“Here goes,” Gina said, “I was abused as a kid, by my crazy older cousin. My mother didn’t believe me and my father was too busy with the farm to be concerned. My cousin Jake was obsessed with me and I am convinced he is still after me. There are things I still don’t remember but I know that I ran away from home when I was 14 and my guidance counselor helped get me placed in foster care in North Carolina. I lived with the Baker family. They had a girl close to my age and we became the best of friends. Her name was Linda. She and I joined the church choir; ran track in school and every Thursday night we volunteered at the Home for the Aged. Reading to the residents, writing letters for them, and listening to them talk about their lives.”
“Hold up a minute, Sugar” Tanya interrupted, “you sound like you’re reciting the damn phone book. Slow down and talk to me.”
Gina smiled wryly. “I guess I just want to get it over with, sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, just talk to me.”
“Ok you’re right. Well I never had a best friend before, never had any friends really. So being with that family, with my foster sister, it was a whole new experience to have someone to talk to and do things with. I had never been so happy in all my life. Tanya, these were wonderful kind people, the family, their neighbors, all of them. Mrs. Goodwin, that’s my counselor’s name, she traveled twice a year to visit me in Asheville and make sure I was doing alright. Every time she briefed us on all the news about Jake and his friends; whether he was in jail or not, whether he’d been to Hurricane or not. During those years, she and I stayed in touch through ads in the paper, it was only later that we set up email accounts. Every Sunday she would place an ad in the classified section of the Ashville Citizen-Times. If the ad said ‘Cocker Spaniel puppies for sale $200 call 828-210-7861’ it meant there was nothing new about Jake. If the ad said ‘Beagle puppies for sale’ that meant there was new information about Jake. If that happened I would call her at the school where she worked from a public phone and find out what happened. We knew Jake was still after me because every so often he’d show up around the school asking about me and showing people my picture. We worried he’d discover that Mrs. Goodwin was my contact and hurt her so we kept our contact down to a bare minimum.
We had no clue if Jake knew how to use the internet but we didn’t want to take any chances. He had been in prison and we thought maybe he learned how to use it there. So when I went to Medical School we set up secret email accounts that we both accessed by public computers where there was Wi-Fi. She went to the public library and I made the rounds of local cafés. I know this sounds really ‘out there’ but you’ll see it was all very necessary. To be safe, I never went out alone and most of the time when I did go out I wore a hat or a scarf and sunglasses so I would be hard to recognize. I got in the habit of staying away from public places. I kept off the internet, my foster sister logged on for me, Oh and when I first got there I changed my name to Regina Baker and never used the name Raines or Reggie Lee again, knowing if Jake ever heard those names, it would take him no time to find me.”
“This is beginning to sound like a LIFETIME movie, Gina. Are you serious about all this? I can’t decide if I want to come over there and hug you or call the cops to take you to the looney bin!”
“For now, Tanya, please just listen it will all make more sense in a little bit. My counselor emailed this last week.” Gina passed over a folded sheet of paper, and with a wry expression, “in case you don’t remember what my real hair looked like, my username is ‘halodoc!’”
“Oh, I get it, your blonde halo!”
“Yes, now read that,” Gina said.
“Ok if you say so, Sugar” Tanya said, “but this is all a lot to take in all at once.”
“I know, but read,” Gina said.
USE CAUTION
1 Message
Hometown Spy
Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 2:43 PM
To: [email protected]
They are back. Questions being asked around specifically about ‘Halo’
Many sources report on this. They are hanging around at the old places
Seems to be escalating…Report of actions similar to old ones
Things are happening, new things.
Some info coming in from very valid sources – check the media 4 more info
Be careful be safe
“Seriously is this for real, Girl? I mean really for real? You have a killer on your trail?” Tanya asked apprehensively, as she handed the email back to Gina.
“I’m afraid so,” Gina said and grimly passed her a press clipping from a recent press conference in Hurricane, West Virginia, which Tanya read with tightening lips.
“How crazy is this cousin of your anyway,” Tanya asked after reading the article.
Gina shook her head and said, “He’s the real deal, Tawn. He’s violent and he’s obsessed with me.” Gina filled in whatever details she knew; then explained about the hair, the changes in her walk and her Tae Kwon Do lessons and then she told her about Gil.
“Are you kidding me? Your shrink gave you a body guard? Wow! She’s not like any kind of shrink I ever heard of! And look at you with your own Dick Tracy! I tell you that crazy cousin of yours has no idea what he’s getting himself into! You and your protection guy, you’re like Wonder Woman and Superman!” Tanya tried to lighten the mood but it was a ‘no go.’ She saw the look in Gina’s eyes and backtracked. “Sorry, Honey,” she said, “I know it’s serious. One thing I am puzzled about is how you keep your spirits up? You are such a hopeful person. How have you been able to maintain your faith in G-d after all of this happened to you?”
“I owe that to the Bakers too. The first week I lived with them they asked me to go with them to church. I’d never been before and didn’t want to go but I wanted to be cooperative so I said yes. The church had a big sign on the front lawn that read
“All In Need Of Hope May Enter And Find Love Within Our Walls.”
I still remember those words because I have to say that really was the truth. I did find hope and love there. I went to services every Sunday. I found faith in G-d and renewed my faith in humanity. When I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior I knew he would be in my heart forever. I knew that he would guide my footsteps. Every day I lived with them I moved further and further from my past. Soon I stopped thinking of myself as Reggie Lee Raines and became Regina Baker of the Baker family of Asheville, North Carolina.”
“Wait I’m confused, when did you become Gina Reynolds?” Tanya asked frowning.
“That happened when I left Asheville and went off to Medical School. I changed my name from Regina Baker to Gina Reynolds. I went through this name change thing twice already and am determined not to have to do it another time. I want this name change to be my last.”
“Now how come you changed your name again?” Tanya asked pressing for more information.
“One day, just before I was due to leave for Medical School, I saw Jake. He was cruising through Ashville. I knew he was looking for me. I left soon after that, cut off all ties with everyone I knew from my past, except for Mrs. Goodwin, we kept up our minimal contact.”
“So you don’t see the Bakers anymore? You don’t even talk to them?”
“No. Gina shook her head, “It’s just too dangerous. I cannot do anything that would lead him to their house.” Tanya looked at her with concern.
“Do you think you and Twinkie should move in over here for a while? The kids would love it.”
“No thanks, Tawny. Gil installed new locks and stuff at my place. I think I’ll be ok.” Tanya scoffed, “Now don’t B.S. me, Girl, you don’t believe that for a minute. You’re scared to death.”
“I know and I am trying not to be. I don’t know how he could know where I am. I think I’m safe for a while anyway.” Tanya looked at her skeptically, “Gina if you feel unsafe you should move in here with us,” Tanya insisted, but Gina shook her head. “You don’t know how dangerous this guy is, Tawny, I
’m not telling you this cause I want to move in here, I just want you to know that this is happening so you can understand why I’m acting so weird these days.”
They were silent for a few minutes when Gina spoke up, “And Tanya, if anything does happen to me I wanted you to know … well, I wrote up a new will and…”
Tanya held up her hand in a STOP gesture, “We are not going there right now, girlfriend, we are not going to talk about you ending up dead and wills and shit. That’s just way out of my comfort zone.” But the seriousness of the situation was beginning to dawn on Tanya. She thought about her children sleeping upstairs in their beds and wondered if she could protect them if something really horrible happened. There was danger lurking out there somewhere maybe not too far away. Her worried dark eyes met Gina’s nervous blue ones and they silently affirmed the seriousness of the situation.
“Listen Babe, you have a key and if you don’t feel safe you can just come and crash over here.”
Gina’s eyes filled up, “Tawny, don’t you understand, I could never do that. Never! If Jake ever got so close that I had to run from him, this is the last place I’d come; I would die before I brought that homicidal maniac to your doorstep.…”
CHAPTER 21
DOUBLE TROUBLE
She arrived at the hospital 40 minutes early for her shift. She hoped no one would notice her hairstyle had changed, moreover she hoped no one would ask her about it. She knew she looked odd. Strange even. It was bizarre to move from natural blonde curls that were the envy of all to a mousy brown choppy cut. She still practiced her long striding walk and hoped no one would notice that either. She wasn’t social friends with most of the people she worked with but they were always warm and friendly with each other. They were work friends and close in the way that people are when they share a common workplace and a love of their jobs. They supported each other every day in dozens of tiny ways and depended on each other for practical and emotional support, from lifting equipment to changing sheets to hugging each other in moments of joy or sadness. Still, she hoped they wouldn’t ask. She wasn’t sure what she would say. Did ‘I wanted a change’ sound authentic? It sounded hollow to her. Last night Tanya had said “Don’t worry about them Sugar, just say you wanted a change.” She wasn’t sure about that. But then she wasn’t sure about a lot of things these days.
She’d been careful on her way to work. Checking hallways, using a small mirror to look behind her, making sure to walk through doorways with other people, she practiced the techniques Gil had taught her. She felt she was doing better at detecting people’s behavior. She noticed when people appeared to be arguing with each other. She noticed when people seemed drunk or sickly. She noticed when people seemed sneaky. ‘Yes,’ she thought, ‘I am getting better at this. If I lose my job at the hospital I can always become a detective! Great! Doctor Holmes I presume….’ She caught them staring at her as she entered the conference room. The walls were lit up with dozens of x-rays and there were stacks of various reports on the table and the head of the surgical team was running the meeting. Gina got a cup of coffee and pulled up a chair nodding to several people as she sat down. The mood in the room was somber as those assembled waited for the rest of the team to join them. This was their initial meeting on the surgery.
The NICU was going to deal with a huge challenge this week. Ten month old conjoined twin girls, Jane and Judy Pickering had been transferred from Cincinnati yesterday afternoon. They were joined along the lower part of their spinal columns, a rare joining called pygopagus. The girls had their own heads, hearts and limbs but their lower bodies were connected. The treatment team had been reviewing the medical records from Cincinnati and doing additional testing to determine each baby’s viability for independent living. Judy, the smaller of the two had the greatest chance of survival with good lungs and heart and four functioning limbs, Jane, though more advanced developmentally, was compromised because her intestines were wrapped around the shared spinal column, she had sluggish kidney function and one of her legs was impaired. The team wasn’t sure even if Jane survived that she would be able to use her left leg.
Of course walking was not the concern of this treatment team, right now the biggest challenge was separating them in such a way that both babies could survive. Their spinal cords were fused along specific vertebrae and so the team was trying to decide exactly how to separate them. They were planning to use prosthetic devices to enhance each infant’s spine so that each would have some of the original bone and some artificial bone. A prosthetic device company out of Utah had sent several pediatric prosthetic devices along for the doctors to examine. The company representatives were flying out of the Salt Lake City Airport, arriving around 2PM and would demonstrate an array of spinal devices that could be adapted for this procedure. The prosthetic company had manufactured several models and sizes so that the doctors could choose what might work best once they had the babies on the operating table. One of the significant problems facing the surgical team was the issue of size. Since artificial bone does not grow they had to make a decision about which size would work the best until the next surgery. The babies, if they were able to be separated, would be facing several surgeries through the years to replace parts of their spinal columns as they grew. Too large a device and the infant would not be able to move appropriately, too small a device and another surgery would soon be necessary.
Today, they would form two teams each comprised of doctors, nurses, physical therapists and a team coordinator. The teams would share a social worker whose primary responsibility was the family but who would also manage press and inter-agency issues as they arose. Gina was assigned lead on baby Jane and Geoff Reed was given lead for baby Judy. Gina and Geoff had shared a pleasant, collegial relationship, but the dire nature of their respective responsibilities created an air of tension between them. In high risk cases like these, often one of the babies didn’t survive the surgery. Gina and Geoff each felt protective of their patients. They knew that the time could come when choices would have to be made. Those choices would be based on which baby was most viable and had the best chance of surviving, and there were occasions during the course of all high risk surgeries when G-d-like decisions had to be made. The two team leaders decided that they needed to meet several times before the procedure so that they could coordinate their roles and data.
Since conjoined twins are a rarity, this impending surgery had come under international spotlight. Although the goal in these situations was to manage information in a private dignified manner news of this unusual surgery instantly sparked media interest. Reporters crowded hallways and camped out on the steps of the hospital, camera lights flashed and the moment a doctor stepped into view someone stuck a microphone under his or her nose. Hotels and restaurants were over-flowing with media personnel. The constant public clamor raised everyone’s stress level. In the interest of patient confidentiality the hospital imposed a gag order. No staff member was permitted to speak about the case to anyone. Toward that end ‘escorts’ were provided for every staff member. No one was allowed to walk around without their escort.
They left the building with hats on, heads down and personal escorts to maneuver them through the crowds. They were taken down back stairways and led though underground garages. They were driven to and from work to avoid encountering some extra resourceful media person. With the media came the curious public, police officers and vendors selling everything from hats to hot dogs. In spite of the frigid weather, the snow covered streets and the incessant wind people swarmed sidewalks, hallways and parking garages looking for leads in the Jane and Judy story. There were a number of run-ins between persistent members of the media and members of the Chicago Police Department and these became their own news stories and topics of conversation among hospital staff members. The general atmosphere was one of heightened tension with a hint of carnival added to the mix.
In the midst of all the excitement and activity no one said much about Gina’s hair. There we
re the occasional comments like, “Oh, you changed your hairstyle, it looks cute,” but not much more than that. Gina was relieved that she was not subjected to rigorous cross-examinations about this issue. That evening, she was escorted to her condo door, a procedure that would continue until both twins were safely discharged from Comar Children’s Hospital Center. Given her concerns of late, Gina thought this was a really lucky break; she would be escorted to and from work every day, door to door service. She wondered if the escort was armed. She’d check with him in the morning when he picked her up.
CHAPTER 22
EVIDENCE
That 1999 Plymouth was a treasure trove! Not only was it chock full of DNA and fingerprints it had tons of useful information. The odometer and crumpled receipts pointed to probable travel routes and led to crime reports from the areas where the killers had been; that led to video tapes from banks, stores and traffic cams. Police departments from across the region started flooding in-boxes and fax machines. Reports of stolen and abandoned vehicles and missing license plates created a virtual travel route and connected with crime reports across a 5 state area. The media had done a great job of covering the crime spree and alerting the public to the danger of ‘The Gang’ who the media had dubbed the ‘Parkland Killers’. The public was warned to be especially cautious in large State and National Parks because of the gang’s attraction to those areas. Forest Rangers teamed up with local law enforcement to systematically check out shelters and cabins for signs of habitation. Tips tumbled in from across the country. Following up on those leads was impossible for the Task Force so additional police departments were brought into the loop to follow promising leads and track down evidence from the various crime scenes.
As Team 1 drove to a remote area of Putnam County to meet with the owners of the stolen 1999 Plymouth, they discussed the problem. That car had been taken from the owners’ driveway and based on the home’s remote location and the fact that there were no obvious resources that would have drawn the gang to the area, the team concluded there must be a compelling reason why the killers ‘tagged’ that car and followed the driver home. They would interview family members and trace the car’s movements over the previous few days. ‘The gang’ had been driving a different vehicle before they stole this one; a report was issued searching for that car. Did they ditch it, burn it or shove it off a cliff? En route they perused police reports looking for abandoned vehicles, stolen license plates and attempted break-ins of cars or homes in the area leading to or from the Plymouth owner’s home. With thousands of cars throughout the area, what made this old car so special that they would follow the people home, wait until the middle of the night and then push it half a mile down the road before hot wiring it and driving off? That was a lot of trouble to go through for just another ride. The team pondered this. They went back over the interview reports and started doing some research into the family members. Maiden names, family genealogy, other places they’d lived or worked and came up with no obvious connections. They theorized that the theft of this car was certainly not about the car itself.
Relentless (Elisabeth Reinhardt Book 1) Page 12
