After the Evil – A Jake Roberts Novel (Book 1) (9 page)

No Suspects in Murder of Local Psychiatrist

FBI Agent Mika Scott was quoted late last night as
saying that no further information is available regarding the
Abrams murder case at this time.

They were clueless, as always, and she was still
rocking. If they found out anything, it would have to be by
accident, and Lori didn’t allow accidents. She was far too careful,
organized, and intelligent. The caffeine brought her back to life,
and the whole grain wheat toast helped to absorb the acidic feeling
in her stomach. She revisited the bathroom to apply makeup, and
brush her hair. She bolted into the walk-in closet where her
flowered sundress hung. It was Emily’s favorite, and the one she
would wear for the visit.

Have to get a move on, my baby’s waiting.

Just as Lori reached for the front door handle, a
knock startled her. No one except for the postman knew she lived
there. She never invited anyone into her private sanctuary.
Swinging open the front door, she hoped to sign for whatever it
was, and be on her way. A tall man with a muscular build stood at
the door, wearing a striped tie and a blue button-down shirt over
gray slacks. He had a slight smile, but looked as if he was on a
mission.

* * *

She was as beautiful in the early morning, just as
she was in Abrams’s office. I was excited when I was assigned to
interview her for the case.

“Lori Powers?”

“Yes.”

“Detective Jake Roberts, Homicide, I’m sorry to
bother you.”

I held up my wallet with my department
identification, and shield.

“I just need a moment of your time to ask a few
questions regarding Dr. Thaddeus Abrams. You were a patient of his,
correct?”

“Homicide?” Lori says.

She studied my identification.

“Yes, I am, I mean, was. How awful, I just this
minute read about it.”

She looks at the newspaper and shakes as if a chill
has risen up her spine over the tragic news.

“I’m afraid I missed—”

She saw I wasn’t following.

“I’m a flight attendant, and I have been away for
the past few days. I can’t believe it.”

She looks a little closer at me.

“Didn’t I see you in his office?”

“That’s quite a memory you have.”

“Not really. I deal with people all day long on
airplanes. With the terrorist things going on, we have to pay
closer attention now. I pay more attention than most crewmembers,
because the whole thing frightens me to death,” Lori says.

She shudders. Her beauty and charm are
disarming.

Pay attention, Jake.

“You’re right. I was just leaving when you walked
into his office. Anyway, I got your name and address from his
client list. Again, I’m sorry to bother you. Do you have a
minute?”

“Sure, I was on my way out, but for Dr. Abrams, if I
can be of any help.”

She pivots as if working an aircraft cabin, and
invites me into her home. As she walks in front of me, her perfume
inspires me more than questions about Abrams. We stop in her living
room.

“He was a very good man, well-respected. I hadn’t
been a patient of his for very long though,” Lori says.

“You were one of the last patients he saw that day,
he was murdered later in the evening. I thought maybe something
might stand out, something unusual, while you were with him.”

“Unusual? How do you mean?”

“Did he receive any distressing phone calls, or
interruptions? It appears that he might have known his assailant.
Did he show any signs of stress?”

I like the dress.

“No, did he show any before you left?”

She jams me up. I didn’t expect the question, but
she has a valid point, because I was pretty much there right before
she was.

“Ah no, he appeared fine to me.”

Now I feel clumsy, off balance and stupid for
asking. It isn’t easy with her. I’m supposed to be doing the
intimidating. I can’t stop looking into her eyes, and not like a
cop looking for signs of deception.

“Can I ask you another question, Detective
Roberts?”

I can’t stop the smile from appearing on my
face.

“Normally, I get to ask all of the questions, but
under the circumstances of
both
of us being his patients, I
guess it would be fair.”

“Why were you seeing Dr. Abrams?”

With a simple question, she makes me feel
self-conscious and uncomfortable. My emotional state is fragile,
and I’m trying to keep it under control, but for some reason I feel
I can unravel in front of her without any penalties. The hurt
floats to the surface. I can’t keep it under water.

“That Miss Powers is a subject I really don’t want
to discuss.”

“I’m sorry, I not trying to pry. I’m just
curious.”

Detective Roberts you are a handsome man.

For some reason, I can’t help but feel at ease
around her. She is warm and friendly. Her smile is enticing and
personal. I get the impression it’s only there for me. It’s
probably one of the reasons why she was hired as a flight
attendant. A great smile is one way to distract someone with a
fear-of-flying. Because Abrams isn’t going to be any help, I don’t
see any reason why I shouldn’t let it out. Sometimes it’s better to
confide in a stranger.

“I was involved in a shooting recently, with a
militia group. A young girl was killed.”

“The department requires a shrink visit after
shootings.”

I read about the kid with the Molotov cocktail and
the assault rifle.”

She doesn’t back away, and takes me straight on.

“You were the officer who shot her? You were wounded
too, weren’t you?”

“Yes I was, to both.”

“Well, I want you to know Detective Roberts, what
you did was a courageous thing. You tried to make a difference in
this world. You performed your duty, and protected the rest of us.
I thank you for that.”

Amazingly, I feel redeemed and absolved. The back of
my hand drags across each eye and I pinch my nose.

“Thank you, I haven’t been doing well with it.”

“It must be very difficult for you. Was Dr. Abrams
able to help?”

You have beautiful, honest eyes.

“It is, and no, but he tried. We really didn’t have
much time to get anywhere with it. I was resentful going to see
him. I don’t like exposing my weaknesses.”

She reaches forward and gently pats the back of my
hand. I’m in the middle of a murder investigation, and she is
standing there with her reassuring smile comforting me. A lot is
racing through my mind.

“I don’t have a degree in psychiatry, God knows I
was a patient of his too, but if you ever need someone to talk to,
someone to listen, well you know where to find me.”

She points at her address and phone number on my
notepad.

“Thanks.”

I don’t know what else to say. It’s weird, but I
don’t know what to do with my hands.

“What about you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

She looks at me with little girl eyes.

“After what you just told me detective, my story
seems trivial by comparison.”

“I’d like to know, please.”

She becomes sullen and starts to pace.

“Well, my daughter, a few years ago, decided this
world wasn’t a fit place to live in.”

She started to straighten things along the way she
thought were out of place. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“She had just turned sixteen when... I never got to
say goodbye.”

She looks off somewhere past me, while she uses a
tissue.

“Is there a Mr. Powers, someone to help you through
it?”

I try to make the question sound as if it’s coming
from a professional level, rather than an invasion of privacy for
personal gain. She looks at me with more sadness and anger.

“Mr. Powers deserted us years ago. He wasn’t much in
the first place, but he really wasn’t much in the last place. The
truth is, I wish he had left sooner.”

She looks away again during her recollection of how
events of the past had hurt her.

“You know sometimes we protect our relationships, as
weak as they are, for some strange reason.”

I’m glad to hear Mr. Powers is history. She never
mentioned a boyfriend, so that door is open. Strangely enough,
Abrams’s untimely departure may just have brought two of his
patients together, for no other reason than to console one
another.

“The same offer goes to you, Mrs. Powers. If you
ever need someone to listen, I’m here.”

I hand her my business card.

“Lori,” she says.

She reaches out and offers a long, slender hand.

Maybe he is the one.

I take her hand and hold it longer than a
handshake.

“Jake.”

“Very nice to meet you, Jake.”

We both feel awkward, but sense something unique has
just happened. I’m uncertain about what the next move is. The
possibilities are endless. The moment lingers for a while.

“Was there anything else, Jake?”

“Will you be flying off soon?”

“Actually, I just got back and I’m leaving to visit
my daughter. I make it a point to see her as often as I can.”

Her mood drops a few levels again.

“I miss her a great deal.”

I wonder what the militia girl’s parents think of
me.

“Well, I have everything I need. I still have two
more of his patients to see, so I better go.”

Lori offered an invitation.

“I’ll be back in the house about four, if you need
anything else.”

She gives up another irresistible smile. For so
long, I have protected my castle, and yet she easily breaches its
walls, and captures it. I’m surprised by how much I want to let the
floodgates burst open. I go with a simple “Okay.” As her door
closes behind me, I return to reality.

What would she want with a broken down cop
anyway?

Lori watches me through the window.

I have a good feeling about you. Maybe you’re the
one.

* * *

It was a beautiful morning. The birds seemed
energized, and the air smelled clean. White-topped, and
gray-bottomed clouds floated indiscernibly by. There were breaks
between the clouds that allowed laser shafts of sunlight to touch
the earth. On her way to the cemetery, Lori stopped by the
florist’s shop and purchased a bouquet of daises and carnations.
They were on Emily’s list of favorite flowers. Rejoicing at the
warmth of the sun, Lori made her usual trek through the miniature
monuments, with names and departure dates, until she arrived at
Emily’s.

“Hi baby, mommy’s here. I missed you terribly.”

She stood with her arms full of flowers. She didn’t
hear a reply. Lori tried again.

“Emily, mommy’s here.

Silence, not hearing her daughter’s usual greeting
was a painful blow.

“Baby?”

No answer. Lori stressed and listened closer, but
still nothing. Standing with her eyes closed, Lori remembered
Emily’s suicide note.

You should have stopped him. Why didn’t you stop
him? I hate you. I will hate you forever.

Finally, a very subdued child’s voice spoke.

I’m here, mommy.

Lori looked rapidly left and right.

“Where are you, Emily?”

She became anxious, possessed. Her baby was near.
She didn’t care if anyone saw her.

“Baby, where are you?”

I’m in the dirt, mommy.

Lori quickly gathered the flowers she had brought.
She fell down on her knees and placed one hand on the grave. The
other slid along the smooth headstone.

“Baby, what’s wrong? I came as fast as I could.
Please, don’t be angry with me.”

Who is he?

“Who, baby?”

That man mommy, who was that man you were talking
to?

“You mean the detective, Detective Roberts, baby?
The man who came to see me? Oh he’s nobody, just wanted to ask me
some questions.”

A groundskeeper, a black man with a rake, stopped to
watch Lori. He stared at her, and she glared back until he finally
moved on.

He’s bad mommy, a bad man.

“Oh no Emily, he’s no such thing. He was just asking
about Dr. Abrams.”

Lori’s voice trailed off.

You mean the dead Dr. Abrams? Maybe he’d like to ask
about the dead Father Moralli, or maybe the dead Senator
Whitman?

Lori looked down not knowing how to answer. Instead,
she started to pull twigs and weeds from the grass and tossed them
to the side. She never liked when Emily was in a bad mood.

“Emily—”

Leave her be! She’s only concerned. Jake Roberts
is a problem
.

Lori quickly surveyed the cemetery for mourners.

“I like him. He’s not like the others.”

She waited, but no one answered. Lori drifted off
with her thoughts.

Daddy was on top of her. Emily gripped the sheets
while he sexually assaulted her. It hurt, but she was afraid to
tell on him. She loved him, and hated him. She did not want to be
the cause of any more problems between her fighting parents. When
she tried to tell, it was as if mommy did not want to hear.

Before he finished with her, Lori returned to
reality then the image of Jake Roberts replaced the horror of the
dream. A smile appeared on her face. Life did not have to be full
of heartache.

Could he be the one?

Inside, her heart danced with a renewed sense of
optimism. Lori felt hopeful again. It had been a long time since
she had any feelings.

* * *

It’s my job to be analytical and know the geography.
An intense debate is going on inside of my head as I think about
Lori. I want to feel her passion, to share every minute, to listen
to her words, and be touched by her. I want to watch her breathe.
My cell phone rings as I drive away from Lori’s residence.

“Are you up for some lunch?” Mika says.

Imagine that, a call from Mika in the middle of my
debate about falling in love with Lori.

“I’m close to Hennigan’s, got anything?” Mika
says.