The Campus Killer (Detective Ali Ryan Series Book 1)

by Andrew Hess

  “Here? You mean I’m not getting released yet?”

  “No, the doctors and I feel it’s in your best interest to stay put so they can monitor you; make sure you’re healthy enough to go home in a day or two.”

  “I’m healthy enough now,” I snapped. I felt like a prisoner. I was being held against my will in a hospital that I wanted to run away from and being held back from doing my job.

  “It’s for the best,” Matthew replied.

  I threw the sheets off my legs and tried to stand up. “I don’t care,” I shouted as I pressed my bare feet to the cold tiled floor. Matthew tried to pull me back as the Lieutenant stood in my way.

  “Where do you think you’re going,” Esposito said.

  “Ali, get back in bed.”

  “No, I’m getting out of this hospital now. Besides, someone needs to make sure Amanda gets on that train and to my parent’s house.”

  “Rodney and Spencer are taking her and Shawn to the train station. They’ll be taking the same train up and handing them to the Glen Falls Police Department who’ll bring them to your parents.”

  “You heard him. Amanda’s in great hands. Now, get back in bed or we’ll ask the nurse to give you a sedative.”

  “I think you’ll need something more powerful than that like a horse tranquilizer.” Rodney laughed at the Lieutenant’s comment, but I didn’t see what was so funny.

  I reluctantly got back into bed, pulled the covers over me and scowled at my boss and my boyfriend. “Fine, just let me be.”

  Matthew bent to kiss me which I turned away from and kissed my cheek instead. He escorted the Lieutenant from my room leaving. I was alone; really alone and trapped within the confines of the hospital with no way out and no case to work on.

  Chapter 113

  There was a knock on my door and could hear it open slowly.

  “Get out,” I growled. “I told you I don’t wanna see you.”

  Fred poked his head through the door. “Sorry, I’ll come back later.” He ducked out of the entryway and slowly closed the heavy wooden door which guarded my escape.

  I flipped around in the bed and faced him. “Wait,” I shouted and watched Fred stand frozen to the spot. “Come in and keep the door shut.”

  Fred did as he was instructed and stood in front of the large frame. “How are you feeling?”

  “I feel fine, but they’re keeping me here when I need to be out there.” I eyed Fred up; toying around with an idea that could help me get out. I motioned him to my bed.

  Fred pulled up a chair and saw my shifty eyes. “Uh oh, I know that look. You’re planning something.”

  “I need you to help me break out. Maybe you can sign my paperwork or something.”

  “Ali, I’m not that kind of doctor. I can’t just sign your discharge form.”

  “Then sneak me outta here. There’s gotta be a way.”

  I could see Fred tossing thoughts around in his head; no doubt struggling with the ethics of following another doctor’s orders versus helping out a friend in need. He knew what was at stake. I only had a few hours to catch a killer before the feds took over the investigation.

  “If I help you, we need to make sure no one knows my involvement.” I nodded my affirmation as Fred laid out his plan. “Just wait here and I’ll be back in with a pair of scrubs for you. You’re on your own from there.”

  “Thanks Fred; I owe you one.”

  “Good, I like it when you owe me.”

  Chapter 114

  Mark sat in a dark nearly empty room. He held four New Paltz ID cards in his hand along with a white sheet of paper with four names crossed out in red ink.

  “Mission complete,” he whispered. “Now I just need to find a way to get the hell outta here.”

  The message came through before he could think about his departure any further. Change of plans. You should probably take the train instead of flying out to me. Might be safer.

  Mark wondered what he should do with the plane ticket he purchased, but figured his friend knew better and was just taking precautions. He knew Mark was in some sort of trouble with the police, but didn’t know the details.

  “Fuck it; I need to get out of this shit hole.”

  Mark packed up his bag and placed the IDs inside along with the list of his victims. He grabbed his plane ticket and headed out the door.

  He took down the boards from the back door and pulled the blue tarp off his car. The backseat was packed with boxes and duffle bags; all of his things he hid from the cops. He had to figure out what to do with them. Surely he couldn’t take everything on the train with him. Maybe he could get away with a bag or two, but not everything.

  He drove down to a group of stores in town and parked behind the buildings where the dumpsters were. He emptied a box full of clothes, his CDs and his DVDs into the large green monstrosity. Then he took the other box from his back seat. He opened it and found items that once belonged to Brianna, things she gave him and love letters they wrote to each other. A tear trickled down his face as he skimmed through each letter and threw it into the open container.

  His heart broke with every scrap of his old life he threw away. They were his memories of a time when he was in love and there was more meaning to life. Those days were long gone and now so was he. Mark took the box and tossed it over his head into the dumpster.

  This is it; end of the line. Mark reached into his car and pulled a small bottle of lighter fluid from the passenger seat. He poured the contents all over his memories; staining the letters and ruining the stuffed animals that were mementos from the woman he once loved. With a flick of a match, the dumpster was set ablaze and with it, every last tainted piece of Mark’s former life as Nick DeFalco.

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  Rodney and Officer Spencer pulled up to the Poughkeepsie train station and parked the car in a spot in front.

  Rodney turned around in the passenger seat to check on Amanda and Shawn. “You guys got everything you need?”

  Amanda folded her arms and glared at Rodney. “No, I need to be here and I need to be with Ali.”

  “She’s got the whole police force watching her back and we have the same ready for you when you get to your parent’s house.”

  Shawn took Amanda’s hand and laced his fingers with hers. He took a finger and gently turned her head towards him. “I’m sure it won’t be so bad up there. And besides, you said you wanted me to meet your parents.”

  “Not under armed guard. Although with my father seeing you living under the same roof as me, we might need a cop to stop him from shooting you.”

  Shawn’s eyes widened with terror at the thought of Mr. Ryan pulling a shotgun on him in the middle of the night; especially if Shawn and Amanda decided to have a little fun.

  “Stop messing with the poor boy. We don’t wanna clean up any stains back there.” Rodney slipped out the passenger side door and pulled on the rear handles for Amanda and Shawn to exit. “Come on you two; we have to hurry up or we’ll miss the train.”

  “Darn,” Amanda said sarcastically.

  They rushed inside the train station and hurried to their gate. Rodney used his large frame to part the crowd as the group climbed to their platform and waited for the train to arrive. Rodney checked his watch and craned his neck to look down the tracks. As he did, his cell started ringing.

  “Officer Johnson…Oh hey Lieu…She did what?”

  Amanda and Shawn watched Rodney with befuddled expressions. They didn’t know what was going on; only that it had something to do with Ali. She pulled on Rodney’s jacket as the radio cracked with a woman’s voice.

  “Attention all units; we have reports of a possible wanted suspect being spotted near the bus terminal on Main Street in New Paltz.”

  Officer Spencer tapped Rodney on the shoulder and whispered about the incoming call. The woman’s voice continued reading the description of the man in question; sounding very similar to the ones Marty recited to Detective Ryan.

  “I might
know where she’s going,” Rodney snarled at the phone. “Call just came in. Someone reported seeing our guy at the New Paltz bus terminal.” Rodney listened to the Lieutenant’s screams and held the phone away from his face to give his ears a reprieve.

  The Lieutenant’s booming voice broke through the silence on the windy platform. “Get back here and bring her in before she hurts someone.”

  “I can’t; we’re waiting for the train.”

  “I don’t care about the train. Officer Spencer can watch them. I need you to find Ali and bring her in.”

  Rodney whispered to Officer Spencer as Amanda pushed her way between them. “What the hell is going on?”

  Rodney’s eyes darted from side to side trying to decide how much he should tell her. “Your sister broke out of the hospital and no one knows how she got out or where she went. But we just got a call saying they just saw our suspect near the bus station.”

  “You think Ali’s going after him?”

  “Yeah and she’ll kill him if she finds him.”

  “Is that such a bad thing,” Shawn asked. Rodney and Officer Spencer stared him down. “I mean this guy killed six people and attacked a cop; wouldn’t it be better if she just took a gun and blew him away?”

  “We need to bring him in alive. We need to know why he did it. And the victims’ families deserve to see him rot in prison.” Rodney turned towards Officer Spencer and whispered that he needed to make sure they got on the train safely and not to let Amanda out of his sight.

  “Wait,” Amanda shouted as Rodney turned back towards the entrance. “Where are you going?”

  “To get your sister before she hurts someone or herself.”

  “Then I’m coming too.”

  “No, you’re getting on that train and getting out of town. We stick to the plan until we’re a hundred percent sure we got him off the streets.” He stared into Amanda’s eyes and saw them well up with tears. “I promise, everything will be all right; just make sure you get on that train. We’ll call you when it’s over.”

  Amanda hugged Rodney goodbye and watched as he disappeared through a crowd of people and ducked into the terminal.

  Chapter 116

  Amanda held on tightly to Shawn’s hand; gripping it tightly to where her nails started digging into his hands.

  He pulled his hand back. “What the hell Amanda?”

  She looked down and saw her nails drew a little blood on the back of Shawn’s knuckles. “Sorry, just a little nervous.”

  “Relax, nothing’s gonna happen. Rodney is on his way to pick up this DeFalco kid and we still got Officer Chuckles over there.” Shawn nodded to Officer Spencer; pointing out how serious he looked at that moment.

  Amanda cracked a smile but kept her fingers locked around Shawn’s. Her head turned from side to side in the cold whispering air; wishing the train would pull up to the station.

  “HELP,” a woman cried out from the crowd. “He stole my purse!” A man pushed through the crowd and ran towards the entrance to the terminal. An older woman with a floral scarf wrapped around her head found Officer Spencer standing there appearing startled and confused. “Please Officer, that man stole my purse.”

  She could see the indecision in his eyes as he struggled with staying with Amanda and Shawn or following the thief.

  Officer Spencer turned towards Amanda. “Don’t move; I’ll be right back.” He took off towards the terminal and called into dispatch. “Dispatch this is Officer Spencer. We got a two eleven in progress at the Poughkeepsie Train Station. I am in pursuit.”

  Amanda watched as Officer Spencer disappeared into the building. “What the hell do we do now?”

  She turned her head towards Shawn as a man dressed in a black sweatshirt, pants and mask walked towards them. His hand held a small black object in it and stuck Shawn in the back of the head. Amanda found Shawn’s collapsed body on the ground and was only a few feet from the edge of the platform. She dropped to her knees to check on him, but kept her eyes locked on to the man dressed in black.

  “Oh shit; HELP!”

  The man reached over Amanda’s flailing arms and grabbed her by the hair and dragged her away from Shawn’s body. “I want you to deliver a message to your sister for me.” He pulled Amanda to her feet and brought her closer to the tracks. A crowd of people stood back pleading with the man to let the girl go. “Tell her payback’s a bitch.” He took his other hand, placed it on her hip and launched her onto the tracks as the train horn blew.

  The man pushed his way through the crowd as men stepped forward to restrain him. He took the black object and continuously whacked each one in the face.

  “HELP,” Amanda shouted as the train pulled closer to the station. Her voice strained to call for help.

  Shawn heard her voice and crawled to his feet. “I’m coming baby.” He jumped down to the tracks and stumbled as he reached Amanda while nursing the lump on the back of his head. “Can you stand?” She shook her head no as she grabbed at her left ankle. “Hold on; I’ll get you out of here.”

  The train whistle blew again and was rapidly approaching. Shawn could see it coming and needed to get Amanda out of harm’s way. He picked her up and pushed her against the platform. He struggled to push her body to the top.

  The whistle blew again and Shawn turned to see it pulling up to the platform. He looked back as Amanda cleared the edge. “I love you,” he shouted.

  The breaks on the train screeched; trying to stop it before the massive locomotive collided with the young twenty-one year old boy on the tracks. He struggled to pull himself up but fell backwards.

  The conductor grimaced as the boy disappeared under the train; pinning him underneath as it ran over his body.

  “Shawn,” Amanda wailed as a crowd of people pulled her back from the edge. They stood watching as the train passed. Her tears ran down her face onto their hands. “Why? Why didn’t you help him?”

  The hands were ripped away from her shoulders and were replaced by a shadow of a man standing over her. She looked up and screamed as the man dressed in black threw his hand around her throat.

  “I thought that might happen.” He looked back and laughed at Shawn’s demise. “I have something bigger planned for you.”

  Chapter 117

  The call came in over the radio. “We have a two eleven in progress at the Poughkeepsie Train Station.”

  Rodney swerved his squad car into oncoming traffic; completing his U-turn and cutting several drivers off. He reached for his cell and called the Lieutenant. He knew something was wrong the moment the initial call came over the radio. DeFalco wouldn’t be so careless as to let someone see him; not in such a public place; Rodney thought.

  “Lieu, I need you to send units to the Poughkeepsie Train Station. I think DeFalco might’ve staged a look alike at the bus terminal. I just heard a call come over the radio about a robbery in progress over there.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m about ten minutes out from the train station.”

  “Fine, I’ll send a couple of units your way. I’ll go down to the bus station myself to make sure he’s not there.”

  Rodney sped through the traffic on the Mid-Hudson Bridge and turned onto Route 9; following it to the Poughkeepsie Train Station. He could hear the horrified screams echoing through the terminal.

  He pushed his way through the crowds and found Officer Spencer in the middle trying to make his way back.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?”

  “Some punk stole a woman’s purse. I had to pursue and called it in, but I lost him when people started shouting and running back from the platform.”

  Rodney’s eyes grew wide with terror. “Where’s Amanda?”

  “She’s waiting for the train with Shawn.”

  Rodney pushed his way to the platform and found the train stopped shorter than it usually does. Rodney rushed towards the edge of the platform and found the train conductor lowering himself to the tracks.

  Rodney h
eld out his badge. “I’m Officer Johnson; what happened here?”

  “I- I don’t know. We were pulling into the station and found two kids on the tracks. The boy helped the girl back up onto the ledge, but I couldn’t stop the train in time.”

  “What happened to him?”

  The conductor lowered his head to look under the train. “I didn’t know if I should back it up or if there was a way to get him out of there.”

  Rodney called in his badge number and requested paramedic’s assistance at the train station; telling them someone was pinned under a train.

  “Does anyone know what happened to the girl that was on the tracks,” Rodney shouted at the onlookers. He noticed a small group of men on the ground rubbing their heads. “What happened?”

  “Some guy dressed in all black took her,” one of the men said as he crawled to his feet. “We tried to stop him, but he had some sort of weapon. He swung it around like a club and took all of us out with it.”

  “Where’d he go?”

  The men shrugged their shoulders, but the onlookers pointed back to the terminal.

  Rodney dialed the Lieutenant. “We have a huge problem. He was here. He struck again.”

  “Don’t tell me…”

  “He took Amanda, but knocked Shawn onto the tracks as the train was coming. We’re waiting on the medics to get here, but I don’t think he made it.”

  “Stay there until the medics get Shawn out from under the train. I’ll be down there in a bit. We need to check the cameras for any sign of DeFalco and see if we can find out what car he’s driving.”

  Rodney hung up with the Lieutenant and knew he had to do one thing he never wanted to.

  Chapter 118