Elias Pratt
January 24, 1986
The move Elias was about to make was a risky one. He was about to give Alexandra a sliver of truth, hoping she’d keep her word, even though he didn’t believe she would. Additional measures needed to be in place. A plan.
His execution had been stayed again.
He had time.
He also had the perfect plan.
Alexandra’s book wouldn’t be published until after he was dead. She’d said to do so any earlier would be like telling a story and leaving out the ending. Unsure of how long the process would take, she’d met with subjects for other projects in the interim.
“Why leave the truth about Paula out of the book?” Alexandra asked. “Why is it so important to you?”
“Paula was my girlfriend,” Elias replied.
Alexandra’s eyes widened. “Excuse me? When? For how long?”
“We started seeing each other about six months before I was arrested.”
“Why hasn’t anyone mentioned this before? Who else knows?”
“No one else knows except Paula, her parents, and now you.”
“Why not? Why hide it?”
“Paula’s father didn’t approve of our relationship. He thought I was too old for her. I guess the four years’ difference seems bigger when you’re young. He found out, demanded I stop seeing her.”
“Did you?”
“Of course not. You think I’d let some ignorant ass keep me from what I want?”
“So you snuck around.”
“For a while,” he said.
“And then?”
“He caught us one night in her bed.” Elias laughed, winked at Alexandra. “Guess we weren’t being as quiet as we thought we were. You know how it goes.”
“What did her father do?”
“The man was mad as hell. I thought he was going to drive a knife right through me. He tossed my clothes at my face, told me to get out, and said if I ever saw his daughter again, he’d have me arrested for sex with a minor.”
“Did you end it then?”
“Are you kidding? That girl was like a juicy slice of forbidden fruit. The more her father tried to keep me away, the more I wanted her.”
Elias smiled as he watched Alexandra writhe in her seat, crossing one leg over the other, uncrossing them, and then crossing them back on the other side. It was awkward tension. Sexual tension. He lived life by his own rules, according to what suited him, and Alexandra, with her tight clothes and defiant nature, breathed it in like a window being cracked open in a stuffy room that hadn’t been open in ages.
“Did Paula know about your criminal activity?”
He shook his head. “She’s a sweet girl. I didn’t want to trouble her with such things. She wouldn’t have understood my need for ... well, a more exciting life.”
“When did you stop seeing her?”
“A couple months before I was arrested, her father found a note I’d left Paula in her room. He knew then we’d never stopped seeing each other, and he decided to try a different approach.”
“Which was?”
“He invited me over for dinner, told Paula he may have misjudged me, and wanted to give me another chance.”
“You must have been thrilled.”
“At first. The family dinners, the ‘welcoming me with open arms’ attitude, it worked for Paula. It just didn’t work for me.”
“Why not?”
“Once I was accepted by her parents, the relationship lost its shine. It wasn’t risky and forbidden anymore. I became bored, and Paula’s father got his daughter back, which I expect is what he’d hoped would happen all along. I broke it off, and she hated me for it.”
“You’re saying she hated you so much she decided to tell the police you raped her?”
He nodded. “I figured it was her way of getting back at me for breaking her heart. Not long after I was incarcerated, she wrote me a letter, apologizing. She offered to confess what she’d done, make things right.”
“Why didn’t she?”
“I told her not to. I didn’t need her to do that for me. It wouldn’t change anything.”
Alexandra leaned in. “I appreciate you trusting me with this story, but we’re just getting started.”