A Flight of Fantasy (Sarah Woods Mystery 12)

by Jennifer L. Jennings

  All the color vanished from Wayne’s face. He clearly did not know how to respond as he just sat there, blinking at us like we were completely off our rockers. Finally, he licked his lips and said, “This is all a big misunderstanding.”

  “Okay,” Carter said, nonchalantly. “Then why don’t you tell us?”

  Wayne rubbed his temples as he made a pained face, like this was the Spanish Inquisition. “I’ll admit, I may have posted a few stories but I never actually did those things I wrote about. I made it up. All in my head. Just a stupid fantasy that I would never act upon.”

  “What about the photos of the young girl?” I interjected. “You made comments about the girl. You are an active participant. Are you a pedophile, Wayne?”

  “No,” Wayne shook his head back and forth. “The girl was fully developed. I figured she was at least eighteen years old.”

  “Lots of girls are fully developed at fourteen years old,” I said, “and besides, Dr. Wheeler made the comment that she was fourteen on the blog, which she is. So regardless of the fact that you thought she was older, doesn’t excuse your actions.”

  “Dr. Wheeler?” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t know him.”

  “His username is Docmeister12,” I replied. “The usernames are designs with a special encryption code so that they are virtually untraceable but Reece has a contact who was able to break through that code. It’s high tech stuff and I’m not familiar with how it all works: however, we have the proof.”

  The recognition flashed in his eyes. “Wait, so the guy is actually a doctor?”

  “He happens to be a child therapist living a few towns from here. He convinced one of his patients to pose nude, as some sort of trust therapy bullshit. She’s a troubled girl and he knew he could take advantage of her. And then he shared her picture.”

  Wayne regarded me with a wounded look. “That has nothing to do with me. I’m not some kind of sick pervert. The stories I write are pure fantasy and entertainment. If I had known the girl was under-age, I would have reported him.”

  “Well, it’s not too late,” I added. “As a matter of fact, we could use your help. Reece is going to the police with this today.”

  “Why should I help her now?” Wayne’s tone began to change and I sensed his patience was beginning to unravel. “Why doesn’t she mind her own damned business?”

  I shook my head and tried to reason with him. “What matters right now is this: if you’re willing to help us nail Dr. Wheeler, I’m sure the police will go easy on you, for your cooperation.”

  “But I haven’t done anything wrong. I never had sex with any under-aged girls and I never took any pictures. Why do I need to get involved? This is not what I hired you guys for. I thought I was your client.”

  “You are,” Carter said. “However, you neglected to tell us in the beginning that you’ve been posting comments on a blog that encourages sex with young girls. Are you telling us it just slipped your mind?”

  “Freedom of speech,” Wayne said. “It’s not a crime and that’s all I did. I didn’t break any laws.”

  “So does that mean you’re not going to help us?” I said.

  Wayne shook his head. “Look, if my superiors found out that I was involved in this mess, I’d be fired on the spot. My job is everything to me. You can’t ask me to risk everything just because I happened to come across some photos on the Internet.”

  He abruptly stood up from the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m sorry I can’t help you with this matter.”

  “Are you sure you want to play it like this?” Carter warned. “If you don’t deal with this now, it might come back to bite you later.”

  Wayne pointed to his watch. “If you don’t mind, I really have to leave for work.”

  “Fine,” Carter said flatly. “I guess our business with you is officially done.”

  Back at the car, I couldn’t help but feel discouraged and mightily pissed. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised but I really thought Wayne might help out and do the right thing. He’s just a selfish coward, apparently.”

  Carter shrugged. “In his mind, he’s done nothing wrong so why should he sacrifice his livelihood?”

  “We can’t prove that he hasn’t done anything wrong. Maybe he has done the things he’s written about. Maybe he’s a superb liar.”

  “Let’s not worry about Wayne anymore. At some point he’ll have to face the music. Right now, we have a bigger fish to fry, which is Dr. Wheeler. What time do you have to be at the high school?”

  “Ten o’clock. I hope I can convince Allison to press charges but it sounds like she won’t be an easy sell. Poor girl has been through enough already. I don’t look forward to pressuring her.”

  “Do her parents have a clue what’s going on?”

  “According to Rita, they both have issues with drug and alcohol abuse and, therefore, are emotionally unavailable for their daughter. I wish I could show up at their home and knock some sense into them.”

  “Even if Allison had a close, trusting relationship with her parents, it doesn’t mean she would have shared her ordeal with them. Teenagers are funny that way.”

  * * *

  When we got to the high school, Carter offered to stay in the car while I went in to talk with Rita and Allison alone. He surmised that a male presence might be a bad idea and I agreed.

  “I have no idea how long I’ll be in there,” I said.

  “As long as it takes.” Carter checked the time. “Just keep in mind that we need to act fast. I can’t guarantee that Wayne won’t contact Dr. Wheeler and give him a heads up. If Allison intends on contacting the police, we should make it swift.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  Upon entering the main double doors, I was shocked to find that I had to go through a security checkpoint, much like that at an airport. I even had to watch as an armed security guard riffled through my purse looking for weapons. What was this world coming to when kids, teachers and staff feared for their lives every single day coming to school? When I was in high school, bringing a joint was the worst offence imaginable. I had never heard of a kid bringing a gun to school back then. Maybe a pocketknife or a firecracker, just to show off; but a semi-automatic weapon? My, how times have changed.

  I got through security just fine. Good thing I left my gun in the car, otherwise, Carter might have had to bail me out of jail. I would then be placed on the no fly list and probably sent to a maximum-security prison for the rest of my life.

  Once I had signed my name in at the principal’s office, I was given directions to Rita’s office located in the basement of the building. She was waiting for me when I knocked on her door.

  “Thanks for coming,” she said, gesturing to a wooden chair by her desk. The room was dark and stank of mildew. “I know this isn’t the most luxurious office,” she said, as if reading my mind. “But the budget doesn’t allow for upgrades.”

  “It’s fine,” I said, waving a hand around. “At least it’s warm and cozy.”

  Rita had done her best to make the space as uplifting as possible. She had painted the cement walls a soothing bisque beige with colorful paintings to hide the fact that it was cement, I guessed.

  “Does Allison have any idea that you asked me to talk to her?”

  Rita gave an apprehensive shake of her head. “No and I hope she’s not going to be upset with me. I just don’t know what else to do short of contacting her parents and the police behind her back. I don’t like breaking promises or breaking trust.”

  “You’re the adult,” I said. “You have to do what’s best for her.”

  “Which is why I asked you to come and talk to her.”

  Just then, a knock made Rita jump. She quickly opened the door and put her arm around the girl as she walked in. I assumed this had to be Allison but I waited for Rita to make introductions.

  The girl gave me a peculiar look but said nothing as she dumped her backpack on the floor near the empty chair. Her long
dark hair looked like silk as it cascaded over her shoulder. She wore faded jeans, torn around the knees, as was the current style for teenagers. She wore a pink hoodie that was two sizes too big.

  “Allison, I want you to meet a dear friend of mine,” Rita said, giving me a wink. “Her name is Sarah Woods and she’s a private detective.”

  Allison gave a slight half smile. “Really? That’s cool.”

  I extended my hand and she accepted it without hesitation. “Nice to meet you,” I said.

  “I’m not in trouble, am I?” she said, releasing my hand and turning to look at Rita inquisitively.

  “No,” Rita replied with a chuckle. “No, I just asked Sarah if she’d offer us some advice.”

  Allison plopped down into her seat and shrugged. “Advice about what?”

  Rita motioned for me to sit down next to the girl. She then immediately dragged her own chair from behind her desk, so that the three of us were arranged in a semicircle. “Allison, this has to do with Dr. Wheeler. I know you asked me to keep it a secret but Sarah has had some similar experiences.”

  Rita gave me a tight-lipped smile and I knew she expected me to make up some kind of story. I had not prepared for this and so found myself on edge and a little ill-equipped to face this struggling teenager. If this was Rita’s plan all along, would have been nice is she clued me in beforehand. I allowed myself one deep breath and put on a brave face as I leaned toward Allison. “That’s right,” I said in a soft voice. “Long time ago when I was your age, I had a teacher. We’ll call him Mr. Smith. He used to make me feel very uncomfortable. I was scared to tell anyone because Mr. Smith was so popular among the students. I felt like nobody would believe me if I spoke up. Anyway, I never said anything. Then, years later after I graduated and left town, I found out that Mr. Smith had abused two other girls after me. You see, people like Mr. Smith and Dr. Wheeler won’t stop unless someone stops them. That’s just the way it is.”

  Allison turned to look at Rita, her expression hard to read. When she set her eyes on my face again, I could see tears in her eyes. “But, Dr. Wheeler never touches me. He only took pictures that one time.”

  “Yes,” I said, feeling grateful for small victories. “But he asked you to remove all your clothes and pose while he took photos of you.”

  “Yeah, but he never touched me.”

  “That doesn’t matter,” I said. “He still took advantage of you. What he did was wrong, you realize that, right? Even if you liked it, it’s still wrong.”

  “I didn’t like it. I told him I didn’t want to do it. He said he’d stop seeing me as a patient if I didn’t do what he asked.”

  I decided to speak from my heart and hope that it would resonate with her. “Allison, here’s the thing. I don’t know you very well but I do know that you’re barely fourteen years old. I also know that you’ve had some troubles at home. I want you to know something about me. I wish I had told someone about my experience when I was abused. I’ll always regret that. Now, as an adult, I have no tolerance for people like Dr. Wheeler and Mr. Smith. You know why? Because they think they don’t have to abide by any rules. They think that you and I are weak and stupid; but, we’re not weak and we’re not stupid and we have the strength to stand up to the people who don’t respect us.”

  Allison remained quiet for a while as she wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her sweatshirt. I wondered if she believed my story to be true. I didn’t take any pride in fooling this girl with a bogus story about my past, but I figured it didn’t matter as long as she got the message.

  Finally, when she looked up into my eyes, there was a slight smile. “Did Mr. Smith ever go to jail for what he did to you?”

  “Yes he did, eventually.”

  “Did you have to testify to a judge? Did you have to explain what he did to you?”

  I swallowed hard. “Yes. I’ll admit it was hard but I got through it and you know what? After I did that, I wasn’t afraid anymore. I felt liberated because all I had to do was tell the truth.”

  Allison looked down at her lip as she picked at her fingernail. “I don’t really want to get Dr. Wheeler in trouble.”

  I couldn’t say I was all that surprised by her statement. Dr. Wheeler was not an ugly man. He had given Allison special attention and part of her probably liked it. How confusing it must be.

  “Your situation is a little different from mine,” I said. “If Dr. Wheeler never actually touched you inappropriately then he might not go to jail. He should still be punished for what he did However because, I can tell you, he has either done this before or he will do it again. Especially if he thinks he can get away with it.”

  “But he told me I was photogenic. He said I could be a model.”

  I wanted to take this girl by the shoulders and tell her the honest and dirty truth. That Dr. Wheeler didn’t give a shit about her. He was just a middle-aged man who had a closet fetish for young girls. “But that still doesn’t make it right.”

  She looked up at me with worry lines on her forehead. “What am I supposed to do?”

  “First, your parents need to know. They need to go with you to the police to file a report.”

  “I don’t want them to know about this. Why do I have to tell them?”

  “Because they are your parents,” I said. “They have a right to know.”

  “… but I know them. They’ll just get pissed and blame me for all of this.”

  “Rita will go with you to tell your parents. You will not go through this alone, I promise.”

  “They didn’t even come home last night. I have no idea where they are.” Allison turned to Rita and pointed a rigid finger in her direction. “I trusted you not to tell anyone. I wish I never told you.”

  Rita looked like she was going to cry but she held her chin up. “I care about you, Allison. I thought I was doing the right thing. Please let us help you.”

  I cleared my throat to get the girl’s attention back to me. “Before you get upset with Rita, let me tell you what she did for you, Allison. She put herself at great risk to help us gather evidence against Dr. Wheeler. So, I think you should be thanking her. Most people would not have done that. Now, I know you might feel betrayed but, once you are able to step back and look at this objectively, you’ll appreciate the sacrifice Rita had made to help you.”

  Allison’s pouty face gradually started to dissolve. She lowered her head again.

  “Look,” I told her. “I should probably tell you, Dr. Wheeler posted your pictures online to share with some of his friends.”

  She jerked her head up, her eyes burning with fury. “What? He showed them to other people?”

  “I’m afraid so. Don’t you see? This is what guys like Dr. Wheeler do. They take what they want, and don’t care about the consequences. He doesn’t care about your feelings.”

  Her nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed in anger. “But he told me he wouldn’t show them to anyone else. He said I could trust him.”

  “Yes, I’m sure he did. But he lied to you.” It killed me to see this girl hurting, but I figured she had a right to know the truth. It would sting now, but later on, she would be wiser and less gullible. Hopefully, this experience would ultimately be a valuable lesson for the rest of her life. “Allison, we have enough evidence to get him, as long as you’re willing to do your part. Will you agree to tell the police what happened?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at her knees. She was shaking slightly as she tried to blink away the tears. When she looked up at me, her expression was strained. “Fine,” she said, resolutely. “I’ll do whatever you want me to do. I think maybe I do want him to go to jail.”

  Chapter 16

  When Allison left the office, Rita tried contacting the parents but the home phone number was out of service.

  “Damn it!” Rita fumed. “I swear, I just want to pull my hair out sometimes. I bet Allison’s parents forgot to pay the damn phone bill again. I don’t even have any cell phone numbers in her
file, not that that would make any difference.”

  “Do you know where they work?” I asked, trying to be helpful.

  “The dad does odd jobs here and there as a carpenter but he hurt his back a few months ago. The mother was working as a cashier at a gas station, but I think she was laid off. I guess I’ll just have to go to the house and talk to them. Not looking forward to that.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t go alone. Carter and I will go with you, if you want.”

  Rita rubbed her forehead like she was tired and irritable. “That might not be a bad idea. Who knows how they’ll respond to this situation? They could be calm about it, or they could go nuts.”

  “When do you want to go?”

  She checked her watch and frowned. “Allison’s last period is a study hall so she could leave school early. We’ll drive straight to her house and try to talk to her folks, if they’re around.”

  “What if they are not around?” I asked. “Do we have to wait until we have their approval or something? I don’t really know how these things work.”

  Reece nodded. “That would be preferable. Last thing I need is to give anyone a reason to take me to court but, if they’re not around or they’re tripping out on drugs, then I’ll just have to assume responsibility for Allison’s safety and wellbeing.” Rita looked at me with wide eyes, like an idea had just popped into her head. “If I gave you the address, could you and Carter go over there now and check on them? If they’re not home, maybe you can ask around and find out where they are.”

  “Sure, we can do that.”

  When I returned to the Buick where Carter was waiting, he asked, “How’d things go with Allison?”

  I explained the situation. “I think I was able to convince her to file a report with the police against Dr. Wheeler but there’s one thing that might trip us up. Rita insists on telling her parents. Problem is, Allison says her parents didn’t come home last night. We need to locate them.”

  I handed Carter the address and he plugged it into his GPS. “What kind of parents would leave their fourteen year old daughter home alone all night?”