Chapter 43: Unfortunate Events

POV: Zac

Word Count: 3249

September 14, 2009; Monday

Taylor and Stella were due back tomorrow, but Ike and I were not being lazy. Gabby was in the kitchen area finishing up a few drawings and Ike and I were packing equipment and making sure we had everything we needed for the tour. Which is what we were doing now. It was just after lunch when Gabby came to the door.

“Detectives Myers and Mabis are here, they want to talk to us.”

“Now?” I asked.

I looked at her and knew it had to be important, because she looked worried.

“Heather is with them.”

“We can break Zac, it’s fine. I’m about dead anyway.”

We stopped and went to the front met with them in the kitchen. We took seats and they did too, thankfully we had a lot here.

“We’ve done all that we can do with the items that were mailed. ” Myers said.

“Did you find anything on any of them?” I asked.

“The swan had a partial print, Simon’s. The note is the one with his full print. None of the other items have prints but we know gloves were used we found patterns consistent with leather.”

“So he used gloves when he was handling the paper and stuff?” I asked.

“Yes. We no longer feel like Simon or Max were independent murders, we do not feel they were drug related either.”

“Why?” Gabby asked.

“At the crime scene for Mr. Reed fibers were found, they were a purplish blue color and didn’t match anything at his residence. After they were analyzed carefully they were determined to be carpet fibers, specifically for vehicles. We suspect that Max was actually killed somewhere else and then moved in a car. We suspected that anyway. But, We believe they’re related because the same fibers were found in Simon’s house. They were in the living room area probably tracked in from the garage door.”

“So, you’re pretty sure they weren’t killed because of drugs, but by whomever is sending the items?” Gabby asked.

“Yes. The fibers linked the two scenes.”

“Is there any progress on finding the body?” Isaac asked.

They exchanged looks before looking at us. “We found Simon’s body a month ago.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” I asked.

“The coroner took extra time because of the dismemberment and it wasn’t really pretty. The body parts were found in another county, scattered in a field. We didn’t know it was our victim until last week. There were signs of torture before, burn marks mostly and at least some evidence to show he might have been alive when the hands and feet were removed.”

“What do you mean alive?” Gabby asked.

“Tissue damage showed some healing at the feet especially. The person who did it was super clean, we didn’t find stray hairs or blood that wasn’t his. We did find some of yours in the house but based on his confession we expected that. There were signs of clean up, wipe down.”

“Was there any clue with the fibers?”

“It’s a unique color but it was also used in thousands of vehicles and that is only the ones registered with the unique name, it could have classified as blue and redone also. We have checked local shops but none report using it.”

“What about the boxes that were mailed? Maine, the city.” Isaac said.

“Maine’s was delivered to a location outside a city, the people there had no recollection of who dropped it off. The same for Oklahoma City, the places used were very busy, high traffic areas and no cameras. The people working there don’t recall anyone creepy or suspicious. Added, there is drop off places outside the buildings and they were small enough to fit in those.”

“Is there any good news that you have?” Gabby asked.

“Unfortunately not. Mrs. Smith gave us a call because there was an incident at her family’s resident.”

“Yeah, uh we did a bachelorette party there and that light up owl was there.” Gabby said.

“Her parents were super with their system and because of the number of parties and potential risk they keep footage for two years, so we were able to go back to each date you were there.”

“Wow.” I said.

Heather turned her laptop around. “It’s not wow Zac, it’s fucking creepy.”

She played a video from what appeared to be a party, after a few moments I realized it was Sierra’s party from last year.

“Is that from Sierra’s party?”

“Yes. I reviewed the video personally and had Sierra also, because she did the invite list.”

We watched it and we could see ourselves but honestly I didn’t see anything different. I mean I saw when Tera handed me the candy, saw her and I coming in later. The bedrooms clearly didn’t have cameras, thankfully.

“I’m not sure what we’re looking for. Looks pretty much like a party although Zac you may have some explaining there.”

“She gave me ecstasy but Gabby recognized it. I’m fine and I didn’t go back and never touched it again.”

I wouldn’t tell him that was one hell of a night with her. She rewound and this time paused it, several times there was some guy there, I couldn’t see who it was, his back was to the camera.

“You didn’t recognize any of your friends there?” Heather asked.

“No. None of mine were there.”

“This person no one knows, I asked several people. But they remember he hung out with Tera. His face is never seen. Not even when he’s outside the bedroom door.”

She played another video from the hallway and sure enough there was someone there, trying to get in and neither of us had ever even heard the door.

“He doesn’t have a tattoo, the stripper guy does.”

She held up a hand and played another video this one was clearly Taylor’s birthday party. All our friends were seen a lot of the same ones at the weddings and stuff, nothing stuck out to me.

“The party itself won’t say much, no one tries to hide anything or even do anything to either of you during the party. What I caught was after you left the party.” Heather said.

She moved us forward to the hallway showed Gabby going to into the room and then I followed soon after, but I remembered someone trying to open the door and someone did try. This person however had their face covered with a black mask and gloves. When the door didn’t open he leaned in and then sat there for hours.

“How come no one else noticed him?” I asked.

“You guys were on the third floor, everyone else stayed on the second floor. I came to bed late and no one was there, if you look ahead he gets up and leaves ten minutes before I arrive but he’s back once I’m in the room. He didn’t leave the door for hours after that. Then he left.”

“You mean this man sat outside the bedroom door and what?” Gabby asked.

“He listened, to whatever you talked about, whatever you done. He probably didn’t hear much conversation if you talked normally or weren’t near the door. But, he would have heard other sounds, sexual ones mostly. Unless you’re very quiet.” Detective Myers said.

“Are you saying this man sat there and listened to us?” I asked.

“Yes.” He said.

“Why would he have come to the room? He should have known Zac would be there.” She said.

“That, I cannot answer. Maybe he wanted to watch or thought you were alone for some reason.”

“It was around the time I got pregnant, could that be his reason for being mad about that? I mean, he knows we’re married, he should know we have sex.” Gabby said.

“If he was able to back track your due date to a probable time, it could be. Maybe his plan was more than what we know. He is wearing a mask and gloves here, there’s no telling what the ultimate plan was. Only he can tell us that.”

She showed video from both times the strippers were present. I wasn’t even phased by how they were and neither was Isaac. But the guy was clearly the same one, the tattoo was quite custom and even with the additions, the core lettering was the same.

“Is there any idea what that tattoo says?” Gabby asked.

“Mrs., Sampson had a clear photo of the tattoo and we took it to an officer that spoke Chinese. It’s a name.”

“A name?” I asked.

“It’s her name. Gabriella in Chinese.”

“Hold up…are you telling me that this asshole went and tattooed her name onto his body?” I asked.

“Yes. We went to every parlor in Tulsa and surrounding counties, no one in the area did this. We have a few officers asking shops in Oklahoma city and we contacted Maine police and asked them too. We chose those because of the mailed packages. So far no one has returned but even if they do unless a credit card was used, it’ll be hard to figure out who actually had it done, cash probably won’t lead us anywhere unless the artist knows him personally.”

“What about the owl?”

“We asked about that too, that’s super specifics but lead the same direction, so far no one.”

“Are you sure it was an actual tattoo?” Myers asked.

Up until then Mabis had been doing the talking.

“Yes. It was an owl tattoo.”

“There is something else from the cameras.” Heather said.

She played another snippet, just a few weeks ago. Shows Sierra taking her to bed after the issues in the living room, Sierra leaves and returns but 30 minutes after the strippers leave the house, you see the guy come inside through a rear door and he goes right to her room. Gabby watched and the longer she watched the more rapid her breathing got. The next person that exists the room is her and she goes right to Sierra and Heather’s.

“He was…but..I...”

“Gabby, look at me, breathe honey.”

“He was in the room when I was awake!”

“Yes, but he didn’t do anything.”

“That’s not all…” she said.

She fast forwarded, he sat in the room with all three of them for two hours and after I arrived he was also there.

“If he doesn’t like Zac and thinks she’s better off…why did he not try anything there? I mean, she’s alone in the room, he could have done anything.”

I was momentarily confused when Gabby bolted from the room, but Heather shook her head and went after her. Left me there with the detectives.

“Honestly Mr. Hanson only he can answer that. It’s entirely possible that he did.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“We don’t know what he did while she was asleep.”

I rubbed my hands over my face, more to hope that I’d wipe the thought away but I couldn’t. It was probably why she ran out of the room.

“She had trouble sleeping Friday night, she kept moving rooms, changing positions and ended up in a recliner. She didn’t complain about that Saturday. Are you trying to tell me that this fucker could have done something to make her sleep?”

“Yes.” He said.

Heather came to the door. “I can’t get her to calm down, you need to go.”

I got up and followed Heather to the main bathroom here and stepped in. Her breathing wasn’t much better and she was leaned against the wall. So, I sat beside her and put my arms around her.

“Baby you need to calm down.”

“He could have…”

“Gabby, calm down.”

I maneuvered her into my lap, holding her tightly as I could. Heather returned to the front to let them know they needed to wait. I know I sat there five minutes at least just telling her to calm down and rubbing her back.

“What if he…”

I sat her up. “Baby, you would have known when you woke up if he went that far. You didn’t mention anything like that or feeling weird when I called.”

“And if your call is what stopped him?”

“Then it’s a good thing I called, but you said you were waking up before then. Given how he’s acted at the party then I’d imagine that touch is all he did. Which makes it not less worse but least he didn’t go beyond that.”

“What if whatever he used hurt the baby and we can’t tell right now?”

“You’re appointment is Wednesday, we’ll ask while we’re there. It’s going to be okay Gabby.”

She laid back down for a few minutes before we managed to get up and head back. They were just waiting but Gabby elected to just step out and Heather went with her to the studio.

“Is she okay?” Ike asked.

“She’s afraid he raped her while she was asleep. Is that possible?” I asked.

“It is, depending on what was used he could have done anything. But, it is likely that she wouldn’t have known when she woke up.”

Isaac’s hands were clenched about as tight as mine were and I am sure Taylor won’t be much better when they were told.

“So, Simon is for sure dead. You now believe he and Max are connected and whoever is doing this is that person. How come he hasn’t escalated? He’s still just sending stuff. He’s not really coming after her.”

“Couple of theories, one is that he knows she’s with you or with you and your brothers most of the time. She’s around people that will call 911 or report what’s going on. Two is that he enjoys seeing the tension, turmoil, problems, and what he’s doing from a far or when it’s safe. We contacted the strip club, the names they gave us aren’t part of your inner circle and one of them was fake.”

“That’s probably owl dude.”

“Probably. The third theory is that he’s waiting for you all to leave. Is she staying home?”

“Yes. But, she’ll be with their wives, my parents, Abigail, Sierra, Heather, Jack and Andrew. Between those they’ve agreed to never let her be alone. So, even when I’m not here and my brothers aren’t, she will not be alone.”

“We’ve done backgrounds on everyone from the wedding list you provided.”

“Wedding list?” Isaac asked.

“Did anything come up?”

“Just minor things, traffic violations mostly. None of the ones you listed as top 5 had records at all.”

“Is there anything specific we need to do while away?” I asked.

“There isn’t a lot you can do, but the biggest thing is that she’s not alone and she’s with people you trust completely. I’d recommend using less people because there is that risk of their schedules conflicting and if this guy is watching her somehow, he may take the first chance he gets. Make sure there aware of this.” Mabis said.

“Leave a list of numbers for you and them, anyone that can reach you. In the event that something does occur, there are multiple avenues to reach you.” Detective Myers said.

“Do you want us to continue to bring the owls and stuff in?”

“Yes. It established a pattern and maybe he’ll screw up and include a print or a fiber or something.”

“What should I be looking for? You keep saying this has to be someone we know, but no one is acting odd, not to me.”

“Has there been anyone that randomly shows up? Comments excessively on her?” Mabis asked.

“Lucas and Andrew, but neither of them have been excessive. Andrew is dating her friend Abby. Lucas she feels uncomfortable with him.”

“Do they make sexual comments?”

“No.”

“Just look for behavior that is inconsistent with how you expect them to act. If your around them and she’s overly loving on you or something and one of them gets mad about it, that could be a sign that something is off. If you notice them buying things for her that is uncommon, under clothes or overly sexy items, that could be a problem. So far it seems he’s been careful.”

Careful was an understatement. They finally left but they hadn’t provided much information that was really useful, other than how careful this fucker was. Heather was sitting with Gabby, who was sitting at the drums but not really playing. More a less just tapping.

“Anything else?” She asked.

“Not really. Guest list was fine, no one came back with a past in murder or mayhem.”

“Speaking of…you turned in a guest list?” Isaac asked.

“She got another owl at the wedding, it was left in the bathroom with her. We thought maybe he was there, they keep telling us it’s someone we know. But, I guess the guy got in somehow and back out.”

She continually tapped. “Maybe I should go with you.”

I clearly hadn’t heard that right so I looked at her.

“You don’t want too. You made that super clear.”

“I don’t want too no, but maybe…Maybe that’s one of those decisions that I suck at making.”

“No, I think your decisions is right. You won’t be alone and that’s the key.” Isaac said.

I wanted to backhand him upside the head, I wanted her to come with us so I could make damn sure she wasn’t alone, here he was backing her up?!

“I agree. I think with people being with you then you’ll be fine. If you’re comfortable with it I own a gun I can bring it too.”

“A gun?” she asked.

“Yes. I bought it years ago and visit the gun range often. I can’t leave it there when I’m not there, but if it’ll make you feel better I’ll bring it when I am. I have a carry permit.”

“I…I’ll let you know.”

Gabby wasn’t really a gun person, she didn’t mind the few I had or my slight obsession but she had me keep them well out of view and in an area that is completely safe, in the top of the closet in locked boxes. But, I kind of liked the idea of someone being armed around her. Heather remained here while we finished what we could and then we all went to dinner down the road. Stella was actually going to be joining us for a little bit, Nicole and Gabby agreed to watch her build for a few weeks so she and Taylor could spend more time together and she could experience the tour more too. She would remain at home after our Cain’s show the end of the month though.

Neither of us slept well, she because of the baby moving around and her inability to get comfortable and me because I kept replying in my mind that it was someone we know. What if it was Andrew? He had always asked where she was or why she wasn’t with me, but he was my best friend and he was dating Abby! What about Jack? He was going to be here in this house 80 percent of the time I was gone, if it was him I was basically handing her over to him! He also had the strength to do what was done to Max and Simon. But, he hadn’t showed any sexual interest in her. Then there was Lucas, who had shown interest and well…maybe her gut feeling was right.