CHAPTER 9
“Katryn, how very nice to see you,” he mocked. “But where’s your body guard?” John walked out from the shadows beside the closed up bleachers. Fighting a wave of panic, Katryn forced herself to keep walking, forced her voice to remain calm.
“John. It’s been awhile.” Lame, but at least her voice had not cracked. She wondered if she could get past him to the door. She quickened her step.
“Now, Katryn, surely you’re not in any hurry to leave, are you?” He guessed her intent, and effectively cut off her escape by positioning himself between her and the doors. Rather than get any closer to him, she stopped.
“What did you want, John?” she asked sharply. It would do her no good to try to placate him, she knew well. All the talks they had had in the past, had convinced her he was beyond reasoning. She refused to allow herself to sound, or act, frightened.
“You haven’t told me where Tom is, Katryn. I told him I was patient that I’d wait. I’m a little surprised and disappointed that he gave up so easily.” Her mind was racing. What did he mean? Why did he want to know where Tom was? Was he worried that if Tom found him harassing her again...
“Tom’s waiting outside,” she quickly lied.
“Wrong, Katryn. You’re wrong, you know. First of all, your car is parked outside, so you’re driving yourself. Second, Tom, and that little witch Anne, left together.” He took a step towards her. Katryn stepped sideways, hoping she could still squeeze past and get outside. “What’s the matter, Katryn?” he asked in a deceptively calm voice. “Don’t you want to have another talk with me?”
“I’m in a hurry, John. I’m meeting the team...”
“You’ve got plenty of time. I doubt they’ll miss you for awhile. Tom’s busy with Anne. Julie seems to have her eye on the new guy.” Katryn’s eyebrow raised reflexively. “How do I know that?” he asked, taking another step towards her. She was dismayed when she realized there was less than three feet between them, and she had backed herself up to the wall.
“I pay attention, Katryn, that’s how I know. I’ve watched you a lot these last few weeks. Watched your team play, watched you at work in your store. I even followed you and your boys to a soccer game. You have two real nice boys there, you know. It’s too bad about Ryan’s arm.”
Katryn was having a hard time fighting the fear and nausea his words evoked. Fear for herself she might have been able to hide. She was not able to mask the fear brought on by the stark realization that he might hurt her boys. She fought to clear her mind, to pay attention to everything he said, but she felt herself go cold and clammy. Sweat trickled down between her shoulders, her mouth went achingly dry and she had the feeling, for just a moment, that she might pass out. She forced herself to concentrate, to hear what he said, but she saw that he recognized the fear she was feeling.
He smiled, pleased with the results.
Paul waited in his car outside the gym. He considered himself a patient man, but Katryn was taking a very long time to dress. He did not want her to know he was waiting for her. They had had a nice day, were enjoying a pleasurable truce, and he did not want to do anything that might upset her.
Without turning his lights on, he pulled up to the front of the gym, and looked in through the glass doors. He recognized Katryn leaning up against the wall of the entry way talking to someone. It did not surprise him. After all, she seemed to know almost everyone in volleyball. She had either played on teams with them or against them, they were referees she had had in other leagues, or they were customers. Everywhere she went she ran into people she knew. And she always took time to see how they were doing.
Well, he would just wait, maybe not too patiently, though, until she was through.
“Didn’t Tom tell you, Katryn? Didn’t he even think to mention how often he’s run into me?” he taunted. Fighting to regain control, she knew she had to keep him talking. It would give her time to think of how to get away from him.
“No, Tom never said anything. Where’d he run into you?”
“Oh, he’s caught me following you after volleyball. It’s why he never lets you walk out to your car alone. He knew I was there watching. Waiting.” Her stomach roiled when she thought about him following her. She was not exactly winning her war of nerves.
“What is it you want, John?” she finally asked.
“Why Katryn, I want you, of course.” He took a last step towards her and quickly reached for her arm. He locked onto her forearm and she was amazed by the strength in his hand.
“John, let go of me.” She said it calmly. It scared her to see that he was no longer calm. He was becoming excited. The fear he saw in her eyes was turning him on.
“Let go of you? I have no intention of letting go of you. I’ve waited a long time for this.” He moved closer still. His eyes were wide and darted from her face to her body. Suddenly he lurched forward and grabbed her other arm. Pinning her to the wall, he leaned against her and began to kiss her.
Sickened by his touch, Katryn fought hard to get away from him. She was able to pull her right arm loose when he tried to hold both her arms in one of his hands, freeing his other hand to reach for the front of her slacks. She slapped his face hard, leaving a hand print in white.
“You...” she did not hear what he said. She only felt the blow to the side of her face when he back-handed her.
“Hey! You!” The janitor shouted, coming back into the gym and seeing John hit Katryn. He rushed towards them, but Paul beat him to John.
Slamming open the gym doors, Paul rushed at John. Grabbing his hair and right arm from behind, Paul pulled John away from Katryn. Spinning John around, Paul connected with a hard right that sent John sprawling. He followed John, and when John tried to stand, Paul hit him again. He pulled John part-way up by the front of his coat, and slammed him with his fist again. Paul probably would have kept on hitting John if Katryn and the janitor had not pulled him off.
“I think he’s got the point,” the janitor told Paul. Katryn wondered if he, too, had been worried Paul would not stop.
“Don’t come near her again,” Paul told John. “I won’t let anyone stop me the next time.”
John’s lip was swollen and bleeding, his right eye was swelling shut, and Katryn was sure his nose had been broken. Still, before he walked out the doors, he glanced back at Katryn and managed a sneer.
“See ya’ around,” he promised her. Paul would have gone after him if Katryn and the janitor had not both placed restraining hands on his arms.
“He’s not worth going to jail for,” the janitor told Paul. Then he turned to Katryn. Are you OK?”
Her hand covered her mouth, and tears glistened in her eyes, but she nodded. She whispered ‘thanks’, afraid if she said any more she would start to cry.
“Why don’t you take her back into the women’s locker room to freshen up,” the janitor said, turning to Paul. “Leave when you’re ready. Just be sure these doors close tight behind you when you go, OK?” Paul thanked him, and the janitor went back thru the double doors into the other gym.
Paul took Katryn in his arms and held her while she cried. When she was all cried out, he took her duffel bag in one hand, and with his other arm around her waist, he walked her back to the locker room.
He said nothing, waiting for her to speak, if she wanted. She washed her face with cold water, and then dried it with a paper towel. Paul sat on the nearest bench, watching her. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, relieved to see there was barely any mark left from where John had hit her. Smiling wryly, she turned to Paul.
“This is not what I mean when I ask someone to give me a hand!” she said, breaking the barrier of silence that had stretched between them. She walked over and sat beside Paul.
“Are you really all right?” he asked tenderly, touching her face lightly. “Does it hurt?”
“Not anymore,” she admitted.
“You want to talk about it? It’ll help,” he prompted. She nodded, but it was a few minutes before sh
e could start. He waited patiently.
She was able to tell him, then, everything John had said. How sick she had felt at the mention of her boys, and how she now worried if her boys were safe. When she was finished, Paul held her close again. He told her Tom had a friend on the police force, and they were watching her house pretty regularly, anyway. He suggested she call Audrey from the nearest phone and have her make sure the house was locked up tight.
Paul said all the right things, seemed to understand how scared she was, and appeared even angrier at John than she was; still she sensed something was not right. Finally she asked.
“Paul, have I done something wrong?” Startled by her question, he rushed to assure her she had not been at fault. Realizing he had misunderstood, she explained, “I meant, have I done something wrong to you?”
“Me?”
“Something’s wrong, Paul. I can feel it. I’m just not sure what I...”
“It isn’t you. It’s me,” he admitted, anger in his voice. “It was true that Tom knew John was following you. I knew, too.” He rushed on so she could not ask any questions. “We decided not to scare you by telling you. Instead, Tom set up security, of sorts, around you. He never let you walk to your car alone after volleyball. The guard at the Flour Mill watched to see you got safely to your car after work. The owner of the Treasure Chest keeps an eye out for you. The neighbor across the street keeps an eye on your house. The police make extra runs down your street. Everyone everywhere keeps an eye on you. Everyone but me, that is. I sit and watch while that...”
“Paul, if you hadn’t shown up when you did...”
“Shown up? Hell, I was sitting in my car watching him torment you. I sat right outside the front door and allowed him to...”
“You were outside?”
“I thought he was a friend of yours, and you were having a normal conversation. I didn’t even catch on till he grabbed you and kissed you. By the time I got here, he’d already slapped you...” Katryn heard exactly how hard he was being on himself.
“Paul, if you hadn’t been here, who knows what would have happened.”
“The janitor would have done a better job.”
“Be reasonable. John’s stronger than he looks. He’d have hurt poor old Mr. Strosnick, probably seriously. Paul,” she took his face in her hands and made him look at her. “Paul, he’d have hurt me, too, if you hadn’t been there.”
“I should have...”
“There was no way you could have known he wasn’t just another acquaintance until he grabbed me. I owe you, Paul. Thanks.” She reached her arms around him and held him tight. He held her close.
“I’m sorry Katryn,” he finally said.
“I’m not,” she answered.
“Do you still want to go to Kelly’s?” he asked a few minutes later when he pulled away again.
She was worried about the boys. She asked Paul if he thought they would be OK, and he told her he was sure John would be off licking his wounds, that they could call the policeman across the street to keep an extra eye on her house, if she wanted. Then he assured her that if she wanted to go home, he understood, and he would follow her.
She did not want to be alone right now, to think about John, so she surprised him by telling him she would rather go to Kelly’s. It took her just a minute to get her makeup on. This time she did not feel anywhere near as fresh as she had the last time she had walked out of the locker room, but at least she was ready to go.
“You know, there was a time I’d have given almost anything to get into the women’s locker room,” Paul teased while they walked through the gym and out the front door.
“I’ll bet that was when you were in junior or senior high, a long time ago. Now you’re so much older and wiser...”
“Ouch,” he answered, then pretended to hobble with a cane while he walked her to her car. He followed her to Kelly’s and they walked in together. “That’s a lovely necklace,” he told her, straight faced, when he saw she had remembered to put it back on.
“A very good friend gave it to me,” she answered, squeezing his hand. When they walked into the lounge, after Katryn had made a quick call to Audrey, and her neighbor, Katryn and Paul were a respectable distance apart.
Paul had agreed not to tell anyone but Tom about John. Katryn was not ready for fifty questions, she explained. They decided they would say Katryn had left her car lights on, and Paul had helped her jump-start her battery.
Everyone was out on the dance floor when Paul and Katryn arrived, but Katryn recognized their coats on the back of the chairs, so they sat at the table and waited. No-one, not even Julie, questioned the dead battery excuse. Ed even found it funny.
“You mean the captain of the EVER READYs had a dead battery? It’s a good thing it didn’t happen during a game!”
They all joked awhile, and soon most everyone was dancing again. Katryn saw Paul walk out to the hallway with Tom, and she was only able to dance twice before the band took a break. When they were all back at the table again, Julie asked Katryn where she had gotten the beautiful necklace.
“From a very special friend. Today was my seven year anniversary with the store, so Dottie and Joe had a surprise party for me. A lot of the other shopkeepers and many of my customers came. There was punch, a lovely cake, and a huge card with so many signatures that there must have been forgeries!” she teased.
Larry asked a little about the store, and then the conversation moved on to other topics. Katryn could not bring herself to look at Paul, but she could almost feel his eyes on her, twinkling at how she had covered. When Katryn and Julie went to the ladies room together, Julie took a closer look at the necklace.
“It’s beautiful,” she enthused. “And it’s perfect for you. You’ve always been into St. Patrick’s day.” Katryn tensed slightly, but Julie changed the subject abruptly. “Do you think Paul will ever ask me out?” she questioned her best friend. “I’m getting a little tired of Bill, and besides, Paul doesn’t seem too jealous of him anymore. What do you think of Larry?” Julie changed directions almost faster than Katryn could keep up.
“If you’re only being nice to Bill to make Paul jealous, maybe you ought to let Bill go. If Paul were the jealous type, I’d think he’d have shown it by now. Why don’t you change your tactics a little? Try asking Paul to dance, if you want to dance with him. Do you think he knows you’re interested?” Katryn hated these conversations with Julie. She felt guilty for her deceit. Besides, she wondered, why Julie bothered asking her for advice. It was not like she ever followed it, Katryn thought angrily. Realizing she was just worn out after the evening she had had, she tried to calm herself.
“Katryn, what do you think of Larry?” Julie repeated.
“He’s nice. I enjoy dancing with him. But Julie, it doesn’t seem to work to try to make Paul jealous.”
“Well, yes, I know you’re right. But are you interested in Larry?” Julie persisted.
“He does seem like a nice guy, so I guess I am.” Then, suddenly, a thought occurred to Katryn. She asked, hopefully, “Why, Julie, do YOU like Larry?”
“Oh, no,” Julie answered quickly. “I think he’s a little stuck on himself, is all. I just wondered if you’d noticed.”
“I guess I hadn’t.” Katryn admitted. “He’s always been a perfect gentleman to me, and rather pleasant. He’s also a very good dancer,” she added.
“Hmmm,” was all that Julie said, ending the conversation. They headed back out to the table, and the evening went fairly well.
Tom asked her for the first slow song, and when they were on the dance floor, he asked how she was doing. She admitted she was a little worried about her boys, that she was a little nervous that John was still out and around, but that she was doing OK.
“Do you want to press charges?” Tom asked.
“I don’t think it’d do much good, do you? Even if they actually put him in jail for awhile, he’d be that much angrier when he got out. And thanks to Paul, he didn’t get very
far, anyway.”
“Katryn, I’m sorry. I probably should have warned you.”
“Tom, after all you did for me, don’t you dare start feeling guilty. You have no reason to. Neither does Paul. I’m not naive, Tom. I know there’s really no way anyone could stop John if he’s determined to get me. Surely no-one could do more than you did. So now I’ll be even more careful. But, Tom, you were right. It wouldn’t have done any good to scare me before. Heck, I’d have spent the last three months a nervous wreck.”
“And now?”
“Now I know there are LOTS of people looking out for me. I’ll call the school Monday so they’ll keep close tabs on the boys, too. Otherwise, you’ve taken care of it all. Thanks.”
“You’re really not upset I didn’t tell you?”
“No. And I’ll bet you probably did enough worrying for both of us. I’m only sorry it was so hard on you.” They danced the next dance, too. It was another slow one, and Katryn did not even care that Anne was probably getting furious. It was the only time the whole night that she did not think about Paul.
Paul asked her to dance only twice all evening, and both of them were fast dances. She knew it was better that way, but oh how she wanted to be in his arms! It seemed so much safer there. It was tormenting her to be so close and not allowed to touch. Larry did dance wonderfully. It just was not the same as being in Paul’s arms, of course.
Towards the end of the second set Anne asked if everyone was going to be able to go to Rockaway Beach. She also wanted to know what time they were leaving Friday, who all was driving, and when, approximately, they would be back on Sunday. Katryn had no idea what she was talking about, so Tom explained.
“We don’t play volleyball next Friday, remember? This was the last week of league play. Paul has friends who own a hotel at Rockaway Beach, on the Oregon coast. He called them about getting away for the weekend. They said they’d give him a really good deal on a couple rooms if he wanted to bring some friends. He mentioned it Monday after practice. Most of us are planning to go, Katryn. Do you think you could get away? We’ll go Friday after work and come home Sunday. We’ll car-pool to save on gas.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I work Saturdays, and I’m not sure I could get a sitter for the whole weekend.”
“You’ll try, won’t you?” Tom asked. Katryn wished he had not, when she glanced at Anne and saw the look on her face.
“I’ll try,” Katryn promised. She was not at all sure she would, though. It would be bad enough to spend the weekend on the ocean with Tom, knowing Anne would like to kill her. It would be even worse to spend the weekend with Paul and Julie knowing Julie would surely kill her if she guessed how Katryn felt about Paul.
She also worried about leaving the boys alone all weekend when John was still around. She felt queasy every time she remembered how he said her boys were nice. It did bother her a little, though, when she realized that that meant both Tom and Paul would be gone at the same time.
And of course, it would be pretty hard on her heart to spend an entire weekend watching Julie chase Paul. She decided it would be best if she did not try very hard, if at all, to get away. Katryn left after the third set, and Larry walked her to her car.
“Would I be allowed to join you at Rockaway Beach, Katryn? I know I’m not on your team, but I was hoping...”
“I think that’d be fine. You’d better check with Paul, though. You work with him, right?” When Larry nodded, Katryn explained. “I don’t know anything about the trip, Larry. I don’t know how many people can stay in the rooms, or if there’s a limit on who can go. It’s sure OK with me, but I’m not sure I’ll even be able to go.”
“You have to Katryn. It wouldn’t be as much fun without you.”
“Thanks. But I really don’t think I’ll be able to find a sitter AND someone to watch my store on Saturday.”
“Can I call you Monday, or so, and see what you’ve found out?”
“Of course.” She gave him a business card and told him he could call her at work. Then she left him, thinking it was sad that he did not appeal to her. He really was a nice man, definitely good looking. He danced like a dream, was sweet, gentlemanly, and most important of all, unattached. No, he would be too easy!
Monday afternoon Larry called. Katryn told him she had been unable to find a sitter for the weekend. What she did not tell him was she had not even tried. She had decided it would be too difficult to spend the weekend with Paul, even if there were 100 people around. Even if Julie were not around chasing him, it would be too hard to be that close and know he was not hers. Besides, it bothered her a lot that she was being dishonest with Julie. They had been friends so long, had been so close, it was tearing her up to keep lying. She was afraid to even talk much with her best friend, afraid she would let something slip. No, it was better she not go.
Monday night practice was not the team’s best. Anne was none too nice to Katryn, and Paul seemed almost angry. Julie was not even there, and Ed could not play because he had hurt his foot playing football during the weekend.
Jim’s team beat them 3 out of 5 games, and she heard his team commenting, more than once, that the best team had not won the league. Katryn’s team never even took up the challenge in spite of the fact that they had won the league two matches ahead of Jim’s team.
Even Denny’s was no fun. Their usual waitress was off sick, so they could not kid with her. Tom made a point of asking Katryn if she would be going Friday, and Katryn thought Anne would like to shoot her. Paul flashed her a very ugly look when she said she had been unable to find a sitter, but Anne looked almost triumphant. Katryn left early and was sure everyone was glad. Tom walked her to her car, and she was relieved to know he was still watching out for her.
When Katryn got home, she relaxed in her recliner and opened the newspaper. She snapped forward in her chair when John’s face stared back at her. MAN ARRESTED IN BEATING the headline shouted. Katryn quickly read through the article.
John had gone to an old girlfriend’s house late Friday night. Katryn shivered when she realized it was just a couple hours after he had left the gym. He had beaten the woman pretty badly, according to the article, and then had stayed at her house the entire weekend, threatening to hurt her two year old daughter if she tried to escape. He had left for work early this morning, and she had rushed to the police. They arrested him, and there would be a hearing tomorrow over his bail.
The police were asking for information about a fight John had been in earlier Friday. He had bragged to the victim that he had beaten another woman before he had gotten to her house. The police wanted the first victim to come forward and sign a complaint, too.
Though it was after ten, Katryn called Dottie to see if she could open the store in the morning. She told her about John, and Dottie said she would be glad to do anything she could to help in any way to keep animals like him locked up.
Tuesday morning bright and early, Katryn arrived at the police station to talk to Officer Cates. While the officer agreed that John probably had not done enough to Katryn to bother with on its own, he explained that the judge might set a much higher bail if there were other complaints against John. Katryn told him she would do all she could to help keep John locked up, and Officer Cates told her he would be getting back to her.
When Katryn returned to work, she had a bit of a headache. Talking about John, even to the police, had reminded her of the threats he had made against her boys. She hoped they would lock him up for a good long time.
Dottie saw that Katryn was not feeling very well, so she offered to stay while Katryn rested a bit in the back room. Katryn had only been out in the shop for about a half hour when Paul showed up.
She glanced at her watch and saw it was 12:30 on the dot. She cringed when she saw the familiar ‘going-to-battle’ look on his face. After all they had been through on Friday; she was surprised that he was back to business as usual.
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