Killer in Sight (A Tom Lackey Mystery)

by Sandra Carrington-Smith

  world before he had the chance to even enter it.

  Alexis sat on the bed and screamed, unable to slow

  down her breathing or the pounding of her heart. Tears

  had soaked her pillow and she felt like throwing up. By

  the time her parents ran to her room, she was dryheaving.

  “Alexis! What’s wrong?!” Her father ran to the bed

  and turned on the lamp on the bedside table, while her

  mother, awakened from a drug-induced sleep, stumbled

  to the door uncertain of what was happening.

  “Tracey! It was Tracey! She was running through

  the woods, Daddy, and a man was chasing her. Then a

  woman came for her, but Tracey never made it. The man

  caught her before her friend reached her, and Tracey had

  her baby right there on the forest ground. The baby died,

  too.”

  Mike Howard wrapped his arm around his

  daughter’s shoulders and drew her toward his chest. He

  held her for a few moments without saying anything,

  hoping that physical contact could help her snap out of

  her nightmare more effectively.

  Alexis smelled the familiar spicy scent of her

  father’s cologne, and she inhaled deeply as she sought

  comfort in his embrace. The feeling of security that

  washed over her vacuumed away the debris left behind

  by her terrible dream.

  “It was a nightmare, Alexis. Tracey didn’t have a

  baby, and no friend found her. She was found by

  someone else a few days later.”

  “No, that’s not true! Lily said…” She bit her lip

  when she realized that she had broken her promise to

  Lily.

  Her father looked at her sternly, but a deep love was

  apparent in his eyes. “Alexis, you really need to make

  an effort not to mention Lily around your mother. You

  know it upsets her terribly, and right now she is upset

  enough.”

  This was her chance to make it right and still be true

  to Lily’s wishes. “You’re right, Daddy. I will try harder.”

  Her father smiled and kissed her forehead. “Do you

  want me to leave the light on?”

  “Yes, please, Daddy.”

  He stood up and headed toward his room, but he

  stopped to blow her a kiss before he disappeared

  through the adjoining door to join his wife who had

  already gone back to bed.

  Alexis lay on her bed, her body tired but her mind

  on high alert. She was sure she had heard a woman’s

  voice, but her mom and dad would never believe her.

  Only Lily believed her. And Kathy. With a promise to

  herself to call Kathy the next day, she closed her eyes

  and went back to sleep.

  #

  Kathy couldn’t believe that she was still at the

  studio at eleven at night, but since she had work to

  finish, and Tom had called earlier to say he was going to

  be home late, this was the perfect evening to catch up.

  She was still working on the final touches for a

  family package, when she heard a strange sound which

  at first impression sounded like a book falling on the

  ground. When she went to investigate she found one of

  the old photo albums had fallen from the bookshelf and

  landed on the floor. During its descent, it opened to a

  page that was particularly dear to her heart – it was a

  collection of photos that were taken when Caroline was

  six years old. The photos were alternated with selected

  drawings Caroline had created at school, including a

  Mother’s Day card that particularly touched her soul.

  The card, in childlike handwriting said: I love you

  Mommy, because you will never abandon me. Kathy

  remembered that in those days Caroline was particularly

  shaken when she heard of the tragedy that had befallen

  her best friend – her friend’s mom went to the grocery

  store one day, and she never returned home; months

  later, she sent a brief note to let everyone know she was

  happy and healthy, and with the love of her life. For

  several days, Caroline had been Kathy’s shadow, but

  knowing the reason behind her daughter’s ‘sticky’

  behavior, Kathy took the opportunity to hug Caroline

  even more often than usual.

  She touched the card gently with one finger, then

  closed the album and replaced it on the shelf. She

  wondered what made it fall, but her attention was

  quickly rerouted to the work she still had to finish. She

  stayed on task for another hour, until her eyes started to

  burn. She shut down her computer and quickly grabbed

  her purse and camera before she turned off the lights

  and went out the door. She sat in her car for a moment

  and pinched the bridge of her nose before she started the

  engine, but when she glimpsed the window of the studio

  as she backed out of her parking spot she saw the light

  coming back on. It flickered once and then it went out

  again. She didn’t have the strength to go back upstairs to

  check on things, and she wondered if she was just

  seeing things, so she drove off and promised herself she

  would investigate the strange occurrence in the morning.

  Inside the studio, the photo album was once again on the

  ground.

  Chapter 10

  Kathy hung up the phone and sat on the couch to

  think. It was only a few minutes past eight o’ clock in

  the morning when Alexis called to tell her about the

  dream she had last night, and from her hushed tone

  Kathy was sure Alexis was trying to hide the phone call

  from her parents. She didn’t like that at all – as a parent

  and as a psychologist she knew that it wasn’t good to

  encourage children to hide things from their parents, and

  yet, when it came to Alexis, Kathy also knew that her

  parents were unable to lend the type of ear their

  daughter needed.

  The dream was scary – a nightmare, in fact. Alexis

  told her that she didn’t rest well at all after that, and

  even with the lights on, she was afraid to fall back to

  sleep because she was worried about going back to the

  same dream. Kathy was well aware of the fact that

  dreams allow people to process information, and she

  found it a bit strange that Alexis dreamt of her sister

  having a baby, until Alexis said that her friend Lily

  mentioned something about Tracey being pregnant;

  Alexis also told Kathy that ‘the daddy was a man who

  was already a daddy to other children’ – Lily told her so.

  Poor child! All these emotions running through her

  mind and nobody she could talk to about them…

  The sound of the front door opening made her jolt,

  and she turned her head automatically to see who it was.

  “Hey Honey! It’s me! I forgot some files I brought

  home to read.”

  “I’m in the living room!”

  Tom poked his head into the room and smiled. “Are

  you taking an early morning nap? I thought you usually

  get ready around this time – aren’t you going to the

  studio today?”

  “Yeah…I will in a
minute.” That was all she said.

  She knew how Tom reacted to her telling him about

  Alexis’s friend Lily the first time, and she didn’t want to

  spoil the day so early on.

  “Are you okay? You’re not sick, are you?”

  “Oh no, I am taking a few minutes to relax and have

  a cup of coffee.”

  Tom went to sit on the couch directly across from

  the loveseat she sat on. “These have been a crazy few

  days – everything has happened. Oh, by the way, thank

  you for checking on the Howards from time to time.

  They really seem to appreciate all you’re doing to help

  Alexis through this crisis.”

  “It’s my pleasure, really. Alexis is a wonderful

  child, and she likes photography.”

  “Yes, she is wonderful, but I think her parents are a

  little worried about her.”

  “Oh? What are they worried about?”

  “Her imaginary friend, for one thing. Mr. Howard

  told me this morning that Alexis had a nightmare last

  night.

  Kathy hesitated for a moment, then she decided to

  come clean. “Yes. Alexis called and told me about it just

  a short while ago. Did Mr. Howard tell you what the

  nightmare was about?”

  “No…not specifically. He only said Alexis had a

  nightmare about Tracey dying, and he is concerned

  because she seems to be more withdrawn than usual.”

  “It’s normal, Tom. Even more than adults, children

  need time to absorb the impact, and sometimes they

  need time for their minds to find a place and a reason for

  everything.”

  Tom smiled. “Thank you, Doctor. Your training is

  really helping a lot, and I cannot tell you how much I

  appreciate your concern. I didn’t know you were still in

  contact with the family.”

  “I wasn’t planning on it, but Mrs. Howard is so

  distraught that she is unable to be there for Alexis right

  now and Mr. Howard asked if I would talk with her

  from time to time, since – quoting his words – I

  understand young minds. I couldn’t refuse, and to be

  honest, I really like Alexis – she reminds me of myself

  when I was her age.”

  “Well, no matter what the reason, I am sure the

  Howards are very grateful, and so am I. Knowing that

  someone else is there for them makes me feel better

  about things. And, I need professional advice from you

  as well.”

  “Something relating to photography?”

  “Hmmmm….no. I would like for you to suggest the

  best way to tell someone something horrible when their

  world is already turned upside down. How can I say

  something in a sensible way, so that it will cause the

  least amount of stress?”

  Kathy thought for a moment. “It would depend on

  the situation, I guess. What’s happening?”

  “Tracey was pregnant. Three and a half months

  along. Dr. Greer found the baby when he performed the

  autopsy. He was actually surprised her body didn’t try to

  purge it on its own, but it is probably because she was

  found not too long after her death. How do I tell her

  parents that they lost not just one child, but a grandchild

  also?”

  Kathy was frozen on the spot. Her mouth opened

  and closed several times, but no sound came out. Her

  mind replayed every word Alexis told her no more than

  thirty minutes before, screaming to make sense of

  something impossible. When her voice came back, she

  looked at Tom with a puzzled look on her face, her

  hands wrapped around the coffee mug as if physically

  touching something could help her feel more grounded.

  “When did you find this out?”

  “What? About Tracey being pregnant? I found out

  yesterday. Why?”

  “And you haven’t told her parents yet?”

  Tom noticed Kathy’s nervousness and watched her

  as she squeezed her fingers around the mug until her

  knuckles turned white. “No…that’s why I am asking

  you to help me find the right words.”

  Kathy stood up from the couch and walked to the

  window; she pretended to look at something outside, in

  faint hope that a few extra seconds of thinking could

  give her the answers she so desperately needed.

  “Kathy, what’s wrong?”

  Kathy turned toward him, and took a deep breath. “I

  told you Alexis called me earlier, Tom, remember?”

  “Yes. What does it have to do with me telling

  Tracey’s parents that she was pregnant?”

  Kathy walked back to the coffee table and smacked

  the coffee mug on the table so hard Tom thought it

  would break. “It has everything to do with it, Tom! In

  Alexis’s dream Tracey was pregnant. She was running

  from a man, and the man caught up with her. When she

  died, her baby came out of her, and it died. She also said

  that a woman’s voice was calling Tracey, and that

  Tracey was running toward a light.”

  She stopped a moment, to allow her words to sink.

  Tom just sat there, his face impossible to read.

  “What are you saying, Kathy?”

  “Dammit, Tom! You’ve always been a sensible

  man! I know your job forces you to be rational and to

  categorize everything, but you have to admit there is

  something strange about the way Alexis knows things.”

  Tom nodded. “You’re right, Kathy, but not all that

  she said matches the truth. There was no one else in the

  woods when Tracey died – certainly not a woman she

  knew.”

  Kathy threw her arms up in the air. “But how do you

  know that, Tom? How can you be sure?”

  “Because we could only find one set of prints at the

  scene, Kathy. In truth, we found foot prints at the cabin

  where we believe Tracey was hiding, and also near the

  murder scene, but we think they belong to the same

  person. Same pair of steel-toed boots.”

  “Are you sure they are the same?”

  “The brand matches. The size of the foot print in the

  cabin is impossible to determine because it appears

  smeared, and we couldn’t find other footprints in the

  cabin that are clear enough to test, but the ones we

  found in the woods appear to be a size ten. A man size

  ten – hardly the size and make of shoe a woman would

  wear. Other footprints at the scene don’t appear as fresh

  and could have been left by anyone walking in the area

  before the crime took place.”

  “But how do you explain the fact that Alexis knew of the baby?”

  “Tracey called home a few days before she died.

  Maybe she told her sister about it.”

  Kathy shook her head. “She’s just a little girl, Tom.

  Why would Tracey tell her and not her mother?”

  Tom was running out of explanations, and his

  frustration bled into his words. “I don’t know, Kathy!

  But I think that chasing ghosts is not going to help us

  catch the killer any sooner. If we focus on something so

  absurd, we are going to lose track of the real evidence. I
<
br />   would appreciate it if you could just stop with these

  crazy ideas!”

  Kathy looked at him as if she had never seen him

  before; in this light, she never had. Her voice lowered to

  an icy whisper. “Are you calling me crazy, Tom? Is that

  it?”

  Tom slammed his fist into the arm of the chair he

  was sitting on and stood up.

  “I’m sorry Kathy, I didn’t mean to imply that. It’s

  just that things are complicated enough without spooks

  and dreams. I have to go and tell this family there is

  another family member to bury, and frankly, I don’t

  know where to start. Tracey’s mother is a shadow of the

  woman I met when she first arrived, and there is only so

  much more her husband can bear without going

  mental.”

  Kathy swallowed bitter tears, and for a moment she

  cursed herself for allowing Tom’s words to hit her at the

  core. Her heart broke for Alexis, as she knew the little

  girl was trapped bearing a gift—and a burden—that was

  too much for her to carry alone, but frustration at the

  fact that Tom would not listen to reason made the blood

  boil in her veins. “How can you be so stubborn, Tom?

  Why can’t you just listen to her? Just once. Give her a

  chance to say what she knows.”

  Tom walked to the table near the door and retrieved

  his car keys along with a small pile of files from the

  chair close to the table. “Not a chance, Kathy. This is a

  child who’s suffered a great loss, and you are asking me

  to put her through questioning. And how do you think

  her parents would feel about that? Huh? There are strict

  regulations prohibiting officers from interrogating

  children, Kathy, and I am not going to lose my job just

  because all of a sudden you decide to play psychic.

  Honestly, I am surprised that you would go on with this

  charade, and now I am beginning to understand why you

  chose to be a photographer instead of a psychologist:

  Your imagination gets the best of you.”

  With that, he was gone. He slammed the door

  behind him, leaving Kathy in the hallway staring at the

  closed door, and feeling hot tears fill her eyes. Like all

  couples, they had argued in the past, but never over

  something like this and, as far as she could remember,

  never so harshly. She couldn’t think of another time

  when Tom slammed the door or threw a poison dart at

  her integrity. The fact that he thought less of her now