Darkness Follows (3 page)

As
the Patrick sisters approached David’s booth, Aurina felt her hands shaking.
She wasn’t sure if she was expecting to see a monster’s face; if she did, she
would not be able to treat him as she always had. They rounded the shielded
privacy barrier, and she saw David looking up at her, his neck stretched
awkwardly to see her until she and Ryanne sat down. He quickly picked up the
phone and pressed it to his ear.

As
Aurina picked up her phone, she saw her reflection in the glass. The slightest
bit of disgust, and what might be fear. She wiped her mouth, and tried to match
David’s smile with her own.

“Aurina,
I knew you’d come. I’m so sorry about all of this.” He told her, and she saw
tears forming in his eyes. She noticed his right eye was bruised, with a few
small scratches around it, and he noticed her studying this face.

“David,
what’s going on?” She found herself speaking, as if in a play, her scripted
words echoing in the large but narrow room.

“Aurina,
I didn’t kill anyone. No matter what they tell you, I swear. You believe me,
right Rina?” She cringed slightly when he called her by the nickname only he
and her family used. It didn’t sound right anymore. Apart from a split lip, and
the bruise around his eye, he was the same David who brought Chinese food over
to her apartment every Thursday night.
The same David who
brought her Rocky Road, (her favourite ice cream), in her own individual tub.
But now, he was the David who was accused of killing three women, and the
stillness on the line between them was eerie. His dark green eyes stared into
hers, and she was at a loss for words until Ryanne nudged her arm.

“David,
I believe you, but they say you were there…when these...crimes occurred. They
can prove it.” She hunched over in a whisper, "What happened?"

David
said nothing. His eyes were cold, and Aurina felt he was staring right through
her. Her mind went to another place too. Flashes of David leaning over dead
bodies whose eyes were as vacant as his. She closed her eyes tightly and opened
them again, repeating his name, and he jumped slightly in his seat.

“I
had to see you Rina. I'm so glad they let me see you.” David put his free hand
up to the glass, and Aurina lifted her hand, heavy, as if it was filled with
sand, up to the glass to meet his. She could only hold it for a moment though,
and then she let it fall, looking away. She tried to speak, but her throat felt
phlegmy and tight. “I never meant to hurt you like this; I would never want to
see you hurt.” And then Aurina saw it, his eyes flashing between the sisters,
for the first time acknowledging Ryanne in the room. Ryanne quickly looked away
toward the door, and David’s focus was back on Aurina.

“Listen
David, I don’t have much time in here alright?" She paused as she realized
his eyes became vacant again. As he slipped into the trance, Aurina wondered if
her eyes were playing tricks on her, or if his actually grew dark. “I’ll be
here for you though.” She struggled as she lied and brought David back into the
moment as he lowered his head, seemingly staring at his shoes. There for him
like she was last month when he was sick, and she brought chicken noodle soup
to his apartment. Like when he took her out to dinner to celebrate her
placement at Johnson and Stewart.

“I
don’t want you seeing me like this.” He began rubbing his temples, and
muttering to himself.

“I
want to…” Aurina wasn’t sure David was listening any longer; she had never seen
him so distant. He was in his trance and then back again. When David looked up
tears were flowing from his eyes and his chest began to heave. His rattling
breath scared Aurina, and she held the phone further from her ear. “I want to
be there for you. I need to understand.”

“You
have to be careful alright?” David blurted out. He jumped from his seat
slightly as if someone had said ‘Boo’ right behind him and then settled his
gaze on Ryanne.“Ryanne, you need to take care of your sister now.” At the
mention of her name Ryanne looked at David for the first time, and appeared to
study him. “You both need to take care of each other.” He whispered through the
phone, and more tears began to fall as he lost control of his voice. His hand
that held the phone was trembling, and Aurina noticed Ryanne and David looking
at each other. She wondered if her sister could hear him at all through the
glass.

“It’s
not…” his shoulders began to shake uncontrollably, and his wheezing seemed to
startle Ryanne.

“It’s
not what? David?” Aurina asked. She leaned into the booth and held the phone to
her ear again.

“It’s
not safe for you anymore.” Aurina felt her heart skip a beat and Ryanne looked
up at her, with wide eyes questioning.

“It’s
not safe for
who
?
Ryanne?”
Aurina asked. She felt off script now, the words
real,
and raw as they left her mouth. David looked at Ryanne for the last time, his
crying had stopped and his face became pale and expressionless. Ryanne looked
away first, back toward the guard at the door, who seemed to pay them no mind.

“Please
don’t come here anymore.” David pleaded to Aurina, “Do you hear what I’m
telling you? It’s not safe.” And he nodded to himself.

“David,
I’m afraid. Please, what are you not telling me?” Aurina shuddered visibly, and
David let his head hang back, and was pulled forward again by the phone cord
when it would not reach. David’s eyes glazed over again into his trance and he
whispered, “It’s not over, it will never be over. Please don’t go back home.”

“David?”
Aurina found she was whispering too, and that she believed him. His breathing
grew steady, and low. Aurina couldn’t hear anything. “David?”

“Who
knows what he’ll do now that I’m not there?” David whispered again, his eyes
growing wide at whatever image he alone could see.

“Who, David?”
Aurina leaned
into the glass until her nose was almost touching it and her eyes were level
with his. He turned to her with tears in his eyes all over again, and his head
slightly tilted to the right.

“Jeremy.”
He mouthed the name to her without speaking it, but she caught it clearly.
Jeremy was the man who got David his job in the mail room in the building
across the street from Johnson and Stewart. She remembered David saying he was
an old friend, but as far as she knew, he had never gotten together with Jeremy
outside of work as long as she had known him, and David had never tried to
introduce her. She had never met him, and couldn’t even remember his last name.
To her knowledge, David only knew one Jeremy.

“Where
is he David?” She asked him, more calculated now.

“I
wish I knew,” he whispered, “because then I wouldn’t have to worry anymore.”

There
was a still silence between them as David sunk deeper into his trance. Aurina
waited for him to come back again, to get more information, more answers. They
seemed to wait an eternity, and finally Aurina felt Ryanne’s hand on her arm.
When she looked at her sister she was motioning her head towards the door.

“Time to go.”
The guard on
David’s side came behind him, and put his handcuffs back on. He picked him up
by the arm and led him away from the booth to the door. David went quietly,
never looking back.

“Who
is Jeremy?” Ryanne asked.

“I
think he’s a guy from David’s work.”

“Have
you ever met him?”

“No.”
Aurina stood and Ryanne followed. Stunned and confused, the girls walked back
to the door they entered through.

“I
want to see Jones.” Aurina told the guard, and he opened the door for them.

As
they rushed back toward the other side of the building, Ryanne was quiet.
Aurina marched onward, but Ryanne was still in shock. David seemed to be
telling the truth, the part that he
did
tell them, and putting the pieces together was simple. David had an accomplice,
or was an accomplice in the murders, and that man was still free. Ryanne
wondered if Aurina could be relieved, that it was possible David hadn't killed
the girls, but his involvement was real now. Ryanne actually believed David
when he said he hadn’t killed anyone, and she wondered if that made her naive
or perceptive.

When
they got back to the interrogation room, where Daniels was waiting outside the
door, he told them to follow him into his office. They passed cubicles in a
large, well-lit room, and Ryanne’s eyes took time adjusting to the
fluorescents. They slowed their pace before reaching the corner office.

Ryanne
noticed Daniels’ office door was already open. He stopped Aurina from speaking
before he could close the door behind them. His desk was littered with several
folders, files and coffee cups. The pungent smell of old coffee and cigarette
smoke filled Ryanne’s nostrils and she almost gagged; she tried to take shallow
breaths. While they were in the small interrogation room, she had felt almost
smothered by the smokey smell.

"Jones
will be in momentarily." Daniels told them, and eagerly searched through
one stack of folders without paying them much attention. It was the fastest
Ryanne had seen him move since they met.

"He
is telling the truth." Aurina told them, as she paced the room waiting.
"He didn't kill those girls." she told Ryanne.

"I
don't think he did either." Ryanne agreed.

Jones
rushed into the room quickly, and ushered the sisters to take a seat. Ryanne
slid into the chair closest to the door, and Aurina shuffled behind her to the
chair beside it.

"I
think he is telling the truth Inspector Jones, I really do."Aurina told
him before she sat down. “He seemed scared.”

"We
have to take this threat seriously." Jones stood leaning over Daniels’
desk toward the girls, as Daniels eyed him.

"Do
you
believe him?" Aurina asked.

"I
think it's the truth, but I can’t say conclusively. It's been my hunch all
along that David was involved, but that he did not kill those girls. He touched
them though. Maybe not sexually, but that's how we found his DNA on the last
victim." Jones was staring at Ryanne again, shifting his weight from one
foot to the other as he spoke. “David is trying to warn you and it would be
irresponsible if we didn’t take this threat seriously.”

Ryanne
felt Jones had been paying her too much attention from the beginning. He was
around her age, but she knew he wasn’t checking her out. He was curious. He
seemed to want her to go with Aurina to visit David, while Daniels did not, and
she needed to know why.

"You
wanted me in that room." Ryanne said.

Jones
looked her over and turned his attention back to Aurina, but when Daniels
quickly looked up from his files at Jones, she knew she was right.

"You
wanted my sister to be involved?" Aurina asked looking between Jones and
Ryanne.

“Listen,
I knew we had to get his attention, and I doubted it was a coincidence that his
victims were found around her campus." Jones told them looking at Ryanne,
"I played a hunch, that's all."

Ryanne
sympathized with Aurina for what David was involved with, and while she
couldn’t imagine being in her sister’s shoes, she realized now it had bothered
her from the beginning that the murders were near her university. They had
spanned over three years’ time, and it had begun before David had met Aurina.
Ryanne had chalked it up to coincidence but now Jones had confirmed what she
had subconsciously been wondering.

Daniels
had pulled something up on his computer, and Jones looked at it briefly before
swearing under his breath.

"Alright,
we were waiting on the Chief’s go ahead," Jones explained, “now we need to
act on this possible threat." Ryanne looked at her sister, and then tried
to read the e-mail, but Daniels closed the window on the computer too fast.

"What
do you mean? What do we do next?" Aurina asked. “Do you really think it’s
possible that Jeremy might be after us?”

“David
seems to be worried for you both,” Daniels shrugged, “he’s a lying shit though,
so who can really fully believe him?” Ryanne looked to Aurina quickly,
wondering if she would try to defend David, but Aurina was looking to Jones.

"We
need to move you both to a safer location until we can find Jeremy. Ms.
Patrick, were you aware Jeremy Evans worked with David at Trover Insurance?"
Jones asked.

"Yes,
Jeremy got David the job there. David said he was a friend, but I don't know
where from. I think they had lunch together sometimes when he didn't come to visit
me, but that's it. He hardly ever mentioned him. I’ve never met him. I tried to
ask him in the room, where he was…"

"We
know. We were listening." Daniels grunted and then took a sip from the
coffee cup that sat directly in front of him on his desk. As he drank greedily,
drippings of the coffee slid down his chin, which he wiped with his hand.

"And
we appreciate your efforts,” Jones added, scowling at Daniels, “but the fact of
the matter is, we got his address, and he isn't home."

“You
went to his address already? Wait, how did you even know who he was?”Aurina
asked.

“His
number was in David’s cell phone, just as yours was. That’s how we made the
connection.” Jones explained, and nudged Daniels, who then checked his e-mail
again and shook his head.

"Wait,
what do you mean?" Ryanne piped up. She heard Jones say he wanted to move
them, and she was worried he meant something more drastic than to their parents
where she was already living. "Where are you taking us?"

"We
can't disclose that at this time, but we just got consent to put you into the
Witness Protection Program until we can find Jeremy Evans, or be positive he is
not a threat to either of you." Jones was looking at her again. “It would
need to happen now.”

"So
he’s not at home, and you don't know where he is?" Aurina asked.

"Right.
He probably
fled or hid when David was brought in."

Jones
walked around the front of the desk, but before he got to the other side Ryanne
stood up and blocked his way. "I want to know where you want to take us,
and for how long. Are we in danger? Are our parents?" Ryanne realized she
was talking with her hands, and lowered them.

"We
wouldn't be going to this extent if we didn't feel it was in your best
interests." Officer Burrows had entered the room quietly, and handed a
file to Daniels before stepping backward towards the door and hung her hands in
her belt.

"You
really think Jeremy would come after us?" Aurina asked, and lowered her
voice, "After Ryanne?
Our family?
He doesn’t even
know us."

“Can’t take any chances."
Daniels told them,
and leaned back in his chair, watching them all. “It would be irresponsible of
us to let you go home to a place that you could easily be found.” As he leaned
back Ryanne wondered if the button on his sports jacket was about to pop off
with a boing and attack one of them.

"Aurina,
please, you don't actually think our lives are in danger?" Ryanne asked
looking down at her sister who was wide eyed as a baby deer.

"I
don't want to risk it, do you?" Aurina whispered again. “I think Jeremy
killed those girls Rye. If he and David were in this together, Jeremy may know
more about us than we think.”

"
The
Witness Protection
Program?"
Ryanne couldn’t believe this was actually an option.

"Yes.
Any more questions?"
Daniels raised his voice, and
even Jones seemed to flinch.

"When
do we leave?" Aurina asked, and Jones looked at Ryanne again, waiting for
her protests. When she kept quiet, he smiled lightly.

"Burrows
will escort you to an unmarked car downstairs. You leave right now, and you don't
tell anyone. We will tell the necessary people, such as your parents, but you
will no longer be in contact with anyone." Jones continued, not allowing
Ryanne to speak, "It's just until we find Jeremy, and question David some
more. Burrows and I will accompany you both to your safe house that is being
set up as we speak, and I'll answer any further questions in the car."

"We
can't pack anything?" Aurina asked.

"It’s
too dangerous to go back to your homes, especially to your parents place or
your apartment. David has been there, and if he knows where you live, so could
Jeremy. Your parents will be safe. They haven't been involved yet, but we will
make sure they are protected." Daniels told them as he opened another
e-mail and the printer began to clack as the paper was fed through.
“Got it.”
He told Jones and Burrows.

"We
can't say good bye to them?" Ryanne asked softly, and no one bothered to
respond.

“Couldn’t
we just receive police protection here?” Aurina asked meekly. Ryanne looked to
her sister, nodding.

“We
have it all set up now.” Daniels passed the papers from the printer to Jones.

“David
Matthews confessed to being a part of the murders. He confirmed that he was
working with someone, and told us who it was because he is afraid for your
lives. You don’t risk going to jail for life over something that should be
overlooked or ignored. Do you get it?” Jones asked looking between the girls.
“It is important to keep you both safe.
Any more arguments?”

Ryanne’s
mind wandered to the worst case scenario. She thought about returning home with
Aurina to find Jeremy there waiting for them. She thought about the possibility
that this Jeremy guy hadn’t been involved at all, and that David might be lying
through his teeth to save himself. She decided the smartest thing to do would
be to go along with the program set out for them. She knew it would only be a
matter of time before they found Jeremy, and then they could go home again. A
safe house couldn’t be that bad for a little while. Their lives wouldn’t exactly
go back to normal after this, Ryanne thought, but at least they would
have
their lives.

She
wondered what their parents would say when they found out what was going on.
She wondered if any of this was in the news yet as she thought back to her
friends from school talking about the serial killer on campus. About how he was
strangling the girls, and that’s how he had gotten his nickname “The Campus
Strangler.” She remembered feeling so far removed from the situation, and
realized she couldn’t be closer to it all at the moment.

“Our
parents will be safe?” She asked.

“Someone
will be checking in on them often.” Jones said. “They will be moved if need
be.”

“Alright.”
Ryanne said,
and sat down beside Aurina again.

“It’s
just for a while.” Aurina told her, but Ryanne didn’t look at her sister. She
fixed her eyes on Jones, and thought she saw some of the excitement in his eyes
come back from when he first entered the office after their talk with David. A
young guy, probably the youngest inspector in the department, and he was
finally getting a big break in a major case.

Ryanne
knew that she needed the answers Jones was after as badly as he did.