Breakfall (20 page)

Asbjorn suppressed a sigh. “Keep your phone charged. Call me if you need anything.”

The Pile echoed with emptiness, as the large Victorian structure was devoid of students except for those two up on the third floor. Sean was in the basement—he might as well have been alone.

He assessed the damage to his quarters, relieved to find his room was a mess due to his earlier preoccupation rather than from having being tossed. Half an hour later, his floor was free of broken glass, the old lamp lay in the garbage, and the stubborn black fingerprint powder was banished off the hard surfaces of the doorjambs.

He tried the new door, gratified to see a steel, security model but missing the beauty of leaded glass panes in the elegant arched insert of the old one.

A shame, that. It had been so beautiful.

An hour later, he sat under the bright fluorescent lights of the laundry room in the neighboring dormitory. The washer hissed and rocked while Sean soaked up the heat of the dryer, reading ahead in one of his textbooks. The show must go on, the grades must be maintained, and life must be lived to the fullest, despite Joe Green’s worst intentions.

He still thought of the perp as Joe Green. The real name of Frank Pettel was, at least for now, locked away in the dark places of his memory. It was better to have a pseudonym place-marker in his head, for it allowed him to keep more distance between himself and the events of two nights ago.

He cleaned up his room. He would go and buy security window shades so light didn’t leak outside. There were simple security measures he could adopt.

If Joe Green showed up again, he could only guess whether Sean’s room was occupied or not. Sean would make up for lost daylight with more lamps. He refused to change a single thing about his lifestyle, choosing to remain blissfully blind to the fact that he was, in fact, changing everything.

T
HAT
EVENING
,
Mark called.

“We have the results on the prints from the phone. There is good news, and there is bad news.”

“Okay?” Sean wasn’t sure which news he wanted first.

“The perp is in our system. That’s the good news. Asbjorn’s ID helped on that—and we’re still waiting on the word from the Navy on the reasons for his dishonorable discharge.”

“So what’s the bad news?” Sean felt short of breath.

“The bad news is his fingerprints are associated with at least five home invasions like yours. Predatory, both women and men. Three of those people moved away or graduated. All were part of one of the local college campuses. And nobody testified yet. Nobody’d come forth like you did, Sean. You’re the first handle we have on this bastard.”

Sean felt the weight of his own silence.

“Hey, Sean, you all right there?” Mark’s cheerful banter could now only be imagined.

“I think he called last night. Unknown number.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re staying at Asbjorn’s. He said you would be, anyway.”

More silence.

“Oh fuck, don’t tell me you plan to stay at your room, man.”

Sean took a deep breath. He felt the ground solidify under his feet, and his center clicked into place again. “I am not changing my room because of this asshole,” he hissed.

“Obstinate, as always. Call if you need anything. If you have one of those bad feelings, just call me. Call nine-one-one. Trust your gut feeling on this, Sean. We don’t know where this guy lives yet, but I’d feel a lot better if you weren’t alone.”

T
HAT
NIGHT
,
Sean ate Thanksgiving leftovers in the comfort of Asbjorn’s apartment. The dinner atmosphere was anything but festive.

“And I am telling you to stay.” Asbjorn’s voice had a good bit of force behind it.

“I can’t. I can’t be forever attached to other people, depending on them. I have to deal with this by myself.”

He could see Asbjorn’s jaw muscle work, the muscles in the strong neck bulging.

“You’re fucking crazy. You have a serial rapist after you, and you won’t even take precautions.”

Sean’s temper snapped. “Oh fuck off, Asbjorn! If this had been you, you’d totally refuse anyone’s help! You’d send people away like you kicked me out before. I don’t need you to baby me!” Sean found himself standing, his throat raw from shouting.

“
You are not staying alone
!” Asbjorn was on his feet in response to Sean’s hasty words, and his fist closed on the shoulder of Sean’s shirtsleeve.

At that moment, Sean didn’t have it in him to care. “Watch me.”

A chair fell over as Sean stepped out. He clamping his right hand over Asbjorn’s closed fist, bent the strong arm at the elbow with his other hand, and bowed.

Asbjorn dropped to the ground with a snarl. A lightning-bolt of pain lanced his wrist joint. He was holding his abused arm, helpless, as Sean grabbed his leather jacket on his way out. From the corner of his eye, he saw Asbjorn stagger to his feet and clutch his wrist with a pained grimace. Guilt nagged, but he pushed it aside. He knew the nerve stimulation was only temporary.

A
LL
STORES
were open on Black Friday, and Sean had no trouble getting all his components.

There. That ought to do it.

Sean straightened, stretched his back, and put the multi-tool back in his pocket.

The wires were stretched, the detectors were activated, and the cameras were silently recording. Any vibrations against his windows or the outer door would trigger a cheap, disposable cell phone, which in turn called his iPhone’s special ringtone.

Infrared detectors in the basement would set off his perimeter defenses, and motion detectors would trigger the alarm within a ten-foot radius of his outside windows and the external door. The camera feeds went straight to his laptop, where the data would be stored only if the perimeter was breached. His backup battery and surge suppressor would ensure his system’s function even if the power lines were cut.

Hooray for Home Depot and Radio Shack—the hardware he hauled home on the bus was even on sale.

Sean could go and have a shower now without pissing himself scared that Joe Green would jump him in the dark. He passed through the cavernous basement to the shower room with two stalls, and used his security remote to activate the system as the door closed behind him. He could take as long as he wanted. Nobody, but
nobody
was going to force him to change his lifestyle.

Clean, relaxed, and ready for bed, Sean gritted his teeth in his effort to recapture his old languorous sense of fatigue that used to precede a good night’s sleep. He slipped into his sneakers and tied his shoelaces, a concession to safety in case he had to fight or flee. After he gathered his basket of shower items and tossed a towel over his shoulder, he emerged out of the spartan showers and into the basement, content in the knowledge that he was safe.

As soon as he took two steps into the open space, he was almost blinded by a powerful strobe light. The sound of an ululating siren flooded his ears. He stumbled back, momentarily disoriented.

Turn it off.

Turn it off!

He could barely think under the assault of his own defenses.

The remote. On the sink.

He stumbled into the showers, grabbed the small garage-door opener, and pushed the large button once.

The noise ceased. The strobe light was extinguished, and he felt both blind and foolish in the darkness that followed. The grin on his face was victorious, however, as he felt his way back to his room. That was one heck of an alarm system—his electronics courses were beginning to pay off. He’d have to remember to keep the remote with him at all times, though. And he’d have to reposition some of the sensors so other students could use the showers too.

He fell asleep fully dressed, sneakers on, on top of his covers, perimeter defenses set. He left the lights in his room blazing, secure in the knowledge that his presence was disguised by his blackout curtains.

“H
E
MAY
not even be there,” Dud whispered. “We could be sittin’ out here, our asses going numb all night long. You probably called me all for nothing. It’s a long weekend, man. Nell and I have plans for tomorrow.”

Asbjorn growled. “He was set to spend the night in his room, by himself. No way he isn’t there.”

“Wanna call him?”

“It’s three in the morning.”

Dud’s silence stretched sullenly until Asbjorn caved.

“Okay. I’ll go see if he’s there, and if everything’s quiet, we’ll call it a night.”

He exited the passenger’s side of Dud’s Jeep and closed the door with a soft thud. He didn’t want to call and wake Sean—maybe a peek through the window would reassure him that his sunshine was all right, and then they could leave. It was apparent that Dud missed Nell’s warm bed, and Asbjorn felt a sudden sense of foolishness.

There’s nothing to worry about. It’s just….

He glued himself to the fieldstone foundation of the old house. Here was the offending door—replaced with a secure steel one. Good. And there was the nice large window…. Asbjorn pressed his nose against it, seeing nothing. He shielded his eyes from the street lamps glowing from the next house over and leaned against the glass.

Dark… very dark.

He pulled out the small, keychain flashlight and turned the corner. The other, smaller window had been uncovered in the past. If he could shimmy his way up the drainpipe, he could peek in and make sure Sean was safe.

“M
ARK
! I
T
’
S
me, Sean. Yeah, I already called nine-one-one. Somebody’s definitely out there.” Sean hefted the three-foot-long steel pipe in his other hand. “Yeah. I’ll call you as soon as I have something. Yeah, even if they don’t find anyone. Thanks, Mark.”

Sean hunched over his laptop. The video feed showed a silhouette of a tall, well-built man by his smaller window. It was too dark to make out his features, but nobody in their right mind would shimmy up a drainpipe with a flashlight in their teeth in the middle of the night.

Sean was mortally certain the man was Joe Green.

Joe Green found out Sean had called the police.

Joe Green swore to come and kill him if he did so.

Joe Green would pay.

Sean turned his lights off, just in case. Only the glow of his laptop screen cut through the dark. The minutes stretched on and on, interminable, unbearable.

“P
OLICE
! Y
OU
’
RE
under arrest.” There was a brief scuffle outside and the muffled sound of voices.

They got him!

Sean resisted the temptation to lift his blackout curtain. He watched the grainy feed of the outdoor cameras instead. Four figures. They all had flashlights—the bright beams flooded his cameras’ sensors momentarily. He couldn’t see, but he heard the pissed-off, adrenaline-high voices outside.

He decided to wait for Mark when the wail of a siren in the basement assaulted his ears.

“Police! Stop where you are!”

Gunshots!

Sean fumbled and pushed the button on his remote control. The noise ceased.

“Fuck, man! What’s this fuckin’ shit!”

“What did you shoot, man?”

“I dunno! The wall? Nobody seems to be here. There’s the kid’s room.”

Sean pocketed the remote and waited for the knock on the door.

“Open up! It’s the police!”

Suddenly, it occurred to him that he had no proof the men outside were, in fact, the police. “How do I know you’re the real police?”

“Because if you are Sean Gallaway, you placed a nine-one-one call, and if you don’t open this door up, we’ll open it for you.”

Oh. Well, then.

Sean let the door creak open, hiding behind the closet with his pipe over his shoulder, baseball-style. He saw two uniforms enter the room, beams of flashlights searching the corners. He lowered his improvised weapon.

“I’m right here. There’s a light switch by the door.”

A beam of bright light made him flinch as it hit his eyes.

“Are you Sean Gallaway?”

“Yeah.”

The light came on. “What’s with the pipe?”

“I didn’t know who’d come in first. Last time, it was the bad guy.” Sean looked at the two cops. “Sorry about the noise. I set up an alarm. What were you shooting at?”

“A guy with a strobe light.”

“There was no guy. I bet you destroyed my strobe.” Sean entered the basement and turned the lights on to inspect the damage. Sure enough, the floor was covered with glass shards.

He turned to the officers. “That’s okay. Sorry if it startled you. I thought you’d call me first, let me know when the coast was clear.”

The two cops exchanged a look. “We have two perps in custody. We’ll need you to come downtown and take a look at them first thing tomorrow morning. How about you just get some sleep for now?”

“Okay.” Sean felt spent as the adrenaline began to leave his system. This time, he recognized the feeling as his hands trembled just the slightest bit.

“You have anywhere to go?”

“Yeah, but I’ll be fine here. You caught him, right? I’ll just turn the alarm on.”

“We shot up your light, kid.”

“It’s okay,” Sean grinned. “I wired everything in parallel. There’s an independent power source. This baby will be fine.”

Sean was amazed at his ability to fall asleep again. He felt like he had his center back. The ground was firm under his feet. The lights were still on, true, but he took charge of his situation, and his compensatory mechanisms performed well. He’d tweak the basement systems tomorrow and replace the strobe light. For now, though, he’d sleep the sleep of the just.

His cell phone woke him only two hours later.

“Hey, Sean, it’s Mark. Can you turn those infernal defense systems down so I can come in?”