Vacation from the Madness

The jolt of the plane landing awakened Dinah with a start. Adrenaline rushed through her bloodstream as she grabbed her iPhone to turn it on. Callahan had been working as a security guard overseas in the Middle East for nearly a year. They had met amicably a few years prior. 

She was introduced through a mutual friend during her time training for her badge. As attracted as she was to him at the time, she was in an emotionally abusive relationship that blinded her to truly noticing him. At the time, she confided in Callahan, who listened and never interfered or swayed her away from the controlling man. Callahan responded to the breakup with genuine happiness for her, knowing had he intervened, she could have very well continued the cycle of being controlled and handled in another relationship. He always seemed to have a true sense of sensitivity about him. Callahan had been away nearly 6 months upon the news of the breakup. Dinah longed to tell Callahan about the feelings she had for him, but hadn't wanted to jeopardize the friendship.

Fast forward to now. She stands waiting for her Lyft to arrive, heart skipping beats as she catches her breath in the chilled air. Her straight fit jeans and sweater beneath her jacket were just enough for her to be comfortable in the 45-50 degree cloudy weather and comfortable conceal her sidearm without anyone noticing. Callahan was scheduled to be arriving soon and would meet her at the house he grew up in. The two of them had been joking as friends about hooking up through online chats through Facebook messenger for months before Dinah expressed how she really did want to take it there with Cal. Dinah took the risk of things changing because she could not bare the torture of never knowing what it would be to bare her heart to her friend. Though they were different in nearly every way imaginable, the flame of the heat between the few thousand miles between them continued to burn strong.

Climbing into the small green PriusC, she confirmed her destination with her driver, Larry. He turned and smiled and asked, “What brings you to the dark and gloomy Ohio, Miss?” he asked leaving the Akron Canton airport heading north towards Akron.

“Love and Possibility.” Dinah responded, poking out her tongue at the driver, wrinkling her nose. Interest clearly piqued, he merged onto the 77 Interstate, silently waiting, hoping she’d continue. Dinah was too busy scouring her phone for updates from Callahan. She received a text saying, “Hey, I’ll see you soon. Almost there. Make yourself comfortable. We won’t be rushing out.” The text ended with a wink that made heat rise from below her waist. He could bite his fingernails and make her swoon. She took a few deep breaths as not to have a moment in the backseat of curious Larry’s vehicle with merely 7 minutes left in the ride.

“Are you okay? You seem nervous…” Larry mused trading glances through the rear view mirror and glancing at the road ahead.

“I’m just fine, thanks.” She looked out the window and bit her lip knowing the dark side of every fantasy is meeting reality with an abrupt drop from what’s imagined to what truly is. Throwing caution to the wind, she embraced her vacation from the usual stress of her work staying on edge, watchful, and skeptical. She turned off her critical thought and began channeling the hormones. She giggled as the car pulled up and she saw his charcoal Ford F150 double cab pickup truck in the driveway. She thanked Larry as she gathered her bags and made her way to the front door.

The door was open behind the screen door, ajar from a loose hinge or other. She saw him seated on the couch wearing thick black Malcolm X frames she didn’t recognize, reading the headlines of the Akron Chronicle. Strange. She thought to her self as she opened the door. He looked up at her, confused, and said, “Can I help you with something?”

She froze upon hearing his voice. “Callahan?”

He stood abruptly, pulling down a sweater vest atop an oxford top buttoned to the throat.

“Cason. I am Callahan’s brother.”

“You look—“ she began, but cut off by his impatient tone saying, “—just like him. Yes, we are identical in appearance and couldn’t be more different in who we are. We don’t get along. I’m not surprised you don’t know about me. Typical Cal.”

“Cason?” she asks, nearly squinting at how incredibly cloned he looked.

“It’s said like Jason. With a C. Anyway, have a seat. Cal ought to be back soon now that you’re here.”

“Is he down by the lake? I so wanted to walk down that way…”

“Mud lake back there? Nah. Well, I don’t know where he went. He comes and goes as he pleases. Doesn’t bother to warn anyone.”

She hesitated as she sensed Cason was sorting through thoughts aloud. She studied him closely wondering how Cal could have failed to mention in the few years of knowing one another that he had a freaking nerd twin. Cal was a t-shirt and jeans type of guy when he wasn’t wearing his tactical gear. Cal was rough around the edges, but always a gentleman to Dinah. As friends they would workout together, go shooting their beloved firearms, and play disc golf. Cason appeared to be snobby, consumed in his news. Dinah shook off the flood negative associations, reminding herself that family is family, regardless of how one gets along with another. She sat off to the side in the arm chair facing his side as he sat on the sofa, leaning forward and reading the article she interrupted upon entering while the paper lied on the coffee table.

She cleared her throat as she grabbed her phone to dial Cal. He interrupted, “What are you doing?”

She paused and pointed to the phone as she said, “Calling Callahan to let him know I’m here. You seem busy and bothered, and he told me to relax, so…”

“Listen, Miss Whoever-You-Are,” he began sharply.

“It’s Dinah. Sorry, I don’t mean to upset you, I just—“ she stopped short as he crossed the room to stand above her, uncomfortably close, leaning his towering figure down to eye level, “Do not interrupt me, Dinah.” He slowly rose up, watching her. She swallowed the bubble in her throat, still thrown off by the whole scenario. She began to fidget when he excused himself to the back room without another word.

She exhaled. She couldn’t hear past the door Cason closed separating the front from the back of the house. She had to talk to Callahan. He would explain what was going on here. She dialed Cal. “Hello,” his smooth voice chimed before the phone rang.

“Cal, hi. I’m here. Cason, he—“

“Ah yes,” he interjected. “Cason is a bit of a jerk. I’m sorry. He wasn’t supposed to be here.”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t plan to see him, Dinah. I can’t make him leave.”

“I’m not asking — Cal, whatever, where are you? I came to see you.”

“Why don’t you come out back, babe.” The line died.

Dinah surmised he was up to something. She went out the front door to avoid bumping into Cason and circled to the back of the house.

Callahan stood across the yard, sun setting behind him on Mud Lake. He was wearing a black hoodie with a baseball cap on. His relaxed fit jeans hung, gathering slightly at the ankles of his black cross trainers. She began towards him, first walking, then bounding in his direction. He smiled and picked her up into his arms, lifting his chin as she planted a kiss firmly on his mouth.

“Cal, it’s you.” Dinah hugged him tightly, gripping him so firmly he began to cough, teasing about her cross fit grip. “Shut up,” she said playfully, looking up at him and leaning herself against him to take in the scene before them. “So this is it? This is home.”

Cal shook his head. “No. This is history. I wanted you to see my history. Come morning we are getting the hell out of dodge.”

“What’s so wrong with this place, Cal? Seems quaint. Dark. Mucky. Sure, but this lake is so neat.” She began walking toward the dock to get a better look at the water.

“This place represents everything I want to leave behind. I have one last piece of business here. And I’m done.” He grabbed her hand, lacing his finger through hers as he lowered his head to gently kiss her neck.

“What business, uh…” her words trailed off as he turned her to face him. He kissed her so deeply that she thought she’d fall over if he let go of her. He held her tightly, close to him as the sun hid behind the horizon, leaving them in the darkness of dusk with the whispers of remaining sunlight slowly disappearing.

“Let’s go inside…” Dinah whispered breathlessly in Cal’s hearing, close enough to brush her lips and warm breath across his earlobe. He smiled and picked her up, walking back towards the house. She wrapped her legs around him, feeling the pull of her jeans tightening at there hips. She flushed thinking about undressing with Cason in the house.

As if he could sense her hesitance, Cal sat her down outside on the bench, several paces away from the back door. “Let me get rid of him,” he said, huskily against her cheek before kissing it and turning to the door.

She crossed her legs, attempting to qualm the rush of anticipation.

__

Dinah heard a large thump and glass shatter. Indistinct yelling from inside the house caused her to tense up. She could hear Cal yelling as if in response to something Cason must have been saying where she could not hear him. She could hardly make it out, straining forward slightly in an effort to hear what was being said. “I am good enough! She does want me!”

She heard another door slam and stood up, half walking towards the house, half rounding to the front. She wasn’t sure what she should do. Cason didn’t seem the type to jump on anyone, nor was Cal such a short fuse from what she remembered. As she rounded to the side of the house, approaching the pickup, she heard Callahan calling her name from the the back door.

“I’m up front!” she hollered back, standing straight from the hunched posture she’d taken on to spy through a closed window. Consequently, every window was covered and she couldn’t observe anything from outside.

Cal swung open the front screen door and shuffled out carrying her two bags and his backpack. He had taken off his hoodie and half buttoned a collared shirt with fresh blood stains on the front bottom flap of the shirt. That’s when she saw his fist, dripping onto the top of her bag as he threw it into t he backseat.

“Cal, what the hell happened in there?”

“Dinah, let’s just go. Please.” he was muttering quickly as if to erase and avoid whatever went on for the past several minutes.

“What about Ca—“ he grabbed her arm with bleeding hand, stopping her short in her sentence. Both concerned about if he was okay and paranoid his blood would stain her jeans, she fell immediately silent.

“Don’t say his name.” He looked so intensely at her in the eyes that she just nodded quickly and silently, turning towards the passenger door.

After merging onto the highway, Dinah let out a long exhale, indicating she had been holding much of her breath for the first part of the ride. Cal had grabbed a few fast food napkins to put over his fist, wrapping it with scrap twine lying in the truck, to stem the flow of blood. He had soaked through the paper and the deep red of his blood stained the top of his right hand on the steering wheel. She ventured to speak once more, “I heard glass shatter inside…” she paused to assess his face. She noticed his jawline stiffen for a moment before she continued, “…how did you cut your hand?” He glanced at her briefly. His hair was disheveled from removing his cap, and his eyes looked both distant and sad, until he began to smirk before saying, “Sounds like you’ve got it figured out, Officer.”

Dinah stiffened. She hadn’t wanted to come off too strong. This was supposed to be a vacation. She smacked her lips and waved away his comment, “I am just Dinah this week, not Officer anything… that is,” she turned to face him, leaning towards him seductively before slowly saying, “that is unless you want me to get a little rough with you later.”

He laughed so hard that Dinah felt more the object of laughter than the inspiration for it. She sat up and watched him guffaw, feeling a bit wounded by whatever he was implying.

She often ignores cheap stabs at her for doing her job as a rookie cop, but she respected Cal. She found it hard not to pay any attention to his critique. He’s the one who taught her how to shoot, long before she had even thought about joining the force or dreamed of carrying a concealed weapons.

Attempting to shift attention off of the poorly executed joke, she shifted back into her seat and watched the buildings fly by in a blur.

The clicking of the gas tank opening caused her to wake with a start. She had been staring out the window, thinking and didn’t realize she’d fallen asleep. Cal had his back to her, filling the gas tank, the truck was off and the cold seeping in from his cracked window made her shiver slightly.

She stretched her arms out into the backseat, pushing Cal’s backpack over to grab her bag. She heard something fall to the floor from an open pocket on his backpack. Crap. She turned completely around, leaning over the center console, reaching to find what fell with her hands in the dark. Cal’s door opened. He saw her bent over between the seats, butt high in the air just waiting for a good smacking. He went to slap her when she popped up like a jack-in-the-box, catching his hand with the side of her face.

“Dangit, Cal! What’s your problem!?” she dropped what she had in her hand from shock, and it slid between her seat and the front dash.

“I’m so sorry! I was gonna slap your butt, but you moved so fast!” Callahan began to hunch over, kicking himself for being so impulsive. “Are you okay?” He watched her lean over to grab something. She was fuming.

“What are you doing with these?” She held up the square black Malcolm X frames Cason had been wearing, broken in half and hanging by a thin under wire that had supported the plastic across the top. The glass on one eye had been shattered and the other was smudged with blood. Dinah looked at Callahan intently, waiting for an explanation. A darkness fell over his countenance and he looked forward, giving Dinah just a view of the side of his face.

“Cal, what did you do?” Dinah prodded, his silence piquing her anxiety.

“He won’t be needing those so it doesn’t matter.” He said in a snarky tone.

“What do you mean?” Dinah swallowed, supposing the worse.

“What I said,” and he slowly repeated with hand gestures, “he won’t be needing those glasses, alright.” She felt cold, and it was more than the night air swirling into the vehicle. The sting of Cal’s hand slapping her face began to throb in pain right then. Did she really know him? Would he be capable of hurting his own brother? What does he mean?

“Whatever, Cal.” She took a deep breath, settling back into her chair. Troubled. Upon pulling out the gas station, she slipped her phone out of her pocket to text her partner. “Jason, I need help.” She described her inclination and asked him to get in touch with local PD in Akron to check it out. At this point they were a few hours out and she knew they’d be stopping to sleep soon. She was not feeling the least bit sexy with all these suspicions and unanswered questions. On the contrary, her mouth and hands were dry from the anxiety.

“Why are you so quiet?” Callahan’s voice pierced her thoughts and she knew in that moment, he would read all of her concern in the split second before smiling at him and saying, “I’m just tired,” adding a nod, rubbing his shoulder assuringly.

“Dinah, I know you. Something is up. Why aren’t you talking to me?” Callahan’s voice began to crack as if he would cry. Dinah pulled her hand back, thoroughly freaked out.

“What the hell, Cal?” She was confused and taken aback at the emotion in his voice. This was the man that was not moved by hardly anything. He expressed emotions as facts of being and passing thoughts. He did not take time to stop and feel sadness. She did not know what to make of this display.

“Forget it.” Cal pulled away and shook himself as if getting something off of him. Dinah jumped at the loud ringtone of her cell phone ringing. She answered quickly, seeing Jason’s name on the screen.

“Jase, what’s up?”

His voice came muffled over the speaker. “Dinah, where are you?”

She forced a casual tone into her voice. “I’m with Callahan right now,” she looked over and smiled at him, acting as natural as possible, “We’re driving through Kentucky.”

“Dinah, the address you gave me. When I called the local PD to have them check, they were already on location. The place is a heap of brick, ash, and sputtering flames.”

She caught her breath and immediately feigned a cough to keep up the charade, “Excuse me, Jason, but I don’t understand what you’re saying to me.”

“Dinah, what I’m saying is that local authorities are ruling this as a case of arson.”

“Give me the number to the point on the case. I’ll reach back out when I can.”

“Dinah, be careful. I told them about the possible victim. They were running a thorough search, no word on that yet. Regardless, please be careful.”

“Thanks, Jase. You take care of yourself and the family as well, I’ll be having the time of my life.” And with what she hoped didn’t sound too much of a fake laugh, she said bye and hung up the phone. Turning to Cal, smirking.

“Work?” He grunted as he asked, annoyed.

“Can you believe it?” She rolled her eyes, smacking her lips in disbelief, “Can a woman catch a break? Goodness. I can’t wait to settle in later.” She ended her sentence with a suggestive tone that made Cal sit up straight.

“We can choose a place to stop now, if you’d like.” He sounded hopeful and pleasant—normal.

She began searching for a local hotel that didn’t look like something out of a horror movie. No need to make this situation any weirder than it already is. They agreed on a spot right off the highway that was well lit and occupied.

Though Callahan was not speaking, Dinah knew what he was thinking as he grabbed the bags from the truck and walked towards Room 213. He was sprung and ready. She was tempted to take his keys and drive to the nearest precinct. Something was off about him, and no matter how she wanted to feel and think about Callahan, she had to go with her gut.

“I’ll be right in after you, I just need to make a quick phone call.”

“Why not talk in the room so I can distract you?” He deviously smiled, sending heat up and down her veins. Focus. Focus. She grinned and waved him off, telling him to stop being so silly. She retrieved the number to the head detective that Jason texted over to her and pressed to dial. She steadied her breath, heart racing in her chest.

“Detective Arnold, who is this?”

She identified herself and how she got his number and told him she was with the lead suspect for arson and possibly homicide. “Homicide?” Detective Arnold sounded confused.

“Well, yes, his brother was in the house…”

“How do you know the perp, Officer Malley?” She paused at the inquiry.

“We are friends, Detective. We were having a romantic rendezvous, but things seem to have changed.” She tried her best to sound objective, while being honest, not wanting to obstruct the process in any way.

“Officer Malley, the perp doesn’t have a brother. Never has. No existing record of any Cason nor reports of there being more than one man in the house all day today by the neighbors.”

“How could that be? I saw him, I—“

“Officer Malley, are you in a secure loca—” the line died. Dinah stopped and looked at her phone. Call failed.

She heard shuffling behind her and turned into Callahan wailing her name like a zombie, “Dinaaaah.” She shrieked in terror, dropping her iPhone, hearing it land with a resounding crunch. Though he was being silly, she was on edge. He studied her closely as she caught her breath and reached after the phone.

“Who was that? What’s going on?” His tone was harsh and distrustful.

“Don’t turn this on me, you know what’s going on.” She cursed under her breath when she saw a series of multicolored lines shooting up and down the screen.

“I haven’t done anything wrong.” His voice emphasized anything into three clear syllables as if he were sounding it out for a child to spell.

“You can’t set fire to a home and get away with it, Cal.” She eyed him, keeping a safe distance. Her fingers were spread and ready to spring to her firearm if he made any quick movements.

“He wouldn’t leave me alone, Dinah. I had to get rid of him.” He began pacing, frantically, clenching his fists in borderline rage.

“Who wouldn’t leave you alone, Cal? Who?” She was tired of the lies and deceit and couldn’t understand why he refused to admit to his foolery. He turned his back on her, hands on his hips, his own firearm tucked in the back of his pants. She didn’t dare rush him in this state. She knew his years of training would kick in and ensure her swift demise.

She slowly backed away. He was mumbling to himself, as if in a stupor. She thought about running, but she knew he could outrun her. She thought about calling attention to them in the lot from the lobby personnel, but she could be endangering their lives. Cal turned to see her freeze her backwards step. She now stood about 15 feet away from him.

His face contorted in recognition of something he had not considered and said, “I thought you loved me, demons and all.” Dinah’s question about who he had to get rid of floating away in the wind.

She shuddered, fear and disappointment washing over her as she replied, “I thought I knew who you were.” A tear trickled down from her eye as she watched his shoulders sink and turn to walk away. Her breath caught in her throat as she choked back the tears that insisted on running down her cheeks. She walked fast around the building to get to the lobby area to call back the precinct. A unit was due to arrive at any moment. She heard tires burning rubber in the lot and dropped the phone as dispatch was attempting to confirm if the suspect was in her custody. She ran to the glass doors to see Cal’s gray truck, rounding the bend at a staggering speed that caused the backend truck-bed to drift. He must’ve seen the blue lights turning into the side lot ahead of him and in an instant gambled on trying to spin his backend to drive in the opposite direction. The three cop cars looking to seal off his exit could see the switch coming, and moved to anticipate the chase. Cal didn’t consider the spin would topple him over, nor did the officers. First he flipped and the closest cop car braked but was pushed into the truck from the following car, which dragged the truck cabin on its head across the pavement only to be smashed by the cop car that was closing in from the opposite side. Flames sparked and jarred Dinah from the ten second crumble of metal before her. Fire! The officers abandoned their vehicles, running away from the crash. She could hear Cal screaming. Dinah raced in the direction of the crumbed vehicles. One of the officers running in her direction towards safety snatched her back by her hood flopping behind her on her jacket, saying, “Don’t be stupid.”

She fell backwards into his arms that held her firmly as she fought and pushed, being dragged back over the ground she had covered. She burst into tears, her strength waned against the towering sergeant, taking her further away from the burning accident.

She sobbed, “I have to save him!” Even as she said it, she knew it was over as his wailing scream was silenced in a boom that lifted the first cop car that collided about a foot from the ground.

Dinah crumbled and cried. All she wanted was a relaxing week away from the chaos of work and criminals. Sleep deprived and defeated, she sunk to the ground, faintly watching the fire extinguished and the emergency responders darting back and forth to secure the area. Her heart sank as she ruminated over the past 24 hours.

A medical examiner quietly began a routine check of her vitals as she stared into the darkness, her mind in a completely different place. The calming voice of the examiner speaking to her did not register until she heard her name being repeated in a sing-song slow voice saying, “Dinah Malley, back to earth, honey, you’re in shock.”

Dinah turned and took notice the dark skinned woman, wearing the name badge: Lily, for the first time. Dinah wanted to respond, but felt as if she had swallowed her tongue in her sorrow.

Lily grinned at her with a motherly tenderness that put Dinah at ease as she listened to her say, “Honey,” southern drawl leaking into every word, “you need to take a vacation.”

With that, Dinah burst into tears all over again.