AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I hope Captain has an escape plan. You’ll have your phone?”
“Yep. And all I need to do to call you is push one button.”
“I’ll be close by.”
“Not too close, Cabe, okay?”
Cabel tosses his book on the table. “You can still back out of this, you know, Janie.”
Janie sighs. “Cabe, hear me: I. Don’t. Want. To. I want to do this. I want to stop this guy! Why can’t you understand that?”
Cabel cringes. “I can’t help it. I can’t stand the thought of that creep touching you, Janie. What if something awful happens to you? God, I just hate this.”
“I know.” Janie pushes up on her elbows and sits up. The last thing she wants right now is a fight. Changes the subject. “Is Ethel back home?”
“Yes, she’s in the driveway.”
“Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you.”
Janie leans against him. Strokes his thigh with her fingertips. “Why do you put up with this?”
Cabel relaxes and twirls a string of Janie’s hair. “Well, duh. Because one day you’ll be really rich and famous, I bet. Your own TV show, people throwing money at you just to get you to change their dreams. I’m holding out for the money. After that I’m outta here.”
She laughs. “Did I tell you I benched one-twenty in PE today? And then I called Coach Crater an asshole.”
Cabel roars in laughter. “He is an asshole. And one-twenty is probably a national record or something. That’s almost more than you weigh.”
“The national record is more than two hundred for my age and size category. But I’ll take it.”
They talk for an hour, and then Cabel heads home. Tomorrow they’ll meet again in Captain’s office.
After Cabel leaves, Janie pulls out her chemistry book; curiously searches through a chapter; uses her cell phone to peruse the Internet for an hour or so, until she finds the information she’s looking for on date-rape drugs; and goes to bed.
March 4, 2006, 9:00 a.m.
Baker and Cobb join Cabel and Janie in Captain’s office. Janie meets Cobb and says hello again to Baker.
Captain goes through the schedule for the evening. Janie will arrive at six p.m. along with another girl. The rest of the guests will come at seven.
Captain gives Janie a thin, sexy cigarette lighter, one of the newly popular, old-fashioned flip-top kinds. “It’s not a real lighter, Janie. If you flip the lid open, it sends a distress signal to Baker and Cobb outside the house. They’ll call your cell phone first, just in case it’s an accident, and don’t panic if that happens. Answer if it happened by mistake. But just try to keep the lighter in your pocket, and it’ll be fine. If you don’t answer your phone, they’ll move in and call you once again. If you do not pick up, they will come in for you.
“In other words, if you’re in trouble, flip open the lighter lid. Put your cell phone on vibrate and wear it in your underwear if you have to, but you must answer that phone if nothing’s wrong. If you do not answer, they will assume trouble is afoot. Is that perfectly clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Janie says.
“Good. Let’s talk about drinking. Believe me, Durbin’s going to be watching that everybody has a drink in hand.”
Janie looks at her suspiciously. “You’re not going to arrest me or anything if I have a drink in my hand, right?”
Captain raises an eyebrow. “Not unless you do something stupid. But I think you should carry around a beverage, yes, so nobody gets suspicious. I don’t encourage drinking on the job, though.”
“Okay . . . and no setting my beverage down at any time, right? No keg, no punch bowl, no mixed drinks.”
Captain nods, impressed. “You’ve done your homework on date-rape drugs, I see. Good job.” She pulls a small package of date-rape drug testers from her desk drawer and hands them to Janie. “Are you familiar with these?”
Janie smiles, reaches inside her bag, and pulls out an identical package.
“Excellent.” Captain nods. “Cabel. What’s your job?”
“Watching in agony, sir.”
Captain suppresses a smile. “I’d make you stay home if I didn’t know you’d sneak out, anyway. While you are watching in agony, feel free to take note of anyone who comes or goes that’s not on the list.”
“Thank you,” Cabel says meekly.
“Baker and Cobb, you clear on procedure?”
“Yes, sir,” they say together.
“Great. You two may go.”
Baker and Cobb slap Janie on the back, like she’s one of the guys, give her the thumbs-up, and head out. Janie grins.
Captain turns to Janie.
“Tonight is not the night to get sucked into any drunk person’s dream. Try and steer clear if you can. If you can’t, we’ll deal with that later. I do understand you can’t control the actions of other people, so don’t panic if it happens and you get stuck.”
Janie nods.
“And be safe. Follow your gut. You’re smart. You have a terrific sense of intuition. Use it like you have in the past, and we’ll all walk away just fine. All right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Any questions?”
“No.”
“Good. Call me if you think of any,” Captain says. “And, Janie, I have never been more serious. Use that panic lighter if you need it. Don’t be a martyr and don’t think you can handle this job alone. We work as a team. Got it?”
“Got it. I’m ready, sir.”
“And a reminder. This could be nothing more than just an ordinary party. Our goal is to find and arrest a sexual predator. Not to bust the guy for serving a few drinks to minors. We can always get him next time for that. Like I said, use your intuition and judgment.”
“I will.”
“Cabel. Any questions?”
“No, sir.”
“Get on out of here, then. I’ll see you sometime in the next twenty-four hours, I expect. Damn, I hate this job.”
10:09 a.m.
Janie makes her crème-de-menthe bars and puts them in the refrigerator, and then makes lunch. Cabel stops by and mopes around uselessly, unable to talk about anything. Janie finally sends him away.
“Be careful, baby,” he says, kissing the top of her head.
Janie’s quiet.
And he’s gone.
2:32 p.m.
Janie lights her relaxation votive candle and sits still on her bed, clearing her mind, meditating. Preparing herself. She mentally runs through her profile sheets. All the events that led up to today. And then her mind strays to Stacey’s car dream. She goes through it, step by step. She knows there’s a connection between the dream and Mr. Durbin, but how? Did Mr. Durbin actually rape her? Janie thinks about Lauren. Wishes she could have focused on the faces in her party dream, but they were blurred beyond recognition. And if Lauren has nightmares about the party, why doesn’t she have qualms or reservations or downright contempt for the host? Why didn’t the anonymous caller follow up with another call to Crimebusters Underground?
She dozes for an hour, asking herself to figure out the connection between the dreams and this party tonight.
Herself says no.
When she wakes up, Janie takes a shower and puts on tight jeans and a low-cut V-neck sweater. She adds a hint of makeup and ties her hair back, low, in a ribbon, leaving a few wisps out to frame her face. She grabs a snack and a glass of milk, making quick work of them, and brushes her teeth. Puts on some lip gloss.
It’s showtime.
5:57 p.m.
“I’m pulling up to the house. I’ll see you after,” Janie says.
“If you get a chance to call me . . . safely . . . you know . . . ” Cabel’s voice is anxious.
“I will if I can. Love you, Cabe.”
“Love you, Janie. Be safe.”
