In the Shadows

Chapter 5

    Luke had only been home for ten minutes on Monday night when there was a knock at the door. A quick look through the peephole revealed a man holding up a police badge. Luke opened the door.

"Officer Jackson," the man said, "I'll be parked across the road in an unmarked car until one am, then another officer will take over until seven am. Keep all your doors and windows locked. If you hear anything unusual flash your outside light a couple of times and I'll be here in ten seconds."

"Thanks," Luke replied, "Um, is there only one of you? I thought there would be two for a surveillance like this."

"That would be nice if we could but we just don't have enough manpower. But if necessary I can call for backup and someone will be here in a few minutes. If you decide to go out just come over to the car and let me know." He pointed to a black SUV parked on the other side of the road.
As Luke watched the policeman walk over to his car it occurred to him that he had parked right next the shrubs where he had seen a figure hiding a few nights earlier. Should he run after the cop and tell him this so he could keep an eye on the bushes behind him. No, he was a trained policeman. He would have his wits about him and be watching in all directions.

He watched TV until eleven o'clock, then went to bed. It was still an uneasy sleep until a slight noise brought him fully awake. He glanced at the bedside clock which read 12.07am. He sat up straining to hear a sort of rattling sound coming from the back of his flat. Then he realised what it was. Someone was trying to get in the back door. It was locked, but it wasn't the strongest lock in the world. A determined person could probably break the door open. He ran to the lounge room and looked through the curtains. The SUV was parked across the road. He quickly flashed the front outside light several times while watching the car expecting to see Officer Jackson come running across the road. But there was no movement. He frantically flashed the light again. Still no response. Maybe Jackson had fallen asleep.

Meanwhile the rattling from the back door had become louder. Then there was the sound of breaking glass. Luke waited no longer. He unlocked the front door and rushed outside across the street waving his arms to get Jackson's attention. As he reached the car and looked in through the side window he saw Jackson sitting in the driver's seat with his head back against the headrest. He looked like he was asleep. "Officer Jackson," Luke shouted as he wrenched the door open. As the interior light came on he gasped in shock. The side of Jackson's head was a mess of glistening dark red. He had obviously suffered a head injury and was unconscious or dead.

Luke knew had to call the police, but his mobile phone was back in the flat. He hadn't thought to grab it when he rushed out. He looked back across the street to his flat and froze in horror at the sight he saw. His front door was still open with a slight illumination coming from inside, and there in the doorway was the silhouette of a person, a woman with long hair who slowly started walking from the door down the path directly towards him. Luke jolted back to life. He had to protect himself. Summer was coming to kill him. He reached into the police car and pulled Jackson's revolver from its holster. He pointed the gun at the slowly advancing figure. "Summer," he screamed, "Stop or I'll shoot!"

The figure reached the kerb and stepped onto the road, now less than ten metres away. Luke aimed the gun high and pulled the trigger. It discharged with a deafening sound in the quiet of the night. The figure stopped, then turned and ran off towards the back of the flats. Lights came on in several nearby houses. A couple of front doors opened as residents cautiously looked out to see what was happening. 

"Call the police," Luke yelled. The retreating figure had disappeared as Luke sat down on the footpath, shaking. The revolver slipped from his hand and landed on the grass beside him. He was still sitting there in a daze a few minutes later when two police cars, red and blue lights flashing, screeched to a stop in front of him.

***

He stared at the clock on the wall of the interview room. Ten twenty one in the morning. Luke thought back to the events of the previous night. Officer Jackson was still alive and had been rushed to hospital. The police had searched the area but found no trace of Summer, and they confirmed the back door of his flat had been forced open. They questioned the neighbours but no one had seen the woman. Luke had spent the rest of the night in a motel with a policeman outside the door.

Finally Detective Linda Cummings entered the room and sat down at the table opposite Luke. She cleared her throat, "Just to let you know, Mr Paterson, Officer Jackson has a severe head injury but is expected to recover, although we haven't been able to interview him yet. It appears while he was watching your flat someone opened the passenger side door and struck him with a rock before he could react. Now I need to ask you this question again. Can you positively confirm that the woman who broke into your flat last night and then approached you in a threatening manner on the street was Ms Summer Mills?"

Luke thought for a moment. He thought he had seen her face in the darkness as she had approached him. She was medium to tall with a slim figure and long straight dark hair. "Yes, Detective, it was Summer. Who else would be stalking me anyway?"

"All right, Mr Paterson, we had to be sure."

"What are you doing to find her? She's dangerous, a dangerous psychopath."

We're searching the area. Plus we'll put extra surveillance on your flat and also on her sister's apartment.
"Her sister?"
"Yes. She has a step sister by the name of Bethany Bannister who had been living in New York for the last three years until about five months ago when she moved to Sydney. She had visited Ms Mills in the correctional facility three times prior to her escape. We've been watching Ms Bannister's apartment since the escape. We think Ms Mills must have found somewhere to stay, maybe a friend is harbouring her."

"Summer doesn't have any friends, only men who she uses and then discards. I didn't know she had a sister. Have you talked to her?" Luke asked.

"Yes," replied Cummings, "She said she hasn't seen Ms Mills and has no idea where she might have gone, but we're watching her apartment anyway in case her sister tries to make contact. We've also contacted your landlord who is getting the damage to your back door repaired today and a deadlock fitted, but I strongly suggest you stay somewhere else for a few days. Is there are friend or relative you can stay with?"
"Yes, actually no. If I stay with a friend I'll be putting them in danger. Summer doesn't give up easily. She'll find out where I'm staying and come after me there. I'll stay at a motel for a few nights."

"Fine. Just let me know which motel and we'll have someone watching it. We'll also keep up the surveillance on your flat in case she tries there again. Don't worry, Mr Paterson, we'll get her, then you can go back to your normal life."

Luke sat back in his chair and exhaled. He seriously doubted his life could ever be normal again.