by Bob Blanton
“Yes, how would our mysterious texter know?”
“I’ve got the doctor on the phone.”
“Ma’am, this is Deputy Cassey at the county Sheriff’s office. As you know, we’re trying to track down the three rapists. We need to confirm if the following women were patients of yours… I understand client confidentiality, but as you probably know we had another rape yesterday… We’ll keep the information confidential; we’re just looking for connections… Okay, Fiona McMurtry, Samantha Culver, Joanna Schreiber and Jeri Blakeman… All four… Yes you can assume that… They’re seeing Dr. Pentacore… Thank you. Good day.”
“So all four?”
“Yes sir.”
“Jones?”
“Phone’s off, call came from Oceanside, not registered, so probably a burner.”
“Okay, we’ll deal with that later. So why would attending the same therapist make four women the target for a rapist?”
“They’re profiling them, so troubled women, easily traumatized?”
“But that doesn’t describe every woman who sees a therapist. They could have a problem managing their rage for all one would know.”
“But body language would tell you the difference, wouldn’t it?”
“It probably would. Go find out what’s around there, how they’re able to see who comes and goes.”
Matthew called Emily and filled her in on what Detective Harkin was thinking.
A Dark Day
“That was a great return, Matt,” Mrs. Winthrop called out. “You’re getting much better.”
Matthew trotted up to the net, “It was good, but you could have returned it, why didn’t you?”
“Most players at your level wouldn’t have gotten to it. I thought I’d give you the thrill that goes along with making such a great shot.”
“Thanks, I did get a short rush, then I realized you were just watching it.”
“But your mind will remember the rush, small rewards like that will keep you motivated and are what make tennis fun. I’ll turn the lights on so you can work with the ball machine for a bit. Jason won’t be home for another hour and you know Brea is staying over at Jennifer’s tonight.”
“Yes I knew that. Jason and I are going to a movie tonight. Thanks for the lesson.” Matthew looked up at the sky. In early March it was still getting dark around 6:00. “Why can’t we just stay on Daylight Saving Time?” Matthew muttered to himself, as he set the ball machine up.
He spent ten minutes returning the balls shot to him by the ball machine. He was just refilling the machine when his phone alarm went off. It was the ring tone he’d set for his app to make sure the girls’ phones were all active. “Oh no! I hope one of them just turned her phone off.” Matthew dropped the balls he was holding and started checking on the girls. He focused on Brianna and opened his portal. She was with Jennifer at Jennifer’s house studying. “Good she’s safe.”
Matthew switched to Alex. His portal opened up and he saw her with Jason at the mall. They were in the women’s shoe department at Nordstrom. “She’s safe, but Jason looks like he’s in trouble,” Matthew chuckled to himself.
Switching his thoughts to Emily, he opened his portal again. She was running through the woods somewhere. He could hear that she was breathing heavily.
Matthew zoomed the portal close to her. “Emily, what’s the matter?”
“Matthew, thank God,” Emily gasped. “I’m being chased.”
“How many?”
“Three I think.”
“Pick a tree to cover your back.”
“Okay!”
Emily stopped running and backed up to a big eucalyptus tree. She had her cellphone in her hand and was putting it into her jacket pocket when the first guy pulled up. He had a knit cap pulled over his face, one of those with openings for the eyes and nose.
“Your cellphone won’t work here,” he sneered, “so you won’t be calling the police.”
“Oh, that’s why he came so quickly,” Emily said to herself.
“Yes, your alarm went off,” Matthew whispered back.
“Whew, I thought we’d never catch her,” the second man said, as he and another pulled up. They each took positions forming a triangle so they could trap Emily against the tree. Each of them was wearing a knit cap that hid his face.
“I can just knock them out,” Matthew whispered to Emily.
“I don’t want to be in the middle of this. How do we get them arrested?”
“So what do you want me to do?”
“I was just thinking about calling a friend,” Emily called out in a raspy voice. “Matthew, please follow my lead, I’ll point,” she whispered.
“Sure,” Matthew said. “You want me to hit the one you point to?”
“What friend?” the guy said.
“Oh, just someone I thought might like to watch.”
“We all like to watch,” the third guy laughed, as he walked forward a few steps. “This one will be fun, don’t you think?”
“Exactly!” Emily whispered.
“Got it,” Matthew replied.
“I think she’s a fighter,” the guy on the right said.
“She’s certainly in great shape,” the first guy said. “Billy likes it when they fight. Don’t you, Billy?”
“Yeah, Joe,” Billy said. “A little fight makes it all that much more thrilling.”
“Oh, so you like a fight,” Emily rasped. “Well, here you go,” and she shot the palm of her hand towards him.
Matthew quickly placed the portal against Billy’s solar plexus and hit him with a Buddha Palm. Billy dropped straight down to his knees, panicking and gasping for air. Matthew was able to move his portal into place so fast that his hit was timed to Emily’s strike.
“Now who’s our friend over there?” Emily asked, pointing to the other man.
“What’s going on?” Joe cried; “Billy, are you all right?” His voice was not sounding so confident now. Billy just kept gasping for air.
“Zeke, grab her!” Joe yelled. Zeke started toward Emily but kept looking at Billy.
Emily raised her hand like she was going to slap Zeke, even though he was still three feet away.
Matthew moved the portal to Zeke’s head and hit him with a hard punch. Zeke fell to the ground, dazed.
“Come on guys,” Joe yelled. “Let’s get her.”
Billy got back to his feet and turned toward Joe. “What happened? That felt like a mule kicked me.”
“You did say you liked it when they fought,” Emily hissed, and shot her palm at Billy again.
Matthew hit Billy in the solar plexus again. Billy collapsed and fell to the ground.
“What the…” Joe yelled. He turned and started running away.
“Trip him,” Emily whispered.
Matthew zoomed the portal, placing it in front of Joe’s knees. Joe tripped and fell hard onto his face.
“Come back here!” Emily yelled.
“No way,” Joe cried back.
“How dare you defy me!” Emily yelled.
Matthew placed the portal on Joe’s stomach and gave him a sharp blow, knocking the wind out of him.
“I said come!” Emily yelled.
“No!” Joe squeaked, still gasping for air.
Joe was on his back trying to scramble away.
“I’ll push him,” Matthew whispered into Emily’s ear.
Emily stood firmly and pointed at Joe and crooked her finger, “I said, come.”
Matthew gave Joe a sharp blow upside the head and then made the portal soft and put it under Joe’s torso. He made his end large and at chest height. Then he reached out and pushed the two ends up at an angle so that he was pushing Joe up onto his feet. Then he started pushing Joe toward Emily, adjusting his portal to align with Joe.
“Leave me alone!” screamed Joe.
“I said, come!” Emily yelled again.
Joe was pushing with his feet, but since Matthew was lifting him up a little as well as pushing him he coul
dn’t get any traction. Eventually Joe stood up, and Matthew was able to just push him from behind.
“Now what should I do with you?” Emily asked. “Filth like you doesn’t deserve to live.”
Matthew slid the portal sideways so that it formed around Joe’s neck, then he pushed up on Joe’s chin and the back of his head until Joe was standing on his tiptoes.
“Kneel!” Emily shouted.
Matthew let his portal collapse then used it to kick the back of Joe’s knees causing him to fall on them. “What are you?” he sobbed, “What are you going to do to me?”
“Don’t speak to me!” Emily shouted and waved her hand.
Matthew slapped Joe across the face.
“Should I just kill you now?” Emily cackled. She waved her hand, and Matthew slapped Joe again.
“Don’t kill me!”
“Why not!”
“Please, I’ll do whatever you say,” Joe cried.
“What if I say die!” Emily shouted.
“No please!”
“Why not!”
“Please!”
“Then drag your friends over to that tree,” Emily said indicating a particularly large eucalyptus tree.
Joe just stared at her.
“Now!” Emily yelled, waving her hand at him again. Matthew slapped Joe across the face again.
Sobbing, Joe got up and dragged Billy over to the tree. Billy was still gasping for air, stunned from the blows to his solar plexus. Then Joe helped Zeke who was still dazed from Matthew’s punch. He got him up and steadied him as he stumbled over to the tree. When he had Zeke sitting down by the tree, he turned and looked to Emily for further instructions. His hands hung limp by his sides as he continued to sob.
“Take their clothes off!”
Joe hesitated. Matthew slapped him again, as Emily waved her hand. Joe started to comply.
“Why?”
“Don’t speak to me!” Emily yelled, and Matthew slapped Joe again.
Joe started to remove Billy’s shoes.
“Uh, what?” Billy said, as he started to realize what was happening. “What are you doing?” he asked.
“Shut up,” Joe hissed, and punched Billy in the face, dazing him. Joe continued to strip Billy down, removing his shirt and pants.
Zeke got up and started to stumble away.
“Stop!” Emily yelled. Matthew used his portal to horse collar Zeke, letting him run his throat into the portal. Zeke’s feet shot out from under him and he fell flat on his back.
Joe was just standing in front of Billy, who was stripped down to his socks and underwear.
“All of his clothes!”
Joe pulled off Billy’s socks and underwear, leaving him totally naked.”
“Now your other friend!”
Joe went to get Zeke, who was still lying where he had fallen when Matthew had horse collared him. He pulled him back to the tree and started to undress him as well. When he had finished stripping him, he just stood there and looked at Emily.
“Now your clothes!”
Emily waited quietly while Joe stripped down.
“Give me the belts!”
“Now tie the rest up into a nice bundle,” Emily shouted. “We need to tie them up,” Emily whispered.
“Use their shoestrings,” Matthew whispered back.
“Now lay your friends against each other over here,” Emily said.
Joe complied without hesitation.
“Have him tie them back to back, right hand to right hand so they cross,” Matthew whispered.
“Get your shoestrings,” Emily yelled.
Joe went to the pile of clothes and extracted the shoestrings from each of their tennis shoes.
“Now put your friends back to back and tie their hands together. Cross their arms first,” Emily told Joe. Emily and Matthew kept close watch as Joe tied the two men’s hands together. “Knot the ties again.”
“What about Joe?” Emily whispered.
“We’ll use a Texas Handcuff,” Matthew said. “I read about them when I was researching knots for sailing.”
“Okay, guide me.”
“Tell him to lay the shoelace in a straight line. Then make a loop.”
“All right, now you,” Emily said. “Lay the shoelace in a straight line. Now make a loop.”
“The other way.”
“Loop it the other way.”
“Now make a second loop the same way.”
“Make another loop.”
“Feed each loop through the other,” Matthew said.
“Feed the loops into each other.”
“Now you just have him stick his hands into the loops, but behind him and around the other guys’ hands. Then just pull the loose ends tight.”
“Good, now put your hand through one loop; reach behind you and put your arm around your friends’ hands. Now put that hand through the other loop,” Emily hissed. As soon as Joe had his hand in the second loop, Emily yanked the ends tight.
“Ouch, that’s too tight,” Joe cried out.
“This is a Texas Handcuff,” Emily hissed at him. “If we were really in Texas, the rope would be around your neck.”
“Joe, what’s happening?” Zeke asked.
“What’s going on?” Billy asked, still groggy from being punched. “Why did you take our clothes off?”
“Why do you ask? You were planning to undress weren’t you?” Emily hissed as she squatted down in front of Billy.
“What are you?” Billy gasped.
“A witch, a very angry witch!” Emily yelled. “Very angry!”
“We were only fooling around!”
“Silence! Now, why didn’t my cellphone work?” Emily demanded.
“How would we know?” Joe answered.
Emily moved in front of Zeke. “Why didn’t my cellphone work?” she asked slowly.
“I don’t …”
Emily waved her hand and Matthew slapped Zeke on the side of his head.
“I asked why!” yelled Emily. “Do I need to be more persuasive?” She raised her hand as if to strike him again.
“Billy has a jammer,” Zeke blurted out. “It’s in his jacket.”
Emily walked over to the pile of clothes, and using a stick sorted it out until she found the jammer. She pulled it out of the jacket pocket and turned it off. Then she wiped it off on one of the shirts and threw it down close to the men, but out of their reach. Then she pushed a cellphone out of one of the other jackets and kicked it over close to the tree.
She gave a wicked laugh and walked back over to the men. The three of them had twisted around so they could each see her.
“What are you going to do?” Zeke asked. “Don’t hurt us!”
“It’s a little late to start playing nice,” Emily laughed. “I just need to decide what I should do with you.”
“Now, are you three the famous wolf pack they’re talking about on TV?”
The men just sobbed.
“Are you!” Emily yelled.
“No,” Joe stammered.
“We need to scare them more,” Emily whispered.
“Okay,” Matthew said. “Stand in front of them and I’ll make you float in the air.”
“Sure,” Emily said doubtfully. She positioned herself directly in front of Joe.
Matthew set his portal under Emily and put his end about waist height.
“I don’t believe you!” Emily screamed at him and waved her hand. Matthew sat on his end of the portal, forcing it down and raising Emily up.
Emily was a bit startled, but recovered. “Tell me! Or I will hang you from a tree.”
“It’s not us!” Joe yelled.
“I don’t believe you!” Emily screamed again. She squatted down so her face was closer to Joe’s. “Do you want to hang by your hands or your feet?”
Emily leaned to the side to face Zeke, “Are you!” she screamed at him.
“Ye... ye… yes,” Zeke stammered.
“How many times have you done this?”
“Just the five,” Zeke sobbed.
“I think not.”
“Honest, just the five times.”
“No date rapes?”
“Well, that doesn’t count.”
“HOW MANY!!!!”
Matthew let Emily drift to the ground. “Let me find a nice tree,” Emily cackled.
“I only did it once before,” Zeke sobbed. “In high school.”
“What about you?” Emily yelled at Joe, holding her palm out as if she were going to strike him again.
“Just a couple,” Joe cried.
“HOW MANY!!!!” Emily screamed. Matthew hit Joe on the side of his head.
“Six,” Joe cried. “I swear, just six before we did the five.”
“How about you, Billy?” Emily hissed, squatting in front of Billy again.
Billy just stared back at her defiantly.
Matthew slapped him hard across the face as Emily flicked her hand.
“HOW MANY!!!!!!”
Billy continued to just stare. Matthew softened the portal, then grabbed him by the chin and pushed up hard.
“HOW MANY!!!!!!”
Matthew dropped Billy and pushed his head back.
“I don’t know,” Billy sobbed, “seven, maybe eight.”
“Well, just a happy-go-lucky trio of rapists, huh?”
The men just nodded their heads and continued to sob.
“What price the souls of twenty of my sisters?” Emily hissed. “What price should you pay?”
“We’ll never do it again,” Joe yelled.
“Oh I know that,” Emily laughed. “But what price, what price?”
“Leave us alone!”
“Like you left those women alone,” Emily hissed. “I could carve RAPIST on your forehead. That way everyone will know what you are. Hmm, I think I like that.”
“You don’t mean that, do you?” Matthew whispered.
“Just make them feel it,” Emily whispered back. “We need to scare them even more.”
Emily drew a horizontal line in front of Joe; Matthew used the back of his knife and drew a line above Joe’s right eyebrow. Joe started to tear up.
“What’s the matter? I would think you would consider it a badge of honor,” Emily hissed.
“Don’t cut me,” Joe sobbed.
Billy just stared at Emily, hate pouring from his eyes.
