“You volunteered?” my father asks.
She nods. “Yes. My sister was abused when we were younger, just kids really, I couldn’t stop it from happening to her, so I’ll do my best to stop it from happening to someone else.”
“So how do you want to play this?” My dad turns his attention to me.
“Cassie pretends to have moved into the apartment, gets friendly with him and we wait for him to strike, we crash in and catch him, hand him over to the police. Police can put a rapist behind bars, we get rid of Myers, stop him hurting any more girls, it’s a win for everyone.”
“Use Cassie as bait? That’s your big plan? Kyle, she could get hurt."
“I won’t let it go that far, do you really think I would let her get hurt? I got the apartment rigged with cameras, she'll only be in there at night, I’ll be outside in my car downstairs keeping tabs, watching. As soon as he makes his move, I’ll be there to stop him.”
“You can’t come barging in too quickly though, I'm gonna need a few bruises to make it believable,” Cassie says. “I trust you, Kyle, I know you won’t let it go too far... too violent.” She smiles, reaching out to touch my upper arm.
My dad exhales slowly, rubbing his jaw deep in thought. “Alright. I'll help. Let’s pray to God this works and everything turns out fine.”
“It will. It has to.”
∞∞∞
I’ve been camped out in my car across the street from his building for the past six nights, my dad coming to check on me every now and then, sometimes keeping watch as I take a nap, like tonight. Six nights of hardly anything happening.
The second night, Cassie said that she and Myers had crossed paths on the stairs, where according to her, he introduced himself as Daniel Owens, yet another one of his fake names. He’d kissed her hand and swiftly turned on his heel before carrying on down the stairs.
“Why isn’t anything happening?” I huff in frustration.
“Give it time, he gave her a false name, as he always has done, he’s just biding his time, patience, son, it'll happen.”
I rest my head against the headrest, letting out a yawn.
My dad chuckles beside me. “It’s not even seven o'clock yet and you’re already tired?”
“Haven’t been sleeping properly the past few nights, didn’t you notice?” I joke, my mouth curving up into a smile.
He laughs.
A loud knocking sound from my laptop has me jerking up in my seat. We watch as Cassie crosses the living area, heading for the front door, giving a quick glance up at us through the camera that rests on a tall bookshelf, the whole of the room in full view. She twists the doorknob, the door swings open on its hinges.
He’s standing on the other side.
“Hello,” he greets politely.
“Hi,” Cassie replies. “Um... what can I do for you?”
“I bought you these,” he pulls a bouquet of flowers from behind his back, “A gift, thought they might brighten the place up a little.”
“Oh, thank you, how kind.” She takes them from him. “I’ll go put these in some water, won’t be a second.” She turns and disappears into the kitchen.
We watch as Myers takes a step forward into the apartment, closing the door behind him carefully. He steps further into the area, studying the room. He traces his fingers over the sofa in the center of the room, where one of Cassie's sweaters drapes across it. He picks it up and holds it up to his face, inhaling deeply.
“Fucking creep,” I curse.
Cassie returns from the kitchen and hesitates when she sees Myers in her living room. We see her take a deep breath and continues forward.
“So how long have you lived in the building?” she asks.
“Not long, about six months or so, I moved here from Queens.”
“Oh right. I moved from New Jersey, recently got a job in the city, this is my first time living alone.”
“No boyfriend?”
“No. You? Do you have a wife? Children?”
“No wife, no children.”
My chest tightens.
Well, dick, you’re about to meet your son, and his fists if my plan works.
She lowers her gaze to the ground, fidgeting with her hands. “Well, thank you for the flowers, they’re beautiful.”
He takes a step towards her, stopping only a couple of feet away from Cassie, reaching out to touch her hair, tucking the stray strands behind her ear.
“Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl.” He leans in and kisses her.
“Fuck, here we go,” I say. I grip the door handle ready.
Cassie backs away, unlatching herself from his hold. “No, stop.”
“Come on, darlin’.” He steps forward, his hand gripping the back of her head forcefully, pulling to him.
She yelps, pushing against his chest, trying to struggle away from him. She pulls her hand back and punches him in the stomach, getting enough leverage to push him away and scurry past him, but not fast enough.
He swivels on his heel and catches her arm, wrenching her back, he drags her over to the sofa and throws her down.
I'm up and out of the car faster than the speed of light, my dad following a few steps behind, on the phone to the cops. We eat up the steps, two, three at a time.
Cassie screams just as I reach the fourth floor, a smash comes from inside the apartment.
“Cassie!” I shout, just as a neighbour pokes her head out to see what all the noise is.
I kick down the door, practically off its hinges, where I find him trying to climb on top of Cassie as she fights him off as hard as she can.
I reach for him, gripping the back of his shirt and pulling him off of her. I throw him to the ground and stand over him, landing a solid punch square across the face.
“You sick motherfucking piece of shit!” I roar, as I deliver blow after blow across his face.
