by Robin Mahle
This was not the same man who answered the door several weeks ago when she and Detective Avery had first met Mr. Johansen. Sullen and pale, he appeared to have lost weight, so much so that his skeletal frame poked through his thin jailhouse uniform.
Detective Avery entered the interrogation room and glanced up at the camera. Katie thought he was looking directly at her. Although he hadn’t seen her beforehand, he knew she was there.
“I’m sure the camera’s already on, detective,” Johansen said.
“Just checking if the little red light is flashing. We’re planning on uploading this to You Tube.” Detective Avery smiled.
Johansen unveiled a sly, unnerving grin in return.
“Detective, I’m Mr. Johansen’s attorney, Jim Bernard.” The man rose to shake hands.
Marshall quickly dispensed with the pleasantries and immediately jumped in. “So when did you graduate from molestation to murder?” Avery asked as he pulled the folding chair out and sat across from Johansen.
“Don’t answer that.” The lawyer turned from his client. “Detective Avery, are we to expect this sort of behavior from you right at the start?”
“You flatter me, Detective. What makes you think I’m a murderer?” It seemed Johansen wanted to bite at the carrot Marshall had dangled.
“We found Isabelle in the dump where you left her. You know, someone like you, I would have thought, would have taken better care to dispose of the body.”
Johansen’s eyes flickered vaguely at the revelation that Isabelle’s body had been found and he shot a glance to the lawyer. He’d been in jail since his arrest for the registration offense and presumably hadn’t heard they found her. Johansen suddenly stared up at the camera.
Katie gasped, taking a step back.
One of the officers held her shoulders. “It’s okay, Miss Reid. He can’t see you.”
“Thank you. I’m okay.” She wasn’t. In that moment, she saw something terrifying in his eyes. She had seen that look before, a brutality that flashed before her in an instant.
“We’d like to discuss a plea deal, Detective.” Just as Mr. Bernard began retrieving the papers from his briefcase, Johansen opened his mouth.
“She was so pretty with her brown hair blowing in the wind and her tan skin,” He started. “I saw her riding her bike one afternoon when I got home from work.”
“Yes, she was a very pretty little girl,” Avery replied.
Johansen glared at him as if he’d just been roused from a pleasant dream.
“You must have had your eye on her for quite a while,” Avery said.
“Don’t say anything more, Mr. Johansen.” The lawyer seemed to grow more incensed by the minute at the back and forth between the two men.
“I guess so. I had only seen her once more on my street when I decided to follow her home one day. I just watched as she rode up onto her driveway. Saw her brothers and sisters come out and play. Her mom didn’t seem to be around, though. Boy, is she a piece of work.”
Katie saw the disgusted look on Marshall’s face. The pot calling the kettle black, she thought.
“Shut the hell up, Michael,” Bernard continued.
“But she stopped coming down my street and I missed her. She was only five blocks away. I parked along her street and watched her ride her bike to school. Sometimes she rode alone, sometimes with friends.” His face tempered slightly as he turned to Detective Avery. “I swear I just wanted to make sure she got to school okay. No one else seemed to give a shit about her. It wasn’t until that boy started riding along.”
He revealed himself once again as the monster Katie thought him to be.
“That boy.” Johansen shook his head. “She liked him. I could see it in her face. She was gonna end up turning into a whore just like all the others, just like her mother. She was gonna let that boy touch her.”
“She was eight,” Avery said, growing even more exasperated.
“For God’s sake.” Bernard shook his head. Any hope of a deal for his client had just evaporated.
Johansen looked at him, smiling again. “Those whores start early, detective.”
Katie watched as Marshall tried to keep from losing control.
“So you decided to kill her? Because you wanted to keep her from becoming a whore?”
“I tried to protect her.” Johansen appeared agitated. “I wasn’t gonna hurt her. Tell him, Jim, I wasn’t gonna hurt her.”
“How did you convince Isabelle to get in your truck?” Avery asked.
“Well, that’s the genius that is me, detective. Puppies. All little girls like puppies, don’t they? One morning, before she was supposed to leave for school, I waited outside the truck a few houses down. I saw her riding down the street; she was alone, which was a good thing because it would’ve put a damper on my plans.”
“I think we’re done here, Detective Avery.” The lawyer started packing up his files.
“So, anyway, I started calling out for my poor lost puppy. I named him Max; admittedly, not very original. Young Isabelle came riding up toward me on her bike. I was standing on the sidewalk and blocked her way so she had no choice but to stop. I asked her if she’d seen my lost puppy. She asked what Max looked like and I said I had a picture of him in my truck. I swung open the passenger door hard enough to knock her off her bike. She was on the ground, so I grabbed her, put my hand over her mouth, and shoved her in the truck.”
Katie clutched her chest and closed her eyes. She was shocked by the ease with which he had been able to speak about such a thing.
“Would you like to leave, Miss Reid?” one of the officers asked.
“No,” she whispered.
“Where I really messed up was in forgetting that damned backpack. It was hanging on one of the handlebars and I didn’t have enough time to grab it. Didn’t want to be seen, you know, had to be quick.”
“Got it,” Avery interrupted. “What did you do with her after that?”
“I’m warning you, Mr. Johansen. You need to stop talking right now.” Bernard was already on his feet.
“Luckily, I had some prescription pain meds and I just fed ‘em to her to keep her quiet. It wasn’t easy. She put up a fight sometimes.” Johansen chuckled.
“Did you assault her?” Avery pressed on, ignoring the pleas of the lawyer.
Johansen was quiet. He glanced again at the camera. Katie could swear he knew she was watching.
“We’re gonna find out sooner or later, so you might as well come out with it.”
“I’ll tell you that I treated her better than any man would ever do. I guess the pills weren’t enough, though, because after a while, she got a little too feisty. You see, I had to punish her that day you and little Miss Priss came along, knocking on my door. I could hear her rattling around in that closet when I was talking to the two of you. I was surprised you didn’t hear anything, detective. There she was, right under your nose. Of course, that first officer who came round…well, he was just an idiot, thinking I was the old man who I rented the place from. But, after that close call, I had no choice.”
Detective Avery launched out of his chair and grabbed Johansen by the collar of his uniform, pulling him as close as he could. “She was still alive? You fucker, you’re gonna get the needle for this.”
“That’s assuming they start executing again here in this beautiful state of California, detective.”
Avery swung at Johansen, striking his jaw so hard the bone could be heard breaking under the weight of the blow.
“Son of a bitch!” One of the officers ran out of the backroom and into the interrogation room, pulling Avery off Johansen.
Bernard pressed down on Johansen’s shoulders to keep him in his chair.
He touched his jaw and looked at the blood on his fingers. “I hope everyone saw that!” he muttered at the camera. “You see that, Mr. Lawyer?”
Detective Avery stormed out of the room and Katie ran out after him. She found him in the hallway, bracing himself against
the wall, out of breath.
He looked up at her. “She was there, Kate. God damn it! She was there!”
“There’s no way you could have known that, Marshall.” Katie reached for his arm.
He pulled away. “It’s my God damn job to know!” Marshall turned his back and walked away.
Just as Katie was about to follow him, the officer who pulled Avery off Johansen appeared around the corner. “Just leave him, Miss Reid. He needs time to cool off.”
Every detail that occurred at the station today replayed in Katie’s mind as she drove through traffic and made her way home. Detective Avery left without a single word and she was forced to deal with this on her own. She couldn’t blame him though; he’d warned her it would be difficult and she clearly underestimated his advice. He was having a hard enough time coming to terms with it. How naïve she had been to believe in her ability to handle the situation. The line she crossed was well beyond her periphery now and there was no turning back. There was no Spencer to come home to; no one to comfort her at all.
Alone in her apartment, she looked around to find no sign that Spencer had ever even lived there. He must have come back earlier in the day to take his belongings. None of that seemed to matter just now. Isabelle was gone, just like the others, and Katie was face to face with the psycho who took her. Was she prepared to come that close to her own would-be killer?
Time lost all meaning until darkness began creeping down the walls of the living room. It was at that moment she heard a pounding on the door. She uncurled her body from the couch and peered out the front window to find Marshall on the landing. She opened the door.
“Jesus, Kate! Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling your cell phone all afternoon.” Marshall walked in without invitation. “Where are the lights around here?” He ran his hand along the walls to find a switch until eventually, there was light. “Are you okay?” He guided her back to the couch. “I’m sorry I left you earlier today. I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you. That’s why I was hesitant for you to be there at all.”
“She was there, Marshall.” Her own realization of this fact hit her hard. The hoarse sound coming from her was a culmination of dehydration and exhaustion. She had no idea how long she’d been sitting on that couch, but thirst summoned her.
“Let me get you some water.” Marshall went into the kitchen and returned with a glass of tap water.
Katie grasped it with both hands and drank nearly all of it at once. She placed it on the coffee table and turned to Marshall. “Where did you go today?”
“I’m sorry. I had to get out of there. I wasn’t expecting that and I should have handled it better.”
“How could you possibly have handled it any differently? Just knowing that she was there….God, I wanted to throw up.”
“I know. It’s all right.” Marshall placed his hand on her knee to calm her. “The important thing is that we caught him. That’s what you have to keep telling yourself. We did the best we could to find Isabelle.”
“Is that what you really believe?”
“That’s what I have to believe. It’s the only way.”
Katie stared into his bright green eyes. She saw compassion and tenderness, no trace of the anger from earlier remained. His ability to transform himself in that manner amazed her. She was mesmerized by this man who had shown her so much, taught her how to redirect her pain, and put it to a more useful purpose. And now she felt something she hadn’t experienced before in his presence. Almost instinctively, she leaned into him. Closing her eyes, she let her lips gently touch his.
He pulled away. “Kate, please… don’t. Not like this.”
Suddenly aware of her mistake, she sat upright, embarrassed by his rejection.
“With everything that’s happened to you today—your breakup—this isn’t you right now. Damn, I shouldn’t have let you see him today. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Marshall took to his feet. “I’d better go now. I just came here to make sure you were all right. I was nervous when you didn’t answer your phone.”
“Fine, just go,” she whispered, waving him off and turning away from him completely. There was no sound, except for his breaths that came quickly as a result of his raised pulse. She could feel him standing next to her, but refused to acknowledge him. A moment later, his footsteps trailed away as he opened the door. He stood there again in silence and then the door closed. He was gone.
In the late hours of the night, Katie’s restless mind refused to surrender to sleep. The thought of calling Marshall occurred to her more than once, but seeking his comfort was not the answer. These demons were hers and hers alone, though she suspected he would be dealing with demons of his own tonight.
She got out of bed and walked to her medicine cabinet in search of a drug that would quiet Isabelle’s screams, which echoed in her head. Two samples of Valium that Dr. Reyes gave her for the bad nights lay on the shelf next to the aspirin. Although some nights had gotten so severe she wished she had taken them, the fear of squelching any new memory that might be recalled was enough to keep the pills at bay. But not tonight; tonight she wanted to think of nothing, remember nothing, and feel nothing. Katie threw both pills in her mouth and swallowed them down.
She didn’t know how long her alarm had been sounding, but she must have hit the snooze button a few times before full consciousness finally returned. Katie’s head ached as she tried to focus on the time. It was 7:30 and she was going to be late for work. Her body would not cooperate as she struggled to make it to the shower. It would have to be a cold one to jolt her back to life.
Having had virtually nothing to eat or drink all day yesterday, Katie felt the full wrath of a Valium hangover. She had no idea of the dosage she consumed, which was a stupid idea now, in the light of day. Although the desired effect had been achieved, her recollection of anything beyond standing in front of her medicine cabinet was completely wiped away.
Wrapped in a towel and slightly more alert, Katie walked into the living room and turned on the news. “Prime suspect in the Isabelle Thompson case, Michael Johansen, has been charged with the murder of the missing eight-year-old girl. Police say DNA evidence was found on the girl’s body and in his home. His arrest comes after weeks of searching for Isabelle and days after finding her in the Miramar landfill.”
That was it; Johansen had been charged and it was all over, except for the trial. Katie turned off the television and finished getting ready for work.
She grabbed her purse and her cell phone and headed out the door. Glancing at her phone on the way down the steps, she noticed several missed calls from Marshall. It occurred to her that he had tried to get hold of her before finally coming over late yesterday evening. She felt so foolish about her behavior and hoped he would be able to forgive her. It would take some time to cope with the snowball of events over the past few days, but she needed him. He was a good friend.
It wasn’t until Katie arrived at work, that she sat down to check her cell phone voicemail. Several were from Marshall, but there was one very much unexpected call from Chief Wilson. As Katie listened to the message, she grew pale and froze in her seat.
Susan walked past her office and doubled back, noticing the look on Katie’s face. “Hey, are you all right, Katie? Still feeling sick?”
Her questions hardly registered a response. “Katie? Are you feeling okay?” Susan took her by the shoulder, shaking her from her trance. “Oh my God, you’re cold as ice. I think you should go back home. You’re not well and you shouldn’t be here. Should I call Spencer and have him pick you up?”
Katie’s eyes blinked a few times as she managed a reply. “No, I’m sorry, Susan. I guess I’m still not well. I think I will go back home and get some rest.”
“That’s a good idea. You sure I can’t call someone to come get you?”
“No, I’ll be all right. I just had a little dizzy spell, but I’m okay now. I can manage to get home.”
“Okay, well
don’t rush to come back here until you’re better. I mean it.”
“Thank you, Susan. I appreciate that.” Katie hadn’t even put her bag away and she was grabbing it once again to leave. Only she wasn’t going home. She was going to see Marshall.
“I need to see Detective Avery, if he’s available please,” she asked the officer at the front desk.
“He’s in his office, Katie. Go ahead on back.”
“Thank you.” Katie rushed back to find Marshall hunched over several open files, filling out paperwork.
“Marshall?”
“Kate? What are you doing here?”
“I tried to call you first, but I had to see you.”
“Sorry, I was probably still in with the captain. What’s going on? If this is about last night, please…”
“No. It’s not.” She took her phone from her purse and placed it on his desk. “There’s a message on there from Chief Wilson.”
“Why don’t you have a seat and calm down? You seem really upset.”
“Please, Marshall… just listen to the message.” She pressed a few buttons and the message played back on speaker.
“Katie, this is Chief Wilson from the Rio Dell Police Department. I’d like you to give me a call at your earliest convenience. We need to talk about a recent development in the case you inquired about several weeks ago. Miss Reid, this is urgent and a returned call would be greatly appreciated.”
Marshall looked at Katie. “What does he want? When did this call come in?”
“I don’t know. I think he called yesterday, but I wasn’t answering my phone. I only saw the message this morning when I got to work. I came straight here. Marshall, I’m terrified to call him back. Do you think they’re going to reopen the case?”
“I don’t know. You need to call him back now.”
She snatched up her phone and began dialing.
