Chapter 32
There was no comfortable position on the hard bench, no matter how she turned.
Her arm was throbbing, although she couldn’t see any blood seeping through the bandage.
Whoever had seen to her injury had done a good job.
However, it did nothing to wipe away her pain, both the physical one as well as the one that had shattered her heart.
How could she have fallen in love with Benjamin so quickly and so deeply to make herself so vulnerable?
Within a few days and nights, he’d completely changed her life, only to destroy it so completely within seconds.
Her tears had finally dried, but sleep wouldn’t come.
Catalina heard sounds echo in the concrete building.
She wasn’t even sure where she was. Most likely in the city jail, perhaps at the same place where they’d brought Santiago when they’d first arrested him.
She couldn’t hear any cars or any other sounds from the outside world.
There was no window in her cell, and she had to assume that was the case for the other cells too.
She heard other inmates toss and turn just like herself.
Somebody was shuffling up and down in a cell close to hers, another person was knocking rhythmically against the steel bars of their cell.
Nothing dulled the sounds: no carpets, no rugs, no bedding, nothing to absorb the constant din inside the jail.
Was this a preview of what her future looked like?
She shuddered at the thought, and she felt cold all of a sudden. She closed her eyes, trying to will herself to sleep, but to no avail. Too many thoughts whirled around in her mind. Too many questions demanded answers, which she didn’t have.
A sound interrupted the noise around her.
Footsteps. They were determined, and they came closer with every second.
Instinctively, she sat up and looked at the door.
Her pulse kicked up a notch. She sat there, frozen in both hope and fear, when finally a person appeared in front of her cell door.
It was a guard, but not the same one from earlier.
This man was skinnier and at least two decades younger.
“Catalina Vargas?” he asked, his voice just above a whisper.
“Yes?”
She rose from the bench and approached.
“There’s been a mistake,” the guard said. “You’re being released without charges.”
She couldn’t believe her ears. Had she fallen asleep after all and was dreaming of a miracle? She pinched herself, but she didn’t wake. This was real.
“Thank you, thank you,” she said.
She heard the key being turned in the lock, and when the guard opened the door, she stepped outside into the corridor, feeling a semblance of relief.
“Follow me,” he demanded.
She followed him as he led her through a labyrinth of corridors, until he finally turned to her and motioned to a nondescript door.
She hesitated. “Is there no paperwork to sign?”
From everything she knew about Santiago’s trouble with the law, she knew that nothing happened without a wad of papers that needed to be filled out and signed.
“If you wanna stay another twenty-four hours, I’m sure somebody will fill out some forms, but that’s up to you. You can either leave now without any paperwork or stay if you like it here so much…”
His voice and facial expression gave the impression that he was mocking her. Or maybe he was simply tired, didn’t want to deal with more paperwork, and was cutting her some slack.
“No, no. I’ll leave now. Thank you.”
Quickly, she pressed down the door handle and opened the door.
Fresh night air greeted her as she stepped outside.
Behind her, the door fell shut. She looked around and noticed that she was in a parking lot.
She heard the sound of traffic just beyond it and focused her eyes in that direction.
She could make out the freeway overpass.
Relieved that she recognized where she was, she turned to her right.
“Miss Vargas.”
The male voice came out of nowhere, and she shrieked.
“I’m sorry,” he added and finally stepped out of the shadows. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
When a light from the building hit his face, she recognized him.
“I’m Judge Norton,” he introduced himself.
“I know who you are.”
“I’m here because more evidence in your brother’s case has come to light, which leads me to believe that he is, in fact, innocent.”
At first, she couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. The words were tumbling around in her head.
“Miss Vargas, what I’m saying is that I have something that will set your brother free. I would like to show it to you, and then we can get the process started to have your brother’s conviction overturned.”
“Oh, my God! I knew it. I always knew that he didn’t do it.”
Finally, Santiago would be free, and everything would be alright again. Well, everything apart from the fact that vampires existed and that she’d dated one.
“You were right, Miss Vargas.” Judge Norton motioned to a dark SUV. “My car is over there. Let’s go. This is time-sensitive.”
“Of course,” she said quickly as he ushered her to his car.
“She’s not there,” the guard at the San Francisco Jail on Seventh Street said.
Benjamin’s heart stopped.
“What do you mean by she’s not there?” Anita asked, her voice raised.
“She’s gone.” He tapped on his clipboard. “She’s supposed to be in cell 17C, but she’s not there.”
“Was she released?” Benjamin asked, his pulse speeding up.
“No, there’s no paperwork that she was released.” The guard looked nervous. “I’ve gotta report this.”
“Are you trying to tell us that you lost her?” Benjamin growled.
Something wasn’t right. He could feel it. A tingling sensation worked its way up his spine, putting him on edge.
“No, no, not lost. I’m sure she’s somewhere. She must be. I mean, she was checked in. She should be there.”
“The Police Chief won’t be happy about this,” Anita said, her voice sharp. “Show me the cameras covering the corridors leading to and from her cell.”
“But I can’t just—”
“Would you rather I call Chief Donnelly on his cell phone and wake him up?”
Anita’s threat landed where she intended it.
The guard simply swallowed and shook his head. Quickly, he sat down behind his computer and tapped on the keyboard.
“Open up the door,” Anita demanded.
“Yes, Detective,” he quickly replied and pressed the buzzer.
Benjamin and Anita entered the small guard room.
“Okay, now show us the CCTV,” Benjamin demanded. “Go back to when she was brought in.”
The guard looked at a sheet, and Benjamin followed his gaze to read the time Catalina had been admitted to the facility. Every second the man took to find the right camera and time felt like an eternity, but finally, he saw Catalina being led to her cell, and a guard locking the door behind her.
“Now fast-forward to when there is any activity in the area of her cell,” Benjamin ordered.
The recording showed nothing happening for almost an hour. Then a heavy-set guard appeared in front of Catalina’s cell and talked to her through the bars. Moments later, he left again.
“Speed it up again,” he demanded.
Again, there was a long time of nothing happening, then suddenly the screen went black.
Benjamin pointed to it. “What happened?”
“I don’t know.”
The guard tapped on his keyboard and clicked on different windows with his mouse, but the screen remained black. Then suddenly, the recording continued as before. The next activity showed a guard walking to Catalina’s cell and then returning to the guard office.
“That’s me,” he said, pointing at the monitor.
Whatever had happened to Catalina had happened during the time the screen had gone black.
“Fuck!” Benjamin cursed. “Somebody did this! Somebody cut the camera feed to get to her.”
Anita nodded grimly.
“I noted the time when the camera didn’t record,” she said, while scribbling it down on a pad next to the guard. “Give us the cameras that cover all exits of this building for this time span. Do it! Now!”
The guard typed a few entries on his computer before several other camera feeds opened on the large monitor. Frantically, Benjamin looked at the videos that showed exit doors on various sides of the building.
“There!” Anita said excitedly, pointing to one of them.
Benjamin’s gaze snapped to it. Catalina exited through a nondescript door and stepped outside. The door fell shut behind her. She was alone. She took two steps away from the door when she froze as if something had startled her.
“Is there any audio?” Benjamin asked.
“No,” the guard replied.
“What exit is that?”
“It’s a staff exit. Leads to the parking lot.”
“Which side of the building is that?”
“Seventh Street, close to the freeway overpass.”
As the video continued playing, Catalina finally moved.
“Somebody was waiting there for her,” Benjamin suspected.
“Looks like it.” Anita turned to the guard. “Any cameras covering the parking lot?”
He shook his head. “I have to report that she escaped.”
Anita ignored his words. “Let me get on the computer.”
“But that’s not—”
“I have access, so move, unless you want me to make sure you get fired for letting an inmate escape on your shift,” Anita threatened.
The intimidated guard got up from his chair, and Anita sat down.
She navigated to a different program and logged in.
Benjamin watched her as she accessed her own systems remotely.
He realized what she was doing: finding the closest traffic cameras that might have seen a car leave the parking lot at the time when Catalina had exited the building.
“There’s a camera near the bus stop out there on 7th. I think I can get something from that,” she said confidently.
Nervously, Benjamin clenched and unclenched his fist. Catalina would have never escaped jail, no matter how good she was at picking locks. She wasn’t a hardened criminal. Hell, she wasn’t a criminal at all! Somebody had tricked her into leaving in the middle of the night.
“There!” Anita exclaimed.
He stared at the screen and saw a dark SUV leave the parking lot. The license plate was clearly visible.
“Run the plate,” Benjamin said.
He watched Anita switch to a database and enter the license plate number. It took only seconds for the results to populate the page. He read the name the car was registered to and felt the blood in his veins turn to ice.
Anita looked over her shoulder, and their eyes met.
“This is not good,” she said.
Benjamin pulled his cell phone from his pocket and tapped on Nicholas’s number. Even though the phone rang only once before his friend answered, it felt like an eternity. Because right now, every single second mattered.
“Nicholas, triangulate Judge Norton’s cell phone. He has Catalina. We’ve gotta find him before he hurts her.”
Because if he did, he would rip Tylor Norton’s heart out of his chest while it was still beating.