by Robin Janney
“You’re telling me, you had to take all my jewelry?” the other woman asked, her voice angry. “Will I ever get any of it back?”
She didn’t know how to answer. “It’s possible, but Miss Carman…Angela, most of it’s covered in Flynn’s blood.”
“Fuck,” the young woman muttered. Angela slammed her suitcase shut, kneeling as she struggled to get it closed. She pounded the side of the suitcase. “Why? I don’t understand why!”
Erica stepped into the room, squatted next to the upset woman. She was vaguely aware of Moore coming to the doorway. “I don’t know, and I’m sorry. But jewelry can be replaced. Clothes can be replaced. If we can get you through this alive, I think that’s what’s important, don’t you?”
Her breathing was hard, but Angela had stopped pounding her suitcase. “Do you know what I did to Derek? How I stopped him from raping me and hurt him?” At her nod, Angela continued. “Is that what’s caused this? Should I have let him rape me?”
“Absolutely not!” The very thought distressed Erica. Her own experiences were far different from Angela’s, but the policewoman had seen too many rape victims to allow the other woman’s line of thought to turn into regret for protecting herself. “Angela, be honest – what do you think would have happened if you hadn’t stopped him?”
Angela bit her bottom lip and sat back on her heels. “I’d have ended up married to him. He’d have owned me.”
“And do you think things would be that much different from where they are now?” she asked. “Yes, he’s threatening you and you’re scared. He may have killed a man in your bedroom. But if you’d ended up married to him…”
“It would be a lot worse.” Angela sniffed, wiped a drip of snot off the end of her nose with the back of her hand. She grimaced and wiped her hand on her jeans. “I know. You’re right. It’s just…it’s silly, I know. Some of the jewelry were gifts from people who are dead now.”
“And I’m sorry they’re gone. Maybe they’ll be salvageable, I don’t know. I’m sure your boyfriend can help you get them cleaned if they mean that much to you.” Erica patted her shoulder. “Now, let’s get this finished up and get out of here.”
“Right.” Angela opened the suitcase again and sorted through the items again. “Dodge damn well better give me my security deposit back. This isn’t my fault.”
“I’m sure he will.”
Erica watched as the girl reduced the clothes to fewer items. Undergarments and socks, a green dress, two pairs of jeans and a couple shirts and sweaters. She started to close the suitcase, then stopped.
“Wait.” She turned her head to look at something at the wall. Erica followed her gaze to the dreamcatcher above the dresser. “They didn’t have to take it?”
“No. There was no blood there, so no reason to.” Erica rose to her feet as the other woman did the same. “You can take it.”
Angela nodded as she took it off its hook. “It was a gift from my sister,” she explained, bringing it to the suitcase and placing it on top of the clothes. Closing the suitcase, she lifted it. “I just want to go through my books on the table. I’d rather not have to buy new school books next fall and some need to be returned to the library.”
“Fair enough.” Erica allowed her to pass, seeing Moore drop a kiss on the other woman’s forehead. In the kitchen, Angela began stuffing books into her backpack. And then the phone rang. “Let it go to the machine.”
Angela nodded and grabbed her address book from under the ringing phone. The answering machine clicked on as the young woman crossed to the refrigerator for the books sitting on top.
“Hello Angela,” came Derek’s natural voice. “And Mr. Moore. And Trooper Stevens. How are we all doing on this sunny afternoon?”
Angela dropped her recipe books on the floor even as her boyfriend moved the heavy curtain covering the window in the door to scan the outside area. Erica had her cellphone out, already asking dispatch to trace the call.
“You won’t find me out there, Mr. Moore…I like to spy just like you do. Mr. Moore…can I call you Craig? I feel a kinship with you, we both want the same woman. Tell me, Craig, are you enjoying having my ugly little bitch in your home? She was mine long before you butted in. I know I would love the easy access to her…I’d be catching my hands in her long hair, running my hands up and down her soft body…Has she given out to you yet, or is she still playing hard to get? She likes that game. But then, from what I can see…you’re the one always walking away from her. I guess you don’t like used goods.”
Both Craig and Angela moved towards the phone.
“Don’t!” Erica instructed. “I’m trying to get it traced. I want to know where he’s at!”
“You can try, Trooper Stevens…” came over the machine next, as if he’d heard her. The caller laughed. “There are others who pay better than Crane does, and some of us have switched loyalties. I have really enjoyed watching you, Angela…the tears you’ve shed over your pathetic farm, the sleep you’ve lost agonizing because your baby sister hates you…I’ve seen it all…I especially like watching you touch yourself in the shower, those little sounds you make trying to be quiet…”
Moore lifted the phone up and down quickly. “She doesn’t need to hear that.”
Erica nodded in agreement. No one needed that. “Did you get anything?” she asked the dispatcher on the other end of her cellphone.
“Just enough to know it’s coming from the same building,” he told her. “If I were you, I’d get them out of there. Backup’s on the way. I’m letting Crane know.”
“Right.” Erica flipped her cellphone shut, knowing she couldn’t tell the couple what she’d just learned. She just had to get them out of here. “He was right. We didn’t get anything.”
From the spot on the floor where Angela had dropped, she asked, “You work for my…for Everett Crane?”
The girl was shaking, and her face red with embarrassment. Her boyfriend seemed a little out of sorts too. He hadn’t moved to comfort Angela like she’d seen him do before. “I do. And my loyalty to him has nothing to do with money. I think you two should get out of here.”
Moore nodded. “Come on, Angela.” He crossed to her and held a hand out. When she didn’t even look up, he bent over to her and whispered in her ear. She nodded fervently and allowed him to help her to her feet.
“Just let me finish packing my books. I’ll be quick.” Grabbing the fallen recipe books off the floor, the young woman slammed them into her backpack.
“If I were you,” said Moore coming to stand next to Erica, his voice low. “I’d get your crime scene unit back out here and sweep for electronic surveillance. Her doors had no locks until just recently, he could have been in here any time she was gone.”
Erica nodded. “I won’t leave until they get here, make sure they don’t try to remove anything.” She cleared her throat. Just in case they were still listening, she also said, “Backup’s on the way and I have my off-duty piece, so I almost hope he tries something.”
Moore nodded and turned towards his girlfriend. She stood at the end of the table, her backpack over her shoulder and her suitcase in her hand. She was still shaking, and Erica suspected Moore was going to have his hands full once they were away from here.
“I liked it here,” Angela was saying, sorrow in her voice. “And I can never come back. At least Maggie won’t have to worry about me waking her up in the middle of the night because of nightmares.”
“Let’s go,” Moore said again, draping his arm around her shoulders.
As soon as the couple was out the door, Erica had her off-duty piece in hand. Better safe than sorry.
K evin and Sherry were sitting in the living room, talking about going out for a movie when they heard the kitchen door open. Before either of them could move from the couch, they saw Angela running through from the kitchen and up the stairs.
At the sound of her tripping midway, they both rose to their feet. But Craig reached the bottom of the steps first.
“I’m okay!” Angela’s voice sounded far from ‘okay’. “Please, just…don’t look at me right now!”
Kevin watched his friend avert his gaze and walk away from the stairway. Alarm shot through him. “What happened?”
“Her stalker called while we were there. The trooper wanted to let it go to the answering machine so she could trace it. I shouldn’t have…” Craig walked by them and dropped into his usual armchair. His friend ran his hands through his hair. “From the sounds of it, he’s been watching her electronically. Camera’s in her apartment.”
Neither he nor his wife knew what to say to that. Kevin sat on the end of the couch near the other man’s chair. Princess was agitated, the dog pacing between Craig and the stairs.
Craig saw the dog, motioned for her to come. She sat at his feet and he rubbed her head. “I’ll be fine, girl…go on up to Angela.”
The dog barked and took off for the stairs as if she’d understood. Kevin watched in amazement as the dog took the stairs almost as fast as Angela had. They could hear her barking, presumably outside Angela’s door because there was soon the quick sound of a door opening and shutting was followed by silence.
“That’s the stray you guys took in?” Sherry’s voice shook, and Kevin knew he wasn’t the only one floored by the dog’s behavior just now. She must be rattled to ask a question she already knew the answer to.
“Yeah,” answered Craig, scrubbing his face with his hands. “I noticed the other night she helps ease Angela’s anxiety. She’s probably done the same for me. Angela…look guys, what that creep said was a violation. He said it knowing I was there and powerless to stop him. I’m not going to repeat anything he said.”
“I wonder if she was someone’s lost service dog,” mused Kevin, choosing to respect the line his friend had drawn.
His friend shrugged. “I asked around when she first started showing up at the store. No one I talked to had seen her before. I didn’t look too much harder. She makes Angela happy.”
Sherry cleared her throat, still standing in the middle of the room. “Craig, please…let me talk to her. You know my area of practice. I could help her.”
“You can ask her,” decided Craig after a moment. “But if she says no, please respect that. I’m pretty sure this bastard raped her, no matter what she says. If you don’t mind, I’m going back to my office.”
So said, he stood and left them alone in the room. Kevin nodded to his wife and leaned back on the couch. He sent prayers heavenward but was not surprised when his wife returned shortly after she’d left with a shake of her head.
“Still want to go to the movies?” she asked.
Kevin thought about it. “I think they need some space right now, wouldn’t you agree?”
His wife nodded. “Whatever was said, was meant for both of them.”
“Yup.” Hopping to his feet, he said to her, “I’ll let Craig know we’re leaving for a few hours.”
A ngela stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked around in confusion. No one was in sight, and the house was quiet. Princess barked and ran down the hallway. “Craig?” she called.
“Back here,” was the faint answer.
Princess came back from the direction of her boyfriend’s voice and barked at her again. “Okay girl, I get the message.” She followed the dog down the hallway, past the bathroom. One of the doors was open a crack, and she pushed it open slowly.
“Hi,” her boyfriend said, sitting behind a gorgeous dark wooden desk. He leaned back in his seat and gave her a soft smile.
“Can I come in?” she asked, hesitating at the threshold. Princess trotted right in and laid in a large dog bed in the corner.
“Sure.”
“Where is everyone?” She came into the room, taken aback by the bookshelf behind his desk. She hadn’t taken him for a reader, but somehow wasn’t surprised. What did he like to read?
“Kevin and Sherry went out for a movie.” Craig glanced at his watch. “They’ve been gone a few hours.”
As she came around the desk, he pushed his seat back and held his arm out, the offer to sit in his lap clear. Angela hesitated again, but then there she was cocooned in his embrace. Her hair was loose, and his hand came up to brush it away from her face. Noticing his sketchbook on the desk, she asked, “What are you sketching?”
He made a quiet sound she didn’t understand. “Are you sure you want to know?”
Twisting her hands in her lap, she decided, “Yes.”
He turned the chair, so he could reach the book and bring it closer for her to see.
“Oh,” she whispered, taking the book in her hands. It wasn’t a detailed sketch, just a rough outline, but it was of a couple in a passionate embrace in what looked like a shower. “We’ll…have to try that someday.”
“It’s on my list of things to do,” Craig admitted, taking the book back. He brought his arm back around her, one hand resting on her waist. He cleared his throat, and when he spoke he sounded as embarrassed as she felt. “Angel, do you really think you’re the only one taking care of certain matters with your own hands?”
“No, it’s just…not something I would have wanted announced in front of my boyfriend and a police officer.” Her face was on fire. “I feel so dirty…I mean, he was watching me…”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that here.”
“You’re sure? My cautiously paranoid boyfriend doesn’t have cameras in his house like he does at the store?”
He laughed, and it was a pleasant sensation. “No,” he answered. “I don’t. I have exterior cameras set for motion detection only.” He waved a hand toward his computer. “If I want to look at a live feed, I can.”
Nodding, Angela lifted her head to look at him. “Are you still going to ask me?”
“I am. I would dress warmly on Saturday if I were you.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” Needing to feel wanted, she let her hand slip up to his face and pulled him close. Pressing her lips against his, she shifted to bring her arm out from in-between them and wrapped it around his neck. He made a soft sound, and she pulled back. “I’m not bringing back bad memories, am I?”
“No,” he answered. Craig’s hand traveled up her back. His lips curled at the corners in a little smile. “Tempting me a little, maybe.”
“Crap, and I said I wouldn’t pressure you…I’m…” His lips were on hers again, cutting off her apology. His other hand slid under her sweater, touching her like he had at New Year’s. She moved in his lap, straddling him and somehow both his hands were covering her bare breasts. She pressed into his touch, his lips pulled away from hers to land on her throat.
And then there was the sound of car doors shutting.
Craig’s hands moved away, slowly. His breathing was as uneven as her own. “You’d better get off.”
Angela nodded, but couldn’t bring herself to move. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He took his hands off her completely and she stood. As she walked around the desk, he said, “I’m not sure what you were looking for just now, but Angela…don’t believe Derek. I don’t think you’re used goods.”
Relief filled her, but she found herself denying it. “I didn’t think that.”
And he quirked an eyebrow at her.
“Much,” she amended. Turning away, she took off trying to get upstairs before Kevin and Sherry could come in. She should probably put her bra back on.
Alone in his office, Craig took a deep breath. Saturday could not come fast enough.
52
T he wedding had been beautiful. The reception boisterous. Angela was still blushing over the entire bouquet and garter toss. She couldn’t prove it, but she was sure Craig had somehow arranged for her to catch the bouquet and he the garter. His fingers had teased her skin the entire time he’d been slowly dragging the garter up her leg. Judy had laughed when she’d asked about it later, but the blushing bride hadn’t denied it either.
Sitting in the middle o
f the truck cab next to her boyfriend, Angela could feel the band of lace and elastic around her leg still. Craig’s arm was around her, and he smelled so nice. His eyes had brightened when he’d seen her come downstairs wearing her green dress from Christmas Eve. She certainly appreciated the casual suit he was wearing under his winter coat. The suit jacket had hung open all morning, the top two buttons of his white shirt undone.
He’d even danced with her. Twice.
Angela’s hands came together in her lap when he turned at Simmons Crossroads. It was happening. His arm squeezed around her.
“Excited?” he teased.
“A little,” Angela admitted.
“Good.”
She barely saw her farm as they passed by it. Her breathing hitched as he stopped in the middle of the bridge. Leaving the truck running, Craig opened his door and hopped out.
“Come here,” he requested, arms held out to her.
Allowing him to help her down, she made sure her coat was buttoned. She felt ridiculous suddenly, with her winter scarf wrapped around her ears and head. Her boyfriend guided her to stand on the wooden beam running down the side of the bridge. There was a faint gurgling sound today, the stream long since frozen over.
“Hang on one second.” Craig turned back to the truck and leaned into the cab. The next thing she knew, a Trisha Yearwood song was playing. It was one of the songs they had danced to.
He turned back to her, leaving the door hanging open. “You alright?” he asked her, coming to stand in front of her.
Angela nodded. They were the same height with her on the beam. It was nice looking into his eyes without having to look up. His hand came up and rested against the side of her head.
“Long speech?” he asked. “Or a short one?”
After a moment’s thought, she freed him from her expectations. “Just be yourself.”