The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Ann Rule
Ted, to be on the inside of a statewide campaign, to report to Governor Evans himself and his top aides with the tapes of Rosellini's speeches.
On September 2d, Ted-driving Governor Evans and other dignitaries in the lead limousine-had been the first man to traverse the North Cascades Highway that winds through spectacular scenery at the northern boundaries of Washington State.
"They thought that President Nixon was going to show up," Ted recalled.
"And they had secret service men checking everybody out. His brother came instead, but I didn't care. I got to lead 15,000 people in a sixty-four-mile parade across the mountains." The Evans campaign for re-election had been successful, and now Ted was in good standing with the administration in power. At the time of the Christmas party, he was employed by the City of Seattle's Crime Prevention Advisory Commission and was reviewing the state's new hitchhiking law, a law which made thumbing a ride legal again.
"Put me down as being absolutely against hitchhiking," I said. "I've written too many stories about female homicide victims who met their killers while they were hitchhiking."
Although Ted still looked forward to law school, he had his sights on the position as director of the Crime Prevention Advisory Commission, was among the final candidates, and felt optimistic about getting the job.
We went our separate ways at the party; I danced with Ted once or twice and noticed that he seemed to be having a good time, talking with several women. He seemed to be completely entranced with a young woman who belonged to Seattle's Junior League, a Crisis Clinic volunteer whom neither of us had happened to meet before. Since some shifts
THE STRANGER BESIDE ME
35
never coincided, it wasn't unusual that volunteers' paths didn't cross. The woman was married to a young lawyer with a "future," a man who is now one of Seattle's most successful attorneys.
Ted didn't talk to her; in fact, he seemed in awe of her, but he pointed her out to me and asked about her. She was a beautiful woman with long dark hair, straight and parted in the middle, and dressed in a way that spoke of money and taste. She wore a black, long-sleeved blouse, a straight white silk evening skirt, solid gold chains, and earrings. I doubt that she was even aware of Ted's fascination with her, but I caught him staring at her several times during the evening. With the others at the party, he was expansive, relaxed, and usually the center of conversation.
Since I was the driver, Ted drank a good deal during the evening, and he was quite intoxicated when we left at 2:00 A.M. He was a friendly, relaxed drunk, and he settled into the passenger seat and rambled on and on about the woman at the party who had impressed him so much.
"She's just what I've always wanted. She's perfect-but she didn't even notice me..."
And then he fell sound asleep.
When I delivered Ted back to the Rogers's that night, he was almost comatose, and it took me ten minutes of shaking him and shouting to wake him up. I walked him to the door and said goodnight, smiling as he bumbled in the door and disappeared.
A week later, I received a Christmas card from Ted. The block print read, "O. Henry wrote the 'Gift of the Magi,' a story of two lovers who sacrificed for each other their greatest treasures. She cut her long hair to buy her lover a watch chain. He sold his watch to buy her combs for her hair. In acts that might seem foolish these two people found the spirit of the Magi."
It was my favorite Christmas story. How had he known?
Inside, Ted ^printed his own wishes: "The New Year should be a good one for a talented, delightful, newly liberated woman. THank you for the party. Love, ted."
I was touched by the gesture. It was typical of Ted Bundy; he knew I needed the emotional support of those sentiments.
Seemingly, there wasn't a thing in the world I could do for him. He wasn't interested in me romantically, I was just
36
THE STRANGER BESIDE
On September 2d, Ted-driving Governor Evans and other dignitaries in the lead limousine-had been the first man to traverse the North Cascades Highway that winds through spectacular scenery at the northern boundaries of Washington State.
"They thought that President Nixon was going to show up," Ted recalled.
"And they had secret service men checking everybody out. His brother came instead, but I didn't care. I got to lead 15,000 people in a sixty-four-mile parade across the mountains." The Evans campaign for re-election had been successful, and now Ted was in good standing with the administration in power. At the time of the Christmas party, he was employed by the City of Seattle's Crime Prevention Advisory Commission and was reviewing the state's new hitchhiking law, a law which made thumbing a ride legal again.
"Put me down as being absolutely against hitchhiking," I said. "I've written too many stories about female homicide victims who met their killers while they were hitchhiking."
Although Ted still looked forward to law school, he had his sights on the position as director of the Crime Prevention Advisory Commission, was among the final candidates, and felt optimistic about getting the job.
We went our separate ways at the party; I danced with Ted once or twice and noticed that he seemed to be having a good time, talking with several women. He seemed to be completely entranced with a young woman who belonged to Seattle's Junior League, a Crisis Clinic volunteer whom neither of us had happened to meet before. Since some shifts
THE STRANGER BESIDE ME
35
never coincided, it wasn't unusual that volunteers' paths didn't cross. The woman was married to a young lawyer with a "future," a man who is now one of Seattle's most successful attorneys.
Ted didn't talk to her; in fact, he seemed in awe of her, but he pointed her out to me and asked about her. She was a beautiful woman with long dark hair, straight and parted in the middle, and dressed in a way that spoke of money and taste. She wore a black, long-sleeved blouse, a straight white silk evening skirt, solid gold chains, and earrings. I doubt that she was even aware of Ted's fascination with her, but I caught him staring at her several times during the evening. With the others at the party, he was expansive, relaxed, and usually the center of conversation.
Since I was the driver, Ted drank a good deal during the evening, and he was quite intoxicated when we left at 2:00 A.M. He was a friendly, relaxed drunk, and he settled into the passenger seat and rambled on and on about the woman at the party who had impressed him so much.
"She's just what I've always wanted. She's perfect-but she didn't even notice me..."
And then he fell sound asleep.
When I delivered Ted back to the Rogers's that night, he was almost comatose, and it took me ten minutes of shaking him and shouting to wake him up. I walked him to the door and said goodnight, smiling as he bumbled in the door and disappeared.
A week later, I received a Christmas card from Ted. The block print read, "O. Henry wrote the 'Gift of the Magi,' a story of two lovers who sacrificed for each other their greatest treasures. She cut her long hair to buy her lover a watch chain. He sold his watch to buy her combs for her hair. In acts that might seem foolish these two people found the spirit of the Magi."
It was my favorite Christmas story. How had he known?
Inside, Ted ^printed his own wishes: "The New Year should be a good one for a talented, delightful, newly liberated woman. THank you for the party. Love, ted."
I was touched by the gesture. It was typical of Ted Bundy; he knew I needed the emotional support of those sentiments.
Seemingly, there wasn't a thing in the world I could do for him. He wasn't interested in me romantically, I was just
36
THE STRANGER BESIDE
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