Riley's Reckoning

by Claire Britain

  * * *

  Later that evening, Riley lay back and snuggled into Joanna’s arms on the couch when the breaking news of another woman’s dead body sent a shiver through her core.

  Police have confirmed the body of a young woman found this morning as another victim of the so-called Physician Killer. Forensics were able to obtain DNA evidence at the scene that matched the other victims. Police are still following leads but they say they are getting closer to apprehending the suspect…

  “Fuck, how does he keep doing this?” Riley asked. “Why can’t they get this guy, Jo?”

  Joanna turned off the television and pulled Riley tight into her chest, kissing her head.

  “They will, hon, they will get him.”

  Again, thoughts of how Riley could somehow lure the killer entered her head. She was tired of being isolated to the confinements of Joanna’s apartment. How many more women will be killed before he is caught? Or will he be caught? I have to do something, but what?

  Chapter Thirteen

  Alex had told Riley to stay off of her Facebook and other social media accounts, which just lead to more frustration the longer she was cooped up in Joanna’s apartment. At the end of week three, Riley could stand it no more. She at least wanted to see what her California friends were up to on the west coast, and really, it couldn’t hurt to log in and take a quick peek.

  Riley started scrolling through all the posts she’d missed and before long, she’d forgotten about the restrictions. She started liking some of her friends’ posts and posting her own comments.

  She began to notice comments and likes for some of her pictures and posts from someone she didn’t recognize, and an eerie feeling came over her, as she clicked on the contact, listed as nyrunner4678.

  Hmm, nothing much here, Riley mused to herself, as she scrolled through the handful of friends and profile information. It was a little odd the posts had started right after the flowers had come for her, right after the killer knew her identity. Could this be the killer? She debated whether she should tell Joanna and Alex but then her still tender behind served as a reminder she was not supposed to be on social media in the first place, and with that thought, Riley quickly dismissed the idea and logged out.

  Over the next few days, Riley snuck on to her account a few more times and an idea started to come to her. She changed some of her privacy settings so no one close to her could see her actively logged in, and began posting a couple of probing comments. Initially, it terrified her to think she may in fact be interacting with the same person who tried to kill her, but her overwhelming frustration of being pent up in Joanna’s apartment took over her fear.

  If she could somehow lure the killer to the park, she could call Carl and tell him she had decided to be the bait to try to trap the killer. She couldn’t involve Alex; she would just tell Jo right away, and Jo had already forbidden her to do it. Riley made up a few more fake profiles on Facebook and made them all mutual friends, having a common interest in running. She posted various pictures and articles on running, and started making each of her simulated characters talk to one another.

  Her plan seemed to work and as each of her fictional characters talked about personal bests and long runs, nyrunner4678 would like and give encouraging thumbs-up symbols. Riley stared at the screen for a long time, before she finally got the nerve to post her baited message.

  I’m finally free to run tomorrow, I’m doing the east loop at seven, anyone want to join me?

  Riley hit the post button, then immediately logged into her fictitious profiles.

  Sorry, Riley, no can do tomorrow, early class, maybe next time, Riley posted from Runrgrl3362, and more similar responses from her other fabricated friends.

  Riley’s heart was beating fast in her chest; she knew she was crossing some major lines and going back to the park on her own, knowing that the killer could be out there, terrified her. If it could lead to him being caught though, then surely part of it was the right thing to do? How many more women will die before they catch him? She would time it so Detective Tanner would be right behind her. She knew Alex didn’t usually work on Saturday, so she just needed to figure out how to sneak out without Jo knowing.

  * * *

  Joanna watched Riley across the table, moving her food around with her fork. She knew Riley too well and by her serious expression and distant demeanor, she was clearly preoccupied with something. The news of the latest victim had seemed to upset Riley more so than her own attack.

  “What’s wrong, hon, you’ve hardly eaten anything. Is something going on you want to tell me about?”

  Joanna saw the flush on Riley’s face after her question and her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

  “It’s nothing,” was all that Riley could seem to muster for an answer.

  “Riley, what’s going on, this isn’t like you?”

  “I don’t know; is this ever going to be over, Jo? I mean, this guy could have left the state, he could be anywhere. How long is this going to take? I haven’t left the apartment in over three weeks and I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

  Joanna reached across the table and took Riley’s hand in hers. She waited until Riley’s hazel eyes met hers and she brushed a strand of Riley’s light brown hair from her face with her other hand. “Let’s hope soon, Riley. Alex said they keep getting tips. The public have been coming forward and they know who he is now. He can’t hide forever. I just need you to stay safe until they get him, okay?”

  Riley’s eyes averted to the table.

  “Riley, is there anything else, you seem so…”

  “Shit, Jo, I’m just fucking over this!” she yelled, snatching her hand away and getting up to take her dish to the sink. “We have the interns starting at the office next week and I want to be there to kick off David’s new campaign with them. I can’t because some fucking psychopath is out there and I don’t…” Riley raised her voice, slamming her dish in the sink, as tears started to flow freely.

  Joanna rushed over to the sink; she could see Riley was about ready to explode. She put her arms around her shaking girlfriend and held her in a strong but comforting hug until she saw Riley’s fists start to unclench. “Shhh, baby, it’s going to be okay, I have you. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Just a little longer, okay?”

  Riley turned around and buried her head into Joanna’s shoulder.

  “Jo, I love you, I’m sorry,” Riley blurted out.

  “Oh, honey, you have nothing to be sorry for, I know this is hard for you. You’ve been doing great,” Joanna replied, holding Riley tightly.

  Riley pulled away and wiped her tears away in a frustrated manner. Joanna couldn’t quite put her finger on what was going on, as she watched Riley pick up her glass of wine and take it to the living room.

  The rest of the evening was much the same. Riley sat on the couch with a despondent look on her face and as much as Joanna tried to talk to her, Riley just replied with one-word answers, or didn’t seem to hear her at all.

  “Let’s go to bed, Riley, maybe you’ll feel better in the morning. Come on.”

  “Fine,” Riley replied, as she slumped into the bedroom.

  * * *

  Riley lay awake staring at the ceiling; there was no way she was sleeping. She was racked with fear and guilt and she needed to figure out how to sneak out without Joanna noticing. She had already stashed her running gear and put Detective Tanner’s number in her phone, but what if he didn’t answer? What if he didn’t make it to the park in time?

  Riley looked at the clock again and finally, at six-thirty she slid out from under the covers. Joanna would be awake and up soon, so she had to hurry. She turned on the shower in the master bathroom, so if Joanna did wake up, she wouldn’t suspect anything immediately. She quietly slipped out the bedroom door and changed into her running gear. Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the front door of the apartment and closed it gently behind her. Riley got off the penthouse elevators at the second floor an
d took the main elevator to the ground floor. Instead of walking to the lobby, she made her way around to the loading dock door. Before she exited the building, she made her phone call.

  “Tanner,” the voice answered on the other end.

  “Detective Tanner, this is Riley Carrington. Look, I’m sorry it’s short notice but I am heading to the park and I’m pretty sure the killer knows I’m going to be there, he’s been watching me online. He thinks I’m going to run the east loop.”

  “Wait, Riley? What? The park now? You can’t go to the park, it’s too dangerous and we have no one in place, you can’t just do it like that, kid. Let me call Alex, okay, and if she’s good with it we can maybe set it up…”

  Riley was getting frustrated. “Carl, listen to me, I’m going to the park now. You can come or not but there’s a good chance he’s going to be there. I’m at the apartment and leaving now, so I’ll be there in ten minutes. The east loop, can you please just come and arrest this prick, okay?”

  “Shit, no…” Riley heard, as she hung up the phone.

  Riley hesitantly made her way out the loading dock door and circled around the building toward the park. She starting jogging slowly; she wanted to give Carl enough time to get there.

  * * *

  Joanna rolled over, hearing her cell phone ring on the dresser. She glanced at the clock then at the name on her phone. Alex? She looked over at the empty spot next to her and then heard the shower in the bathroom.

  “Hi, Alex, it’s early, do you have news?”

  “Joanna, is Riley there? Carl just called and said she called him, said she was on her way to the park to run the east loop. He said something about setting up the killer to meet her from a Facebook post?”

  “What? No, she’s in the shower, I think, hold on.”

  Joanna flew out of the bed and flung open the bathroom door to find the shower stall empty, with the water running. A wave of panic engulfed her as she started putting two and two together.

  “Shit, she’s not here, the shower is on but she’s not here. What do you mean, she’s going to the park? I… I…”

  “I don’t know, Joanna, but Carl and some of the guys are on their way and I’m leaving now. I’ll call as soon as I know something.”

  “Shit, Riley, no! I’m on my way.”

  Before Alex had a chance to answer her, Joanna had hung up and was dialing Helen, as she frantically pulled on her clothes. Within five minutes, Joanna, Helen, and Kate were on their way to the park in Helen’s Jag, to find Riley.

  Joanna was a wreck, as she dialed Riley’s phone for the twelfth time. “She’s not answering her phone; I still can’t believe she would do this, but she was acting strange last night. Alex said something about her luring the killer with a Facebook post?”

  “I’m looking at her Facebook page now, there are a bunch of people I don’t know who have been talking to Riley about running,” Kate announced from the back seat, as they sped toward the park.

  Joanna turned around and looked at Kate anxiously as she studied her phone.

  “Yes, right here, there is a post saying she’s running the east loop today, at seven? Can’t see much else. Four people liked it, but I don’t know any of them and I know all of Riley’s friends here in New York.”

  “Sounds like she’s been planning this. Christ, Jo, how did you not know she was up to something?”

  “Helen, stop, none of us knew Riley would pull something like this, and it looks like she tried to block some of these posts. Let’s just concentrate on finding her, okay?” Kate admonished from the back seat.

  “You’re right, sorry, Jo,” Helen replied, as she looked over at Joanna who had tears streaming down her face, as she looked around frantically for Riley.

  Helen reached out and put a reassuring hand on her friend’s shoulder. “We’re going to find her, Jo. Shit, the road is closed. Now what?”

  “Helen, you can get around it there,” Kate said, pointing to a narrow opening around the barricade. “I’m calling the police station!” she announced from the back seat of the car.

  Before Kate had a chance to dial the number, the unmistakable sounds of gunshots resonated through the open windows of the car.

  “Oh, my god… that was gunfire… Riley’s in there,” Joanna stammered, her hands visibly shaking, as she covered her mouth in horror.

  In the side mirror, Joanna saw a police patrol car behind them, with lights flashing.

  “Ma’am, pull the car over. You are on a closed road,” Joanna heard from behind them.

  As Helen pulled the car to a stop, they were startled as two other police units sped past them with lights and sirens. Joanna leapt from the car, seeing a young male officer approach the car.

  “Ma’am, this road is closed… whoa, hold it right there!” he said, stepping back and putting his right hand on his weapon, his left hand motioning for Joanna to stop.

  “No, you don’t understand, my name is Joanna Armstrong. My girlfriend is in there, Riley Carrington, she called Detective Tanner, you have to let me in there. We heard gunfire, do you know what’s happening?” Joanna pleaded desperately.

  The young officer took a moment to take in what Joanna was telling him. “Look, all I know right now, ma’am, is two people have been shot, a female and one of our officers. The ambulance is on the way, that’s all I can tell you at the moment.”

  * * *

  Riley wasn’t running particularly fast, but her heart was pounding and her breath was ragged from fear, as she entered Central Park. She had her earbuds in her ears but no music playing through them. Every time a new person entered her purview or there was a sudden movement of the trees from the wind, she flinched in fearful anticipation of coming face to face with her attacker, his face now etched in her brain as she ran.

  Riley’s phone buzzed in her pocket, she knew it was probably Jo or Detective Tanner but there was no turning back now. She ignored the phone and continued her run. Her adrenaline-fueled senses were amplified and she started to feel like she was being watched from the brush up ahead. Her eyes scoured the foliage in front of her but she was careful not to make it obvious she was looking for something or someone. Please be Detective Tanner, she begged silently.

  She had run another fifty yards or so, before she was startled by movement from a tree on the right side, in front of her.

  “Gun!” she heard someone yell, just before she was knocked to the ground. Before she could figure out what was happening she recognized her assailant—it was Alex—and she crashed to the ground, just as two gunshots went off, back to back. Riley shook her head, trying to shake the ringing from her ears and looked over at Alex, who was lying in front of her. Riley was stunned, as she saw Detective Tanner rush over to a man lying on the ground, less than twenty feet away from her. He kicked a gun on the ground and rolled the man over, cuffing him behind his back. The man turned his head and Riley saw his face again, for the first time, since she was attacked. He grimaced in pain and Riley could see blood coming through his gray sweatshirt.

  In the commotion, Riley hadn’t noticed that Alex’s body lay motionless, on her side in front of her. She saw her gun lying on the leaves next to them.

  “Alex, we got him, that’s the killer!” Riley said as she reached over to get Alex’s attention.

  “Alex?” Riley questioned, as she felt warm, wet liquid on her hand. She pulled it away slowly and saw blood.

  “Fuck, Carl, Alex is hurt!” Riley screamed, as she crawled to Alex’s front.

  Carl scrambled over to where Alex was lying. “Shit,” he said under his breath, before keying his mike. “Unit two eleven, officer down, I repeat officer down, east loop past the pond, we need a bus stat. Ten/three on radio traffic.”

  Copy two eleven, standby, ambulance is rolling. All units stop routine transmission.

  Alex started to stir, as Detective Tanner tended to her. Riley looked on in shock when she realized what had happened. The killer had come for her, and Alex had been shot. />
  “Carl, is she going to be okay?”

  “Wh-what happened, did we get him? Is Riley okay?” Alex stammered, as she struggled to open her eyes.

  “Lie still, you’ve been shot, the kid’s okay, she’s right here. We got him but dammit, Denton, where the fuck’s your vest?”

  “There was no time, shit!” Alex said, straining to lift her head in an attempt to see the gunshot wound in her stomach.

  Carl pulled a handkerchief from inside his jacket pocket and covered the site where a steady stream of blood was oozing from Alex’s abdomen.

  “Let me help, what can I do?” Riley asked urgently.

  “Keep the pressure on, like this, you got it?” Detective Tanner asked anxiously before once again reaching for his radio.

  “Dispatch two eleven.”

  Two eleven, go ahead.

  “We have the suspect in custody with a GSW, roll another bus.”

  Copy two eleven, ambulance should be at your location in two.

  “Copy.”

  Riley could hear the sirens getting closer, as she focused on putting the pressure on Alex’s wound. Alex seemed to be losing consciousness, as the minutes agonizingly ticked by, until at last the paramedics arrived on scene.

  “Detective Alex Denton, GSW to the abdomen, you take care of her, that prick can wait,” Tanner said, motioning to the killer, who was still on the ground, writhing in pain.

  Riley backed away, as the EMTs went to work on Alex. She watched in shock as they loaded her into the ambulance.

  “Should I, can I go with her?” Riley asked, not really knowing what she should do as she started to comprehend the magnitude of what was happening.

  “No, kid, I’ll need you to come to the station and make a statement. I’ll make sure someone is with Denton.”

  “Can I make a phone call? I need to call Jo.”