Girl Jacked (26 page)

Franklin started clapping and walking back toward the shrinking student.

“They problem with your conclusion, Mr. Ross, is that it is wrong.” He leaned forward and flipped Ross’ closed notebook back open. “Perhaps you should write this down.”

He turned and smiled at the girl next to Ross and she turned and stared at her desk.

“For years scientists have been looking for a certain part of the brain. The 'God spot' as it is sometimes called, is the area of the brain that is responsible for spirituality. I say this with the highest regard for Dr. Hahn but for the twenty years that he has spent looking for the one ‘spot’ he has been digging in the wrong place!”

Franklin looked around the room but most students peered down instead of meeting his eyes.

“Others, like myself or Dr. Melding, believe that it is not one but many spots. There have been many studies regarding this. Several have been performed in this university. Various methods have been employed to locate it.”

He walked to stand before the girl that sat with her head in her hands ogling him.

“They have tried love, meditation, happiness, fear…. None have worked.” He sauntered back over in front of Ross. “I have myself researched this exact topic you have selected for your paper. My study took the opposite path of the one that you concur with. In my humble opinion, it would be relatively easy to prove through the mapping of dopamine release that it is not one ‘spot’ but ‘many spots.’” He leaned in and emphasized the words.

As Franklin turned to go back to the podium, he leered at the girl seated next to Ross. Jack shook his head as the student inhaled.

“Easy? Then why haven’t you proven–”

Kid should have stay down. It’s a no-win fight.

“Why?” Franklin’s hand crashed down on the podium and he spun around. “Knowing and proving are totally separate. If they…” The professor grabbed the sides of the podium and inhaled. Jack could see his knuckles turning white as his hands clutched the wood. “I digress.” When Franklin continued his voice was calm but cold. “I await reading and
grading
your paper with bated breath.”

Franklin sneered and Ross deflated.

“The assignment is due next class. As always, thank you.” Franklin’s attention turned to the girl in the front row who hopped up and rushed to his desk.

The rest of the students stood and Jack began to weave his way to the front of the classroom. The young girl was now turning back and forth and giggling. She kept leaning into the doctor who was more interested in looking down at the view her low-cut blouse gave him.

Jack waited. Dr. Franklin looked up and when he noticed Jack, he frowned. So did the girl. She picked up her books, gave Jack a dirty look, and stomped past him.

“Dr. Franklin? Jack Stratton.” Jack smiled. The doctor didn’t.

“Yes?” He looked past Jack, leering at the girl as she walked out of the classroom.

“I have a couple of quick questions for you.”
Scumbag.

“I have another class. Can you get the notes from another student?” Franklin turned back to his desk.

“I spoke with Mike Leverone…”

Franklin’s hand slammed down on his desk with such force that everyone left in the room turned and stared.

Damn. I should have said Hank Foster.

The doctor’s voice was clipped and rapid fire. “Mike Leverone making his own meth lab and blowing his face off had nothing to do with me. Who are you? Get out.”

That was a mistake. Take it down.

“I didn’t say you had anything to do with it. I just need to ask you–”

“You need to get out of my classroom. Are you a lawyer? I’ll call security.” He turned and began walking toward Jack.

Jack shook his head and held up his hands. “You have it wrong. I’m here for your professional opinion. I’m a police officer and I’m looking at… a missing person case. I’ve spoken with a few different people who recommended I speak with you, including Hank Foster.”

Franklin stood there glaring at Jack and then it was as if someone flicked a switch. He smiled. “My apologies… Jack. The situation with Mr. Leverone was… traumatic for me as an educator. You said you are a police officer? You’re working a missing person’s case? I don’t see how I could be of any assistance with that.”

“I’m looking for a girl who did meth. One time.”

Franklin frowned and looked at Jack with a mixture of scorn and pity. “People do not do meth one time.”

“They do if they die.”

“That is a trick question then.” The doctor’s lips pressed together.

“The question I had is how does meth influence someone the first time they take it psychologically?” Jack added the word
psychologically
at the last second to try to hook the doctor back into the conversation. 

“Another trick question. There are too many variables and too many inconsistencies. What is the person like physically? Tall? Short? Fat? Thin? What is their emotional state? The drug? What is the mixture? How much? How taken? I could go on and on. A trick question again.” Once more his hand came down on his desk.

This guy is way off the reservation.

“Doctor, thank you for explaining the complexity of how meth effects people. Since there are so many variables, how do you figure them out? You mentioned in class just now that there are research studies?”

“There have been a number of studies on the effects of meth and the mind including my own. My personal study has been placed in a status of indefinite hold thanks to the aforementioned Mr. Leverone.”

“That is unfortunate….”

"You have no idea of the hours wasted, not just mine, but my students'. The whole study was frozen just like that! Now the data is useless. You can’t just pause a study. Gone. All of that research is gone.”

“Doctor, for the test subjects, did you accept volunteers?”

“Of course. We don’t pay more than a small stipend if anything but…” His eyes widened and his nostrils flared. “This supposed missing person’s case…. Who? Who is missing?” Dr. Franklin pointed a finger at Jack.

This guys may be on meth. He is wacko.

“I can’t divulge…”

“Get out. Now! I have a class.” He took two steps toward Jack.

Talk him down.

“Doctor, I’m sorry I imposed. I just have one more question. Do you know a Lennie Jacobsen?”

“Yes… no… maybe. I have so many students,” he spouted as his head was shaking. “Get out.” He waved a hand at Jack.

“Thank you for your time. You have been very insightful.” Jack forced a smile.

Franklin looked confused for a second and then began smiling. “I’m so glad I could be of assistance. I have another class. You can make an appointment and we can discuss this further. Good day.” He turned his back on Jack and began arranging his desk.

Jack headed for the door and slipped past some more students coming in.

That guy is not right in the head.

Jack ran his hands through his hair and exhaled.

I shouldn’t have opened with Mike Leverone. Of course it would piss him off…

Jack weaved through the groups of students who headed to their classes. He stomped down the stairs and stormed out the door. One look at his smoldering eyes and the snarl on his lips had the students coming towards him moved aside. He jumped into his Impala and gunned it out of the lot.

The Impala didn’t hug the curves like the Charger and Jack kept finding himself having to slow down.

Tomorrow. I’ll talk to Morrison and have him look at Franklin. The doctor is a lunatic. I think he’s taking meth himself. He’s his own research subject…

Jack pulled over.

Research subject. Charlie Harding. Was that torture… or research?

Jack found himself once again pacing back and forth in his apartment waiting for Replacement. He looked at the clock. 6:00 pm.

He walked over and checked his phone. Nothing. No word from her. He tossed it down on the counter next to Replacement’s note.

She said she is running errands. She has no car so she must have just gone downtown. Get a grip, Jack.

As he headed for the window, the phone rang.
Bark
— He reached the counter and hit answer before the first
Bark
stopped.

“Hey! Where are you?”

There was a pause.

Jack checked the number. He didn’t recognize it. “Hello?”

“I’m looking for Jack Stratton?” It was a girl’s voice.

“That’s me.”

“This is Missy Lorton. Can we talk?”

“Certainly. Where are you?”

“My apartment. I’m not in trouble am I?”

“You’re off to a good start in getting out ahead of any trouble by calling.”

“I… I kept some of Michelle’s things. I want to give them back.”

“Okay. You’re at your apartment now? I can be there right away.”

“I’ll wait here.” Click.

He gathered up his jacket, keys and gun as fast as his leg would allow, and two minutes later was racing to the college.

Stop by Missy’s. Get Michelle’s things for Replacement. Michelle may have said something to her too. Something that Missy didn’t want to share before. I can lean on her now. Not too hard, she’s a crier.

Jack tried Replacement again but she didn’t pick up her phone.

Damn.

Jack parked right outside Missy’s apartment. This time she immediately buzzed him in. He hurried up to the third floor and knocked.

Missy opened the door. Her face was splotchy and her eyes were red.

“Thank you for calling, Ms. Lorton.”

“I don’t want to be in trouble.” She was hard to understand as she was garbling the words while trying to hold back tears.

Crier. Not too hard.

“I do have some additional questions.”

Missy nodded and moved into the apartment.

“I’ll get the box. I need a tissue.”

Jack walked into the apartment. It looked like she still didn’t have a roommate; half of the apartment was still empty.

“I’m sorry I kept some of her stuff.” Missy called from what Jack assumed was her bedroom. “I just… I thought that she was throwing it out. What’s going to happen to me?”

She came back into the room and placed a large cardboard box on an end table in the living room.

“Ms. Lorton. Can you tell me anything about Michelle on December 20
th
? Did she say where she was going that night?” Jack opened the box.

“No. She just left.”

“She didn’t mention anything about going to the Psychology Center?”

“How do you know she was out there?”

“I spoke with Dr. Hahn about it. Are you familiar with the Psychology Center, Miss Lorton?”

Jack looked into the box. There were some clothes and a pair of shoes on top.

To Replacement, these things will mean the world.

“No. I’m a business major.”

“Did Michelle talk to you about transferring?”

“Yes. She was terribly excited about it.” Missy was leaning against the wall.

Lie. She also said that ‘they’ told her about Michelle transferring before.

As Jack lifted out a blanket, he heard a faint click behind him. He shot bolt upright and started to push to the right but it was too late. A Taser’s barbs embedded in his side and the electricity froze his muscles but he didn’t drop.

He had been shot with a Taser in training before so he knew he could ride this wave of pain. Whoever shot it had made the mistake of being too close to Jack when they fired. The prongs need to have distance between them to effect the most muscle groups but they were too close together.

It’s a knockoff civilian model. A ten second burst then it’s my turn.

Jack bellowed when the second Taser hit him. His muscles seized and he pitched forward. As he lay writhing on the floor, someone ran up and placed a wet cloth over his face.

Jack’s vision blurred and a chemical smell filled his nose. He fought but he knew it was a losing battle. The blackness rushed up to envelop him and he toppled into the abyss.

Jack woke and opened his eyes a fraction to check out his situation. What he saw didn’t look good. Thick leather straps bound his arms and legs to a hospital stretcher.

Just like Charlie Harding.

He pulled against the restraints, but they held him fast. His head pounded. He was in some kind of medical room. As he looked up, he saw the large circular machine above his head, which told him exactly where he was, even before he saw the control booth.

The Center.

Through the large viewing window in the middle of the wall, he could see that Missy was in the control booth. She was talking with someone just out of his view. The conversation seemed quite animated.

Slowly he moved his head and he could see the edge of the heavy door on the right wall. Jack tried to remember the layout of the lab on the bottom floor of the psychology center. He recollected from the tour that a corridor ran along that wall.

Jack closed his eyes so they were slits and he tested the restraints. He’d seen people restrained many times. These straps were leather. There would be no breaking them. His wrists were fastened and a strap went over his legs.

Anger rose up in him, and he tried to drive it away.

Stay calm. Remember your training. You’re a cop. Try to get them talking.

The door swung open and he heard someone walk into the room from the right. A chair scraped on the floor and the person sat down next to the stretcher.

“Hello Jack.”

“Hahn!” Jack allowed one snarl before burying his anger.

“Officer, you surprise me. So calm. I wonder if that is from who you are or what that army made you into? You were a soldier, were you not? You served with Michelle and Alice’s brother in Iraq.” The doctor was smiling.

Jack’s rage was seething back to the surface.

He knows about Alice. Bluff.

“So you figured out that you’re under investigation? The police have been looking–”

Dr. Hahn patted Jack’s hand and chuckled. “Very good. Very clever. You should have gone into acting, Officer. I do need to correct you, however. You see, you were the one under investigation. I have known all about you and Alice for a while.”

Jack’s muscles exploded against the restraints to no avail.

“Good. Good.” Hahn smiled. “I need you to help me today, Officer. Your anger will play a part in that.”

He lifted up a syringe and held it to Jack’s arm. Jack gritted his teeth as Hahn inserted the needle into his arm and pushed the plunger.

“Do not worry, Officer. This is a mixture that I created.”

The door opened, and a six-foot blonde haired man pulled another stretcher in.

“Brendan!” Jack called out.

Brendan turned his head, and Jack saw that the left side of his face was swollen. Brendan’s scowl turned into a sneer as he turned the stretcher around.

They had strapped Replacement to the gurney and the side of her face was red. Blood trickled from her nose and the corner of her mouth.

“You fool.” Hahn snapped. “I told you not to harm their bodies until it was time.”

“The bitch bit my face!”

“I’m going to kill you!” Jack yelled.

“You’re a limp wristed loser!” Replacement spat. “If I wasn’t tasered I would have kicked your teeth down your throat and I’m going to rip Missy’s fat face off.”

“Screw you, you scrawny bitch.” Missy hissed through the viewing room speaker. “You’re the one who got her ass kicked in the chem lab.”

“What was she doing up there?” Hahn demanded.

“She ran when Brendan couldn’t hold onto her. We found her there trying to escape. She trashed it!” Missy glared through the window at Brendan.

“It wasn’t–” Brendan started to protest but Hahn cut him off.

“The materials in there are volatile.” Hahn looked furious.

Brendan held up two syringes. “I got two batches of the stuff.”

“I have already administered Officer Stratton’s. It may be a long evening. Hold off on hers. I would like to observe her for now.”

Dr. Hahn leaned down so his face was inches from Jack’s. “Now that everyone is here, let’s get started.” He rose and so did the hairs on the back of Jack’s neck.

“Hahn, right now, everyone knows I am looking at you. Do you think you can get away with this?”

Hahn laughed. “It does not matter. Jack, please indulge my ego and let me satisfy your curiosity because, tonight, both you and Alice will die.”

“Dr. Hahn, as you said, I’m a cop.” Jack spoke calmly although his heart was racing and his mind was clouding. “They will come straight here.” Jack tried to derail the scene that was unfolding. “They know I was investigating the Psychology Center. They know about Charlie Harding, Tiffany McAllister, and Michelle. It will lead them right to you. Get out now while you still can.”

Hahn shrugged. “I know they will come, but it will not matter.”

He placed his hand on the side of the large machine.

“As for you and Alice… Missy wants to keep it simple and just have you disappear. To that end, we would cut you up and dispose of your bodies by burying them deep in the woods. I however felt a fire at your apartment house would be better. They will find you and Alice in bed with some empty rum bottles and some drugs. The police will want to cover that up and that’s that.”

Jack’s head spun. “We have proof. It will lead them here.”

“Proof? Officer, why do you think I keep Dr. Franklin on the staff? He is what you would call ‘a fall guy.’ I have tainted his reputation enough that a simple suicide note and his corpse would be enough to end any investigation. Even though I do not believe anything will transpire as far as an investigation is concerned. I am totally prepared. How do you think Bennie Mayer had Franklin’s business card tucked into his shoe? That is why you came by today, is it not?”

Dammit.

“You think I fell for that, Hahn? I know all about your research. That’s what this is about, research? You’re looking for the God spot.”

Hahn looked down at Jack and studied his face. “Impressive, Officer. You are correct. I am almost there. I will be the one who will accomplish what man has searched for in vain. Everyone will realize that I was right. Once I locate it, then I can silence all the fools. Don’t you see? I will become a god!”

“The ‘God spot’ doesn’t exist!” Replacement picked her head up as she spat and started to struggle. “You should take Dr. Melding’s Neuropsychology class you moron!”

The veins on Hahn’s forehead bulged. “It is there! She is a fool! Did she say that? Did she say that in class?”

“Yeah! She said Dr. Hahn is a loser who wasted twenty years of his pathetic life. Any undergrad could poke a million holes into in his theories.” Brendan cut off her shouted tirade by slapping her.

“Silence!” Brendan commanded.

“I’m going to rip your heart out!” Jack yelled.

“Good, Jack!” Dr. Hahn patted his arm. “Good. It is better with her here.” He clapped his hands together. “Now, I have been looking for the ‘God spot’ and I discovered why imbeciles like Melding think it doesn’t exist. They used different emotions like hope and love to try to locate it, but I have postulated that pain would be the key.”

Replacement laughed. “If you think pain is the way to find God then all you had to do is take your class! It was so painfully boring I prayed a piano would fall on my head! Or better yet, yours!”

Brendan slapped her again.

“Stop!” Hahn’s order was low and commanding.

“Better behave, Shrimpie!” Replacement laughed, but Jack could see she was hurt. “That’s what the girls in class call you. Did you know that? Did you
date one
?”

Brendan punched her in the face.

“Hit the bitch again.” Missy’s voice crackled over the speaker as she glared out the control room window.

“Stop!” Jack’s body lifted off the stretcher as he screamed and strained against the restraints.

“Your boyfriend hits like a girl!” Replacement lifted her head and looked into the control room. Her eye was starting to swell shut already.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Missy snapped then smiled suggestively at Dr. Hahn.

“Ewww.” Replacement’s reaction wasn’t taunting but honest disgust. “Hahn, you’re banging Miss Piggy? That’s gross!”

Missy poured a stream of profanities over the speakers. Hahn walked over, grabbed Brendan, and pushed him towards the door.

“Go to the booth!” He ordered. “As for you…” He grabbed a plastic bit and forced it between Replacement’s teeth, silencing her.