A Fall of Woodcocks (The Birdwatcher Series Book 5)

by European P. Douglas

  “You’ll have to get in contact with the precinct,” the officer said. “I have other work to do here, but don’t worry, I won’t let anyone go neat the car in the meantime.” Martin didn’t bother arguing with the man. He hated this bullshit with the police sometimes. Why couldn’t they just jump on board right away when something like this happened. Weren’t they all supposed to be on the same team?

  As soon as he got back to the van he started barking orders again.

  “Get on to the local PD, get the car listed as evidence and have a team come and examine it. Get me CCTV from traffic cameras and stores of this whole area. I want to see what happened here!” There was a flurry of movement and voices started talking all over as phone calls were made and some agents left the got and talk to the store owners and view their footage. Martin looked around; he was sure they would get something; there were cameras everywhere.

  He called through to the head of the local PD himself and asked for updates on Tyler’s where abouts. It seemed that he had not been seen since stealing the bike and they too were trawling street cameras to find out what route he’d taken.

  “Get a team to Anna Saskin’s house,” Martin said when he was off this phone call. “I want to know what she knows.”

  Fifteen minutes later, various images from CCTV and traffic cameras flashed across the monitor wall of the van. They showed the Tyler pushing the motorcyclist and then stealing his bike and making his escape. It was clear even from the few seconds they saw Tyler on the bike that he was a proficient bike rider, despite the injuries he had sustained. There was still blood running from his head and Martin wondered what had happened to him. The question as to why Tyler had been driving the car so fast and why he made the impromptu decision to bail and steal the bike was answered a few moments later in the video when Sarah Brightwater suddenly appeared running up beside the blue car. She’d been chasing Tyler! She knew where he was!

  Dan watched as Sarah spoke to Anna who remined in the car. How he wished these cameras had sound. Then Sarah left and got into a car driven by a man who they couldn’t make out too well; though Martin had his suspicions as to who it was. When Sarah left, Anna Saskin got out of the car and fled too. She looked scared and he didn’t think it was going to be too long before she was picked up.

  “Call for you sir, from the Saskin house,” an agent told Marin.

  “Martin here, what is it?” he asked.

  “We searched the girls room and found hidden cameras above her bed and her desk,” the voice of the search team lead came on.

  “Someone was watching her laptop use.” Martin guessed at once.

  “Yes, the family had an exterminator in the attic a couple of months ago and guess what he looked like.”

  “Tyler Ford?” Martin guessed.

  “No, six foot seven, wide and strong,, as the father described him.”

  “Spalding?” Martin said. “Jesus, he went one better than we did keeping an eye on those websites. He could have seen way more and heard a lot more than we ever did.”

  “The parents don’t know what’s going on here yet. Do we have Anna in custody?”

  “Not yet, but I don’t think it will be long. I suppose you can fill them in on what we know so far. Don’t mention Spalding though. We’ll keep that back for now.”

  When he got off the phone he sighed.

  “Put out an APB for Sarah Brightwater too,” he said looking at a still of her on the screen. He shook his head, how the hell did she know where to find Tyler? Had it been she who inflicted the wounds on him? These were just two of the dozens of questions he wanted to ask her. Something told him, though, that she was going to be no easier than Ford or Spalding to bring in if she didn’t want to be found.

  Chapter 23

  Megan Stanver’s hospital recovery had been hard. No so much because of the severity of her wounds— which were considerable— but more so because she didn’t feel safe there. It was in that very same hospital (more a large medical centre) that she had been stabbed by her friend Ellie. Now that it was safe for Megan to be moved there was nothing she wanted more than to get away from this place.

  As she looked out the window of the shaded-out car to see the building for the last time, Megan shuddered as though the ghost of Ellie was leaving her body, forever to remain in this place. Ellie had reached her breaking point with Spalding, her mind snapping and her fears that she could never be happy again led her to believe things were the same for Megan. With this in mind she’d stabbed Megan, clumsily, and then slashed her own throat hoping in the process to end both of their suffering. Her own life ended there in a pool of blood, but not so Megan’s. Ellie’s inexpert hand had done little more than shred skin, muscle, and her stomach lining. It was a serious injury and Megan’s body would bear the scars of it, but not the life-threatening blow Ellie had meant to deliver.

  Melissa Stanver would never be able to forgive Ellie for what she’d done to her little girls, but then what mother could? Megan on the other hand had come to understand Ellie’s mind at the end, understood her intent and see it for the gesture it was. Of course she would have been happier had it not happened at all, but at least Ellie died thinking she’d done her friend a great service. Megan had lay looking into Ellie’s eyes as she passed away, but with her own agony at the time and the subsequent nightmares Megan was no longer sure how much of what she recalled was real. At least now Ellie couldn’t be scared anymore.

  They drove to an air strip and then flew on a small plane to a regional airport where Megan and her mother were put on a commercial flight to New Mexico. Two agents went on the plan with them and they were assured there was an air Marshall on-board as well.

  “What will happen with all our stuff?” Megan asked her mother when the plane was in the air.

  “We will be provided with all we need. We have to make a list of anything important we want, and the FBI will get it for us.

  “I’m sorry you can’t live in the house you and dad bought together,” Megan said. Melissa’s eyes watered and she dabbed at them.

  “That house is too full of sad and horrible things now,” she said. “Anyway, the money we get from the sale will help us in our new life.” Megan felt terrible. The house was not just filled with horror; there were a lot of fond memories there too and each room had once brimmed with love and laughter. She hoped it would again for some other family when it was sold.

  For the rest of the long flight, Megan tried to imagine what the new house would be like. How close would they be to a college, a mall, or a police station? She still had plans to study psychology while planning to go to the police academy too. The doctors had told her physically there would be no lasting aftereffects of her injury or surgery. That was a conversation to have with her mother on another day though.

  After sleeping for a while, Megan awoke to find her mother smiling at her.

  “What?” she asked sitting back up.

  “It’s just nice for a mother to see her little girl sleeping like that.”

  “I’m long past being a little girl,” Megan said casting a glance out the window.

  “Not to me,” Melissa said. As Megan looked out she saw far below a mountain range and a river running from a lake. At once point the water seemed to spread out and she looked closer and saw it was a waterfall. This instantly made her think of Spalding. She looked closer as though somehow expecting to see him down there, smiling up and waving to her.

  “Are you okay?” Melissa asked her.

  “What?” Megan said losing her focus and looking back at her mother and then on hearing what she said answered, “oh, I’m fine.” Melissa looked out the window and then looked back to Megan, but she didn’t press her any more. “Can you get me a soda mom?” Megan asked.

  “The trolley has already been by,” Melissa said, “but I need to go to the bathroom, so I’ll get you one on the way back.”

  “Thanks,” Megan said as her mother got up and walked unsteadily down the aisle.


  Now that her mother was gone, Megan let out a sight and started taking in some shallow breaths to try cancel out the anxiety she was feeling.

  The waterfall, that was how she was going to catch him. That was the only place she knew he was going to be. She had to find the waterfall and as soon as she was settled into her new house, that was all she was going to focus on. College and the police could wait. She wasn’t going to rest until she found the place Spalding considered to be his sanctuary. She was going to help in bringing him down and then when he was out of the way, her future was her own and she could start to live her own life all over again.

  “They only had Sprite, will that do you?” Melissa asked sitting back down.

  “Thanks,” Megan said taking the can, “Sprite is good.” Melissa watched her as she opened the can and poured some into the plastic cup and drank. “What mom?”

  “You look very determined right now is all,” Melissa answered.

  “I am determined,” Megan replied, “determined to put the past behind us and get on with my life.”

  Chapter 24

  After driving around for time and no finding any trace of where Tyler had gone, Sarah thought it would be wise to trade in this rental car and buy a cheap car online to get around in.

  “I think we need to get back home,” Freeman said. “This plan didn’t come off as we hoped. It’s time to go back and face the music.”

  “I can’t do that,” Sarah said. “You know I can’t. Both Spalding and Tyler are nearby, this is where I have to be.”

  “It might not have been Spalding who attached him.” Freeman pointed out.

  “What are the chances it wasn’t him?” Sarah retorted. “If only I’d been able to talk to Anna more.”

  “Perhaps you can,” Freeman said. Sarah looked at him,

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve been monitoring the news here; it looks like she made a run for it too when we did.”

  “How does that help me talk to her?” Sarah asked.

  “Well, aren’t kids always on their phones and internet devices these days. You could try contact her though her website. She’ll probably be checking in case Tyler tries to get in contact with her again.” Sarah nodded at this,

  “Not bad old man,” she smiled at him.

  “Old and experienced are the same thing in my book,” he replied smiling back.

  Sarah took out her phone and checked out Anna’s site. She was surprised to find a new entry on the site but when she read it she knew at once it wasn’t an update from Anna. It read:

  The following people are now the final contestants in the game.

  Sarah Brightwater

  Tyler Ford

  Megan Stanver

  Jed Freeman

  Dwight Spalding

  We should talk. You can contact me at the following number- The number of ring boxes Tyler owns; The number of times Sarah was intimate when she shouldn't have been; the number of dirty magazines under Freeman’s bed; and finally the number of times Megan and I have spoken.

  Talk soon.

  D.S

  “Pull over,” she said to Freeman. He checked the mirrors and changed lanes heading the side of the road.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Spalding put up a message on the site. He wants to talk to us. Left a code for us to figure out and call him.” She felt ashamed of the number she was going to be adding to the number. She was pretty sure it was eleven, but it could have been twelve. She was also embarrassed for when Freeman read his part of the clue. He was going to be humiliated. The car came a halt and she handed him the phone. He squinted at it moment and then said,

  “Hang on, I need my glasses to see something that small.”

  “You can zoom in,” Sarah said showing him how. He looked at the screen and then she saw his jaw fall open in shock,

  “What?” he cried out, “I don’t have any dirty mags under my bed!” His face went crimson and he looked to Sarah.

  “I don’t care if you do,” she said, “I just care about the digits for the phone number.”

  “I’m telling you, it’s zero. I’m not into that kind of thing.” He looked angry, though possibly more angry at her for not believing him than for Spalding making a fool of him.

  “Okay, that’s fine, I believe you,” Sarah said. “We need to talk to Megan to get her number.”

  “What about Tyler Ford’s number, how are we going to get that?” Freeman asked.

  “I think I know the ballpark; we’ll try a few numbers until we get it right.”

  “Do you think Megan will know the exact number of times she’s spoken to Spalding?” he asked.

  “Probably. It wasn’t that many so again we will be close and might have to guess a couple of times until we get it right,” Sarah replied.

  “How many digits do you think are in the number?” he asked, “Seems too short for phone number to me.”

  “If you’re number is double zero then I think we’re looking at eight digits,” she replied.

  “Oh,” Freeman said doing some math in his head and nodding. “Still, if we are guessing Tyler’s number and Megan’s too, that’s a lot of possible numbers.”

  “Not that many,” Sarah said, “Even less if Megan does know the exact number.” Then a thought crossed her mind. How could Spalding know the number of times she’d slept with Tyler? He couldn’t surely? Unless Tyler had told him.

  “A comment just came up on the site,” Freeman said. Sarah took the phone and read it.

  ‘TF has 20 boxes’

  The comment was by a girl names Suzy and Sarah knew at once this was Tyler. Well, she wasn’t going to post any of the numbers on the site like that. Instead using her own fake account she messaged Suzy.

  ‘We need to talk. This needs to end.’

  “Who are you talking to?” Freeman said looking down at her screen.

  “I think ‘Suzy’ is Tyler,” she said.

  “Don’t forget to leave a message for Anna too, we still want to talk to her,” he reminded her. Sarah send a message to the admin who she knew was Anna.

  ‘I want to help you Anna. Are you okay?’

  Another post suddenly came up on the site.

  As Megan is most likely unable to contribute at the moment, I will furnish her number. It is 16.

  “That’s everything we need,” Sarah said.

  “So the number is what?” Freeman asked and Sarah knew he still didn’t know her number.

  “20110016,” Sarah said feeling her face grow red.

  “Call it,” Freeman said. Sarah looked at her phone a moment and then called.

  “It’s ringing,” she said. If she sounded surprised it was because she was. She put the phone on loudspeaker so Freeman could hear.

  “First past the post,” a sneering voice answered.

  “Spalding?” Sarah said, lost for anything more meaningful to say right now.

  “Who else,” he replied, his tone more jovial suddenly. “Well done on solving the number so fast, but then, it wasn’t actually difficult was it?”

  “What do you want?” Sarah asked, not letting herself get side-tracked.

  “I just wanted to tell you all, the game ends in one week. It is a close run thing but I think I can pull it off,” Spalding said. Sarah looked to Freeman to get his reading on this, but he only shrugged.

  “What happens in a week?” she asked into the phone.

  “I either win or lose,” came the reply.

  “What does that mean, do we get any more clues?” She was desperate now, knowing this was the last communication she was likely to have with him before he tried to kill everyone on the list.

  “Be on your guard at all time, that’s the best advice I’ve ever been able to give anyone.”

  “Why did you have us call you if you have nothing to say?” Sarah shouted at him.

  “Telling you that you only have a week to live is not noting, and by the way, that is maximum a week. You could b
e dead tonight.” Spalding’s tone was cold, no longer playful and the full menace of the threat could be felt in it. Sarah shivered and looked around as though he might somehow be watching them right now.

  “You’re the one who’s going to be dead by the end of the week,” Sarah replied, and she hung up before he could say anything back to her.

  “Why did you hang up?” Freeman asked looked at her in disbelief.

  “He’s only playing mind games, we weren’t going to learn anything meaningful from him,” she answered.

  “We should have asked why Anna was spared the list,” Freeman said though it was more musing out loud than a statement.

  “Let her just be thankful she isn’t on it,” Sarah said. She looked at the website once more. Should she send the message to Tyler and let him know what Spalding said, or perhaps send him the number and let them talk and fight amongst themselves? She didn’t want to deal with him, so she posted the number on the site. No doubt others would call it too, but that was Tyler and Spalding problem to deal with.

  “What are we going to do now?” Freeman asked.

  “You should go home. The FBI will be looking for me now and I can’t afford to be found. It’s better if you don’t know where I am either. Then you can’t lie about it,” she said.

  “I don’t like the idea of leaving you alone like that,” he said.

  “I’ll be fine. No one in the whole world is going to know where I am. You make sure to take care of yourself. Keep watch at all times, night and day, you got it?” Sarah said as she got out of the car.

  “I’ll be fine,” he assured her. “Don’t you want me to drop you somewhere better than the side of the road?”

  “No, this is fine. I probably won’t see you for a few days, but I’ll be in touch.”

  “Take care,” Freeman said, and Sarah walked away, not sure what her next step was going to be but knowing she had to do it alone.

  Chapter 25

  Tyler saw the messages come up on the website when he’d pulled off the road and ditched the bike by a lake. He walked through and adjacent park and went into store to buy some new clothes and clean himself up a little. While in the changing room, he got notifications from the website and he looked to see Spalding’s message. So, it had been through Anna Spalding had been able to find him after all. He should have seen that coming.