Chapter One: A Letter From Christiane
1979 Words
Chapter 1
Argent, New Mexico
July 2020
Jace Corvino looked down at the letter and read carefully:
My Dear Gabrielle,
It took me a while to find you, and I am hoping that I have.
I know that it has been years since you -- Mom and Dad, too -- have heard from me. For that I am sorry. But I know you understood why I had to disappear.
When I heard about the special team you work for, I knew I could take the chance and ask you for your help. Now that I understand what it is that you do, I feel I can relax somewhat, and, perhaps, stop being harassed by Charles.
I am tired of running, tired of hiding. I am tired of Charles thinking he can control my life, control me. To no one else would I ask for what needs to be done. Nor would I trust anyone else to this task.
SKULL's job is to find people, if I understand correctly. I want to employ you and your team to find that bastard, Charles, and stop him once and for all.
I came back to Albuquerque, and the jerk followed me. However, I don't know where he is at any given time. I do know he moves about the state of New Mexico, as well as the states of Arizona, Colorado and Texas. Plus he manages to follow me around.
Now, once again, he has set himself up as a wealthy man, he still likes to live and spend lavishly. You may find him at art galleries, society gatherings, or some such gala.
Gabbie, perhaps you and your team can do what I don’t have the skills to do. Along with this letter, in the envelope, is the evidence I have managed to gather against him. But, just as before, he either eludes the authorities, or manages to make me look like a fool who cried wolf. Then, he disappears... again. This is everything I think you may need, collected all these years. Make copies for the police, if you have to. Please do this for me?
One other thing (perhaps you can look into this as well), while he constantly pursues me, he has killed other women.
Please stop him. Please. I beg you.
I have gone into hiding again, but enclosed is the number of a disposable phone that you can contact me with once the bastard is taken care of.
Please help me.
Your loving sister,
Christiane
Jace looked up at Gabrielle Armijo. “And you got this this morning?”
Gabrielle nodded as Jace’s wife, Riley said, “Brought it in to her this morning.” Riley then left them alone and went into the kitchen.
“Whoa! Back the f*****g truck up. You have a sister?” Damien Shea asked in a stunned tone, as he shook his head. He had taken the letter when Jace handed it to him.
Gabrielle glowered at him. Honestly. The man could be impossible. “Yes, Damien, I have a sister,” she grumbled. She gave him a hard stare, but turned back to Jace Corvino, her boss and owner of SKULL : Search Korps Utilizing Last Location. “Look, I know this isn’t what we usually do, but….”
Jace put his hands on her shoulders. “Hey, now, don’t. You’re family. Family comes first.” He smiled at her. Like herself, Jace and Damien were former United States Marines. Jace knew what it meant to take care of your team first, to have your six. “Tell me everything.”
Gabrielle slumped down into a nearby chair, sighing heavily. “Chrissy is a year older than me.” She let out a small laugh. “It’s funny, Mom and Dad always thought it would be her who joined the military. I mean, she was always rough and active. Total bad-ass chick. She could flatten the football star in Judo class, kill that volley ball as she sent it over the net, and left the other runners in her smoke on track.”
Jace smiled. “She sounds amazing.”
“She was… is… was.” Gabrielle couldn’t decide which term to use. “She never took guff from anyone. In school, she was my champion.” She turned her turquoise eyes to Jace, to Damien. “We’re both only five feet four, and we were both picked on for it. But she would stand up to anyone who dared to make fun of us for it. Or for any other reason. She was the tough one.”
Damien frowned slightly. “You keep saying ‘was’….”
She let out another frustrated sigh. “Because she….” A hand went through her hair. “She met a guy.” Gabrielle could feel herself becoming angry. “Charles Van Ness, by name.”
“Why is that bad?” Damien asked in his off-the-cuff manner. “So she met a guy. So what?”
Gabrielle glared at him, wondering if he was doing that on purpose, being obtuse.
“Go on,” Jace said, giving Damien a stern look of warning.
“No, Damien, it wasn't bad that she met someone. What was bad was the fact that the jerk turned out to be her worst nightmare.” She put a hand on her face. “And I couldn’t do anything about it because I was in boot camp.” She looked up at them. "Didn’t like that she broke up with him. He was… possessive before the break-up, but after… He just wouldn’t take no for an answer. He began to stalk her. Relentlessly.”
“How?” Jace asked.
“First it was letters. Crazy, weird, creepy letters telling her how much he loved her. And those were the nice letters.” A deep sigh. “Then, he started to send her ‘gifts’ when she didn’t respond to the letters,” Gabrielle said, voice cracking a bit. “Little things at first, like trinkets of some kind. Then, when she didn’t respond to those, he started to send her other ‘tokens’” She sniffed. “Garbage. Dead things.”
“Uhm, garbage? Actual garbage or things you’d classify as garbage?” Damien asked.
“Actual garbage,” came her reply. “Really nasty things he’d pick out of dumpsters or landfill.”
“Gross,” Damien wrinkled his nose.
She nodded. “Yeah.” She closed her eyes. “When that didn’t work, he sent her hearts. And, before you ask, yes, he sent her actual human hearts.”
Jace and Damien then looked at each other. Human hearts. It was Jace who spoke. “He… killed people?”
Gabrielle suddenly stood up and went to the window. “Women’s hearts. She said he was trying to prove to her that other women were nothing like her. That she should be happy he “eliminated” her competition.”
“f**k… that's just messed up” Damien muttered.
Gabrielle stared out the window. She craned her neck from side to side, wrapped her arms around herself. She had never told anyone of the horrors her sister had gone through, was still going through. Christiane was gone. Didn’t want to be found. So, like her parents, Gabrielle just didn’t talk about it.
It was just too painful.
Her sister had been stalked and harassed by a psychopath. One did not talk about these things easily.
She heaved a sigh, turned back to Jace and Damien. While Jace’s expression was that of concern for a friend, Damien’s was that of too much concern. Of something that spoke of… desire? She pulled her gaze away quickly from his blue sapphire eyes. His gaze was a bit too intense, too deep. It spoke of things that happened in the past...
“She did go to the police, several times. But the bastard always managed to skirt just outside of the law, make her look petty, or elude the cops,” Gabrielle said at last. “But even then, he managed to harass her.”
Jace looked down at the letter, scanning it once again. “It says here that it’s been years since you last heard from her.” He placed the letter on the table, looked at Gabrielle. “What did this Charles guy do?”
“He…” She choked as tears formed, ready to fall from her eyes and she didn’t know if once she started she would be able to stop them. “He got hold of her one day and beat the living s**t out of her. So bad that she was in the hospital for about three weeks.” The tears silently started to roll slowly down her cheeks. “Dad had had enough and went to the police, raised holy hell. But the asshole managed to get away, again.” She savagely swiped at her tears. She couldn’t cry, not now, not when she could help her sister.
I will not cry in front of Damien.
Why that should bother her, she didn’t know. But for some reason, she didn’t want him to see her vulnerable and broken. She shook herself. It wasn’t as if she cared whether he saw her cry. Or did she? On the other hand, it was just like Damien to use her tears as fodder for his endless jokes and jabs. To tease mercilessly. Like he always did.
She gave him a hard stare. “While the jerk was in hiding, Chris went into hiding as well. As soon as she got out of the hospital.” Again she wiped away her tears, noticing the brief flash of sorrow and anger that shone in Damien’s blue eyes. “She left one night. Didn’t tell Mom and Dad, didn’t send me an email. Didn’t say good-bye. She just left.” She looked at both men this time. “I don’t blame her, not one bit, for doing that. I mean, wouldn’t you do the same thing?”
Jace answered before Damien could. “You know we would.”
“Let me guess,” Damien said next. “The fucker found her?” His eyes bore into Gabrielle’s with a tinge of some emotion she couldn’t quite name.
Gabrielle nodded. “Every time she moved somewhere, he did, too. I think he was either reading the letters she’d send to our parents, or he’d take a look at the post mark.” She averted her eyes from Damien’s. He was still looking at her too intently. It unnerved her. “Had to be the post mark, as there was never a return address.”
“Getting hold of the letters before your parents did,” Damien remarked. “Oldest trick in the book.”
Gabrielle closed her eyes. “Eventually, she disappeared completely.”
“Went dark, so to speak,” Jace stated.
“And until I got that letter this morning, I had no idea where she was or if she was even still alive.” She stared out the window again.
“So,” Damien said breaking the long silence that had ensued. “How do we find this asshole?”
Jace picked up the letter again, plus the envelope with the papers inside. “Christiane says here that Charles has followed her to Albuquerque. That is his last known location. That’s where we’ll start.” He looked at Gabrielle. “Are you sure you want to be the one to do this?”
Gabrielle turned around, eyes wet again. A slow nod confirmed her answer. “Yes. I want him stopped. And I want to be the one to stop him.” Her hands fisted at her sides. “I want my sister back.”
Jace regarded her for a moment. “Okay. I’m sending Damien with you. Remy and I have another case, as you know.”
Gabrielle wanted to go this alone, but she knew Jace wouldn’t allow it. "Okay,” she sighed, catching a glimpse of Damien’s slight smile. “Do we check in with Colt?”
“Yes,” Jace nodded.“I’ll give him a call and fill him in. That way he can help you two if the need arises.” He stood up and walked towards her. “Gabbie, I know this is important to you. But, please, be careful. Don’t do anything rash or out of line. I know it’s your sister and I know you would do anything to protect her. But we are part of law enforcement, we do need to abide by it.”
Gabrielle looked up at the tall man. “Yes, sir.” She hugged him. “Thank you, Jace.”
He chuckled. “No worries.”
- Writer
