by David Archer
I asked her to call the sheriff’s office and let them know that she could describe the suspect in Charles Orloff’s murder, and to say that she was caling at the request of the Tulsa Police. I didn’t feel like I was lying, since I was sure Alicia would have asked if she knew.
Juanita agreed, and I got off the phone. I called Alicia to relay that last little tidbit, and she promised to back Juanita up with the Pima County Sheriff.
That pretty well used up all of my ideas for the moment. I finished off my coffee and rinsed the cup, and then I sat in the apartment until nine thirty, trying to give the impression that I was waiting in the hope that Stan was late, just in case he was watching the building. I had very little doubt that he was, and the longer I sat there, the more I began to believe that there was no way he was going to make his move out of his normal pattern. I decided to act as normal as I could, in the hope that he’d see me as exactly what I was claiming to be: a young woman who was unhappy and at his mercy.
At just past nine thirty, I grabbed my coat and went down the stairs. I walked directly to the Toyota and got into it, started it up, and backed out of my parking space. I drove west, headed towards the outskirts of the city, and watched everywhere I could for any sign that I was being followed.
TWENTY
There wasn’t any obvious sign of a tail, but I couldn’t be absolutely certain of that, so I drove out toward Oakhurst. There were a couple of good thrift shops out there along with lower prices at the grocery stores, and I wanted to do a little shopping anyway. I’d learned about shopping there from some of my clients at the Outreach, who went all the way out to the suburb so they wouldn’t run into friends and neighbors while the bruises were fresh.
I stopped at the Super Thrift and walked around for a bit inside. The place had some surprisingly nice furniture, and I got the impression that they must visit the rummage sales in the more affluent neighborhoods. The prices weren’t bad at all, and I picked up a nice four-slice toaster for only eight dollars, then spotted an old waffle iron like the one my grandmother used to use when we visited her place in Kentucky. It was big, like a foot square, and it was only ten dollars, so I bought that as well.
The Quality Thrift Store was another treasure trove, and I found a coffee cup there that had “I’ve Been Through The Fire” printed on it and I couldn’t resist it. Maybe it was because of Allen Kennedy’s comments about “refining fire,” but it just seemed to fit with the way I viewed things. I couldn’t wait to show it to Dex, because I knew he’d get it.
By the time I got finished there it was getting close to eleven-thirty, and lunch seemed like a good idea. I spotted an Arby’s and went inside to eat, which killed another half hour. I started to take out my phone and call Dex, but the place was pretty busy and I wouldn’t know Stan if he stepped up right beside me, so I decided to wait until I got back into the Toyota.
“Hey,” he said as he answered a bit later. “How’s it going?”
“Boring,” I said. I had it on speaker and was keeping the phone down out of sight, just in case I was being observed as I drove back toward the city. “Been doing a little shopping, that’s all. What about you?”
“I’m sitting here listening to Alfie cuss out his computers when they don’t tell him what he wants to know. Were you aware that you can profiscate a hard drive?”
I wrinkled my nose. “What does profiscate mean?”
“I googled it, and the only thing I can find is that the latin root word, profisca, means republic. So I’m just as confused as ever. I take there’s been no sign of you know who?”
“Nada. I’m just cruising around and killing time. I’m pretty sure he’s watching me somehow, but I haven’t spotted anything. What do you want for dinner tonight? I’m about to go by Walmart, I can pick something up.”
“Hmmm. You know what I’ve got a taste for? A plain old cheeseburger. We got everything at the apartment for that, don’t we?”
I smiled. “Yeah, I think so. I’ll grab some potato chips to go with, okay?”
“Sounds good. I’m gonna get out of here and go to my place for a while, take care of that feline of yours. I’ll be there around six, like always.”
“Okay,” I said. “See you then.”
I stopped at Walmart and picked up the chips and a few other items, then remembered the waffle iron and bought a mix to use in it. I decided to surprise Dex with homemade waffles for Sunday breakfast, and then I threw another package of bacon into the cart.
And then all I had was time. I wandered around the store for a while, and managed to find a couple of pairs of pants I liked, and a couple of shirts to go with them. I looked longingly at the lingerie, but I didn’t think Dex needed lace and fringe to make me desirable to him. Heck, I couldn’t even figure out what it was about me he desired, but that was one thing I’d never doubted. Even when we were just hooking up, back in the beginning, the man couldn’t keep his hands off me once we were alone.
I thought at first that it was just sympathy, or maybe empathy would be a better word to use. I thought he was showing me he wanted me because we’ve both got burn scars, but I don’t think that was it. Dex is the kind of guy who doesn’t see just what’s on the outside; he told me once that it wasn’t what he saw that he wanted, so much as what he sensed. When I asked him to explain, he said that when he was with me, he could close his eyes and hear another woman inside me, one who was lonely and loving and who only wanted someone to know she was there.
Of course, I told him he was crazy, but the truth was that there were many times I felt the real Cassie was locked up inside me, and screaming to get out. And the only times I ever really felt like she got out of her cage was when I was wrapped around Dex, and he was showing me that my burns didn’t diminish my womanhood in the slightest.
I think that was what made me fall for him, the fact that he didn’t care what I looked like. It didn’t hurt that he found the mask just as fake as I did, of course; knowing that he’d rather kiss me without it made me feel beautiful in a way no one else would probably ever understand.
I glanced at my “Emily” phone to check the time and saw that it was past two, so I took all my selections to the front, paid with my “Emily” credit card and pushed the cart out to the Toyota. I loaded it all into the back seat and closed the door, and was about to get in when I heard a voice behind me.
I shoved my hand inside my coat and grabbed the turtle, then spun around to find a nice-looking young man, somewhere around my age, smiling at me.
“Hey,” he said, smiling, “I didn’t mean to startle you. I just wanted to ask if you’ve ever thought about acting.”
I managed to shove down the panic that had erupted inside me when he’d approached out of nowhere. “Acting? Well, not since high school.”
Still smiling, he handed me a computer-printed business card that read, “Tulsa Thespian Society.” “I’m Matt Cooper,” he said. “I couldn’t help noticing you, and I thought you’d be perfect for a part in our next play. If you’d be interested, I’d love to introduce you to the rest of the group...” He was watching my eyes, and I suddenly realized he was waiting for me to give him my name.
“Emily,” I said. “Emily Keeler. Listen, I appreciate it, but I’m not sure I’d be any good at...”
“Oh, come on,” he said, “give it a try. I never thought I’d want to be an actor, either, but it’s really a lot of fun, and every once in a while one of our people gets a shot at something bigger. Didn’t you ever dream of being a movie star?”
“Me?” I asked, bursting out with a laugh. “Oh, no. I did one play in high school, but that was only because I had a choice of Drama Club, Ham Radio or the Mathematic Academic Team, and none of the others were anywhere near down my alley.” I tried to hand the card back but he pushed it away.
“Just keep it,” he said. “Maybe one of these days you’ll feel like giving it a whirl, and if you want to know more about it, just give me a call. I wrote my number on the back, see?” H
e took my hand and turned the card over.
I gave him a slightly scoffing expression. “Look, Matt,” I said, “you’re probably a great guy and all that, but I’m afraid I’m already...”
His eyes shot wide open. “Oh, no,” he said quickly. “I’m sorry, you thought I was trying to hit on you? I’m not, I swear, I honestly just thought you have the kind of looks that ought to be on a stage. Besides, if I were to ask you for a date, my boyfriend would get really, really pissed.”
Oh, good grief, Abby’s voice said, he’s freaking gay? Why is it so many good looking guys are gay?
I managed not to laugh, but just barely. “Oh, Matt, I am so sorry,” I began, but he brushed it off.
“Don’t be, Emily,” he said. “It should have occurred to me that someone as beautiful as you would get guys hitting on you all the time, so it was a natural assumption. I’m the one who should be apologizing, not you. But seriously, think it over, okay?”
I grinned. “Okay, I’ll think about it,” I said. I almost added a question about whether they had any zombie or monster plays coming up, but then I’d have had to explain, so I waved and got into the car.
I pulled out of Walmart’s parking lot and got onto 81st Street, heading east, and started watching for a tail out of habit. I saw a white van pull out a couple of cars behind me, but I hadn’t noticed one before so I didn’t think much of it. I followed 81st for a block or so, then turned left to head back north, toward the apartment.
I saw the van turn behind me a moment later, and I noticed that it let a couple more cars get between us before it made the turn. Traffic was light, and the driver had to sit and wait a moment to get that far back, so I started glancing at the rear view mirror now and then to keep an eye on it.
I was on South Peoria, and there was a shopping center ahead on the left, so I put on my signal and moved into the turn lane. I watched the van as I came up to the turn and it went on by, but after I made the turn I looked to my right and saw it turn into the next entrance. A chill went down my spine, and I kept looking its way as I went toward the grocery store at the back of the shopping center.
The van also went toward Target, but it parked out on the fringe area of the lot. I watched it in my mirror for a minute, but no one got out, so I stepped out of the car and walked into the store.
Once I was inside and behind the one-way glass at the entrance, I turned and looked toward the van again. It sat where it was, and still no one got out of it. I decided it could be a coincidence, but my gut was telling me that it was Stan, and he was watching me.
I turned around and found that I was right beside the frozen foods section so I grabbed a cart and hurriedly tossed a few items into it. Every time I passed the windows, I glanced as casually as I could out toward the van, and it was still there, so I cut my shopping short and headed for the checkout line. The van was in the same spot as I came out, and I did my best to watch it only with my limited peripheral vision as I put my two bags in the car, then got back in and headed out.
For a brief moment, I thought about calling Alicia, but I decided against it. First, I couldn’t be one hundred percent certain this was Stan the Strangler, and I didn’t want to look silly if we stopped the guy and found out he was just coincidentally going the same way as me. More than that, though, was the feeling that I needed to face this monster. I had the turtle, and it would call for help when I needed it. I would wait and be sure.
I turned back onto Peoria and saw the van make the turn a few seconds later. There was enough traffic now that the driver didn’t have to wait to maintain his distance, but I wasn’t worried about that. I made my next turn onto 15th to take me toward the apartment building, followed by a couple more to get around the block and into the parking lot, and the van managed to stay just within sight of me the entire time.
I couldn’t believe he had only stumbled on me by accident, so Stan must have followed me as I left that morning. I would have bet that there was no van that tailed me, though, so I had to assume that he’d had his accomplice follow me first in a different vehicle, or maybe they only met up and switched while I was in Walmart. However he had done it, there was no doubt in my mind that I was being stalked, just as the other women must have been.
I got to the apartment building and tried to act normal as I carried my bags inside and up the stairs. As soon as I entered the apartment, I dropped everything and called Dex.
“He’s following me,” I said as soon as he answered. “A white van, just like the one the security video got.”
“Is it outside now?” he asked.
“I’m not sure, I came in as soon as I got here, but it was about a block behind me when I pulled in. Should have been around the corner of 16th and Quaker.”
“Okay, stay inside. I’m calling Niles, maybe one of the cops can swing by there and see if they can eyeball him.” The line went dead, and I started putting away the groceries.
It was almost twenty minutes later when my phone rang. It was Dex calling, so I answered immediately.
“Hey,” I said. “Any luck?”
“Just a second,” he said, and I heard some clicking. “I think I got it. We’re on a conference call, Cassie, I’ve got Niles, Knowles and Alicia on the line.”
“Oh,” I said, and I started getting excited. “Did you find him?”
“Afraid not,” Niles said. “There’s no white van anywhere in the area that we can find. I don’t think we spooked him, because we’re all in our private vehicles, but we’ve made a couple passes through the neighborhood each and don’t see anything suspicious.”
“Well, dammit,” I said. “I know I saw the van following me, I’m certain of that. Is there anyplace he could have hidden it around here? A garage or something?”
“I didn’t see anything. Anyone else?”
“Nothing I thought could hide a van,” Knowles said. “Plenty of places a man could hide, though. It’s possible one of them dropped the other off to continue watching.”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Alicia said. “We can’t afford to keep driving around here, if he sees the same three cars it’ll make him wonder why. On the other hand, he didn’t try to make a move, so Cassie is probably right and this is just his surveillance routine. He seems to stalk his victims for a couple of days before he grabs them. Unless something changes, she’d be due to be snatched on Monday, right, Cass?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I still think that’s our best hope, just to wait till he comes after me and try to track where he takes me. If he’s working the way he’s done in the past, then we know he’s got someplace he’s taking the women to where he can keep them alive while he tortures them. That’s what we’ve got to find.”
“I agree,” Niles said. “I think we need to keep ourselves ready over the weekend just in case, but I think the action is gonna hit on Monday. The only good thing is that we at least have sketches of the main suspect, now.”
“Wait, what? Sketches?”
Alicia answered me. “Yes. Turns out your friend Juanita not only has a memory for faces, she can draw like Leonardo da Vinci. She went to the sheriff in Tucson and gave them a couple of drawings she made of the guy who was impersonating Charles Orloff. We just got them about an hour ago, I’ll send one to your phone when we get done.”
“Cool,” I said. “I had a hunch the uncle was Stan, but when she said it was his voice she heard on the recording I played, I was pretty certain of it. I’m glad she was able to help.”
“Anyway,” Dex said, sounding a little exasperated. “So, is there anything else we should do in the meantime? Before Monday?”
“Yeah,” I said. “We keep up our act and make sure we’re all set for the big event!”
He snorted. “You make it sound like a wrestling match,” he said. “Cassie, I wish you’d take this all a lot more seriously. This whole thing could get you killed if it goes wrong.”
“And as you pointed out to me recently,” I said, “if it’s my time to go, nothing
is gonna stop it. I have to do this, Dex. As it stands right now, I’m about the only chance these women have of coming out of this alive, and I’m not giving up until that happens.”
He sighed. “I know,” he said flatly.
We got off the phone and I puttered around the apartment for a bit. There were still well over two hours before Dex should be here, so I made sure the place was clean and then went to sit down and watch a little TV.
I didn’t get that far, because there was a knock on the door. I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard it, but then I gripped the turtle in my bandaged left hand and went to pull it open as far as the chain would allow.
“Hey,” Donna said, looking at me nervously. “How are you doing?”
I smiled, then closed the door and took off the chain. I’d completely forgotten that I’d invited her over, but it struck me as the perfect time to let her in and have the conversation I knew was coming. When I opened the door and stood aside, she smiled a little brighter and came in, then joined me at the kitchen table.
“I’m doing okay,” I said, trying to sound like one of my clients. “Some days are better than others, of course.”
She looked at the bandage on my hand and then flicked her eyes back up to mine. “What happened?” she asked. “And don’t give me the usual excuses...”
I laughed. “This one,” I said, waving the hand in front of her face, “was all me. Did you know that a cast iron skillet gets hot if you forget it’s in the oven when you set it to preheat? I was getting ready to put a turkey roast in and saw it, and dummy me, I didn’t think before I grabbed the handle. It’s not as bad as this makes it look, but I wrapped it up so the burn cream can do its job better.”
She looked into my eyes for a second, then relaxed. “Sorry,” she said. “I’ve been through enough to think the worst when I see a bruise or a bandage. Sort of like the nurses at the ER, they never believe the stories about walking into the door or falling off a chair, either.”