James Andrus - The Perfect Scream

Zach finally said, “She was a nice girl. She worked at an antique clothing store. I really don’t know much more about her.”

“Why’d you two break up?”

“We were never really going together. She met some guy she liked. She just kind of wandered away from me.”

“Who’s the guy she met?”

This was freaky. Why was this guy asking about a girl? “His name was Gator. That’s all I know. I never met him. I’m proud of the fact that I don’t know anyone named Gator.”

The cop looked him up and down. “Why have you been hiding?”

Zach considered the question and the expression on the JSO detective’s face. “I made some stupid choices and didn’t want to face them.”

The cop nodded. “So why else?”

He hesitated and said, “I made a mistake.”

“Is it one that could be linked to the most recent deaths?”

Zach looked up at the cop. “What deaths?”

“You really haven’t talked to anyone in Jacksonville?”

Zach shook his head, feeling his stomach turn. “Who died?”

“Connor Tate and Kyle Lee.”

He could barely squeak out, “How?”

“Connor overdosed and Kyle, well, he had a boating accident.”

The news was like a hammer into Zach’s heart. His two most trusted friends. There was no doubt now. Maybe he needed this cop. Zach wondered if he should tell the truth. Admit everything and let the legal system handle his problems. He’d do some time. But then it’d be over. Or would it? What if things didn’t change and he just had to spend time in jail? He started to sweat and slid away from the bar, saying to the big cop, “I gotta use the restroom real quick and wash my hands. Can we pick this up again when I get back?” He noticed the cop’s eyes dart to the rear of the pub, where the restrooms were located, then toward the front door. Zach knew he was calculating how hard it would be for Zach to escape. Now he knew this was serious.

The cop nodded his head silently.

Zach tried to smile, then forced himself to slowly walk to the restroom. He knew he couldn’t bolt for the open front door, but he had also been in the pub’s restroom enough to know he had one other chance. There was no way he wanted to leave the Ponce de Leon Pub with this cop. If he got away and called his parents-if that was really why the cop was after him-his parents could call off the search. Then he’d deal with his problems one at a time. But if the cop had other things on his mind, Zach knew he didn’t want to be anywhere near him.

Once inside the tiny bathroom, he really did use it, then washed his hands, before cranking open the small, frosted glass window and shoving out the screen with one hand. It was a tight fit, but he could make it. He needed to hit the ground running to put some distance between him and the JSO detective.

Lynn had pulled around the corner and parked, then got anxious and started to drive around the block, passing the Ponce de Leon Pub about once every ninety seconds. The rain had stopped, but the road was still slick. Almost no one was on the uneven sidewalks. As she came up the street on the east side of the pub, Lynn saw someone on foot come out of the narrow alleyway between the buildings. He glanced toward her but turned and kept up his fast pace on the sidewalk. It took her a moment to realize it was Zach. Why had he come out the back? The street was empty beyond her and there were no cars parked next to the sidewalk. She slowed the Suburban and saw Zach glance over his right shoulder before he took a step into the road. She punched the gas and felt the big vehicle lurch forward.

Almost like it had happened with Alan Cole, Zach froze midstride and looked up at the fast-moving SUV. She couldn’t keep the smile from spreading across her face. She just wanted to hear the scream.

Stallings sat at the bar looking down at the photograph he had carried and shown to so many people. He wondered what Rita Hester would think of his first questions to Zach Halston being about Jeanie and not about the Tau Upsilon fraternity brothers. He’d have time to go over everything that had happened as soon as the young man returned from the bathroom.

After two minutes the bartender walked back and sat down four Budweisers. Two in front of Stallings and two where Zach had been sitting. She had taken a decidedly cooler stance toward Stallings once she realized he was associated with Zach Halston.

Now he was worried. Zach had been gone longer than he should. Even taking his nervousness into consideration, the young man should’ve finished up in the bathroom by now.

Stallings stood and walked toward the restroom. The door was locked, so he tapped lightly and called on Zach’s name. When he got no response, he jerked on the handle harder, then used a shoulder to force the door open.

The small bathroom was empty. The only thing he noticed was the open window with no screen.

Zach had scraped his hip when he tumbled out of the window. He’d also bruised his forehead landing on the hard asphalt of the alleyway. But he was out and that was all that mattered. He stood up and took a second to brush off the gravel stuck to his side and hip. He wanted to sprint but realized his leg was sore, so he jogged toward the street.

He took a left on the sidewalk. There was no one around. There was only one blue SUV coming up the street slowly. Before he reached the corner, he glanced over his shoulder and decided to cross. The sound of the SUV’s engine didn’t register with him until he looked up and saw the vehicle barreling toward him. With everything that had happened, his mind locked up and he couldn’t decide if he wanted to stop or shoot forward. By the time his mind said, Start running , it felt like the SUV was on top of him. He opened his mouth and was surprised to hear the scream come out. It sounded like a little girl frightened by a spider.

He thought he’d made it past the big vehicle, but it turned into his run and caught him squarely in the leg and hips. He felt himself kicked up in the air and briefly wondered how badly his leg would be injured. Before he had any other thoughts everything went black.

Running someone down in the Thomas Brothers SUV was easier the second time she did it. Practice makes perfect. She knew to turn the wheel in the direction he was running but was surprised how quickly he crossed the street. The bumper of the SUV caught his rear leg and hip. But she heard the scream. It was a good solid, if a little feminine, squeal. A satisfying result to her long endeavor.

He flew almost straight up into the air and made one rotation until his head struck the pole of the stop sign and he crumpled onto the ground like a rag doll. She took only a moment to look out the windshield and see the blood starting to pool around his head. She looked each way, then hit the gas, making the tires squeal and slide on the slick pavement.

Lynn looked in her rearview mirror once as she pulled away. She saw someone running down the street toward Zach’s body. But there was no way they would ever catch her.

She’d done it again. The thrill raced through her and seemed to satisfy her need for justice.

At least for now.

Stallings leaned against the St. Augustine police cruiser, telling the traffic homicide investigator any detail he could think of. All he’d seen was a blue Suburban and the first letter on the plate was an A. Not much to go on.

He had waited while they took Zach’s body from the scene. There was nothing he could do when he found the boy half on the sidewalk and half on the street. The stop sign he had knocked into was bent at a sickening angle. Blood stained the sidewalk a dark brown and a paramedic was pouring a bucket of bleach and water over it to wash it into the gutter.