Page 19 of Saved By the Lieutenant
A grin creeps along his lips, and he lowers his mouth against mine. The kiss is soft and sweet, but it's still filled with passion. “Enough with the working,” he says. “You've worked your ass off for this case, you were the one that realized there was a killer on the loose, you're the one that got this case attention, Amy. You've uncovered the killer, and the police are one step closer to finding the asshole. There's nothing more you can do now.”
There's a lot more that I could do. Mrs. Dorrit will need to be laid to rest and with no family, I want to ensure that she has the perfect send off. I'll pay and organize everything. The woman meant a lot to me. She was a person that I could talk to when I was at my lowest. She never made me feel as though my pain and thoughts were insignificant, in fact, she listened with a keenear and always gave me sage advice. Her pearls of wisdom were and will always be something that I cherish. I just hate that she was caught in the crossfire of Callum wanting to find me. I'll always feel guilty for her death, but I know that it wasn't my fault, it was Callum's, and her death is on him.
“You're plotting,” Jake says with a laugh. “I love that look, plot in here where it's warm and safe, okay?”
I nod, pressing my head against his chest, his arms still tight around my body, there's no better feeling than being in his arms. “Go,” I tell him. “The sooner you go, the quicker you do it, the quicker you'll be back.” And the less I'll worry, I think, not wanting to voice that out loud.
He presses a kiss to my forehead and steps back. My stomach twists as he heads toward the door. I have a sickening feeling in the pit of my gut that something is going to happen. I'm probably worried about him and what's going to happen, but I can't help it. I finally have him back, I don't want to lose him.
He shuts the cabin door behind him, and I quickly rush to lock it. My hands shake as I engage the lock along with the chain on the door. I really wish that Peter was here, it would give me peace of mind knowing that Jake wasn't alone, but with the shit show of Callum being the killer, the police force is working overtime trying to find out everything they can about the man. They're not the only ones. Once I recovered from the shock and betrayal of finding out that a man that I have trusted for years is a cold-blooded killer, a man that wants to kill me, I started to look into his past. He grew up in Philly, but he spent time as a beat cop in Pittsburg before he moved up the ladder to Harrisburg before coming back to Philly. I checked the victim’s records and all of them were either arrested in Philly, Pittsburg, or Harrisburg. That's where Callum would’ve met them, his name is also on all but Monica's arrest records and I've yet touncover how they crossed paths. But I have no doubt that I will find out. I'll not stop searching until I do.
The two women that left the police force after making a complaint about him have come forward and this time have spoken about the abuse that they suffered at Callum's hands and the abuse of power that he used. He hurt both women while they were on duty and threatened to kill them if they continued with their complaints. Both women had been scared of what would happen if they did continue with their complaints, so they left the force.
I feel sick just thinking about how close I was to this man, how much I trusted him when the truth of the matter is, he's an abusive maniac that only cares about himself. My mind wanders to his wife, she's been married to him for close to twenty years. Does she know about what he's done? Would you know that your husband is a rapist and a murderer? Were there any signs at all? I can't help but think back over our interactions, wondering if I missed anything at all. But I can't pinpoint anything.
I'm sad and devastated that a man I trusted, that so many people trusted, was actually so evil and disgusting. I hate that his two colleagues were threatened and hurt by him and were forced to leave a job they'd worked their asses off for. My heart aches for the women that have lost their lives to this man, including Mrs. Dorrit. Callum had fooled a lot of people, and I suspect there are some that still believe in his innocence, despite all the evidence that they have against him, which includes him killing Mrs. Dorrit. People like Callum are charmers, they're fun and they're able to blend into a crowd. They get along with everyone, or so it seems, but deep down they're sad little men that prey on weaker people and hurt them to fill some need they have.
I lie down on the sofa, my head pounding, and I know that it's from my lack of sleep, not to mention the stress. I close my eyes, hoping that sleep will help ease my headache and praying that Jake will be back soon.
I wake up shivering, my gaze moving to the fire. The embers are almost out. Damn. I should’ve packed it before sleeping. Thankfully the pain in my head has gone. I stumble up from the sofa and move toward the fire, using the poker, I stab around in the ashes, hoping for some sparks so that I can place another log or two to help catch alight. I breathe a sigh of relief when I poke at the fire, that it does indeed spark. I throw on two smaller logs and grin when I see the flames rise. The fire burns away at the moss that's covering parts of the log.
Footsteps sound behind me and my heart races. Jake's back. “Honey, did you finish?” I ask loudly. “Do you need help?”
My questions are met with silence, and I spin on my heel, wondering why Jake's ignoring me. My breath catches, my body trembles, and my heart sinks. It's not Jake, God, I wish it were, but it's not. I stare wide eyed at Callum, he's not wearing a jacket, instead, he's in jeans and a gray sweater, one that's covered in blood. His face is red no doubt from the cold, and his eyes are wide and manic.
He stands in the doorway, his gaze focused solely on me. It’s then that I notice that he’s got a bloody knife in his hands, one that’s covered in fresh blood.
My mind races, trying to make sense of what I'm seeing. “What are you doing here?” I manage to choke out, my voice barely above a whisper. Callum doesn't respond, his gaze locked on mine, sending a wave of unease through me. Panic begins to rise in my chest. “Where’s Jake?”
“I had no choice,” he mutters, his words barely coherent. The fire crackles behind me, causing me to jump. “You gave me no other choice,” he snarls. “You made me do this.”
I blink, trying to fight off the tears that are threatening to fall. “Do what?” I ask, praying that he’s not hurt Jake, but the bloodied knife in his hands is telling me otherwise.
“The old lady, that asshole that tried to stop me from getting to you. If you had just died that night in the parking lot at the newspaper, none of this would have happened.”
My mind spins as I try to process the chaos unfolding before me. Callum's confession sends a chill down my spine, his words cutting through the air like shards of glass. Panic sets in as I realize the gravity of the situation. Jake’s gone. The tears that I’ve tried my hardest to keep at bay fall. God, he’s gone.
“Why?” I ask, needing to know why he’s done this. It makes no sense. He was free, he could’ve gotten away with it all. But he chose to come after me.
“They deserved what they got,” he snarls, his words filled with judgment. “Those women weren’t good. Not one of them were good girls.”
“They made mistakes,” I breathe, horrified by his justification. “They were young, and you killed them.”
He takes a step toward me, his eyes narrowed and filled with rage. “You judge me?” he growls. “You dare to judge me? The woman that helps guilty men and women get free from jail.” His lips twist in disgust. “You’re the reason that my friends have been fired, why so many good men are without a job.”
I take a step back, my eyes never leaving Callum's that are filled with so much rage and darkness. “They did do wrong, they mishandled cases, and they let evidence slip through. They made mistakes, and they paid for it. How did you manage to escape getting fired?” My voice comes out stronger this time, it's just hit me that he was also one of the men that fucked up in the last case I wrote about. It's all making sense now. Just how many men does this monster have on his side. “You let those men take the blame, didn't you?”
His grin is sinister, and it answers my question. “You were always too intuitive, always the one that dug deeper than anyone else. I bet you're kicking yourself that you didn't dig deeper on that last case?” he taunts.
He's right, I should have. I shouldn't have left it as it was, I should’ve kept looking, kept digging.
“What do you want?” I ask, trying my hardest to keep the fear out of my voice.
Callum's lips pull into a snarl, his hands tremble around the knife as he takes a menacing step forward. “Isn't it obvious?” he goads. “I want you dead. I want to shove this knife into your chest and watch as your blood seeps from your body, all the while I'm strangling the life from you.”
I swallow hard at his words, horrified that he'd be so casual about what he wants to do to me. I can't help but take a step back, my hand tightly gripping the poker still in my grasp. Callum's eyes flicker towards it and a twisted smile crosses his face. Without a word, he lunges towards me, his hands reaching out to grab me. Adrenaline surges through my veins as I swing the poker towards him, the metal connecting with his shoulder with a sickening thud. He stumbles back, the pain evident on his face, but it doesn't deter him. With every ounce of strength left in him, he advances towards me again, his eyes filled with a combination of anger and desperation.
I back away, trying to put some distance between us. I won't go down without a fight. I'll do whatever it takes to fight him off.
