Valen: Chapter 8

One of the Butcher's victims survived.

Liam

I discreetly watched as Valen made her way to the opposite side of the building. Part of me just wanted to say to hell with my duties. I should go get that beautiful lady, and whisk her away to some secluded, quiet place. I wanted to get to know her better in so many ways, her mind, her body, and her mysterious soul. The other part of me knew, in reality, that I have a very important job to do. I turned and made my way to my desk.

Ivan jumped up from his desk as soon as he spotted me. "I've been trying to call you, did you forget your cell?" He asked eagerly.

I pulled my cell out of my pocket and held it up in front of me. "It's right here, I just had it turned off. What's up?"

"We have a fifth victim," he said, and my heart suddenly sank deep into my stomach. "Status?" I asked solemnly.

"She was stabbed five times. She got away from the b*****d, and she's currently in surgery at Camden University Hospital."

I could feel my expression change from solemn to hopeful excitement. "Well, what the hell are we waiting for? Let's get over to Camden University Hospital."

Ivan grabbed his suit jacket and followed me out of the station. He filled me in more on the way to the hospital. 

The victims name is Ashley Roemer. She's a twenty-three year old call girl who met the Butcher at Club Revolt. He tricked her into leaving with him, and when he had her at his car, he knocked her out, tied her up, and blindfolded her. She later woke up at a house. Unfortunately, she can't remember where the house is yet, but we know where the couple picked her up. Fortunately for Ashley, a nice elderly couple saw her lying on the side of the road and stopped to help her. The couple put Ashley in their car, and drove her to Camden University Hospital where she was immediately taken into surgery.

Ivan and I couldn't have arrived to the hospital at a better time. When we arrived, Ashley was being taken from the operating room and into recovery.

The doctor who operated on Ashley came into the waiting area to speak with Ivan and I. He introduced himself as Dr. Shaft. Dr. Shaft told us that Ashley was stabbed five times, once in the right shoulder, once in the clavicle region, once in her right hand, and twice in her abdomen. He said that there weren't any major organs hit, but she did have some major tissue damage, and she lost a significant amount of blood. Dr. Shaft told us that she may not be awake enough to talk, but we could try in about an hour. 

I didn't want to leave the hospital just in case there were any changes in Ashley's condition so Ivan and I went to the hospital cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. 

"So, what's going on with you?" Ivan asked randomly.

I tilted my head. "What do you mean?"

"You've been acting different the last couple of days."

"I just want to get the Butcher off the streets so he doesn't hurt anyone else."

"Nah, I think there's something else, or someone else."

I slowly shook my head. "Nope, nothing else." 

After an hour had passed, we went back upstairs to the recovery area where a nurse took us back to see Ashley. Ashley was hooked up to two different beeping machines, an I.V., and had bandages on the right side of her chest and also her right hand. I bet she had bandages on her right shoulder and abdomen as well, but of course they weren't visible.

"Ashley, are you awake?" The nurse asked softly.

Ashley warily opened her eyes. "Yes," she said softly. 

Ashley, these two nice detectives are here to ask you some questions. Are you up to it?" The nurse asked.

Ashley nodded slowly. "I'll try."

The nurse nodded " giving us permission to go ahead with our questions before she moved to stand away from Ashley's bed, but she didn't leave the room.

"Hi Ashley, I'm Detective Fitzgerald and this is my partner, Ivan Lozado." I gave her a second to take that in before I continued. "Can you tell us everything you remember about last night? From the beginning?" I asked her sincerely.

"I went to Club Revolt to meet a regular client, but he didn't show up. I was sitting at the bar drinking when this strange, ugly man approached me and asked if he could buy me a drink. He bought me an Apple Martini, and we talked. He figured out what I do and he offered to pay my going rate so I left the club with him. When we got out to the parking lot, someone hit me in the head and knocked me out. I woke up in the backseat of a car tied up and blind folded. The next thing I knew, I was being dragged from the car and into a house. He took me into a bedroom and threw me down on a bed. He untied me, but he left the blindfold on. He then took off my clothes except for my underwear. He whispered in my ear that I was going to get what I deserved." She paused a beat before continuing. A stray tear rolled down her cheek. "I thought he was going to rape me, but he didn't. He tied me back up, left the room and didn't come back for a very long time. While he was gone, I was able to remove the blindfold and I took in my surroundings. I noticed I couldn't get out the window because there were bars on the outside."

"Just a guess, but how much time do you think passed?" Ivan asked her.

"It was hours, two maybe three. He was angry when he came back into the room, he said that I had been a very bad girl and needed to be punished. He untied me again, then he laid down next to me on the bed, and started running something cold and hard over my body. I wasn't sure what it was at first until he started poking me with the sharp point, and then I knew it was a knife. He asked me if I was ready to be punished, and I asked him what I had done, but he didn't answer, instead he stabbed me hard in my stomach." She stopped a moment to gain her composure before continuing. A few more tears strolled down her cheeks. "He waited a couple of minutes before stabbing me in the stomach again. He kept saying bad girls should be punished or they'll never learn. Then he stabbed me in my collarbone area. That's when I decided that I wasn't going to just lie there and die so I started to fight back. I punched and kicked as hard as I could, even though I couldn't see, I could feel where my target was. He quickly got up from the bed and was over top of me. He got me in the shoulder with the knife, but I didn't stop kicking. I kicked him hard enough to knock him off balance and he fell in the floor. That's when I stood up from the bed and jerked off the blindfold. I saw him coming at me with the knife so I held up my right hand to protect myself, and at the same time, I kicked him in the balls as hard as I could. The knife connected with my hand, but he went down to the floor so I grabbed a lamp from the bedside table and hit him over the head with it, and then I ran downstairs and out the front door. I ran as far as my body would take me. The next thing I remember, a nice man and woman were helping me into their car and then brought me here."

"Ashley do you have any idea where the house was located?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "No. I only knew that I was in a secluded area in the woods. His house was like a white, two-story farmhouse. I couldn't see any other houses nearby. I don't even know how I found the road. I just found a trail, and I followed it."

"The couple found her on Egg Harbor Road," Ivan added, looking at me.

"So the trail she found, it must have been part of the Green Trail that's used for hiking and biking," I said. 

"It makes sense," Ivan said.

"Ashley do you remember anything else?" I asked.

She only shook her head no.

"Could you describe how your abductor looked to a sketch artist?" I asked.

"I could try, I only saw him for a brief moment." 

"We just need you to do the best you can, anything that will get us closer to catching this creep."

"Okay, sure," she agreed.

I gave her a warm smile. "Thanks Ashley, we'll have a sketch artist here in a couple of hours. We want to give you some time to rest."

"Okay, thanks," she said, before closing her tired eyes.

"So what's the next step, after we get the sketch?" Ivan asked once we were on the road back to the station.

"We go to Club Revolt and watch for the creep to show up?"

"You really think he'll go back there since we have a live witness now?"

"I don't know, but I'm not taking any chances."

"We could try another approach," Ivan said.

"What's that?"

"We could use bait."

I wasn't sure what to say to that. I'm not sure if I'm up to putting one of our female officers in danger, but on the other hand it is a good idea. If Ashley, who probably weighs about one hundred and ten pounds wet, could handle the creep then a trained officer should be able to handle him as well.

Ivan and I went straight to Chief Russell's office once we arrived back at the station. We quickly filled the Chief in on what Ashley had told us, and then Ivan explained his idea about using a female officer as bait. Chief Russell was reluctant at first. He said he had made it a rule to never use an officer as bait, but he's also never had a case with a serial killer of this magnitude before. He said we could have a meeting with the female officers who fit the killer's description, and see if any of them would be willing to volunteer to be the bait. He said, under no circumstance, would he make one of his officers do such a thing. She would have to volunteer. I can't say I blame him because I personally wouldn't put someone's life in danger by force.

"Okay, who do we have that would fit the description?" Ivan asked, thinking out loud. "Natalie would be one. She's twenty-five and brunette."

"Yeah, and Robin. She's brunette and twenty-four. Are they both on duty today?" I asked the Chief.

"Yes. I'll call them into my office, and let you know once they're here," he told us.

Ivan and I went back to our desks for the time being. I still don't have a good feeling about using an officer as bait, but we also may not get any volunteers. We'll have to wait and see.

Copyright © 2016, R.J. Snow

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