Weeping Willows: A Thrilling Mystery Novella (Dark Desires Book 1) (5 page)

Never could she ever have imagined that kind Mr.
Cole was her abductor. She couldn't believe that her handsome young
lecturer was behind the madness that had wrecked through Rosewood
Creek the past few months. Pieces of a puzzle were slowing clicking
into place. Everyone at campus loved this man. His work status as a
lecturer, a perfect foil for his madness. He'd never be suspected,
for the ruthless killer that he was. His true identity masked
behind the prestige that a university tutor presented. An
intelligent man, cultured would not be the kind of man that the
police would be suspicious off. Suzie's eyes narrowed as she looked
at this man, the thought occurring to her could it be that he was
also the person responsible for her parents death? She gasped
loudly. Right here stood before her the real killer. It all made
sense now. This bastard had murdered her best friend brutally and
snatched away her happiness when he'd killed her lovely parents
too. Craig had been telling the truth. The authorities had the
wrong man, the ruthless murderer now had her and no one was the
wiser. He leaned closer, she could feel his breath warm against her
cheek as he gently brushed at her tears with the pads of his
fingers. A feeling of revulsion coursed through her body as she
stiffened at his touch.

He softly whispered to her,
“There now, Suzanne. I'm not going to hurt you.
You mean the world to me. Can't you see, I've done all of this so
we could be together.”
He rambled
on,
“I know in time you will understand, I
didn't have a choice. I had to be rid of them so we could be
together.”
Suzie froze at his words. It
felt like tight fingers were squeezing her heart as she realized
just how insane this man was. He appeared to be totally delusional.
He was justifying his action to her. More fear and dread consumed
Suzie, she was at the mercy of a cold blooded murdering psychopath
and no one knew of her plight. Uncle Frank and Aunt Lizzie had
visited the day before. It would be a good few days before they
would come by calling. God only knew if she'd live until
then.

Jeremy Cole gave Suzie an assessing look as he
abruptly straightened, turned and walked out the doorway, shutting
the door with a loud click. The sound echoing in finality in her
head as he left her alone. She could hear his footsteps receding
into the darkness.

The torrent of pent up tears that she'd been holding
in overflowed as she sobbed hopelessly. All the mixed emotions that
were bottled up over the few months exploding as she cried herself
at the futility of her situation. She was afraid, alone and at the
mercy of a mad man. She had cried herself into a stupor, the
effects of the chloroform and exhaustion leaving her totally spent.
She slipped into a troubled slumber.

- Chapter 16 -

A rooster crowed in the distance, Suzie opened her
eyes wishing that it had all just been a nightmare but as she moved
her torn skin at her wrist and ankles ached. She winched at the
pain lying still once more. Jeremy Cole, as they all knew him, it
was probably not his real name, was standing at the tiny window.
Suzie knew that they were in a cabin, as she looked at the
interior. Beyond the walls of the cabin, she had no idea where she
was but from the sounds of wildlife she assumed they were in remote
wilderness. The silence of her surrounding confirmed this. He
walked over to her with a bowl and spoon. He told her that they
were all alone and she shouldn't bother screaming as no one could
hear anything for miles around. He lifted the spoon and attempted
to feed her. Her tummy growled but Suzie shook her head aside. She
didn't want to eat from this monster.

He turned her head with one hand,
pressing on the side of her jaws a determined look in his eyes as
he once more attempted to forcefully feed her. She spat the
contents onto his face as she glared at him with intense hate. He
put the spoon down and lifted his hand. Suzie cringed as she
thought he would strike her but instead he just wiped his face with
a handkerchief, through back his head and roared out with
laughter
. “Quite the spitfire!”
He drawled as she stared shocked. Turning on his
heel he abruptly strode out the door without a backward
glance.

- Chapter 17 -

Rosewood Creek law nestled closely
on the outskirts of London. The sleepy town was cocooned as the
final threads of winter shredded away. Spring had come. Frank
Andrews dressed in an immaculate suit and Elizabeth Andrews in her
best Sunday attire, a peach tailored two piece, walked towards the
ringing bell of the town church. A special service was to be held
in honor of the three dear people who had been killed. Both husband
and wife walked forward to greet Reverend Elias who was
instrumental in organizing the service in remembrance of their
departed loved ones. This was the kindness of a close knit
community that made the Andrews feel like they belonged. Up until
the tragedies that befell Rosewood Creek, the little town had been
an immense joy. The tall grey church stood proudly with rose tinted
glass at the windows. The neat rows of benches with familiar faces
sitting together, an encouraging smile from one or the other as
Reverend Elias led them to the front rows. The church was packed to
capacity. Frank Andrew's heart felt warm at such solidarity from
this community. He glanced around, leaning forward he whispered to
the reverend,
“Where is Suzie, hasn't she
arrived yet?”

The reverend replied that he’d called and called but
Suzie hadn't been answering. He thought that she most probably
didn't want to talk to anyone. Uncle Frank digested this
information.

The service was beautiful. It brought tears to their
eyes. As reverend and a few of the congregation came forward to
deliver speeches and just to reminiscence about Suzie's parents and
their beloved Melissa. After refreshments were served people
mingled outside in the court of the church. They whispered about
the court case regarding Craig had finally come to an end and he
was found to be guilty. Sentencing would be scheduled in a few
days. Frank Andrews walked away to a corner of the church and as he
quickly placed a call to Suzie he found it odd that she was not
home. Reverend Elias assured him that word had been sent besides
notice of the speech were up everywhere in Rosewood Creek. Suzie's
phone just kept ringing and going to voicemail. A sixth sense, call
it detective intuition, was nagging at him. Suzie was an extremely
diligent girl, he felt certain that she would not ignore a special
service planned for Melly and her parents. It would be
disrespectful and Suzie was most certainly very respectful.

As the afternoon drew on Frank decided not to tell
Lizzie about Suzie as her nerves had been fraught to breaking
point. Dropping her at home, he told his wife that he was just
going to drive up to Suzie's cottage to check up on her. It had
already been a week since they'd last spoken to her.

Frank had not mentioned to anyone about his real
concerns. He'd sat at the courthouse and had this uneasy
restlessness that all had not been revealed through the court
proceedings. There were a lot of missing pieces. Craig's past had
definitely made a major impact on the trial, but there were a lot
of holes that couldn't be answered.

His sharp mind kept going back to
the facts, yes, the lighter was Craig's but he had claimed it had
been missing for a while when he'd quit smoking. There was no clue
to his daughter's missing fingers, they had not been found. Craig
came out looking like a liar but the details in the cross
questioning didn't add up. Frank could spot a liar from miles away
but on the witness stand, Craig remained adamant that he did not
know where the missing body parts were. He never changed his story
in fact in anything he seemed broken at the evidence of how Melly
had been mutilated.
What's missing?
He thought
.

Could Craig's fit of rage produce such cold
calculating mutilation?

It didn't fit the profile of this specific murder.
His heart just wanted to believe that the perpetrator stayed behind
bars. It would ease his aching heart.

He drummed his fingers on the steering as he drove
into the driveway leading up to Suzie's cottage. No lights twinkled
so as to greet him. Night was closing in. He got off his car and
walked up to the oak door calling out to Suzie but the cottage
looked quiet. Her car was still parked on the side of the cottage,
so she must have been home. Frank had a chilling sensation creep up
his spine. He kept pounding her door but still, there didn't seem
to be anyone there. She hadn't answered to his call. He turned the
handle and the door swung open. Her keys lay on the kitchen
counter, a feeling of abandonment rent the air. The cottage was
deserted. A dirty teacup still sat on the counter unwashed. A quick
survey around the cottage and Frank knew Suzie was not there. The
cottage felt cold and eerie. Just as he was about to step out his
gaze caught on her cellphone lying on the side table next to the
Television. His investigative intuition went into overdrive. He
quickly made a sweep outside the cottage. It was empty. His heart
began beating wildly, something was dreadfully wrong. He began
calling a few acquaintances checking if anyone had seen Suzie, no
one had. Alarmed, Frank called detective Matthews, the man in
charge of Suzanne's parent’s case. They had kept up a friendship
through his daughter's trial.

“Matthew here.”
he answered.

“Detective, I'm out at Suzie Edwards place. I think
you need to come out here. She appears to be missing. I'm deeply
concerned.”

A silence on the other end.
“Detective, are you there?”
asked Frank.

“I'm here Frank, I'll be over shortly.”
he answer ringing off. Twenty minutes later, Frank watched
the police vehicle make its way up the long pathway grinding to a
halt behind his blue Ford. Detective Mathews and his partner jumped
off the car and approached him.

Frank caught them up on Suzie's no
show for the special service and that Lizzie and him had last seen
her a week ago. All the calls to her bounced and their mutual
friends revealed that no one had heard or seen Suzie in over a week
either. The 3 men agreed to head down to the police station and
trigger a search and rescue operation as soon as possible.
Detective Matthew and partner did a quick sweep of the house to
piece together this incomplete puzzle before agreeing that this was
indeed a missing persons case. Finding Suzanne Edwards was going to
be Rosewood Creek Police Department’s number one priority. Worried
exchanged looks passed over all three men as they quickly made
their way back to the station. A call through alerted all men at
the station on the ugly situation unfolding.
“Craig is still in custody so what the bloody hell is going
on?”
shouted their captain. Every man and
trained dogs were deployed to the cottage, as high powered torches
and pickup trucks combed the forest next to the cottage. This part
of Rosewood Creek was unkempt, there was uneven terrain where only
the dogs and men on foot could access. It may take days to comb the
area and the areas adjacent to Rosewood. The media had a field day
highlighting the murders and inquisitive and curious visitors had
flocked to the Rosewood Creek and Hanover. As the hype died down,
they’d left the little towns going back to whatever they had come
from.

The search continued.

- Chapter 18 -

High up in the cabin, Suzie sat on the floor of the
tiny room. Jeremy Cole had untied her hands and feet on that second
morning that he’d taken her. She thought about the long bladed
knife that he’d ran down her cheek, a warning of what was to come
if she attempted to escape.

He’d twisted her hands behind her back as he slowly
walked her outside to show where she was. Miles and miles of forest
and slay, rough terrain was all that she could see. Her heart had
fallen. There was nothing but forest everywhere. She looked about
in awe. She had no idea where she was. He had then locked her in
the tiny room at the back of the cabin, it had a little bathroom
attached to it. She’d been locked in there every morning, Jeremy
would bring her a tray with cereal and coffee, smiling at her in
that strange way, a single white rose lay next to it.

“I’ve waited a long time for this.” He pulled a
chair, rested his arms on the backrest and stared at her hungrily.
“You’ve always been the one, Suzanne. Countless others fooled me
with their deceitful smiles and fake promises. But you’re not like
any of them. They deserved to rot.”

Suzie stared at him with utter shock. A deadly
feeling dangled within the pits of her stomach as she pulled her
knees closer to her chest. She tried to be strong but the tears
piled up against each other. In front of her sat the monster who
destroyed her life. Oh how she wished to turn back time and see
things for what they truly were.

“Come now, Suzanne. Don’t be like that. We’ll have a
wonderful life together, I pro-.”

“Burn in hell!” she interrupted. “I hope you die
miserably, you piece of filth!” Jeremy Cole’s eyes widened in
dismay. He jumped off the chair, hands dropped to his side, he took
a step back looking down at her in confusion. “What are you saying?
This isn’t you! You’re better than this Suzanne. Why are you acting
like a disgusting whore? Tell me wh-”