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  The Impala didn’t hug the curves like the Charger and Jack kept having to slow down.

  Tomorrow. I’ll talk to Morrison and have him look at Franklin. The doctor is a lunatic. I think he’s taking meth himself. He’s his own research subject . . .

  Jack pulled over.

  Research subject. Charlie Harding. Was that torture . . . or research?

  Chapter 37 ~

  Box Full of Memories

  Jack paced back and forth in his apartment, waiting for Replacement. He looked at the clock. Six o’clock.

  He walked over and checked his phone. Nothing. No word from her. He tossed it down on the counter next to Replacement’s note.

  She said she’s running errands. She has no car so she must have gone downtown. Get a grip, Jack.

  As he headed for the window, the phone rang. He reached the counter and hit answer before the first ring stopped.

  “Hey. Where are you?”

  There was a pause.

  Jack checked the number. He didn’t recognize it. “Hello?”

  “I’m looking for Jack Stratton.” It was a girl’s voice.

  “That’s me.”

  “This is Missy Lorton. Can we talk?”

  “Certainly. Where are you?”

  “My apartment. I’m not in trouble am I?”

  “You’re off to a good start at getting out of any trouble by calling.”

  “I . . . I kept some of Michelle’s things. I want to give them back.”

  “Okay. You’re at your apartment now? I can be there right away,” Jack said.

  “I’ll wait here.” Click.

  He gathered up his jacket, keys, and gun as fast as his leg would allow, and two minutes later was racing to the college.

  Stop by Missy’s. Get Michelle’s things for Replacement. Michelle may have said something to her too. Something that Missy didn’t want to share before. I can lean on her now. Not too hard, she’s a crier.

  Jack tried Replacement again, but she didn’t pick up her phone.

  Damn.

  Jack parked right outside Missy’s apartment. This time she immediately buzzed him in. He hurried up to the third floor and knocked. Missy opened the door. Her face was splotchy, and her eyes were red.

  “Thank you for calling, Ms. Lorton.”

  “I don’t want to be in trouble.” She was hard to understand, garbling the words while trying to hold back tears.

  Crier. Not too hard.

  “I do have some additional questions.”

  Missy nodded and moved into the apartment. “I’ll get the box. I need a tissue.” She hurried down a little hallway and through a door at the end.

  Jack walked into the apartment. It looked like she still didn’t have a roommate; half of the apartment was still empty.

  “I’m sorry I kept some of her stuff.” Missy called from what Jack assumed was her bedroom. “I just . . . I thought that she was throwing it out. What’s going to happen to me?” She came back into the room and placed a large cardboard box on an end table in the living room.

  “Ms. Lorton. Can you tell me anything about Michelle on December 20? Did she say where she was going that night?” Jack opened the box.

  “No. She just left.”

  “She didn’t mention anything about going to the psychology center?”

  “How do you know she was out there?”

  “I spoke with Dr. Hahn about it. Are you familiar with the psychology center, Miss Lorton?”

  Jack looked into the box. There were some clothes and a pair of shoes on top.

  To Replacement, these things will mean the world.

  “Yeah. I take some classes there.”

  “Did Michelle talk to you about transferring?”

  “Yes. She was terribly excited about it.” Missy was leaning against the wall.

  Lie. She also said he told her about Michelle transferring before.

  As Jack lifted out a blanket, he heard a faint click behind him. He shot bolt upright and started to push to the right, but it was too late. A Taser’s barbs embedded in his side and the electricity froze his muscles, but he didn’t drop.

  He’d been shot with a Taser in training before, so he knew he could ride this wave of pain. Whoever shot it had made the mistake of being too close to Jack when they fired. The prongs need to have distance between them to affect the most muscle groups, but they were too close together.

  It’s a knockoff civilian model. A ten second burst then it’s my turn.

  Jack bellowed when the second Taser hit him. His muscles seized, and he pitched forward. As he lay writhing on the floor, someone ran up and placed a wet cloth over his face.

  Jack’s vision blurred, and a chemical smell filled his nose. He fought, but he knew it was a losing battle. The blackness rushed up to envelop him, and he toppled into the abyss.

  Chapter 38 ~

  Under the Rocks

  Jack woke and opened his eyes a fraction to check out his situation. What he saw didn’t look good. Thick leather straps bound his arms and legs to a hospital stretcher.

  Just like Charlie Harding.

  He pulled against the restraints, but they held him fast. His head pounded. He was in some kind of medical room. As he looked up, he saw the large circular machine above his head, which told him exactly where he was, even before he saw the control booth.

  The center.

  Through the large viewing window in the middle of the wall, he could see Missy in the control booth. She was talking with someone just out of his view. The conversation seemed quite animated.

  Slowly he moved his head, and he could see the edge of the heavy door on the right wall. Jack tried to remember the layout of the lab on the bottom floor of the psychology center. He remembered a corridor ran along that wall.

  Jack closed his eyes so they were slits and he tested the restraints. He’d seen people restrained many times. These straps were leather; there would be no breaking them. His wrists were fastened, and a strap went over his legs. Anger rose up in him, and he tried to drive it away.

  Stay calm. Remember your training. You’re a cop. Try to get them talking.

  The door swung open, and he heard someone walk into the room from the right. A chair scraped on the floor, and the person sat down next to the stretcher.

  “Hello, Jack.”

  “Brendan.” Jack buried his anger and his voice was low and steady.

  “You surprise me, Jack. You’re so calm. Did they teach you that in the Army? You’re a soldier, right? You served with Michelle and Alice’s brother in Iraq.” Brendan was smiling.

  Jack’s rage was seething back to the surface.

  He knows about Alice. Bluff.

  “So you figured out that you’re under investigation? The police have been looking—”

  “Very good,” Brendan chuckled. “You’re clever. You should have gone into acting, Jack. But you’ve got it all wrong. You see, you were the one under investigation. I’ve known all about you and Alice for a while.”

  Jack’s muscles exploded against the restraints to no avail.

  “Good. Good.” Brendan smiled but he still leaned back. “I need you to help me today, Jack. Your anger issues will play a part in that.” He lifted a syringe and held it to Jack’s arm. Jack gritted his teeth as Brendan inserted the needle into his arm and pushed the plunger. “You ever do meth? This is the good stuff. I added a little extra kicker for you.”

  Jack felt his arm burning as the drug started to race through his system. The door opened, and Missy pulled another stretcher in.

  “Missy,” Jack called out.

  She turned her head, and the scowl on her face twisted into a sneer as she rolled the stretcher around.

  They had strapped Replacement to the gurney. The side of her face was red; blood trickled from her nose and the corner of her mouth.

  “I’m going to kill you,” Jack yelled.

  “Not today, Jack.” Brendan shook his head.

  “You’re a limp-wrist
ed loser,” Replacement spat. “If I wasn’t tasered I would have kicked your teeth down your throat, and I’m going to rip Missy’s fat face off.”

  “Screw you, you scrawny wench,” Missy hissed before turning to Brendan. “What happened to your arm?” She pointed at the bloodstain on his shirt.

  “She bit me in the chem lab.”

  “What was she doing up there?” Missy demanded.

  “She ran in there when I went to grab her. We have to clean it up after we’re done tonight. She trashed it.” Brendan glared at Replacement.

  “Are you out of your mind?” Missy looked furious. “Everything in there is combustible. You’ll blow this whole place up.”

  “Calm down. I got two batches of the stuff.” Brendan held up two syringes. “I gave him one already.”

  Missy huffed. “Hold off on hers, it may be a long night.”

  “Now that everyone is here,” Brendan leaned down, so his face was inches from Jack’s, “let’s get started.”

  “Wait, right now everyone knows I’m watching you. Do you seriously think you can get away with this?”

  “Yeah, I do. Tonight, both you and Alice will die.”

  “I’m a cop.” Jack spoke calmly although his heart was racing and his mind was clouding. “They’ll come straight here.” Jack tried to derail the scene that was unfolding. “They know I was investigating the psychology center. They know about Charlie Harding, Tiffany McAllister, and Michelle. It will lead them right to you. Get out now while you still can.”

  Brendan shrugged. “I know they’ll come, but it won’t matter.” He placed his hand on the side of the large machine. “As for you and Alice . . . Missy wants to keep it simple and just have you disappear. To keep her happy I could just cut you up and toss your bodies deep in the woods. I think a fire at your apartment building would be better. They’ll find you and Alice in bed with some empty rum bottles and some drugs. The police will want to cover that up, and that’s that.”

  Jack’s head spun. “We have proof. It will lead them here.”

  “Proof? You met Dr. Franklin. He’s my backup plan. With all the rumors about him using meth, a suicide note and his corpse would end any investigation. How do you think Bennie Mayer had Franklin’s business card tucked into his shoe? That’s why you came by today, right?”

  Dammit.

  “You think I fell for that?” Jack asked. “I know all about your research. That’s what this is about, research? You’re looking for the God Spot.”

  Brendan’s eyes widened. He looked down at Jack and studied his face. “Impressive. You’re correct. I’m almost there. I’ll be the one who finds it. You think I want to wind up like Hahn and be the butt of everyone’s joke? They’ll all realize that Hahn was right, but I’ll get the credit. Once I locate it, I’ll shut everyone up. Do you have any idea the significance of finding it?”

  “The God Spot doesn’t exist.” Replacement picked her head up as she spat and started to struggle. “You should take Dr. Melding’s neuropsychology class you moron.”

  The veins on Brendan’s forehead bulged. “It is there. She’s a fool. She always attacks Hahn but she’s the imbecile. Did she say that? Did she say that in class?”

  “Yeah. She said Dr. Hahn is a loser who wasted twenty years of his pathetic life. Any undergrad could poke a million holes in his theories.”

  Brendan cut off her shouted tirade by slapping her. “Silence,” he commanded.

  “I’m going to rip your heart out,” Jack yelled.

  “She’s the fool, Alice.” Brendan turned back to Jack. “Dr. Hahn is too merciful a man to do what needed to be done to get there. He’s been looking for the God Spot but he used different emotions like hope and love to try to locate it; they didn’t work. I found the key. Pain.”

  Replacement laughed. “If you think pain is the way to find God then all you had to do is take your class. It was so painfully boring I prayed a piano would fall on my head. Or better yet, yours.”

  Brendan slapped her again.

  “Stop.” Missy’s order was low and commanding.

  “Better behave, Shrimpie.” Replacement laughed, but Jack could see she was hurt. “That’s what the girls in class call you. Did you know that? Did you date one?”

  Brendan punched her in the face.

  “Stop.” Jack’s body lifted off the stretcher as he screamed and strained against the restraints.

  “Hit her again.” Missy’s voice crackled over the speaker as she glared out the control room window.

  “Your boss hits like a girl.” Replacement lifted her head and looked into the control room. Her eye was starting to swell shut already.

  “He’s not my boss,” Missy snapped then smiled suggestively at Brendan.

  “Ewww.” Replacement’s reaction wasn’t taunting but honest disgust. “Brendan, you’re banging Miss Piggy? That’s gross.”

  Missy poured a stream of profanities over the speakers.

  “Shut up,” Brendan shouted. “As for you . . .” He grabbed a plastic bit and forced it between Replacement’s teeth, silencing her.

  Chapter 39 ~

  You Are Sick

  Brendan sat back down. “Now, where was I? Ah, the methods used to locate the God Spot. Dr. Hahn tried love, meditation, happiness, and then fear. None worked. I thought of pain. I know that Dr. Hahn thought my idea was credible but there are so many rules in science now about the methods you can employ. Human subjects were a necessity, but I had to pick ones that wouldn’t be missed: drug addicts, prostitutes, and such.”

  “They’re not subjects. They’re human beings.” Jack tried pulling the rail attached to his wrist up, but it held. “You’re like that sick Nazi doctor. Mengele.”

  “Mengele understood it too. They’re a means to an end. People like that are invisible. No one cared enough about them to even look. At least their lives were useful at the end, but their lifestyles deteriorated their minds. That made them inferior test subjects. Even though I gathered so much data, it was still flawed.”

  Replacement continued to struggle against her restraints.

  “Then I looked into Dr. Franklin’s research and found that meth enhanced the brain scans. I learned to make it in Dr. Franklin’s class. That’s another thing that’s wrong with academia—doctors are too worried about their egos to work together. Some of Franklin’s work is brilliant. I had to tweek the meth a little so it will cause pain. That’s what I injected you with Jack. It’s a derivative of methamphetamine. It opens all the pain sensors in your system to make them even more receptive to pain impulses. That’s the warm glow you’re feeling right now. Soon you’ll feel as if you’re being roasted alive.”

  Jack’s whole body felt like it was smoldering.

  That’s what was in Michelle’s system.

  “Their research is why I came to this college. It was so easy. It only took me a year to go from Hahn’s gopher to his protégé. He gave me the keys to the kingdom.” He patted his security badge. “All I needed was subjects.”

  “How many?” Jack recoiled at the thought.

  “Nearly a dozen. Because the people we select, no one had actually looked for them before you. It’s sad, really. If one disoriented dolphin swims into New York harbor, it’s national news. Everyone rushes to save it and worries about its wellbeing. Yet, all of these people have disappeared, and all you hear is silence.”

  “Why Michelle? She didn’t fit your pattern.”

  “No, Michelle was . . . unfortunate. I had no intention of using her for my study but she was too gifted with computers. She found a hidden file on our research.”

  Missy’s voice crackled over the speaker. “She came back to find more information. Her mistake was being so trusting. She told me, so I told Brendan.”

  “We didn’t think she had any living relatives so I decided to include her in the experiment.” Brendan shrugged. “There was a bonus though. Her brain images were spectacular. C’est la vie.” He smiled.

  Jack screamed
and thrashed against his bonds. Brendan looked backward, and Missy smiled as she looked at the readouts on the monitors.

  “I didn’t believe it when you showed up claiming to be her foster brother. I still thought our little ruse about Michelle transferring across the country would hold up.”

  “It would have if you just put the car in the lake,” Missy chided.

  Brendan shot her a look.

  “I was a little nervous when you came snooping around, but after you sent the email to Missy, I felt we needed to act.”

  Replacement gasped.

  “How’s the leg?” Brendan’s fist slammed into Jack’s thigh and he screamed. “I’m sorry I didn’t steal a bus to run you down with,” he confessed.

  Jack groaned.

  “It’s taking effect I see.” Brendan leaned in to examine Jack’s eyes. “In some ways I’m glad you weren’t killed instantly. Now I get to use you.” He laughed.

  Replacement thrashed against her bonds.

  “Now, when we found out that Alice had come to our school, we welcomed her with open arms.” Brendan leered at her. “We still needed a way to keep watch over you and wait for another time to remedy the situation.”

  “That’s when Brendan hired a meth addict to keep an eye on you.” Missy’s voice was shrill even over the speakers.

  “Leave her out of this,” Jack growled as the pain began to intensify.

  “That was your mistake, Jack,” Missy taunted. “You screwed up bringing her along.”

  Replacement stopped struggling and stared at him. There was something in her look besides fear.

  Hope. For some reason she thinks I can do something still. She thinks I’m going to get her out of this. Stupid kid. I don’t save the day. I got Chandler killed. I got you into this. Brendan knew we were coming. I’m no hero. I’m not even a good guy . . .

  Jack’s shame added to the burning in his body, and he groaned.

  Now I’ve gotten her killed too.

  Chapter 40 ~

  The Beast

  “Let’s get started.” Jack was helpless to resist as Brendan taped Jack’s eyes open, strapped his head in place, and then slipped a bit into his mouth.