SACRIFICES (44 page)

              Veronica shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know.”

              Brad smiles. “Why don’t you tell this guy? I found out not to long ago that if you feel something and you don’t say it, it might just be too late if you don‘t. So tell him or you might live to regret it.” He smiles then winks.

              She takes another drink and nods her head. “I think your right Bradley. I’ll just do that.” She smiles and places her hand on his.

              Brad winks. “It couldn’t hurt. Maybe he feels the same way about you that you feel about him.”

              Veronica finishes her drink and says. “Do you feel like having any more to drink?”

              Brad lifts his glass up and says. “I feel like it. But I don’t feel like taking a cab home tonight. I should just cut myself off.”

              Veronica smiles and asks. “What if I had a solution? What if you didn’t need to take a cab home and you could still have a few more drinks?”

              Brad chuckles. “How’s this possible?” Wondering what she means.

              Veronica turns away. “I stay at the apartments down the alley. It’s real close. I know I have some vodka at home. And I’m sure Pete will let me take some orange juice home with me. What do you say? You wouldn’t need to take a cab and you could still have a few drinks. And, in the morning your Jeep would be here so you could go straight to work.”

              Brad clears his throat. He sighs. He does everything humanly possible with his face and body without actually saying a word. He smiles and makes the comment as he finishes his strong drink. “So I guess what your asking me is, if I’d stay with you,” Brad moves his finger from side to side as he inquires about her idea. “…at your apartment, actually spend the night, at your place, just you and me, alone, together, in your apartment. Is that what you’re asking me?” Brad nods.

              “Yes.” Veronica looks him directly in his eyes.

              Brad starts to fidget in his seat moving his feet back and forth under the table. “I don’t know. I feel a little strange about this.” Brad swallows hard as he feels it getting warmer in this air-conditioned building.

              Veronica casually asks. “Why feel strange?”

              “I don’t know. It’s just that this isn’t the kind of thing I do. I don’t know what to say about this. I guess you could say I‘m the shy type. I‘m not used to women trying to pick me up,” Brad clears his throat and turns away for a moment. He squints his eyes and asks. “You
are
trying to pick me up aren’t you?” Brad feels incredibly uncomfortable and flattered.

              “You could say that,” Veronica smiles while she takes an ice cube from the glass with her fingers and sucks on it. “Didn’t you tell me just a minute ago I should tell the guy I like how I feel?” Veronica asks as she raises her eyebrows.

              “Well yeah, I did.” Brad’s feeling more awkward by the minute not sure how to handle this situation with out hurting her feelings.

              “Well Bradley, he is you. And if you stay with me tonight I won’t just tell you how I really feel, I’ll show you as well.” She places her hand on his thigh.

              Brad sighs again finding this almost too much to deal with. “Veronica I don’t know what to say about this. I’m flattered. Really I am. And I didn’t know that you felt this way. But I’ve been seeing someone. I don’t think this is a good idea at all. I’m sorry.” Brad starts to move to the end of the booth nervously. Veronica places her hand on his leg.

              “You said kind of yes and kind of no when you talked about still seeing the red head that lives in Peoria. That tells me that it’s not too serious. So why don’t we go to my place and see what happens? Look at it this way. What have you got to lose? If you don’t feel comfortable about it call a cab later on.” She winks. “I’ll even pay for it if you want to leave. If you stay, it might be fun for the both of us? You don‘t have anything to lose.” Veronica remains with her hand on his thigh gently rubbing.

              Brad stands up and says. “This is very tempting. You can believe that. But, I don’t know if I could do that. I’d hate to mislead you in anyway. If something did happen between us, I’d have a hard time dealing with hurting you in any way or her if she ever found out. I don’t think it’s going to work Veronica.”

              Brad nervously stands up and starts to walk toward the door. He stops and walks back to the table. “I’m sorry about this. I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings. You’re a sweet girl and I’d hate you hurt you in anyway shape or form. You believe me don’t you? And I wasn‘t just saying you’re beautiful, you truly are.” Brad nervously explains trying to be tactful and honest.

              Veronica smiles and tells him. “It’s ok. I said what I wanted to say, and now you know,” She shrugs her shoulders. “If you ever feel differently about this you know where to find me.” She winks.

              Brad reaches over and grabs her hand and leans down and kisses the top of it. “Good night. I’ll see you around,” He turns toward the door then back. “Thanks for the drinks.” When he turns toward the door Veronica says under her breath. “I’d gladly give you more than drinks.” She smiles to herself as he briskly walks toward the door.

              Brad walks out, waves at Pete and gets into his Jeep. He starts it and he can still see Veronica sitting down in the back booth through the window. He starts to back up and stops. He looks around thinking hard to himself about her invitation. He backs up a little more and stops again. Halfway in the parking spot and halfway out he closes his eyes and tries to make himself leave.

              Brad sits in his running Jeep for a couple minutes trying to convince him self to go home. One part of him wants to stay and one part wants to go home. Brad parks the Jeep back where it was and sits there with his head against the steering wheel. A few minutes pass and he turns it off.

              He’s sitting there in his Jeep feeling like maybe a few more drinks would be nice especially with everything that’s been going on for the past week. At the same time he thinks he’d be better off to go home and forget about Veronica. He’s arguing with himself. Right now the argument is still up in the air as to a winner.

              Brad takes a deep, long breathes and fights this decision. It’s a tough one but he still fights it. Jenny doesn’t want him to call her or come around. That broke his heart and she still hasn’t called. He starts thinking to himself. ‘Maybe things are tough for her.’ He thinks about how tough they’ve been on him as well. He’s had a tough time with the case he’s working. The fact that for the first time since the death of his wife he’s been intimate with another woman, something that until he met her he never thought he‘d do again. The fact he had to move his son out of state to keep him safe due to the threats he was receiving because of the case. Things are tough for everyone. ‘Does she think she controls the market on things being tough?’

              Brad can still see Veronica sitting at the booth and his head is telling him to leave, go home and continue to wait and see if Jenny will come around. His body is telling him to go inside and take Veronica up on her invitation. With her confession about how she felt it wouldn’t be wrong to just go do what people do these days. Having sex is just having sex, right? He wonders to himself. She’s a gorgeous woman. That’s easy to see. Why not? It wouldn’t be wrong to do this. Being intimate with Jenny opened a part of his body and mind that wasn’t opened for a long time. Now with it open his body wants it again. His body craves it again. Jenny needs time for herself. ‘I didn’t, I was ready.’ Maybe spending a romantic evening with a friend would be good at this point in his life. Maybe this is something that could help him and his frustration and sadness. Lovemaking is good for relieving stress. This might be a great way to feel better about life right now. What could it hurt? Were two adults, she’s a woman and I’m a man. She’s a sweet girl. We are good friends. She’s not some stranger. Brad tries to justify these feelings by telling himself this wouldn’t be happening if Jenny hadn’t done what she’s done. Brad takes a deep breath and makes up his mind. He thinks to himself, ‘ok. I know what I need to do.’

THE FOLLOWING MORNING BRAD WAKES UP

             
Brad opens his eyes and yawns as he looks at the clock. It’s 5:43 am. He rolls to his side and begins stretching trying to focus. He leans up and sits on the edge of the bed. He’s tired and feels incredibly tense. Brad stands up and walks to his bathroom and turns on the shower.

              He couldn’t do it last night. Although tempting, he decided that he still wanted things to work out with Jenny. If she needed more time that’s what he’d give her. He thinks down deep that she’ll come around and she’s definitely worth the wait.

              He’s not the kind of guy that can just have a fling with someone. He was always totally faithful to his wife and if things work out with Jenny he’d give her the same respect.

              Brad pops a few aspirin with his coffee. He walks into his son’s room, gives him a kiss on the forehead as he sleeps and walks to his Jeep, stepping over his son‘s buddies as they sleep on the floor in sleeping bags.

              He feels different about things these days with the case. In the minds of people in the city they think that the task force and the police are still trying diligently to find the killer and rapist. Brad and Todd know who it is. They continue to act as if they are still searching and maintain that image with the people of Illinois. How to handle that issue being fair to the people and to themselves is going to be tough.

In a sense justice has been served. On the other hand this woman that did what she did, although justified in her own mind, she did kill five men and mock-raped five women.

BRAD PULLS INTO HIS NEW PARKING SPOT CLOSER TO THE DOOR

             
Brad stops by his old office on the way to his new. He smiles as he looks around and sees Todd’s new layout of the room. Although the same room he occupied for many years it looks totally different. Todd’s sitting behind the desk reading the paper with his feet kicked up.

              “How are you doing Lieutenant?” Brad smiles and sits down.

              Todd sits the paper down with a smile. “Not bad chief.”

              Brad holds up his hand and insists. “Not you, I can’t get used to being addressed as chief. To me Jason is always going to be chief. So as a friend I’d like it if you just call me plain ole Brad.” Brad leans back.

              Todd smiles understandingly. “I know what you mean. Every time I hear someone say hello Lieutenant, or good morning Lieutenant I turn around and look so I can say hi myself. It’s not easy to adjust.” Todd grins while he sips his coffee.

              Brad picks up the paper and reads the headline. ‘HOWARD TRIAL UNDERWAY.’ He sits it back down. “It looks like the DA will end this trial quick. The defense teams not denying he was there, their going to say he was coursed to keep his mouth shut for the safety of his family and himself.”

              Todd sits up and retorts, as it appears his mind is somewhere else. “They offered him life with no possibility of parole. His team wants murder two. If they get it the trials over quick, he’ll get thirty-years be out in fifteen.”

              Brad nods his head. “If it gets to a jury they’ll give him life at the minimum with no possibility for parole. If the defense can make the jury feel that he feared for his life they won’t put him to death.”

              Todd hesitates. “Maybe, But if the defense plays there cards right and actually plays that tape he made with us the jury might believe his side and give him less. Who knows?”

              Brad shakes his head agreeing. “You could be right but if that jury has people who are parents in it. And they think about the idea that this guy knew what happened to those kids and he stood around and watched and did nothing. It’s going to make a lot of the jurors feel a little hatred toward this guy, especially if there are any dads in the jury with daughters.”

              Todd sighs looking away. He seems to have something on his mind. Brad’s not sure so he waits to find out. He gets up and walks over to the door and closes it. He retakes his seat. “I know that you’ve had that letter on your mind a lot lately,” Brad looks away. “…so have I. To give you a little piece of mind I want to tell you what I found out. I know it made me feel better. And it should make you as well.”

              Todd takes out a notebook and starts to read. “I wondered, just wondered if it was possible that the killer might have just wanted us to believe the letter and let it go and not check anything out,” Brad nods his head as he wondered the same thing. “…so I checked a few things. Very discretely, I went to public records and looked up all known relatives of her and Troy. I got the parents names and the brothers and sisters. I then checked with the courthouses of all known locations and residencies of each one. It does show that
officially
Troy and Beth do not, I stress
do not
have any immediate family still living. There could be possibly some cousins or possibly distant relatives. But I was able to track down the death certificates on all four parents and all siblings and grandparents. She wasn’t lying. It does check out as far as a time frame. Beth’s mother died about three months ago. So it would make sense according to the letter why she waited so long.” Todd closes his book and places it back into the desk.