Breaking into Prison

by Mairsile Leabhair

  Oh, hell no! “What makes you think that, Deidra?”

  “The way Noella looks at her. Always touching her and calling her honey.”

  “That’s Noella. And yes, I think she’s in love with Trudie, too. But why do you think Trudie is in love with Noella?”

  Deidra shrugged. “Because she thinks there’s no one else around to be in love with.”

  “So, she doesn’t know that you have a crush on her, does she?” Annie asked.

  “No, she doesn’t. Hey. How did you know that?”

  “The same signs that you see in Noella, I see in you. I think maybe all three of us are idiots.”

  Deidra nodded. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

  “Deidra, would you please tell her what I said? Tell her that this idiot loves her.”

  “Why can’t you tell her yourself?”

  “Because, Noella won’t let me back inside the apartment. I imagine you’ll find out why when you go up there. No matter what you think of me, please don’t let Trudie suffer. Please, just tell her for me.”

  “All right, I’ll tell her. But I have a feeling I’m not going to like any of this.”

  “I have a feeling you won’t either. Thanks, Deidra.”

  *

  “Good morning, Deidra,” Trudie greeted her, as she opened the door.

  “Morning, Trudie,” Deidra replied, and then saw Noella sitting at the kitchen counter. “Morning, Noella.”

  Noella pointed to the cellphone she held to her ear.

  Deidra noticed that Trudie was dressed in jeans and a blouse, while Noella was in a bathrobe and slippers. The end of the robe hung open, showing a generous portion of her outer thigh. Oh yeah, she spent the night here. I wonder if they did it. With Noella busy talking on the phone, now was Deidra’s chance to find out what was going on.

  Trudie was standing by the windows, looking down at the people on the sidewalk, hurrying to their jobs. How she wished she was one of those people right now.

  “Hey, Trudie,” Deidra said, walking up and standing beside her. “I’ve got a message for you from Annie.”

  “What? How? Did she say something to you?”

  “Yeah, she was waiting for me this morning. She looked like she had been on an all-night binge or something.”

  “Oh, no.” Trudie knew Annie was upset, but she was so emotionally compromised herself, that she didn’t think about what Annie would do afterward. “Tell me, what did she say?” Trudie braced herself, knowing that whatever Annie said was going to hurt.

  “She said to tell you that she understands, and she loves you anyway.”

  Trudie’s eyes filled with tears as she covered her mouth with her hand. “She… she does?” How could she, after I told her to get out?

  Deidra nodded.

  “What else did she say?” Trudie asked, grasping to hold on to any words that would keep Annie close to her.

  “She asked me a lot of questions about the stalker. Is he back, Trudie?”

  “Yes, he’s back. But you’re safe, he’s not after you.”

  “Glad to hear that. Oh. Except, I’m sorry he’s back and that you have to deal with it again.”

  “Thanks, Deidra. I’m sorry, too. So, um, did Annie say anything else?”

  “Hey, I think that’s her down there,” Deidra said, pointing at the glass.

  “What? Where?” Trudie put both hands on the window and searched for Annie.

  “One block over, leaning against that light pole.” Deidra pointed out.

  Trudie quickly grabbed her binoculars from the closet and looked down at the street below. She gasped when she finally found her, leaning against a light pole, her arms crossed, one foot propped up against the pole. How handsome she looked. How gallant and confident. Trudie could feel her strength from the seventh floor and wanted to run to her, to beg her forgiveness.

  “That’s kind of creepy, the way she’s smiling up at you,” Deidra said.

  “No, you’re wrong. It’s wonderful,” Trudie gushed.

  Noella joined them at the window. “What’s everyone staring at?”

  From the street below, Annie smiled up at Trudie until Noella came to the window. Deidra had delivered her message and that was enough for now.

  “No, don’t go,” Trudie said, putting her small hand on the window.

  “Trudie, you’re only making it harder on yourself,” Noella informed her. “And encouraging Annie like that keeps her coming back. Is that what you want? For her to come back so she can be murdered?”

  Trudie gasped. “No, damn it. Of course I don’t want that. I just… I just wanted to see Annie once more to know that she’s all right.”

  “And now you have. Let her go, honey,” Noella urged. “For both your sakes.”

  Deidra stood back, listening. Her first thought was that if Trudie let Annie go, maybe she would turn to her for comfort. Yep, I’m an idiot. After all this time, she knew that she needed to admit to herself that it would never happen. But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. Not yet.

  ***

  “Dr. Phuong Chun, thank you for agreeing to meet with me on such short notice,” Annie said, as she extended her hand.

  The sharply dressed, thin, petite, porcelain-skinned psychologist stepped closer and shook Annie’s hand. “I’m always willing to help when it comes to catching a stalker, Staff Sergeant.” She waved her small hand toward a chair for Annie and then she sat across from it. Dr. Chun was the foremost authority on stalking and held lectures at several venues, including the Little Rock Air Force Base where her husband, an Air Force Colonel was currently stationed. It was mandatory for the MPs to attend those lectures, and Annie always had questions afterward. They had become acquaintances.

  “I’m not here on military business, so it’s okay to call me Annie,” she said, looking around. It was her first time at the doctor’s office, and she was fascinated with the décor.

  Dr. Chun’s office, located in The Heights, an affluent neighborhood in the north-central portion of the city, was beautifully decorated in Chinese porcelain. Exquisite pieces of art lined her walls and filled her bookshelves. A Baluster Vase, from the Kangxi Period graced the end table beside Annie, and a matching piece was on the table next to the doctor’s chair.

  “All right, Annie, how can I help you? In your phone call, you said you needed some advice on a stalker.”

  “Can this be kept confidential, between you and me? I have a friend who is pretty famous and she’s being stalked, but I don’t have her permission to talk about it.”

  “Of course. You want to help her without her knowledge?”

  Annie nodded. “Exactly. You see, she’s an agoraphobic, so it’s doubly hard on her.”

  “Did she become that way because of the stalker?”

  “Yes. Her partner was killed in front of her eyes by the maniac.”

  Dr. Chun said something in Chinese and then immediately translated for Annie. “That’s terrible. How long has she been a recluse?”

  “Since the day after her partner was killed, three years ago. She’s tried to leave, but gets these panic attacks that totally incapacitate her.”

  “Her panic is how she protects herself; she just is not aware of it. I think I understand, and I am happy to advise you, but you should know that catching the stalker may not end the panic attacks. She may never be free of her fears. I suggest she seek therapy.”

  “She talks with a psychiatrist already, but I don’t think it does any good,” Annie stated.

  “Agoraphobia has no cure, Annie. Education, practice, willingness to face the fear is needed to take that first baby step. And then another, and another. It could be a long process.”

  Annie didn’t like the thought of Trudie living in such an isolated world. And if she had to admit it, she wasn’t sure that she could live in that world with her.

  “I see a concern in your eyes, Annie.”

  “What? No, I was just wondering if I’d be able to live shut in like that.”

>   “People will do whatever it takes to survive. For your friend, survival depends on her agoraphobia. When she no longer feels like she has to fight or take flight, she will begin to heal.”

  When this is over with, I hope I can talk Trudie into seeing this doctor. “What about her stalker, Doctor? In the beginning, he sent her letters and dead roses, warning her.”

  “And after the murder, she barricaded herself behind locked doors.”

  “Right, and the stalker disappeared. Or so we thought.”

  “Explain that, please.”

  “It’s back. The stalker is back.”

  “Any idea why, after such a long absence?”

  “I think it’s because of me. You see, we were becoming good friends. More than that, we were falling in love, and then all of a sudden, Trudie had me sent away. It couldn’t have been for any other reason than to protect me from him… or her.”

  “Yes, that would be my first guess. And so you want my advice on what? How to catch the stalker?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I do,” Annie said.

  “You say that she’s famous. How famous?”

  “Her name is Trudie Youngblood, and she’s a world-renowned author. She has a publicist who takes care of everything — her publicity, interviews, even her fan mail. If it’s from a fan, it doesn’t get past Noella. Trudie rarely invites people into her home and does all her business and shopping online.”

  “I understand. Because she is sequestered, and a celebrity, the stalker can’t intimidate her in the usual way, such as following her around, calling her repeatedly late at night, driving past her house several times a day. I don’t believe that this person disappeared entirely after the murder. In order for them to feel in control of the victim, they have to be able to have access in some way. In the author’s case, the stalker would have had to get creative, and apparently, what they came up with was enough to keep them satisfied. That is, until you came into the picture.”

  ***

  “Ms. Youngblood, it’s Donny Wilcox. May I speak with you for a moment?”

  It was mid-afternoon and Trudie had finally convinced Noella to go home. In her solitude, she let her tears flow. But when she saw Donny on the security monitor, she quickly wiped her face dry and opened the door.

  “I’m sorry to bother you, but I need to talk with you about Annie,” Donny said as soon as the door opened.

  “It’s a personal affair, Mr. Wilcox,” Trudie replied as sternly as she could.

  “Actually, it’s a question of her employment here.”

  “I don’t understand?”

  “Ms. Rutherford stopped by my office earlier and insisted that I fire Annie.”

  “Fire her?” Trudie thought she knew why, and it infuriated her. Once again Noella had overstepped her boundaries, and Trudie was growing tired of it. “Please, come in. Did she say why?”

  “No, just that you requested it. I informed her that I would not fire Annie unless there was probable cause to do so. And, since Ms. Rutherford is not a tenant, I wouldn’t do it anyway. It must come from you, Ms. Youngblood.”

  “I did not ask Noella to talk with you, and I certainly don’t want Annie fired. I understand she works three jobs so I know that she needs the money. It’s none of my business why, but I don’t want her to lose her income.”

  “She’s paying off her parents’ medical bills,” Donny volunteered.

  Of course! I should have thought of that, damn it.

  “Ms. Youngblood—”

  “Please, call me Trudie.”

  “Perhaps I should say what I’ve come to say first, before we go to first name basis.”

  “All right, I’m listening.”

  “In full disclosure, Annie is my Goddaughter. I was at her birth.”

  “I understand, Mr. Wilcox. She’s very important to you.”

  Looking Trudie in the eye, he said, “Yes, she is, and I don’t like to see her hurt.”

  “I can assure you, Mr. Wilcox, that I don’t either. I’m trying to protect her.”

  “Protect her from what, Ms. Youngblood?”

  “Pull up a chair, Mr. Wilcox,” Trudie said, waving toward the couch. “This could take a while. Can I get you something to drink?”

  “No, thank you,” Donny said as he sat down.

  Trudie sat across from him and proceeded to tell him about her stalker and what happened to her wife.

  Donny already knew it, but wanted Trudie to tell it in her own words, because sometimes the newspapers don’t get it right. “So I was right,” Donny said, when Trudie had finished.

  “Right about what?”

  “That you kicked her out because the stalker was back.”

  “Yes. It’s true.”

  “Thank you.”

  Trudie thought she heard him wrong. “You’re thanking me for hurting her?”

  Shaking his head, Donny said, “No, I’m thanking you for putting her welfare first. I imagine it was very hard for you.”

  “No, I don’t think you could imagine how hard it was. Have you ever been certain of someone, Mr. Wilcox? Certain that they were the one?”

  “Yes, and I think I understand now,” he replied.

  “Then will you help me keep Annie away?”

  “That will be hard to do if she’s working here, Trudie.”

  Trudie smiled. “Not if she doesn’t need the job any longer, Donny.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Quitting time on a Friday was usually full of anticipation for the weekend. If Annie wasn’t working, which was rare these days, she would pack up her Jeep and head for the mountains. But now, being so far away from Trudie was unthinkable. Although if she thought about it, she couldn’t get any further away than she was right then.

  “Hey, Uncle Donny. You wanted to see me?”

  “Yeah, shut the door and take a seat,” Donny instructed.

  This does not sound good. Annie grabbed a cola from the office refrigerator and sat down in front of Donny’s desk. Propping one leg across her knee, her foot began to bounce, as it always did when she was nervous. What she didn’t understand was why she was nervous. Being called into the boss’s office was nerve-wrecking enough, but Annie had a tingling feeling in the back of her head that something was off kilter. She’d had that feeling since yesterday.

  “I went to see Trudie yesterday,” Donny began, setting his paperwork to the side.

  “What for?” Annie asked suspiciously.

  “Noella asked me to fire you,” he stated bluntly.

  “No surprise there. What did you tell her?”

  “That it had to come from the tenant, and that’s why I went to see Trudie.”

  “Oh…” Annie held her breath. Would Trudie have her fired just to keep her away? Annie thought she knew the answer, and it caused her left eyelid to twitch nervously. “Just spit it out, Uncle Donny.”

  Donny saw the question swimming in Annie’s eyes, and he drew in a short breath. “Okay, Trudie paid off your parents’ medical bills and now, Annie, you’re fired.”

  “What? The hell she did!” Annie jumped up, knocking over her chair.

  “Annie, calm down. This really is for the best,” he said cautiously.

  “How could you let her do that, Uncle Donny?” Annie paced back and forth like a caged animal. “That’s over a hundred-thousand dollars!”

  “I didn’t let her do anything. She called her accountant and gave her your parents’ names and asked her to track down the cost and then instructed her to issue a check. That was yesterday. Then today she called me up and said it had been taken care of. I never seen anything like it in my life.”

  “I won’t have it. My dad, hell, you taught me to pay my own way. I don’t want her handout, or bribe, or whatever the hell it is. If I can’t work here, then I’ll find another job, but damn it, I’ll pay her back every damn red cent of it.”

  “She thought you’d feel that way and asked me to tell you not to be a jerk.”

  Annie stopped pacing and
laughed. And then she got serious again. “This thing has gotten completely fucked up.”

  “Yeah, love will do that to you,” Donny said.

  “What am I going to do, Uncle Donny? I tried calling her. Gave her a message through Deidra, hell, I’ve even thought of parachuting onto her balcony to force her to talk to me.”

  “She is talking to you, Annie. She said it loud and clear when she paid off your parents’ medical bills. Forget about her and get on with your life.”

  “Now see, her paying off the bills is saying something completely different to me.”

  “And what is that?”

  “Like I said before, she wants me to rescue her from her glass prison.”

  “And like I said before, Rapunzel, it’s a police matter now. Maybe, once they catch the bastard, you two can get back together. But for now, I think you should honor Trudie’s wishes and leave her alone.”

  “That can be plan B,” Annie quipped, wringing her hands together as a million thoughts ran through her head.

  “Oh, and there’s a plan A?”

  “Yes. I’m not waiting for the police to catch the bastard. I’m going to do it myself.”

  “And how are you going to do that when the police couldn’t after three years?”

  “Well, I don’t know yet. But I promise you, I will.” Annie crossed her arms defiantly and looked up at the ceiling. “I have to do this.”

  *

  “The postman put your mail in my box again,” Krystal said, handing Trudie an envelope as she opened the door.

  Trudie looked at the return address and shook her head. “It’s a bill, you can keep it.”

  “That’s all right, I’ve got enough of those already.”

  “Stay for a drink?” Trudie asked.

  “Sure, but just a glass of wine, I’m watching my figure.”

  “I saw your picture on the cover of the society page again, Krystal. You looked like you were having a lot of fun,” Trudie said, walking into the kitchen.

  “You know how it is,” Krystal elaborated. “As soon as the cameras are gone, it suddenly becomes a very boring party.”