by Cass Sellars
“Of course. Have a great time; love you.” Parker called back to her.
“Love you both, bye,” she called as she slammed the door hurriedly behind her.
“I hope the very bad things don’t happen in your car,” Syd mumbled to Parker, who nudged her playfully.
“So, Ms. Hyatt, where are you taking me this evening? Everyone seems to have plans but us.”
Syd would never settle for being outdone by her friends, and Parker knew it.
“Ah. Not true. We’re headed to Sandstone Café for dinner and then for drinks and dessert on the patio at the Segue.” Sydney was pleased with herself and knew Parker was just happy to be far away from this nightmare for a night.
“Very fancy. I’m impressed. I hope I have time to change first.” She looked down at her jeans and flip-flops.
“Of course. You’re perfect regardless, but we have time, and I just want to hold on to you a bit longer.”
After twenty minutes of lounging together, Parker tapped Sydney’s arm to release her. “I should go change so we don’t miss our evening.”
“How about I go put gas in Jenny’s car so it will be done before the morning?” Syd pulled Parker to her feet and walked into the kitchen.
“Incredibly thoughtful and ridiculously gorgeous; how did I get so lucky?” Parker closed her eyes and rested her head against her shoulder.
“I love you, Park.” Syd turned her in the direction of the bedrooms before stepping out to Jenny’s car after checking twice that the door was locked behind her.
Syd yelled for Parker in a way that made her run back down the hall. Syd saw the panicked look on Parker’s face, but she couldn’t stop to soothe her now.
“What happened, Syd?” Parker gasped when she saw the envelope in Syd’s hand and took it from her. The paper was folded to conceal a long poem on the now very familiar stationery. She obviously didn’t care that it was evidence she shouldn’t be handling.
“Have you read it yet?”
Sydney shook her head. “It means he knows we’re here, Park.” Fear tore at them both. Parker pressed open the page on the counter.
I see her always, but you don’t see me
You stained her soul, but I’ll set it free
Your filthy fingers stroked her skin
But with me is where her life begins
The day when she ignored my voice
Your ending move left me no choice
She stayed with you, but not in her heart
It’s my last move…it’s time to start
We’ll be alone in the empty park
It’s there I’ll have her in the dark
She’ll be good and decent, I will approve
I’ll lay her down and make my move
She will be ashamed of those purple shoes
The perfume she wore, not subtle cues
Stand behind, this man will lead
You’ll feel my knife as I make her bleed
Parker looked at her, horrified. “Oh my God, Syd, it’s Jenny, not me.”
Syd grabbed her keys, and Parker rushed out behind her. Sydney drove as fast as she reasonably could through the residential streets before hitting the main road doing eighty. Mack’s phone went immediately to voice mail both times, and Sydney gave up and dialed Chief Cash’s personal cell phone, the number of which she had acquired when he worked with them to expose the previous corrupt police administration.
“Chief, it’s Sydney Hyatt.” He started to issue customary pleasantries before she cut him off. “Chief, I can’t get Mack on her phone. I think Jenny’s at Summers Park with a man named Ben Barrett who is a stalker and a rapist. I’m on my way, but I believe at this point he’s unraveling. He’s desperate and dangerous. I believe he will hurt her—if he hasn’t already.”
“Hank Lu is the sergeant on right now. You know him?”
“Yeah. I’ve worked with him before.”
“He and his team will be en route. Give me a second. And, Syd? Wait for him. Please.” He disconnected to try to raise Mack on the radio, and Parker sent a text to Mack from Sydney’s phone. 9-1-1.
She took out her own and sent a text to Jenny. If Jenny was safe, she’d respond right away. We are headed out for dinner. Is there anything you need before we meet you at the restaurant later?
She hit Send and stared blindly out the window.
Sydney reached to hold her hand. “We’ll get there. It will be okay. Five minutes.” Syd was doing double the speed limit when she blew past two unmarked police cars parked at the side of the road. She wouldn’t have stopped if they had pulled out behind her, but the fact that they didn’t meant that Cash was making the world move for Mack and Jenny. She silently prayed they weren’t too late.
Syd pulled in behind Parker’s car, which sat vigil next to a dingy green Pathfinder. A closer inspection revealed a rusty muffler that hung from tired wire beneath the frame.
Parker grabbed her chiming phone and read the text from Jenny. “Syd, he’s with her. She just wrote ‘Lillian and Ben,’ and the word ‘Help.’”
Parker’s phone then vibrated in her hand. “How is she able to call me?” She moved to answer it when Syd pulled the speaker away from Parker and motioned for her to say nothing. The open line told them everything they needed to know. Syd pressed the button to mute the microphone.
“Ben, um, where did you come up with this idea for a picnic? Everything looks so nice. The wine and the cheese…”
“Don’t be stupid, Lillian, we always have a picnic on our anniversary. Apparently, letting a woman use your body has affected your brain.” Ben’s voice was dismissive and condescending.
Jenny said nothing. Syd stared over the expanse of lawn separating her from their view. Syd noted the sign indicating that the park gates would close at sunset. She was happy that no one should be coming or going at this hour. The park was deserted now, but Jenny was alone with a maniac who didn’t know her name. She began formulating her next move, one that Chief Cash had warned her against and one that would make Parker furious.
She imagined how Jenny must have felt when she saw him standing there instead of Mack. When he walked to her, she must have known then that those notes had all been meant for her. They had been wrong; he wasn’t stupid. He was clever and calculated and fixated. Because of the time they spent at each other’s homes and driving each other’s cars, he’d clearly mistaken Parker’s for Jenny’s. Hopefully, it wouldn’t cost Jenny her life.
Ben’s voice came clearly through the phone mic. “Take off your shoes, Lillian, or you’ll make the blanket dirty. I don’t know why you insist on wearing those shoes when I’ve told you that you look like a whore.”
Syd understood that he very much believed her name was Lillian. Since they were now face-to-face, his delusion must be all consuming.
“You never used to dress like that, you know. You were respectable before she defiled you. I will deal with her.”
“I…I’m sorry, Ben. It won’t happen again.” Jenny sounded bewildered, as if she had no idea how to interact with him; agreeing to everything was a good play.
“Of course it won’t. When we move back to Fairfax with the baby, you’ll be raising her at home. There will be no need to have those things. You will be a proper wife, and you will stop this behavior.”
They heard a cork being removed from a bottle and the sound of liquid being poured into plastic cups. Syd was texting information to Sergeant Lu and fantasized about Jenny being able to use the bottle as a weapon. Syd imagined the satisfactory thunk as the heavy glass cracked across his skull.
“Sit!” he suddenly yelled, and Jenny made a startled noise.
Syd started at the sound, her fingers curved tightly on the door handle, poised to sprint after them. She forced herself to wait. She needed to know just a bit more about Ben Barrett’s current mind-set.
“Here! Take this. I’m not going to hold your glass for you. In fact, you should be serving me.”
“You’re right. S
orry.” Jenny seemed determined to play his game or at least make him think she was.
“I got your favorite wine. Remember when we bought it on our first date? You said you had never had wine before, but that you would remember it forever.”
Jenny mumbled in the affirmative. Syd could hear the thickness of unshed tears in her voice. She hoped Ben wouldn’t ask specifics of his and Lillian’s history together. In Jenny’s current state, Syd worried how far she could manage the charade.
Parker looked horrified as the scene unfolded before them, and Syd whispered, “This is good. I just need to know where his head is. She’s doing great, Park.”
Ben’s voice sounded calm and matter-of-fact now. “So, before we discuss your disappointing behavior, let’s have a toast. Eight years ago today, I saw you at a desk in computer class, and we fell in love that moment. From now on we will be together and raise our daughter the way a good family should. Now, I know you didn’t get all the chances in life that I did, Lillian, but we can change that. My family will forgive you and take you back like I have.”
He was evidently satisfied with his proclamations, Syd thought. He clearly couldn’t conceive of the ludicrous irony of his statements. “Arrogant fuck.” Syd seethed at the man and at the fact that she should have dug deeper, found it sooner.
“Thank you, Ben.” Jenny’s voice trembled.
“First, you are going to have to explain some things. I saw you with her, that woman you lived with at the loft. Sydney, is it? You were walking our daughter. I saw her kiss you in public. How could you humiliate yourself with her? Did you move in with that cop woman when she cheated on you? I followed you there. You didn’t even notice. But I used to follow you in Fairfax, too. I was trying to protect you from these people, but you didn’t appreciate me.
“You know, I saw her with the other woman in the car. Do you even understand how disgusting it was for me to watch them the whole time?” He spat the words and sounded increasingly angry.
Syd wondered how he could have gotten things so confused. He seemed to know other people but insisted on calling her Lillian. The events were jumbled, peppered with only a sprinkling of any reality.
“I guess I made a mistake, Ben. It won’t happen again.”
Syd saw Parker jump as a rustling near the phone caused the sound to muffle. His voice got louder as he obviously moved closer to the phone. Syd glanced in the mirror and wondered when the SLPD contingent would arrive. She wouldn’t wait any longer. Parker’s closest friend would not be harmed while she sat vigil in the car, waiting for the cavalry.
“I know it won’t happen again. I told you before what I could do to you with a knife like this. If you contact her again, I will cut her heart out while you watch her die. Is that understood?” He spoke as if he was explaining basic math to her.
Syd unlatched the door and braced a foot on the gravel. Parker clung to her arm in a fierce grip Syd allowed to stop her movement for the moment. She listened carefully to every breath, every nuance in his words. She would use it all.
“I watched you at that party, when you were caressing me. Then you spoke to the dyke about ‘our bedroom.’ In front of people! I was so ashamed of you. People acted like it was normal to be like that. I know they didn’t believe it. It’s disgusting, isn’t it, Lillian?”
There was a pause when Jenny didn’t reply.
“Well?” He sounded annoyed. “Say it! Say that you will never let that woman touch you again.”
“I will never let her touch me again,” Jenny managed to say with an audibly shaky breath.
The sound of plastic wrapping and packages being opened gave Syd a moment of relief. Her answer must have placated him for the moment.
“A lily for my Lillian. Your favorite. I would have brought you a dozen, but you haven’t earned my generosity yet. It seems you have become accustomed to many things with your pathetic excuse for a woman. She tries to behave like a man, but she isn’t. She never could be. I showed you what a real man was, didn’t I? I will show you again, Lillian. You won’t forget this time.”
“Of course not. Should I call and let people know not to expect me home?”
Gripping the wheel, Syd hissed, “No, no. Your home is with him. Let him think that.” She squeezed the phone harder and again waited for an explosion. Parker covered her mouth and seemed to hold her breath until Ben spoke again.
“Who would be at our house, Lillian? It’s no one’s business where we are. Certainly not those horrible people you’ve been around. Surely you aren’t referring to them.”
“Of course not. I told you I wouldn’t associate with them anymore.”
“No, I told you! You remember who is in control here.”
It was all about control. Sexually violent predators were driven by control, something Syd knew too well. The longer Jenny was alone with him, the more dangerous the situation became. She began to formulate the next steps in her mind.
Ben’s breathing became louder. Syd feared if they could hear him, it meant he was closer to the phone and in turn, closer to Jenny.
“Your skin is very soft, Lillian. I always think of that. Maybe we should be reacquainted before we eat.”
Syd had heard enough. She pressed the phone in Parker’s hand and pointed to the approaching police cars stopping behind them.
“Go let them listen; tell them what’s happened so far. You need to brief them on everything.”
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Parker looked furious and adamantly gripped Syd’s arm.
“Listen to me. I won’t be in danger. We just need him to see me and want to go after me, so they can get Jenny away.” She jerked her head behind her, indicating the assembling law enforcement contingent barely a hundred feet away. She was running out of time before they would stop her.
“Oh, and that’s your idea of not being in danger?” Parker stared, clearly too angry to continue.
Sydney watched tears well in Parker’s eyes and held her shoulders. “Look at me. Jenny needs this. I’ll be safe, I promise. I need to know you’ll tell them everything so they can get him. Please, stay with them until I get back.”
Parker shook her head. “Sydney, what if he has a gun?”
“I don’t think he does. This guy has a history with knives. The reports say he has used a knife. Leanne told us he threatened her with a knife; the notes talk about knives. I promise I’ll come back without a scratch since I don’t plan on getting that close to him. I have an idea how to get him to walk away from Jenny, but you have to trust me and go fill them in. I’ll be right back.”
Parker shook her head. “Why does the universe keep reminding me that I could lose you in a second?” Parker repeated Sydney’s own words from not so long ago.
“Touché.” She tapped a kiss briefly on her mouth. “I love you more than anything. Go. Please.”
“I love you.” Parker stared as if willing herself to trust Syd’s words.
“Be right back, Park.” She kissed Parker more soundly and walked between the cars, shielding her movement. She heard her cue when Parker called out.
“Sergeant, you need to listen to this.”
Syd crouched around the gate and followed a wood line. The park consisted of a field surrounded by trees, and they would be easy to spot, assuming she could get there undetected by Ben Barrett and by the cops who would never have let her in.
Syd jogged through the thicket of pines skirting the small soccer field at the near corner and continued past a wooden shelter with benches and a rusty barbecue grill anchored in concrete. Just beyond the last pillar, two figures sat together. She recognized the color of Jenny’s dress. She moved carefully until she could hear and see them clearly. If he turned in her direction, he would see her, but she counted on him remaining focused on Jenny, who was arching awkwardly away from him as he was tilting his body closer to hers.
“Ben, wait.” Jenny’s voice was determined. “Don’t we want to wait until we’ve finished our dinner a
nd can be private? You said how upsetting it was to see people doing…that in public.”
“You had no problem baring your body for the dyke; how dare you refuse me?” Ben’s anger flashed as the sting of her rejection settled on him.
“I’m just so hungry, Ben. You know she never took me out to eat or did anything like what you’ve made us here.” Jenny was cleverly trying to harness his anger for Syd or Lillian’s partner or whoever he was focused on.
Syd was proud of her. She prayed Jenny would fight with everything she had before she let him touch her like that, though she had no intention of letting it get that far. Syd felt sick when he ran his pudgy fingers over her breast, and she fought the urge to run at them, abandoning her carefully planned strategy.
He seemed to shift his concentration from her body to her words.
“I told you she could offer you nothing. She is trash, and she turned you into a whore.” Ben’s voice was engulfed with the disdain he felt for his perceived girlfriend’s paramour. “You don’t know how good it would feel to slide this knife between her ribs or between her legs.” He stared far across the lawn as he fondled the hilt.
The words pricked at Syd’s skin. A few more seconds, she said silently.
When Jenny managed to force a smile, Syd heard his satisfied reply.
“You are finally appreciating me for what I have to offer, aren’t you?”
Jenny simply nodded her response.
“Ben!” Syd made her voice intentionally deep as it penetrated the dusk. The sound vibrated through the trees, and the leaves rustled in the wind that seemed suddenly harsh.
Ben grabbed Jenny by the hair and pulled her to her feet, holding the knife at her throat. Jenny seemed to search in vain for others walking with or behind Syd.
“What the hell do you want?” Ben trembled with what looked like rage.
“Ben, your last note said you wanted to deal with me. Is that right?” Syd walked deliberately toward the duo. She hooked her thumbs in her pockets, intending her casual, confident demeanor to enrage him even more.
“You turned my Lillian into a whore. You kept her from me and told her lies to make her go with you. I will deal with you, bitch.”
