Dan took her hand in his and squeezed. In a few short hours he had been transformed from family protector to feckless bystander.
Detective Becker spoke up. “Kelly, can you tell me when you left the house this morning to go running?”
Kelly took a sip of water and started slowly. “I, um, I left the house about seven. I ran a route that I often run, which is about five miles and takes me about forty minutes.”
“Do you normally leave your house at that time?”
Kelly was quiet for a moment, with her eyes gazing straight ahead. Dan, desperately wanting to help, answered for his wife. “She usually leaves around seven a.m. We are both morning people.”
“Does that sound about right, Kelly?” Detective Becker would have liked to hear the facts directly from the victim, but she realized here she would have to be satisfied with this approach.
“Un-hum,” Kelly murmured to show she agreed with Dan’s account.
“Are you pretty regular about your running times, though?”
Dan waited a moment to see if Kelly would answer. Then he looked from Kelly’s face to Detective Becker and started to answer for his wife again. “Yes, I guess so, except you know, when work schedules or kids’ stuff changes it.”
Detective Becker looked at Kelly for corroboration. Kelly nodded her head to show her assent. “Got it,” Detective Becker said as she kept scribbling. “What about your route?” Detective Becker sounded as if she were growing impatient. “Do you run past Breck’s Mill every time?”
Kelly continued to sit silently, holding her knees to her chest. Dan jumped in again, “She runs a few routes, but mostly one that takes her down by the river near Breck’s Mill.” Then he looked at Kelly. “Kel, is that right?”
Detective Becker tried to hide her frustration. “Kelly, I know this is very difficult for you and that you have been traumatized. I also know that you are feeling pretty banged up and exhausted right now. But please, try real hard to answer my questions, because it is the best chance we have at catching the guy who did this to you. He is still out there and we want to put him behind bars as quickly as possible.”
Exhausted, Kelly slid onto her back and looked up at the ceiling. She spoke slowly, licking her dry lips in between her words. “I’m a creature of habit. Most of the time I run that route.” Kelly sighed heavily, almost sleepily, before continuing, “I like the river and the woods, especially right by the falls and the mill.” Suddenly, Kelly put her hand up to her mouth and started crying again. “Oh, my God!”
Then Detective Becker’s questioning became urgent. “That’s where it happened, right, Kelly? It is really important that you tell me everything you remember!”
The room fell quiet for a moment as Kelly’s sobbing became softer and then subsided. Several agonizing minutes ticked off on the clock on the wall as Kelly lay in the bed, mute.
Dan realized his fists were clenched at his sides. He felt anger, like bile, rising up in him and he summoned all of his strength to suppress a scream. He could not stand it another minute. He was murderously angry at the brute that had done this to his wife. He had to know who this monster was—what he had done. He wanted all of the details! But Dan realized there was something else causing rage to boil up inside of him. He was angry with Kelly. He could not stand that she put herself in a position to get attacked in the first place. He resented how she always acted like she was immune to risk—a little too confident and a little too brazen. And now, his resentment boiled up in a tangled mass of emotions at his wife as she refused to cooperate with the police.
“I’m outta here!” Dan blurted out, startling Kelly. He immediately regretted his outburst when he saw the look on his wife’s face. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and waved it in the air. In a softer tone he said, “I mean, I am going to step out to call the girls. Okay?”
After Dan left the room, Detective Becker put her hand on the bed next to Kelly and spoke quietly. “Kelly, I need you to dig deep and do this for me. This is critical information we need so we can find your attacker, okay?”
Kelly thought of the smelly, grunting man who had hurt her, violated her and shattered her world. She put her hand up, signaling to Detective Becker that she needed her attention. “Yes.”
The detective took a little device out of her bag. “Then… I am going to record this if you don’t mind, so I get everything.” She placed a small tape recorder on the bed and turned it on.
Kelly started speaking quickly. “I was running along the river and feeling great. And all of a sudden, I felt this painful, sharp sting. It was like a piercing and then a burning, in the back of my right thigh.”
Becker interjected. “Where exactly were you when you got shot in the thigh?”
“I was just coming out of the woods and I was approaching Breck’s Mill, with the river on my left.”
“Did you see anyone before this happened?”
“Not that I recall. Sometimes I see people running or walking dogs in the woods. Sometimes I see people fishing in the river. But I don’t really remember seeing anyone there this morning.”
“Did you get a look at the object that caused the sharp piercing pain you described?”
Kelly nodded her head slowly. “I stopped and reached around. I saw a little dart sticking right out of the back of my right leg, just under my running shorts. It was metal, I think, but real thin—not like a dart you throw at a board.”
“Then what did you do?”
“I grabbed it and pulled it out. I looked around and didn’t see anyone, but I knew someone had shot me. I was really scared then, so I tried to run out toward the road. I just took a few steps and I felt really weak and dizzy… and then everything went black.”
Detective Becker paused for a moment. “That sounds pretty awful. You must have been terrified.” She put her pen down for a moment and looked at Kelly to register her empathy. “What is the next thing that you remember?”
Kelly paused for a moment before responding. “I woke up lying flat on my back on a very hard and uneven surface. I think it was a stone floor, because it was bumpy and cold. My hands were tied together behind my back, and maybe they were also tied to something… I’m not sure about that. I tried to get up but I couldn’t, even though my feet seemed free. I had a rough, scratchy blindfold over my eyes. I was shaking. I couldn’t stop shaking.”
“Did you know where you were?”
“No. I couldn’t see much, except for a little slit of light coming in where the blindfold gapped over my nose. So, if I moved a certain way, I could just see down toward my chest a little. I couldn’t figure out where I was, except I could hear a river moving nearby and I could smell earthy smells, like mulch or fertilizer or something like that.” Kelly stopped for a moment and closed her eyes, trying to remember the terrifying dark place where everything changed forever for her.
“Did you yell for help?” Detective Becker asked.
“No, I couldn’t, I had tape over my mouth. I remember being so scared because my nose was sort of stuffed up—I had this sour taste, like vomit, and I think that was making it difficult for me to breathe through my nose, too. I was terrified that I was going to suffocate there, and all I could think of was the fact that breathing through my mouth wasn’t an option. I was shaking all over and completely freaking out.”
“Now, this is going to get difficult, Kelly. I know it’s really painful to remember. But it is so important for our investigation. A clue might come from anything you remember, so please, bear with me.” Detective Becker looked at Kelly with her eyes practically begging.
“Okay.” Kelly wiped a tear that was slowly trailing down her cheek.
Detective Becker got her started again. “Did you hear anything other than the river?”
“No, except when he came in.” Kelly shuddered and caught her breath after she finished the sentence.
“How long do you think you were there before he came in?”
“I don’t know. Maybe
a few minutes after I woke up, but I was pretty out of it.”
“Tell me about him. What can you tell me about him and about what he did?” Detective Becker tried to keep Kelly’s recollections flowing while she had a chance.
Kelly took a few gulps of water while she prepared herself for this part. “I heard what sounded like a nearby door open, and then, for a moment, the sound of the river got louder. Next I heard the door close and then footsteps coming slowly, like the person was unsure. The footsteps got louder as he approached. They sounded like real shoes—you know, with real soles, maybe even a heel?”
“Good! Those are very good details.” Detective Becker encouraged her.
Kelly took another deep breath. She sat up a little in her bed again and Detective Becker hoped what she saw in her eyes was a look of determination.
“I heard what sounded like a metal belt buckle hitting the floor. Then my shorts and underwear were being grabbed at the waistband and yanked off. I started to wriggle and kick, but he was too strong, too heavy.”
“Did he say anything while you were kicking?”
“No, he never said a word.”
Detective Becker knew this was a critical juncture. She had to keep Kelly talking. “Kelly. Did he violate you then? Did he penetrate you?”
Kelly’s chin began to tremble and then she started to cry again. “Yes!” she sobbed loudly. “Oh, my God! He pulled me along the floor violently and then I felt him shove himself into me, between my legs. It was so awful! I just remember this whiteness coming through my head. I can’t explain it. It was like fear and rage and revulsion all blanketing my brain with static, or fog. Maybe my brain tried to take me somewhere else, but I had nowhere to go.” Kelly stopped speaking. She dabbed at her eyes with a wrinkled wet tissue.
“I am so sorry, Kelly. And I am so sorry that you have to re-live it here for me. You’re doing great, though.” Detective Becker gave Kelly a minute to collect herself and then she spoke softly. “Kelly, as an attorney, you can appreciate that everything I ask you has a purpose here. It is really tough stuff we are talking about, I know. It’s painful and terrifying to remember and it is awkward personal stuff. I hope you know I get that.” After a moment she began her questioning again. “Did he touch you anywhere else?” the detective asked.
“He was rough with me, you know, pinning me down, pulling me across the floor and he pushed so hard on my thighs, and it hurt so much. But that’s all I remember as far as the touching…other than his entering me.”
“Are you able to tell me about that part? Could you tell if he had a condom on?”
“I don’t know. I was just trying to hang on, to block it out. But the police and doctors have done exams, so they probably have an idea about whether he wore a condom or not.”
Detective Becker spoke softly, trying not to upset Kelly. “I can tell you that the initial gynecological exam and evidence collection led the doctors to believe there was a condom used. This means he probably was careful to not leave….uhm…. evidence behind.”
Kelly digested this fact. “Well, I guess that’s better for me, right?”
“Yes, better health-wise.” Detective Becker hesitated, “But unfortunately, it is helpful to us to have DNA evidence. There are other possible sources for that, and we are still analyzing your clothing, the ropes and tape, and anything else that might contain a clue to this guy’s identity.” Detective Becker gently refocused the conversation. “I have a few more questions about what you remember, okay?”
Kelly nodded.
“Did you ever hear his voice?”
“No. Except I did hear him grunting when he was, you know, attacking me.”
“And you could not see any part of him at all, correct?”
Kelly propped herself up in the bed so quickly it startled Detective Becker. “I did! I caught a glimpse of his hands when gave me a shot in my shoulder.”
The detective paused, trying not to sound excited. “Okay. This could be important. I want to know about everything you saw and then I want to hear about the shot.”
Kelly closed her eyes as she responded, as if she thought she could recall the memory more vividly without any distractions. “His skin was white and he had dark hair on his knuckles and on the back of his hand. And his hand was large, long and thick, like a big man’s hand.”
“Did you see anything else, a tattoo, a birthmark, jewelry?”
“Oh yes! He wore a big gold ring with a colored stone, the kind you get when you graduate from a school, or win a sports championship.”
“Did you see a sleeve or anything else?”
Kelly waited a moment to think. “No. I saw the hands go by under my nose and then I felt a sharp piercing again, like a shot, in my upper arm near my shoulder. I instantly felt very funny again. I just started shutting down. I was scared that I was dying. I really thought I’d never see my girls again, or Dan. Then everything went black.” Kelly caught a sob in her throat. She stopped for a moment and took a sip of water.
“I’m sorry to keep pushing you Kelly, but we’re almost done. What do you remember next?”
“I woke up in what felt like a different place. The ground under me wasn’t as hard and the river sounded much farther away. My wrists were still tied and I had the blindfold on, but the tape had been removed from my mouth.” Kelly closed her eyes for a moment and murmured, “Then I heard a woman’s voice. God, it made me feel safer immediately to hear a woman’s voice. She took off my blindfold and then I was looking up at tree branches and sky. I was lying in the middle of a path just past the bottom of Rockford Park.”
“Where, exactly?”
“Near the lawn where the dog park is. A woman was bent over me, trying to untie my hands and my legs and telling me over and over it was going to be okay.”
“Tell me about the woman.”
“She was a slender African-American woman, probably mid-twenties. She had long braids and an accent, like she was from the islands. She said her name was Jen. Then, after a few minutes, a man in a hoodie and a little dog came running toward us. He shouted something to us about not moving, and then he took a cell phone out of his pocket and called 9-1-1.”
“Can you describe the man?”
“He was average-to-tall with an athletic build, probably in his mid-twenties or so too. His sweatshirt had the name of a medical school on it. He was African-American, I think, or maybe bi-racial. He had short dark hair, his face was clean-shaven and he had no noticeable accent.”
“Had you ever seen these people before?”
“No, but I was sure glad to see them then. Soon after that, there were policemen and emergency medical technicians swarming around and I was being strapped onto a board and carried through the woods.” Kelly paused to rest and to take another sip of water. “I would like to see those people again and thank them.”
“They both came to the hospital after you arrived to see how you were doing. You were busy with doctors and evidence collection, but they answered my questions and they did get a chance to talk to your husband.”
“Where’s Dan? Where is my husband? He’s been gone a while.”
“He’s been standing right outside your door, and he’s looking worried. I shooed him away a few times, because it seemed like you were much more willing to talk when he wasn’t here.” Detective Becker attempted a smile.
Kelly looked away. “It is really hard to imagine that some man did this to me. He tied me up and just fucked me, violently, like he had a right to use my body for his deranged pleasure.” Kelly glanced at Detective Becker’s face to gauge her reaction. “And now it’s hard to even look at Dan. How can I talk about this in front of him?”
Detective Becker patted Kelly’s hand. “It’s very common for a rape victim to feel anger and guilt afterward. It’s so unfair though, since you were the victim. I hear that often in my work. I am not really equipped to help you cope with it though, unfortunately. But, victims that I have worked with have told me that the rape cri
sis counselor helped them tremendously with these feelings. Call her when you are ready, and let her help you. But right now, I am going to bring your husband in.”
Detective Becker left the room as Dan walked back in. “She’ll be okay, she’s a fighter,” the detective said. It was intended more to shore up Dan than to reveal Detective Becker’s true feelings about Kelly’s state. She knew from experience that Kelly’s healing process was going to be long and gradual, with twists and turns that no one could anticipate.
Dan strode over to Kelly with his hands in his jeans pockets, projecting a false sense of assurance. “Hey, babe,” he said as he arrived at her bedside. He bent down and kissed her gently on the forehead. “Is there anything I can get you? Do you want something to read? Something to eat?”
“Dan, I need to know what you told the girls? How are they doing?”
“Right now they are with your mom at home, getting pizza delivered and watching a movie. I told them that you got injured when you were running and that you hit your head pretty bad. Of course they want to come see you, but I told them they can’t come to the hospital.” Dan spoke the next words carefully, dreading her reaction. “I’ll go home for dinner with the girls and your mother can come visit you then. The doctors told me that you have to stay here tonight, because of the head injury. But you’ll probably be home tomorrow.”
“Oh, no,” Kelly started to cry again. “I want to go home.”
CHAPTER 10
MARIA: SEPTEMBER 25, 2011
A LOUD CONTINUOUS shrieking shattered Maria’s deep sleep. “No. It can’t be time to wake up,” she groaned. “The baby kicked and wiggled and had me up most of the night.”
Juan quickly reached to turn off the alarm clock, knocking the lamp off the night table. “It’s Sunday, baby. You can go back to sleep. I’m the one who has to work today.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Once that sweet baby comes, you will stay home in your pajamas and nap when he naps.”
Maria closed her eyes and tried to picture their baby sleeping peacefully beside her. Suddenly, the horror of the images from the day before flooded her thoughts. “Oh, my God!” She sat up suddenly.
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