The Ones Who Got Away (3 page)

“But then, you started walking further and further into the sea until your head disappeared, so I jumped out of my truck and raced to rescue you.” Then he said seriously, his expression looking hurt “Why would you ever do that to yourself? Don‘t you know a lot of people care about you?”

“I guessed I thought nobody would miss me when I’m gone. I was just tired of living. But now it seems I was wrong.”

We exchanged a smile and shared a life together after that.

Trapped

I marked off another day on the solid brick wall with my nails. Seven days. I was done crying. My eyes wandered around the room. It had only a tiny window and the door was bolted from the outside. There was truly no way of escaping. It was not like I would even have the energy to run away from this place. I can’t remember the last time I ate. All I had was tap water running from the sink. The stale air from the basement filled my lungs. I was sure I was starting to stink because I haven’t had a shower since I have been here. I sat at the edge of the bed and hugged my knees to my chest and waited. Forever waiting for someone to save me until everything went black.

My eyes opened but it was still black. I blinked repeatedly. Was I blind? No please, God no. Wait, my eyes started to adjust to the darkness and I found myself in a car. I looked out the window. We were on the road, a long serpentine-like one with nothing but the woods surrounding us. Wait, us? There were people talking but I could not hear them clearly. It sounded muffled as if I was underwater. Was I finally rescued from that hellish place that kept me hostage for a week? Then, I heard his voice. I turned around and screamed but no sound came out.

My kidnapper was there but he was not even looking at me. He was talking to the people in the driver and passenger seat. A woman was holding the steering wheel while a man was interrogating my kidnapper. I realized they were cops from their uniforms and the badges they wore with pride. We were in a police car. I cried tears of joy at finally being rescued but as I reached out, my hand went through the back of the car seat. I gasped as I observed my hand. It was glowing in an eerie kind of way, almost transparent to my surroundings. Was I dead? Was it too late to save me? So many questions weighed my head until it felt so heavy and I drifted off to sleep.

It was such a beautiful dream. A memory, really. The thing that I was holding on to. The thing that kept my heart beating and blood in my veins flowing. My fiancé, Houston. My engagement party was the last event I had been to. Right before I was abducted. I could not remember anything else after that. Just nothingness. That was when I woke up again.

“You got a real name? Or are you going to continue this stupid John Doe charade?” The woman asked my kidnapper. I met her eyes through the rear view mirror but she looked right through me. Like I was invisible. The truth I was struggling to accept. I scrutinized at her badge and read her name. Linda.

“You wanna talk to me.” My kidnapper asked, his tone twisted, I shuddered at it.

The man next to Linda, Luke spoke up. He was the second cop, the man in the passenger seat. “We have got blood and DNA putting you at the scene Trisha was abducted.” I sat up straight at the mention of my name. I was right. They were going to rescue me. But why can’t they see me? I’m right here! I slammed my fist at the window but it just went right through, adding the frustration.

“Then, why are you taking me down this road unless you wanna find the body?” John smirked.

“To give you a chance to help yourself. Maybe get a lighter sentence if you cooperated.” Linda said

“Are you from the South, Detective? The way you talk, it sounds like you’re from there.”

“As a matter- of- fact, I am.” Linda replied

“Your perfume is flowery. Not what I would expect from someone in your position.” John said, not taking his eyes off Linda. He continued changing the topic and focusing on Linda. I had to admit she was pretty with her high cheekbones and fair skin. She could fair as a celebrity but John was being a total pervert.

“I’m not wearing any” Linda said, rolling her eyes, irritation seeping down her bones. Even I was getting annoyed.

“Cologne then?” John asked directing his eyes to Luke.

“It’s aftershave. Nothing flowery about it.” Luke snapped.

“So how did you do it, John? Kidnapping Trisha from her engagement party? In a public area, no less?” Linda resumed. Trying to squeeze information from him. If that was possible. He has been avoiding all those questions by changing the topic.
 

“You see the world in a certain way. The way you want it to work. You don’t know that.” John said. I frowned, trying to make sense of his words.

“Are you saying you two had some kind of relationship?” Luke tried his luck. I felt like throwing my high heel to Luke’s head. There was no way I would ever cheat on my fiancé. We were going to get married soon. Especially not with a dirt bag like John. I turned to take in John’s features. He was slightly hunched with a nose too big for his face. Other than that, nothing stood out about him. He was the kind of guy you would pass by without as much as a second glance.

“I’m saying sometimes the pieces of the puzzle don’t fit.” John said.

“You mean, she fought back. We’ve got your blood at the scene.” Linda said.

“Did you get your ass kicked by a woman, hotshot?” Luke taunted him. This I could not agree more.

“I’m not the guy who you look at and think rapist. I’m more of the guy who you see at the dentist. There is no reason to fight me.”

“So, you wanted to be important. To stand out.” Linda tried to fathom his words. So was I.

“Because women like Trisha don’t notice losers like you.” Another award-winning comeback from Luke. You know what, when I wake up from whatever state I am now, I’ll treat him to a nice big dinner.

“Well-mannered women like Trisha, she notices.” That was when I was sucked into a black hole of a memory.

I was walking across the parking lot, alone. I wanted to get a surprise present for Houston. It was all my fault. He insisted on following but I turned down his offer. I was stupidly fearless that I could take on any jerk in my way just because I learned the Taekwondo. I opened the car door and grab the gift. Just as I was about to leave, a man caught my attention. The man who I know now to be John.

“Excuse me, I’m sorry. I wanted to pick up some take-out for my wife, she’s six months along and she’s craving a burger but my car won’t start. Do you mind if I use your cell phone to call AAM. My battery just died.” He motioned at his Nokia. He seemed totally harmless; I really couldn’t blame myself for helping out. I gave him my cell. As he was talking to the cell, he turned to me.

“Do you mind turning on the engine for me?” John asked as he tossed the keys to me. I bit my lip as I sat on the driver seat. Why not help out? I figured. The Good Samaritan in me shone through. I turned on the engine and it came to life instantly. “Hey, it worked!” I exclaimed. He was in the passenger seat within seconds.

“Real stunt you pulled there at end of that San Francisco marathon. Never seen a girl so pleased with herself.” How did he know? Before I could ask, he clamped my mouth with a handkerchief. I managed to break his nose before I blacked out.

My heart felt like it was plummeting to my stomach. He knew about the thing that happened after that marathon. The one that I joined with Houston.

“Are you a runner, John?”

“No”

“Then, what were you doing at the marathon.” Linda asked.

Silence followed while I was engulfed in yet another haunting memory. Houston and I always joined that San Francisco marathon. That was where I met him. On the third year I joined it with him, I managed to complete the marathon shorter than my target time. So, I told him something that would change our lives forever.

“If I ever had any doubt of what we are capable of doing, together,” I said. “I need you with me.” And I held up a little placard that I wrote with bold letters ‘Houston, will you marry me?’. I smiled as the memory of him saying over and over “I was supposed to say that, I’ve been planning to propose” crossed my mind. Only he and I were there. Houston was recording my little stunt with a handy cam. I was going to show it at the engagement party. That was my gift to Houston. But I did not stand a chance to return to the party so that means nobody has seen it. Then, how could he?

Linda talked in a hushed tone to Luke. Being ghostly had its perks. I could hear word for word.

“The car he used to kidnap Trisha was a reported stolen for the past six months. They tracked the car and the owner said she had received three parking tickets during that period. All of them at the same area.”

“He’s staying at the same place long enough to get the tickets. That must be his neighborhood.”

“Or where he dumped the body.” I slumped at the word ‘body’.

***

About two hours had passed. I finally learnt that the police officers were transporting John all the way from prison to face his hearing. I caught Linda exchanging a look with Luke. I was no mind reader but I could tell something was not good.

“The police have found her body, John. At that little basement you locked her up in. Game over.”

“You found Trisha?” A terrified expression flashed across his face.

“You locked her up for months before you killed her.”

“What did you do with her all that time?” Luke turned to look at him.

“You think it’s about wanting her body. You can’t imagine a man keeping a woman around without hurting her, can you?” he said with an amused grin. It looked twisted to me.

“Then why would you keep her for so long?” Linda asked curiously.

“Tell me detective, “John once again focused his gaze on Linda. I would squirm in my seat if I was her but she seemed unperturbed. “What gets you out of bed in the morning? There must be something you hold on to. The thing that keeps you tethered to this world. I don’t see a wedding ring. A boyfriend, perhaps?”

“So what was Trisha holding on to?”

“Love.”

That was truth. That four-letter word was what I kept close to help me survive the long hours alone in the dark. My template for sanity. Another memory took place and filled every corner of my vision. When I first found myself in that dungeon, he was there. I slammed the metal door, ready to kick it off its hinges but he said it was no use. Nobody would hear a sound. I told him that someone was going to find me. My friends, my family, Houston. They will dig up every wormhole to find me. He just snickered and replied “But they are not going to find me.”

I was brought back to the present when John told of my story. The one when I was seven years old, learning to ride my bike with my sister. I wobbled and fell and scraped my knee. But I got up and tried again, determined to do it right the second time unlike my sister who ran off to mom for comfort.

Linda asked, her perfectly trimmed brows meeting “Little Trisha. You knew her when she was a kid?”

“You’re the detective. Figure it out.” Was all John said.

Linda pulled the car to the stop and got out. She was followed by Luke with me on his tracks. They had a conversation before she dialed her station and asked if my bicycle incident meant anything. It turns out it was part of the video I was going to show at my engagement party. Then it hit me. I sent all my home videos plus Houston’s to a video center to be edited and published into a CD. That was how John must have gotten his hands on them.

After what seemed like hours, it turned out John works with the video company that I sent my videos too. My guess was right. That did not surprise me but what did was that the body they found at the basement was not mine. It was another woman who was missing since 2008. Three other women who sent their videos to him also went missing and were never discovered. But I might have the hopes of being found alive! I stared at my body that is floating on nothingness and stifle a sob. Or at least that will bring me one step closer to my real body so that I can rest in peace.

“What was the cause of death?” Luke asked eager to delve into the mind of the psycho. So was I.

“No strangulation, no broken bones, toxic reports came out clean.” Linda’s porcelain-like face was baffled.

“Then, how is he killing them?” Luke wondered aloud.

“Five women,” Linda stated, her eyes wide with her discovery.