Chapter Four
When everyone was seated, T.K. turned to India. “Why now? What brought you back here now?”
“I found an article on another murder in Savannah. The killer’s M.O. was the same one we witnessed fifteen years ago. When I looked even further, I found six or seven more murders. I went to a friend of mine, Briar Rivers and he steered me to his brothers. They run the Rivers Foundation and hunt down dangerous people. Anyway, they looked even deeper than I had and found three more murders. Cade figures we saw the first murder.”
“Oh, my gosh…” T.K. whispered. She turned her head to stare at Cade and the others. She got up and walked over to the window. Looking outside she was silent for a moment, then she said, “I had nightmares for years after that night. Every time I would close my eyes, I saw the killer’s face.”
“Would you be willing to sit down with a police artist and give us a description of this guy?” James asked.
T.K. turned to face them. “I can do you one better.” She walked down a short hall and a moment later, she came back with a sketch pad. She handed it to India.
India opened the pad and gasped in astonishment. There on the paper in front of her was the face she saw in her nightmares. She slammed the book shut and passed it to Cade. She got up and walked over to where T.K. stood. Wrapping her arms around the other woman, she held her tight as tears ran down her face. After a moment, she let go and turned to face the others.
“You are quite the artist Miss Jonas,” Elliot told her.
“Thank you,” T.K. said. “His face has haunted me for years.”
“How did you get so much detail for one meeting?” James asked.
T.K. turned to him. “It wasn’t just one meeting. The man came back the next day and the day after that. He seemed to be looking for something but he never found it.”
“How do you know he came back?” India gasped.
T.K. looked at her and said, “I had to go back the next day. I couldn’t find you but I had to know if what we saw really happened or not. The table was gone but I could still smell the blood in the air. I went to our hiding spot and while I was there, he came back. At first, he searched the area where the murder took place, then he expanded his search. He ripped the lower level apart but he never found what he was looking for.”
“He was looking for the jar I took the night before,” India whispered worriedly.
T.K. sighed as she nodded. “I knew you shouldn’t have taken that damn jar.”
“You said he came back the night after that as well?” James asked.
“That was the night he almost caught me. I went back again the second afternoon. My mind wasn’t any closer to accepting what happened. I heard footsteps coming up the steps. I slid under a pallet and as I laid there, I saw his shoes coming toward where I was hiding. I was so scared I couldn’t move. His shoes stopped within three feet of where I was. I could feel him looking over everything. I don’t think I was breathing at this point. Then I saw him move away and I could hear his footsteps going back downstairs. I heard the door open and close but I still couldn’t move. I stayed under the pallet all night long.”
“Did he come back again after that?” Elliot asked.
“I don’t know.” T.K. said. “I never went back to the warehouse again.” She turned to India. “I heard about your mom and I wanted to come to you as a friend but I was afraid of my own shadow at the time. I could barely make it back and forth to school for the longest time.”
“I know. My life changed so much in so little time. First, the murder, then my mother. I think I was numb for the next several years.” She turned to T.K. “I wish you could come back with us. I would love to catch up on the last fifteen years.”
“That sounds like an excellent idea,” Cade told them.
“What?” T.K. frowned.
“I think you should come back to North Carolina with us, at least for a few days,” Cade said.
“Why would I do that?” T.K. asked looking from them over to India then back to the men. Her dark eyes looked doubtful.
“We’ll be going over the case and you might have more information than you realize,” he told her.
“I’m not sure I want to relive that nightmare again.” T.K. shook her head. “There are still days when I can’t bear to leave this apartment.”
“I think the only way to get over your fear is to face it,” India told her. “That guy put me through hell for so long. I had nightmares for years after the murder but I wouldn’t give him the power to stop me from achieving my goals and dreams. The fear is still there just under the surface but I don’t let it control me.”
“You always were a strong minded person, even as a kid. You never feared anything. I’m not as strong as you are.”
India shook her head. “I put on a good front. I was very scared as a kid. There was only me and my Mom then when she was taken from me. I was so lost.”
“Please reconsider coming home with us for a while,” Elliot asked.
T.K. took a moment and sighed as she nodded. “Ok, I’ll come. Maybe you’re right.” She turned to India. “Maybe it’s time I faced my fears after all.”
~* * * *~
Two hours later, they were back in the plane one their way back to Edenton. T.K. had been nervous about taking off but as soon as they were in the air, she settled down.
Once they were in the air, India grabbed the box holding the jar. She carefully lifted the jar out of the box and set it on the table in front of her.
T.K. caught sight of the jar and leaned forward. “Oh, my…”
India glanced at her. “What?”
“Is this the jar from fifteen years ago?” she asked as she picked it up and looked at it closer.
“Yes, it is. Do you see something in the jar that we don’t?” India asked.
“Oh, yeah. The craftsmanship can only be one person, Gretchen Hawks made this jar.”
India stared at her friend then glanced toward the front of the plane. Cade and Elliot were in the pilot and copilot seat. “Are you sure?”
T.K. tipped the jar over and there on the bottom of the jar was the signature of Gretchen Hawks. She tipped it toward India.
“What do you know about this woman?”
T.K. sat back in her chair and thought for a moment. “You know when we were kids I loved to draw and that carried over when I grew up. I work nights at the post office, so I don’t have to sleep in the darkness. I can’t sleep more than two hours at a time and even when I do sleep, I still have the nightmares. Also, it gives me time in the early morning to do what I truly love to do. I’m an artist. The drawings I do give me peace of mind. I also illustrate children’s books for several author friends. That helps pay the bills.”
“That’s cool.” India smiled. “I’m glad your life turned out so good.”
“It’s okay, I mean I like to draw but I love to paint. One of the people I studied in college was Gretchen Hawks. I got the internship from the African American Endowment fund. Being a black woman, I would have never had a chance at that opportunity otherwise. Gretchen works mostly in ceramics but she’s still one hell of an artist. Her works with color and texture are wonderful.”
“Do you know where she lives?”
“She’s from the Boston area. I actually got to meet her once when she was doing a course at the Boston College. She’s an eccentric woman, it’s almost as if she lives in a world all her own.”
Cade got up and joined them in the cabin. He sighed as he sat down next to India. When he saw the jar out on the table, he looked at India.
India motioned her head at the jar. “T.K. tells me the jar is a Gretchen Hawks creation.”
“A what?” Cade asked.
“Gretchen Hawks made this jar,” India repeated.
“How do you know that?” Cade looked confused.
“I studied art under her in college,” T.K. explained. She handed him the jar and turned it over in his hand so he could see the signature on the bottom. “She lives in the Boston area and is quite well known for her color and texture combinations.”
“I see,” Cade said. “I don’t know what it means but at least we know more than we did a little while ago.”
“How much longer until we get back?” T.K. asked.
Cade checked his watch. “About a half an hour or so.”
“So what do we do now?” she asked.
“We gather the evidence and go through it. We figure it out as we go along. One clue leads to another clue and that clue might lead to another. By talking through the information we have, we figure out where we have to go next.”
“Is that how you do it?” T.K. asked.
“My team is one of the best in the world.” Cade nodded. “If anyone can find this monster they can.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” T.K. said as she rubbed her hands together.
Cade stared at her for a moment then asked, “What are you afraid of?”
“What’s going to happen if this guy finds out there were two witnesses to his crime? He’s already got too much to lose to get caught now. Right now, he’s free and clear because no one knows what he looks like. If you start showing his portrait around, somebody who knows him is going to tell him. What’s going to happen to India and me then?” Her hands shook now as she spoke.
“We live in a secure compound. You will be safe there.”
“Are you going to protect us for the rest of our lives?” she asked. “I’ve had the same nightmares for years. I watched him butcher that woman over and over in my mind until that woman became me. Her screams have become my screams.” Tears began rolling down her cheeks as she looked away. Then she looked back at him. “I can’t help the fear I feel. It’s become a part of my life. I hate it but its right there every time I close my eyes.”
“When we catch this guy, and don’t doubt for a moment that we will catch him, we’ll lock him and everyone he’s associated with up. He’ll never have the chance to get anywhere near you or India. You will get your life back,” Cade promised.
India reached out and took her hand. “I, for one have to follow this through. I don’t want to live with this fear anymore. The monster in my dreams isn’t going to win. I’ve allowed this monster to have control over my life for too long already. I’m taking back the power I gave him.”
T.K. stared at her. “Is it really that simple?”
India nodded. “All you have to do is make up your mind. I understand your fear… believe me I do. I’ve lived with the same fear you have. I’ve looked over my shoulder for too long now and it’s time to stop. He isn’t going to win. I won’t let him.”
“You have already given us more than we could have hoped for,” Cade reminded her. “You gave us a face to work from and a clue about the jar he used. You are on your way to getting your life back. But you have to be strong enough to finish what you’ve started. You need to see this through to the end.”
T.K. nodded. “All I can say is…I’ll try.”
“That’s all you can do,” India said. “I’m here for you if the nights get too black.”
Cade noticed they began to descend and he excused himself to help land the plane.
India held T.K.’s hand. T.K. squeezed her hand a little tighter and asked, “Do you trust these guys?”
“Yes I do. When I read an article about the same kind of murder we witnessed fifteen years ago, everything came flooding back. When my mom died, I shoved the murder and the misery I was going through in the back of my mind. It was the only way I could survive back then. When I read the words in that news article, it all came back and I was living in desperate fear. Then I decided I wasn’t going to do that anymore. I got on the net and I searched for more murders with the same M.O. and I’ll be damned if I didn’t find them.”
“What did you do then?”
“I took what I found and I went to see a friend of mine. His name is Briar and he’s Cade and Elliot’s brother. I had no idea the Rivers Foundation existed until I met him.”
“What would you have done if he just shrugged off your fears?” T.K. asked.
“I don’t know. He very well could have. He didn’t have to hear me out but he did. Briar is a good man that way.”
T.K. stared at her for a moment then asked, “Are you scared?”
“I’m terrified, but I have to see this through. If I don’t, this sick bastard is going to keep killing. I don’t want someone else to go through what we saw fifteen years ago. This creep took our childhood and I don’t want anyone else to suffer the fears we have.”
T.K. looked out the window and saw the airport coming closer. “Maybe together, we can both get our lives back.”