A Shadow Fell (10 page)

             
             
             
             
             
             
             
2
1

             
The knock on my door came just as I was leaving
for
the hospital. “Con. How are you?”

             
“Same as ever,” he said. “You holding up okay?”

             
“I’m doing as well as can be expected I guess,” I said. “I’m just on my way out, though. Headed down to
see Callie
.”

             
“Oh, well, don’t let me hold ya up. Just wanted to
make
sure everything was copa
c
etic.”

             
“Sure. Listen, if you’re not doing anything, why don’t you come along?”

             
He
was clearly
surprised at the invitation. “Yeah, I’d like that
,
”
he said.
             

             
I had been bothered
by the way things
were
left the last time I had seen Con and bothered even more
by the things
Tom Kilborn
had
told me
about
him.
The drive to Ocala and back seemed like a good opportunity to
search out
a few
answers for myself about what
had gone
on with his wife.

             
But, as usual, he remained a hard guy to get information from.
By the time we reached
the city
I
was really no further ahead in my quest to learn more about my enigmatic neighbor
.

             
“You want me to wait here for ya?” he said when we arrived at the hospital parking lot.

             
It didn’t seem fair to leave him sitting
out
in the car for an hour. “No. Come up with me.”

             
When we entered her room, which was still protected by a uniformed police officer who checked Con for weapons, Callie was slightly propped up in her bed – a semi-sitting position, which I took to be a good sign. As I approached her
it was apparent that
she knew me from my previous visits so there was none of the fear that had originally been so evident. But there was no element of happiness involved either.

             
I motioned Con to join us and he did so cautiously and shyly. When he stopped by
Callie’s
bedside
a very
strange
thing happened. Her eyes lit up – the first time I had seen this happen – and she held out her hand to him. I was a
little bowled over
at this turn of events. Con looked
shaken, too. He glanced at me and I
motioned to him that it was okay
to take her hand
.

             
As he stood there, holding her
hand in both of his
, a small change seemed to come over him.
It was like he was in awe of her. He started to
gently massage
her hand and arm in a way that struck me as not entirely
fitting
.

             
Callie
appeared entirely comfortable
;
in fact, all the while
Con
held her there was a contented smile on her face.

             
             
“A
n excellent indication
,” Doctor Salouf said from behind us. He came to her bedside and stood across from Con and me. “She is demonstrating a desire to socialize. A very good sign indeed.”

             
I was
happy to hear she was showing signs of improvement,
of course, but
deep down
I was a little disappointed that it hadn’t been me she
had
reached out to as her first ally.

             
“How is she doing with her therapy,
D
octor?” I asked.

             
“She’s doing well. It’s a slow procedure but she is moving ahead even better than I had hoped.”

             
He seemed genuinely pleased with her progress. It was the best day I’d had in a long time.

             
On the drive home Con
was even quieter than usual, seemingly deep in thought. Several times, though, he
comment
ed that
Callie was a good woman.
It struck me as a bit odd that he was apparently so profoundly engrossed in thoughts of her.

             
I
decided it
presented an opportunity for me to enquire about his own marital status. “You ever been married, Con
?
”

             
After a deep breath he exhaled noisily. “Yeah,” he said. “Once.”

             
I hoped by saying nothing it would prompt him to offer up something more
enlightening
but he remained
quiet.
“Divorce?” I asked casually.

             
“Look out!” he shouted. I had taken my eyes off the road for a second and barely missed a raccoon waddling across the road in front of us.

             
Con never chose to respond to my query about divorce and
, on reflection,
I thought it would seem pushy
of me to bring
it up again.

             
             
             
             
             
             
             
2
2

             
I hoped that with Callie showing signs of progress toward a return to the real world, I might start to experience fewer nightmares. But
that
turned out not to be the case. I continued to routinely wake up in the wee hours, dr
enched in sweat,
Tanya’s screams echoing in my ears.

             
My dreams had changed
though.
Although I could never recall specific details I usually woke with the sense that I had drawn blood, caused fear.
But the feelings
I
experienced
afterward
always
left me
conflicted. I wanted to feel good about the pain I had brought to bear, but
it seemed my vengeful actions only made me suffer more guilt.
And the more guilt I felt, the angrier I became.

             
             
             
             
             
             
*
             
*
             
*
             

             
Callie was on
an intensive
and effective
curriculum of physical exercise to win back the muscle tone she had lost from
two
months of
total
inactivity
. She
was
also be
ing
seen by a psychologist in an effort to reactivate her memory cells.
One day I received a call from the psychologist and learned t
he sessions
had been
very
successful in
one extraordinary sense: they
had
restor
ed
he
r
ability to speak
. S
he had
quite magically simply start
ed
talking again. She
had no memory of her past
yet, but
I
now
had
goo
d reason to believe her total re
covery
was imminent
.

             
So as not to confuse her
at this early stage in her rec
uperation
I was
simply
referred to as ‘
Jack
.’
There was no effort made to explain my relationship as her husband.

             
             
             
             
             
             
*
             
*
             
*

             
The case of the little girl who I’d been told had disappeared from a town north of my home
was resolved on a happy note. She was found in an apartment not far from where she’d been taken. She had been abducted by a young woman who was suffering from a host of mental issues. The child had been
confined but was otherwise
well cared for during the eight days of her
captivity
and appeared to have suffered no permanent damage
as a result of the episode.
Despite what I was dealing with
I was
flooded
with relief that she had not ended up another in the long list of trage
d
ies orchestrated by Reuben Henderson.

             
             
             
             
             
             
             
23

             
The phone call I received at precisely 2 o’clock in the morning interrupted a nightmare – and replaced it with one much worse.
As
I fumbled for the phone, sh
aking off the remnants of sleep, I g
lanc
ed at the bedside clock. A
sudden
and
gut-wrenching
foreboding brought me
completely
awake.
I
brought the phone to my ear but
said nothing
. I could hear the sound of soft breathing
.

             
Then a
voice I had hoped never to hear again unless
emanating
from a man in the final throes of death, after having suffered the most excruciating pain
possible
,
whispered,
“Well, well, Jack,
it’s been a long time. And how has your life been going? How’s the family?
....
C
at got your tongue?
I’m disappointed. I thought for sure you’d have some
special
words of advice for me.”

             
“I do
.
”

             
“Oh? Do tell
, Jack
. Share, please.”

             
“Give up playing your little mind games
you sick fuck
. They won’t work on me. I’m coming for you. Soon.”

             
“What
, n
o whining about how I’ve ruined your life?
Taken your precious little angel from you? Destroyed your beautiful wife?
Tsk tsk, Jack, you’re much too composed. Maybe I’ll have to see what I can do about that. Hmm? Well
…
bye for now.
Do sleep well.”
             

             
The threat was obvious.
Without hanging up I clicked for a dial tone and
called the hospital. When the duty nurse picked up I tried to keep the panic out of my voice. “It’s Jack Parmenter calling. I need you to
go to
my wife’s room and have the officer guarding her call me. It’s very very important that you do this immediately.”

             
I was lucky enough to be speaking to someone who knew when to act.
             
A few minutes later I received a call from Officer Alejandro of the Ocala police force. “Mr. Parmenter, is something wrong, sir?”

             
“First I need you to check that my wife is okay. Do that now, please.”

             
“Hold on,” he said.
I heard him enter her room and walk across the floor, then retrace his steps back into the hallway. “Everything’s fine, sir,” he reported. “She’s breathing easy and seems quite comfortable.”

             
“Okay
, l
isten up. I’ve received a call from Reuben Henderson and he has as much as said he’s going to be making an attempt on her life. I need you to be extra vigilante. Trust no one. Is that clear?”

             
He seemed unfazed.
“Of course, sir. You can rely on
me
.”

             
“Thank you, Officer.
Please don’t let me down.”

             
“
Right
, sir. Everything’s under control.”

             
I waited until I knew Tom Kilborn would be at his desk and phoned him. “Jack,” he said, coming on the line. “I know what you’re calling about.”

             
“You know he called me?”

             
“We have a
tap
on your phone. I thought you knew that. Anyway, you can rest easy. The call was made from Arizona. We’ll---”
             

             
“Arizona
?
!
Jesus,
Tom
! M
y parents live in Sun City, a suburb of Phoenix! You have to get some people there now!”

             
“
Shit
.
Give me the address.”

             
I did.

             
“
Okay.
We’re
on it.” He hung up.

             
I phoned my parents number. It rang
until the answering machine came on.
I
told them
their lives might be in danger, that they should
leave the house, go somewhere safe
immediately, no matter what time they received the
message
.

             
All I could do now was await the call from
either my parents or Kilborn
.

             
It didn’t take long.
Within
ninety minutes
my phone rang
.

             
The moment I heard
his
voice I knew the news was bad. “Jack, don’t
panic. There’s been
---”

             
“Oh, God, no. Please don’t tell me
---”

             
“
Y
our mo
ther
suffered a mild heart attack from all the excitement.
That’s all.
She’s at Phoenix General now. Henderson did show up at their home but luckily a neighbor happened to spot him before he was able to do anything.
”

             
             
“Where’s my dad?”

             
“We’re trying to locate him now. Apparently he’s out of town with some golfing buddies. They’re in the Palm Springs area – planning on playing several different courses.”

             
I
felt like I was about ready to have a heart attack myself.
“I’ll
ge
t a flight out there as soon as I can. Meanwhile, for Christ’s sake, watch over Callie.”

             
“I’ve already been in touch with Ocala P.D. -  they’re going to double up on the guard station. And hospital security has been fully apprised of 
the situation.”

             
“I’ve got a cell phone now that I’ll keep with me.” I gave him the number. “Call me if anything happens. Anything.”

             
“I will, Jack. And I can’t tell you how sorry I am for everything that’s happened.”

             
“Yeah.”