Blake Pierce - Once Lured

Riley took a long, slow breath.

“How many years of life did he take away from those boys if you add them together? Much, much more than a hundred, it seems to me. He got a sentence of thirty years. He’s only served fifteen. It’s not enough. He’ll never live long enough to pay back all those lost years.”

Riley’s voice was shaking now. She knew she had to control herself. She couldn’t break down in tears or shout with rage.

“Has the time come to forgive Larry Mullins? I leave that up to the boys’ families. Forgiveness really isn’t what this hearing is about. It’s just not the point. The most important matter is the danger he still presents. We can’t risk the likelihood that more children will die at his hands.”

Riley noticed that a couple of people on the parole board were checking their watches. She panicked a little. The board had already reviewed two other cases this morning, and they had four more to finish before noon. They were getting impatient. Riley had to wrap this up immediately. She looked straight at them.

“Ladies and gentleman, I implore you not to grant this parole.”

Then she said, “Perhaps someone else would like to speak on the prisoner’s behalf.”

Riley sat down. Her final words had been double-edged. She knew perfectly well that not one single person was here to speak in Mullins’s defense. Despite all his “good behavior,” he still didn’t have a friend or defender in the world. Nor, Riley was sure, did he deserve one.

“Would anybody like to speak?” the hearing officer asked.

“I would just like to add a few words,” a voice said from the back of the room.

Riley gasped. She knew that voice well.

She whirled around in her seat and saw a familiar short, barrel-chested man standing in the back of the room. It was Jake Crivaro – the last person she expected to see today. Riley was delighted and surprised.

Jake came forward and stated his name and rank for the board members, then said, “I can tell you that this guy is a master manipulator. Don’t believe him. He’s lying. He showed no remorse when we caught him. What you are seeing is all an act.”

Jake stepped right up to the table and leaned across it toward Mullins.

“Bet you didn’t expect to see me today,” he said, his voice full of contempt. “I wouldn’t have missed it – you child-killing little prick of a weasel.”

The hearing officer banged her gavel.

“Order!” she shouted.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Jake said mock-apologetically. “I didn’t mean to insult our model prisoner. After all, he’s rehabilitated now. He’s a repentant child-killing little prick of a weasel.”

Jake just stood there, looking down at Mullins. Riley studied the prisoner’s expression. She knew that Jake was doing his best to provoke an outburst from Mullins. But the prisoner’s face remained stony and calm.

“Mr. Crivaro, please take your seat,” the hearing officer said. “The board may make their decision now.”

The board members huddled together to share their notes and thoughts. Their whispering was animated and tense. Meanwhile, there was nothing for Riley to do but wait.

Donald and Melanie Betts were now sobbing. Darla Harter was weeping, and her husband, Ross, was holding her hand. He was staring straight at Riley. His look cut through her like a knife. What did he think of the testimony she just gave? Did he think it made up for her failure all those years ago?

The room was too warm, and she felt sweat breaking on her brow. Her heart was beating anxiously.

It only took a few minutes for the huddle to break up. One of the board members whispered to the hearing officer. She turned toward everybody else who was present.

“Parole is denied,” she said. “Let’s get started on the next case.”

Riley gasped aloud at the woman’s bluntness, as if the case were about nothing more than a parking ticket. But she reminded herself that the board was in a hurry to move on with the rest of their morning work.

Riley stood up, and both couples rushed toward her. Melanie Betts threw herself into Riley’s arms.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you …” she kept saying

The three other parents crowded around her, smiling through their tears and saying “thank you” over and over again.

She saw that Jake was standing aside in the hallway. As soon as she could, she left the parents and ran to him.

“Jake!” she said, giving him a hug. “How long has it been?”

“Too long,” Jake said with that sideways smile of his. “You kids today never write or call.”

Riley sighed. Jake had always treated her like a daughter. And it really was true that she should have stayed in better touch.

“So how have you been?” she asked.

“I’m seventy-five years old,” he said. “I’ve had both knees and a hip replaced. My eyes are shot. I’ve got a hearing aid and a pacemaker. And all my friends except you have croaked. How do you think I’ve been?”

Riley smiled. He’d aged quite a lot since she’d last seen him. Even so, he didn’t seem nearly as frail as he was making himself out to be. She was sure he could still do his old job if he was ever needed again.

“Well, I’m glad you were able to talk yourself in here,” she said.

“You shouldn’t be surprised,” Jake said. “I’m at least as smooth a talker as that bastard Mullins.”

“Your statement really helped,” Riley said.

Jake shrugged. “Well, I wish I could’ve gotten a rise out of him. I’d love to have seen him lose it in front of the parole board. But he’s cooler and smarter than I remember. Maybe prison has taught him that. Anyway, we got a good decision even without getting him to freak out. Maybe he’ll stay behind bars for good.”

Riley didn’t say anything for a moment. Jake gave her a curious look.

“Is there something you’re not telling me?” he asked.

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple,” Riley said. “If Mullins keeps racking up points for good behavior, his early release will probably be mandatory in another year. There’s nothing you or I or anybody can do about it.”

“Jesus,” Jake said, looking as bitter and angry as he had all those years before.

Riley knew just how he felt. It was heartbreaking to imagine Mullins going free. Today’s small victory now seemed much more bitter than sweet.

“Well, I’ve got to be going,” Jake said. “It was great seeing you.”

Riley sadly watched her old partner walk away. She understood why he wasn’t going to hang around to indulge in negative feelings. That just wasn’t his way. She made a mental note to get in touch with him soon.

She also tried to find a bright side to what had just happened. After fifteen long years, the Bettses and the Harters had finally forgiven her. But Riley didn’t feel as if she deserved forgiveness, any more than did Larry Mullins.

Just then, Larry Mullins was led out in handcuffs.

He turned to look at her and smiled wide, mouthing his evil words silently.

“See you next year.”

Riley was in her car and headed back home when she got the call from Bill. She put her phone on speaker.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“We’ve found another body,” he said. “In Delaware.”

“Was it Meara Keagan?” Riley asked.

“No. We haven’t identified the victim. This is just like the other two, only worse.”

Riley let the facts of the situation sink in. Meara Keagan was still being held captive. The killer might be holding other women captive as well. It was all but certain that the killings would continue. How many killings was anybody’s guess.

Bill’s voice was agitated.