Secrets of Amelia

by Andrea Anderson

She called Chuck to tell him she wouldn’t be able to come to work because Betty was sick.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” asked Chuck.

  “I don’t think so,” Amelia said, “we’re not going to leave her.”

  “At least let me do this, I’ll get some Chinese carry out and bring you guys something to eat later this evening. Maybe that will help a little.”

  “I guess that would be ok.”

  Later that evening Shelly was studying, and Betty was taking a nap. Amelia sat down to opening her mail with so much going on she forgot all about it.

  “Oh Boy! What good news.”

  “What?” asked Shelly.

  “I got this letter from the college finance office,”…and, just as Amelia said that, there was a knock on the door.

  She got up, looked out the peephole, and opened the door, “Chuck come on in. Let’s put the food on the table and sit down. I was about to tell Shelly the good news. I got a letter from the college today, confirming that Mr. Evans kept his word and rewarded me by paying for my next semester of college. God I’m so thrilled!” Said Amelia, “this will help me so much.”

  A strange look came over Chuck’s face, which he quickly turned into a smile. “That’s great, he said, oops there goes my phone,” he said picking it out of its case on his belt. He turned and walked into the living room.

  “That was so generous of Mr. Evans,” said Shelly, “congratulations.”

  “I can’t wait to tell Chad. He’ll be so pleased.”

  Chuck came back into the kitchen as the girls were opening the food containers and putting spoons in each and setting out plates.

  Silently, Chuck was shocked and pissed that Mr. Evans decided to reward Amelia in that way. He thought it would be a cash reward and he would get something too. Chuck knew he couldn’t let his disappointment show, but he needed the money too. With renewed composure he went back to the kitchen, smiled and said, “Well, Congratulations Mel, I mean Amelia,” hoping that the use of the name, “Mel” would make her feel guilty, knowing he kept that secret for her so long before it was discovered.

  They sat down to eat. “Chuck did you have something to do with me getting that reward?” asked Amelia.

  “No, I didn’t,” he said, “Mr. Evans did that all on his own.”

  “I’m going to say thank you anyway Chuck because I know you probably praised me and told Mr. Evans how hard I worked. Thank you so much! Amelia got up and gave Chuck a little hug.

  The longer Chuck sat there and thought about the “reward,” the more upset he got.

  “What’s the matter Chuck, aren’t you hungry?”

  “No not really, I have a very late lunch and that call was a problem on the job I have to look into, so I should go.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad,” Amelia commiserated, “I understand. How much do we owe you for the food?”

  “Nothing, it’s my treat.”

  “Thanks Chuck,” said Shelly, “it was nice of you to think of us.”

  “No problem, Amelia, will you be in the day after tomorrow?”

  “I don’t know, it depends on how Betty is feeling, I will call and let you know. Thanks again for the food,” Amelia said, as she closed the door and bolted it.

  As soon as Chuck was gone Amelia made a beeline for her computer to email Chad. “I got a great surprise today. I’ll share it with you as soon as you get back. Stay safe my precious one.”

  Wilson called at 9:00 PM to say that they had a decoy and six officers who volunteered to keep watch in the park. Shelly talked to him and she mentioned that Chuck was there.

  “I’m disappointed,” said Wilson angrily, “I asked that you not have anybody else come to the apartment. Is he somebody you know and trust?”

  “Yes, he’s Amelia’s boss and she has known him for almost two years now. He came to bring us some food and help us relax a little, he’s gone now.”

  “OK, I’m sending an officer to stay in the apartment with all of you in case this is a way to throw us off, and the stalker’s real target could be your apartment.”

  “I’ll tell the others.”

  At 9:45 PM, Wilson came to the apartment himself. “I thought I would come myself because everyone else is in place and I didn’t want to look suspicious walking around the park in a suit.”

  He kept his radio on very low and they could hear the reports as the decoy walked into the park and sat on the bench. The decoy was actually a female police officer who volunteered for the job and from a distant looked as if she could be Betty or any one of them. She sat on the bench and wore a red scarf.

  The time seemed to drag by 10:30 came and went with no signs of the stalker. At 11:30 Wilson called the stake out off. He told them all to go home, thanked them, and told his partner he would see him in the morning.

  “Looks like he got spooked and didn’t show, I’ll stay here a little longer to make sure everything stays quiet. You girls can all go to bed. When I am ready to leave, I’ll wake Shelly up to bolt the door.”

  Wilson fell asleep on the sofa and when Amelia came out for a drink of water, she got a blanket and covered him.

  Secret thoughts: (Wilson looks so tired and probably needed the sleep just as Chad does when he was on a mission. Chad will be disappointed that they didn’t catch the stalker, he was right all along, and Wilson agrees with him. I didn’t want to believe it but there is someone stalking us.)

  The last thing she did before getting back into bed was to email Chad to tell him the result of the stakeout.

  In the morning, Wilson was very apologetic for falling asleep on the sofa.

  “No need to apologize, we need to thank you for staying,” said Shelly, “let us make breakfast for you that was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a month.”

  Amelia came out, saw you, and came to tell us so we wouldn’t be alarmed if we saw a man sleeping on the sofa.

  Before he left Wilson asked if there was anywhere else, they could go to spend a few days.

  “My parent’s house, but anyone who knows me, knows that I live fairly close to here,” said Betty. “We have other friends on campus, although I would rather not bring any of them into all this. It is such a mess.”

  “OK,” he said, “please be very cautious.”

  Secret thoughts: (I’m nervous about the whole situation. I told Chad most of what happened in emails but held back some things. It would distress him and make him feel guilty for not being able to be here with me. I hope telling him most of what has happened will make him feel better. I reassured Chad I’m fine, and the police were on the stalker’s trail. It was not exactly a lie, only not the whole truth, I’ll explain later.)

  Sometime later the following week, Wilson called Shelly to say that one of his snitches told him about a conversation he overheard in a bar. It was some guy telling his drinking partner how he was going to sneak into an apartment and make some tight ass bitch pay for being a tease, and he fit the general description of the person of interest.

  “I have a lead on this guy and a good description, and my partner and I are going to follow up on it. Stay watchful and alert to anything else that happens till you hear from me. I ran Luke through the system, and he does have a record for assault and public drunkenness. If he contacts any of you let me know immediately. Even if you see him anywhere in the vicinity of your apartment call me any time, don’t wait. In the meantime, we will be following up on our leads.”

  Wilson and his partner talked with the campus security and asked them to call them if they saw anything suspicious around campus. The girl’s off campus apartment was being watched by patrol cars. But the campus was so close it would be easy for someone to come to the apartment by walking through the campus. Wilson got a call about 1:00AM, two nights later, from the campus security. They told him they had a report from one of the dorms that a man dress
ed in dark clothing, was seen walking behind their dorm. The dorm was in the area near of the girl’s apartment building. It was close, but still out of their jurisdiction so they called Wilson.

  Wilson and his partner came to meet the campus security. They got out of their car and began to search the surrounding area. As Wilson made his way from behind the dorm, he walked around the back of the girls building. Suddenly a man jumped out from behind a bush and began to run, Wilson saw him and gave chase, and he ran after him and tackled the guy. They took him to the city police station. He had binoculars and a knife on him. When they ran his fingerprints, he had previous arrests for being a public nuisance and stalking. They were reasonably certain this was the guy that was stalking Betty.

  Wilson called the apartment very early the next day to tell the girls the good news.

  “That is wonderful news,” said Betty, who answered the phone. Are you sure it’s him?”

  “We can’t be 100 per cent sure, but I think it’s our man, he fits the picture and had binoculars and a knife. We caught him across from your apartment in the bushes.”

  “Thank you, Lord, and thank you too Wilson, you did so much for us,” said Betty, “the situation was about to pluck my last nerve.” Betty told Shelly and Amelia and they were so relieved they all danced around celebrating and laughing. That evening they had a bottle of wine to celebrate. They felt relaxed now and the next day went back to their usual routine.

  Amelia immediately emailed Chad. “You will be so relieved Babe, they caught the guy, so we’re all back to normal. Be safe, write/call as soon as you can. I miss you terribly. I sent you a package. Hope the cookies are not too stale when you get them.

  [ Chapter 29 ]

  The building manager knocked on their apartment door one morning the following week and asked if he could inspect the ceiling in Betty’s room.

  “What’s the matter,” asked Betty.

  “The woman in the apartment above you left the water running in the tub and it overflowed and flooded her apartment. I wanted to check to see if the water seeped through to your ceiling and it if needs to be repaired.”

  He brought in his ladder and probed the ceiling with an ice pick.

  After probing around, he said, “Sure enough, just as I suspected, part of the ceiling in your bedroom must be replaced, I don’t want it to fall down on your head one night when you’re sleeping. I’d like to have the repair men that are working on the mess upstairs come here and repair this one too.”

  “When do you want to do this?” Asked Betty.

  “Is tomorrow, OK?”

  “I guess that would be alright, how long will it take?”

  “It should only be a day or so,” he said, “sorry for the inconvenience.”

  Betty told the girls about the problem with the ceiling in her room, when they came home that evening. “The building manager told me not to stay in my room because the ceiling might fall down any minute.”

  “You can use the couch,” said Shelly.

  Amelia agreed, “Or you can sleep with one of us.”

  The next day they came home expecting the ceiling to be repaired, it was only cut out and not replaced.

  “It looks creepy in there now with half the ceiling cut away, you can look up and see cobwebs and all kind of yucky stuff. I’m disappointed,” said Betty, “I thought they would be done with the ceiling by now and I feel as if I’m getting a migraine.”

  They looked at the ceiling in Betty’s room and agreed. “It is creepy,” said Shelly.

  “Don’t worry, Betty,” said Amelia, “Shelly and I plan on studying late for an exam and you can sleep in my room. Since it is the furthest down the hall away the kitchen, where we will be studying, you’ll be as far away from our noise as possible.”

  Betty had developed migraine headaches from all the stress and tension over the past few months and when one hit her, she was almost immobilized. She had to be in a quiet room where there was no light and she took some strong pain medication her doctor gave her until it passed.

  Betty had a light dinner with Shelly and Amelia. She didn’t feel much like eating, because sometimes the headaches made her nauseated, on the other hand, she couldn’t take the pain medication on an empty stomach. After dinner, she took her pain pills, said good night to Shelly and Amelia. She went to Amelia’s room pulled down all the shades, turned off all the lights, got into bed and put on her sleeping mask.

  Shelly and Amelia stayed up until 12:30. They were both tired and decided they were about as prepared as they could be, and Shelly went to bed. Amelia emailed Chad, told him about her test in the morning, and asked him to keep his fingers crossed for her to get a good grade. Then she went to bed in Shelly’s room.

  Around 3:00 AM, Shelly and Amelia heard screaming coming from Amelia’s room.

  Amelia heard it first and woke up Shelly, they ran to Amelia’s room and opened the door, they found Betty on the floor nude, and bleeding, they were mortified?”

  “Betty, Betty,” they shouted, “Oh Jesus, what happened?”

  “Betty was shrieking, “Why, why did this have to happen?” Someone broke in here and started to beat me and then raped me,” said Betty sobbing hysterically. “I tried to fight him off, but he was so strong.”

  “Honey, you’re ok now we have you, let’s get you cleaned up, and get some clothes on you,” said Amelia.

  “We’ll help you to the bathroom,” said Amelia.

  “No,” said Shelly, “if she takes a shower, she’ll wash all the evidence away. I’m going to call Wilson and then we’ll take you to the emergency room,” said Shelly.

  “No, no, no,” shrieked Betty, “Darrell will find out then, I can’t let Darrell know this has happened, he will be so upset and freaked out, he won’t marry me.”

  “I can see why he would be freaked out, but why wouldn’t he marry you? You didn’t do anything wrong and you may be hurt,” Amelia said.

  “He’s very into the purity thing and he won’t want me, if he knows I’ve been violated,” Betty moaned hysterically.

  “Betty, I don’t mean to be harsh, but you were not exactly a virgin. This maniac guy, breaks in here and assaults you, you must do something, what if he comes back?” Shelly declared angrily.

  “I don’t know,” Betty wailed, “I don’t know, I’m so miserable. I’m not a virgin but I promised Darrell that I would not have sex with anyone and we’re waiting until we’re married. I know that might sound stupid but that’s what we’re doing. I don’t want Darrell to find out and not marry me. Let’s call Wilson, but don’t tell him I was raped,” said Betty, “please, please,” she begged, “let’s keep this to ourselves you must help me keep this a secret, you are my best friends you must help me with this.”

  They were in the bathroom helping Betty when they heard a loud noise that sounded like a shot and within minutes there was someone banging on their apartment door. “Who’s there demanded Shelly?” before opening the door.

  “It’s me Wilson.” She opened the door and he rushed in and asked if they were all right, and then he saw Betty. They had taken her to the bathroom and cleaned her up and put sweatpants and a sweatshirt on her. Her face was bruised and swollen she had the beginning of a black eye. She had cuts and scratches on her arms and neck, she sat on the sofa with her head in her hands crying.

  “Son of a bitch, he got in didn’t he,” Wilson said with disgust.

  “Yes, and he beat the crap out of Betty,” said Amelia, sitting next to Betty with her arm protectively around her.

  “Wilson how did you know to come here we didn’t call the police,” said Shelly.

  I was going to come here tomorrow to tell you that the man we caught was not your stalker and that we picked up Luke and questioned him and he had a good alibi. We got a call on another case and we were working late, and I never got the chance to contact you.
We thought we would swing around this area before going home tonight and I saw a ladder propped up to the window of your apartment. We got out and I was walking around to see what was going on when the guy jumped out of the bushes and pushed my partner over. I chased him down, he assaulted me with a knife, and I squeezed one off at him. It was dark, but I must have gotten lucky because I heard him groan and found him on the ground not moving. I got up here as quick as I could because I didn’t know if he was trying to get in or had already been here, I have the answer now,” he said, with self-loathing in his voice.

  “Fuck,” he said, “I’m glad now, that I shot him. Let’s get Betty to the hospital.”

  “Will you come with me? Asked Betty, sobbing, and holding the girl’s hands.

  “Of course, Shelly and I will stay with you every minute,” said Amelia.

  “Wilson,” Shelly gasped your bleeding are you OK?”

  “Yeah I know, I’ll be fine he cut me with the knife he had.”

  At the emergency room, the doctors determined that Betty’s nose was broken, and she had trauma to her neck where he tried to choke her. She had bruising on her upper body and the doctors thought her ribs were broken, they wanted a chest x-ray.

  Amelia and Shelly stayed in the waiting room for several hours, while Betty was being examined and treated. Wilson was in a small police office doing paperwork he got a phone call and came out and asked Amelia and Shelly if he could talk with them privately.

  “Wilson are you ok, your pants are ripped, and your jacket is dirty, and how is your arm?” asked Shelly.

  “Yeah, I’m alright, I have a cut on my arm where he swiped at me with his knife all that happened when we fought.” The nurse cleaned it up for me and bandaged it, it doesn’t need stitches. You know what they say, “there is nothing faster than disaster.”

  “I know that well,” answered Amelia.

  He took them to the small police office in the emergency department.

  Wilson said, “I wanted to talk to you both without Betty because I’m not sure how much you will want to tell her.”