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79.31% Igor Yevtishenkov / Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Chapitre 23: Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

The conversation with Thomas was rather unpleasant, especially since he was up and screaming. This hadn't happened to him for a long time. However, William understood that it was him that should take the blame for Tom's rage. All the problems had come up at once and now there had been several complaints over his behavior, as well as biased rumors of more incidents. In addition, someone had said that he'd taken some anti-anxiety medication, and complaints from the Central Hospital and the psychiatric clinic only added fuel to the fire. The incident with the reporter was the last straw, and William was temporarily suspended from his duties as a result. All the top dogs from the state police and the folks up top at city hall had descended on Tom's office at once like hawks – the last to arrive were the state attorney and the mayor. Yet, how did they all hear about this so quickly? Why were they more concerned about the antics of an ordinary policeman as opposed to planned robberies?

'You've always said that justice comes before everything and now you're mincing every last word of that. You've let me down, Sgt. Huston, Felicia – everyone! We all bend over backwards trying to help you. With this situation, everyone in this office is vital and now you go and get yourself into trouble? What the hell were you thinking?'

'William listened to Tom and realized there was nothing he could do. The recent days' events slowly faded away from him in all different directions, and he gradually sank deeper into the emotional abyss.

Having removed his mask, William went outside and got into his car. Its engine purred with its usual low rumble once he'd turned the key. He didn't remember anything about the journey home, only turning the key in the ignition. In the living room, his floor was littered with printouts of files and photographs, notepads and pens. He threw them next to the files of different years, so he didn't have to look far for references.

Something caught William's attention as he looked over a series of cases, which seemed to be the solution to his current nightmare. William knelt down and began to look over some familiar names, adding small comments to them and drawing little sketches in the corners. These were people and houses, cars and policemen, courtrooms and judges. By doing it this way, it became easier for William to work out any relationships between these things, but none had arrived in his mind so far. He changed his hunched pose and began to lay with his back to the wall and close his eyes. Meanwhile, outside his house a car had stopped and a minute or so later, a knock came at the door. Taking his gun holster, William slowly walked down the corridor and looked through the peephole. There stood a woman that somehow seemed familiar.

William realized that this woman was the same cable TV reporter as earlier. He felt a hot sweat over his face, and his heart began to pound wildly in his chest. The reporter wasn't here by chance, and William's intuition suggested that he must find out something new.

'Hello!' William said, opening the front door. He could ask the woman a lot of questions, but waited for his unexpected guest to continue the conversation.

'Do you mind if I come in?' the young woman asked, her eyes tired after a long and difficult day.

'Not at all, please, come in. Sorry, the room's a bit of a mess, so please just sit down on the sofa. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can offer you – the whiskey's all gone, poured down the sink. Your name's Linda Wu, right?'

'Yes, you've got a good memory.'

'Of course, when you're reminded of something a hundred times, you'll remember it for a lifetime. Sorry, since I've been temporarily suspended, I'm forced to stay at home. Could you tell me why you're here, please? It's late,' William sat on a chair near the doorway, so as not to crumple any papers below.

'It's my professional curiosity, to be honest,' Linda answered.

'Go on. I'm not surprised.'

'Really? I heard you had a serious problem.'

'In a way, yes, but you haven't come to me about that, right? You can't report my life to the network.'

'I just know some things about you that you might find unpleasant, but if you don't mind…'

'Linda, stop muttering! Speak clearly. I can see something's wrong,' William replied sharply.

'As far as I'm aware, your wife was close to her therapist, but he offended her. That's the first thing I've heard. Secondly, your daughter appears to be alive and you're searching for her because you supposedly found her hair in the therapist's car. Your daughter is alive since you were given fake test results. The other person's corpse was in her grave. Besides, your daughter may have a child, so at the moment, you're trying to understand everything that's going on. In doing so, you blame yourself for the loss of your wife and daughter.'

'Who told you that?' William yanked his shirt collar in anger as he spoke, wheezing. He needed to take a sedative, but the desire to hear her response made him stay put for now.

'This man said that he'd saved your daughter from you because he loved her. I've no idea who he is, but he called me this morning and said that you could tell me a bit more. I mean, it's evident you didn't love your daughter that much since you worked all hours, got addicted to pills and then handed her over to a psychiatric clinic.'

'Who told you that?' William sparked in anger, having lost his temper. Instead of Linda answering, a phone rang. William checked his pocket, but it wasn't his, and was instead Linda's. The confusion emerged since the two of them had the same pre-installed ringtone. Linda took her phone in surprise and shrugged. 'Who is it?' William asked, feeling that the call was related to the events that had unfolded here.

'I don't know since the number was withheld,' She wanted to decline the call, but William waved his hand, shouting at her:

'Answer it! Yes, yes, answer! It's him, I think it's him!'

'Who?' Linda looked at William in fear, with his eyes bulging and mouth wide open. He pressed an icon on the phone, before bringing it to her ear and heard a familiar voice.

'Hi! It's me. Can you pass the phone to Bill please?' silence was heard after that. Linda looked confused before handing the phone to William.

'What? he croaked.

'He's asking for you…' she said quietly. William walked past the sheets spread out across the floor and picked up Linda's phone. 'Lieutenant Lindstone speaking.'

'Lieutenant Lindstone, how proud you sound,' the voice on the other end declared, mockingly. Its owner had obviously disguised his voice with a nose pinch or similar.

'Who are you?'

'It does not matter. I know where your daughter is – that matters.'

'And what do you want? Money?' William felt sweat running down his face and the screen stuck to his cheek.

'Money? No, I don't need that. I just need justice to prevail. As they say, justice is above all, isn't it? Although it hurts sometimes.'

'Who are you?' William spoke with greater calmness than before, desperately attempting to recognize the voice on the other end. 'Do I know you?'

'That's not important. Do you want to see your daughter? Maybe someone else too?'

'What the hell are you talking about? What do you mean?'

'You can find out for yourself. M1 highway, 24th mile, just by the Shell gas station. I think you can get there before midnight – good luck!' the speaker's last words came in a mocking tone, following which short signals were heard in the receiver.

'God, I feel stupid. I need to check that number urgently,' William began to pace around the room, without any care for the now crumpled paper underfoot. He thought about asking Tom for help, but he just kept hearing the same answer: 'You are suspended!'

William realized that someone was might've been deliberately luring him to the gas station, but then again, who would make such a threat? What could happen at the gas station? No threats had been made, but why would this stranger send the reporter and make a call to her phone? Why had everything become so complicated, if there wasn't anything dangerous ahead? The most likely explanation for all this was that the man was afraid of William. This thought dawned on him and it immediately became easier for William to think straight. It's only cowards that don't confront people. If somebody wanted to harm him, then they could come to William's house any time without having to do it in such a long-winded manner.

Then came a question, 'What's wrong with you?'

William had forgotten about the reporter.

'Nothing at all. He just wants me to go somewhere, so thanks for your help, but I really need to go.'

'What? Are you just going to leave me here?', she asked.

'Yes,' William snapped. 'I can't waste any more time. Let's talk later if you want,' he walked to the door, opened it and Linda left without saying goodbye. She heard him dialing a number behind her, so stopped. 'Tom?' William asked, 'Can you talk? Do you know the Shell gas station at mile 24?'. Linda couldn't make anything else out, but realized William was going there now. 'Can you meet me there? Thanks buddy. Yes, I'm leaving now and I'll wait for you. See you there.'

When Lieutenant Lindstone's car passed her by, Linda was waiting for a taxi that she'd managed to order, whilst he drove out of his garage. Five minutes later, a yellow car drove up to the sidewalk, and she got into the back seat, hiding from the cold wind. Now, she didn't need to rush. She knew the address, so the main thing was to tell the driver to stop before reaching the gas station and stay hidden.


Chapitre 24: Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

Fred rushed around in the small room, trying not to disturb Sofia sleeping on the bed. They'd been staying in this godforsaken place for three days. Danny had left that morning, saying he'd be back soon. He didn't answer his calls, but instead cancelled them and texted back. Fred was confused by Danny's new numbers so kept misdialing. At least Lisa was happy playing with her toys that she'd got from "Tuesday Morning" mall on the way to the motel.

However, his hysterics were caused by something else. He was scared, very scared. It was inevitable, as after Danny had left that morning, Sofia fired questions at him about what was happening, and Fred just told her a load of lies to calm her down. He'd said the police were chasing them, as they'd found drugs in the old apartment. He wanted to blame Sofia, but she burst into tears and offered to go and fetch them a drink. She didn't even drink beer. They left the motel with Lisa, Fred carried a backpack with their money all the way to the nearest store which was quite a distance from them. He was frightened something would happen to them on the way.

Fred bought Lisa an ice-cream, and Sofia bought something too. She wandered around the empty mall alone, but returned cheerful, as if nothing had happened between them at the motel earlier.

When they returned to the motel, everything became clearer. They drank beer and ate chips, then Fred relaxed in the front-room for half an hour. When he went back to the bedroom, he saw plastic bags next to the bed. Too late. Sofia had taken something and was now completely out of it. Out of sheer desperation, he wanted to kill her, but stopped himself. He was panicking, afraid that the motel's staff may come in, even just for a chat. He was also afraid that Danny would see Sophia, lose his temper and cause more trouble. He didn't know how to tell Danny about the money and the gem. Fred had the weight of the world on his shoulders at that moment and couldn't cope.

When there was a knock at the door, he jumped, but was relieved, when he saw a familiar face greeting him.

'Where have you been?', he asked nervously, seeing Danny's smile. His friend's usually gentle face became stern and he had a cold look in his eyes.

'What happened?' Danny asked.

'I take it you already know?' Fred bit his nails and shuffled from side to side.

In a calm, but merciless voice, his friend said 'No, but I can guess. Sofia, right?'

'Yes. She found some shit somewhere and took it. She's been sleeping in the room for three hours now. What are we gonna do? Are we leaving?'

'No hurry, everything's going to be okay. I'll take Lisa to the car so she doesn't see anything and call a friend.'

'What friend?' said Fred, warily.

'She needs a drip, can't you see that? How are you going to get her into the car, on your back? Then she'll lie like a doll on the back seat until the cops stop you. Didn't you know the President's declared a state of emergency today because of the pandemic?'

'No. How could I know? I've been staying here for three days.'

'But the TV's constantly blaring. No time to explain now. Where's the baby? You need to help me pack and get them into the car,' going into the smallest bedroom, Danny took Lisa and some of her dolls. Then, calmly, he took her to his car. Coming back inside, they collected the rest of toys and all their personal belongings, except for Fred's backpack. They put everything into Danny's Toyota. Fred went back into the room, and Danny stayed in the car with Lisa.


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