RAINEY DAYS

by Bradshaw, R. E.

  The sky was overcast, with storms moving up from the south. The cloud cover had lowered the temperature into the low seventies and a steady breeze was keeping the humidity at bay. Rainey had her windows down half way and could hear the winos and young bloods talking loudly and laughing, down at the other end of the strip mall. She kept an eye on them and noticed on several occasions that they were watching her as well.

  “They probably think I’m a cop,” she said to herself, knowing the black Charger was a favorite with law enforcement.

  Rainey turned back to the legal pad. She began formulating a list of characteristics of the unknown suspect in this particular crime. She had established that he probably had at least some college education. The guy was following Katie at all hours of the day, as evidenced by the pictures. He must have a job that allowed him to be unaccountable for large blocks of time. Since Katie had to be in her mid thirties and most victims are in the same age range of their assailants, he was probably thirty-five to forty-five years old.

  Rainey had seen him, she was sure, so she knew him to be athletically built, about six foot two or three, about two hundred and twenty-five pounds. She had not seen his face, but assumed he was probably average or better than average looking. He was able to move around Katie without being noticed, so he could blend in. Not only could he blend in, Rainey believed, Katie and JW probably knew him. No stranger could have gotten that close to Katie, unless she was at a public pool and Rainey highly doubted that, but she would check.

  Again, she looked back at the notes. JW said that the notes were sent to him at his office. Were the notes directed at JW or Katie? If they were meant for Katie, why were they sent to JW? Was the stalker asking if JW believed in fate? Why would he target JW with the notes when his obsession was with Katie? Maybe part of his fantasy was to antagonize the male in the relationship with his victim. Maybe Katie was just the pawn in his game, his real obsession being with JW.

  Having done all she could with the notes, she turned her focus to the pictures. There did not seem to be anything else to learn from the photos. She had looked at them so many times, she was sure she had not missed anything. She was drawn repeatedly to the picture of Katie in the black bathing suit. Something stirred in her, something she recognized as sexual attraction, but told herself it could not be that. Rainey was not, and never had been, a lesbian. Sure, she had the normal adolescent crushes and had no problem finding other women attractive, but Rainey loved men.

  She loved the way a freshly showered man smelled and how his cologne blended with his natural scent. She had a healthy appreciation for the athletic build of baseball players, big guys with lean muscles. Rainey liked the way it felt to lie in a man’s arms, to have him pull her tight in close to him, his warm hairy legs wrapped in hers. In addition, the sexual aspect of the woman on woman relationship had never been anything with which Rainey considered experimenting. Rainey enjoyed having sex with men, bottom line.

  So why was she becoming so enamored with Katie Wilson. Rainey had only spoken with her for ten seconds. She looked up just in time to see Katie jumping up and down, clapping her hands at some accomplishment made by her student. Her smile animated her whole face, her expression of joy so genuine. Who could resist a face like that? Rainey realized she was grinning back through the windshield at Katie, her smile so infectious.

  Maybe Rainey just needed a friend her age. One like Katie, to make her laugh and forget all the horrible things she had seen. Katie seemed to represent all that was good and wholesome in the world. That must be what attracted Rainey, she thought. Here was someone so beautiful and unsoiled by the ugliness of life. Katie could still smile the smile of childlike wonder, something Rainey had not been able to do since her first days with the FBI.

  Rainey looked at the bathing suit picture again, this time thinking that it was the way Katie slept, so peacefully unaware of the danger, which attracted Rainey. The last time Rainey slept like that was when she was still with Bobby. He was a cop in Alexandria, Virginia, and a wonderful guy, who loved her. She felt safe with him, there in the darkness of their little one bedroom apartment, but ultimately the relationship could not compete with her job. He called to say he was getting married last month. She dated some, since they broke up four years ago, but nothing serious, and after the attack, the last thing Rainey wanted in her bed was a man.

  Headlights flashed across the windshield of her car, drawing Rainey’s thoughts from the picture on her laptop screen. She watched as the sleek black luxury sedan rolled slowly toward her. It looked just like the car JW drove. The crowd in front of the liquor store shouted at the driver, who kept coming closer to where Rainey watched with heightened interest. The car’s windows were tinted and rolled up tightly. The night sky, now in approaching darkness, was made darker by the impending storm. Glare from the naked fluorescent lights along the storefronts splashed over the windshield of the oncoming car, making it impossible to see the driver.

  Rainey’s nerves prickled. She sat up taller and set the legal pad down in the seat next to her. The Glock was securely in its holster, fully loaded and one in the chamber, but she felt for it anyway. The approaching vehicle made a wide sweeping turn, in front of her and then pulled to a stop next to her, the driver’s side windows of both cars facing one another. Rainey peered through the tinted glass as the window of the other car came down slowly. She recognized his perfectly combed hair before the window was down halfway.

  “Damn it, JW! What the hell are you doing here?” Rainey said, through clinched teeth, not wanting to be overheard.

  “I had to talk to you,” he replied.

  “You do have a phone, don’t you?”

  Rainey did not want Katie to see them out here talking. She glanced toward the Center and saw Katie with her back turned, talking to a tall black woman.

  JW stuck his hand out the window, offering her a small manila envelope, “Here, look at this. It was in the mail at the house. I found it when I got home, just now.”

  Rainey did not want to touch the envelope, in case of prints, but she had no choice. A man in a black expensive car, handing a package to someone in a black Charger with tinted windows, could look suspicious in this part of town. Rainey did not need any more attention than JW had already stirred up with his arrival. She quickly took the envelope, from his outstretched hand.

  “You know you could have waited to give this to me, until I was parked outside your house tonight,” Rainey said, before she looked in the envelope.

  JW replied flatly, “I didn’t think it could wait.”

  Rainey looked across at JW, confused by his tone, “Why, what does it say?”

  “Look for yourself,” he said. The look he gave her made Rainey uncomfortable.

  She used a pencil to extract the note from the envelope. A picture fell out of the folded paper onto her lap. There was an audible gasp when she saw the image. Somehow, the stalker had snapped a picture at the exact moment she and Katie had shaken hands, yesterday. There was Katie smiling, hand extended, with the little smudge on her cheek, and Rainey grinning broadly back at her. Rainey picked up the picture from her lap, by the edges. She looked back at JW.

  “I thought you didn’t know my wife,” he said.

  Rainey felt like she had been caught smoking, in the bathroom, at school. She defended herself weakly, “I didn’t… I mean I don’t. I just met… I mean, she surprised me yesterday. I made up a story about taking pictures of the flowers. I even gave her a fake name.”

  “So, I’m not being set up or anything,” he asked in all sincerity.

  “No, why would you ask such a thing?”

  JW sat up taller in his seat, glaring at her, “Why didn’t you tell me Katie saw you?”

  “Because I was stupid and let her sneak up on me like that,” Rainey said, honestly. “Don’t be so paranoid.”

  Rainey saw him visibly relax, his entire demeanor changing back to the charming southern gentleman. She was glad. She did not like the way h
is questioning had made her feel.

  “I’m a politician, Rainey. We’re all paranoid. That doesn’t mean someone isn’t out to get me.”

  Rainey smiled reassuringly at him, “Trust me. I’m on your side.” She looked down at the paper draped over the pencil, “So, what does the note say?”

  “I don’t remember. The picture freaked me out so much; I just took off to find you.”

  Rainey took the legal pad from the other seat and laid the note out on it. She unfolded it with the pencil.

  On one single line, across the center of the page, was the question she read out loud, “Why do you tempt fate?”

  She heard JW ask, “What do you think he means?”

  Rainey thought for a moment, before she answered, “I think Katie isn’t the only one with a stalker. The only way he could view me as a threat is, if he knows who I am and what I do, and to know that, he had to have followed you to my office.”

  JW perked up, “Do you really think so?”

  Rainey looked at the picture again, “Why else would he send this picture, one with me in it? Katie was in the yard long enough for him to take a picture of her alone.”

  “And you never saw him?” JW asked.

  Rainey sounded dejected, “No, I never saw him,” then she brightened, “but I haven’t finished looking at the pictures I took yesterday.”

  JW sat silently. Rainey saw him glance in his rearview mirror. She imagined he was trying to decide if his wife was really safe with Rainey watching over her. She tried to imagine how conflicted he must feel, weighing his wife’s safety against his political career. The average person would see nothing threatening about going to the police, but after living near Washington, Rainey understood how the most innocent circumstances could be twisted against a young politician. JW probably had a few skeletons he would rather leave buried.

  Finally, he turned back to her, “Okay then, I should probably leave before Katie sees me.”

  Rainey felt sorry for him. He did not look as if he believed what he was doing was the right thing, but he had to do it. She tried to comfort him.

  “Go home, get some rest,” she said, and then added, “I’ll be right outside all night.”

  Instantly, he put back on his charming veneer, “At least, that is a comfort. Be safe, Rainey.”

  Rainey watched JW roll away, passing the jeering crowd, on his way out of the parking lot. She hoped he would be able to get some sleep. She certainly did not want a replay of last night. Had he not said he was running, because he could not sleep? JW had a lot going on, with his law practice and his duties as a State Representative, not to mention someone was stalking him and his wife. Rainey wanted to end that worry for him.

  She looked down at the picture of Katie shaking her hand. They looked like two old friends greeting each other. She put the picture in the visor above her head, taking one last look at it, before flipping the visor up and out of the way. That is when she noticed the lights were off in the back of the Center, and people were filing out the front door. Katie was among one of the last to exit.

  Two of the young bloods, from in front of the liquor store, were making their way toward the people leaving the Center. Rainey watched as the two teenagers, hats on sideways and pants sagging down, exposing at least a foot of boxer shorts, got closer to where Katie had parked. She came to full attention when one of the youths said something to Katie, who by now was almost alone, most of the others having found their cars. Rainey relaxed when Katie waved and went toward the teenagers. She hugged each of them and talked with them for a few minutes, before it started to rain, forcing Katie to run to her car and the teenagers to seek shelter. Katie started the Lexus sedan and drove out of the parking lot, Rainey's Charger not far behind.

  Rainey followed Katie from a distance, as she drove toward her home, all the while thinking what an amazing person she seemed to be. She looked forward to the day she really had the chance to get to know Katie Wilson. She hoped it would be very soon.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  It was nine o’clock, by the time Rainey parked the car outside the Wilson home. The hard rain had subsided to a soft drizzle. Rainey had a different vantage point tonight, but she could still see the right side of the house and hedges. She did not have a good view of the front lawn or the driveway side of the yard, but both areas had outdoor lighting that would probably prevent anyone from trying to enter there, unnoticed. She settled in, got the webcams rolling and called Mackie.

  “Mackie,” he growled into the phone.

  “Hey there, hope your evening is going well,” Rainey said, cheerfully.

  “It’d go a whole hell of a lot better, if I could get this asshole to come out of this damn house.”

  Rainey laughed, “And which asshole would that be?”

  “I got Charlie ‘Butterbean’ Beasley laid up in his girlfriend’s house,” he grumbled, “but the little fucker’s been in there for four hours and I know he’s got to come up for air sometime.”

  “Maybe he’s sleeping over,” Rainey suggested.

  “Nope. She’s got a husband and I know he gets off work in an hour, so Butterbean better get done with his business.”

  “Well, stick around,” Rainey said, “You might see some action, if he waits too long.”

  Mackie chuckled and it rumbled through the receiver, “I hope the husband comes home and shoots his fat ass. I’m tired of tracking him down every time he skips. How’s it going over there?”

  “Got another note today… with a picture of me shaking hands with Katie,” she finished quickly, hoping he would not over react.

  Mackie remained surprisingly calm, for the moment, and then asked, “What did the note say?”

  “Why do you tempt fate?” Rainey answered.

  Mackie was quiet. She could hear him breathing. Rainey knew he was thinking it through before making a decision. Mackie liked to mull things over. She had learned to be patient when he was quiet like this.

  Finally, he broke his silence, “Look, after I get old Charlie locked up, which should be any minute now, I’m going to come over there so we can talk. You up for company?”

  Rainey was glad he suggested it. She did not want to ask him to come and sit with her, but she really wanted to go over the case with him, get his feel for this guy. Mackie could have been a criminal analyst with no problem. He had a keen knack for knowing how their twisted minds operated.

  “I’m parked on the south side of the block. Park on the other side and walk up,” Rainey told him.

  “Okay, I gotta go now. It looks like Butterbean’s finished gettin’ his grove on. He’s coming out the door now. See you soon.”

  After her talk with Mackie, Rainey pulled up the pictures she had taken yesterday. She clicked through the files until she found the three hundred and sixty degree shots she took, in front of the Wilson home. This was when the stalker had taken her picture, so there was a good chance she got a shot of him or his vehicle. She flipped the visor down and looked at the picture again. From the angle of the shot, the person who took it had to have been standing somewhere across the street, near where Rainey was currently parked.

  She looked out the window at the row of hedges that nearly came to the edge of the sidewalk. The guy could have been lurking on the other side and she would never have seen him. Damn these people and their old boxwoods. Rainey found the picture of the area where she suspected the stalker had been standing. She looked carefully at the hedge, zooming in on a dark spot behind the thinning boxwood. There, just off the sidewalk and hidden by foliage, the shape of someone blocked the sunlight from coming through the hedge. That son of a bitch had been right there, watching, listening to them talking.

  She checked the images before and after she met Katie, but there was no way to tell if any of the people belonged with the shadow behind the hedge. She paid very close attention to the males who fit the description that she developed while waiting at the Center. She made notes on her legal pad and labeled a folder on
the laptop screen, “possible suspects,” dragging the pictures into it. He had been there and she missed him. She probably walked right past the guy. She would have to show the folder containing the pictures of “possible suspects” to JW. Maybe he would recognize someone.

  “Damn it! I forgot to ask about the bathing suit picture.” Rainey said, slamming her fist down on the legal pad resting on her knee.

  Rainey checked the time. It was now after ten and most of the lights were off in the Wilson home. She would have to ask JW where the photo was taken, tomorrow. She hoped he was resting comfortably, in bed, holding his beautiful wife. They did make a handsome couple. JW had George Clooney good looks that seemed to age so favorably. She was stunning all by herself, but Rainey was sure they turned every head in the room, when JW walked in with Katie draped on his arm, his dark good looks complementing her fair-haired beauty.

  She glanced at the picture, on the visor, and was catapulted away from her imagery of Katie and JW, making their grand entrance.

  “Start with the victim you idiot,” she said aloud. All those years of training and she had not yet utilized a major tool of the investigator. When law enforcement is faced with a seemingly motiveless crime, a hard look is taken at the victim. Sometimes the victim’s particulars could tell all that was needed to know, to establish the type of person, who would commit a crime against this individual victim. She needed to ask herself who the victims were and what attracted the stalker to them? Rainey was sure, at this point, that both of the Wilson’s were being stalked and it was not clear who the real target was. She had to look closely at both JW and Katie and the nature of their relationship.