Chapter 10: The Well To Do Colemans

Esther removed her hat and pulled her hood on, hiding her hair in it. Satisfied at her new look, she wandered down the street hiding her eyes in the shadows that the cold night cast. She then wandered into an old fashioned diner and looked around. Everyone was in their own little worlds to busy to look up. Some were having coffee; others were busy stuffing their faces. She nodded her head and smiled.

"Evening missy," said a large man with short brown curly hair, "Can I help you?" Esther looked over at him as he smiled pleasantly at her. "Yeah, what do you have here?" Esther asked him. "Well, we've got some great burgers for starters," he said, "Best in the whole community. Fries with that, maybe a shake? Anything you're in the mood for." "Yeah, I'll get 6 cheeseburgers and 2 cokes," Esther said. "Coming right up," he said, typing it into the till. Esther handed over some of the cash and a thought went through her mind.

"Do you know the Coleman's?" Esther asked. "Not personally," he said, "They were attacked by some psychopath or something. Really broke everyone's heart that something like that would happen to them. They're good people." "So they're still here in this town?" she asked him. "Yeah, she never moved," the guy explained, "she must really love this place." "Do you know where?" she asked him. "No clue," he said, "but I heard there's an ongoing case still in effect. There's some cop who's leading it. I think he's obsessed." "Do you know his name?" she asked him. "Detective Emerson," he said after thinking, "Uh, Alan Emerson. He was in here the other day. This is his favorite spot to grab lunch. Why, you came from out of town?" "Yes, I'm just visiting," Esther, told him. "Well, this is a great place to come if you're looking for something," the guy told her, handing her the bag of food. "You don't say," Esther said.

Esther left the diner and went walking down the street, looking for a place that had the Internet. She paused, seeing the library across the street. She grunted the "Closed" sign was flipped; now facing her. She shook her head and continued her trek, ending up at a phone booth. Grabbing the phone book and looking under "I" she found the closest Internet Café. She smiled and called to make sure they were still open. They were still open to her surprise and she happily continued to its address.

Elsewhere, a cab pulled up to the police station. It sat there for a moment. Then a figure in a black trench coat got out, holding a black bag. The cab pulled out and sped off as the figure stood there looking up at the building.

Inside, Alan kept going through all the evidence he had in his folder. He looked over at Wilson who was stirring his coffee with a pen. "We're going no where with this," Wilson said, "nothing's happened for a month. I hate waiting." "Well, our search came up nil," Alan said, "I still have a gut feeling." He got up and went to the window and peered out of the blinds. "Man, this is wrong," he told Wilson, "She's still here." "What?" Wilson asked, "Oh come on man. Look, you're barely eating or sleeping. Don't you ever go home and sleep? Take care of yourself." "Wilson, there's a woman out there trying to get her life back together," Alan said, finally turning around, "I know Leena's type. She's still here. She wants something." "Like what?" Wilson asked, "To kill all of them? Why do that? That doesn't achieve anything." "I hate this," Alan finally let out, "I mean, I don't want anything else to happen to anyone out there. And that's what we're waiting for! These are good people, dammit. I know she's still here."

"She is," said a voice behind them with a thick accent, "She was one our most violent patients until she escaped. Then she somehow ended up here and was adopted by the Coleman family. I know everything about her." "Doctor?" Alan asked, looking up at him. "We spoke briefly," Dr. Varava said, coming in, "I'm Dr. Nikolai Varava of the Saarne Institute. And you're Detective Alan Emerson I presume." "Y-yes," Alan replied, "This is my partner Kenneth Wilson. It's good to see you in person, doctor." Varava nodded his head and smiled.

"Thank you both," Dr. Varava said, "I'm sorry to intrude on your investigation." Alan shook his head. "No, we're in the middle of a wait period I'm afraid," Alan said, pouring some coffee from into a cup, "We've run out of leads. I'm glad you decided to come. We can use your help." Dr. Varava took the cup that Alan handed him and smiled. "Thank you," Dr. Varava said, "Like you both, I've gotten tired of waiting. I want to help. Leena is our problem. She's my patient and she's going to come back with me." "You think she's still here too?" Alan asked him. "I know she is," Varava said, "Leena will stick close to her prey, like a lion with a herd of zebras. It seems these Coleman's still have something she wants." Alan and Wilson both looked bug eyed at each other. "Like what?" Wilson asked, "She already killed the husband because he wouldn't take her." Dr. Varava shook his head and frowned.

"Leena's looking for something," Varava continued. Alan cleared his throat. "We're not just talking revenge, right?" he asked. Dr. Varava shook his head. "When she was with us, I learned many things from her," Dr. Varava explained, "Her troubled past in Estonia with her abusive father Gustav, her life style, her interests in both music and art and her motives." Alan flipped through the file and quickly reread the file. "It says here that Leena wanted a family of her own," Alan said, "A loving husband, Children, a home normality and stability." Dr. Varava nodded his head. "Maybe she bonded with one of Kate's children," Dr. Varava said, "Maybe she thinks this is her chance at normality."

The office fell dead silent.

Esther came back inside the warehouse. She looked up, still seeing the light of the TV on. She smiled and went upstairs, hearing Tony call out. She came in and switched on the light, seeing him resting in the chair with his head down. She smiled and rubbed his head, making him jump up and look at her. Esther smiled, unshackled him and gave him his food, which he quickly grabbed in and dug into. Esther sat across from him, took a bite of her burger and started reading the file she printed off.

"Detective Alan Emerson," Esther said aloud, "Who the hell are you? You know me and I don't know you." Esther started reading about him; viewing his profile, his photographs, and information on a book he published early in his life. "So this the guy who knows so much about me," Esther continued, "He seems like a good cop. Good, it looks like we're both acquainted now." Tony looked up at her. "Do you think he wants to see me in person?" Esther asked him. Tony's chewing slowed down as he stared at her. "I don't know," Tony said. "I'll bet he does," Esther said. She then smiled and then looked at him.

"Can I let you in on a little secret?" Esther asked him. Tony looked at her. "I've come back for my family," Esther told him, "They're all I've thought about for that month we were gone. Even though they cast me out like a black sheep and left me for dead I still love them. You want to see them?" Esther smiled and took her picture of The Coleman family out and showed it to Tony. He looked at them all, smiling and cheery. Esther was there with them too. "That's John," Esther said, pointing at him, "There's Kate, That's…Daniel and there's my little sister…Max." Tony looked up at Esther as she stared at Max's image. "She's the only one who believed in me," Esther breathed, running her finger down the image.

Mother and Daughter, Big Sister and Little Sister…It didn't matter to her.

All they'd have was each other.