“We’re going to catch him. But we need your help.”
“My help? Are you kidding?”
“You’re the only one who can help us right now,” Larry said.
“But how? What can I do?”
“You can cooperate with us. Help us catch him.”
She went back to her seat and sat on the edge. “By doing what?”
“Just what you’ve been doing,” Tony said. “Keep going to work, driving the same way home, letting him follow you.”
“Until what? He rapes me?”
“He won’t rape you. We can protect you. We need for him to think everything is normal. But if you help us plan this out, we can trap him.”
“So I’m the bait? Dangle me under his nose, and he’ll strike?”
Larry looked down at his shoes. “I’m afraid you’re the bait, anyway. We’re just trying to protect you.”
“No!” Beginning to cry, she shot up again. “I can’t do this. I’ll—I’ll move. I’ll go back and live with my mother.”
“What about your job? School? Don’t you think he’ll find you?”
She thought about that for a moment. “There’s a law. A stalking law, isn’t there? You could arrest him just for following me.”
“It wouldn’t hold him any amount of time,” Larry said, “if it stuck at all. He’s smart. He’s gotten off twice. We have to make sure that what we get him on is substantial enough to lock him up for a long time.”
She shook her head again and began to pace. “Maybe—maybe he’ll get discouraged if he can’t find me. I mean, why is he after me, anyway?”
“He’s sick. He’s picked you out, Karen. He likes blondes. He’s obsessed with you. If you change what you’re doing, you could throw him off for a few days, but there’s no guarantee that he wouldn’t catch up to you eventually. By then he’ll just be more desperate.”
“I can’t believe this!” she shouted. “I haven’t done anything to anybody. All I do is go to school, work, and study. Why would this happen to me?”
Larry got up and took a couple of steps toward her. “You can turn it around, Karen. Go from being the victim to being in control.”
She wiped her wet face with a trembling hand. “What would you do for me, if I did?”
“We’d have someone watching you twenty-four hours a day. We’d never let you out of our sight. When we think he’s about to strike, we could wire you with a microphone so we would know what was happening every minute.”
“But how far would things have to go before you arrested him?”
“At least far enough that there’s no question that he was going to do you bodily harm.”
Terror flooded her face as she shook her head violently. “I can’t do it. You’re asking too much.”
“We realize it’s asking a lot,” Tony said. “But there’s no other way.”
“Karen, he’s a threat to countless women out there,” Larry said, getting face-to-face with her. “One woman is dead because of him. He broke into her house and brutally raped her. Almost killed her. She wound up killing herself. I don’t even know how many others he’s raped. But he’s smart, so he’s still out there on the street. We need to get him, Karen. Right now, you’re the only one who can help us.”
Her breath caught on a sob. “I’m twenty-one years old. I weigh 105 pounds. I can’t fight him.”
“We’ll fight him. All you have to do is bait him.”
“But I’m scared!” she cried. “Let somebody else do it, a policewoman or something.”
“And what will you do?” Tony asked. “Move out of this apartment? Quit your job? Give up school? Are you going to let a maniac like this control your life?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Even if you did, would you ever know for sure that he wasn’t stalking you again? As long as he’s out there, he could come after you. He might find you, before we ever had the chance to catch him again.”
“I can’t do it!” she cried. “You’ll have to find another way. I’ll hide, if I have to. But I can’t do this!”
“Then what are you going to do?” Tony asked.
She thought about that as she looked frantically around the apartment. “I guess I’ll pack a few things and leave.” She ran back to her bedroom, pulled a suitcase out of the closet.
Larry came to the door of the bedroom. “Karen, just trust us. We’ll be there. We won’t let anything happen to you.”
“How can I know that?” she screamed. “It’s my life that’s at stake, not yours. If you mess up, let me down, it’s no skin off your nose! I—can’t—do it!”
Larry glanced over his shoulder to Tony. The look his partner gave him said this was hopeless. She was going to run, and Pendergrast would be thrown off. Sam would get impatient and close the case. On his own, Larry would have to haunt him night after night, waiting for another chance. Who knew when that would come?
Meanwhile, Melissa was sitting in jail, and Pendergrast was free, and the injustice of it all was overwhelming.
Larry leaned his forehead against the door casing as Karen ran around, grabbing the things she would take with her.
“Karen, this really good friend of mine—a woman I care a lot about—her sister was the woman who was raped and then killed herself.”
Karen slowed her packing and looked up at him.
A tear stole out of Larry’s eye, and he wiped it away. “He got away with it. Walked scot-free. My friend, Melissa, she’s sitting in jail right now because she tried to set it up to look like he’d raped her. She figured she’d have all the evidence they needed this time. He’d never walk free again. That’s desperation, Karen. She put herself in jeopardy, could have been raped or killed, to catch him. But it didn’t work out, and she finally wound up confessing. She’s in jail, Karen, and he’s out there somewhere, terrorizing women like you. He’s dangerous, and nobody’s going to stop him.”
She covered her face with both hands, and her shoulders shook with the force of her despair.
“If Melissa were here, she’d cooperate. She’d do anything, because she wouldn’t want even one more woman to be stalked and raped like her sister was. Melissa loved Sandy. She was pretty and blonde, like you. She had a new husband, and everything was going great for her. And one night, when she didn’t expect it, this man broke in and ruined her life. She couldn’t live with it. And she’s not the only one, Karen.”
“I scream when I see a roach,” Karen bit out as the tears soaked her face. “When the wind blows hard, I have nightmares. You’re not looking at a brave person.”
Larry took a few more steps into the room, his eyes beseeching. “Karen, the terror’s not going away just because you run. Wouldn’t you feel safer knowing that we’re with you? Watching you?”
“No,” she said, closing her suitcase and snapping it shut. “No, I wouldn’t feel safer. I have to get out of here.” She grabbed the suitcase up off the bed and dragged it into the living room. Leaving it at the door, she started gathering her schoolbooks. As she stacked the last one, she broke down. For a moment, she stood there with her books clutched in her arms, her eyes squeezed shut, and her shoulders rolling with the force of her sobs.
Larry touched her shoulder, but words escaped him.
“I don’t want to quit school!” she cried. “I’m almost finished. It’s not fair!”
“No, it isn’t,” he whispered.
“I like my job, and I like living here. How come he gets to ruin everything?”
“He doesn’t,” Larry said. “We don’t have to let him.”
She hesitated and looked up at him, and for a moment, Larry thought she might give in.
But instead, she opened the door and grabbed her suitcase. “I’m sorry,” she said.
Tony and Larry followed her out, watched her lock the dead bolt with her key, and Larry carried her suitcase down the steps to her car.
She was still crying when she got behind the wheel and looked up at him. “I’m sorry. Call m
e a wimp. I just can’t do it.”
“I understand,” Larry said. “Just be careful, okay?” He pulled a card out of his pocket. “If you need to get in touch with me, call these numbers. You’ll catch me at one of them.”
She took the card, looked down at it, then nodded and sucked in another sob. “I have to go,” she said.
Larry backed up, and she closed the door.
She backed out of the parking space, and sped out into the street, leaving them standing there alone.
“Now what?” Tony asked.
Larry shook his head and sighed. “I don’t know. I honestly have no idea.”
“Maybe she’ll change her mind.”
Larry thought about that for a moment. Somehow, he didn’t think so.
Slowly, he walked back to the car without saying a word.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Larry was one of the first ones to show up Saturday for visitors’ day. He waited outside for the group to be let in, and let his eyes sweep over the other family members and friends who were waiting to see loved ones. A young woman who looked no older than seventeen stood with a baby on her hip, a toddler at her knees, and a hyperactive three-year-old running up and down the sidewalk, refusing to heed her warnings to stay by her side. Larry wondered if she was the children’s mother, or just keeping them while their mother served time.
A man who looked as if he’d just crawled out of bed sat on a step of the jail with two little girls—one on each side of him, holding his hands. Had they come to see their mother?
And then came a small, quiet man alone; and two women together; and more children.
Did they all feel as forlorn as he did, coming here to see what the justice system had done to the person they loved? Ironic, he thought, that he would feel like this, when he was often the one putting them behind bars. But he had never seen the pain from the other side.
The doors opened, and they all filed in. One by one, they were searched for items that were against the rules. Larry set the bag of books he’d brought Melissa on the table. As he waited for them to search him, his heart recalled the despair he’d felt yesterday when he had searched the stores for something that he could bring her—something that would lift her up, give her strength, help her to feel God’s mercy and grace. He had sat in his car and wept because he’d been unable to find anything other than books—so impersonal, so benign.
“All right,” the guard said, shoving the bag of books back across the table. “These are fine. Just go that way into the rec room.”
Larry followed the flow of people into the big room. Since this wasn’t a maximum security state penitentiary, there were no glass booths to talk through. They could sit at the same table, touch, hold hands, and he could hold her if she cried.
That, he supposed, was something he should be thankful for.
He waited with sweaty palms as one of the guards ran down a list of rules for visiting.
Most of these people were regulars, like he would be, he thought. Even the small children knew the rules and the routine.
The doors opened, and one by one the prisoners came in, some with hugs, others with cross words, others with a dull expression that said they didn’t care who visited, because no one really mattered. He watched hopefully, expectantly, each time the door opened, and when Melissa didn’t come right away, he began to wonder if she was going to refuse to see him. She had told him not to come. What if she’d really meant it?
His heart was sinking lower when twenty or more inmates had been brought in, and Melissa still wasn’t among them. Abandoning his bag of books on the table, he walked over to the guard.
“If she didn’t want to see me, would they come tell me, or would they just let me sit here and wonder?”
The guard’s eyes fell on the door, and he asked, “Is that who you’re looking for?”
Larry turned around and saw her at the door. She was wearing her orange jumpsuit and looking timidly around for him. He started toward her, noting how pale she was, how tired she looked. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore no makeup—as some of the other inmates did. She looked like a fragile sixteen-year- old rather than the gutsy twenty-three-year-old who’d almost beaten Edward Pendergrast. But he’d never seen a more beautiful sight in his life.
She saw him and started toward him, and he met her halfway and threw his arms around her.
For a moment, he just held her and felt her body shaking as she began to cry. Then, quickly pulling herself together, she let him go.
“Let’s go sit down,” she whispered.
He led her to their table and set the books on the floor. Taking her hand, he looked into her eyes to see what he could read there. “You look great,” he whispered.
“I’m okay,” she said. “Really. It’s not so bad.”
“Are you getting along okay? With the others, I mean?”
She took in a deep, ragged breath. “Yeah.”
She was holding back, he thought. She wasn’t going to share much. “Do you have a cellmate?”
She nodded and looked around. Chloe was across the room with a man who must be almost six feet, but still shorter than Chloe. They were standing and talking quietly. “See that woman over there? She’s my cellmate.”
Larry’s heart plummeted again. She looked like a linebacker—a linebacker in a bad mood. “Do you two get along okay?”
Melissa looked down at the woodgrain on the table. “I stay out of her way. Try not to make too much noise.”
He was getting alarmed, and he cupped her chin and made her look at him. “Melissa, has she been harassing you?”
There was honesty in her eyes when she answered. “No. Thankfully, she’s kind of left me alone.”
“What about everybody else?”
Her eyes teared up, and she looked down at the wood again and tried to rub off a spot. “Well, I haven’t met Miss Congeniality yet. I’m still looking for her. This isn’t the best place to make friends.”
He watched as she clasped her hands, and he saw the burn across her fingers. “What’s this?” he asked.
She covered the burn and withdrew her hand. “I burnt myself on an iron. I work in the laundry. It’s no big deal. I did it myself.”
He wasn’t sure she was leveling with him; carefully, he took her hand and examined the blisters. “Have you put anything on it?”
“I told you, I’m fine,” she said. “Now, can we change the subject? Let’s talk about you. You look tired. Are you sleeping?”
“Of course,” he lied, though he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had more than two hours’ sleep at a time. Even though Karen had disappeared yesterday, Larry had followed Pendergrast last night to see what he would do. He had sat outside her apartment most of the night, waiting for her to come home. When she never did, Pendergrast had finally given up.
He rubbed his hand across his jaw and told himself he should have shaved for her. He had been so anxious to see her that he had only taken time to shower.
“Are you growing a beard?”
He tried to smile. “Looks like it.”
She wasn’t buying his “everything’s fine” routine any more than he was. “Larry, tell me what’s going on.”
He sighed and decided there was no point in hiding the truth. “I’ve been following Pendergrast. Watching him.”
Behind them, an inmate and her lover became embroiled in an argument, and their profanities were gaining volume. Melissa seemed not to notice. “Really? You’re watching him?”
“Yeah.” He lowered his voice. “He’s been stalking another girl. I’m afraid to let my guard down for a minute.”
“So what are you doing? Following him around the clock?”
“Something like that,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at the loud couple. “But I’m thinking that may change pretty soon. The girl’s onto him now, so she’s kind of disappeared. As soon as he realizes it, he’ll give up and look for somebody else.”
“How do
you know she’s onto him?”
“I told her. I wanted her cooperation, so we could catch him, but she balked and ran.”
Across the room a baby in a carrier wailed, and its tired mother ignored it. “What if you used somebody else?” Melissa asked. “Put another girl in her place.”
“The problem is that it’s a little touchy. He’s watching her. We can’t replace her at work, because he’ll know. We could pull a switch as she gets into her car, but even then, the minute he gets close enough to see her, he could back off. I can’t catch him and get enough to convict him until he does something. And if he balks and cans the whole thing, I may not be around the next time he tries this. No, the only way was to get her cooperation. Now I’m almost wishing I hadn’t told her.”
“You had to. You couldn’t let her walk into this blindly.”
“That’s how I felt yesterday. Today, I’m not so sure.” He looked up at her with a half-smile. “I was really hoping I could bring some good news in here today. I wanted so much to tell you he was in jail.”
“Larry, I want him caught too. But I don’t want you killing yourself to do it. You’re exhausted.” She folded both arms on the table and fixed her troubled eyes on him. “Don’t let anything happen to you, okay?”
He nodded his promise.
The CO crossed the room and reprimanded the angry couple behind them. Melissa swallowed and looked around at the other inmates interacting with families she didn’t know they had. The room was quickly filling up with cigarette smoke and more crying babies, and she wished she and Larry could go outside together, breathe the fresh air, feel the sunshine. But that wasn’t possible. She moved her troubled, timid eyes back to his. “You know, I really didn’t expect you to come today. I knew my parents were coming this afternoon, but you were a surprise.”
“Why? Didn’t I tell you I would?”