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Chapter 63
Waters and Hodges stood outside Elizabeth Johnson's door, waiting patiently for her to answer.
"I hope this lady is the real deal." Waters thought out loud.
Hodges looked at his partner curiously. "Why wouldn't she be?"
Just then the door opened, revealing a surprisingly attractive older woman, dressed in a dark purple dress. Her hair was silver in color and piled loosely on top of her head. The years had been kind to her.
As she greeted the two men, Hodges noticed that her eyes sparkled when she smiled.
"Thank you for coming to my apartment detectives. I'm fully aware that you could have made me go to the station rather than you coming here." She said as she motioned for them to come in. "Please have a seat."
Waters sat on the elegant sofa, while Hodges chose to stand.
"Well Mrs. Johnson, it is Mrs., isn't it?" Hodges asked.
"My husband passed away over ten years ago but I still go by Mrs."
"As I was saying, it will be necessary for you to come into the station and give a more formal statement and description but that can be done tomorrow. Right now, my partner and I would like for you to tell us what you saw on the morning Doctor Cameron went missing."
"Very well." She proceeded to tell the detectives her story, as Waters wrote everything down in his little notebook. When it came to giving the description, she stopped. "I'm afraid I only saw the man from the side. He did turn slightly towards me but only for a second but my eyesight is impeccable at my age. I was standing at that window." She pointed to her living room window that over looked the side parking lot.
Hodges stepped over and looked out. He saw that there was not any trees blocking her view and she would have had a direct view of Cameron's car. He turned back towards Mrs. Johnson.
"Please give us the description Mrs. Johnson." Waters said.
Elizabeth proceeded. After she was done Hodges walked over and removed the photo of Steven Mayer from the file he was holding.
"Could this be the man you saw?"
Elizabeth took the photo and moved towards the light. She studied it for a few minutes before speaking.
Hodges and Waters waited patiently.
"It could be. I wish I knew how tall this man was but I think it could be him."
Hodges sighed a sigh of relief. That's all he needed to hear. He took the photo from Elizabeth. "Thank you Mrs. Johnson. You have been a big help."
"Do you think you will find Allison? She is such a sweet girl." "We are doing are best. Either myself or my partner will call you tomorrow and set up a time for you to come in."
Hodges walked towards the door where his partner was already standing, looking at his watch.
"Afternoon would be best detective. I already have several morning appointments."
Hodges nodded and smiled. "Thank you again for your help." He said and out the door they went.
Once in the car, Waters turned to Hodges. "Do you think Mayer is our guy?"
"I think it's a good possibility. Hopefully we will know more when we talk to him."
"What if he isn't home?"
"Then we wait."
*****
Steven Mayer had had a very long day and was thankful when he finally walked through his front door for the evening. He had too much on his mind and concentrating on every day things was almost too much. His plan was moving much slower than what he wanted but he knew if he didn't take things slowly, it could possibly raise red flags in his direction and he wanted to make sure that when he did take Allison and leave, no one would be the wiser.
He sat the brown bag on the counter and tossed his coat onto a kitchen chair. He stepped into the living room and turned on the TV and kicked off his shoes. Normally, he would change clothes before going to see Allison but he was hungry and for some reason was more anxious to see his prized beauty than he normally was. He went into the small dining room and pulled up the heavy rug to reveal the small door in the floor.
Cameron's eyes fluttered open when she heard the familiar creaking of the floor above her and she wondered how long she had been asleep. She could tell that is was dark outside but she had no idea what time it was.
She slowly sat up and began to shiver from the coolness of the room. She remained motionless for a moment, relieved that the dizziness she had been feeling most of the day had subsided but now she was sick at her stomach. She was sure it was from not eating, since she had barely eaten anything since her nightmare had begun.
The loud creaking above caught her attention again and she listened as the man who had taken her life away as she once knew it, opened the door in the ceiling. Cameron watched as her captor slowly made his way down the wooden stairs and crossed the room to stand in front of her once again.
Steven let his eyes roam over Allison's delicate body. She was so beautiful and he couldn't wait until his hands touched every inch of her. He licked the drool from the sides of his mouth.
Cameron cringed as she watched Steven's eyes traveled up and down her body. She wanted to scream at him, to scratch his eyes out, to hurt him as much as he had hurt her but the last thing she wanted to do was push him over the edge… so she remained silent and waited for him to speak first. She watched has he moved slowly towards her. He plopped down on the mattress next to her, startling her. He reeked of stale cigarette smoke, causing her to gag. However, he didn't seem to care that his nearness made her sick.
"I brought home some sandwiches. Are you hungry?" He asked.
Cameron wanted to spit in his face and say no but she knew she needed to eat. "Yes." She forced the word out of her mouth.
"Good. I'll bring them down and we can eat together." He said eagerly.
Cameron made an effort to smile, knowing that if she didn't try to be pleasant, it would make him angry.
Steven continued to sit next to her, staring across the cement floor. "After dinner, we need to get you cleaned up some."
Cameron froze. "What are you talking about?"
Steven snickered. "Well, it has been several days since you've had a bath."
Cameron felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach. The last thing she wanted to do was undress in front of this monster and she needed to think of something to make him change his mind. "I don't have any clean clothes. Maybe we should wait until…"
Steven stopped her. "I stopped by a department store on the way home and picked up a few things; some shampoo, soap and some clothes."
It sickened Cameron to think of Steven shopping for her. The knot in her stomach was becoming harder and she was starting to shake but Steven didn't seem to notice. All of a sudden, he reached across her and grabbed her arm with the heavy metal attached to it.
He studied her arm and saw that her wrist was severely bruised and swollen. "I suppose we need to take this off for a while. I can't have you too damaged." He snickered again.
Cameron pulled her hand free from his.
Steven ignored her move. "So, since I'm in such a good mood, I'll take this off while we eat and if you are a good girl, I'll leave it off while you clean yourself up. I'll bring down some soap and water and you can take a sponge bath." He said with a wicked smile and reached up to touch a strand of her hair that had fallen across her face.
Cameron instantly pulled away. This time, anger filled Steven but he restrained himself. He leaned in closer, his hot breath on her face, causing her to choke. "Oh my sweet, sweet Allison. So much for you to learn. There will be a day when you will ache for my touch."
Cameron knew she would never want him to touch her and would rather die than to have him do so.
Steven abruptly stood and began to walk back towards the stairs. "Don't worry. I'll give you your privacy when you bathe… as long as you are good."
Cameron could hear him laugh a low, lusty laugh as he climbed back up the stairs and disgust filled her. She didn't trust him and the thought of undressing with him near, terrified her. She laid down on her side and squeezed her eyes shut, praying she would wake up from the hellish dream she was in… but she knew the dream was real and when she opened her eyes, she would still be in the same horrible place.
