HOUSE OF BROKEN SOULS Part 43
Warnings: This Chapter: None. Overall: Slash, sexually explicit content, graphic violence
The fiction includes a mental illness storyline. I am not qualified in mental health, everything I know about it is googled. It's fantasy folks, please don't shoot me though helpful criticism is always welcomed.
*Not real. The folks aren't mine. No damage intended.
Lia (Cheebles) is still with me for help & support for which I am very grateful (hugs)
***
So there were two main prompts to this ridiculously convoluted plot and we are nearing the end. The first was Dirty lil’ Secret by Queensryche which I shared in the prologue. The other I’m sharing now. Don’t ask me how they got twisted together in my strange little brain, I have no idea;
“He looked right into the face of it, made to stare at the darkness, kind of darkness you can’t even imagine. Blacker than the space we move through. They made him watch. He probably tried to turn away but they wouldn't let him. You call him a survivor. He’s not. A man goes up against that kind of will, the only way to deal with it, I suspect, is to become it.” ~ Capt. Mal Reynolds, Firefly - 1.03, Bushwhacked.
If you’ve never watched Firefly…..WHAT have you been doing with your life?!
***
They followed the exit signs through the bright, wide hospital corridors. Jared started to loosen his tie.
“Oh no! I need to send a pic of you, all smart, to Jensen, then you can take the tie off. Hand me your phone.”
Kate backed up and fiddled with it, seemingly pressing keys at random. Jared reached to show her but she shooed him back “uh-uh I got it. Say cheese!” He posed dramatically and she took several pictures. “I’ll sort sending them in the cab.” she said.
There was one cab as they approached the taxi rank. A young mother with a buggy struggled with a toddler behind them. Kate scanned the approach road with increasing agitation but Jared didn’t notice, he was too busy playing peek-a-boo with the lively child. Another cab was winding slowly toward the taxi rank and she relaxed as the registration number came into view. “We should let them go to the front of the line.” she whispered to Jared.
“What? Oh yeah, good idea.” They stepped aside graciously and the family gratefully took their place.
The next cab pulled in and they bundled into it. Kate spilled the contents of her bag in the footwell as soon as they sat down. The driver, in low baseball cap and shades, tutted and moved out onto the road anyway. Jared bent over to help her pick up the assortment of pens, coins, tissues and documents.
“Where to?” the driver asked as they were still gathering her belongings. Kate reached and took Jared’s carelessly scrunched coat from his lap, shook it and placed it beside her, away from the architect.
“Where’s the most festive shopping mall?” asked Jared.
“With elves.” added Kate.
The driver gave a twisted smirk into the mirror and gave a name.
“There!” they called out simultaneously.
The contents of her bag retrieved, Kate resumed fiddling with Jared’s phone. “Jay, give me the pay-as-you-go. It’s much simpler.”
He reached into his pants pocket and handed it to her. She took the memory card out of it and tried to place it in the other but it didn’t fit. She subtly loosened it’s battery and put the pay-as-you-go on Jared’s jacket. “Oh I’ll have to use the other one.” She slipped a card back into Jared’s phone. There was a satisfying beep and she gave an excited clap. “Just waiting for the confirmation.” she said.
Emma glanced smugly at the oblivious man beside her, the jacket with the mace in it’s pocket and the phones by her lap. She palmed the original memory card into her pocket. Too easy she thought.
The street narrowed and buildings thinned. There were no other vehicles on the road and trees overhung it in clusters. The highway was uneven, adding an extra hum to the noise of the engine. “Are you sure this is the right way?” Jared asked doubtfully, leaning forward to speak to the driver.
“It’s one them aht o’ town jobs.” the driver tapped gnarled yellow-tipped fingers on the wheel.
Jared took time to look at him properly and recoiled, his face turning ashen. “You!”
The cab screeched and fishtailed onto the verge as the brakes were applied too generously. The wheels kicked up a spray of mud which spattered onto the window glass as the car slid towards a stand of trees. It came to a stop inches away from a sturdy trunk.
Jared saw Kate freeze, her mouth gaping in terror. He reined in his fear and struggled with the handle of his door but the child locks were on. He fumbled for his phone but he didn’t have it. “Caitlin, dial 911 now. Kate!” She didn’t respond.
Laing removed his shades and turned in his seat, Jared snarled his lips and drew back his right hand in a fist, he nudged Kate with his left, trying to rouse her into action. He saw the gun in his hand as he started to swing and halted his hand in midair as Laing aimed it at Kate. He withdrew his fist “Please. Don’t hurt her. You can let her out and I‘ll go with you.” I was supposed to protect her. I promised I'd protect her. I was warned and I didn't listen. He was crushed by the thought.
The Player smiled cruelly “Why would I do tha‘? Ya both gan with me.”
“You can’t drive the car and keep us at gunpoint and you can’t get out to open the door and keep it aimed.”
His heart raced as he saw Kate move but the gun didn’t fire. He registered the cold blade across his neck before he saw the knife. Laing moved his arm to point the pistol at him.
She spoke harshly, “For fuck’s sake quit dawdling and get him tied up before anyone sees us.” Jared looked into the stone cold face and saw Emma.
***
They weren’t at the hospital. Cams showed them leaving the building at 10.50. They were smiling and Jared was hugging Kate. A cabbie reported seeing a couple who resembled them, they had offered their cab to a lady with children, but he couldn’t be sure it was them.
Chad pulled the profiler in as soon as the fingerprints were discovered but she’d had little time to study Kate’s background or records. They’d spoken to Doc Carver and the information they did have, combined with his experience, was grim.
“Until she was six she was in an environment where violence was an accepted way of dealing with conflict. She watched her family die that way at a young age, goodness knows how many other acts of violence she witnessed. Then she was wrenched away from everything she knew, forced to become someone else, sent alone to a strange country and grew up without any sort of family environment. She was a straight A student because she didn’t have friends and didn’t have a social life. It’s on record that she was bullied. She left school and voluntarily became someone else again.She was a psychosis waiting to happen, even before she met the Painters.” The profiler sounded apologetic. “Detective Ackles, there’s something else you should know, it’s probable she killed James and Emma Painter but right now she may believe she is Emma Painter. It fits with the character changes which were witnessed at Glenview.”
Of course Jensen knew she'd killed Jake Abel. He may not have seen it but he'd been there, he heard the commentary, he knew the details and he had denied it, denied her. Three cards..
He put the last piece together himself “and if she believes she is Emma Painter then there’s every possibility she’s working with Laing. Shit! Fuck!”
“If she is, there’s a significant shift in Laing’s behavior and I’m working on that but I’m not sure we have enough time. Kate may believe she’s Emma, but she will have Kate’s instincts and even some of her memories. She doesn’t have Emma’s past so she has to rely on her own. It’s the best I’ve got Detective. I’m sorry.”
Jensen needed a drink. He needed it with ever fiber of his burning body. He rubbed his sweaty, shaking palms on his trousers and bit his lip. He wanted to cry, but he was a cop and here he was in a strange building, in a strange town with his badge and a job to do.
He drew a large trembling breath and placed his mobile on the table. He schooled his features into the best assimilation of a business-like expression that he could muster. There was only one person who could have got that close to Jared so quickly, who knew about Baltimore, the Pay-as-you-go and would know the most convincing text to send. If Jay was still alive then he was with a Kate who believed she was Emma and they knew nothing about Kate. They needed to know more and these people, in this building, were the best link he had to her.
He sipped his water and gripped his cane, tapping it on the floor. Christ he needed the water to be Jack Daniels right now. “I don’t suppose you have any whiskey, do you?”
“I wish dude. No alcohol on site, it dulls the senses, leads to deaths. Now that’s something Kate would tell you.”
“..leads to deaths.” he was right, Jensen didn’t need to be responsible for any more deaths and not Jared’s, especially not Jared’s. Get a grip and think, Ackles. Where would she go?
“Tell me about Kate.”
The tall man looked at him and he sat heavily in his seat. “I didn’t know her personally, don’t think anyone really did. She was very private. She would have a laugh on site but when it came time to go home she didn’t stop and chat. I couldn’t even tell you if she had a boyfriend” he sat back and rubbed his nose “Hell she could have been, married with ten cats, I don’t know.” He glanced toward round-man “How ‘bout you?”
“She said she’d never date anyone at work but that’s all I know.”
Jensen slumped a little and rubbed his hands through his hair. It was pointless, Jared was dead, Kate was lost and he may as well have pointed the gun and pulled the trigger.
“Has something happened?” Tall-man, leaned forward, “We’ll get you a coffee, he nodded toward round-man.”
“She’s disappeared, we think it could have something to do with her original memory loss. She was injured, someone attacked her.” the man nodded understandingly and Jensen continued, his voice sandpaper, “My boyfriend is with her. They’re both gone. They were at the hospital and now they’re just…not.” It wasn't professional to talk like this but he needed to talk to somebody, he needed to say it aloud and this man seemed dependable enough
“So, we should tell you everything we know.” Tall-man seemed to sense what Jensen needed, he adopted a business-like voice of his own. “You want to know about enemies and threats? She had a few run-ins in her time, par for the course in this trade.”
Jensen sat up straight, get a grip, as round-man placed a hot mug of coffee in his hand. “I put sugar in, figured you need it.”
He blew steam from the top and sipped, grimacing at the sweetness but appreciating it‘s energy boost. “Just start from the beginning, everything you know. Can I put you on loud speaker to our Texas office?”
“Sure.“ Tall-man stared into a corner, gathering his thoughts. “First time we met I thought I’d made a big mistake. We had serious issues with some dangerous chemicals and dusts. We thought it would break us financially to do it right so we took a short-cut, got caught by the authorities. Hell of a fuss, almost shut us down. One of the enforcement guys gave us Kate’s card. He said she may be able to find ways that wouldn’t put anyone at risk or get us into trouble. Told us if we were serious about not going under we’d tow the line with her. Her fees…” he whistled “She was absolutely a last resort. We had to send all our paperwork in advance.
First day she showed up, this tiny lady, perfect hair, shiny car, designer suit with safety boots and helmet! Everyone was there and we showed her the site and she poked her head into every corner, yet said nothing. She sat at a table with us and asked us to tell her everything that we’d done and she still said nothing, just a couple of short questions. I thought, well she’s a flake. Then when we’d all finished she got up, asked to borrow our whiteboard, summarised everything we’d told her and I mean everything, drew a diagram on the board, outlined a totally different way of looking at our problems and proposed a solution that wouldn‘t bankrupt us. Bam! She got us through.
Turned out it was the way she approaches everything. Listens, gathers all the information, works it out in her freaky head before speaking. It wasn’t without complications, there’s very few of us used to working with the discipline her methods require. She walks a grey line between the legal guidelines and disaster . Her worst nightmare would be someone getting hurt on her watch, so she doesn’t let you fall off that tightrope. Been a few times I‘ve see the men go up against her, full on threats, big guys too. She doesn‘t flinch. Not a twitch. She doesn‘t shout, if anything she gets quieter and when she‘s like that she‘s somehow full-on scary. There‘s wild rumours that she‘s got mob connections and a few more that she‘s just unhinged, but as far as I can tell she cultivates those to make her act work better. It’s tough for a woman to get respect in this environment. When she looks like you could blow her away with an office fan, it’s gotta be even tougher. If she‘s really pissed or frustrated she has this habit of fiddling with the work knife on her belt, she pops the fastener which has an incredibly intimidating effect on some of the guys. ”
“Has she ever hurt anyone to your knowledge?”
“God no! The opposite, she’s like a mother hen. She fights to keep the guys safe, that’s what causes the conflict. She’ll have them use their safety equipment whether they want it or not. I’ve always had the impression she genuinely cares.
There was one guy, fancied himself a bit of a mobster and told his foreman to cut corners behind her back. She found out, he tried to sack the foreman and she got between them and refused to allow it, said she’d throw the entire firm off site if he did. They got into words and he said he’d bury her in concrete shoes. I remember her pulling herself to full 5’2” height, looking him in the eye and saying if she killed him first she knew a lot of fantastic places to hide a body and she played with that damn knife the entire time.“ he paused and allowed himself a slight chuckle “Wasn’t the last time I heard that threat neither. Thing is, her job, she has to know every inch of every site she works, every room, cupboard, duct and ceiling void, she knows every building material and every pipe. It’s what she actually uses that stupid knife for - she digs it into walls to quickly confirm if they’re brick, wood, plasterboard or something other. The threat was always believable but she never did anything to anyone.” He stopped and sipped at his own coffee. They all fell into a silence.
Despite her childhood Kate had turned out well. She was doing just fine, Jensen thought, she would have been fine if I’d managed to catch The Player. Everything that she had done and become was the direct result of his own failure. He could hear a radio playing rap music and a tradesman singing tunelessly along. There was hammering and the distant whine of a saw.
The profiler spoke first, over the speaker-phone. “What was her relationship with Jake and Emma.”
Tall-man looked confused, round man launched into an explanation. “Jake liked Kate, thought she was pretty. She told him why she did stuff and he respected that, thought the way she was so assertive was dead sexy too. He liked Emma, the sandwich lady, but I think that was just looks. If you saw the two together they looked similar but they were so different. Emma was quiet and scruffy and had no confidence, Kate was the opposite. Like day and night, the same things are there but they look different.” he said philosophically.
“Did you ever meet James Painter, her husband?”
“Oh, if he was the guy that drove the van, boy he was a moody one. He hated Jake looking at Emma, man, if looks could kill but you know what? He checked out Kate every single time. Couldn’t leer more if he tried. Go figure.”
They fell into silence again “That’s um really all I know. Can I get back to work now?” said round-man.
“Yeah. Sure. Thanks.” said Jensen.
“You’ve been helpful.” added the profiler. “I’m going to go work with this now. If you get any more, let me know.” she rang off.
Jensen shook his head and drummed his fingers against the table. None of it told him where Jared was. He needed to think. He glanced at his bag with the case file in. “Have you got a desk? Can I use an office?” he asked. It was out of the ordinary, utterly unethical, but it was all he had.
“We have plenty. Follow me, pick one.” Jensen made to gather his bag but in that moment his mind changed up a gear and with bright realization he remembered another drawing. “Hang on.” he said and delved into his document holder. He spread the page out on the desk triumphantly, a drawing with the title ‘House of Broken Souls’ . “This. Would this be what’s left of the Roosevelt Asylum?” He had a hunch. This place fitted.
Tall-Man squinted at it “Seems so. Why?”
Jensen felt the adrenalin rise in him and his pulse raced. “I need directions.”
“Local PD would locate it quickly.”
Jensen hesitated. He examined the drawing again. “According to this, it’s all underground and there’s only one way in or out, is that how you see it?”
Tall -man nodded his affirmation.
“Generally, how accurate are Kate’s drawings?”
“A hundred percent, always.”
His hopes slumped. If Jared were still alive he would be dead the moment a SWAT team tried to enter. Jensen understood what Emma and Laing wanted, he could walk in and either everyone would live or they would die together. If they lived, there might be a way to get Kate, Caitlin or even Jane, back long enough to overpower Laing.
“Can you give me directions?”
Tall-man stood back and assessed him carefully, “Your boyfriend huh? ” he noisily sucked in a breath, “I have a car. This will help Kate, yes?”
“I hope so.”
***
There was a basic wire fence around the site, a messy field with piles of brick and tiles strewn carelessly about. The footprint of the old asylum was evident in the muddied concrete remains. Jensen told Tall-Man to stay outside the perimeter, whatever occurred. He gave him Chad’s number and told him to ring it as soon as he was out of sight.
It took him a few minutes to locate the entrance, freshly unsealed with the lock recently broken. Jensen took a deep breath. He switched on his torch, lifted the heavy metal cover and climbed in. He had business to finish.
Continued in Part 44 here: anniespinkhouse.livejournal.com/12950.html#cutid1
The fiction includes a mental illness storyline. I am not qualified in mental health, everything I know about it is googled. It's fantasy folks, please don't shoot me though helpful criticism is always welcomed.
*Not real. The folks aren't mine. No damage intended.
Lia (Cheebles) is still with me for help & support for which I am very grateful (hugs)
***
So there were two main prompts to this ridiculously convoluted plot and we are nearing the end. The first was Dirty lil’ Secret by Queensryche which I shared in the prologue. The other I’m sharing now. Don’t ask me how they got twisted together in my strange little brain, I have no idea;
“He looked right into the face of it, made to stare at the darkness, kind of darkness you can’t even imagine. Blacker than the space we move through. They made him watch. He probably tried to turn away but they wouldn't let him. You call him a survivor. He’s not. A man goes up against that kind of will, the only way to deal with it, I suspect, is to become it.” ~ Capt. Mal Reynolds, Firefly - 1.03, Bushwhacked.
If you’ve never watched Firefly…..WHAT have you been doing with your life?!
***
They followed the exit signs through the bright, wide hospital corridors. Jared started to loosen his tie.
“Oh no! I need to send a pic of you, all smart, to Jensen, then you can take the tie off. Hand me your phone.”
Kate backed up and fiddled with it, seemingly pressing keys at random. Jared reached to show her but she shooed him back “uh-uh I got it. Say cheese!” He posed dramatically and she took several pictures. “I’ll sort sending them in the cab.” she said.
There was one cab as they approached the taxi rank. A young mother with a buggy struggled with a toddler behind them. Kate scanned the approach road with increasing agitation but Jared didn’t notice, he was too busy playing peek-a-boo with the lively child. Another cab was winding slowly toward the taxi rank and she relaxed as the registration number came into view. “We should let them go to the front of the line.” she whispered to Jared.
“What? Oh yeah, good idea.” They stepped aside graciously and the family gratefully took their place.
The next cab pulled in and they bundled into it. Kate spilled the contents of her bag in the footwell as soon as they sat down. The driver, in low baseball cap and shades, tutted and moved out onto the road anyway. Jared bent over to help her pick up the assortment of pens, coins, tissues and documents.
“Where to?” the driver asked as they were still gathering her belongings. Kate reached and took Jared’s carelessly scrunched coat from his lap, shook it and placed it beside her, away from the architect.
“Where’s the most festive shopping mall?” asked Jared.
“With elves.” added Kate.
The driver gave a twisted smirk into the mirror and gave a name.
“There!” they called out simultaneously.
The contents of her bag retrieved, Kate resumed fiddling with Jared’s phone. “Jay, give me the pay-as-you-go. It’s much simpler.”
He reached into his pants pocket and handed it to her. She took the memory card out of it and tried to place it in the other but it didn’t fit. She subtly loosened it’s battery and put the pay-as-you-go on Jared’s jacket. “Oh I’ll have to use the other one.” She slipped a card back into Jared’s phone. There was a satisfying beep and she gave an excited clap. “Just waiting for the confirmation.” she said.
Emma glanced smugly at the oblivious man beside her, the jacket with the mace in it’s pocket and the phones by her lap. She palmed the original memory card into her pocket. Too easy she thought.
The street narrowed and buildings thinned. There were no other vehicles on the road and trees overhung it in clusters. The highway was uneven, adding an extra hum to the noise of the engine. “Are you sure this is the right way?” Jared asked doubtfully, leaning forward to speak to the driver.
“It’s one them aht o’ town jobs.” the driver tapped gnarled yellow-tipped fingers on the wheel.
Jared took time to look at him properly and recoiled, his face turning ashen. “You!”
The cab screeched and fishtailed onto the verge as the brakes were applied too generously. The wheels kicked up a spray of mud which spattered onto the window glass as the car slid towards a stand of trees. It came to a stop inches away from a sturdy trunk.
Jared saw Kate freeze, her mouth gaping in terror. He reined in his fear and struggled with the handle of his door but the child locks were on. He fumbled for his phone but he didn’t have it. “Caitlin, dial 911 now. Kate!” She didn’t respond.
Laing removed his shades and turned in his seat, Jared snarled his lips and drew back his right hand in a fist, he nudged Kate with his left, trying to rouse her into action. He saw the gun in his hand as he started to swing and halted his hand in midair as Laing aimed it at Kate. He withdrew his fist “Please. Don’t hurt her. You can let her out and I‘ll go with you.” I was supposed to protect her. I promised I'd protect her. I was warned and I didn't listen. He was crushed by the thought.
The Player smiled cruelly “Why would I do tha‘? Ya both gan with me.”
“You can’t drive the car and keep us at gunpoint and you can’t get out to open the door and keep it aimed.”
His heart raced as he saw Kate move but the gun didn’t fire. He registered the cold blade across his neck before he saw the knife. Laing moved his arm to point the pistol at him.
She spoke harshly, “For fuck’s sake quit dawdling and get him tied up before anyone sees us.” Jared looked into the stone cold face and saw Emma.
***
They weren’t at the hospital. Cams showed them leaving the building at 10.50. They were smiling and Jared was hugging Kate. A cabbie reported seeing a couple who resembled them, they had offered their cab to a lady with children, but he couldn’t be sure it was them.
Chad pulled the profiler in as soon as the fingerprints were discovered but she’d had little time to study Kate’s background or records. They’d spoken to Doc Carver and the information they did have, combined with his experience, was grim.
“Until she was six she was in an environment where violence was an accepted way of dealing with conflict. She watched her family die that way at a young age, goodness knows how many other acts of violence she witnessed. Then she was wrenched away from everything she knew, forced to become someone else, sent alone to a strange country and grew up without any sort of family environment. She was a straight A student because she didn’t have friends and didn’t have a social life. It’s on record that she was bullied. She left school and voluntarily became someone else again.She was a psychosis waiting to happen, even before she met the Painters.” The profiler sounded apologetic. “Detective Ackles, there’s something else you should know, it’s probable she killed James and Emma Painter but right now she may believe she is Emma Painter. It fits with the character changes which were witnessed at Glenview.”
Of course Jensen knew she'd killed Jake Abel. He may not have seen it but he'd been there, he heard the commentary, he knew the details and he had denied it, denied her. Three cards..
He put the last piece together himself “and if she believes she is Emma Painter then there’s every possibility she’s working with Laing. Shit! Fuck!”
“If she is, there’s a significant shift in Laing’s behavior and I’m working on that but I’m not sure we have enough time. Kate may believe she’s Emma, but she will have Kate’s instincts and even some of her memories. She doesn’t have Emma’s past so she has to rely on her own. It’s the best I’ve got Detective. I’m sorry.”
Jensen needed a drink. He needed it with ever fiber of his burning body. He rubbed his sweaty, shaking palms on his trousers and bit his lip. He wanted to cry, but he was a cop and here he was in a strange building, in a strange town with his badge and a job to do.
He drew a large trembling breath and placed his mobile on the table. He schooled his features into the best assimilation of a business-like expression that he could muster. There was only one person who could have got that close to Jared so quickly, who knew about Baltimore, the Pay-as-you-go and would know the most convincing text to send. If Jay was still alive then he was with a Kate who believed she was Emma and they knew nothing about Kate. They needed to know more and these people, in this building, were the best link he had to her.
He sipped his water and gripped his cane, tapping it on the floor. Christ he needed the water to be Jack Daniels right now. “I don’t suppose you have any whiskey, do you?”
“I wish dude. No alcohol on site, it dulls the senses, leads to deaths. Now that’s something Kate would tell you.”
“..leads to deaths.” he was right, Jensen didn’t need to be responsible for any more deaths and not Jared’s, especially not Jared’s. Get a grip and think, Ackles. Where would she go?
“Tell me about Kate.”
The tall man looked at him and he sat heavily in his seat. “I didn’t know her personally, don’t think anyone really did. She was very private. She would have a laugh on site but when it came time to go home she didn’t stop and chat. I couldn’t even tell you if she had a boyfriend” he sat back and rubbed his nose “Hell she could have been, married with ten cats, I don’t know.” He glanced toward round-man “How ‘bout you?”
“She said she’d never date anyone at work but that’s all I know.”
Jensen slumped a little and rubbed his hands through his hair. It was pointless, Jared was dead, Kate was lost and he may as well have pointed the gun and pulled the trigger.
“Has something happened?” Tall-man, leaned forward, “We’ll get you a coffee, he nodded toward round-man.”
“She’s disappeared, we think it could have something to do with her original memory loss. She was injured, someone attacked her.” the man nodded understandingly and Jensen continued, his voice sandpaper, “My boyfriend is with her. They’re both gone. They were at the hospital and now they’re just…not.” It wasn't professional to talk like this but he needed to talk to somebody, he needed to say it aloud and this man seemed dependable enough
“So, we should tell you everything we know.” Tall-man seemed to sense what Jensen needed, he adopted a business-like voice of his own. “You want to know about enemies and threats? She had a few run-ins in her time, par for the course in this trade.”
Jensen sat up straight, get a grip, as round-man placed a hot mug of coffee in his hand. “I put sugar in, figured you need it.”
He blew steam from the top and sipped, grimacing at the sweetness but appreciating it‘s energy boost. “Just start from the beginning, everything you know. Can I put you on loud speaker to our Texas office?”
“Sure.“ Tall-man stared into a corner, gathering his thoughts. “First time we met I thought I’d made a big mistake. We had serious issues with some dangerous chemicals and dusts. We thought it would break us financially to do it right so we took a short-cut, got caught by the authorities. Hell of a fuss, almost shut us down. One of the enforcement guys gave us Kate’s card. He said she may be able to find ways that wouldn’t put anyone at risk or get us into trouble. Told us if we were serious about not going under we’d tow the line with her. Her fees…” he whistled “She was absolutely a last resort. We had to send all our paperwork in advance.
First day she showed up, this tiny lady, perfect hair, shiny car, designer suit with safety boots and helmet! Everyone was there and we showed her the site and she poked her head into every corner, yet said nothing. She sat at a table with us and asked us to tell her everything that we’d done and she still said nothing, just a couple of short questions. I thought, well she’s a flake. Then when we’d all finished she got up, asked to borrow our whiteboard, summarised everything we’d told her and I mean everything, drew a diagram on the board, outlined a totally different way of looking at our problems and proposed a solution that wouldn‘t bankrupt us. Bam! She got us through.
Turned out it was the way she approaches everything. Listens, gathers all the information, works it out in her freaky head before speaking. It wasn’t without complications, there’s very few of us used to working with the discipline her methods require. She walks a grey line between the legal guidelines and disaster . Her worst nightmare would be someone getting hurt on her watch, so she doesn’t let you fall off that tightrope. Been a few times I‘ve see the men go up against her, full on threats, big guys too. She doesn‘t flinch. Not a twitch. She doesn‘t shout, if anything she gets quieter and when she‘s like that she‘s somehow full-on scary. There‘s wild rumours that she‘s got mob connections and a few more that she‘s just unhinged, but as far as I can tell she cultivates those to make her act work better. It’s tough for a woman to get respect in this environment. When she looks like you could blow her away with an office fan, it’s gotta be even tougher. If she‘s really pissed or frustrated she has this habit of fiddling with the work knife on her belt, she pops the fastener which has an incredibly intimidating effect on some of the guys. ”
“Has she ever hurt anyone to your knowledge?”
“God no! The opposite, she’s like a mother hen. She fights to keep the guys safe, that’s what causes the conflict. She’ll have them use their safety equipment whether they want it or not. I’ve always had the impression she genuinely cares.
There was one guy, fancied himself a bit of a mobster and told his foreman to cut corners behind her back. She found out, he tried to sack the foreman and she got between them and refused to allow it, said she’d throw the entire firm off site if he did. They got into words and he said he’d bury her in concrete shoes. I remember her pulling herself to full 5’2” height, looking him in the eye and saying if she killed him first she knew a lot of fantastic places to hide a body and she played with that damn knife the entire time.“ he paused and allowed himself a slight chuckle “Wasn’t the last time I heard that threat neither. Thing is, her job, she has to know every inch of every site she works, every room, cupboard, duct and ceiling void, she knows every building material and every pipe. It’s what she actually uses that stupid knife for - she digs it into walls to quickly confirm if they’re brick, wood, plasterboard or something other. The threat was always believable but she never did anything to anyone.” He stopped and sipped at his own coffee. They all fell into a silence.
Despite her childhood Kate had turned out well. She was doing just fine, Jensen thought, she would have been fine if I’d managed to catch The Player. Everything that she had done and become was the direct result of his own failure. He could hear a radio playing rap music and a tradesman singing tunelessly along. There was hammering and the distant whine of a saw.
The profiler spoke first, over the speaker-phone. “What was her relationship with Jake and Emma.”
Tall-man looked confused, round man launched into an explanation. “Jake liked Kate, thought she was pretty. She told him why she did stuff and he respected that, thought the way she was so assertive was dead sexy too. He liked Emma, the sandwich lady, but I think that was just looks. If you saw the two together they looked similar but they were so different. Emma was quiet and scruffy and had no confidence, Kate was the opposite. Like day and night, the same things are there but they look different.” he said philosophically.
“Did you ever meet James Painter, her husband?”
“Oh, if he was the guy that drove the van, boy he was a moody one. He hated Jake looking at Emma, man, if looks could kill but you know what? He checked out Kate every single time. Couldn’t leer more if he tried. Go figure.”
They fell into silence again “That’s um really all I know. Can I get back to work now?” said round-man.
“Yeah. Sure. Thanks.” said Jensen.
“You’ve been helpful.” added the profiler. “I’m going to go work with this now. If you get any more, let me know.” she rang off.
Jensen shook his head and drummed his fingers against the table. None of it told him where Jared was. He needed to think. He glanced at his bag with the case file in. “Have you got a desk? Can I use an office?” he asked. It was out of the ordinary, utterly unethical, but it was all he had.
“We have plenty. Follow me, pick one.” Jensen made to gather his bag but in that moment his mind changed up a gear and with bright realization he remembered another drawing. “Hang on.” he said and delved into his document holder. He spread the page out on the desk triumphantly, a drawing with the title ‘House of Broken Souls’ . “This. Would this be what’s left of the Roosevelt Asylum?” He had a hunch. This place fitted.
Tall-Man squinted at it “Seems so. Why?”
Jensen felt the adrenalin rise in him and his pulse raced. “I need directions.”
“Local PD would locate it quickly.”
Jensen hesitated. He examined the drawing again. “According to this, it’s all underground and there’s only one way in or out, is that how you see it?”
Tall -man nodded his affirmation.
“Generally, how accurate are Kate’s drawings?”
“A hundred percent, always.”
His hopes slumped. If Jared were still alive he would be dead the moment a SWAT team tried to enter. Jensen understood what Emma and Laing wanted, he could walk in and either everyone would live or they would die together. If they lived, there might be a way to get Kate, Caitlin or even Jane, back long enough to overpower Laing.
“Can you give me directions?”
Tall-man stood back and assessed him carefully, “Your boyfriend huh? ” he noisily sucked in a breath, “I have a car. This will help Kate, yes?”
“I hope so.”
***
There was a basic wire fence around the site, a messy field with piles of brick and tiles strewn carelessly about. The footprint of the old asylum was evident in the muddied concrete remains. Jensen told Tall-Man to stay outside the perimeter, whatever occurred. He gave him Chad’s number and told him to ring it as soon as he was out of sight.
It took him a few minutes to locate the entrance, freshly unsealed with the lock recently broken. Jensen took a deep breath. He switched on his torch, lifted the heavy metal cover and climbed in. He had business to finish.
Continued in Part 44 here: anniespinkhouse.livejournal.com/12950.html#cutid1