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A Week Later:
“Please, Mann!” Lisa clutched his screen door. “Please hear me out.”
He pulled down his wrinkled T-shirt. “I told you that I can’t help you, Lisa.”
“You promised me that if I ever needed you that you’d be here. Well, I need you now.” She moved away from the door. “Please.”
He walked out on the porch. “What is it?”
“I know you wanna forget the Sandman.” She sat on the hammock. “I want to as well but neither of us will until Leb’s back in prison and all of this is over with.”
“Leb?” He stood in the middle of the porch.
“He recently got out of prison a few months ago.”
“What?” He took a seat on the upside down pail. “How the hell did he get out?”
She scoffed. “And that’s not all. He knew one of the victims—Kay Herman. A girl who worked with Kay said Leb had a thing for Kay and was harassing her.”
“Jesus.”
“I know it’s him, Mann. There were no signs of forced entry at Kay’s after the murder so she most likely knew the killer.” Lisa stretched out her legs.
“But why would she let a man who was harassing her into her place?”
“I don’t know.” Lisa scratched her arm. “All I know is that Leb did it. I feel it in my gut.”
“So did you arrest him?”
“We don’t have enough to arrest him. Leb knowing Kay is not proof that he murdered her.” She rubbed her forehead. “We questioned him and got nowhere. He was just as cocky as he was when you and I spoke to him during the last investigation.”
“You gotta be strong, Leece.” He patted her knee. “Don’t let this overtake you like it did me. It can ruin your life.”
“I gotta get him, Mann. I’ll die if I don’t.”
“You gotta be patient.”
“Patient enough for him to kill someone else?” She swatted a gnat. “This motherfucker is beyond sick. He killed a woman and stuck her in my living room the same way he stuck one in your garage. How do you catch someone that’s that fucked-up?” She stared at the houses across the street. “I’ve kept my eye on him though.” She bit her lip. “I’ve been watching and following his ass. I watch him at his friend’s auto garage.” She crossed her legs at the ankles. “I even searched his place. The landlord let me in and agreed to keep it a secret.”
“Lisa...”
She raised her hand. “I don’t want to hear shit about policy and procedure. Leb’s out there killing people like it’s a big joke, so the last thing I care about is doing this by the book.”
“You searched his place without a warrant and no evidence of justification? Lisa, if you keep doing shit like that then you’ll end up kicked off the case. Then how will you get him?”
“If they find out and wanna suspend me...fine. I don’t give a shit. I’ll still go after his ass.”
He shook his head. “I’m worried about you. You sound just like I did.”
“I’m desperate, Mann. I need any help you’re willing to give me.”
“I don’t know what you expect me to do.” He jerked up. “In case you’ve forgotten I couldn’t get the Sandman either.”
“But you could’ve gotten him.” She took his hand. “I just need you to lead me in the right direction. I don’t think I can get him without your help.”
“I—”
She hugged him. “Please, Mann. We can’t let him kill anyone else. We gotta stop him this time, or he might get away with it for good.”
“Okay.” He rubbed her back. “I’ll see what I can do.” He let her go. “But you’ve gotta get Leb’s ass in jail on something.”
“I’ve tried. I’ve checked to see if he had any warrants, tickets, any little ounce of a violation that I could arrest him on.” She held up her hands. “His parole officer even said he’s been squeaky clean since getting out.”
“There’s gotta be something.” He clasped his hands. “I don’t suppose you got any witnesses that can put Leb at any of these scenes during the crime?”
“Nope, and believe me I’ve tried. The only person that can link him to something is Elena and what she said isn’t enough to bring up charges.” She slapped a gnat from her arm. “And there’s something else about Kay. We found out she’d been sexually assaulted.”
“What?”
“Her lab results came back.” She lowered her voice. “They found semen and other signs of forced intercourse. We have DNA of the rapist which we think is the same man that killed her.”
“But the Sandman’s never sexually assaulted a victim before. Why would he now?”
“If he had a personal interest in Kay, he might rape her.” She stared at him. “Elena said Leb liked Kay. Maybe killing her was a crime of passion. Maybe he was stalking her. He stalked Dana Horowitz and look how she ended up.”
“Okay, well, Benson’s DNA is on file so now you just gotta wait and see if it’s a match.”
“Yeah, and that could take weeks.” Lisa brushed a gnat from her face.
Mann nudged her. “At least it’s something to look forward to.”
****
Dee searched the cabinet in the police-station file room. “Well, I’m glad Mann’s coming on board.” She flipped through folders. “Lord knows we need all the help we can get.”
Lisa bit into her cinnamon roll. “We know the person who raped Kay is the killer. So that’s something.”
Dee closed the top drawer of the file cabinet and opened the second. “Now we just gotta wait on the lab techs to get the molasses out of their asses so we can see if Leb’s DNA matches.”
Lisa wiped her hands. “Let’s just hope Leb doesn’t go on another spree before they come up with something.”
Winston walked in. “Well, hello, ladies.”
Dee waved a folder over her shoulder. “Hey.”
“Winston.” Lisa smiled at him. “Can we help you with anything?”
“Actually, I was looking for you. Do you have a few minutes to talk?”
“Uh...” She looked at Dee. “Sure.”
“I’ll leave you two alone.” Dee snatched the last of Lisa’s cinnamon roll and left.
“What did you wanna talk about?” Lisa sat on top of the table.
He stood in front of her. “I need to get something off my chest.”
Lisa tightened up. “Do you?”
He clasped his hands behind his back. “You’re probably gonna be angry with me but so be it.”
“Why would I be angry with you?”
“I, uh...overheard you and Dee talking in the workout room the other day. You were talking about Mason.”
“You were eavesdropping?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I just happened to be passing through and caught the conversation.”
“So? Why are you telling me this?”
He sighed. “I think I heard some things that you didn’t want me to hear.”
She turned from his gaze.
“I know what he did to you, Lisa.”
“What?”
“Shh.” He rubbed her arm. “It’s okay.”
She smacked his hand. “What the hell did you hear?”
“I heard that he used to...” He shrugged. “You know.”
She jumped off the table. “I wanna know exactly what you heard!”
“I heard that he used to beat you,” he whispered.
“Oh!” She turned to go.
“Lisa, wait!” He grabbed her.
“Let me go!” She struggled.
“Shh, it’s okay! I won’t tell anyone!”
She pounded her small fists on his broad chest. “Let me go, Winston!”
“I’m sorry you went through that, Lisa.”
“Let me go, damn it!” She yanked away from him. “What is your problem?” She broke into tears. “Why were you eavesdropping? Why?”
“Because I care about you and I can’t stop what I feel for you.”
“Do you realize how humiliated I feel right now?”
“You shouldn’t feel that way. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
She turned her back to him.
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I can’t believe someone would treat you that way.” He tried to hug her.
She pushed him. “Stay away from me.”
“I know you don’t trust me, but I do care about you. That’s why I did what I did earlier.”
She backed away. “What the hell are you talking about?”
He ran his hand through his hair. “I went to see Mason.”
She lunged at him. “You what?”
“I told him to stay away from you and not to call you anymore.”
“Who...?” She threw her arms up. “Who the hell do you think you are, Winston?” She shoved him. “Who are you to go to Mason? You have no right to be in my business! You keep saying you want us to be friends and then you do something like this behind my back?”
“I just couldn’t stand by and do nothing.” He reached for her.
“Don’t touch me.”
“I’d never hurt you, Lisa.”
She looked him up and down. “If I had a dollar for every time a man said that to me, I’d be a fuckin’ millionaire.”