The Girl in the Wych Elm: Part Eight

 

8. Naayééʼ Neizghání

From behind a tree, Addy stealthy watched Hollis as he emerged from the cellar. She had been trailing him since he left Juniper’s house, despite being cautioned not to a second time by the woman. Addy was hard-headed; a characteristic that had persisted since childhood. 

Chills scurried up Hollis' spine. He felt someone watching him. Addy ducked low behind an overgrown bush. She prayed Hollis hadn't seen her. After a few moments, she peered around the bush and caught a brief glance of Hollis' bright jacket disappearing out of sight. Hollis hadn't made her, it appeared. Addy hurried to catch up, making sure she was extra cautious not to be seen. 

"What...the hell?" Hollis, puzzled, scratched his head. Mercutio Bardolph's residence was above a condemned corner store. All external entryways into the apartments were barred by thick plywood boards. Hollis looked up. His only way inside was through a second floor window. "Well fuck me-"

"Um, hi there." He was approached by a couple on a walk passing through the area. Hollis had noticed them watching. “My name is Nicole, and this is Morgan, my husband.”

Nicole was a petite, sun-kissed woman with an elvish appearance. Morgan was no more than an inch taller than her. The fair-skinned, red-haired man wore wide, green glasses. Immediately, Hollis didn't take a liking to Morgan. The man gave off hostile energy. He never said much to Hollis, only observing him cynically.

Wary of their presence, Hollis remain guarded with the couple. He sensed their mistrust of him. "Um... do you two need something from me?" The words came out harsh, which Hollis didn't intend for them to be. He was informed by Nicole that the corner store was closed and had been so for over a month. The owner Luigi had failed multiple health and building code inspections. "Even the apartments above the store?" Hollis told the woman he had been looking around town for an apartment to lease.

Morgan's cynical expression morphed into an annoyed scowl. "If the corner store was shut down because of building code and health reasons, what makes you think the apartments wouldn't be either?" Morgan's sharp response could slice air. Nicole berated her husband about his lack of decorum. Morgan cut his eyes at Nicole.

Exactly the type of attitude expected from a man the height of a fifth grader. Hollis thought. Nicole apologized for her husband's crude response. She told him Morgan was working through anger issues.

"But anyways... I don't-I don't mean to pry, but what brings you out here to Wych Elm." Nicole commented how out of place Hollis seemed in their town. "I really hope my question didn't come offensive. It's just... I can tell you aren't from this region of the state." Someone who carried themselves Hollis didn't belong in a place like Wych Elm, to Nicole. He belonged in the city or the suburbs.

Hollis rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm a little embarrassed to say this out loud, but I owe some very dangerous loan sharks a lot of money.” He needed to lay low for a few months and had heard about Wych Elm from a friend of a friend. "I was told this place was rather...isolated." He said the loan sharks wouldn't ever find him in a place like Wych Elm. Morgan saw through Hollis' lie and scoffed at the story.

The old detective shot him a fierce glare. "You want to say something, Morgan?" The man gave no response. He was either intimidated or felt no need to verbalize his sentiments. Morgan looked away, avoiding Hollis' eyes.

Nicole and Hollis resumed their conversation. "The apartments are condemned as well." It was fortunate they were, according to the woman. "Luigi wasn't picky when it came to the types of customers he serviced or the tenants he kept. A lot of seedy people lived above this store." Nicole looked up at the apartments. "Anyways, I hate to break it to you but you'll need to live somewhere else." What Nicole meant was outside of Wych Elm. No landlord was going to rent to an outsider. "The next bus arrives in about twenty minutes." She looked down at her watch. "If you leave now, you can make it before the next one leaves." Hollis nodded and thanked the woman for the information. He bid the couple farewell and disappeared around the corner. 

Hollis never left the area, however. He dipped into the cramped alley behind the buildings. Nicole and Morgan lingered around the store for a few minutes before they walked off. Hollis suspected they were watchers. "I need a quick way inside." Just in case the couple doubled back or alerted the authorities. 

Scaling a second story building hadn't been on Hollis' to-do list for the day. The last time he climbed up a building was a decade prior. Hollis was no longer the young, robust man who could run three blocks without breaking a sweat. The years of heavy alcoholism only added on to his physical decline. The feat took a toll on his body and mind.  He collapsed onto the floor, huffing and panting in a strained manner. “I’m too…damn old…to be doing…this shit.” The man said in between breaths. The day was over for him once he left Mercutio's apartment. “I wonder if I could ask Juniper for a massage.” Realizing how creepy that statement sounded, Hollis retracted what he said.

The old detective pushed to his feet, only to be painfully reacquainted with the hardwood floor. Addy came through the window and fell on top of him. He released a loud, painful groan. "Oh shit! I'm sorry." She hurried off his back. “I didn’t mean-”

Hollis barked at the woman, interrupting her mid-sentence. "What is your fucking deal, woman? This isn't a game or some dumb ass thrill-seeking adventure." Lorenzo Wilson and his family were dead. Hollis suspected the other men and their families probably were too. Addy was skipping into a wild jungle she should have been steering clear of. "You need to go. Now! Don't make me tell you again." He aggressively pushed her towards the window. "This place isn't safe. You need to get on back to Juniper's house. Matter of fact, you need to get out of Wych Elm." Hollis chastised Addy for almost interfering in his investigation.

The hot-tempered woman kicked him in the shin. Hollis released her as a result. "You're not even a detective anymore so, how can I be interfering with your investigation?" His fists clenched at the ignorant question. She knew what he meant.

"I don't whether to hate your parents for raising such an incredible pain-in-the-ass or feel sorry for them." He threw up his hands. The remark earned Hollis a nasty scowl from Addy. "It's whatever. I'm not going back and forth with you." Hollis told her to stay out of his way. 

Addy wasn't ready to end the discussion there. She would make Hollis listen to her. "It would do you well to be nicer to me." She stamped her foot, shouting at Hollis as he made his way down the hall.

A short, bitter laugh escaped the man's lips. “Honestly, I should be meaner to you.” He spun around on his heels and marched intimidatingly up to Addy. Hollis hemmed her up in the corner like a wolf stalking a lamb. "You refuse to understand and I don't know how else I can get my point across this thick skull of yours." He delivered a powerful thump to her forehead.

“Hollis-” She was immediately silenced. Addy wasn't allowed to speak anymore.

“Every time you open your mouth, my migraines worsen.” Hollis continued belittling Addy, unaware of the secret taser she had removed. The young woman had enough of the way Hollis spoke down to her. That was the last time he would ever demean her. Addy brought a swift end to the problem.

Hollis tumbled over, knocking his head against the wall. Addy violently kneed him in the ribs. The man winced painfully. "That kick...wasn't necessary..." He groaned.

She flipped her hair. "Honestly, I should have kicked you harder." She responded mockingly, echoing the words Hollis said to her prior. "Now shut up and listen to what I have to say," or Addy would knee him again but in a more sensitive spot. Hollis took her threat seriously. He already put his body through enough that day.

Hollis positioned himself against the wall. "Go ahead and say what you need to say." He said with another painful groan.

“Flynn McNeil." The name rang a bell. No. Hollis knew that name. He was one of the men Jonah had told him about. Flynn McNeil was a co-worker to Lorenzo and Mercutio.

Hollis immediately straightened. He blocked out the pain in his ribs. "Did you-did you speak with Jonah too?" A bewildered expression appeared across Addy's face. She had no idea who that man was. Their paths had never crossed.

Addy craned her neck, confused. "Who's Jonah?" 

Hollis waved his hand through the air. "Don't worry about it." He grilled her about knowing Flynn's name.

Addy reached into her pocket and removed a tape recorder. "Flynn McNeil used to date my college roommate, Harmony." She elaborated on their relationship. Flynn and Addy weren't friends and never had been. They were acquaintances from their undergraduate years. "Flynn spent a lot of time in our dorm room during their relationship. After we graduated, he broke off his relationship with Harmony and returned home to this place." Addy teased the device in front of Hollis. "Harmony discovered this little guy in a puzzle box Flynn had mailed to her about a month ago." The recorder came with strict instructions. The tape recorder was supposed to go to Addy. Hollis squinted at her with confusion. "Harmony loves puzzle boxes." She shrugged innocently.

“That’s not what-” He decided mid-sentence to abandon his thought. “Anyways, you gonna’ press play on that thing or keep holding out?” The question earned him a sneer. Addy resembled an angry cat in Hollis' eyes.

"I have some terms and conditions." She told him, twirling the device in her fingers. Addy would play the recording as long as Hollis agreed to her demands. If not, she would snap the recorder in two. “Moving forward, we’re working this investigation…together.” She said emphatically. Hollis groaned loudly at the condition. But the man was unable to refuse her demand. He begrudgingly agreed. "Fantastic! The second condition: you need to start taking me seriously." That meant Hollis could no longer demean or talk down to Addy. 

Hollis agreed to the second condition without issue. However, he decided to add in a condition of his own. "You need to do what I tell you moving forward." He told her sternly. “And before you argue back with me, hear what I have to say.” She nodded and listened. “These so-called High Families aren’t your typical, run of the mill villains.” They were much worse from what Hollis was told about them. There was no room for underestimation. “You can’t act thoughtlessly, or you will be killed.” Hollis couldn't stomach another innocent death on his conscious. He knew it would destroy the remaining shred of sanity he had left. Addy's safety was more important than his own or their investigation. If the situation became too dangerous, he wanted Addy to get out of Wych Elm. "After all, you're the one who has to tell the story." He told Addy, stroking her ego a little. The statement brought a colorful smile to the woman's face.

Addy gave Hollis her word. "I agree to your condition." She would leave Wych Elm if told to by Hollis. The old detective smiled. An action he hadn't done in almost fifteen years. She turned over the recorder. "Here." Hollis pressed play. The audio message was from Flynn.

"After we reported the body to Phillipe, he notified the authorities." A week after the body's discovery, the five men were terminated from their positions without reason or notice. Mercutio suspected Alexander Hightower was behind their firing. "Addy... I hope-I hope this message reaches your ears. I'm afraid. I'm so afraid." Hollis felt the man's unease and his rising fear through the recording. Flynn's words gave him chills. The hair all over his body stood up. "I think people are watching our house, but then again, maybe I'm just paranoid. I don't know... I don't understand what we did wrong." The poor man gave into his emotions and broke down. He worried for his and Evie's safety. Flynn expressed wanting to leave but feared the powers of Wych Elm wouldn't let that happen.

In the second half of the recording, Flynn revealed Lorenzo and Jameson had “gone silent.” He hadn’t heard from them in days. “No one answers when I knock.” Flynn’s audio message concluded with him expressing regret over having discovered the body. “The Red Hound will come for us next,” were the doomed man’s last, frightening words.

Addy wondered what Flynn meant by the last statement. "The Red Hound?" The ominous Black Dogs from folklore came to mind. They were demonic hell hounds that brought bad luck and disaster to the people whose paths they wandered across. "The Red Hound must be a code name or a metaphor for something else." She squished her cheeks with both hands.

The sound of the moniker darkened Hollis' face. “The Red Hound…is Ishmael Da Silva. He's Wych Elm's sheriff and Alexander personal enforcer." The metaphor was painfully accurate. Hollis scratched his chin. "Be it a Black Dog from Hell or a Red Hound of Hightower, it's all the same." The color didn't matter. "Ishmael serves the mayor like a dutiful hound. That's how he earned his infamous nickname, according to Juniper." Addy raised her eyebrows in surprise in reaction to the new information.

“What reason would Alexander have to send his Red Hound after those men?” The people of Wych Elm were terrified of the High Families. From her point of view, the murders didn’t seem necessary. “They could have blackmailed the men into silence, paid them off, or pushed them out of town.” Addy made excellent points to Hollis. "But then again, the High Families probably aren't the most logical-minded type of people."

“Those men must have uncovered something else about the body. Or maybe one of them was a little too chatty about their discovery.” There were a lot of plausible motives for the murders. Even so, something about the entire situation still felt off to Hollis. "They found the body in a tree on the other side of the mayor's property after it fell."  The old detective leaned his head against the wall.

Addy closed the distance between them. “OK? Where are you going with this?” She eyed him.

“Ishmael killed those men and their families on behalf of Alexander. Here's the thing though. It only incriminates Alexander more." Hollis reiterated Addy's previous statement about the killings seeming unnecessary. It made Alexander look guiltier and more like a suspect. 

Addy called the body's disposal sloppy work. "You're right, Hollis. There's absolutely no way someone as powerful as Alexander would allow evidence to his crime dumped close to his home."

“Unless someone is setting him up to take the blame.” Hollis began to wonder if the mayor was truly the victim rather than the perpetrator. 

Addy, however, wasn't completely sold. She had doubts. "Alexander Hightower is the most important person in Wych Elm’s hierarchy of power. Depending on how recent the girl’s murder was, I doubt it’s a set up. A man like him should have security tighter than Fort Knox around here.”

Hollis agreed with her viewpoint. "You're right, Addy." He shifted to his left side. “I'm certain people like the High Families have bodies littered all around this town. A dead body with a possible connection to one of the Families shouldn't be an unusual occurrence around here. It's probably normal." Which meant something about the body in the tree was different. "If someone as powerful as the mayor has to go to this extreme to keep a scandal buried, then the motive for this murder may be more complex than we think."

"Do you think we'll find some answers in Mercutio's apartment?" Addy inquired. “I mean, there weren’t any at Lorenzo’s, were they?" Addy didn't believe Mercutio's apartment wouldn't be any different.

Hollis looked down at the recorder in his hand. “We can only hope old Mercutio has some answers tucked away for us.” He stashed the recorder in a secret pocket. Hollis rose to his feet; he offered Addy his hand and pulled her up. 

"There's about what, twenty units on this floor, you think?" Addy suggested they split up. "We've wasted enough time as is. We need to cover as much of this building as we can in the limited time we have left." Addy had seen Hollis talking with the couple. She watched them loiter outside the front until they left. Like Hollis, she suspected the two were watchers. "None of this is a coincidence." Addy commented to Hollis. She recanted her earlier statement about finding clues in Mercutio's apartment. "Now that I'm thinking about it, the building was condemned a month after the body was found. That means Mercutio was more than likely killed here to cover up his murder."

Hollis quickly realized how wrong he had previously been about Addy. He gave her a sincere apology. "You might have missed your calling with detective work." He laughed, patting her shoulder. Addy's face lit up brightly. Hollis would search Mercutio's apartment while Addy searched some of the other units. "We'll meet back up in thirty minutes." 

"Just be careful." Addy told Hollis with a smile. She squeezed his hand softly then released it. 

He replied, "You too, Addy." The duo then parted ways.

 

The old detective was relieved when he stepped into Mercutio's apartment. His nose was greeted by the odor of mildew and must rather than harsh, cleaning products. It was somewhat of a good sign (at least he hoped). The missing man's apartment was quite the dingy sight. The floor was dangerously uneven. There was a crack in the northeastern wall that started at the baseboard and ran the length of the wall up to the ceiling. The bathroom was missing its door. There were black mold spots all around the apartment. The window unit knocked and rattled, finally on its last life. The green carpet had nearly turned brown from years of dirt build up. The appliances were dated and held together by duct tape.

"And I thought my shack of a house was appalling." Hollis spied a mouse peeping at him through a slightly open cabinet. "I guess you get what you can afford. Not that it excuses being dirty." He looked down at the green and brown carpet.

Hollis' search started in the bedroom. He nearly tripped over the assortment of shoes scattered around the floor. The open dresser drawers, lock box, and a shelf of four taxidermied pigeons above the bed were the first things that caught his eye. To Hollis, it appeared Mercutio had left in a panic. "God, I really hope you made it out of this hell of a jungle." He ran his hand over the dresser's top. They would never cross each other's paths, but Hollis was okay with that outcome so long as Mercutio was safe. He continued searching the bedroom. "Awfully fond of pigeons, I see." Hollis commented. He picked up the bird Tulip and examined her more thoroughly. "Hmm... I wonder...?" He thought about the puzzle box and the tape recorder. Hollis searched for a secret compartment on all the birds. There weren't any. "Well, dammit..." He returned Iris to her spot beside Lilly.

Frustrated, Hollis leaned against the windowsill and sighed heavily. The light gray clouds from earlier had darkened significantly. A foul storm was afoot. He theorized they had about another thirty to forty minutes before the rain came down. "This is another dead end." The old detective had nothing. Three days had gone by with little progress. "It's not looking good so far, Wysteria." He wondered how Wysteria would react if he had returned the same way he left: empty-handed. 

"Mercutio I was seriously hoping you would have some clues for me." He said in a dejected tone while looking down at the tape recorder in his hand. "Wysteria, I'm so sorry. It seems I may not-" Something collided with the window. It was a pigeon with the name Dahlia embroidered on her collar. The impact left the bird with a broke left wing.

Hollis opened the window and gently picked up the bird. "I'm afraid your owner isn't coming back, my dear." He told the bird, delicately stroking her head. Hollis suspected she had returned home due to the storm. "He must have been torn apart with guilt over having to leave you behind." Sorrow washed over Hollis as he thought about it. He decided to take the injured bird with him. "I hope Juniper doesn't mind." Hollis would take Dahlia home with him once his task in Wych Elm was completed. "What's this on your leg?" There was a dirty, white strip of paper tied to her. Hollis removed the paper and unraveled it.

She's under the high tower. 

The vague message made Hollis scratch his head. "What does this mean, Mercutio?" As thankful as he was for the tip, Hollis only wished the message was a little more transparent. "This is better than nothing, I guess." He chuckled. Hollis wondered which Hightower was the culprit. "Crimson or Silver?" He asked the bird who stared at him with dull, beady eyes. "Let's see what Addy thinks." He stuck the paper in the same pocket with the recorder.

Addy's name rolled off Hollis' tongue more times than he wanted it to. He was met with silence every time he called her name. "Wow..." He stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Seriously?" Hollis threw up his hands. Once again, he yelled Addy's name. "Where the hell did she go?" He peered inside every open door he passed by. Addy was nowhere to be seen or heard. He instantly became agitated. "All that damn badgering she did-"

Addy replied, finally. "Um, Hollis..." She called from downstairs. A location she wasn't supposed to be at without Hollis. "I-I fell through the floor. I scraped my leg really badly."

Hollis paused as he approached the staircase. He closed his eyes, releasing a soft, frustrated groan. "The regrets are starting early, I see." He told the pigeon stuffed inside his outer jacket pocket. He wished Addy could be more like Dahlia: quiet and not annoying. Hollis told Addy to hold on. He was headed down. Hollis found himself in a dangerous predicament when he reached the first level. "Shit..." He saw Addy being held at knife point. The burly man had a scar from the corner of his mouth and up his cheek. The tip of the knife's blade was pressed dangerously close to her neck, almost drawing blood. There was a large bruise on Addy's face. She did her best keeping it together despite the fear that overwhelmed her.

There was a second man leaning against the counter. Dangled by a strap between his fingers was Addy's taser. Unlike the first man, the second one was more on the handsome side. Although, the aura he gave off was rather sinister. The Counter Man's eyes were locked onto Hollis. "You owe me $50 and three rounds of drinks, Ulrich." He glanced over at the man who held Addy captive. Ulrich's face remained stoic. He expressed no emotion over the loss of his bet.

"A deal is a deal." Ulrich addressed his companion as Lawrence.

"He wasn't leaving without this woman." Lawrence looked back at Hollis with the smuggest grin across his face. "Your controversial past aside, you're an honorable man and always have been." He popped his tongue at the end of his statement. 

Hollis never dropped his composure. In fact, he proceeded to engage in casual conversation with the men as if he were familiar with them. "You boys took me for a scare. I thought Diego's men had finally found me." Lawrence disregarded Hollis' statement.

"You're a lot of ways out of your jurisdiction, Det. Hollis Alexander." Lawrence ran his serpentine tongue over his teeth. "This isn't the big city. The rules you're familiar with don't apply here." He demanded to know why a disgraced, former detective was wandering around their town. 

Hollis gave Lawrence the same answer he gave Nicole and Morgan. "I owe some very nasty men a lot of money." The man glanced over at Ulrich. The tip of the knife dug into Addy's neck. She squealed. 

Stay calm. Stay calm. He chanted inside his head. His fists clenched at his sides. "Look, I'm telling the truth. I fell on hard times after I resigned as a detective. Couldn't even find another job with my experience and skills, not even as an unarmed security guard. I was about to lose my house." Hollis did his best to sell the lie. Deep down, he had a feeling the men were keener than he expected. "Just...just let her go. You can take me in her place and do whatever." No one would miss Hollis. His parents and sister were long dead. He had no wife, children, or friends that would look for him. "She'll leave Wych Elm the second you let her go." He tried to convince them Addy was no threat. 

Lawrence cut his eyes. "No wife? No children? No friends? Huh? Then who is she to you?" His eyes turned into slits.

"Just an annoying one-night stand I can't seem to get rid of." Hollis waved his hand dismissively. "You probably deal with this problem a lot." Hollis said to Lawrence casually. "Probably can't say the same about your scarred friend over there." Lawrence popped his tongue again. His eyes fell skeptically onto Addy.

"She's rather young, no?" He didn't take Hollis as the cradle-robbing type. 

Hollis shrugged unapologetically. "They're a little easier to manipulate and mold to my liking." A smirk formed at the corner of Lawrence's mouth. He found himself in agreement with Hollis.

"Is that really what you think of me, Hollis?" Addy began to weep hysterically. "You told me... You said you wanted to be with me. You promised me marriage and a life of comfort." Hollis wanted to snicker so badly, but he couldn't risk breaking character. Addy had picked up on the ruse and played her part accordingly.

"Look what happened to my last partner. I promised I wouldn't get him killed and where's he now? I'm the last person you should put your faith into." Hollis had been dangerously close to breaking character that second time. Hearing those harsh, disgusting words leave his own mouth nearly made him break down. Nicolai, I hope you know I didn't mean those words. Hollis knew Nicolai wouldn't have held that statement against him. He knew Hollis did what he had to do in order to save Addy. 

Lawrence shook his head with amusement. "Ouch... That hurt me and I don't even know the guy. Your forced resignation is looking more justified right now." He tsked. The amusement on his face never went away. 

"Anyways, just let her go. She'll be on the next bus out of town." 

Lawrence held up his hand. "Yeah...no..." He had more questions. "Why is she here?"

Addy immediately blurted out, "Because I'm pregnant with his child." Hollis feigned surprise at the news. "I followed him here." She held her stomach, selling the life as if she truly was pregnant. "Even if he won't marry me, my child still deserves to grow up with a father." Addy upped the water works some more. "I-I wasn't anticipating any of this." Hollis silently encouraged Addy to keep up the act. He believed they had a chance. Maybe the men would buy their ruse. 

Lawrence paced back and forth. His nails scraped against the countertop as he went. He remarked to Hollis how wrong his initial impression of the man had been. "There's one last thing I want to address." Hollis had a terrible anxiety in his stomach as Lawrence eerily turned his head towards him. "We're not as stupid as you take us for."

Hollis felt the sharp, restricting pressure of a garrote around his neck. There was a third man. The insane level of strength he possessed was one Hollis had never encountered. "You asshole!" Addy spat in Lawrence's direction. She shrieked and screamed for Hollis. "Tell him to stop it! You're going to kill him."

Lawrence leaned into Addy's face and cackled unrepentantly. "That's the point, sweetheart." He squeezed her cheeks. She jerked her head away, cursing him, Ulrich, and the man strangling Hollis. Lawrence hopped up on the counter and swung his legs giddily. His eyes were alive with excitement as he watched his other acquaintance strangle the life from Hollis.

The man choking Hollis whispered in his ear, "You better hope you end up in the same place as your partner."

I can't die like this. Addy needs me. I have to save her. Hollis dug into his pocket and found the short pen to his notebook. He stabbed the object into the man's eyes using the convex mirror above the counter. His attacker howled with anguish and released Hollis who then jammed the pen into his carotid. The man's blood partially showered Hollis in red. "Let me help you with that." He told the man right before he snapped his neck.

"Well...fuck..." Lawrence commented. He sounded annoyed by the killing than he was sorrowful or frightened. "Our boss man won't be happy about this." He whistled.

"Make sure you tell your boss I said, 'Fuck him.'" Hollis told Lawrence. 

Addy's attention darted back and forth between the dead man and the blood-splattered Hollis. She was surprised and mildly disturbed by the level of savagery he had exhibited before her. My grandmother was right. Villains will make monster of men. She thought. Addy noticed Hollis never once met her gaze. She wondered if he was ashamed of what he did. He's shaking too but I doubt it's out of fear.

Hollis frantically wiped his bloodied hands on his shirt. He returned his attention to Lawrence. "Let her go." He demanded with authority. Neither Lawrence nor Ulrich were intimidated, however. Hollis clenched his fists in frustration. If Addy wasn't in the equation, he could have incapacitated both men. The second he tried something, she would be collateral damage. Hollis was conflicted over how to proceed.

Lawrence raised his hand, making a gun shape. "Pew!" The first bullet grazed Hollis' shoulder from behind. 

"I almost had you." The new arrival complimented Hollis on his sharp reflexes. "You must be the detective." The gruff voiced man addressed Hollis. "You City People are very audacious, that much I can say. It's probably not common practice where you hail from, but here, you check in with me before sticking your nose in our affairs." The man followed up by telling Hollis how much he hated people from the city. "Now, what business do you have here in my town?"

Hollis had been made. He could no longer entertain his lie. The old detective smirked at the man who shot him." Ishmael Da Silva." The Red Hound had come for him as he had done the others. Hollis studied Ishmael from head to toe. A rugged, dark-eyed man with unkempt hair, beard, and sideburns, Ishmael looked exactly how Hollis imagined he would: rough and bear-like with the temperament to match. "I'm honored. I didn't think we'd ever get the chance to meet face-to-face." He assumed Ishmael would send his cronies in his stead. The sheriff flashed a cheeky grin.

"I trust my men, but they're not always perfect." Ishmael stepped forward. "And when you address me," A sharp, burning sensation tore through Hollis' side. He had been shot from behind, again. That time it was by Lawrence, "...make sure you put sheriff in front of my name." Hollis barely heard Ishmael's words or Addy's screams over the deafening tinnitus. Ishmael pistol whipped Hollis until he near unconsciousness and covered in blood. "By the way, detective, welcome to Wych Elm." Ishmael stood over Hollis with a villainous smile across his face. He informed the injured man his temporary stay in town would become permanent soon.

Even in the presence of the Red Hound, Hollis showed no fear. Instead, he laughed in Ishmael's face. "Did your master send you, Red Hound?" The sheriff gritted his teeth. He moved down into a squat and proceeded to dig two fingers into Hollis' bullet wound. Hollis stifled his screamed as Ishmael twisted his fingers around. The Red Hound would not hear the anguish of his screams; he would not be awarded that pleasure.

"Don't...call...me...that." He threateningly said through clenched teeth. "Maybe I should pluck one of your eyes like you did to Sawyer." Ishmael revealed he was in a very dangerous mood. He would show Hollis some mercy so long as he and Addy cooperated. "Why are you here? Who sent you?" A disgraced detective from the city didn't wander into a place like Wych Elm on accident. "Tell me their name and I won't harm your woman over there." Hollis, however, would die by Ishmael's hands. He posed more of a threat to Ishmael than Addy was.

"I don't have a name to give you." 

Ishmael struck him across the jaw with the back of his hand. "Wrong answer, detective." The sheriff asked Hollis a second and final time. "Give me that fucking name." Hollis repeated his answer. "You don't want to play these kind of games with me, detective. I have painful ways to deal with stubborn assholes." Ishmael snapped his fingers twice, calling on two more men who had been waiting in secret.

Addy was forced to watch Ishmael's men savagely beat Hollis. She was warned not to look away or close her eyes. Ishmael would have prolonged Hollis' assault until he was dead. "Hollis! Just give them the fucking name!" She blurted out, unable to stomach his torment any longer. Addy's face and appearance was disheveled. She begged Hollis to cooperate. "Please... I can't keep watching them do this..." 

Ishmael called off his men, much to Addy's relief. Hollis was splayed across the ground, motionless. "He's still alive." The Red Hound told Addy. "But he won't be for much longer." The sheriff called Hollis the stupidest fool he had ever met. "Find the deepest hole you can bury him in." He commanded his men. 

"What do you want us to do with her?" Lawrence combed his hands through Addy's hair. She tried to kick him, but he was quick. "You want to let her go?"

Ulrich, who had been mostly silent for the duration, livened up. "Let me take her home." He said to Ishmael as he groped at her breasts. "I'll have use for her." Addy told Ishmael he could slit her throat. "You're a feisty broad." He spun Addy around, forcing her to face him. "Breaking you will be an enjoyable experience." Ulrich purred in her ear. 

"She's an outsider anyways.  Let's use her while we have her." Another man said, smirking maliciously.

The Red Hound cursed at the men. His face contorted into a repulsed scowl. "I don't want to ever hear either of you make those suggestions again." Or he would put a bullet in their skulls. The two men trembled at Ishmael's response.

Hollis mustered the resolve to speak, despite the agony and pain that tore through every part of his body. "You're quite a noble hound. You draw the line at rape, but not at the killing of innocent people. You have an astounding moral code, Sheriff Da Silva." Hollis said it was comical too. Had it not been for the fire in his lungs, Hollis would have laughed at the cognitive dissonance. Ishmael's eye twitched. 

A sad smile appeared on Addy's face. Hollis was alive, though she worried about his physical state. He was badly injured and has lost a significant amount of blood. She feared he would die soon without aid.

Ishmael was impressed Hollis still drew enough breath to fire off quips. "My men must be going soft." The sheriff tsked as he paced around Hollis. "It doesn't matter. You're going to die in this place." Hollis would succumb to his injuries soon. Ishmael was certain of that. "Dead men don't tell jokes." He told Hollis not to waste his dying breaths. 

"Do you want us to kill him?" One of Ishmael's men asked. The sheriff told them not to bother. 

"Let him die suffering." Ishmael replied to his subordinate. He shifted his attention to Addy. "I'll let you go." She had to leave Wych Elm immediately and never return. One of his men would supervise her until she was on the bus. "This is your one and only opportunity." The Red Hound never showed leniency to his victims or enemies. For some unknown reason (that would never be revealed), he decided to show Addy mercy. "Tell me thank you." He told Addy in a degrading tone. Addy didn't say anything. Ishmael roughly cupped her face. "I said, tell me 'Thank you.'" She spat in the Red Hound's face.

Addy was not grateful and refused to express gratitude to Ishmael. She was enraged. She burned inside like a raging furnace. "Burn in Hell, all of you!" She screamed as loud as she could in Ishmael's face. "You're a disgrace, Ishmael Da Silva. You're a disgrace to law enforcement. To the men and women who took the oak to protect and serve. Riddle me this, sheriff, how does someone like you look themselves in the mirror every morning knowing all you do is harm and kill." Addy held nothing back. She showed no fear or caution before the Red Hound. Every word and emotion behind it left her mouth without restraint. 

Hollis yelled at Addy to shut up. "That's enough... Addy..." He began coughing up blood. In between the fits, he continued pleading for her to stop. "He's...going to...kill...you..." Hollis was furious with Addy. She had squandered her freedom. The pain that ravaged his body was nothing compared to the rage he felt for her idiotic stunt.

"You don't deserve to be called sheriff." She laughed without breaking eye contact. "Did you even earn that position fairly or work hard for it? How many bodies did you have to bury for your master Alexander for he gave it to you." Ishmael popped his jaw. He struck Addy before he knew it. Lawrence and the other men winced in reaction to the violent assault.

"God dammit, Addy..." He struggled painfully to roll over to his stomach. "He was going to let you go! Why? Why?" 

Addy apologized to Hollis. "It wasn't right." She said with a weak smile. "You refused to give in so, why should I?" Addy didn't want to die. The idea frightened her terribly, but the idea of Hollis being killed while she got to live didn't sit right with her. Unlike Ishmael, Addy would not have been able to look herself in the mirror for the rest of her life. "I'm afraid, Hollis. I really am." She cried. "But I won't run away like a coward." I won't leave you behind.

Ishmael ran his tongue over his teeth. "Let me grant your wish then." He fired one round into Addy's stomach. "I've had enough of this little soap opera." Ishmael stepped away, letting her body hit the floor. 

Hollis clawed at the floor, trying to pull himself towards Addy. "No. No. No. No. No. No." The pain in his body subsided. He was numb. Addy was the only thing on his mind. He had to get to her. He had to save her. Hollis didn't give a damn if he didn't have the energy or his body gave out, he would reach Addy by any means necessary. "Addy... Oh God! Addy, I'm coming. I'm coming to get you. You're all right Addy. I'm coming." I'm going to save you. The pitiful scene made Ishmael chuckle. For several minutes, he watched as Hollis fruitlessly tried to get to Addy. He even went so far as to drag Hollis further away from Addy. "Ishmael, you son of a bitch!" Hollis screamed he would kill Ishmael. The Red Hound scoffed at the weak threat. "Addy, I'll get you help. I promise." The woman could only groan in pain. She had never experienced that intensity of physical pain in her life.

"There you go making promises you don't intend to keep." Ishmael stepped on Hollis' hand. "You let your partner die. Now, she's going to die too. There seems to be a common denominator between the two events." He continued to antagonize Hollis further. The old detective cursed at Ishmael again. "Get the gas cans." The Red Hound decided to burn Hollis and Addy alive in the building. 

"What about Sawyer?" One of Ishmael's men asked. He appeared reluctant to leave his deceased acquaintance behind. 

Ishmael cut his eyes. "Leave his body. He's an orphan." He quickly corrected his stated. "He was an orphan." The sheriff told them no one would miss him. "Hurry up! I have somewhere to be." The Red Hound barked at the men.

"Go ahead and put a bullet in my head while you're here." Hollis reiterated his promise to kill the Red Hound. "I will kill you, Ishmael. Even if I were to die in this fire, I'll still find a way." 

Ishmael mocked Hollis' foolish bravado. He bent down and met Hollis at eye level one last time. The still hot barrel of Ishmael's gun was pressed against Hollis' forehead. A sinister grin as wide as the Cheshire Cat slowly stretched across the Red Hound's face. "There's no excitement or pleasure in killing you quickly. I want to leave here knowing you and that stupid broad suffered until the very end." Ishmael told Hollis he was dying that day. "We'll do this another time...in Hell more than likely." Ishmael struck Hollis with the gun until he was nearly unconscious. With all the gasoline dispersed, Ishmael lit a cigarette. He inhaled then tossed the rest into a puddle of gas, igniting the store.  

The fire spread rapidly; the entire building was consumed by flames. Hollis fought valiantly to remain conscious. "...get up. You have to get up, Hollis." A ghostly voice spoke. "Hollis Alexander, I'm speaking to you! Get up! You need to get up! This isn't the time to lay down and die. Get your ass up now, Hollis Hashkeh Naabah Alexander!" The voice yelled louder.

"How-how do you know that name?" Hashkeh Naabah (Angry Warrior) was Hollis' Navajo name. The name he went by and used was his American name. No one outside of his family knew his Indigenous name. No one but, "Nicolai? Nicolai...is that-is that really you?" Hollis opened his eyes. He was right. It was Nicolai who had spoken his true name. His long deceased partner knelt beside Addy whose body laid motionless. She had lost too much blood. "Nico? What are you-? How are you-?" The Nicolai he saw was very much alive. He looked exactly as he did fifteen years ago. "Am I... Am I dead? Are you here to guide me across the way to the Other Side." He asked dejectedly.

Nicolai frowned at Hollis. "You need to get up, now." He repeated once again, but in a sterner tone. "You're not dead and you're not going to die, at least not today." Nicolai told Hollis with a tone of certainty. "Your time on this Earth is no where near its end." Broken and despondent, Hollis told Nicolai he couldn't move. He couldn't get to Addy. His body was too old, beaten, and exhausted. It wouldn't listen to him. Nicolai's disappointment of Hollis deepened; he shook his head disappointingly. He told Hollis his words were nothing more than an excuse. "So, you plan to let her die?" Nicolai delicately stroked her shoulder.

Hollis told Nicolai he had tried his best to save Addy. Despair overcame him. "I really, really tried. She would have been on the next bus out of here if she hadn't opened her damn mouth." He told Nicolai how Addy refused to leave him behind. There's nothing cowardly about running away from death. "She didn't listen to me." Hollis cried before his dead partner. 

"And neither did I." Nicolai responded somberly. The man shook his head again and continued chastising Hollis. "Did my death mean nothing then?" Hollis was distraught by Nicolai's question. It cut deeply.

"How dare you look me in the eyes and ask that." Hollis snapped at the ghostly man. "Why would you even say that to me, let alone think that?" It was Nicolai's turn to be chastised. "I never moved on from your death, Nicolai! I-I'm still grieving your loss fifteen years after the fact. I blamed myself for that decision." Dead or not, Hollis wouldn't allow Nicolai to trivialize the sacrifice he had made or the guilt he continued to feel.

Nicolai rose quietly to his feet and backed away into the roaring flames behind him, slowly vanishing away. "Then get up! Stand on your feet and save her, Hollis Alexander." He told Hollis with a smile. "Show me that my death meant something..." The apparition disappeared completely.

Hollis took in several deep breaths. He mentally blocked out the pain as he eased his way to his feet. The old detective struggled, but he managed. The anger over Nicolai's question gave him the strength he needed to move his body. His dead partner would come to regret those words. "Don't look away either, you jackass." Hollis chuckled as he cradled Addy in his arms. He then limped over to his burning jacket and retrieved the recorder, the note, and the frantic Dahlia still in his pocket. "Let's get the hell out of this place."

He scanned the burning edifice for a way out. The main exit was boarded up from the outside; Hollis was far too weak to double back upstairs. Not that it would have been a safer route even if Hollis wasn't as injured as he was. "Dammit! Think, Hollis! You need to think!" The smoke inhalation was getting to him as well. "Let's see... Let's see... Bathroom, possibly?" There was at least a fifty percent chance the bathroom had a window. "But there's also the possibility it won't open easily." Hollis didn't believe the risk was worth it. "There may be a way out in the back of the store."

As burning debris rained down upon Hollis, he tried to navigate around the obstacles as best he could in his state. He and Addy were almost crushed by one of the structural support beams. "This place won't hold up much longer." He said aloud. They didn't have long until the structure caved in on them. When Hollis finally reached the back door, he was disappointed to find it reinforced, which should have been expected. He, Addy, and Dahlia were trapped inside the burning building. "God dammit all!" Hollis screamed to the ceiling. "Nicolai... I don't know what else to do... We're out of time." The way they came was consumed by fire. Nicolai had lied, it seemed. Hollis was going to die. 

He carefully placed Addy in the corner furthest away from the encroaching fire. Hollis checked her pulse.  Addy was still alive but also dangerously close to Death's Door. Hollis cursed Ishmael's name. He would happily decline entry into Heaven to torment the Red Hound for the rest of his crooked life. In a fit of rage, Hollis flung a chair at the wall, using the last of his strength. The object went straight through the wall, to Hollis' disbelief. "Huh?" He looked inside the hole and discovered another room. "Wait, no, this isn't a room." Hollis quickly searched the back room for a flashlight. "Well I'll be damned, Nicolai!" He happily exclaimed. The space on the other side of the hole led into the adjacent building.

Hollis kicked in the rest of the wall. He scooped Addy into his arms, reassuring her that she was finally safe. Hollis apologized to Nicolai for doubting his words. "You always get the last laugh, don't you?" He addressed Nicolai as if the man was right beside him. Hollis could almost hear the faint chuckle of his partner in his ear.

Outside, the storm rained down, drenching Wych Elm in a curtain of heavy rain. The perfect cover for Hollis to slip out of the area without being noticed. As he hurried back to Juniper's house, Hollis held Addy tighter and closer to his heart. Memories of the day where Hollis cradled Nicolai's mangled body as he took his last breath resurfaced in the tormented detective's mind. After Nicolai's traumatic death, Hollis prayed he would never again experience that agony and grief. Unfortunately, the cursed man found himself back in the same predicament.

Hollis called out to God, asking Him what offense he committed to be punished so terribly. He feared his pleas and prayers would once again go unheard as Juniper's house came into view.

The pounding at the door startled a napping Juniper awake. She looked around and realized she had fallen asleep at the dining table while waiting on her guests' return. "Juniper! Juniper open the door! Hurry! Please! It's Addy! She's injured." Juniper hurried to the door and flung it open. Wind, rain, and a frantic Hollis flew inside her home. "She's shot..." He told a confused Juniper, struggling to catch his breath. "Bleeding out... Her stomach... We need... We need... We need a doctor... Hurry!" Hollis laid Addy across the sofa. He then placed the injured Dahlia on the coffee table. Finally, Hollis collapsed from exhaustion on the floor beneath her. His adrenaline had finally run out. Hollis was done. There was nothing more he could do until he recovered.

Juniper looked down at Hollis and Addy with overwhelming sadness. "It's a terrible day for rain." She whispered under her breath. The young woman loathed the gloomy weather; it depressed her and always had. When she left Wych Elm, she planned to move some place where it seldom rained. Juniper sprinted into the kitchen where the phone was and called in a doctor. Once that was done, Juniper retrieved the First Aid kit from the cupboard and returned to Addy.

Hollis could no longer see clearly as his vision began to distort and blur. Juniper soon became unrecognizable, just a blurry form that resembled a person. "Stay awake, Hollis. You need to stay awake. Stay awake. You have to stay awake." It didn't matter how many times Hollis chanted those words over and over. The dark canopy of sleep crept ever closer. Hollis feared that moment would have been the last time either of them saw the other. He was okay with dying. In honestly, Hollis stopped "living" after his parents, his sister, Sadie and Nicolai died.

"Hollis, my nephew, were you ever told the myth of Nayenezgani and his twin brother, Tobadzistsini?" Hollis heard his great-uncle calling him as he slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

"No, great-uncle. Who were they?" Raphael chuckled at the young Hollis. Curious to hear the story, Hollis gleefully bounced over to his great-uncle and flung himself into the man's lap. Raphael tickled Hollis who squealed with laughter. Of all his nephews and nieces (great and not), the one-eyed man was fond of Hollis the most. 

"When I see my niece, your mother, I'm going to fuss her head off. This is what happens when Diné children aren't educated or involved in their culture." Hollis' mother had moved away from the Navajo Nation when she turned eighteen. Hollis was born and raised thousands of miles away from his mother's reservation. She had never exposed him to her culture when he was growing up either. Hollis often felt like an outcast among his family when his mother took him to visit. He became close with his great-uncle. "They were the sons of Changing Woman, born to rid the Earth of monsters." 

 "Nayenezgani..." Monster Slayer or Killer of Enemies. The phrase reminded Hollis of a quote he often heard his mentor recite during his (Hollis') first year as a new detective. 

The senseless cruelty of humans Hollis had seen took a substantial toll on his psyche. He nearly quit being a detective. The final straw was a father who unremorsefully butchered his wife and daughter with an axe. The crime scene looked like a literal slaughterhouse. Hollis was consumed by an indescribable rage when he looked upon the blood-stained teddy bear that belonged to the child. The scene left him a broken man.

"These cases. These victims. These monsters. You can't let them corrupt you Hollis, or they'll turn you into a monster, possibly something worse." Leonard had warned him. It happened to Leonard's mentor and some of his peers. He didn't want Hollis, a promising detective, to spiral down the same path either. A young Hollis gave Leonard his word. 

 

He would not become a monster, but he would rid Wych Elm of the monsters that were the High Families.