chapter 21

word count: 1255

this was not jake leichtenstein’s first time on the radar. his record of suspected sexual deviance dated back to age thirteen,, at which time,,  a naked adolescent male had been reported to have been exposing himself to grade school children as they passed the leichtenstein household.. although the perpetrator had obscured his face with the window drape, and no positive identification could be made, all accounts pointed to young jake, the eldest of the leichtenstein children.. a report was filed,, but no charges were forthcoming.. 

the first actual record of arrest followed shortly behind this incident.. leichtenstein, still thirteen, had taken his show on the road so to speak,, and was exposing himself to young boys in the neighboring community from the seat of his bicycle.. he would ride by, yell at them, and then expose himself when he got their attention.. he was positively identified in several such incidences,, but each time he was released into his parents’ custody with little more than the courts recommendation to seek counseling.

it didn’t take long for leichtenstein’s deviances to escalate,, manifesting themselves in actual molestations.. by the age of sixteen, he had either been arrested for, or questioned in, four such cases of abuse.. the first being accusations by his own cousins, ages six and eight,, who alleged that leichtenstein had touched them inappropriately when they had succumbed to a dare issued by leichtenstein, and removed all of their clothing.. 

from there he moved on to local children who had been entrusted to his care as a babysitter. in more than one of those cases it was purported that leichtenstein had engaged the children in a game he called ‘spin the bottle’.. in leichtenstein’s version of the game, however, each time the bottle came to rest, a piece of clothing would be removed by the designated party.. even though, in each incident complaints had been filed against leichtenstein,, the judicial system continuously dropped the ball,, and leichtenstein served little if any time..

at age eighteen,, leichtenstein attempted to abduct two young boys, brothers, as they played on a neighborhood play yard.. although the incident was reported, and leichtenstein was arrested,, he was not incarcerated.. in this case leichtenstein had admitted to, not only attempting to abduct the boys,, but doing so with the intent to molest them.. by some strange twist of fate,, however,, the charges were mysteriously dropped.. once again, the then clean shaven and well-heeled leichtenstein was released upon an unsuspecting public..   

soon after this documented arrest,,  leichtenstein enlisted in the navy.. he relocated to a submarine base in washington state,, where the arrests and slap on the hand sentences continued.. after one such arrest in which leichtenstein had lured a young boy from an arcade with the promise of bestowing upon him a coveted roll of quarters,, he was found guilty of attempting indecent liberties.. he served only thirty days in jail.. immediately upon his release, leichtenstein was generally discharged from the navy..

his discharge served as a jumping off point in leichtensteins heinous career.. he had gone on to be convicted of seven more abductions,, all of them detailing a pattern of abuse that was rampantly escalating to physical harm.. the courts, time and time again, turned a blind eye,, never subjecting him to more than 120 days behind bars.. 

shortly following his release on similar charges two years ago,, leichtenstein had slipped off the radar temporarily,, only to reemerge on the streets of new albany in his most recent incarnation.. bearded and disheveled,, he had become all but unrecognizable to local law enforcement..  

then, this past year, in a strange chain of events, leichtenstein and a fellow transient, had stumbled across the dead body of a ten year old boy in wildwood creek,,  while allegedly looking for a secluded place to set up camp.. as fate would have it,, his companion had the quickness of mind to photograph the body before calling 911, and the two entered into a pact to shop the photos to the media and share equally in the profits before the police arrived..

if it had not been for the promise of said monies, (monies that, it was speculated, would once again afford leichtenstein the opportunity to clean up his act,, set up housekeeping, and resume indulging his voracious appetite for fresh young flesh) leichtenstein would never have stuck around and allowed himself to be questioned.. this flight of fancy resulted in his becoming an immediate person of interest in the “little lost boy” case.. fortunately for leichtenstein,, his transient companion and a series of traffic cam photos were able to alibi him, as the two of them had been photographed multiple times pan handling on the same corner, during the hours in which the murder was to have been committed..

although no longer a person of interest in the “little lost boy” case,, leichtenstein’s identity had been established.. the establishment of said identity subsequently caused leichtenstein’s travelling companion to disappear from the streets of new albany while leichtenstein was being held for further investigation,, and shop the aforementioned photos on his own.. he went on to enjoy his fifteen minutes of fame,, and a gratuitous amount of profit,, alone.. leichtenstein never saw any of the money for which he sacrificed his anonymity..    

it was thought that, that betrayal would have leichtenstein pounding the playgrounds looking for an innocent victim on whom he could exorcise his demons once again..  for that reason, he had been under the astute watchful eye of local law enforcement ever since..

 to date, jake leichtenstein headed the persons of interest list in the city’s most recent child abduction case,, that of seven year old bobby brown.. 

***

“hey wait a minute!” detective gil bettencourt slurred loudly as he wobbled his way closer to leichtenstein and the two boys,, all of whom were doing their best to avoid eye contact with him and make their way toward the door.. 

“I’m talkin’ a YOU, buddy!” gil persisted,, this time grabbing on to leichtenstein’s cammo colored coat tail with one hand and attempting to steady himself on the edge of a nearby table with the other.. 

“get off me!” leichtenstein snarled as swung around toward gil..

it was then that gil saw his opportunity, and took it.. he caught leichtenstein mid turn,, and threw himself heavily against him.. his ‘drunken’ dead weight,, combined with leichtenstein’s unsure footing sent them both crashing to the floor.. as leichtenstein struggled to free himself from underneath the drunken, muttering, detective,, a petite pearl handled .25 revolver was somehow launched from leichtenstein’s person.. it skidded silently across the floor and came to rest near one of the booths by the window..  

“he’s got a gun!!” a fevered cry rang out, as leichtenstein slid across the floor,, retrieved his revolver and jumped to his feet. he stood there frozen for a second,, as his eyes swept the room.. he flashed a quick menacing smile at the boys as they stood there,, mouths agape,, looking on in sheer terror..

without further hesitation, leichtenstein broke into a sprint, crashed through the door, and disappeared into the night.. 

detective gil bettencourt just let him go.. a simple weapons charge was not worth breaking cover.. the boys were safe.. that was all that really mattered..

remaining in perfect character,, gil rolled over, and brought himself on to his knees..  he lifted his head,, stared up at the two traumatized boys,, and broke the rooms heavy silence..

“is one a you gonna help me up already??”