Obsession With Murder Read online

  Obsession with Murder

  Book eight of the

  Rilynne Evans Mysteries

  Jenn Vakey

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter One

  The hot sun was shining in her eyes, making it hard to see. She shielded them with her hands, not letting it slow her. She didn’t know where she was going, but she couldn’t stop. Even the burning hot pavement under her bare feet didn’t keep her from moving forward. It couldn’t; there was something important she had to do, and nothing was going to get in her way.

  As she turned down the next street she came upon, she saw a pair of women chatting in front of a store front. When their eyes both turned to her, she considered making her way toward them, but her feet carried her on. Her chest grew tighter with every step she took. Despite her body’s will to keep pushing on, something inside of her was screaming for her to stop.

  A tear broke free and rolled down her cheek as she approached the next turn. She didn’t wipe it away. The breeze that hit its wet path was a nice change compared to the heat coming from the sun above. She could almost feel it cooking her exposed arms and legs. That was nothing compared to her feet. It felt like they were on fire beneath her, like she was walking on a never ending bed of hot coals. It was almost more than she could take. Her legs started to buckle beneath her as she stepped off the sidewalk and crossed through a large parking lot. She was almost there. All she needed to do was make it to the door. She was too close to give up now.

  The moment she stumbled into the building’s towering shadow, someone swept through the front doors and came rushing toward her. She could hear the girl talking, but her words didn’t make sense. The stranger reached out and took her by the arm, but she’d had all she could take. Her knees gave way and she crumpled to the hard ground below. The girl caught her before her head could strike the surface as she yelled back toward the door. Moments later, a small crowd emerged and surrounded them.

  A tornado struck her hard from within. The sight of the concerned faces around her was frightening, but at the same time it provided an immense relief. She was there. That’s all that really mattered.

  Her body seemed to have given up completely, and she was unable to even force her head to stay up. Her eyes were growing heavy, but the man in front of her was pushing her to keep them open.

  “Can you tell me what happened?” he asked as they moved her inside. The gust of cool air that hit her as she passed through the threshold of the building was just enough of a shock to focus her, though only slightly.

  “I...” she started, but she could get nothing to follow.

  She turned her gaze from his face to the ceiling moving quickly above her. The lights were flying by so fast that they almost seemed to blink. It would have been relaxing had there not been a horde of people calling out in a panic all around her.

  As she finally came to a stop, her attention was pulled back to the man when he held up a light and shined it into her eyes.

  “Can you tell me what happened?” he asked again.

  She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. As she did, the flood gates seemed to open as tears started pouring down the sides of her face.

  He started giving orders to the others in the room, but none of what he was saying made any sense. She watched as the people ran around her, growing only more fearful with every passing moment.

  With multiple hands on her, the man turned back toward her and offered her a kind smile. It did nothing to settle the knot growing increasingly larger her chest. It wasn’t until he took her by the hand that the chaos around her seemed to fade and she was able to have a clear thought.

  “What do you remember?” he asked. She thought about it as they pushed a mirror of sorts above her. Her eyes swept over it, taking in every detail they could. Her feet were black, and there was dried blood covering the side of one of her legs. She could just make out a cut above her knee, nearly hidden by the reddish-brown river that had passed over it, as one of the nurses pulled something out of it. Her white shorts were splattered with blood and dirt, and her navy blue shirt had a long gash across the stomach. She couldn’t see what was below it, but from the blood that had soaked the right side of her shorts, she knew there was an injury of some kind. When her eyes moved up to her face, the air left her lungs and her vision clouded again with tears. She blinked quickly to try to clear them. She wanted to see more. The right side of her face was also covered with blood. The doctor had let go of her hand and was gently shifting her hair around on the side of her head to find its sources. Just inches beyond her hairline, she could see what appeared to be a long, deep gash. As he pushed several gauze into it to stop the bleeding, she let her eyes drift to the rest of her face. There were several spots she found that were darker than the areas around them. At first she thought it was dirt, but as she looked closer, she could see they were bruises that were beginning to form.

  Her battered appearance wasn’t what had startled her, though.

  “Were you in an accident?” he asked. “Did someone do this to you?”

  “I...” she said again, not taking her eyes off of her reflection. “I don’t know. Where am I?”

  “You’re in the emergency room at Addison Valley Hospital,” he said, pulling the now soaked gauze away and replacing them with fresh ones. When he had them in place, he looked back down and met her eye. “Can you tell me your name?”

  Tears filled her eyes again as she quickly shook her head.

  “I don’t know.”

  Chapter Two

  “Doctor,” one of the nurses said as she held something up. She had just finished cutting her shorts off and was going through the pockets. “You might want to see this.”

  He walked over and looked down at the item in her hand. He mumbled something too faint to hear as they both turned back and looked at her. There was now something in his gaze that scared her, even more than everything else going on, though she couldn’t make out exactly what it was. She tried to look around to see what it was that had shaken him so, but her eyes refused to focus.

  “Call and get someone down here,” he said. When the nurse quickly left, he turned back around and reached for the stool next to the bed. “I’ve got some good news,” he said, sitting down next to her. “We found your identification in your shorts. Your name is Rilynne Davis, and you’re a detective with the Addison Valley Police Department.” He handed out the badge the nurse had given him for her to see. “Does any of this sound familiar?”

  She took it from him and looked it over carefully. After studying the picture, she looked back up to the mirror. It was hard to tell since the bruises had started to darken on her face, but it seemed to match.

  “I’m a detective?” she asked. She racked her brain, trying to remember anything before her walk to the hospital, but nothing came. She had hoped that it would all come back when she learned who she was, but both her name and her face still felt unfamiliar. The only thing she remembered was walking down the quiet streets, fear and confusion clouding her mind. She didn’t know where she was or how she had gotten there, but she knew something was wrong. Even before she saw the blood covering her limbs and clothes, she knew something horrible had happened. The more s
he tried to think about it, the hazier her thoughts seemed to become. With that came the panic.

  “We’ve put in a call to the station, so someone should be here soon who can answer some of your questions,” he said. “For right now, I want you to rest up a bit. That might make it a little easier to remember. I’ll have someone come in soon to take you in for x-rays. In addition to your broken wrist, I want to get a chest x-ray to rule out a fractured rib. I'm also going to order a scan to check for any internal bleeding.”

  “When am I going to remember?” she asked, unconcerned with anything else at the moment. As the haze that had been clouding her mind started to lift, the reality of the situation started to settle in. It was terrifying.

  “We’re going to have to run a few more test before I can answer that,” he said, standing from the stool and reaching for her chart. As he started to write, he went on. “With a scan of your head, I should be able to see if your memory loss is due to the physical injury itself or if it’s a psychological response to whatever caused the injuries. From there, we’ll have a better understanding of the treatment needed and what we can expect.”

  Rilynne dropped her head carefully back on her pillow as she watched him place the chart back on the foot of the bed and walk out. The bed was propped up just enough for her to see the faces of people walking past the door through its tiny window. More than anything, she wanted to see someone familiar. She tried not to be discouraged, though, telling herself that the likelihood of her actually knowing any of them was very slim. She told herself that if someone she did know was actually there, there was a good chance it would snap her out of it all. It wasn’t until the door opened again ten minutes later and two worried looking faces rushed in that those hopes were dashed.

  “Rye,” the woman said, quickly crossing the room and stopping just to the side of the bed. She had long blonde hair that was cascading in loose curls down her back. The worry on her face seemed to settle deep within her bright blue eyes. Even though Rilynne had no idea who she was, it was clear the same couldn’t be said for this woman. “When they said they had someone here with your badge, I was hoping someone had just found it and it wasn’t actually you. What happened? Are you alright?”

  Before Rilynne could even contemplate an answer, the doctor walked back in and called them out. She wanted to reach out for the woman’s hand, not wanting to be left alone, but she just sat silently and watched as they followed him out. With the door cracked open, she could just make out the expressions on their faces as the doctor filled them in. The woman pulled her hands up to her face in shock, but she didn’t speak. The man that had come with her was doing all the talking.

  Like the woman, Rilynne didn’t recognize him. There was no doubt by the sadness in his eyes when he turned and met her gaze that he knew her, though. He turned back to the doctor, moving his hand up into his dark brown hair. When the doctor responded with a nod, it was clear he was asking if the wound on her head was causing her troubles.

  After talking for another minute, the doctor walked away and the woman entered again. Rilynne expected the man to follow, but he pulled out his phone first and made a call. It didn’t last long, but the conversation appeared to only deepen the distress on his face.

  Neither seemed to know what to say. The woman walked back to the side of the bed and sat down on the empty stool. She sat her hands on the bed, appearing as if she wanted to reach out and take Rilynne’s hands, but she didn’t. When the man walked back in, he stood by the back wall, arms folded in front of him as he looked down at her.

  “I...” Rilynne said, uncomfortable by the silence. She didn’t know what more to say.

  “I called your sister on the way up here,” the woman said, not waiting for her to continue. “She was on a camping trip with her boyfriend, so it’s going to take her a little while to get here. I wanted to wait to talk to your mom until we knew what was going on. I’ll call her and fill her in, and I’m sure she’ll be on the first flight down.”

  “What happened?” the man asked abruptly. He didn’t seem to be able to hold the question in any longer. “He said that you walked in to the hospital, but no one saw where you came from. I called and had the guys go out to your place. Do you remember where you were when this happened? Were you at a house?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t remember,” she said. It came out as more of an apology than a simple answer. “I just remember walking. I honestly don’t even know how I found my way here. I didn’t even know this was where I was coming. I just knew something had happened and that it was really important that I kept walking.”

  He nodded quietly and pulled his phone back out. He dialed a number, but didn’t say a word. After a few moments, he hung up and dialed again. Whoever he was calling wasn’t answering.

  “Your name is Rilynne,” the woman said. “You’re a homicide detective, and this man is your partner, Todd Matthews. I’m Lori.” Lori’s voice snagged in her throat as she appeared to be fighting back the tears. She took in a deep breath to steady herself before she continued. “You told me you were going to take the day off so you could pick up some last minute things for the party you’re hosting next week. Does that ring any bells?”

  Rilynne just shook her head again.

  Before Lori could go on, a young girl in scrubs walked in with a wheelchair. “I’m sorry, but I need to take her to x-ray,” she said. “After that we’re going to take her in for a CAT scan, and then I’ll bring her back. There’s a lounge just around the corner if y’all would like to get something to drink while you wait.” She helped Rilynne off the bed and into the chair, careful to make sure the back of her hospital gown was staying closed. She was far more concerned about it with a man in the room than Rilynne was, though she wasn’t entirely sure why. Although she didn’t remember him or the relationship they had, the last thing she was concerned with in that moment was him seeing anything.

  Neither of the visitors moved as the girl pushed her out of the room. She half expected them to be gone when she was brought back thirty minutes later, but they were just where she had left them. The only things that seemed to have moved at all were the expressions on their faces.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, climbing back into bed. As soon as she was in place, her eyes shifted quickly between the two of them. They looked more worried than before, which she wouldn’t have imagined was even possible. Lori’s eyes were red; she’d been crying. Perhaps it was her detective skills pushing through, but she could tell that it was more than just the state she was in. “Has something happened?”

  Detective Matthews stepped toward her, stopping just short of the bed. She could see him mulling over his thoughts before he spoke, but it only made her more nervous.

  “You’re scaring me,” she admitted. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “I’ve been trying to get a hold of Ben, but his phone is going straight to voicemail. Tylers and Steele went by the house, but he isn’t there. Your car was still there, but his is gone,” he said. “No one’s heard from him all morning.”

  Rilynne knew that the news was distressing, because she could see it on both of their faces, but it was utter gibberish to her. She thought hard for a few moments before asking the only thing she could. “Who’s Ben?”

  Chapter Three

  Matthews closed his eyes and let out a slow breath before looking back at her and explaining. “Ben is your husband,” he said, motioning to her hand. When she looked down, she couldn’t see how she hadn’t noticed them before. On her left hand was a set of white gold rings.

  As the realization settled in, panic once again flooded through her. “Where is he?” she asked. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but that was the only one she seemed to be able to get out. Had he been with her when she was hurt? Was he the one who had done it to her? Without being able to remember him or the relationship she had with him, she didn’t know what was possible, or even what was an appropriate question to ask. The only thing that
seemed important was that she was married to him and that meant it was important to her to find out where he was.

  “We’re going to find him,” Lori said softly. “I’m sure he’s just in town somewhere with a dead cell phone battery. The guys are going to stay at your house and wait for him to come back. Would you rather they wait outside, or can they go in to have a look around?”

  There was hesitation in her voice that Rilynne didn’t understand. It concerned her more than just having two people she didn’t know searching through her stuff. Not wanting to be difficult, though, she just nodded and mumbled that it was fine. As she looked back to Matthews, she started to understand why Lori was concerned. She was afraid of what they could find inside.

  Rilynne shook the thought out of her head, not wanting to think of anything so horrible. In that moment, she couldn’t understand why she would have ever wanted to be a homicide detective in the first place. There wasn’t anything in the world that would make her want to walk into a house and see anything as horrible as the thoughts that had just flashed through her head.

  Just then, the door swung open and another woman rushed into the room. She was a few inches shorter than Lori, but she held an almost identical look of worry on her face.

  “What did you do, Rye?” she asked, moving to the opposite side of the bed from where Lori still stood. “Don’t tell me you went out for a run in the woods and fell again. Eventually Ben is going to make you stop going altogether if you keep that up.”

  “Elise,” Lori said solemnly, stopping her before she could say anything else. When Elise looked up at Lori, her expression went cold and she seemed to almost freeze. It took several tense moments before she pulled her gaze away and she looked between all of the faces in the room. Lori didn’t wait for her to say anything before she spoke again. “She was found in the parking lot outside of the hospital, but she has no memories of what happened to her. She doesn’t remember anything.”