Branded for Murder (Scott Tucker Series) Page 13

  “Scott, I’m sorry to learn a family member was involved in one of these cases. You must have been close. Is that why you were so persistent to get on the task force?”

  “Mike I have to help find her killer. I owe it to her, and…yes we were close. She used to baby sit for me when I was growing up. Mike, please don’t let this impact my participation on the task force. I felt awful not leveling with you before now. I wanted to tell you the other night, but I lost my courage at the last moment.”

  “You know I should let Paddy know about this.”

  “I know you need to protect yourself. Don’t get yourself in trouble. Do what you need to do. I just felt guilty not sharing this with you, especially since we seem to be developing a friendship.”

  He didn’t immediately respond to Scott’s comments. “Scott, you’ve been a help on the task team. Your relationship to your cousin doesn’t seem to be impacting anything connected with the investigations. I think we should just keep this between us, for the time being. Thanks for sharing this with me. I sensed you wanted to tell me something. I’m glad you got it off your chest.”

  After a few minutes, he needed to ask, “You did review her file didn’t you? That must have been extremely difficult for you.” He looked over to Scott who was unable to control his emotion any longer.

  A few minutes later, Scott answered Mike. “I put off looking at her folder until it was the last one. I knew based on the other case files what I was going to see, but just couldn’t bear to look until I had to. After looking at her file, I was even more committed to catching this creep. The only other person who knows about my cousin being a strangling victim and my participation on the task team is my dad. It was our secret.”

  Mike pulled into a parking space behind the task force office, turning off the car. “Well Scott, now the three of us are sharing that secret. If I were in your shoes I would have done the same thing. Let’s get this guy soon, so other families don’t experience what you’re going through.” He held out his hand.

  “Thanks Mike. I don’t know what to say.”

  Mike continued shaking his hand. “You can introduce me to Lisa when you get the chance.”

  Chapter 31

  The newspaper article and sketch was producing some leads. People were calling the police to report spotting the suspect. The task team members were busy following up on those leads. I was in charge of assigning a number to each lead, setting up files for each of them.

  I had to work with the team members to make sure they included me in the process. It wasn’t too long before I realized we were only aware of the leads coming through the task force. Many other leads were being followed up by different police forces. Eventually, some of those other efforts resulted in calls to the task force and the paperwork started flowing to us.

  Mike was in and out of the office. I needed to bring this to his attention. When I heard his voice at Colleen’s desk, I went to catch him. “Mike, when you get a chance, can I talk with you for a few minutes?”

  “Sure Scott, I’ll be in there in a couple of minutes,” he replied.

  Shortly, he arrived at my desk, but didn’t sit down. “What’s up Scott?”

  I could tell he was busy, so I needed to tell him quickly what was on my mind. “Mike, it looks like we’re only getting some of the leads. Many of them are being followed up by the local police departments. Some of them are trickling in after the fact. I thought I should make you aware of this.”

  Considering my input for a few seconds, he replied, “I thought this might happen. We don’t have the resources to follow up on all of them initially, needing the locals to do some of the legwork. Maybe I should mention this to Paddy. He can ask the locals to call us before they actually investigate. That would mean that Colleen would be answering the phone, taking down the information or transferring the call to one of us.”

  “Mike, I think I could help set up a process for that. My thoughts are if we could categorize a number of calls or reports that have a similar thread, we might be able to lessen our efforts by following up on leads that have a high probability.”

  He studied me for a few moments. “Is that the kind of stuff they’re teaching you over at the brick yard?” When I didn’t answer, he added, “I’ll talk with Paddy and tell him you’re going to try to organize the calls for us to check out. It will take a few days for all of the changes, but give it a shot.” I smiled and nodded. He added, “Do you want to take in the pub tonight?”

  “Thanks Mike, I’ll set something up. I would like to spend some time with you, but I haven’t seen Lisa in a few days and was hoping to see her tonight.”

  “No problem. Why don’t you take the next two days off and spend time with either her or your family. It will take a day or two to have the different police forces alert us to any leads that come in. We, or more specifically you, will be pretty busy when they start coming in. Enjoy the weekend too. Thanks for your suggestion and help setting this up. I’ll let you know if Paddy has other ideas.”

  He headed for his coat and was out of the office in a hurry. I felt like I was contributing. I felt even better that I could hopefully see Lisa.

  *.*.*

  I worked on a process the rest of the morning, seeing the commonalities associated with separately reported leads. The log book I set up would allow me to do this, but I wished we had a computer in our office. All of the computers were large mainframe computers, located in the basement of Boston Police headquarters. I knew I needed Colleen’s help with this process and went to talk with her.

  I approached her desk and caught her looking at herself in her mirror, which she hastily put back in her purse. “Hi Scott, I don’t see much of you lately. Every time I see you you’ve got your head buried in work.” She smiled, adding, “What can I do for you?”

  “I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you lately. I’ve been dealing with these leads. Now I’m trying to set something up for Mike. In fact that’s what I need to talk with you about. I’m going to need your help.”

  I spent the next hour going over the form I set up to capture the leads. It took me longer than planned, as she had to answer numerous calls. It gave me a few minutes to study her. She was more attractive close up, but for some reason she didn’t command your attention. She had a figure similar to Maggie, but Maggie knew how to use it. Colleen seemed to hide her assets, like she didn’t want to attract attention. I guess she was shy like me.

  When we had covered the process and how she fit in, I asked her about tomorrow. “Are you working tomorrow, or spending time with your family?”

  “Paddy told me to take tomorrow off, and Friday as well. I’m going to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving dinner and then we’re going bowling. What are you doing?”

  “Mike told me I could have the day off. I hope to spend some time at my parents.” I decided to share something else with her. “I also met someone I would like to see. Her name is Lisa Anderson.”

  She looked surprised. “I’m glad you met someone.” She looked like she wanted to say something, but changed the subject. “I’ll work on this new process. If I have any questions I’ll see you about them. Enjoy your holiday and day off.”

  I was happy to have the time off, but surprised I felt bad that Colleen didn’t have someone special to spend it with. “Have a nice Thanksgiving and don’t eat too much turkey.”

  *.*.*

  A few minutes after talking to Colleen I had to call Lisa. I dialed her dorm number, and asked for her, telling the young lady who I was. She said she would try to get her to the phone.

  A few minutes later I heard Lisa’s voice. “Hello Scott.”

  “Hi. Lisa, I’ve missed talking to you. I tried you the other night, but I guess you were out. Do you have plans for tomorrow?”

  There was a pause before she replied, “Oh you did. I guess I missed your call. I had plans to go to my parents tomorrow for Thanksgiving dinner. What did you have in mind?”

  “I was hoping to see you
. I was also going to my parents tomorrow for dinner as well, but I miss you.”

  “That’s nice to hear,” she said, but paused for a few seconds, adding, “What are your plans for this evening?”

  I was glad she asked about tonight, quickly responding, “I don’t have any. Would you like to get together?”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “Would you like to go for dinner and dancing?”

  “Yes, sounds great. What time do you want to pick me up, and how should I dress?”

  “How about I pick you up at six, and dress casually. We’ll find a nice Italian restaurant to have dinner, and then we’ll take it from there.”

  “Thanks Scott. That sounds great. I’ll see you at six then.”

  After hanging up I thought about how many hours we would lose eating out. I wanted to spend time with her close like we had the other night. I wondered if she was really that set on going dancing. We could just head to my place and do some dancing there.

  Chapter 32

  Lisa rushed back to her room, opened the door and dove on her bed. She surprised Judy, who looked shocked. “What is it with you?”

  “That was Scott. We’re going out tonight. He’s taking me out for an Italian dinner. I don’t think he knows that’s my favorite.” She paused for a second, deciding to share something else. “Judy, when I hear his voice, I want to immediately cuddle with him. Does that sound strange to you?”

  She smiled saying, “Cuddling sounds a little strange…why not just say you want to go to bed with him?”

  “Yeah maybe I should. I want to know if there’s something wrong with me. I hear his voice and my body does strange things. Without even touching me, he gets me hot and bothered.”

  Judy came over, sat next to her and studied her. “Lisa you’ve got it bad. Nothing is wrong with you. It happens. It happens to me, but I can’t say it happens to me on the phone. When I’m with Neil and I know what’s coming next, well, my body does the same thing. Enjoy the feeling.”

  Lisa hugged her favorite teddy bear. “I have to admit, if he said we were going to his apartment and skipping dinner, I would be thrilled. I’ve never felt like this before. I want him to touch me and I want to touch him. I could spend hours with him. I don’t want him to think I’m a slut or anything like that, but it was such a wonderful feeling. I can’t wait to be with him again.”

  “Lisa I know what you’re feeling. It’s nothing to worry about. Just let things take their course. I’m sure Scott is not going to think bad things about you…he’s probably feeling the same things. Why don’t you make plans to go away over the Christmas holidays? Does he like to go skiing? You could always go away and spend an entire weekend with him.”

  “Thanks Judy. Thanks for telling me I’m not some over-sexed crazy woman. I could spend this whole weekend with him.”

  “Well you’re not crazy anyway,” she announced. They both laughed and hugged each other. Seconds later, Judy pushed herself away. “Let me know if you need any suggestions on how to make him…well…not want to leave you.”

  *.*.*

  Lisa was in the shower getting ready for her date with Scott. She thought about what Judy said and images of Scott flooded her mind. She could feel excitement building within, not wanting the feeling to end. She closed her eyes, pretending Scott was touching her. He would be soon. She couldn’t wait.

  She knew she excited Scott also. It was easy to tell. She smiled at the memory of their first time together. She was embarrassed at first, but he helped her get over it. They were so good together. She had never been with anybody else. She was glad her first intimate experience was with him. She could tell he was a novice, as she was, but they helped each other get over it.

  The images would last a lifetime. She wanted him with her forever. The water in the shower was turning cold now, but she needed to tolerate it just a while longer. She soon felt the water biting at her skin, but had to bear it for just a few seconds more. She pictured rolling naked at night in the snow with Scott. Then she felt the heat of his body against hers. She had to steady herself to keep from collapsing.

  Seeing her reflection in the bathroom door mirror, she was surprised at how red her body was. It was ice cold to the touch. The towel brought warmth back, so she could finally feel her skin. She could hear her own breathing, smiling at what had happened.

  Suddenly, she felt chilled, not from the cold of the shower, but the feeling she was being watched. Her body was shaking uncontrollably. She didn’t want to look out the still bare window. She rushed to get dressed.

  Chapter 33

  He watched the various girls in their rooms, either showering or dressing. He had a good vantage point from his room on one of the higher floors. He could look down into their rooms. Many coeds didn’t bother with shades or curtains. He got personal pleasure from reciprocating for their enjoyment. He watched them looking at him at night from their dorm rooms. Sometimes more than one girl would watch from the same room.

  Right now he was watching his special target showering for his pleasure. She and her roommate could have purchased curtains, but must like him watching them. He obliged frequently. At other times he felt he could reach out and touch them, but that was his secret. This girl is going to be a special treat for him, but she needed to wait her turn. There are several others more deserving, but your turn will come.

  I know you are no longer a virgin because of your interest in that young man. But that’s okay. It just means you now know things you didn’t know before. I’ll use that to my advantage when we’re together. Can you feel my eyes on you now? Of course you can. You’re doing this display for me aren’t you? I also like that special present you left for me in your drawer. Don’t fret my lovely. I’ll be even closer soon.

  Chapter 34

  I left Mike a note about the new process I set up, mentioning I would see him on Monday. I felt guilty not working Thanksgiving Day, but he said it was okay. I know I’m only helping them out, but I feel responsible for the part I’m playing.

  I could feel my heart beat faster as I entered my apartment, thinking whether Lisa would be with me later. I went into the bedroom, taking out my clothes for later. I stretched out on the bed, putting my head on the pillow. When I closed my eyes, images of Lisa and me flooded my brain. I recalled every single step along the way. I wished there were parts I could change, but now it was too late. I guess the fact that I wasn’t experienced, made her more comfortable.

  I looked over at the alarm clock. It was already after 5 pm. I must have fallen asleep. I stripped off my clothes, ran into the bathroom and started the shower. I quickly shaved to take away the five o’clock shadow, and climbed in the shower. The water felt extra special as it hit my body. I remember our shower together. It was the first time I ever showered with someone else. Immediately, the images caused a reaction, bringing a smile to my face. Easy boy there’s going to be plenty of time for that. Then I thought, what if she has had second thoughts about what happened, and wants to cool it with me?

  That thought deflated things considerably. It didn’t seem like she wanted to cool things when I talked to her on the phone. I kind of got the impression she was looking forward to seeing me. The more I thought about that the more it put a smile back on my face.

  I had to hurry to get to her dorm on time, but decided to do a quick change of the sheets just in case. Just in case what Scott? I still thought it was the best thing to do. I enjoyed her scent on my pillow, but thought she would appreciate fresh sheets. This is all so new and confusing. Maybe I should just roll with it, letting things take their course. It was too late, the bed was made and the apartment looked presentable. I put my coat on, took my keys and was on my way.

  *.*.*

  I drove over the speed limit, but at a safe level. I was going to make it to Lisa’s on time, providing I got a parking space close to her dorm. My breathing quickened, just thinking of being with her. I wonder if things will be like this, thirty years from no
w, after we’ve been married for many years. Marriage, wow, that’s a new word. Is that what you feel like doing? Is this the one you’ve been waiting for all these years? Does she feel the same way? I knew the answers to some of those questions, but not all.

  I looked at my hands shaking on the wheel. I was concerned at the possibility that she doesn’t feel the same as I do. Lisa, I know you’re what I have been waiting for. My mind and my body tell me so. Ever since I saw you in the library weeks ago, I have done everything in my power to be near you. Now that it has happened, it has to last forever. I will do everything in my power to make it last.

  *.*.*

  I got lucky, finding a parking space near the dorm. When I entered the dormitory, there was a different guard on duty. He asked my name and who I was visiting. The guard took the information down, and asked one of the coeds to get Lisa. She looked me over, smiled and waved to me as I sat down on one of the couches. She took her time walking up the stairs, smiling again at the top.

  A minute or so later she came down the stairs in the same manner, walking over to me. “Hi Scott, my name is Julie. It’s nice to meet you.” She offered her hand, so I stood to shake it. It was small, soft and very warm to the touch. “Lisa will be right down.”

  “It’s nice to meet you too Julie.” I smiled at her while I shook her hand, spotting Lisa coming down the stairs. Julie didn’t immediately let go of my hand. I had to thank her again for getting Lisa. She slowly let go of my hand, smiling at me, then she smiled at Lisa and walked off to the other side of the room.

  Lisa came over, but she wasn’t smiling. She looked over at Julie and then at me. “I see you met Julie,” she said, in a disapproving voice.