East Pender Boxed Set: Cozy Mystery Series Bundle of Books 1-14 Page 16

  With nothing else to do, Ellen and Kelly left the station and returned to the cafe. On the way they were talking about the case.

  “The poor girl must be scared. Do you think whoever kidnapped her will try it again?”

  “She should be safe in the hospital with all those people around, but when she's released it could be a different matter. However, this could provide a break in the case because whoever is responsible for her kidnapping now will be getting desperate and desperate people make mistakes.”

  Chapter 6

  “Is it true?” Beatrice asked with wide eyes.

  Ellen glanced around the cafe at all the people muttering to themselves and rolled her eyes. Word really did travel quickly around East Pender. While she and Andy had hoped that news wouldn't get out, it had. The cafe was alive with people talking about various theories, and now Ella's friend was standing in front of Ellen, hoping for some good news. Ellen chewed the inside of her lip as she mulled over her options. There was really no point in denying it, but technically Beatrice was a suspect, even though Ellen thought it unlikely that Beatrice had anything to do with it. After all, the person who subdued Ella must have been strong, especially to kick down the door, and Ellen didn't see Beatrice doing that. However, Ellen was aware that her faculties were slightly impaired so she didn't want to rule out any possibility just yet. She needed more knowledge, and sometimes that required giving up some of her own.

  “Yes, it's true,” Ellen said, and escorted Beatrice over to a quiet corner of the cafe.

  Beatrice looked so relieved and smiled. Her eyes danced with delight and in that moment Ellen knew she could not have been responsible, unless she was an extremely good actor.

  “Is she okay? Is she safe?” Beatrice asked, a thousand questions running through her mind.

  “She's fine now, she's just in the hospital resting and recovering. So far she hasn't woken up or said anything, but I'm going to go and see her myself.”

  “Can I come? It might be good for her to see a friend,” Beatrice said with hope in her eyes. Ellen wasn't too sure, however.

  “It might be overwhelming. She's been through a lot and I wouldn't want her to get too intense just after escaping. Besides, we need to get her to focus and answer some questions. But don't worry, it'll just be a matter of time. I'll be sure to tell her you want to see her. As soon as the doctors think she's up for it, I'll tell you,” Ellen said, and Beatrice seemed to be placated.

  “I've just been so worried, you know? I mean, when things like this happen you don't want to think of the worst but you can't help it and when there was no sign of her...I'm just so glad she's alright.”

  “I think we all are. It's always a tragedy. All we need now is to find out what happened.”

  “Do you have any theories?”

  “Not as yet,” Ellen said, and couldn't hide the disappointment from her voice.

  “I'm sure something will turn up. Now that she's awake she should be able to tell us something about what happened to her,” Beatrice said.

  Ellen appreciated the girl’s optimism but she knew these things were rarely as clear cut as all that. For one, the kidnapper may never have shown Ella his or her face, or Ella may have been blindfolded the whole time. If she didn't know the area that well it may prove difficult to pinpoint the exact location of where she was being held. The worst possibility, of course, was that Ella was suffering from Stockholm syndrome, but Ellen hoped that since it only had been a few days that wouldn't have had a chance to develop. She exchanged a few more words with Beatrice before she left, nodding to Jack to take care of the cafe in her absence.

  On her way to the hospital she was filled with worry. Anywhere she looked out on the streets she felt an increasing sense of paranoia because somewhere out there was a kidnapper, lurking in the town. She had met her fair share of criminals in her time but there was something more disturbing about this one, about the fact that Ella was dragged out of her own home and taken away to where nobody could find her. If it wasn't for Scampy she wouldn't have been found. As Ellen thought about being left in a place where nobody could hear your screams and the bleak hopelessness set in, tears filled her eyes.

  Having never particularly liked hospitals, Ellen tried to make her stay there as brief as possible. She spoke to Ella's doctor briefly, who told her that, aside from being dehydrated and exhausted, Ella was actually in good shape. Whoever had kidnapped her hadn't assaulted her, all she needed was rest. Ellen greeted the guard at the door, and checked with him that nobody had been around. All had been quiet, according to the guard. She was a little surprised that she hadn't seen anything of Gregory. She had assumed he would have wanted to see his sister, but perhaps he hadn't heard the news yet. Just as she was talking with the guard Andy left the room.

  “How is she?”

  “She's okay, not very responsive. She's not talking much. Guess it's just because she's shaken. Poor thing is terrified though,” he said.

  “I can imagine. You don't think it's bad that I brought Scampy do you?”

  “No, actually I think it will do some good. He is the reason she's here, after all,” he said, and Ellen sensed that something was wrong.

  “You know you would have found her, right?”

  “No, I don't know that,” he said, and turned away to get some coffee.

  Ellen had an urge to go after him but Scampy was tugging at the leash and Ella was in the room waiting for her. She knocked on the door softly and nudged it open. The room was dark and, just like everywhere else in the town, fans were aiding the air conditioners by blowing cool air around. Ella was sitting up in bed, now wearing a hospital gown rather than the clothes she had been found in. She had been washed and her hair had been brushed but she still had a haunted look about her. The lines on her face were drawn and there were dark circles under her eyes. She had her arms folded tightly against her, and when she noticed that Ellen had entered the room she covered her wrists, conscious of the marks on them. The sun hit against the window but the curtains were drawn, giving the room an eerie, shaded look.

  “Hello Ella, I'm Ellen, it's nice to meet you,” she said.

  “Are you with the police?” Ella replied.

  “Sort of...I help them out sometimes with cases. But I'm not employed by them. I own The Chrome Cafe, and it was my dog that found you,” she said, and stepped away so that Ella could see Scampy.

  Ella's ears pricked up at the mention of the cafe but she remained looking nonplussed about it all. However, Scampy had other ideas. He broke free of Ellen's grip and ran up to the bed, leaping on it and nuzzling into Ella. The young woman tried to resist at first, wary of Ellen's presence, but couldn't stop a smile from appearing on her face as the dog cuddled up to her.

  “I owe this little guy a lot, what's his name?”

  “Scampy, do you mind if I sit down?” Ellen asked, and Ella gave her an assenting nod. Ellen took a seat by the bed and enjoyed watching the two of them play a little.

  “I don't know how he even found me, but I'm sure glad he did.”

  Ellen let the two of them relax for a little while, letting silence linger over the two of them while she, too, tried collecting her thoughts. Ella was safe and sound in hospital but there was still the mystery of her disappearance. There were so many questions that Ellen wanted to ask. Yet she knew she needed to be careful, for one wrong word could shut Ella down completely. Ella, with her long dark hair, wide young eyes, and cherubic heart-shaped face... looked like an angel as she lay in that bed and now Ellen could see why Beatrice had spoken so highly of her. She certainly had an aura about her that seemed to send calming signals through the room. Ellen couldn't understand how anyone could be immune to it, how anyone could break through it and actually cause her harm.

  While she played with Scampy, Ella looked at peace, as though this was just another normal day in her normal life. Yet Ellen had spent much time observing people and the closer she looked the more she saw the haunted anguish behind Ella'
s eyes. While Scampy danced upon the bed and nuzzled into Ella's body, Ellen noticed how Ella twitched whenever there was an unexpected sound, how her eyes darted furtively across the room, how she always made an effort to keep the marks on her body hidden. To anyone else these would have been imperceptible mannerisms but to Ellen they were as plain as day.

  “Ella, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” Ellen said softly, leaning forward in her chair, which creaked a little. Ella was playing with something in her hands, making Scampy leap up to try catching it but it was always out of reach.

  “Ella,” Ellen repeated when the young woman didn't respond. She turned to face Ellen and gave a slight nod of assent.

  “I know it's difficult to talk about but if we're going to catch the person responsible we're going to need whatever information you can provide. Can you tell me anything about who took you, or where you were kept?”

  “It was in the woods somewhere...I don't know where. I was blindfolded. But it was dark and sheltered. Even the sun couldn't get through,” she said, her eyes gazing off into the distance, this time ignoring Scampy as the dog tried to continue playing. Ellen waited for Ella to say something else but no words followed.

  “What about who took you? Can you tell me anything about them?” she asked.

  Ella's face tightened and her lower lip began to tremble. Her eyes became liquid as they filled with tears, although she was making a concerted effort to not let them fall. The girl's fists clutched at the bed sheets and her entire body began seething with a mixture of anger and fear. She started to choke out tears.

  “I...I can't,” she said, “I'm sorry,” and then collapsed into her pillow, turning away from Ellen and the world.

  Her body heaved with heavy sobs as she wept into the pillow, holding it tightly around her face, smothering herself. Ellen rushed up and placed a hand on her back while Scampy tried to nuzzle into her. They tried to help rescue her again, this time from her own internal anguish, but for the moment there was nothing either of them could do.

  “I'll come and see you again soon. Be well,” Ellen said, and she stroked the girl's hair before she left and reunited with Andy, who was waiting outside.

  Ellen shook her head as the door clicked closed behind her.

  “She won’t say anything. The poor thing must be traumatized,” she said.

  “Yes, but if she won't speak then the chances of us catching whoever did this to her are severely reduced,” Andy said, pursing his lips.

  The three of them were standing together in an awkward silence until Kelly said she was going to take the dog back. Ellen had appreciated the thought as she wanted to spend some more time with Andy. Moments later she had second thoughts and actually suggested that Scampy stay with Ella. She hoped he would offer some comfort and give her a sense of normalcy, and Andy agreed. Kelly still left though, because she sensed Ellen and the police chief needed to have some time alone.

  In any other season Ellen would have suggested they go for a walk but the heat was too much. So instead they went to the hospital cafeteria and got a couple of cheap cups of coffee. After one mouthful Andy almost spit it back out.

  “I think I've become too used to the good stuff you serve,” he said, pushing the cup into the middle of the table.

  “I can't imagine what Ella must be going through. We all feel so safe and strong going about our daily lives but she had it taken away from her. She was just like any of us, but now she's never going to be the same. She'll never be able to forget that one day someone just came into her life and took her away. How can such a thing happen so easily?”

  “I don't know, but it does,” Andy said, his words drenched with bitterness.

  “I feel so sorry for her...when I was in there it was almost...almost like she was my daughter. Sometimes...I don't know, do you ever regret not having kids?”

  “When I was younger I always thought I would have kids. I mean, that was the order of things, right? You go to school, fall in love with a sweetheart, start a career, get married, and have kids. That's what seemed normal to me. And I did most of it, but when it came time for that commitment I had been on the force for a number of years and I had seen so many things...”

  “Were you with anyone?”

  “Yeah, my first love, the one I thought was going to be the love of my life,” he said, smiling wryly as he remembered a time long ago.

  “What was she like?”

  “Her name was Emily. We met at school. She wanted to be a weather girl, of all things, but she ended up getting a job at a publisher, which is also how my brother got his first book published. I had my heart set on being a cop since, God, I don't even know. Must have been from when I was a kid. Took all the exams and graduated from the academy and things were so perfect, you know? She was beautiful, we were in love, we were talking of the future and where we were going to live, what we were going to call our kids. It was like our whole lives were just waiting for us.”

  “What happened?”

  “I became a cop because I wanted to keep people safe. I wanted to know at the end of every day that I had made a difference in making the world a better place, but when I started that job it was like I had been living a lie. I had been so caught up in a bubble that I only truly saw the world for what it is when I started working. There was so much crime and so many open cases, so many people who wanted to break the law and hurt other people that it just overwhelmed me.

  That was when things started to change. Our conversations about the future were becoming less and less frequent. I actually had bought an engagement ring with the intention of proposing, but it stayed hidden in a drawer because everything I thought I believed was proving to be a lie. I thought that people were inherently good but I was swamped with so much criminal activity that sometimes it seemed as though being bad was the natural state of affairs. I couldn't justify bringing another life into this world. I just couldn't, not with all the pain and sorrow...how could I subject a kid to that? Emily never could understand and it led to more and more arguments until she ended up leaving. Then I was just a cop.”

  Ellen reached over and squeezed his hand, moved by the depth of emotion he displayed.

  “I don't believe you were ever just a cop,” she said, smiling.

  He returned her gesture and, for the first time in a while, it felt as though she had her Andy back, and the walls between them had been removed.

  “What about yourself?” he asked.

  “I think now I regret it. When I was younger it always seemed like one of those things that probably was going to happen one day, but I never made any great plans. I think I was too caught up in work and, by the time it came to talking about having kids, I was just too busy...Then everything with my parents happened and I never got around to it. I don't think it’s as bad as everyone thinks, though. I'm still happy and I still have a fulfilling life but there is a nurturing part of me that feels like it's missing something. I suppose that's just a symptom of being alone for so long.”

  “I'm sure Scampy is a handful enough!” Andy said, and they both let out a small laugh.

  “You got that right. But yeah, being in there with Ella just brought something out in me. I don't know, maybe it's because we've both lost our parents and I just want someone to be there for her so I'm projecting or something. I just hate the thought that she has to go through it alone.”

  “She has her brother and her friends, but some people don't mind going through things alone.”

  “Yeah, I know that,” Ellen said with a pointed look toward Andy. He sighed.

  “I guess I should have seen that coming. Look, I'm sorry I've been so distant recently. It's just this case brought back a lot of old memories and sometimes...I told you the reason I became a cop was to make a difference and to leave the world a better place but I'm honestly not sure I've done that.”

  “Andy...of course you have. I've seen it even before we were working together. You've solved so many cases-”

  “
And so many have been unsolved as well.”

  “But you can't keep focusing on them. You have to take a balanced view. You've helped so many people in your career that you've done more good than probably everyone in East Pender put together. I know you probably don't want to admit it but everyone here loves you. If you said you were leaving or retiring there would be a big outcry.”

  “Yeah, until they find out I'm just Clive Dunlop from my brother's books.” He tapped his fingers on the table and looked downcast and sullen. Ellen's gaze hardened.

  “You know, self-pity isn't a good look on you,” she said, and the harshness of her words took Andy by surprise. He looked up, directly at her, as her words sliced through the fragile shield of his self-pity.

  “I get that your brother took elements from your life and made them into this character. I don't know whether that was right of him or not, but I'm not going to argue that because it doesn't have anything to do with your life. From that moment when your brother put pen to paper and started to breathe life into that character he became something different than just a carbon copy of you. You have your own life while this character is just written on the page by your brother.

  He's not writing your life and you shouldn't see yourself as this fictional person because only you have the ability to write your own life. You make the decisions that shape your future and, yeah, sometimes things are going to happen that you don't think you can cope with. You make mistakes, but you try your best to learn from them and carry on, and be better than you were. I get that this unsolved case weighs heavily on you and you've decided it's your cross to bear, but you have to look at the good you do as well and take a balanced view. Otherwise, it's going to swallow you up.”