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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Mystery
- Subject: Mystery
- Published: 05/15/2022
A Long Dark Night
Born 1951, M, from Gore Bay, Canada.jpeg)
A LONG DARK NIGHT
1
Jenny Loft cringed at the idea of dating. It was something teenagers did and she hadn’t been one of them for ten years. She was a sophisticated, educated woman with an inspired career as a psychologist. So why did she say yes to a man who was almost a complete stranger. Almost because they had actually met in real time a few weeks ago at the coffee shop they both frequented. At least she did and he said he was there often and wondered at how odd it was they had never run into each other before.
Professionally she would have advised a client to run like hell, but Lance Havlok had a charisma that turned her into a moth to the light. And there was something else. It was as though she recognized him, like someone would recognize a character from a novel described in every detail including the ruggedly handsome part. Jenny tried to remember the last time she had the time to read a novel. “Years.” she whispered. Most of her reading time was spent on keeping up with new ways to deal with new problems in a world inundated with idiosyncrasies and syndromes that seemed to find their way into otherwise normal people.
Jenny decided that part of her attraction to Lance was the fact that he seemed well adjusted despite his dressed down appearance. It amazed her that he used her own strategies for getting people to talk about themselves. She had rattled off her life story over coffee and muffins and had agreed to a dinner date the coming Friday and now it was Friday morning and she was having second…and…third thoughts.
She tried putting the whole thing out of her mind by going over notes about her first client of the day, a young man who was on the road to self destruction, according to his parents and did show signs of extreme stress but none that suggested he was any danger to himself. She had to ask herself the question. “If a person says he hates the way society treats people does that mean there is something wrong with them? The answer is “No.” except this particular young man thought about dangerous things that could be considered deadly.
Jenny realized as she took a sip of her coffee that she didn’t know anything about Lance Havlok, except that he enjoyed impromptu meetings in coffee shops and he worked for a living, at what was still a question. And Jenny realized he had crashed through her concentration and pushed the young client back on the secondary thought shelf.
Jenny checked the time. She had ten minutes to get to her office to be on time to meet the young man for his weekly session, a session that promised to be like every other one, narrowly productive. He was playing a game and she recognized it. He didn’t want help. He wanted to kill someone. So far she had kept him from doing it but one day, despite all her effort it could happen. Inwardly she sensed that day was not so far off. Their last session had ended badly and he left the office angrier than he had arrived.
2
Jenny set her coffee cup on the table and looked around the coffee shop sensing someone was watching her but she didn’t notice anyone paying her any particular attention. A shiver ran up and down her spine and the hair on her arms stood on end. She found herself standing at the cash counter staring at nothing. The cashier was talking to her. “Are you alright? Do you need me to call someone?”
“No. No. I am fine. I just got caught up in a thought.” Jenny answered then handed the cashier a ten dollars for a five dollar bill and hurried off.
Her office was across the street from the coffee shop. She hurried as much as she could but the lights at the intersection held her up. It kept her there long enough to wonder what building Lance Havlok worked in. It seemed logical that he would be there somewhere since he frequented the only coffee shop on that block, but why had she never seen him before.
Suddenly she was afraid that he had showed her the side of a man she wanted to see and he had ulterior motives. There had been five assaults by a marauder in the area over the past few weeks. Could that be his MO.?”
“Stop Dr. Jenny Loft. You are beginning to sound like one of your patients.” She ordered.
The walk sign flashed and Jenny raced across the intersection and on to the entrance of her building. Her office was on the third floor. If the elevator was with her she could be right on time for her first session of the day.
The elevator door opened just as she reached it. Someone pushed past her. It was her patient but she made no effort to acknowledge him nor did he seem to recognize her. There was a dark glint in his eyes and in that moment Jenny felt that same feeling she had in the coffee shop. It was Jerry Kilmney that had been watching her. But how could she know that?
The ride to the third floor was silent except for the whir of the elevator cables. It was an old building and the elevator had been in service as long as anyone could remember. Every time it broke down the tenants would ask, “When are they going to replace this relic?” They hadn’t yet and there was little chance it would happen any time soon.
The longer they were in the elevator the more the young man’s tension accelerated. He fidgeted with his fingers as though trying to tie them together. Jenny considered saying something but decided to wait until they were in a controlled situation.
It seemed the ride to the third floor was taking forever though the whole trip probably only lasted a minute or two. When it finally stopped and the doors opened Jerry Kilmney pushed Jenny aside and exited the elevator nearly running down the hall toward her office door.
Suddenly he stopped and turned to look at Jenny. “Dr. Loft.” I have done something terrible.”
3
Detective Sergeant Lance Havlok sat at his desk signing the last of his watch reports, it did not happen often but Midtown was quiet. When he had been given his promotion he was given a choice of assignments. Midtown Vice was his first choice. He wanted to put bad people in jail where they belonged but not all people out there were bad. Some of them just needed a push in the right direction to get them off the streets and back into the mainstream of life. Now after year rifling through the street scum he understood the truth. He was a dreamer and most of the people stuck in the shadowy underworld of the city did not want fixing, they just wanted a fix or drink or a john to pay for services rendered. Vice was a world that probably resembled hell more than any other department. And his watch, the night watch was the worst.
But it was all about to change. He was transferred without notice to homicide. When he showed up for his next watch he would have the same desk, same phone, same everything but now he would be investigating murders.
Still it was not all dark and demons and drudgery. Four days earlier when he visited Teddy’s Coffee Shop after his shift he stumbled upon a rare gem in the midst of the mayhem. He was surprised at himself because until that moment he had never really been attracted to red heads, with emerald, green eyes. But Jenny had taken one quick cursory glance at him and presto he was hooked. And then there was something else new. He had never been quite as forward as he was that morning, almost barging in on her as she sat there reading some book and sipping black coffee.
“What one liner would get you to talk to me?”
Jenny had looked at him straight in the eyes then with a faint smile answered. “Good morning. Would you mind if I sat here, might work.”
And that was the name of that tune. The next thing he knew he was asking Dr. Jenny Loft on a dinner date Friday night. He hadn’t seen any one since….he let that thought go.
Unfortunately Lance caught himself acting like a cop, asking questions and burrowing like a worm into her private life. It was surprising she was so open in a time when it was best to tell people as little about yourself as possible.
His land line phone rang. Lance answered and listened. “I don’t switch over until Monday. I am supposed to be off for the weekend.”
The response was unwelcomed. “Killers don’t give a hoot about the weekend or when your next shift is. There’s a corpse in a bucket over on 10th and it looks like murder.”
“Alright, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Lance groaned then stood and pulled on his denim jacket to cover up his service pistol. It was Friday morning and it was going to be a long hot day, maybe too long for stepping out on a dinner date.
4
Jenny Loft glanced at the clock on her private office wall. She had cancelled all her appointment for the morning after the confrontation in the hallway with Jerry Kilmney.
“What have you done?” she had asked him when he had told her he had done something terrible, but Jerry would not tell her. “I just need some of those pills to calm me down. I ran out.” He demanded.
“You should have enough for a month yet.” Jenny answered realizing too late it was the wrong thing to say.
“You are useless” Jerry yelled bringing several people to the hallway just as Jerry attacked her. Two men from the next office charged in to pull the crazed man off but he had pulled a knife. At least it gave Jenny a chance to get away from him.
“I have called the police. They will be here any minute.” A woman’s voice came frantically along the hallway. Before anyone could stop him Jerry was out the stair way exit door and gone.
“Jenny leaned against the wall while everyone crowded around her asking if she was all right. She wasn’t. She was shaking but somehow managed to tell them she was ok. Then she escaped and went and hid in her office.
Finally Jenny told her secretary to cancel all her sessions. She was going out to pay a house call on Jerry’s parents.
Five hours later Jenny sat at her kitchen table trying to decide whether she should cancel her dinner date with Lance but thought better of it thinking it might be just what she needed a distraction from the reality of her life and her job. Besides, why ruin something that might be good over a rough day at the office.
***
Lance Havlok glanced at his watch. It was just after six and he had spent the entire day piecing together bits and pieces of information about the body in the dumpster as the Crime scene investigators would give him. There was still time to get home and clean up for his date with Jenny. Something rushed through him that he had not felt in over a year. He decided it was high time to let that past go and at least for tonight forget that he was a homicide cop. All he wanted for a few hours was to be a beautiful woman’s date.
It had been a long time since Lance had gone out without his pistol tucked under his arm or to do anything that wasn’t police business. He had worked every overtime shift he could get, not for the money but because it was all he had left in his life. He felt a little uncomfortable decked out in a suite he had to dig out of the closet and brush off. Then he found himself wondering if he could actually pull this off, idle conversation without talking shop. What would a cop and a Psychologist talk about? Or maybe that would be a perfect common ground.
5
At first Jenny couldn’t remember where they were going to meet. Was he picking her up at home? No. She had been wise enough not to tell where she lived. Then she remembered. They were to meet at the coffee shop, which made very good sense. At seven pm.
She dressed nicely but didn’t over dress. It was good enough to get into any restaurant uptown or down or a pizza joint if that is the way things went. He didn’t look like the high class bistro type the other morning so she figured they’d end up in a mom and pop Italian place or a club that served burgers and fries. Either way it didn’t matter. It really wasn’t about the food. But if not what was it about…and…what did people actually do on dates. Her last one had ended up disastrously when she decided she didn’t like the guy enough to spend the night with him. “Oh woes of the college years.” She thought humourously.
Then there was the year of living seriously with wedding bells in future and maybe kids. Then it started to interfere with her career and that was not good. She backed out when Rodney had finally come up with the gumption to ask her the question and she said, “No.”
Jenny took the elevator down to the lobby. As she stepped off that horrible feeling was there again. Someone was watching her. Quickly she looked around half expecting to find Jerry Kilmney lurking in a corner or shadow somewhere, but the lobby was vacant. The guard was off on his rounds somewhere.
Jenny shrugged the feeling away and went out into the street. At that time of evening it was quiet except for the smoking crew that sat out on the patio of the coffee shop. Only a few cars rolled through the intersection or waited for the lights to change. In that moment it seemed all so surreal and picturesque, like a painting that would hold the moment forever and there in its centre stood Lance Havlok and like a school girl on her first date with the boy of her dreams butterflies flicked their wings in her stomach.
“Jenny Loft. You’re a fool.” She scolded herself then crossed the intersection on the walk light.
Jenny was not sure if she liked seeing Lance all polished up and wearing a suit. She realized as they drew nearer that the dressed down look had its appeal, but dressed up had another kind of appeal, the type that impressed the professional person inside her. “Geesh, this is a date. You don’t have to analyze it. Why do you do that?” “Just enjoy it.”
Then Lance smiled and for a second Jenny thought she would melt, right there on the street in front of the whole world. It happened just like her mother said it would when she was trying to explain to the young Jennifer what it was like to meet just the right man.
“And now you’re being a silly school girl. You better put on your adult face on or really embarrass yourself.”
6
There were many places to hide plain sight. Jerry Kilmney chose one in a place that he could watch the entrance to Dr., Jenny Loft’s office building, the intersection and the coffee shop. He had his camera ready to get the proof he needed to show Jenny she was an unfaithful harlot. How could she not know that he loved her with all his heart and that he knew, deep down in hers she loved him. All she needed was for him to show her they could and would be great together. Their Friday sessions were only a prelude to the special life they were destined to share.
He watched Jenny cross the intersection. Then he saw Lance and when their hands clasped together and Lance kissed Jenny lightly on the cheek a special kind of rage mounted to near volcanic levels in Jerry’s mind.
“I will kill you. I will kill you both.” He screamed silently then ran off into the morning with deadly thoughts carving a line of uncontrollable hatred across his mind.
***
At a glance Jenny could tell Lance was not in the least bit comfortable in his nicely tailored suit. She thought about saying something and decided that if a quick kiss on the cheek was ok maybe she could just casually reach up and loosen his tie, which she did, just a little nervously worrying that it might be just a little too familiar.
Lance made no move to stop her and when she handed him the tie he said, “Thanks. It’s not really me.”
“So who are really you?” Jenny asked. “I mean….”
The real me is comfortable in jeans and blue collar shirt and denim jacket. My work clothes.”
“And what kind of work do you do?” Jenny pushed on.
“I am a cop. Detective Sergeant Lance Havlok.” Lance replied cautiously.
Teasingly Jenny replied, “So do I call you Sergeant, Detective or maybe Sir.”
“Lance grinned replying with the same teasing essence, “Darling would be perfect.”
Jenny was delighted. What could be bad about a relationship that is based in friendly humour and a little teasing?
“Where shall we go for dinner?” Lance left the choice up to Jenny.
“How about somewhere you will be most comfortable like your favourite haunt.”
“But what about where you would be comfortable?” Lance countered.
Jenny seized the moment and the opportunity to let him know what she was feeling in that moment. “I am already comfortable thanks.”
“In that case let’s take a cab across town to a place called The Golden Shield. An old friend of mine owns the place.”
“Let me guess. It’s a classic place owned by a retired cop and frequented by cops.” Jenny was teasing again.
“Mostly cops, but there are some lawyers, a couple of PIs and a journalist or two.”
“Sounds like a weekly TV show.”
“Sometimes it seems that way and a lot of drama.” Lance described with a smirk on his face.
“And now there will be a Psychologist in residence.” Jenny replied and they both laughed.
7
Jenny sat at her desk Monday morning still analyzing the date with Lance. After spending the weekend trying to pick out a flaw in the fabric Friday evening she had failed. The entire experience felt like it was meant to be, they were meant to be. Lances friends accepted her into their little club of boys in blue without a hitch and it seemed Detective Sergeant Havlok was well respected but considered a little radical and a little left of compliance. It was beginning to feel perfect but what is perfection. Those first few hours together only showed the good stuff on both sides. None of the cracks in life’s armor had been allowed to show.
“Maybe next time, or, if not then the next, things might not be so perfect.” She whispered.
Lance had seen her home and at the door of her bungalow in suburbia he had asked for her phone numbers, told that it had been the most delightful evening he had had in years then kissed her gently on the cheek and told he hoped they could do it all again soon. Then he returned to the cab and waved as it pulled away. More perfection. He did not expect the evening to go any further than it had. She had been a little concerned about that moment because it seemed these days first dates often led straight to the couch…or someplace even more intimate.
The office door opened and Anna, Jenny’s secretary appeared in the frame looking pale and worried. Right behind her came Jerry Kilmney. There was darkness to his look that startled Jenny.
“Anna. Please leave the room now. It seems Mr. Kilmney would like to speak with me.” Jenny ordered, trying to keep her voice from quivering.
“Now Jerry. Have seat and tell me how I can help you.”
“I don’t need to sit and listen to your Psycho babble Jennifer. I need you to look at these pictures and tell me what the hell is going on.” Jerry replied angrily then threw a plain brown document envelope on Jenny’s desk and ran out of the office.
What is the worst kind of fear, the kind when you are in immediate danger and can see what is transpiring or the kind that comes with danger lurking just outside the door that you know is there but cannot see it?
Jenny removed the contents of the envelope and spread them out on her desk. There were photos of her leaving the office building, crossing the street and meeting Lance. The next set of prints were taken at her bungalow while she and Lance were saying goodnight.
“He knows where I live.” She whispered desperately, but the moment did not solidify until she read the note accompanying the pictures. “End this affair with your copper friend now or else.”
Somehow the bliss of perfection crumbled away like a breaking mirror… silently.
Jenny forced her mind to function logically. This would not be the first time a Psychologist was forced into dealing with misguided patients. But what could, what should she do. She was not just a Psychologist she was an MD as well and that came with an oath.
“I am sorry Lance. So sorry. I cannot see you again, not now.” Raced through Jenny’s mind, torturing her heart.
8
All he had to do is call. Of that he was certain, but the weekend had its own agenda and the homicide case he was working on escalated. There had been another murder with exactly the same mo as the first. Saturday was filled with scratching through the crime scene. Then Saturday night flashed by in fits of examining evidence from both murders, linking them together and catching twenty winks when his eyes refused to stay open any longer. Then Sunday, tracking down Friday night with Jenny Loft had been wonderful and it seemed there would be other nights. All potential witnesses which as was most usual produced little results of any use.
Monday morning was about the same then he put it all aside, just for a minute and called Jenny’s office. It was 2 o’clock. She should have been there, even if she was with a client, but the secretary said, “I am sorry Detective Havlok. Dr. Loft will not be available for quite some time. I think you can save your time and not call again.” The line went dead.
Anna stood in the doorway of Jenny’s office. “It was Detective Havlok calling Dr. Loft. I gave him your message but…”
“Thank you Anna.” Jenny cut her secretary short, barely able to contain her pain. When the door closed she broke down and wept uncontrollably.
It took nearly an hour but Jenny finally got control of her pain replacing it with anger and determination. She could not tell the world what was going on but she could not let a patient gain and keep that kind of control over her. She had to stop Jerry somehow but that could not be done from a distance or on the phone or even in a session. She had to reach him in his own distorted world of twisted realities.
Jenny picked up the land line and dialed. “Hello Mrs. Kilmney. This is doctor Loft. Is Jerry home? I must speak with him.”
“No Doctor. We have not seen our son in over a week. He has run off again and this time we have decided not to take him back again. The boy is evil. He tried to stab his father the night he ran off and I am afraid he has done something horrible that all the doctors in the world cannot help him out of. I am afraid we will no longer be in need your services which seem to have done no good what so ever anyway. We have called the police and turned the problem over to them.” Mrs. Kilmney described their situation then rang off abruptly.
“Where would you go?” Jenny asked the question out loud then picked up her brief case and exited the office. “Cancel my appointments Anna. I will be gone for the rest of the day.”
Anna waited until her employer was gone then picked up the phone and dialed. “May I speak to Detective Sergeant Havlok please? This is an urgent matter.”
She knew the call could get her fired but that would be better than reading Jenny Loft’s obituary after a crazed client murdered her.
9
Jenny crossed the street to the coffee shop. It seemed suddenly that it was the centre of everything going on in her life, good and bad. If Jerry was not there already, watching or at least watching for her, he would be there looking for her sooner or later. She felt like she could not go anywhere now without him seeing her. If she could not put an end to this insanity reasonably she would be forced to do whatever it took to stop Jerry. But everything in her being told her that the final resolve she was considering was wrong. Jenny wished it would all go away and life could back the way it was just ten days ago. Simple, straight forward and…. “And what?”
There were only five people in the coffee shop, none of whom Jenny recognized. She had rarely frequented the place so late. She went to the counter and ordered a coffee and raisin bran muffin out of habit. Then she went and sat at her usual table by the window and waited for her tray to be delivered. She wondered why all coffee shops didn’t deliver, but then if they all did this one would lose its uniqueness.
Then jenny wondered why people thought about trivial things when the important parts of life seemed overwhelming. Maybe it was a psychological failsafe. It would be something she could research and write a paper on.
When her tray arrived she said, “Thank you.” Without looking up but when the server did not leave she looked and for a second panic raced through her. “Lance.”
Sergeant Havlok sat down across the table from Jenny. His smile was hard and his voice verged on angry but he kept his feelings and purpose professional.
“I do not think you know how dangerous this Jerry Kilmney is.” Lance said smoothly, maybe a little too smoothly.
“I cannot talk about him but obviously someone has told you what is going on. I will have to talk to my secretary.”
“Your secretary told me very little. Actually she started our conversation with, “I cannot give you any information Detective. All I can tell you is Dr. Loft is in grave and deadly danger from Jerry Kilmney. She has gone off by herself to face it and deal with it.” I guessed you would be here.”
“Anna should not have given out his name.” Jenny replied coldly.
“Maybe but if she had not and he killed you she would have your death on her conscience the rest of her life.”
“He is probably watching us now.” Jenny warned, glancing around the room anxiously.
“Maybe that is a good thing.” Lance replied. He did not tell her he was a person of interest in a murder investigation. It would have served no purpose.
“Why would that be a good thing? Jenny asked.
“If he comes out in the open I can deal with him.”
“My knight in shining armour.” Jenny found her sense of humour for a second.
“Things like that still happen and I still believe in beautiful princesses.” Lance parried.
10
“Come on. I will Take you home Jenny. The Police can handle Kilmney. I will call it in and every cop in the city will be on the lookout for him.”
Jenny looked Lance straight in the eyes and said. “I can be intuitive sometimes. What are you not telling me? Has Jerry?” She stopped suddenly. “He told me last Friday that he had done something terrible but he did not say what.”
“He is a suspect in a murder investigation.” Lance had to admit. “So you see if he threatens to kill someone it’s a good idea to believe he will do it.”
“He threatened to kill both of us if I did not stay away from you.”
“In that case I can’t take you home and leave you there alone. I will have to take you someplace safe, like the police station. No arguments.”
“No I cannot let you risk your life alone. Besides I doubt he will show himself without me around.” Jenny argued. “Let him come after me. Let him think I am alone. I know he will come. Take me home. He knows where I live and I am sure he will come for me there.”
“I don’t like it.” Lance replied.
“I don’t like it either but it has to be done and I would like to help him if I can. He really is tortured in his mind.”
“Ok Jen. I will take you home but I won’t leave you alone. I will be back to watch over you.”
***
Jenny had always felt safe in her quiet little suburban bungalow and she probably would again, but at that moment, sitting alone in her living room with a crazed client who may be a killer too, stalking her a darkness she had never know hung in her mind. It helped a little that someone who had crept unsuspected into her heart was watching out for her but it also meant he was putting himself in harm’s way. Just because he is a cop didn’t exempt him from being hurt or worse.
The first sound could have been anything, but there was no doubt what the second and third were. Someone was at the back door and it had totally slipped Jen’s mind to make sure it was locked. She hardly ever locked, always afraid of locking herself out.
Then a breeze swept through the house and Jenny was on her feet grasping the table lamp in her shaking hands. But it was of little use. The intruder came in fast and hard and even though he was wearing a mask there was no question as to who it was.
“Jerry. You don’t have to do this.” Jen urged as calmly as she could but that did no good what so ever. The intruder was on her, over-powering her even though she struggled wildly and then she smelled the ether.
11
Lance Havlok circled around the block and down to the next then parked his car in the shadows between street lamps. The quietness of the suburban street felt foreign to him and the stillness settled into his thoughts like a down pillow. “This is too quiet and too exposed.” He decided. “Places like this are magnets for thieves.”
The Detective locked his unmarked cruiser and started back for Jenny’s bungalow as fast has he could. He didn’t know as he ran along the shadowy street that he wasn’t going to be fast enough until he got to the corner and saw Jen being shoved into the trunk of a car.
Knowing he would never get to the car in time to save Jenny he started back to his own, running faster than he had run before. His mind raced. He had been in situations like this before but this time something was different. It was more than life or death.
Just as he reached his cruiser the perps car sped by. Lance was in his car and screeching into the traffic lane in seconds. He could still see the car’s tail lights. He didn’t risk lights and sirens. That would only force the kidnapper to run faster and in doing so risk an accident and Jenny’s life.
His quarry made three decisive turns, ignoring red lights and screeching around corners. The turns warned Detective Havlok that they were racing into a derelict part of the city where most of the buildings were abandoned and condemned and were designated for demolition.
***
The air was stifling and she was being tossed like a rag doll in the trunk of the car. She could feel cuts being sliced into her skin from sharp things and bruises forming on her arms and legs and a least two on her forehead.
“Jenny Loft, you are a foolish girl. You should have seen this coming.” She scolded herself like a little girl. “All the signs were there and now you are going to die and not even Lance Havlok is going to be able to save you. How is he going to feel when you are found….dead?”
The car swerved so abruptly and severely Jenny’s body was crushed against the wheel well and it knocked the wind from her lungs. She lay there curled up in the fetal position, gasping for air. Nausea crept into belly and she was feeling dizzy.
Then it got worse. She noticed the smell of exhaust fumes and realized the car had come to a sudden stop. If she was left in the trunk with the engine running she would die very soon and all the struggling would do her no good what so ever. Then the engine whirred into silence and seconds later the trunk lid opened and the hooded man reached in to drag her out.
This was her only chance to escape. Somehow she had twisted her wrist ties free. She lashed out like a frightened mountain cat gouging at her kidnappers eyes, which sent him reeling back, screaming in pain. There was just enough time to untie her ankles and flee. Though her legs were nearly numb she managed to stumble into a building that had all the ear marks of abandonment and she realized where she was.
12
The only light in the building came from the full moon which was shining through the lobby window frames. It was not the best but it was enough for Jenny to pick out the stairs and run for them. She had made the second floor landing when the tortured voice of Jerry Kilmney rose from the silvery shadows before. But just at that moment another voice reached through the windows on a moon beam.
“Jenny. Jenny. Hold on. I am coming.” Lance Havlok cried out assuringly.
“Damn you cop.” Jerry screamed maniacally and turned, charging at Lance like a mad bull. Lance hit the door frame and dropped unconscious to the threshold. Jerry added a boot to the ribs to make sure the cop wouldn’t be on his feet too soon, but…
Jenny had continued up the stairs until there were no more to climb and the door opening on to the roof was intact and locked.
There was no place left to run. She was seven flights up a decrepit abandoned apartment building with Jerry Kilmney creeping up behind her cursing her every step of the way, blaming her for everything that had gone wrong in his life.
“I thought it was you and me. I thought you cared. You said you cared and that you would look after me.” He cried. “But I saw you with that man. The cop. He will never love you like could have if you would have just given me a chance. But no. You wouldn’t do that. And you told him what I did. He has been hunting me down like a rabid beast. Now I must kill you, both of you.
“Jerry. Back off. The doctor hasn’t done anything to hurt you. It is all in your mind.” Lances deep voice rose calmly from below. “Just turn around and come back down.”
“Stay back.” Jerry shouted wildly.
“Please Jerry. It doesn’t have to be this way.” Jenny cried. “We can fix it…together.” “Too late Dr. Loft. It’s too broken.” Jerry answered with a hate in his voice that Jenny had never heard before.
Jerry charged at Jenny and wrapped his thick, strong fingers around her throat. Jenny nearly succumbed but in the last second as she began to fade from consciousness something primal stirred in her heart and she found the courage and strength to push back jamming the heels of her hands into Jerry’s chest then pushing harder still with adrenalin strength.
Lance appeared at the top of the stairs. His arms opened and Jenny let him hold her. In that moment she knew that her heart had been taken and there was a deep, unbreakable love, like fine wine nurturing in that embrace.
There was no point in looking. Jenny knew Jerry was dead and she may never be able to forgive herself. Even as Lance held her close in his arms she felt as though she had betrayed everything she had worked for, everything she had believed in and worst of all she had broken her oath as a medical doctor, that Hippocratic Oath every doctor takes.
“It’s Ok Jen. He was going to kill you. You had no choice. All you did is defend yourself by pushing him away. It was just bad or good luck he went over the rail. No one will ever blame you.” Lance assured her and kissed her gently on the fore head. She looked up with that realization this was the man she loved and would love forever.
“Hold me Lance. I need you to hold me. Then she looked into his soft, warm, brown eyes and said with a passion she had almost forgotten existed. “Kiss me Lance. Kiss me like you will never stop.
A Long Dark Night(Donald Harry Roberts)
A LONG DARK NIGHT
1
Jenny Loft cringed at the idea of dating. It was something teenagers did and she hadn’t been one of them for ten years. She was a sophisticated, educated woman with an inspired career as a psychologist. So why did she say yes to a man who was almost a complete stranger. Almost because they had actually met in real time a few weeks ago at the coffee shop they both frequented. At least she did and he said he was there often and wondered at how odd it was they had never run into each other before.
Professionally she would have advised a client to run like hell, but Lance Havlok had a charisma that turned her into a moth to the light. And there was something else. It was as though she recognized him, like someone would recognize a character from a novel described in every detail including the ruggedly handsome part. Jenny tried to remember the last time she had the time to read a novel. “Years.” she whispered. Most of her reading time was spent on keeping up with new ways to deal with new problems in a world inundated with idiosyncrasies and syndromes that seemed to find their way into otherwise normal people.
Jenny decided that part of her attraction to Lance was the fact that he seemed well adjusted despite his dressed down appearance. It amazed her that he used her own strategies for getting people to talk about themselves. She had rattled off her life story over coffee and muffins and had agreed to a dinner date the coming Friday and now it was Friday morning and she was having second…and…third thoughts.
She tried putting the whole thing out of her mind by going over notes about her first client of the day, a young man who was on the road to self destruction, according to his parents and did show signs of extreme stress but none that suggested he was any danger to himself. She had to ask herself the question. “If a person says he hates the way society treats people does that mean there is something wrong with them? The answer is “No.” except this particular young man thought about dangerous things that could be considered deadly.
Jenny realized as she took a sip of her coffee that she didn’t know anything about Lance Havlok, except that he enjoyed impromptu meetings in coffee shops and he worked for a living, at what was still a question. And Jenny realized he had crashed through her concentration and pushed the young client back on the secondary thought shelf.
Jenny checked the time. She had ten minutes to get to her office to be on time to meet the young man for his weekly session, a session that promised to be like every other one, narrowly productive. He was playing a game and she recognized it. He didn’t want help. He wanted to kill someone. So far she had kept him from doing it but one day, despite all her effort it could happen. Inwardly she sensed that day was not so far off. Their last session had ended badly and he left the office angrier than he had arrived.
2
Jenny set her coffee cup on the table and looked around the coffee shop sensing someone was watching her but she didn’t notice anyone paying her any particular attention. A shiver ran up and down her spine and the hair on her arms stood on end. She found herself standing at the cash counter staring at nothing. The cashier was talking to her. “Are you alright? Do you need me to call someone?”
“No. No. I am fine. I just got caught up in a thought.” Jenny answered then handed the cashier a ten dollars for a five dollar bill and hurried off.
Her office was across the street from the coffee shop. She hurried as much as she could but the lights at the intersection held her up. It kept her there long enough to wonder what building Lance Havlok worked in. It seemed logical that he would be there somewhere since he frequented the only coffee shop on that block, but why had she never seen him before.
Suddenly she was afraid that he had showed her the side of a man she wanted to see and he had ulterior motives. There had been five assaults by a marauder in the area over the past few weeks. Could that be his MO.?”
“Stop Dr. Jenny Loft. You are beginning to sound like one of your patients.” She ordered.
The walk sign flashed and Jenny raced across the intersection and on to the entrance of her building. Her office was on the third floor. If the elevator was with her she could be right on time for her first session of the day.
The elevator door opened just as she reached it. Someone pushed past her. It was her patient but she made no effort to acknowledge him nor did he seem to recognize her. There was a dark glint in his eyes and in that moment Jenny felt that same feeling she had in the coffee shop. It was Jerry Kilmney that had been watching her. But how could she know that?
The ride to the third floor was silent except for the whir of the elevator cables. It was an old building and the elevator had been in service as long as anyone could remember. Every time it broke down the tenants would ask, “When are they going to replace this relic?” They hadn’t yet and there was little chance it would happen any time soon.
The longer they were in the elevator the more the young man’s tension accelerated. He fidgeted with his fingers as though trying to tie them together. Jenny considered saying something but decided to wait until they were in a controlled situation.
It seemed the ride to the third floor was taking forever though the whole trip probably only lasted a minute or two. When it finally stopped and the doors opened Jerry Kilmney pushed Jenny aside and exited the elevator nearly running down the hall toward her office door.
Suddenly he stopped and turned to look at Jenny. “Dr. Loft.” I have done something terrible.”
3
Detective Sergeant Lance Havlok sat at his desk signing the last of his watch reports, it did not happen often but Midtown was quiet. When he had been given his promotion he was given a choice of assignments. Midtown Vice was his first choice. He wanted to put bad people in jail where they belonged but not all people out there were bad. Some of them just needed a push in the right direction to get them off the streets and back into the mainstream of life. Now after year rifling through the street scum he understood the truth. He was a dreamer and most of the people stuck in the shadowy underworld of the city did not want fixing, they just wanted a fix or drink or a john to pay for services rendered. Vice was a world that probably resembled hell more than any other department. And his watch, the night watch was the worst.
But it was all about to change. He was transferred without notice to homicide. When he showed up for his next watch he would have the same desk, same phone, same everything but now he would be investigating murders.
Still it was not all dark and demons and drudgery. Four days earlier when he visited Teddy’s Coffee Shop after his shift he stumbled upon a rare gem in the midst of the mayhem. He was surprised at himself because until that moment he had never really been attracted to red heads, with emerald, green eyes. But Jenny had taken one quick cursory glance at him and presto he was hooked. And then there was something else new. He had never been quite as forward as he was that morning, almost barging in on her as she sat there reading some book and sipping black coffee.
“What one liner would get you to talk to me?”
Jenny had looked at him straight in the eyes then with a faint smile answered. “Good morning. Would you mind if I sat here, might work.”
And that was the name of that tune. The next thing he knew he was asking Dr. Jenny Loft on a dinner date Friday night. He hadn’t seen any one since….he let that thought go.
Unfortunately Lance caught himself acting like a cop, asking questions and burrowing like a worm into her private life. It was surprising she was so open in a time when it was best to tell people as little about yourself as possible.
His land line phone rang. Lance answered and listened. “I don’t switch over until Monday. I am supposed to be off for the weekend.”
The response was unwelcomed. “Killers don’t give a hoot about the weekend or when your next shift is. There’s a corpse in a bucket over on 10th and it looks like murder.”
“Alright, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Lance groaned then stood and pulled on his denim jacket to cover up his service pistol. It was Friday morning and it was going to be a long hot day, maybe too long for stepping out on a dinner date.
4
Jenny Loft glanced at the clock on her private office wall. She had cancelled all her appointment for the morning after the confrontation in the hallway with Jerry Kilmney.
“What have you done?” she had asked him when he had told her he had done something terrible, but Jerry would not tell her. “I just need some of those pills to calm me down. I ran out.” He demanded.
“You should have enough for a month yet.” Jenny answered realizing too late it was the wrong thing to say.
“You are useless” Jerry yelled bringing several people to the hallway just as Jerry attacked her. Two men from the next office charged in to pull the crazed man off but he had pulled a knife. At least it gave Jenny a chance to get away from him.
“I have called the police. They will be here any minute.” A woman’s voice came frantically along the hallway. Before anyone could stop him Jerry was out the stair way exit door and gone.
“Jenny leaned against the wall while everyone crowded around her asking if she was all right. She wasn’t. She was shaking but somehow managed to tell them she was ok. Then she escaped and went and hid in her office.
Finally Jenny told her secretary to cancel all her sessions. She was going out to pay a house call on Jerry’s parents.
Five hours later Jenny sat at her kitchen table trying to decide whether she should cancel her dinner date with Lance but thought better of it thinking it might be just what she needed a distraction from the reality of her life and her job. Besides, why ruin something that might be good over a rough day at the office.
***
Lance Havlok glanced at his watch. It was just after six and he had spent the entire day piecing together bits and pieces of information about the body in the dumpster as the Crime scene investigators would give him. There was still time to get home and clean up for his date with Jenny. Something rushed through him that he had not felt in over a year. He decided it was high time to let that past go and at least for tonight forget that he was a homicide cop. All he wanted for a few hours was to be a beautiful woman’s date.
It had been a long time since Lance had gone out without his pistol tucked under his arm or to do anything that wasn’t police business. He had worked every overtime shift he could get, not for the money but because it was all he had left in his life. He felt a little uncomfortable decked out in a suite he had to dig out of the closet and brush off. Then he found himself wondering if he could actually pull this off, idle conversation without talking shop. What would a cop and a Psychologist talk about? Or maybe that would be a perfect common ground.
5
At first Jenny couldn’t remember where they were going to meet. Was he picking her up at home? No. She had been wise enough not to tell where she lived. Then she remembered. They were to meet at the coffee shop, which made very good sense. At seven pm.
She dressed nicely but didn’t over dress. It was good enough to get into any restaurant uptown or down or a pizza joint if that is the way things went. He didn’t look like the high class bistro type the other morning so she figured they’d end up in a mom and pop Italian place or a club that served burgers and fries. Either way it didn’t matter. It really wasn’t about the food. But if not what was it about…and…what did people actually do on dates. Her last one had ended up disastrously when she decided she didn’t like the guy enough to spend the night with him. “Oh woes of the college years.” She thought humourously.
Then there was the year of living seriously with wedding bells in future and maybe kids. Then it started to interfere with her career and that was not good. She backed out when Rodney had finally come up with the gumption to ask her the question and she said, “No.”
Jenny took the elevator down to the lobby. As she stepped off that horrible feeling was there again. Someone was watching her. Quickly she looked around half expecting to find Jerry Kilmney lurking in a corner or shadow somewhere, but the lobby was vacant. The guard was off on his rounds somewhere.
Jenny shrugged the feeling away and went out into the street. At that time of evening it was quiet except for the smoking crew that sat out on the patio of the coffee shop. Only a few cars rolled through the intersection or waited for the lights to change. In that moment it seemed all so surreal and picturesque, like a painting that would hold the moment forever and there in its centre stood Lance Havlok and like a school girl on her first date with the boy of her dreams butterflies flicked their wings in her stomach.
“Jenny Loft. You’re a fool.” She scolded herself then crossed the intersection on the walk light.
Jenny was not sure if she liked seeing Lance all polished up and wearing a suit. She realized as they drew nearer that the dressed down look had its appeal, but dressed up had another kind of appeal, the type that impressed the professional person inside her. “Geesh, this is a date. You don’t have to analyze it. Why do you do that?” “Just enjoy it.”
Then Lance smiled and for a second Jenny thought she would melt, right there on the street in front of the whole world. It happened just like her mother said it would when she was trying to explain to the young Jennifer what it was like to meet just the right man.
“And now you’re being a silly school girl. You better put on your adult face on or really embarrass yourself.”
6
There were many places to hide plain sight. Jerry Kilmney chose one in a place that he could watch the entrance to Dr., Jenny Loft’s office building, the intersection and the coffee shop. He had his camera ready to get the proof he needed to show Jenny she was an unfaithful harlot. How could she not know that he loved her with all his heart and that he knew, deep down in hers she loved him. All she needed was for him to show her they could and would be great together. Their Friday sessions were only a prelude to the special life they were destined to share.
He watched Jenny cross the intersection. Then he saw Lance and when their hands clasped together and Lance kissed Jenny lightly on the cheek a special kind of rage mounted to near volcanic levels in Jerry’s mind.
“I will kill you. I will kill you both.” He screamed silently then ran off into the morning with deadly thoughts carving a line of uncontrollable hatred across his mind.
***
At a glance Jenny could tell Lance was not in the least bit comfortable in his nicely tailored suit. She thought about saying something and decided that if a quick kiss on the cheek was ok maybe she could just casually reach up and loosen his tie, which she did, just a little nervously worrying that it might be just a little too familiar.
Lance made no move to stop her and when she handed him the tie he said, “Thanks. It’s not really me.”
“So who are really you?” Jenny asked. “I mean….”
The real me is comfortable in jeans and blue collar shirt and denim jacket. My work clothes.”
“And what kind of work do you do?” Jenny pushed on.
“I am a cop. Detective Sergeant Lance Havlok.” Lance replied cautiously.
Teasingly Jenny replied, “So do I call you Sergeant, Detective or maybe Sir.”
“Lance grinned replying with the same teasing essence, “Darling would be perfect.”
Jenny was delighted. What could be bad about a relationship that is based in friendly humour and a little teasing?
“Where shall we go for dinner?” Lance left the choice up to Jenny.
“How about somewhere you will be most comfortable like your favourite haunt.”
“But what about where you would be comfortable?” Lance countered.
Jenny seized the moment and the opportunity to let him know what she was feeling in that moment. “I am already comfortable thanks.”
“In that case let’s take a cab across town to a place called The Golden Shield. An old friend of mine owns the place.”
“Let me guess. It’s a classic place owned by a retired cop and frequented by cops.” Jenny was teasing again.
“Mostly cops, but there are some lawyers, a couple of PIs and a journalist or two.”
“Sounds like a weekly TV show.”
“Sometimes it seems that way and a lot of drama.” Lance described with a smirk on his face.
“And now there will be a Psychologist in residence.” Jenny replied and they both laughed.
7
Jenny sat at her desk Monday morning still analyzing the date with Lance. After spending the weekend trying to pick out a flaw in the fabric Friday evening she had failed. The entire experience felt like it was meant to be, they were meant to be. Lances friends accepted her into their little club of boys in blue without a hitch and it seemed Detective Sergeant Havlok was well respected but considered a little radical and a little left of compliance. It was beginning to feel perfect but what is perfection. Those first few hours together only showed the good stuff on both sides. None of the cracks in life’s armor had been allowed to show.
“Maybe next time, or, if not then the next, things might not be so perfect.” She whispered.
Lance had seen her home and at the door of her bungalow in suburbia he had asked for her phone numbers, told that it had been the most delightful evening he had had in years then kissed her gently on the cheek and told he hoped they could do it all again soon. Then he returned to the cab and waved as it pulled away. More perfection. He did not expect the evening to go any further than it had. She had been a little concerned about that moment because it seemed these days first dates often led straight to the couch…or someplace even more intimate.
The office door opened and Anna, Jenny’s secretary appeared in the frame looking pale and worried. Right behind her came Jerry Kilmney. There was darkness to his look that startled Jenny.
“Anna. Please leave the room now. It seems Mr. Kilmney would like to speak with me.” Jenny ordered, trying to keep her voice from quivering.
“Now Jerry. Have seat and tell me how I can help you.”
“I don’t need to sit and listen to your Psycho babble Jennifer. I need you to look at these pictures and tell me what the hell is going on.” Jerry replied angrily then threw a plain brown document envelope on Jenny’s desk and ran out of the office.
What is the worst kind of fear, the kind when you are in immediate danger and can see what is transpiring or the kind that comes with danger lurking just outside the door that you know is there but cannot see it?
Jenny removed the contents of the envelope and spread them out on her desk. There were photos of her leaving the office building, crossing the street and meeting Lance. The next set of prints were taken at her bungalow while she and Lance were saying goodnight.
“He knows where I live.” She whispered desperately, but the moment did not solidify until she read the note accompanying the pictures. “End this affair with your copper friend now or else.”
Somehow the bliss of perfection crumbled away like a breaking mirror… silently.
Jenny forced her mind to function logically. This would not be the first time a Psychologist was forced into dealing with misguided patients. But what could, what should she do. She was not just a Psychologist she was an MD as well and that came with an oath.
“I am sorry Lance. So sorry. I cannot see you again, not now.” Raced through Jenny’s mind, torturing her heart.
8
All he had to do is call. Of that he was certain, but the weekend had its own agenda and the homicide case he was working on escalated. There had been another murder with exactly the same mo as the first. Saturday was filled with scratching through the crime scene. Then Saturday night flashed by in fits of examining evidence from both murders, linking them together and catching twenty winks when his eyes refused to stay open any longer. Then Sunday, tracking down Friday night with Jenny Loft had been wonderful and it seemed there would be other nights. All potential witnesses which as was most usual produced little results of any use.
Monday morning was about the same then he put it all aside, just for a minute and called Jenny’s office. It was 2 o’clock. She should have been there, even if she was with a client, but the secretary said, “I am sorry Detective Havlok. Dr. Loft will not be available for quite some time. I think you can save your time and not call again.” The line went dead.
Anna stood in the doorway of Jenny’s office. “It was Detective Havlok calling Dr. Loft. I gave him your message but…”
“Thank you Anna.” Jenny cut her secretary short, barely able to contain her pain. When the door closed she broke down and wept uncontrollably.
It took nearly an hour but Jenny finally got control of her pain replacing it with anger and determination. She could not tell the world what was going on but she could not let a patient gain and keep that kind of control over her. She had to stop Jerry somehow but that could not be done from a distance or on the phone or even in a session. She had to reach him in his own distorted world of twisted realities.
Jenny picked up the land line and dialed. “Hello Mrs. Kilmney. This is doctor Loft. Is Jerry home? I must speak with him.”
“No Doctor. We have not seen our son in over a week. He has run off again and this time we have decided not to take him back again. The boy is evil. He tried to stab his father the night he ran off and I am afraid he has done something horrible that all the doctors in the world cannot help him out of. I am afraid we will no longer be in need your services which seem to have done no good what so ever anyway. We have called the police and turned the problem over to them.” Mrs. Kilmney described their situation then rang off abruptly.
“Where would you go?” Jenny asked the question out loud then picked up her brief case and exited the office. “Cancel my appointments Anna. I will be gone for the rest of the day.”
Anna waited until her employer was gone then picked up the phone and dialed. “May I speak to Detective Sergeant Havlok please? This is an urgent matter.”
She knew the call could get her fired but that would be better than reading Jenny Loft’s obituary after a crazed client murdered her.
9
Jenny crossed the street to the coffee shop. It seemed suddenly that it was the centre of everything going on in her life, good and bad. If Jerry was not there already, watching or at least watching for her, he would be there looking for her sooner or later. She felt like she could not go anywhere now without him seeing her. If she could not put an end to this insanity reasonably she would be forced to do whatever it took to stop Jerry. But everything in her being told her that the final resolve she was considering was wrong. Jenny wished it would all go away and life could back the way it was just ten days ago. Simple, straight forward and…. “And what?”
There were only five people in the coffee shop, none of whom Jenny recognized. She had rarely frequented the place so late. She went to the counter and ordered a coffee and raisin bran muffin out of habit. Then she went and sat at her usual table by the window and waited for her tray to be delivered. She wondered why all coffee shops didn’t deliver, but then if they all did this one would lose its uniqueness.
Then jenny wondered why people thought about trivial things when the important parts of life seemed overwhelming. Maybe it was a psychological failsafe. It would be something she could research and write a paper on.
When her tray arrived she said, “Thank you.” Without looking up but when the server did not leave she looked and for a second panic raced through her. “Lance.”
Sergeant Havlok sat down across the table from Jenny. His smile was hard and his voice verged on angry but he kept his feelings and purpose professional.
“I do not think you know how dangerous this Jerry Kilmney is.” Lance said smoothly, maybe a little too smoothly.
“I cannot talk about him but obviously someone has told you what is going on. I will have to talk to my secretary.”
“Your secretary told me very little. Actually she started our conversation with, “I cannot give you any information Detective. All I can tell you is Dr. Loft is in grave and deadly danger from Jerry Kilmney. She has gone off by herself to face it and deal with it.” I guessed you would be here.”
“Anna should not have given out his name.” Jenny replied coldly.
“Maybe but if she had not and he killed you she would have your death on her conscience the rest of her life.”
“He is probably watching us now.” Jenny warned, glancing around the room anxiously.
“Maybe that is a good thing.” Lance replied. He did not tell her he was a person of interest in a murder investigation. It would have served no purpose.
“Why would that be a good thing? Jenny asked.
“If he comes out in the open I can deal with him.”
“My knight in shining armour.” Jenny found her sense of humour for a second.
“Things like that still happen and I still believe in beautiful princesses.” Lance parried.
10
“Come on. I will Take you home Jenny. The Police can handle Kilmney. I will call it in and every cop in the city will be on the lookout for him.”
Jenny looked Lance straight in the eyes and said. “I can be intuitive sometimes. What are you not telling me? Has Jerry?” She stopped suddenly. “He told me last Friday that he had done something terrible but he did not say what.”
“He is a suspect in a murder investigation.” Lance had to admit. “So you see if he threatens to kill someone it’s a good idea to believe he will do it.”
“He threatened to kill both of us if I did not stay away from you.”
“In that case I can’t take you home and leave you there alone. I will have to take you someplace safe, like the police station. No arguments.”
“No I cannot let you risk your life alone. Besides I doubt he will show himself without me around.” Jenny argued. “Let him come after me. Let him think I am alone. I know he will come. Take me home. He knows where I live and I am sure he will come for me there.”
“I don’t like it.” Lance replied.
“I don’t like it either but it has to be done and I would like to help him if I can. He really is tortured in his mind.”
“Ok Jen. I will take you home but I won’t leave you alone. I will be back to watch over you.”
***
Jenny had always felt safe in her quiet little suburban bungalow and she probably would again, but at that moment, sitting alone in her living room with a crazed client who may be a killer too, stalking her a darkness she had never know hung in her mind. It helped a little that someone who had crept unsuspected into her heart was watching out for her but it also meant he was putting himself in harm’s way. Just because he is a cop didn’t exempt him from being hurt or worse.
The first sound could have been anything, but there was no doubt what the second and third were. Someone was at the back door and it had totally slipped Jen’s mind to make sure it was locked. She hardly ever locked, always afraid of locking herself out.
Then a breeze swept through the house and Jenny was on her feet grasping the table lamp in her shaking hands. But it was of little use. The intruder came in fast and hard and even though he was wearing a mask there was no question as to who it was.
“Jerry. You don’t have to do this.” Jen urged as calmly as she could but that did no good what so ever. The intruder was on her, over-powering her even though she struggled wildly and then she smelled the ether.
11
Lance Havlok circled around the block and down to the next then parked his car in the shadows between street lamps. The quietness of the suburban street felt foreign to him and the stillness settled into his thoughts like a down pillow. “This is too quiet and too exposed.” He decided. “Places like this are magnets for thieves.”
The Detective locked his unmarked cruiser and started back for Jenny’s bungalow as fast has he could. He didn’t know as he ran along the shadowy street that he wasn’t going to be fast enough until he got to the corner and saw Jen being shoved into the trunk of a car.
Knowing he would never get to the car in time to save Jenny he started back to his own, running faster than he had run before. His mind raced. He had been in situations like this before but this time something was different. It was more than life or death.
Just as he reached his cruiser the perps car sped by. Lance was in his car and screeching into the traffic lane in seconds. He could still see the car’s tail lights. He didn’t risk lights and sirens. That would only force the kidnapper to run faster and in doing so risk an accident and Jenny’s life.
His quarry made three decisive turns, ignoring red lights and screeching around corners. The turns warned Detective Havlok that they were racing into a derelict part of the city where most of the buildings were abandoned and condemned and were designated for demolition.
***
The air was stifling and she was being tossed like a rag doll in the trunk of the car. She could feel cuts being sliced into her skin from sharp things and bruises forming on her arms and legs and a least two on her forehead.
“Jenny Loft, you are a foolish girl. You should have seen this coming.” She scolded herself like a little girl. “All the signs were there and now you are going to die and not even Lance Havlok is going to be able to save you. How is he going to feel when you are found….dead?”
The car swerved so abruptly and severely Jenny’s body was crushed against the wheel well and it knocked the wind from her lungs. She lay there curled up in the fetal position, gasping for air. Nausea crept into belly and she was feeling dizzy.
Then it got worse. She noticed the smell of exhaust fumes and realized the car had come to a sudden stop. If she was left in the trunk with the engine running she would die very soon and all the struggling would do her no good what so ever. Then the engine whirred into silence and seconds later the trunk lid opened and the hooded man reached in to drag her out.
This was her only chance to escape. Somehow she had twisted her wrist ties free. She lashed out like a frightened mountain cat gouging at her kidnappers eyes, which sent him reeling back, screaming in pain. There was just enough time to untie her ankles and flee. Though her legs were nearly numb she managed to stumble into a building that had all the ear marks of abandonment and she realized where she was.
12
The only light in the building came from the full moon which was shining through the lobby window frames. It was not the best but it was enough for Jenny to pick out the stairs and run for them. She had made the second floor landing when the tortured voice of Jerry Kilmney rose from the silvery shadows before. But just at that moment another voice reached through the windows on a moon beam.
“Jenny. Jenny. Hold on. I am coming.” Lance Havlok cried out assuringly.
“Damn you cop.” Jerry screamed maniacally and turned, charging at Lance like a mad bull. Lance hit the door frame and dropped unconscious to the threshold. Jerry added a boot to the ribs to make sure the cop wouldn’t be on his feet too soon, but…
Jenny had continued up the stairs until there were no more to climb and the door opening on to the roof was intact and locked.
There was no place left to run. She was seven flights up a decrepit abandoned apartment building with Jerry Kilmney creeping up behind her cursing her every step of the way, blaming her for everything that had gone wrong in his life.
“I thought it was you and me. I thought you cared. You said you cared and that you would look after me.” He cried. “But I saw you with that man. The cop. He will never love you like could have if you would have just given me a chance. But no. You wouldn’t do that. And you told him what I did. He has been hunting me down like a rabid beast. Now I must kill you, both of you.
“Jerry. Back off. The doctor hasn’t done anything to hurt you. It is all in your mind.” Lances deep voice rose calmly from below. “Just turn around and come back down.”
“Stay back.” Jerry shouted wildly.
“Please Jerry. It doesn’t have to be this way.” Jenny cried. “We can fix it…together.” “Too late Dr. Loft. It’s too broken.” Jerry answered with a hate in his voice that Jenny had never heard before.
Jerry charged at Jenny and wrapped his thick, strong fingers around her throat. Jenny nearly succumbed but in the last second as she began to fade from consciousness something primal stirred in her heart and she found the courage and strength to push back jamming the heels of her hands into Jerry’s chest then pushing harder still with adrenalin strength.
Lance appeared at the top of the stairs. His arms opened and Jenny let him hold her. In that moment she knew that her heart had been taken and there was a deep, unbreakable love, like fine wine nurturing in that embrace.
There was no point in looking. Jenny knew Jerry was dead and she may never be able to forgive herself. Even as Lance held her close in his arms she felt as though she had betrayed everything she had worked for, everything she had believed in and worst of all she had broken her oath as a medical doctor, that Hippocratic Oath every doctor takes.
“It’s Ok Jen. He was going to kill you. You had no choice. All you did is defend yourself by pushing him away. It was just bad or good luck he went over the rail. No one will ever blame you.” Lance assured her and kissed her gently on the fore head. She looked up with that realization this was the man she loved and would love forever.
“Hold me Lance. I need you to hold me. Then she looked into his soft, warm, brown eyes and said with a passion she had almost forgotten existed. “Kiss me Lance. Kiss me like you will never stop.
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