Synopsis:

Bobby prepares to go into hiding everything he has seen and heard scares him and he wants to protect his family.

Story:

Bobbi’s Run ch. 5

by

Paula Dillon

Bobby did his homework in his own room. After he finished he sat and worried about what could happen. He often worried, but now he had a really big reason to worry. He only hoped that his Mom and sisters wouldn’t get caught up in his problems. Bobby had seen how drug gangs went after any witnesses to their crimes. The TV was filled with those stories. Even the police had a hard time protecting the witnesses. So he did the only thing he could think of and started to make plans. Bobby figured the only safe thing to do was to get away from his family and hide. He got on the web and started surfing sites for fake ID’s and how to hide. He also counted what money he saved. He had saved just over five hundred dollars; always wanting to go out and buy himself some girl’s clothes but never quite getting the nerve to do it.

He found a web site that let him download a program that let him make a realistic fake ID; he just needed to add a picture. He twisted his hair into a tight bun like he had seen his sisters and Mom do, fastening it with some bobby pins he had absconded with from them. He got out some purloined makeup and did his face up. He wasn’t great with it but at least he didn’t look like a clown. He had put on foundation, mascara, eyeliner and lipstick. His sisters teen fashion magazines had taught him what little he knew. He dressed in a bra, which he stuffed, a camisole and one of Darla’s white chiffon blouses.

He booted up a photo capture program, sat next to his pale blue walls and turned his webcam toward him. Holding his mouse in his hand he smiled and clicked the left button several times. He then reviewed the pictures he had taken, made some adjustments to the lighting and pose before taking several more. Within a few minutes he had several pictures he felt would make a decent ID and saved them. He then started his ID program. He found one that wasn’t for a fake driver’s license; it was just a personal ID that looked official enough to pass as a proper ID. He typed in the personal data; Name: Leslie Blair Edmund (his grandmothers maiden name) Age: 19 (he really didn’t want to push this too far) Height: 5’ 1” (an honest measure) Weight: 115 (a little higher than actual) Hair: Auburn (no hiding that) Eyes: Green (or that either) Address: 1214 Old Newton Rd. Davenport, Iowa 52804 (his Gran’s old hometown address). He pasted in one of the pics and hit the finish button. He repeated it with several of the pictures and checked and compared them till he found one he liked. He set his ink jet to the highest resolution and printed out several copies of each ID’s.

He got several good copies and put them in his locking file cabinet. His mom let him get the file cabinet as long as he gave her one of the keys. He started to head out of his room, but he caught himself. He took off his girl clothes and as best he could wiped the makeup off his face. He would need to head off to the bathroom and wash. Dressed he headed to the bathroom passing Darla. She turned and looked at him smiling; he definitely had mascara on she thought.

Monday the kids got up made their breakfasts and got ready for school. Every thing went as normal except Bobby was startled to find Sandra and Becky waiting for him. He got hugs and kisses from both girls, which raised a little stir from the other students. They talked about what had happened the rest of the weekend. Becky pouted when she heard that Sandra and Bobby had lunch together Sunday. She hadn’t told her family about what had gone down. Both girls gave Bobby their cell phone numbers when the early bell rang and headed for their classes.

Whispers followed Bobby throughout the day. Word had traveled fast that he had not one girlfriend but two, both were foxy ladies. Some macho types boasted that that fag couldn’t possibly have one girlfriend let alone two, but they were shushed by some of the girls. At lunch Becky sat with him, unfortunately Sandra didn’t have the same lunch period. He got shelled a couple of times with wadded up paper and food wrappers. He had lost some of his invisibility by having a pretty girl by his side by guys who were jealous of his good fortune. Nothing serious happened though.

Bobby got off his bus by a craft store and picked up some lamination material and some other odds and ends before heading home. At home he found a card that had come in the mail. It was one of them fake credit cards that even had the brown strip on the back and fortunately wasn’t embossed with a name. He trimmed several of the ID’s and carefully glued one on the face of the card. It took two attempts before he was satisfied. He then laminated the card and carefully trimmed it. A big smile formed on his face as he looked at it. He hadn’t dealt with fake ID’s before but it looked pretty good to him.

**************************

Brian found some security cam pics of the three teens walking in the mall. He printed out some copies and started trying to ID the teens pictured. He was having poor luck, but hey detective work is two steps forward one step back at times and a detective wore out a lot of shoe leather.

Tara was at wits end, nobody came forward with any information on the shootings and even her CI’s (confidential informants, snitches) had nothing for her. Sam called in sick today so it was her and Brian again. She liked working with him. He knew she was senior and didn’t complain that she took the lead on the case. She went over the reports from the crime lab and the coroner’s office. All the slugs that hit the vics did come from the same gun. None of the guns recovered matched the slugs from the vics. The perp was a very good shooter. Blood evidence showed five different contributors. So maybe the perp wasn’t all lucky, but they had no hits from DNA on the source.

Tara called Brian on his cell phone, “Any luck yet Brian?”

“Yeah I got some clearer pics of the teens, they aren’t perfect by a long shot but we may be able to get ID’s from them.”

“Great we will make some more copies of em and spread em around to the blue shirts maybe we will get some hits that way.”

“Sure thing Tara, It is getting late I am going to head on home and start again tomorrow if that is alright. My feet are killing me.”

“Aw, does he hurt and have a temperature?”

“Oh shut up Tara.”

“Ok Brian it sounds good to me, Sam called in and said he would be out sick all week. First time in six years, I guess we will let him slide.”

“Yeah he has already talked to me too. I think he wants to be kept up to speed on this one.”

“It is hard to keep an old blood hound down Brian. Once a cop always a cop you know.”

“Yes I know what you mean. See ya!”

“Ok, take it easy Brian.”

**************************

While his sisters fixed dinner Bobby was up in his room sorting things he would need. He made a list so that he wouldn’t forget and prepared several notes. He checked the phone book for numbers he might need and carefully went over everything in his mind. He took a lot of things off of his computer and loaded them on his laptop, before wiping the programs off the hard drive. Tomorrow was a trash day so he disposed of the many tapes he had collected. He had what he wanted on his laptop anyway. He had two rolling suitcases in his closet, a large one and a carryon bag. He started packing these with the things he could easily get and marking it off his list.

Liz had a long day in court and then a long evening going over what had happened and what they wanted to happen tomorrow. She didn’t get home till late and had forgotten to call Det. Tara Collins like she had planned on doing.

The kids had already eaten, and the girls had gotten their showers in. Bobby told his Mom that he was going to shower just before he went to bed; one of his favorite shows was on. Liz was too tired to worry about it and Bobby was a good kid. She just headed on to bed.

Bobby filled the tub up and got in. He shaved his whole body even his face. That was the first time for him to shave his face, he really didn’t need too but he wanted to be certain. He carefully washed his hair and used his sisters’ conditioner on it. When he finished he dried himself off and as he had done many times before looked at himself naked in the mirror. He sat on a chair and worked on his nails they weren’t very long, but he couldn’t have gotten away with long nails. But he could take care of his cuticles and shape what he had. In the morning he would need to do his hair, pluck his eyebrows some but not too much right now, and finish getting his clothes together. He had made new breast forms from instructions on the Internet, larger and more natural looking in a bra at least. He even made some hip pads to round out his figure.

Tired, Bobby went to bed. He slept fitfully that night, worried about what could come. He was more than a little frightened, but also more than a little convinced he needed to do this.

In the morning everyone fixed and ate their breakfast before getting ready for school. Bobby took a swig of ipecac from a bottle before leaving his room. On the way to the bus stop he finally threw up. Darla told him to go on home and she would call Mom from school. He begged her just to let him go home and not disturb Mom. She has this important case and he didn’t want her to worry. He would tell a neighbor, Mrs. Perkins. Darla relented and let it go.

Bobby hurried home and got started getting ready. He threw up twice more before his stomach settled down. He took some of his Mom’s and Darla’s clothes and packed them. He plucked his eyebrows a little and dressed in a more gender-neutral fashion. He looked somewhat older he noticed. He put on one of his mom’s bras but didn’t stuff it yet. He got his money and an emergency stash he knew his Mom had. He hated touching it but thought he would need it. He had a little over eight hundred. When everything was checked off the list he called for a cab.

He directed the cab to take him to the Am-Trak station. He wheeled his luggage into the station and put the bigger case in a locker then headed to a ticket booth, buying a ticket to Chicago. A ticket he would never use.

He found a quiet place away from people, there was a lot of nooks and crannies in a place like this, and put his breast forms into his bra carefully adjusting them. He took off an oversized shirt leaving on one of Darla’s T-shirts showing. He looked again carefully nobody was around and dropped his pants to reveal a pair of pink lycra girls shorts and a pair pantyhose he had on. He then switched his shoes to a pair of low heel pumps. Nobody seemed to notice him doing this so he headed for the ladies room. He figured if he acted like the women in there and like he should be there, that nobody would notice him. There were a few women already there; this was his first time to venture into a ladies restroom. It was like the boys room but nicer and they had no urinals. He went into one of the stalls and started changing clothes. Bobbi took off his blouse and shorts. He put his hip pads on underneath the pantyhose and adjusted them, before pulling a girdle up, making sure his stuff was tucked back before pulling the girdle tight. He put his shoes on, a pair of his Mom’s silver pumps with three-inch heels; he had worn them before and knew he could walk well enough in them. He pulled on a baby blue silk blouse with a scoop neck; at least it didn’t show anything off, he thought, because he just couldn’t pass the cleavage test. Lastly he put on a black half-slip, a black denim mini-skirt and bolero jacket. He took his purse with what he would need and packed what he had worn into the carryon bag. He took a deep breath and opened the door to the stall.

There was still quite a few ladies there, just not the same ones of course, and headed to an open sink/mirror. He placed his bag next to him and set his purse on it and looked in the mirror. He took his hair out of his ponytail, brushing it well and started trying to work it into an acceptable twist. He had done this before but never under scrutiny. One nice lady actually stopped and helped him with it. He remembered to thank her. It looked pretty good as he looked in the mirror. He opened up his purse and started on his makeup. He remembered the saying less is more and that daytime makeup was lighter than evening. He did a pretty fare job especially on his eyes. They looked great. He lastly added the lipstick and remembered to blot it, before looking at what he had done.

He saw an older lady looking at him appraisingly. Bobby’s heart felt like it was beating a thousand beats a minute.

“I like what you did sweetie, not too much and not too little.”

“Thank you Ma’am, I am still a little rusty. Even in high school Mom didn’t let me use it too much. She was a little old fashioned, I suppose, but now that I am on my own though I like to look nice,” Bobby said giving the woman a big genuine smile.

“Well you look better than a lot of girls who use way too much makeup, that’s for sure.”

“Oh thank you so much. I just love your hair, it is so shiny.”

“Yes, and hard to work with too.”

“I guess that is part of our price for looking good.”

“You’re right about that,” she giggled as she moved away.

Bobby had made his first contacts and had survived. He had to hold himself to steady his nerves. He collected his things and wheeled out of the restroom and on his way. He saw a station attendant and went over to him.

“Hi sir, I wonder if you could answer a question for me?”

The man looked over toward her and said, “Sure, if I can, I will be glad too.” He looked at Bobby with a little lust in his eyes.

“I just put a bag I don’t need right now in a locker. I won’t need it while I am here for a couple of days. How long can I leave it there?”

“They clean them out every other day, but one can be rented for a longer period at the information desk.”

“Thank you sir,” Bobby said as she smiled, gave a little finger wave and headed for the information desk. Bobby rented the locker for a week, the longest they would go. They gave him a special key that would allow it to be opened and relocked without having to continuously repay for the locker.

She went back to her locker and changed some things out before heading back into the city. At the curb she hailed a cab and had it take her to a motel. It wasn’t an extravagant motel but it was in a fairly nice neighborhood. This was going to be a major test. Bobby knew that motels usually required a credit card and a driver’s license to rent a room; he just hoped he could do it without a credit card and that his ID would pass the mustard. The cab dropped her off in front and she wheeled her bag inside the office. An older lady was sitting at the reception desk.

“Hi, I am visiting from out of town; I want to check out one of the colleges. I am thinking about starting here for the next term. How much would it cost to rent the room for six days?” Bobby said to the clerk.

The lady smiled at her as she looked her over. “Hi, I am Betty Lou, the room is thirty five ninety nine a day plus tax, six days that will be $254.36 total, do you have a credit card?”

“Yes, let me see,” Bobby said, and she proceeded to dump her purse a little at a time digging and rooting through it. “Oh Fudge! I left my checkbook and credit cards back in Iowa.”

“Do you have cash and an ID?”

“Yes I do, I have enough for my stay here and food. I will have to get Gran to send me my stuff though.” Bobby said pulling out his ID and his wallet.

The clerk made a copy of the ID and handed a registration slip to Bobby to fill out. Bobby remembered to fill it out according to his ID card. He signed the form and handed it back to the lady. The lady rang up the register and Bobby handed her the cash.

“Ok Leslie, you will be in room 214, that’s on the second floor towards the end. The pool is open 10:00 am till 10:00 pm, the ice machine is in the breezeway and there is an all night diner just on the other side of the office. I hope you like it here and good luck at college,” Betty Lou said, smiling warmly at Bobby.

Bobby wheeled the bag towards his room it was heavy and she had a hard time getting it up the stairs. She found her room, opened the door with the key, wheeled her bag in and collapsed on the bed. Her first day as a girl had been exhilarating so far but she had a lot to do before she would feel safe again. After a few minutes she opened her bag, hung up the clothes so they would look alright, and put her lingerie into the drawers. The toiletries went into the bathroom. She hoped Darla and Mom would forgive her for raiding their things.

Bobby laid down for fifteen minutes or so. Throwing up so much had taken a lot out of her. She really needed to get something to eat. She grabbed her purse and repaired her makeup. She then made sure she had her key she headed out to the diner.

Bobby realized that now she was a girl, she would have to be extra careful, girls especially girls that were by themselves, were more of a target for violence than boys. Bobby also realized that she was more vulnerable to violence than real girls now. Boys like Bobby live a hard violent life sometimes.

The diner wasn’t too busy when Bobby entered she reckoned it was about 2:30 pm. The evening crowd hadn’t started and the lunch crowd had already departed. As she sat she planned out her evening.
She didn’t know when she would call Police Department, but she did want to get that detective Tara Collins on the phone.

The waitress came and brought her a glass of water and a menu.

“Hi I am Caitlin; I will be your waitress. What can I get you to drink?”

“I will have a diet coke and do you have a BLT?”

“Yes we do, do you want fries or a salad with that?”

“Yes a salad with ranch on the side.”

**************************

Brian called Tara on his cell phone, “Hello Tara, I may have a hit on two of those kids. One sales clerk ID’ed one of the girls as a Sandra and the other girl as Becky, they both went to Jefferson high school.”

“Great job Brian, I will head there now. How soon can you be there?”

“I am about fifteen out.”

“Ok meet you there in fifteen.”

Tara met Brian in front of the school. He handed her frontal pictures of the three teens. They were not good but they should be able to get an ID from them. They headed to the office flashed their badges and asked to talk to the principal.

Amanda Davis, the principal greeted them in her office and asked what she could do for them.

“Ms. Davis, three of your students may have witnessed a grisly murder and we desperately need to talk to them. Can you identify the students in these pictures?” Brian said handing the pictures to her.

“Yes that is Sandra Jennings, Becky Samuels and I think the other is Bobby McDonald.” Ms. Davis said. She got up and went outside and pulled their schedules and attendance. She went from one to the other checking time and attendance and wrote down the class and room they were currently in. “Ok, one of them, Bobby McDonald is out sick. He has a sister Darla, who goes here to, she said that he threw up on the way to the bus today.” Amanda said.

“I need to talk to Sandra and Becky and if you can, call Bobby’s sister too please.”

Sandra got to the office first followed by Darla and then Becky. She raised an eyebrow and then felt a knot in her stomach not knowing what this might be about. Darla just didn’t have a clue.

The three girls were sent into the office where Principal Davis, with another woman and man were waiting. “Girls, this is Detectives Tara Collins and Brian Williams. They would like to talk to you.”

“Well, we would like to talk to Sandra, Becky and Bobby. Ms. Davis said that Bobby was out sick is that right Darla?”

“Yes, he should be at home right now.”

“Well, Sandra and Becky we need you to call your parents and have them meet us. Brian you stay here till they make their calls and stay with them till their parents get here. Darla I need you to go with me to your home, we will need to contact your parents too.”

“My Mom is in court right now, I doubt if she can get away. She has a really important case right now.”

“Is she a lawyer?”

“Yes. She is Elisabeth McCrea.”

“Which court room?”

“I don’t know, it’s a civil case.”

“Ok, we will call her when we get to your home.” Tara said as she led Darla to her car.

“I saw you on TV the other day, isn’t that right?”

“I am not sure, I don’t stay up to see if I made the news but I could have been.”

“Yes, you were at the scene of that murder right. Is that what this is about?”

“That was probably me then, but I would rather not say what this is about.”

They drove to Darla’s home. Darla got out her key and entered the house and called for her brother. She didn’t get any response. She went to his room and he wasn’t there.

Tara entered and looked from room to room. Everything looked to be normal, nothing looked disturbed or out of place.

“Nobody is here right now; could he be with a neighbor?”

“He might be; he said he would notify one.”

“Which one?”

“Mrs. Perkins, they live right there,” she said pointing to the house.

“Let me go check, you stay here in case there is a call.”

Darla went to dump her junk in her room. She saw a note on her vanity and picked it up and read it.

Darla,

As you can see I am not here right now. I have gone. It is not safe for me I feel. I took some things from you and Mom. Please forgive me and don’t give away what I have taken. I was near that murder the other day and I have some evidence. I am dressing as a girl right now. Please be careful.

Love,

Bobby

Darla folded the letter up and tucked it into the waistband of her skirt. She heard Detective Tara call out for her.

“Was he there Ma’am?”

“No he wasn’t, in fact she said she saw a cab pull up and him get in it at about 9:30. Where would he have gone?”

“I don’t know. He was supposed to be in bed.”

Tara called the courthouse’s bailiffs office and asked them to locate Elisabeth McCrea.

The phone at the house rang a few minutes later.

“Mom, this is Darla, there is a detective Tara Collins here. She is looking for Bobby. He got sick this morning, but when I got home he wasn’t here.”

“Oh my god, I was afraid of this. Let me talk to her Darla.”

“Ms. McCrea, I am detective Collins, we really need to talk to Bobby. Do you know where he is at?”

“He was supposed to be in school. I didn’t know he got sick. I need to get a continuance and then I will come home. It will take me about thirty minutes.”

“Ok I will be here with Darla till you get here.”

“Can you two pick up my daughter Amy at the junior high? I know what this is about and it scares me. I will call them.”

“I can get a unit to pick her up.”

“No, I know of you, I don’t know of them whoever it is.”

Tara got on her radio and requested a unit to sit on this house while she and Darla went to the junior high. She also called the office and had a detective there start calling Cab companies to try to locate where Bobby had gone. She thought this kid might be the key to this murder.

Amy was confused as she was pulled out of class and called to the office. She was afraid when she saw Darla there with an unknown lady. Darla introduced Detective Collins and assured her that it was alright she believed, but refused to say what it was all about. The three of them arrived at the house about the same time their Mom arrived. An armed bailiff had accompanied her after she told the judge her son was missing.

Liz ran through the house looking for her son. He just wasn’t there. Tara told her what Mrs. Perkins had said. “I have a detective calling taxi companies trying to find out which one came by and where they went.”

They all sat down and were waiting to hear anything. Darla hugged her Mom and tucked the note into her blouse.

“Mom why don’t you go change, I will stay here with Amy till we hear something.”

“Good idea Darla. I will be just a minute.”

Liz went to her room, she had felt her daughter slip her the note and she could really do with a change of clothes. In her room she read the note and found a note of her own in her panty drawer.

Mom,

Things are more complicated than you know. I actually have a video of the murder going down. I have been taping girls for a while trying to copy their dress and mannerisms for a while. I am sorry.

I have taken some of yours and Darla’s clothes and am hiding as a girl. I am afraid I am not safe at home and that it is not safe for me to be around you or my sisters till this thing is resolved.

Please don’t be mad at me. I have messengered a copy of my tape to your office Mom.

Be careful, I love you guys,

Bobby

Notes:

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