Free to Kill

by Julie Mellon

  Michael cleared his throat and began, “Were all of you here two weeks ago?” It was pure chaos as all the women tried to answer at once. Each was trying her best to get Michael’s attention, even temporarily. At the chorus of ‘”yes” and “you bet” along with emphatic head nods, Michael smiled. “How about we try this a better way. Anyone not here two weeks ago?” Total silence descended again, everyone looked around at the women in the room, taking inventory of whom they didn’t remember from the previous week.

  Finally, from the back of the room came a deeper voice. “Oh, for goodness sake. I think I’m the only one who wasn’t here that night.” A giant of a woman stood up slowly. She was at least six feet tall with broad shoulders and short, choppy hair. She was easily 250 pounds and her arms hung down and away from her body, much like a boxer’s would. The only indication that she was a woman was the size of her chest.

  “Thank you,” Michael said. He desperately wanted to look for Katie and see if he was dreaming this. He couldn’t seem to find his flirtatious smile as the woman shifted from one foot to another. “May I ask your name?”

  “I’m Claudette Lewis, but my friends just call me Dette.”

  Katie spoke up quickly from the doorway, “Thank you Dette, for letting us know. I’m afraid that you might be a bit bored with our questions, given you weren’t here for the events of that week. I apologize now for you having to sit through this.”

  Michael received Katie’s message loud and clear. She didn’t want to tip their hand about the perpetrator possibly being a woman. Her reply was to let Michael know to move on with the other women and they would investigate Claudette later. Michael turned his head and nodded to Katie, who had her cell phone in her hand, to let her know he understood what she meant. As he turned his attention back to the women, he caught Evelyn’s eyes as she lowered them to her lap. They were red-rimmed from crying and yet the tears still streamed down her face. Next to her, an elderly woman had an arm around Evelyn’s shoulders, offering what comfort she could. As Michael returned to questioning the women, Katie sent a quick text to Lucy to ask her to find out all she could about a Claudette Lewis. She smiled a bit as the return text came back: At least that’s a less common name than David Williams!

  “Let’s start at the beginning of the evening, shall we?” Michael began. “Did any of you arrive after Elaine Henderson?” At the multiple headshakes directed toward him, he asked, “Do you all remember where Elaine parked that night? I sure know the lot is full tonight.”

  “Oh, she parked in the loading zone. You know, the striped spot right beside the handicapped spots. She always parked there. We never took that spot because we all knew she would be late and would be the last one to leave. We didn’t want her walking too far to her car in the dark.” Linda was the one who had spoken up. All the other women just nodded in agreement.

  Michael smiled at Linda. “I’ve already gotten a take on that night from Linda and Evelyn, why don’t you all just tell me what you remember?”

  Michael was about to offer encouragement for someone to start when Father Joe escorted a small woman back into the room. The woman had long blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes would normally have been a vibrant blue, but the redness and splotchy complexion gave away her anguish. One of the senior women approached and wrapped her arms around the woman. Father Joe patted her on the back as she was escorted away. He nodded to Michael, not noticing Katie, who stood immediately to the left of the door and was therefore out of his line of sight. “Agent,” he acknowledged.

  “I hope you don’t mind us interrupting your confessions tonight, Father. We were hoping to get a better picture of what happened a few weeks ago from the other women.” Michael said.

  “Of course not,” Father Joe replied. “Ladies, I am here if you need to talk, but for tonight why don’t we take a few minutes to see if we can help Agent Powell with the investigation of what happened to poor Elaine.”

  At the request of a few of the women, Father Joe agreed to stay in the room. As he turned to grab a chair, he started at Katie standing behind him. “Agent Freeman,” he acknowledged. He offered her the chair, but at her decline, he lowered himself down and sat back to give silent encouragement to the other women in the room.

  Katie returned her eyes to the room as she gauged each woman’s body language. She was curious to know about the woman who had just come in with Father Joe. The woman was distraught over something and Katie wanted to know if it had to do with Elaine, or if she was facing her own issues. Before she could ponder further, one of the women in the center of the room spoke up.

  “Elaine was an angel. I don’t know why anyone would do something like this to her.”

  “Oh, don’t be an idiot,” Dette said. “We all know she was having an affair.” Complete bedlam broke out at this pronouncement. Michael, who was stuck in the middle of the shouting, looked desperately over his shoulder at Katie. Katie was too busy watching the action, her eyes darting back and forth trying to catch who said what. Finally Father Joe stood up and clapped his hands three times. Silence immediately descended on the group, but the anger was still present.

  “I can assure everyone in this room that Elaine was not having an affair.” Father Joe’s proclamation sent a lot of “I told you so” looks toward Dette.

  “Oh, come on, Father Joe. Everyone here knows she was with David twice a week and had been with him for several months. They didn’t even try to hide what they were doing. Why, they were at the Waffle House in plain sight.” Dette was indignant at her opinion being dismissed.

  “I don’t think the definition of an affair is sitting in a Waffle House,” sniffed a middle-aged woman with pinched lips. Turning to Michael, she said, “I’m Gloria, by the way.” She gave a simpering smile as she attempted to flirt, blinking a few extra times before she turned away.

  “You wouldn’t know an affair if it hopped into bed with you,” Dette returned bitterly, crossing her arms over her massive bosom.

  “As if you would,” a third woman retorted as she stood to her feet.

  “Now, ladies,” Michael said with his trademark smile, “Let’s not get away from the topic here. Dette, thank your for your opinion. However, we have verified that the relationship between David and Elaine was not sexual in nature.”

  “Oooh, can you tell us what was going on between them?” the third woman asked. There was a current of excitement in the room as everyone prepared to hear some unknown gossip. The whispers flying back and forth created a buzz in the room.

  Father Joe stood up. “Now, ladies, don’t you know what the Bible says about gossip?” Chagrinned, the women looked down. Finally, Gloria spoke up and began her recollection of events from the previous meeting.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “Now, ladies, don’t you know what the Bible says about gossip?” Father Joe’s words nearly stopped the man’s heart. Standing silent and rigid behind the secret panel at the back of the room, the man peeked through a small knot in the wood desperately trying to see who the offender was. He had already learned of another defiler this evening. There is so much evil in this world to stamp out, the man thought as he continued to listen and watch the conversation from the room beyond.

  Michael listened as the women began to talk. As the story progressed, they each began to seek more of his attention and he heard more detail than he ever intended, from how to properly identify the gender of children’s clothes to how to properly sanitize the toys. He just nodded as each woman put her stamp on the story. After finally getting to the end of the events of that night, Michael had them go over the order in which they had left. The woman who had come in with Father Joe earlier admitted to being the first to leave.

  “I had to get my kids from my husband’s house.” Her voice hitched on the word husband.

  “Do you and your husband not live together?” Michael asked gently.

  “There, there, dear.” The gentle old woman who had taken over comforting her u
pon her return to the room patted her arm gently. Looking at Michael, she said, “Jenny is separated from her husband. And good riddance, too.” Jenny broke down in tears and the woman gently led her from the room.

  “Too bad her husband wasn’t the one killed in that car accident,” Dette said. Shocked, everyone turned to look at her. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. You all know he deserved to die more than poor Lily did.”

  “What car accident?” Michael asked.

  “Oh, about a year ago, Jenny’s husband was drinking and driving… again. He ran a red light and crashed into Lily Owens’s car. She died along with her three-month-old son. Terrible tragedy. Of course, it turned out she wasn’t so innocent after all. She was coming home from her lover’s house at the time. All while her husband was at home taking care of the other two kids.” Dette was practically gleeful as she retold the story. Her entire frame vibrated with satisfaction as she told of someone else’s misfortune.

  “Don’t you pay her no mind,” Gloria said. “She likes to stir up trouble. Lily’s death was tragic. And poor Jenny, she’s had to move out of her own house. Her husband refused to go and she couldn’t take it anymore. She moved her kids back into her momma’s house, which if you ask me, ain’t much better.”

  The man’s stomach twisted with rage as he listened to the women defend each other as if their transgressions didn’t exist. He would show them. Each and every one of them. He turned and went down the stairs to prepare the room for his next guest. She would join him before the night was over.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Jenny turned to the little old woman who had escorted her from the room. “Thank you, Betsy, for getting me out of there,” she said through her tears. “I need to get going before Jack gets too far gone and makes trouble.” She leaned down and kissed the weathered cheek of the woman who was more of a mother to her than her own actual mother. Putting the strap of her purse over her shoulder, she left the church to walk to her car. She shivered as she walked through the parking lot. Perhaps I should have had someone walk out with me, or at least watch me, she thought. Her car was located at the far end of the lot, near the park. As she got closer, she pulled her keys from her bag and picked up her pace. She quickly unlocked the door of her 1988 Dodge Shadow. It had once been bright red, but the sun had long ago faded it to a dusty pink. She would love to have a new car, but with her minimum wage job and two kids to feed without reliable child support, she didn’t see that in her future.

  Quickly pulling the door closed behind her, she pushed down the manual lock and inserted the key in the ignition. Twisting the key, she heard nothing. There wasn’t the click of a dead battery, or the grinding of a bad starter. There was absolute silence. Laying her head on the steering wheel, Jenny took a deep breath as she fought the tears that threatened to spill over. Without lifting her head, she turned the key once more, only to again get no response from the car.

  The knock on her window made her jump and a small scream escaped before she recognized the man standing outside her car. Putting her hand to her chest, she opened the door and got out. “You scared me half to death,” she said. “My car won’t start.”

  “Why don’t you pop the hood?” he replied. “Let me take a look.”

  As Jenny turned to reach into the car, she felt a burning sensation flow through her body as she lost control of her muscles. Before she hit the ground, the man scooped her up and walked into the woods that surrounded the park. All Jenny could think was, “Please let me get back to my kids.” Darkness surrounded her as he carried her down toward Duck River.

  The gathering in the church began to break up a short time later. Slowly, the women began heading toward their cars. Several of them stopped to talk in the parking lot. Michael and Katie stood on the stoop of the church and watched as, one by one, the cars began to pull out. Father Joe joined them after a few minutes of walking among his parishioners trying to calm the nerves of the women. In the end, only Betsy, Linda and Evelyn remained with the agents and Father Joe. Casually looking over the parking lot, Katie noticed four cars remained. “Father Joe, did you drive here tonight?” she asked.

  “No, I live in the parsonage, just through those trees.” He gestured to the left of the lot away from the direction of the river. “I don’t ever drive over. In fact, I rarely drive at all. Usually only to the grocery store and back. Why?”

  Katie ignored the question and turned to the women. “Which cars in this lot are yours?” Each of them turned to point out their cars. Michael had taken a look around and knew immediately what the problem was. Once the women’s three vehicles had been identified, Katie asked, “Then whose car is that?” as she pointed to the back of the lot.

  “Oh, no!” Betsy said. “That’s Jenny’s car.” She turned terrified eyes to Father Joe. “Please tell me he didn’t get her, too.”

  Michael and Katie took off running toward the car, but Katie knew what she would find. Jenny had been the first to leave and she had left significantly earlier than anyone else. Reaching the car, Michael shined the small flashlight on his key ring into the car. Sitting on the passenger seat was Jenny’s purse and hanging from the ignition were her keys. Michael looked up into four pairs of anguished eyes as the three women and Father Joe made it to the car. He just shook his head as Betsy burst out crying.

  “I should have walked her out. Oh, why did I let her leave alone?” Her heartbroken cries were the only sound as Michael pulled his phone from his pocket to call Chief Davidson.

  Father Joe gently led the women back to the church. Katie pulled gloves from her purse and put them on as she began to search the ground around the car for evidence.

  Chief Davidson arrived fifteen minutes later followed by what seemed to be every squad car in the county. The flashing lights from the tops of the car were enough to light an entire city block. One thing was for sure: if there were any other crimes in the city that night, the criminal didn’t have to worry about getting caught.

  “Son of a Buick!” Chief Davidson exclaimed. “How is it that you were right here and that SOB managed to kidnap another woman? Were you just sitting here with your thumb up your butt? Or did you just decide to bring your blindfold tonight? I mean, Son of a… Son of a…,” Chief Davidson couldn’t seem to think of another noun to keep from cursing. Finally he spat out, “Son of a Biscuit Eater!” With that, he left a gaping Father Joe and Agent Powell in his wake as he spun on his heel and began barking orders to his deputies.

  As Chief Davidson’s men began to organize for a search, Katie held up her arms to signal for quiet. “I found a few muddy boot prints around Jenny’s car. They are faint. Before you all go traipsing around the parking lot and the woods, would you allow me to see if I can track them? Chief, could you have your crime scene people come photograph these and see if any are clear enough for a cast?” Picking up a flashlight from the supplies the deputies had been laying out, Katie began walking the parking lot following the prints. Michael kept everyone back so they didn’t destroy any evidence. They didn’t know if the prints were from the kidnapper or if Katie had found anything further; he just didn’t want to have the deputies compromise any more of the scene. Once Katie reached the end of the lot, she turned and said, “There’s a clear print here. Let’s get this cast and photographed. I need two or three people to come with me to see how far we can follow the tracks.”

  “I’m Deputy Tom Fuller, ma’am. I’m the best tracker in the county.” Tom was all knees and elbows. He looked like a middle school kid and his face was still full of acne. At the nods from those surrounding him, Katie decided to take him at his word.

  “Great, then let’s move. This guy already has a good head start on us. Anyone else you think we should bring?”

  Tom waved over his partner, a hulking man who looked like he could bench press a car. He introduced him as Jerry Spires, and the trio headed into the woods. Katie didn’t understand why Michael chuckled at the introduction. She thought it was a bit rude to be laughing
at the poor man, although she didn’t know which one he was laughing at. But she didn’t have time to question him about it, especially since he stayed behind to organize the search once Katie let them know what they found.

  When Michael turned around, he discovered that nearly every car that had recently left the church had returned; most with additional occupants. The women had brought their husbands, sons, fathers, and anyone else they could gather to aid in the search. “Chief, do you see Jenny’s family? Is there anyone you can spare to go round up the estranged husband? It would be interesting to know if he’s home and how he reacts to the news.”

  Chief Davidson nodded and called two deputies over. After giving them the task of going to get Jack Downing and the kids and then notifying Jenny’s mother, Geraldine Simon, the Chief turned back to the sign-up lists of the searchers.

  Michael kept an eye on the woods where Katie and the two deputies had disappeared as he listened to the Chief divide the searchers. They were gathering in their groups waiting for the signal to begin searching. Ten minutes turned into twenty and then to thirty. Michael was about to give the call to send the searchers out, if only to see if they could find Katie when he saw the shine of three flashlights returning to the lot. Breathing a sigh of relief that he told himself was because he didn’t want to break in another new partner, Michael went to meet the three as they emerged.

  “We lost the tracks in the river. We thought it would be better to head back and get help to search the banks and see if we can find where the tracks emerge from the water.” Katie continued across the parking lot as she spoke. As the four of them reached Chief Davidson’s side, Katie said, “All right everyone, Deputy Fuller is going to give directions to where we need to start the search. It’s important that you move quickly, but remember to be thorough and careful of your footing. Because of the time of night and the darkness, we would like all search parties to return by midnight. If we don’t find anything by then, we will resume tomorrow morning. Deputy.” Katie nodded to Tom to take over.