Broken Memories
Chapter 5
Warning: GRAPHIC DETAILS
Everyone met up at Debbie’s house in the morning and waited around to hear from
the police about when they were going to be releasing the body so a funeral
could be planned. Lindsay and Emmett busied themselves making breakfast for
everyone, while Michael sat holding JR, much to her chagrin.
She’d turned three just a few months before and hated to sit still for any
amount of time. When he’d finally let her go, she ran straight for Momma M,
asking where Gramma was. Melanie looked to Lindsay, then back to JR and tried to
explain that her grandmother was gone. JR accepted that and ran upstairs to find
Gus.
Ben stood and walked to the front window, watching the snow fall, while letting
his thoughts consume him. It hadn’t been that long ago that Debbie had hated him
dating Michael. But over the last few years she’d become like a mother to him.
He loved her and was having a hard time being strong for Michael. His partner
had completely fallen apart at losing his mother.
He was just about to turn back when he spotted the older car driving slowly
past. The man inside seemed to be staring straight through him. It chilled him
straight to the bone and he felt as though he’d looked straight into the eyes of
Satan.
***
Brian sat alone in Michael’s old room remembering how Debbie had opened her home
and heart to him when he first moved to Pittsburgh. She’d always been cheerful
and had lemon bars from the diner for him and Michael after school. She’d been
the closest thing to a real mom he’d ever had. He couldn’t believe that she was
gone and that his last words to her had been fuck you. He now knew how
she’d felt when Vic died. He knew that Debbie loved him and wanted him to be
happy. He also knew that she believed that Justin was the only one who could
bring him that happiness. If he were honest with himself, he knew it too. He
still loved Justin. He’d always loved Justin. So why the fuck was he replaying 8
years ago. Why was he pushing him away?
He was still deep in thought when Michael came in and sat down next to him. He
opened his arms and Michael collapsed into them, crying uncontrollably. Stroking
Michael's hair, Brian tried to just let him cry it out.
“Shhhh, Mikey,” he soothed.
“Why?” Michael sobbed. “Why her? She never hurt anyone. She just loved.”
“I know. I know.” Brian couldn’t find a reasoning behind this senseless death
either.
“Brian, do you know that bastard raped her? He raped her, before he killed her.
Who could do such a thing to my mom?”
“A sick mother fucker,” is all Brian could say.
“There’s so much more the police won’t tell us. And Carl wouldn’t let me go to
see her in the morgue either. He just said that I didn’t need to see her that
way.”
“It’s probably for the best, Mikey. She wouldn’t want you to see her that way.”
“Do you think that her death is connected to all those missing women? Do you
think he was trying to abduct her?”
“I don’t know. Maybe?”
“They found another body last week. Her throat had been cut so bad her head was
just barely hanging on. How could someone do that to another human being?”
“I don’t fucking know. But it’s not helping to think about that kinda shit,
Michael. So far there's nothing to link your mom’s death to that woman’s, so we
just have to assume it was something completely random.”
“Do you think he killed her because she fought back? Maybe if she’d just let him
do whatever he wanted she’d still be alive.”
“You can’t think like that. She’s gone and you have to face it.”
“Face it? Face it? Like it’s just an inconvenience? She was my fucking MOTHER,
for Christ’s sake. MY MOTHER.”
“I know who she was, and that’s not what I meant. I just meant that you have to
find away to deal with it or else it will eat you alive.”
“There’s no way to just deal with it. I’ll never be able to deal with it.”
Michael stormed back down the stairs, leaving Brian once again alone.
***
Detective Johns stood in the medical examiner’s office, waiting for the autopsy
results on Debbie Horvath. He’d just filled a cup with some coffee when Chief ME
Allison Andrews walked in.
“Chief, what have you got?”
“Well, she was most certainly raped. We recovered skin from under her
fingernails, and semen as well. I’ve already sent them to the lab with a rush
order on them. Cause of death is going to be listed as exsanguination. In other
words she bled to death. The evidence certainly is similar to the body we
examined last week. I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that Mrs. Horvath
was lucky that she died before he got her back to wherever it is he’s keeping
his victims."
“Has the first girl been identified yet?”
“We’re waiting on the DNA to come back, but I’d stake my life that she’s the
same woman that went missing more than a month ago.” She fumbled around on her
desk until she found the file on the body recovered last week. “A Miranda
Madison, 33 year old female. She was a waitress at that new Italian place on
Main. She’d only moved to Pittsburgh a year ago. No family in the area. No ties
to the community other than her volunteer work at Grassi House.”
“Did you say Grassi House?” Detective Johns felt the hair on the back of his
neck stand up.
“Yeah, you know that AIDS hospice down on Liberty Ave. She volunteered there
twice a week. From what I gather she was a huge support to several of the men
and women there. Why?”
“Victor Grassi was Debbie Horvath’s brother. Funny how two women with ties to
Liberty Ave and Vic Grassi were both murdered within days of one another. Was
there anything else about the Madison woman’s autopsy that stood out?”
“Yeah, she had burn marks on her legs and sides that are suggestive that a cow
prod was used on her. If I had to guess I’d say we’re dealing with one sick
fucker.”
“And I’d say that’s the understatement of the year. Now I just have to figure
out exactly how he found two women so different from one another to be
irresistible. Any suggestions?”