Restraining Order

by Alex Dean

“I’m sure we’ll be okay. Isn’t that right, Justin,” Alexis said gently rocking the baby in her arms. “I am a doctor. Did you guys forget that already?”

  Carol and Jason both laughed.

  Alexis walked them to the doorway. “You guys have fun. Don’t worry about us,” she said as she turned on the porch light and gently closed the door.

  Baby Justin let out a short-lived cough and then began flailing his arms and legs as if he wanted to get down. “Okay, Justin. Let’s get you settled in your walker.” She lowered the infant into his walker, and he immediately glided over the carpet, pointing at the television.

  On the screen, a newscaster started off with the gruesome details about a homicide, which had been baffling Madison PD investigators. There were no witnesses. No clues. And no obvious motives. Alexis turned from the channel to show something more pleasant and age-appropriate. Baby Justin’s eyes were glued to the screen as he eagerly nursed his pacifier.

  She briefly glanced at Justin, his wide eyes curiously trailing her. Then she reached into a storage compartment space beneath the television. There were several VHS tapes, several blu-ray movies, and a homemade DVD Jason had made of various pictures taken throughout Alexis’s and Carol’s childhood. On its plastic case were the words: BFFs Forever neatly scrawled with a black felt pen. She and Carol had wanted to watch it during Alexis’s going-away party, had it not been for the surprise visit from Wilfred.

  She leaned forward, pressed the power button on the blu-ray player, and inserted the disc into the tray. Moving backward with remote in hand, Alexis sat on the living room sofa. Justin scooted closer to the couch in his walker, still preoccupied with chomping down on his teething ring.

  Her eyes welled as the images slowly faded, one into the other, chronologically, as the Minnie Ripperton song “Memory Lane,” cooed in the background. She and Carol had been through so much. The death of Carol’s parents. The sudden departure and abandonment by Alexis’s father. The ups and downs of life, jobs, and relationships. But through it all, they remained the very best of friends. Alexis briefly tore her eyes away from the screen and at baby Justin. He smiled and laughed, delighted with the attention.

  But her smile suddenly faded when she heard what sounded like someone vigorously tug at the door at the back of the house. She reached for the remote and paused the blu-ray player. Justin’s eyes followed her as she stood and walked slowly to the rear of the house. Nervously, she looked out of one of the back windows and saw nothing. Maybe a strong wind had gusted?

  Alexis walked back to the front of the house. Justin smiled and started toward her in his walker, playfully reaching out with his teething ring. She guided him back into the living room and then sat on the sofa. Her eyes darted around the home, at the clock on the entertainment console. 7:35 p.m.

  A loud thump at the back door startled her. She rose quickly. Her breaths were gasps, and her heart beat madly inside her chest. She frantically searched over furniture, on tables, desperately looking for Carol and Justin’s cordless phone.

  Another vigorous slam seemingly weakened the door against its frame.

  Total panic seized every bit of her. Alexis turned and scooped Justin out of his walker. She grabbed her purse, hurried to the front door, opened it and trudged to her car. She put the toddler in the back seat and laid him down. A car seat would have been a better choice, of course. But tonight that was not an option.

  After locking the doors, she started the BMW and pinned it down Leo Drive. As she drove, she held the steering wheel with one hand while she swiveled her upper torso to check on Justin. Within ten minutes, she arrived at her mother’s house. She reached for the baby from the back seat and thunked the door shut.

  What had her life turned into? A nightmare no doubt. This was the type of situation that one would often see on one of those true-crime TV shows. The ones where the story starts off with some kind of pensive narrative, but never ends well. And here it was now happening to her.

  She rang the doorbell three times and then firmly knocked on the door.

  Her mother Doris opened it and instantly knew that something was amiss.

  “Alexis, what’s wrong?”

  Alexis walked into the living room and gently sat Justin on the sofa. “I had to grab the baby and leave. Someone was trying to get in Carol’s back door,” she said through nervous breaths.

  “What? You think it was Wilfred?”

  “I don’t know. But I wasn’t hanging around to find out.”

  Alexis grabbed her mother’s cordless phone and immediately dialed Carol and Jason.

  “Carol, someone was trying to get in the house, and I had to leave out with Justin. Come now if you can. We’re at my mother’s house.”

  “We’re on our way,” said Carol.

  Alexis paced for several minutes and then sat on the sofa next to Justin. His arms flailed in the air as he held his teething ring.

  Doris walked to the living room window and peered out of it. Then she made sure the deadbolt was latched on the door. “You need to let the police know. He’s probably watching you. I’ve seen these things escalate, and I don’t want anything to happen to you. You might as well just move back home now.”

  Alexis nodded. “Counting down the days until I can relocate. You should consider coming with me.”

  “I might consider it. Now that you’re moving, starting a career, I probably don’t need as much space. But the main thing should be that Wilfred knows you no longer live here. That he can no longer wage his campaign of terror against you.”

  “I’ve made it clear to him that I’m leaving. But I worry he still may try to harm you to get back at me.”

  “I have no problem buying a gun and learning to use it,” said Doris.

  “Well, you know how much I hate guns.” Alexis shook her head. “Always did have a strong fear of them.”

  “It might be time to reconsider that proposition,” Doris urged.

  The sound of something suddenly clanked against the bottom of the front door. Both women darted their gaze at the doorway and then exchanged worried glances. It sounded like the ceramic planter that sat on the porch had been kicked, either accidentally or intentionally.

  Alexis stood and walked slowly toward the door. Her mother, Doris, went over to the sofa and picked up Justin to carry him into one of the bedrooms. From within the wood-paneled walls of the room, just as she settled the baby on the bed, she heard it.

  “Alexis, I know you’re in there! You will not rid yourself of me! Either bring your ass out now, or I swear—I will burn this piece of shit down!”

  Doris hurried out of the bedroom to search for the cordless phone to dial 911. Halfway into the hall, she stopped momentarily, clutching at her chest. She tried to calm herself and breathed slowly and deeply. Two words surfaced in her mind: panic attack.

  Across the street, Vietnam Billy was once again alerted by the incessant yelling and shouting. He turned on his porch light, saw Bachman’s silhouette and went outside to cross the street. He was determined to do something. Nip this little problem in the bud. Some assholes never learn. They never get the message. Billy waited for a car to go by and then walked onto Doris Fields’s front walkway. “What for the love of Pete is going on out here? You back again, asshole?” he yelled.

  Bachman turned and took a stance as Billy got closer.

  “Yeah. And there ain’t shit you’re gonna do about it!” Bachman blurted as he drew his arm back and threw a right hook. Billy weaved, the fist narrowly missing his head. Billy countered with a left undercut to Bachman’s midsection. Then came a shot to the head. Bachman grunted, stumbled backward into the door. He lunged forward knocking Billy onto the sidewalk. Then Bachman rushed forward.

  Billy spun him around, attempting to pin him into a headlock. It was unsuccessful.

  Alexis drew back the living room curtain and banged on the window. “Wilfred, stop it! It’s over! Leave us alone!” she yelled.

  Bachman glared at the veteran
and appeared to reach for something under his jacket. Billy leaned forward and quickly grabbed his arm. Was it a gun? A knife?

  “You stupid piece of shit!” Bachman screamed as he tried to wrestle his arm free.

  Billy was going to have to end this quick, he knew. Years of smoking and sedentary habits had cut his wind. And in several more minutes, he might have lost whatever strategic benefit that was his to claim.

  Bachman jerked back his arm and suddenly darted onto the porch, reached down, and hoisted the large ceramic planter over his head. Totally enraged, he hurled it toward Billy with red-hot anger. It barely missed.

  Billy weaved his near seventy-year-old body out of the way and then rushed onto the porch. Bachman hurled a kick directed at Billy’s groin. Billy jumped back and then quickly moved forward, grabbing Bachman by the throat, pinning him into the section where the porch’s railing met the home’s frame siding.

  “The first time was a warning! But you obviously haven’t learned to leave these good folks alone,” Billy growled.

  Bachman could hardly breathe. His face turned a pale shade of red. He stared at Billy wide-eyed as the veins in his head protruded like pipes about to burst under pressure.

  “Let me go! Get off me! You’re crazy!” Bachman muttered with a gravelly voice.

  Billy pointed a finger at him. “No. You’re crazy!”

  Bachman, arms flailing, suddenly managed to twist himself out of Billy’s grip. Then he sprung forward with a head-butt to Billy’s skull. Billy was stunned momentarily. He took a step back holding his head as Bachman fled from the porch and ran down the street to his car.

  Alexis quickly opened the door to let Billy in. He walked inside gently patting his forehead with the palm of his hand.

  “Oh my God! Are you all right, Bill?!”

  Billy nodded while staring into a large mirror over the mantel. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. I’ve had worse injuries in my life,” he said, his wound flecking blood onto the floor.

  “Let’s get something for that cut. The police are on their way. And so is an ambulance for my mother,” Alexis said as she left the living room. She briefly peeked into the bedroom at Justin, who had somehow fallen asleep amid the chaos. Then she went into the bathroom to grab a first-aid kit.

  Doris shuffled into the living room, symptoms aside, to see about her neighbor.

  “Thank you, Bill. I’m sorry you ended up being a part of our drama,” she said, shaking her head. “My God. That cut’s terrible.”

  Billy sat on the sofa and Doris sat beside him as Alexis returned with some gauze and treatment for his wound. He leaned back against the sofa, lifting his head as he stared at the ceiling. “No worries, Doris. You and Alexis are like family to me. Been here in Madtown too long not to be able to help each other in our time of need. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to beat the living crap out of him. Tried to warn his ass off the first time. But I guess he wanted to call my bluff. He’s lucky I didn’t shoot him.”

  Alexis cleaned Billy’s wound and then applied pressure to stop the bleeding. Briefly glancing down, she noticed a tattoo of a fanged cobra on the left side of his neck. Minutes later, the police and paramedics arrived, followed closely behind by Carol and Jason. Three Madison PD officers walked up the sidewalk, and one knocked on the door. Two came into the house followed by a pair of EMTs who attended to Doris. A third cop stayed outside looking for evidence. Meanwhile, Alexis and Billy explained the course of events to Carol, Jason and the cops as they stood in the living room.

  Alexis then went into the bedroom, hefted Justin from the bed while he was still asleep, walked out and then handed him over to Jason.

  “Miraculously, he slept through the whole thing,” Alexis said.

  “Probably because it’s way past his bedtime. I’m just glad you both were unharmed,” said Jason. “Make that two of us,” Carol agreed. “Bachman will get what’s coming to him soon enough,” Jason said as he peered down while gently rocking his son in his arms. The baby slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room in a bloom of curiosity.

  Jason turned to his sister and said, “We better get home and make sure everything’s okay.” Then he asked one of the cops, “Can you guys have a car meet us there?”

  “Yeah. Sure.” The cop spoke into his radio and requested that a cruiser be sent to Gilbert Rd for Jason and Carol’s safety. The third cop opened the front door and briefly stuck his head in from outside. “Hey, you need to take a look at this.”

  Everyone, including the two cops inside, filed out of the house, onto the porch and sidewalk.

  With a nitrile glove-covered hand, the cop reached down on the right side of the porch. From just underneath the front of the bushes, he retrieved a powder-blue pair of women’s panties.

  “Look familiar?” he asked while holding up the soiled lingerie.

  Alexis nodded. A flood of both fear and embarrassment had immediately washed over her. “Yes. Those appear to be the same size and color of panties I wear. He must have somehow got them from my room without my consent or knowledge.”

  The cop pointed with his left hand, “These spots you see near the center here. That appears to be blood spatter, Ms. Fields. My guess is he left them behind as a form of intimidation. We’ll have it sent to a lab for DNA testing.”

  Jason shook his head in anger. “What the hell is this guy’s problem? I mean…if someone doesn’t want to be with you—why is it so hard to just walk away?” He muttered before handing his baby over to Carol to put in his car. He ran a hand through his hair in elevated frustration. “What a sick creep to keep harassing her and not stop!”

  The cop who had hoisted the panties nodded. “That makes logical sense to you and me, to rational people. But these morons aren’t rational at all. For the stalker, it is all about control. When they’ve finished terrorizing one victim, they often move on to the next. It’s absolutely crazy,” he said shaking his head. He went on, “But we need to get him off the street before someone seriously gets hurt. You folks go on and get your mother to the hospital. We’ll have a car patrolling the area throughout the night and in the short term.”

  Assisting the EMTs, Alexis helped her mother off of the porch. Then they guided her down the sidewalk and into the back of the ambulance to be taken to UW Hospital for observation. Once Doris had been seated securely, Alexis climbed in and held her mother’s hand as the EMTs closed the door.

  Bachman managed to continue his attacks on Alexis unimpeded. It had been obvious he wasn’t going to let her just ride off into the sunset without retribution. But somehow she was going to have the last word. She was going to end this campaign of terror or die trying.

  Chapter 6

  FORTY-EIGHT HOURS LATER, the police arrived once again in front of the home that Alexis shared with her mother. This time, the reason was more grim.

  “What have we got here, Haney?” asked Madison PD Captain Jack D’Pella as he exited his patrol unit and walked closer to the slain body that lay on the porch.

  Both men crouched over. “It’s bad, Captain,” said Lou Haney, the lead detective assigned to the case. “The victim’s name was Bill Finnegan. The body was discovered by a neighbor out walking his dog. I think this is a case of premeditated murder. Someone had it out for him. Looks to me like the skull and jawbone have been broken. Blunt-force trauma to the head. Whoever did this must have surprised him somehow. Caught him off guard completely.”

  “So you think he knew his assailant?”

  “It’s certainly possible. And the bruises on his hands and forearms look like defensive wounds. He tried to fight off his attacker, no doubt. And these markings over here, missing chunks from these bricks, and the scuff marks on the porch’s railings, are presumably from the impact of a baseball bat.”

  “Anything taken? Money? Jewelry?”

  “Robbery doesn’t look like the motive here. He’s still got his wallet on him with a hundred and fifty-seven dollars inside. Poor guy was sitting on his porch, mindi
ng his own business, and I’m guessing, was attacked and couldn’t defend himself enough,” said Haney.

  News vans arrived on the scene as detectives interviewed residents about who could have possibly killed Vietnam Billy, the old war veteran and self-appointed block captain found brutally murdered. The quiet and picturesque neighborhood had never been dealt a homicide up close, and Madison had often been rated one of the nicest places to live by numerous magazines, so the news of Billy’s murder was sure to raise eyebrows.

  While an attractive female reporter with a cameraman in tow talked to several neighbors about his lifestyle, asking if they knew anyone who might have a motive, the Dane County CSI unit arrived, quietly and meticulously scouring the area.

  His body had been found crumpled on his porch next to the folding chair that he sat in every evening, enjoying the sights and sounds of summer. He had been bludgeoned, the Badgers T-shirt and pair of denim shorts he’d been wearing, both dreadfully soaked with blood. A diehard football fan, he rarely missed a game whenever the Badgers were on TV.

  “Whoever did this was apparently in a fit of rage. This was personal. I would surmise that the guy was already dead at some point, but the blows just kept on coming,” D’Pella said.

  Haney shrugged, lifting his gaze forward, reflecting on the moment. “I don’t understand why there’s no value on life anymore. You got any idea what’s happening to our society, and our world Captain?” he asked.

  D’Pella turned away from the war veteran’s dead body to glance at Haney.

  “I don’t know the answer to that question, Haney. If I did, I’d be a rich man. But I can promise you this; we’re going to find the animal or animals that did this and take them down. You can bet your ass on that!”

  Another detective strolled over to the conversation with his notepad in hand. “Captain, this might be of some importance. Finnegan had filed a report about an altercation he had with the boyfriend of an Alexis Fields. She lives across the street. According to the report, the boyfriend threatened them both after being confronted by Finnegan, who was coming to her aid when he saw the boyfriend assaulting her. On a second occasion the two were involved in a fistfight. The boyfriend’s name is Wilfred Bachman. There’s already a request to look for Bachman and his vehicle. His last known address is in Madison.”