Sue (6 page)

Backing away, Sue paced the living
room. She had to tell someone. She reached for the phone to call the police
department but hesitated. She should take this information to them personally.

Sue bundled up and grabbed her
purse, fishing out her car keys on the way to the door. Suddenly she stopped in
her tracks. She hadn’t gone anywhere without an escort since her return from St.
Louis. Fright tightened her shoulders and made her
stomach tense. Breathing deeply, she reminded herself that she had proof in her
hand that Zeke was hundreds of miles away. She opened the door and slipped
outside.

Stepping off the porch, Sue
startled when she saw a shadow flit around the side of the house. She almost
scurried back inside but berated herself.
Get a grip. You can’t jump at
every shadow.
Sue ran to her car. Pressing the door release button on the
way, she dove inside, jabbed the lock. She stared at the spot where she’d seen
something move. Nothing was there. Sue blew a breath upward, moving her short
bangs lightly. “See, nothing there. You’re losing it,” she whispered aloud
before putting the car in reverse and heading downtown to the red brick
building that housed the Cyrus Police Department.

“Miss Cox, you need to calm down a
little. I can barely understand what the problem is. Does it involve the papers
you are shaking in my face?”

Sue had burst into the police
station demanding to speak to a detective. Almost immediately Detective Sanders
approached and introduced herself. She escorted Sue into a conference room.
After settling in a chair at a table Sue began hyperventilating. She tried to
explain what she had found online. Taking a deep breath and a sip of water the
officer had placed in front of her, Sue started again.

“Yes. Sorry. As I said, my name is
Susan Cox. Do you know who I am?”

Sanders nodded. “I’m familiar with
your case.”

“Well, I’ve been looking online,
trying to find Zeke. He’s the man who tried to kill me.” Sue looked for
confirmation the officer understood.

“Yes. Go on.”

“Well. I found these.” Sue laid the
papers in front of herself but facing the detective. “See. This girl
disappeared shortly after my attack. I believe Zeke convinced her to go with
him, just like he did with me.”

Sanders reached for the papers and
Sue reluctantly let her take them. “The second page is about a woman killed not
long after the girl Darla went missing. You see, don’t you? It’s just like my
case. He convinced Darla to go with him and now he’s made her help him find a
woman to kill.” Sue looked expectantly at the woman.

“Okay. I can see where you might
get the idea that these cases are similar to your case. But we can’t be sure,
can we? Let me make some phone calls and I’ll get with you later. Can I have
your phone number?”

“No! No, I can’t leave. I’ll wait.
Here. Yes, I’ll wait here while you call. Someone has to stop him while they
can.”

Sanders sighed. “Okay. But it might
take a while.”

“That’s fine. I’ll wait.” Sue sat
firmly in her chair and the detective stood and moved toward the door. Shaking
her head, she left the room.

Sue removed her hat, coat, and
stuffed her gloves in the pocket while she studied her surroundings. The long
conference table dominated the room. Baseboard heaters breathed warmth into the
space. A number of wooden plaques decorated the two-toned beige walls, and
windows with shades open let in watery gray light. An empty coat rack stood
like a sentinel in the corner. Sue toyed with the fringe on her scarf and
settled back to wait, trying to quell her excitement over tracking Zeke. She
entertained herself by imagining his surprise and dismay when he realized he’d
been caught.

Twenty minutes later, Sanders
returned. Sue jumped to her feet. “Are the police picking Zeke up? Did they
find him?”

“Please sit down, Miss Cox.”

Sue felt her heart drop. She’d
heard that tone growing up when her parents didn’t believe something she’d told
them. But still, she looked on anxiously as the woman continued.

“You were right about the
disappearance of Darla
Stringe
.”

Sue’s heart soared but plummeted at
the next words.

“But if you had gone further into
the news reports you would have discovered the girl had a habit of running off
with friends only to return a week or so later. That was the case this time.
Miss
Stringe
had gone with friends on a skiing trip
and failed to tell anyone she was going.” Sanders looked directly at Sue. “So,
lost girl found.
Unharmed.
Safe.”

“But the body...”

Sanders interrupted Sue. “It took
some doing, but I spoke to the detective in charge of the murder up in
Calyson
. Zeke didn’t do it.”

“How do you know? How do they know?
It’s just the kind of thing he’d do. Kill her and take her head.”

“Hold on there. First off, this
woman was
not
missing her head. Besides, they have a suspect in the
crime.
A disgruntled co-worker.
Seems this guy had
asked the victim out several times only to be turned down. He got fed up with
being rejected and killed her.” Sanders looked sadly at Sue. “I shouldn’t even
be giving you this information. But you needed to know this case doesn’t relate
in any way to yours. Is that clear?”

Sue shook her head. She didn’t want
to give the idea up. But she had to at least appear to agree. “Yes. It’s just I
was so certain.”

“I understand. But how about from
here on out you leave the detective work to…well, to the detectives?” Sanders
smiled to relieve the sting of her words. “Now, I’ll see you out if you’ll come
this way.”

“Can I have my papers?” Sue asked,
slipping her arms into her coat.

Detective Sanders hesitated.

“I can just print them off again
when I get home,” Sue said softly.

Sanders frowned, but walked to her
desk and brought them back. “Here you go.” She ushered Sue to the door. Shaking
her head, Sanders walked back inside.

After Sue left the police station,
she drove around aimlessly, angry and frustrated. She had known for sure that
she was on the right track. Now she had to keep searching.

As she sat at a stoplight, a maroon
van with a dark-haired driver passed in front of her, fishtailing a little on
the snowy streets. Sue’s heart almost stopped.
Zeke
! She stepped on the
gas, making a right turn and cutting off a delivery truck whose driver
responded with a long horn blast. Sue was oblivious. She could see the van two
cars in front of her and kept her eyes glued to the vehicle. She followed.

They were close to Re-books and Sue
gasped.
Surely he hasn’t gone back to his old job.
But no, the van drove
on past, finally turning into the parking lot of a busy shopping center. Sue
trailed behind as the vehicle slowed and pulled into a space in front of the
Lolly
Pa-
Looza
Candy Shop.

Sue slammed on the brakes in the
center of an aisle. Cars honked behind her but she remained frozen as the
driver’s door opened and a man stepped out. It wasn’t Zeke. The man’s only
resemblance was his dark hair. He sauntered around the van, opened the back
door, and helped a little boy in a puffy blue snowsuit from his car seat. Both
man and child turned curious eyes toward the commotion. Insistent car horns
behind her finally jolted Sue into awareness and turned her attention back to
the road. She eased into an empty slot near a mound of snow dumped by the plows
and dropped her head in her hands. She was losing it. Sue sobbed for several
very long minutes.

“I can’t keep doing this to myself.
And lord. What did I think I was going to do if it had been Zeke? Get out and
what? Kick him? Yell at him?” She sat in the idling car for a few minutes and
worked to bring her emotions under control. Finally, she took note of her
surroundings. Realizing she was near Will’s office, Sue drove directly there.
She’d arrange to get Melvin back; plus, she needed someone to talk to.

Moments later, she pulled up in
front of a white Cape Cod with black trim that had been
remodeled to accommodate a couple of businesses. She stepped up on the wide
porch and glanced at the sign posted near the door. Will’s office was straight
ahead on the ground floor.

Sue entered the attractively decorated
foyer. Lamps painted with lighthouse scenes sat on low tables between guest
chairs. The walls held several seascape prints by a local artist. A small
counter divided the rear offices from the front. Bells pealed softly as the
door drifted closed behind her. Will’s voice called out, “I’ll be right with
you.” He appeared almost at once.

“Sue. What brings you here?” Will’s
voice was cheerful until he got near enough to see her tear-streaked face. “Are
you alright?” His obvious concern sent Sue into another crying streak. “Are you
hurt?”

She shook her head. “I’m just
really upset.”

Will wore a look of panic. “Stay
right there. Don’t move.” He darted into an office toward the end of the hall. A
whispered conversation issued from the room and then Will’s partner, Roxie,
came out. Will hurriedly introduced the two and disappeared into his own
office. The door closed behind him.

If Sue hadn’t been in such anguish
she might have found the situation comical. Roxie’s face was sympathetic as she
slipped an arm around Sue’s shoulders. “Men just don’t know what to do with a
crying female!” She led Sue to a chair in her office and closed the door behind
them. “Poor Will. I think you scared him.”

Sue sniffed and tried on a weak
smile as she glanced around the cozy room. A healthy potted plant soaked up
weak sunlight from the ledge of a bay window that looked out over a
snow-covered yard. Roxie swept around her desk, grabbed a tissue box from an
end table next to an old-fashioned settee, and placed it into Sue’s hand. She
moved her small trash can nearer to Sue, pulled the other chair up next to the
young woman, and patted her back comfortingly. “Want to tell me what happened?”

Sue got a handle on her crying and
wiped her cheeks and nose. Turning sideways, she looked at Roxie and saw
compassionate green eyes gazing back at her. She dug the papers from her purse
and handed them over. While Roxie read, Sue haltingly told her about searching
the news reports on the internet, her trip to the police station, and her
subsequent pursuit of the maroon van.

Roxie cupped her chin in one hand
and chewed thoughtfully on her lip. “What were you planning to do if it had
been Zeke?” She handed the print-outs back to Sue.

“I don’t know,” Sue said miserably.
“I asked myself that same question. I feel so helpless, so foolish.” She
slipped the articles back into her purse.

“That’s because you’re unprepared
for a confrontation. Not that anyone can really be ready for something like
that, but...” Roxie paused and rose suddenly, her emerald dress jacket swishing
as she stood. She crossed her arms, and leaned comfortably against her desk. “I
know something that’s helped me.” She pulled out a phone book and started
flipping through the pages. “Have you ever considered taking self-defense
classes? Learning how to protect
yourself
?”

Sue shook her head but her eyes now
held a spark of interest.

“I highly recommend it. In my line
of work, I need to feel capable of handling intense situations if they arise. I
think you could benefit from a course like that also. Wouldn’t you feel safer
if you knew how to respond in a crisis?”

“I guess I hadn’t thought about
it.” Sue stared at Roxie as if the woman were handing her a lifeline. “I’ve
always just kind of rolled along, taking whatever life handed me. But I like
the idea of learning to fight back.”

“Good. I like the idea too.” Roxie
sat in her desk chair and wrote something on a post-it note. “Okay. Here’s the
phone number for the center where I take my self-defense course. Call them and
set up an appointment. I’d go with you, but we wouldn’t be in the same class.
Now, let’s talk about this search you’re doing. I’m not sure
that’s
a
good idea.”

Sue looked down. “It’s just
something I have to do. I’m tired of being afraid.”

“Afraid he’ll come after you?”

“Yes. Plus, I’m afraid he’ll hurt
someone else.”

“And that’s all? You want him found
so he can be brought to justice?”

Sue let her eyes slide away as she
answered.
“Of course.”

Roxie gave her a shrewd look but
only said, “Well, that’s understandable. But I think you should leave the
search for Zeke to the authorities.” Sue started to protest and Roxie held up a
hand. “Think about it Sue. I know you’re upset right now, but if you did find
him, what would you do?”

Sue heaved a sigh. “I don’t know, I
haven’t thought that far ahead. But maybe you’re right; maybe I should let it
go.” Changing the subject, Sue asked, “Is Melvin here?”

Roxie looked surprised. “No, he has
classes most of the day. Why?”

“I just wanted to see if I could
convince him to start taking me around again. I’m not ready to go around alone.
Today proved that.”

Roxie crossed her arms. “Will
didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?” Sue clutched her
purse,
certain she was going to receive bad news.

“Melvin already agreed to escort
you once more. All you have to do is call us when you need to go somewhere and
if it fits in with his class schedule, he’ll be there.”

“Thank you, I feel a lot better
now.” Sue stood.

Roxie walked her out, telling her a
little something about the self-defense instructor. Sue absorbed all this
information and added an idea of her own. She needed a firearm, and the
training to use it.

Chapter
10