Deadly Delusions

by Barbara Ebel

  When he hung up, he eyed his weapon under the register. Only if the thugs came inside after his business’s cash would he consider using it. He resumed looking outside as the first male walked away from the woman. The male took off his cowboy hat as he ducked into his vehicle; getting back in was a lot quicker than his exit had been and the car peeled away. He watched the woman replace the nozzle into the pump and expected her inside because she had not used a credit card for her purchase. In the meantime, her reaction was imminent because she would soon discover that her personal item had been snatched.

  -----

  Annabel searched the passenger seat and the floor for her change purse and realized it was not there. She was positive she had put it next to her. Finding the item missing didn’t make any sense and a dense pit of anxiety settled in her stomach. How would she pay if she didn’t find her money?

  She hastened around the front of her car to the other side, opened the door, and ran her hand along the side of the seat and underneath. Another thought came to her when she came up empty handed; strange how Tristan had left all of a sudden.

  The relative quiet of the gas station and main road diminished as a siren grew louder from across the interstate. After zooming closer, a police car abruptly turned into the station and stopped without formally parking. An officer jumped out as a small man with a white shirt came out the front door of the store. Annabel could also make out the woman who had talked to her. She stood safely behind the glass door observing the events at the pump. What was going on?

  “I made the 911 call,” the attendant from the store yelled. The officer and the man quickly narrowed the gap between them as Annabel stood dumbfounded.

  The little man continued to holler. “A robbery just took place. Right from her car!” He pointed to Annabel and the officer made a snappy forty-five degree turn and sprinted towards Annabel.

  “What the …?” Annabel mumbled. Her heart raced and she trembled and at that moment she recognized the policeman. Edgar Banks.

  “Miss Tilson! Are you okay?”

  “What are you doing here?” she countered. “I mean,” she stumbled, “it’s nice to see you, but what is the problem?” She tried to keep calm but her heart still pounded in her chest.

  Edgar glanced at the attendant who stopped next to them. “I called,” he said as he caught his breath. “I witnessed a scam taking place on this lady. She may have known the guy who talked to her, but she’s not aware of what happened while he kept her occupied.”

  Annabel suddenly realized her money had disappeared from the front seat, the police had been called, and Tristan had taken off. But he couldn’t have taken it because he was with her the whole time.

  The little man was rattling off how Annabel and a male customer talked behind her SUV while someone else from the first car sneaked over and opened her front right door. It appeared he took something.

  Annabel’s mouth fell open in disbelief. “My change purse,” she said, “with the money I carry.”

  “How much?” Edgar asked.

  “About a hundred and twenty dollars.”

  “Let me get a call out. We can nab this guy before it’s too late. What kind of vehicle?”

  “A black sedan,” the attendant said. “We can go check the license plate on my security camera.”

  “Come on, Annabel,” Edgar said. With a brisk pace, they were inside and peering at the video; the woman inside gawked over their shoulders, too.

  Officer Banks wrote down the plate number. “You all wait here.” Outside, he picked up his radio and gave a quick verbal report along with a description of the car, the two individuals, and the plate number.

  The woman in the store who had watched all the excitement and the security video spoke when Edgar returned. “So you knew that hottie?” she asked Annabel, who dangled a stemmed flower in her hand.

  “That was my next question,” Edgar said.

  “I assumed they were acquaintances but then I couldn’t understand why the second man popped over,” the other man blurted out, “until I realized the hustle.”

  “Ma’am,” Officer Banks said to the woman, “please wait outside. I want to ask you a few questions before you leave.” The woman signaled to pay for the snacks she wanted to buy and Edgar motioned for Annabel to talk to him off on the side. He turned to Annabel and his stare intensified.

  “Seems you’re friends with this man,” Edgar said. His thumb curled behind his belt buckle and he stood tall. “Name?”

  She felt cornered. Her dating methods and personal life were private. Divulging how she knew him, she sensed, would raise eyebrows. Eyes would roll and what if he shared the information with his partner, Dustin, and with Dr. Keeton? Oh my God, she thought, it would be best if Pandora’s box stay closed. She was sure there could be more repercussions but, for the time being, she had to think fast.

  Annabel bit her lip. Officer Banks waited. She couldn’t lie. She wasn’t a good liar anyway and doing so would probably sink her into more trouble, like taking the risk of cheating on an exam and getting caught. In addition, the police station was probably running his plate and cops must be looking for him already.

  “I didn’t know the driver personally but I was meeting him,” she said. “His name is Tristan but I wonder if that’s his actual name since he tried to con me.”

  “He did con you. How did this arrangement come to be and what was the plan after you met?” Edgar’s investigative police nature was in full force. He hated for innocent women to be duped by men. He thought about Dustin back at the station. Too bad he wasn’t involved because he would feel protective of Annabel and maybe shine as the officer on her case.

  Annabel wanted to throw the stupid rose in the trash can but her thumb and index finger continued holding the stem. “I met him on a dating app,” she said, looking down at the pavement, “before Dustin’s little date and all of us going out.” She glanced up to make direct eye contact. “Tristan and I arranged to meet here and perhaps go out.”

  His eyes narrowed. He didn’t like the sound of it but since she and Dustin were not involved yet, her date with Tristan was none of his business. Except now the rendezvous qualified as police business.

  -----

  Dustin Lowe finished taking an MVA report and diverting traffic from the scene until a tow truck came and hauled off the car which suffered the most damage. He went back to his cruiser, threw the clipboard on the seat, and listened to a radio message from the station. The speaker gave the license plate number, vehicle make and model, and a description of two white males in their twenties from a customer robbery at a nearby gas station. He realized he was along the path their vehicle had headed.

  “Officer Lowe still in the area,” he said. “I’ll search for the suspects.”

  He turned east hoping to catch the crooks going west and in a half mile went through an intersection, spotting the car in question at a full stop for a red light. He slowed past it to view the tag. Bingo. As he made a U-turn, he switched on his siren. The stopped cars dissipated to the shoulder of the road but the car in question went through the intersection. It raced down two blocks with Dustin in pursuit but finally slowed and pulled into a fast food parking lot. Officer Lowe pulled up to its bumper, kept the siren and lights blaring and waited for a second to see if the suspects would jump out and run.

  “This is Officer Lowe,” he said, calling into the station, his eyes locked on the vehicle in front. “Suspects sped two blocks with me in pursuit. We are both now stopped at Market and Broad. I’m going up to their car; request back-up.”

  Dustin got out of his vehicle, his hand poised by his gun, and approached. He kept a distance from the rolled-down driver’s window and glared at the driver and the other individual.

  “Out of the car. Put your hands in the air.”

  Chapter 20

  Another police cruiser arrived. Dustin ducked Tristan into his car while the other officer nabbed Tristan’s buddy and both vehicles took off for the stat
ion.

  “Up to no good on a Friday night,” Dustin said looking in the rearview mirror.

  “It wasn’t me,” Tristan said. “My buddy stole from the woman I was going out with tonight. I had nothing to do with his thievery.”

  “Really?”

  Tristan squirmed in the seat. “Yeah. And was he pissed. That broad didn’t place a big handbag next to her like most women. They usually carry all their shit with them … lipstick and pictures and a wallet with credit cards and money. She only had a little pouch; although it did have enough cash for a decent concert.” He leaned forward to make a point. “I’m just telling you what he said. I’m out of this.”

  “Really? You don’t sound sympathetic for the girl you were dating tonight.”

  “It’s not like that. She was only a dispensable fling. You know how it is. A segment of females on social dating apps that are pure trash. They want to be banged as much as some of us want to bang them back. That was our intent for tonight. After meeting, of course.”

  Dustin frowned. Most days nothing surprised him in his line of work but, either he was getting elderly and old-fashioned, or sensible, mature dating was dying a quick death.

  “So you basically didn’t know her?”

  “Just a few words back and forth on the app.” He leaned back. “You have to let me go,” he added.

  “Fat chance,” Dustin said.

  -----

  Edgar Banks asked a few questions of the female customer at the gas station before letting her go and then finished taking more thorough reports from Annabel and the manager. He then walked Annabel to her car.

  “I suppose I’ll see you with Dustin on Sunday,” Edgar said. “He’s going to be concerned about what happened to you tonight and a tad bit jealous to learn you were meeting that guy.”

  “I hope not,” she said, “because it would be a waste of his energy. Besides being a crook, Tristan wasn’t my type.”

  Edgar nodded. “See you then or before. Our job to catch these two hoodlums should be easy. We have his license plate number so I suspect we’ll get your money back.”

  Annabel nodded and got into her SUV. She took a big sigh and started the engine as Edgar sauntered away. She wanted nothing more than to be in her small, peaceful apartment.

  After she arrived home and changed into pajamas, Annabel stared into her refrigerator. Two shelves held the usual fare: yogurts, cold cuts, and apples and oranges. No real dinner leftovers. She tapped the door shut; why bother to eat when she wasn’t hungry and didn’t want to prepare anything.

  The whole weekend had started off badly. Never before had she been robbed or involved with the police. Unnerved and shook up, she hoped nothing like this would ever happen again. It could have been a lot worse yet it was terrible enough because of her personal association with Edgar. She hoped her money would be returned but that wasn’t even a priority. Better if the whole matter disappeared into oblivion.

  Annabel was void when it came to faith in religion like her father nor did she pray like him. She believed in God more like her mother who was less loyal and devoted to a deity and religion than her father. Her mother, Sara, respected a belief in one God, all creatures, and felt strongly about the stark contrast between good and evil in this world. No matter what, she believed, individuals must be kind and helpful to each other and other species, and never knowingly do something wicked. Most sinful deeds create a ripple effect like a stone thrown into the water.

  After mulling this over, she was glad she had not lied to Edgar about Tristan. She was also lucky he didn’t need to know the whole truth which seemed to have no bearing on the robbery. Nevertheless, a heaviness settled into her bones like elevator doors pressing into both her sides. She wished she had relied on her unsettling gut feeling earlier in the evening and not made the trip to the gas station.

  Annabel went in and fluffed her pillows against the headboard. Maybe she should at least tell her parents about the robbery. Whenever she confided in them or unburdened negative events in her life on them, they made her feel better. She picked up her cell and called; a better idea than sitting around and starting to cry.

  “Hello,” Sara said.

  “Hi, Mom.”

  “How is the rotation going?”

  “It’s interesting. The patients are unbelievable. One of them committed suicide with a gun in the emergency psychiatric unit.”

  “How awful,” Sara said. “Are you holding up okay?”

  “There’s lots of pressure between worrying about the final exam and a paper and dealing with the emotional hardships of these patients.”

  “I sense that.”

  “Don’t alarm Dad about this. I was robbed at a gas station tonight. Some guy opened my car door when I wasn’t looking and took my money. Luckily, that’s the only thing he got.”

  “Annabel, that’s terrible. Were you hurt?”

  “No. I’m lucky they didn’t stick a gun in my face.”

  “This is awful. Yes, the most important thing is that you’re unharmed.” Sara dropped into a chair. She hated that her daughter was so far away. “Did the cops come?”

  “Yes. As a matter of fact, I knew him. That’s a long story.”

  “Always remember we’re here for you. You break away whenever you can and come down.”

  “I wish I could right now but I can’t. Anyway, is Dad around?”

  “He’s on-call and in the OR doing surgery on a shattered skull and brain injury from a gunshot wound.”

  “I guess I don’t know what real pressure is,” Annabel said.

  “It’s all a matter of degree, sweetheart. It’s what your father was trained to do. No different than the experiences you are racking up this semester. When the time comes, you will be adept and the best person to deal with a situation … whether it be a suicidal psychiatric patient or a neurosurgical patient.”

  Annabel nodded. She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. Knowing she couldn’t talk any more, she said “Thanks, Mom. I love you. Say hi to everybody.”

  -----

  “I heard you nabbed those two sneak thieves,” Edgar said to Dustin after he got back to the station and heard the news. He placed his clipboard on his cluttered desk and walked over to the coffeepot where his partner stood topping off a mug.

  “Yes, it was a twofer,” Dustin said. “I nailed both of them.” He took a sip but made a face. “Stale as two-week-old bread.”

  Edgar grabbed a disposable cup. His shift ended at 11 p.m. so, muddy or not, he could use the brew. “Unfortunately I need to tell you something about the case.”

  “Likewise,” Dustin said, shaking his head. “The sarge and I already questioned the two of them at length. They run scams at gas stations and sometimes diabolically plan it ahead of time through social media dating sites.” He stepped aside for Edgar to pick up the pot. “The driver, Tristan, was meeting the victim but you won’t believe it. They arranged it as a possible one-night stand. You should have heard the way he talked about her and the girls that frequent that site.” He shook his head. “Basically twenty-something-year-old strangers getting together for sex. The principal of it is not unheard of, like the aftermath of parties when folks drink too much. But some millennials have taken it to a new level. One click sex.”

  Edgar gulped. His friend and close partner was in for a shock. He placed the cup on the counter as Dustin waited for what he had to say and curled his thumb around his belt.

  “We know the victim,” Edgar said.

  Dustin stood with a blank stare.

  “Annabel Tilson.”

  -----

  In the interview room at the station, the cocky young man reiterated to Dustin the same story that Edgar received at the scene but embellished his thieving partner’s role even more. Dustin had worked one of the gas station hoaxes before but not as conniving as the one with Tristan.

  The biggest pill for Dustin to swallow, however, was Annabel. He liked the medical student with the captivating smile and lo
vely figure. She must have been smart to make it to medical school but where were her street smarts? She comes up short on moral standards and wise practices when it comes to men, he thought. How could she have met a total transient to possibly engage in the most intimate of acts? Dustin could not wrap his head around this idea; one thing for sure … he would no longer think about trying out her sweet lips.

  He sulked out of the room after hearing the details from Tristan and slumped into his chair. He looked over at Edgar. “I believed your report taken at the gas station,” he said frowning as if he’d lost a dear friend, “but I needed to hear it myself about Ms. Tilson.”

  “I’m sorry,” Edgar said.

  “Thanks,” Dustin said. “I appreciate you saying that. I should feel lucky I wasn’t more involved with her.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’ll call her and cancel Sunday. It shouldn’t interfere with your plans with Selina, especially since we were picking the girls up separately.”

  Edgar nodded. “We also must return her money. Do you want to do it or should I? If you prefer, we could go together.”

  “I have to call her to back out of our date. Why don’t I tell her to come pick it up at the station and save both of us the trouble?”

  Edgar sat on the edge of his desk and scrutinized him. “I’m good with that but don’t editorialize to her about her personal actions. The sarge is strict about police issues being kept separate from private matters.”

  “No problem. It’s late but the call should be made about her money and the arrest.” He gathered the paperwork in front of him and placed the call.

  -----

  After fluffing up her pillow and turning to her side, Annabel’s eyes grew heavy and she fell asleep. She found herself in a lush green corn maze and at every right-angle turn, she passed another man. Some of them ignored her, another stared her down, and others made sexual innuendos. What was waiting for her at the end of the maze that she so desperately wanted? As she startled awake because of the shrill ring-tone of her phone, she realized it was Robby Burk who stood at the center of the field with his shirt sleeves rolled up the way she liked them and his white coat draped over one arm.