Saving Sam

by Lynnette Beers

  “So, like a couple years ago?” Sam said and smirked.

  “Smart ass.”

  “I’m sure I’ll see you soon,” Sam said and released her hand from Kim’s. She couldn’t help but to think of Kim and Adrianna driving up to Mammoth together, riding the trails, cooking under the stars, and sharing a tent all week. Except for the few times she went camping with Annie, she’d never gone on a mountain biking trip with a woman before.

  Sam gripped her hands on the steering wheel and glimpsed at the clock one more time. After she turned the key in the ignition, she said goodbye then sped away from the curb even before Kim had reached the stairway to her apartment building. Not even to the end of the block yet, Sam tapped on Annie’s number on the screen and waited for her to answer.

  “Sorry I couldn’t call you right away. I was with Kim at the zoo. But I’m alone now and can talk.”

  “The zoo? That’s your idea of a hot date with a woman? Well, I’m glad you finally called. I’ve got a lot to tell you about Jonathan Patterson,” Annie said, out of breath and yelling into the phone. “I’m dashing back to my office. Sam, this is going to sound weird to ask, but do you know much about the woman who lived across the creek from you? Did she have kids? Did she have a son? Was she ever—”

  “Old Miss Patterson? She was always so crotchety. We called her the old spinster because she’d always—” Once the words exited her mouth, Sam’s face drained of color, and her heart fluttered. It all crashed down on her with such intensity: Jonathan Patterson. Why hadn’t she made this connection when Annie mentioned Johnny’s last name earlier in her texts? “Oh, my God! Please don’t tell me that woman is related to Jonathan Patterson. Did she have anything to do with the accident?”

  “Not that we know of. She’s basically bedridden now in a care facility. She’s pretty senile. At this point, we’re trying to figure out if Virginia Patterson is related to Jonathan. I’m going to log into the database now to see if she’s any relation. We’ve attempted to contact her. This is what I didn’t tell you in my text. I wanted to talk to you over the phone about this. Sam, you see, well, Jonathan stole her truck, right from her property.”

  “That truck is hers? The old grey Ford she kept out front? I didn’t even think that thing still worked. Weeds had grown all around it over the years. Maybe it belonged to Jonathan?”

  “No, there’s evidence he broke the lock to get in. Plus it’s clear the truck had been hot-wired. We’re thinking Jonathan is her estranged son.”

  “Her son? Miss Patterson never had kids, not that I know of. I never saw anyone over there besides her.” Sam reached the 94 Freeway heading east but was at a total stop in early evening traffic. She inched forward as her mind raced at what Annie just told her. She heard typing on the other end of the phone. “You at your desk now?”

  “Yeah, I’m in our database right now. Besides finding Jonathan and arresting him, I need to figure out his connection to Virginia Patterson. It can’t be a coincidence that this guy steals a car from someone with the same last name. I can find out right away if she’s Jonathan’s mother. I’m not going home till I figure this out.”

  Sam heard more typing. Her breath became shallow as she waited for Annie to say more. Sam’s Forester nudged forward in the bumper-to-bumper traffic. The San Diego skyline glowed behind her through the rearview mirror—the fierce red blaze lighting up the sky after the sun had disappeared below the horizon.

  “Wow, this is interesting,” Annie finally said but then got quiet.

  “Annie, what did you find?”

  “First of all, Virginia is not his mother. But, something I’m seeing here is interesting. I’ve pulled up other Pattersons in Mississippi besides Virginia and Jonathan. I’m going back a couple decades. Two other Pattersons match one of Jonathan’s old addresses in Hattiesburg, a Fred and a Charles Patterson, but nothing matching Virginia’s address across from your mom’s place. But I still think there’s a connection to her. Maybe Jonathan is her nephew or a distant cousin.”

  “Did you say Fred and Charles?” Sam’s heartbeat sped up after those names left her mouth.

  “Yes, Fred and Charles Patterson, but they’re deceased. Both died in 1990.”

  Sam listened to Annie tell her about Fred and Chuck’s previous addresses, about their extensive list of arrests years ago, but all of this sounded like static in her ears. Sam edged closer to the exit ramp and maneuvered around a slow car to park on the side of a busy street. She clicked on her hazard lights and set the parking brake as she tried to calm her breaths. She didn’t want to listen to details about the men who attacked her years ago, yet she clung to each word as she concentrated on everything Annie described.

  “They died young,” Annie continued. “Fred in his twenties and Charles in his early thirties. With both dying on the same day, my guess is a car accident. Going back even further in the archives here, I see that Jonathan, Fred, and Charles all have the same address as Marilyn and William back in the seventies and mid-eighties. So, it’s pretty clear that Jonathan’s the brother of these two guys. Well, I’d still like to talk to Virginia to see if I can find out anything else, see how she reacts when we tell her that her truck was stolen by Jonathan Patterson. It’s just too weird.”

  Sam’s body trembled as she sat in her car with the heat cranked up. She unfastened her seatbelt then reached behind the seat for her hoodie and pulled it over her head. She hadn’t heard these names in over twenty years, but right now, those men’s faces appeared to her with such vividness. Johnny’s firm grip on her arm had been seared into her skin over twenty years ago. His threats continually rang in her ears…Fred and Chuck’s towering presence over her… Right now, Sam envisioned their bodies floating down the creek. She rocked back and forth in the seat, unable to form words.

  “Sam?” Annie asked. “Did I lose you?”

  “No, I’m still here. I pulled over. Traffic is awful tonight.”

  “Virginia Patterson hasn’t lived in that house for a couple years now. We stopped by her place the other day. Seems vacant and in bad shape. Virginia lives in a care facility nearby, been there about two years now. I’m planning to speak to her soon, but...well, I don’t suppose it’d be possible for you to be on speaker phone when we talk to her.”

  “Why would you need me on the phone when you talk with her? I never even knew her besides what I saw from our side of the creek. She was always such a recluse. I avoided her whenever possible.”

  “The manager at the nursing home said she’s frail, in her late nineties now, and suffers from dementia. She’s a feisty old woman and might not be open to talking to the police.”

  “Then why would she be open to talking to me? Old Miss Patterson was a mean woman when I was a kid. She was a miserable spinster. I thought she passed away years ago.”

  “Maybe she’ll soften up a bit if she knew you were on the phone. A Skype call would be even better so she can see your face.”

  “Annie, she hated me and Robert when we were kids. She despised everyone. She always threatened to call the police when Robert got anywhere near her property. Besides, she probably won’t even recognize me now.”

  “Sam, if she knows anything about Jonathan and his whereabouts, I’d kind of like you to be on the call, just to see if maybe you can convince her to share as much as possible with us.”

  “I don’t see why she’d soften up if she saw my face. I doubt I’d be much help.”

  “At this point, what have you got to lose?”

  Sam let out a loud exhale. “Okay, I guess I can be on Skype when you talk to her. Maybe before I go to work tomorrow? Early in the morning here, ten your time?”

  “That won’t work. I’m scheduled to meet with the manager at Robert’s work. He’s the last one I need to question at the canoe rental place. Maybe the next day we can arrange a conference call at the nursing home. I’ll set it up tomorrow.”

  Sam remained quiet as she gathered up the strength to tell Annie about the Patter
son brothers. Cars whooshed past her, this street so close to home but suddenly seeming so unfamiliar. She should be home when she told Annie about Johnny, but if she didn’t say anything now, she’d likely lose her nerve.

  “This is interesting,” Annie said and breathed loudly into the phone. “Looks like Virginia Patterson is William’s sister. Amazing what a quick Google search will show, but this means Jonathan is Virginia’s nephew.”

  “Annie, you need to know something.” The words lodged in her throat as she attempted to force out the rest of what she had to say. She turned down the heater and lowered the window a couple inches then stared at the dark night through the windshield. “Jonathan Patterson is the guy who attacked me when I was eight,” Sam finally spoke, her words devoid of emotion.

  “Oh, my God! Sam, this is the guy? Are you sure? How do you know it’s him?”

  “In your text you said something about Jonathan evening the score. I’m sure it’s him. Years ago, he threatened to come after me and Robert.”

  “You told me three men were there that day, but you never said they were brothers.”

  “Yeah, Chuck and Fred.”

  “Jonathan was trying to kill your brother,” Annie said, her words so matter-of-fact. “You said Robert saved you, that he was there to fight off your attackers. Sam, what did he do to those men? They died in 1990. That was...1990 was when you were eight, wasn’t it?”

  Sam’s jaw went rigid. Words formed in her head, but she couldn’t get them out of her mouth.

  “Sam, honey, please. Tell me what they did to you. Why did Robert—”

  “He goes by Johnny,” Sam said quietly, her voice hoarse. “He’s the one who said he’d kill me if I ever said anything.”

  “That son of a bitch,” Annie spat out. “We’ll arrest him. We’ll charge him with assault.”

  “Kinda late for that, don’t you think? Haven’t the statutes of limitation or whatever you call it passed? Besides, the only witness to that day is pretty much in a coma and unresponsive.”

  “Well, Johnny is still gonna pay. We’ll find him. I’ll make sure he goes away for a long time. Sam, you need to tell me what Robert did to Fred and Chuck. I could look up cause of death for both of them in our database, but it might be faster for me to ask you how they died.” Annie let out a loud sigh into the phone, her heavy breath echoing in Sam’s Subaru.

  “For Chuck, blunt force trauma to the head. For Fred, gunshot. Robert didn’t kill Fred, just Chuck. Well, he didn’t mean to kill him. It was all an accident, self-defense. Chuck came at him with full force, so Robert had to fight back. He must’ve hit him just right in the head to cause him to die. Annie, they could’ve killed Robert. Or me. Those men were filled with such rage. They almost—” Sam hunched forward in the seat and clasped her arms around her sides. She felt like she was going to throw up, that she would lose the Diet Coke and nachos she and Kim shared at the zoo.

  “I’ll look at the coroner’s reports tonight. Sam, why didn’t you ever say anything to me? Your dad must’ve figured things out. I’m sure he knew about this case since it happened right by your house.”

  “Robert and I vowed to never tell anyone. He knew he’d never get into the academy if anyone found out about this. Then he gave up becoming a police officer once Dad told us there were unidentified fingerprints on the belt buckle they found near the creek. Robert knew having his fingerprints on file was part of the application process, at least once he applied to the police department. Annie, at this point, it’s all in the past.”

  “But you’ve carried this with you for so many years, including the years when we were together. I love you, Sam. I always will. I’ll always have your back, but...I wish you would’ve told me more when we were together. I had no idea you and Robert carried this secret.”

  Sam gazed at the blur of lights from the cars whooshing past her and barely listened to Annie go on about how she wasn’t there to protect her years ago, even though they didn’t know each other at the time. Annie would have been twenty-one when this all happened. She was probably already in law enforcement by then or at least in the academy and trained on how to protect and to serve.

  “I love you, too,” Sam finally said then reached up to turn on the dome light in her car. She relaxed her hands in her lap, but then the faces of those men came flooding back to her with such clarity. Her knuckles gripped the steering wheel, and she squeezed her eyes shut, attempting to replace the ugly images with something more pleasant. She imagined the glassy ocean at dawn, the silvery surface of the water reflecting the rising sun. She envisioned the sagebrush along the trails where she biked. She even tried to escape the horrific memories by imagining her finger running along the smooth surface of Kim’s taut abs, but as quickly as that sensual image entered her mind, it was replaced by Johnny’s rough finger touching her chest and running it under her sundress.

  “We’ll find him, Sam. You’ve got my word on that. But why didn’t you tell me about all of this? I mean, when we were together.”

  “I told you about the men attacking me. That seemed like enough to tell you. Annie, the other stuff was all in the past. I never...well, I never thought this would all come back.” Sam popped open the console of her car to see the amber vial of pills sitting there.

  “Finding Johnny is now our top priority. He’ll be arrested for attempted murder, along with other crimes. I doubt they’ll bring in any of this old information. It says here that no charges were pressed. The case has been closed for twenty years now. The report back in 1990 says they questioned Johnny and suspected he and his brothers had some sort of scuffle that day along the Okatoma Creek. There wasn’t enough evidence to charge Johnny, so they let him go.”

  “Seems he gets out of a lot of situations. Annie, you have to find him.”

  “Babe, we’re on it. Maybe Virginia Patterson will have some leads where Johnny might be. Listen, I’m going to hop on a different computer. This one’s not bringing up the databases I need. You okay?”

  Sam stared through the windshield as bright beams from oncoming cars flashed past. “I’m not sure. I mean, it’s kinda weird to be telling you about this after all these years. I figured that day would always be behind me. But, now it’s here again.”

  “You have to trust me that I’ll find the son of a bitch and make him pay for what he’s done. To you and to Robert.”

  “Thank you,” Sam said, her voice so feeble and childlike.

  “Can you get home right away then take a Xanax and try to sleep?”

  “I’m heading home now. It’ll be nice to get in bed and forget about all of this.” Sam reached into the console and pulled out the vial of pills. She opened the cap and popped a pill in her mouth, the taste so bitter on her tongue. Sam released the parking brake but sat there a couple minutes before driving away. Her eyes glazed over as she squinted at the oncoming traffic. She could take the back streets and be home in a matter of fifteen minutes, but instead of continuing down this street, she flipped an illegal U-turn and headed back to the freeway onramp. Rather than head east on the 94 in the direction of home, she headed west toward Kim’s neighborhood.

  “Text me to let me know you got home safely.”

  “Yeah, okay, I’ll be home soon.” Sam ended the call and waited at the light. A long line of cars idled in front of her. The traffic light had changed from red to green and then back to red again while she waited to get through the intersection. She hoped she could catch Kim before she left for REI.

  Chapter Sixteen

  San Diego: Autumn 2014

  “I SHOULDN’T HAVE left,” Sam said right when Kim opened the door. “I should’ve come upstairs with you when I dropped you off.” Sam fell into Kim’s arms and clung to her, not releasing her for a couple minutes.

  Kim took Sam by the hand and led her to the couch. “It’s still early. We’ve got the rest of the night. What’s going on with the investigation? What did Annie say?” Kim set her feet on the coffee table and pulled Sam into a tigh
t sideways embrace.

  “Turns out nothing major’s been revealed,” Sam said and relaxed her head on Kim’s shoulder. “Nothing really worth sharing anyway. They know who caused the accident, some local guy in his fifties. You up for going out for a bit?” Sam bit her lower lip and tapped her foot on the leg of the coffee table. Even though she took another half a Xanax after she parked her car out front, she continued to jiggle her leg, but she felt a welcomed haze in her head—the meds blurring the awful images from years ago.

  “I thought you wanted to stay in. You know, finish what we started earlier?” Kim nuzzled her face on Sam’s shoulder and kissed her a few times on the neck.

  “There will be plenty of that later,” Sam said and giggled then moved her neck away from Kim. “It’s Friday night. I’m in the mood to go out. You up for getting a drink at Gossip Grill? Maybe dance a bit and then head back here?” For at least tonight, Sam didn’t want to talk about the past and preferred to be with someone who knew nothing about Johnny. She took Kim’s hand and led her to the door and then down the steps to the street.

  The ride through Hillcrest was a blur as Sam gazed out the window while Kim sped down University Avenue and neared Gossip Grill. They found parking right in front of the bar and walked hand-in-hand through the entrance. With the light inside the bar so dim, Sam couldn’t quite get her bearings, but she searched the crowd for any familiar faces. Many of the women who used to go to the Flame flocked to Gossip Grill after they opened, but the lesbians tonight all looked like strangers to her.

  Sam went straight to the bar and ordered two Stella Artois on tap. She pulled out a twenty and slapped it on the counter. She eyed the tattooed bartender who bent over to grab two glasses from a ledge below the bar. The young, butch girl bopped her head to the music as she set the glasses under the tap. Sam thrummed her fingers on the bar and glanced at the women around her—all of them young. The thumping music in the dance area next to the bar caused her head to spin. Once she had the cold beer in her hand, Sam chugged several gulps, her glass half empty within a couple minutes. She reached into her pocket for another Xanax and swallowed it with a swig of beer. Kim stood nearby and took tiny sips of the amber liquid and swayed her head to the pulsating music.