She Can Scream (13 page)

Brooke leaned her head on the passenger window. “He still wants her.” The statement was issued without emotion, as if she were rambling off a fact sheet. “He won’t stop. And if he’s willing to take the kind of risk he took tonight just to see her, to give her that message…” A shudder rolled through her.

Luke turned up the heat.

The desperate edge in her voice worried him.

“The police officer said Maddie would have a guard all night.”

“Sure, tonight, and maybe for a couple of days. But what about after that? What’s she going to do in two weeks if the police haven’t caught this bastard? They’re not going to give her a permanent police escort.”

“There are security cameras all over the hospital. One of them had to have gotten this guy’s picture.” Luke stopped at a traffic light. “It sounded like the Hillside cops were close to making an arrest.”

“Let’s hope.” But her tone implied she wasn’t counting on it.

Brooke was right. Maddie’s assailant had waltzed right into a crowded hospital to leave her his message, a move too bold for Luke’s comfort. This guy was either crazy or confident. Both of those options gave Luke a huge dose of paranoia.

Physical exhaustion oozed over Brooke, saturating her muscles. Limping up her porch steps depleted her last ounce of
oomph
. The wind kicked up. A sudden gust streaked across the yard, chasing dead leaves on the lawn into swirling piles. Cold air slipped into the neck of her jacked, and she hunched her shoulders against the chill. All she wanted to do was flop into bed and pull the covers over her head. Unfortunately, her nerves were still humming like transformers.

The kids were already at the door. Haley slung her heavy backpack over one shoulder. Chris held a container of chocolate chip cookies. Luke stepped in front of them. He unlocked the door and crossed over the threshold.

Brooke remembered the dog. “Watch—”

“Ah.” He stumbled, throwing a hand out to steady himself against the wall.

“Out,” Brooke finished.

Under his feet, Sunshine scrambled upright, tail wagging. Luke reached down to scratch her head. “Sorry, girl.”

Flipping light switches as he passed them, Luke walked through the living room and dining room on either side of the main hall. He went into the kitchen, opened the pantry, and looked inside.

“Wait here.” He grabbed a flashlight from a wall peg and disappeared into the basement.

Brooke sank into a chair.

“I’ll take care of Sunshine.” Chris tossed Brooke an ice pack and scooped kibble into the dog’s bowl. Sunshine crushed through her dinner and
woofed
at the back door. Chris let her out.

Brooke settled the ice on the only part of her body that wasn’t freezing, her flaming knee. The cold sent a shiver rattling through her skeleton.

Haley dropped her backpack on the floor. “I’ll pack lunches.”

“Thanks.” Her kids’ unsolicited help warmed Brooke’s cold bones. Haley tossed yogurt and fruit into two insulated pouches. Chris preferred cafeteria food.

Haley stashed the lunch bags in the fridge and sat down next to Brooke. “Is Maddie going to be OK?”

Brooke wrapped an arm around her daughter’s shoulders. The kids were still processing the news. Heck,
Brooke
was still processing what happened at the hospital. The attacker had waltzed into a busy hospital, and no one had noticed. It seemed unreal. Impossible. “The police are going to watch her 24-7. They won’t let anything happen to her.”

Haley twisted a lock of hair. “She must be scared.”

“I’m sure she is.”

Chris was filling a glass with water, but his head was tilted as if he was listening.

“Are you scared?” Brooke asked.

Haley looked away. She shrugged.

Brooke’s chest ached. She wanted to tell them there was no danger, that they were completely safe, but they weren’t babies anymore. A stuffed bear standing guard at the foot of the bed wasn’t enough. They deserved the truth. “We’re going to lock the
house up tight, and we’re not going anywhere alone until this man is caught. OK?”

“OK.” Haley nodded. “I’m going to bed.”

“Wake me if you can’t sleep.” Brooke hugged her. “That goes for you too, Chris.”

“I’ll be fine.” He set the empty glass in the sink.

Luke clumped up the wooden basement steps, passed through the kitchen, and headed upstairs. Five minutes later, he reappeared. “Coast is clear.”

Exhausted, the kids went upstairs.

“Can I make you something to eat? Casserole?” Luke asked.

“I’m not hungry. Maybe some tea.”

“Tired?” He filled the kettle and lit the burner under it. Branches scraped the kitchen window as wind rattled the oak out back. At the dog’s bark, Luke let her in. Sunshine ambled to Brooke for a head scratch, then stretched out on the floor next to her chair.

“Yes, but I’m in no rush to close my eyes.” She was going to relive Maddie’s despair all night. The frantic hopelessness in her voice and the raw terror in her eyes would haunt Brooke for a long time.

“Maybe the cops will catch this guy fast. It sounded like the Hillside PD is making progress and that the towns are coordinating their efforts in the investigation.”

“Even if they catch a rapist, the DNA tests will take weeks, at best.” Fresh horror swept through her. “What if the Hillside police make an arrest and feel strongly that it’s the same man? They’ll likely pull Maddie’s guard. And it’ll still be possible that they have the wrong man. She’ll be terrified and vulnerable.”

As would Brooke and her kids.

“How are the kids coping?” Luke asked.

Brooke adjusted her ice pack. “I’m sure they’re more frightened than they’ll admit. Since the divorce, they both seem to think they have to act like adults.”

“Was the split hard on them?”

“Ian traveled a lot. They were already used to him not being here. He liked the idea of having a wife and kids more than the reality.” Sadness filled her throat. Her kids were too old to be shielded from the truth. “I can tell them the divorce was a mutual decision until I’m blue, but Ian moved two hours away. He only sees them twice a month. They’re smart kids. Their father chose his lifestyle over them. They know it.”

“It must be hard not to be able to shield them.”

Fear welled fresh in Brooke’s chest. “God, Luke. What am I going to do if they don’t catch this guy?”

The tea kettle hissed. Luke froze for a few seconds. Then, with a harsh breath, he poured steaming water over tea bags in two mugs. “Maybe it’s too early to think of the worst-case scenario.”

Where else would she start? One thing was certain. She couldn’t just sit around and hope the police solved the case. “I’d like to check my notes on this other rape case. Let’s go into my office.”

Luke, carrying the mugs of tea, followed her to her office down the hall. Brooke cringed. There were piles of books and folders and papers on every available surface. She shifted some piles from the desk to the floor. Luke set the mugs down and cleared a chair while Brooke booted up her laptop. She sipped tea while the machine chugged to life. The hot liquid did little to dispel her chill.

The home screen appeared. Brooke typed H
ILLSIDE JOGGER RAPE
into the search engine. While the computer chugged away, she pulled a file out of her desk and removed a local newspaper article. She skimmed the details.

Luke pulled out a chair and dropped into it. “You knew about the Hillside case?”

“I keep up with sexual assaults and homicides in the surrounding area. The Hillside victim was grabbed while jogging at twilight. The guy dragged her off the main path, hit her a couple of times, and raped her. The attack was interrupted by a couple of mountain bikers.” Brooke scrolled down the page. “But he didn’t wear a mask, just a hood and a bandana over his nose and mouth.”

Luke pointed to her laptop. “Your search is up.”

She went back to the computer, selected a link, and clicked. “The bandana fell down during the struggle, giving the victim and witnesses a look at his face. The police put up a composite sketch.”

She turned the computer to give Luke a better view.

“With the facial hair and hoodie, he looks like the Unabomber.”

Brooke studied the drawing. “Maddie’s assailant wore a ski mask.”

“Maybe be learned his lesson.”

“Maybe.” Brooke pulled up a second article. “But this guy didn’t wear gloves either. Or a condom. He left DNA behind.”

“Except for the gloves and mask, it sounds a lot like Maddie’s attacker,” Luke pointed out. “You don’t know if he was going to use a condom or not. Thanks to you, he didn’t get that far.”

But something about the idea wasn’t right. “It wasn’t cold enough for gloves last night. He wore them because he didn’t
want to leave fingerprints. I doubt very much that Maddie’s attacker wouldn’t have used a condom.”

Luke considered her argument. “Yeah, that doesn’t make any sense.”

“The Hillside attacker was careless. That attack doesn’t have the same planned feel as Maddie’s. Also, the Hillside rapist didn’t choke his victim.”

“So?”

“So, Maddie’s assailant wanted to kill her.” Brooke tapped her fingers on the table. “No, I don’t have any proof of this, just the way he was choking her…” The sheer level of violence sent a fresh chill sliding through Brooke’s belly. She sipped more tea. “At the time, I had no doubt killing her was his ultimate intention.”

Luke didn’t respond.

“Statistically most women are attacked by men they know, though not necessarily know well. She might not have noticed him, but she caught his interest somewhere. School. Work. Maybe he sees her in a coffee shop every morning or goes to her gym. He could have done work on her parents’ house or fixed her car, but there’s usually some connection.”

Luke tested the tea, then set it down and pushed it aside.

He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. Heat seeped from his skin to hers. Much better than the tea. “The police will figure all that out. They have DNA to compare. No guessing there. It’s frustrating the results take so long, but when they’re in, everyone will be sure, one way or the other.”

But for now, a violent man was free. No one was safe—not Maddie or Brooke or her kids.

“They’ll do everything they can.” She grabbed a small tablet and flipped to a fresh page. She wrote down the name of Maddie’s ex and the boy she liked. Next she listed all the places Maddie
had mentioned: Forever Fitness, Lark County Community College, her place of employment.

Luke cocked his head to read. “What are you doing?”

“Just making a list of the places Maddie goes regularly. Her attacker knows her from somewhere. He picked her. He stalked her. He fixated on her.”

Brooke would bet on it. Real predators didn’t wait for a victim to wander into striking distance. They hunted.

She listed the similarities and differences in the two cases. With her thoughts jotted down, she felt more settled. Weariness sagged over her. She started a file for Maddie and put her notes inside it.

Luke glanced around her office. “Why didn’t you chuck teaching and become a cop?”

“After Karen died, I moved back home. Ian and I got married right away and the kids came along pretty fast. I wanted
normal
so badly, I did everything I could to get it.” Brooke paused, the memory raw as a wound. “Anyway, doing what I do,” she swept a hand in the air over her files, “lets me help hundreds of young women. I can give them an edge Karen and I didn’t have when we went out into the world. We were so naïve.” She swallowed her bitterness.

Luke moved his hand as if he was going to touch hers, but he pulled away before making contact. Disappointment added to Brooke’s exhaustion. What did she expect? That he was going to swoop in and carry her off on a white horse? Even fairy tales were usually pretty grim.

“I need to go to bed.” She powered down her computer.

Luke got up. He took both mugs to the sink, rinsed them, and put them in the dishwasher. Brooke placed her palms on the table and pushed to her feet.

“You don’t have to get up,” Luke said. “I can let myself out and lock up. Unless you want your key back?”

“No. You hold on to it.” She wasn’t sure why this gave her some comfort, but it did.

Brooke followed Luke to the front door. One glance at the painted white steel door brought the memory of their almost-kiss flooding back. Her exhausted muscles loosened. If her kids weren’t there, and if he weren’t so obviously trying to keep his distance, she’d have taken him by the hand and led him to her bedroom.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

God, she was tired of maintaining control.

“Thank you for everything today. I don’t know what I would’ve done—”

“Sh.” He pressed a finger to her lips. The green of his eyes darkened to emerald. Was he thinking about their earlier moment? “I’ll be back early. Call my cell if you need me. I’m only a few minutes away.”

He stepped back and stared up the stairs, tight-lipped, for a few seconds. Then, as if he’d made a decision, he jerked open the door. Cold air blasted into the foyer.

“Goodnight, Brooke,” he said without looking back at her.

She watched his sedan back out of the driveway. Red taillights faded into the night. She closed the door and secured the deadbolt. She limped upstairs to her room. Tossing her clothes on top of her overflowing hamper, she tugged on loose pajamas. Face washed and teeth brushed, she slipped between the sheets and stared at the ceiling. After spending an entire day in Luke’s company, his absence was glaring. She swept a hand over the empty bed next to her. Tugging the extra pillow closer,
she hugged it against her body, but a pillow was no replacement for a warm body. Her mind refused to shut off. She lay still, concentrating on every noise and categorizing its probable source.

She got out of bed and went to her closet. In the back was the gun safe her father had installed when Haley was born. She entered the combination and opened the heavy door. Inside, one lone weapon, her dad’s old shotgun, leaned in the corner. She slid the gun under her bed and tucked a few shells into her pocket, but she didn’t feel any safer.