Chapter 9: Dénouement
"911 emergency, how may I assist you?"
"I called them all. Not my brother. He did the fucking, I did the killing."
"Excuse me?"
"Ray liked to fuck. I never did. That's why he went after Charles by himself. Fucking idiot."
"Sir-"
"You tell that bastard Special Agent Don Eppes he won't get away with killing my brother. He WILL pay!"
"We're missing something," Don groaned, letting his head hit the table. Nearly one and a half months after Terry's death, and there still were no leads on her killer. Terry's case had gone cold, but her killer had already killed again. Alice Wilson, and Robert Turner were his most recent victims. The pattern had completely chanced though. There no more notes. Only bloody, mutilated, and raped corpses were left behind. The only thing that linked these cases were the DNA in the hair and semen left at the crime scenes.
"We have searched L.A. for anyone related Raymond Leary and have come up with nothing," David said solemnly.
"And from both a physical and psychological standpoint, there's no way it can be anyone else but Raymond Leary's closest relative, his brother Bartholomew." Megan Reeves, Don's new partner, had become a most welcome edition to the team. However, as bright as the young woman was, she could not track down the second half of the Notebook Killers.
"How many times will he kill again before we catch him?" Don wondered out loud. While the case had never looked bleak, his family was slowly healing. Don himself had almost fully recovered physically, as well as mentally. Alan was pretty much his old self, only slightly more protective of his youngest son. Even Charlie had shown improvement.
After attending counseling twice a week for three weeks, Charlie had finally been deemed well enough to return to teaching. Being able to teach again had greatly lifted his spirits. Don could still sense a shadow hanging over his little brother. Charlie no longer involved himself in Don's job. In fact he hadn't even stepped foot in Don's office since his assault.
"Don, I just got a call from LAPD. Someone called 911 and was ranting about Raymond Leary. He mentioned you, Don," David said, breaking into his thoughts.
"What?" Don and Megan said simultaneously.
"The operator said he even left his address for her. They're faxing it over right now."
Don rose and walked over to the fax machine. In moments the fax printed out. Don's eyes widened.
"David, you're not going to believe this," Don said.
"This is address is from the apartment complex Terry lived in."
"Not only that, Don. He was the next door neighbor. He's the guy who called her murder in."
"What the name of the tenant that owns the apartment?" Megan asked.
"Robert Burns. He must have been using Burns' apartment."
"You've got to be shitting me," Don murmured. "Let's check out that apartment."
"LAPD's already there. They said it was empty when they got there. The entire apartment was bare."
"Which means he's slipped out of our hands again," Don muttered sinking back into his chair.
"When will this end?" He whispered, putting his hand to his head.
The halls of CalSci were congested as they always were at the end of the day. Students were eager to leave they're classes, and make their way back to their dorms, their jobs, or their tutoring session. Charlie watched from his empty classroom almost afraid to leave. There was something oddly soothing about being alone, away from all human contact.
You shouldn't think that way, he reprimanded himself. He no longer thought about that horrible night where he had nearly lost his brother and his sanity. But he was still struggling to feel normal again.
"Go out there," he told himself. "Be with the students."
He took a deep breath, as if he were about to dive underwater, and stepped out into the hallway. Immediately, he saw young smiling faces of hard workers, geniuses, and kind hearted kids.
"Charlie!" Amita called. Charlie turned. He watched her smile.
"Amita-" he began, but she silenced him, placing her hand on his cheek. He flushed.
"No more talking. I realized last month that I might not ever get the chance to do this. We only live once."
"Yes," Charlie said, forcing himself to stand firm, and not shrink back. He was attracted to Amita, and she to him, so it was natural that they would want to kiss. But was it natural to feel so afraid?
Amita leaned forward, inviting him. He swallowed hard. Then, slowly, he inched forward, until his lips were mere millimeters from touching hers.
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? Let me get it back for you."
Charlie flinched and pulled away as the memory of Raymond Leary came back to him.
"I'm… I'm sorry, Amita," he managed to mutter, fighting against the nausea. He saw the light in Amita's beautiful eyes dim with disappointment.
"It's alright, Charlie."
"It's not you, Amita," Charlie said, swallowing. His stomach was rolling as he helplessly recalled Leary's violent but sensual touch.
"Of course," Amita said, though she did not believe him.
"I, I have to go," Charlie whispered. She nodded curtly, and walked briskly out of the classroom, barely suppressing the tears.
As soon as Amita left, Charlie bent over, and wretched. He tried to calm himself and his stomach, but the smirking face of Raymond Leary would not leave his mind.
"You're mine, little puppy dog," the face seemed to say.
Charlie sat down, half falling. Tears poured down his face as he drew his knees up to his chest. Leary was dead, but he was still killing the youngest Eppes.
I can't do this anymore, Charlie thought bitterly to himself. He had tried all month to push down his memories, but they continually resurfaced, and each time was worse than the previous.
For a moment, he considered Erin Worthing. He remembered her gentle smile, her understanding face, her warm voice. He knew she could help him, just as she had helped Alan, but he was afraid. He had never spoken about his experience with Leary with anyone. Could he tell a complete stranger?
"Don, you're not going to believe this," David said. Don came over to his partner's desk.
"Terry's next door neighbor, Robert Burns, has apparently been out of the country for a few months. We interviewed some of the other neighbors and they said he had someone keep an eye on the apartment. That was the guy who called it in. Don, his name is Bartholomew Leary, son of Simon Leary."
"You've got to be shitting me," Don murmured.
"Charlie, I should be back by one," Alan said, fishing his car keys from his pocket. Charlie nodded from the table, staring forward.
"Don, should be coming over in about a half hour. Okay? Charlie?"
"Sure, Dad," Charlie answered, looking up. He felt as if he were about to either explode or collapse at any moment.
He heard the door close. His father was gone.
"Dammit!" Charlie cried suddenly. He grabbed a plastic cup from the table and hurled it against the wall. It hit with a very unsatisfying thump.
Charlie rose and made his way to his bedroom. Rage was seething inside him, simmering, threatening to explode.
"I guess it's better than crying all the time," he said to himself. He thought back to his sessions with Erin.
"You need to accept that what happened, happened. You need to acknowledge that point of your life, and then you need to acknowledge that you have been strengthened because of it. You survived it. Not just physically, but emotionally as well."
"Okay, I acknowledge I was violated. I acknowledge that my brother almost died. It's made me stronger." He spoke aloud, hoping that by hearing his own words he might believe them.
But he did not. He flopped down onto the bed, his head in his hands.
"Why can't I move on?"
"Hello, Charlie," an unfamiliar voice called. Charlie shot up, alarmed. There was a man, walking towards him, a man with a face that looked so terribly familiar. Charlie's heart was hammering. Suddenly, it was nearly impossible to breathe.
"I'm here to finish my brother's job." He stepped into the bedroom, and shut the door behind him.
"No," Charlie said softly.
"No? Now, Charlie, I don't want to make this too difficult for you. You don't want to end up like Terry, do you? All those cuts on her legs really ruined the effect." He reached out, snatching Charlie's hand.
Something in Charlie snapped when the Leary brother touched him. He wrenched his hand away from the killer with strength he didn't realize he had.
"Oh? What's this? Charlie wants to fight, eh?" Leary smiled coldly.
"No one's ever going to hurt me again," Charlie said, surprised by the coldness of his voice.
"We'll see." Leary sprang forward, knocking Charlie to the bed. He wrapped his hands around Charlie's neck, and began to squeeze.
Charlie gasped for air, mad panic consuming him. He kicked at Leary, aiming for his stomach, but instead connected with the killer's hip. He heard something clatter to the floor, perhaps a gun. He tried kicking Leary again, and luckily struck him just under the rib cage. Leary released his chokehold on Charlie. Unfortunately, the murderer recovered quickly enough to deliver a hard right cross into the young professor's face.
White hot pain exploded across Charlie's face. He shook his head in an attempt to see as he felt Leary grab him by the shirt collar, hauling to his feet.
"Bitch," Leary spat, punching him again. Charlie staggered backwards, blood pooling in his mouth. He could see that Leary was about to punch him again. If he took the hit, he would be knocked unconscious, and would be unable to protect himself. His own words came back to him. They had been spoken before Raymond Leary had touched him.
"I'm not weak, Don. God, why do you people think I'm weak?"I was weak. I am weak. But then Charlie looked down, and realized he didn't have to be weak.
Remembering what Don had taught him a long time ago in college, he dodged Leary's punch, barely. Leary stumbled, still caught in the momentum of the failed punch. Clearly, he hadn't expected Charlie to dodge. Charlie bent down, and picked up the pistol he had knocked from Leary's hip.
Leary turned to find himself face to face with the barrel of his own gun.
"You're never going to touch me again," Charlie said angrily, cocking the gun, his finger slowly squeezing the trigger.
Chapter 10, Finding the Strength, will be up in a few days. Thanks for reading!
