You Can Run (Harding-Callow Short Stories Book 1)

by Rebecca Zettl

  Donny showed him his warrant card and the photo of the stalker. “Detective Sergeant Callow.” The clerk read aloud, looking suddenly uncertain.

  “Do you know this man? I believe he’s a guest here.”

  “Yes. His name is Mr. Gorman.” He told Donny. “Would you like me to call his room for you?”

  “No, thank you. Don’t mention this conversation to him please.”

  The nervous clerk nodded.

  “What room is he in please?”

  The clerk hesitated, but thought better of protesting and wrote the number down on a sticky note which he passed over the counter. Donny thanked him and made his way out of the hotel, pleased to have something promising to discuss with Alice. He hurried back to Alice’s flat and rapped on the door. She answered straight away, as though she had been waiting for news. She probably had been. There was a desperate eagerness in her eye. Alice locked the door after Donny. “Well?” she asked, her wide brown eyes begging for the details. She hadn’t dared to hope that they would find something out so soon. Donny sat down with her on the couch and explained everything that had happened since he saw the stalker enter the cafe. Alice drank in the details eagerly. Donny showed her to photo to be sure that they had the right person. Alice confirmed it.

  “Do you know where we can find him?” She asked excitedly.

  Donny nodded. “He’s got a room at a hotel about one suburb away.”

  “So is he going to get arrested now?”

  Donny shook his head. “We can’t yet.” He told her warily. “We know who he is. Once we’ve got enough proof of what he’s been doing we can get him for it. But for now we just have to sit tight.”

  “So… what?” Alice said. “You’ve found him and we’re just going to sit here and wait for him to keep stalking me? That’s your plan?” The pleading look on Alice’s face broke Donny’s heart but he knew that there was little else that they could do. Alice stared at him uncertainly. Her wavering expression grew set and her jaw took on a determined set. “I think that we should confront him.” She said sternly.

  “Woah,” Donny said, taken aback by Alice’s suggestion. “Are you kidding? This guy almost killed you last time and you want to go and aggravate him? I think that’s a terrible idea.”

  “Donny -” Alice started determinedly.

  “Alice, trust me on this, please.” Donny told her firmly, bracing her shoulders with his hands. “Please.”

  Alice shook her head. “I’m not sitting around here waiting for him to come for me. Not again.” She said, her voice taking on a dangerous edge that Donny didn’t much care for. She looked down, not meeting his eye. “If you don’t want to come with me I understand. But I’m going.” She said.

  Donny shook his head, his eyes wide with shock and frustration. “No way Alice. Going to see this guy at all it stupid enough. If you think you’re doing it alone, think again.”

  Alice smiled. “So you’ll come with me?” she asked hopefully. Her smile wavered in the face of Donny’s stony expression. “I don’t like this one bit Alice. It’s not a good idea.”

  Alice swallowed. “I’m sorry Donny. I don’t want to fight with you. But I can’t just sit here and do nothing.” Her eyes pleaded with him. Donny relented and held her gently to his chest. He still didn’t like this but it was clear there would be no dissuading her. It was far better that he should go with her than that she should go alone. “Alright. Let’s meet here. Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll meet you here at five thirty. Okay?” he suggested. Maybe he could talk her out of it in the meantime. Alice nodded. “Thank you Donny. I’m glad you’re coming with me.” Donny kissed her gently on the forehead. This was definitely a terrible idea.

  ***

  Donny stepped onto the train apprehensively. He had been distracted all day, still convinced that Alice’s desire to confront her stalker was a fool’s errand. His phone beeped in his jacket pocket and he pulled it out. He had a text message from Alice. Maybe she had decided to listen and call the whole thing off. Instead the message asked him to meet her at some cafe she had found. He raised an eyebrow. That area was mostly industrial. He wondered what she was doing there. He sent a text back to that effect and waited for the responding ping. She’d been over there researching something for the newspaper. She wasn’t going to be back in time to meet at her apartment like they had agreed. Would he meet her here instead? He shrugged. It didn’t really matter where they met he supposed. He could meet her there just as easily as her apartment. It might even be better. The district where she wanted to meet was on the other side of town from the hotel. It would be difficult to get over there from her cafe. They might have to call the whole thing off, or at least postpone it. He texted back agreeing that he would meet her there. She texted back telling him that she couldn’t wait to see him. He smiled and slipped his phone back into his pocket. She seemed in a different mood than yesterday afternoon. Maybe he could talk her around after all. The train pulled up at Donny’s usual station and he let it pass. Three more stations would get him within two blocks of Alice’s cafe. He disembarked and consulted the directions that she had given him. His brisk and purposeful stride began to waver as he drew close to the location where Alice had asked to meet him. There was nothing here. He stopped and looked around. There were rows on rows of something that looked like storage garages, all closed bar one. None of them looked like they were in use. There were no padlocks and the office that he had passed at the beginning of the row had looked abandoned. What was this place? There was nothing here, and Alice was nowhere to be seen. Donny pulled out his phone to call her. Maybe he had misunderstood her directions. The distinctive super Mario tune blared out impossibly close to Donny. He spun around, startled, just in time to see a large, heavy piece of timber crashing down on his face. His head suffered a second blow as it connected with the ground. He peered up through a haze of blood and diminishing consciousness and realized with dread that it was him. Alice’s stalker was standing over him, staring down with eyes full of hate and contempt. Donny’s eyes drooped closed, despite his every instinct screaming at him to keep them open.

  ***

  Alice searched irritably around her flat. Donny wasn’t here, he had agreed to meet her at her apartment fifteen minutes ago. She figured he’d just been held up. He’d probably sent her a text, but now she couldn’t find her phone. She emptied her handbag out on the table. It definitely wasn’t in there. She pulled the couch cushions off. It hadn’t fallen down the back. She propped her hands on her hips and looked around. She went over to the phone on the kitchen counter and dialed her mobile number. She couldn’t hear it ringing. It was odd. She was sure she had left it on loud. She knew from experience that she should be able to hear it from anywhere in the apartment, even underneath her bed. She sighed and shook her head, walking over to her laptop on the coffee table. At least she knew where that was. She fired it up, drumming her fingers on her face until the home screen popped up. She opened the browser and logged in to the website that corresponded to the app that she had installed on her phone. It would trace it for her. Maybe she had left it at work. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as the location popped up on the map. That was strange. She had never even been to that side of town. She realized with a sinking feeling that it must have been stolen, or maybe she had dropped it on the train. She was fairly sure that the line went down that way after it passed her stop. She gave up on finding her mobile for now and called Donny from her landline instead. It rang and rang until it clicked over to voicemail. Alice put the phone down and flopped onto the couch. Nothing to do but wait, she supposed. The time ticked by and Alice fidgeted, restless with impatience. She stared at her watch miserably. Donny should have been here over an hour ago. She picked up her phone again. She had already called him four times. She got the voicemail every time. She left messages. He didn’t call back. Maybe this was his way of protesting what he still thought was a bad idea, but Alice wasn’t really convinced. He wouldn’t just not show up. She tr
ied his phone again. It picked up this time but he said nothing. She tried to speak to him but he didn’t answer. She heard static and rustling noises. He must have bumped the phone. If he had his phone with him why wasn’t he answering? Hurt and confused Alice almost hung up, but then she began to hear voices. “Donny?” she asked again, bewildered.

  “You’re the one who’s been stalking Alice.” Donny said loudly and clearly. “Why did you bring me here?”

  Another voice rumbled through the line, muffled and distant. A sickening chill sank through Alice’s stomach. She knew that voice. She had only heard it once before, but it still sounded in her nightmares. “I’ve seen you with her, you know. I don’t know what you think you’re doing.”

  A thud, a painful grunt and a rustling of static burst across the line. Alice tried to breathe. He had Donny. She might be the only other person who knew. The question was, what was she going to do about it? She had to figure out where he was, and fast. On the other end of the line, Donny and the stalker were still talking. Alice hung on every word, every tiny sound that she could hear on the end of the line, straining for any detail that might tell her where they were. Donny was almost shouting. It was deliberate, Alice realized. He was shouting so that she could hear. His voice reverberated with a strange hollow echo. She wasn’t sure if it was the phone line or some quality of wherever they were. She listened helplessly to their argument railing back and forth. “That was pretty clever,” Donny’s phone came across the line. “You took Alice’s phone so I’d think it was her wanting to meet me here. What is this place anyway?”

  “It wasn’t that smart.” The other voice rumbled through the line. “You’re just stupider than you think. Alice deserves better than that. But you just couldn’t leave her alone could you. You’ve made a bad mistake.”

  Horrifying realization dawned on Alice and she grabbed her laptop again. She wrote down the address and printed the map. It took all of her willpower to disconnect the call but sitting here listening to them struggle would not help. She needed the phone. She hit the disconnect button and dialed three nines. She gave them the address and begged the police to come quickly. After putting the phone down again she sat there fidgeting for a brief moment. She jumped up and paced, unable to sit still without knowing what was going on. Unsure whether she was doing the right thing but unable to sit and wait, she snatched up the phone again, stuffing the printout into her pocket as she dialed a taxi.

  ***

  Donny grunted painfully as the stalker’s boot connected with his ribcage. He sucked at the air trying to recover his winded breath. Zip ties bit savagely into the skin around his wrists and ankles, pulled so tight that he could barely feel his fingers. He could feel his phone buzzing in his jacket pocket. It was probably Alice. If the message to meet and the café had been from Gorman, then she was still expecting him at her apartment. Donny struggled slowly upright as Gorman backed off and began to pace around the garage. He was aggravated. That much was clear. What wasn’t clear was why he had kept Donny alive at all. Why hadn’t the stalker just killed him? It made sense if he wanted Donny out of the way. Maybe that was too easy. Maybe the man who had grown close to Alice needed to be punished first. Donny maneuvered his hands painfully towards his pocket where his phone still buzzed silently. He slipped his fingers into his pocket, trying to keep his face blank to avoid alerting his captor. His fingers found the phone. He focused carefully, deliberately, swiping left to right. The phone stopped buzzing. Donny didn’t know whether that meant that he had answered it or that he had terminated the call or that it had simply rung out. He tried to stay positive. If Alice was on the other end of that line, and he prayed to anyone who might be listening that she was, then she could help him. But only if he could tell her what was happening. He took a deep breath and started to talk. “Shut up. Shut up!” Gorman screamed back. “How dare you touch her!” he backhanded Donny violently across the face, the blow full of knuckles making him dizzy and unfocused. “How could she choose you!” he railed at Donny, spittle flying with the passion of his words. “I’m the one!” he screamed. “I’ve done everything for her! I followed her all the way here!” he was furious and rapidly losing control. He went on berating and beating Donny for what felt like eternity. Finally, he collected himself a little and drew a knife out of his jacket, its edge gleaming with malice. “You have to pay for what you’ve done.” Gorman said raggedly, pointing the knife at Donny’s face and taking unsteady steps towards him. Donny heard voices outside through the thin metal door. They spoke in low tones. Focused. Tactical. He wasn’t sure if they were police or if he just hoped that they were so badly that he was beginning to believe his own assurances. He glanced over at Gorman. The look on his face said that he hadn’t heard them yet, but it wouldn’t be long before he did. Donny watched his face change as the voices outside grew louder. Gorman crossed the distance between them with long vigorous strides, bristling with furious energy. “You did this!” he hissed, his face a hideous mask of poisonous hatred. He grabbed Donny by the hair and dragged him away from the door towards the back of the storage garage. Donny cried out in pain as he was dragged across the filthy floor. “Shut up!” Gorman screamed at him, laying his boot savagely into Donny’s stomach as he dumped him at the rear of the dingy space. Donny coughed and struggled to breathe under the renewed savagery of the assault. “Shut up!” Gorman screamed again. Donny obliged, spitting blood and the saliva that welled up as he tried to fight his roiling stomach. He heard the rattling of the steel door as it slid open. Police stood in the doorway, the light outside throwing their long shadows across the concrete floor on which Donny lay. Gorman crouched down beside him, yanking him upright and throwing his arm around his throat, pressing the blade of the knife to Donny’s skin so tightly that Donny winced as he felt it drawing blood. “Don’t come any closer!” Gorman screamed.

  “Sir, you don’t want to do this.” One of the officers cautioned sternly, not daring to come any closer.

  “Piss off! This is nothing to do with you!”

  “Sir –” the officer started again, but Gorman’s focus was not on him. Alice stood there, two steps behind the officers, looking tearful and afraid. The fading sunlight framed her beautiful face like some surreal angel. “What about me?” she asked, her voice trembling with anger and fear. “Is it anything to do with me?”

  “Alice,” Gorman said, his voice thick with emotion. “I came all this way for you!”

  “I know.” She told him, inching forwards. The officer nearest to Alice gestured for her to keep back with a silent warning glance.

  “And when I got here,” Gorman’s face was contorted with rage as he shook Donny in his grasp, his impotent fury at their relationship boiling over. “Do you know how hard it’s been for me here?” he demanded, betrayed. “There’s nothing here for me. Nothing except you! And you? You’ve been screwing around with him!” he spat the last word with such contempt that Alice recoiled as though physically struck. “You understand what I have to do now, don’t you Alice.” He said, pressing the knife more tightly to Donny’s throat, drawing a thin stream of blood. “No. No, please.” Alice shook her head. “You can’t do that.” She begged.

  He shook his head silently and tightened his grip on the knife.

  “Please.” She begged. “You have to let him go. If you don’t, they’ll take you to prison.” She said, latching desperately onto the only idea she could think of. She took a deep breath. “I was wrong.” She said uncertainly. “I can see that now. I love you. Just let him go and we can talk.” She begged, tears spilling down her face as she lied through her teeth, spewing the words that she thought he wanted to hear. The tense silence stretched out as Gorman considered Alice’s plea. Abruptly he tossed the knife aside and shoved Donny away from himself. The police surged forwards and seized him. “Alice!” he called desperately. But Alice rushed straight past him and ran to Donny, slumped on the floor. “Donny,” she whispered tearfully. In the background she could hear the
ambulance approaching. “She stroked his face gently and picked up the knife, slicing carefully through the zip ties that bound his hands and ankles. Donny grimaced, painfully releasing his shoulders from their forced posture of the last hour and a half. “You know you just put your fingerprints all over that thing,” he said softly, trying to massage some feeling back into his arms. “Shut up,” Alice laughed, kissing his face with wet tears. “The ambulance is here.” One of the officers called from the front of the garage. Alice helped Donny to his feet, and together they limped out into the daylight.

  ***

  Alice dabbed gently at the shallow cuts on Donny’s neck, the betadine leaving orange streaks on the new reddish pink skin. “It’s healing up well,” she told him brightly, finishing up cleaning the cut.

  “You really don’t have to fuss you know.” Donny said, his prominent Adam’s apple bobbing as he spoke. Alice smiled. “Don’t lie, you love it,” she teased, watching Donny’s face break into a bright warm smile. “I don’t hear you denying it,” she teased mischievously.