Jay stopped running when he lost the truck. He'd been so close at a couple traffic lights, but the truck swerved around cars to run. Jay got the plate number. He trembled as he called 911. He reported what happened, rambling, couldn't get out the words clearly, repeated the plate number. The 911 operator calmed him finally enough to get a sentence out, "I want Officer Ripkin."
Julia burst through the door of her house screaming, crying in fear. Her dad ran to her from the bathroom. He calmed her down, learned what had happened, then called the police.
Caleb parked and turned off the truck when he got to the Hole in The Wall bar. He pulled his bag from beneath the seat, shut the passenger side door, then calmly walked away. He pulled his hat down over his ears, gloves tight over his fingers. The Minute Mart was a few minutes walk from the bar. He bought a cup of coffee, then went outside. Leaning against the wall beside the store, he waited sipping the hot coffee. Then there he was. The old man with the old dodge. When the old man exited his vehicle, he was a few steps away. He opened the door to the car, had it in reverse and out of the lot before the old man was all the way inside the store. He stopped by there every morning on his drive to work. He watched the people, familiar faces most of them. Unbelievable how many people got out of their cars, leaving them running outside convenience stores on cold mornings to avoid getting back into a cold car. People did it all the time while they grabbed a donut, a cup of Joe, a pack of smokes or a newspaper. There was no tracking on this car, no special gadget to lock or unlock it. It was perfect.
He drove the blocks back to the neighborhood, passing a cruiser with its lights flashing on the Boulevard, passing a cruiser in front of Mr G's shop. He parked the Dodge in the garage outback of his condemned house. He swiftly moved from the garage to the door to the master bedroom and set his sight on the front street. Another cruiser. He cursed himself. He'd almost had her. He did have her in his grasp. His angel maneuvered her arm out of the sleeve and the top half of her out in one quick and twisting motion. The hoodie had been loose, probably the boyfriend's hoodie.
"Fuck," He cursed, punching the wall beside him. "Fuck."
Officer Ripkin met Jay where he stood on the boulevard, shivering and trembling on the verge of tears. He climbed out of his vehicle and Jay met him in front of the car. He explained what had happened, he thought Julia was in the truck. He chased it on foot till the truck drove so erratically to get away from him. Jay had to give up and he hated himself for it.
"I lost her. What's he doing to her? He has her!" Jay tormented himself with guilt and broke down, fearing the worst.
"Jay, son, I need you to calm down. Julia is with her dad. She's home. She's safe. Do you hear me, Jay?"
"She's ok?" Jay gasped through tears. "I thought..."
"I know what you thought. But you did a good job. You have the plate number. That's a big help. "
Most of the morning had been spent with the police, at the police station, giving statements and descriptions, recounting what had exactly occurred. By noon the attempted abduction was on the news. Her name hadn't been released, but the info that Julia and Jay provided had given the local police a lot to go on. The news at noon gave a general description of the man and the truck was identified as stolen out of Maryland. The man that owned it was in his 70's and was not involved in the crime.
By the evening news, there was no arrest, but the truck had been located outside a bar in town. The attempted abduction snowballed into a murder. A body of a local woman was found in that truck. Not a lot of details, it was too early in the investigation to comment. The female victim's name was being withheld pending notification of family. The truck itself was being processed for evidence.
Officer Ripkin stopped by during his shift, showed Julia and Jay a picture of the murdered woman. Did they know her? Had they seen her before? No and no. Cal, on the other hand, recognized the woman's photograph. "That's Susie."
"Mr Fry, how do you know her?"
"I'm a bartender." He answered.
"Do you tend bar where they found her body? The truck?"
"Not often. Last time I worked there was about 6 weeks ago. I know the owner, Jack. When he's in a real bind or needs an extra person, he gives me a call."
Within a 24 hour timeframe the police investigation had developed a timeline of events. It began with the subject, Caleb Downing, seeing Julia at the rest stop on the turnpike. He pursued them to their current location where he'd been stalking Julia, her family and friends. He'd met and picked up Susie at the bar where Cal worked, which indicated he'd followed Cal at some point since his arrival in Maverick. Caleb Downing was a 34 year old man from South Carolina, a drifter. He had a long criminal history dating back to age 17 that included violent and sexual offenses. It was evident he had a lengthy history of mental illness with stays at several mental health facilities. Officer Ripkin showed Julia, Jay, and Cal the most recent picture they had of Caleb Downing.
Julia was overwhelmed with all the information she'd learned. Processing it all terrified her. She tried not to dwell on the facts that had been presented to her, but it was impossible. She also dwelled on the woman who'd been murdered, Susie. Her parents were on the news, her sons in the background playing with cars. Young, blond haired, beautiful boys who had their whole lives ahead of them. Susie was an addict, had lost her children due to that addiction. She was a local prostitute who worked the bar scene. She had many failed attempts to get clean and this time she had succeeded for a short time, being clean for several weeks according to her father. Susie's mother was too upset to be interviewed.
Julia peeked through the living room curtain to see the police cruiser parked in its place at the corner. It had been there since the psychopath's identity had been discovered from prints he left all over the truck. DNA he'd left all over Susie in addition to lumps, bruises, lacerations and a broken neck. Each time she thought of Susie lying in his truck lifeless and the trauma she'd suffered, Julia blamed herself. If it hadn't been for me, she lamented, Susie would still be alive. If he hadn't attached himself to me, her boys would still have a mother.
Midnight, Julia was awake with her thoughts tormenting her. She was terrified to sleep, thinking that Caleb Downing would kick in her door and attack, rape, mutilate and kill her. Susie had been missing for days, last seen in the bar on Friday night. She'd left with a man and hadn't returned. He kept her captive, abusing her for days before he killed her. He raped her repeatedly vaginally and anally. She'd been bound by her wrists and ankles, mouth had been duct taped shut to muffle her screams. Her nerves were eating her alive. Jay sent her the link, figuring she'd try the meditation that he swore worked for him. She finally understood why Jay couldn't sleep.
Her dad drove her to school in the morning instead of letting her walk with Jay to day care and drop off the baby. He didn't want her walking around till this nutcase was caught and even then he was thinking about never letting her out of the house again. He refused to allow her to wait at the bus stop to go to school, too. The stalker had thrown her life into chaos. Constantly looking over her shoulder, her stomach in knots. She was in a constant state of awareness, couldn't concentrate, the what-if's scratching at her brain.
The car ride to school, he did most of the talking. He had to return to work that night. He worked till closing, stay at Jay's till the kids fell asleep, then have him come home with her. Julia tuned him out. She was tired of hearing about her safety, tired of hearing about how everything was going to be ok. Tired of police with their constant questions.
Julia got out of the car and walked up the sidewalk to the entrance.
She was inundated with questions and stares as soon as she walked inside the doors. People also smiled and some laughed and some gave her hugs. She felt more support than anything else. People surrounded her that she'd never met. Kids that she'd only said hi to in passing or occasionally shared a class with walked up to her and offered her rides home, offered to wait at the bus stop with her. People didn't feel sorry for her, rather they offered words of encouragement.
The quarterback of the football team, Aaron, who stood 6'5 weighing in around 250 fell in beside her in the hall on the way to class. "Hey, you don't walk out that front door without one of us." He handed her a piece of paper with cell numbers written out, names next to each number. "Put em' in yo' phone. Text us. We'll be ready for whatever."
"Wow, Aaron. I don't know what to say."
"I have sisters. I have a girlfriend. I have a mom. And I dare a motherfucker to step to any one of em'. Tell your boyfriend we got your back when you're here. I heard what he did for you. Chasing that truck. He got big balls."
"Thanks, Aaron. " She said, shocked and awed. Tears swelled in her eyes.
"I'm here so you don't have to do that." He assured her. "Put the numbers in the phone. Now."
He watched her walk into homeroom. She put the numbers and names in the phone. She texted each number with her name and said thanks, then texted Jay. "Babe, I'm gonna be alright."
The heat was on and turned up high. He had to get out of town. He had to move on, even if temporarily. He couldn't risk being caught and he couldn't risk taking her again. The police were everywhere. Detectives from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia were in Maverick and questioning Julia, her family and friends. He'd run out of food and cash. His entire life was under a microscope. There was a murder investigation underway, his face was everywhere in the tri-state area. He tossed his bags in the Dodge and drove out of the garage and out of Maverick. He drove miles to the turnpike and then drove east bound away from Maverick and away from his angel.
Julia met Jay at Mav East behind the school in the parking lot. Jay got to meet Aaron who told him to quit going to Mav west. They joked about having to meet on a football field, that there was a spot on the team for Jay.
"Nah, man. That's my home. You know."
Jay and Julia walked away from the school and got on the bus to town, stopping for coffee in town square and then the flower shop for pink lilies that Julia had called and ordered the day before. They were at the viewing by 930am. Susie's parents stood by a closed casket in the front of the funeral home. Her thoughts flashed back to her mother's casket in the same spot, flowers and so many people. Susie was utterly forgotten. The few that were present were there to support her parents through their loss. Jay offered his condolences then went and took a seat while Julia spoke with her parents, gave them the flowers.
"How did you know Susie?" Her mom asked.
"I didn't know her." Julia answered. "I'm..I...I just wanted to remember her." Julia said softly, handing her mom the lilies.
"They're beautiful. Thank you." She said, handing the flowers to her husband.
Julia was distracted by the detectives in their suits, standing off to the side. Not quite out of view, but still there, trying to blend in. Susie's mom saw her look at them.
"They're hoping the man who did this to her will be here." She said in a whisper.
"He's not in here, ma'am." Julia told her.
"Oh, dear. He's not. I know these people." Her mom said, trying to make Julia feel comfortable.
"I know he's not here. I am the one he tried to...the cops are talking about me. I just wanted to meet you and say I am sorry and offer my condolences."
"You're the girl on the news. The one who gave the description of him and your boyfriend. He's the one who chased him."
"Yes, ma'am." Julia answered. Her mom hugged her and started crying. "I'm sorry. I feel like this is all my fault. That if it hadn't been for me, then."
"No, no, don't say that. The man who murdered my daughter is the one to blame. He's sick and he's an animal. But I do not blame you."
"If he hadn't followed me, "
"He would have followed someone else. He would do this to someone else."
Julia was quiet, wiping her tears with her sleeve.
"I'm glad you fought and that you are still alive. You are not his victim. Do not be his victim." Her mom said. Susie's mom sat with Jay and Julia for some time that morning. She talked about Susie a few years before, a young mom who was in college and had her entire life in front of her. She made some bad choices, but her daughter wasn't a bad person. The drugs turned her into a different person. The drugs turned her into someone that she didn't recognize. Susie's mom cautioned them against making the same bad decisions.
"I'm glad we came here, Jay." Julia said when they left the funeral home. "I'm glad that we got to know Suzanne and not Susie. Not the Susie from the news, you know."
"Yeah," Jay said.
"You ok, babe?" Julia asked. He was crying again, the morning had been so fucking depressing, the week had been so fucking depressing and sad and scary.
They sat on a bench in front of the funeral home. Jay sat crying like a baby. He started talking about Karen.
"Babe, let's go see your mom, then."
"I don't know about that, Julia."
"That's it. We're gonna go see her. And you need to write to her. And you need to talk to her. You can't keep telling me all this. I don't know what'll come of it, but it's obvious to me that you care."
"I won't tell you about it anymore."
"I didn't say that, Jayson. But she needs to know that someone cares about her."
Julia's cell phone rang, breaking the desolate mood. It was her dad.
"Where are you? The school called."
"I'm at the funeral home." Julia said, "I saw Susie's parents. I brought them flowers."
"Julia, I was scared outta my fucking mind. Why didn't you just tell me? I would have taken you."
"I wanted to do it on my own."
"Right now, you can't just do things on your own, Julia."
"Dad, Jay's with me. I'm not alone."
"I'll come pick you up. Stay there."
He picked them up and then dropped each of them at school, making sure both of them went inside and stayed.
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