Leopard's Baby

It was past 5:00 AM before the security team finished searching the entire grounds of the psychiatric hospital, including every room of the building itself. Hubart waited in his office hoping Tammy would be recaptured. He knew it hadn’t happened by the expression on the chief of security’s face when the man came to his office.

“No sign of her, Doc,” the chief said. “Except for her clothes on the roof. Somehow she managed to get away.”

“Don’t tell me she jumped off the roof bare-ass naked,” Hubart said. “Nobody could survive a ten-story jump.”

“That’s what we thought,” the chief said, scratching his head. “We expected to find her body. Even if she were still alive, she’d have a lot of broken bones and there’d be a blood trail.”

“Could she have slid down a drainpipe or something?”

“There is no drainpipe. If she had some rope she might’ve been able to attach it to a vent and rappel down the side of the building, but she had no rope when she ran out of here, and there was no sign of anything that’d been tied to a vent. Besides, we were on the roof too soon for her to do that.”

“She’s not a ghost,” an irate Hubart said. “She didn’t just disappear into thin air.”

“I hate to say this,” the chief said. He lowered his voice so the men waiting in Hubart’s outer office couldn’t hear him. “As unlikely as it sounds, she must’ve had inside help. I can’t think of any other way she could’ve eluded us. We took a few minutes to make sure you, the deputies and the orderlies were okay. She could’ve used that time to break down the door to the roof and retreat back down a flight or two. Probably her accomplice helped. I doubt a girl by herself could’ve knocked the door off its hinges. They left her clothes there. He gave her some fresh clothes, maybe like a nurse’s outfit, and they walked out the front door on the shift change.”

“That’s at least plausible,” Hubart said. “More likely than jumping a hundred feet straight down and walking away. I want you to vet everyone who was in the hospital last night. Call the police and have them issue an APB. Warn them how dangerous she is.”

After the chief left his office Hubart placed a call to Merritt Covington.

***

Tammy awoke. She was naked. Lying next to her, also naked, was Jeremy. They’d had sex. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched. Either her motion or the sound of her tendons popping must have cause Jeremy to wake. He scooted over, put his arms around her, cupped her breasts, and began kissing her neck. She allowed him to pull her back into the bed, but stopped him when he wanted to mount her.

“Last night was a dream come true,” Jeremy said. “Tammy, I love you. Marry me. When we get your son back and this nightmare is over, I’ll raise him as if he’s my own.”

“Jeremy, I like you a lot,” Tammy said. She took his hands in hers. “More than a lot. I couldn’t ask for a truer friend. But I’m not in love with you. I can’t marry you.”

“So what was last night?” Jeremy asked bitterly in a raised voice. “A pity fuck?”

“No,” Tammy replied. She hugged Jeremy to her. He tried to pull away, but couldn’t. “You’ve been there for me ever since this mess started. I’ve known you wanted me from the day we first met. Sleeping with you was the only way I could think of to partially repay you for your kindness and support. I wasn’t being entirely unselfish. I hadn’t had sex for over two years. I was ready, and once again you came through for me. But that’s all it was. Physical pleasure. I wasn’t making love, I was fucking. If it’s any consolation you were good.”

“We didn’t take precautions,” Jeremy said. “What if I made you pregnant? Would you marry me then?”

“It’s the wrong part of my cycle for me to get pregnant. In the unlikely event it happened, I’ll deal with it.”

Jeremy started to respond when his burner phone buzzed. He answered it, handed it to Tammy, and said, “It’s your mother.”

“There’s an APB out for you,” Olivia said. “You probably have a little time, but who knows how much. Right now the search is concentrated in Virginia. When they don’t find you, they’ll check the visitor logs and see Jeremy’s name. You need to be gone when they get to him.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Tammy replied. “I’ll be out of here soon.”

“I’ve got more bad news. Jennifer and Brendan are not at her home, and I don’t know where they are. I know they took off and headed for Chicago, but they never arrived there. She must’ve planned for the possibility of you being released.”

“This alters my immediate plans, but maybe it’s good. The way Tyler described security arrangements, it would’ve been very tough getting in. Outside their house the risk of collateral damage decreases significantly. I’ll try to let you know what my next move is.”

“Don’t call too often,” Olivia reminded Tammy. “Even with burner phones there’s a danger of calls being intercepted. They’ll be able to check cell tower records for calls made to and from our house. It’s a drawback of being isolated.”

***

“Bad news, Jennifer,” Merritt Covington said to Jennifer Roberts on her secure phone. “Tamara is in the wind.”

“I thought you’d arranged for the doctor to hold her over,” Jennifer said. “Indefinitely.”

“I did. I offered him money to further his research and pointed out that he could become famous by writing a book about her. He would’ve kept her drugged and locked up for years.”

“What went wrong?”

“Plain and simply, against all odds, she escaped. Hubart thinks somebody on the inside helped her, but however she did it, it doesn’t matter. She’s out and she’ll come after you. If it’s any consolation, the police are looking for her. Hard. Her picture will appear on news stations and on the internet.”

“She has to find me first. I should have at least a little time to increase security.”

***

“Get up, Connor!” his mother called. “You’ll be late for school!”

“I’m up, Mom,” Connor said as he came into the kitchen yawning and stretching.

“Why aren’t you wearing your new sneakers?” his mother demanded. “And when I tried to call you last night it went straight to voice mail. I told you to leave your phone on.”

Connor was not good at lying to his mother. It took only a few minutes for her to get the story of his encounter with Maggie, the strange, naked girl.

“Teenaged boys will do anything to get sex,” his mother said in disgust. “It never occurred to you that all she wanted was to rob you? Taking your money, phone, and clothes. How could you be so gullible?”

“She didn’t take my money. I wasn’t… Holy shit! It’s her!”

Connor was pointing at the television on the kitchen counter. On it was a picture of a young woman. His mother turned up the volume. “… Tamara Roberts. She escaped from the state hospital for the criminally insane. If you see her call the authorities at once. Do not, repeat do not try to apprehend her. She’s extremely dangerous, having killed multiple people.”

“Oh my God!” Connor’s mother exclaimed as she put her hands to her cheeks. “You’re lucky to be alive! We have to go to the police immediately!”

“But Mom, what about school?”

“It’ll have to wait. This is more important. Let’s go.”

Still protesting, Connor followed his mother out of the house. She drove to the sheriff’s office and told them she had information about the escaped mental patient. She and Connor were interviewed by the sheriff himself and a deputy.

“You’re a very lucky guy,” the sheriff said after Connor told his story. “That young woman is a former CIA agent with incredible skills. She went off the rails when her son was taken from her. I want to thank you for coming forward. We might be able to trace her knowing she had your phone. The bad news for us is that we have to widen our search. Since she could’ve called anybody, we can no longer assume she’s still near the hospital.”

***

Jeremy gave Tammy the fake ID her mother had obtained. She was now Judy Felson. She disguised herself, first by putting on a bulky body wrap. It made her look considerably heavier than she actually was. Over it she wore a dress that came to her knees and made her appear dowdy. While in prison she’d kept her dark, brown hair short. Now she donned a wig with lighter brown, frizzy hair that came to her shoulders. She also wore horn-rimmed glasses with clear, slightly darkened lenses. She slumped to hide her five-foot ten-inch frame. Most people wouldn’t give her a second look, which is what she wanted.

“Let me come with you, Tammy,” Jeremy begged. “We can pose as a married couple. It’ll be safer for you. The police will be looking for a woman by herself.”

“I appreciate the offer,” Tammy said. “Really I do. I can’t let you do that. If you’re found in my company you’ll go to jail. Your career will be ruined. I’d never forgive myself if that happened after all you’ve done for me.”

“Take my money then,” Jeremy insisted. “I know I gave you the cash your mother left, but the more you have the better.

Olivia had left $5,000 for Tammy. After arguing with him for several minutes, Tammy agreed to take an additional $500 from him. Then he insisted she take his car. Once again her initial response was to refuse, but after he pointed out that even with her disguise she might be recognized at a train or bus station since her picture was in every local newspaper, she accepted his offer.

“Listen Jeremy,” Tammy said, as she was about to head out the door. “You have to do something for me.”

“Anything!”

“The police will get to you, sooner rather than later. You must tell them I was here. I just showed up. I took your car without your permission. You were unaware I was a fugitive. You didn’t report your car stolen because you didn’t want to get me in trouble. Promise me!”

“If I do that you’ll be guilty of car theft.”

“Compared to everything else I could be arrested for, that’s trivial,” Tammy said with a laugh. “The last thing I want is for you to be arrested for aiding and abetting a wanted person. You can live with being played for a sucker, but not with a criminal record. If you don’t promise, I won’t take your car. I’m not sure when we’ll meet again. I sincerely hope someday you’ll meet a woman who will appreciate you and love you for what you are.”

Jeremy agreed to what Tammy asked. They embraced. Jeremy had tears in his eyes as he watched her drive away.

***

The school bus came to a stop in front of her house. Tiffany alighted and entered the code to open the gate. Just as she was about to step inside the grounds a state police car followed by another car came to a screeching halt. Men jumped out and ran toward the gate yelling about letting them in. One man grabbed Tiffany by the arm. She kicked him in the groin. He fell, screaming in pain. She jumped inside and the gate clanked shut before anyone else could enter.

A man in a business suit held up a piece of paper and shouted, “Open up! We have a warrant for the arrest of Tamara Roberts. If she doesn’t present herself we have another warrant to search the premises for her.”

“My mommy said I shouldn’t let in anyone I don’t know,” Tiffany said in as much of a little girl voice as she could manage.

“You could get into serious trouble, young lady,” the man said, shaking his finger at her. “I have a good mind to arrest you. You’re not complying with a warrant issued by a judge, and you just injured a law enforcement officer.”

“He attacked me first,” Tiffany said. She took out her phone and pointed to a camera on the wall. “I have video evidence of it. I think the bunch of you want to kidnap and rape me. I’m going to call the police. I hope you get arrested and sent away for a long time.”

“We are the police!” one of the state cops called.

“If you don’t let us in right now we’ll break the gate down,” another cop shouted.

“9-1-1,” a voice on Tiffany’s phone said. “What is your emergency?”

“My name is Tiffany,” she said, again using her little girl voice. “Some men are trying to break into my house. One of them hurt my arm before I could get away. They said they were police, but I think they want to kidnap and rape me.”

“I have a GPS fix on your phone,” the 9-1-1 operator said. “A police vehicle has been dispatched. It should be there within three minutes. Are you in immediate danger?”

“They said they’re going to break down the gate to my house.”

Tiffany blew a kiss to the men on the other side of the gate, and headed toward the house as they continued to remonstrate with her. She called her mother and reported the incident. Olivia laughed and said she’d be there in about a half hour, and not to let anyone in before she arrived. Just as Tiffany opened the door to the house a local police car arrived and two cops got out. Tiffany watched, amused, as the two sets of police gesticulated and yelled at each other.

“One of these days your antics are really going to get you in trouble,” Denise Mitchell, the live-in housekeeper, said as she affectionately put her arm around Tiffany.

“They deserve whatever they get for trying to intimidate a little girl,” Tiffany said. “I need some excitement. Everyone’s away except Tyler and Candi, and when they’re home they just want to screw. They won’t even let me watch.”

“You’re not such a little girl,” Denise said, trying not to laugh. “Thirteen going on thirty.”

Shortly thereafter Olivia arrived, followed a few minutes later by Attorney Justin Dombrosky. The lawyer examined the warrants. The state police were allowed into the house along with a state’s attorney. Dombrosky reminded them they were not allowed to remove any item from the house unless they found Tammy on the premises.

Tiffany followed the police around as they searched, continually making wiseass remarks. One of them told Olivia to keep Tiffany away from them unless she wanted to be arrested for impeding the execution of a lawful warrant.

“How is she impeding you?” Olivia asked. “She’s not preventing you from looking anywhere you like. She lives here. She has the right to go anywhere she pleases. You’re the interloper.”