The Past Comes Calling
Chapter 2
Nightfall, that's when I'll make my move, thought Cal.
He had gotten Jillian's' address through his cousin, a deputy sheriff two counties over from their hometown. She had registered her car and renewed her drivers license after moving, just like he knew she would, thus making it easy to track her in the system. His cousin knew it was wrong to give Cal the information, but he owed him big time for a job that he had asked Cal to take care of a couple of years back. Cal had done what was expected of him and his cousin had been able to secure the suddenly vacated deputy sheriffs position. In Cals' world it all boiled down to 'you scratch my back, I'll take care of you dirty work.'
Now Jillian was his target and that was her own fault, he thought. She shouldn't have left. She didn't give me any choice but to find her and…well… maybe not kill her right away. Maybe I'll have a little fun with her first. I don't like being lead all over the countryside looking for my woman, MY PROPERTY! She needs to be taught a lesson in obedience before I kill her. And, after I finish with her, I'll head back home and start in on that family of hers. They should've cooperated with me when I asked them where she went when she left. These thoughts brought forth a sickening and demented laughter from Cal.
Rounding the corner, he came to the address on the paper. The apartment building was an older three story brick with twelve units housed inside. Jillian's unit was on the second floor. Entering the first floor, he checked the names on the mailboxes. All but one had a name and apartment number listed. Her name wasn't among the labeled ones so he could only assume that she was receiving her mail in a post office box.
He did a quick scan of the ground floor apartment numbers. Assuming that all of the floors were lain out the same, Jillian's apartment should be at the far end of the building, facing the back lot. Perfect, he thought. No one will be able to see me climb the back fire escape. This will be a piece of cake.
Quickly exiting the building, Cal glanced up at the second floor. His blood ran cold. There was Jillian, standing near the window of the apartment facing the street side, not the rear. His cousin had given him the wrong apartment number. He'd deal with that later, right now it was essential that Jillian knew he was coming for her. He knew the minute that she had seen him; he could see her blanch; he could've sworn that he could almost hear the gasp that she let out. He made a 'shooting' motion toward her and then walked off. Let her think about that, he thought, smiling to himself. I'll be back tonight, darling.
********
Pete hung up the phone and sat down on the couch next to Jillian. "I just spoke with Jim and it's all settled. You can stay at their place as long as needed. We are going to catch this guy and he's never going to be able to hurt or terrorize you or anyone else ever again. I promise you that, just as sure as I am sitting here with you." Pete spoke in a matter of fact voice that shouldn't have left any doubt in Jillian's mind that everything could work out so easily.
Jillian feared, however, that in reality catching Cal would be anything but easy. He was hunter, with hunter instincts. He took what he wanted, when he wanted and if anyone stood in his way, he made sure that they paid dearly. It was a simple as that. She couldn't help but shudder when thinking back to the horrific stories that Cal had told her. She knew that he had been feeding on her fear, in order to make her stay in their relationship. She also knew that he would eventually kill her whether she stayed or not. Fleeing had seemed the only thing to do. No, thought Jillian, Pete couldn't protect her. She knew how mean and evil Cal could be; Pete did not.
Still, Jillian took her time to contemplate what Pete had just told her and then she spoke with a quiet reserve, "No Pete, I can't let your friends get involved in my problems. It's bad enough that I've involved you. It's just best if I get out of town as soon as possible. He can't watch the apartment 24/7 so maybe I can slip away unnoticed; after all, I did it once before."
"Jillian, be reasonable! He found you once and he'll find you again. You can't keep running from him." Pete's voice was raised and it held a both a tinge of frustration and concern.
"Can't I?" Jillian calmly challenged. She knew in her heart that Pete was right. She needed to face this head on and see to it that Cal was locked up where he belonged, but she didn't think that she was strong enough to do that.
Rising from the couch, Jillian started for the door. She couldn't even look at Pete as she quietly said "I need to go pack so that I can leave. Goodbye, Pete; thank you for being such a nice, sweet person…and a good friend. I'll never forget you."
Pete, right on her heels, grabbed her hand and turned her to face him; tilting her chin up so that she was looking into his eyes. For the second time that evening, he could see her tears welling up and threatening to spill over.
Trying very hard to control his own voice around the knot that had suddenly formed in his throat, he spoke softly, yet deliberately, "Jillian, I am not going to let you walk out of here. You won't be safe. At least stay with Jim and Jean for a couple of days. Once we find Cal, there won't be any need to leave town. No need to run." Lord, please help me get through to her!
Pete continued to watch Jillian as she stood there looking up at him. He could see that she was fighting through several emotions at once, but in her eyes he could see that she was holding tight to her decision to leave; he decided to switch tactics.
Feigning a sigh he said, "Okay, I can see that you're determined to do what you think is best, but can I at least ask you to wait and not leave until morning? If you are going to be on the road for any length of time, I would feel better knowing that you are at least well rested enough to stay alert and drive safely."
She knew that Pete was right; she would have to be functioning with full mental capacity, and that wouldn't happen if she were tired. Reluctantly, she said "Okay, I'll wait and leave when morning comes, but I will not stay over at your friends house; I'll stay at my own place. I'm not putting anyone else in harms way if I can help it."
Pete slowly let out the breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding and silently sent up a prayer of thanks. He had bought himself the evening to try and talk some sense into her.
"Fair enough. Just give me a minute to call Jim and let him know the change in plans and then I'll walk you over to your apartment."
Jillian walked back to the couch and sat down to wait as Pete walked over to the phone and dialed the Reed residence. Jim answered on the first ring, almost as if he had anticipated the call.
"Reed residence; this is Jim."
In a low voice, so that Jillian couldn't clearly hear him Pete said "Jim, it's Pete. Listen, there's been a slight change in the plans. Jillian is still insisting on leaving, but she is willing to wait until tomorrow. She doesn't want to put your family in any jeopardy so she is refusing to come over."
"WHAT? You have to be kidding! Is she crazy or what? Somebody is after her and she doesn't want protection? Now I've heard it all!" Jim was on steady rant.
Even as crucial as the situation was, Pete couldn't help but smile at his partner's ranting.
Still speaking in low tones he said "Jim, don't give yourself a stroke! Just listen to me for a minute; she said that she wanted to stay at her place; she never said that I couldn't stay over there with her; so, how about it? You feel like dropping over for the evening? I figure we can spell each other on keeping an eye out for him."
Pete could almost hear the gears churning in his partners' head as Jim slowly answered
"My, my, my…aren't you the clever one?"
"Yeah, that's why I'm the brains in this partnership. How soon can you get over here?"
"I'll be there within the half hour. Should I go straight to Jillian's?"
"No, just come to my place. I think we'll have a better chance of keeping her safe if she is over here than if we're at her place. Her apartment faces the back alley so it would be easier for him to gain access without being seen. If he decides to try anything tonight, at least this is the street side and with traffic going by somebody might spot him.
"Good thinking." Jim said; then he added "Uh, just when are you planning on telling her that she's staying at your place instead of her own?"
"I'm not…you are."
"If she won't listen to you, what makes you think that she will listen to me. She doesn't even know me for crying out loud! Besides, what are you going to do if she tries to leave before I get there?"
"I'm going to stall her long enough for you to get here and then you can have a crack at talking some sense into her. You know, just do what you do to me; talk around the issue so much that in the end she'll just give in just to get you off of her back."
Jim could've sworn that he heard Pete snicker at that last part of his sentence. I think he just insulted me, he thought. "Yeah, okay, I can do that. I'll be there shortly," he said and then he hung up and went to tell Jean what was going on.
Pete quickly pushed the cutoff button on the phone and after securing another dial tone he phoned the station and spoke to the watch commander on duty. He quickly explained the situation and was assured that the area patrol car would make extra rounds in the area all night long, and that they would pass the information on to the next shift, as well. Before hanging up, Pete was instructed to keep the watch commander abreast of any new developments.
Going over to Jillian, Pete said "Jim's coming over here and then we can go back to your apartment." He figured it wasn't really a fib, after all they would need to go over there so she could get whatever she needed for the evening.
"We?"
"Yes, WE" said Pete matter-of-factly. "Tomorrow you can cut loose on your own but tonight Jim and I are going to make sure that you are safe." The tone in his voice told Jillian that she would be wise to not argue the point. She knew she had pushed his buttons by standing her ground about leaving. The last thing she wanted to do was leave on really bad terms.
"Okay."
Blinking as if he had heard wrong he replied with disbelief in his voice "Okay? Just, OKAY? Just like that? No argument?"
Shaking her head slightly she answered "Nuh-uh. No argument."
He just stood there, working the inside of his cheek with his tongue and staring at her as he thought to himself, How can one person be so exasperating? I thought for sure that she would argue, but NOOOO, she just says 'okay'. Women!
Sitting there and watching Pete, Jillian couldn't help but wish that things could be different. She didn't want to leave her apartment or Los Angeles, but most of all, she didn't want to leave Pete. She couldn't explain it, but she felt that they had grown close and were really beginning to 'connect' with one another. She quickly looked away from him so that he wouldn't see the fresh wave of tears that she was trying to stave off.
Pete, feeling a need to DO something, walked over to the coffee table and picked up both of their plates. "I hope you don't mind cold pizza," he said in a light voice accompanied by the slight touch of a smile on his face.
"I'm not very hungry"
"Yeah? Well I am, and I don't like to eat pizza by myself. Besides, I don't want to be woke up at two a.m. listening to your stomach growl! Heaven knows it sounds like a freight train now!" he chuckled as he placed the plate in front of her. As if on cue, her stomach growled, causing both of them to laugh out loud.
They were just finishing up when Jim arrived. Pete quickly made the necessary introductions and then offered Jim some pizza. He figured that his partner hadn't had time to eat yet and he knew how cranky he could get if he was underfed.
When she was finished eating, Jillian carried her plate into the kitchen and said to Pete, who was standing at the sink, "I thought you said your partner and his wife were my age. He can't be a day over twenty-one!" Pete nearly doubled over with laughter. He knew that one of Jim's pet peeves was that people often mistook him for much younger than he really was.
"Don't let him hear you say that!"
Jim picked that moment to enter the kitchen. "Don't let 'him', who, hear you say what?" he asked.
"Oh nothing, we were just talking" Pete jumped in quickly.
"How old are you, Jim? Pete thought that maybe we are close to the same age."
Gotta love that honest, outright curiosity thought Pete.
"Twenty-seven." I can't believe she's asking me such trivial questions at a time like this. I guess maybe the idle conversation helps to take her mind off of what's going on, he thought.
"And your wife, Jean?"
"She's twenty-six and our little boy, Jimmy, is a little over two."
"Do you have any pictures? I was supposed to meet all of you tomorrow, but since that isn't going to happen, I want to have some sort of a visual memory to hold on to when I leave here." she said in a sad voice.
Jim was at a loss for words as he pulled out his wallet and handed her the latest family picture, taken just a couple of months ago after Jimmy had turned two. He also gave her a second picture; one of Pete and Jimmy. They were sitting on the floor playing blocks and laughing. She couldn't tell who had the biggest smile, Pete or Jimmy.
Jillian stared at the pictures for what seemed like an eternity, as if she were committing all of their faces to memory. She couldn't help but think what a beautiful little family they were and it saddened her to know that she wouldn't have the chance to get to know them. Handing the pictures back to Jim, she simply said "Thank you for sharing. You have a very lovely family. I can see why all of you hold a special place in Petes' heart. Hold on tight to them, Jim; all of them. Always keep them close to your heart." and with that she turned and went back into the living room. I don't want to leave!
Jim had to take a moment to swipe at his eyes before following her. He was thinking Pete 'ole buddy, you just can't let this one get away!
Pete had observed the entire exchange from across the room and he found himself taking a couple of deep, soul-shuddering breaths before going into the other room. I can't let her go, he thought.
********
Pete, Jim and Jillian were sitting in Petes' living room. The television was turned on, with the volume on low. Pete and Jim were quietly talking to each other, formulating a plan. Jillian, pretending to watch t.v. was formulating her own plan. As much as she never wanted to see Cal again, she knew that if she could get Pete and Jim to go along with her plan, Cal could be in jail by the end of the night…that is if he chose tonight to make his move. If not, she would leave tomorrow before anyone else was up and about.
Nervously, Jillian cut into their quiet conversation. "Hey guys, can I talk to you a minute? I think I have a way to catch Cal."
Both men sat there looking at her as if she had suddenly grown two heads and pointed ears as Jillian told them her plan. It would require her to be alone in Petes' apartment, since his was the apartment that Cal had seen her in. Being alone would give Cal the time and opportunity to make his move. They would be out in the hallway, waiting for the 'signal' that Cal was near enough to the door that he would be thrown off balance when the door was kicked in. This element of surprise should give them ample time to enter the apartment and apprehend him before he realized what was happening.
"Absolutely NOT!" Pete growled.
"Are you crazy? Have you ever been held at gunpoint?" Jim asked incredulously. She has to be nuttier than a fruitcake to think up a scheme like this, thought Jim. Still, with a bit of tweaking, it could work.
"No, but isn't it at least worth a try?" and then turning to Pete she threw his words right back at him "Besides Pete, you told me that I can't keep running from him. What happens if I do leave, and he follows me? Where do I go from here? What if I am not fortunate enough to land in a place where there are people that I can trust and that I can turn to for help?" She could see that her words were sinking in and both men were contemplating what she had just said.
Going out on a limb, she took it up one more level, she reached out and took one of Petes' hands into her own. Looking deeply into his eyes she said "Pete, I don't want to keep running; I don't want to leave here; I don't want to leave L.A.; most of all, I don't want to leave…you." and with that, she brought his hand up and held it to her cheek. He could feel her tears spilling down over his hand and he knew he had lost this battle long before it even started.
Pete could only think, As much as I want to take you into my arms and kiss away your tears, I can't right now. I have to have a clear head if we are going to pull off this crazy idea. I have to know that you are safe before I can let my guard down.
This was a private moment that Jim didn't want to hone in on so he picked up Petes' phone and called the station watch commander; he wanted to run the plan by him and see about getting a detective or two over here to stay inside the apartment with Jillian. He was pretty sure that she was going to use herself as bait whether he and Pete agreed to the plan or not so he figured a couple of extra guys would come in handy.
Within the hour, there were two plain clothes detectives strategically parked on the street outside of the apartment building. There was a third detective inside Petes' apartment, hidden out of sight in the bedroom. Pete and Jim were in Jillian's' apartment, with the door slightly ajar. They would remain here and listen for any signs of trouble from Petes' place. The 'go phrase' that had been worked out was 'I'm leaving Cal, move away from the door, NOW.' They would go on the word 'NOW'.
********
Everyone was in their assigned places. Now all they had to do was wait.
Jillian settled down on the couch with a magazine. She didn't want the television on because she didn't want any noise to interfere with being able to hear the sounds of anyone trying to get in. Besides, she could see the reflection of the window in the darkened t.v. screen. She would know the minute he came in. It's completely dark outside. Cal isn't about to waste any unnecessary time. If it's going to happen tonight, it's going to happen soon, thought Jillian.
It took less than fifteen minutes for Cal to make his move. He easily scaled the fire escape and was standing on the landing just outside of Pete's window. He could see that Jillian was sitting on the couch reading. Her back was to the window. He quickly and expertly removed the screen without making a sound. He could see that once she got around the couch she had a straight path to the door so he knew that he would have to put himself between her and it before he let her know that he was in the apartment. Otherwise, she might bolt to a neighbor's apartment and call the police.
Jillian's heart was threatening to beat right out of her chest. She heard the ever so faint sound of the screen being removed. She stole a quick look at the darkened t.v. screen and could see Cal sneaking in through the window. Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it she kept thinking to herself.
Suddenly she heard "Hello, Jillian."
Despite knowing that he was there, she jumped up and let out a startled scream.
The color draining from her face she said "Cal! How did you get in here?"
"Through the window, baby. Didn't I always tell you never to leave the windows open? Bad things happen to people who leave the windows open. You always have been scatterbrained, though, so it really shouldn't shock me that you'd be so stupid." he said to her in a scathing voice.
The detectives on the street had seen him scale the fire escape. They quietly exited their vehicle and while one stealthily climbed up the fire escape, the other one went in through the front door and quickly took the stairs to the second floor. Pete and Jim had heard Jillian's scream and were poised in front of the door ready to make their move. The detective inside the apartment had come out of the bedroom and had a birds eye view of the happenings near the door. He stood poised and ready, as well. That is one gutsy girl that Malloy landed, he thought.
She rounded the couch and just as she thought he would, he placed himself between her and the door. His back was to the door. So far, so good, she thought.
"Cal, get out of here; you have no business being here; I am not your 'property' and you can't just hunt me down like some wild game and drag me off" she said in a shaky voice as she continued to walk toward the door. The tactics were having the desired effect; he was being forced to back further toward the door as well.
He chose this moment to pull out a gun and point it straight at her. She momentarily froze in her tracks and thought, I must be absolutely insane! I am way out of my league here! If I get out of here alive, I am going to have my head examined! Forcing herself to take a calming breath, she tentatively took another step in Cals' direction. Just a few more steps and he'll be right where I want him, she thought.
"Don't come any closer or I will shoot you."
Looking him dead in the eyes she took another small step towards him. "No Cal, you won't shoot me. That isn't the way you operate." She knew that he couldn't stand to be challenged with a stare. Staring seemed to have a mesmerizing effect on him; it would make him uneasy and make him lose his concentration; it made him nervous. She had used this technique on more than one occasion to disarm his volatile ranting and raving. She was praying it would work just one more time. She remembered him saying that it was like looking into someone's soul and that if you could see into their soul, you couldn't possibly want to hurt them. She knew that he wouldn't shoot if she could just keep him focused on her unyielding stare. She held her gaze steady with his, not even blinking. Taking another small step toward him…almost there…don't blink…show no fear…another small step…gotta keep talking…and walking. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears.
"You like the thrill of the hunt more than the kill, don't you, Cal?"…two more steps… "Why not put the gun down and let me leave? You can go away and get on with your life, and I can get on with mine. Nobody has to know this happened…another two steps…he's right where I want him.
Waving the gun at her he yelled "NO, that won't work. I told you that I would find you if you ran. You know that I have to kill you, don't you? Nobody disrespects me by running out on me. We could have had a good life together. After I have some fun with you, I'm going to kill you and then I'm going after your family. How does that sound?" They are going to pay dearly for not telling me where you were at; for making me find you on my own! Who do they think they are, anyway?"
Still holding steady with her gaze, Jillian calmly, but in a slightly louder tone of voice said "I'm leaving Cal, move away from the door, NOW!" And with that, she dove to the floor. Her right shoulder exploded in pain as she came down against the hardwood floor.
Pete kicked in the door. Cal managed to squeeze off one shot before both he and his gun volleyed through the air in different directions. Jim and the detective in the hallway bounded through the door and were on Cal in a heartbeat. The detective in the other room jumped out and yelled "freeze!" The detective on the fire escaped jumped in through the window and yelled, "freeze!"
Jillian, who was lying on the floor, was fighting a losing battle to stay conscious. It was a very short battle for her and the last thing she heard was somebody, she thought it was Jim, saying "You take care of her, we'll get him down to the station and booked…and something about paperwork. The whole scene seemed surreal to Jillian as blackness enveloped her.
When he saw her lying unconscious on the floor, Pete feared the worse. No! I can't lose her! Please let her be okay! he thought. He was immediately at her side, trying to assess her injuries and wanting to make sure that she was okay. She didn't appear to be bleeding, so he was pretty sure that Cals' shot had not met it's intended mark.
He gently placed his hands on her face and tapped at her cheek while calling her name. Pete let out a sigh of relief when she let out a low moan and her eyes fluttered open.
Staring at Pete in wonder, Jillian questioned "I've died and I'm on my way to heaven and you're the angel that's escorting me?" Pete could tell that she was still rather out of it.
Chuckling softly he said "No, it's not quite like that; you are very much alive, and I am definitely not an 'angel' by any stretch of the means." He was rewarded with small, dazed-like smile from Jillian.
"Then you must be a knight in shining armor and I must be a damsel in distress?" she questioned, with a slight smile.
Boy, she must've hit her head when she dove onto the floor thought Pete. "Yeah, that'll work. And now that I've rescued you, we'll wait for the medics to get here and then we'll ride away to the hospital together on my trusty steed."
Coming around a bit more, Jillian mumbled "My shoulder hurts. Help me sit up, please."
"Do you think you can?"
"Uhh-huh" she said as she slightly nodded her head.
As he was helping her over to the couch to sit down, he couldn't help but notice that she was grimacing and favoring her right shoulder. Did I miss something? Pete questioned to himself.
"What's wrong? What did he do to you? Did he hurt you?" Jillian could see both concern and anger flashing in Petes' eyes.
She was more alert now that she was sitting up. "No, he didn't do anything to me. I did this to myself when I dove to the floor. These wood floors are hard! You really need carpeting!" she shot at him in a gruff voice.
Taking it as a good sign that her sense of humor, and the rest of her, was still intact, he replied "You're not even safe from yourself! Maybe I need to get YOU some bubblewrap!" Together they shared a small chuckle over their private joke. It's good to be alive and be able to laugh, thought Jillian.
Shortly after getting her to the couch and into a sitting position, Jillian, shaking like a leaf put her left hand up to her mouth. Pete took it as the universal sign for 'I'm gonna toss my cookies' and he tried to stand her up so he could usher her quickly to bathroom.
Slapping at him with her left hand so that he would stop trying to pull her to a standing position Jillian looked at him like he had lost his mind and said "What are you doing, Pete Malloy?"
"I thought you looked like you were going to get sick," he said as he brought his hand up to his face, mimicking her actions.
"I was just yawning!"
"Oh, I see" he replied sheepishly, and sat down beside her.
"Pete?"
"Yeah, Jillian?"
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
Deafening silence.
"Pete?"
"Yes?"
"Now that Cal has been caught, what do you think I should do? Stay in LA or go home to Maine?" Tell me to stay, tell me to stay, tell me to stay!
"I can't answer that question for you, Jillian. You have to decide what you want to do. Of course, whatever you decide, it will have to wait until after his trial. I am sure you will be put on the witness stand." I want so bad to tell you to stay here.
Take the plunge, Jillian thought to herself.
Looking into his eyes while reaching out and taking Petes' hand, she said, "Give me a reason to stay."
Could she have really said what he thought she just said? Pete could only dare hope that he had heard her correctly. Here it goes, he thought. Putting his arms around her and pulling her close, yet being careful of her injured shoulder, he lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "Is that a good enough reason?" he asked in a deep, raspy voice.
Jillian, with a dreamy look on her face, said "Ohhh yeah!" and tilted her head up for another kiss.
They didn't know where this newfound turn in their relationship would lead them, but they both knew that they were eager to find out. There was so much more to say to each other. So many unspoken hopes and dreams that they both wanted to share with one another.
Off in the distance, they could hear the wail of the ambulance siren, at first faintly and then more clearly as it approached the apartment building. Discussions regarding their relationship would have to wait until later; the way they figured it, they were in no hurry, they had all of the time in the world to discover what the future would hold.
********
This completes the story of "The Past Comes Calling". My thanks to all who have taken the time to read it. I have enjoyed writing it and I hope that everyone who read it, enjoyed it, also. I am working on a few ideas for developing the budding romance between Pete and Jillian. Please take a moment to write a review because, as always, I look forward to hearing from anyone with pointers or tips.
