by Allen Gates
She was a little anxious when she pulled off the road and parked. She remained in the car and surveyed the beach area below still somewhat leery of what could occur.
Lon and Anne were exiting the woods onto the beach. When they heard the sound of a car door closing, they immediately began to walk faster in that direction. From their lower vantage point on the beach and with the loss of light from the setting sun they could not see the parking area. Continuing on they saw a woman walking down the path.
“It’s the Doctor!” Anne exclaimed.
Stephanie turned toward the voices and was surprised to see the detectives walking up the beach. She waved and stopped to spread the beach towel. She felt immediate relief knowing they were there.
As they approached her location she asked, “Is something wrong?”
“No, everything is fine Stephanie. We were checking on your story to see if there was evidence of your stalker’s hangout and Lon will be proud to tell you he found it.”
102
SHE SAT UP somewhat confused and called, “William are you still here?” She looked around the room and saw that he had apparently gone. The fact that it was almost dark told her she had slept for a long time. When did he leave me? She picked up the message laying on the night stand next to the bed that simply read,
“I’ll be late. Love William”
The bottle of wine caught her eye and she filled a glass and toasted her image in the wall mirror and drained the contents. She refilled the glass and went back to the bed and lay down against the fluffed up pillows. Then she raised the glass to continue her toast.
“I raise my glass to a wonderful night with my darling William; now, if I may quote Shakespeare, ‘and so to sleep, perhaps to dream, I …’ ”
She was unable to complete the quote as the wine and the addition of several sleeping pills combined to dull her brain causing the arm raised in a toast to drop to her side emptying the glass. The wine spilled partially onto her pale blue nightgown and spread quickly into the white bedspread creating a blood red stain.
She was deep in sleep, so he stepped out from behind the screen walked to the bed and stood over her admiring her beauty and recalling the emotions that had flowed between them. She is so lovely he thought as he walked to the door. Giving a final glance at her turned the handle and walked to the stairway.
103
AFTER DISCUSSING THEIR findings with Stephanie, including the parked car incident, the detectives discussed the note problem with her.
“There is something that happened tonight, I feel I should mention. As I was leaving the front of my apartment, there was a man standing by a car a short distance in front of where I park each night. He stared at me the whole time as I approached him and as I drove past he smiled. I remembered on the way here that I had seen him once before walking by himself here on the beach. He spoke to me that night and I remembered feeling uneasy. I remember that his eyes seemed to exude evil. I know that must sound crazy.”
“Not at all,” Anne said. “I had a similar experience yesterday with a man I met sitting at the bar. He followed me out, called out to me and knew I was a cop. I looked in his face and his eyes gave that same warning: Be careful, this man is evil.”
“Stop it, Lon said, “Can we get on with this? You two will have each other having nightmares for days.”
“Stephanie, in all seriousness, we need to discuss this situation in detail as soon as possible. This has the look of a dangerous man you are dealing with and you need to be on high alert. A man like you’re describing could be the killer we are searching for. Let’s plan on you coming to the station after your shift at the hospital tomorrow.”
“Come on, we’ll walk you to your car.”
“No thanks, I know I shouldn’t, but I’m going to stay a while longer.”
She saw their concern, but she assured them she would be fine.
104
HE WAS SURPRISED to see her car. I can’t believe she’s here and alone. He stood in front of his car and watched her movements below for a while to make sure the dog was not with her. She stood and looked out over the water.
When she turned toward his position, he crouched to remain hidden from view. It appeared she was going to walk the shoreline. Perfect, he thought. Waiting until she was far enough away he quietly closed the door and started the engine. He returned to the roadway and drove to his selected spot and moved to the beach area.
Stephanie, entranced by the beauty of the sky and the sounds of the breaking surf, was unaware of the stealthy figure walking in the shadows of the tree line. Realizing that darkness was fast approaching, she decided it was time for her to leave. As she turned she came face-to-face with a man in a ski mask.
A scream was impossible with her startled intake of air. A hand was over her mouth and she was being dragged toward the woods. She was powerless to struggle in the manner he had taken control of her. He released his hand from her mouth.
“Do not scream or talk. I’ll hurt you badly if you do. Do you understand?”
“Please,” She begged. “Please! Why are you doing this?”
He slapped her hard and demanded she not say another word.
“Start removing your clothes. I do not want to hear a word out of you. Nod yes, I understand.”
Stephanie nodded and began unbuttoning her blouse. There was something shiny in his belt. A knife! She thought. Oh my God I have got to get away. He means to kill me.
At that moment, someone yelled, “Stephanie?”
She watched his reaction of fear and as he was backing up he said, he would see her again, turned and was gone.
Stephanie ran out of the trees onto the beach and ran toward the cars. Who called my name, she wondered?”
Suddenly she was enveloped in the arms of someone and she let out an ear piercing scream. She heard a calm reassuring voice. Her focus back, she looked in the face of the detective.
“Anne,” was all she could say.
Removing his mask as he ran, he felt the burning in his chest from running up the hill. He grabbed the handle of the car, but before he could open it he was thrown face down to the ground.
“Be real still mister. I’m only going to say this once. You’re under arrest.”
Handcuffed and advised of his Miranda Rights he picked the man up by his arms and placed him in the back seat. Lon stared intently at him before closing the door.
“How are you, detective, he said? It’s Lon isn’t it? It’s nice to see you again.”
“How do you know me?”
“Oh, it will come to you eventually.”
Lon irritated by his smile as he spoke, slammed the door and drove to the parking area where Anne and the Doctor were waiting. He drew Anne aside and asked.
“Is Stephanie alright?”
“She’s shaken up, but she’s doing fine. Do you think this man is the one, Lon?”
“We’ll know soon. Listen, the guy says he knows me, but I can’t recall seeing him before. Go take a look at him and see if you recognize him.”
He walked over to the Doctor.
“Stephanie, after we left you alone we realized we could not in good conscience leave you all alone, so we turned around to check on you. We saw your car and decided to leave Anne at that site and for me to drive to where we had seen a car earlier. And sure enough, when I pulled off the road, I saw a car parked in the high weeds. Anne continued down to the beach and alerted him, while I hid and waited for him to back track for his car. Thank God we were in time.”
“Detective, I thought I was going to die.”
“Would you like to see him without the mask?”
Anne was standing alongside the car making notes and as the two neared she opened the door for them.
“Oh my God Lon, this is the guy I was telling you about that stopped me outside the bar. You remember, I confirmed the Doctors description of someone with evil eyes.”
Lon stepped aside to allow Stephanie access to view the back seat
and the man sitting there.
“It’s the man I told you about that was there that night on the beach. Remember I said he made me feel uneasy”
He smiled up at her and blew her a kiss. “I’m so sorry that we were interrupted Doc. I think we would have gotten to know each other better had these two not come along.”
Lon showed his anger with a few expletives toward the man and slammed the door
“Stephanie you can come to the station tonight or wait until morning to sign the report and give your description of this animal’s attack on you.”
105
THE SENATOR HEADED up the coast, unsure whether he should take the risk of running into Stephanie. He knew it was inevitable that sooner or later they would be there at the same time and have to talk, but he wanted it to be on his terms not on chance.
As he approached the pull-off site, he was forced to slow before turning to avoid a car pulling out of the lane. As it passed he recognized the two detectives in the front and a man was seated in the back seat. He was more than sure they had not bothered to look at him as they passed him.
Continuing on, he turned on the narrow lane as he tried to think of a reason for them to be there; and who was the man in the back seat? He watched Stephanie’s car move onto the lane apparently to follow the detectives. Moving over to the far edge to leave her as much room to pass as he could, he watched to see if she would acknowledge him or continue out on to the highway.
Stephanie recognized the car and felt her anger rise up to the point that she struck the steering wheel. She had not wanted their next meeting to be here and especially now. The last thing, she needed after the incident on the beach was to have to listen to William Radford the third’s egotistical rhetoric. Allowing compassion to override her anger she chose to let it happen and stopped along the side of his car and managed to smile as she lowered the window.
“Hello William, nice to see you,” she offered.
He felt the old feeling immediately and responded in a subdued voice.
“Hello Stephanie, I was hoping you would be here, because sooner or later we have to talk. I saw the two detectives driving away, why were they here and who was the man in the car with them?”
“Thank God they were here. The man in the back seat attacked me as I walked along the beach, but they arrived in time to prevent anything from happening.”
“I am thankful they arrived in time. Did you know the man?”
“I didn’t know him, but I had seen him here on the beach once before and the detectives surmised he would be hiding knowing I came there often. And when I arrived each evening alone he would take pictures of me. They searched his car and found a folder with twenty photos of me walking on the beach. The detectives believe he is the person that left the notes on my car.”
“That’s an incredible story Stephanie, but you’re sure he didn’t hurt you?”
He looked into her eyes ready to question her response to see if she had been innocently attacked or was this attack caused by something of her doing at an earlier meeting? Maybe she gave him a sign or an indication that she was open to his advances as she had done with me.”
“No harm other than my self-respect. I fought as hard as I could and believed I was about to become his next victim.
“Do the detectives think he could be the serial killer?”
“I’m not aware if they do or not, but I couldn’t help making that assumption.”
His face switched from the serious expression to what she was sure was a desire to smile making her question why he would be so interested in that bit of news.
106
AT THE STATION the fact that this man had confronted Anne outside the bar and she had not placed him as being the same man at the roadside murder created an unpleasant situation for her and gave him a smug attitude that was very disrupting.
“I knew that I had seen you before, Anne remarked. I just couldn’t place where.” She stared at him looking for some sign of twitching nerves or fear in his eyes, but it was not happening. He seemed to be enjoying his situation watching them struggle with how to approach him.
Anne decided to go on the offensive. “Before we get into the details of the attempted rape you’re here for, let’s review our previous encounter and lay out some facts.”
“First, for some reason we did not question you thoroughly at the site of the young Asian woman’s body out on the coast? Once again we need to hear your answer as to why you happened to be in such an isolated location where a young female was found murdered. We now have you listed as a prime suspect in her murder and possibly in several others, so your answer is very important to your case.”
“Hold on madam detective, I’m not a murderer. I’m aware that I have a problem that I can’t always control, but there is no way I could kill anyone, especially not a female.”
“What were you doing there?”
“I was walking and I saw the police car up ahead, so I got off the road to avoid the officer by walking below his location through the field and come up beyond the car to avoid a confrontation. I started up the hill and there she was. I was going to run, but a flashlight beam hit me in the face, so I stood still and waited figuring it was the cop. He immediately treated me as a suspect keeping his revolver pointed at me.”
“I was honest with him and told him I had just discovered her. He seemed to believe me and walked me up to the road and told me to sit in the back seat of his patrol car. You know the rest from there.”
“You’re right, but here’s where I’m confused with your story, Lon said. You say the squad car was sitting there by the side of the road when you arrived on the scene?”
He looked at Anne and nodded, yes, but just as Lon started to ask a follow up question an officer walked in and handed Anne a file.
“This guy’s rap sheet you’ve been waiting for.”
“Thanks sergeant.”
Lon was still in a stunned state somewhere between a state of frustration and confusion and just sat staring at the man in front of him. He stood and walked over to whisper to Anne. “This is not what officer Trent reported. Should we push it with him or wait and check with Leo?”
Anne looked over at the man confused and indecisive for the moment. “Let’s put it on ice for the time being, she whispered back to Lon.”
Lon nodded walked back and sat across the table from him smiling as if to say we have got you now.
107
STEPHANY DID NOT appreciate the arrogant smile she glimpsed as it appeared on the senator’s face, so she waved goodbye and started to drive off. He called for her to wait.
“Why don’t we go somewhere and have a drink and see if our differences can be worked out?”
“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea, William. I think it best that we remain distant friends and nothing else. I’m going home and try to forget the scare that I just experienced.”
“I see,” came out of a tight lipped mouth. He felt his anger coming forth and he feared he would not be able to remain calm in her presence.
Stephanie saw his features harden once again as he spoke and then feign softness.
It was too late. She had seen the anger in his eyes and said, “I need to go William. Good night.”
He sat there enraged pounding the steering wheel with both hands as she drove away. “You cannot do this to me,” he shouted after her. Even louder, “You cannot do this to me!”
He looked in the mirror and his mother’s smile gave him the immediate comfort he needed.
“Let’s go home, William.”
108
“HE’S NOT OUR serial guy Lon. He was released from prison a month ago for two attempted rape offenses.”
She looked at the young man sitting in front of her and then back at the report.
“It looks like you may be going back in.”
“Like I told you detective, I have a problem.”
Lon motioned for her to follow him out of the interrogation room.
Anne, adding to his anxiety said, “We seem to be in some sort of diabolical zone that keeps adding new paranormal dimensions to this case, Lon.”
He laughed shaking his head. “A diabolical zone, with new paranormal dimensions. Wow, that was an impressive a statement Anne.”
“I am trying to speak with meaningful words consistent with your level of word mastery partner.”
He nodded his approval and held the door for her and they reentered and walked to the man, who immediately began staring at Anne with a suggestive smile.
“I have one more question for you, before they lock you up for the night. Did you write the notes?”
“What notes,” he asked?
109
ARRIVING HOME LON felt like the world was being lifted off his shoulders. His son was excited to see him walk in and Ally seemed especially happy. He could tell by her reception she was anxious to be alone with him.
Sitting at the dinner table talking with them he found himself answering questions, as best he could, to ease their natural curiosity about the case he was working on. They had grown used to his inability to divulge important facts about a case because of the possibility they would somehow let it out to the general public with an accidental slip of the tongue.
After dinner they sat and watched a movie. Ally sat next to Lon on the couch with Tad sprawled out on the floor, eventually falling asleep.
