Empty Promises

or water.”
    His reasoning was bizarre, but somehow he made it seem believable. He said he had killed Rusty out of kindness, too, because the dog would never have made it in the wilderness with them. It was far better to eliminate him humanely. “Rusty never knew what hit him.”
    Robin was getting mixed up. There was no one but this man beside her, and she wanted so much for him to tell her it had all been a terrible accident. She couldn’t bear to think Hank had died only because Tom wanted her.
    They camped out for a second night.
    “What will you do if you tire of me?” she asked.
    “I don’t see how I could.You’re the only person here.”

    They talked about books and movies. He told her he admired Adolf Hitler. She asked him about his family and he said he hated them. She had to be careful about the subjects she brought up. Things could make him so angry in an instant. Gradually, however, Robin’s fear lessened and she prayed, asking God to somehow allow her to get home.
    The next day, July 26, they didn’t travel at all. Tom was sick, coughing and pale. He thought he might have pneumonia. He ranged around, checking the area, asking her how far away she could spot him. He wanted to be sure they would see anyone looking for them so they wouldn’t be ambushed. He came back and asked for some paper, and he then sat down to write three notes to friends in which he apologized for the “accident.”
    “I’ll probably be dead soon,” he said.
    Robin started to cry, and suddenly Brown began to cry, too. “I knew that one of those doors in his head had finally opened,” she wrote. “He told me that if I would mail the letters for him, he would tell me what had really happened. He told me that killing Hank was an accident. When he said that, it was just what I needed to hear. He said he didn’t remember how it happened.”
    Seeing Robin coming around to his thinking, Tom pressed on, telling her the sad story of how the woman he loved had rejected him. He said he’d gone to Nebraska to forget her, and he was treated well there. He admitted his name was really Tom, after all. He promised to walk Robin to the river and let her make her way home. He even went so far as to take her there, telling her that he was sick and was better off dying alone in the woods.
    “I felt so sorry for him,” Robin wrote. “Deep inside, I knew it was no accident, but I told myself he was telling the truth. I couldn’t just let him die up there. After all, he was nice enough to spare my life and let me go.”
    Tom was now all generosity. He offered her the sleeping bag and the water, and he told her sadly that no one would ever believe him about the accident. He had no choices left.
    “And you’re sure it was an accident?” Robin asked.
    “Yes. I’m sure.”
    “If you’re sure,” Robin said, “I’ll go to the police with you and tell them I saw it.”
    Tom smiled then, as if this was exactly what he wanted her to say. He led Robin all the way back to the camp she and Hank had set up—how long ago? The days were beginning to blur. She knew she could easily find her way out of the forest from here. Then Tom told her that he was heading back into the woods. “All I ask is one hour.”
    Robin’s essay for Jim Byrnes continued, detailing her day with Tom. She wrote that she hated the thought of leaving a sick man all alone deep in the woods. She insisted she would be his alibi. At this point, she’d honestly believed he was a nice person, that he was a victim of a terrible mishap. Her brainwashing was complete. He allowed her to “persuade” him to accept her help. Finally he agreed to go with her so she could explain that she had seen the shooting, that it had all been an accident.
    Tom went to where Hank’s body still lay and brought back his wallet. Meekly, he asked if it was all right that he’d taken two dollars out for gas, and Robin said it was. She didn’t want to see Hank dead. The sun was setting by the time they reached Tom’s truck.
    They headed for Estacada, and Robin noticed that Tom was driving erratically. He actually was ill and had a high fever, so she told him they should wait until morning to go to the police. They spent the last night in a park, going to Tom’s lawyer’s office to talk to James O’Leary the next morning.
    Although Robin had not seen Tom shoot Hank, it seemed now that she had. Tom had explained it to her often enough. “He told me how it was supposed to have