by Becky Durfee
Orlowski turned around and walked toward the woman, who continued to lean against his car. Every step seemed to take an eternity, as if he was walking in slow motion. Jenny tried her best to come up with something—anything—before Orlowski put this woman in his car and drove off into the night.
I can always follow him. But what if he loses me? Then she’d be all alone with him. She’d be completely at his mercy. He has no mercy. He would probably kill her. Oh my God I could never live with myself if I let this girl die.
“Can I come with you?” Jenny blurted before she even knew what she was saying.
“No,” Orlowski said. “That’s probably not a good idea.” He finally reached the woman, placing his hand on her back as he made a motion toward the door handle to the back seat of his cruiser.
Oh my God. He’s going to leave with her. Jenny looked at the woman with despair, unable to wrap her head around what was happening.
At that moment Orlowski stopped, paused a moment, and walked back around to the front of the car. He turned to Jenny, and she was able to see his face illuminated by the headlights—just like she had seen in Morgan’s original vision. The eerie familiarity was horrifying. He looked intently at Jenny, his piercing eyes fixated on her. “On second thought,” he said with a slight smile, “Why don’t you come with us?”
Chapter 20
Jenny quickly weighed the options in front of her. There’s no way he’d try to kill both of us, would he? That would be way too brazen. He could never pull it off. But that girl all by herself would be a sitting duck…
“Okay,” Jenny said, “I’ll come along.” She felt numb as she headed toward the car, as if she was having an out-of-body experience. Her nerves tingled, but her mind remained inexplicably calm and subdued. Something primeval inside of her was taking over—the survival instinct, she assumed. Jenny only hoped it would serve her right.
“There’s just one thing,” Orlowski said as he escorted her to the cruiser. “It’s kind of a technicality, but I could lose my job for it. Civilians aren’t allowed in the front seat, and we’re not allowed to let anyone have a cell phone in the back. I’m afraid you’ll have to give me your cell phones until you get home.”
Now Jenny knew how he managed to get the girls’ phones—why none of them called for help. She helplessly handed her phone over to Orlowski, who promptly turned it off. The drunken girl, who was still leaning on the police car for support, turned over her phone as well.
Orlowski opened the back door to the car. “Ladies, your chariot awaits,” he declared as he gestured for the women to enter.
And he has the nerve to act chivalrous.
The sound of the door closing behind Jenny rang out like a bullet, causing her to jump. As Orlowski climbed into the front of his car, she immediately started to doubt her decision. She had just gotten into this car, like Allison, Lashonda and Morgan before her, and they all ended up dead. She shouldn’t have done this. She should have just followed him. Fear engulfed Jenny as the car began moving.
This was too familiar. She’d experienced this once before, through Lashonda’s eyes, but this time it was real. This was her own fear. She wouldn’t wake up from this. She might never wake up again.
How did I end up here? Jenny asked herself. I said I’d be careful. I promised Susan I wouldn’t do anything stupid, and I promised Zack I’d be cautious. And yet here I am. I’m about to become another one of his victims. And I knew. I knew he was a monster, and I let him take me anyway. I have no phone and no way to call for help. There’s a cage in front of me, and there are no door handles, so I have no way to help myself. I have nothing. Nothing at all.
The drunken girl laid her head against the window without a care in the world. Her heavy breathing indicated she was out cold.
Brains. Jenny sat up straighter. I have my brains. She thought for a moment about the approach she should take, trying to determine what would give her the best hope for survival. Before too long a plan came to mind. With a deep breath and a quick glance to the roof of the car, Jenny felt the strength of all of Orlowski’s victims seep into her bones. I can do this, she thought. For all of those girls I will do this.
“Hey Orlowski,” Jenny called from behind the cage. Her tone was different than he’d ever heard.
Jenny could see his eyes look into the rear view mirror.
“I’ve got a question for you. You said you used to work in Ivory Heights Connecticut, right?”
“Yeah,” he replied.
“And you said the biggest case you had up there was…let me see if I have this right…cats in trees, was it?”
Jenny once again saw eyes shift in the mirror.
“Yeah.” His tone grew defensive.
“How come you didn’t mention those murdered girls? Did you forget?” Jenny didn’t allow a hint of fear to taint her voice. “I wouldn’t think you’d forget that.”
After a pause, Orlowski replied, “I guess it slipped my mind.”
“It slipped your mind. Wow. That’s a pretty big slip.” Jenny leaned forward. “What were their names again? Allison Pope and Lashonda Williams? Isn’t that right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Jenny could tell she was striking a nerve, so she continued. “I wouldn’t think you’d forget them considering you were the one to find their cell phones.”
“How did you know that?”
“Oh, I know lots of things.” Jenny sat back in her seat, folding her arms across her chest. “Lots and lots of things.”
Orlowski remained silent as he continued to drive.
“Aren’t you going to ask where my cousin lives? You’ve been driving, but we haven’t told you where to go. Isn’t that a little strange?”
Silence.
“You know what else is strange?” Jenny added. “When you lived in Edmonton, three women disappeared from Trenton. Angela Velasquez, Paris Carter and Renee Podgewaite, but you probably only know them as hooker one, hooker two and hooker three.”
Silence.
“And now you’re here. And what do you know? Another dead girl. Boy, you must be the unluckiest guy in the world, huh Orlowski?”
Fear grabbed Jenny by the throat as Orlowski started to pull the car over.
“You don’t want to do this,” Jenny said, remaining tough as nails. “I’m not Jenny O’dell, bimbo from Braddock. I’m Jenny Watkins with the FBI. And guess what? I’m wearing a wire, asshole. Everyone knows I’m with you. If you lay even one finger on me—or sleeping beauty over here—you’re completely fucked.”
“Shut up,” Orlowski said. The car ground to a halt.
She knew she was getting to him. “It’s all over, Orlowski. We know about you. We know about every…”
“I said SHUT UP!”
“Every single one of those girls. Or were there more? Was Allison your first? Or was she just the first one we know of?”
“I said SHUT UP!” Orlowski put a gun through the wires of the cage.
Jenny looked down the barrel of the gun, bracing herself for the end. So this is it. This is how I’m going to die.
“You’re fucked enough,” Jenny continued, trying desperately to spare herself. “Add killing an FBI agent to the list and you’re sure to get the death penalty.”
Jenny, still focused on the gun, heard the sound of sirens approaching and seized the opportunity. “See? They’re here for you Orlowski. It’s over.” After a few tense seconds, red and blue flashes began to fill the car.
He pushed the gun further through the cage. Oh, God, here it is. She fixated her eyes on Orlowski, who looked like he was deliberating. Maybe she still had a chance.
“Do you really want two dead girls in the back of your car when they find you? Two unarmed girls?”
Orlowski squeezed his eyes closed tightly. Within a second he placed the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger, spraying blood and bits of his brains all over the car. Jenny screamed and covered her face, trying to protect herself from the image th
at had already been burned into her memory forever. And this was her memory, not a vision. She’d have to carry this with her for the rest of her life, knowing it was undeniably real.
She could smell the metallic stench of blood, feeling it drip down her skin. Desperate to get out of the car, she knew she had to be let out from the outside. The next few moments were excruciating as she sat and waited to be rescued.
Swarms of police officers with guns drawn surrounded the car, illuminated by headlights and blinding flashes. She could hear they were shouting, but she couldn’t make out the words because her ears were still ringing from the gunshot. Unsure if she was considered a suspect of some kind, Jenny placed her hands in the air and closed her eyes. Before long she felt a flood of cold air hit her body; the door had been opened.
She was quickly led by the arm to the safety of one of the pursuing police cars. “Are you hurt?” the escorting officer asked; his voice still sounded fuzzy.
“No, I’m fine,” Jenny replied.
The cold air felt good to Jenny, who was able to take a deep breath and survey the situation as she stood next to the car. Two policemen carried the drunken girl by her arms to the back of a squad car, where she plopped down and continued her nap.
“How did you know?” Jenny asked the officer next to her.
“Some things have come up that have raised suspicion,” he replied. That was all he said.
At that moment Officer Johnson approached Jenny. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, sir. Just a little shaken up, that’s all.”
“We’re going to need you to come down to the station and answer a few questions. You’re not in any trouble; we just need a statement.”
Jenny nodded. “That’s fine.”
Johnson looked at the officer who had helped Jenny to the car. “Get her out of here, will you? She’s been through enough.”
“Yes, sir.” The policeman opened the back door and gently guided Jenny into the car.
While the door was still open, Jenny remarked to the policeman, “Oh…” She rubbed her temples. “Orlowski has my cell phone.”
“You’ll get it back,” he replied. “Just not yet.” He closed the door.
Sadly, Jenny didn’t know Zack’s number to give him a call. If he’d gotten her message from before, he’d probably be panicked if he tried to call back and she didn’t answer. She rested her head back against the seat and looked at the ceiling of the car. She really could have used him right about then. Just hearing his voice would have been wonderful.
The ride to the police station seemed surreal. Jenny watched houses go by, dark, the occupants sound asleep. It was just another night for them. Alarms ringing too early. Work in the morning. Maybe a stop at the gas station. Jenny admired the normalcy they got to enjoy. They would most likely never witness anything close to what she’d just seen.
A strange feeling began to come over Jenny. Happiness. Redemption. The culmination of tireless effort—not her own, but Morgan’s. Jenny smiled as she once again leaned her head back against the seat. Godspeed, beautiful Morgan. It’ll all be alright now, thanks to you. Jenny blew a kiss to the ceiling of the car, knowing that this was goodbye. Morgan had better places to go, and she was off to enjoy them.
Jenny emerged from the car mechanically when they arrived at the station. Once she walked inside and the bright lights hit her, she was able to see the blood that covered her upper body—the blood that had coursed through the veins of a killer, nourishing a sick and demented brain, fueled by the coldest of hearts. She felt sickened by it. She wanted to jump out of her own skin.
“Is there anywhere I can wash up?” she asked.
The officer directed her to the ladies room, and while Jenny was able to get her skin clean, her clothes remained stained with rust-colored blood. The notion of staying like this was intolerable.
As if reading her mind, the police officer greeted her outside the bathroom with a blanket. She draped it around herself, at least covering the blood stains so she wouldn’t have to look at them. “My purse and my keys are in the back of Orlowski’s car,” Jenny noted softly. “I am going to need those.”
The police officer spoke into his shoulder unit, instructing someone from the scene to secure Jenny’s purse and car keys. It was ridiculously trivial, all things considered, but Jenny was appreciative nonetheless.
Jenny gave her statement, near the end of which Officer Johnson came into the room. She finished talking, and Johnson once again asked if she was okay.
“Yes. I am. I’d like to get a hold of one of my friends, though. I think he might be worried about me.”
“Are you talking about my informant?” Johnson asked.
Jenny smiled meekly. “Yes.”
“He already knows. I called him. He’s on his way here.”
“Thanks,” Jenny said. “Although he’s going to kill me.”
“And rightly so,” Johnson remarked. “Knowing what you know, what the hell were you doing in the back of Orlowski’s cruiser?”
“It was the girl,” she explained. “She was hell bent on getting a ride from Orlowski, and I knew she was as good as dead if she went alone with him. So I went with her.”
“Well, it worked out, but only because we already had the situation under control.”
Jenny looked up at Johnson. “How? How did you know?”
“Well, your informant friend called us in a panic, saying that he feared Orlowski was going to strike again. We already had a GPS device on his squad car, so we had some officers tail him.”
Zack, Jenny thought. Tears burned the back of her eyes as she acknowledged he had just saved her life.
“But how did you know to have a device put on his car?” Jenny asked.
“We got a call from Officer Fazzino yesterday. It seems he did a search of Orlowski’s mother’s shed two days ago and found nothing. But yesterday morning Orlowski’s step-father showed up at the police station up in Connecticut claiming he knew what Fazzino had been after. He produced one of the dead girl’s rings.”
Jenny covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh my God.”
“That was the tangible piece of evidence we needed to connect Orlowski to the killings.”
“But if the step-father had the ring, why didn’t he come forward with it a long time ago?”
“Officer Fazzino asked him the same thing. You see, we’re talking about a guy with a criminal record. He was afraid if he showed up at the police station with a dead girl’s ring, claiming a police officer had done the killing, nobody would believe him and he’d end up in jail on murder charges.” Johnson cocked his head to the side. “You know what? He was probably right.”
Jenny thought about the conversation she’d had with Orlowski where he disclosed that his step-father seemed to wake up one morning and suddenly hate him. That must have been the day Hawk had found the ring. He knew. All this time, Earl Hawkins knew. But he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
Jenny closed her eyes and thought about the four lives that could have been spared had Earl Hawkins been a more reputable member of society.
“We were waiting to get a warrant for Orlowski’s arrest,” Johnson continued. “We should have had it tomorrow.” He looked at his watch. “Actually, later today. But in the meantime we put the tracking device on his car so we could keep tabs on him, just in case. It’s a good thing we did.”
“Yes,” Jenny said breathlessly. “Thank you. I don’t think I’ve said that yet.”
“No problem,” Johnson replied. He leaned in closer to Jenny. “So tell me this. How do you know so much about Orlowski?”
Jenny thought about all of the stories she could make up, but there didn’t seem to be a point. “I’m a psychic,” she said flatly. “Morgan Caldwell contacted me, as did one of the girls in Connecticut.”
He looked at her with awe but didn’t say a word.
“So what about Jeremy Stotler?” Jenny asked. “Will he be released from jail?”
“Soon
, I’m sure,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately it’s not that simple. We need to find some kind of evidence connecting Orlwoski to Morgan’s murder.”
“Gloves,” Jenny muttered. “Small, black, leather ones.” Jenny wriggled her fingers as if to illustrate. “If you can find the gloves, you’ll find your connection.”
Johnson smiled. “Got it.”
At that moment Jenny heard a commotion from outside the interview room. Johnson stepped out into the hall, returning to Jenny to declare, “I think your friend is here.” Jenny only smiled, but then Johnson added, “You can go see him if you want.”
Jenny emerged from the room into the lobby. Zack rushed over to her, throwing his arms around her. “Jenny,” he whispered. “Thank God you’re okay.” He was shaking all over.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” Jenny returned his tight hug, and they stayed in a wordless embrace for a long time.
Once Zack let go, he put his hands on Jenny’s shoulders, looked her squarely in the eye, and said, “I thought I’d lost you.”
Jenny looked down at her feet. “No. You didn’t lose me. But Orlowski’s dead.”
“So I heard.”
“That’s an image that’s going to stick with me for a long time.”
Zack pulled Jenny in for another hug. He kissed her on the top of the head and said, “He got what he deserved, is all.”
“I still have his blood on my clothes. I want to go home and throw this outfit away.”
“Can I convince you to stay at my place tonight?” Zack asked. “Or at least let me stay with you?”
Jenny nodded. “I think we should stay at your place.” With a snort she added, “I’m not sure my air mattress is big enough for both of us.”
Once a policeman arrived with Jenny’s purse and keys, Zack gave her a ride back to her car. After a stop back at her apartment and a long, hot shower, it was nearly sunrise before Jenny arrived at Zack’s. They both seemed to be on the same page as they headed straight to the bedroom. They plopped into bed and snuggled up together. Zack traced his fingers through Jenny’s hair as he said to her, “I’m so glad to have you here.”