Helpless (36 page)

They were still seeing each other. Still involved. She knew that Tom disapproved. That was why she kept the relationship a secret from him.

Why didn’t they go to Jill’s house?
he asked himself. He was in the hospital, and her house was empty.

Mitchell was a known womanizer, that was why. He wanted to show off in his domain. He wanted to impress her. To seduce her.

So, they were alone in his bedroom. Mitchell got aggressive. His daughter rejected him. Mitchell became angry. Simple as that.

“How far now?” Tom asked the driver.

“Three minutes. Four at the most,” the driver said. Tom had figured on that answer. He’d been keeping mental track of the time.

“What’s the big rush?” the driver asked. “Is there a fire where you’re going?”

“Not yet,” Tom answered him.

The cab turned onto Roland Boyd’s street.

“Shut off your lights,” Tom instructed. “Pull the cab to a stop fifty feet before the driveway on your right.”

“Shut off my—”

“Do it,” Tom commanded.

The cabdriver did as he was told.

“Do you have any duct tape in the trunk?”

The man stuttered before he could respond. “I think so,” he managed to say.

“Pop the trunk.” Tom heard a click as the trunk latch released. “How much money do you need to guarantee you’ll wait for me here?” Tom asked.

“Are you breaking the law?” the man asked.

“Give me a number.”

“Five hundred?” the driver said, though he made it sound like a question and not a demand.

“Done. I’ll be right back.”

Tom flicked a switch to shut off the cab’s interior light so he could exit the vehicle in darkness. He walked to the back of the cab and opened the trunk. He moved quickly to cover the trunk light with his cupped hand. Inside the trunk he found a roll of duct tape and, even better, a box of spark plugs.

Tom closed the trunk and fished around on the ground for a suitable rock. He took a single spark plug out from the box and, using the rock’s edge, knocked off a piece of the ceramic insulator. He slipped the ceramic piece into his pocket, grabbed the duct tape, and closed the trunk.

Tom cut a zigzagged path across the well-kept, chemical-green lawn. He avoided the lighted walkway and kept mostly to the shadows. He crouched low when he reached the front of the house. It was mostly windows, with more lights on in the home than he expected to see. But a long, trimmed row of evergreen shrubs kept him hidden from view. He was glad the Boyds didn’t have a dog, but was angry with himself for not having secured a weapon of some sort before he left the hospital.

Tom’s first objective was to enter the house silently. Cutting power to the home was one option, but he worried Mitchell might panic if the house went dark. Jill might try to escape and could get hurt in the process. A loud shattering window could result in the same. So Tom needed to break the window without making a sound.

The steps to the front landing were lit as well. Tom hid behind a large ceramic planter perched at the top of the landing. Somebody would have to open the front door to see him crouched there.

He confirmed that the front door was locked before pulling off the first strip of duct tape. He secured several strips of tape in an X-shaped pattern to the opaque, rectangular sidelight window nearest to the brass handle of the mahogany front door.

With the tape in place, Tom retrieved the ceramic spark-plug chip from his pants pocket. He moved out from the shadows and stood about five feet from the taped window. He threw the ceramic chip at the center of the X with a dart player’s grace. There was a quiet, near imperceptible popping sound when the chip hit the window. Veins of breaking glass danced an erratic pattern across the cracked window. But the combination of ceramic and duct tape made the break no louder than a drop of water landing in an empty bucket.

Tom popped the glass pane free from the door’s raised molding and removed it as silently as it had broken. He reached his hand through that opening and unlocked the door from the inside.

He stood in the same foyer where weeks ago he’d come to ask Roland about Kip Lange. He listened for any sounds that might direct him. He heard nothing useful. Tom’s footsteps fell silently as he ascended the winding staircase in front of him. He assumed Mitchell’s bedroom was located on the second level. If his daughter was still in the house, that was where he would find her.

At the top of the stairs, Tom came to a long east-west-running corridor. Light seeped from a closed door at one end of the hallway.

Tom moved toward that door. He kept his breathing quiet. When he couldn’t pad his footsteps on the plush carpeting, he stayed close to the wall, where the floors typically creaked less.

Tom continued noiselessly down the hall. He moved the way he’d been trained. He set his heel down first and rolled his foot slowly and gently toward his toes. He bent low at the knees to improve his balance. He tightened the muscle on the inside of his pelvis.

At the end of the hallway, Tom pressed his body against the wall and leaned his head toward the door to get a better listen. No sound. Nothing at all.

He heard a cry. It was a soft, plaintive, scared-sounding cry. It was Jill. Close as he was to rescuing her, Tom managed to remain calm. He took a few breaths to center himself. He reached for the doorknob.

With a gentle nudge, Tom pushed the door open. Only part of his body was exposed to the room. He peeked inside.

Mitchell Boyd was standing with his back to the door. Jill was seated on his bed. The boy’s position kept him from getting a clear visual of his daughter. Jill’s sobbing was louder now. There was no way for Tom to tell if she was hurt or not. Tom needed to ascertain if Mitchell carried a weapon.

Tom pressed his body against the wall. Through the slot between the door and the doorjamb, he had Mitchell directly in his line of sight. He knocked on the open door.

Mitchell whirled around. Nobody was standing in the doorway. Mitchell appeared to be confused.

Tom determined the boy was unarmed. That was all the information he needed. Mitchell took a single step toward the open door. Tom pushed himself clear of the wall.

“Dad!” Jill cried out. He could hear the relief in her voice.

Tom charged at Mitchell. There were hundreds of ways Tom could incapacitate him. What he needed was one that wouldn’t permanently injure or kill the boy.

In hand-to-hand combat, the body got divided into three sections—high, middle, and low. Each section was rife with vital targets, key nerves and arteries that, when struck, caused debilitating pain, unconsciousness, or even death. Tom knew every target and could attack them at will with bold precision. A strong blow to the side of the neck—specifically, below and slightly in front of the ear—shocked the carotid artery, jugular vein, and vagus nerve. Such a strike would render his opponent instantly unconscious. A lesser blow would result in intense, but incapacitating pain.

Tom opted not to hit Mitchell at all. Rather, he applied pressure to the strike area. Mitchell shrieked at Tom’s touch and fell helplessly to the floor. Jill leapt up from the bed as soon as Mitchell went down, and grabbed hold of her father. Tom felt her body shake with sobs.

“Are you okay?” Tom asked. “Are you hurt, Jill?”

She was hyperventilating. Her hot tears wet his shirt. Mitchell was still groaning on the floor beside them.

“Slow your breathing. Are you hurt? Did he rape you?”

Jill shook her head. Tom let out a huge relieved breath.

“Can you walk out of here with me?”

“Yes... . Please ... take ... me ... home... .” Each word she spoke was punctuated by a fast breath that was also part cry.

They turned to leave.

But Roland Boyd was blocking the doorway. “What the hell is going on here!” Roland shouted.

Tom let go of Jill and rushed at Roland. Before Roland could even put his hands up in defense, Tom secured a grip around his neck and had him pinned against the door frame.

“You wouldn’t open the door! You wouldn’t check in on my daughter!”

“What ... what did Mitchell do?” Roland said. Roland’s face turned red from the constricted blood flow. His words came out weak because of the grip Tom held around his throat.

“By the looks of it, he assaulted her,” Tom said to him. “We’re leaving. Now.”

“You can’t just break into my home and attack my family,” Roland managed to say.

“I’m leaving with my daughter now, and you can’t stop me,” Tom shot back.

Mitchell was still writhing on the floor in pain. He was holding his neck and whimpering.

“You can go back to jail for this,” Roland said.

“Cool. Mitchell and I can become prison pals.”

Tom eased his grip around Roland’s neck. Roland slumped to the floor and began rubbing at the spot where Tom’s hand had been.

“Let’s be rational here,” Roland said, still breathing hard. Mitchell had managed to get himself onto his knees. He wasn’t going to be standing anytime soon.

“Okay, let’s,” Tom said. “I need five hundred dollars for my cab ride home.”

“Are you buying what I think you are?” said Roland.

Tom got low to the floor. He leaned in close to Roland so that Jill couldn’t overhear him. “I’m not buying my daughter’s silence, if that’s what you’re asking. If she wants to press charges against Mitchell, that’ll be her decision.”

Roland took out his wallet. He stayed slumped on the floor. He fished out five crisply pressed hundred-dollar bills.

“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” Roland said.

Tom plucked another hundred from the billfold. “For the tip,” he said.

Tom stood and took hold of Jill’s hand. They walked the length of the hallway together. He helped his daughter navigate the majestic staircase, because her footing was uncertain. They emerged into a star-drenched night, bathed by a warm southerly breeze, and followed the walkway to the driveway’s edge.

Tom signaled for the waiting cab. The driver kept his headlights turned off. He pulled over to pick them up. Tom eased Jill into the backseat of the cab. He came around the other side and slipped in beside her.

“Where to?” the driver asked.

“Home,” Tom said.

Jill rested her head on his shoulder as she wept.

Chapter 55

T
om eased Jill onto the sofa. Her skin was pale and clammy to the touch. Her breathing was shallow. He covered her with a thick fleece blanket and left the living room, to return holding a blood pressure cuff and gauge. Over the years coaching soccer, Tom had amassed enough medical equipment to open his own ambulatory service. To his relief, the blood pressure reading was normal, so while Jill exhibited some of the symptoms of shock, he didn’t need to rush her to a hospital.

Tom sat on the faded yellow armchair across from Jill. His head continued to pound. Adding to his discomfort, Tom’s knee had ballooned to the size of a youth soccer ball, and the IV puncture hole had begun to bleed.

Jill pointed to the red river of blood that snaked across the back of Tom’s hand and ended up as drips on the armchair.

“You’re bleeding, Dad,” she said. Those were the first words she’d spoken since the cab ride home. “I’ll get you a bandage.”

Jill came back with a Hello Kitty Band-Aid. The two shared a quick laugh after she secured it in place.

“Are you ready to talk?” Tom asked.

Jill retreated to the sofa and rested her head on a makeshift platform of her interlocking fingers. She kept her eyes fixed to a spot on the floor, and her expression remained grave.

“I’m not going to judge you, honey,” Tom added, “but I’d like to know the truth. What did Mitchell Boyd do to you?”

Jill stared up at her father through a glaze of tears. Her bottom lip trembled, and Tom knew it meant a flood was imminent. “I can’t tell you,” she sobbed into her hands.

Just thinking about Mitchell Boyd made him want to return to that house and inflict further misery on the boy.

“Jill, this is really important,” Tom said. “I need you to trust me. Did he hurt you? Did he touch you in a threatening way?”

Jill’s gaze again retreated to that spot on the floor, and she shook her head. It was a tentative no at best.

“Tell me exactly what he did that got you so scared,” he said.

“I guess I thought he was going to hurt me,” Jill responded. The timbre of her voice came at him weak and rueful. “I didn’t know who else to call,” she continued. “I’m sorry I caused so much trouble. Maybe ... I just overreacted.”

Tom stood up and plopped down on the sofa beside her. He pulled Jill close to him. Something inside of her must have let go when he did. Tom felt her whole body begin to relax. He brushed away a tear that lingered near her eye. Jill crinkled her nose and smiled at him after he smoothed it away.

“Jill,” Tom said in a more somber tone, “I need you to open up to me about Mitchell. I need to know everything.”

Jill shook her head. Her posture changed. She seemed more closed off again. “I don’t want to talk about what happened.”

Tom glanced over at the whiteboard, and that big, obtrusive square with the word
trust
in the center. Jill leaned over and gently kissed her father on the cheek.

“Will you come back home?” Tom said.

“I am home,” Jill said. She inhaled a sob, then let her own tears fall freely. She fell into her father’s open arms, and he wrapped her warmer than any fleece blanket ever could.

“Please trust me,” Tom said. “Please give me a chance. I told you my greatest secret. Please don’t burden yourself by keeping secrets from me.”

Jill nodded.

Tom stood up and walked over to the whiteboard. With the palm of his hand he erased the square blocking the goal. Tom turned around to look at Jill.

“What really happened at Mitchell’s?” asked Tom.

Jill took in a heavy breath and breathed it out slowly. “We were hanging out in his room. But we weren’t doing
anything
—”

“I know,” Tom said, nodding so that she could skip over the uncomfortable details. “Go on.”

“Well, he wanted to do things that I wasn’t comfortable doing. He started to push me into it, and I got scared. I didn’t know who else to call. So I called you.”