Hillary_Flesh and Blood (47 page)

Likewise, Laura could hear Hillary
’
s footsteps growing louder and closer. Tears that escaped her eyes defied gravity and were pushed back to her ears because of
her
force and accel
eration. She could see the lot now. It was just up ahead. S
he could see her car....

Hillary could see Laura. She was about four yards ahead of her. She could
get her. She could catch her
.

Laura could hear Hillary behind her. She sounded so close. She expected Hillary to pounce on her at any second. She would stick tha
t big knife right into her back and that would be the end of her.

Laura was right. As she stepped onto the pavement of the lot, Hillary was just a couple yards away and advancing fast. She held the long carving knife out, just waiting for the chance to plunge it deep into Laura
’s flesh
.

Laura was on the verge of hyperventilating from the fear. She could see her car, her pretty little red Mazda. It never looked so inviting. She was glad that she always left it unlocked. She would jump in it
then
lock the doors and fish for her keys once she was safely inside.

There was just a few yards left and she would be
—

“
Aaa
aaaaaa
hhhh!
”
Laura screamed as Hillary swiped at her with the knife. She was less than a yard behind her.

She
’
s gonna get me,
Laura panicked,
she’s gonna kill me....

Laura was in front of her car
—
the only vehicle in the lot. She just had to make it around to the door and let herself in.
As h
er foot hit the pavement going forward, her head was pulled back as Hillary grabbed on to her ponytail and yanked it fierc
e
ly. Laura stumbled back, trying desperat
e
ly to break free from Hillary
’
s grasp. She quickly maintained her balance and jerked her head back as Hillary swung the knife at her and missed. The rubber band from her hair fell to the floor as clumps of her hair ripped painfully from the roots and remained within
H
illary
’
s closed fist. As Hillary shook the hair from her hand, Laura kicked her violently in the stomach, sending her falling to the ground and nearly stabbing herself with the knife.

Hillary cursed out loud as she abruptly stood up started to run toward Laura
, only to
f
a
ll to the pavement beside the car. She heard Laura
’
s car start as a fierce cramp assaulted her
abdomen
. She didn
’
t know whether it was from the miscarriage
, all of the running she had done,
or Laura
’
s powerful kick, but it didn
’
t much matter. The end result remained the same. Laura had gotten away.

~18~

Laura sped straight to the police department. She was still trembling hard and barely able to talk when she burst into the station. Officer Adam Mack stood and quickly strode over to meet her. The dispatcher at the window, Bethany Daniels, pushed her paperwork aside and followed Adam to Laura. She knew the girl.
She used to babysit her.

“
What
’
s the matt
—”

Laura collapsed into Adam
’
s arms and sobbed heavily. Despite his urging, she couldn
’
t speak. She was too upset. She was still terrified. She was shaking like a leaf.

“
Give her a minute,
”
Bethany said softly as she stroked Laura
’
s sweaty, disheve
le
d hair.

Bethany walked over to the nearby water cooler and filled a small paper cup full of water.
From what Bethany could tell
Laura looked like she had been running. She was still panting heavily. She brought the cup to Laura and handed it to her. Laura
’
s teary eyes thanked her as she quickly drank the water. The empty cup remained in her trembling hand as she tried to gather her thoughts.

Adam looked at Bethany with admiration and affection. How did she always know the best thing to do? For months he had been trying to work up the nerves to ask her out.

“
Hillary,
”
Laura blurted out, breaking Adam
’
s train of thought. She broke down and started sobbing again.

“
It
’
s okay, honey,
”
Bethany comforted her,
“take your time…
you
’re okay, you’re
safe now.
”

A moment later, Laura sighed heavily and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

“
Hillary Greyson,
”
she said, regaining her composure,
“
she tried to kill me in the woods.
”

Adam and Bethany exchanged glances. They both knew that their colleague, Officer Thomas Cafaro, who was working on the Montgomery investigation
,
had found smaller shoe imprints in blood. The distraught Robert Montgomery was still being held in custody pending DNA results from blood found on the shed door. Chief Carragher was certain that Mr. Montgomery was the perpetrator. Thomas didn
’
t agree.
It was apparent that he didn’t leave those imprints behind. Thomas
suspected that a teen
-
aged boy was involved, possibly Jacqueline
’
s boyfriend. He was currently in the process of accessing her cell phone record
s
since her cell phone cou
l
d not be located.

“
Tell us from the beginning,
”
Bethany said,
“
what happened?
”

“
My friend Jax called me last night and
—”

“
Jax? Is her name Jacqueline?
”
Adam interrupted.

Laura nodded.

“
Jacqueline Montgomery?
”
Bethany clarified.

Laura nodded again. Adam and Bethany shared another glance as if telepathically communicating with one another.

“
Go on,
”
Adam prodded softly.

“
Jax...Jacqueline...she asked me to meet her in the woods today. She said that she found a lot
of
money that she wanted to share with me. We were going to go shopping, you know, hit the mall.
”

“
So what happened?
”
Bethan
y asked. She already knew that
Jacqueline didn
’
t show up...she was in the morgue.

“
When I got there, Jax wasn
’
t around. But there was a backpack on the picnic table. I reached for it a
nd the next thing I know, I hear
someone running toward me. I thought it was Jax being stupid
, playing around
. But...but....
”

“
Keep going, you
’
re doing fine,
”
Bethany said, taking Laura
’
s trembling hand in hers.

Laura was breathing heavily. Adam and Bethany could see that she was reliving her nightmare again.

“
It was Hillary,
”
she panted, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“
She jumped on me and put this wet cloth on my face. I got a whiff of some chemical smell and held my breath. We fell to the ground together and I pretended to pass out. I saw Hillary pulling knives from her backpack. I knew she was going to
kill me. W
e, we never got along. I ran...I just ran as fast as I could. But...
”

Laura paused and sniffled. Adam got up to get her a tissue and returned with the box. She pulled one out and blew her nose loudly. Without further prompting, she continued.

“
She caught up to me,
”
she said nervously,
“
she tried to
stab me with this huge knife. S
he almost got
me. She pulled my hair out. S
he almost killed me....
”

Laura
’s voice crack
ed at the end as she thought about how close she had come to dying.

“
How
’
d you get away?
”
Bethany asked.

“
I kicked her in t
he stomach as hard as I could. I was just so scared. S
he fell and I ran to my car. I drove out of there as fast as I could and came straight here.
”

“
That was very brave of you,
”
Adam said,
“Y
ou did the right thing.
”

“
Laura,
”
Bethany said,
“
This girl, Hillary, does she go to your school?
”

Laura nodded.

“
She
’
s crazy, Beth,
really
crazy.
”

“
Do you know where she lives?
”
Adam asked.

Laura shook her head. She wasn
’
t sure where Hillary lived. She was older than Hillary and never paid much attention
to her
. She had only recently learned about her mental breakdown from Maddie, then Jax.

“
Call it in, Bethany,
”
Adam said,
“
call Tom and tell him to check out the area. Tell him what happened. I
’
ll drive....
”

He looked over at Laura, not recalling the name Bethany had called her just moments ago.

“
Laura,
”
she said,
“
Laura
Demps
ey.
”

Adam nodded.

“
I
’
ll drive Laura home then head up to the woods.
”

As Bethany contacted Thomas Cafaro, Adam led Laura to his police vehicle and opened the door for her. On the way to her house, he got more specific details about Hillary
’
s reputation and the exact location in the woods where she had tried to kill Laura. After dropping her off, he spoke with Mrs.
Demps
ey for a while, assuring her that Laura was safe and sound and didn
’
t seem to require medical attention. Then he drove to the lot in the woods where Laura had just escaped from. As he exited his car, Tom Cafaro pulled into the par
a
llel spot on his right.

After shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries, Adam filled him in on everything Laura had informed him. Tom, in turn, told
Adam all of the latest develop
ments, including the findings from the coroner
’
s report.

Adam shook his head in di
s
gust as he heard about details of the stabbing
and slashing
and how the
one particular baby
had been
abused.

“
Are you saying you think a girl did this? A teen-aged girl?
”
Tom asked skeptically.

“According to Laura Dempsey,
a girl named Hillary Greyson.
”

“
Maybe she
’
s working with someone.
”

Tom could not fathom that a young girl could be capable of such horrors. When they reached the old, splintered picnic table, it was quiet. They searched the ground an
d
surrounding area
s
. All that they found was the washcloth that Hillary had left
behind
. Tom carefully bagged it as evidence. There was no sign of Hillary.

Hillary was fuming. There was no way she was going to jail because of that bitch Laura. After she had recovered from the debilitating cramp, she w
alked back to the picnic table and
grabbed her knapsack and the bottle of chloroform she h
ad left by the trees. She half-walked half-
jogged back to her house as quickly as possible. She knew Laura would snitch on her. It was just a matter of time before the cops would be knocking on her door. They were in for a shock.

Hillary ran up to the bathroom to change the bloody pad in her underwear. She grabbed some more sanitary napkins and threw them into her bag. She made a quick stop to her room and grabbed a light jacket and two tee shirts. She then ran down to the kitchen. On her way down the stairs, Kathy called to her. She mumbled some garbled thing about Caleigh and began to laugh. Hillary stared at her in disgust. Her face was reddened and blotchy from permanent tissue damage. She was a mess.

Yep,
Hillary thought,
she lost it.

In the kitchen, Hillary grabbed a plastic grocery store shopping bag and filled it with a jar of peanut butter, some crackers, a small box of cereal and as many water bottles as she could carry.
She had been indecisive about
whether to hide out in the woods or drive her mother
’
s car somewhere. She finally opted to hide out in the woods. She wasn
’
t an experienced
driver and didn
’
t know where she would go anywa
y. She knew the woods, though, like a
second home. She knew some great hiding spots where she was sure no one would find her. It was the best choice.

Within fifteen minutes, Hillary was out the door, struggling to carry her overstuffed knapsack and the heavy shopping bag. She walked past the first trail, past the foul-smelling clearing
and alcove
full of scavenging predators, past the second and third trails and continued to a fourth, narrower footpath hidden by overgrown foliage and brush. She had been hiking for what seemed like hours when she heard the echo of male voices from a distant location. Hillary knew they were looking for her. She would never be able to go home again.

Her pocket
—
or rather, the cell phone within it
—
began to vibrate. She pulled it out and stared at the unfamiliar number.

The cops,
she thought, and she was right. She placed the phone back in her pocket and stayed hidden.

It was one of them, at least, though he didn
’
t know for sure who he was calling. Thomas Cafaro had received a list of all the recent incoming and outgoing calls from Jacqueline
’
s cell phone. He was in the process of identifying the phone numbers. When Hillary ignored the call, it went to her voicemail:

Hi, it
’
s Hillary...leave a message....

Tom nodded. Hillary Greyson was definitely involved somehow. But who else? A voice called to him over his radio.

“
Yeah, go ahead Adam.
”

“
All clear on this end, she
’
s long gone.
”