Billy. Sandy, marching to the kitchen with her briefcase in hand, didn’t seem to notice.
I held my breath while she carefully sliced open the box and lifted out a white jewelry box with her gloved hands. A small yellow envelope was taped on top. She set the box down on the counter and gently removed the envelope. Then she used a penknife to slice into the top, leaving the sticky part untouched. With tweezers she slid a card out of the envelope.
In bold blue pen it said,
I stepped back in horror.
“You okay, Sara?” Billy said.
“That’s
Billy gave a sympathetic smile.
He held open a bag and Sandy carefully slid the envelope and card into it. Next he slowly lifted the lid off the jewelry box. Both Sandy and Billy were crowding over it, so I couldn’t see the contents.
Sandy shook her head. “What a sick bastard.”
“Let me see,” I said.
They moved to the side as I came closer. Nestled in white cotton was a doll dressed in a pink sweater and blue jeans. I remembered Danielle’s sister sobbing on TV as she described what Danielle was wearing the last time she was seen alive. But it was the sight of the auburn hair glued to the faceless head that hit me the hardest. As I stared at the smooth metal my brain superimposed the image of her face agonized in death. I turned away.
Sandy said, “You need to have a good look in case he asks you anything.”
“Just give me a minute.” I sat down at the table and took a few deep breaths. “I keep seeing her face in that photo.”
“Have you given any more thought to meeting with him?” Sandy spun around, still holding the jewelry box.
“Evan won’t let me. He’s too worried.”
Billy nodded. “He wants you to be safe.”
“It’s so risky.” I stared at the box in Sandy’s hands. “But if I did it…”
“We arrest him and this all ends,” Billy said. “The gifts, the phone calls…”
“Women being murdered,” Sandy said.
“You know, Sandy, the guilt trip doesn’t help. What you did with the photo was horrible.”
She glanced at Billy, who cleared his throat. Her jaw tightened, but she said, “You’re right, Sara. That was over the line.”
For a moment I was startled, but as I met her eyes and she looked away, I knew there wasn’t one speck of sorry in her. I shook my head and turned back to Billy.
“I thought about the exact same things, Billy, but if I do it Evan’s going to be really upset.”
“Do you want me to talk to him?”
“No, it would just make it worse if he felt you were pressuring me. He doesn’t think I should be helping at all, it’s too dangerous. And he’s right. I’m risking Ally, especially now that John knows about her.”
“We don’t believe your family is at risk, but—”
“But he wants something from us. You said it yourself a couple of times — his demands keep increasing. What’s next? He demands to meet Ally?”
“That’s one of our concerns too. If we don’t act fast he’ll keep escalating.”
“But if I meet him so much could go wrong.”
Billy nodded. “Yes, it could. That’s why we’re not asking you to do it — even though this may be our only opportunity to stop him.”
“What if he got away? He’d know I tipped you off.”
“You’ve already set up a good explanation for that — the media coverage. You’ve warned him we could be following you.”
“But he might not believe it, and then he’d either disappear again or decide to punish me.” We were all silent. After a moment I said, “What are your chances of catching him any other way?”
“We’re trying everything we can, but…” He shook his head.
“Maybe he’ll stop, he’s getting older.”
But I already knew how unlikely that was before Billy said, “Serial killers don’t just stop. They get caught, usually for other crimes, or they die.”
Sandy held out the jewelry box. “I hope you like these, because you’re going to be getting a lot more of them.”
I glared at her. “That’s really nice.”
“It’s reality.”
Billy’s voice was firm. “Sandy, give it a rest.” I expected her to tell him off, but she just studied her cell. He turned to me. “Are you ready to have a closer look at the doll?”
I took a deep breath and nodded. Sandy handed me a pair of gloves. After I slid them on, she passed me the box.
“Just hold it by the edges and don’t touch anything else.”
As I examined the doll carefully, I tried not to think of Danielle, how pretty she was, how her hair was the same color as mine, how she died with my father’s hands around her throat.
John called later that day from his cell when I was making a cup of coffee.
“Did she get it?”
“The doll arrived, yes. Thanks.” I almost choked on the last word.
“Did you give it to Ally?”
“No, she’s just a little girl, John. She wouldn’t understand—”
“You won’t let me talk to her, and now you won’t let me send her presents? I made it for
“I’ll save it until she’s older. She’s so young — I was worried she’d lose it.”
He was breathing heavy into the phone.
“Are you okay?”
It sounded like he was talking through clenched teeth when he said, “No — the noise. It’s bad right now.”
I stood motionless, my hand still on the coffeepot. What noise? I strained my ears. Did he have another girl? I heard something. Laughter? Then chopping sounds. An axe hitting wood?
I forced myself to take a slow, deep breath.
“John, where are you?”
The sound stopped.
“Can you
“I’m at a campsite.”
My heart went into overdrive. “Why are you there?”
He hissed into the phone, “I told you—
“Okay, okay. Just talk to me. What are you doing at the campsite?”
“They’re
“Drive away. Please, I’m begging you, just drive away.”
The sound of a truck door opening. “They have to stop—”
“Wait! I’ll meet you. Okay? I’ll meet you.”
Now you know why I had to see you a day early. It took me a few minutes to get John back in his truck and away from the campsite. I just kept telling him how great it would be to meet him, basically getting him to focus on something else. It was hard at first — he kept talking about the noise, then about the campers laughing. Then I’d say something like, “I can’t believe I’m finally going to meet my dad.” Eventually he calmed down and said he’d
