CHAPTER VIII „Devil's Angel"

=== Halcox-Jameson-Mental Institution / Fresno ===

„I dreamt of you night and day," Juliet said. „Sometimes, I SAW you standing right in front of me and reaching out for me, and when I wanted to touch you, you were gone!" She was holding him, afraid he would dissolve into an unreal vision again. „Am I crazy, because I feel for you that way, Stephan? Just as Nelson said?" Juliet's voice sounded somewhat anxious, but she did not turn her gaze from his face.

„I don't know…" he whispered. „All I know is that I love you. And that I don't want to lose you again." They kissed, reluctantly and cautiously, as if they had to test first if their feelings were still alive and not only a memory. Sensing the first tiny flames beneath the ashes of time, they both didn't dare to move on.

She reclined in his arms. „Then, you asked me to come with you… and I was afraid to go. I answered this question certainly a thousand times ever since… but no one was there to hear me. Take me with you now, Stephan! Wherever this might be! Just take me away from… from this place!"

„I will, my angel…." However, he could not go through the bureaucratic procedure, and wait for the doctor's examinations, fill staples of paperwork! He had to leave as quickly as possible himself! And he couldn't simply carry her through the entrance! No? Stephan looked around. The curious nurse watching them earlier had gone. The small garden area, the wall… the wall was partly torn down because of the constructions going on! Without thinking any further, he lifted Juliet up.

The two nurses burst into the recreation room of the security's staff. These were some men hired especially for escape attempts or patients becoming dangerously violent. Under normal circumstances, they had not much to do, and therefore the men sat in front of the TV, watching a baseball game. The game was nearing the end, and their eyes glued to the screen. It took a while before the information of the nurses got through.

„Why didn't you guys answer the phone?"

„Didn't hear it… So what's going on? Another escape attempt from old Charlie? He won't come far with his 80 years!"

„Look at this!" The nurse gave him the newspaper. „This missing girl and this criminal, they are here in our house!"

„Shouldn't we get assistance from the police?" one of them asked now, equipping himself with an electro teaser. „What if this moron has a gun? Guess no one has checked?"

„Of course not – he came in like any normal visitor! Who the hell could imagine he's a killer? We have to do something!"

„Overreaction gets us nowhere. If this guy is that dangerous, I don't want any one of my staff getting injured! - Jay, call the police! And we make sure he doesn't escape anywhere and doesn't suspect anything! Let's go! We take the route through the east wing and then up through the morgue!"

Tessa was bored and nervous. She had gone back to the car, but she could not drive! Perhaps she might be better off and away before the police showed up, she wondered. What took Stephan so long, dammit? Would he come back after all? Shit! The girl began to search the car (he might have left some money here, just in case) but found only this idiotic book from Nelson! You really don't walk one step without your favorite, eh? Out of boredom, she shuffled through some pages. Eventually, her eyes got caught by some sentences: "….In my next interview, Stephan told me more about his victims: … 'I saw her arms moving graciously. She wore silver bracelets. Shining. Tingling. I knew what I had to do. This was the enemy, who had to be vanquished, had to be silenced, if I wanted to survive. The blade was in my hand. It opened the well of blood, the well of redemption… once more…'

Shocked, the girl let the book sink on her knees. It's about HIM, she thought. From one second to another, all the weird things she had experienced in this psycho-cabin made sense! Nelson wrote about Stephan! 'Through the eyes of a killer'! Shit! She reached out for the door, ready to run. But at that moment, Stephan showed up beside the Ford, with her mother in his arms. What the fuck…? You have kidnapped her?

„Move aside, Tessa, quick!" He lowered Juliet down next to her in the backseat and then changed to the driver's seat. Doing this, he got a glimpse of the book in the girl's hands. Emotions washed over his face; she did not dare to decipher them. „You read it?" He turned away, started the engine before he had even closed the front door completely. „Read it through! Up to the last page!"

The old Ford was speeding along the street with squeaking tires. There was no way of getting out of the car now; they were too fast!

"Don't be afraid." The voice of her mother. But she was very afraid! She wished to have still her little knife, like always. But she had nothing! "This book, Mom! It is about HIM! Mom?!"

Juliet took her hand. "I know. Don't be afraid."

Fuck it! I'm in a car with two crazy people! The book fell to the ground, open on the last, ripped-out pages.

„The last pages are missing!" Tessa shouted, without knowing why.

„The last pages I will re-write today!" Stephan answered while he passed a red traffic light toward the city's border.

Re-write? What the hell did THAT mean?

„He's gone! Crap!" The security man swore and the accompanying nurses looked around uneasily. „And he took our patient!" One of them noticed, pointing at Juliet's shoes still standing on the sidewalk.

„And where's this girl?"

„No trace of her, too! Damned shit! They must've gone through the construction area! And of course, none of the workers found anything weird in letting them march out!"

„At least no one got hurt."

„Not yet…so what about –" The nurse stopped mid-sentence when two police officers showed up and thus answering her question.

=== Fresno / Police Station ===

Senior Detective Rowleys walked nervously through the room, waiting for the Marshall's office to call back. Some minutes ago, they had received the important news from the Halcox-Jameson-Institution. The fugitive psycho had a second hostage! It surprised Rowleys always again, how easy such situations got out of control. „This would not have happened, if we had had enough men in the first place to hunt him down," he repeated to one of his colleagues. The door opened. „We have informed all police patrols of the city," a female officer reported. „And we are going to block the main streets. Detective Caulder takes command of this operation."

Rowleys thanked her. However, he knew, they had not enough manpower. If this guy was smart enough he would slip through! The Detective sighed. He was about to go back to his computer when the door opened again. „I have found one of the doctors treating this man back in Porterville!" The officer waved with his cell phone. „Got him on the line right now, Sir!"

The Detective reached out, and the phone changed hands. Listening to the voice on the other end a moment later, Rowleys suppressed another sigh. '… I know this man personally, and I can only warn you! He is unpredictable and highly intelligent. He is dangerous…'

Rowleys made a sign to one of his officers. „Get me Caulder on the other line, hurry!"

Half an hour later it was clear they had either missed the fugitive or he and his two hostages had left the car and were hiding elsewhere. Senior Detective Rowleys was again involved in a discussion with the Marshall's office: „I need air-support NOW! … Yes, I know that already. But-" He covered the phone with one hand and turned to his waiting colleagues. „Why the heck this bank robbery has to happen exactly TODAY? Half of her air patrols are on the hunt down to Nevada!" His attention got back to the phone. „Yes… yes, I hear you. Yes, Highway Patrol is informed, but for maximum efficiency, we need air support!" He lifted his eyes to the ceiling in a pleading gesture. „… Yeah… I KNOW you do everything possible!" Then he hung up. It seemed, an orphan girl and a patient from a psychiatric clinic weren't nearly as important as a few million bucks!

He paced up and down, waited for any news, any change of the situation. The hands of the big clock moved slowly. Rowleys literally felt, how the fugitive slipped through the thin line of police with his hostages, just as the minutes passed. The signal of one of his officers' walkie-talkie let him gaze avidly in the respective direction. And he was not disappointed!

„A routine traffic control near Tulare reports a blue 1985-Ford fifteen m/h above the speed limit! They checked the license plate – it is our wanted car!"

„Great job!" With some fast steps, Rowleys crossed the office to the map on the wall, to determine the patrols which were close to the target and could give chase!

=== On the road ===

Some miles after Tulare, in a rather deserted area, the car made a cranky noise and lost speed abruptly. Stephan cursed. The old Ford twisted sideward and finally stopped; now half hanging down the shoulder in the bushes. Tessa grasped the opportunity the same second and jumped out of the car. Stumbling and running she tried to get away as fast as possible – wherever this might be! But the next moment Stephan had reached her, grabbed her firmly, and dragged her back down the shoulder. „What are you doing? The police will get you!"

„Leave me alone!" Tessa hit him with all her strength and fervor. „You won't kill ME! I'm not one of the stupid chicks!"

„'Course I won't kill you!" Stephan nullified the last attempt of the girl to get away and pinned her back against the grassy ground. Fear began mixing with the burning anger in her eyes.

„You are my child, Tessa! You are my daughter…" During the last words, his voice broke. He let her go and sat up again. Now they stared at each other, and he was the first to look away. When he lifted his head again, the girl still knelt there, arms folded in front of her chest like a protective armor. But she was still there! Stephan reached out.

„I am sorry…"

Now Tessa pushed him back. Someone saying 'sorry' to her was something she could handle even less than an attack. It made her feel vulnerable. Struggling to her feet she shouted: „Everybody is sorry today – so what? What the fuck we gonna do now? Without the FUCKING CAR?"

„It's sunset soon. We look for shelter. I think we drove by a farmhouse 10 minutes ago."

Stephan stood up and went back to the Ford to help Juliet. She had grasped the situation by now. "You ran away from that Institution."

"Yes. Five years ago. I had to, I had to, Juliet! The filled me with drugs; I did not even know anymore who I was on some days. I was… not dead and not alive either. I was afraid to finally lose even the memory of you. I had to run. I went back into to old cabin. And there, Tessa found me by accident."

"But where are we going to go now? They will catch us!"

He wrapped her in his jacket. "We … we go to Mexico." Deep in his mind, he knew their odds to escape stood astronomical high against them, but he refused to think about it. It was like a fail-safe procedure kicking in whenever the fear of being caught got overwhelming again. He could not go back! He could not be trapped between white lifeless walls, chained to the devil more with each day and night! And he could not allow the ones he loved were brought back into the dungeons either!

Tessa followed Stephan and Juliet over the field, still totally overwhelmed by everything. What the fuck am I supposed to do now? Trying to hitchhike down to Mexico was an unreal thing, too, given that her picture was in the news everywhere. Concerning this, Stephan had been right to hold her back! Stephan was her father? And he was a serial killer?! However, so far he had also been the only person in the world who at least seemed to care about her! She remembered one of her friends, whose parents were gangbangers and drug dealers – and of course, had iced a few people. So maybe, it was not a big deal. As long, as you managed to stay out of prison, that was! And I can always run away again. Hands buried deep in her pockets, she marched on.

More than an hour later after an exhausting walk through a rough area, they reached the ruins of a barn and some other abandoned buildings. Stephan brought Juliet into the closest building. The last part of the way through scrubs and stones, he had carried her again. Maybe later, he would find a better night's shelter, but for now, he was content to have a little rest.

"I'll go checking if there's any food somewhere," Tessa announced.

"Yes. And another blanket, or anything else that can provide some warmth." Juliet looked frail and frozen, but in Stephan's opinion, this only enforced her beauty. She was unearthly, angelic, indeed… He caressed her face. „I have you back… My beautiful angel…"

„Stephan…" She took his hands and smiled through tears. „I'm ugly, old, and ugly."

„Don't lie to me!" He saw her shiver and held her as close as possible. Then he kissed her on the forehead, the eyes, and finally on the lips.

„They will find us and bring us back…" she whispered. The moonlight shimmered on her features.

„No, they won't!" Stephan's right-hand stroke through her hair and gently lifted her head up. „No one can catch an angel! An angel spreads its wings and flies out of the deepest prison!"

Meanwhile, Tessa was filing through the junkyard that had once been the farmhouse's kitchen but had been vandalized for years. It would be a miracle if she could find something to eat here! Everything was smashed or long past the expiring date! She emptied a rotten board. There was a can with … the label had fallen off and she threw the thing away. Down there, in this wooden box, however – yes! Two cans with baked beans, in good condition, only half a year expired. Things like that she had eaten while living on the streets.

Detective Caulder had been on the tracks of the fugitive since the call from Rowleys reached him. Perhaps he had been a little too cautious in his effort not to raise any suspicion and thus to provoke a psychopathic person to violence. Anyway, he lost the old Ford and took the wrong turn westwards. When he realized his mistake, it was already getting dark. He drove back to the „55" and there, just by accident, he discovered the wanted Ford, hanging empty - of course – in the scrubs. Together with his colleague, Caulder checked the immediate surroundings and then pointed in the direction of some ruins already dissolving in the twilight. „I think it is there, where they went."

„Yes. Looks that way." The other officer had switched on his flashlight and let the light wander over the ground and the bushes. „They definitely took off in that direction, at least after what I can see now."

„I go!"

„We should wait for reinforcements."

„No, costs us too much time! Come on," Caulder padded on his companion's shoulder. „I had some weeks of psychological training, remember? I get this done!"