“Right, and that must be exhausting.” Jenkins looked over at Pamela to see if she was calming down. She gave him a puzzling look, pleading with him to stop antagonizing her.
“It’s only exhausting when people get in the way of what I need to do. I have encountered many frustrating people over the years.” Callie thought back to when she was Theresa and was supposed to marry Richard, and his betrayal of marrying another.
“Of all of them, though, you are the most frustrating person I have dealt with. Enough chit chat, Jenkins! You had your chance to learn all you wanted when you were pretending to be my friend.” Callie shifted her withering glare over to Pamela, who was still in the body she wanted. “And you! Quit wasting my time. It’s time to switch, if you want to save him, that is.” She cocked the gun and pointed it straight at Jenkins’s forehead.
Before Pamela could make the switch, the doors to the library burst open. A swarm of police officers filed in and raised their weapons, all pointed at Callie.
“Drop your weapon!” The officer closest to Jenkins screamed, causing him to startle.
Both Jenkins and Pamela raised their hands, to show they were unarmed and not the perpetrators. More officers flooded into the room, standing just behind them.
Callie dropped the gun to the floor with a thud, a maniacal smile on her face directed at the two people sitting across from her.
An officer moved forward and kicked the gun away from her feet. “Turn around, and put your hands behind your back.”
“You don’t understand! This woman stole my life, my identity! You’re arresting the wrong person. Those two are the real enemies here,” Callie wailed. She knew trying to physically assault the officers could result in bodily harm, so she complied, but that wasn’t going to stop her from spewing the truth out.
Jenkins and Pamela shuffled off to the side of the library and watched as Callie was put in handcuffs. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”
“You need to arrestthem! They are inmyhouse! I own it. I bought it!” Two officers grabbed her arms and moved her toward the door. “I am going to find you and kill you, both of you!”
Jenkins rushed over and protectively wrapped his arms around Pamela. In his embrace, she buried her face in his chest.
“That’s her, officer, the stalker we called you about.” Jenkins said, as he looked at Callie a final time. “She’s obsessed with Pamela and has been trying to take over her life. We have a fish tank she left as a message. You can check it for her fingerprints.”
His heart broke as he listed out some of her crimes. A sadness filled him as he thought back to the time when he had still cared for her.She is beyond help at this point.
“She threatened to kill me tonight.” His voice choked up. She was once his protector, and now she was his greatest threat. “She would’ve if you hadn’t walked in when you did.”
Callie’s eyes filled with a new look of hatred. She thrashed against the officer’s hold as she tried to lunge at the couple.
“Get her out of here.” One of the officers pushed against her chest, and they dragged her from the library. Her screams echoed down the hall as she was pulled farther and farther away.
Jenkins and Pamela relaxed once she was out of their sight, and she clung to his chest and sobbed. He gently stroked her hair. “Shh, it’s okay. It’s over now. You’re safe.”
“What if she comes back?” Pamela sobbed the question with her face still pressed into his chest.
“I have a feeling she won’t be coming back from this.”
Outside the house,Callie was placed in the back of one of the dozen police cars. She watched the house that she had once lived in, along with flashes of blue and red, as most of the lights on the vehicles were still active.
This isn’t over. I’ve lived many lives and overcome more than either of you realize. I’ll come back for you one day. Her mind flooded with memories as she desperately tried to work out a plan to get out of this.
“This can’t be the end. I’m supposed to come out on top. This just can’t be!” She pushed herself against the seat, hitting her head against the top part of the back. Her head throbbed as the tears flowed freely.
Finally, the arresting officer climbed in and drove down the long driveway. Once out on the road, he shut off the lights, and Callie was surrounded by darkness.
Leaning her head back, she couldn’t keep herself from explaining more. “I’m telling you the truth: you’ve made a huge mistake. I’m Pamela Shaw.” Her voice was raspy and tired.
The officer glanced in his rearview mirror and then back at the road. “Sure you are, and I’m Michael Jackson.”
“I can tell you every single detail about Pamela to prove I’m her.” She rushed the words out, thinking that maybe she could sway this officer to listen.
“All that is going to prove is that you are good at stalking.”
Callie shook her head. “No, six months ago, I was Pamela, and I accidentally switched places with Callie.” The handcuffs jangled as she attempted to wave her hands over her body. “I woke up in Traverse City, Michigan, married to a wife beater. Believe or don’t believe me, I’m telling the truth.”
They rode in silence the remainder of the drive. The officer would occasionally respond to calls over his police radio, and Callie had to listen to various dispatch announcements on his police dispatcher.
