The Body on Ortega Highway (8 page)

“
What do you mean ‘Never
again?’” he says, tightening his grip on her arm. “Come on. You’re
coming with me, whether you like it or not.”

She manages to break free and
runs inside Burke Williams. He doesn’t follow her inside. She tells
the girls at the desk “Call the police! There’s a man outside who
has a gun! He just pointed it at me!”

When the girl hangs up from
calling 911, Clarissa
tells her, “Call mall
security. He’s wearing a tie-dyed suit. They can’t miss
him.”

*******

Clarissa runs into Ron’s
arms
the moment he enters Burke Williams. He
says, “What’s happened? There are a bunch of cop cars all over the
place.”

“
John Smith was here. He
threatened me with a gun.”

“That son of a bitch! Are you
alright, honey? Did he hurt you?”

“No. He didn’t. I’m okay.”

“Did he come in here with a
gun?”

“No. I was waiting outside for you
and he saw me.”

“You should have stayed inside
here.”

“I wish I would’ve. Believe
me.”

“
Let’s go,” Ron says. “Let’s
see if the cops were able to find him.”

Clarissa says to the receptionist,
“Sorry about all this drama.”

“No problem. Take care.”

When they are walking out,
Clarissa says to Ron, “They’ll probably never want me back here
again.”

They go out to Ron’s car and
Clarissa looks around for a man in a tie-dyed suit. They walk over
to a patrol car and ask what’s happening.

“
We haven’t been able to find
anyone matching that description. We’ve got officers on foot
looking at all the bushes and back alleys. We’ll keep looking, but
he may have gotten into his car and driven off.”

Ron drives around the mall
looking for Smith, but they aren’t able to find him. He seems to
have vanished into thin air.

Chapter Fifteen

As they are driving back to
their house, Clarissa tells Ron that she’s thinking of quitting her
job. “I just can’t take it anymore, honey. This thing with Gumbo
has been the last straw.”

He is shocked to hear her say
this and tells her, “But you love your job. And you’re so good at
it. Look at all the awards you have and all the cases you’ve
solved.”

“Maybe I’ll become a lawyer, like
my Mom wanted me to be.”

“Is that what you really want?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t
know.”

“What would Dick Santy say to you
right now?”

“He’d say that he was proud of me
and that I’m a good cop.”

“
He taught you well.
He’s right. He’d probably say, ‘Think about that
priest who was murdered at the abbey. Without you, his killer might
never have been caught’.”

“I was just going on instincts and
gut feelings.”

“I know. That’s what makes you such
a good detective. It’s a gift, you know.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I’ve never
thought of it that way.”

“
That’s right. Think about
finding your cousin’s killer in Savannah. Look at how you calmed
him down and talked him into dropping his gun when he was pointing
it at you.”

“
That could have ended really
badly.
”

“
I know; but you have this
quiet demeanor that gets people to trust you.”

“Yeah. Before I slap the hand-cuffs
on them.”

“
Don’t look it at like that.
You’ve never been a cynic.”

“Yes I have. You just haven’t seen
it before.”

“Well, Clarissa. You know I’ll love
you no matter what you do.”

“
I’d like to think I’d have
your support on this, Ron.”

“
All I ask is that you give
it some time before you tell your boss or make any big decisions
about leaving your job. We need good people like you in law
enforcement.”

“
Okay, Ron. I’ll give it some
time.
”

They drive in silence for a
while and then Clarissa asks, “So, how did Gumbo like going to the
vet?”

“
At first he was happy to be
there at the ‘doggie spa’; but then, when they were taking him
away, he looked back at me with such sad eyes. It was like he was
saying, ‘You traitor. I trusted you’.”

“I’m glad I didn’t see it. At least
we know he’ll be safe.”

“I’m going to miss the little
dude.”

“Me, too.”

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to spring
him soon, after we find Smith.”

“If we find Smith,” Clarissa
says.

Chapter
Sixteen

Three
weeks go by and they have no leads. She’s checked out Smith’s
last known residence, a halfway house in Fullerton and the lady who
runs it says that she hasn’t seen Smith for two months and has no
idea where he is.

Clarissa calls the
psychiatric hospitals in the area and asks if they have anyone
there matching his description. She checks out the local jails to
see if he’s been arrested. She even calls the local pharmacies to
see if he’s picked up any of his medication. She finds out that he
went to the Walgreen’s in Tustin to get a prescription of Seroquel
refilled three weeks ago. She asks who the proscribing doctor is
and learns that he works at UCI. She calls him and he says that he
hasn’t seen him in about six months. She calls his twin brother and
tells him the latest news. He hasn’t heard from him either. He is
shocked to hear that his brother killed another girl, pointed a gun
at Clarissa, and threatened to cut off her dog’s legs. “He has
really gone off the deep end this time,” his brother says. “We’ve
got to find him.”

Clarissa asks him,
“Do you know any place he might be? What about his
ex-wife? Could he have gone to her?”

“She went back to her family in
Belgium after their divorce.”

“
Were does he get his money?
What does he live on?”

“
He works at odd
jobs.”

“
What about SSI? Could he
have applied for disability benefits because of his mental
condition?”

“Yes. I think you’re on to
something.”

Clarissa says, “I’m going to
call Social Security and see what I can find out. If he is getting
checks, he must be picking them up somewhere.”

“Okay. Let me know what
happens.”

“Please call me if you can think of
anything more.”

Clarissa calls Social Security and
finds out that he does get disability and the checks have been sent
to a post office box in Fullerton for several years.”

After she learns this, she
arranges to have an officer stake out the postal office to see if
he shows up to get his mail.

*******

Just when she starts feeling
that the case has gone cold, she gets a phone
call
. This time, it’s on her work phone.
It’s John Smith and he wants to meet her on the bleachers at Tustin
High in thirty minutes. He asks her to come unarmed and
alone.

She
immediately tells her boss what’s happened and that she’s
going unarmed. Her boss talks her into letting some back up
officers come with her.

Clarissa
tells her boss, “He wants me to be alone.”

“I know. I’ll tell them to try to
stay in the background so he doesn’t see them.”

“
Okay. I’m going.” She does
not tell Ron what’s happening. This is something she has to do
alone.

Chapter
Seventeen

She
drives down El Camino Real next to the 5 Freeway and pulls
into the parking lot of Tustin High School. Officers follow her in
unmarked cars. They hang back, so it won’t look like they are
following her.

She gets out of her car and
walks by the attendance window, remembering the many times she
stood in line there with her Grandmother’s written excuse slips.
She walks by the guidance counsellor’s window and remembers Mrs.
Wood and how she tried to talk Clarissa into taking more art
classes. ‘Good ole Mrs. Wood’, she thinks. ‘She didn’t like it one
bit when she heard that I wanted to be a cop instead of an
artist.’

She walks by the
students’ lockers and locates the last one she had.
She still has nightmares about it being the first day of school and
she can’t remember its combination.

Kids are hanging around after
school and there
’s a track meet going on by
the bleachers. Clarissa is glad that there are a lot of people
around. She sees John Smith sitting up on the top bleachers smoking
a cigarette. She takes a deep breath and remembers Ron telling her
that her forte is keeping calm while talking to suspects so that
they will trust her.

She waves and walks up to
meet John.

He says, “Clarissa, you
c
ame.”

“
I told you I would.” she
says. “Did you bring your gun this time?”

“No. I’m unarmed. Did you bring
yours?”

“
No. I’m unarmed, too,” she
says and sits next to him. He offers her a cigarette. She says,
“I’m trying to quit, but now seems like a good time to have one.”
She takes one and he lights the cigarette for her.

They sit in silence for a
while. Clarissa looks out at the track and says, “So are you
reliving your glory days as a track star?”

“Those were good days.”

“
You were a fast
runner.”

“I remember looking up in the
bleachers and seeing you cheer me on.”

“
You seem different today,
John. Calmer.”

“I started taking my meds
again.”

“
That’s good to
hear.”

“
Clarissa, I’m sorry that I
threatened to hurt your dog. I never would have done that. I was
just trying to get your attention.”

“
You really freaked me out,
John.”

“
I’m sorry I pulled a gun on
you. It wasn’t even loaded. I never would have hurt you. You have
to believe that.”

“
John, what I am supposed to
do with you here? You killed two women. You know I’m a police
officer. I can’t just let you walk away.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what to
do.”

They sit in silence for a
while. She tells him,
“Well, I could get you
into a good psychiatric hospital. It’d be better than being in
jail.”

“I’d rather be in jail.”

“
I’m pretty sure you’ll be
able to avoid the death penalty because of your
mental condition. I’ll try to see to that.”

“I don’t care anymore.”

“
I’ll come and visit you
there
sometime.”

“
Really?”

“
John, are you planning on
surrendering to me today?”

“
Yeah. I think so. I think
I’m ready.”

“That’s great. I don’t want you or
anyone else getting hurt.”

“Are there cops watching us?”

“
Yes. I’m going to phone them
now and tell them to hold their fire. Okay? I’ll tell them that I’m
bringing you in.”

“
I’m tired of running. I’m
tired of living in my van.”

They finish their cigarettes
and look out at the track field. He says to her, “Thanks for this
little trip down memory lane.”

Clarissa stands up and he follows
her lead. “Turn around for me, John.”

He turns around and she hand-cuffs
him. “Let’s go.”

“
I wish it could have been
different for us
,” he tells her.

“
Me, too
,” she says, as they make their way down the
stairs.

Chapter Eighteen

A few days later, Ron comes
into the house holding
two newspapers and
calling out for Clarissa. “Where are you?”

“
I’m on the pot,” she says.
“What do you want?”

“
Look at this!” he says,
walking into the bathroom.

“
Jeez, Can’t I get a little
privacy, here?”

“
Look!” he says, pointing at
the newspapers. “You’re on the front pages of both the Los Angeles
Times and the Orange County Register. The article says you’re ‘a
local hero’. Listen to this headline: ‘Hillside Chopper Surrenders
to Unarmed Detective’.”

“Give me that paper,” she says.
“Now, scoot. I’ll be out in a minute.”

*******

Later that day,
he
r boss calls to say that there’s going to
be a special ceremony for her on Friday night. Clarissa will be
receiving a medal and special commendation from the entire law
enforcement community.

Her family is welcome to
attend, so
she invites her cousin Charlotte,
who is a paralegal in San Diego. The two cousins are as close as
sisters and it’s been way too long since they’ve seen each
other.

When Charlotte shows up at
their house that evening, she throws her arms around Clarissa. “I’m
so proud of you, cuz. If only Grandma were here to see you
now.”

“
And Dad, Ivan, and my Mom,”
Clarissa adds.