on his desk would flash through her mind. It had been taken two years ago when Angie and Alex were dating. They were standing in a park somewhere. Alex had his arms wrapped around Angie’s waist. He looked good in his black running shorts and gray muscle tee. Her arms were wrapped around his neck as she smiled up at him. Her blonde hair gleamed where the bright sunlight filtered through the trees to reflect off of it. Her petite figure pressed against him, all flawless skin and stylish spandex. They both looked in love.
By the time Alex had sat down and told her he wanted to cancel their engagement, she had every detail of that picture branded into her brain. Every time she saw it, it chipped away another piece of her heart. She’d agreed to end their relationship and moved back to her apartment.
Eve squeezed her eyes shut as tears began to coarse more rapidly down her cheeks.
Suddenly, a loud nock came at the door and Eve quickly sat up, wiping the corners of her eyes with the back of her hands. The slot in the door slid open and Eve shot towards the door. Banging and screaming through the slot, she tried to see out it. Suddenly, the green-eyed, ski-masked face appeared in the slot.
“Scream for me, Eve,” he said, holding a cell phone close to the door.
“Help me!” she cried. “Someone please help me!” Her voice broke and she tried again, but he slammed the slot shut again.
She sank to her knees on the floor and cried softly. What was she going to do?

* * * * * * * * * *
“If you hurt her, I swear…I’ll kill you,” Alex said, breathing heavily. The sound of Eve’s terror had propelled him out of his seat and he was pacing up and down the length of the room like a caged animal, all of his attention and anger focused on whoever was on the other end of the line.
“There’s your proof, Alex. It’s not a nightmare. It’s worse than that. It’s reality,” the caller said, coming back on the line. “Remember, five days, staring…NOW!” he said and hung up. Two seconds too soon for a trace to locate him.

* * * * * * * * * *
Twenty minutes later, Alex was pulling his green, unmarked car into the driveway of a medium-sized, two-story, Victorian-style house situated in one of the better subdivisions on the outskirts of the city. After turning the car off, he took a moment to scan his surroundings. In the fading light, he could see that the house was a light blue in color. The paint was relatively new. The grass was a little on the long side. A four-foot tall hedge separated the lawn from the houses on either side of it. Finally, he noticed that the mailbox was smashed and hadn’t been picked up out of the yard. It almost looked like someone had rammed their car into it, maybe the neighbors had backed into it, he thought.
Stepping from the car, he couldn’t help running a hand through his hair as he climbed the steps to the lighted front porch. Taking a deep breath, he rang the doorbell. Waiting, he tried to figure out exactly where Eve’s grandmother might fit into her life. He wondered how close the two women where. He knew how much of an influence the opinions of relatives could have on someone, hence the hand through the hair. Instinctively, he wanted Eve’s grandmother to like him. When no one came to the door, he waited sixty seconds and rang again, wondering if maybe she’d given him bad directions.
Finally, he heard someone at the door. The deadbolt hammer slid back with a loud crack and then the door swung open with a loud groan. Alex had to look down to take in the five-foot woman standing before him. They stood like that a moment, each quietly appraising the other. She was of slight build with short, curly, silvery-white hair. An elegant black silk robe hung open over a flowing pair of Japanese-print silk pants accompanied by a white tank top. It was impossible to determine her age. Her face was lined, but her body was lean and the energy she emitted would have made a thirty year old proud.
Finally, she met his eyes, after starting her assessment at his feet, “Come on in, I guess,” she said.
Alex followed her down a spacious hallway lined with pictures and into a large kitchen. The walls were painted yellow and the room was warm and fragrant.
“Sorry about the wait at the door,” she said. “My cookies were going to burn. Coffee?”
“Sure,” Alex replied, feeling awkward standing in the middle of the kitchen as his hostess moved with precise motion from the cookies to the coffee.
“Black?”
“Yeah.”
At length, she settled herself into one of the four wooden chairs surrounding an old, oak, circular table with her coffee after setting a large plate of cookies in the middle and his coffee in front of a second chair.
“Sit,” she commanded.
He did as she instructed.

pages 8 and 9

For the second time in two minutes flat, Alex had to try hard to focus on Cole through the numbness in his brain. Shaking his head, he let out an oath under his breath and, with a slightly steadier hand, punched in Eve’s cell number.

***************

Eve heard a faint noise coming through the heavy door and shook herself from a trancelike reverie. She cocked her head to listen and rushed to press her ear to the door to confirm that there really was a noise, it wasn’t just in her head. She started taking shallow, quiet breaths and listened hard. The sound came again and her heart leapt. Never had the annoying Nokia phone tune her cell phone played sounded so wonderful. Then reality intruded and Eve realized the futility of knowing where her cell phone was, but being unable to reach it.
Before she could stop herself, she was banging her fists against the door and shouting at the top of her lungs. She suddenly felt claustrophobic, like she couldn’t get enough air. She knew that no one was there to hear her demands to be released, let alone her pleas for help. She’d heard her captor leave hours before.
Eve yelled until she was hoarse, long after her phone had stopped wringing.

*****************

Alex burst through the door and broke into a brisk jog as his anxiety escalated. He couldn’t keep himself from picturing Angie lying there on the floor. The red everywhere. Only now he kept seeing Eve’s face. Eve holding her throat as the life seeped out from between her fingers and her eyes glazed slowly over; one moment seeming to plead for help and the next as cold and lifeless as marbles.
Alex and Cole ran through the building and checked with homicide to make sure Eve wasn’t actually in the building. No one had heard from her for at least two days. Alex sent Cole to grab the equipment he would need to record a call in case the creep called back. Meanwhile, he swung by Vice to grab his car keys and notebook. Alex was alternately praying his cell phone would ring and hoping it wouldn’t. He wasn’t sure which would be worse: being forced to endure the impossible hope of not knowing whether she was alive or dead, or knowing for sure and having to face the world without her in it.
In five minutes Cole and Alex were just heading out the door, when they ran into Callahan coming back from a late lunch.
As they blew by him, Callahan called, “Where are you two going?”
Alex kept walking, but Cole grabbed his arm to stop him.
“What are you doing? We have to go!” Alex whispered urgently as pictures of Angie and Eve chased one another through his head.
“You’re not thinking with your head, Alex. What’s the first thing you do when you find out another police officer is in immediate danger?” Cole asked.
“Help them.”
“Okay, what if you don’t know the exact circumstances and you can’t help them directly and efficiently? Huh?…You call for backup. You use the resources you have available to you. If we want to help Eve, we need to get Callahan updated on the situation. If we go off halfcocked it will only take longer to figure out where Eve is and help her.”
Alex blinked as Cole’s words intruded on the images in his mind. “Yes. You’re right,” he agreed.
Turning they quickly approached the captain who had already started towards them.
“What exactly is going on here?” he demanded.
Alex was grateful when Cole took the lead with the captain. At the moment he wasn’t sure he could accurately put words together to describe the situation. His mind had stalled out back in the locker room and he’d been running on autopilot ever since. “Did you make her laugh, Alex?…I’ve been watching her…she doesn’t laugh anymore…I used to whisper…She doesn’t even see me.” Parts of his conversation with the caller kept flooding into his mind until he felt like he was drowning.
Alex followed blindly as Cole and Callahan turned and hurried back into the station. When they were in Callahan’s office he began to interrogate Alex.
“Who called you; a man or a woman?”
“I don’t know,” Alex said, blinking back to awareness.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Callahan raged.
Callahan’s anger finally did what Cole’s urgency had not and jerked Alex’s system out of the shock it had been fighting ever since he got the phone call. “I couldn’t tell because they were using a voice changer. I think it was a man, though, from the way he spoke. He said he’s been watching Eve,” his voice trailed off.
“Did he say that he had Eve?”
“Yes.”
“Did he say whether or not she was alive?”
“No. He said he had something I wanted.”
“Did he want ransom?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. He didn’t say anything about money.”
“Did it sound like she knew him?”
“Yes. At least, he knew her.”
“Did he say anything that would indicate where he was keeping her?”
“No.”
“You said he said that he had something you wanted. Do you think he’s someone you know?”
“I don’t think so. He said…he said that I wasn’t as smart as my reputation had led him to believe. Here.” Alex dug into his bag and pulled out his transcript of the conversation. “I wrote down the number he was calling from and most of the conversation. You should have someone go over it. Should we try calling the number or tracking it through the phone company? I mean, if we call it do you think it’ll scare him and he’d move her?” Alex was suddenly anxious as his mind explored this new avenue of investigation, which should have occurred to him as soon as he hung up the phone.
“No. Don’t call it, we’ll have someone get to work on tracing it right away. Meanwhile, you should go over to her apartment and try to talk to anyone who may have seen her recently. We need to know where she was when he took her. Alex, do you think you can be objective?”
Alex just stared at him for a pregnant moment. When he found his voice, he started to speak. “If you think for one minute that you’re going to get me off this case, then yo—“
The Chief interrupted him, “For the moment I think you should work this case even though it isn’t your department, you have an inside connection. You’re the one he called. Cole, you can be his partner so we don’t have to debrief –“
Callahan was interrupted when Alex’s phone rang. Alex fished it out of his pocket and all three men stared at it in stunned silence for a moment. Then, hesitantly, Alex brought it to his ear.
“Hello?”
“Hi. This is Archie Wilder. Is this Alex?”
“Yes this is Officer Alex Watson. Do I know you, Mr. Wilder?
“No, I work at Cub Foods. Well, not always, at night I’m the doorman for the Sunrise Apartment Complexes downtown.”
Alex’s mind was racing. Sunrise Apartment Complexes. An image flashed into his mind and he could see the huge Sunrise Apartment Complexes for sale ad on Eve’s apartment building.
“What can I do for you Mr. Wilder?”
“Call me Archie. I’m calling because, well, I was worried about Eve. You know Eve, right?”
“Yes,” was all Alex could manage. Angie. Eve. Angie. Eve. Eve. Eve. Alex closed his eyes, trying to block out the images.
“Well, I was worried about her and I…I won’t get in trouble for this, will I?”
“No, Archie.”
“I used my master key and went into her apartment. Just to check and make sure she wasn’t hurt in there or anything, you understand. She wasn’t in there, and it didn’t look like she’s been there for a few days. Some of her stuff was missing. The message light on her machine was blinking, and I was just curious, so I…I listened to the messages. Yours said to call and it sounded real important so I thought you should know that she’s gone. I don’t know when she’ll be back.”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“Maybe, two or three days ago. She stopped by to get some stuff. I don’t think she’s been living at the apartment for three or four weeks, though.”
“Okay Archie, thanks for your help. Keep an eye out and we’ll be in touch with you. What number can I reach you at?”
Alex wrote down the three numbers Archie rattled off. And which times Archie would be where.
“Hey, Alex, um, do you think she’s okay?”
“I don’t know.” Alex said and hung up.

* * * * * * * * * *
The rest of the day passed in one long blur. Now that they knew that Eve was really missing, they needed to figure out where and when she’d been taken. This was complicated because they didn’t know where she’d been staying, if not at her apartment. The cleared out a conference room to be used as their base of operations and started a flow chart on a large dry-erase board. Alex sat down with Eve’s Rolodex and started to make calls, trying to figure out where she’s go if she left her apartment. Meanwhile, Cole started to canvass the station, trying to figure out who had talked to her last as well as what might have made her want to move out of her apartment.
At seven o’clock Alex still hadn’t gotten anywhere in determining her temporary residence. She’d been staying with him two months ago, but had moved back to her apartment when he’s broken off their engagement after Angie was killed. They hadn’t spoken much since then so he’s had no idea that she’d moved out of her apartment. Apparently, neither did most of their non-police friends and acquaintances. Eve’s best friend and college roomie, Karen McGuire, said she had only heard from Eve once in the past two months and refused to reveal what they’d talked about simply saying that she didn’t know where Eve was, but if she did, she definitely wouldn’t tell Alex. When he explained the situation she made it clear that if anything happened to Eve, she would hold Alex personally responsible because, if she had moved, it was Alex’s fault. Depressed and worried, Alex checked his watch. Eight o’clock already and he hadn’t made any headway.
Just then Cole strode into the room. Sliding a thin manila folder across the large, round, wooden conference table to Alex he said, “I have to go, but call me if anything comes up. Those are my notes. I talked to everyone in the building and wrote down anything that could be important, but as far as I can tell the last one who saw her was Ken over in the lab. He said she’d stopped in to check on some results before she headed out. They talked, he asked her to dinner, but she said she was going to hit the gym and then head home. If you know which gym she went to, I’ll stop by and see what I can find out before I head home.”
“She went to the Northwest on 42nd,” Alex replied. Cole nodded and then left. Opening the folder, Alex saw three or four pages of Cole’s neat handwriting. He started reading. Basically, it sounded like Eve had been drawing away from her friends lately and spending more and more time at home or at the gym. Several of her friends said she’d seemed tired all the time. A phone number was scrawled in the left margin, about halfway down the second page, right in the middle of Vicky’s comments. Alex would have smiled if he hadn’t been so worried. Vicky was a very cute blonde who worked over in the lab. Leave it to Cole to get a date and try to solve a case at the same time.
Just then, the phone sitting on the table rang. They’d re-routed Eve’s calls so that they came through the conference room. Whoever was on the line thought they were calling Eve.
“Hello?” Alex asked.
“Hello. Who am I speaking to?” said an authorative voice.
“This is Detective Alex Watson, how can I help you ma’am?”
“Is Eve staying with you again?” asked the voice on the other end of the line.

pages 6 and 7

better shape than most of the guys in the Bureau, I have the highest percent of solved cases of anyone here besides Eve. If anything, I’m overly qualified. Excuse me, but if I’m not FBI material, who is?”
Callahan sighed. “It’s not your record Alex. If I were just looking at your file and your performance, I’d recommend you in a heartbeat. I’m just not sure that your personality matches what is required for an agent.
“How so?”
“Alex, you love being a homicide detective too much. You get too involved with your cases. Frankly, you’re too idealistic for the Bureau. You don’t want to be moved around from case to case all over the country. You want to be able to give all you have to a few case at a time. That’s how you’re most effective. That aside, I don’t think you’re making this decision because you think you’d be a better cop if you became an agent. You aren’t thinking this one through, son. Knowing that, I couldn’t recommend you to the Bureau. It wouldn’t be a responsible decision on my part.”
Alex could almost see the red interfering at the corners of his vision. What place did Callahan have to determine whether or not he was FBI material based on anything other than his work ethic and performance? Small warning bells went off in his head and Alex knew that he had to get out of there before he said something he’d regret later.
“Thank you for your time,” he ground out between clenched teeth. Then, he quickly got up and left the office. He rapidly walked back towards the Vice department, not seeing the concerned expression on Maggie’s face or the angry glare a female cop gave him as he almost ran over her without even slowing down.
When he got to the Vice department he ducked into a men’s bathroom and strode quickly to one of the sinks. Bending down, he splashed his face with cold water repeatedly until he felt the rage slowly dissipate. Looking at himself in the mirror, water running in small rivulets down his forehead and hanging from his nose and chin, he stared helplessly at his reflection. What could he do to prove to Callahan that he was ready for the FBI? And what did Callahan mean, he wasn’t making this decision with his head?
Just then, the bathroom door slowly swung open and Cole stepped inside.
“You okay, man?” he asked, handing him a paper towel to dry his face off with.
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure?”
Suddenly, Alex wanted to hurt someone. “I said yes! What is with you people? Are you going to ask until I say no? Do you want me to spill my guts and tell you all about anything that could be wrong in my life so you can decide what’s best for me, too? Then will everyone be satisfied? Seriously Cole, what’s the right answer?”
“Whoa, man, slow down. There isn’t a right answer. It’s just, a lot of things have been going on lately, and I figured you might want to talk about it.”
Alex sighed and leaned against the bathroom wall. Tipping his head back, he ran a hand over his eyes, which felt grainy all of a sudden. “No, I’m not fine.” Walking towards the door, he said, “My partner was killed, I broke up with a woman I’m in love with, and I got rejected by the FBI because a man I trust and respect apparently doesn’t reciprocate those feelings. Would you be fine? I’m not going to be fine any time soon, but it really isn’t cathartic to talk about it every five minutes. Kind of makes it hard to forget.”
“Well if you don’t want to talk, do you want to go shoot hoops or something? I was just about to go on my lunch break and I don’t think they’ll miss you for an hour over in Vice.”
Alex looked at Cole for a second, and then shame washed over him. Cole was just trying to help and he’d blown up on him. The irony was; it had actually been cathartic, yelling at Cole. “Look, Cole, I didn’t mean to yell, it’s just been a rough week, you know?”
“Sure.” Cole said. “Come on, one on one, play to 15, I’ll kick your butt.”
“You’re on,” Alex replied. “Just let me run by my desk and check my messages first.”
“I’ll come with you.”
Cole and Alex headed over to his desk. Quickly Alex checked his desk for the bright pink post-its that Martha left if anyone called the front desk for him, then checked his messages on his phone, and finally dug out his cell to see if he’d missed any calls while he’d had it turned off in Callahan’s office. He’d missed two calls on his cell; both from the same number, which he didn’t recognize, but neither time did the caller leave a message. Oh well, he thought. They’ll try again later.
Turning to Cole, who’d been flirting with one of the female Vice detectives, Alex motioned that he was ready to go. Alex watched in amusement as Cole, who had been leaning one hip against the detective’s desk, leaned into her and pointed across the room to him, talking all the while. He could almost hear Cole’s low voice, dripping with disappointment, telling little miss detective how he had urgent business and had to be off, but if she’d let him, he’d love to call her sometime. Alex almost laughed out loud as he watched the pretty brunette try to find a pen on her desk without taking her big blue eyes off Cole’s amused green ones. Finally, she had to break eye contact as she quickly scribbled her number on the back of a business card and handed it to Cole. Favoring her with a flash of perfectly straight, white teeth and a devilish wink, Cole pushed off her desk and strolled over to where Alex was waiting.
“You should have to wear a sign. ‘Danger: Extremely high levels of testosterone. Volatile. Handle with care, or better yet, not at all.’” Alex joked.
“Hey, it’s not my fault I’m irresistible.” Cole shot back.
Alex rolled his eyes and the two friends walked over to the locker rooms in amicable silence. After they’d changed, Alex into gray sweatpants and a Northwestern t-shirt, and Cole into black shorts and a white University of Louisiana t-shirt, they headed out to the court. The court actually wasn’t a court at all. It was just a concrete slab with an old rusty basketball hoop attached to a pole at one end. It, like millions on hoops around the world, didn’t even have a net. After they had played for half an hour, they were tied seven-seven. Fifteen minutes later, they were tied nine-nine, but had to call it quits because they needed to shower before returning to work.
As they walked towards the locker room, Alex realized that he’d really enjoyed just hanging out with Cole. He hadn’t realized it, but they hadn’t been seeing each other as much since he and Eve broke up. He’d missed his friend. His mood had definitely improved. While he wasn’t walking on clouds, like he’d been that morning, he wasn’t feeling particularly depressed. He smiled as they both took the steps going down to the locker room two at a time and his leg muscles protested. He loved it when his muscles were tired and soar because it meant he was improving. His mind felt inexplicably clear just then and he decided he was going to re-apply to the FBI. There had to be some way for him to explain his situation with Callahan to the selection committee. It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He hadn’t realized how much he’d been dreading making the decision whether to re-apply or not.
Ten minutes later, as Alex stepped out of the shower, he heard his phone ringing in his gym bag. Wrapping his towel around his hips, he quickly strode over to his stuff and dug around until he came up with his cell phone.
“Hello?”
“Is this Alex Watson?” the voice on the line was obviously enhanced by a voice changer and sounded mechanical. Immediately Alex was on edge as the cop in him wished he could be recording this call. He started to dig through his bag looking for paper and a pen.
“Yes, and who might this be?”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line and Alex wondered if his mystery caller had hung up.
“Hello? Are you still there?” Alex queried.
“You don’t actually think I’ll answer that, do you?” A pause. “If you do… you’re not as smart as you’re reputation would lead one to believe.”
Alex scribbled furiously. “Is there a purpose to this call?…Or should I have you call the station so they can process you along with all the other kids pulling pranks? How did you get this number anyway?”
“I’m not a kid. I should hang up on you for that. Don’t condescend to me, asshole.” A pause. The caller seemed to have collected himself when he spoke again, “And we all have our ways of getting things, if we want them badly enough…don’t we Alex?” Another pause. “For example…I have something you want.”
“Really, I hadn’t noticed I was missing anything. Let’s see here. Nope. I’ve got my wallet, my keys, and…wait a second, oh yeah, my watch. Sorry pal, I think you have the wrong number.” As he was saying this, Alex was furiously scribbling down a rough transcript of the conversation as well as the number where the call was being made from. Alex could hear Cole singing in the showers and wanted to call out to him, but was afraid the guy on the phone would hang up.
“Oh Alex, always the one with the jokes. A regular comedian. Is that why she likes you?”
Alex’s breath went thin in his lungs and he stilled. “What are you talking about?” He asked.
“Did you make her laugh, Alex? I think you must have. I’ve been watching her for a while now and she doesn’t laugh anymore. She doesn’t laugh for me anymore. I used to whisper jokes to her, and she would smile and laugh and it was just between us, but she doesn’t laugh anymore. She doesn’t even see me because she’s off in her own little world. Did you send her there, Alex?”
“What are you talking about? I don’t know who you’re talking about. Do you have a name? Something I can call you?” Alex realized his hands were shaking as he saw his writing getting progressively sloppier
“Eve.”
One single word, but it reverberated in Alex’s brain. He felt all his training about how to talk to someone who might have a possible hostage fly out of his brain as the red haze of rage rapidly encroached on the edges of his vision. “Where is she?” he asked breathlessly.
“She’s gone.”
“What’d you do with her? I swear, if you hurt her, I’ll kill you. I’ll hunt you down and kill you.” Alex couldn’t keep the shaking from his voice.
“Oh don’t get so dramatic Alex. I think this conversation is over. Goodbye Al—“
“Wait. Don’t hang up. Where is she?” Alex interrupted, but all he heard in response was a dial tone. Cursing, he jumped up from the bench and got dressed with lightning speed. Shoving his transcript of the call into his bag with all his other gym stuff, he threw the bag over his shoulder and started to make his way through the maze of lockers to the door. Turning a corner, he ran right into Cole, who stumbled backwards and almost lost his towel in his fight to regain his balance.
“Whoa. Alex, slow down! Where are you going?” Cole asked, grabbing Alex’s arm as he tried to keep going towards the door.
“Cole, not now. I have to leave, Eve’s in trouble.”
Surprise flashed across Cole’s face. “What are you talking about?” Then, noticing the phone still clutched tightly in Alex’s hand, “Did she call you?”
Realizing that Cole wasn’t going to let him race off, Alex rounded on him and quickly tried to explain. “Some creep just called my cell and said he has Eve. I have to go to her apartment. Are you coming?”
“Of course. Hold on, let me change.”
“Hurry. Please.” The desperation in Alex’s voice struck Cole and he rushed to dress.
“Have you tried calling her?”
Alex stopped staring at the door and wheeled around. The blank stare on his face shocked Cole. Alex blinked rapidly and then seemed to snap back to reality.
“What?”
“Call her, maybe she’s fine.”
“Oh…I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.” Alex began desperately to fumble with his cell phone. Finally, he managed to punch in Eve’s number at her apartment.
Alex held his breathe as the mechanical ringing on the other end of the line persisted. Finally, just when Alex was about to hang up, there were a short series of clicks and then a message began to play.
“You have reached 906-352-5448. If you would like to leave a message, wait for the beep.”
Alex hesitated a moment, then cleared his throat. “Umm.” The thought flashed through his mind that this call would be hard to explain if Eve wasn’t really gone, but it was quickly overpowered by his need to find her. “Eve! This is Alex. Call me as soon as you hear this message. Call my cell, 612-770-6423 or the house, 906-883-3213. This is urgent. I don’t care what time it is. I need you to call me ASAP. Any time. Just call.”
Alex was already striding towards the door as he hung up. Cole follow closely on his heals.“Wait! Alex, did you try her cell?”

pages 4 and 5

Remembering that she didn’t know when she would get out of the trunk, she stopped once her mouth felt semi-normal and saved the rest for later.
Suddenly, Eve felt the smooth pavement of the highway or interstate give way to the bumpier feel of a dirt road and had a sinking feeling that she wasn’t going to be staying in the trunk much longer. Bit by bit, she began to scoot herself around so that her body was no longer laying down in the trunk, but turned sideways with her feet pressing against the lid and her back against the back of the backseat. Tires crunched onto gravel and she was thrown sideways as the car made a sharp turn into a driveway or onto a gravel lane. When the car rolled to a stop after going only a few yards, she guessed it was a driveway and quickly struggled to get back into position.
The car door slammed and then quick footsteps approached the trunk. As the key was inserted into the locked trunk, Eve’s breath caught in her throat. The lid seemed to open in slow motion as inch, by horrifying inch, the black form of her abductor was outlined against the bright golds and blues of the sunrise sky. At long last, when the lid was almost open and she could see her attacker’s shoulders, she struck out with both feet. Hitting him squarely in the stomach, she watched as he cursed and doubled over in pain. Struggling to bring her bound hands up to grasp the edge of the trunk lid and lever herself out, she flailed desperately, her legs helplessly straining. She felt strong hands come around her ankles and then she was being pulled forward. As her attacker stood, pulling her from the trunk by the feet, time stood still for an instant and she was floating in midair. Then, with a crack, she landed hard on the ground and felt her head slam against the bumper so hard that her teeth clacked together. Then everything faded to black.

Chapter Seven
Alex was jerked from the blessedly blank darkness of the kind of sleep you only get when you are totally and utterly exhausted, emotionally and physically. Swatting blindly with one hand at the nightstand in search of his loudly buzzing alarm clock, he rubbed his eyes with the other. Blinking several times, he squinted across the queen-sized bed at the green, glowing numbers. 6:30 a.m. He was late. His brain slipped into overdrive as he jumped from the bed and headed for the shower, quickly shedding the clothing he’d fallen asleep in last night. Stepping under the hot spray, he turned on his wall radio. He quickly washed his hair and body as the fast beat of the music swirled around him. Checking his watch, he relaxed a little and let the hot steam help clear the cobwebs out of his head.
“You’re listening to 101.9, KWDR, today’s best country and this is your favorite DJ, Mikey Mike. Thanks for listening. We have another 45-minute mega sweep of your favorite music coming up after this break. It’s 5:35 and the current temperature is 45 degrees.”
Laughing, Alex felt the adrenaline leave his body just as quickly as it had come. It wasn’t 6:30. He wasn’t late. It was daylight savings time. He’d forgotten to turn his clock back last night. Oh well, there was no way he’d get back to sleep now. Stepping from the shower, he quickly toweled himself dry and dropped the sopping towel into the dirty laundry basket on his way back into the bedroom. He dressed in a pair of black slacks and a dark, steel gray shirt, rolling the sleeves up to just below his elbows and leaving his top button undone. Giving himself a quick once over in the mirror, he padded back into the bathroom. After brushing his teeth, running a brush through his damp hair, and shaving, he smiled rakishly at his own reflection.
Whistling, he headed downstairs to the kitchen. He was surprised at this sudden shift in his mood. Last night he’d been pretty low. Now all of a sudden, he felt like he was walking on air. Maybe I should start waking up earlier, he thought. He settled contentedly on the back porch with his newspaper and coffee to watch the sunrise. As the sky changed from the soft, steely blue of dawn to the bright golds, blues, and reds of the day, he smiled. Yeah, maybe he would start getting up early. This was great.

Chapter Eight
When Eve came to, she was lying on a rather lumpy metal cot. Looking around Eve took in the room. There was one window situated high up in the left-hand corner of the wall her cot was against. Next to the cot was a large desk with a lamp on it and a rickety wooden chair. The walls of the room were cement and of the type seen in unfinished basements the world over. It seemed to be a perfect square, measuring about 8 feet by 8 feet. The door was in the very center of the wall opposite her cot and appeared to be made of some kind of sturdy wood. Maybe oak. She leaned her back against the wall her cot was shoved up against and sighed. Drawing her knees up onto the cot she sat cross-legged and tried to think. As she gazed at the door, turning the situation over and over in her mind, a small panel slid back, leaving a space six inches wide and three inches high in the wood like a huge peephole. Then a face appeared in the slit. Well, she actually couldn’t see much of the face. It was her attacker again and he was still wearing his black ski mask. For a moment they just stared at one another across the room. Then Eve saw the glossy black barrel of a gun poke through next to the man’s head.
“Don’t move, sugar. And don’t freak out. I’m just bringing you breakfast. You should be pretty hungry after what you’ve been through in the last 24 hours.”
Eve heard a key scrape in the lock. Then the doorknob gradually turned and the door quickly swung open. Her captor was standing with both feet planted firmly shoulder width apart, gun leveled squarely at her chest. She studied him. This was the first time she’d seen all of him at once. He was a little taller than she’d guessed. Maybe 6’2’’. While his arms and shoulders were built, he wasn’t as muscular as she’d judged him to be originally. His neck wasn’t thick at all and while his legs were muscular, he wasn’t squat by any means. As she watched, he removed one hand from the gun, while still keeping it leveled at her heart, and reached out with the other. Seconds later, it came back into view, easily balancing a heavily laden tray full of food. A half smile tugged at the corner of Eve’s mouth as an image flashed through her head. His body was almost like that of a dancer. Hard, muscled, yet lean. For a moment she had pictured him suddenly turning a graceful pirouette while still balancing the heavy tray.
He frowned as he caught her expression.
“What’s so funny, sugar?” he drawled.
“Nothing.” Eve replied.
“You’re hungry aren’t you?” he asked.
Eve’s stomach growled before she could say anything.
“I’ll take that as a yes, then.” he said, chuckling. “Now, if you want this food you’ll do as I say so we can both get out of here sooner. You going to listen to me?”
“Yes,” Eve replied.
“Good. First, raise both of your hands above your head. Good. Now turn and put your feet flat on the floor in front of the cot, facing me. Okay. Sit like that and don’t move until I tell you to.”
When she was situated to his satisfaction, he quickly crossed the room to the desk. Unloading several paper plates with food on them, he smiled.
“I’ll let you eat on your own. Unless you know how to make a weapon out of a few paper plates, a paper cup, a plastic water jug, and a plastic spork, I don’t have anything to worry about.”
After he’d unloaded the tray, he picked it up and backed to the doorway.
“Bon appetite,” he said, and she could almost see him smiling through the ski mask. Then he slammed the door, locked it, and slid the peephole shut.
Eve knew she shouldn’t eat anything he gave her, but at the moment she couldn’t think of any other way she’d keep from starving. Her stomach rumbled, confirming her conclusion and she walked over to the desk. He’d brought her a little of just about everything: all kinds of fruits, pancakes, a sandwich, a jug of water, and some crackers. She ate everything that would spoil and saved the rest for later, not knowing when he’d come back again.

Chapter Nine
Alex strolled, still whistling, into the precinct. This was his first truly great morning since he and Eve had broken up. Even that thought couldn’t dampen his mood. He strode purposefully past the reception desk, flashing a smile at the intern taking down phone calls. Turning pink, she shyly returned his grin. Walking on air, he headed up the hallway towards the Vice department. Spotting Callahan walking toward him, he adjusted his path, intending to intercept him. Seconds later, Callahan spotted him and tried to turn down another hallway before Alex could get to him, but this just wasn’t his lucky day.
“Hey, Chief. Hold up a sec.” Alex called.
Pretending he’d just spotted Alex, Callahan replied gruffly, “Sorry Watson, I’m on my way to a meeting.”
“That’s okay, Chief. I’ll just drop by your office later. Say, around one o’clock?” Alex countered.
“Umm, well…” Callahan turned a bit red and finally managed, “well, um, I have a meeting – “
“I already ran by and checked with Maggie. She said you’d be free from one until two and I definitely don’t need a whole hour.” Alex smoothly interrupted him.
“Okay, I guess…I guess I’ll see you then.” Callahan replied and then strode off looking chagrined.
Changing directions, Alex strode back the way he’d come and then hung a left down a second hallway. Entering the homicide department he unconsciously scanned the room for Eve. Seeing Cole, he nodded at him. Cole gave him a slight nod in return and then continued flirting with a pretty, new intern as if he hadn’t been interrupted.
“Hey Mags. Could you do me a huge favor and pencil me in for a brief meeting with ‘El Capitan’ at one?” Alex said, grinning.
Alex watched in amusement as Maggie seemed to get rather flustered. Maggie never got flustered. She’d been Chief Callahan’s secretary for the last fifteen years or more. No one really remembered when she’d started, but she was everyone’s favorite. She saw the homicide department as her domain and ran it like a very strict mother would her household. More than once, she’d walked by Alex on her way to the filing cabinets across the room and told him to sit up straighter or he’d ruin his back. Nothing that went on in the department escaped her attention.
“Well, lets see here Alex, um, I think the Chief mentioned something about a meeting or something,” she said, uncomfortably. Maggie hated to lie.
“Its okay Maggie. I already cleared it with Chief Callahan on my way over,” he said, rescuing her.
Maggie’s coloring returned to normal and she quickly penciled him in.
“So, how are you?” she asked. Now that she didn’t have to worry about her boss, she was her old self again, always having to know what was going on around her.
“I’m good. How are you doing?” he replied. Then, before she could ask him about Eve, which she invariably would, “You know Martha, over in Vice, is retiring next month. If you ever get sick of these Homicide guys, we’d love to have you.” Shooting her a grin, he continued, “Just think about it. I gotta go. Talk to you later Mags.”
He could almost feel her slight frown boring into the back of his neck. He couldn’t help feeling like he’d just dodged a bullet. It wasn’t often that Maggie let people get away without finding out exactly what she wanted to know.
The rest of the day seemed to pass without much action. Alex ran by the lab to talk to Tina and then ended up spending most of his morning writing up reports. He ate lunch by himself at a little sub place he liked that was near the station. He only thought of Eve three times the entire morning. That was much less than was usual. Each time he wondered if she’d shown up for work today. Still, nothing could diminish the overwhelming sense of satisfaction he’d had all morning.
At exactly 12:59 he showed up for his meeting with Callahan, hoping to avoid any questions from Maggie. Fortunately, his good luck held true and she was over filing papers when he showed up. She had just started back towards her desk when Callahan called him into his office.
“Sit down, Alex.” Callahan directed, when Alex came into his office. “I think I know what this is about, so before we begin I’d like to remind you that, while I am your friend, I am also your superior. Keep that in mind before you decide what you’re going to say to me,” he continued.
Alex had been debating all afternoon over whether he should be blunt or subtle in talking to Callahan. He was relieved that the Chief had taken the decision out of his hands by cutting through all the bullshit and being frank with him.
Taking a deep breath, Alex asked, “Why did you withhold your recommendation for my placement with the Bureau?”
“Well, this is hard to put into words, son, but I don’t think you’re FBI material.” For a moment Alex didn’t know how to respond. It felt like someone had slammed him in the chest with a sledgehammer. He had assumed it was something personal about Callahan that had kept him from recommending him, not something about himself and definitely not something about his job performance. “But sir,” he finally managed, “I have more experience than anyone else in the department, I’m in

pages 2 and 3

Chapter Three
Alex Watson was breathing heavily as he finished his 16th lap around the outdoor track. His lean body hurt all over and his feet felt like blocks of lead. Black hair glistening with sweat, he crossed the finish line and checked his watch. 24 minutes. Good, even for him. Grabbing his gym bag he jogged over to the men’s locker room, concentrating on his breathing and heart rate. Rummaging through his locker he pulled out his towel, walked over to the showers, and turned one on. Letting it warm up, he returned to his locker and shed his sweaty workout clothing. Stepping under the steam, he let the streams of water pound his back.
A half smile formed on his lips as he realized that even water pressure was a blessing after a day like this. First, he’d gotten his rejection letter from the FBI. Worse, he knew he should have gotten the job. He had a feeling his boss had given him a less than glowing recommendation for all the wrong reasons. Jeez, he thought, no wonder Callahan wouldn’t look him in the eye anymore. Alex had been a detective with the LAPD for just over 5 years. He had the highest ration of solved cases to unsolved of anyone in the department. He should have gotten that job.
After that his morning had been shot. After lunch he’d started to feel a little bit better, but then he’d had to run down to homicide to get some old files and he’d passed Eve’s desk. Even when she wasn’t there, it brought back haunting memories. It was because of her that he’d transferred out of Homicide and into Vice while he applied to the FBI. He was dreading telling her he wouldn’t be able to leave her alone any time soon.
He sighed again, turned off the water, wrapped his towel around his waist and walked back to his locker. As he was pulling his shirt on over his head, he felt someone grabbed him from behind. Before he knew it he was in a headlock. Cole. Alex chuckled as he pretended to struggle.
“Give up?” his friend teased.
“Yeah.” Alex replied.
Releasing him, Cole McIntyre stepped back as Alex finished pulling his shirt on.
“Hey, man. How’ve you been?” Cole asked.
“Fine. Busy. Mainly busy. You?” Alex replied.
“Same. Hey, I heard about the FBI thing. You okay? If you need someone to just get out of the house with or something, give me a call, ‘k? I haven’t seen you around for a while. I kind of…miss ya, or something. Of course, if you tell anyone I said that, I’ll deny it.”
“Oh, of course.” Alex chuckled.
Cole’s expression grew serious. “So are you really okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Cole gave him a skeptical look. “Okay, but if you want to go get a beer or something, call.”
“Sure, catcha later.” Alex said.
It was the 4th such offer he’d gotten in the past three hours. How everyone knew he’d been rejected was beyond him. Gossip had never spread this fast in the department before, but then, the gossip had never been about him before so he probably just hadn’t noticed.
As Cole started to walk away he suddenly pivoted on his left foot, turning around to face Alex again, as if he’d forgotten something.
“Oh, yeah. Have you seen Eve today?” he asked.
“No.” Alex said, and then before he could stop himself, “Why?”
“Well, it’s probably nothing. I just noticed that she didn’t show up for work today. Maybe she got a lead on the Donnelly murder or something. It wouldn’t be the first time she followed her nose right past the office without stopping in to tell anyone. Never mind. Like I said, it’s probably nothing.” With a quick smile at Alex, Cole turned and strode off.

Chapter Four
Eve slowly felt her senses returning one by one. First she started to feel the blood pounding behind her eyes and hear it roaring between her ears. Then, she felt some kind of rough fabric rubbing her cheek raw. The unpleasant odors of mildew and gasoline reached her as she realized that she was lying on her side. She could feel ropes cutting cruelly into her ankles and wrists and her body was folded into the fetal position. She tried to stretch out and realized that she was in some kind of closed compartment. She shook herself, mentally and opened her eyes.
With increasing horror, she recognized her surroundings. She was in a trunk. As comprehension dawned, claustrophobia began gnawing hungrily at the corners of her mind and she broke out into a cold sweat. Suddenly a ski-masked face flashed through her mind. Why had he taken her? Her attacker had been wearing a ski mask so she couldn’t really try to place him. She wondered if this was personal or random. As her mind puzzled over this problem, her body began to relax. She made one more crucial observation as her eyelids began to drag down like they were attached to lead weights. The car wasn’t moving.

Chapter Five
Alex tried in vain to balance two bags of groceries and unlock the door to his house at the same time. The moon was bright, and leaf-shaped shadows danced across the porch as the wind whispered through the aged oaks lining the driveway. The lock was being more troublesome than usual. Sighing, Alex set the groceries down on the porch and held his key up to the light. Sure enough, he’d been trying the wrong key. Locating the correct key, he let himself into the house.
Instinctively locking the door behind him. He flipped on the lights as he took a cursory glance around the living room and kitchen area. Everything was as it should be. Slowly, he circled the room, checking that all the windows were securely locked. Standing at the last window, he stared out at the woods lining his backyard and wondered at the insanity of it. Eve had always argued that they could leave the job at the station. And he had always proven her wrong. Even this, making sure that all the windows were locked. Normal people didn’t worry about such things. Not every time they came into their own homes.
Alex shook his head and walked into the kitchen to get himself a drink. Then, settling himself into a green recliner he read his mail. Bills, a letter from his uncle, more bills, and a magazine advertising the best sales on women’s shoes. He wouldn’t be needing that one, he thought ruefully. Taking a sip of his drink, a mixture of cranberry juice and Sprite, he set his mail aside. Sometimes he wished he really did drink. What he wouldn’t give to numb his mind sometimes, but that wasn’t an option. He’d never drunk alcohol in his life, and he didn’t plan to start now. Not after what he’d seen alcohol do to his father.
Groaning, he got up from the recliner and headed into the kitchen to make himself something to eat. Hitting the play button on his answering machine, he popped open the fridge and began to debate between left over meatloaf and a sandwich. Lifting the tinfoil, he suspiciously inspected the meatloaf, expecting to see green mold.
“Um, hi Alex. This is Cole. Remember, if you need to talk…anyway, call me. You know the number. Bye man.”
Beep.
“Hey Alexander the Great, this is Kevin, incase there’s someone else who calls you Alexander the Great. I haven’t heard from you in, like, forever. Give me a call; it’d be great to hear from you. By the way, I got into Penn State, in case you wanted to know. Hope things are good with you. Tell Eve I said hi. Hey, when are you going to ask her to marry you anyway? Oops…sorry…hope she isn’t in the room. Call me, 933-243-5483.”
Beep.
Guilt tried to settle in Alex’s stomach, but he didn’t let it. It was true, it’d been forever since he’d called his little brother Kevin just to talk, but he’d been busy lately. He hadn’t realized how long it had been, but if Kevin didn’t know about him and Eve breaking up, then it must have been at least two months.
The thought of Eve did what his brother’s call couldn’t; it made guilt settle heavily in the pit of his stomach. A picture of Eve flashed through his mind, her eyes half-closed as she read one of her books in the shifting light of the fire. Her head tilted forward so that her hair obscured half her face from his view. Her lips silently mouthing the words as she read. Her feet tucked up underneath her for warmth. Then, another image pushed it’s way to the front of his mind.
Angie. Angie, looking like death warmed over. But not even that. Just death. Her eyes fixed and dilated, as if staring at some far off light. Her hair a mess of blood splashed out behind her on the cold, white linoleum. Blood seeping out from underneath the hand still gripping her throat. All the color gone from her lips, her cheeks; except for the scarlet blood. The red against the white. The life abandoning the lifeless. Always this was what he thought of when he thought of Eve. Angie had been his partner for two years when she’d been killed in her own kitchen by the woman who’d killed Amy Watson. One of the few cases he hadn’t been able to crack. That’s when he’d stopped seeing Eve. It wasn’t smart to be involved with another cop. If it hurt this much to lose Angie, his partner and friend, he couldn’t imagine, didn’t want to imagine, what it would be like to lose Eve. So he’d pushed her away. It hurt less than seeing her dead. He knew it didn’t make sense. That’s the part that hurt her the most, he thought. He knew that his being involved with her would probably have absolutely no effect on whether or not she got killed in the line of duty, but for some reason that didn’t matter. He couldn’t be with her and not keep seeing Angie and worrying about her.
Beep, beep, beep, beep. Slowly Alex emerged from his reverie to the steady beeping of the answering machine, signifying that it’s just finished playing the messages. Realizing he’d completely missed some messages while he was zoned, he hit the play button again and fast-forwarded through the first two.
“Hey Alex, this is Tina over at the lab. We finished running those tests you ordered on the stuff taken in the sting yesterday. Drop by tomorrow and I’ll run it by you.”
Beep.
“Alex, this is Eve. I…have some of your stuff if you want it back. Umm…it’s just little stuff. You’re Miles Davis CD, some shirts and stuff. I wouldn’t even have called, but you forgot the spare keys to your house and car and I figured you’d probably need them. Whatever, call me if you want them back. I, umm, got my number changed. You can reach me at 395-9063, same area code as before. Or call my cell. Bye.”
Alex was surprised when relief, not guilt, came over him. He hadn’t realized it, but he’d been worrying about Eve in the back of his head ever since Cole had mentioned her being gone. It was good to know she was okay. He thought about calling her back, but changed his mind. It was after eleven. His stomach growled noisily and he grabbed two pieces of white bread from the cupboard and popped them into the toaster. As they cooked, he wondered why Eve had changed her number and why she hadn’t show up for work that day.

Tuesday--Chapter Six
Slowly Eve watched the colors behind her eyelids dance. She was dizzy. Her head felt like it had been used for basketball practice and her ankles and wrists were chaffing where she was bound. Funny. She’d been unconscious but she hadn’t dreamt. People always talked about having the weirdest dreams when they were knocked out, but she hadn’t dreamt at all. Especially strange because she always dreamt. Every night since she was 9 she’d had the same dream. Except for a little while, she thought. Then, pushing such silly, ineffective, pointless wonderings aside, she began to focus on the problem at hand. Okay, what do you always do first when trying to solve a puzzle where some of the pieces are missing? Look at the pieces you have. First of all, she’d been kidnapped, that much was clear. She knew nothing about her kidnapper except that he was a male, rather muscular, definitely strong, had green eyes and was maybe 6 feet tall. He could either pick a lock or had gotten his hands on, and made a spare set of, her car keys because he’d been inside her car when he’d taken her, and she always kept her car locked. Other than that, she knew next to nothing. Did he have something against her personally, or had this been a random thing? That was the biggest question. What did he intend to do with her was the second. She prayed he was only after money. Someone after ransom she could work with, a killer she could not. Belatedly, Eve realized that the swirling wasn’t just in her head, the car was moving. At the same time she realized that her stomach was clambering rather loudly for food and her mouth felt like sandpaper. Gradually she began to feel her way around the edges of the trunk, not quite sure what she was looking for. Finally, she felt something smooth and cool just above her head. Slipping her hands around it, she pulled a half full, plastic jug of liquid down until it was even with her face. Tilting it at a forty-five degree angle so that none of the liquid would slosh out, she slowly screwed off the lid, mindful of the painful chaffing on her wrists with each turn. At last, she had the lid off and tentatively sniffed at the mouth of the bottle. Not smelling an odor, she lowered the jug until the liquid threatened to spill over and then stuck her tongue out to catch a drop of it that hung from the rim. Water. She smiled and then began to drink greedily.

Page1

Sunday

Chapter One
Eve could feel the light pulling her up out of the dark well that was her mind. With relief she realized that she had survived another night. Slowly she watched the blackness behind her lids change from the dark emptiness of a void to the blackness caused solely by the absence of light, knowing that in a few moments she would be able to open her eyes and see sunlight streaming in the windows of her bedroom. The muscles in her back were cramped and she stretched with long, languid movements, making her body an X across her bed. Yawning, she opened her eyes.
Darkness.
Her heart slammed in her chest. For one perilous instant Eve thought she had slipped over the edge. She thought she’s gotten herself stuck in the dark void that was her mind. She had known this day would come eventually, ever since she was a little girl, but she wasn’t ready. Heck, she’d never be ready. Then a flutter off to her right caused her eyes to roll with fear. There was another flutter and then a glimpse of stars. Air exploded from Eve’s lungs in a strangled gasp. She hadn’t even realized she’d been holding her breath. It was only nighttime, she reassured herself. She shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs from her sleep-saturated mind. Turning her head, she looked at the red glowing lights of her alarm clock. 12 p.m. Jeez, she’d just gotten into bed an hour ago.
Her skin was damp with perspiration. Slowly, she threw back her coverlet, swung her legs over the edge of her queen size bed and stood up. She quickly strode over to the bathroom door and felt inside for the lights. Flipping them on, she stepped onto the cold linoleum, then onto the rug in front of the sink as shivers chased one another up her spine. She looked at herself in the mirror.
Her reflection stared back at her. Slowly she studied herself. Her hair was black and hung down her back like spread silk. It was the only sign of her Japanese heritage that she possessed. Her eyes moved to her skin. It was soft and smooth, but ghostly pale. Her nose was turned up just a bit at the end. Her mouth was too wide for her face and her eyebrows weren’t as arched as she would have liked. Then she looked into her own eyes. People had told her that they were beautiful. Dark blue, with hints of purple, they were definitely unusual, but all Eve saw was the darkness. How could anyone not see it right away? It lurked there in the color of her eyes; the portals to her mind.
“Eve, honey, are you alright?” Eve’s grandmother called up the stairs.
“Uh, yeah, I’m fine…I just…forgot to…brush my teeth!” Eve snapped out of her reverie. She leaned over, turned the cold water on, and splashed her face. Grabbing a hand towel, she straightened back up as she patted her face dry. Dropping the towel on the counter next to the sink, she looked herself in the eyes again. Portals to her mind, what a load of crap. “Watch it, Eve. You’re starting to lose it,” she muttered under her breath as she left the room and walked back to her bed.
Sliding under the covers, she shivered. Most people checked their rooms for imaginary monsters when they woke from a nightmare, but not her. In her nightmare, the danger was always in her mind. In the inky blackness that tried to tempt her to let go of her mind and dive in. Just like her mother. She closed her eyes at that thought. Focus on something good, she told herself. Then she imagined she was safe. That there was someone hovering next to her in the bed, protecting her even from herself. Her protector looked a lot like Alex, she realized. As she drifted into sleep she sighed and pushed that thought out of her mind. Alex was gone.

Monday--Chapter Two
Eve walked down the steps of her grandmother’s house at 5 o’clock the next morning. She could hear her grandmother humming in the kitchen and smell bacon on the stove. Her stomach growled and she quirked a half-smile as she follow it into the kitchen. Her grandmother was petite and slim, but had been known to stand up to men twice her size and come out on top. When she heard Eve walk in, she glanced up with a big smile on her face. It was hard to keep the smile from slipping away as she took in the dark smudges below her granddaughter’s eyes and the slackness around her mouth.
“Good morning,” she said as Eve walked over to the coffee pot and poured herself a cup.
“’Morning,” Eve replied while folding herself into a chair at the table.
“You hungry?”
“Yes,” she admitted “but I have to be at work by 6, so I can’t stay long.”
“Slow down, child. Work will wait.” her grandmother replied.
“Not mine, Nana.”
“Oh, yes, I’m getting forgetful in my old age, killers don’t take days off, do they?,” Nana shot back, her voice laced with disapproval. “When are you going to settle down? I know it’s too soon after, well, Alex and all that, but you should at least be out there. Laura called yesterday. She said you haven’t been out with her and Tammy in forever. She’s worried about you, honey.”
“I’ve been busy Nana.”
“But honey-
“I don’t want to talk about this right now. I’m late for work” she said as she grabbed a bagel and headed for the door. She hated to blow Nana off like that, but she really was late. Conveniently.
Sighing, Eve slipped into her car and started the engine. The black Mercedes purred to life. It was one of the few luxuries Eve allowed herself, but it always made her feel better to drive it. Putting the car into reverse she backed out of the driveway and onto the street. She put the car in drive and glanced in the rearview mirror. A pair of disturbing green eyes stared back at her. Eve’s heart lodged in her throat. Strong hands came up to clamp right below it, as the man behind her leaned forward, never breaking eye contact. Suddenly her survival instincts kicked into high gear and she clawed desperately at the hands around her throat. Kicking her feet, she hit the gas pedal and the car shot forward, throwing her attacker backwards. As he fell, his hands tightened and panic surged through Eve anew. The car sped straight into the mailbox with a loud crunch. Still kicking she managed to hit the horn with her knee as his hands squeezed tighter, blocking off her air supply. As angry red dots invaded her vision, she prayed Nana wouldn’t come out of the house to see what all the commotion was. If Nana was hurt, well, she wasn’t going to think about that. Huh, she thought, as black dots danced before her eyes, not exactly my life flashing before my eyes is it? Then the blackness swallowed her.