Serial Separation (3 page)

Chapter 7

By the time I arrived back home it
was almost 7:00 p.m. I wanted to call Lisa immediately, but I thought I might
be on for a few minutes and decided to take care of nature. I was upset about
calling two hours late.

I tried the dorm number, and
someone answered. I told her I wanted to speak to Lisa, and I guess she just
hung up the phone. I called right back and got a nasty response after the fourth
ring. I thought to myself, it was so much better when she called me. I called a
few minutes later and asked for Lisa. I could tell the phone was just dropped,
but I did hear someone run up the stairs. I had dealt with this for months, and
dreaded calling.

About five minutes later: “Hello.”

“Hi, Lisa, it’s Scott. I’m sorry I
missed calling you at five.”

She didn’t immediately respond.
“It’s okay, Scott. Judy and I used the time to talk. Is everything okay?”

“Yes. You know I was going to talk
to Paddy about joining the new task force, and I saw him today.”

“Is that where you were? I was
worried about you. I thought you might have had an accident or something.
Couldn’t you have called me to let me know you were still there? Well, did you
get on the task force?”

I could tell she was upset. “No.
Paddy said he couldn’t make any commitment due to the AG giving him grief about
my involvement the last time.”

“I’ll be off the phone in a
minute.”

I could tell she was being hounded
by someone wanting the phone. I knew dorms were like that, having been
accustomed to the process.

She continued. “Do you have to
stand beside me? I promise I’ll let you know when I’m finished. I’m sorry,
Scott, you know the routine. I thought you were going to the task force office
the first thing this morning?”

“I did, but—”

She interrupted me. “But you
couldn’t pull yourself away to give me a call.”

“Hon, it’s not like that at all.
Please let me explain.”

“Scott, I’m sorry; I’ve got to go.
I’ll call you later this week at your apartment. Yes, you can have the phone
now.”

I didn’t have a chance to say good-bye
as the receiver clicked in my ear.

I should have immediately told her
what happened at the task force office. It was upsetting. She thought I just
didn’t care enough to call. I should have told her they questioned me about my
knowledge of the two men and the hockey league. She didn’t even know I knew the
murdered men, but maybe that was better. She hadn’t been herself for months. My
call was all she needed to upset her more.

I was embarrassed calling her so
late, but couldn’t call earlier to warn her. If I had only known that the task
force would want to question me about knowing the two dead men. Who the hell
can remember where they were on certain days or weeks before? It took me longer
than I had expected to tell them what I was doing and where I was. I had no
idea that they would consider me potentially involved in these murders.

In hindsight, I should have told
Mike that I needed to call Lisa, but there was never a correct break point to
interrupt their questioning. I didn’t want them to think I was trying to buy
time to make up a story. I knew they were just doing their jobs, but it took me
by surprise. I suppose if they didn’t pick my brain they might have missed some
important details on these cases, but I was shocked that I was being
questioned. It took several hours for them to be satisfied that I only knew
these guys from that earlier hockey league. But that association took hours to
convey. Bringing the article was a good move and made it look like I was not
trying to hide anything.

Mike Miller, who I really wanted to
see this morning, was a big help in getting the others to back off. He said he
could vouch for me. He was more than a fellow team member, he had become a
friend. Mike and I had spent some time on the phone since the earlier task
force. I had kept him informed about my activities and how Lisa and I were
doing.

He also knew I was going to attend
Paddy’s lecture and asked me how it went. I said Paddy could be an
inspirational speaker. I also mentioned he talked about profiling. Mike didn’t
know what Paddy was lecturing on and said he would have to attend one of his
future lectures.

I sat at the kitchen table and
looked at my school work. I tried to get motivated, but I couldn’t get Lisa’s
call or the murdered men out of my mind. Having an upsetting call with Lisa was
not what I was looking forward to, and it was unexpected. I wanted to tell her
about knowing the men. Maybe it was best she not know I knew them. She said she
was worried about me.

It had been a trying day and having
an upsetting call troubled me. She had been so different since her ordeal with
Jimmy. I couldn’t remember the last time we’d been intimate. A year before I
wouldn’t have been able to keep count.

I decided not to push the issue of
sex, letting Lisa dictate our intimacy.

Chapter 8

It was a cold
Friday evening in downtown Boston. The wind blew at street signs along Marlborough Street. An old woman watched the street from her second story window. She
noticed a young couple struggling against the strong wind, and realized neither
was dressed adequately for winter, especially on a night like this.

The young woman
was holding her escort’s arm and her French beret. Both were leaning into the
wind with their heads down. She thought about young college kids without much
common sense while her grandfather clock chimed ten o’clock. They were halfway up the block now when she caught the sight of several other figures appearing
from an alley just ahead of them.

Several men
spread out across the sidewalk in front of the couple, the wind whipping at
their heavy jackets. The light was not what it could be, and her eyes were not
what they used to be. She wondered if the couple would see the men before they
were right in their midst.

The couple must
have sensed them, or possibly heard them. They stopped their forward motion and
stared without moving, only a few feet separating them. She focused her eyes,
watching the four men move slowly toward the couple, who were still stopped,
leaning into the wind. The men started to pass the couple, so they resumed
their walking.

However, it was
obvious that only two of the men had actually passed the couple, when they
turned to focus on the couple. The other two men were now blocking their path.
She could not tell if there was any exchange of words, but the men who had
circled the couple now closed in behind them.

Within the blink
of an eye, three men jumped the young man, and the fourth grabbed the young
woman around the waist. She started to flail her arms at the figure, her hat
flying into the air, caught by the wind. The man had his other hand over her
mouth and was now lifting her, almost dragging her back toward the alley.

The young man
was now laying face down on the sidewalk motionless. The three men were jumping
up and down, their attention quickly diverted to the alley entrance, and what
the fourth man was doing. They reached down for the young man’s hands and
dragged him toward the alley.

The woman could
not believe her eyes but did not have a phone to call the police. The
confrontation only lasted a couple of minutes, but she had been frozen in her
chair, not believing what had happened.

She saw new
movement. It was the girl running from the alley with some of her clothes
missing. She didn’t get far. The girl was swept up before she got to the curb. The
woman also saw some clothes caught in the wind, blowing down the sidewalk.

The girl must
have screamed because one of the men caught her, threw her down and then
punched her in the face. He picked her up, putting her limp body over his
shoulder. Instead of heading back into the alley, he carried her to a parked
car just beyond the alley.

Another man
opened the back door of the car and threw her in. The two men ran back into the
alley where the young man had been dragged. All four men came out of the alley,
carrying the motionless young man over to the car. They opened the front door
and threw the young man inside.

Simultaneously,
the opposite side rear car door opened and the girl tried to exit. She was
roughly and quickly yanked back inside. Moments later, the car pulled out of
the parking spot, lights off, and raced down the street. She saw the flash of
brake lights and then the headlights as they turned the corner.

The woman’s
heart was racing. She held her hands to her chest to catch her breath. She had
obviously witnessed an abduction and feared for their well-being. She feared
mostly for the girl. She looked back out the window and saw the girl’s beret
folded against a parking meter.

She looked to see
if there were any lights on in any of the other apartment windows, but, to her
surprise, they were in darkness. She thought about her own granddaughter,
attending Northeastern University, and was relieved it was not her who had had this
misfortune.

By the time she
could talk to the police it would be too late for them. What did she have?  All
she saw were four dark figures and a large black car. She thought to herself,
what
is this world coming to?
And she pulled her shade down, turning on her
light to go to her bedroom. Someone else must have witnessed what happened and
would surely report it.

* *
*

The black car
wasted no time getting out of the Back Bay area and headed east toward the
waterfront. Two of the men were in the back seat with the young woman. The
other two were in the front seat, with the guy riding shotgun holding a large
switchblade against his captive’s neck. The young man was awake now, being
forced to watch his female companion in the back.

She was in the
middle of the back seat facing him, her wrists tied to the hanging side straps
over each rear door. The two men in the rear seat had their own knives out. One
of the men moved the back of his blade down her cheek and lightly across her
neck.

He leered at
her, moving his knife down between her breasts, which were covered by her lace
bra. Although it was dark in the car, the street lights periodically
illuminated her pearl white body.

The young man
felt the pressure of the knife, more when the car swayed, and feared the knife
would soon cut his throat. He considered his situation, knowing they could kill
him. He looked at Cathy and realized she was in a serious situation herself. If
he tried to free himself, would it be futile, causing both of them to be
killed?

The men were
taunting her, creating a frenzy of rage. She cried out in pain and humiliation.
She tried to think about other things and not worry about their lives, but the
tears were already running.

The car came to
a sudden stop where there were no streetlights. The light came on inside the
car as the doors were flung open. The men dragged Bob out with them. Cathy tried
to ignore her nudity, but she could see them all looking back at her.

In one quick
instant, they hit Bob on the back of his neck and he immediately collapsed to
the pavement. One of the men tried to lift him, but it took two of them to do
it. She thought they were going to stab him once he was standing, but, instead,
one man put Bob over his shoulder, disappearing into the dark.

She could feel
the ocean air as the other two men, who were previously in the front seat,
jumped into the car beside her. They immediately made their own lewd comments
about her naked body. One of the men in back leaned his body across hers and
licked the tears now streaming down her cheeks. The front doors closed. She
welcomed the dark interior. The car roared off.

She thought they must have killed
Bob, dumping his body in that building. She could finally close her eyes,
having already accepted her own fate. She said a silent prayer, for Bob and
herself.

* *
*

Waiting for the delivery was the
worst part of the process. It was eleven o’clock and the delivery should have
been dropped off over an hour ago. Red, which is what her friends call her, could
feel the wind slamming into the old wooden building, causing it to creak and
groan. There would be more groaning later when they took their revenge on this
next young victim.

She listened as the other three
women recounted the torture of the last two victims. Looking at them, nobody
would ever expect them to be involved in killing. However, they were like
sharks smelling blood, it was a feeding frenzy, one woman’s rage fueling the
others. They had agreed at the outset killing the men was too kind; each of the
men had to suffer and regret what he had done.

The next victim was her personal
revenge. She had participated in the other men’s torture, but Bob would be
primarily hers. The other women would follow her lead. She was paying more
attention to the sound the building was making, rather than to her friends.
When she first discovered this building, she realized it would be the perfect place
to take revenge for what happened to her. However, she couldn’t do it alone.
That was when she thought about the other women she had met, all having similar
traumas in their lives. She contacted each of them a few months ago, and all
were willing to give up everything to revenge their rapes. The rest was making
history.

She remembered her first
impressions of the building and why it provided the opportunity for revenge.
The building was remote to the city, so no one could see them coming and going
on weekends. The business in the other half of the building only operated
during the week.

The coal chute allowed for delivery
of the men, without having to deal with the abductors. The elevator, although
old and rickety, was still functional and provided a means to transport the men
from the basement to each of the other two floors.

The wash, or shower area, gave them
the means to clean the men of any blood or coal dust. The fact that it only
provided freezing cold water was an added benefit, but not to the men. She
didn’t know much of the building’s history, but it had been used for cold
storage.

The freezer compartment was
conveniently located next to the shower area. Although not fully operational,
it was a sufficient cold torture. She remembered each of the last two men
hanging from their ankles, naked and vulnerable. They both begged to be killed,
but in due time. Although the men had not endured the years of pain and
suffering each of the women had experienced, the weekend was a condensed enough
version to have the men regret what they had done.

She thought of Bob—if he only
hadn’t tormented her after the rape by his friends, she might have lived with
the ordeal. However, threatening her sister sealed his fate.

She left the other women, walking
up the stairs to the display area. She flipped the lights on in the display and
studied the remnants of the men. The lights made the frost on the body parts
sparkle.

Her breathing quickened, and she
could hear her heart beating. She closed her eyes and pictured Bob tied to the guillotine
platform. How fitting; it reminded her of being tied to the bed all weekend. She
pictured his expression when she showed him the knife that would be used to
take his most precious parts. The other women would be taunting him. It was one
last chance for each of the men to beg for his life, but to no avail.

She opened her eyes and stepped to
the next display. What a deterrent this display would be to men who
contemplated rape. She could see her reflection in the glass. Her beautiful
face looked distorted with her nostrils flared and her eyes staring wildly. Her
red hair and ghostly complexion was something she hadn’t observed before.

Her mind wandered back to those
days when she was only sixteen, infatuated with her next door neighbor, a star
high school sports figure. She knew she might have asked for some of what
happened but being raped by several of Bob’s friends was the final straw. His
threat to get her younger sister if she ever told anyone set her on the road to
get even with him.

Tonight, she would finally make him
regret what he did and threatened to do. She knew when Bob screamed his final
scream, she would be screaming with him.

Her trance was interrupted by the
other women joining her. She was still lost in her own thoughts, and they
silently stared at their trophies together.

* *
*

The long wait
was over. The now familiar sound the body made when it was dumped down the coal
chute interrupted their thoughts. It was now their turn to demonstrate to Bob
what his dirty deeds had rewarded him.

They took the
freight elevator to the basement and turned on the lights. There in the corner
was Bob’s unconscious and bound body. The delivery team had obviously
mistreated him, but he was still alive, totally covered in coal dust.

The four of them
dragged his body to the elevator. The blood on his face and neck were more
visible in the light. They repeated the process, dragging him to the shower
area. They had learned their routine well and in just a matter of a few minutes
had him naked and strung up by his ankles.

The cold spray of
the water hoses brought him to, but they had him blindfolded so he couldn’t see
them or where he was. They stopped the water and used their brushes to clean
off the coal dust along with a layer of skin from areas not covered by dust.

The vast
warehouse building shielded his screams, and incited them to be more deliberate
on his precious parts. When they felt they had indeed caused him sufficient
pain, it was time to show him his fate.

They left him
suspended, hanging upside down from the rolling carriage and wheeled him to the
elevator. The elevator was an aged device that gave them a chance to spin him
and poke at him on the way. When the elevator stopped and the gate lifted, they
wheeled him to the first display case and turned on the display lights. The
blindfold was removed. It took him a few seconds to focus, but soon he
confirmed women were indeed holding him captive.

One of them
untied the hoist and he dropped to the floor with a thud. They stood him up,
but his hands and ankles were still tied. He wasn’t going anywhere. She talked
to him, and then he realized who she was. She told him why he was being held
and reminded him what he had done to warrant this treatment.

He was shown the
two trophies consisting of body parts from the other two men. There was good
news and bad news for him. This fate would not come for several hours.

With that, he
was hoisted off his feet, suspended and brought back to the first floor for
more water spray treatment. Later, he would be moved to the cold storage room.
This would give them an opportunity to catch some sleep before resuming their
treatment and her revenge.