“We got what we needed out of them,” Reyn said. “We tell the cops they were stalking you, file a complaint, let them figure out what to do.”
That was a good strategy. He was still worried that they might be the ones to get in trouble, that they might be accused of assault or kidnapping or some related offense and would be jailed while the other two were allowed to go free. But they had numbers on their side—twelve to two—and since Teri was dead and Kara and Joan were missing, it was likely that Williams would believe their story.
Gary gave in. “Okay. We’ll take them into the police station—”
“Take them in?” Stacy said incredulously. “Has this affected your brain? We call nine-one-one.”
Of course.
Gary felt stupid. Grief, fear, stress, lack of sleep, all of it was conspiring to impair his judgment. It probably was a good idea to let the police handle things.
Reyn already had his phone out and was calling. After he explained the situation to the 911 operator, Reyn said that this was connected to a case Detective Williams was working on and that the detective would probably like to be informed about it.
They walked back up the path, returning to where the others waited. Both Ape Arms and his buddy had closed their eyes and were standing with their hands clasped in front of them, praying. The two of them were speaking aloud but very softly, and though occasional words could be made out, everyone gave them privacy.
Gary had time to think while they waited for the police to arrive, and he changed his mind about not going after Joan. Maybe his judgment was impaired, but he thought the cops were taking too long to show up, and it made him realize that, while they might be highly trained, they had no personal stake in the outcome of this situation. He did. He loved Joan, and he needed to be there when she was rescued from her captors.
The operator had instructed Reyn to stay on the line, and he had. As the police drew closer, he gave them a more specific description of exactly where they were located. Seconds after hearing sirens pull into the parking lot at the end of the memorial path, four uniformed officers came hurrying up the trail. They pushed their way through the circle of students and immediately surrounded the still-praying duo. Moments later, Williams and Tucker strode out of the darkness. Gary hadn’t expected them to be working this late and was surprised to see them, but he wasn’t surprised by the look of annoyance on Tucker’s face, and a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that they should not have called the police.
Williams immediately put his fears to rest. The detective glanced at the two men, then walked directly up to Gary. “What happened?”
While everyone listened, Gary explained that these two had been stalking him and that because of that he’d been afraid to go out at night alone, so he’d come out this evening with a bunch of friends, and when he and his friends were attacked, they’d fought back.
“And why, exactly, were your friends carrying weapons?” Tucker asked drily.
Gary reminded the detectives about his abduction, how he’d been kidnapped and almost been killed. Williams kept glancing over at the captives. It helped his cause that the two men were dressed oddly and that they had obvious physical problems. They looked wrong, and that granted verisimilitude to the story Gary was telling.
“They look like the guys who kidnapped me,” Gary said. “Same kind of clothes, everything. I’m willing to bet that they’re the ones who wiped all my computerized records. I know they’re part of the group that has Joan.”
“How do you know that?”
“They told us where she’s being held. They gave us an address.”
“I have no idea what they’re talking about,” Ape Arms said calmly. He grinned at Gary, and even with the police present, that smile was still creepy enough to send a chill down his spine.
“We have witnesses,” Reyn said, gesturing around. “Twelve of them.”
“They’re liars,” Ape Arms said.
“Outsiders!” his friend insisted.
The word put Williams on alert, and Gary thought of Joan’s prayer scroll, which the detective must have seen during his examination of Joan and Kara’s dorm room. “What did you say?” Williams asked.
“You’re all Outsiders!” the short man yelled at the detective.
The men were separated, two uniformed officers guarding each, while Williams interviewed the tall one and Tucker the short one. Gary and the others waited around, trying to listen in, but while the questions could be heard, the answers couldn’t, and it soon became clear that the cops were having no more luck obtaining information than they had. Williams returned to where Gary was standing, obviously exasperated. “Do you have any idea what their names are?” he asked.
“Nope. They wouldn’t say.”
“Still won’t.” Williams nodded to the uniformed officers. “Bring ’em in. We’ll get this sorted out down at the station.” He turned to Gary. “You said they told you where Ms. Daniels is being held and provided you with an address.”
“We’ll need that address,” Tucker said.
Brian faced the detective. “Why don’t you guys just keep looking for Kara? We’ll take care of Gary’s imaginary girlfriend.”
Tucker glared back defiantly.
“We’re sorry about that,” Williams said, “but we have to go with the facts we have in hand.”
“Yeah, and we told you—”
“It’s all right,” Gary interrupted. He was feeling antsy and wanted to speed things along.
“The important thing is that we get everyone back in one piece,” Williams offered. “Now, did they give any indication as to Ms. Daniels’s condition?”
Gary shook his head.
“Did they say whether anyone else was being held at this location?”
Brian snorted. “They gave us the address. Period. Then they called us Outsiders and prayed.”
“I’m going to need you to come back to the station with us.”
Gary looked anxiously over at Reyn. They needed to get out of here and get going. Texas was far away and time was passing.
“I know what you’re thinking,” the detective said. “But the fastest way to do this is for me to call the local police or sheriff and have them check out this address. I’ll explain the situation, tell them what we have, and they can go out and look for us. If they find anything, they’ll let us know. If they don’t, and it turns out we’ve been given false information, they’ve prevented us from going on a wild-goose chase.”
It made sense, and Gary nodded reluctantly.
“You don’t need everyone, do you?” Reyn asked, gesturing toward the students gathered around them.
“Not right now. I need everyone’s name and phone number, but Mr. Russell’s the only one I need to speak with at the moment.” He motioned toward Gary. “You’ll have to sign the complaint.”
The uniformed policemen had already led Ape Arms and his buddy off to patrol cars, although they had not been handcuffed, and Williams and Tucker took several moments to write down names and numbers, Williams in a small notebook, Tucker on his handheld computer.
“All right,” Williams said, nodding toward Gary. “Follow us.”
“We’ll meet you there,” Reyn promised.
“Our car’s right over here.”
“We’ll take my car,” Gary said.
Tucker looked suspicious, but Brian shone his flashlight into the detective’s eyes and made him turn away. Brian chuckled to himself as the detectives walked back up the path toward the parking lot.
“I guess you all heard that,” Gary said to the gathered students. “You guys can go home. You don’t have to come with us. But I want to thank you for all of your help tonight. We couldn’t’ve done it without you.”