Desperately, Harriet tried to get the word “Help” to come out but everything just came out as a gasp. Tears welled in her eyes as the Figure stood over her powerless body and drew a large knife from a sheath on its belt and cocked its head as it stared over her. The Figure placed its hand on her neck cutting off her air supply once more, though not completely as it reached down and slowly unbuttoned her shirt, exposing her belly. Then, she felt the knife cut her.
Ashley had ended the call with Harriet and replaced the still-glowing phone onto her nightstand next to another phone which had remained dormant through the entire conversation. The remaining light showed that Ashley was naked as she curled up to her boyfriend, Chris Norman, who was just as naked.
“That was short,” he commented.
“Yeah, she hates being scared, so I tried to make it short,” Ashley smiled as she turned to look him in the face. “I wanted to get back to you.”
“Oh, is there something here you like?” he asked seductively.
“MmHm,” she said closing her eyes and curling up closer to him. “You make me feel safe.”
“Do I?”
“MmHm.” She turned her face toward his again, and they kissed and resumed what they were doing before Harriet had called.
Some time later, back at the Graham house, Esther walked down the hall to Harriet’s room, and noticing the light was still on, she knocked.
“All right, Harriet,” Esther commanded. “Lights off.” She waited for a glib retort, but only silence returned from her daughter’s bedroom. She had had just about enough of Harriet’s attitude and refused to deal with the silent treatment. “Do you hear me, young lady?” she asked. Still nothing. That was it. She opened the door.
“Harriet,” she said, ready to scold, if necessary, but looking into the room, she stopped. The blood drained from her face and her stomach rose into her throat. Every ounce of water drained from her eyes in a second as she opened her mouth to find it utterly dry and soundless. Her body shook, powerless to move toward or away from the sight before her. Finally, her shaking hands moved to her face, a scream broke from her lips as she fainted.
The scream brought her husband running into the room where he was confronted by the same sight. Harriet Graham lay in the center of her bed in a pool of her own blood, stripped down to her panties with the letter ‘A’ carved deeply into her chest and gut. Her arms were laid out stigmata-style and her legs were lashed together with the cord from the blinds that used to cover Harriet’s window.
Harriet had felt everything. Soundlessly, she had screamed as the knife dug into her flesh and her warm blood had spilled onto her bed. She had no strength to fight when her shirt and pants were removed, leaving her nearly naked on her bed as the figure had clinically positioned her body as it desired. Somewhere in the back of her head, she was glad she had put on clean underwear, though another part of her reminded her that it wouldn’t really matter once she died. The figure had cut the cord from her blinds and lashed her legs so tight that the thin cords cut into her skin causing even more pain after her body had mostly blocked out the still bleeding cuts on her stomach. She remembered the figure stepping back to admire its work before leaving out the window. She was still alive through what felt like an eternity until her mother entered the room too late to save her, and she wished that she had been better to her mother. She regretted their last conversation, and looked at her one last time. She heard her mother scream, but she couldn’t move anymore. As her father ran into the room, her vision blacked out, and the pain was finally gone.
CHAPTER NINE
Corralling the Problem
I was running out of options. I tried guarding their houses, and it failed. I tried locking up the most likely suspect, and it failed. I had spent the morning working on another idea that had to keep these women safe. After all, people dying on my watch not only bothered me, but people were starting to put unnecessary pressure on me to solve the case. I was already working to solve it, so there was no need for anyone to ask me to work harder. If anything, the added calls were slowing me down, so I stopped taking them to focus on what they were all calling about anyway.
I put my next idea into motion that morning after I had returned from the Graham house with a few phone calls to some key people until I finished it off by contacting every person listed on that address page (left alive) to come into the station, so I could explain what came next. They each knew there were other women involved, but this would be the first time they were all in the same room together, which I thought should be interesting. I had let people at the station know about the meeting and to stand by with pots of water in case any cat fights broke out. I’m not known for my wit, so if you didn’t think that was funny, it can also be said that no one laughed that morning either. Could have been the atmosphere, though.
I had commandeered our executive style meeting room with wooden, paneled walls, a large, oval table surrounded by twelve very comfortable chairs, some very nice berber carpet that somewhat matched the color of the wood panels, and space at the front for a speaker with a screen and projector hanging down from the ceiling for presentations. The only doors into the room were at the front, and of course, they were large double doors to make the room feel extra nice for important visitors, should we ever get any. Since the room was in the middle of the building, though, it had no windows and was completely enclosed and shut off from the rest of the world once the doors were closed. The doors had windows into the rest of the station, but that was it. My thought was that these women did nothing wrong other than getting into bed with the wrong man, so it would not be right to punish them or make them feel any more uncomfortable than the situation already would be.
Mindy Zimmerman was the first to arrive, and she quietly took her place in a chair at the back of the room. She was followed almost immediately by Athena Michaels who brought her uninvited next door neighbor friend, Kathy Brackett, with her, even though I had specifically said that they needed to come alone. Mindy was reading something on her phone when they entered. She glanced at them briefly, but went back to her phone after looking them over. They both sat in a pair of chairs near the front.
“Here we are,” Kathy said.
“Thanks for coming with me,” Athena said.
“No problem,” Kathy replied. “I think having everyone in this room together is nuts. Not to mention cruel to you.” Mindy looked back up at Athena.
“Who are you?” Mindy asked her innocently.
“Athena Michaels.”
“Michaels?”
“I’m Hank’s wife.”
“Really?” Mindy said in surprise. “He was married?”
“I hardly think that excuses the relationship you had with him,” Kathy noted coldly. “Student-teacher relationships are forbidden so far as I’ve heard.”
“I didn’t know he was married,” Mindy said, ignoring Kathy. “Oh, that makes it worse. I thought it was just fornication, but I’ve committed adultery. I’m so sorry. I’ve gotta pray.” Mindy immediately bowed her head and prayed quietly to the surprise of both Athena and Kathy.
“She’s devoted,” Kathy said, turning to Athena.
“I’m going to hate this,” Athena said.
Kathy nodded in reply when the doors to the room slammed open loudly calling even Mindy’s attention out of her prayer to the newcomer. Tricia Clark, a twenty-one year old student, walked in with a marked strut in her step, blonde hair, tight clothing, and an upturned nose that indicated that she was the most important person to ever be in that room.
“Well, here I am,” she said. “When is this going to start?” She looked at the room’s inhabitants and centered on Athena. She smiled and walked straight to Athena, practically invading her personal space and looked closely at her placing her face only inches from Athena’s. Athena reflexively turned her head from the intruder.
“Do I know you?” Tricia asked.
“I don’t think so,” replied Athena, a bit perturbed.
/> “Yeah, I do,” Tricia said standing up with a self-satisfied air. “You’re Professor Michaels’ wife. I recognize you from your picture in your house.” Athena hid her face in one hand.
“Oh, have mercy,” Athena said under her breath.
“Yeah,” Tricia continued, oblivious to whether it was appropriate or inappropriate to do so, “after we made love, we’d lie in your bed all naked, and he’d tell me how much of a better screw I was than you.”
“I guess when you prostitute yourself to enough people, you pick up a few tricks,” Kathy quipped, stepping in for Athena.
“Who the hell are you?” Tricia asked, putting her nose up and puffing out her chest. Kathy stood before Tricia, her well-built form imposing compared to Tricia’s slender build.
“Athena’s friend,” she replied.
“Geez, chill Mr. Schwartzenegger,” Tricia said, waving Kathy off. Kathy grabbed Tricia’s shirt and pulled her close. Tricia struggled in vain against Kathy’s grip.
“I think an apology is in order,” Kathy recommended.
“Right. Sorry,” Tricia said rather insincerely, but knowing this was the best she’d get from the girl, Kathy released her. Tricia walked away from them down the table toward Mindy. She looked back as she found a seat next to Mindy at the back and muttered “Bitch” loud enough for them to hear as she sat down.
Kathy shook her head and quipped back, “Apparently, dear Hank was into children.” She looked at Athena who was crying. She put her hand gently on her friend’s back. “I’m sorry.”
“In our bed,” Athena said, disbelieving. “We bought that bed together. We spent our first night together on it. And he just defiled…” Kathy put her arm around Athena and pulled her close, comfortingly. Tricia laughed.
“Oh look. She cries. What a sweet little baby.”
“Why don’t you just stop?” Mindy said to Tricia.
“Why don’t you get laid again, God girl?” Tricia snapped back.
“I’m so glad I don’t hang out with you anymore,” Mindy muttered.
“Uh,” Tricia put a finger up dramatically to correct Mindy’s grievous error in speaking, “we excluded you when you wouldn’t do what you were told anymore. True Delta Phi Kappa sisters do what they’re told.”
“I don’t consider theft and drunken displays of nudity and debauchery to be conducive to a productive learning environment,” Mindy said.
“What?” Tricia scoffed at her and shook her head. “God girl, I don’t even know what you just said.”
“Doesn’t surprise me,” Mindy muttered. “Please don’t talk to me.” Mindy got up and walked around the table to sit closer to Athena and Kathy. Athena glanced at Mindy who said, “I’m really sorry” as she sat back down.
“I’m not!” Tricia called out and crossed her arms. I was afraid that as the women arrived, these confrontations might get worse, so I decided to go ahead and head into the room.
“I can’t do this,” Athena said, and she got up and started for the door only to meet me halfway. I looked into her eyes that were longing for nothing more than to hide from the situation she did not deserve to be in. If I’d had any other choice at that moment, I would have let her go, but her life was at risk too.
“I’m afraid you have no choice at the moment,” I told her without betraying any of the pity I felt for her situation.
“Of course she has a choice,” Kathy spoke up. “Do you have a subpoena or something?” I looked down at Kathy still seated at the table.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
“To support my friend,” she answered quite reasonably. “She’s a wreck. Look at her.” At this point, I could not make any exceptions to what I was doing.
“I’m afraid this is a closed meeting,” I told her. “Only those who are invited may attend. That, I can do.”
Behind me, two more arrived. One was Ashley Carter, whose eyes were bloodshot from spending most of her morning in tears over the news of Harriet’s death the previous evening. I had persuaded the news to leave out the more shocking details of her murder as knowing that the killer had tried to make some kind of statement with her body would only make the situation worse. Ashley’s manner of dress was just jeans and a T-shirt – one that she wouldn’t mind getting snot on, by the looks of it. The other was Laura Taylor, a cute blue-eyed brunette with a model-worthy body, but a gaze of ice. Her expression screamed intelligence and self-confidence as she scanned the room, immediately bored with the company she was about to keep. She was dressed very sensibly in loose-fitting slacks and a blouse that revealed nothing. They both gave Athena only a cursory glance as they walked past to find a seat around the table.
“How many are there?” Athena asked me, hardly able to contain her surprise.
“One more,” I said before turning back to Kathy who had not yet left. “I’m afraid it’s time for you to go.”
“Please don’t make her leave,” Athena begged holding her friend’s arm.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Michaels, but that’s procedure,” I explained. “Good day, Mrs. Brackett.” I walked to the head of the room to look over the attendees and caught myself, again, tapping my fingers against my lips. Athena released Kathy, who stood to go.
“I’ll be right outside,” Kathy assured her.
“Ok,” Athena said, giving her a hug. “Thanks for being here.”
“Anytime.”
Kathy left, and Athena turned back to the group who just stared at her. Uncomfortably, Athena sat in her chair and sank into it trying to detach from everyone else.
“So who are you?” Tricia called across the table to Laura. Laura turned her head with a roll of her eyes to look at the fool who dared address her.
“Laura Taylor. Med student. The University only does pre-med, so I was going to transfer out in a couple years for my post-graduate work. Does anyone know why we’re here?”
“We’ll discuss that when everyone is here,” I told her. To that point, I had told Athena what was going on, but I had only told everyone else to come to the station without divulging a lot of details. Seeing the people in the room, however, it appeared that others had easily worked out what they all had in common. Unfortunately, Tricia was one of those people and didn’t mind sharing it.
“Apparently, we all screwed Professor Michaels at some point,” Tricia announced which got a reaction from everyone who had not worked it out.
Laura just stared at her, incredulously. She chuckled, disbelieving. “Oh my God,” she said, “are you kidding?”
“Did you?” Mindy asked quietly.
“No!” Laura replied. “He tried. I gotta give the man some credit, but no, I never jumped into bed with him … or even his private office.”
“Who are we waiting for?” Mindy asked me. “You said one more?”
Before I could respond without actually answering the question, the door opened for the last time, and Darla Hemmingway walked into the room. She surveyed the faces in the room and shook her head. The girls reacted with equal surprise. I could see from her expression that she quickly worked out the purpose of my invitation.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Darla declared.
“Professor Hemmingway?” Ashley said.
“I knew he was boffing some students, but I had no idea who,” Darla commented.
“We were getting shared with Professor Hemmingway,” Tricia laughed.
“Careful how you use ‘we’,” Laura warned.
“Apparently so, Miss Clark,” Darla acknowledged, “and I would encourage you to remember that I still control your grade in Sociology.” Tricia stopped laughing. Darla looked down at Athena, still sunk into her chair.
“So we finally meet,” Darla said to her calmly. Athena looked at her curiously. “The reason he wouldn’t marry me. He said you keep a clean house. A shame you couldn’t keep him clean.” Darla walked on to the next seat along the right side of the table past Athena. Athena’s gaze followed her, not knowing how to respond to that. I
just watched everything with detachment as I continued to tap my fingers against my mouth, which I should stop doing.
“As you may know by now,” I said, formally beginning the meeting, “Harriet Graham was killed last night by the assailant who has been plaguing us for the past several days. As Mrs. Michaels was incarcerated, she has been absolved of the guilt of these crimes.”
“You know, I was talking to her right before it happened,” Ashley stammered, interrupting me. “You know when they said it was? Ten-thirty. I hung up the phone at ten-thirty. The guy must have been in the room when I was trying to scare her. I had Chris over and didn’t want to talk right then.” Ashley broke down crying as she had been all day. Mindy moved her chair slightly to hold and comfort her.
“Hey Ashley,” Mindy said softly, “how could you know? How could anyone know?”
“Who could blame you when you have your guy over,” Tricia said, not coming off as comforting at all.
“How do we know she’s not in league with the guy?” Darla said, referring to Athena. Some of the other girls also nodded in agreement.
“I understand your sentiments, ladies,” I answered, “but the probable cause under which we were holding her became moot last night.” I waited for anyone to respond before continuing.
“You want to know what you all have in common. Hank Michaels had an address book which he kept in the nightstand beside his bed. Now I really couldn’t care less what you’ve done with the guy in the past, but whatever it was, he felt you were worthy enough for him to scribble each of your names, addresses, and phone numbers in that address book. Hank’s notation has made each of you a target.”
Vengeance Page 11