Perception

Part 20: Back to Life

I was ready to begin a new school year in the fall. I felt like a new woman. I had lived the life of a shattered, frightened woman. Now, I was a survivor. Devon and all that came with him was gone. Sadly, he'd taken Sheila with him. Even though she died by my hands, it was his fault. He turned me into a sadistic murderer, and because of that she was dead. I would have to learn in time to make peace with it. I watched as the students filed in on the first day of school. I even saw Henry Hampton coming back to repeat his senior year. Some of the teachers commented on my pregnancy, congratulating me and giving their well wishes. Everything seemed to be falling back into place. Until Detective Harris showed up. He was a tall, well dressed man. He wore a hat and trench coat and looked like someone from a crime show on tv. When he came in asking for me, I panicked. But I tried to be calm, because knowing what I knew he really didn't have anything on me...at least I didn't think so. "Mrs. Turner, there's a Detective Harris here to see you." Michelle said. "Please send him in." I told her. "Good afternoon, Mrs. Turner." he said. "Good afternoon." "I see you're with child, congratulations." he said. "Yes, well, thank you." I answered. "Well, ma'am, I'm here because I'd like to ask you a few questions. It's standard procedure in a missing persons case." I tried not to squirm too much.

"Missing persons case?" I asked trying to sound confused. "Yes...the reason I'm here is because Sheila Greene has been reported missing and you were one of the last people she spoke to before she disappeared." he told me pulling out a small pad and pen. "I did see that on the news, so sad." I answered. "Did you know Sheila Greene personally?" "No." I said and it was the truth. I had only known Sheila a short time and all I knew of her was that she was a nurse who dated my psychotic ex. "What did you talk to her about when you last spoke to her?" "She was asking me about an ex-boyfriend of mine, Devon Jones." I answered also the truth. "What about him?" "She wanted to know how to get rid of him. She said he was harassing her even after she asked him to leave her alone." "What did you tell her to do?" "Nothing. I just told her I had to move all the way here to Hillson in order to rid myself of him. He was very persistent."

"So you know that he's dead?" he asked me tilting his head to one side.

"Yes, that was on the news as well."

"Do you have any idea who would have wanted to kill him?"

"No."

"How long had you known he was in town?" Figuring that he might retrace Devon's steps, or even already know, I decided to confess that he'd confronted me at the restaurant. "When he came up behind me and said my name, I turned and seeing his face, I screamed." "You screamed? Just from seeing your old boyfriend?" He made it sound so simple. As if Devon was a normal man and like our relationship was a simple one that just didn't work out. Like we could run into each other on the street, speak cordially, and move on. He didn't understand that Devon was a monster that I was running from....LITERALLY. "I moved out here because Devon was harassing me, too. I was trying to get away from him. I was trying to start a new life. He seemed to know what I was going to do before I knew. Where we're from, I tried pressing charges against him." "Where are you from exactly?" "A little city in California, Half Moon Bay." I told him. "You did come a long way from home. What were the charges?" "Devon basically broke into my apartment, held me hostage and raped me for hours. If my neighbor hadn't come by to ask me to go with her for our morning walk, he might have killed me." He shook his head, taking notes. While he wrote I remembered Mrs. Morgan. I missed her so much. She was the closest thing to family I'd ever had. I wanted to keep in touch but with all the craziness of my life I thought it best to leave everything and everyone in the past. It was for her safety as well as mine.

"No one took this seriously? Your charges?" "No, not the judge, not the police. Unless you call serving six months in jail 'seriously'." I answered sarcastically. He nodded. "Sounds like he had friends." Detective Harris said. I crossed my arms waiting for his next question. Instead, what he gave me were answers to questions I didn't know I had. "Devon is actually from Hillson, originally. His father is fairly new to our city, serving as mayor. He's only been in the position a little over a year. When I went over Devon's records, it appears that at some point he was institutionalized at the Hillson Psychiatric hospital. He was only there a couple months. Mayor Jones signed him out and then Devon was off our radar. I'm guessing he sent him to a little town in California...Half Moon Bay." I sucked in a breath of frustration as he continued. "Devon had his share of problems here as well. At first, nothing big. Peeping Tom complaints. A woman reported that he was in her backyard at 3:00 in the morning. She said she'd dated him for a short period of time. Broke it off, he wasn't taking no for an answer. I guess dear old dad thought sending him away would do the trick. Politicians always want to cover things up instead of dealing with the issues. He wasn't doing his son any favors, look where it got him." I nodded my head in disbelief. Now I understood why Devon thought he was invincible. His father had connections in the political world. "Anyway, we're thinking that Ms. Greene had the unfortunate luck of hooking up with him, did something he didn't like, and he killed her." I gasped faking horrid surprise. "The problem is, we don't know who killed Mr. Jones." he said slapping his little notebook closed. "Well, I've taken up enough of your time, Principal York. Thanks for your help." he said putting the notebook inside his trench coat pocket. He rose from his seat and pulled out a card and handed it to me. "If you think of anything, please don't hesitate to give me a call." I took the card and thanked him also rising. "Please, don't bother, I'll show myself out." he smiled. I smiled back breathing a sigh of relief that this meeting was adjourned.

As he left the women in the office watched and whispered. I waited until he was gone before I called Wayne. I tried calmly explaining what just happened. "Calm down baby, relax." he told me. "There was a detective here, Detective Harris." I stammered. "He came in asking me a bunch of questions about Sheila and Devon. I was as honest as I could be, given the circumstances." "Okay, well look, I don't think this is the best time to talk about this. Maybe we should talk at home later?" he said. "You're right. We'll talk later." I agreed. "I love you, and don't worry, it'll be okay." "I love you too." I wasn't sure what would have happened to me if it hadn't been for Wayne. I don't know how he came to love me. Knowing I was a damaged, frightened woman, who had since turned into a murderer. I had killed Sheila and although it wasn't planned, it still happened. It would haunt me for the rest of my life. While I wanted Devon dead, actually killing him was something entirely different. Seeing his cold dead eyes, his lifeless body, was permanently etched on my brain. Knowing that I could live in peace without him, however, was priceless.

But only time would tell what Detective Harris was up to...